how to handle temptation

Temptation, or giving in to temptation, has been a serious problem since the beginning of time and is still a very real part of our lives today. Like it or not, we all have to deal with it. Most people may not really understand temptation and its purpose. In Luke 17:1, Jesus said, …Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come…. Why do we have to deal with temptation? It strengthens our faith, our spiritual muscles. If we didn’t have to stand against temptation, we’d never know our own spiritual strength. Facing temptations will either bring out the best or worst in us. Sometimes God allows us to be tested because He’s preparing us for promotion. Facing temptations increases our confidence in our ability to recognize and resist the lies of the enemy.

Temptation comes in many forms. Too often we think of being tempted as being enticed to do big things like stealing, murdering or committing adultery. But most often we’re tempted to be impatient, stingy, jealous, greedy or any number of other things that we consider lesser sins. Satan strikes at our points of weakness. To develop spiritual strength, we must pass all kinds of tests of temptations both large and small. In Luke 4, we find that Satan also tempted Jesus, hoping to find an area of weakness to invade. But Jesus stood strong and defeated the enemy. I believe God knew ahead of time that Jesus would pass the test, and I believe He has confidence in us that we’ll pass many of our tests too.

the danger of prejudice

Since time began we’ve had to live with the poisonous practice of prejudice. Most wars in history have been started because of prejudice and hatred. The Holocaust came from this same poison, and so did slavery. In Genesis, Cain hated Abel, and down through the ages, hatred has never stopped. Hating people is hard work, and it kills everything good in life. Even various religious sects that have long been committed to loving their fellow man have lashed out in hatred because of allowing pride to fill their hearts.

You and I may not agree with everything another person believes or does, but we have no right to hate them because of it, and we certainly shouldn’t mistreat them. God never told us we have to approve of everyone’s beliefs, choices and actions, but we are commanded to love everyone. God hates sin, but He loves every sinner. He hates stubbornness and rebellion; He loves the person who’s stubborn and rebellious.

It’s hard to believe how many denominations and independent churches there are today, yet there’s only one Bible, one message. It’s evident that God has one thing to say to all people—a single plan for our conduct and relationship with Him. But over the years, because of our pride and narrow-mindedness, we’ve felt the need to develop a myriad of churches and church groups—even different versions of the Bible—to suit our own strict interpretations of what we believe the Bible says.

I’ve come to realize that none of us are 100 percent correct. Most of the things we fight over are petty. In Matthew 23:24, Jesus told the Pharisees that they strained out a gnat but swallowed a camel. They had gotten so picky about the little things, it prevented them from dealing with the things that were truly important. As long as we allow prejudice, hatred and disharmony to continue to have a place in our lives, we’ll be powerless to stop it. Only agreement and unity will bring the power to defeat prejudice. We must not allow the evil in this world to win the war. We can defeat hatred by allowing love to overcome our divisive attitudes toward others.

-joyce meyer

battle field of the mind 1

Did you know that we are in a war every day? We see the casualties everywhere—people falling from disease, divorce and tragedy. Looking around at all the suffering, we may think the battles in hospitals and divorce courts are being lost. But in reality, we’re losing the advanced and more important conflict—the battle in our minds.

Each day our minds are bombarded with a constant stream of nagging thoughts, suspicions, doubts and fears. While any one of these can cause defeat and devastation, we are often plagued by more than one…filling our daily lives with mental combat against an array of aggressors.

Since we fail to identify the battlefield, we also fail to correctly identify our foe. We tend to believe people, money, religion or “the system” are our problems. In an attempt to defend ourselves, we build strongholds in our mind. Strongholds are areas of thinking not based on truth but lies. Instead of protecting us, they actually imprison us. Unless we renew our mind, we risk continuing to believe those lies and making important decisions based on deception.

Let me give you an example of how strongholds of wrong thinking can destroy a marriage. Mary and her husband, John, are not enjoying a happy marriage. There is strife between them all the time. They are angry, bitter and resentful. Now their two children are starting to show signs of being affected by all the dissension at home. One of the kids is even developing stomach problems brought on by stress from the conflict.

Mary’s problem is that she doesn’t know how to let John be the head of their family. She is bossy—she wants to make all the decisions, handle the finances, and discipline the children. She wants to work so she will have her “own” money. She’s independent, loud and demanding. Mary knows her attitude is wrong and wants to change. She’s been in counseling and is constantly asking people to pray for God to help her. But she hasn’t seen any improvement. Why? Mary has trouble controlling her actions because she has trouble controlling her thoughts. She has a hard time knowing what thoughts to control because of the strongholds in her mind—strongholds that were built very early in her life.

-joyce meyer

battle field of the mind 2

As a child, Mary had an extremely domineering father. For years she suffered helplessly as her father mistreated her and her mother. He was disrespectful in all his ways except toward Mary’s brother who could do no wrong. It seemed as if he was favored just because he was a boy. By the time she was sixteen, the strongholds in Mary’s mind were firmly established. The stronghold of lies went like this: “Men really think they’re something. They are all alike, and you can’t trust any of them. They will hurt you and take advantage of you.” As a result, Mary’s mind was made up: “When I get away from home, nobody is ever going to push me around again!”

Before Mary can ever have victory in her life and peace in her marriage, she will have to tear down the strongholds that are ruling her thinking. Do you see yourself in Mary’s life? Many of us have given in to deception at one time or another. How can these strongholds be torn down? We must be willing to receive the light of Truth in our minds. Our search for Truth begins in God’s Word, which says that the Truth will set us free (see John 8:32). This means we can be free from bondage, sin and strongholds in our minds. But just searching for Truth won’t set us free. We must be courageous enough to also believe the Truth.

Even when the Truth illuminates what’s inside of us, it’s sometimes hard to accept. It’s a painful process to face our deceptions and deal with them. It’s so easy to allow our past and how we were raised to negatively affect us for the rest of our lives. Our past may explain why we’re suffering, but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage. You may have some major strongholds in your life that need to be torn down. Let me encourage you by saying, “God is on your side.” There is a war going on, and your mind is the battlefield. But the good news is that God is fighting on your side!

-joyce meyer

two are better than one 1

The three-strand cord is a picture of the power that takes place when two people agree for something in line with God’s will for them. As two people become one in agreement with each other, there is a tremendous amount of power.

You can have such fun in your marriage when you begin to agree with each other. Do you know that God did not put you together to be miserable? He didn’t put you together to fight, pick on each other or try and change each other. The Bible says that a woman is to enjoy her husband. (See 1 Peter 3:2.) Think about that. I rarely hear a woman say, “You know what? I really enjoy my husband.” And God wants us to enjoy each other. He wants us to have fun together. You need to laugh and have fun together.

So how do two people with very different personalities—who don’t think alike, who don’t feel the same about a lot of different things, who don’t even like the same kind of food—become one? We know that it doesn’t just happen when you both say, “I do.” Becoming one is a process that just takes time.

-joyce meyer

two are better than one 2

Many times the longest part of the process of becoming one is in the mind. Couples are sometimes slow to agree in the way they think about things. How does this process of mental agreement take place? Most marital problems include strife from communication problems, sexual misunderstandings, money issues, different goals, and disagreements about parenting. All of these things get worked out between us within the soul’s realm of our union—our minds, wills and emotions. They don’t have as much to do with the spirit or the body as they do with what we think about those areas. We can know spiritually what the right thing to do is, but that doesn’t mean we will end up doing it.

The big question is: How do people who are not of one mind learn to agree? Agreement comes when the people involved stop being selfish. A lot of adults still deal with selfishness. All that selfishness amounts to is, “I want what I want when I want it, and I don’t really care what you want because I want what I want.” Selfishness is an immature inward focus. If each one of us will learn to voice our wants, but choose what best serves everybody in the family, then we will find peace. The key is to care about what the other person needs, be willing to humble ourselves, and do what we can to meet those needs

-joyce meyer

top 5 fast growth stock

These are stocks of companies that are projected to increase revenue and profit by at least 12% in the coming year and rank near the top all stocks rated by TheStreet.com. Making the cut are CVS Caremark, DeVry, American Ecology, Balchem and XTO Energy.

reasons to invest in dubai 1

The tallest tower in the world is under development in Dubai and has attracted all investment all around the world. The Burj Dubai , the icon of the UAE will completed by end 2009 by emaar who was design on the local flower , the orchidee by an architect from Chicago US base office. . Major other new developer have completed and will deliver the high rise sky line to the community.

Well-known for flourishing tourism through out the year, state-of-the-art telecommunication network, strong trading processes and constant growing real estate developments, Dubai has become the new hot spot to be.

Multi-national companies continue to choose Dubai for their business operations. A variety of immense investment opportunities become visible day by day and this has been influenced by the fact that no corporate or personal taxes have to be paid. All this makes Dubai irresistible and recognizable as a real wonder in the new world. There is a fact that Dubai have the development in construction

Dubai is a city that is contemporarily, generous and compassionate; this keeps its doors open to the world. It offers great infrastructures like modern schools, healthcare facilities…. also it has become the new Home of various nationalities who can settle them office Dubai business and cultures that all share the same spirit : “To live and work together in harmony”. Dubai’s standard of living is comparable to the world’s most advanced nations which makes it one of the 21st century most successful stories

Cassava farming, a global need.

The current global food crisis has brought to the fore the need to avert hunger. Cassava can grow in different types of soils where other crops cannot. It requires minimal fertilizer, pesticides and water. Also, because cassava can be harvested anytime from 8 to 24 months after planting, it can be left in the ground as a safeguard against unexpected food shortages. Studies have shown that the crop when left in the ground can prevent erosions on farmland after other crops have been harvested. The following processing technology is according to research by the food and Agricultural organization (FAO)

Processing of cassava

Once harvested cassava, deteriorates so it must be eaten or processed quickly. Although some varieties can be eaten raw or cooked like raw potatoes, many contain high levels of cyanogenic glycosides that must be removed before they can be eaten. The toxins are typically removed from these bitter varieties by peeling and grating the root to make a pulp that is then left to ferment slightly before being pressed, dried and roasted. In Brazil, this processed meal is known as Farinha de manioca and in West Africa, gari. Garri accounts for 70 percent of Nigeria’s total Cassava consumption. In other parts of Africa, The fermented cassava pulp is pounded into paste, known as fufu. If these traditional foods are to become the basis for commercially viable local industries, new and improved processing technologies will be required. Commercial cassava produces need to find ways of increasing production, reducing labor cost and improving product quality in order to compete with imported grains.

However, the current global food crisis is a pointer that Nigeria should be less dependent on imported foods or raw materials to feed its populace. Inclusion of cassava in flour production ought to increase from the 10 percent mandate given by policy instrument. There is a greater need to produce four 100 percent from cassava to make bread and other confectionery. Research by Federal Institute of industrial Research has shown that bread, cakes, cookies etc made from cassava are very palatable. Oat was also made from cassava. The major challenge is still the fact that production and processing of cassava for flour is still at very high cost. This can be resolved as the government and people continue to explore ways of improving agricultural productivity in the country.

The development of high-quality cassava flour could help many developing countries reduce their dependence on imported grains. One report has stated that a 15 percent substitution of cassava flour for wheat could save Nigeria close to US$ 15 million a year in foreign exchange. In January bakers of bammy bread made from cassava meal have been successful in carving out a profitable market niche. Simply put many governments could save money by making sound investment in the development of their commercial cassava industry according to FAO

INVESTING IN DUBAI PROPERTY PART 1

Dubai one of the states in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeks today to move away from its traditional oil dependence to a more balanced one based on tourism and services. As a result, its economy has grown with a more and more tourism resorts coming up to meet this aim. This article will list three reasons why you should invest in the Dubai today.

Firstly, Dubai as mentioned earlier is becoming a services hub and in particular a financial services hub, there is going to be an increase in the number of foreign professionals who are flocking there to work and with a high pay and tax free status over there, the average rental yields of properties there is above the average. Currently the single room studio apartments are doing the best in terms of rental since the expatriates that work in Dubai tend to be single individuals so this would be a great real estate investment tip to note if you intend to invest in Dubai.