THE NEW BLOG
Everybody has the freedom of choices to act or to react to anything and everything that happens in daily life and living. But that "freedom" may come with a bondage to many problems while growing up, becoming an adult, and turning into a senior.
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Living By Faith -- THE NEW BLOG
Friday, August 30, 2024
God and Your Marriage
ACCOUNTABILITY IN MARRIAGE TO GOD
Lack of accountability to God for what you’ve been doing to your marriage and your marriage partner is one of the reasons why divorce is rampant these days.
You’re living in a world in which injustice and vengeance are rampant. Living in the midst of this storm of unfairness may cause you unhappiness and even your own lack of faith in God.
But seeing the lack of accountability in others should, on the contrary, enhance your own accountability not only in your marriage but also in your everyday living. God is forever just and will bring judgment and justice to all—at His own timeline.
An illustration
In 1984, Archbishop Valerian Trifa was deported from the United States after being accused of being a Nazi supporter, who not only had incited attacks on Jews, but also was responsible for executing many Jews in World War II.
After World War II, the former Nazi supporter came to the United States as a refugee immigrant. He assumed the name of Valerian Trifa, and he was ordained as a priest of the Rumanian church soon after his arrival in the United States. He rose quickly to the rank of bishop and then archbishop, who lived in comfort in a 25-room farmhouse on a 200-acre estate maintained by his church.
Then, a dentist, who was a Nazi survivor, recognized the Archbishop as the Nazi supporter. The case against the Archbishop was reported in the media, and then pursued for more than a decade long by some survivors of the Nazi, Jewish organizations, journalists, as well as by the Justice Department of the United States. Their joint efforts helped focus public attention on those Nazi war criminals who were living in the United States.
At first, the Archbishop vehemently denied his former identity, despite some handwriting experts had confirmed that his handwriting was identical with that in some of the execution orders he had carried out while he was a Nazi supporter. As luck would have it, with the advancement of forensic science, some experts could incredibly still retrieve some DNA from those execution orders with the Archbishop’s own saliva on them. That was his undoing, and his final judgment.
In 1982, the Archbishop was ultimately ordered to leave the United States. But he had spent two years trying to find a country that would give him refuge. In 1984, Portugal admitted him, and he finally settled in Estoril, where he died at the age of 72 of a heart attack.
So, believe that God is merciful, but also a just God, who’ll judge injustice and any wrongdoing according to His own timeframe.
So, living in the presence of God is showing your accountability to every aspect of your married life. So, be faithful to your marriage partner to receive the blessings of God in your marriage.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Money Wisdom
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Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Healthy Posture and Healthy Vision
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Losing Your Money
Making money is all about your being and your doing: being who you are and doing what you can with what you have.
Not knowing your true
self and not doing what you are supposed to do, and yet wanting your money, and
even lots of it, leads to your “money fantasies”, such as becoming a
professional gambler, lining up for hours to get your Power Ball, and even
engaging in burglary or bank robbery.
No matter what, you may lose your money at some point in your life, and that is a reality. Remember, the opposite of "gain" is "loss", and what goes up must also come down, and this is a universal truth.
LOSING
Even if your life is a bed of roses, it must also have some thorns to go with it. What goes up must also come down. Gains are followed by losses. That is the natural cycle of all things.
While pursuing your
careers, you might have encountered your discharge or unemployment, and while
making your money in your businesses or financial investments, you might also
have been overwhelmed by your money losses.
Freedom
Free yourself from “money miseries”—living from paycheck to paycheck; not making both ends meet; always seeing your lack and deprivation when compared with others.
Remember this: Even
wealthy celebrities went broke, and you are not alone. For example, Mike
Tyson, a boxing champion, earning over $300 million dollars, ended up in bankruptcy
in 2003; and Michael Jackson, a recording artist, dancer, singer, and
songwriter, earning over $500 million dollars, was heavily in debt when he died
in 2009.
So, fight the good
fight to recover, restore, and rejuvenate yourself from the bondage and
wreckage of losses.
Bondage
Money is emotional, especially when always feeling the lack of it. Yes, money can cause many mental problems, including depression.
With more
money, you can live rich. But even with less money, you can still
live richly, and free yourself from the bondage of lack.
But how to
live richly if you have less money? The answer is thrift, which is an
alternative lifestyle to consumerism, materialism, and over-consumption in this
material world you are living in.
Thrift may help you work less, and not more. Many people are not paying with their money; instead, they are paying with their time from their lives. Are you one of them? Are you doing two or more jobs just to earn that extra money to spend more?
Thrift may promote your positive consumption values. Are some or most of your purchases aimed at your instant gratification, or just enhancing your self-esteem, making you feel rich, such as wearing a designer’s dress?
Thrift may encourage your savings. It may give you
more space to save, thereby instrumental in protecting you from negative income
shocks, such as an unexpected unemployment.
Yes, living richly
with thrift may turn you from bondage to freedom.
FREEDOM with BONDAGE shows you how to free yourself from your bondage to the flesh that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Monday, August 26, 2024
Dealing with Emotional Pain
Sunday, August 25, 2024
The Basics of Aging
Knowing the Basics of Aging
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Breast Cancer and Exercises
Friday, August 23, 2024
Adultery in Marriage
INFIDELITY IN MARRIAGE
Tiger Woods, one of the world’s most famous and wealthiest golfers, was caught with his dark secrets of infidelities and lies in 2009. At first, he vehemently denied and even concealed them. But, eventually, he was more forthcoming and apologetic to his fans and his family at several press conferences:
The reality
King David’s adulteries
In spite of his efforts in seeking God’s wisdom, King David also demonstrated his darker side of the sin of lust.
One night, King David saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of King David’s generals, bathing on the rooftop. Succumbing to his own sin of lust, King David sent for Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her. To gratify his lust, King David even purposely sent the general to the war front to have him killed so that he could marry the general’s widow.
King David eventually married Bathsheba. Although penitent for his sins, God punished King David, and their firstborn son died.
King Solomon’s adulteries
King Solomon, the second son of King David, despite his profound human wisdom, violated God’s standards of sexual purity. His decision to disobey God and marry foreign women with their different gods led to his own idolatry. As a punishment for his sins, God divided Israel, and Solomon suffered bitterness and emptiness at the end of his life.
The difference between King David and King Solomon is that King David always lived in the presence of the Lord. So, King David always turned back to God with remorse and repentance, while King Solomon only distanced himself from God with no contrition and remorse.
So, living in the presence of the Lord always reminds you of your own accountability to Him, without which you will do anything and everything, thinking that you can get away with it.
The reality
Always live in the presence of the Shepherd. Always let the Shepherd guide you in the green pastures. Always let the Shepherd overcome your enemies of pride, lust, and deceit. Always let the Shepherd use His rod and staff not only to protect you but also to restrain and discipline you. Always let the Lord be your Shepherd throughout your marriage journey.
Adultery is a conscious and deliberate act to do just the opposite of what a marriage commitment requires. Adultery is prevalent because it has become the new “norm.” According to many, adultery is just a sin, not a crime, and everybody commits sins of some sort anyway. But adultery is a sin directly against God, who creates the marriage, joining the two as one. So, committing adultery is lack of accountability to God, and is unforgivable without judgment and repentance.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Thursday, August 22, 2024
The Bag and Baggage
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
The TAO in Anything and Everything
The Bible says wisdom is everything. "Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding." (Proverbs 3:13)
Without wisdom, there is no understanding.
But why is understanding important?
Without understanding, anything and everything in life may seem paradoxical and inexplicable. It is this mindset that may make many people "not living in reality" -- in their minds they only see "unfairness" and "inequality." This distorted mindset may even lead many to committing crimes and violence: "Why shouldn't I rob them who've the money that I don't have?" or "They too have broken the law, so why shouldn't I do the same?"
Biblical wisdom is about "accountability" to God, which will give you spiritual "understanding." But if you are not a believer, that "understanding" may be irrelevant to you.
Having said that, human wisdom is indispensable in contemporary living. Human wisdom is not the same as acquisition of knowledge; human wisdom is the application of what you feel and understand to your everyday life and living. So, being knowledgeable does not necessarily mean being wise.
The TAO is the profound wisdom of Lao Tzu, an ancient sage from China more than 2,600 years ago. The TAO has survived and thrived for thousands of years for a good reason: it is applicable to anything and everything in contemporary daily life. The TAO shows you all the hows and the whys of anything and everything happening in your life, including the following: growing up, receiving education, earning a living, making money, getting married, starting a family, raising children, staying healthy, growing old, and dying.
The TAO helps you confront all your daily challenges, and live in balance and harmony.
TAO in Anything and Everything
Stephen Lau
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Living in the Now
Anything Is Everything OR Nothing?
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