Approaching Christmas

Christmas is the celebration of one of the biggest events in history. Because of this event our calendar was changed. This is the reason why we now write “2013”. It is because of this event that broke history in two: Before Jesus and after. A little baby was born,

very poor, so poor that nobody would guess the importance He would have in history. He had to flee the country when still a baby, the authorities wanted to kill him from the very beginning. He grew up in a village called Nazareth (that’s why He was called “Jesus of Nazareth”). He befriended the poor and the sick, he met with sinners and prostitutes, he touched the untouchables of society. He defied kings and rulers. He criticized the hypocrisy of the established religion, showing that religious rites could not replace justice and mercy. The center of His message was love. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. He healed the sick, he freed the oppressed, He

taught us how to live a meaningful life. He came to show us the way, the truth and the life all of us need. He gave his life on a horrible cross because he was falsely accused. The innocent died as a criminal. And then, after his death more than 500 people witnessed him alive. He gave the biggest gift of Christmas. He gave himself... for me...for you. It is an undeserved gift that everybody can take to become truly free. Free from sin, free from worry, free from guilt, inspired to live a good life, an abundant life. The “Christ-mas” word means the celebration of Christ.

May the joy of Christmas fill all of our hearts. 

                                                                                               Daniel Martin

Thankfulness. Gratitude

Gratitude is an attitude in life. It is more than just saying “Thanks”. It is when you mean it. You choose to be thankful; it often doesn’t come out naturally. You decide to be thankful. You decide to recognize somebody.

Instead of reminding yourself all the things you don’t have, or you could have, you focus in enjoying what you already have. You may not like everything about your job, but you have a job. Right? You may have some discomfort, but you’re alive, you can enjoy life.

The contrary of being thankful is thinking that you deserve everything you have. 

Instead of being happy to be healthy, you could say: I am supposed to be healthy”. Or you got a degree and you say: “So what. It´s just because I studied” Or you got a new car and you think: “it is just because I paid for it!”. Being thankful is not automatic. You decide if you are going to be thankful. 

At work if somebody helps you out with something, instead of saying “Thanks”, you could just think: “that’s your job”, “you are supposed to help me out”, “that’s the reason you are here working”. But there are so many things that we do at our job without obligation, we do just out of appreciation to the other person, or compassion or just for the pleasure of helping somebody, or because we see ourselves as a team. To encourage these little gestures of cooperation we can just say:  “Thanks”.

If somebody helps you to pick up something that fell to the floor, It feels nice to be helped. Doesn’t it? And then you say: “Thank you”. Your gratitude brings a smile to the other person. This little thing brings a drop of joy to your life. It boosts your energy level, it pushes you forward, and you feel happy to be alive. Being thankful is very powerful. That’s why people say that to be happy is a choice. And one part of it is to decide to be thankful. 

I have a friend in Mozambique, Africa. Domingo is an old man. He is very poor. But he is an example of happiness for me. With my wife we asked ourselves: What’s the secret of this person´s happiness? And we discover it: It is because he doesn’t think he deserves anything he has. Everything he gets is like a gift for him and he is so thankful for it. Don’t take anything for granted. That’s one of the secrets of happiness.

You can be thankful to God: For being alive, for having a job, for having a family, or friends, or for your senses (being able to see for example).

Gratitude produces happiness. It brings joy to your life. Being thankful is more than just saying “Thanks”. But saying it, is great!

Daniel Martin

Forgive 2

Unforgiveness is "Punishing yourself for

Daniel Martin

something someone else did."

Forgiveness is not an emotion but a choice. The desire to forgive, may or may not be present. What is important is that you choose to forgive. Feelings are tailored to circumstance. If you choose to forgive, feelings are going to adapt to that. The choice to forgive is like a key. No matter how big the door, if you have the key, you can open it. Forgiveness is possible. We forgive because we were forgiven by God.

Emmanuel Mutangana from Rwanda, tells us that when he was 12 years old he was called out of school because his father had been murdered. When he saw his younger brothers and his mother crying, he decided not to cry, and he didn't. He just concentrated in living to avenge the murder of his father. He didn't laugh again, either. He blocked his emotions. But music helped him to get to know about God and His love and finally, he decided to receive forgiveness and to forgive as well. He says: "I was freed of the weight of sadness, bitterness, and anger when I forgave."

When to forgive?

1. When you feel like forgiving? Corrie Ten Boom says: “You can’t. I can’t. But Jesus in us can.” You make the decision to forgive and God gives you the strength. Watch Corrie Ten Boom sharing this experience: 

2. When the offender is truly sorry? Or when he asks for forgiveness?

Jesus forgave his executioners before they asked for forgiveness. They had not even repented! "...forgive them, for they do not know what they do." They were adults , they knew what they were doing. They might have realized his innocence (as Pilate did) But, Jesus looked at their hearts and saw that they did not understand the magnitude of what they were doing. And we have to have this same attitude. Look at the aggressor as "an ignorant" (somebody that doesn't understand the magnitude of the damage he or she is doing).

Forgiveness is not something passive. It doesn't expect the other person to act. It makes the first move.

What keeps us from forgiving ?

Our pride. Our emotional pain. We are wounded and want the other person to pay for what he/she did. We're afraid of being misunderstood when forgiving (that we may justify the bad behavior, or that we are resigning to our rights, or that we lack self-esteem).

How to forgive?

1. First make the decision. Forgive in your heart. And every time the memory of the pain returns, say: "it's already forgiven" until the pain becomes weaker.

2. Pray for the offender. Jesus said: "Pray for those who persecute you." But, pray and wish good things for that person.

3. Then, if possible, show love and compassion to whoever hurt you. You are not submitting to the aggressor. You are not justifying his or her violence,  or lack of care, you just decide not to retaliate.

Lack of forgiveness is like moorings of a boat that blocks it from it’s capacity to navegate freely. Now, like a boat that looses its moorings and navigates life... Start to enjoy the freedom and peace that forgiveness gives you. You are the first beneficiary of your forgiveness.

Daniel Martin

danielmartinusa@hotmail.com

Forgive

All my life I have studied about forgiveness, from the perspective of the Bible,

from psychology , sociology , and its influence on human health, I have always tried to practice forgiveness ... but so far I am struggling. I find it hard to forgive (It is not a virtue , I 'm ashamed to say that, but it is the truth). Whenever I get offended, I have to think about it, repent of my anger, forgive in my heart, and seek to approach with love the person who hurt me. As I am an expert in being offended, I had to become an expert in forgiveness. We cannot live happily without forgiving, we cannot live without forgiving. The lack of forgiveness is like moorings that keep us from moving forward. If you want to enjoy marriage, or family, or friendship, you have to learn to forgive.

An aerostatic balloon cannot fly until it is released from its moorings and weights. It cannot go up and fulfill its purpose for which it was created. If we  don't forgive we get stuck.

Jesus taught us to pray: “Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others...”. If we want God’s forgiveness, we have to forgive, too.

What is forgiveness?

• It is important to differentiate forgiving from apologizing. I apologize when I did something wrong and I recognize my fault. To forgive is when somebody did something wrong to me and I decide to let it go.

Not forgiving produces bitterness, hatred. It makes me remember the hurt and anger I feel towards the person that hurt me, or disrespected me. Too many people hurt us every day by not respecting us , by ignoring us, or mistreating us in many ways... we can not live without forgiving. WE MUST LEARN TO FORGIVE IN ORDER TO LIVE. Unforgiveness damages our health, our relationships, our work performance, it affects our sleep, it takes away years of life, depresses us, it takes away the strength to live, to smile. Unforgiveness hurts us, destroys us.

Unforgiveness is "Punishing yourself for something someone else did."

Next week I’ll share examples of forgiveness. I hope you will be inspired...

Daniel Martin

http://workplacewis.blogspot.com/

Tell yourself the truth

Renee Descartes ( XVII Century ) devoted his life to uncover the  clear and indubitable truth . He systematically doubted everything. To doubt everything is to think. He then reasoned that if he was thinking , surely  he existed. Hence the phrase that defines the thinking of Descartes : "I think, therefore I am" .

 

Marco Aurelio was another thinker. He was a Roman Emperor around 170 A.D. He also sought the truth . He discovered that human emotions are not just random products of circumstances , they are determined by the way you think. So, where Descartes said: "I think, therefore I am". Marco Aurelio would have said, "I think and so I determine my personality ".

 

"For as he thinks within himself, so he is." Prov. 23:7

 

We are creatures full of mental energy, emotional and physical. When we clear the irrationalities and lies of our thoughts and replace them with the truth we can live a satisfying life. A life that is rich and emotionally fulfilling.

 

Jesus said "I am the truth", and also "you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free".

 

The cause of our feelings is not necessarily those childhood or current experiences. Our feelings are caused by what we tell ourselves about our circumstances. It can be words or attitudes. What we tell ourselves can be true or false. If you repeat to yourself: “I'm a fool" or “I do nothing well”, you will start to believe it and you will act accordingly.

 

Erroneous beliefs are the direct cause of emotional storms , maladaptive behavior , and most so-called "mental illness". Erroneous beliefs usually appear as true for the person who is repeating them to him/herself. This is because there is almost always some truth in it and because the sufferer doesn't examine or question these assumptions. But we must realize that if it is a lie, it comes from hell and it is instilled in our minds by the devil himself. He does not want to risk being discovered, so he makes the lies look like truth to us. Words like: "I can not do anything right”, or “I always do " are good examples. You'll be more vulnerable to believe these statements, specially after making a mistake.

 

James 3:15 tells us where this self destructive conversation comes from. "That is not the wisdom that comes from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual  devilish." Negative and distorted statements that a person repeats, comes from the devil. Our immature nature accepts it without questioning and then, as spoiled food, these words create mental poison, painful emotional aches and pains. This deadly toxins diet ends up killing you. Paul says, "The mind of sinful man is death..." (Rom.8:6). God wants us to be able to have control over our feelings and our actions.

 

1. Misbelief: I must please people . My actions should not displease others or make them to disapprove me. This would be intolerable.

TRUTH: A healthy person does not have to fight for the approval of all those around him/her.

 

2. Misbelief: It would be terrible if nobody speaks to me at a social gathering. It would be terrible to be selfconcious and nervous.

TRUTH: I can enjoy wherever I go. I do not necessarily have to have someone to talk to, to have a nice time. Being by myself is not going to kill me.

 

3. Misbelief: Others may be happy, others may experience God, others may change their beliefs, others can be free of anxiety, depression and anger, but not me.

TRUTH: I can change my emotions like everybody else. I can adapt and be happy no matter the experience or circumstances in which I find myself . I can do it!

 

Homework: If you find yourself repeating similar misbeliefs, try to find the Truth that answers to that lie. Repeat the truth instead of your misbelief every time you remember it until the truth becomes part of your normal thinking.

 

Definition of happiness

Cheerful. Grateful. Friendly. Kind. Connected. With a clear mind.

Free to serve without unresolved outstanding issues.

Motivated to grow. Inspired. Inspiring. Generous. Laughing.

Able to play and live in the present.

To be happy I must be at peace with God, with others and with myself.

 

 

 

Daniel Martin

danielmartinusa@hotmail.com

From the Fire to Mozambique

Dear friends,

 I am writing from an improvised desk at the hotel. It has been a month since we were displaced from our home by the fire next door. For those who don’t know, the building adjacent to our house got fire. Hannelore called our children who were sleeping at home and from the school,  she saw Lucas and David fleeing the house between columns of smoke that surrounded our house. The picture of the house and the smoke was taken by Hannelore from the school.

Our house is the white house near the burning building

Hannelore found a text that inspired our souls: Isaiah 43:2 "When you have troubles, I am with you. When you cross rivers, you will not be hurt. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not hurt you."

Our house suffered from smoke and water from the fire department (thank God was not hit directly by the fire), the city closed our house and they will decide when it is safe to return (the building that caught fire is unstable and may collapse).

We received the love of friends and many offered their home for us to stay. Thanks to all of you. We moved to an hotel paid by the rental insurance.

Lucas, our son, began his first official work "full time" in a company that is widening a freeway called Turnpike. It is a paid internship that helps with experience. He is enjoying it and learning a lot. We are very proud of our son who is undertaking this new stage of his life.

David was inducted into the National Honor Society. He was the only male of his school of 3,000 students, along with 6 girls that received that honor. It was a joy to see the effort rewarded, especially for Hannelore, in the education of David.

         

After many weeks of preparations I am ready for the trip to Mozambique, as many of you know I am visiting Mozambique to help people over there. We are fighting against malaria and other diseases. We are helping people to know God. And we are involved in many development project. You can read about it in http://welovemocambique.blogspot.com/ .

Tomorrow I am living for 2 weeks for Mozambique. I hope you will remember me in your prayers and thanks to all that are already supporting our efforts financially. My goal is to be able to listen and catch the vision of the local leaders and find ways we can cooperate with them in their project. One hope I have is to find a way we can motivate orphans to grow and be persons of good. I hope that God will be glorified in everything we do.

See our Fire in the news: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=9122857  

Photos of our fire (The white house next to the fire is ours and the red car next to the firefighter is our car. http://www.northjersey.com/photos/Photos_Raging_fire_engulfs_a_four-story_apartment_in_Passaic.html?photo=9&c=y

Visit our Mozambique blog

http://welovemocambique.blogspot.com/

Daniel Martin

danielmartinusa@hotmail.com

http://workplacewis.blogspot.com/

16 MINUTES

That’s how much time you have to save your life. That’s the story  of the Oklahoma tornado.

Daniel Martin

Tornado Average warning time in the US is 14 minutes!  As kelly Byrne reflected the next day for The Times: “If you have never been through one, you don´t realize how quickly it happens... when there are cars flying through the air, and trees and parts of houses, there’s only so much you can do to hide from it”. She was able to hide her family in a neighbor’s below-ground shelter and save their life.

 

People’s attention focuses on the Plaza Towers Elementary School, where teachers used these 16 minutes to execute a plan they had rehearsed with the children again and again. Schools built after the 1999 tornado include safe rooms, but older Schools like Plaza Tower do not. The student filled into the innermost part of the school, away from the windows, knelt and covered their heads. After the storm many children were trapped under what had been school walls.

 

Thank God for first responders, the people from the National Weather Service of Oklahoma and the radars and technology available to predict events like this. When you read the story of what happened in Moore, Oklahoma, what people did or couldn’t do to save themselves, was the result of years of preparation for events like this. The difficult to built and expensive shelters, proved to be indispensable. The procedures parents and teachers learned to protect their children were a key element.

 

Many times, the storms in our lives hit us suddenly. Our capacity to protect ourselves and our loved ones and the resilience to recover, depend on how well we prepared ourselves before. The Bible tells us that we should put our foundations on solid ground. The solid ground is what really matters like our relationship with God, and how we live out His principles in our lives.

 

“The words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.”Matthew 7:24-25

 

There are going to be storms in your life. Start to prepare yourself now. When they hit, you will be prepared.

 

God bless you. Have a wonderful week.

 

Quotes:

 

"Forget what you've heard about Jesus if it doesn't begin and end with love."

- David Phelps

 

"You know you've created God in your image when He hates all the same people you do."

- Anne Lamotte

 

"God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken and, when you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart."

- Charles Spurgeon

 

Hungry for violence

Daniel Martin

A marathon usually makes us think about peace, love for life, human tenacity, a good cause, perseverance. This year’s Boston marathon was tinted with blood, violence and fear. Our heart and prayers went out to people in Massachusetts while waiting for the police to solve the mistery of this terrorist attack… We talked about this at the workplace. We tried to understand what were the two boys thinking. What justification could they create in their minds to be able to kill innocent victims? How difficult it must have been for the Tsarnaev family to discover what their kids were doing.

In my city in Passaic there were several false alarms of bombs in schools this past week. All the kids were mobilized out of their school. Many were consumed by their fear. The police was mobilized with cars and helicopters and had to investigate.

Violence is not an uncommon experience. Sometimes it is a result of our own frustrations and anger. But other times it is covered with justifications like: “fighting for peace”, “it is the only solution”, “it is the only way out” or what is worse; it is practiced just for fun. Violence could express itself with physical aggression or with violent words which also do a lot of damage. I used to like action movies. But more and more action in movies means violence. Human life becomes undervalued. Respect for others is vanished. Human life looses its dignity. Even some artists like the band Mayhem portrait violence as something cool and atractive. Many songs, Tv programs and video games encourage a disensibilization to violence. We are being forced to consider it as normal and common.

The Bible tells us: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders… blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9)

We (me and you) are the responsible, the generators, and producers of violence. It is created in our hearts, and when we allow ourselves to continue dwelling in destructive thoughts, it grows in complexity, it becomes an attitude and starts to be reflected in our actions.

Violence comes from our hearts and our thinking patterns. If we justify our feelings of hatred and desire of revenge, we will evidence violence in our marriage, our family, with our colleagues and even against ourselves. Most of us have used violence of some degree. Violence destroys our self-worth, our relationships, our family and our future.

That’s why God is against violence. Violence doesn’t make us any good. God wants us to be connected to Him, to our friends and family, to our neighborhoods and to a healthy view of ourselves.

Violence starts in our hearts… my heart… your heart... and it must be cured there.

I agree with some gun control regulations and better measures to help the mentally ill. It will prevent the effect of self-inflicted wounds of gun owners, and their families. But what is wrong in our heart cannot be cured by some external superficial solutions.  

God says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).

This is why moral, heartfelt transformation, is the best solution to the deadly and dangerous ills that are plaguing our society. We need a new heart.

Instead of violence, we need forgiveness, peace, understanding, and patience. Healing from violence brings peace and joy, which is so much more desirable then destruction.

God can help us change. But we should make the decision. And we should be sincere. God promised to give you a new heart, a heart more like His. And when God promises something, He does it.

Start today. Reject every destructive though. Remember Jesus at the cross, who was able to forgive even his torturers. Ask God to put His thoughts in your mind. Don´t let anger to overtake your thinking. Forgive as soon as you detect anger against somebody in your heart. Love people, love and try to understand. Love has healing powers. And finally, love satisfies more than violence. We love not only when people deserve it, we love when we decide to love.

Daniel Martin

danielmartinusa@hotmail.com

http://workplacewis.blogspot.com/

Passover Welcome

Passover Welcome

Daniel Martin

Spring is taking longer to show up. Somebody said that they are going to take groundhogs to the court. (ja ja!)

Welcome to the online format of Workplace Wisdom. I am so happy to be with you after a pause while we were rethinking this publication. Thanks to all of you who signed up for the email format. It gives you the additional benefit of being able to reply with questions, suggestions, or to engage in a debate.

Passover is a special time for celebration for Jews and Christians. Jews celebrate their nation’s biggest liberation event. Around 1450 BC, Jews were slaves in Egypt and experienced a miraculous liberation guided by an important hero called Moses who took them to Canaan, the Promised Land, which later was called Israel. The word “Pass-over” comes from the phenomena they experienced in Egypt when the plague of death “past-over” their houses and their children were spared while every other household suffered death. This was the last of ten plagues. It confused Pharaoh and he let all the slaves depart from Egypt with their families, animals and provisions. They were able to cross the Red Sea miraculously and wander through the desert until they arrived at the Promised Land. This is called the Exodus. The second book of the Bible has that name.

When Jews commemorate this foundational historical event, they have a special meal which symbolizes the different aspects of this event. It helps them remember that God had a purpose in mind with His people. It helps to see life, and the future, with hope and purpose.

Christians celebrate pass-over with a new meaning. Jesus celebrated the Jewish pass-over before he was arrested and he gave the meal a refreshing meaning, including the remembrance of his own death that was about to happen.

When celebrating Pass-over, Christians remember Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection, witnessed by more than 500 ocular witnesses and registered in writings to posterity by 4 of them. Jesus’ resurrection is central to the Christian faith. An empty tomb reminds us that we celebrate the victory of life over death. Popular culture includes symbols of life like eggs (which are a promise of a new life), or rabbits (which are known to reproduce life very quickly).   

Like the Jewish Pass-over, Christians also celebrate a liberation event: “Liberation from Sin”. Jesus’ death is a payment for our debt with God. Because of Him, transformation is possible. We can be forgiven and reconciled with God. If we really repent, we don’t need to carry the burden of guilt or continue with a destructive behavior all of our life. We are able to decide a good path for our life. We can see life and the future with hope. We can experience God’s love for us and through us. We can find meaning and purpose in life.

Passover should remind us of the One who loves us more than anybody else. He was ready to die so that we could experience real life.

Passover should remind us of the possibility of change, renewal and victory. If death couldn’t stop Jesus, His power can help us overcome any difficulties in life.

Passover should remind us that Jesus is alive and that he came to give us real life. Sin brings death to our life. We should resurrect from sin and experience an abundant life.

Passover should remind us that Jesus paid to enable us to have good relationships: with God, with ourselves and with others.

Open your heart to God and accept all these gifts He brings to you today. 

Happy Passover!

I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun, not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else. CSLewis

Do what God has put in your heart and trust Him to take care of your critics. Joel Osteen ‏

“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.” ― St. Augustine

Daniel Martin

danielmartinusa@hotmail.com

http://workplacewis.blogspot.com/