Parables : how do we read them?

   A. THE GENERAL THEME IS "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN"...
      1. As suggested by Mt 13:11
      2. As illustrated with several parables, which all start with 
         "The kingdom of heaven is like..." - Mt 13:24,31,33,44,45,47
      3. Indeed, "the kingdom of heaven" was the theme of...
         a. Jesus' itinerant ministry - Mt 4:17,23
         b. His sermon on the mount - Mt 5:3,10,19-20; 6:10,33; 7:21

  B. THREE "SUB-THEMES" ARE STRESSED IN THE PARABLES...

 
     1. The character of the KINGDOM - for example...

 
        a. The Parable of the Mustard Seed

          b. The Parable of the Leaven
reasure
         d. The Parable of the Pearl o
         c. The Parable of the Hidden 
Tf Great Price
The character of the KING - for example...
      2.
 
        a. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

          b. The Parable of the Lost Son
The character of the KING'S SUBJECTS - for example...
      3.
 
        a. The Parable of the Good Samaritan

          b. The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Of course, the sub-themes often overlap in some parables, but they 

[clearly demonstrate that the overall theme of the parables was "the 
kingdom of heaven."


Read more here: 

http://executableoutlines.com/pa/pa_01.htm

Luke 12:34 guard our heart

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12&version=NIV


My thoughts:

I was greatly blessed by this sermon by Pastor Chew today. I have often felt in a dilemna towards money and God. This sermon clearly showed that MONEY is just an object, it is the use of it.

The Pastor challenged us to think, "What is the root of the problem?"

The man appears to be saving for the future, is that wrong?

The man did not appear to rob or steal to gain his fortune.

Is that wrong?

Nothing wrong. But it is how the storage of wealth solely for oneself, which is wrong.

If wealth takes priority over God, that is wrong.

Felt totally enlightened and compelled to share.

God and Money : Exclusives?

Location:	Stewardship

God and money
byCrown Financial Ministries


God says that if we pray for anything in His will, believing, it will be given to us. However, God's will and His ways do not always coincide with ours. So, when we turn our finances over to God, we also must be willing to accept His direction.

Too often we impatiently seek our own way without any clear direction from Him, sometimes even borrowing money to do His work. We forget that God says He will not frustrate His work for the lack of money (see Luke 22:35).

There is nothing wrong with asking God's direction, but it is wrong to go our own way without waiting for God's answer.

In order for us to recognize God's directives, it may be necessary first to understand God's view of money and how He uses it to enhance our relationship with Him.

How and for what purpose God uses money
Money is neither good nor bad: it is merely a medium of exchange. It is the misuse and abuse of money that cause the problems.

Because God is so good, He uses money for our benefit in several different ways.

1. God uses money to strengthen our trust in Him. It is often through money that God can clearly and objectively show us that He is in total control, if we will trust Him and accept our positions as stewards and managers of His possessions (see Matthew 6:32-33).
   
2. God uses money to develop our trustworthiness. This principle is important because our lives generally revolve around making, spending, saving, and using money. If He can trust us with money, He can trust us with greater responsibilities and His true riches (see Luke 16:11).
   
3. God uses money to prove His love. Scripture tells us that God assumes the responsibility of providing the basic necessities for everyone who trusts in Him (see Matthew 7:11). By transferring all money to Him, He often uses money to meet those necessities of life.
   
4. God uses money to demonstrate His faithfulness. Moses reminded Israel that it was God who would give them the power to make wealth. Our security is in God, not in our bank accounts. Discovering His faithfulness though financial needs encourages reliance on Him.
   
5. God uses money to unite Christians in blessings. God will use the abundance of one Christian to supply the needs of another. Surplus money in our lives has been given by God for the purpose of helping those who are in need.
   
6. God uses money to provide direction. There is probably no way God can direct our lives more meticulously than through the abundance or lack of money. Too often we believe God directs our lives through the abundance of money, but He also will lead us down His directed path by withholding money.
   
7. God uses money to cultivate self-control. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, a key aspect of successful money management.
   
8. God uses money to clarify spiritual maturity. Many temptations clamor for Christians' attention. A great deal can be learned about our personal character and spiritual maturity by noticing how we handle money and determine financial priorities.

Areas in which God does not use money
Just like there are several ways in which God uses money for our benefit, there are several areas in which God never uses money to influence our lives.

1. God never uses money to worry us. If Christians are worried, frustrated, and upset about money, God is not in control. God said that wealth without worry is His plan for our lives. In addition, He promises to meet the needs of those who trust in Him (see Matthew 6:25).
   
2. God never uses money to corrupt us. Many Christians have fallen into Satan's trap and are being corrupted. Christians whose financial life is characterized by greed, ego, deceit, and other worldly snares are at enmity with God and His plan.
   
3. God never uses money to build egos. Frequently, Christians are trapped by financial ego in that they use money in an attempt to build self-worth and ego. However, in Christ all are financially equal because all wealth will pass away. What will remain will be those things that have been laid up in heaven—the true wealth.
   
4. God never allows money to satisfy our personal whims or desires. God does not expect His people to live in poverty; however, He also does not endorse lavishness. Surplus is provided so that God's work can be funded and those in need can be helped. If the surplus is hoarded or wasted on lavishness rather than used for His plan and purpose, chances are the surplus will be removed.

Conclusion
God offers countless financial principles, intended to make our lives meaningful, because He's interested in us and how we earn and spend money.

Once we understand how God uses money and why He chooses to use it in a particular way, we generally become more familiar with His plans and purposes for our lives and are able to recognize and comprehend His directives.

Read: http://www.crown.org/library/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=406

Train Your Brain to Success

Train Your Brain for Success

by Roger Seip

INTRODUCTION

Mental Factor #1: Success Leaves Clues
• Achievement of your goals is a function of how you think and what you do, not luck or circumstance.
• One of the fastest ways to get where you want to go is to simply find somebody who’s gotten there and copy what he or she did.

Mental Factor #2: What You See Is What You Get
• The pictures you see in your mind tend to be the results you get in your life.
• The more clearly you can picture the results you want, the more likely you are to deliver the performance that produces those results.

Mental Factor #3: What You See Is What You Look For
• Reticular Activating System (RAS) acts as a filter on your brain. It causes you to notice what you teach it to notice. For example, you buy a new car and now all you see on the road is the brand of car you purchased.
• You can use RAS to achieve your goals much more quickly.

The Bad News: Your Comfort Zone Limits You
• The homeostatic impulse – the desire to stay where you are.
• No growth can occur in the Comfort Zone.

The Good News: You can move your Comfort Zone to any place you prefer.

The Really Good News: Small Changes Make a Huge Difference
• You don’t need to be 100 percent better to see 100 percent improvement.
• A small change, the winning edge, makes a huge difference in results.
• The tiniest perceived difference can make the difference between getting the deal and not getting the deal

SECTION #1 – LEARNING FOUNDATIONS

LEARNING FOUNDATION #1 – YOUR INSTANT RECALL MEMORY

LEARNING FOUNDATION #2 – YOUR SMART READING CAPACITY

Why You Read Like A Sixth Grader and What to Do About It
• Consider the impact of reading however fast you want, at whatever level of comprehension you need, based on what’s right for you in your particular situation.

Train Your Brain for Success By Roger Seip Page 2 of 6


Three Reading Habits You Can Reduce
• Mind Wandering (aka Daydreaming) – the fix for this is to read faster
• Regression (aka Going Back)
• Subvocalization (aka Mental Whispering) – the attempt to hear every word in your head. To reduce this habit actively use your eyes and/or hands to actively

Two Eye-Movement Terms You Need to Know
• Fixation: your eye muscles will cause your eyes to stop four times per second. Each stop is a fixation, the only time that information can register through to your brain.
• Eye Span: the width of text your eyes take in every time your eyes stop. To increase reading speed, simply widen your eye span.

To increase eye speed feel your eyes bouncing along the page in a rhythmic manner. Depending on the width of the column, bounce your eyes 1, 2 or 3 times per line.

SECTION 2 – THE COMPONENTS OF YOUR RECORD-BREAKING LIFE

COMPONENT #1 – HAVING ENERGIZING GOALS

Goals provide focus and a sense of urgency.
• In order for your brain to function optimally, your brain must have a clear focus. Clear focus calms our mind.
• Your subconscious mind is going to focus on something. If we give it nothing to focus on, its tendency will be to find something negative.
• By consciously providing your mind a clear and positive focus, it turns toward what you really want instead of focusing on anything that comes to mind.

There are five characteristics of a truly energizing goal. It must be:
1. Meaningful to you.
It must be a goal that excites you, makes you passionate when you think about achieving it.
2. Specific and measurable and a deadline can really help.
By giving your goals specific numbers, measurements and deadlines you create accountability. When you accept accountability, you accept responsibility, and it is nearly impossible to make progress until you do this.
3. The right size.
They must be small enough that you can genuinely believe you can accomplish them but large enough to make you stretch. They should make you feel a little uncomfortable.

Train Your Brain for Success By Roger Seip Page 3 of 6

4. Written down and ideally turned into images.
Keep in mind your subconscious mind thinks in pictures. If you can create an image of success for your mind to focus on in conjunction with a written description, that’s ideal.
5. Reviewed regularly.
I should be able to call you at two in the morning, wake you from a dead sleep, and ask you your most important goals, and you should be able to state them as quickly as if I had asked you your name.

Five Things to Do to Heighten Your Focus for Accomplishing Your Goals
1. Narrow it Down –
Write down the 5 or 6 most important goals you want to accomplish in the next 90 days. Narrow down the time frame and the number of goals. Why? Ninety days is about the amount of time a person can stay highly focused on one major objective.
2. Identify the Keystone Goal –
the keystone is the one goal, that by focusing intensely on its accomplishment, you support the majority of your other goals.
3. Solidify the Why –
Why is the accomplishment of this goal important to you? What will I feel like once this goal is completed?
4. Make it Visual –
Your conscious minds thinks linearly, sequentially, coherently while your subconscious thinks in pictures and moves powerfully toward them.
5. Create Supporting Rituals – a.
When you wake up in the morning establish a new, positive way of thinking. Express your gratitude. Create your own conscious programming habits for the first hour of the day. Stick to them for 30 days and a habit is formed.
b.
And during the last hour of your day, take a moment and review your goals and express gratitude for the positive things that happened during your day. This will key your thoughts for a restful night of sleep.
　
Overcoming Barriers – Emotional & Mental Barriers
1. Unwillingness to Accept 100% Responsibility –
Most people are simply not willing to accept they are in charge of their life 100 percent. Blaming others or considering ourselves a victim happens when we aren’t willing to accept we have complete charge of our lives.
2. Unwillingness to Look Foolish –
Or the fear of criticism or fear of failure. This is detrimental because reaching our goals requires risk and getting out of our comfort zone. When we fear looking foolish, we can’t do either.
3. Unwillingness to Take Action –
To achieve things requires action. There are two common responses that come with this barrier: a. Procrastination – the tendency to put things off.

Train Your Brain for Success By Roger Seip Page 4 of 6

b.
Analysis paralysis – someone who gathers all the information, makes elaborate preparations but is unwilling to act.
4. Inability to Stay on Track –
We get easily distracted. Identify what gets you off track from achieving each of your goals then eliminate the distraction. For example, you want to lose 10 lbs, but you keep junk food and candy at home. Get rid of it.
5. Being Overwhelmed by Your Goals or Putting Too Much Pressure on Yourself –
Too much pressure shuts down your brain. To overcome this tendency: a. Do your thinking all at once – When you are in the middle of what you need to do it’s not the time to be thinking about the details. Prepare, think prior to the event, and then let your mind go into automatic pilot.
b. Break your goals into bite size pieces that are doable by themselves, but overwhelming when looked at as a whole.
c. Make a game of your goals –
give yourself small rewards for achieving a bit size piece of your goal.
　
COMPONENT #2 – BEING FULLY PRESENT

Common Myths of Time Management
1. The Myth of Balance –
Balance doesn’t exist in our society, and even if it did you wouldn’t want it. What you want is harmony, i.e., a life that is unbalanced but in a way that works for you.
2. The Myth that Time Can Be Managed –
You can’t manage time, so stop trying. We have control over or influence over how we act, what we prioritize and what we focus on. Manage those and you are dealing with time as you are meant to.
3. The Myth of "Enough" Time –
We make time for every single thing that’s important to us. The real issue with "not enough" time is we spend too much time on things that are not really important to us – TV, booze, and other time wasters.

What Exactly is Time Management Then?
– If you want to get great at using your time effectively, you’ll really be managing:
1. Your priorities –
what’s important to you.
2. Your focus –
where do you put your attention at any given moment.
3. Your activities –
what you do with any given moment, hour, day or week.

Train Your Brain for Success By Roger Seip Page 5 of 6


The Four Quadrants – The Eisenhower Matrix
Quadrant #1 – Important and Urgent
Quadrant #2 – Important but not urgent
Quadrant #3 – Urgent but not important
Quadrant #4 – Urgent and not important
Time Management Questions
1. What quadrant am I in right now?
2. Is what I’m doing right now moving me toward my goals?
3. Is this the best use of my time right now?

The Two-Hour Solution
– is a specific, seven-step method of investing two hours per week, for the purpose of mentally creating the next two weeks of your life.
• Set aside a two-hour block of uninterrupted time
• The purpose is to mentally create your upcoming week in quite a bit of detail, and at least a vague idea of the following week. This is not just making a to-do list.
• This should happen sometime between the end of one work week and the beginning of the next.


The Seven Steps of the Two-Hour Solution

Step 1 – Reconnect with Your Goals –
if you’re not clear on what you want to accomplish, how you run your week is irrelevant.

Step 2 – Review and Block Off Your Commitments –
Questions to ask yourself:
• What are your desired outcomes?
• Should this meeting happen at all?
• How can this time be used most effectively?
• What kind of prep time do I need for this meeting/deadline?


Step 3 – Schedule Excellence Time –
the key is to schedule time for my Quadrant #2 type activities or they simply don’t happen.

Step 4 – Schedule Your Green Time –
i.e., those activities in your professional life that over the long-term make you money. Identify these activities. In my case it is marketing (i.e., social media, blogging, updating my website) and prospecting through getting a loan application signed up.Train Your Brain for Success By Roger Seip Page 6 of 6

Step 5 – Schedule Your Red Time –
i.e. those activities in your professional life that doesn’t directly get you paid but does support your green time. For me it’s from signed application to loan closing. Also includes paying bills, resolving computer issues and other administrative tasks.

Step 6 – Schedule (or at least notice) Your Flex Time –
you set aside these blocks of time into which you can put whatever you want.

Step 7 – Schedule Your Re-Creation Time –
time planned to take care of yourself – mind, body and spirit. This would include exercising, vacations, reading, golfing, etc. If you don’t take care of you, who will?

Top Tips for Supercharging Your Productivity
1. Get crystal clear on your goals –
which automatically heightens both your focus and energy level and it becomes much clearer how to prioritize your activities.
2. Add by subtraction –
the greatest waste of time is to do perfectly what needn’t be done at all. Determine what needs to be cut from your life.
3. The Daily Big Six –
identify the six most important things you can accomplish each day and your focus and sense of urgency skyrockets.
4. Organize at the end of the day –
sometime between ending your workday and going to bed, take the few minutes you need to decide on your Daily Big Six for the next day. This allows your subconscious to work for you while you are sleeping.
5. Ramp up your self-discipline –
"Successful people form the habit of doing what unsuccessful people don’t like to do." by Albert Gray author of the Common Denominator of Success
6. Stop multitasking –
it doesn’t work. Focus on one thing at a time.
7. Work in bursts –
you can focus on one thing for about 20 minutes at a time. After that your brain needs a break. So incorporate short breaks into your routine.
8. Work during primetimes –
determine what times of the day are you’re most productive and schedule your day around them.
9. Set boundaries on technology –
decide ahead of time when you’ll respond to texts, e-mails, and voicemails and let people know.
10.Take advantage of Parkinson’s Law –
which states, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." Therefore, compress deadlines. Try giving yourself less time than you think you need.
11.Become a spectacular listener –
when talking with a potential client, listen intently to what they are requesting. Ask good questions that probe their motivations. If you don’t understand, keep clarifying until you do.

Fantastic Soldier for God's Army- Keeping the Bible Verses Close to Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU-1dRtNKLX5cVmp76Z6Yghg&v=U8ikXaBsdbc&feature=player_detailpage

An amazing parenting blog from this mummy-- sharing the values and faith in God that truly matters.

We all need some encouragement to feel energised and embolden! :)

Thank you for energizing me with your blog Leonny. Feel greatly blessed!

http://www.oureverydaythings.com/

Send a free DaySpring Ecard Today

I always enjoy receiving cards with heartfelt message. Today, I finally managed to take a breather and want to send ecards to my loved ones, to let them know I care.  I love the meaningful messages and often feel uplifted when I see them. If you don't have time for anything, at least make time for this. Drop someone a note, to show you appreciate or care for them.

Words laced with grace and love, is always well-received. It dawned on me that no matter what, it is important for us to speak with gentless and show we care. No one cares how much you know, until he / she knows how much you care.

Connecting people through the words of God through encouragement. How sweet.

Investment Opportunity in Ringgit (Forex)

Malaysia: Firm economic recovery underpinned surprising interest rate hike; Good for KLCI March 10, 2010


The central bank recently raised OPR by 25 basis points to 2.25% which surprised many investors. Here, we will take a closer look at the implications of the rate hike to the equity market and economy.  (Author : iFAST Research Team)

Keynotes

• OPR was raised by 25 basis points in BNM's latest monetary statement, a surprise to many investors.

• The rate hike was underpinned by a stronger than expected economic recovery.

• Rate hike is expected to damper loan growth albeit in a mild manner.

• RM is expected to appreciate against USD which bodes well for the equity market, but might hurt exports temporarily.

• BNM demonstrates its commitment to ensure a sustainable economic recovery by controlling inflation expectations while interest rates remain accomodative. Equity market outlook remains optimistic.

The hike in interest rate is expected to lead to the appreciation of the ringgit. Interesting to note that there is a stronger than expected turnaround in the economy. Malaysia economy moved out of recession in 4Q 09 by posting a better than expected y-o-y growth of 4.5%, bringing GDP growth of -1.7% y-o-y in 2009. This was much higher than market consensus of -2.4% y-o-y.

With all investments, I always believer in doing sufficient research in websites like FundSupermart, or Poems and more publications, then discern, what is worthy of investing. Do not be penny wise, and pound foolish! :P

Getting Ahead in Finance Careers

Essential Skills in Getting Ahead in Finance Careers

The finance industry is notorious to be THE industry which is well-paying, but demanding. Rightfully so, for the demands of an internal auditor or financial analyst, is high and to be in this industry, one must have tenacity. Long hours during Chinese New Year (also known as the peak period) for external auditors from Big Four, are also "character building". How will I know? Well, having gone through this "character building" exercise, here are some qualities, which are essential to getting ahead in the professional trends in this fast evolving industry.

1) Communication Skills
Finance professionals are expected to communicate with many different departments within an organisation, and even external (such as handling external auditors during the financial year end). It is essential that one communicates and conveys complex financial information to non- financial audiences in a succient and palatable manner. Leveraging on interpersonal skills, to win over the hearts of audiences when making strategic recommendations are essential. All too often, a finance professional focuses on the statistics and forget to weave a story together as a package to the audience.

2) Technology Expertise
I did not realise the importance of upgrading my technological skills, until I joined the commercial world. The use of Micorsoft Access to generate query database, and pivot tables in Microsoft Excel are basics which one should know. If you need to learn how to make the best use of a new system or application, consider taking a software course or attend seminars to leverage on technology. Especially with the emphasis on Fraud Detection, your technology expertise is your selling point.

3) Global Perspective
The world's borders are increasingly blurry and as many functions become outsourced, it is imperative that we continue to demonstrate the need and understanding of accounting principles in other countries. Many countries are ramping up on Transfer pricing, and having a good mind on how the tax authorities are putting things together is a value-adding capbility.

There is so much one can do, in the finance industry. If your are keen to find out what opportunities are out there and seeking career advancements, here is the perfect opportunity- Getting ahead in finance careers.

Staying on Our A-Game for Ladies

What if you could have a career makeover in just half a day?

How much time are you willing to invest into your career? Chances are, you have already invested a lot into your career. Everyday, you are expending time, energy and effort to make your career work.

What if you could have a career makeover in just half a day? Now you can!

This specially designed half-day seminar to get you started on your career makeover. At this seminar, you will:

• Discover your personalized inventory of career strengths and how you can build upon them

• Gain fresh new perspectives on your career pathways

• Learn new strategies for achieving work-life balance and fulfilling your dreams