Author: Angela
If Heaven Is All Around Us, Is Hell Right In Front Of Us?
As I left a local eatery after having had lunch with my sister, I pondered our many conversations throughout the rest of the day. Her and I typically have deep and thought-provoking conversations, and this was another one to add to the mix. The conversation that stood out the most was our discussion of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Our greatest strengths in life can also be our greatest weaknesses. Without balance of both, we will find ourselves living in chaos.
As night fell I thought it would be great to try to capture some pictures of lightning crashing on the fairway. I gathered up some things and went outside in hopes for storm pictures. Unfortunately the storm never came to where I was, but something more amazing appeared to the camera and to me as I began to photograph the moon. It was something that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye.
The first picture appeared normal and beautiful,
with only clouds and the moon.
The photographs became more amazing as I continued to shoot.
The moon is still in the clouds,
however there is a giant Orb floating above it.
As you can see, it is pretty good size.
In this photo the clouds covered the moon to make a heart.
This photo is unexplainable. I was not moving,
so it’s not an issue of movement or blurring.
The houses are clear and stationary in both corners of the picture.
In this photo the moon grew longer. Again, houses are stationary. It reminded me of the serpent’s tail and provoked deep thoughts from within me.
If our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses; Could it be possible that the same object that gives us life, light and energy is also what the bible refers to as the fires of hell?
Is it possible that people have wondered for centuries where hell is, and it has been right in front of us all along? Often times in life when we are searching the hardest for something, we find that it was right under our nose the entire time. And if heaven is all around us as generations in the past have said, then wouldn’t it make sense for hell to be right in front of us?
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Be Careful Who You Choose
We must be careful who we choose as friends, partners, companions or spouses.
If they lie to others in front of you, they will lie to you too.
If they talk about others in front of you, they will talk about you too.
If they steal in front of you, they will steal from you too.
If they disrespect others in front of you, they will disrespect you too.
If they hide who they are from others, they will hide from you too.
If they cheat on someone to be with you, they will cheat on you too.
If they blame others for their problems, someday they will blame you.
Watch their actions and hear their words. Then decide what kind of company you would like to keep. What we watch them do to others, is often what they will someday do to us. How they speak of others is how they do or will eventually speak of us. It has proven to be true in many situations.
If they aren’t treating others the way you would want to be treated, it may be a flag. Perhaps they are putting up a front for you? It may be time to question a few things.
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Time for a new life-do
There is no such thing as dead ends.
Only new growth, new paths, and new beginnings.
It is time to cut off the dead ends in our life; just as we would our hair. In fact, we will call it a new “life-do”. A new “life-do” not only makes life lighter, but healthier and happier too.
Step 1 Get Back to your roots – Find yourself and love what you find. Worry about what you think, your standards, and your level of acceptance. Separate the pieces that have too much weight and trim those pieces off. Then begin step 2.
Step 2 Shampoo with the tears – Our tears shampoo our life-do. The teach us, and they clean us out. They wash away the dirt, bacteria, and other substances. They water us, so our limbs become longer and stronger.
Step 3 Condition with prayer – Using prayer as a conditioner in our “life-do” is the final touch. With prayer will come discernment, hope, understanding and peace. Without this high quality conditioner our “life-do” becomes limp, lifeless, and unfashionable.
Step 4 Flat iron with courage – and style as desired. Be creative. Be bold. And admire the new life-do. When you fall in love with you, the world will too.
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Lying Before God Under Oath
Why would one swear before God to be honest yet still lie, when God always knows the truth?
I am finding that these are the people in society who have deep seeded psychological issues. For them there is very little hope. The only thing that truth seekers can do, is be thankful that they do not partake in the liars evil ways.
People take the stand in a courtroom raising their hand to our maker that they will profess the truth, and then they lie. It happens every day in this world, but why would one choose to lie before God and man? Especially when truth always comes out in the wash!
Perhaps it is strictly because they have no conscience that they lie? Maybe they enjoy playing victim because they are filled with shame. Or perhaps it helps their tormented mind to think they are fooling everyone. As we all know, all they are really doing is exposing that they are indeed the fool.
Facing a liar in the courtroom:
The liars who trip themselves up during their testimony are somewhat humorous. When they realize they are caught they get a look of panic, start to twitch, and suddenly begin turning red and mumbling. Sometimes they are unknowing of how to answer a question, so they look at their lawyer with that look of a deer in headlights. They too, know they are caught.
When faced with a liar in the courtroom, stay calm and remember that God is on the strongest of battalions. Those who swear to Him publicly under oath and commit perjury, will see many dark days ahead. God will have vengeance on them.
Instead of getting flustered by the lies just smile knowing that you will be okay. And for them… God will have His way. Leave it in His hands. The more you wish well for them, the stronger His vengeance will be.
A special note for those who choose to lie in a court room :
Every word spoken in the court room during a trial is being recorded for later reading. Everything said can then be compared and contrasted, then ultimately the truth will be seen. With evidence presented or even not presented mixed with some common sense and reading skills; liars in the courtroom are easily spotted.
Play your case however you wish, but in the end the truth is what wins.
The Benefits Of Honesty
Lying can make people victorious initially, but it is only temporary. By being honest in all areas you will gain respect from others in the long run; which is far more admirable. It takes much strength to be honest in all situations. And those lacking honesty; simply lack character, insight, and direction. Fear dictates their lives.
As we know the truth will be seen eventually, and those that once screamed victory from the revelation of lies; will realize they were defeated all along. They defeated themselves the moment they delivered those lies and deception. They defeated themselves by remaining in denial. And they will continue to defeat themselves until there is a realization that life is far too short, to live a lie.
When looking at the big picture one can clearly see that lying brings about failure, while remaining honest promotes success. I have seen it time and time again. My best advice to anyone that reads this; is advice that was once passed to me. “Just be honest. It may bite you at first, but eventually, others will see that what you are/were saying is real.” Once others begin to separate the truth from the lies, and the facts from the fiction; you can experience true victory without having compromised who you are in the process.
“Stand for the truth at all times.
As liars begin to trip themselves up, you will still be standing.
It is much easier to stand; than continuing to fall.”
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The Importance Of Breaking Cycles
“We must break the cycle before it breaks us”
Cycles can be vicious and are often hard to break. To break them, we must continuously focus on the big picture. We have to focus on the positive side of breaking the cycle. By focusing there we will find the cycle broken sooner rather than later.
If we opt not to break the cycle, it eventually will break us more than it already has. Not to mention there are already plenty of broken people in the world. By breaking the cycle, we can then begin to help those broken people in the world who are in a cycle quite like ours was.
“We know we have broken the cycle once we find ourselves helping
others break that same cycle. And with that, there is much hope.”
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Are You Leaving a Legacy, Or a Liability?
As parents we all want what is best for our children. However, what some parents fail to realize in terms of co-dependent children is that they are no longer leaving a legacy, but yet, a liability.
By leaving a legacy one must raise self-sufficient children. They should be children capable of making their own wise and practical decisions upon adulthood. They should be children who feel compelled to do more with their life than the previous generation. And most importantly, they should be emotionally healthy children who feel they can be who they are, not who we imagined or wanted them to be.
Examples:
Just because we have run the family business, doesn’t mean we should expect our children to take over someday. They will likely have plans of their own.
Just because we played a particular sport and excelled, doesn’t mean we should force our children to play it if they have no interest.
Just because they dream the impossible, doesn’t mean we should squash their dreams.
Our job is to encourage their successes, and help guide them when they encounter failure. It is to teach them how to handle their own relationships vs., being a dictator for their relationships. Our job is tough, but to raise healthy children with the ability to maintain healthy adult relationships, we must push them to do well. We must teach them to put forth effort. We must help them learn to look at the big picture.
Signs of leaving a liability:
The adult child comes to you for every one of life’s hurdles.
The adult child now expects the parent to take care of financial responsibilities.
The adult child now expects parents to bail them out.
The adult child now has no insight.
The adult child now has dependency issues aside from their relationship with their parents. Most likely chemical dependencies.
The adult child is now angry.
The adult child, will then likely leave another liability for their children. And the trend continues. However, there are ways to avoid leaving a liability. And there are proven ways to leave a legacy. Proven ways to leave a legacy are as follows:
Encourage and comfort your children.
Listen to their feelings and respect that they have their own minds, and opinions.
Do not try to control who they are, better yet guide them to where they should be.
Allow them to suffer consequences of their actions. They need tough love. They have their own friends to be best friends with.
And most importantly, practice what you preach. Be a good role model.
I once heard a saying from a parent that said : Well I guess if I was your best friend, and you loved me all the time; then I wouldn’t be a very good parent. And I agree with that statement. There will be times our children do not agree with our decisions in parenting. There will be times they do not understand our reasoning and we find ourselves saying what we once heard: Someday you will understand….when you have kids of your own.
These days I see more parents trying to be best buddies with their kids. They are there to rescue them from situations the kids/adult children put themselves into. Rather than showing tough love so lessons can be learned, they throw them preserver after preserver.
Tough love is absolutely the hardest step for people to take in any forms of relationships. But without it, we leave a liability. We should be leaving a legacy instead. We should be allowing our children to live their own life, and a life that they are proud of. An honest life, and a life with an abundance of good people with direction.
Are you leaving a legacy or a liability? Are you teaching bad habits? Or are you setting a good example instead? The quote that children learn what they live, has much insight. What are your children learning from you?
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer, 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Thoughts and Quote Of The Day
“Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad.
Let God deal with the things they do. Hate in your heart will consume you too.”
– Will Smith
When people put you down – let it go. They do it because they feel bad about themselves.
When people lie to you and hide things – let it go. They do it because they have lost sight of who they are. They are best friends with fear and denial.
When people make false promises – let it go. They are too self absorbed to notice most of the time.
When people disrespect you – let it go. It is because they do not respect themselves.
When people discourage you – let it go. It’s because they lack that courage themselves.
When people hate you – let it go and love them anyway. Hate and anger will destroy you. Love is much simpler.
When people can’t say thank you – let it go. There will come a day they wished they would have.
When you find yourself upset – let it go. It’s better to choose happiness.
When people refuse to pay time or attention to things that matter to you – let it go. God will send you people that will.
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerers, 2009-2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Will The Truth Ever Reveal Itself?
When you feel discouraged by those around you living a dishonest life and you know you are being honest; think of the quote above. The more you pray and live right, the sooner the truth will reveal itself. It always does, in all ways.
Do not be discouraged. Time will reveal all of the answers we seek. And time always reveals who people really are.
© Angela Bininger and The Empowerer 2009-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this websites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Bininger and The Empowerer with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The Empoweror 