Pusat Kehidupan

Pusat dari kehidupan sebenarnya berada pada Kerajaan Surga, di sanalah terletak kontrol penuh dari pergerakan segenap alam semesta, bumi ini hanya persinggahan sementara, sifatnya yang fana dan semu tidak bisa dijadikan inti dari tujuan hidup. Maka dari itu perbuatlah segala sesuatu bagi Tuhan Yesus Kristus sang Raja dan pemilik dari Kerajaan Surga.

Menghadapi Masalah

Jangan melarikan diri dari masalah, sebaliknya, hadapi dan perbaikilah keadaannya. Karena masalah yang datang ditujukan untuk menyadarkan dan mengajar kita, supaya di dalam setiap situasi kita akan mampu untuk melewatinya dengan penuh kemenangan. Berdoalah dan mintalah petunjuk kepada Tuhan, Ia yang memiliki seluruh kehidupan akan menuntun kita kepada jalan yang terbaik.

Jenis Makanan Yang Dilarang Alkitab

Jenis Makanan Yang Dilarang

Di dalam ayat Kis 15:22-34, Paulus mengirimkan suratnya kepada jemaat Antiokhia, nampaknya ada beberapa pengajaran yang menggelisahkan dan menggoyahkan hati mereka (ayat 24).

Nampaknya ada beberapa peraturan yang ditetapkan secara berlebihan, karena di ayat 28 tertulis : “Sebab adalah keputusan Roh Kudus dan keputusan kami, supaya kepada kamu jangan ditanggungkan lebih banyak beban dari pada yang perlu ini:”

Ayat 29: “kamu harus menjauhkan diri dari makanan yang dipersembahkan kepada berhala, dari darah, dari daging binatang yang mati dicekik dan dari percabulan. Jikalau kamu memelihara diri dari hal-hal ini, kamu berbuat baik. Sekianlah, selamat."

Jadi intinya, Paulus mengirim surat untuk menenangkan hati penduduk Antiokhia, bahwa selain daripada makan makanan yang dipersembahkan kepada berhala, makan darah dan daging binatang yang dicekik (daging binatan yang dicekik mengandung darah, karena tidak dipotong, sehingga darahnya tidak keluar), yang lain boleh dimakan, dan tentunya percabulan dalam bentuk apapun dilarang. Hal ini dijelaskan Paulus merupakan keputusan Roh Kudus.

Melalui perikop ini kita mengetahui, bahwa ada beberapa jenis makanan yang jelas dilarang, tetapi sampai sekarang orang Kristen masih mengkonsumsinya dengan sadar, tahu dengan jelas apa yang mereka makan, dengan bermacam-macam dalih.

Memang benar pada Kisah Rasul 10 dijelaskan bahwa semua jenis daging binatang boleh dimakan, tapi tidak semua makanan boleh dimakan, tiga jenis makanan yang tertulis di atas tetap dilarang, bukan dianggap haram, tapi dilarang. Kalau hanya haram, si pemakan akan menjadi najis, tapi makan sesuatu yang dilarang berakibat pada penghukuman, bahkan kematian. (baca Im 17:14, Kej 9:4).

Mungkin makanan sembahan berhala banyak yang menyatakan tidak boleh dimakan, karena jelas jemaat sudah mengerti bahwa makanan-makanan tersebut telah diserahkan kepada setan terlebih dahulu, tetapi larangan makan darah masih diperdebatkan dengan mengambil alasan dari ayat-ayat tertentu.

Darah adalah nyawa, nyawa mahluk hidup apapun kepunyaan Tuhan, janganlah kita melangkahi apa yang diperintahkanNya. Darah sakral nilainya, pada jaman sebelum Yesus penebusan dosa dengan darah domba, lembu dll., tetapi setelah Yesus datang, Ia memberikan darahNya sebagai media penebusan dosa seluruh umat yang percaya.

(Note: darah di sini merupakan artian harafiah, jadi bukan termasuk perjamuan kudus).

Di dalam ilmu kedokteran-pun darah dinyatakan tidak sehat untuk dikonsumsi, karena mengandung banyak kuman penyakit dan virus.

Kita diberikan banyak privilege, kemudahan dan berbagai fasilitas dari Tuhan dalam menjalankan hidup ini, bila kita masih bisa menentukan mana yang baik dan benar, menuruti Firman Tuhan dengan segenap hati, kenapa harus memilih hal-hal yang dilarang dengan mengungkapkan dalih-dalih untuk memuaskan nafsu kedagingan yang kelewat besar? Ingatlah bahwa Kerajaan Surga sudah dekat, hiduplah kudus sebisa mungkin untuk menjaga integritas hubungan kita dengan Tuhan.

Hidup Berkecukupan di Dalam Tuhan

Tidak Cukup! Kata-kata itu kerap kali terdengar bila kita merasa pendapatan kurang memadai untuk memenuhi kebutuhan sehari-hari. Sebagai kelanjutannya kita akan mulai bersungut-sungut, merasa selalu tidak puas dengan keadaan kita sekarang ini, yang bila dibiarkan akan berakar dan menetap di dalam pola hidup, kita akan selalu merasa kekurangan dan tidak bahagia.

Kita akan mulai melirik teman-teman kita, yang kelihatannya lebih berkecukupan daripada kita, dan bertanya-tanya; kenapa aku tidak seperti dia yang hidupnya sejahtera? Kenapa pekerjaannku sekarang tidak diberkati Tuhan?
Bersama dengan hal-hal ini mulailah timbul iri hati, menginginkan kepunyaan teman, dll. yang akan terus berakumulasi menjadi kepahitan di dalam hidup.

Hal ini terjadi kalau kita terlalu terikat dengan uang, bukan bergantung kepada Tuhan. (Pengkotbah 5:9).

Sedangkan Tuhan Yesus memerintahkan murid-muridNya untuk hidup seadanya di dalam pengutusan mereka? (Matius 10:9-10). Ia berkata, setiap pekerja patut mendapat upahnya! Jadi bila kita melakukan apa yang benar dan berkenan di hadapan Tuhan, Ia pasti mencukupi kita apapun keadaaanya ( Mazmur 34:10-11).

Apapun yang diberikanNya kepada kita, seharusnya cukup untuk kehidupan kita sehari-hari, karena Dialah yang memiliki hidup ini, Ia lebih tahu segala kebutuhan kita daripada kita sendiri.

Cobalah untuk men-trace back kehidupan kita, mungkin ada yang tidak berkenan kepada Tuhan, atau memang kita terlalu suka berfoya-foya dengan uang yang dipercayakan kepada kita? Sehingga besar pasak daripada tiang? Di Amsal 21 tertulis bahwa orang yang suka bersenang-senang menghamburkan uang tidak akan menjadi kaya.

Maka dari itu kita harus hidup kudus dan berkenan kepadaNya, ikuti segala FirmanNya, bacalah Alkitab sebagai petunjuk dan bersekutu dalam doa setiap hari, sehingga Ia akan selalu memberkati kita, karena apa yang kita tabur, itulah yang kita tuai, segala perbuatan kita ada konsekuensinya. Hidup berkenan kepda Tuhan = Hidup berkecukupan.

Kemacetan Lalu Lintas di Dalam Kehidupan

Menghadapi permasalah hidup seperti terjebak di dalam kemacetan lalu lintas, kita tidak dapat melihat keseluruhan dari masalah tersebut, kita hanya menanti di satu titik dan berharap jalanan akan segera lancar, seberapa panjang atau seberap...a rumitkah kemacetan itu? Penyebabnya-pun kadang tidak jelas.

Tetapi kita selalu bisa menekan tombol radio untuk mendapat bantuan jalan-raya yang memang disiarkan oleh beberapa stasiun radio. Stasiun tersebut memiliki armada helicopter yang dapat memantau situasi dari udara, dengan begitu mereka dapat melihat jelas apa yang sedang terjadi, sehingga dapat memberi petunjuk bagi para pemakai jalan.

Begitu pula dengan segala masalah kita yang kadang terlihat tanpa batas dan begitu rumit, kita dapat meminta bantuan dari Tuhan kapanpun juga, Ia yang melihat kita dari atas sana mengetahui, memahami dan memiliki jalan keluar bagi setiap permasalahan kita.

Maka dari itu, apapun permasalahan kita, sulit atau sederhana, semua pasti dapat diatasi bila kita bersandar pada Tuhan. Bukanlah berdasarkan pengertian kita sendiri, tetapi melalui hikmat dari Tuhan kita mendapatkan setiap jalan keluar.
(Amsal 3:5 - Percayalah kepada TUHAN dengan segenap hatimu, dan janganlah bersandar kepada pengertianmu sendiri).

Indigo Children by Debra Hegerle

Indigo Children

by Debra Hegerle

("The Indigo Child is a boy or girl who displays a new and unusual set of psychological attributes, revealing a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before. This pattern has singularly unique factors that call for parents and teachers to change their treatment and upbringing of these kids to assist them in achieving balance and harmony in their lives, and to help them avoid frustration."
-- Lee Carroll & Jan Tober)


I have a seven-year-old Indigo son. I've been working as a teacher's aide in his classrooms through preschool, kindergarten, and now first grade, and I've observed his interactions with Indigos and non-Indigos of all ages. It's been interesting! In fact, trying to put it all down in writing has been a challenge because the children do so many subtle things.


Indigos process their emotions differently than non Indigos because they have high self-esteem and strong integrity. They can read you like an open book and quickly notice and neutralize any hidden agendas or attempts to manipulate them, however subtly. In fact, they can see your hidden agendas even if you can't! They have inherently strong determination to work things through for themselves and only want outside guidance if it's presented to them with respect and within a format of true choice. They prefer to work situations out for themselves.


They come in with their intentions and gifts easily identifiable from birth. They can suck up knowledge like a sponge, especially if they like or are drawn to a subject, which makes them very advanced in their areas of interest. Experiencing life helps them learn best, so they create the experiences they need to help them with their current problem or area where they need to grow. They respond best when treated like a respected adult.


Not only are they masters at intuitively picking up on hidden agendas or motives, but they are equally masterful at turning those agendas back onto the people using them, especially their parents. Psychological "button pushing" often causes them to be labeled as nonconformists. If they notice that there is a hidden motive behind your attempt to get them to do something, they will resist strongly and feel perfectly justified in doing so. From their point of view, if you're not doing your work in the relationship, they can challenge you on it.


When I called them good "button pushers" what I really meant is that they're working with us adults to help us recognize where we are holding and using old, subtle patterns to manipulate them, which used to work but will no longer. So if you are constantly getting resistance from an Indigo, check yourself first. They may be holding up a mirror for you, or be asking you, in a nonconformist way, for help in finding new boundaries, fine-tuning their own skills or talents, or going to the next level of growth.


Indigos have innate healing abilities that are usually already active; however, they may not know that they are using them! The most spectacular thing I observed was how they formed groups, adjusting and spacing themselves, especially around another child who might have been sick or upset — sitting and blending their energy field with that child's. Most often, they paired up one on one, but sometimes they formed groups and sat in either a triangular or diamond-shaped pattern. It wasn't done in an obvious way, but very subtly. When finished, they were off to something else.


It was amazing. They just did it, but they didn't want to discuss it; in some cases, they weren't even consciously aware of what they were doing or why! It was so natural to them that if a child needed something from the Indigos, they just went and sat next to them for a while, not even necessarily talking, and then they separated.


Another interesting thing was that, off and on throughout the year, the Indigos went through periods of attracting and repelling each other, or periods of really needing each other's company and then of not needing it. I'm not totally clear on this, but it seems to coincide with individual personal development. The closeness and concern they had for each other was never lost during those periods of separation, but they wouldn't go back together, either, until all was right for them.


I'll give you one little story regarding my Indigo son. Let me give you the background: My husband and his family are Chinese Americans, and I am of German/Finnish heritage. My husband's family places great emphasis on education, and the siblings were brought up with a strong need to succeed. This still sometimes spills over onto their children, in the form of whose are better, smarter, and faster. My husband and I agree about not participating in all this competitiveness, but that doesn't stop it from happening around us. To top it off, consider that out of the five grandchildren, my son is the only boy — that is, the only male heir — and I think you'll get a pretty clear picture of the undercurrents.


We were at my in-laws' house on Christmas day, and my son, who was almost four years old at the time, was showing off his Millennium Falcon™ (a Star Wars™ toy that was meant for a six-year-old) that he had received from us that morning. It was the giant one that opens up, and inside were all kinds of little compartments, similarly but not identically shaped. He wasn't interested in that portion of the toy at that time. He was only interested in pretending to fly it and shoot the rockets — living out his fantasies. One of his uncles asked to play with it and proceeded to take all the little doors off of all the compartments. He handed them to my son in a pile and asked, "Can you put this back together?"


It was a setup! All the doors were the same color, and the differences in shape and size were very subtle. Oh, and the tone of voice he used — like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. This uncle has three daughters and a whole lot of personal agendas, so his actions were not a total surprise, but . . . I absolutely love what happened next.


I started to intervene, and my son turned and looked me, dead in the eye, with a look on his face I'll never forget. He looked at me to see what I was going to do, and in the instant that it took for him to read my intentions, which were of Mommy Lioness — I'm not going to let this happen to my son — he responded just as quickly. He gave me a look that said, Back off, Mom, I'm taking this one on myself, and I felt the energy shift as he took command of the entire room. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look over at him. He calmly said to his uncle, "I don't know. I've never done that before; let me see." Then he proceeded to put that thing back together quickly and accurately!


When he was done, the energy shifted again, and he looked over at me as if to ask, "Was that okay?" I just smiled and said, "Good job." Everyone there caught the double meaning, including his uncle, who has never since done anything like that to my son or to anyone else's child in our presence.


No direct comments were made that night about the situation. We all just knew that we were each going to process it individually and privately, each getting our own lesson — all because this little one decided to learn for himself.


Indigos are born masters — each and every one! We have to understand that they fully expect every one of us to do what they are doing naturally, and if we don't, they keep pushing our buttons until we get it right — that is, until we become the masters of our own lives. So when my son did his thing, he taught everyone there a quiet lesson, including himself.


For me, the lesson was, let him go; despite his age, he is capable. Stay aware and watch the process. The process in this case was very interesting. He quickly and accurately sized up the situation, and determined his response based on what he wanted to experience. After making sure he had backup, he chose to confront the person directly, and at that point, he immediately called up all the energies necessary to complete the task. Afterward, he released it all back just as quickly and went back to his own business.


I've witnessed many similar situations that he or other Indigos handled in the same way. They will size up a situation and then choose their actions based on what they want to experience at the time. The only adjustments to this pattern that I've seen were based on what type of backup they had. In a safe environment, they have consistently used this pattern.


Safety is very important, because all children need to feel safe to fully explore their universe. For Indigos, safety means that it's okay to do things differently! Giving everyone this space is the best thing we can do for children and for ourselves.

Source: http://www.innerself.com/Parenting/indigo_children.htm

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Characteristics

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children)

Descriptions of indigo children include the belief that they are empathetic, curious, strong-willed, independent, and often perceived by friends and family as being weird; possess a clear sense of self-definition and purpose; and also exhibit a strong inclination towards spiritual matters from early childhood. Indigo children have also been described as having a strong feeling of entitlement, or "deserving to be here." Other alleged traits include a high intelligence quotient, an inherent intuitive ability, and resistance to authority.[3][5] According to Tober and Carroll, indigo children function poorly in conventional schools due to their rejection of authority, being smarter than their teachers, and a lack of response to guilt-, fear- or manipulation-based discipline.[6]
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Many children labelled indigo by their parents are diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)[7] and Tober and Carroll's book The Indigo Children linked the concept with diagnosis of ADHD. Their book makes the case that the children are a new stage of evolution rather than children with a medical diagnosis, and that they require special treatment rather than medications.[5] Robert Todd Carroll points out that labeling a child an indigo is an alternative to a diagnosis that implies imperfection, damage or mental illness, which may appeal to many parents, a belief echoed by many academic psychologists.[7] He also points out that many of the commentators on the indigo phenomenon are of varying qualifications and expertise. Linking the concept of indigo children with the distaste for the use of Ritalin to control ADHD, Carroll states "The hype and near-hysteria surrounding the use of Ritalin has contributed to an atmosphere that makes it possible for a book like Indigo Children to be taken seriously. Given the choice, who wouldn't rather believe their children are special and chosen for some high mission rather than that they have a brain disorder?"[8]


Stephen Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, states that concerns regarding the overmedicalization of children are legitimate but even gifted children with ADHD learn better with more structure rather than less, even if the structure initially causes difficulties. Many labeled as indigo children are or have been home schooled.[3]

Pentingnya Kerjasama Yang Solid

Keselarasan dalam suatu system yang berjalan sangatlah penting, masing-masing bagian memiliki tugasnya masing-masing, yang satu tidaklah kalah penting dari yang lain, karena bila salah satu bagian tidak berjalan dengan baik, koordinasi dari system tersebut menjadi kacau dan mendatangkan celaka.

Misalnya saja kejadian tadi siang yang saya alami, sewaktu saya sedang mengetes mainan, saya terpaksa berlari untuk mencegah mainan itu jatuh ke tangga, tapi celakanya sandal yang saya pakai alasnya sudah rusak, alhasil kaki kanan saya slip, dan saya terbanting dengan keras ke lantai, seluruh anggota tubuh saya terasa sangat sakit, dan sampai sekarang masih ada efeknya. Itu semua gara-gara sol sandal yang rusak, koordinasi tubuh saya sewaktu berlari jadi kacau.

Begitu pula dengan gereja, mulai dari sebuah komunitas kecil hingga jemaat yang besar membutuhkan sistem koordinasi yang baik, seluruh anggotanya harus melaksanakan tugasnya masing-masing dengan baik dan benar. Bila ada anggota yang tidak selaras dengan komunitasnya, ia tidak bisa bekerja sama dan membaur dengan anggota lainnya, komunitas tersebut akan berantakan, akan timbul perselisihan yang bisa berlanjut menjadi akar pahit di antara anggotanya, mungkin disebabkan oleh hal yang kecil saja, tapi tetap bisa merusak kesatuan dari komunitas tersebut. Efek yang ditimbulkan tidak mudah hilang begitu saja, akan ada luka membekas pada anggotanya.

Itu sebabnya Rasul Paulus mengatakan; banyak anggota namun tetap satu tubuh Kristus, masing-masing penting peranannya, jangan berusaha berjalan sendiri, karena anggota tubuh yang satu memerlukan anggota tubuh lainnya, sekecil apapun ia. (I Korintus 12:12-31). Bila ada anggota yang salah jalan, memerlukan arahan dan bantuan, hendaklah saudara-saudaranya membantu, menguatkan serta memberi bimbingan kepadanya, bukannya didiamkan atau bahkan dimusuhi. Karena satu bagian yang rusak akan mencelakakan seluruh sistem. Satu orang yang menjadi pahit hati, bisa menghancurkan kelompok/komunitasnya.

Maka dari itu, bila kita merasa ada dari saudara-saudara kita yang membutuhkan perhatian dan bimbingan, bantulah mereka, berusahalah untuk tetap dalam kesatuan yang utuh dan solid, jangan malah menjauhkan diri.
Lagipula, kalau saudara kita sendiri tidak dapat kita kasihi dengan tulus apapun keadaannya, bagaimana dengan perintah Tuhan tentang mengasihi musuh?
Yesus Kristus mengajarkan kita untuk mengasihi sesama apapun kondisinya, bahkan bila orang itu membenci kita sekalipun. (Lukas 6: 27-36).
Beriman penuh kalau Roh Kudus akan bekerja dan mendukung kita di setiap usaha kita.