| |
| |
|
Just Between Us - FREE Spiritual Information for anyone interested. |
|
|
|
Releasing the Yoke
When the Bible makes reference to a "yoke" it is referring to a heavy piece of wood shaped to fit around the neck and fasten to a pole. It was primarily used to tie oxen together (usually two); the older ox had its yoke and the younger had its yoke. But the younger ox's yoke was bigger and stronger because it was developed so that the older ox could guide the younger. In the Bible "yoke" is used most often metaphorically to designate a burden, slavery, or obligation. In other words, yoke means any attitude, habit, lifestyle, and way of thinking that keeps you from living in the freedom God wants you to live. Thus, if you have low self esteem - you may not have ever seen a yoke, but you are wearing one. If you self-loathe, if you despise your ethnicity, if you find yourself in financial bondage because you are addicted to spending, you are wearing a yoke. All cocaine, marijuana, heroin, nicotine, caffeine, is a yoke. Everybody in life has to fight and deal with the yokes that society and self tries to put on us. Racism, sexism, and classism are all yokes. We all encounter people with the yoke of bad attitudes, yoke of gossip, backstabbing and backbiting yokes. People wear yokes of bad relationships and yokes of ignorance. God gives us an alternative. We do not have to live under the oppression; live with a yoke around our necks. God offers us an alternative lifestyle. It is joy and blessings and help when you need it. If you have ever had your yoke broken, you know that He gives you a new attitude, a new way of walking and a new way of talking. He gives you an 800 number so you can call Him at anytime and at any place. He gives you an alternative to sadness and helplessness. So the question is how do we break the yoke? Well, God has instilled in us the power to break free from our yokes. You already have the power and the strength to break the yoke that is weighing you down. It doesn't matter what kind of yoke it is - you can break free of it. It may be a yoke of a bad childhood that continues to plague you. It may be the lingering effects of a bad marriage. It may be your tendency to enslave yourself with negativism. It may be your fears and nervous anxieties about the future. Whatever the yoke, you can break it because God has supplied you with what you need. Access it and be free! Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, will be available in July.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
When We See Jesus As He Is You know that the Bible tells us a lot about Jesus, who he was, who he is, what he did and what he said.. As Above, SO Below The 'As Above, So Below' law that is the combination of micro and macrocosmic reality likely comes from Hermes Trismegistus, a Babylonian who became a Pharaoh of Egypt according to the Arab Encyclopedia. Barrett is probably right about him being a legendary amalgam of people, but so what? This kind of semantic, pedantic, academic, squabbling just confuses the issue and people get to the point where they take one side or another, rather than integrate and see the effect of the power-mongers. Do You Have Hot Buttons? You may ask, "What are hot buttons anyway?"Hot buttons are those that, when people push, you turn red and out comes the anger, resentment, insecurity, and other negative emotions you wish weren't a part of your life.Remember the last time your boss made a comment about the project you completed? For some reason, his assessment just sent you through the roof. Meta-Rational Thought We, the human species, stand on the threshold of a new era?.. Introduction to the Five Powers of Spirit You are a dual being. Part eternal spirit and part temporal body. All One; All Different -- Addressing Spiritual Reductionism "We're one, but we are not the same."-Bono, U2Once I was in a train station waiting for a train with a friend. We Fall Down -- But We Get Up When I first heard Donnie McClurkin's song, "We Fall Down (But We Get Up), I got goosebumps. The second time I heard it I loved it even more. Unfinished Business (Part 1) Most of life can be said to be bad, or problematic, or painful, or sorrowful. Every great religion acknowledges this fact regarding life. True Will Some may ask what is the true will of God and how do I obtain it? Well let's see what the Bible says. Look at Psalms 40:6 it says Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Indian Knowledge and Frauds Iktomi:Another and somewhat longer term correspondent of mine is a Lakota Sioux Traditionalist in the adopted family of Fool's Crow or Black Elk. There are many New Age Indian gurus which I have asked her about, including Red Elk. What Exactly is Grace? This question, "what is grace" plagued me more into knowing the answer and being sure beyond a shadow of a doubt.In the beginning of time, It was God's intention to be in fellowship with His people. Moksha - Salvation Hinduism... Highlights Concept and the Path Is it not true that only after gaining Enlightenment (Self-Realization) that one can reach the stage of Moksha (Salvation).Moksha is that ephemeral truth of life without which human beings cannot sustain themselves. Crystal-Healing the Chakras: A Practical Guide Who among us really understands the chakras? For all that we know about these seven spinal energy points, much is still undiscovered. According to ancient texts, the chakras appear as spinning wheels of light. Meditations From a Spiritual Journey For me, the best poetry stirs my soul; it awakens my spirit through its clarity and simplicity. Its purpose is clean, pointing me towards greater understanding of who I am in this world, or, even better, towards comprehension of the divine that indwells both this world and me. A Crash Course in Tarot for Newbies #2: All About Tarot Decks If you would like to learn to read tarot cards, your first challenge is to choose a deck from the 8,000 or so published brands of fortune telling cards on the market. What works for one person often doesn't for another. The Flow Of Money The more we worry about money, and who's asking for it, and why their asking, and should they be asking, and should I be listening, and judging others, then judging their ideas and their work and their very existence.. Stepping Into the Darkness One of the "loopholes" in my philosophical belief system when I was younger (and at this point in my life, that means "almost middle-aged"! ) was whether or not there was an evil force in the universe equal to God who served as man's adversary. He was the original "bad guy," and the human race seemed to be caught between these two invisible forces - one of good and one of evil. Life After Life - Death Is Merely a Changing Room Since I awoke from my three month coma in August of 2004, I have been asked many times about what I remembered and experienced. After looking over my notes and speaking with my wife and some of the medical professionals involved, I decided that it might be a good idea to write a short overview of these experiences. Spiritual Sanity Prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States and its people of freedom, this article was written in as an outcome of some research that I completed regarding the history of world religions and the fervor of religious dogma that continues to be the mark of "man's inhumanity to man."After reading it again four years later, the words held a greater impact that seems to threaten the heart of every human soul and that touches the lives of all cultures, all religions and spiritual practices as well as the very souls of all humanity. Law to the Nth Degree Most of us know that the universe - God's universe - operates on an independent structure called Universal Law. The laws of the universe - God's laws - are an invisible influence that gently force the natural order under which the universe operates to be maintained.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
