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Armand Kruger, MA
Summary: The Bible gives
promises of what people get/receive, explains the why, instructs
clearly the what, and presupposes certain reference experiences
that people can and will access in certain contexts.
1. The Bible makes promises
of what human beings get from God: grace to do, power to affect,
redemption to set free, the working and indwelling of the
Holy Spirit to guide, nourish, counsel, etc.
Col. 1:12-14 " giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For
he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought
us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Ro 5:3-4 "Not only so,
but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that
suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character;
and character, hope."
Ro 5:5 "And hope does
not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into
our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
2. What is given leads to certain
emergent properties which is an expression of these "givens',
for example, the fruit of the Spirit, to which the person
as the recipient can only be thankful and safeguard them with
the proper "away from" thinking and behavior patterns.
Col.1:10-11 "And we
pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the
Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every
good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened
with all power according to his glorious might so that you
may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully"
3. As a free agent in God's
plan, consistent instructions in "how to run the race"
is given in juxtaposition to that which takes us further away
from God (sin) and spoils any likeness to Christ. Always(!)
are the don'ts followed up immediately by the do's":
1 Peter 3:11 "He must
turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue
it."
Col. 3:5-13 "Put to
death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,
which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is
coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you
once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such
things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy
language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since
you have taken off your old self with its practices and
have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge
in the image of its Creator..... Therefore, as God's chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each
other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against
one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
4. The do/s are even layered/chained
for us in a way that is acceptable to God.
2 Pe 1:4 Through these he
has given us his very great and precious promises, so that
through them you may participate in the divine nature and
escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2 Pe 1:5-7 "For this
very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;
and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control;
and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,
godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness, love."
5. Loving God is a two way
street: you get so that you can give.
Col 1:22-23 "But now
he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through
death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish
and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith,
established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in
the gospel."
Experienced Christians through
the ages1 write and wrestle
with the fact of "keeping the faith". There are
"enough" admonitions" in the Bible to appreciate
the fact that it is a key element in one's practical Christianity,
and in the Scripture quote above it is linked to a beautiful
promise. For both the experienced Christian and the young,
"post-honey-moon" one dealing with doubt under difficult
circumstances as an ever present challenge. Knowing what to
do, and what it will cost you if you don't, is clear. But,
where do I start? Is there something to learn from the "resilience
pattern"?
6. Why and what to do in the
life of Faith is clear, however, what is not found in the
Bible is a prescribed or preferred way of "how to specifically
do.....". NS/NLP is ideally suited to contribute to this
"how" against the mystery and the standards stated
in the Bible.
Power Zone.
Michael Hall describes the
Power Zone2 as the four powers
or responses (thought-feelings = the private powers, and expression
as verbalizing and behavior = public powers) which serves
as the irrefutable evidence of one's "me-ness" or
"I am".
The power lies in the fact
that it emerges from "me" and cannot be sources
any other place. External situations might create the context
for, but they cannot produce my pictures, sounds, feelings,
meanings, etc. Secondly, the power lies further in the fact
that this is also the "place" of my choosing. Choosing
to think like this or that, tolerate or change my feelings
about...., etc.
This is the intimate private
"place" from which a person interfaces with God;
the core of the experience of being in God's presence, having
a relationship with Him, is in this very singular place of
my thoughts, my feelings, the source of my behaviors. This
is the place where the Holy Spirit as logos operates
and works, and here I sense the calling or admonishing of
the Holy Spirit. My power zone is the cutting edge of my relationship
with Christ. The power of recognizing my boundaries and that
I am more than any one piece of content that flits through
my power zone, is the beginning of recognizing the "indwelling"
of the Holy Spirit.
The power zone is source of
the conviction of the anguish of Martin Luther when he said
"I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against
conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."
Some earlier versions added the words: "Here I stand,
I cannot do otherwise." Here is a man who operated from
his power zone, like a Paul whose power zone was enveloped
by "being in Christ". One cannot help but think
that "being in Christ" has the meaning of one's
power zone being outframed by one's relationship to and love
of Christ. The frame-of-reference as from the renewal of my
mind is Christ, the source of my strength, the nourishment
when I am weak, the ultimate answer to my "about"
questions. In Christ, "here I stand, I cannot do otherwise"3.
Meta-stating negative emotions:
Meta-stating negative emotions
results from the bringing a state to bear on another state.
Michael writes about our Dragons, i.e. when we have a negative
emotion about in existing state. Examples are: fear about
my fear, anger about being angry, dislike of my sentimentality,
etc. Princely states are bringing resourceful states onto
an existing state so that the emergent quality or texture
of the new state is "better". Examples of Princely
states are being calm about my anger, respectful of my fear,
gentle about my sentimentality, repentant about my attitude
rather than self-rejecting, etc. The above examples are as
if one can layer only two states at a time, but nothing is
further from the truth: reflecting on my anger is about my
progress in my increasing likeness to Jesus Christ.
Meta-frame4:
Love God and likewise, love
thy neighbor as thyself.
Resilience5:
"The power to bounce back
from Set-backs" is how Michael Hall describes it. When
we get the set backs because things have gone (unexpectedly)
wrong, then we need the resilience of mind and emotions to
bounce back. If one use a pessimistic way of thinking about
the setback, you aggravate the effect. Seligman6
suggests that one seriously considers frames like it is "i)
temporary; ii) specific in time and place; iii) external in
source".
James reminds us in chapter
1:2-5
"Consider it pure joy,
my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because
you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks
wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him."
J.I. Packer, in his bestseller
"Knowing God" describes wisdom as not knowing the
mind of God, but how to be/behave in the practice of the contexts
which He creates. Rather than a "woe is me to whom this
always happen no matter where I find myself, and I can expect
more since these things never end", one can be a Paul
who remembers that not only is this training, a race, but
it does not really stack up to the end in store for us. Setbacks
are about remembering "Blessed is the man who perseveres
under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive
the crown of life that God has promised to those who love
him." (James chapter 1:12)
References
1
St. John of the Cross: Dark Night of the Soul.
Hodder and Stoughton Christian Classics, London; as well as
John Bunyan's Grace Abounding. The Works of John Bunyan,
Vol.1. Banner of Truth Trust, London.
2 Hall,
L Michael (2000): Secrets of Personal Mastery. Crown
Publishers; page 63ff and his "Pattern for a Magnificent
Obsession" as described in Frame Games. Neuro-Semantics,
Grand junction. Page 228ff.
3
Roland H Bainton (1987): Here I stand. A life of Martin
Luther. Abingdon Press, Nashville; page 144.
4 Kruger,
Armand and Bodenhamer, Bob G (2001) "Biblical
Frames: Key to Spirituality."
5 Hall,
L Michael (2000): Meta-States Certification Manual.
Neuro-Semantics Publication, Grand Junction; page106ff.
6
Seligman, Martin E.P. (1998): Learned Optimism.
Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, NY.
Contact information for
Armand Kruger:
South Africa's Institute
of Neuro - Semantics
Armand Kruger
PO Box 494
Meyerton
South Africa, 1960
Fax: 2716-362-1559
armandk@lantic.net
http://www.neurosemantics.co.za
©2001 Armand Kruger All rights reserved.
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