Jesus as the Rose of Sharon

The words "rose of Sharon" comes out of the Old Testament in the Song of Solomon. The verse reads:

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." (Solomon 2:1)

Here are some facts about this verse and how it may be related to Jesus.

1. Nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus actually referred to as the rose of Sharon. However, He is "symbolically" referred to as the rose of Sharon.
2. You are right about Sharon being a place. Sharon is a plain - it is one of the largest valley-plains in all of Palestine. Back at the time of Solomon, it was considered a wild, fertile plain that had a lot of beautiful flowers in it. Sharon was supposed to have been known for its beauty and majesty back in those days.
3. The person saying she is the "rose of Sharon" in the above verse was a Shulamite woman who apparently was Solomons bride.
4. Here is the reason that I think people like to use the analogy of Jesus being the Rose of Sharon. The New Testament refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Church as His Bride. This tells us right here that God is using the "lover" analogy to describe the relationship that He wants with us and that He also wants us to have with His Son.

However, in the above verse, the person saying she is the rose of Sharon is a woman, not a man. Jesus is obviously referred to as "male" since He is always referred to as "He" in the Bible. The rose is supposed to be considered the most "perfect" of all flowers. You will notice that Jesus is symbolically referred to as the rose of Sharon. Jesus is perfect in His God nature. He thus can be considered the "actual" rose of Sharon since He is totally perfect within His own nature - just like the rose is supposed to be considered the most "perfect" of all flowers.

Normally in a husband-wife or boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, it is the male who gives roses to the wife or girlfriend. Since Jesus is considered the Bridegroom in His relationship with His church, it would thus be Jesus coming to us to give us the flowers. However, in this case, God may be going one step further in allowing this analogy to be made of His Son.

I feel like God may be trying to tell us that Jesus will go one step further. Instead of Jesus being the one who would "give" us the flowers as we have in our normal human relationships, Jesus is actually referred to as the flower itself! And with the rose being the most perfect of all flowers, God is telling us that His Son Jesus is the Rose of Sharon rather than just having Him be the One to just give us this rose flower due to His perfect nature and perfect love that He has for all of us.

Women love flowers. They love the way they look and smell - especially roses. I feel God wants us to have realization of how special His Son Jesus is to us and He is using the rose flower to compare His Son with so we can truly appreciate the beauty and perfection of Jesus and the perfect love that He has for each and every one of us. Bottom line - Jesus is perfect love just as the rose is the most perfect of all flowers in its looks, beauty and smell.

By using the rose flower as a "visual symbolism" of Jesus love for us, we can better appreciate or "see" what God is trying to tell us in the personal love relationship that He wants to establish with each and every one of us. He wants us to realize how "special" His love is for us and that He wants more than anything to be able to enter into this personal love relationship with each one of us.

The above is my own personal opinion on what this analogy is referring to. Ive always had a good witness that God the Father does approve of us using the Rose of Sharon to symbolize His Sons love for us even though it is not actually stated per
in Scripture.

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible Knowledge, articles, commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 Bible articles.

Forbes Robbins Blair

Healing Physical and Emotional Problems With Spiritual Power - Mind Body Healing

One of the greatest opportunities you have in your life is to get in touch with your higher self for healing. You can transform challenging emotions, physical ailments and difficulties, and negative thinking by making the connection with a part of yourself that is already whole and complete. Meditation and prayer can help you to maintain this awareness. You just need to have the intention to make contact with the healing power within you, and as you ask, it answers.

Here are a few techniques you can use to help you:

• You can ask questions of your higher power, such as, "Is there any assistance I can have from my spiritual self? If so, how can I best be in touch with it"

• You may want to ask for the assistance and support of a spiritual being, such as Jesus, the Divine Mother, Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, or any other great spiritual inspiration. You might experience this support in the form of healing light, higher wisdom and guidance, love, and healing power.

• Healing guides may come to assist. They have also been called "Divine Doctors" or "Inner Healers." You might want to go within and experience yourself climbing up five stairs into a special inner room. There you can meet special healing guides who will make specific physical adjustments to your bodymind--such as removing headaches, altering tumors, smoothing out tense muscles. The possibilities are infinite.

• You can ask for healing Light to come in various forms as you go within. Here are a few of them:

A laser, which shines on a specific ailment or issue

Streaming beams (like sunbeams) from the universe, bringing light to whatever your problem might be

Beams from within the heart center, coming forth from within you to heal

A whirling golden ball that begins at the top of the head and proceeds downward, cleansing all the chakras or energy centers

A healing room full of light beams radiating from walls, floors, and ceiling

A ray from the palm of your hand, which you can apply to any pain or difficulty

Any other ideas you may have

• You can work with healing water.

Because water is a great cleanser and preserver, it is ideal to use in mindbody healing. You can go within to a pond of healing water or a waterfall, water that is the perfect temperature and depth. The water brings relaxation and relief, and it washes away all difficulty, all pain, physical and emotional. After this, you can imagine coming out of the water into the radiant healing rays of the sun. The water can also wash over your physical body like a waterfall, cleansing away discomfort of any kind.

• You may be able to handle pain and illness more easily by experiencing spiritual comfort through a transformed perspective. You may be able to understand the problems of your life in expanded ways, including having greater faith in the direction you're going and where you've been, acceptance of whatever you need to handle as a process of learning, finding meaning and growth opportunities in illness, learning compassion, understanding the role of prayer in the healing process, and finding a way to transcend the experience of the body.

One of the greatest powers you have is to have the knowledge of how to work in alignment with your higher consciousness to heal your bodymind. It's a wonderful gift that you've been given.

Want to learn more about life transformation, spiritual growth, and healing? You can download our 100 page free ebook, Extraordinary Healing at http://www.thewisemind.com

You can also subscribe to our wonderful free monthly newsletter, "The Transformation News." Marilyn Gordon is a board certified hypnotherapist, teacher, speaker, healer, school director, and author with over thirty years of experience. Her latest book is The Wise Mind: The Brilliant Key to Life Transformation and Healing.

Sylvia Browne

3 Easy Steps to Instantly Find and Identify the Power of God in Your Life

If you have ever wondered 'where is the power of God in my life? If heavy and downturned times have you looking for more of God now than before, then these 3-steps may be the most important message you read today. Because once you are armed with the knowledge of what to look for and where to look for it... you will never again ask the question 'where is the power of God in my life?'

3-Steps To Instantly Find And Identify The Power Of God In Your Life

1) Look to see how you are treating others

How you treat others has a lot to do with how much of the power of God you witness in your own life. No matter how evil or twisted you may be, God's power is still flowing into your life, however; you will almost never see it. Why? Because how much of God's hand we actually get to see and be aware of is directly related to how we treat others. The age old golden rule still applies, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." If you are having a hard time loving yourself, don't worry. If it's hard to love yourself then it's also hard to love anyone else. And that is OK! But you can at least respect others the same way you would want to be respected.

One of my great teachers taught that sometimes it is too difficult to even try to love a certain person, but it is NEVER too difficult to respect this person. No matter how much a person gets under your skin, it is only you who control how this person affects you. If you are looking to witness God's hand in your life begin to seek moments, places and people where you can treat others with more respect and a level of human dignity you would wish for yourself.

2) Write down a list of all you are grateful for

If you want to see where have your miracles gone and where your blessings have been deposited, then make a list of everything you have to be grateful for in your life at this moment. If you have nothing to be grateful for then you are looking at life with the wrong lenses. Look around to see what you have that is of value to you, something that means more to your life than to your bank account. Then make a list of the top 5-most-precious things for this category in your life. And carry this list and a pen with you everywhere you go. The moment you recognize something you are grateful for add it to the list. And everyday, 2 times per day read the list...no matter how crummy or great you are feeling...read the list everyday. After 33 days you will notice that not only is the power of God shinning brighter for you but there are real results happening for you that are making your life more like the dream you want and less like a nightmare.

3) I am the Love of My Creator, I am My Creator's Love, I am Love

How are you treating yourself? Do you over discipline yourself or treat yourself like a spoiled child? Neither extreme calibrates the balance of order in your life. It is hard to see where God is in moments of chaos such as when a violent crime takes place or a massive natural disaster strikes. But it is far more difficult to see where God is in our life through chaos created by actions of our own doing. Seek the things you most like about yourself and count them on your list of blessings. We all come from a divine place and even if you don't believe it, we were all created from a place of love. Whenever you are in your darkest hour, soaking in a personal triumph or any other time at all, repeat to yourself an ancient mantra passed down through generations of spiritual masters: I am the Love of My Creator, I am My Creator's Love, I am Love.

You will feel the power of God burst from everywhere around you. The more you use it the more you will own it. The more time you spend saying this mantra and thinking about it, the more love you will draw to you and the more of God's power you will see manifest in your life.

Carlos Duran is a professional writer raised in the mean streets of New York and New Jersey during the Crack Era of the late 80's and 90's. His life journey transformed a sinister-mind into one of peace and has inspired him to share the secret spiritual short-cuts he learned with the World. His website http://www.answersyoucanuse.com publishes inside information from leading experts and super-minds on spiritual growth, natural healing and finding love, along with secrets Carlos has been using for over a decade to generate peace, power and prosperity in his own life... To contact the author email: Carlos@answersyoucanuse.com

Need REAL Answers You Can Use With NO B.S?
"Get Spiritual, Natural Remedies and Love answers you can put to work for you...without buying any over hyped self-help guide! Find It Here> http://www.answersyoucanuse.com

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Book Of Life

Great Things Materialize Once We Start to Visualize

Watching the Olympics last week really amazed me. The feats of strength were fantastic, and the drama of the events themselves was captivating. But what really made the biggest impact was being reminded of something we all know or have learned in the past, and yet rarely put into action for ourselves: the art of visualization.

Now, Im not talking about some deep Buddhist trance. Im talking more along the lines of visualizing in our minds the actions we wish to take, the things wed like to have, or even the personal relationships we desire in clear detail, before they actually appear.

It simply dumbfounded me to realize that all of these athletes spent time visualizing in their minds their entire routine, race, or event before they began their quest. I could see it in their eyes, the way they were visualizing each step, every turn, before they took a deep breath and ventured out into history.

This is where I ask you: When was the last time you gave yourself that much attention in the way you perform your lifes tasks, or visualizing how you see your days in the future?

Could you imagine waking up each day with a clear focus on your desires?

Could you imagine the power you could give yourself by visualizing a goal and seeing it come to fruition in your minds eye?

So many people say to me, I want to be happy, I want to be rich, I want that perfect relationship. Yet, when pressed, rarely do these people have a clear picture of what that would be. Without a clear vision, what they want could be right in front of them the whole time, but how would they know?

So, I turn it over to you.

What do YOU want out of life? Use your imagination, and do a little daydreaming, so to speak, then write down the vision for your happiness and fulfillment.

Once you do, youll find that the picture you see for yourself isnt so crazy after all, and with the right direction, all things really are possible.

Because great things materialize, once we start to visualize.

Best wishes, and Keep smilin'......

Gregory Scott Reid, The Millionaire Mentor,Inc. #1 best-selling author, speaker, and Radio Personality. Please sign up for my free monthly newsletters at http://www.AlwaysGood.com

Vision Boards and Goal Setting Using the Law of Attraction

Vision boards and vision board software are widely used tools for goal achievement as they help boost the visualization process which in turn then puts you in the correct state of mind for progressing towards your goal instead of just sitting back and hoping one day that your dream will come true.

Goal setting

1. Choose goals that cover the major areas in your life so as to create a balance as you progress toward them. Goal areas that you could consider are financial, career, relationship, family, spiritual, vacation and health.
2. Narrow your list of goals down to ten or less so that your interests are not too widely spread, this will enable you to dedicate more time to each goal and achieve them in a shorter period of time.
3. Do not limit yourself by only choosing goals that are within your reach, you must reach for the stars. You are able to achieve whatever you put your mind to, your current circumstances or resources mean nothing.

Visualization

One of the best ways to perfect the visualization process is by using a vision board.

1. Take a pin board then pin up pictures that closely resemble your goals, pictures that make your goals feel realistic whenever you look at them.
2. Spend a few minutes everyday looking at your vision board, then close your eyes and imagine yourself having achieved those goals, feeling the feelings of success and abundance.
3. Show gratitude. Be grateful for all that you have in your life at this moment and for all the abundance that is soon to be manifested in your life.

As you go out into your day, you have set the laws of attraction in motion. Your visualization of having really achieved your goals and those feelings of having achieved them will start to inspire you to take certain actions that you would never have thought of, and these actions, continuous gratitude and belief will manifest the abundance of your desires.

Vision board software is a very powerful tool that is replacing the conventional vision board because it is far more interactive and there are a vast amount of resources within the software that help you to reach that feeling of living the life you want to achieve.

Resources such as background music, positive affirmations with each of your photographs or pictures, and the flashing off of the screen of these pictures make the software a powerful manifestation tool.

If you would like more information on vision boards or vision board software, click on this link: http://howtovisualizeyourgoals.blogspot.com/

What You Need To Know About Employee Motivation

We have come to know a lot about employee motivation. We know that the ultimate responsibility for motivating employees lies within the individual employee. We know that both the meaningfulness of the work and the work environment itself can have a sizable impact on employee motivation. We know that intrinsic rewards and motivators tend to have a much longer lifespan for employees than extrinsic rewards and motivators. And, we know that what motivates one employee will not necessarily motivate another.

But sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous. What do I mean? I mean that knowing what motivates employees is only half the battle. The real test is our ability to create a culture that fosters high morale and motivation. Too often we fall into the trap of incorporating the latest and greatest motivational programs in hopes of creating improved performance. These short-term remedies can often serve as band-aids to problems that require much greater attention. As a result, improvements in morale and motivation tend to occur sporadically within an organization instead of in a collective, synergistic way.

The solution is an integrated approach. What is needed is an organizational-wide, integrated approach to creating a culture of high morale and motivation. What is needed is a top-down management philosophy and corresponding strategies that integrates management practices with efforts to enhance employee motivation. What is needed is greater consistency throughout the organization in communicating to employees about performance standards, expectations, feedback and professional growth opportunities, to name a few.

Why is integration so important? Without an integrated approach to creating a motivated workforce, inconsistencies will surface throughout the organization and quickly sabotage any positive momentum that occurs. For example, a high performing supervisor will quickly lose her motivation if she keeps getting her decisions overturned by her respective manager. A great benefits program will do little to motivate employees if the tension in the office is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. An awards luncheon will send mixed messages if employees are expected to pay for their own lunches. A supervisor who preaches value-added customer service and then yells at his employees will quickly lose respect as well as the value-added customer service that he so desires. In each of these examples, there are contradictory messages that ultimately will serve as de-motivators and most likely lead to employee apathy.

In an integrated organization, management practices are in much greater alignment with efforts to improve morale and motivation. Managers and employees alike have clarity on their roles and responsibilities and communication from the top-down is both frequent and fluent. Motivational programs support efforts towards greater morale and productivity but are not seen as an end in itself. And most importantly, all employees, from the CEO down to the frontline worker, understand their role in making the organization successful.

HOW INTEGRATED IS YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Below are 20 assessment questions for you and your organization to address as honestly as possible. Each question either directly or indirectly impacts employee morale and motivation. The more questions that you can respond with a definitive YES, the more integration there is in your organization.

1. Do you have an organizational-wide philosophy and corresponding strategies that addresses employee motivation?

2. Have you ever conducted a comprehensive assessment of current organizational practices, programs and management techniques that impact employee motivation to determine their effectiveness?

3. Do you specifically attempt to hire employees who have a proven record of self-motivation?

4. Do your performance reviews measure the individual characteristics needed to sustain a work environment of high morale and motivation?

5. Is ongoing feedback available on all levels and in all directions throughout the organization?

6. Is there consistency in how managers manage within the organization?

7. Are employee and departmental performance expectations clearly defined and mutually shared to enhance accountability?

8. Do employees have access to the resources they need (both within and outside the organization), to adequately meet the demands of their jobs?

9. Are disciplinary issues handled swiftly and consistently?

10. Do employees have input into their work processes?

11. Does the CEO practice the behaviors that he/she expects to see amongst the workforce?

12. Are employees throughout the organization expected to complete a professional development plan each year? If so, are these shared within the departments?

13. Can employees explain the vision and mission of the organization and relate it to what they do on a daily basis?

14. Is mutual respect displayed between employees? How about between departments?

15. Are technical and soft skills training made available to employees on an ongoing basis?

16. Are personal and professional development opportunities made available to employees within the organization? If opportunities are limited, can an employee pursue an opportunity outside the organization and know that he/she has the support to do so?

17. Are communication processes effective within the organization, especially from the top-down?

18. Are employees rewarded and acknowledged for performing above-and-beyond what is expected of them?

19. Are the benefits within the organization representative of what is important to the employees?

20. Would employees say that your organization was a fun place to work?

Consider the following scale in rating your organization:

16 to 20 YES responses: Very Good

11 to 15 YES responses: Good

6 to 10 YES responses: Poor

1 to 5 YES responses: Yikes!

Each of the questions above represents areas that need to be integrated together in order for your organization to have a consistent message around employee morale and motivation.

Greg Giesen is a professional speaker, management consultant, graduate professor and the author of, Ask Dr. Mac: Take the Journey to Authentic Leadership. Go to http://www.GregGiesenAssociates.com for more information.

The Purpose of Dreams

Dreams have been somewhat of a mystery to man for a long time. Dreams hold many captive at night wondering if it is reality or simply the imagination working overtime. We have all awoke from dreams upset that it wasnt reality and on the same hand, we have woke up thanking God that a terrible nightmare wasnt a reality.

There are many different theories about the meaning, origin, or purpose of dreams. Some believe that dreams are an extension of our subconscious. In other words, we may dream about things that we think about, whether we are aware of our subconscious thoughts or not. Others believe that dreams are a part of REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, which helps to restore our minds and bodies while we sleep. Finally, some people believe that dreams are one mode of communication that God uses to send us messages.

I believe that there is some truth to each of these theories of dreams, but I will focus on the theory about God using dreams as a mode of communication with us and what I believe his purpose in communicating with us through dreams is. Although I do believe that God communicates with us through dreams, I dont believe that every dream that we have is from God or even God attempting to communicate with us. Since I believe that some dreams are from God and others arent, this poses the question, How do you know which dreams are from God and which ones arent?. This is a difficult question to answer because there is no scientific answer to this question. My answer to this question is that you will know in your spirit. In other words, the inner voice will say this dream meant something.

Your spirit may even be troubled when you wake up like Nebuchednezzar was in the Bible after he had a dream from God. In the Bible, in Daniel 2:1, it says Nebuchednezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. I believe that this was his spirit communicating to him that there was a message in the dreams for him and maybe others. Also, in the Bible, in the book of Daniel 7:15, Daniel states that after having a dream, that he was troubled in spirit and the visions that passed through his mind disturbed him. When I have had dreams that I believe are from God, the same thing has happened to me when I have awoken from a dream from God. I usually will first remember the dream or many parts of it very vividly. Next, I feel unsettled in my spirit, as if something needs to be resolved or settled.

After establishing that God does in fact, communicate with us through our dreams just as he did with Daniel and Nebuchednezzar, and Joseph in their dreams, you may have been wondering why. Why would God choose to communicate with us through our dreams? I believe that God has 6 purposes for communicating to us through our dreams and it is up to us along with our communication with the Holy Spirit to discern which purpose he has for communication with us.

The first purpose that I believe God uses dreams for is to call us to pray or intercede for ourselves and/or others. Sometimes God gives us dreams to call on us to pray about a situation or for a person. If we have a dream about someone or something that we know is not positive, even if we dont know the interpretation of the dream, we can pray and intercede about the situation or for the individual(s). Prayer changes things, so if we are obedient, we can change someones outcome for the better.

The second purpose for our dreams may be to warn us. God may want to warn us about a direction we are headed in or a decision that we are about to make that may be outside of his will and that may lead to destruction. In the Bible, in the book of Daniel, chapter 4, God gave Nebuchednezzar a dream to warn him. King Nebuchednezzar was warned in his dream, that if he didnt acknowledge that God is more powerful than man and things, his power and riches would be taken away from him. Nebuchednezzars warning was to acknowledge and turn to God or lose his earthly privileges. Having this dream and having it interpreted by Daniel, a Godly man, gave Nebuchednezzar the opportunity to take action to avoid disaster and calamity in his life. God gives us this same opportunity if we heed and are obedient to God.

The third purpose for God give us dreams is to give us hope. The Bible says in the Book of Proverbs 13:12 that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." You may be experiencing a dark time in your life and you may be tempted to throw in the towel and give up. God may give you a dream to show you the light that lies ahead and to give you hope in your future. Having a visual image of a dream that he births in us gives us the opportunity to think about and hold onto that vision when things arent going the way we hoped or planned.

The fourth purpose for dreams is to encourage us and encourage others. This goes along with hope, but it may be a bit more subtle. God may want us to share a positive dream with the person we dreamed about to encourage them, or he may just want to encourage us that he is with us and hasnt forsaken us.

The fifth purpose may be to give us confirmation about something that he has either already tried to communicate to us either through our spirit or through someone else. Also, if we asked God for confirmation for something, he may give it to us through our dreams.

Finally, I believe that God communicates with us through our dreams sometimes to let us know that he is God. It is hard to forget or disbelieve in the power of God when he is using something like dreams to communicate with people and ordinary people like Daniel and I to interpret dreams.

If you believe that God has been communicating to you through your dreams, do the following : 1. Pay close attention to them; 2. Write them down in a dream journal as soon as you wake up from the dream, so that you capture all of the important details; 3. Obey his instructions and heed to his warnings, in other words, pray for yourself and others immediately when he calls on you, act when he gives you confirmations that require action, always hold onto hope, and always give God all of the Glory!

If you are interested in having a dream interpreted, sharing your dreams with others, or simply being a part of a discussion group and learning more about dreams, please visit my website at www.dreamsinterpret.com. Try it out for free.

Written by : Lisa M. Kohut