End the Cycle of Defeat

“Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:6-9‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

This world goes by sight—only believing what it can observe by the five senses and man’s tools.

However, we who are of faith trust God’s word and know that there are spiritual realities that our minds cannot comprehend. Even though we cannot see it, we believe it to be real.

Every moral failure or repeated sin cycle can be traced back to neglecting prayer and meditation on God’s word.

It is a result of feeding too much on the world, such that you trust the five senses and are steered by the flesh.

If you feel burnt out, spiritually sluggish, and depressed, you can fix it by drinking lots of the water of God’s word. Let it rehydrate your soul and refresh you.

Instead of crashing from one ‘I’m sorry Lord, please forgive me’ cycle to another because you are low on spiritual fuel, why not fill up your tank until it is full?

It is time to pray and meditate on God’s word. Talk to Jesus, and see Him in the Scriptures. The power for a Christian to prosper in all things, be healthy, and have a prospering soul, comes from constantly receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

It cannot be overemphasized. In order to walk in faith, we must feed ourselves with faith-food: God’s word.

Maybe you have grown accustomed to the taste of the world’s food. It has a menu of entertainment to tickle the senses and indulge the cravings of the flesh.

But God’s word is true, rich food that nourishes you. It is sweet like honey because God’s promises towards you are so good. Eat it every day, just like you take meals at regular timings!

Our Patreon community is currently on a Bible study series called “My Faith Declarations” which looks at the Spirit-inspired utterances of the authors of the Psalms. They wrote about the trials and tribulations they experienced, so the book of Psalms is very relatable.

By turning their faith declarations into our own, we can learn how to overcome similar circumstances in life through faith in the Lord! Become a “God Every Morning” tier or above patron on Patreon to receive this reward, daily devotionals by email, and also all my eBooks. Thanks for being a blessing to this ministry: http://Patreon.com/miltongohblog

“Share one of your toughest challenges as a business owner.”

—

Most people think that handling a “crisis” during the pandemic (see my post yesterday), or having had to close down two centres during socio-political upheaval are the toughest challenges I’ve had to go through.

Yes, those were difficult. But there’s one more experience that I haven’t shared.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with was facing my team after the announcement of a pay cut.

This was exactly a year ago— at the height of the uncertainty of the pandemic. In the face of ensuring we would be able to survive longer, a short-term pinch was required.

Nevertheless, it was still one of the most painful experiences I’ve had to go through in six years (of running a business). I didn’t know what I could say to make things better. All I knew was that hardworking people didn’t go home with their full salary that month, and it hurt.

These people turned out to be real heroes, though. Our teammates told us that in spite of all uncertainties, they would stand by our side as we painstakingly steered our course. If our company is still standing, it is because they stood by us when they could have chosen not to.

My gratitude to them keeps me persevering. If THEY didn’t give up, neither should I. So when people wonder how I manage working for weeks with barely a day off, a big part is because I am driven to make sure I value the collective sacrifice of the team...

And of course, to ensure that, God help us, they will always go home each month with all that their hard work is due 💪🏼

#entrepreneurship

- Luyện đọc và tìm kiếm từ mới nào cả nhà!
Đề Cambridge IELTS 14 Test 2 - passage 2:
BACK TO THE FUTURE OF SKYSCRAPER DESIGN

Answers to the problem of excessive electricity use by skyscrapers and large public buildings can be found in ingenious but forgotten architectural designs of the 19th and early-20th centuries

A. The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture by Professor Alan Short is the culmination of 30 years of research and award-winning green building design by Short and colleagues in Architecture, Engineering, Applied Maths and Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
'The crisis in building design is already here,' said Short. 'Policy makers think you can solve energy and building problems with gadgets. You can't. As global temperatures continue to rise, we are going to continue to squander more and more energy on keeping our buildings mechanically cool until we have run out of capacity.'

B. Short is calling for a sweeping reinvention of how skyscrapers and major public buildings are designed - to end the reliance on sealed buildings which exist solely via the 'life support' system of vast air conditioning units.
Instead, he shows it is entirely possible to accommodate natural ventilation and cooling in large buildings by looking into the past, before the widespread introduction of air conditioning systems, which were 'relentlessly and aggressively marketed' by their inventors.

C. Short points out that to make most contemporary buildings habitable, they have to be sealed and air conditioned. The energy use and carbon emissions this generates is spectacular and largely unnecessary. Buildings in the West account for 40-50% of electricity usage, generating substantial carbon emissions, and the rest of the world is catching up at a frightening rate. Short regards glass, steel and air-conditioned skyscrapers as symbols of status, rather than practical ways of meeting our requirements.

D. Short's book highlights a developing and sophisticated art and science of ventilating buildings through the 19th and earlier-20th centuries, including the design of ingeniously ventilated hospitals. Of particular interest were those built to the designs of John Shaw Billings, including the first Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US city of Baltimore (1873-1889).
'We spent three years digitally modelling Billings' final designs,' says Short. 'We put pathogens• in the airstreams, modelled for someone with tuberculosis (TB) coughing in the wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room would have kept other patients safe from harm.

E. 'We discovered that 19th-century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour-that's similar to the performance of a modern-day, computer-controlled operating theatre. We believe you could build wards based on these principles now.
Single rooms are not appropriate for all patients. Communal wards appropriate for certain patients - older people with dementia, for example - would work just as well in today's hospitals, at a fraction of the energy cost.'
Professor Short contends the mindset and skill-sets behind these designs have been completely lost, lamenting the disappearance of expertly designed theatres, opera houses, and other buildings where up to half the volume of the building was given over to ensuring everyone got fresh air.

F. Much of the ingenuity present in 19th-century hospital and building design was driven by a panicked public clamouring for buildings that could protect against what was thought to be the lethal threat of miasmas - toxic air that spread disease. Miasmas were feared as the principal agents of disease and epidemics for centuries, and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages right through to the cholera outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s. Foul air, rather than germs, was believed to be the main driver of 'hospital fever', leading to disease and frequent death. The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.
While miasma theory has been long since disproved, Short has for the last 30 years advocated a return to some of the building design principles produced in its wake.

G. Today, huge amounts of a building's space and construction cost are given over to air conditioning. 'But I have designed and built a series of buildings over the past three decades which have tried to reinvent some of these ideas and then measure what happens. 'To go forward into our new low-energy, low-carbon future, we would be well advised to look back at design before our high-energy, high-carbon present appeared. What is surprising is what a rich legacy we have abandoned.'

H. Successful examples of Short's approach include the Queen's Building at De Montfort University in Leicester. Containing as many as 2,000 staff and students, the entire building is naturally ventilated, passively cooled and naturally lit, including the two largest auditoria, each seating more than 150 people. The award-winning building uses a fraction of the electricity of comparable buildings in the UK.
Short contends that glass skyscrapers in London and around the world will become a liability over the next 20 or 30 years if climate modelling predictions and energy price rises come to pass as expected.

I. He is convinced that sufficiently cooled skyscrapers using the natural environment can be produced in almost any climate. He and his team have worked on hybrid buildings in the harsh climates of Beijing and Chicago - built with natural ventilation assisted by back-up air conditioning - which, surprisingly perhaps, can be switched off more than half the time on milder days and during the spring and autumn.
“My book is a recipe book which looks at the past, how we got to where we are now, and how we might reimagine the cities, offices and homes of the future. There are compelling reasons to do this. The Department of Health says new hospitals should be naturally ventilated, but they are not. Maybe it’s time we changed our outlook.”

TỪ VỰNG CHÚ Ý:

Excessive (adj)/ɪkˈsesɪv/: quá mức
Skyscraper (n)/ˈskaɪskreɪpə(r)/: nhà trọc trời
Ingenious (adj)/ɪnˈdʒiːniəs/: khéo léo
Culmination (n) /ˌkʌlmɪˈneɪʃn/: điểm cao nhất
Crisis (n)/ˈkraɪsɪs/: khủng hoảng
Gadget (n)/ˈɡædʒɪt/: công cụ
Squander (v)/ˈskwɒndə(r)/: lãng phí
Reliance (n)/rɪˈlaɪəns/: sự tín nhiệm
Vast (adj)/vɑːst/: rộng lớn
Accommodate (v)/əˈkɒmədeɪt/: cung cấp
Ventilation (n)/ˌventɪˈleɪʃn/: sự thông gió
Habitable (adj)/ˈhæbɪtəbl/: có thể ở được
Spectacular (adj)/spekˈtækjələ(r)/: ngoạn mục, đẹp mắt
Account for /əˈkaʊnt//fə(r)/ : chiếm
Substantial (adj)/səbˈstænʃl/: đáng kể
Frightening (adj)/ˈfraɪtnɪŋ/: kinh khủng
Sophisticated (adj)/səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd/: phức tạp
Pathogen (n)/ˈpæθədʒən/: mầm bệnh
Tuberculosis (n)/tjuːˌbɜːkjuˈləʊsɪs/: bệnh lao
Communal (adj)/kəˈmjuːnl/: công cộng
Dementia (n)/dɪˈmenʃə/: chứng mất trí
Fraction (n)/ˈfrækʃn/: phần nhỏ
Lament (v)/ləˈment/: xót xa
Panicked (adj): hoảng loạn
Lethal (adj)/ˈliːθl/: gây chết người
Threat (n)/θret/: mối nguy
Miasmas (n)/miˈæzmə/: khí độc
Infection (n) /ɪnˈfekt/: sự nhiễm trùng
Cholera (n)/ˈkɒl.ər.ə/: dịch tả
Outbreak (n)/ˈaʊt.breɪk/: sự bùng nổ
Disprove (v)/dɪˈspruːv/: bác bỏ
Advocate (v)/ˈæd.və.keɪt/: ủng hộ
Auditoria (n)/ˌɔːdɪˈtɔːriə/ : thính phòng
Comparable (adj)/ˈkɒm.pər.ə.bəl/: có thể so sánh được
Contend (v) /kənˈtend/: cho rằng
Liability (n)/ˌlaɪ.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/: nghĩa vụ pháp lý
Convince (v) /kənˈvɪns/: Thuyết phục
Assist (v) /əˈsɪst/: để giúp đỡ

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While performing a Sufi dance, the whirling dervishes are steered by rhythmic chanting as they seek to become one with Allah.
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