There once was a little boy who had a bad
temper. His father gave him a bag of
nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail
into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to
hold his temper than to drive
those nails into the fence....
The day passed and the young boy was finally able to
tell his father
that all the nails were gone.
“It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still
there."
Please forgive me if I have ever left a hole in your
fence.
(Author unknown)
What is the shortest chapter in the
Bible? (Answer - Psalms 117)
What is the longest chapter in the
Bible? (Answer - Psalms 119)
Which chapter is in the center of the
Bible (Answer - Psalms 118)
Fact: There are 594 chapters before
Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters after
Psalms 118
Add these numbers up and you get 1188
What is the center verse in the Bible?
(Answer - Psalms 118:8)
Does this verse say something
significant about God's perfect will for our
lives?
The next time someone says they would
like to find God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to be in the
center of His will, just send them to the center of His Word!
Psalms 118:8 (NKJV) "It is better
to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Now isn't that odd how this worked out
(or was God in the center of it)?
I
have a list of folks I know...all written in a book,
And
every now and then..I go and
take a look.
That
is when I realize these names ... they are not a part, of the book they're
written in...but taken from my heart.
For
each Name stands for someone...who has crossed my path sometime,
and in that meeting they have
become...the reason and the rhyme
Although
it sounds fantastic...for me to make this claim,
I
really am composed...of each remembered name.
Although
you're not aware...of any special link,
just knowing you, has shaped my
life...more than you could think.
So
please don't think my greeting...as just a mere routine,
your name was not...forgotten in
between.
For
when I send a greeting...that is addressed to you,
it is because you're on the list...of
folks I'm indebted to.
So
whether I have known you...for many days or few,
in some ways you have a part,in shaping things I do.
I
am but a total...of many folks I've met,
you are a friend I would
prefer...never to forget.
Thank
you for being my friend!
I received this
interesting picture from a friend. It
was entitled "Definition of Bravery."
As I looked at this
picture lots of things passed through my mind.
At first I thought, “Yes, what a brave mouse. He has put on a helmet and is going after the
cheese in spite of the odds.” However as
I thought about the picture I decided that this was not bravery. This was foolhardiness, really it was
stupidity. A helmet was not going to
save the mouse. In human terms, he had
found what he perceived to be a solution, but had not really taken the time to
truly understand the danger which awaited him.
A helmet is great protection against a blow to the head, but it doesn’t
help when a huge bar is about to break your neck. The mouse had not done enough research before
setting out to get the cheese. He was
not correctly prepared. He was lulled
into a sense of false security. He was
self-deceived.
This picture
fascinates me because it illustrates how people tend to face the challenges of
life. All too often we don’t do enough
preparation before taking on a challenge.
We are unprepared for the battles ahead.
This is often especially true in the Christian life. Christians are in a war. We are fighting against the forces of Satan. It is a spiritual battle for which we need to
be prepared. But are we ready for
battle? Satan definitely doesn’t want us
to be prepared. He wants to bully us and
ensure than we don’t enjoy our Christian life.
He is a subtle deceiver who lies and uses half truths to tempt us to
sin. He does the same to keep us from
living close to Jesus and to keep us from preparing ourselves for the spiritual
battles in which we find ourselves.
In the book of
Ephesians, the sixth chapter, there is passage which tells us how we can be
prepared for the spiritual war in which we are engaged. If we want to live a joyous, victorious Christian
life we need to truly prepare ourselves for life. For conflict. Those Christians who truly depend on Jesus
and His power through the Holy Spirit will stand firm. Those who do not will be swept aside by the
forces of darkness. Victory is ours, but
we need to do a little bit of preparation.
We need to stand in the truth of God’s Word. We need to know it and make it ours. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to indwell
us, shape us and guide us in all we do and live. We need to live in love and peace as Jesus
would do, and by our deep and intimate relationship with Him live a life of
faith, trusting, knowing, that our all powerful God is not just at our side,
but lives within us. We need an abiding
life of prayer to make all of this possible.
Only as we spend time with our Lord, making Him our very best friend,
will we know the power of God that is ours because we are His children. When we truly know God, we will truly have
faith, for we will know what God can do.
Don’t be deceived.
Don’t put on a crash helmet and hope that it will get you through
life. You need a lot more than a
helmet. Don’t forget the sword and the
rest of the armour.
Be prepared for life so you can enjoy it to the fullest, living the
abundant life Jesus promised us.
Remember the
mouse. He looked prepared, but he was
self-deceived.
In light of the recent shootings
in schools. Let's see, I think it started
when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our
schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not
read the Bible in school...the Bible that says thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your
neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we
shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little
personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said,
an expert
should know what he's talking about so we said OK, we won't spank them
anymore.
Then someone said teachers and
principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave.
And the school administrators said
no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they
misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to
be sued.(There's a big difference between disciplining and touching, beating,
smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we accepted their reasoning.
Then someone said, let's let our
daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to
tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand
idea. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want,
so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their
parents they got them at school. And we said, that's
another great idea.
Then some of our top elected
officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do
our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone,
including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the
economy is good.
And then someone said let's print
magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome,
down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said we have
no problem with that.
And someone else took that
appreciation a step further and published pictures of
nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the internet.
And we said they're entitled to their free speech.
And the entertainment industry
said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity,
violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs,
murder, suicide,and
satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse
effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.
Now we're asking ourselves why our
children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it
doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it
long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to
do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Dear God, Why didn't you save the
little girl in
Sincerely, Concerned Student
AND THE REPLY:
Dear Concerned Student, I am not
allowed in schools.
Sincerely, God.
Funny how simple it is for people
to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the
newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how everyone wants to go to
heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or
do anything the Bible says.
Funny how someone can say, "I
believe in God" but still follow Satan who, by the way, also
"believes"
in God.
Funny how we are quick to judge
but not to be judged.
Funny how you can send a thousand
'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start
sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar
and obscene pass freely through Cyberspace, but the public
discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Funny how someone can be so fired
up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.
Are you laughing? Are you
thinking?
Take heed to your
actions-there are many eyes upon us.
There are many waiting to see us fall.
If we miscarry, the world will run with the news, and it will literally
reverberate around the world! It is the
same as the eclipses of the sun that we observe, which
happens in broad daylight--they are seldom without witnesses.
The eyes of all are upon us-many of whom may be
non-Christians who almost hope we fall; thus their rejection of the Lord Jesus
is, in their eyes, is justified. The
eyes of our family are also upon us. We
already know that they are the hardest to win to Christ. We are never to give them opportunity to
reject the Lord Jesus. We must never be
the cause of them stumbling.
Have a real good day
in God.
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is
approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot
and wait for the winds to come.
When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the
wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below,
the eagle is soaring above it.
The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses
the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us - and all of
us will experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds and our
belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God's
power to lift us above them.
God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that
bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives.
We can soar above the storm.
Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh
us down, it is how we handle them.
The Bible says, "Those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles."
~ Isaiah 40:31
Receive Cleansing (1 Peter
In I Peter
Walking and Living in True Wisdom
The Apostles, Paul, James and Peter each
talk about the manner of life we ought to live to avoid offence. Paul says that
he exercised himself to keep his conscience free of offence (Acts 24:16; 2 Cor. 6:3). An awesome recipe for offence-free living comes
from James. "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;
then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow a harvest of
righteousness" (James
"Lord, grant that it may be our
determination and desire to live in such a way that we can honestly say that we
do not have a problem in our heart with anyone! May You
be glorified in our lives." - Amen.
When I was little,
my mother used to sew a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from
the floor
and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was
embroidering.
As from the
underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop
that she held
in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy
from where I sat.
She would smile at me, look down and gently
say, "Child, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished
with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my
side."
I would wonder why
she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed
so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear
Mother's voice say, "Child, come and sit on my knee."
This I did only to
be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower, or a sunset. I could not
believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.
Then Mother would
say to me, "My child, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but
you did not realize that there was a plan on the top.
It was a design. I
was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was
doing."
Many times through
the years I have looked up to heaven and said, "Father, what are You doing?"
He has answered,
"I am embroidering your life."
I say, "But it
looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why
can't they all be bright?"
The Father seems to
tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and
one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the
plan from My side."
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May today there be peace within you.
May you trust God that you are
exactly where
you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born
of faith.
May you use those gifts that you
have
received,
and pass on the love that has
been given to you.
May you be content knowing that
you are a child of God.
Let His presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom
to sing, laugh,
and to bask in the sun.
It is there for each and every one of you.
~ Unknown ~
(ENTOURAGES
MANTLE, Weekly Newsletter at Barbara's Entourage! by Barbara Sanders, Vol. I
Issue # 17,
This is the time of year for some bad
allergies. Imagine waking up,
scratching, with rash on your hands and arms, unable to stop the awful itching!
Well, that's what I had this past week.
Do a good deed - get a rash! Looks as though the outdoors doesn't like me, because I almost
always get poison oak/ivy, when I do yard work, especially, if I'm pulling
weeds, or cutting shrubbery.
Those _little guys_ see me coming, and are surely saying, 'we have a
live one here'.......and attach themselves to my body. Nothing left to do but suffer, or go get a
shot. Nothing helps, and this time, the
shot hasn't even done the work. I'm
sitting, scratching and rubbing, as I type.
But, like a woman having a child, in
terrible pain, the pain ceases, the moment is forgotten, and you enjoy the rest
of the child's life, hopefully. The REAL
pain of childbirth is over, but not forgotten.
It just remains
a reminder of what you have accomplished. So it is with the
poison oak rash; it stays for a time. But when it leaves, you can't 'feel or
see it', just know that you did have it and spent some time scratching.
God relieves the pain of life for us, if
we let him. We can remember what yesterday
held, but know that God has taken away the pain and sorrow, the sin, when we
turn our lives over to Him. He wants to
be able to say to us, 'Child, rest in my arms. Let me wipe away the tears,
fears, and ugliness of a life without me.
I am able to give you comfort, joy, and peace, and true victory over all
the pain that life holds for you today.
Go REST in HIM today!
*****************
Hebrews 4:10 For
he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as
God did from his.
A tax assessor came one day to a poor
pastor to determine the amount of taxes the pastor would have to pay. The
following conversation took place;
"What property do you
possess?" asked the assessor.
"I am a very wealthy man,"
replied the minister.
"List your possessions,
please," the assessor instructed.
"First , I
have everlasting life, John 3:16.
"Second, I have a mansion in
heaven, John 14:2.
"Third, I have peace that passeth understanding, Philippians 4:7.
"Fourth, I have joy
unspeakable, 1 Peter 1:8.
"Fifth, I have divine love which never faileth, 1
Corinthians 13:8.
"Sixth, I have a faithful precious
wife, Proverbs
31:10.
"Seventh, I have healthy, happy obedient
children, Exodus 20:12.
"Eighth, I have true, loyal friends, Proverbs 18:24.
"Ninth, I have songs in the night,
Psalms 42:8.
"Tenth, I have a crown of life,
James 1:12."
The tax assessor closed his book, and
said, "Truly you are a
very rich man, but your property is not subject to taxation.
"
~ Author Unknown ~
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Joy in life is like
oil in a lamp. When the oil gets low the wick is consumed, emitting a black
vapor, and sending forth only a lurid glow, which does not give light.
A life without joy passes
away unprofitably, shedding around it only gloom and sorrow.
If every morning in
a simple prayer, --in those fifteen minutes' meditation (which only seem hard
when we do not practice it), --we opened our hearts to God, as we open our
windows to the sun and air, God would fill it with that calm, sweet joy which
elevates the soul, prevents it feeling the weight of troubles, and makes it
overflow with benevolence.
But joy does not
mean levity, witty sayings, or repartee...it is habitual serenity.
Through a clear
atmosphere we can always see the sky; it seems so light and full of elasticity.
A serene sky is
always pure...clouds may pass across it, but they do not stain it.
So it is with the
heart that early in the morning opens to receive God's Peace.
(By Charlotte M. Yonge
– 1880)
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