THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I

"Costly grace...is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Grace I

Today is the first day of fifth month of the year 2015, our year of triple grace. It is therefore in the direction of that all-important subject matter to which we must turn. When we say the benediction, many times we declare, "THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…rest and abide with us now and for evermore, Amen." Yet folks know next to nothing by experience about that grace, not a few.

D.L. Moody once told a story, "Once, I preached about grace and when I got through I asked anyone who would like to hear more about grace - who had any interest in it, to remain. I expected some would have stayed, but to my amazement, the whole congregation rose up and went away. They hadn't any interest in grace; they didn't want to learn anything about grace. I put my coat and hat on and was going out of the hall, when I saw a poor fellow at the back of the furnace crying. "I want to hear about the grace of God," said he. "You're the man I want, then," said I. "Yes," the poor fellow said, "you said in your sermon that it was free, and I want you to tell me something about it." Well, I got to talking to him, and he told me a pitiful story. He had drank away twenty

HUSH, BE STILL I

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear." - Ram Dass

Hush

A farmer realized he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. After searching unsuccessfully among the hay for days; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children who usually played, outside the barn. Promising to reward whoever found it first. With this, the children raced into the barn. They went through and around the entire stack of hay in there, but couldn't find it. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking, one other little boy went up to him and asked to look again. The farmer looked at him and thought, "Why not? After all, there's no harm in trying."

So he sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while he emerged - with the watch in his palm! The farmer was both happy and surprised. He asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed. The boy replied, "All I had to do was, sit still on the hay and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction."

WHAT'S GOING ON?

"The United States is falling away from the very things that had made it what it was. What it is becoming is something to be feared..." - Adam Bradford

INTL

Kenneth Hagin said in his book - I Believe in Visions - "Judgement came, and judgement is yet to come. The only thing that can save America (and the world - emphasis mine) from the judgement of God is genuine repentance - a turning to God." This is not about America but a wake-up call. A reminder. It's something to ponder. You know, food for thought. Looking around today, in the news, on the streets in your neighbourhood, you see and hear of things that make the ears tingle. These are all signs.

For instance with Obama talking about limiting church services to twice weekly, because according to him, "Americans are praying more instead of working more." And you hear news about the first ever 'head transplant' at a Hospital in South Africa. Meanwhile the news on the Xenophobic attacks is still fresh. In Nepal a natural disaster claims lives. While, in San Francisco, I read a post about the Catholics there, writing a letter to God, asking him to remove Jesus from the trinity. In their open letter to God, Jesus critics say his morality-clause push, is not only mean-spirited but, that it also "sets a pastoral tone that is closer to persecution than evangelization."

LOST YOUR LEFT ARM?

"Good, Understand, Words
Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses." - Marilyn vos Savant 

Left Arm

A ten year-old boy had lost his left arm in a car accident, but he began lessons with an old Judo master. So he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training he'd been taught only one move.
"Master," the boy said, "Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, and will ever need to know." the master replied.
Months later, the boy. Went for his first tournament. Surprisingly, he easily won his first two matches, and even though the third was difficult - yet with his one move - he won, and was in the finals. His opponent this time was bigger, stronger, and more experienced: the boy appeared to be over matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the master intervened. "No, let him continue." replied the master. Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. And the boy used his one move to pin him. He'd won. He was the new champion. On the way home, the boy asked.
"How did I win with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," replied his master.

WILL YOU ACCEPT IT?

"For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once upon a time, long ago, there lived an old warrior. One afternoon, a younger warrior - known for his complete lack of manners - arrived his compound: this young warrior had never lost a fight. Hearing of the older warrior's reputation, he'd come to defeat the old warrior and increase his fame. All his students were against the idea, but the old man accepted the challenge. They gathered at the town square, and just then the young warrior began to release a barrage of verbal assault on the old master. He threw a few rocks at him, and spat in his face. For hours, he did everything to provoke the old warrior, but to no avail. This young warrior got upset. Feeling humiliated, he left. Disappointed, the students asked:
"How could you bear such indignity? Why didn’t you use your sword, even knowing you might lose the fight, instead of displaying your cowardice in front of us all?"
"If someone comes to you with a gift, and you refuse it, what then happens?" asked the old warrior.

ATTITUDE - ONE OF LIFE’S CHOICES 2

"Countless possibilities exist in any situation. You must maintain a positive outlook to see the miraculous possibilities." - Lailah Gifty Akita

attitude

An Irish proverb says, "Enthusiasm is like a fire that need an occasional poke with a stick." Once in a while, life throws situations at us capable of dousing or even drowning our enthusiasm about life. But, to stay afloat we have to consciously decide to stoke the dying embers of our enthusiasm and positive attitude, in the face of very negative circumstances.

Continued from yesterday:

Later that day, a commercial aired on with the automaker asking, "Wouldn’t you like to have this car in your driveway?" the husband responded, "Sure I would! I had one yesterday." As the day unfolded, his wife became increasingly upset as she remembered more and more of what had been in the now missing car - their wedding album, irreplaceable family photos from past generations, clothes, all of their camera equipment, wallet and checkbooks, just to name a few. These were items of little importance to their survival, yet they seemed of major importance now.

ATTITUDE - ONE OF LIFE’S CHOICES

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." - Winston Churchill

attitude

It was Wade Boggs who said, "A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results."

A couple had had just purchased a new car in, and it was December. Even though they had tickets to fly from California to Houston to visit the lady's family for Christmas, they decided to drive, to break in the new car. They packed the car and took off for a wonderful week with Grandma. They had a wonderful time and stay to the last possible minute visiting with Grandma.

On the return trip they needed to get home in a hurry, so they drove straight through - one person driving while the other slept. After driving in a hard rain for several hours, they arrived home late at night, and were so tired and ready for a hot shower and a soft bed. The husband suggested they unpack the car, no matter how tired they were instead all she wanted was the hot shower and soft bed, so they decided to wait and unload the

GLASS OF WATER, OR LAKE?

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Salt

In your puerility as an adult or as a child, have you ever put so closely to your eyes a very small object, only to discover how big it grew. So big it covered your entire view. Like holding up a pencil close to your eyes while closing the other eye. That's the power of focusing on only one thing. It magnifies it.

Once an unhappy young man visited an old sage to tell him how very sad his life was, and needed a solution. The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the Master asked.

"Terrible. Very salty." spat the young man.

LIFE IS A BOXING RING, 3: WHEN DISASTER STRIKES REPEATEDLY 2

"You can't live someone else's expectations in life. It's a recipe for disaster." - Bear Grylls

Boxing Ring

Well said, Bear Grylls. Isn't it true how much people expect you to "do this, or that" in the face of the different challenges of your life? Some expect that, since there's so much trouble coming at you since you made that decision to marry that guy, or take that job, or even give God that money, that it's a sign that God is against your decision. They forget that, facing troubles after a decision isn't a sign that you decided wrongly. Neither is everything going smoothly a sign that God is with you. The Israelites were to be made free by an instruction from God, but that didn't stop them from receiving the heat from Pharaoh!

George was destined to spend the next three falls seasons in the hospital. In 1948, it was after he stepped on a rusty nail. In 1949, it was tonsillitis, just before he was to sing in an audition for Phil Harris, a great orchestra leader and radio comedy icon. And in 1950, it was third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body and collapsed lungs. After an explosion had set George’s body on fire, my brother Alan put the flames out by throwing himself on George. Alan had saved his brother’s life, but he received serious burns himself. Following each challenge, George came back stronger and surer of his own ability to overcome any obstacle. He had read that if one looks at the roadblocks, he isn’t looking at the goal.

LIFE IS A BOXING RING, 3: WHEN DISASTER STRIKES REPEATEDLY

"Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of." - Stephen Hawking 

Boxing

The story continues. The next year, after being named to start for Missouri Valley College in one of the first football games to be televised locally, George came down with mononucleosis. It was my brother Bob who helped reinforce George’s already strong philosophy of never giving up. The family was sitting in George’s room at the hospital, watching the game on TV, when Valley’s quarterback completed a 12-yard pass to the tight end. Then the announcer said, "And George Schlatter makes the first catch of the game." Shocked, we all looked at the bed to make sure George was still there. Then we realized what had happened. Bob, who had made the starting line-up, had worn George’s number so George could spend the afternoon hearing himself catching six passes and making countless tackles. Later he said, "If I can do that flat on my back with a temperature of 103 degrees, just think what I can do when I’m up!" As he overcame mono, he did it with the lesson Bob taught him that day…there is always a way!

LIFE IS A BOXING RING, 2.

"...Choose to look up, when life presses you down. Choose to smile, when life frowns at you. Choose victory, over defeat." - Unknown

Boxing

Continued from yesterday:
You see, Mom and Dad taught us that just like you would never let someone else come into your house with an axe and allow them to break up your furniture, you should never let a damaging thought come into your mind and break up your dreams. The next day the nurse walked into George’s room to find him lying flat on his face on the floor.
"What’s going on in here?" asked the shocked nurse.
"I’m walking," George calmly replied.

George refused the use of any braces or even a crutch that was given to him. Sometimes it would take him twenty minutes just to get out of the chair, but he refused any offers of aid. I remember seeing him lift a tennis ball with as much effort as a healthy man would need to lift a 100 - pound barbell. I also remember seeing him, six months later, step out on the mat as captain of the wrestling team. George’s rehabilitation from the devastating effects of polio was written up all over the state of Missouri. No one had ever been known to recover so quickly or so completely from this disease.