LOOK UP, BEFORE YOU KEEP THE BILLS

"Sometimes I just look up, smile and say, 'I know that was you GOD! Thanks!'" - Unknown

A construction worker witnessed from his position above his colleague, on a site struggling with an equipment. He - the colleague below - didn't know how to resolve the issue with the equipment, so he - the colleague above - wanted to help, but he had to get his attention. The enormity of the job on the site left everyone too engaged to have discussions, and he couldn't shout his name either. So he threw a one dollar bill. It went slowly through the air and gently landed in front of his colleague, but this colleague, whose attention he hoped to get, picked it up and into his pocket the bill went. That didn't work, the colleague on the upper floor thought. "I'll throw a larger bill." he thought. So he did. With, higher bills till he ran out of bills to throw. Yet the colleague didn't look up. All he did was pick up the money each time, and put them in his pocket not looking up one time. After careful thought, he decided to throw a rock at his colleague, so he got a sizable rock that would not cause serious damage and hurled it down. With a sharp reflex, rubbing his head from the pain he finally looks up. Then the colleague told him how he'd been trying to get his attention with the dollar bills all along.

FINISHING STRONG, 4. YOUR POT: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE IT!

"A fit, healthy body—that is the best fashion statement" - Jess C. Scott

Today, we will continue on the 10 Ps' to finishing strong as we examine the fourth of the Ps: it represents your "POT". I'm certain you must have heard the phrase "Liquid content only", it is generally a phrase indicating that a buyers purchase rights cover the content of a product and not necessarily its container. However, my focus here is on the container and not as much as the content. No matter how expensive a perfume is, if the container is broken it become lost - the content spills. Your POT, here, symbolizes your body.

As an adult of average weight, here is a breakdown of your bodily - your pot - accomplishment in twenty-four hours. Your heart beats 103,689 times, your blood travels 168,000,000 miles. You breathe 23,040 times, you inhale 438 cubic feet of air, you eat about 3.25 pounds of food, and you drink about 2.9 quarts of liquids. Also, you process 7/8 pounds of waste, speak 4,800 words: including the unnecessary ones. Then, you move 750 muscles, your nails and hair grows .000046 and .01714 inches respectively. You exercise 7,000,000 brain cells and many more. What an awesome container. Your body is the vehicle God has given you to achieve every great purpose under the sun, it is worth taking care of.

WHAT KILLED THEM?

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela

 

Death was walking towards a city one morning someone asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to take 100 people," Death replied.

"That's horrible!" the man said.

"That's the way it is. That's what I do." Death replied.

So the man hurriedly warned everyone he could about Death's plan. As evening fell, he met Death again. "You told me you were going to take 100 people," the man said. "Why did 1,000 die?"

"I kept my word," Death responded. "I only took 100 people. Fear killed the others."

YOUR WORTH DETERMINES YOUR PAIN 9; THE STEPS

"Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountain tops and moments in deep valleys of despair." - Rick Warren

Change is the only permanent thing. Processes abound everywhere; graduation is not an end but a commencement of something more laudable. More responsibility. However, every change initiates a movement to another phase.

In pregnancy, the process continues from fertilization to conception with several changes along the line. These changes cause terrible biological and physical discomfort to the mother: It is an uncomfortable experience. Understand that, the pain the mother goes through during pregnancy is nothing compared to that she experiences on the day of delivery. Not at all. This pain isn't meant to kill her, but to produce something new. If the developing foetus doesn't go through all the required processes it comes out deformed. The same way we become deformed if we don't go through the complete process of refining.

YOUR WORTH DETERMINES YOUR PAIN 8; THE REFLECTION

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

Many people go through many processes in life, and somehow, sometimes, they feel the process too long, or the heat too much. I like to see these seemingly unbearable circumstances as "The Process". The process isn't complete until the one controlling the process says it is. Each step of the refining process has it's significant job to accomplish, none is more or less important than the other. One step leads to the next.

The REFLECTION.
The refiner sees a clear image of himself after all the processes are complete, not before. This can ONLY happen when the process is complete. At this point, the gold attains its highest degree of purity! And that, my dear friend, describes God's loving intention for allowing us to be in the "furnace of affliction." As we trust Him to use our trials to cleanse our character and purify our hearts, we will begin to see the "silver lining." behind every dark cloud of "affliction" we experience.