~~A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with the realish to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and paused. Then they all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down's syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line.
Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for 10 minutes.
--Author Unknown
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
-THE LOVE SQUAD ~~ -(God Has Everything Under Control!) -By:Virelle Kidder
OH NO! Not company!" I groaned the moment that my car rounded the corner and our house came into full view. Usually I'd be thrilled to see four cars lined up in our driveway, but after I spent a week-long vigil at the hospital with an ill child, my house was a colossal mess. Turning off the car engine, I dragged myself to the front door.
"What are you doing here so soon?" my friend Julie called from the kitchen. "We weren't expecting you for another hour! We thought we'd be long gone before you got home." She walked toward me and gave me a hug, then asked softly, "How are you doing?"
Was this my house? Was I dreaming? Everything looked so clean. Where did these flowers come from?
Suddenly more voices, more hugs. Lorraine, smiling and wiping beads of perspiration from her forehead, came up from the family room where she had just finished ironing a mountain of clean clothes. Regina peeked into the kitchen, having finished vacuuming rugs and polishing and dusting furniture in every room in the house. Joan, still upstairs wrestling with the boys' bunk-bed sheets, called down her "hello," having already brought order out of chaos in all four bedrooms.
"When did you guys get here?" was my last coherent sentence. My tears came in great heaving waves. "How come...how come...you did all this?" I cried unashamedly, every ounce of resistant gone.
I had spent the week praying through a health crisis, begging God for a sense of His presence at the hospital. Instead, He laid a mantle of order, beauty and loving care into our home through these four "angels."
"You rest a while, Virelle," Lorraine said firmly. "Here's your dinner for tonight--there are more meals in the freezer." The table was set with flowers and fancy napkins, and a little gift was at my place. A small banquet was arranged, complete with salad and dessert.
"Don't you worry. We're all praying," my friend said. "God has everything under control."
After my friends left, I wandered from room to room, still sobbing from the enormity of their gift of time and work. I found beautiful floral arrangements in every room...and little wrapped gifts on each bed. More tears.
In the living room I found a note under a vase filled with peonies. I was to have come home and found it as their only identity: "The Love Squad was here." And I knew that God had everything under control. --- Friends are lights in winter; the older the friend, the brighter the light.~~
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
-2 Corinthians 4:1-10 --- Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested. --2 Corinthians 4:10 --- Years ago I lost my job in my chosen profession due to circumstances beyond my control. So I took on two lesser-paying jobs in order to try to make ends meet. Yet it still was very difficult to earn enough to pay my monthly expenses.
Then I reconnected with Joel and Dave, two friends from my past. Joel had become the pastor of a growing church in the suburbs. Dave had become an overseas missionary, but he was visiting in the US at the time. Both of them, recognizing my predicament, gave me money to help pay the rent. I was deeply moved. As I thought of my friends' actions, I said to myself: "I have just seen Jesus Christ!"
Just as I saw Jesus in my friends, sometimes others can see Him in us. Paul speaks of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:;27). He confessed: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). And he also understood that different circumstances can be opportunities for "the life of Jesus [to] be manifested in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10).
Do you know someone struggling? Maybe you are having a rough time. Why not let the indwelling Christ express His love through you by meeting another person's need. And as always, you can call on Jesus. ------ -Real love is helping others for Jesus' sake even if they can never return the favor.
--ODB/DF
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
For the Christian, deception is never an option. It wasn’t an option for Jesus.
Isaiah 53:9 says , “He had done nothing wrong, and he had never lied.” His every sentence true. No cheating on tests. No altering the accounts. Not once did Jesus stretch the truth. He simply told the truth. No deceit was found in His mouth. And if God has His way with us, none will be found in ours. He longs for us to be just like Jesus.
Proverbs 12:22 says, “The Lord hates those who tell lies but is pleased with those who keep their promises.” Why the hard line? Why the tough stance? One reason is that dishonesty is absolutely contrary to the character of God. God always speaks truth. When He makes a covenant, He keeps it. When He proclaims the truth, we can believe it! Because He cannot be false to Himself.
-From: Just Like Jesus/ML
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
'You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.' ---Psalm 16:11
I recently saw a young man wearing a T-shirt that said, “God will get you for that.” That was his idea of God… a babysitter who just sits up in heaven and waits for you to do something wrong. Then once you do, He slaps you around a bit and sends you off saying, “You better not do that again!”
It’s a sad truth that many people see God this way. The late comedian George Carlin said that Christianity has “convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll go to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity.”
That’s the idea of God for many people today. Yet, the Bible tells us that God gives riches beyond riches. He’s not an evil man just waiting to zap you. He’s a loving Father who will stop at nothing to win back those who have fallen away from Him… even sacrificing His own Son.
The list of “don’ts” in the Christian life is for our own good. God doesn’t want us to get hurt and knows the most joy will be found when we do His will. Don’t obey God because you’re scared of judgment – you’re already righteous if you’re in Christ. Follow God because that’s where joy is really found!
-JOY IS REALLY FOUND IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD. FOLLOW HIM AND FIND REAL AND LASTING JOY IN HIS WILL FOR YOUR LIFE!
--PP/JG
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18
-I once met a lawyer on an airplane. We began to talk about what we liked to read. I said, “I read newspapers, books, journals, devotional studies, but primarily the Bible.”
He said, “If you don’t read any further than that, how do you know what to talk about when you speak to people?”
I said, “Sir, man only has three problems: sin, sorrow, and death.”
He answered, “There are more than that.”
I replied, “No, only three.”
“Oh,” he said, “there are other problems.”
I said, “All right, tell me another.”
He went off for a while, came back, and said, “Man only has three problems.”
That’s true. And the Cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer to those three problems. You give me all of the wisdom of this world….but there is no other answer apart from the Cross.
The Jews want a sign; it is the Cross. The Greeks want wisdom; it is the Cross. To this world it is foolishness, but to God it is not foolishness. Now, thank God for the message of the Cross. --Adrian Rogers <http://youtu.be/00Nci1ATvPg> -------------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
--BIBLE MEDITATION: -“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
-DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: When Jesus came to the end of His life, He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).
He stayed on the track, and so did Paul. They accomplished what God had set out for them to do.
Every man has a race that he must run. Every woman has a race set before her. God knows the course. And everything God commands of you, He will empower you to do. Whether you’re nine or ninety, young or old, rich or poor, God has a plan for your life! God has a race He wants you to run!
--ACTION POINT: What is the race God has set before you? If you are not certain, inquire of Him. What He asks of you, He will empower you to do. Thank God for the power to finish the course./ POWER OF YOUR LOVE! DZ <http://youtu.be/H9_0jiO5ZRM> ---------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
---Train Up A Child --BIBLE MEDITATION: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
-DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: A little boy was riding around and around the block. A man asked him, “What are you doing?” “I’m running away from home,” he said.
“But you’re just going around and around the block,” said the man.
The little boy responded, “That’s because my mom won’t let me cross the street!”
Even in the earliest ages, there can be restraint in the heart of a child because of godly training by his or her parents. The only way I ever learned to play football was on the training field. The classroom wasn’t enough. Parents must provide training and education for the lessons of life to be ingrained in their children.
--ACTION POINT: Has God given you the divine responsibility of parenthood? Then spend some time this week training your child in one area of godly living.~~ --Adrian Rogers -/OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD! <http://youtu.be/smZwG-auxC8> ----------
-My dad repaired oil-field engines for a living and rebuilt car engines for fun. Dad loved machines. But God gave him a mechanical moron…...a son who couldn’t differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. My dad tried to teach me. I tried to learn. Honestly, I did.
Machines anesthetized me. But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books? He gives him a library card. Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that. You know what he didn’t do? Never once did he say, “Why can’t you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?” The greatest gift you can give your children is not your riches, but revealing to them their own! ----- --M. Lucado ~~
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
--Deepening our relationship with God--through discovering His character and His will for our lives--is achieved in several ways. Each one, while familiar, represents an important discipline in pursuing the Lord.
Studying the Scriptures allows us to draw from many passages to gain a broader, deeper understanding of God's character, plans, and promises. We benefit by asking ourselves questions such as 'What does this study reveal about His nature? Is there a divine promise to remember? A command to obey? An example to follow?' Encountering God requires both a listening ear and a receptive heart.
We are seeking God when... 1)We spend time discovering who He is and what pleases Him; 2) Our day is not complete without fellowship with Him; and 3) We find ourselves trusting Him more and leaving behind ungodly habits.~~
Scripture tells us, "The Lord inhabits the praises of His people." PRAISE HIM! Tell Him how much you love Him and need Him to lead, guide, and direct your steps.' All Creatures Of Our God and King~ Newsboys + + + <https://youtu.be/G0fMV-mhBs4> --------
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." [John 14:6]
We're all praying," my friend said. "God has everything under control."
he said.
