I recieved this in a fw email from an aquaintance - I really liked the simplicity of the message...
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A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.
ALL BUT ONE !!!
He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?" He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered.
Then slowly he made his way to catchthe later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our Destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day. You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit. Please share this... Sometimes we just take things for granted, when we really need to be sharing what we know...
Thanks
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.
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Monday, January 28, 2008
The Farm Hand
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received A steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows." Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
[source: http://little-christ.blogspot.com/2006/10/o-level-is-just-around-corner.html]
I loved this story and hoped I’d remember it long enough to share it, but knowing myself better than that, I decided to put it here for memory's sake. I would like to clarify, if you are prepared for ALL things, then you have NOTHING to fear. And apart from that, we recently discussed in group about fear and how, if we truly trust in God, then fear has no place in our lives at all. So then I am forced to ask myself the question, "if there is nothing to fear because God is in control, then why would there be any need to prepare?" Well, this is a two part answer...
(1) We are not to fear because we should know that God is in control. This requires that we have faith in God that He is in control. Our faith is built by reading scripture, hearing sound scriptural teaching, sharing faith testimony with other faithful believers, etc. The more we do these things, the stronger our faith in God grows. The stronger our faith, the less we fear life and life's storms. So we can effectively prepare for the storm by growing our faith
(2) Life still has its storms and they affect us all in various ways. We can be attacked financially, socially, spiritually, ethically, etc. We can overcome obstacles by being knowledgeable of how. Knowledge is gained by reading, listening, sharing, testing, etc. The more sound knowledge we have the more prepared we are to deal with the things that come up in our everyday lives.
The first has to do with attitude; the second is more about practical application. When something comes along to knock of us down, we don’t want to get bent out of shape or run screaming into the darkness. We do want to keep our head on straight and maintain our hope and faith in God. We also don’t want to (nor does God want us to) just sit there. If a problem comes your way - fix it. If it’s bigger than you are, call on the big guy!
So be like the good farm hand. Prepare you self and you will rest easy in the storm!
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows." Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
[source: http://little-christ.blogspot.com/2006/10/o-level-is-just-around-corner.html]
I loved this story and hoped I’d remember it long enough to share it, but knowing myself better than that, I decided to put it here for memory's sake. I would like to clarify, if you are prepared for ALL things, then you have NOTHING to fear. And apart from that, we recently discussed in group about fear and how, if we truly trust in God, then fear has no place in our lives at all. So then I am forced to ask myself the question, "if there is nothing to fear because God is in control, then why would there be any need to prepare?" Well, this is a two part answer...
(1) We are not to fear because we should know that God is in control. This requires that we have faith in God that He is in control. Our faith is built by reading scripture, hearing sound scriptural teaching, sharing faith testimony with other faithful believers, etc. The more we do these things, the stronger our faith in God grows. The stronger our faith, the less we fear life and life's storms. So we can effectively prepare for the storm by growing our faith
(2) Life still has its storms and they affect us all in various ways. We can be attacked financially, socially, spiritually, ethically, etc. We can overcome obstacles by being knowledgeable of how. Knowledge is gained by reading, listening, sharing, testing, etc. The more sound knowledge we have the more prepared we are to deal with the things that come up in our everyday lives.
The first has to do with attitude; the second is more about practical application. When something comes along to knock of us down, we don’t want to get bent out of shape or run screaming into the darkness. We do want to keep our head on straight and maintain our hope and faith in God. We also don’t want to (nor does God want us to) just sit there. If a problem comes your way - fix it. If it’s bigger than you are, call on the big guy!
So be like the good farm hand. Prepare you self and you will rest easy in the storm!
The New Mother (a parable)
The New Mother
Once upon a time, it so happened to be, that a man found himself father to several children but was without a wife to be their mother. His family would tell you that he cared for his children, but, being so busy with his other affairs of business, the children were often left in the care of family members who might have the time and resources to care for them properly. The father was an excellent orator and would speak of truth and divine wisdom. He could speak a truth such that it would make a witch want to turn in her broom. By way of his spectacular speeches, his family was certainly convinced that he was doing what was good and right and that his every intention was pure.
Well it happened one day that the children and some of the family came to meet a young lady with whom they and the children were quite taken. The young lady, as well, found herself taken to the children and had it in her mind that she would like to get to know them better. The family, who had been caring for the children, recognized this as a great opportunity and quickly acted upon it. They told the father of this young lady and her wonderful ways with the children and begged that he consider taking her for his wife that it might be of most benefit to the children to have such a great woman as their mother (which, up until this time, they never had). The father was reluctant and with his knowledge and wisdom, attempted to dissuade the others from this idea. All of his speaking was in vain, however, for her qualities were indisputable and they pressed ever greatly that she become the mother to his children. The father was overtaken by their persistence and, with great hesitation, he accepted.
The proposal was brought before the young woman and, not knowing much about the children’s father, but being so much in love with the idea of being mother to these wonderful children, she gladly accepted. After all, she thought, if the children were as wonderful as they were, certainly the father of such delightful children would be equally as delightful. All the arrangements were made and the children now had a wonderful mother to call their very own.
Many years passed and the relationship between the new mother and the children grew ever strong. It was inconceivable to the children of anyone else filling her shoes and equally inconceivable to her to have any others as her children. She was to them every bit their mother and they all loved each other very much. It happened one day, however, when some of the family members who also had grown quite fond of the young lady noticed that she was showing some signs of illness. Some of the children had also taken notice of this, but the young lady would, would only laugh and refer to such talk as utter nonsense. And she was pleasantly able to keep up this appearance, too -- for a while.
Then came the tragic day when her illness came upon her quite severely. For most of the family and certainly all the children, this was a surprise and a shock to them. Soon after taking ill, she became incapable of caring for the children and they were again left in the care of the extended family. The children would be allowed, at times, to visit with their mother, but they could no longer enjoy time with her as they once had. This, of course, greatly saddened the children as well as it did their mother as she would no longer be able to be the mother to them that they deserved and so much needed.
She never did speak of her illness to anyone, but it became known to the family many years after her passing. …
The man, who had taken her as his wife, was no better a husband than he was a father. If he was inattentive to his children, then he was ten times as much to his wife and if he was harsh with his children, he was ten times as so with harshness to his wife. Though she was kind and loving and gave all she had to give to her children, there was no one taking care of her. She never knew the proper relationship of husband and wife and the reluctance he had had with their relationship from the start, turned to a lasting resentment towards his new wife and was thus a source of great secret pain for her. He and he alone had brought the illness upon her and she, never wanting to plant despair into the hearts of the children (as you cant choose your father) and in not wanting to destroy any good image his family members may have had of him, never spoke of this great injustice. Their father had been given the greatest gift and in his pride and hatred, he destroyed it and it was everyone else who truly suffered the loss.
(tg/JAN08)
Once upon a time, it so happened to be, that a man found himself father to several children but was without a wife to be their mother. His family would tell you that he cared for his children, but, being so busy with his other affairs of business, the children were often left in the care of family members who might have the time and resources to care for them properly. The father was an excellent orator and would speak of truth and divine wisdom. He could speak a truth such that it would make a witch want to turn in her broom. By way of his spectacular speeches, his family was certainly convinced that he was doing what was good and right and that his every intention was pure.
Well it happened one day that the children and some of the family came to meet a young lady with whom they and the children were quite taken. The young lady, as well, found herself taken to the children and had it in her mind that she would like to get to know them better. The family, who had been caring for the children, recognized this as a great opportunity and quickly acted upon it. They told the father of this young lady and her wonderful ways with the children and begged that he consider taking her for his wife that it might be of most benefit to the children to have such a great woman as their mother (which, up until this time, they never had). The father was reluctant and with his knowledge and wisdom, attempted to dissuade the others from this idea. All of his speaking was in vain, however, for her qualities were indisputable and they pressed ever greatly that she become the mother to his children. The father was overtaken by their persistence and, with great hesitation, he accepted.
The proposal was brought before the young woman and, not knowing much about the children’s father, but being so much in love with the idea of being mother to these wonderful children, she gladly accepted. After all, she thought, if the children were as wonderful as they were, certainly the father of such delightful children would be equally as delightful. All the arrangements were made and the children now had a wonderful mother to call their very own.
Many years passed and the relationship between the new mother and the children grew ever strong. It was inconceivable to the children of anyone else filling her shoes and equally inconceivable to her to have any others as her children. She was to them every bit their mother and they all loved each other very much. It happened one day, however, when some of the family members who also had grown quite fond of the young lady noticed that she was showing some signs of illness. Some of the children had also taken notice of this, but the young lady would, would only laugh and refer to such talk as utter nonsense. And she was pleasantly able to keep up this appearance, too -- for a while.
Then came the tragic day when her illness came upon her quite severely. For most of the family and certainly all the children, this was a surprise and a shock to them. Soon after taking ill, she became incapable of caring for the children and they were again left in the care of the extended family. The children would be allowed, at times, to visit with their mother, but they could no longer enjoy time with her as they once had. This, of course, greatly saddened the children as well as it did their mother as she would no longer be able to be the mother to them that they deserved and so much needed.
She never did speak of her illness to anyone, but it became known to the family many years after her passing. …
The man, who had taken her as his wife, was no better a husband than he was a father. If he was inattentive to his children, then he was ten times as much to his wife and if he was harsh with his children, he was ten times as so with harshness to his wife. Though she was kind and loving and gave all she had to give to her children, there was no one taking care of her. She never knew the proper relationship of husband and wife and the reluctance he had had with their relationship from the start, turned to a lasting resentment towards his new wife and was thus a source of great secret pain for her. He and he alone had brought the illness upon her and she, never wanting to plant despair into the hearts of the children (as you cant choose your father) and in not wanting to destroy any good image his family members may have had of him, never spoke of this great injustice. Their father had been given the greatest gift and in his pride and hatred, he destroyed it and it was everyone else who truly suffered the loss.
(tg/JAN08)
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