| Sacrificial Giving |
Mar 18, 2008 12:12 pm
243 Views | In Luke 21 : 1 - 4, Jesus and His disciples were standing in the Temple Court of the Women observing the Jews as they gave their gifts into the treasury. “As He looked up He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. I tell you the truth, he said, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
This is an interesting choice of words. Christ said that she put in an amount more than all the rest, and yet, it was only two small copper coins. Therefore, the key had to have been her attitude, not the amount she gave. She didn’t give to impress anybody-the Temple didn’t need her pennies because the Temple was covered with gold and brass inside and outside. Nor did she give from her abundance (remember, she was a “poor widow”). She gave all she had. She gave her housing money, her food money, her entertainment and recreation money, her transportation money, her medical money, etc. She gave it all because she had a need to sacrifice to God. | |
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6 Comments | |
| PRAYER IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY |
Mar 17, 2008 10:17 am
Mood: hopeful, 283 Views |  | PRAYER IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY
Beloved Saints Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila and Companion Martyrs: You who experienced the supreme sacrifice of martyrdom for the proclamation of the Christian faith, inspire us with your strength and firmness of conviction to withstand the adversities of our lives and the difficulties of our existence. Teach us with your marvelous example and saintly wisdom to turns trial into blessings, by showing us the glory that comes from discovering the redemptive power of God's love. When times are full of grief, when moments are suffused with worry, let us feel your presence in our midst, so that we will be aware that you are by our side, strengthening us and interceding for us before Almighty God that we may have patience in our sufferings and consolation in our hardships. Help us realize that only in knowing our weakness can we be strong, only undergoing sadness can we find real happiness, and only passing through trials and distress can we find peace, encouragement and spiritual joy. Amen. |
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4 Comments | |
| A Story I'd Like To Share |
Mar 13, 2008 2:11 pm
277 Views | Memory of Fire
A woman's life-long fear is put to the test when she decides to face it.
By Leslia Cartelli
from Angels on Earth
The instant I stepped inside the burning building, the old fear gripped me. Logically, I knew that there was no real danger—that the fire had been set on purpose as a training exercise, and that firefighters were positioned all around outside, ready to extinguish the blaze at a moment’s notice. But that knowledge melted away to nothing as I watched the ink-black streams of smoke creep up the walls and felt the first terrible waves of heat against my skin. I dropped the fire hose I’d been carrying and ran out of the building.
My long, painful relationship with fire began on a Sunday visit to my grandmother’s house in the suburbs of Detroit in 1969, when I was nine years old. There had been an odor of gas in the house for some days, but the men from Gas and Electric hadn’t been able to find a leak. “You girls better go play down in the basement,” Grandma told my five-year-old cousin Kimmie and me. “There’s less of a smell down there.” Little did my grandparents and the repairmen know, the gas leak was actually coming directly from underground.
How do we make the right choices, like painting a house pink? By heeding our hearts
Kimmie and I decided on hide-and-seek. I was it. I turned my face to a wall near the furnace, closed my eyes, and started counting while Kimmie ran and hid. “24 . . . 23 . . . 22 . . . 21 . . .” Just as I got to three, the furnace exploded.
Smoke, falling debris, and flames were everywhere. Then, out of the chaos, a light appeared—a light that was different from the hot, red flames all around me. It was cool, blue, otherworldly. I staggered toward it. I found myself looking at a hole that the explosion had blown in the side of the house. My clothes and my hair were on fire. Screaming, I scrambled through the hole and out onto the lawn.
The trip to the hospital was a blur. The next thing I knew, I was floating above my hospital bed, totally at peace. Looking down, I saw my own body, wrapped in white bandages. I felt a huge swell of relief that I wasn’t in that body anymore.
I glided up a long, wide flight of stairs. At the top, three angels were standing, bathed in the same blue light that had guided me out of the basement. I don’t know exactly how we communicated, but the message they sent was clear. It wasn’t my time yet. I would have to go back. But whenever things got bad, all I needed to do was close my eyes and think of them. They would always be nearby.
I awakened from my coma three weeks after the fire to discover that I had burns on 50 percent of my body. My face was terribly scarred. I underwent 17 plastic surgeries. At school the other kids taunted me, called me a monster. In fifth grade, a teacher stood me up in front of the class as an example of why kids should never play with matches. My grandparents were consumed with guilt over what had happened. Kimmie escaped the accident with only minor injuries, but she moved away shortly after the fire. We never got to talk about it.
The physical scars weren’t the only ones the fire left behind. As an adult I lived each and every day in fear. I had to force myself to fill my tank at the gas station. At the movies, I’d look away if a fire scene came on screen. The fear attacked me with the same merciless hunger that the flames themselves had.
Through all those years, the only thing that kept me going was the memory of my angels and the promise they’d made. Whenever things got really bad, I would stop what I was doing, close my eyes, and think of them. Remember, I would tell myself, whether I can see them or not, they’re always right here with me. I held on to that promise with all my might.
When I was in my thirties, I got involved helping local kids who were burn victims. I knew these children suffered, like I did, from both inner and outer scars, and that it was often difficult for them to talk about how they felt. Because of what I’d been through, they opened up to me. I also started a summer camp exclusively for kids who’d suffered burns.
If I was going to tell these kids to open up and trust the healing process, I had to do the same thing myself. Fear of fire still haunted me terribly. Somehow I, too, needed to face my fears.
I met a local fire chief, and asked him if he knew of some way I might be able to do this.
“Fire is dangerous,” he said. “Your fear and respect are well founded. Don’t try to change that.” For a while I gave up on the idea. Then one day my work with young burn victims happened to take me to a firefighters’ conference in San Jose, Calif.
That’s where I met Bruce. He was a training officer for the San Diego Fire Department. He knew everything there was to know about fire from a fireman’s perspective. But he was interested in learning more about how a fire victim felt. When I told him my story, and about my idea of facing my fear, he was more than just encouraging. He was ready to help me do it.
“I supervise training fires for my crew all the time,” he said. “In fact, there’s one coming up in just a few weeks. I’d like to bring you along.”
The test building was a four-story tower on an isolated tarmac about half an hour inland from San Diego. On the drive there, my fears threatened again to overtake me. I almost turned back, but I gripped the wheel tight and just tried to think of my angels. At the test site Bruce outfitted me in full firefighter’s gear and showed me how to handle the hose. A fire was started in the building’s basement. “Just keep reminding yourself it’s a test,” he said. “You’re going to do just fine.”
How I had wanted to “do just fine” too—for Bruce, for myself, for my angels. But when I reached that top step leading down to the basement and the flames, all the encouragement blew away in an instant. There was nothing left but that terrible, relentless fear. I couldn’t go through with it.
Bruce caught up with me outside. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I tried, I really did. But I just can’t do it.” There really was no way out—no escape for me, ever, from the prison of those memories.
Bruce put his arm around my shoulder. “We’re going to do three more burns today. You’ve got three more chances, if you want them. It’s up to you.”
I sat out on that tarmac for an hour. Slowly I found myself letting go—of my expectations, of my anger, of my fear. I thought back again to the promise my angels had made so long ago. No matter what happened in my life, they would always be there. Always.
By the tower, Bruce was getting the firefighters prepared for the next exercise. I got to my feet and walked over. “Okay,” I said. “I’m ready to try again.”
Armed with my hose, I took one careful, steady step at a time toward the basement stairs. At the top step, the waves of hot, choking air again rolled up at me. But this time I went all the way down to the bottom.
That’s when I saw them—bathed in that same blue light I saw long ago. My three angels. I trained my hose on the fire and sprayed. As the flames fell away, so did the fear that had gripped my heart for so many years.
Out on the tarmac I hugged Bruce as tears of joy streamed down my cheeks. I had made it through the flames and the fear at last. And my angels had been there, just as they’d promised. | |
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| "People Don't Care How Much You Know |
Mar 13, 2008 11:22 am
408 Views | ...until they know how much you care.”
This was once said by Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s great motivational speakers. People don’t simply listen to people who are smart or have a breadth of knowledge in a specific area. People listen when they know how much you care. Do you agree/disagree? | |
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12 Comments | |
| Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi |
Mar 13, 2008 9:39 am
257 Views | Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood
as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen | |
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2 Comments | |
| How to Keep a Relationship Alive |
Mar 12, 2008 2:05 pm
333 Views | If you have been in a relationship for a year, five years or even decades, it can be hard to keep things fresh. To keep a relationship alive, you have to work hard. You need to be willing to make an effort to do things out of the ordinary and be spontaneous. Remember why you were attracted to each other in the first place to keep things going.
Step 1:
Get out together. Whether it is work or kids or both, you both need to have time for just the two of you. Go to dinner and a movie or just spend the day together at home while the kids go to the babysitter.
Step 2:
Remember why you fell in love in the first place. Talk about the feelings and thoughts you had when you first met, went on the first date and had your first kiss. Remembering these things can bring back those old feelings.
Step 3:
Be spontaneous. Do something together that is fun and unexpected. Getting a little crazy with each other and laughing together can bring you closer.
Step 4:
Add a little mystery to the relationship. Ask your partner out on a date, but don't give them all of the details. Plan a date you know they will love and enjoy. This shows that you still know what they like and enjoy sharing their passions.
Step 5:
Turn a regular night into an exciting event. Stay up late or get out of bed to go in the backyard and lay together under the stars. Take a regular pizza night and turn it into a candle light dinner on the good dishes. You don't have to be at a resort or fancy restaurant to enjoy each others company.
Tips & Warnings
Think about all of the reasons you fell in love years ago. Keeping these things fresh in your mind may help you remember why you love each other so much, even though the daily grind may cause you to forget.
Don't take your partner for granted. This is a sure way to lose those romantic feelings.
By eHow Relationships & Family Editor | |
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8 Comments | |
| Definition Of Love |
Mar 12, 2008 9:45 am
309 Views | (modified version)
......
True love is the process of extending yourself to others. The world’s love is the process of selfishly extracting the things from others it believes will make it happy. Degrees of love are based on different levels of giving yourself to others within the proper boundaries. Degrees of love are not based on different levels of intense emotion. The world believes that one can “fall in love”. However, God has commanded us to love and we cannot just helplessly fall into His will. There are individuals that provide a greater source of external motivation for us to love them, but we must still make the choice to love within the bounds of truth. The truth is that we are to love even our enemies, the people that hate us and use us.
Matt 5:43-46: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”
The world is also afraid to correct others and to point out fault in others for the fear that they will “hurt” them because of its unscriptural view of love. Nevertheless, we are told that because we love one another we are to admonish one another with love and according to the truth. Prov. 27:5-6, “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful”. The failure to do this service is the real hurt to those around us. In fact, the very essence of sin is failure to extend ourselves perfectly to God and to the world around us. Sin is a lack of love.
God’s definition of love is one that is not natural to us, and can only be displayed and understood by those who know him according to this passage of Scripture. 1 John 4 -8: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
For this very reason it is a must that Christians have a Scriptural viewpoint of love, and do not accept the fallacies of heathen rationalistic thought. We are commanded to reveal Christ to the dying world around us, and it is the goodness of God that bringeth man to repentance (Rom. 2:4). So if a Christian does not understand and apply that love to his life, the world may never see it in order to own it for itself.
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Copyright; 2001 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved | |
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| Not My Will, but Yours Be Done |
Mar 11, 2008 2:55 pm
294 Views | Not My Will, but Yours Be Done:
Did Jesus Want to Avoid the Cross?
by Bob and Gretchen Passantino, © 2003
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The night Jesus was arrested, before his trial and crucifixion, he prayed alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, having asked three of his disciples to wait nearby, praying for him. Luke tells us, "He withdrew about a stone's throw and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done'" (Luke 22:41-42). Matthew records Jesus as making his request of the Father twice: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will'" (Matthew 26:39) and "He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done'" (Matt. 26:42). Mark records his prayer in a positive way, "'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36).
Did Jesus Shrink from His Commitment to Die for Our Sins?
Many people understand this to mean that Jesus, without sinning, was in some way reluctant to endure the cross but was willing to set aside his own desires and instead follow God's will in this matter. This interpretation takes "cup" to mean "death on the cross" and "not my will, but yours" to mean that Christ desired not to go to the cross.
Sometimes this passage is used to illustrate how Christ was tempted in his suffering, as Hebrews 2:18 says, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted," and as Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."
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Sometimes, it is difficult for us to accept when God doesn't answer our wishes, or when things don't go our way, or according to plan. Let us have the courage, faith, and hope, to realize that everything happens for a reason, and that God has better things in store for us. We might not understand the reasons now, but in time, all things will be revealed. | |
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4 Comments | |
| G.R.A.C.E. |
Mar 11, 2008 11:09 am
432 Views | In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1 : 7
God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense | |
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5 Comments | |
| Never Alone |
Mar 11, 2008 10:40 am
257 Views | by Henry Morris, Ph.D.
“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up” (Psalm 27:10).
There may be more people alive today than ever before, but there are also more lonely people today than ever before—divorced spouses, homeless street people, many elderly parents and, perhaps saddest of all, orphaned or abandoned children. These and many others are still alone, even in a crowded world.
No one, though, was ever so alone as the Lord Jesus on the cross. “Behold, the hour cometh,” He had said, “yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). Then, only a few hours later, as He hung on the cross, even His heavenly Father had to leave Him, and He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He died alone, bearing the burden of all the sin of all the world on His soul.
But because He suffered alone, no one else need ever be alone again. “Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). The Apostle Paul, suffering alone in a Roman dungeon shortly before His execution, could still say: “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (II Timothy 4:17). John the beloved, old and imprisoned alone on the tiny isle of Patmos, nevertheless “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10) and then saw the Lord in all His glory. So it has always been with those who know the Lord, for He is there, even when all others have forsaken them, and He understands. He has already been there ahead of us, “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15,16). | |
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