A Reminder from God

I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly, I heard God speaking. "My name is 'I AM.'" He paused. I waited. He continued, "When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard for you because I am not there. My name is not 'I WAS.' "When you live in the future with its unknowns and fears, it is hard for you because I am not there. My name is not 'I WILL BE.' "But when you live in this moment, it is not hard, because I am here. My name is 'I AM'." --Author unknown.

The Eye Opener

As you got up this morning, I watched you, and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday. But I noticed you were too busy, trying to find the right outfit to wear. When you ran around the house getting ready, I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were to busy. At one point you had to wait, fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. Then I saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip instead. I watched patiently all day long. With all your activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn't bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly before they ate, but you didn't. That's okay. There is still more time left, and I hope that you will talk to me yet. You went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do. After a few of them were done, you turned on the TV. I don't know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there and you spend a lot of time each day in front of it not thinking about anything, just enjoying the show. I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn't talk to me. Bedtime--I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. That's okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I've got patience, more than you will ever know. I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well. I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought or a thankful part of your heart. It is hard to have a one-sided conversation. Well, you are getting up once again. And once again I will wait, with nothing but love for you. Hoping that today you will give me some time. Have a nice day! Your friend, GOD --Selected from Pastor Tim's Illustrations: http://www.cybersaltlists.org/

Your God, one of History, or Today? by Cliff Halls

I heard a preacher called Bro. Steven Shelley (revival.org) preach about 'spiritual widows'. Whilst surfing the web, looking at various 'Christian' sites finding so many talking about what God used to do, what he has done, the healings that took place, the needs God met. God brought that message back to mind, and I feel that God would have me share some of these points for you to ponder.

What is a widow?

A widow is someone who had a partner, that has passed on (died). Many of us at different times have spoken to people who have lost a partner, and what do they speak about most? The partner they have lost! "You know he/she was so good to me, he/she used to do this, that, or the other". They brag on their husband/wife, very often they only tell you the good parts, the way they helped, they were the best...., there was no one like my....., I think you get the picture.

You talk to many Christians today and you may be mistaken into thinking that God was dead. They speak about Charles Finney, John Wesley, A.A.Allen, William Branham, Jack Coe, and many more of the great men of God. One might be led to believe that since these men had gone on to be with the Lord, that God does not work any-more.

What was different about these men, perhaps it was the fact that God had called them, Has God stopped calling men today? I don’t think so, I believe God is calling men and women today to work for him. I believe the difference lies in the fact that they were willing to be used of God and made themselves available. I believe reading about the lives of these men that initially they battled with their callings, some tried to resist their callings and suffered in many ways.

Perhaps you are suffering today because you have been resisting Gods call on your life, maybe you know God wants to use you, but are concerned what your peers may say. The religious leaders of the disciples' day did not agree with them, they tried to stop them using every way of persuasion possible, their reply was “we should obey God rather than man.”

I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? (Isaiah 43 v 12-13)

God desires to work in this age, He cannot work while we have our hearts set on strange gods. You may not think you are serving strange gods, but anything or anybody that you allow to stand between Gods will and yourself is a strange god.

Let him work through your life today and show the world He is a God of TODAY.

Remembrance Day by Cliff Halls

Remembrance Day, an opportunity to remember the sacrifices made for liberty. As we ponder this thought ‘sacrifices for liberty’ we remember the ones that gave their lives in various wars. As weaponry has changed over the years, so has the battle changed. Battles used to be face to face, you could see the enemy, the person you were to kill, or be killed by. Today it would seem, the enemy can be many miles away and still cause havoc with pin point accuracy.

Many a story has been told of a hero who took the bullet to save someone else. During the second world war there were many brave acts made by different individuals. One such act was not during a battle, but in a prison camp. This camp was located close to the bridge over the River Kwai. The men had been returned to camp and the tools were being counted, only to find one item missing. (It was thought that one of the men had exchanged it with one of the locals for food or medicine) The men were told that unless the person owned up they would all die, eventually one man stepped forward, he was mercilessly beaten to death. The tools were later counted again, only to find out, they were all present and correct.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
(JOHN 15:13)

This is another story displaying that love: One day, the land of Switzerland was being attacked by an army, and all the Swiss men had gathered into the valley below the mountain. They had gone there to defend their homes, and their children; and all that they held dear in life, they went to defend it. They were just a small group, and they saw coming towards them a great marching army as far as the eye could see, every man trained with spear, and shield, and helmets, and great armours on, perfectly trained, not one man out of step. Here they were standing, with old sickle blades, and rocks, and sticks in their hands to fight with. What could that little army do against such a trained army? They were helpless. There was nothing they could do.

Then a young man stepped out, of about the age of thirty-three, and he said, "Gentlemen of Switzerland, this day I'll give my life for Switzerland." They said, "Arnold Von Winkelried, what can you do against such a great host? He said, "Just beyond the mountain, I kissed my wife and three children good-bye. And there's a little white home, and they're standing in the doorway to watch for me to come home, but, I'll never see them again on this earth, for today I give my life for Switzerland”. They said, "What will you do, Mr. Arnold Von Winkelried?" He said, "You just follow me, and whatever you've got to fight with, fight with all that's in you." And he threw down what he had in his hand; he saw that great army coming on, and he looked it all over, until he found the very thickest of the spears. And as the story goes, he raised his hands and ran right towards the midst of the spears, screaming, "Make way for liberty." And he screamed again, "Make way for liberty." And he run right into the army, and he threw out his arms and got a whole armload of spears, and plunged them into his chest. Such a display of heroism, it routed the army, and those little Swiss men with sticks and stone, and sickle blades, routed that army out of their territory, and they haven't had a war since.

You hear people say “I’m only one person what can I do to change things.” Arnold Von Winkelried was just one person. William Tyndale, by translating the Bible into English changed the world. D.L.Moody, his ministry was greatly inspired by a statement made when he attended a meeting in London, England. A man called Henry Varley was speaking and said “The world has yet to see what God can do with one man wholly committed to him.”

Remember Jesus laid down His life for you. He did not commit the sin, but He paid the penalty. He died, so you wouldn’t have to. Men and women gave up their lives, so you could have this Gospel.

God uses individuals, God desires to use you, Let Him know you are willing to be used.

Will you stand for the gospel? We speak of revival, with revival comes a price to pay. Are you willing to pay the price? or, shall we let someone else do it, and perhaps we may reap some of the benefits? All to long within our churches it is the few that do all the work, we all have a part to play, the pastor can’t do it all. He may try, and all you will end up with is a burnt out pastor. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder like a mighty army, and make our stand against the enemy of our souls. We need a personal revival, then and only then, we can touch the lives around us.

Choose how you start your day

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say: When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" 
He was a natural motivator. 
If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. 
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" 
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. 
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. 
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. 
"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life." 
I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. 
Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. 
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. 
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. 
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter, " Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live." 
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I 
got really scared. 
In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man." I knew I needed to take action." 
"What did you do?" I asked. 
"Well there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I replied." 
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity." 
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." 
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. 
Attitude, after all, is everything. 
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:34 
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. 

Adversity

 A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose..

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word..

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placedthem in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl..

Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied..

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma..

She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently..

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak..

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened..

The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water..

"Which are you?," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? "

How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?

Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain, to its peak flavor reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better..

If you are like the coffee bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you ..

When people talk about you, do your praises to the Lord increase? When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, does your worship elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

~~author unknown~~

Olympic Diver

A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend.

The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend’s sermons, but he heard them often.

One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by.

The young man climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body was in the shape of a cross.

Instead of diving, he knelt down and asked God to come into his life. As the young man stood, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on.

The pool had been drained for repairs.