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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:03:11 GMT -5
EVER READY
When Rob was 10 he climbed a big pine tree in his back yard. Grabbing the top most branch he pulled himself up to gain the highest vantage point possible.
Suddenly the tip of the tree snapped and he plummeted landing flat on his back. The impact knocked the wind out of him. As he lay gasping for breath he thought he was dying. –but he was not alarmed.
In fact he can recall thinking “I’m going to Heaven” Just before lapsing into unconsciousness he said “Father, here I come”. His dad was reading beneath another tree and heard him coming down. He rushed over picked him up and took him into the house.
Rob was so surprised when he woke up to find that he was not in Heaven but on a couch in his Dad’s house. This experience taught him that a Christian can have peace even in the valley of the shadow of death. For believers to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD. As children of God, We can live each day with the assurance that come what may, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. If you know Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Friend you too can experience a wonderful peace even in the valley of the shadow.
God holds our future in His hands and gives us every breath Just knowing that he’s by our side allays our fear of death
IF YOU LIVE FOR ETERNITY YOU CAN DIE WITH SERENITY
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:06:09 GMT -5
NOT HOME YET ##############
Some years ago a liner pulled into New York and on board was an elderly man, a missionary from Africa. He had spent almost all his adult life there serving Africans in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and his wife who served with him had died there and he had returned to his own country. On the same liner was the President of the United States
There was a big military band and security guards and a guard of honour and flags. The President was allowed off first and received a tumultuous welcome home from his summit conference, Then all the other passengers were allowed off after the band and the military had gone and they were greeted by friends and relatives, except for this forlorn elderly man with his suitcases. There was no one to meet him, and the body of his best loved relative was buried thousands of miles away in African soil. He went to a small B & B and booked in. He got down by the bedside and emptied his heart out to the LORD GOD.” All these other people had a great welcome home, but there is no one here to greet me and I am quite alone but for you, Father.”
Then as from a corner of the room he seemed to hear a quiet voice saying to him “But you are not home yet!”
Meaning that Heaven was his home, not. New York and that was where he would receive a great welcome from his Heavenly father, from Jesus Christ his friend and leader, from the his companion the Holy Spirit, in fact the whole God family, and the civil service of the kingdom of Heaven, the various levels of angels, and from all God’s people already gathered there from Earth including his dear wife. So when he died here, he would enjoy far better than the brief welcome the rest had at the quay side,
EXPERIENCE THE EXCEEDING GREATNESS OF GOD’S POWER TOWARDS US WHO BELIEVE Ephesians 1 verse 19 When Moses the great leader of the Jews first encountered God it was because he had been attracted to a bush that was burning and yet was not burned up. When he visited that spot again years later heading 2 million people escaped from Egypt and all their cattle, mules, and loot, a whole mountain burned, No matter how wonderful your past or present experiences of God have been He’ll always take you on to something greater. Eventually he will take you personally, that is your spirit, from this world into paradise in Heaven if you are a Christian, and reveal to you wonders undreamed of and opportunities unimagined. He always exceeds our expectations.
A SOVEREIGN protector I have unseen, yet for ever at hand, unchangeably faithful to save. Almighty to rule and command He smiles, and my comforts abound, his grace as the dew shall descend, and walls of salvation surround, the soul He delights to defend.
Inspirer and hearer of prayer the shepherd of all who believe my all to your covenant care I sleeping and waking will leave if you are my shield and my sun the night is no darkness to me and fast as my moments roll on they bring you LORD nearer to me
( Victor Frankl, was a prisoner of War in Nazi prisons during the 2nd World War and endured years of indignity and humiliation. When he was first captured and marched into a Gestapo courtroom the Nazis had destroyed his home, his family, and taken away his freedom, his possessions even his watch and wedding ring. They had shaven off all his hair and stripped him naked, and probably as they did with all prisoners, branded a number on his skin. So he stood before biased judges, men with no compassion or mercy. He seemed to be a helpless pawn in the hands of brutal prejudiced men, but was he? In that very moment a light came on inside him and he suddenly realised there was one thing nobody could ever take from him. Just one. The power to choose his own attitude to any set of circumstances. Whatever they did to him in the future he could decide whether to respond with bitterness or forgiveness, to give up or to go on, to hate or to hope, the determination to endure or the paralysis of self-pity. We have the same choice today for our victory.
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:08:02 GMT -5
READ & HEED these words
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged or afraid .because of the size of the enemy (the problem) for there is a greater power with us than with them ”(2nd Chronicles 32 verse 7 NIV paraphrased Old Testament) and in Psalm 118 verse 6 we may read “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
What more do we need?
BEYOND WORDS (Sing to the tune of “O God our hope in ages past”.)
O God our words cannot express the pain we feel this day Enraged, uncertain, we confess Our need to bow and pray
We grieve for all who lost their lives and for each injured one we pray for children husbands, wives whose grief has just begun
O LORD we’re called to offer prayer For all our leaders too May they amidst such great despair, be wise in all they do
We trust your mercy and your grace In you we will not fear! May peace and justice now embrace!” Be with your people here!
Written by Rev Caroline W Gillette Co-pastor of a Presbyterian church in New Jersey after the Sept 11th 2001 terrorist attack. Applicable to every other similar incident and to those suffering from human caused hunger and violence anywhere on Earth
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:11:35 GMT -5
READY TO GO ?
A man decided to arrange his funeral He picked his burial plot and chose the inscription for the head stone .A Minister who knew him well heard that he was busily preparing for the inevitable day. So he sought him out and said to him “I understand that you have done everything you can possibly do to provide a resting place for your body. have you given any thought to a resting place for your soul.?” The man was stunned by the question for it was true that he had not thought about getting ready for the life to come.
After listening to what the minister had to say explaining the good news of Jesus he placed his trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and found assurance of eternal life and rest. wise is the person who makes that all important preparation because everybody will spend eternity somewhere
Those who believe in Christ, and that means those who actively love him, seek to serve him and live as he teaches us to do, will enter the kingdom prepared for all who love Him. Those who reject Christ will enter into everlasting fire (Matthew 25 vv 34 and 41) so taught Jesus
No one knows when their death will come. A friend of mine who claimed to be an atheist died suddenly in bed of a heart attack at night a month after retiring. But we can be and should be ready. The Bible says “Whosoever calls on the Name of the LORD shall be saved” (Romans 10 v 13) Nothing you can do on Earth is more important than making sure that you are ready to go. Most of the life we were born to, lies beyond death, and it is w to prepare for it
Oh to be ready when death does come Oh to be ready to hasten Home and sweetly gently to pass away From Earth’s dim twilight and into Day Only those who are ready to die, are ready to live.
JESUS SAID I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14 v 6
We must not be fooled by those who teach any other way to GOD and we must help others to see that Jesus Christ is humanity’s only hope. By trusting him as Saviour we will not end up on a River of Disappointment
“Humans grope their way through life’s dark maze To gods unknown they often pray Until one day they meet God’s Son At last they’ve found The Living One. Have you? Those who put their hope in Christ will never be disappointed
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:14:57 GMT -5
RIVER of DISAPPOINTMENT Sir Alexander Mckenzie
(1764-1820) is a Canadian hero an early fur trader and explorer, he led a daring expedition across Canada to the Pacific Ocean His incredible journey was completed in 1793 four years after a failed attempt and 11 years before Lewis and Clark pioneered the Wild West of the USA. In the failed attempt 12 men in 3 canoes tried to flow a river from Lake Athabasca to the Pacific but it ran North into the Arctic Ocean. The river was later called the MacKenzie but he had called it the River of Disappointment Many people are following religions or lifestyles that lead to ultimate disappointment, because these beliefs do not point to Christ nor come from Him. they are false and do not lead to Heaven. Jesus is the only person who can take us to the waters of eternal life.
As Acts 4 verse 12 reminds us
Deliverance is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved only through the authority of the name of JESUS CHRIST
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:26:06 GMT -5
THE HITCH HIKER
Late one evening a missionary asked the LORD to help him stay awake as he drove through the night to speak at a meeting. Just then he saw a hitch-hiker walking in the rain and picked him up. As they talked he discovered that the stranger was a fellow believer and they had much in common and even had many of the same friends. They laughed, shared stories, and before they knew it, dawn was breaking and the hitch hiker was saying “Here’s where I get out” Before they parted they had cup of coffee together at roadside cafe and promised to pray for each other.
By now the rain had stopped and it was daybreak. A few minutes down the road the missionary suddenly realised that he had not got the man’s phone number so he returned to the cafe hoping to catch him.
There was no sign of him. When he asked the waitress which way he had gone, she looked puzzled and said “Who?” You came in here alone! I wondered why you ordered 2 cups of coffee?” The missionary glanced at the table where they had sat and sure enough the hitch hiker’s cup was still full to the brim and cold. Then suddenly he remembered that when he’ picked him up at night in the pouring rain he wasn’t even wet! Sometimes you see them generally you don’t, but just when you need them most “...He orders His angels to protect you where ever you go. (Psalm 91 verse 11.)
WHAT MORE DO WE NEED? Check the Record Anybody whoever beats the odds, did it in spite of their fear!. They did it because They were desperate and felt that they had no choice” They were inspired by someone else’s example. They were angry at injustice They were moved by a need They said to themselves “If not me, who? If not now, when? They did not think much about it al all or they might have changed their mind.
What are you waiting for? A feeling of courage? Forget it, it doesn’t exist. You are only courageous when you do what’s right - despite your fear! Now since every one of us feels fear, that means every one of us is capable of acting courageously. It’s a choice! Any time you go where you have never been, or try something you have never done before, fear will be present. It will always stand between you and anything worth doing. But the good news is that each time you conquer it, you feel a surge of self-respect and gain a new level of confidence you never had before. Whatever you are facing today, or throughout this
week, listen to these words “Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged or afraid .because of the size of the enemy (the problem) for there is a greater power with us than with them ”(2nd Chronicles 32 verse 7 NIV paraphrased Old Testament) and in Psalm 118 verse 6 we may read “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” What more do we need?
BEYOND WORDS (Sing to the tune of “O God our hope in ages past”.)
O God our words cannot express the pain we feel this day Enraged, uncertain, we confess Our need to bow and pray
We grieve for all who lost their lives and for each injured one we pray for children husbands, wives whose grief has just begun
O LORD we’re called to offer prayer For all our leaders too May they amidst such great despair, be wise in all they do
We trust your mercy and your grace In you we will not fear! May peace and justice now embrace!” Be with your people here!
Written by Rev Caroline W Gillette Co-pastor of a Presbyterian church in New Jersey after the Sept 11th terrorist attack. Applicable to every other similar incident and to those suffering from human caused hunger and violence anywhere on
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Post by John on Feb 15, 2009 0:29:07 GMT -5
WHEN YOU’RE DOWN from OUR DAILY BREAD May 11th 2004 by Dave Branon
READ Psalm 6
Sometimes it does not take much to get us down, does it? An unkind remark from a friend. Bad news from the motor mechanic. A financial set back, or a misbehaving child can put a cloud of gloom over everything, even on the sunniest day. You know you should be joyful. But everything seems to be against you. making simple tasks a struggle
David must have been feeling that way when he wrote Psalm 6. Verse 2 declares “he felt weak and sickly” Verse 3 declares “he was trouble, Verse 4. forsaken, Verse 6. weary. Verse 7 grief stricken But he knew what to do when he was down. He looked up and trusted God to take care of him and see him through.
When we look up and focus on God, something good happens. We get our eyes off ourselves and gain a new appreciation of Him.
Next time you are down, try looking up to God. He is Sovereign See Psalm 47 verse 8 He loves See 1 John 4 verses 9-10 He considers you special See Matthew 6 verse 26 He has a purpose for your trials See James 21 verse 2-4
Yes life can seem unbearable at times. But don’t let it keep you down. Pick yourself up. Try again with God’s help. Meditate on Gods goodness. Talk to Him and know that he hears you (Psalm 6 v 9) That will give you strength to get up when you’re down
Come you disconsolate where ever you languish Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel Here bring your wounded hearts here tell your anguish Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. (by Moore)
WHEN LIFE KNOCKS YOU TO YOUR KNEES YOU’RE IN A GOOD POSITION TO PRAY
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