LIFE Stories

“God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." – Exodus 3:14. We see the eternity of God in the name He revealed to Moses: "I AM WHO I AM." What does this mean? At the very least it means that God is self-existent. He is original, the cause, the root, the great mover, the well-spring of all that there is. Many people, especially children, have trouble understanding this. You will probably recognize the following conversation as sounding like one in your own home: +++ "Mommy, who made me?" "God made you, darling." "Well, Mommy, who made the sky and the trees?" "God made the sky and the trees. God made everything." "Mommy, who made God?" One mother who was approached about this dropped what she was doing and sat down with her youngster for a little talk. Pointing to her wedding band, she said, "This is a 'love ring,' which your daddy gave to me when we were married. Look at it closely and tell me where it begins

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his [Jesus Christ's] appearing.” +++ Arthur Berry was a charming man who loved only the finest things life had to offer. During the Roaring 1920s he was a master thief who stole from only the wealthiest people. Berry was eventually caught and spent the next 18 years in prison. After serving his sentence he moved to a small town in New England where he led a quiet life. Some years later word got out who he was and his true identity was revealed and a horde of reporters came to interview the notorious thief. One reporter asked him, "Do you remember who it was that you stole the most from?" Berry replied, "The person that I stole the most from was Myself. I could have made a contribution to society. I could hav

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” – Hebrews 11:7. A lot of people say they have faith, but in tough times they fall apart, they feel like God has disappointed them, they are not going to be happy until the storm is over. You have to realize that God is in control of that storm, nothing is happening without God's permission. If that storm is going to keep you from your destiny, God would have never allowed it. When you trust God, keep your faith, and believe that God can calm the storm because we serve a God who walks on water. +++ Once upon a time, an elephant and a dog fell pregnant at the same time. Three months down the line the dog gave birth to six puppies. Six months later the dog was pregnant again, and nine months on it gave birth to another dozen puppies. The pattern continued. On the eighteenth month th

God is able to bring us forth victorious even when our problems seem to be impossible to solve. Be encouraged and confident in the Lord always and never doubt His abilities. Even though you may go through tough times and think there is no help; God is your helper and comforter and is well able to deliver you from every trap of the enemy. Take refuge in His Word and know that if God is for you, who can dare to be against you? (Romans 8:31). +++ During the US civil war Abraham Lincoln met with a group of ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was not a church-goer but was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faith. At one point one of the ministers said, “Mr. President, let us pray that God is on our side”. Lincoln’s response showed far greater insight, “No, gentlemen, let us pray that we are on God’s side.” +++ Lincoln reminded those ministers that religion is not a tool by which we get God to do what we want but an invitation to open ourselves to being and doing what God wants. Jo

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct [make straight] your paths." – Proverbs 3:5-6. No matter what the circumstances may look like, no matter how bad or difficult the situation may seem, just know and remember that there is One who is greater than any problem you may have today. Jesus Christ is the problem solver. He will bring you out! Just know that Jesus is always on time, and He will never fail you. +++ Mary, an English nurse, was working in a mission clinic in an Arab country. "One morning she and her assistant, Fatima, needed to travel eight miles to another village. They caught a bus that was going in their direction. But after a few miles, the bus driver passed their stop and kept on driving. The bus driver ignored the women's pleas to return to the road that led to their village. Mary became upset, but Fatima remained calm, recalling their morning prayers asking

This is how it happened...I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas Tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.  He then answered me with a simple statement. "TEACH THE CHILDREN!" I was puzzled; what did he mean? He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said, "Teach the children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that now-a-days Christmas has been forgotten." Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before t

We should always be willing to help others and be quick to lend a helping no matter who the person is. That’s what Jesus meant by saying, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples; that you love one another even as I have loved you.” If we want people to come to know the Lord, then we should spend more time encouraging them and not be critical or judgmental because they are not living according to our qualifications. +++ The young people at Shively Christian Church were fiercely competitive with their neighbor Church, Shively Baptist, in all things.  They were also serious about their Christianity, faithfully attending the summer Bible camp led by the youth pastor. One week, the Bible lesson was about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet, from John 13.  To make the servanthood lesson stick. Their pastor divided the kids into groups and told them to go out and find a practical way to be servants. "I want you to be Jesus in the city for the next two hours," he said. &q

“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith...” – Hebrews 12:1-2. +++ He brushed his teeth twice a day. He went through the clinic twice a year. He wore his overshoes when it rained. He slept with the windows open. He ate lots of vegetables. He got at least eight hours of sleep. He never smoked, or drank, or lost his temper. He always rested all day Sunday. He was all set to live to be a hundred. He is survived by 18 specialists, 4 health institutions, 6 gymnasiums, and a great host of makers of body-building equipment and antiseptics. He made just one mistake...He forgot God! +++ "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." –  Matthew 6:33. Heavenly Father, today, the day may you draw those that feel lost, without hope, without love, and are searching for the

God's Divine Mercy is always obtainable in however small of huge mistakes we make. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:32. +++ There was a king who had ten wild dogs. He used them to torture and kill any of his servants who made a mistake. One of the servants gave an opinion which was wrong, and the king didn’t like it at all. So, he ordered that the servant be thrown to the dogs. The servant said, “I served you for ten years, and you do this to me? Please give me ten days before throwing me to those dogs!” The king agreed. In those ten days, the servant went to the guard who looks after the dogs and told him he would like to serve the dogs for the next ten days. The guard was baffled but agreed, and the servant started feeding the dogs, cleaning them, bathing them and providing all sorts of comfort for them. When the ten days were over, the king ordered that the servant be thrown to the dogs for his pun

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:11-14. +++ "Max Lucado, in one of his books, tells of his boyhood days when he and his friends would gather on the street each afternoon to play football. One Dad in the neighborhood, a die-hard football buff, would sometimes join them. This Dad always played for whichever team was losing that day. Max Lucado writes, 'His appearance in the huddle changed the whole ball game. He was confident, strong, and most of all, he had a plan.' The kids, fired up by his leadership and emboldened by his plan, played with new determination. +++ Lucado makes the point that Jesus did the same thing for us. He came to join the losing team, and His appearance in the game changed everythi

"Be kind and compassionate to one another..." – Ephesians 4:32. +++ Oliver Campbell, a long-time member of the Catholic Worker community in Washington, DC, and highly respected  for his work feeding and caring for the homeless in that city once told the story of how he began his work. "One night as I brought down a large gallon jug of split pea soup and set it down on the cement block near the heating vent where they gathered, a rather rough looking fellow picked up the jar of soup and, in one motion, broke the jar over my head.... "Instead of running away, I asked the man why he had done that. These were probably the first words I had ever spoken to any of them. He told me I was doing nothing more than bringing food to the dogs. I was bringing food, setting it down like I was feeding them out of a pet dish and then just walking away.  He said, 'Talk to us.  Visit us. We don't bite.'" "What happened that night, said Oliver, 'was that a firs

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16. +++ A powerful story is told about a mountain school that had a hard time keeping a teacher. It seems there was a group of big, rough boys who took pride in running the teacher off. The biggest and roughest of them all was named Jim. A new young teacher won over the boys, however, by letting them write the rules for the school—which were very strictly enforced with a rod. For example, cheating would be punished with five strokes of the rod, and stealing with ten strokes, both to be given with the offender's coat off. Everything went well until one day Jim's lunch was stolen. A frail little boy in hand-me-down clothes that were too big for him admitted his guilt. The school rules demanded that he be whipped. When the teacher called the little fellow up front, he came whimpering and begging to leave his coat on because he had no sh

“I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things.” – Isaiah 25:1. +++ The discovery of penicillin revolutionized health care. Prior to the 1940s, bacterial infections were often fatal. Since then, penicillin has saved countless lives by killing harmful bacteria. The men who recognized its potential and developed it for widespread use won a Nobel Prize in 1945. Long before the discovery of penicillin, other silent killers were at work saving lives by destroying bacteria. These silent killers are white blood cells. +++ These hard workers are God’s way of protecting us from disease. No one knows how many invasions they have stopped or how many lives they have saved. They receive little recognition for all the good they do. The Lord gets similar treatment. He often gets blamed when something goes wrong, but He seldom gets credit for all the things that go right. Every day people get up, get dressed, drive to work or school or the grocery store, and return safely to their famili

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13. +++ One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written: “Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym”. In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who that man was who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself. The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: “Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!” One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shock

  “We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with Him.” —Romans 8:17.   +++   Ben-Hur tells the story of a Jewish aristocrat betrayed by his best friend and condemned to serve as a galley slave in the Roman navy. On a forced march to the ship, Judah Ben-Hur meets Jesus of Nazareth, whose compassion fills him with hope.   Eventually, Ben-Hur saves the Roman commander during battle. In gratitude, the commander adopts Ben-Hur as his son, instantly elevating him from slave to heir.   +++   We all know the rest of the story.   That’s what happens to us when God adopts us into His family. But great privilege brings great responsibility. Paul said that we become “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer from Him” (Rom. 8:17).   The gospel does not say, “Come to Jesus and live happily ever after.” God’s syllabus for His children’s education includes training through hardships.   Ben-Hur’s years of enduring hardship as a Roman slave

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” – 1 Corinthians 1:27. My dear sisters and brothers, God uses what the world deems useless and past its shelf life to accomplish amazing feats. That’s just His style. So if people have written you off, called you “useless” or “dumb” and treated you as insignificant, GET READY! God can and is about to use you to do the impossible. He’ll transform and empower you to do what you and your critics never dreamed possible! +++ There was once an old donkey that decided to go somewhere deserted to spend its last days. It found a suitable place, laid down, and died after a few days. God looked down at the donkey and said, “I can’t use this donkey.” Along came the vultures and foxes, picking off chunks of flesh from the donkey. It was a sorry sight. God looked down at the donkey and said, “I still can’t use this donkey.” Then, the ants and other critters of the wil

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” – Ephesians 4:2. +++ Once there lived a brave king. He fought many battles and won many of them. Unfortunately, in one of the most important battles for his country, he was badly wounded. The king lived to relish the victory of the battle but lost an eye and a leg. One day the king saw the paintings of some brave kings from the past. “I should have one for myself too, then I will be remembered for my bravery for years to come” thought the king. He called for all the great painters in the country and asked them to paint a beautiful portrait of him. “Who will paint my portrait?”, asked the king. But none of the painters dared to accept the task of painting the king’s portrait. They couldn’t think of any way they could make the one eye and one-legged king look beautiful. “How could we include such defects of the king in the painting and make him look beautiful”, they a

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. +++ British businessman Lindsay Clegg told a story about a London warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months, and vandals had badly damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and thrown trash all over the interior. As Clegg showed the property to a prospective buyer, he repeated incessantly that he would have the structure repaired. “Don’t worry about the repairs,” the buyer told him. “When I buy this place, I’m tearing down the building and constructing something completely new. I don’t want the building; I want the site.” +++ It’s very much the same with all of us. When we come to Christ, we’re much like that lot with an old warehouse on it. Because of our sins, we’re in a dire spiritual condition. And often our temptation is to make all the right repairs before we give ourselves over to God by placing our faith in Christ. But the truth

Prayer needs to be an essential part of each of our lives. Many times we become lazy in our commitment to the Lord concerning our prayer time and whether we realize it or not, we are opening a door for the enemy to attack our life either spiritually or physically. It is important that we never forget that God is the sustainer of our lives and as such we are to continually be in communication with Him. +++ An old mountaineer and his wife were sitting in front of the fireplace one evening taking life easy. After a long silence, the wife said: "Jed, I think it's raining. Why don't you get up and go outside and see?" The old mountaineer continued to gaze into the fire for a while, sighed and then said, "Aw, Ma, why don't we just call in the dog and see if he's wet." +++ That's what you call the height of laziness. And I wouldn't want to say that we are downright lazy, but we all have a lazy streak in us. Laziness is a faith killer.  - If we'r

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." – Acts 1:8. +++ During the Cold War, a Christian from the U.S. was visiting Romania. It was a gray, cold day, and all the faces around him reflected that gray, cold atmosphere. But in the midst of the gloom, the Christian man heard someone whistling a tune. It was an old hymn, 'The Great Physician now is here, the sympathizing Jesus.' "The Christian man spotted the whistler and began walking alongside him. Because Christians were persecuted by the government, he took care not to publicly identify his allegiance. He simply began whistling the same tune. The Romanian man stopped, a big smile spreading over his face. He pointed to heaven. So did the American man. He pointed to his heart. The American did too. Then he reached out and grabbed the American in a big bear hug. Neither man could speak the ot

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” – Colossians 3:20. Honouring your father and mother is being respectful in word and action and having an inward attitude of esteem for their position. God exhorts us to honour father and mother. He values honouring parents enough to include it in the Ten Commandments. +++ A son took his old father to a restaurant for an evening dinner.  Father being very old and weak, while eating, dropped food on his shirt and trousers.  Other diners watched him in disgust while his son was calm. After he finished eating, his son who was not at all embarrassed, quietly took him to the washroom, wiped the food particles, removed the stains, combed his hair and fitted his spectacles firmly.  When they came out, the entire restaurant was watching them in dead silence, not able to grasp how someone could embarrass themselves publicly like that. The son settled the bill and started walking out with his father. At that time, an old man

"For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. For to me, living is for Christ." – Philippians 1:20-21. +++ Once a group of nuns were given a vacation trip through the Rocky Mountains where they had never been before. They were filled with awe as they marveled at the wonder of the many miles of majestic mountains.  However, every time they stopped to enjoy the view, one particular nun would slip away by herself. So, on one occasion the other nuns decided they would follow her to see what she was up to. They watched her as she walked into the gully. She bent down and reached under a sizable rock, and then turned the rock upside down. She brushed her hands and turned around to walk back up the trail. When she looked up, the entire Order of nuns was watching her. "Margaret, what are you doin

+++ In the early days of rail travel, crossing guards warned travelers of approaching trains. When trains came, they stood in the middle of the road, swinging a lantern to warn coach drivers of the impending danger. One night, there was a terrible accident at a particular crossing. A coach collided with a train, killing a family of six. An inquest by the railroad authorities summons Sean, the guard on duty that night.  "Sean," the chairman of the review board asked, "were you on duty the night of the accident?" "Yes, sir, I was," Sean replied nervously.  "Did you know the train was coming?" "Yes, sir, I did." "Did you take your place in front of the crossing?" "Yes, sir, I did." "Did you have your lantern with you?" "Yes, sir, I did."  Then the chairman thanked Sean and told him to step down. The inquest closed the case without knowing the cause of the accident. Speculation was that the coach driv

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” – Luke 6:31. "Namaste" is a polite Indian gesture of greeting or farewell. From Hindi, the word literally means "bowing to you." Namaste has also been used to mean "I honour the sacred that is within you." What a remarkable thing it would be to actually honour the sacred that is within each person we meet! Even strangers. Nobody would go unnoticed and everybody would count. Has this ever happened to you? +++ One day after we had moved to a new town, my wife Judith did grocery shopping. We moved few food items with us so she filled four grocery carts full. She asked if she could pay with an out of state currency. "We just moved here," she explained, "and don't have local currency as yet." They said, "Yes, no problem." But when she began looking for her currencies, she discovered that she had left it at home. All of the groceries had been checked and sacked. "I'm so s

What we see in the Bible, especially in the book of Psalms, which is a book of gratitude for the created world, is a recognition that all good things on Earth are God's, every good gift is from above. They are good if we recognize where they came from and if we treat them the way the Designer, the Maker of heaven and earth, intended them to be treated. +++ Heavy rains remind us of challenges in life… Never ask for a lighter rain, just pray to God for a better umbrella. - That is the attitude! Life is not about finding the right person but creating the right relationship. It's not how we care in the beginning, but how much we care till the very end. Some people always throw stones in your path. It depends on what you make with them, a Wall or a Bridge? – Remember you are the architect of your life. Search for a good heart, but don't search for a beautiful face, because beautiful things are not always good, but good things are always beautiful. It’s not important to hold all

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death [or through the darkest valley], I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4. Let this story be a simple reminder that God is always with you regardless of the storms of life, and wants you to know that the sun will rise again upon your life and overshadow every obstacle that you had to go through. +++ "One night while my young son was sleeping, a storm began raging outside. After a massive lightning followed by a loud clap of thunder, I heard him wake up so I headed toward his room to comfort him. He asked me to stay with him until he fell asleep. As I lay there I realized he hadn't asked me to make the storm go away, but to stay with him. +++ How many times, I wondered, have I asked God to take away the storms of life, when instead I need to ask him to stay with me and help me face and withstand with courage them more peacefully? Just as a hymn writer put it so

We don't always understand why things happen contrary to our expectations. But we need to remember that God is the One who sees the picture and He sometimes accomplishes the goal at hand in different ways than we would expect it. Just because God does it differently in ways that we do not always understand, I want you to be confident and know that God is in control and will always bring good out of the bad that we see. +++ Once there was a man who asked God for a flower and a butterfly. But instead God gave him a cactus and a caterpillar. The man was sad. He didn’t understand why his prayer was not answered. Then the man thought, “Oh well, God has so many people to care for,” and he decided not to question God. After some time, the man went to check up on the cactus and the caterpillar. To his surprise, from the thorny and ugly cactus, a beautiful flower had grown. And the unsightly caterpillar had been transformed into the most beautiful butterfly. +++ God always does things right

“…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…” – Hosea 4:6. +++ Once a proud young man came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, "What do you want?" "Knowledge, O wise Socrates," said the young man with a smile. Socrates put his strong hands on the man's shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. "What do you want?" he asked again. "Wisdom," the young man sputtered, "O great and wise Socrates." Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. "What do you want, young man?" Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, "Knowledge, O wise and wonderful...&

HAPPY FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING! “On His robe and on His thigh He has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords." - Revelation 19:16. +++ There is an inspiring anecdote about Abraham Lincoln.  In April 1865, the slain body of Abraham lay in state for a few hours in Cleveland, Ohio for mourners to pay their tribute. It was on its final journey from the nation’s capital to Springfield, Illinois. In the long queue, when an African American woman and her little son reached the president’s body, she lifted her little son up and said in a hushed voice: “Honey, take a long, long look. That man died for you.” +++ What that African American mother said to her child can be said about Jesus by every mother of every child. Pointing to the body of Jesus on the crucifix, she can say: “Honey, take a long, long look, that Man died for you.” Today’s Gospel gives us the same advice, the questioning scene before the crucifixion of Christ our King. Jesus is the King of Kings not only because

“…hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil." - 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22. +++ A man and his girlfriend were married. The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black tuxedo. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true. A few months later, the wife comes to the husband with a proposal: "I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage." She offered.  "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together."  The husband agreed. So, each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about this question for the rest of the day and wrote down what they came up with.  The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.  &

Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." – John 21:15. +++ A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the Holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the

It is easy to get down and discouraged when we look at the tribulations this world is going through. But we who believe in Christ Jesus, there is an eternal hope that this world cannot comprehend.  God promises victory to each believer and so we are to rejoice in the good times of life as well as the bad. +++ A family on vacation were driving along in their car, windows rolled down, enjoying the cool breeze of the warm, summer's day. All of a sudden a bee darted in the window and started buzzing around inside the car. A little girl, highly allergic to bee stings, cringed in the back seat. If she were stung, she could be in serious trouble. "Oh, Daddy," she screeched in terror, "It's a bee! It's going to sting me!" The father pulled the car over to a stop, and reached back to try to catch the bee. Buzzing towards him, the bee bumped against the front windscreen where the father trapped it in his fist. Holding it in his closed hand, the father waited for t

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." – Psalms 118:1. +++ "What can I do for you, Madam?" Abraham Lincoln asked an elderly lady who had been ushered into his office. Placing a covered basket on the table, she said, "Mr. President, I have come here today not to ask any favour for myself or for anyone. I heard that you were very fond of cookies, and I came here to bring you this basket of cookies." Tears trickled down the gaunt face of Lincoln. He said nothing for a moment, then he said, "My good woman, your thoughtful and unselfish deed greatly moves me. Thousands have come into this office since I became President, but you are the first one to come, asking no favour for yourself or somebody else." +++ Did you hear those words Lincoln said? "Your thoughtful and unselfish deed greatly moves me." Do you suppose that if we were to come into the Lord's presence to bring Him something, namely praise and than

“A fool’s lips bring strife, and a fool's mouth invites a flogging. The mouths of fools are their ruin, and their lips a snare to themselves.” – Proverbs 18:6-7. +++ A preacher, a politician and an engineer were led to the guillotine. The preacher was asked if he wanted to be face up or face down when he met his fate. The preacher said that he would like to lie face up so he would be looking toward heaven when he died. The blade of the guillotine was raised and released. It came speeding down and suddenly stopped, just inches from his neck. The authorities took this as divine intervention and released the preacher. Next, the politician came to the guillotine, and he also decided to die facing up, hoping he would be as fortunate as the preacher. So the blade of the guillotine was raised again and released. It came speeding down and suddenly stopped just inches from his neck, so he was released as well. The engineer was next, and he too decided to die facing up. The executioner slowl

Hebrews 13:2 – “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” +++ A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread on the Window-sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunch-back came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way:  "The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!" This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and uttered the words: "The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!" The woman felt irritated. "Not a word of gratitude," she said to herself... "Everyday this hunch-back utters this jingle! What does he mean? One day, out of desperation, she decided to do away with him, "I shall get rid of this hunch-back," she said. And wha

"The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree…" – Psalm 92:12. +++  You must have noticed a palm tree in the midst of a great storm or hurricane? The tree may be bent so far over that it’s almost touching the ground, but when the wind finally stops, that palm tree bounces right back up. Do you know that while that palm tree is hunched over under the pressure of the storm, it is actually growing stronger? +++  The reason God said we’d flourish like a palm tree is because He knew there would be difficult times. He knew things would come against us to try to steal our joy and victory. God said, “You’re going to be like a palm tree because the storms of life will come, the winds will blow, but you are going to come right back up again stronger than before.” Nothing can hold you back! No weapon formed against you will ever prosper. No matter what’s happening in the world around you, keep standing. Keep praying. Keep believing. Your brightest days are right out in front of you, an

It is important that we focus on the right things when discouragement tries to infiltrate our being. We must not have our minds set on things below but on the above to remind us of the goodness of God, of the many times that He has delivered us in times past. Stay in peace no matter how hard the storms are raging and no matter how tempted you are to murmur and complain. If the Lord hasn't left you in times past, then why would He leave you now?  I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to focus on the right things in every circumstance that comes before you. When you do, you will see your negative situation resolved in ways that you can't imagine. +++ My friend Marge had an experience aboard a plane bound for Cleveland, while waiting for takeoff. As she settled into her seat, Marge noticed a strange phenomenon. On one side of the airplane a sunset suffused the entire sky with glorious color. But out of the window next to her seat, all Marge could see was a dark an

The good news of the Lord is being preached in more areas of the world than ever before and hence bringing closer the return of Jesus Christ for His church. The more we do for God's kingdom, the sooner He returns, so never get discouraged when you’re serving the Lord.   This is a good message that spoke to my heart to always be quick to protect my mind and spirit just as I protect my physical home because the enemy is always looking for an opening to enter in and wreck havoc.  I hope this story will minister to you as it has for me.   +++   A horrible thing happened to me today.....a thief broke into my house.  It happened shortly after I awoke this morning. I got up and began rushing about. I had a thousand things on my list and was already running behind. Quickly, I gulped down breakfast, took a shower and got ready for work. In my rush, I forgot to turn the security system on at my house.   It was just about a half an hour later that the thief broke in. Of course,

The good that we do towards others is sure to leave a mark that will never be erased. We are to remember that others are in need all around us and as believers in Christ, we have been given the commission to be His hands and feet on the earth to care for and love all who are in need. We are to be conscious to the fact that living only for ourselves not caring about the benefits of others will lead to a lonely and mundane existence. We are not created to hold love in, but rather are to share the love that we have to all who are hurting and in need. One of the first shown emotions is love towards someone else. Just as God's love is imparted upon us, so must we impart the love that we have toward our fellow man. Because of our good works that we do in Christ's Name, we will be remembered far longer than the time it took for that good deed to be done. I hope you are encouraged by today's message to be a doer of good works so that all who see you may know Whom you belong to.