LIFE Stories

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" – John 4:13-14. +++ An amusing thing happened on one occasion in the renowned Rose Parade in Pasadena in Southern California. One beautifully decorated float suddenly came to a standstill. It ran out of fuel! The irony was that this float was entered by and represented the Standard Oil Company – one of the large fuel companies of North America. With all their vast oil and gasoline (petrol) resources, they failed to make sure their own vehicle was running on full. +++ Isn’t it similar in our Christian life? Wonder how often we as Christians, with all the vast resources of God and heaven at our disposal, run on an empty love, joy, and peace tank when, if we truly trusted God and followed his instructions for getting these needs met, we could be ce...

"When the Prodigal Son] came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." – Luke 15:17-20. +++ Once someone approached his Parish Priest and said, "Father, I was once a Christian with a great love for the knowledge of the Bible. I have, unfortunately, turned away from God in the last several years and been a miserable sinner. Will God take me back? Will he return His Spirit to me?" The Parish Priest replied, “Dear Sam (name changed), Will God take you back? Will the sun stop shining? Will the world stop tur...

"I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one." – Ezekiel 22:30. Down through the ages since the beginning of time whenever God has a job to do, he has always chosen and started with a single individual. Think of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Mary, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul for example. +++ In 1872, Dwight L. Moody attended an early morning meeting in a hay mow (the place they store hay) in Ireland. At the meeting he heard a man quietly say, 'The world has yet to see what God can do with, and for, and through, and in, the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to God's will.' Years later, Moody was seated high up in Charles Spurgeon's tabernacle in London, and Spurgeon used those same words in his message. Moody bowed his head and prayed, 'By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be that man.' +++ Moody was greatly used of Go...

"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. +++ While attending a university in London, Mahatma Gandhi became almost convinced that the Christian religion was the one true, supernatural religion in the world. Upon graduation, and still seeking evidence that would make him a committed Christian, young Gandhi accepted employment in East Africa and for seven months lived in the home of a family who were members of a Christian church. But as the months passed and he saw the casualness of their attitude toward the cause of God, heard them complain when they were called upon to make a sacrifice for the kingdom of God, and sensed their general religious apathy. Gandhi's interest turned to disappointment. He said, “No, it is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. Indeed, a good religion but just one more of the many religions...

"Cling tightly to your faith in Christ, and always keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked." – 1 Timothy 1:19. +++ Once a ship was caught in a dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship's cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the swaying of the ship, crashing into the side of the ship with terrible impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retie the loose cannon. They knew the danger of a shipwreck from the loose cannon on the inside was greater than the fury of the storm outside." +++ Life's certainly like that. Not always, but more often than not, it isn't the storms that cause us the most problems, bu...

“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." – Proverbs 22:6. +++ It's an old story that we've all read about, but it's a good reminder as found in the following parable about "a new mother who discovered a butterfly struggling mightily to escape its cocoon through a tiny opening at the top. She became concerned when the creature seemed to give up after making no progress. Certain that the butterfly wouldn't make it out without help, she enlarged the hole slightly. On its next try, the butterfly wriggled out easily. But the young woman's joy turned to horror as she saw its wings were shriveled and useless. Her well-intentioned intervention turned out badly because it interrupted a natural process. You see, forcing the butterfly to squeeze through a small opening is nature's way of assuring that blood from the creature's body is pushed into the wings. By making it easier, she deprived the butterfly of st...

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." – Colossians 3:23. If you are finding yourself unsatisfied with where you are in life, I would encourage and challenge you to look past your present circumstances and look through your eyes of faith to a better and brighter future.  Remain faithful, don’t murmur, don’t complain and most importantly don’t give up. +++ There is a story told of an eleventh-century German king, Henry III, who, having grown tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch, applied to a monastery to be accepted for a life of contemplation. The religious superior of the monastery, Prior Richard, is reported to have said, "Your Majesty, do you understand that the vow here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king, used to using power." Henry replied, "I understand. For the rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you." "Then I will tell ...