My first Christmas in heaven

My   Mama 's  first Christmas  in  heaven.

Memories  of  last  year  and  the  years 

beyond with  my  beloved  family makes 

my  heart  well   up  with  emotion and 

deep  feelings.

I   thank  God  for  each  life.

Our foes strengthen us

 

As  the  work  of  God  progresses  in  my  church our  foes  have  trained   their  arrows, bullets ,  clubs  and  axes   (figuratively speaking) at  us. This  month  is  critical  for us.  Please  remember  us  in   prayer.

The  following  article  which  I   found   on the blog

SIMPLY DIVINE LOVE  affirmed my  trust  and belief   that  God  is  with  us and He   is  fighting  our  battles

Strengthened by Your Foes

Pastor Adrian Rogers

“Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” - Numbers 14:9

Joshua and Caleb faced formidable foes in the Promised Land, and yet what was their response to their enemies? “They are bread for us.” (Numbers 14:9).

What is bread? It is the staff of life. What happens when you eat bread? You are strengthened by it and you grow by it.

Paul also faced formidable foes. He wrote, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

Why isn’t the door to victory easy? Because if it were easy, then you would become weak in your effort to work out your faith in God. God places obstacles in your path to give you strength. “Wheaties” is not the breakfast of champions— giants are. God wants you to feed upon your difficulties and depend upon Him to make you a conqueror.

What does it take to strengthen your body? What does it take to build your intellect? What does it take to grow love in relationships? Work. Read Philippians 2:12-13 and apply it to your life today.

For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers,

please visit www.lwf.org.

 

Please   pray  for   wisdom,  guidance,   protection, justice and truth to  shine  through and  financial help.

The  last  two  pictures   are  from  my  friend  Lauren   davenport  who  encourages  us   through   her  photography  and  scriptures.
Please  visit  LAUREN HERE

When in the Dark

When we are in the dark

In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are certain rooms devoted to the spinning of the finest and most delicate patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for a light from one very small window, which falls directly upon the pattern. There is only one spinner in the room, and he sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the threads of his weaving.

"Thus," we are told by the guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker himself is in the dark and only his pattern is in the light."

May it not be the same with us in our weaving? Sometimes it is very dark. We cannot understand what we are doing. We do not see the web we are weaving. We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know that the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.

If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears. --J. R. Miller

(Adaped  from  Streams  in  the  Desert)
(Google  photos)

Don 't be discouraged

There are many times when we begin a certain task that God lays on our hearts and because we think our efforts are minimal and not making a difference, we quit the job that God told us to pursue.

The enemy loves to plant seeds of doubt and lure us into thinking that we are not capable of making a difference in this world, but with God's help we can overcome and fulfill the destiny that God has for every believer.

If you are going through a situation of doubting your task unto the Lord, then I hope this story will bless and encourage you to never quit what God has laid on your heart because you may never know of the lives that you are touching.

I read of a man who was involved in a tragic accident. He lost both legs and his left arm and only a finger and thumb remained on the right hand.
But he still possessed a brilliant mind, enriched with a good education and broadened with world travel. At first he thought there was nothing he could do but remain a helpless sufferer.

A thought came to him. It was always nice to receive letters, but why not write them? He could still use his right hand with some difficulty. But to whom could he write?

Was there anyone shut-in and incapacitated like he was who could be encouraged by his letters? He thought of men in prison--they did have some hope of release, whereas he had none--but it was worth a try. He wrote to a Christian Organization concerned with prison ministry. He was told that his letters could not be answered because it was against prison rules, but he still decided to commence this one-sided correspondence

He wrote twice a week, and it taxed his strength to the limit. But into the letters he put his whole soul, all his experience, all his faith, all his wit, and all his Christian optimism.

Frequently he felt discouraged and was tempted to give it all up. But it was his one remaining activity, and he resolved to continue as long as he could.

At last he got a letter. It was very short, written on prison stationery by the officer whose on duty, it was to censor the mail. All it said was: "Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your letters are passed from cell to cell till they literally fall to pieces."
No matter what your situation may be like, you still have the ability to encourage someone who is discouraged and lift up someone who is feeling low.

Take this story as an encouragement to give your all for someone else and do not worry about the results. No good work will go unseen and only God knows of the impact that your life can have on someone else. Let us not do our good works so that we may be praised, but let us do good works so that others may be lifted up and God be praised because of our intervention.

The only thing that we can take with us into eternity is what we have done for the Lord. There are no bank accounts in heaven to show how much your net worth was on the earth, but there will be accounts in heaven of what you did to show your life as an example in leading others to Him.


- Author Unknown

(Taken  from  Coptic  Orthodox)

Surely Goodness and Mercy

My  physical  challenges seem  to  amplify  suddenly ,making  life  almost  unbearable . Drawn  into  the  whirlpool  of  able  bodied  people is  fearsome. I take  refuge   in  God  's  Word and  tightly  holding  on  to  His  promises brings  relief  and  comfort. Yesterday  the thorn in  my  flesh  pierced  very  hard and  I took  shelter under

Job  5;18
 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

Psalm 94;17

If the Lord had not been my help
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.


"God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy. She didn’t like the idea of his walking to school alone. But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother. She did her best to stay calm, quoting the 23rd Psalm to him every morning:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

One day she asked a neighbour who walked with her daughter to follow Timmy to school, but to stay at a distance. After several days Timmy’s little friend said, “Do you know that woman who follows us to school? “Sure,” Timmy answered. “That’s Shirley Goodnest and her daughter, Marcy.” My mom reads about them every day in the 23rd Psalm She says they will follow me all the days of my life. So, I guess I better get used to them!
You will too. God never sends you out alone!"

Taken from Fearless
 By  Max  Lucado

Rock Of Ages

People  are  quick  to  despise  and  condemn  a broken person,  but  not  God.
Psalm 51;17  says
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

In fact God  accepts  my  broken  spirit  as  a  sacrifice . He  welcomes  me  in  my crushed  broken  state. Isn 't  that  awesome - a  real  self  esteem   booster.

This  old  hymn is  echoing  in  my  hear  this  afternoon as I  present  my  broken  spirit  as  a sacrifice  to  God.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.


2. Not the labours of my hands
can fulfil thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.


3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.


4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgement throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

The  above  photos   are  from rock  formations   found  in  Spain
El Torcal de Antequera is a nature reserve in the Sierra del Torcal mountain range located south of the city of Antequera, in Spain. It is known for its unusual limestone formations and magnificent geology formed over millions of years. El Torcal de Antequera Nature Reserve has one of the most impressive landscapes in Europe. It’s not very far from human habitation either. The reserve can be reached via the village of Villanueva de la Concepción, just 10 kilometres from the town of Antequera, and 20 kilometres north of Málaga.

My Motto

I  am   living  in  an  imperfect  world  and  I  am  daily  reminded  of  my  failures ,  mistakes and  shortcomings. Life  is  harsh  and  sometimes  one  is  left  grasping  at   straws  so  to speak.
But  as  a  child  of  God   I  am  confident  that  He  will   complete what   He  started  in  me.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1;6 (BIBLE)


 So  I  will  look at  ' Failure   As The  Back Door To Success"

The  words  of  Peter  Marshall are a   good life motto.
"It is better to fail  in  a cause that  will  ultimately succeed  than to  succeed  in  a cause that  will ultimately  fail '.

Better to love  God  and die  unknown than to love  the  world  and be  a hero; better  to  be  content with poverty than to die a slave to  wealth; better to  have  taken some risks and lost then to have  done  nothing and  succeeded  at it; better  to  have  lost  some  battles than to have retreated  from  the  war; better to have  failed when serving God  than to have  succeeded  when serving  the  devil. What  a  tragedy to climb the  ladder  of  success only to discover  that  the  ladder  was  leaning against the  wrong wall !

God  specialises  in  the impossible. When we  positively accept  his  grace our  failures can be  turned  into  success.Only a big God  can do  such  big  miracles.

-Erwin W. Lutzer
(Failure The  Back Door  To Success)

Here I stand

Our  strength  is  seen  in  the  things  we  stand  for,
our  weakness  is  seen  in  the   things  we  fall  for.

Theodore  Epp

Ephesians 4:32

            (Google  image)


Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ~ Ephesians 4:32

There was an older farmer who had puppies for sale so he put a sign on his fence. A boy about eight years old from across the road came over and said he wanted to buy a puppy. He then pulled out a pocketful of change and said, "I've got thirty-nine cents; is that enough?"

The farmer laughed. "I don't know," he said. "Let me count it." He counted coin by coin. " That's exactly the right amount," he told the boy. He called to his farmhand and told him to let out the puppies. Four of the cutest little fur balls you could imagine came scurrying toward the little boy. He reached down and played with them, trying to figure out which one he wanted to buy.

The he looked up and saw that smaller pup was just coming down the ramp from the puppy cage in the barn. There was something wrong with this puppy's back legs. It tried to run, but the best it could do was hobble along. The little boy was immediately drawn to it. Without hesitation he said to the farmer, "That's the puppy I want". The farmer was puzzled. He said, "No, son. You don't want this puppy. It will never be able to run and play like the rest of the litter. There is something wrong with its back legs."

The little boy reached down and rolled up the legs of his jeans to reveal steel braces on his legs. For the first time, the farmer noticed he wore specially made shoes. He said to the farmer, " You see, I don't run well either. This puppy needs someone who understands it."

If

If by Rudyard Kipling


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream and not make dreams your master,
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,\
And stoop and build them up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: Hold on!

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that is in it,
And which is more you’ll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

Sunday Blessings- Mud Atound the Gold

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and
may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. --I Peter 1:6-7 (BIBLE)

"Soon after a wartime marriage, Margie Hamilton's husband was killed. Then a little
later her baby was born with a cruel deformity. After about 40 operations, poverty
followed. Reacting  to  all  her  misfortunes she  said, "Its all
mud around the gold.'"
 
Like  Margie I   have  plenty  of  mud around  the gold. And  sometimes  its hard  to  see   the  gold. But  what  Margie  said  helps  me  to  focus  on  the  gold.
 
And  the Bible  says  we   have  this  treasure  in  earthen vessels so  the  the  glory   may  belong   to  God  and  not ourselves.
 
Are  you  rejoicing  with  me?

(adapted  from  Joni  Ereckson Tada)

Tools

This   devotional  from  Joni  Eackson  Tada is  very   relevant  for   me  today.
You   will  also by   blessed  .
The Shiny, Sharp Tool


But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered,
'You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it
for the Lord, the God of Israel...' Then the peoples around them set out to discourage
the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counselors
to work against them and frustrate their plans... --Ezra 4:3-5


Dorothy Williams was a British missionary who served in West Africa during the 1930's
She was a nurse from Wales and spent her time on the mission field training African
nurses. This amazed her mission board back home - Dorothy was very frail; they didn't
expect her to last but a year or two working in Africa! But with God's help, she
refused to be discouraged by her limitations. This inspired the young African nurses
under her charge who were often disheartened by their own poverty and lack of resources.


One day a young nurse was carrying a tray of surgical instruments, and Dorothy noticed
a sad look in her student's eyes. "Oh, Mum, I am feeling much afraid today," to
which Dorothy replied, "Dearie, look at these shiny instruments on your tray." The
British missionary picked up the pointiest one, then added, "The devil has a tray
of instruments, too, and the shiniest and sharpest is his tool of discouragement
- it's sharp because he uses it so often." The student nurse smiled, blushed, and
then went on her way with fresh resolve.

Ezra 4:4 describes the devil's strategy against God's people. It is "to discourage
the people... and make them afraid... to work against them and frustrate their plans."
Do not be fearful, for the Bible repeats 112 times, "Do not be afraid." And Dorothy
would add, "Don't be discouraged." You have your own shiny, sharp tool: the Word
of God (Hebrews 4:12). Keep it sharp and use it often against your adversary!

God of all encouragement, thank you that I never have a reason to be afraid!

Nourish Your Soul

Nourish  your   soul

with   good  works

make  it  wise   with   reading,

enlighten it  with  meditation,

make it  tender with love,

sweeten it with  humility,

humble it  with  penance,

enliven it  with

Psalms and Hymns,

comfort it  with

frequent reflections

on future glory.

-William Law

(17th Century)

Dress Up Your Pets as Celebrities

I  found  these  photos  on  the Amusing  Planet  website.
Can  you  identify  who they  are?
I  think I  can  guess the  first  one. I  can  sniff  Lady  Gaga and  Che  Guevara in  there,or  maybe  a  royal  face  or  two.

Hats  off  to  creative  artists  everywhere.
In  today 's  Hindustan  Times  newspaper I  read  an  article  about an Indian film maker called  Mani Kaul. He  has  been   described  as  an iconoclastic, uncompromising, individualistic  filmmaker. He  was  not  found  in the  glitzy  world  of  Bollywood.

He said (the  newspaper quotes)
“A new thought — that is the purpose of my films,” he said. “If the film is to show you something that is already known, not only by the filmmaker but also by the audience, where will it lead us?” Television for him was anathema. “The world we are exposed to on television is killing the capacity of wanting to understand. It feeds you… as if you have no capacity for chewing … What food is to the stomach, thought is to the mind.” What would he have to say about the world today and the information overload that leaves no time for boredom, boredom out of which imagination takes wing?

The  electronic  entertainment is  dulling  our  senses and  whitewashing   our   imagination.  I  want   enough  boredom to  fire   my  imagination.


++++++++++++++++++++
 
We  have  crossed  the  mid way  point  of  2011
A  good  time to  review  the  past  and  pray  an d plan  for  the  future.
We  may  look  back with  anger, regret  and  sorrow.
Or satisfaction, joy and  nostalgia.
Whatever  it  is  remember  God is  in  control no  matter how  careless and  disorganized  the  course  of  life  may appear  to  be.
There  is  a  short  prayer  in the   Bible which says,
"Teach us  to number our  days that  we  may  apply our  hearts  unto wisdom. Psalm 90;12
 
I always  wondered  what  is  the need  to  number  or  count  our days. And  why  do  we  need   God 's help  for  that. I found  the  answer.
We  need to know  the  course , life  is  taking  us  through , and accept  the  seasons  of  life, and also appreciate the  changing colors  of  life. This  can be  only done  by  wisdom from above.
 
This  reminds  me  of a  telephonic  conversation my brother in law  Prem had  ,a few  years  ago with  a relative who is younger  than  him.
The 30 something man finding himself  brimming   with vitality and  the exilir of  youth asked Prem his  age. Prem said he  was in  his  early  40s.
 
"Oh",said  the ticklish  thirties,'  Your  days  are   numbered. You must  be  growing  bald and  weak and  your  eye sight  must  be   dimming, and  your teeth  falling  out?"
 
No sir , he  was  not joking this Benjamin Button in the   making.
 
But we  all had  a  good  laugh at him after Prem put the phone down.
 
After a few  years  later  Mr Benjamin Button suffered  a slipped  disc from  which  he has never  recovered  fully. He was  bed ridden for a long time and his  poor wife  had to  nurse  him like  a child. He  also  turned  his  back to God and  his  family  suffered  immensely.
 
Whereas my  brother  Prem, never  had any major health problem. He has  progressed  in his  job  and  career and  is  greatly  loved  by all who  know  him. People  see Christ  in him.
 
So, self assurance, arrogance  and  smugness did not  lead  this  man  anywhere.
 
You may be  surprised   but there are  people  like  that
in our  world today.
 
+++++++++++++
Vegetable  prices  have  jumped  up in  the past  few  days. I have  to number/count  my  pennies  too. Ha-Ha!
 
Have  a  good  weekend  everyone.

Experiencing God

This  year  I   am  reading the  daily devotional "Experiencing God Day by Day " by  Henry  and  Richard Blackaby. It  is  brimming  with insight  and  grace. I hear  God  speaking  to  me each morning  as  I  open a new  page of  this  book. The  writings  help  me to  examine  my   life and walk  closer  with  God  in  the  light  of  His  Word. I  want  to  encourage  you  to  follow  online on  the EXPERIENCING GOD website or buy  this  little  book. I  am sure   you  will  experience  growth  in your  Christian  life as  you  do  so.

This  is  what  blessed  me  earlier  this  week

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

When God places people in your life who are in need, He is aware of what they lack, and He knows He has given you the resources to meet those needs. You know God does nothing by accident. When a need surfaces around you, immediately go to the Father and say, “You put me here for a reason. You knew this was going to happen. What did You intend to do through me that would help this person become closer to You?”

Recognizing a need in someone’s life can be one of the greatest invitations from God you will ever experience. It’s easy to become frustrated by the problems of others. They can overwhelm you as you become aware of need after need. Rather than looking at each new problem as one more drain on your time, energy, or finances, ask God why He placed you in this situation. Allow God to help you see beyond the obvious needs of others to the things He wants to accomplish in their lives. Don’t miss God’s activity because you’re reluctant to carry the load of others.

Is God blessing you materially? It may be He is developing a “supply depot” in your life through which He can provide for others.

Has God granted you a strong, healthy family life? It may be that He requires such a home to minister to the hurting families all around you.

 Has God released you from sinful habits?

 Has God’s peace comforted you in a time of great sorrow?

 Has God miraculously provided for your needs?

 It may be that He has been purposefully building things into your life so that you can now be the kind of person who will carry the burdens of others
___________________

I like  to  see   myself as  Simon of  Cyrene - the  burden  bearer  for  Christ - this  image  enables  me  to  daily bear  my  cross. Which  Bible  character do you  identify  with?

I read  this  little  story in a magazine which  I want  to  share  with you.

EASY YOKE
A little  girl  sat listening  to  a reading  from Matthew 11:28,29,30 (BIBLE)
"Come to me all  who   are  weary and heavy laden and I will  give  you rest.
Take my yoke upon me and learn from me and you shall  find  rest  for your  soul.
For my yoke  is easy and my  load is light"
(words of Jesus)

The  Sunday school  teacher  asked the class,"Who can tell  me  what  a  yoke is?"
The child replied," Something they put on the neck of animals,"
"Do you know what is the meaning of  God 's yoke?"
The little girl again answered,"That is  when God puts His  arms around  our  neck."
______________________________

Blogger  is  not   allowing  me  to  upload a new  profile photo or any picture on my side  bar.  I am told  that  I have  exceeded my  upload  limit. But  I  can upload  pictures  on posts. I can' t understand  this???
_____________________

Happy  Canada Day to my Canadian friends. Enjoy Will   and Kate' s  visit.  Today would  have  been  Princess Diana 's  50th birthday.

Thought Seeds

I' ve  been  slow  in  composing  posts

this  week.

The  temperatures   are  rising

its  around 110*during  the  day.

So  I  get  tired   easily.

We  use  the air convector  cooler,

( almost  everyone  I  know  has

air  conditioners but  I  can 't

afford  one).

 The cool  air of   the   water  cooler

flares up  arthritis.

My  right  hip,  left wrist ,

arms  and  knees  have  been

quite  painful because  of  that.

I  tried  to  bear  the  pain, but 

it  got  me  so  tired  and  stressed out

 I  had  to  take  pain killers.

Pain  tires  me  out   easily.

I  think trees are  like

God  's giant sculptures.

I like  photographing  them.

This  one  is  outside  a

shopping mall

I  visited  with  my  nephew  Ashish

when  he  was  here  in  February this  year.

Its  an  ancient  banyan  tree.

(Megan, Sonia, Ashish &  Abner)

My  adopted sister  Sonia, hubby  and son  Abner

are  arriving  on Saturday

for a  summer  vacation with us.

We  are  so  excited.

I  am  getting   the  house  ready.

(me,Sonia,Ashish & Abner)

Keeping   the  house  dust  free is   such  a  task

with  strong  dust  laden  winds 

blowing most  of   the day.

We 've had dust  storms  too.

Last  evening   we  had  surprise  rain

which  cooled us  off.

After  the  rain we  sat  out

on  the  patio

enjoying   the   cool  evening

before  the  mosquito attack.

Trust  you  all  are  safe  and healthy.

I  read  the  following very  instructive

and  inspiring story on

my   friend  Elizabeth 's  blog

and  I  want  to  share  it  here.

THE  PLANT

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. 

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.


Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

A Soldier 's Story

The Centurion at  the Foot  of  the Cross
by Max Lucado

The day began as had a hundred others—dreadfully. It was bad enough to be in Judea, but it was hell to spend hot afternoons on a rocky hill supervising the death of pickpockets and rabble-rousers. Half the crowd taunted, half cried. The soldiers griped. The priests bossed. It was a thankless job in a strange land. He was ready for the day to be over before it began.

He was curious at the attention given to the flatfooted peasant. He smiled as he read the sign that would go on the cross. The condemned looked like anything but a king. His face was lumpy and bruised. His back arched slightly and his eyes faced downward. “Some harmless hick,” mused the centurion. “What could he have done?”

Then Jesus raised his head. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t uneasy. His eyes were strangely calm as they stared from behind the bloody mask. He looked at those who knew him—moving deliberately from face to face as if he had a word for each.

For just a moment he looked at the centurion—for a second the Roman looked into the purest eyes he’d ever seen. He didn’t know what the look meant. But the look made him swallow and his stomach feel empty. As he watched the soldier grab the Nazarene and yank him to the ground, something told him this was not going to be a normal day.

As the hours wore on, the centurion found himself looking more and more at the one on the center cross. He didn’t know what to do with the Nazarene’s silence. He didn’t know what to do with his kindness.

But most of all, he was perplexed by the darkness. He didn’t know what to do with the black sky in midafternoon. No one could explain it.… No one even tried. One minute the sun, the next the darkness. One minute the heat, the next a chilly breeze. Even the priests were silenced.

For a long while the centurion sat on a rock and stared at the three silhouetted figures. Their heads were limp, occasionally rolling from side to side. The jeering was silent … eerily silent. Those who had wept, now waited.

Suddenly the center head ceased to bob. It yanked itself erect. Its eyes opened in a flash of white. A roar sliced the silence. “It is finished.” (John 19:30 NIV) It wasn’t a yell. It wasn’t a scream. It was a roar … a lion’s roar. From what world that roar came the centurion didn’t know, but he knew it wasn’t this one.

The centurion stood up from the rock and took a few paces toward the Nazarene. As he got closer, he could tell that Jesus was staring into the sky. There was something in his eyes that the soldier had to see. But after only a few steps, he fell. He stood and fell again. The ground was shaking, gently at first and now violently. He tried once more to walk and was able to take a few steps and then fall … at the foot of the cross.

He looked up into the face of this one near death. The King looked down at the crusty old centurion. Jesus’ hands were fastened; they couldn’t reach out. His feet were nailed to timber; they couldn’t walk toward him. His head was heavy with pain; he could scarcely move it. But his eyes … they were afire.

They were unquenchable. They were the eyes of God.

Perhaps that is what made the centurion say what he said. He saw the eyes of God. He saw the same eyes that had been seen by a near-naked adulteress in Jerusalem, a friendless divorcée in Samaria, and a four-day-dead Lazarus in a cemetery. The same eyes that didn’t close upon seeing man’s futility, didn’t turn away at man’s failure, and didn’t wince upon witnessing man’s death.

“It’s all right,” God’s eyes said. “I’ve seen the storms and it’s still all right.”

The centurion’s convictions began to flow together like rivers. “This was no carpenter,” he spoke under his breath. “This was no peasant. This was no normal man.”

He stood and looked around at the rocks that had fallen and the sky that had blackened. He turned and stared at the soldiers as they stared at Jesus with frozen faces. He turned and watched as the eyes of Jesus lifted and looked toward home. He listened as the parched lips parted and the swollen tongue spoke for the last time.

“Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit” (Luke 23:46 NIV).

Had the centurion not said it, the soldiers would have. Had the centurion not said it, the rocks would have—as would have the angels, the stars, even the demons. But he did say it. It fell to a nameless foreigner to state what they all knew.

“Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54 NIV)


NEW Gift Book! This story from:
This is Love - The Extraordinary Story of Jesus

Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2011) Max Lucado

Dear  friends  this  afternoon we  watched Mel Gibson 's

The  Passion  of  the  Christ

once   more on  Sony PIX.

Simon  of Cyrene  and  the  centurion

are  very  vividly  portrayed  in  it.

Simon 's Cross

by Max Lucado

“A man named Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was coming from the fields to the city. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus”
(Mark 15:21)

Simon grumbles beneath his breath. His patience is as scarce as space on the Jerusalem streets. He’d hoped for a peaceful Passover. The city is anything but quiet. Simon prefers his open fields. And now, to top it off, the Roman guards are clearing the path for some who-knows-which-dignitary who’ll march his soldiers and strut his stallion past the people.

“There he is!”
Simon’s head and dozens of others turn. In an instant they know. This is no dignitary.

“It’s a crucifixion,” he hears someone whisper. Four soldiers. One criminal. Four spears. One cross. The inside corner of the cross saddles the convict’s shoulders. Its base drags in the dirt. Its top teeters in the air. The condemned man steadies the cross the best he can, but stumbles beneath its weight. He pushes himself to his feet and lurches forward before falling again. Simon can’t see the man’s face, only a head wreathed with thorny branches.

The sour-faced centurion grows more agitated with each diminishing step. He curses the criminal and the crowd.
“Hurry up!”
“Little hope of that,” Simon says to himself.

The cross-bearer stops in front of Simon and heaves for air. Simon winces at what he sees. The beam rubbing against an already raw back. Rivulets of crimson streaking the man’s face. His mouth hangs open, both out of pain and out of breath.

“His name is Jesus,” someone speaks softly.
“Move on!” commands the executioner.

But Jesus can’t. His body leans and feet try, but he can’t move. The beam begins to sway. Jesus tries to steady it, but can’t. Like a just-cut tree, the cross begins to topple toward the crowd. Everyone steps back, except the farmer. Simon instinctively extends his strong hands and catches the cross.

Jesus falls face-first in the dirt and stays there. Simon pushes the cross back on its side. The centurion looks at the exhausted Christ and the bulky bystander and needs only an instant to make the decision. He presses the flat of his spear on Simon’s shoulders.

“You! Take the cross!”
Simon dares to object, “Sir, I don’t even know the man!”
“I don’t care. Take up the cross.”

Simon growls, balances the timber against his shoulder, and steps out of the crowd onto the street, out of anonymity into history, and becomes the first in a line of millions who will take up the cross and follow Christ.

He did literally what God calls us to do figuratively: take up the cross and follow Jesus. “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me” (Luke. 9:23 CEV).


NEW Gift Book! This story from:
This is Love - The Extraordinary Story of Jesus
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2011) Max Lucado

Gethsamane is a place to visit today

by Max Lucado

Go with me for a moment to witness what was perhaps the foggiest night in history. The scene is very simple; you’ll recognize it quickly. A grove of twisted olive trees. Ground cluttered with large rocks. A low stone fence. A dark, dark night.

Now, look into the picture. Look closely through the shadowy foliage. See that person? See that solitary figure? What’s he doing? Flat on the ground. Face stained with dirt and tears. Fists pounding the hard earth. Eyes wide with a stupor of fear. Hair matted with salty sweat. Is that blood on his forehead?

That’s Jesus. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Maybe you’ve seen the classic portrait of Christ in the garden. Kneeling beside a big rock. Snow-white robe. Hands peacefully folded in prayer. A look of serenity on his face. Halo over his head. A spotlight from heaven illuminating his golden-brown hair.

Now, I’m no artist, but I can tell you one thing. The man who painted that picture didn’t use the gospel of Mark as a pattern. Look what Mark wrote about that painful night, he used phrases like these: “Horror and dismay came over him.” “My heart is ready to break with grief.” “He went a little forward and threw himself on the ground.”

Does this look like the picture of a saintly Jesus resting in the palm of God? Hardly. Mark used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see a “man of sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:3 NASB) We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief.

We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.

The writer of Hebrews would later pen, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” (Hebrews 5:7 NIV)

My, what a portrait! Jesus is in pain. Jesus is on the stage of fear. Jesus is cloaked, not in sainthood, but in humanity.

The next time the fog finds you, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this dusty planet, listen to him pleading among the twisted trees.

The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you’ll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.

 This story from:

This is Love - The Extraordinary Story of Jesus

Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2011) Max Lucado

Trust  you  are  doing   well my  dear  friends.

Tomorrow in  the  Good  Friday service

I  am  going   to  speak  on  the  first  and  fifth

last  statements  of  Christ from

the  cross..