Purity Of Window.....

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman watched her neighbor hanging wash outside.

“That laundry is not very clean,” she said. ”She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband,

“Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

 And so it is with life. What we see when watching others may depend on the purity of the window(heart) through which we look.

Do Not Judge ......

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father going and coming in the hall waiting for the doctor. Once seeing him, the dad yelled: “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have the sense of responsibility?”

The doctor smiled and said: “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could after receiving the call…… And now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work”

“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do??” said the father angrily.

The doctor smiled again and replied: “I will say what Job said in the Holy Book – “From dust we came and to dust we return, blessed be the name of God”. – Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace”

“Giving advice when we’re not concerned is so easy” Murmured the father.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, “Thank goodness!, your son is saved!” And without waiting for the father’s reply he carried on his way running. “If you have any question, ask the nurse!!”

“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state” Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”

NEVER JUDGE ANYONE because You never know how their life is & as to what is happening or what they’re going through.

Be Faithful In Small Things....

One rainy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The hotel clerk said, “They are all filled as are all the hotels in the town. But I can’t stand an old couple like you out in the rain. Would you be willing to sleep in my room?” The couple hesitated but the clerk insisted. The next morning when the man paid his bill he said, “You are the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the U. S. Someday I will build you one.” The clerk smiled politely. A few years later the clerk received a letter from the elderly man recalling the rainy night and asking him to come to New York. A round trip ticket was also enclosed. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of the Fifth Avenue and 34th street where stood a magnificent new building. “That is the hotel I have built for you to manage. “The old man told. The old man was William Waldorf Astor and the hotel was the original Waldorf Astoria. The young clerk became its first manager.

Be faithful in small things, God will entrust you great things. Whoever can be trusted in little things, can also be trusted in great ones.

– Luke 16:10

Little Boat

There was a little boy who lived by the sea and the one thing he loved best was to carve out little boats from the pieces of driftwood that came from that sea. One day he found washed up on the shore a solid block of wood so perfect for sculpting that he told himself, “This is going to be the best boat I’ll make!” and so he proceeded to carve it, making sure that the details were perfect. After sculpting it, he sanded it and painted and lacquered it. He’d then take it wherever he went, always showing it off to his friends.


One day, he waded into the sea, put his little boat on the water, and watched it bob up and down on the water. He was very proud of his boat. But suddenly, a great wave descended on him and the little boat, and the wave engulfed the little boat until it drifted far, far away from the boy and disappeared. The boy ran to his father, crying, and his father tried to comfort him, to no avail.


The days went past, and became weeks, then months, but the boy still missed his little boat. One day, while he was accompanying his father to town, he wandered into a store, and there, among the other souvenirs and merchandise the store was selling, was his little boat! He then approached the owner, and asked him where he got the little boat over there by the shelf.


“Well now,” said the owner, “someone came into the store just last week and sold me that little boat, and since it’s a fine piece of craftmanship, I thought it was a good deal.”


“Sir, you see, I was the one who made that little boat.” the boy said. “I carved it, sanded it, painted and lacquered it. It’s the best little boat I ever made, and it got lost at sea and I’ve searched and searched for it and now I’m so happy to have found it. Can I have it back please?”


The owner looked at the boy, shook his head, and said, “I’m sorry son, but I paid for that little boat, and if you want to get it back, then you’d have to buy it .” The boy, who didn’t have any money on him at the time, said, “Okay. I’ll be back soon. Just keep it in reserve for me, okay?” Then he took one last look at his little boat, and ran to join his father.


As soon as they came home, he went to his room, took his piggy bank, broke it, and counted the money in it. Alas, he came up short! He sat there, tears rolling down his face, and his father came in the room. “Son, what’s the matter?,” his father asked. So the boy told him what happened, and his father said, “Son, why do love that little boat so much? There are so many pieces of wood that wash up daily from the sea. You could make another little boat, or even more if you wished. “


The boy replied, “Father, I loved that little boat so much. I couldn’t eat nor sleep, wondering what had happened to it all these months. And to have found it after all this time! Father, I don’t care how much it costs, I’m going to work hard so I can save up to buy back my little boat.”


His father lovingly looked at his son’s sad face, and said, “Okay, my son, I understand. Here, I’ll give you the money to buy back your boat,” and handed him the money. The boy hugged his father tightly, whispering, “Thank you, father.” and ran off towards the store, and bought back his little boat. He took it home, cradling it in his arms, and showed it off to his father, his mother, and the rest of his family. From then on, he never let it drift too far at sea, and always kept it at his side.


Jesus is that boy, and you and I are that little boat. He molded us, polished us, cherished us so much, and when we drifted off where he couldn’t find us or reach us, he became so sad. And, after having found us again, he did not hesitate to pay whatever price in order to redeem us. With Jesus, he paid for us by giving up his life.


When you have someone who loves you that much, and you sometimes feel that nobody in this world really cares whether you come and go, take heart; somebody cares, and will never, ever let you out of his sight ever again.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   John 10:11

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 1 Corinthians 7:23

Child's Prayer From His Heart

 







A small boy gets down on his knee’s beside of his bed one night, to pray for the first time in his life. The boy has been hearing about this man that lived a long time ago named Jesus, the son of God. He heard about Jesus from another little boy in school, named Jimmy. From the stories he heard Jimmy tell, this Jesus person is in heaven now and he can heal people and save people if you ask him too. The small boy starts to pray, he says - I want to talk to Jesus, if it’s OK with you God, for me to talk to your son. I don’t know the rules of how you are suppose to pray, so If I mess up God, please don’t get mad. 



I just want Jesus to help my dad, he has been sick for a long time, and he has to take a lot medicine. The medicine cost’s a lot of money, sometimes we have to go hungry so mom can buy the medicine dad needs, but I don’t mind that, they give us a nice lunch at school. Sometimes the other kids in school make fun of the clothes I wear, because they are not new and my mom gets them at yard sales for a dime, but that doesn’t bother me either. 



My mom works real hard for every dime she makes. She gets paid a dime more than minimum wage, what ever that is? My mom works in a nursing home. Mom says the big shots that run the place really rake in the money for the people that have to live there. But they won’t spend it to make sure people can afford to work there, they spend the money to go on conventions, like to Las Vegas, and gamble the money away, while there is only half enough people working at the nursing home, that is needed to give decent care. 



She works as a nurse aid, cleaning beds for the old people that can’t walk anymore, and can’t go to the bath room, when they have to use it. Sometimes my dad can’t walk because he gets so sick. He can’t make it to the bathroom and he wets on his self. Sometimes he can’t even get out of bed so he throws up in bed and has to lay in it until mom gets home from work to clean him up and change the bed, like she does at work. She works a lot, sometimes I have to carry dads medicine to him in bed, Mom leaves him a bottle of medicine on the table beside of his bed before she leaves to go to work. If she has to stay over and work another shift, then I haven’t go get another bottle of medicine out of the cabinet for him. 



Mom keeps a lot of extra bottles there for him. I play with the empty bottles because she can’t afford to buy me any toys, this makes her cry when she see’s me playing with only bottles. I tell her it’s OK, I pretend real good, I show her the empty bottles and say this one is a dump truck and this one is a fire truck. Other kids don’t want to play with me because I don’t have any toys and their moms won’t let them come to my house and they don’t want me to come to theirs, I think they are afraid they will catch the disease that my dad has, if I am around them, but it’s not catching, me and mom doesn’t have the disease and we are around dad all the time. 



Jesus if you would just heal my dad, everything else would be OK. My mom wouldn’t have to work so may extra shifts, my dad could get a job like he use to have when I was first born. We would have money to buy food and everything, instead of buying so much medicine all of the time. I think it’s our fault my dad got this disease, he tells us all the time when he takes his medicine, that he has to take it because of us, my mom and me, and that it’s not his fault he has to take it. 



What ever we done Jesus tell us what it was, so we will know and we won’t do it any more, because I can’t think of anything we done wrong. If you tell us, I know we won’t ever do it again, because we both love dad and we would do anything so he wouldn’t be sick anymore. I don’t know what the name of the sickness is that my dad has, but the medicine he takes for it, is called Whiskey. Dad say’s it taste awful and burns all the way down, he drinks a sip of water after each dose. 



If someone in our family has to be sick, then take the sickness away from my dad and give it to me. If it makes me die, thats OK, because Jimmy said, If I believe in Jesus, I would be able to go to heaven when I die, and I believe in you. My mom and dad don’t, so I don’t want them to die, because then they would have to go to that place where you burn all the time. I tried to tell my dad about you today, but he said for me to get away, he wanted to be left alone. 



I tried to tell my mom too, but she said her back was hurting to bad to talk to me right now. So I’m the only one who knows about you here. Jimmy said We must all do Gods work. If you will give me a list of chores to do, like my mom does, I will do them everyone. I don’t care how hard I have to work to save my dad, and mom. I’ll do it with out complaining, not even once. I hope I didn’t break any of the rules on how to pray. I think this is where I am suppose to say Amen at. 



Sometimes it’s hard to go to sleep at night, when your stomach is growling because it is empty. If I can’t sleep tonight, is it OK if I talk to you again later? If it won’t bother you too much that is? Because I really like talking to you Jesus, Will you be my friend? 

The little boy didn’t have to hear the words with his ears, he could feel them in his heart, what Jesus said back to him. Jesus said: 

I’ll be with you always, I’ll never leave your side, what ever you ask of me, I will do for you. The prayer you said was just fine, it came from your heart, and spoken with faith, you can talk to me any time you like, I stay up all night too. The more you talk to me the better I like it. Tell me every thing and let me help you with it all, not just the big things, even the small ones too. I will be your best friend, because I have always loved you, and I always will. 

--Gods promises from the Holy book The Bible

What Shall I Do, LORD?

What Shall I do, Lord?

Saul asked this question as soon as he got the answer to his previous question: ``Who are you, Lord?'' (Acts 22:8). The answer was: ``I am Jesus of Nazareth.''


If you know for sure that the person with whom you had an encounter in life is Jesus, then the next question to ask is: ``What shall I do, Lord?'' (Acts 22:10). Saul asked this question. He got an answer. It changed his life. It gave his life direction and a mission. It took the light of the gospel to the ends of the then-known world.


Saul asked this question as soon as he encountered Jesus. Some others wait an eternity before they even begin to think of asking this question. But it is never too late. If you have not asked this question yet, think about it. What prevents you from asking it? And how long will you wait before asking it?


Saul asked this question because he got the answer to the first question. He understood that Jesus is indeed Lord! It is that understanding that you and I need today. He is the Lord of this universe. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. All knees will bow before Him one day. And every tongue will confess that He is Lord! All authority in heaven and on earth has been given Him. This is the glory of Jesus, the One risen from the dead. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.


Have you understood Jesus as Lord? Probably not. If you had understood Him as Lord, you would have asked the question: ``What shall I do, Lord?'' An understanding that He is Lord makes you think immediately of His desired purpose for your life. Surely your life would make a difference. Is that not the reason why He has met with you? But how would you know the purpose that you are to fulfill unless you ask Him about it? So the question to ask now is, ``What shall I do, Lord?''


Possibly, this is the best question you can ask as you stand at the crossroads of life. Probably the answer may not be as dramatic as the Damascus Road experience of Saul. But still turning points in life are vitally important to you. But more so to God as He waits for you to ask, ``What shall I do, Lord?'' Many miss the purpose of their life simply because they fail to ask this question. They stop after having asked the first one. They are satisfied that they had met Jesus. But they forget the fact that every encounter with Jesus is purposeful.


The woman at the well in Samaria (John 4), Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19), Nathanael who sat under the fig tree (John 1), Nicodemus (John 3:1,2; 19:39) are all examples of purposeful encounters in the life of Jesus. So remember, He has met you with a purpose. Are you ready to fulfill it? If so, you have to ask the question in earnest: ``What shall I do, Lord?'' Ask, before the day is over. Even now the day is far spent and the night is closing in.


As far as Saul was concerned, Jesus told him to get up and go into Damascus: ``There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do'' (Acts 22:10b ). And Saul obeyed. He, till his last lap on earth, continued to fulfill the purpose for which Jesus had encountered him on the road to Damascus. He could say truthfully, ``I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven'' (Acts 26:19b NIV).


Finally, he could say, ``I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith'' (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV).


The entire future of his life was decided by the question he decided to ask Jesus: ``What shall I do, Lord?'' Therefore if you earnestly desire to make an impact for God in your generation, ask God today to reveal to you the purpose of your life. It could be the most important question you might ever ask on earth!

The WORD of GOD is Living & Active

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.


One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?“. The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.”


The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.


This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.


At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.


Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”


The old man said, “So you think it is useless? Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”


That is the work of God in our lives . . . to change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son. That is where the Holy Bible comes in and plays the important part.


For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. — Hebrews 4:12-13 (The Bible)