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A young man was at the end of his rope, seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer. "Lord I can't go on, he
said. I have too heavy a Cross to bear. The Lord replied "My Son if you cant't bear it's weight, just place your cross
inside this room. Then open that other door and pick out any cross you wish". The man was filled with relief and said.
"Thank you Lord" and he did as he was told. Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses, some so large the
tops were not visible. Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one Lord", he whispered.
The Lord replied, "My Son that is the cross you just brought in". When life problems seem overwhelming it helps
to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.
YOUR CROSS
What ever you cross
What ever your pain
There will always be sunshine
After the rain.
Perhaps you may stumble
Perhaps even fall
But GOD always there
To help you through it all.
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you,
just remember...
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
John the Baptist ate bugs
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer...AND
Lazarus was dead!
. . . . No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the
messenger.
In the Circle of God's love, God's waiting to use your full potential.
1. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
2. Dear God, I have a problem, it's me.
3 Growing old is inevitable . . . growing UP is optional.
4. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.
5. Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted.
6. Do the math . . . count your blessings.
7. Faith is the ability to not panic.
8. Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging.
9. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry.
10. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home everyday.
11. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.
12. The most important things in your house are the people.
13. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still.
God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.
14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the
wisdom to know it's me
Points to Ponder
1. The best way to get even is to forget...
2. Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death...
3. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts...
4. Some folks wear their halos much too tight...
5. Some marriages are made in heaven, but they ALL have to be maintained on earth...
6. Unless you can create the WHOLE universe in 6 days, Then perhaps giving "advice" to God, isn't such a good
idea!
7. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up...
8. Standing in the middle of the road is dangerous. You will get knocked down by the traffic from both directions.
9. Words are windows to the heart.
10. A skeptic is a person who, when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it's a forgery.
11. It isn't difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill, just add a little dirt.
12. A successful marriage isn't finding the right person; it's being the right person.
13. The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
14. Too many people offer God prayers with claw marks all over them.
15. The tongue must be heavy, indeed, because so few people can hold it.
16. To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner was you.
17. You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive!
18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you're done.
19. You'll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck...
20. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.
You are richer today if you have laughed, given, or forgiven...
Potato Chips
A little boy wanted to meet God.
He knew it was a long trip to where God
lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato
chips and a six-pack of root beer
and started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks,
he met an old woman. She was sitting in
the park, just staring at some pigeons.
The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.
He was about to take a drink from
his root beer when he noticed that the old lady
looked hungry, so he offered her some chips.
She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.
Her smile was so pretty that the
boy wanted to see it again, so he
offered her a root beer. Again,
she smiled at him. The boy was
delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating
and smiling, but they never said a word.
As twilight approached, the boy realized
how tired he was and he got up
to leave; but before he had gone
more than a few steps, he turned
around, ran back to the old woman, and gave
her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his
own house a short time later, his
mother was surprised by the look
of joy on his face. She asked him,
"What did you do today that made you so
happy?" He replied, "I had lunch
with God." But before his mother could
respond, he added, "You know what?
She's got the most beautiful
smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant
with joy, returned to her home.
Her son was stunned by the look
of peace on her face and he asked,
"Mother, what did you do today
that made you so happy?" She replied,
"I ate potato chips in the park with God."
However, before her son responded,
she added, "You know, he's much
younger than I expected."
Too often we underestimate the power
of a touch, a smile, a kind word,
a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all
of which have the potential to turn a
life around. People come into
our lives for a reason, a season, or
a lifetime. Embrace all equally!
Have lunch with God........bring chips.
INSTALLING LOVE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Tech support: Yes, ... how can I help you?
-- Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
-- Tech support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
-- Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?
-- Tech support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
-- Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
-- Tech support: What programs are running?
-- Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
-- Tech support: No problem, Love will gradually delete Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain
in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with
a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs
prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?
-- Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
-- Tech support: With pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until
Grudge and Resentment have been completely deleted.
-- Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
-- Tech support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts
in order to get the upgrades.
-- Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components". What
should I do?
-- Tech support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been
run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
-- Customer: So, what should I do?
-- Tech support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and
Acknowledge Your Limitations.
-- Customer: Okay, done.
-- Tech support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin
patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin
to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
-- Customer: Got it. Hey! My Heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment
are copying themselves all over my Heart. Is this normal?
-- Tech support: Sometimes. For others, it takes awhile, but eventually gets it at the proper time. So, Love is installed
and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and it's various components to everyone
you meet. They will in turn, share it with others and return some cool components back to you.
-- Customer: Thank you, God.
-- Author Unknown
Shipwrecked
A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like
island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite
sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the
land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.
After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and
the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him.
However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found a
ship docked at his side of the island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other
man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming, "Why are you leaving your companion
on the island?"
"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the first man answered. "His
prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything."
"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that,
you would
not have received any of my blessings."
"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?"
"He prayed that all your prayers be answered."
For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us.
As a mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Johnny, 5, and Alex, 3, the boys began to argue over who would get the first
pancake.
The mom saw an opportunity to teach a moral lesson.
She said, "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say "Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.""
Johnny quickly turned to his younger brother and said, "Okay, Alex, you be Jesus!"
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