A Merry Heart

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”

 

Haircuts for Clergy

A Rabbi went to the local barber shop. After his hair cut, he got ready to pay the barber and the barber said, “No Rabbi, I don’t charge the clergy for haircuts.” So the next morning the barber found a loaf of Jewish rye bread outside of his door step.

A couple of days past and a Catholic priest came in to get his hair cut. He got ready to pay and the barber said, “No Father, I don’t charge the clergy for haircuts.” So the next morning he found a box of chocolates outside his front door step.

Several days later a Baptist minister came in to get his hair cut and when he got ready to pay the barber said, “No Reverend, I don’t charge the clergy for their haircuts.” So the next morning, the barber found 15 Baptist preachers on his doorstep, ready for a haircut!

Your IQ

“Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness.” – A.W.Tozer, ‘The Pursuit of God’, Chapter 9: Meekness and Rest

“The burden of pride. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you…How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest.” – A.W.Tozer, ‘The Pursuit of God’, Chapter 9: Meekness and Rest

Fresh Manna

Exodus 16:15b “And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.”

True Forgiveness

 

Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”

The home is a special place and the marriage relationship should be the most sacred earthly relationship that we have. If the home is to be what God intends it to be and it is to flourish then there must be love and forgiveness. The home should be an oasis in this world as we find pure water that will refresh our soul, bring joy to our heart and fulfillment to our life.

Hatred in the heart will cause division in our relationships and will cause people to spew out venom with a sharp tongue. When a person’s tongue becomes a weapon it because they are filled with hatred or bitterness that they have not biblically dealt with. This will cause that person to develop a hard heart. The only way to stop the strife in our homes is for people to deal with any hatred or bitterness that they have in their heart. Once this is done then there can be the peace and harmony in the home that God desires.

Love seeks to help others and not expose someone’s failure. They realize what happened before, but they want to see the person restored and get the victory. They will not compromise sin or sweep it under the rug, but they will deal with it in a loving way. The spirit of love must be cultivated and the monster of hate must be destroyed.

Love never condones sin but it covers it. When forgiveness is offered it takes the sin and buries it. It does not mean that the person forgets the sin was done, but relinquishes their right to bring it up anymore. The relationship is based on God’s love and past offences are not factored in. When a person receives Jesus as their savior all their sins are forgiven. Jesus takes those sins and buries them and he does not bring them up again. Our relationship to him is based on his forgiveness and not our past.

God will never forget the sins we have committed because he knows everything. However he sees believers through the blood of Christ and has clothed us in his righteousness. Our eternal relationship with him is based on his love and forgiveness. When we see others in our family through the eyes of Jesus it will revolutionize our homes, strengthen our relationships, and glorify God.

Too many people get historical when they get mad. They start bringing up all the past things about someone they do not like or are angry with and throw them in their face. This is not love and shows no real forgiveness has taken place in that persons heart toward that person. Take that list of offenses and bury it in the backyard and never dig it up again. Until we practice this principle of love and forgiveness we will never see revival in our homes. If our homes do not get revived then our local churches will continue to struggle and America will continue to decline.

Men let’s do like Joshua did of old when he said ” but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” You can have a great home by loving and forgiving those that God has given you to love. They do not need to be replaced we just need to be revived and practice biblical Christianity in our homes once again.

By: Kurt LaCapruccia

Power of Prayer

Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving

Love is the child of gratitude. Love grows as gratitude is felt, and then breaks out into praise and thanksgiving to God: “I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplication.” Answered prayers cause gratitude, and gratitude brings forth a love that declares it will not cease praying: “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.” Gratitude and love move to larger and increased praying.

Paul appeals to the Romans to dedicate themselves wholly to God, a living sacrifice, and the constraining motive is the mercies of God:

“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Consideration of God’s mercies not only begets gratitude, but induces a large consecration to God of all we have and are. So that prayer, thanksgiving and consecration are all linked together inseparably.

Gratitude and thanksgiving always looks back at the past though it may also take in the present. But prayer always looks to the future. Thanksgiving deals with things already received. Prayer deals with things desired, asked for and expected. Prayer turns to gratitude and praise when the things asked for have been granted by God.

As prayer brings things to us which beget gratitude and thanksgiving, so praise and gratitude promote prayer, and induce more praying and better praying.

Gratitude and thanksgiving forever stand opposed to all murmurings at God’s dealings with us, and all complaining at our lot. Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time. An unappreciative spirit has no standing beside gratitude and praise. And true prayer corrects complaining and promotes gratitude and thanksgiving. Dissatisfaction at one’s lot, and a disposition to be discontented with things which come to us in the providence of God, are foes to gratitude and enemies to thanksgiving.

Taken from chapter 4 of The Essentials of Prayer by E.M. Bounds

More than Conquerors

Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

A Dangerous Tightrope Walk:

 

(The Story of Blondin)

 

Francois Gravelot, better known as “The Great Blondin.” He was born February 28th 1824 in St. Omer, Pas de Calais in Northern France.

Blondin first came to Niagara in early 1858. He became obsessed with crossing the Niagara River on a tightrope. On June 30th 1859, Blondin successfully walked across the river on a tight rope. For this crossing , Blondin utilized a 1,100 foot long – 3 inch diameter manila rope stretched from what is now Prospect Park in Niagara Falls, New York to what is now Oakes Garden in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

He began his first walk from the American side and completed his crossing in 20 minutes. Blondin used a 30 foot long balancing pole that weighed 40 pounds.

During the summer of 1860, Blondin returned to Niagara for a second successful year of tight rope walking across the Niagara River for hundreds of thousands of sightseers. One of his acts included pushing a wheelbarrow along as he crossed. Then he asked the great crowd who thinks I can push a man in this wheelbarrow across on a tightrope. Many hands went up and then he asked a man who raised his hand to get in. That man refused to get in the wheelbarrow. He believed in his head he could do it, but not enough to trust him with his life.

This is exactly what many do with Jesus in their life. They give mental assent to his existence but refuse to trust him with their heart and life. Jesus is the only one who can walk the tightrope from the grave to heaven. John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If we are to make it to heaven we need to get in the wheelbarrow by faith so Jesus can take us to heaven when we die. This decision must be made before we die. Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Are you willing to get in the wheelbarrow by faith today with Jesus? John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” This is a personal decision which everyone must make for themselves. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Why not open your heart to Jesus today.John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”