A Merry Heart

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

The importance of having your email addresses correct!

It seems there was this couple from Minneapolis, Minnesota who decided to go to Florida for a few days to thaw out during one particularly cold winter. Since both spouses worked, they had difficulty coordinating their schedules, so the decision was made to have the husband leave for Florida on a certain day, with the wife following him one day later. The man made it down to Florida and arrived at his hotel. Upon getting to his room, he decided to open his laptop and send his wife back in Minneapolis an email. However, he left off one letter in typing his wife’s email address and sent the email off without realizing his error.

In another part of the country, a widow had just returned from the funeral of her husband, a deacon of many years who had been called to glory just a few days earlier. She decided to check her email because she was expecting to hear from her husband’s relatives and friends. Upon reading the first email she let out a loud scream, fainted and fell to the floor. The woman’s son rushed into the room and found his mother on the floor. He glanced up at the computer screen and saw the following email message:

To My Loving Wife:

I’ve just been checked in. Everything has-been prepared for your arrival here tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Your Devoted Husband.
PS: Sure is hot down here

Your IQ

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” – Brian Tracy

Fresh Manna

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

How to Look at Things

“The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” Psalm 126:3

Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, “I will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad.” Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us “out into a wealthy place.” The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the best part of our life’s song, “He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” – Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon.

A Heavenly Cake

Sometimes we wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why did God have to do this to me?” Here is a wonderful explanation!

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says,
“Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.”
“Here, have some cooking oil,” her Mother offers.
“Yuck” says her daughter. “How about a couple raw eggs?”
“Gross, Mom!”
“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”
“Mom, those are all yucky!”
To which the mother replies, “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

Power of Prayer

An Opportunity from Dad

I remember one time going to the store with my father when I was a young boy. As we walked through the store he asked me if there was anything that I wanted. He was giving me the opportunity to ask for something. Since he was the one who gave the invitation that gave me a very good chance to get what I was asking for and gave me confidence and hope.

God gives us a better invitation than my father gave me. We see that in Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” God tells us three very important things in that verse. First we can come to him in prayer, secondly he delights to answer prayer because he loves us and thirdly he can show us things that exceed our expectations. That should excite us and motivate us to pray. Take time to pray today and communicate with God. There is no one that loves you more in this world than Jesus does. – Kurt John LaCapruccia

Prayer Involves the Entire Man

“PRAYER has to do with the entire man. Prayer takes in man in his whole being, mind, soul and body. It takes the whole man to pray, and prayer affects the entire man in its gracious results. As the whole nature of man enters into prayer, so also all that belongs to man is the beneficiary of prayer. All of man receives benefits in prayer. The whole man must be given to God in praying. The largest results in praying come to him who gives himself, all of himself, all that belongs to himself, to God. This is the secret of full consecration, and this is a condition of successful praying, and the sort of praying which brings the largest fruits.

The men of olden times who wrought well in prayer, who brought the largest things to pass, who moved God to do great things, were those who were entirely given over to God in their praying. God wants, and must have, all that there is in man in answering his prayers. He must have whole-hearted men through whom to work out His purposes and plans concerning men. God must have men in their entirety. No double-minded man need apply. No vacillating man can be used. No man with a divided allegiance to God, and the world and self, can do the praying that is needed.” (The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds)

More than Conquerors

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

Mind of Christ

I Corinthians 2:12-16

The best life you could possibly live is the one your Creator has designed for you. He has given believers everything they need to become more like Him and to achieve all He has planned for them. Since the way we think is vitally important in this process, the Lord has given us the mind of Christ. Now we have the capacity to think as He does and to see situations from His perspective.

This marvelous ability to align our thoughts with His is a gift that we receive from God at the moment of salvation. However, the practice of it is our responsibility. We all come to Christ with minds that are already “pre-programmed” to one degree or another. For example, a child who grows up hearing demeaning comments will probably incorporate them into his concept of who he is and what he can accomplish. Also, this world’s system is constantly attempting to fit us into its mold, and Satan tries to inject his lies into our thinking.

If we are to experience the abundant life the Lord wants us to have, old thoughts that do not agree with God’s Word must be replaced with truth. Then we need to screen the ideas that bombard us each day. As we cooperate with God in this ongoing process, our lives will be transformed.

Compare your thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs with biblical teachings. If they don’t match, reject wrong patterns of thinking, and fill your mind with corresponding truths from Scripture instead. Since the Lord has empowered believers to think right, let’s cultivate the mind of Christ within us. – Charles Stanley

Love Without Measure

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.

I once wrote something about how God loves us and how dear we are to Him. I was not sure I should put it down on paper, but God knows what I meant. I wrote, “The only eccentricity that I can discover in the heart of God is the fact that a God such as He is should love sinners such as we are!” On this earth, a mother will love the son who has betrayed her and shamed her and is now on his way to a life in prison. That seems to be a natural thing for a mother. But there is nothing natural about this love of God. It is a divine thing. It is forced out by the inward pressure within the heart of the God of all grace. That is why He waits for us, puts up with us, desires to lead us on—He loves us! My brethren, this should be our greatest encouragement in view of all that we know about ourselves: God loves us without measure, and He is so keenly interested in our spiritual growth and progress that He stands by in faithfulness to teach and instruct and discipline us as His own dear children! – AW Tozer