CANNOT COUNT

To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever; (Psalm 136:4)
Our God does miracles and wonders. When Jesus Christ sojourned on the earth, He healed everyone who came to Him (Matthew 14:14). He made the lame walk (Matthew 15:31). He resurrected Lazarus who was dead and buried (John 11:44). 


In the following verses the Psalmist says that it is difficult to count the number of wonders that God has performed in our lives. “To Him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:4). “Many, O Lord, my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare” (Psalm 40:5). 


Job, says, “He (the Lord) performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 9:10). The Lord Jesus took His disciples and went to the desert. There He spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and also healed all the sick people. Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to Him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place.” Jesus replied, “You give them something to each.” They answered, “We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – unless we go and buy food for this crowd.” 


There were nearly 5000 men. The Lord asked His disciples to make the crowd sit down in groups of about 50 each. The disciples did so and everybody sat down. Taking the 5 loaves and the 2 fish and looking up to heaven He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set it before the people. They all ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets full of broken pieces that were left over (Luke 9:10-17).


We can never explain the wonders and miracles done by the Lord. He is a wonderful God. Even today He is able to do miracles and wonders in our life. Dear Friend! The Lord Jesus offered Himself as a supreme sacrifice on the cross in order to save us. He allowed His body to be broken for us. He shed His precious and blameless blood in order to grant this great salvation for us. So let us praise Him whole-heartedly for this great salvation, great grace and great miracles. He shall continue to do great things in our lives. Be strengthened in the Lord always!

God Shall make you Glad

Friend, the Lord loves you and will fill your days with gladness to the days of your affliction. So rejoice!


Friend, the Bible says, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:1-3).


The Lord Jesus Christ desires to bless you with riches and wealth and your descendants shall be mightily blessed on earth. He will put an end to all your days of battling with the enemy and blessings shall abound in your life. 


When the Lord was in this world, He visited families and blessed them. Once, Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana. His mother Mary also attended the wedding. The host ran out of wine and Mary expressed their concern to Jesus Christ. Then she told the servants to do whatever He told them to do. There were six huge waterpots of stone and He told the servants to fill them with water. He then turned the water into wine. When the master of the feast was offered the newly made wine, he exclaimed that it tasted the best and wondered as how the best wine was saved till the end (John 2:1-10). This was the first miracle that the Lord did in His ministry.


He turned the water into wine in their insufficiency and blessed them. Wherever the presence of the Lord is, there will be blessings. 




Friend, you may be battered in life and wonder what to do with no way out of your problems. Surrender your life to the Lord and He shall dwell with you. His presence will crush the forces of the enemy and bring down blessings in your life. Moses sought the Lord and asked Him to fill the Israelites and him with joy to the days of their suffering in the wilderness. He says, “Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, the years in which we have seen evil” (Psalm 90:15). The Lord will also fill your days with happiness to the days of agony and sufferings in your life. So give Him your life today and He shall fill you with joy and peace.

Vision

“Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.”
- Daniel 7:2


God has given us all vision. If you’re not seeing racing chariots in the sky and beasts with seven heads, that is OK. To each their own. However, be intentional to regularly recall the visions God has given you, whether they be prophetic, dramatic, practical or simple. Allow Him to show you how to apply them to your next steps in life, hand in hand with Him.

Abundant Grace

If you remain devoted to God amidst the scorns of others, God will definitely fill you with his grace and use you to glorify His name.

“The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 1: 14). As we have an intimate walk with God, this abundant grace would overwhelm us enabling God to utilize us for the glory of His name. We read about a godly man called Noah in the Old Testament. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:8, 9). God instructed Noah to build an ark to protect him and his family from the impending peril of the flood. Noah obeyed the voice of God right away and began constructing an ark. 

When people noticed his action, they despised him. They also mocked at him but Noah was least bothered. He believed in the command from God and considered it was his duty to obey and fulfill it. Since He loved God and believed His word, He built the ark with great fervor. God blessed all his efforts and saved him and his family from the greatest destruction. Similarly, you may be despised or scorned by others for your faith in God. But if you love God and believe Him amidst these ordeals, He will perform wonders in your life. When others behold that, they would admit that God’s grace is abounding in your life. 

God said to Moses a devout man, “You have found grace in My sight and I know you by name” (Exodus 33: 17). You too can beseech the Lord to bestow you with the abundant grace which He gave to Moses and Noah. Then God will grant you the heart’s desire. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, confronted problems like us. But the angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “Rejoice, highly favoured one” (Luke 1:28). After the ascension of the Lord Jesus to heaven, His disciples gathered together in one place and received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that Mary was one among them. It is indeed a great privilege. Always remember for with God nothing is impossible. 

Pleasantness Like Oil

God pours the anointing of the Holy Spirit – ‘precious oil’, on us, sanctifies us and makes us a royal priesthood.


Dearly beloved in Christ! Once I had been to a sugar factory to see how sugar is being manufactured. Firstly, the sugarcane is crushed in a machine. Then the sugarcane juice is then mixed with a blue colour chemical. When these two are mixed, they become like water. Then it is frozen and thus sugar is manufactured. Similarly, God pours His Spirit - a special oil, on us to sanctify us. 


Dearly beloved in Christ! When brethren dwell together, God pours the precious oil upon them (Psalm 133:2). The precious oil was poured on the head of Aaron, which ran down on his face, beard and on the edge of his garments. Why was this oil poured upon Aaron? Aaron was the chief priest chosen by God to intercede with Him for the sins of the Israelites. Before he would enter into the presence of God, he had to sanctify himself and put on the garments made particularly for him. Then he should take the anointing oil, pour it on his head and anoint himself (Exodus 29:4, 5, 7). That anointing oil was poured on him to consecrate him to do the priestly duties. 


Dearly beloved in Christ! Even today, like Aaron, God looks at us also as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and His own special people (1 Peter 2:9). He is our big Brother. Since He laid down His life for us, we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). Nobody who is born in this world is holy. But when we dwell together as brethren, God pours this precious oil on us, sanctifies us and makes us a royal priesthood. 

What Is In Your Thoughts?

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds), Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; - 2 Corinthians 10:3 -5.


Most of the time, our outward appearance doesn't give away the thoughts in our mind. Perhaps we look like we own the world, but the thoughts in our mind are to the contrary! We may have thoughts of depression or suicide. We may feel so unloved, we just want to crawl under a rug some place and forget we are living.  Life can be so hard, at times, and the enemy uses our thoughts to make it feel seem as though we will never get out from under our troubles.


Well, the enemy is a liar. We can obsess with our thoughts! The enemy is good at putting things in our minds that aren't true. We need to learn how to combat the devil, and destroy 'his testimony' in our lives! Yes, he has a testimony; every time we look at our faults and obsessions instead of looking to GOD for the help to get us out of our problems! That testimony shows to others. Oh, perhaps it's not the testimony we want to show in our lives, but it's there, nonetheless! But, GOD is able to replace that 'testimony' with a testimony of victory! Those thoughts can come under subjection to the Holy Spirit and be removed from our minds. Nothing is impossible with GOD!


We do walk in the flesh, but we don't have to walk 'after the flesh'. We need to get our minds in line with the Word of God and know that HE is able to give us the knowledge of the Word that will help us through every situation in our lives. When the thoughts of the enemy begin to penetrate your being, pick up the WORD! Concentrate on the Words of God - the TRUTH in the Word! God can bring down those thoughts of depression and suicide. He can remove all those worldly thoughts that keep you under bondage. He is able to do 'exceeding abundantly above' [Ephesians 3:20] anything we ask or preceive! The enemy will get you down, but God can bring you back up! Life may feel heavy, but GOD, the God of enough, can make life a joy! The enemy will attack your faith with lies, but God can build your faith through your obedience to Him.


Is your 'shoulder' heavy with the weight of the enemy and his lies? Why not take those lies to God, for His Word says that 'the cares of this world' [Mark 4:19] will choke the Word, and it will become unfruitful. Let God get you back on track through His Holy Word today, so that you might walk in victory and your thoughts be on Him.

Paid in Full

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9 (NIV). 


I have read how when the books of a certain Scottish doctor were examined after his death, it was found that a number of accounts were crossed through with a note: "Forgiven—too poor to pay." But the physician's wife later decided that these accounts must be paid in full and she proceeded to sue for money. When the case came to court, the judge asked but one question. Is this your husband's handwriting? When she replied that it was, he responded: "There is no court in the land that can obtain a debt once the word forgiven has been written."


One of the problems common to many—if not most—of us is that we find it very difficult to forgive someone whom we feel has hurt us deeply.


The good news is that when we confess our sins to God and ask for his
forgiveness, he forgives us totally and absolutely. He does this not because he ignores the just penalty for our sins, but because in his everlasting love for us he gave his Son, Jesus, to pay that penalty for us through his death on the cross. Because Jesus paid our penalty for us, God can now write across our debt, "Forgiven—too poor to pay." And he wipes out our debt forever!


If we have confessed our sins to God and asked for his forgiveness, we need to accept his forgiveness by faith—regardless of how we feel. However, if we still don't feel forgiven, we need to deal with the problem of false guilt and/or shame.In the meantime be sure to thank God regularly for his forgiveness regardless. And because God forgives all of our sins and wrongs, we need to forgive all who have wronged us. As we have said before, "Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

Foundations

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple inthe Lord." - Ephesians 2:19-21 (NIV).
I have read that the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy was built from 1173 to 1372. This 12-story, solid marble structure began to lean even before it wascompleted. Quite significantly, the word "pisa" means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why—after the first three stories were completed, the groundunderneath the tower began to sink. Also, its foundation is only 10 feet deep! Scientists are now working feverishly to keep this massive structure in place.They report that the tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch each year, and is now 17 feet out of plumb. Unless scientists and engineers can fix thefoundation, in time this tower will eventually collapse.
It goes without saying that no building is any stronger or surer than its foundation.
Compare the tower of Pisa with its ten-foot foundation, with the foundations of the great European cathedrals. Some of these foundations go down as far as fortyor fifty feet. In some instances, they form a mass of stone below the ground as great as that of the visible building above the ground. To build a great life islike building a great cathedral. You start with a sure foundation.
And there is no greater foundation to build our life on than Christ Jesus, the solid rock and cornerstone of God's kingdom, which brings to mind the old hymnwe used to sing as kids: "On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand." Pity we don't teach many ofthese old hymns to our kids today along with the new praise choruses.

The Supreme Sacrifice

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:7-8 (NKJV).


"Leslie Weatherhead, in his book, Key Next Door, told about a benevolent ruler named Goho who, centuries ago, lived on the island of Taiwan. One ritual he desperately wanted stopped was the ancient custom of offering humans for sacrifices. He wanted them to substitute an ox or a pig for their annual offering.


For many years he succeeded. However, after one extremely poor harvest the tribal leaders complained that the animal sacrifices weren't working and they needed a human sacrifice to appease the gods whom they believed to be angry at them.


Unfortunately, Goho failed to convince his tribe of the error of their way and finally gave in to them. He said. "Go into the forest tomorrow morning. There you will find a victim tied to a tree. He will be wearing a red robe of sacrifice and a red cloth over his face and head. Strike! For this is your next victim."


The following morning the men went to the forest and found the victim just as Goho said. In a crazed frenzy they rushed in and decapitated him. When they uncovered his head they realized what they had done. They had killed Goho, their leader!


According to the story, Taiwan has never again had a human sacrifice. Goho accomplished through his death what his teaching failed to do.   And on this day some 2000 years ago Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary accomplished what all of man's own efforts could never do. He died to pay the penalty for your sins and mine so we could be fully forgiven and given the gift of eternal life. If you have never accepted God's full and free pardon, you can do that right now by praying the following prayer:


                                  Almighty God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life.  Thank you for  hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, In Jesus Loving Name I Pray, Amen."

Christ's Promise to Come Again

Jesus said: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions [dwellings]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14:1-3 (NKJV).
Max Lucado tells how, in 1989, a terrible earthquake in Armenia killed 30,000  people. Among those uninjured were a man and his wife. Their son was in an elementary school that collapsed. The father rushed to the school. He had always told Armon that he would come for him if he was ever in trouble. He worked intensely removing debris trying to find Armon and after thirty-eight hours he heard his child's voice and with the help of other workers freed Armon and the other children.
Armon said, "I told them you would come because you had promised. I told them you would always be there for me. I knew you would return." Just as Armon's father promised his son he would always come for him, even more certain is Jesus' promise to his followers. His first coming to earth is an
indisputable fact of history. His second coming for his followers is just as certain as he promised that if he went back to heaven, he would come back to
earth again to take us to be with him forever. And as every prophecy in the Old Testament regarding Christ's first coming was fulfilled in minutest detail, we can be just as certain that every promise  concerning his second coming in the New Testament will also be fulfilled in minutest detail. The important thing is to be ready for him, as Jesus also said, "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus] will come at an hour when you do
not expect him." - Matthew 24:44 (NIV). 

Disappointment His Appointment

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28 (NIV).


The story of this one man had a profound impact on many of lives.


The year was 1920. The scene was the examining board for selecting missionaries.  Standing before the board was a young man named Oswald Smith. One dream dominated his heart. He wanted to be a missionary. Over and over again, he prayed, "Lord, I want to go as a missionary for you. Open a door of service for me." Now, at last, his prayer would be answered.


When the examination was over, the board turned Oswald Smith down. He did not meet their qualifications. He failed the test. Oswald Smith had set his direction, but now life gave him a detour. What would he do? As Oswald Smith prayed, God planted another idea in his heart. If he could not go as a missionary, he would build a church which could send out missionaries. That is
what he did. Oswald Smith pastored The People's Church in Toronto, Canada, which sent out more missionaries than any other church at that time. Oswald Smith brought God into the situation, and God transformed his detour into a main thoroughfare of service.


This story is of particular interest to many because in 1968 a special week of meetings for Oswald Smith. On a Wednesday night, Smith preached on the importance of the printed page. God used this man to deeply challenge about the power of the printed word. (Tracts & Printed Gospel Books)


God can use your disappointments, too, if you will surrender them to him with a simple prayer such as the following:


  "Almighty God, every sorrow, every trial, and every disappointment I surrender to you with my humble prayer, 'Not my will but yours be done.' Please take my sorrows and turn them into blessings and use them and my life to glorify you in whichever way you choose. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, In Jesus Loving Name I Pray, Amen."

Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and
forever." - Hebrews 13:8 (NIV).


I don't know if the following story is true or not. Either
way, it has in it a very valuable lesson. "One day, there
was a blind man sitting on the step of a building with a
hat by his feet and sign that read 'I am blind, please
help.'


"A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe.
He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat.
He dropped in a few more coins and, without asking for
permission, took the sign and rewrote it.


"That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and
noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins. He paused
awhile and the blind man asked him if he was the person who
had rewritten his sign and, if so, what did he write?


"The publicist responded: 'Nothing that wasn't true. I just
wrote the message a little differently.' He smiled and went
his way.


"The new sign read: 'Today is spring and I can't see it.'


"Sometimes we need to change our strategy. If we always do
what we've always done, we will always get what we've
always got."


Did you ever stop to think that the New Testament part of
the Bible is almost silent on methodology? I think the
reason is obvious. If it weren't, some of us would stick to
the same methods used in Paul and Peter's day religiously
and rigidly. While God never changes and while his Word
never changes, oftentimes our means of communicating it need
to change with the changing times.


Remember, "Nothing changes if nothing changes." In other
words, if what we are doing in our relationships, our family
life, and in our churches isn't working, we may very well
need to change ourselves and/or our strategies and methods.

Letting Go to Find

"Whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it." - Jesus in Matthew
(16:25). 




"True love is like quick-silver," said Ann Landers, "if you hold it in the palm of your hand, it will remain. If you try to grasp it, it will slip through your fingers." Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Whoever will save his life will lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it."


Some parents never let go of their children even when they are adults. Out of their own insecurity they cling to their offspring and smother them. In so doing they drive them away and the thing they need the most—love—they lose. As the saying goes, "If you love someone, let them go; if they come back to you, then they are truly yours. If they don't, they never were."


In other words, when we cling to life to live for ourselves or cling to someone else for our own sake out of our own need, we lose what we need the most—love. This is because we have mistaken need for love. Only as we let go of clinging are we free to love and live life to the full.


When we do this and truly love, we give love without strings attached. In so doing we receive more love to give.

Learning to Love

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments". - (Matthew 22:36-40, NIV).


Someone else has said with tongue-in-cheek, "Heaven help your neighbor if you hate yourself!" But they were right.


Every normal person wants and needs loving relationships, but if we hate ourselves we are not going to experience loving relationships.  We will unconsciously project our self-hatred onto others and set them up to reject us, for what we project is what we get back!


Actually, only to the degree that I have learned to love and accept myself in a healthy sense am I able to love and accept others in a healthy sense. What I hate and have rejected in myself, I will also hate and reject in others. My relationships will only ever be as healthy as I am.


Healthy self-love and acceptance isn't a prideful thing, but rather, it is learning to know and accept ourselves as we are—dark side and all. Only then are we free to change and keep growing to become healthier and more loving persons.


To grow in self-love we need to be fully known by at least one other loving and accepting person—a person who will not put me down, judge or criticize me, tell me what I should or shouldn't do, try to fix me, give me unsolicited advice, or preach at me, but accept me just
as I am. It is through their knowing, accepting and loving me as I am that, little by little, I learn 
to love and accept myself. This truth cannot be over-emphasized for I can only feel fully loved 
to the degree that I am fully known, accepted, and loved by at least one loving, trusted person.

Amazing Opportunity Lost

"Then [King] Agrippa said to Paul, 'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?' Paul replied, 'Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.'" - Acts 26:28-29 (NIV).


Governor Nash stepped out of his office and, for a moment, out of his role as Governor of Ohio. He tucked his large, black Bible under his arm and made his way down the hallway of the State Penitentiary, in Columbus, Ohio. As a Christian, his heart burned with desire to share Christ with a certain young man waiting on "death row." Guilty of first-degree murder of his girlfriend, the condemned one sat in his cell, just hours away from his appointment with the electric chair. Upon seeing the elderly man with a dark suit and Bible under his arm, he thought him to be a minister or the prison chaplain. His anger boiled over and he cursed as he sent the man away. A guard standing nearby could hardly believe his eyes. "You fool," he said, "don't you know who that was?"


"A preacher, I guess," was the reply. "No, that was the Governor, the only one who could set you free, and you sent him away." The young man died a few hours later, guilty not only of murder, but of sending away his only hope for freedom and life.


You and I may never have committed any major crime, but in God's sight we are all guilty sinners facing God's judgment which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell—whatever and wherever that may be. Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay the penalty for all your sins and mine, he is the only one who can give us the hope of a full and free pardon with God's gift of eternal life in heaven forever. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ's pardon, whatever you do don't turn him away today and in so doing fail to accept his offer of a full and free pardon.


In the words of William Shakespeare: "There is a tide in the affairs of men / Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune / Omitted, all the voyage of their life / Is bound in shallows and in miseries."

Perseverance Pays

"Let us not become weary in doing good: for in due
season we will reap, if we don't faint."
- (Galatians 6:9).


Had Thomas Edison not been a man of faith,
perseverance and determination, we may still be
working by gaslight or, at least, it may have been
many years before the first electric light was seen.


It has been reported that Edison failed over 6,000
times before perfecting the first electric light bulb.


On one occasion a young journalist challenged Edison
saying to him, "Mr. Edison, why do you keep trying
to make light by using electricity when you have
failed so many times? Don't you know that gas lights
are with us to stay?"


To this Edison replied, "Young man, don't you realize
that I have not failed but have successfully discovered
six thousand ways that won't work!"


Because Edison believed an electric light was possible,
he refused to give up. He tried countless types of
material in his search for a filament that would work.
He sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia,
Jamaica, Ceylon and Burma to search for fibers to test
in his laboratory—all to no avail.


On October 21, 1879, after thirteen months of repeated
failures, Edison finally succeeded in finding a filament
that would work. While experimenting, the thought came
to him, "Why not try a carbonized cotton fiber?"
After going through two spools of cotton, he eventually
perfected a strand only to break it while trying to
place it in a glass tube. He still persevered with this
idea for two more days and nights without sleep.
Finally he succeeded in placing a carbonized thread
into a vacuum-sealed bulb! Eureka! It worked.

A Powerful Prayer

"Oh that you would bless me wonderfully."
- 1 Chronicles 4:10.

One very effective prayer I was taught in my youth
was: "Dear God, today I commit and trust my life and
way to you as I do that of my family
(stating their names)." I have prayed that prayer
daily ever since.

To that prayer I have added another powerful prayer
based on a prayer from an almost unknown character,
Jabez, whose name, as far as I know, is mentioned in
only one chapter in the Bible.

He prayed to the God of Israel: 'Oh, that you would
bless me wonderfully. Please be with me in everything
I do. Greatly expand my borders and keep me from all
evil and disaster.'"

The result? "God granted him his request!"

I can't always see how God is leading and blessing me
especially at those times when I feel my prayers don't
go any higher than the ceiling. However, as I look back
over my life I can see how God has blessed me
wonderfully and greatly "expanded my borders" more than
I ever dreamed possible.

I encourage you also to commit and trust your life and
the lives of your loved ones to God and pray the prayer
Jabez prayed—every day. I've done this for many years
and plan to continue doing so every day for as long as
I live. Do this and God will grant you your request too.

Procrastination

"When I find it convenient, I will send for you."
- (Acts 24:25, NIV).

When the Apostle Paul was brought before Governor
Felix to be judged for his Christian faith, Paul
may have come close to persuading him to become a
Christian. On one occasion after listening to Paul's
case, Felix trembled and sent Paul away saying he
would speak to him at a more convenient time.

Today is the only day we ever have. Yesterday is gone
forever. Tomorrow never comes. Whatever it is we need
to do today we need to do today. Procrastination
surely is the thief of time. There are many reasons
why we put things off—apathy, fear, anxiety,
uncertainty, habit, indifference, passive resistance,
and/or just plain not-getting-around-to-doing-it.

Whatever the reason, there are some things that are
far too critical to put off until a more convenient
time—especially putting our life right with God.

Even though Felix spoke to Paul on a number of
occasions after saying he would speak to him at a
more convenient time, there is no indication that he
ever accepted the Christian faith.

If you need to put things right with God and/or accept
Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, why not
do that today? As the Bible says, "Behold, now is the
accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation."
- 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV).

Encouragement Energizes

"Therefore encourage one another and build each
other up, just as in fact you are doing."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV).

"A study was done by psychologist on energy levels
in children. He used an instrument he called the
'ergograph.' How he ever got some children to stand still long enough to connect them to the machine is a mystery. But he did, and his findings are fascinating.

"He found that when tired children are given a
word of praise or encouragement, the ergograph
shows an immediate upward surge of new energy.
When the children are criticized and discouraged,
the ergograph shows their physical energy take a
sudden nosedive."

I'm sure the same principle applies to teenagers
and adults of any age. When we are genuinely
thanked, praised, and encouraged, we definitely feel much better and energized. And when we are criticized or just feel bad, our energy level certainly falls and we are de-energized.

We all need to be encouraged daily ... so let's
decide that we will first of all be encouragers
ourselves especially to those we love the most,
to our friends, and also to strangers as opportunities arise.