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THE
ROCK
A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He
had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny red
plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft
sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.
The boy dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With a
little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox
busying his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very large.)
When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox however, he found that
he couldn't roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little Boy
shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some
progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little
boy struggled, pushed, and shoved; but his only reward was to have the rock
fall back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of
frustration.
All this time the boy's father watched from his living room window as the
drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the
boy and the sandbox. It was the boy's father.
Gently but firmly he said, ''Son, why didn't you use all the strength that
you had available?'' Defeated, the boy sobbed back, ''But I did, Daddy, I
did! I used all the strength that I had!''
''No, son,'' corrected the father kindly. ''You didn't use all the strength
you had. You didn't ask me.'' With that the father reached down, picked up
the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.
I thank God that He is always available when I call on Him for help or
guidance. I never get a busy signal or someone telling me that He is busy
and cannot assist me at this time. God is omniscient, omnipotent and
omnipresent. He knows everything, has all power and authority, and is
everywhere at the same time. There is no ''Rock'' that He can't handle or
get an answer to and He is always ready to help, but we must be willing to
call upon Him for it. Whatever problem there is in your life, God is and has
the answer. I encourage you to be quick to call and ask for His help. The
Lord will never leave you nor forsake you |
THORNS THAT
DON'T PRICKLE
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan,
to torment me" (2Corinthians 12:7, NIV).
"Around the turn of the century a young man named Clarence took his
girlfriend on a summer outing. They took a picnic lunch out to a picturesque
island in the middle of a small lake. She wore a long dress with about a
dozen petticoats. He was dressed in a suit with a high collar. Clarence
rowed them out to the island, dragged the boat into shore, and spread their
picnic supplies beneath a shade tree. So hypnotized was he by her beauty
that he hardly noticed the hot sun and perspiration on his brow. Softly she
whispered to him, 'Clarence, you forgot the ice cream.'
"Clarence pulled the boat back to the water and rowed to shore. He found a
grocery store nearby, bought the ice cream, and rowed back to the island.
She batted long eyelashes over deep blue eyes and purred, 'Clarence, you
forgot the chocolate syrup.'
"Clarence got back into the boat and returned to the store for syrup. As he
rowed back toward the island, suddenly he stopped. He sat there in the boat
the rest of the afternoon, fascinated by an idea. By the end of that
afternoon, Clarence Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. And by the
way, Clarence later married the girl who waited so long on the island."
As the old saying goes, when life presents you with a lemon, turn it into
lemonade! For the Apostle Paul his "thorn in the flesh" (whatever it was)
was used by God to keep him humble and effective in his work for the Lord.
For me personally, it was when I felt God put me on the shelf that I turned
to writing for something to do--I'm still writing some thirty-plus years
later. In every challenge, setback, failure, discouragement, there is an
opportunity. When you face a daunting challenge or a major setback in your
life, with strong desire, commitment to God's purpose for your life, and
seeking his direction, you too will discover what your opportunity is.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, when I'm faced with a challenge, setback, or
discouragement, please help me to discern what opportunity you have for me
in it, and then pursue it with all my heart. Thank you for hearing and
answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen." |
THE TRUE
PHYSICIAN (1 of 3)
by H. G. Bishop Moussa
When we were infants, our mothers carried us in joyful celebration and went
with us to Church to be baptized. The priest asked every mother to carry her
child on her left arm and to look to the west, which symbolizes the darkness
of Satan, and to repeat the following words: “ I renounce you Satan, and all
your impure works, all your evil soldiers, all your evil devils, all your
power, all your evil worship, all your evil misguiding and evil plans, all
your army, all your authority, and all your hypocrisy. I renounce you, I
renounce you, I renounce you.”
This was a declaration made by our mothers on our behalf that we reject
Satan, his ways and methods.
Then the priest asked each mother to transfer her child onto her right arm
and to face the east, the symbol of the sun of righteousness, and to repeat
the words: “I confess You, Christ my God and all your faithful laws, all you
loving ministry, and all your life-giving works. I believe in one God, God
the Father, who controls everything, and in His only Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord, and in the life-giving Holy Spirit, in His glorious resurrection, and
in the one and only Holy Evangelical and Apostolic Church. I believe, I
believe, I believe.”
This was a declaration of the acceptance of Christ as Savior and Redeemer!
This took place when we were infants and the Church appointed for each of us
a “godfather or godmother”, that is a person who would bring us up in the
faith, teaching us while we were children the bases of the Christian faith
and of the life of the Holy Church.
(To be continued) |
