It passes through the darkness, filters through the clouds, mingles with starlight, and finds its way to my heart on the path of a sunbeam. (Heb. 1:1-3)
I have anguished over the cry of a hare choked in the noose of a snare, a sparrow tumbled from the nest of its mother, a child thrashing helplessly in a pond, and my son shedding his blood on a cross. (see John 19:17-20)
Know that I hear you, also (see Matt. 6:5-11). Be at peace. Be calm. (see Psalms 27:14)
I bring thee relief for your sorrow for I know its cause…and its cure. (Matt. 6:8)
You weep for all your childhood dreams that have vanished with the years.
You weep for all your self-esteem that has been corrupted by failure.
You weep for all your potential that has been bartered for [government social] security.
You weep for all your individuality that has been trampled by [atheistic democratic] mobs.
You weep for all your talent that has been wasted through misuse.
You look upon yourself with disgrace and you turn in terror from the image you see in the pool. Who is this mockery of humanity staring back at you with bloodless eyes of shame? (see Gen. 3:7)
Where is the grace of your manner, the beauty of your figure, the quickness of your movement, the clarity of your mind, the brilliance of your tongue? Who stole your goods? Is the thief’s identity known to you, as it is to me?
Once you placed your head in a pillow of grass in your father’s field and looked up at a cathedral of clouds and knew that all the gold of Babylon would be yours in time.
Once you read from many books and wrote on many tablets convinced beyond any doubt that all the wisdom of Solomon would be equaled and surpassed by you.
And the seasons would flow into years until lo, you would reign supreme in your own garden of Eden. (see book of Genesis)
Dost thou remember who implanted those plans and dreams and seeds of hope within you? (see Romans 5:5)
You cannot.
You have no memory of that moment when first you emerged from your mother’s womb and I placed my hand on your soft brow. And the secret I whispered in your small ear when I bestowed my blessings upon you?
Remember our secret? (see Matt. 11: 25-26, Isaiah 40:21)
You cannot. (Mark 8:14-21)
The passing years have destroyed your recollection, for they have filled your mind with fear and doubt (1 John 4:18) and anxiety (Matt. 6:25-34) and remorse and hate and there is no room for joyful memories where these beasts habitate (Mark 5:36).
Weep no more. I am with you (John 17:20-26)…and this moment is the dividing line of your life. All that has gone before is like unto no more than that time you slept within your mother’s womb. What is past is dead. Let the dead bury the dead. (see Matt. 8:22)
This day you return from the living dead (Romans 6:11).
This day, like unto Elijah with the widow’s son (see 1 Kings 14:17-24), I stretch myself upon thee three times and you live again.
This day, like unto Elisha with the Shunammite’s son (see 2 Kings 4:18-37), I put my mouth upon your mouth and my eyes upon your eyes and my hands upon your hands and your flesh is warm again.
This day, like unto Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus (see John 11:1-44), I command you to come forth and you will walk from your cave of doom to begin a new life.
This is your birthday. This is your new date of birth. Your first life, like unto a play of the theatre, was only a rehearsal. This time the curtain is up. This time the world watches and waits to applaud. This time you will not fail. (see Matt. 19:26)
Light your candles (see Matt. 5:14-16). Share your cake. Pour the wine (Eccl. 9:7). You have been reborn. (See John 3:3, John 11:25)
Like a butterfly from its chrysalis you will fly…fly as high as you wish, and neither the wasps nor dragonflies nor mantids of mankind shall obstruct your mission or your search for the true riches of life. (see Matt. 13:44-46; Psalms 119:162 "I rejoice in Your word as one who finds great treasure.")
Feel my hand upon thy head.
Attend to my wisdom. (see Prov. 4:7)
Let me share with you, again, the secret you heard at your birth and forgot.
You are my greatest miracle. (Psalm 139:13-14)
You are the greatest miracle in the world. (Psalm 139:13-14)
Those were the first words you ever heard. Then you cried. They all cry.
You did not believe me (Matt. 6:30) then…and nothing has happened in the intervening years to correct your disbelief. For how could you be a miracle when you consider yourself a failure at the most menial tasks? How can you be a miracle when you have little confidence in dealing with the most trivial of responsibilities? How can you be a miracle when you are shackled by debt and lie awake in torment over whence will come tomorrow’s bread? (see Prov. 6:1-5; Prov. 11:15, Prov. 17:18, Prov. 22:7, Deut. 15:7, Deut. 28:12, Deut. 23:19; Deut. 23:20)
Enough. The milk that is spilled is sour . Yet, how many prophets (see the story of Stephen, stoned and crucified upside down in Acts 7:54-60), how many wise men (Solomon, in the Book of Proverbs), how many poets (David in the book of Psalms), how many artists, how many composers, how many scientists (me), how many philosophers (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity) and messengers (Jesus Christ, crucified in Luke 23:33, the Apostles Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) have I sent with word of your divinity, your potential for godliness, and the secrets of achievement? How did you treat them? (they were all either murdered or publicly ridiculed!)
Still I love you and I am with you now (see John 3:16), through these words, to fulfill the prophet who announced that the Lord shall set his hand again, the second time, to recover the remnant of his people.
I have set my hand again.
This is the second time.
You are my remnant.
It is of no avail to ask, haven’t you known, haven’t you heard, hasn’t it been told to you from the beginning; haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
You have not known; you have not heard; you have not understood.
You have been told that you are a divinity in disguise, a god playing a fool. (Gen. 1:27-28)
You have been told that you are a special piece of work, noble in reason, infinite in faculties, express and admirable in form and moving, like an angel in action, like a god in apprehension.
You have been told that you are the salt of the earth. (see Matt. 5:13)
You were given the secret even of moving mountains, of performing the impossible. (see Matt. 17:14-21)
You believed no one. You burned your map to happiness (God's law, the Bible), you abandoned your claim to peace of mind (love for God and your fellow man in Matt. 22:36-40), you snuffed out the candles that had been placed along your destined path of glory (God's Holy Spirit, which is your guide and your conscience; see 1 John 1:5; Luke 11:13; Luke 12:12; Rom. 14:16-18, 1 Cor. 2:13), and then you stumbled, lost and frightened, in the darkness (John 3:18-21) of futility and self-pity (Rom. 14:23: "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith [in God]; for whatever is not from faith [or is from doubt] is sin."), until you fell into a hell of your own creation (your sin and doubt and disobedience to God's law and reviling of His love created it).
Then you cried and beat your breast and cursed the luck that had befallen you. You refused to accept the consequences of your own petty thoughts and lazy deeds and you searched for a scapegoat on which to blame your failure. How quickly you found one.
You blamed me! (or anyone but yourself, the REAL person responsible; see Gen. 3:9-13)
You cried that your handicaps, your mediocrity your lack of opportunity, your failures…were the will of God! (nonbelievers blame God, Rev. 16:21)
You were wrong!
Let us take inventory. Let us, first, call a roll of your handicaps. For how can I ask you to build a new life lest you have the tools?
Are you blind? Does the sun rise and fall without your witness?
No. You can see. . .and the hundred million receptors I have placed in your eyes enable you to enjoy the magic of a leaf, a snowflake, a pond, an eagle, a child, a cloud, a star, a rose, a rainbow…and the look of love. Count one blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are you deaf? Can a baby laugh or cry without your attention?
No. You can hear…and the twenty-four thousand fibers I have built in each of your ears vibrate to the wind in the trees, the tides on the rocks, the majesty of an opera, a robin’s plea, children at play…and the words I love you. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are you mute? Do your lips move and bring forth only spittle?
No. You can speak. . .as can no other of my creatures, and your words can calm the angry, uplift the despondent, goad the quitter, cheer the unhappy, warm the lonely, praise the worthy, encourage the defeated, teach the ignorant…and say I love you. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are you paralyzed? Does your helpless form despoil the land?
No. You can move. You are not a tree condemned to a small plot while the wind and world abuses you. You can stretch and run the dance and work, for within you I have designed five hundred muscles, two hundred bones, and seven miles of nerve fiber all synchronized by me to do your bidding. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22) Are you unloved and unloving? Does loneliness engulf you, night and day?
No. No more. For now you know love’s secret, that to receive love it must be given with no thought of its return. To love for fulfillment, satisfaction, or pride is no love. Love is a gift on which no return is demanded. Now you know that to love unselfishly is its own reward. And even should love not be returned it is not lost, for love not reciprocated will flow back to you and soften and purify your heart. Count another blessing. Count twice. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Is your heart stricken? Does it leak and strain to maintain your life?
No. Your heart is strong. Touch your chest and feel its rhythm, pulsating, hour after hour, day and night, thirty-six million beats each year, year after year, asleep or awake, pumping your blood through more than sixty thousand miles of veins, arteries, and tubing…pumping more than six hundred thousand gallons each year. Man has never created such a machine. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are you diseased of skin? Do people turn in horror when you approach?
No. Your skin is clear and a marvel of creation, needing only that you tend it with soap and oil and brush and care. In time all steels will tarnish and rust, but not your skin. Eventually the strongest of metals will wear, with use, but not that layer that I have constructed around you. Constantly it renews itself, old cells replaced by new, just as the old you is now replaced by the new. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are your lungs befouled? Does the breath of life struggle to enter your body?
No. Your portholes to life support you even in the vilest of environments of your own making, and they labor always to filter life-giving oxygen through six hundred million pockets of folded flesh while they rid your body of gaseous wastes. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Is your blood poisoned? Is it diluted with water and pus?
No. Within your five quarts of blood are twenty-two trillion blood cells and within each cell are millions of molecules and within each molecule is an atom oscillating at more than ten million times each second. Each second, two million of your blood cells die to be replaced by two million more in a resurrection that has continued since your first birth. As it has always been inside, so now it is on your outside. Count another blessing. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Are you feeble of mind? Can you no longer think for yourself?
No. Your brain is the most complex structure in the universe. I know. Within its three pounds are thirteen billion nerve cells, more than three times as many cells as there are people on your earth. To help you file away every perception, every sound, every taste, every smell, every action you have experienced since the day of your birth, I have implanted, within your cells, more than one thousand billion billion protein molecules. Every incident in your life is there waiting only your recall. And, to assist your brain in the control of your body I have dispersed, throughout your form, four million pain-sensitive structures, five hundred thousand touch detectors, and more than two hundred thousand temperature detectors. No nation’s gold is better protected than you. None of your ancient wonders are greater than you.
You are my finest creation. (see Gen. 1:15-25)
Within you is enough atomic energy to destroy any of the world’s great cities…and rebuild it.
Are you poor? Is there no gold or silver in your purse?
No. You are rich! (Psalms 107:41-43; Matt. 5:3) Together we have just counted your wealth. Study the list. Count them again. Tally your assets! (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Why have you betrayed yourself? Why have you cried that all the blessings of humanity were removed from you? Why did you deceive yourself that you were powerless to change your life? Are you without talent, senses, abilities, pleasures, instincts, sensations, and pride? Are you without hope? Why do you cringe in the shadows, a giant defeated, awaiting only sympathetic transport into the welcome void and dampness of hell?
You have so much. Your blessings overflow your cup (see Psalms 23:5-6)…and you have been unmindful of them, like a child spoiled in luxury, since I have bestowed them upon you with generosity and regularity.
Answer me.
Answer yourself.
What rich man, old and sick, feeble and helpless, would not exchange all the gold in his vault for the blessings you have treated so lightly?
Know then the first secret to happiness and success—that you possess, even now, every blessing necessary to achieve great glory (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22). They are your treasure, your tools with which to build, starting today, the foundation for a new and better life.
Therefore, I say unto you, count your blessings (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22) and know that you already are my greatest creation. This is the first law you must obey in order to perform the greatest miracle in the world, the return of your humanity from living death. (see Phil. 1:21)
And be grateful for your lessons learned in poverty (see Psalms 107:41-43; Rom. 5:1-8). For he is not poor who has little; only he that desires much (James 4:1-12)…and true security lies not in the things one has but in the things one can do without. (see 1 Tim. 6:6, contentment)
Where are the handicaps that produced your failure? They existed only in your mind.
Count your blessings.
And the second law is like unto the first. Proclaim your rarity (see Matt. 5:13-14).
You had condemned yourself to a potter’s field, and there you lay, unable to forgive your own failure, destroying yourself with self-hate, self-incrimination, and revulsion at your crimes against yourself and others.
Are you not perplexed?
Do you not wonder why I am able to forgive your failures, your transgressions, your pitiful demeanor…when you cannot forgive yourself?
I address you now, for three reasons. You need me. You are not one of a herd heading for destruction in a gray mass of mediocrity. And …you are a great rarity.
Consider a painting by Rembrandt or a bronze by Degas or a violin by Stradivarius or a play by Shakespeare. They have great value for two reasons: their creators were masters and they are few in number. Yet there are more than one of each of these.
On that reasoning you are the most valuable treasure on the face of the earth, for you know who created you and there is only one of you.
Never, in all the seventy billion humans who have walked this planet since the beginning of time has there been anyone exactly like you.
Never, until the end of time, will there be another such as you.
You have shown no knowledge or appreciation of your uniqueness.
Yet, you are the rarest thing in the world.
From your father, in his moment of supreme love, flowed countless seeds of love, more than four hundred million in number. All of them, as they swam within your mother, gave up the ghost and died. All except one! You.
You alone persevered within the loving warmth of your mother’s body, searching for your other half, a single cell from your mother so small that more than two million would be necessary to fill an acorn shell. Yet, despite impossible odds, in that vast ocean of darkness and disaster, you persevered, found that infinitesimal cell, joined with it, and began a new life. Your life.
You arrived, bringing with you, as does every child, the message that I was not yet discouraged of man. Two cells now united in a miracle. Two cells, each containing twenty-three chromosomes and within each chromosome hundreds of genes, which would govern every characteristic about you, from the color of your eyes to the charm of your manner, to the size of your brain.
With all the combinations at my command, beginning with the single sperm from your father’s four hundred million, through the hundreds of genes in each of the chromosomes of your mother and father, I could have created three hundred thousand billion humans, each different from the other.
But who did I bring forth?
You! One of a kind. Rarest of the rare. A priceless treasure, possessed of qualities in mind and speech and movement and appearance and actions as no other who has ever lived, lives, or shall live.
Why have you valued yourself in pennies when you are worth a king’s ransom?
Why did you listen to those who demeaned you…and far worse, why did you believe them?
Take counsel. No longer hide your rarity in the dark. Bring it forth. Show the world. Strive not to walk as your brother walks, nor talk as your leader talks, nor labor as do the mediocre. Never do as another. Never imitate. For how do you know that you may not imitate evil; and he who imitates evil always goes beyond the example set, while he who imitates what is good always falls short. Imitate no one. Be yourself. Show your rarity to the world and they will shower you with gold. This then is the second law.
Proclaim your rarity.
And now you have received two laws.
Count your blessings! Proclaim your rarity!
You have no handicaps. You are not mediocre.
You nod. You force a smile. You admit your self-deception.
What of your next complaint? Opportunity never seeks thee?
Take counsel and it shall come to pass, for now I give you the law of success in every venture. Many centuries ago this law was given to your forefathers from a mountain top (see Exodus 19 through Exodus 20). Some heeded the law and lo, their life was filled with the fruit of happiness, accomplishment, gold, and peace of mind. Most listened not, for they sought magic means, devious routes, or waited for the devil called luck to deliver to them the riches of life. They waited in vain…just as you waited, and then they wept, as you wept, blaming their lack of fortune on my will.
The law is simple. Young or old, pauper or king, white or black, male or female…all can use the secret to their advantage; for of all the rules and speeches and scriptures of success and how to attain it, only one method has never failed…whomsoever shall compel ye to go with him one mile…go with him two (see the Bible, Matt. 5:41, spoken by Jesus Himself).
This then is the third law…the secret that will produce riches and acclaim beyond your dreams. Go another mile (see the Bible, Matt. 5:41)!
The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected to you, no matter what your task may be. This is a habit followed by all successful people since the beginning of time. Therefore I saith the surest way to doom yourself to mediocrity is to perform only the work for which you are paid.
Think not ye are being cheated if you deliver more than the silver you receive. For there is a pendulum to all life and the sweat you deliver, if not rewarded today, will swing back tomorrow, tenfold. The mediocre never goes another mile, for why should he cheat himself, he thinks. But you are not mediocre. To go another mile is a privilege you must appropriate by your own initiative. You cannot, you must not avoid it. Neglect it, do only as little as the others, and the responsibility for your failure is yours alone.
You can no more render service without receiving just compensation than you can withhold the rendering of it without suffering the loss of reward. Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, these cannot be separated. The effect already blooms in the cause, and the end pre-exists in the means, and the fruit is always in the seed. (see Matt. 7:15-20)
Go another mile. (see the Bible, Matt. 5:41)
Concern yourself not, should you serve an ungrateful master (see Romans 12:14). Serve him more. (1 Peter 2:18-19)
And instead of him, let it be me who is in your debt, for then you will know that every minute, every stroke of extra service will be repaid. And worry not, should your reward not come soon (see Luke 12:22-34). For the longer payment is withheld, the better for you…and compound interest on compound interest is this law’s greatest benefit.
You cannot command success, you can only deserve it…and now you know the great secret necessary in order to merit its rare reward.
Go another mile!
Where is this field whence you cried there was no opportunity? Look! Look around thee. See, where only yesterday you wallowed on the refuse of self-pity, you now walk tall on a carpet of gold. Nothing has changed…except you, but you are everything.
You are my greatest miracle.
You are the greatest miracle in the world.
And now the laws of happiness and success are three.
Count your blessings (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)! Proclaim your rarity (see Matt. 5:13-14)! Go another mile (Matt. 5:41)!
Be patient with your progress. To count your blessings with gratitude, to proclaim your rarity with pride, to go an extra mile and then another, these acts are not accomplished in the blinking of an eye. Yet, that which you acquire with most difficulty you retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are more careful of it than those by whom it was inherited.
And fear not as you enter your new life. (Isaiah 41:10) Every noble acquisition is attended with its risks. He who fears to encounter the one must not expect to obtain the other. Now you know you are a miracle. And there is no fear in a miracle.
Be proud. You are not the momentary whim of a careless creator experimenting in the laboratory of life. You are not a slave of forces that you cannot comprehend. You are a free manifestation of no force but mine, of no love but mine. You were made with a purpose.
Feel my hand. Hear my words.
You need me…and I need you.
We have a world to rebuild…and if it requireth a miracle what is that to us? We are both miracles and now we have each other.
Never have I lost faith in you since that day when I first spun you from a giant wave and tossed you helplessly on the sands. As you measure time that was more than five hundred million years ago. There were many models, many shapes, many sizes, before I reached perfection in you more than thirty thousand years ago. I have made no further effort to improve on you in all these years.
For how could one improve on a miracle? You were a marvel to behold and I was pleased (see Gen. 1:31). I gave you this world and dominion over it (see Gen. 1:26-28). Then, to enable you to reach your full potential I placed my hand upon you, once more, and endowed you with powers unknown to any other creature in the universe, even unto this day.
I gave you the power to think.
I gave you the power to love (1 Cor. 13).
I gave you the power to will.
I gave you the power to laugh.
I gave you the power to imagine.
I gave you the power to create.
I gave you the power to plan.
I gave you the power to speak.
I gave you the power to pray (Mark 11:24).
My pride in you knew no bounds (so much so that God's son, Jesus Christ, will be our Bride! in Rev. 19:7-10, Rev. 21:9, Rev. 22:17, and Isaiah 54:4-8). You were my ultimate creation, my greatest miracle. A complete living being. One who can adjust to any climate, any hardship, any challenge. One who can manage his own destiny without any interference from me (free choice: God's gift to Adam and Eve, and they used it unwisely to disobey God in Gen. 3:9-13). One who can translate a sensation or perception, not by instinct, but by thought and deliberation into whatever action is best for himself and all humanity.
Thus we come to the fourth law of success and happiness…for I gave you one more power, a power so great that not even my angels possess it.
I gave you the power to choose. (see Gen. 2:16-17)
With this gift I place you even above my angels…for angels are not free to choose sin. I gave you complete control [sovereignty] over your destiny. I told you to determine, for yourself, your own nature in accordance with your own free will. Neither heavenly nor earthly in nature, you were free to fashion yourself in whatever form you preferred. You had the power to choose to degenerate into the lowest forms of life (Ezekial 28:1-19), but you also had the power, out of your soul’s judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine. (Matt. 6:33)
I [God] have never withdrawn your great power [sovereignty], the power to choose. [but you gave it away to your public servants because of your unbelief and lack of trust in Me!]
What have you done with this tremendous force? Look at yourself. Think of the choices you have made in your life and recall, now, those bitter moments when you would fall to your knees if only you had the opportunity to choose again.
What is past is past…and now you know the fourth great law of happiness and success…Use wisely, your power of choice.
Choose to love. . .rather than hate (1 Cor. 13).
Choose to laugh. . .rather than cry.
Choose to create. . .rather than destroy.
Choose to persevere. . .rather than quit.
Choose to praise. . .rather than gossip.
Choose to heal. . .rather than wound.
Choose to give. . .rather than steal.
Choose to act…rather than procrastinate.
Choose to grow. . .rather than rot.
Choose to pray. . .rather than curse.
Choose to live. . .rather than die.
Now you know that your misfortunes were not my will, for all power was vested in you, and the accumulation of deeds and thoughts which placed you on the refuse of humanity were your doing, not mine. My gifts of power were too large for your small nature. Now you have grown tall and wise and the fruits of the land will be yours.
You are more than a human being, you are a human becoming.
You are capable of great wonders. Your potential is unlimited. Who else, among my creatures, has mastered fire? Who else, among my creatures, has conquered gravity, has pierced the heavens, has conquered disease and pestilence and drought?
Never demean yourself again!
Never settle for the crumbs of life!
Never hide your talents, from this day hence! (Matt. 5:16)
Remember the child who says, “when I am a big boy.” But what is that? For the big boy says, “when I grow up.” And then grown up, he says, “when I am wed.” But to be wed, what is that, after all? The thought then changes to “when I retire.” And then, retirement comes, and he looks back over the landscape traversed; a cold wind sweeps over it and somehow he has missed it all and it is gone.
Enjoy this day, today…and tomorrow, tomorrow. (see Eccl. 5:18)
You have performed the greatest miracle in the world.
You have returned from a living death. (see Rom. 8:1-11)
You will feel self-pity no more and each new day will be a challenge and a joy. (see John 17:13)
You have been born again…but just as before, you can choose failure and despair or success and happiness. The choice is yours. The choice is exclusively yours. I can only watch, as before…in pride…or sorrow.
Remember, then, the four laws of happiness and success.
Count your blessings. (see Phil. 4:13, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
Proclaim your rarity. (see Matt. 5:13-14)
Go another mile. (Matt. 5:41)
Use wisely your power of choice. (Prov. 2:1-9)
And one more, to fulfill the other four. Do all things with love…love for yourself, love for all others, and love for me. (see Matt. 22:36-40)
Wipe away your tears. Reach out, grasp my hand, and stand straight.
There are certainly plenty of things to complain about lately and it seems there’s a never ending list of inconveniences piling up to discourage and depress even the most cheerful of people. My half full glass has become half empty and I find myself scrambling to ensure I find a way to keep it half full all the time. Yes, it’s becoming harder and harder to maintain my optimistic outlook on the future with the price of gas going up every day and the continued forecast of either no rain or torrential rains causing floods. Transportation has become a premium ticket. Airlines have cut back flights to conserve on fuel and fill their aircraft to capacity in an attempt to lower per passenger overhead costs. Freight shipping costs have gone through the roof while sales in all areas have dropped. Then reflecting on a statement I heard the other morning while drinking coffee, I’m sort of willing to accept the theory, it’s just another cycle of the world that we’re all going to have to endure knowing that everything will even out and we’ll move on. Just think; one day we’ll be the generation that remembers the good old days and our great-grand-children won’t believe a word, because they’ll be growing up in a totally different world than today.
I’ve researched the cycles of life and no matter what happens in the world during ones lifespan, man will experience four quarters of life. With tongue in cheek, here’s what my research has brought to light. God created the dog and said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this I will give you a lifespan of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years, and I’ll give you back ten.” God agreed. Then God created the monkey and said to it, “Entertain people, do tricks and make them laugh. For this I will give you a twenty-year lifespan.” The monkey protested, “Monkey tricks for twenty years!? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about ten years and I’ll give you back ten like the dog did.” God agreed. God created the cow and said to it, “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmers family. For this I will give you a lifespan of sixty years.” Calmly the cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty, and I’ll give back forty?” God agreed. God created man and said to him, “Eat, sleep, play, be merry and enjoy life. For this I’ll give you a twenty-year lifespan.” But man said, “Only twenty years!? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty cow gave back, the ten monkey declined and the ten dog didn’t want; that makes eighty, okay?” “Okay”, said God, “You asked for it.” So that’s why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves; the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our families; then for the next ten years we do monkey tricks entertaining our grandchildren and the final ten years we sit on the front porch barking at everyone.
[Mark 8: 34-37] One thing is for certain in this life, it will end one day. We came into this world with nothing and we’ll leave the same way. But, only a sinless spirit will enter into everlasting life, to be with God forever. The unprepared, lost spirit, will enter into everlasting torment, the second death. I keep my glass half full with the knowledge that God is still sitting on His throne, and everything is under His control. The four quarters of life pass quickly. Are you ready to leave this world and face your creator?
I've been sitting here tonight being grateful for my family and dear friend and the time we spent together on Mother's Day, then I clicked over the Front Porch and saw this sad post: Josephine at DixieCajun has lost her husband to a fatal truck accident. "He was a truck driver and tried to avoid hitting a pick-up truck then over-compensated the other way and hit him head-on, the truck then split in half and exploded." The family is in a state of shock and needs all of our prayers.
In the Nook...Usually I don't post on things that happen at our co-op but today was grand! Today was our annual Mom's Day dinner, yeah it's early but it's not just about Mother's Day, it's about being a homeschooling moma! We had a special visitor and her friend come to speak from the southwestern part of Kentucky! Our visitor was Nancy Carter and she brought her friend Candace King. It was so fun to get to meet someone who works for TOS and does speaking events at the conventions. Nancy did a speech on Grace in Homeschooling, some of you may have heard it if you've been to any of the conventions she's spoken at. She talks about how having grace in homeschooling isn't about being graceful like a ballerina, but having grace and following God's commandments for our lives. It seems that one way or another, if we're Christians and following God's plan for our lives, He will get through to us and we'll do things His way or we'll have a harder time not following His way. She spoke about all the training in her life, college, volunteer work and the like and how through all of it God was moulding her to be a parent and homeschooling mother to her sons. Isn't it amazing what God can do and how God works in our lives. Take a look at some of the BFS #18 participants and see what plans we had. How many of us can think back to how we wanted to do a particular thing in our lives and it didn't work out, so we changed our plans only to figure out that our plan wasn't part of the training that God wanted us to have. In every avenue of my life and every phase of my life, in particular, I can see the places where I was dragging my life in the mud and when I decided to just let whatever happened happen to me then God took over and things were smoother for me. How much simpler can God's plan be for us and how much harder do we have to keep making it for us to realize that it's all in His time, not ours. Let go and let God!
I got this in an email and thought it was interesting so I thought I'd post it on here.
THE BELL
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ(1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation (Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God(2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God(Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10)
I am confident the good works God has begun in me will be perfected.(Phil 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14). I have been adopted as
God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
who you are.
'The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn His face toward you
and give you peace.'
Okay, first let me tell you, I stole this from my friend Cindy's blog! It's too nice to pass up on. I hope you'll all enjoy it too.
Love - 1 Corinthians 13 Style
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights,
and shiny glass balls but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals,
and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.
I made a little change with my Friends List. It's on the left side and to open it just click on the word "Friends" and it pops out! Neat, huh! To close it click on it again! Thank you
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Seven Steps to Raising Godly Children
Principle - Impart God's word on your children and live in a way that you are their greatest example of what a Christ-abiding parent should be.
Pattern - Teach your children a pattern of prayer; when to pray, how to pray, and why prayer is important.
Persistence - Don't ever give up...teach your children to always have faith and not to give up when things get hard.
Participation - Our children crave our attention! The way our children see us is the way they'll see God in thier lives.
Praise - Encourage children, praise them when they do something right and help them when they have a hard time.
Prayer - Teach your children to pray and then to TRUST God for the outcome.
Priority - Make God the Head and Heart of your home and let them live with God's desire coming first in your lives.
