Insightful analogy

I  found the following insightful analogy on the Facebook site of Helen Zille, our Premier of the Western Cape. One of her fans had posted this comment. I thought it was quite clever, so I'm borrowing it to post on my blog:
 

"I  bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed.  What a beauty of a bird feeder it was, as I filled it lovingly with seed.  Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous  flow of free and easily accessible food.
 

But  then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above  the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table . everywhere!

Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.
 

After  a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down  the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their  mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the  patio.
 

Soon,  the back yard was like it used to be .. quiet, serene.. and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.
 

Now  let's see.
 

Our  government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care and  free education, and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.
 

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child's second grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English. Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to 'press one' to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than our flag are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.
 

Just  my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird  feeder.

If  you agree, pass it on; if not, continue cleaning up the poop."

Break those boundaries

At some point, you have to make a decision.

Boundaries don’t keep other people out,

They fence you in.

Life is messy, that’s how we’re made.

So you can waste your life drawing lines

Or you can live your life crossing them.

But there are some lines that are way

Too dangerous to cross.

Here’s what I know.

If you’re willing to throw caution

To the wind and take a chance,

The view from the other side is ...

 SPECTACULAR !
 

And so I held on....

I held on to the thoughts of you and me together before,
caressing and comforting each other.
I held on to the "we" that would overcome all things for that
was the promise we made to each other.
I held on to the couple whom in everyone's eyes looked so
cute together but deep down inside we were dying.
I held on so tight that I was afraid my fingers were going numb.
Maybe I needed it to go numb along with my heart which is now so
cold that any change in you will not be felt
Change? Did I say change? I held on to the hope that you will change
eventually and we will go back to who we used to be.

Not the cute couple dying inside,

but the cute couple loving each other to no bounds.
But we did we have bounds.

We had boundaries sacred to us;

you crossed that boundary and my heart went cold.

So cold that I forgot what it felt like to be benevolent or admired or loved.
Loved? Did I say loved? Yes loved.

I deserve to be loved and I do realize it now.

I have a life time of love ahead of me so why hold on to the past.
I will not hold on to what is not mine,
because what's mine will not let my heart go cold.

 

Self Worth

In a brief conversation, a man asked a woman he was pursuing the question:

'What kind of man are you looking for?'

She sat quietly for a moment before looking him in the eye & asking,
'Do you really want to know?'
Reluctantly, he said, 'Yes.

She began to expound,’ As a woman in this day & age,
I am in a position to ask a man what you can do for me that I can't do for myself.
I pay my own bills.
I take care of my household without the help of any man...
or woman for that matter.

I am in the position to ask, 'What can you bring to the table?'
The man looked at her. Clearly he thought that she was referring to money.

She quickly corrected his thought & stated, ' I am not referring to money.
I need something more.
I need a man who is striving for excellence in every aspect of life.
He sat back in his chair, folded his arms, & asked her to explain.

She said, 'I need someone who is striving for excellence mentally because I need conversation & mental stimulation. I don't need a simple-minded man.

I need someone who is striving for excellence spiritually because I don't need to be unequally yoked...believers mixed with unbelievers is a recipe for disaster.
I need a man who is striving for excellence financially because I don't need a financial burden.
I need someone who is sensitive enough to understand what I go through as a woman, but strong enough to keep me grounded.

I need someone who has integrity in dealing with relationships. Lies and game-playing are not my idea of a strong man.

I need a man who is family-oriented. One who can be the leader, priest and provider to the lives entrusted to him by God.

I need someone whom I can respect... In order to be submissive, I must respect him.

I cannot be submissive to a man who isn't taking care of his business.
I have no problem being submissive...he just has to be worthy. And by the way, I am not looking for him...He will find me.
He will recognize himself in me.
He may not be able to explain the connection, but he will always be drawn to me.
God made woman to be a help-mate for man. I can't help a man if he can't help him self.
When she finished her spill, she looked at him.

He sat there with a puzzled look on his face. He said, 'You are asking a lot.

She replied, "I'm worth a lot ".

Life is too short

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Love the people who treat you right.

Forget about the ones who don’t.

Believe everything happens for a reason.

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.

If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy.

They just promised it would be worth it.

Friends are like balloons.

Once you let them go, you can’t get them back.

So I’m gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you.

Send these balloons to your friends.

You must also return it to me.

If four balloons are returned to you, something you have been waiting for a long time will happen!!!! Believe me…. It really happens

You Can Be What You Want To Be

There is inside you all of the potential
to be whatever you want to be...
all of the energy to do whatever
you want to do.
Imagine yourself as you would like to be,
doing what you want to do,
and each day, take one step towards
your dream.
And though at times it may seem too
difficult to continue,
hold on to your dream.
One morning you will awake to find
that you are the person you dreamed of...
doing what you wanted to do...
simply because you had the courage
to believe in your potential
and to hold on to your dream.
 

~Donna Levine~

Psalm 133:7

"He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump." Psalm 133:7

All these things the Lord does through angels and these angels that I am talking about are not the one we expect as we read from the bible the account of angels with wings and some with three heads.

These angels that God uses for this task of lifting the poor and the needy are earthly human being.

Unlike many of us these angels are not just regular human beings, only one thing make them extraordinary and that thing is their willingness to partner with God in delivery a miracle to a soul in need.


Our God is a miracle working God and He is always looking for willing soul in which to deliver a miracle to someone through. At the end of every miracle there is a delivery agent!

if you have ever experienced a miracle before, take time to track back through the steps of what happened and you will find that there was a delivery man or woman involved in the manifestation of your miracle experience.

Someone opened His\Her heart and said to the Lord "use me today to become an answer to someone's prayer out there" and seeing their willingness to serve God answered that particular prayer you have been asking for so long.

It was because someone chooses to halt their needs and desire yours where meet.

For the Israelites to receive a miracle of being freed from 400 years of slavery God used Moses for a job that God Himself would have completed in one day all because Moses Had a willing and faithful heart.

For Saul to defeat the Philistines God used a small shepherd boy David who had a heart of a lion and said to God "Send me to do your will", God uses ordinary people to become extraordinary if only they are willing to let Him use them!

Today a Child on the street has been cry out to God for help and God has been searching all over to and fro looking for souls that are will to partner with Him in a miracle delivery.

It time we stop living selfishly and start to serve others, for Jesus came and served us by giving up His life so we can live and have life of abundance.

Sometimes our need should have to wait for others need to be fulfilled.
It is time to open up our hearts in selfless sacrifice and just allow God to us powerfully in becoming someone's unexplainable miracle.

God wants to "lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump." Psalm 133:7 and He is looking to those who are blessed and have "Freely received" to start to "Freely give".

Let us make it our priority to make someone else's day that small kindness your planning to show someone can help them forget all the 10 years of suffering they have gone through, just one day of smiling back at someone [be a stranger or family or friend] can restore hope in that person’s heart.

Even a smile expressed out of love can be a miracle to some of the people out there who are feeling reject and unwanted. Become someone's miracle today!

God is not finished with you yet

“The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood up” Mark 9:26b-27

In what type of a situation do you find yourself in today? Do you maybe find yourself in a situation where those around you are telling you that all is finished with you? Are the people around you already judging you dead concerning whatever mess you find yourself in?

Have you been ridiculed and dragged down by people’s words that you will never amount to anything in life? Do not be dismayed my friend, you do not have to get people’s approval to start believing in yourself.

You may appear to be dead right now from the outside, that people can see, but they are missing the only place that counts; your inside, you are more alive on the inside than you or anyone could imagine.

When God breathed Life into you He didn’t breathe a Spirit of failure. The one who breathed life into you is omnipotent, He is extraordinary and from Him only the extraordinary are produced.

When God created you He gave you a command that would shape your whole existence. He said “Fill the earth and govern it” Genesis 1:28b. He didn’t command this the other way round. In you God created someone who would govern, that means He gave you the potential to be great.

You need to start seeing yourself through God’s eyes and not through human eyes. The reason that today you feel so worthless is because you might be “seeing merely from a human point of view,[and] not from God’s [view]” Mark 8:33b.

Yes seeing yourself survive that situation you are in and becoming what you are meant to be “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” [Mark 10:27]

Today you might be in a wall of murmur from those around you or even you helping the murmuring along, but you do not have to go on like that! Reach out your hand and let Jesus take you by the hand and help you on your feet so that you can stand up to life again.

God said “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart" [Jeremiah 1:5] “For I know the plans I have for you…they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” [Jeremiah 29:11]

Your whole life it’s a plan from God and nothing that He plans can leave the earth without fulfilling that which He has set it apart to complete.

No matter how dead people say you are, you are alive more than you or they can imagine you were “Set apart” by God for a purpose and “He will never leave you nor forsake you” until you have achieved that which you were “Set apart” to achieve; which is only greatness; from God only extraordinary things are produced!

Going Through

We will all go through situations in life. Many times, we think the phrase: "I'm going through something" is bad news, but if we view it properly, we realize GOING THROUGH is good: It means we are not stuck!! We may be facing difficulties, but at least we are moving forward.

Remember Isaiah 43:2: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers,they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, not will the flame kindle upon you."

God's word is Clear: We will go through things. We will face adversities in our lives. That is not bad news. To me it is good news. We grow stronger in our faith. Smile, face your fears and enjoy your challenges.



A message from a really good friend. Thanks Ria!

The Shield of Faith

Text: Ephesians 6:16.

Introduction:

We are well acquainted with the Christian's armor as given in Ephesians 6. For successful warfare we must put on the whole armor of God, because". . we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

I want to call your attention to one piece of the armor carried by the Christian-the shield of faith. The shield that Paul had in mind here is not the small, round buckler, but the oblong, door-like shield, measuring 4' x 2 ', curved to the shape of the body and carried by the Greek and Roman soldiers. When joined together, these large shields formed a wall behind which a body of troops could hide themselves from the rain of the enemy's missiles.

These military shields were made of wood, covered on the out- side with thick leather, which not only deadened the shock of the missile, but protected the frame of the shield from the fire-tipped darts used in the artillery of the ancients.

So, faith is the shield of the Christian soldier, defending him from the fierce attacks of the foe from within and without. The shield of faith is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. This shield cannot be pierced or destroyed by the fiercest fires of hatred or malice. The arrows of the evil one, though flaming with cruelty, are stopped by the shield and extinguished.

By the help of the Lord, I want to strengthen your faith. I want you to go from this building feeling stronger in faith than when you entered.

There are so many things which work to destroy our faith in God. The skepticism and the doubts voiced by an unbelieving world are often used by Satan to shake the faith of the best of God's people.
Again, the unfaithful lives of Christians are often used by the Devil to wreck faith. Therefore, we need to know some very simple but fundamental things about faith and what it can do for us.

I. WHAT IS FAITH?

Simply defined, faith is belief and trust. It is believing God and trusting God. Both elements must be present to make faith.

It was a good answer that was once given by a poor woman to a minister who asked her, "What is faith?" She replied, "I'm ignorant, and I cannot answer well, but I think it is taking God at His Word."
Faith is the foundation of all Christian graces. Dr. Arthur Pink says, "The beginning of faith is faith in the beginning." The Word tells us, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

There is no true faith that does not begin at recognition of God as Creator. We must believe that before we can believe anything else.

After the acceptance of God, we must accept the way for coming to God. This is the blood-sprinkled way. No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ. This must be accepted by faith.

After salvation, it is necessary that we walk and work by faith. Someone may be asking even now, "How can I get faith, and how can my faith be increased?" This answer is given us in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The beginning, progress and strength of faith are by hearing. God gives faith, but it is by the Word as the instrument.

If we are to have faith, we must hear and believe His Word. It is not hearing the enticing words of man's wisdom, but the Word of God which will increase faith. And how must we hear it? We must hear it as the Word of God. Believe the Word, read the Word, hear the Word is the way for faith to increase. Read His precious promises and rest upon them. There is no other way to get faith but this way.

II. WHAT FAITH DOES NOT DO

There are disappointed and disillusioned Christians all about us because they misinterpreted the working of faith.

As an example, I heard a man say not too long ago, "Since I became a Christian, it seems that everything has gone wrong. We have had sickness and suffering. I have lost my job. We have had much trouble, but through it all God has been good and has helped us."

Notice some things that faith does not do:

A. Does not shield from physical suffering. 2 Cor.11:24-27.

B. Does not shield from loss of earthly possessions. I firmly believe that God does bless those who believe in Him and are honest with Him. I have seen this proven many times. But we do not put our faith in Christ and serve Him simply so that we can prosper in a material way.

Some Christians seem to think that because they believe in God and Christ that they must prosper greatly; and if they lose their earthly possessions, they become rebellious and feel that God has failed. We can find the records of many great Christians who were stripped of every possession; for in it all, God had a definite purpose.

C. Does not guarantee ease. Turn to Hebrews 11, that great chapter of faith, and you will see that those whose names grace God's honor roll suffered much.

Moses, chosen of God, turned from the ease and luxury of Egypt, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."
See--Heb. 11:36-38. How did they do this? Through faith in God.

D. Does not shield from grief. We will have grief in life, for death is all about us. Our loved ones will be separated from us. God does not promise anything else, for saints and sinners come to die. He does not say that we can simply have faith and live on in this life. Or that we can have faith and sustain the lives of others.

These are some things that faith does not do. Now, may we turn to the positive side of the matter.

III. WHAT FAITH DOES

A. Faith saves. (Eph. 2:8,9)
Salvation is not by works; it is not by doing, but it is by believing. God has put salvation in such a place that it can be reached by all men.

B. Faith justifies (Rom. 5:1)
When we are justified, we are made right in the sight of God.

C. Faith stabilizes.
In the same passage, Ephesians 6, the apostle speaks again and again of standing, being steadfast in our warfare. It is faith that makes us steadfast when the battle is raging hot. It is faith that gives us the courage to stand when the flesh desires to run.

Compare I Corinthians 16:13; Psalm 125:1 The shield will be sufficient to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one.

D. Faith strengthens. (Phil. 4:13). When we have faith in God, no task is too hard. God has the power for our lives, if we will tie on to Him. In ourselves we can do nothing; through Him we can do all things.

E. Faith sings. When I mentioned a moment ago the many hardships that Christians can expect in this life, I did not exaggerate one bit. That is the common portion of man. But I want to emphasize this: though we have physical suffering, loss of possessions, hardships and grief, we can have a song in our hearts in the midst of the darkest night. It was faith that made Paul sing at the midnight hour. They were not singing because they feared the darkness or the hand of the Roman government. They sang because their hearts were full of faith and they knew that God was with them. Take this motto for your life: "Rejoice evermore." Rest on the promises. Rejoice in the Lord.

6. Faith sends us out. It is faith that makes us messengers and witnesses for Christ. What God has done for us, He can do for others. The same Christ who saved me can save any lost one who will come in repentance and faith to Him.

I have faith in the willingness of Christ to save anyone who will receive Him as Saviour. Whether that person be in the heart of Africa or in our own city, His promise is, ". . him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."

We can have faith in the power of Christ to save to the utter-most. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

In Hebrews 7:25, we read, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. "It is a joy to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and to know that He is able to save. I would not want to preach if there were a doubt in my mind regarding His power.

Therefore, it is my faith in the blessed Saviour which sends me into the field to preach and witness. "Above all, taking the shield of faith Friend without Christ, His promises are true. He will save you now, if you will only believe. Not a fiery dart of the wicked has ever pierced the shield of faith. No one has ever been lost who has stood behind that shield. It is yours today for the taking.


Sermon by Dr. Lee Roberson
Chancellor, TennesseeTemple University
Pastor Emeritus, Highland Park BaptistChurch
Chattanooga, TN