He took our suffering on him and carried our diseases. Mat 8:17
Picture a battleground strewn with wounded bodies, and you see Bethesda. Imagine a nursing home overcrowded and understaffed, and you see the pool. Call to mind the orphans in Bangladesh or the abandoned in New Delhi, and you will see what people saw when they passed Bethesda. As they passed, what did they hear? An endless wave of groans. What did they witness? A field of faceless need. What did they do? Most walked past… But not Jesus… He is alone… The people need him—so he's there. Can you picture it? Jesus walking among the suffering… Little do they know that God is walking slowly, stepping carefully between the beggars and the blind. He Still Moves Stones (Max Lucado) "...and make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NLT)
A General and his chief aide, a handsome young Lieutenant, were travelling across the US on a civilian train. Sharing their compartment was a lovely young lady and her elderly grandmother. At one point during the trip the train entered a long dark tunnel. Everyone was silent as the train sped through the darkness. Then two distinct sounds were heard The first was a long romantic kiss, and the second was a loud resounding slap. When the train exited the tunnel into daylight, the four passengers each had a different idea about what had just occurred. The young lady thought, "How nice of that handsome young Lieutenant to kiss me, but why would my grandmother slap him?” The grandmother thought, "How dare that young man kiss my granddaughter; but how proud I am that she slapped him!” The General thought, "That was a bold move the young Lieutenant made in kissing that lovely young lady, but why did she slap me?” The Lieutenant thought, "My, oh, my! What a day! First, I kissed a lovely young lady, then I slapped my General — and I got away with doing both!” Now that is "making the most of every opportunity!" The path that leads to happiness is so narrow that two cannot walk on it unless they become one.
Enjoy life, no matter how hard it may seem! When life gives you a thousand reasons to cry,show the world that.... You have million reasons to SMILE. "Opinions are like hand watches.Everyone's watch shows different time from others.But, Everyone believes that their time is correct." Whatever Happens just Relax and Manage to make a Smile, LIFE is not a Problem to be solved but a Gift to be enjoyed. Make Everyday Your Best Day...!! 1) Smile at people. It takes 72 muscles to frown; 14 to smile.
2) Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting 3) Call people by name. The sweetest music is the sound of his own name. 4) Be friendly & helpful. 5) Be cordial. Speak & act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure. 6) Be genuinely interested in people. You can like everybody if you try. 7) Be generous with praise--cautious with criticism. 8) Be considerate of the feelings of others. It will be appreciated. 9) Be thoughtful of the opinions of others. There are three sides to a controversy--yours, the other fellow's, & the right one. 10) Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others. A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall. They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters... That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing you blessed... It's dangerous to be like somebody else... If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right? You never know what people have gone through to get what they have... The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story... If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too! We've all got some haters among us! Some people envy you because you can: a) Have a relationship with God b) Light up a room when you walk in c) Start your own business d) Tell a man / woman to hit the curb (if he / she isn't about the right thing) e) Raise your children without both parents being in the home Haters can't stand to see you happy. Haters will never want to see you succeed. Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be on our side. How do you handle your undercover haters? You can handle these haters by: 1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are *(VERY IMPORTANT!!) 2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job.. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you. 3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation. Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live...when its your time to leave this earth, you 'want' to be able to say, 'I've lived my life and fulfilled 'my' dreams,... Now I'm ready to go HOME! When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, 'Don't look at me....Look at Who is in charge of me...' Pass this to all of your family & friends who you know are not hating on you including the person who sent it to you. If you don't get it back, maybe you called somebody out! Don't worry about it, it's not your problem, it's theirs.. Just pray for them, that their life can be as fulfilled as yours! Watch out for Haters...BUT most of all don't become a HATER! 'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.' Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle. The core of that lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves. Author: Rick Warren
Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships. Author: Rick Warren When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects. What we want around us is people - people we love and have relationships with. Author: Rick Warren Love is commitment; love is a relationship that never gives up. Author: Jerry Falwell Do we approach God from a beggar's perspective or as His cherished child? If we have any difficulty seeing Him as our loving Father, we need to ask Him to help us develop a healthy Father/child relationship. Author: David Jeremiah Loving the world destroys our relationship with God, it denies our faith in God, and it discounts our future with God. Author: David Jeremiah First John 3:16 shows that true love is climaxed by our being willing to lay down our lives for fellow believers. Author: Theodore Epp If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in. Author: Frederick Buechner If you forget me, one of the ways I remember who I am will be gone. If you forget me, part of who I am will be gone. Author: Frederick Buechner Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality--not as we expect it to be but as it is--is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love. Author: Frederick Buechner 1. Entoesiasme: [Kol 3:23 En wat julle ook al doen, doen dit van harte soos vir die Here en nie vir mense]
2. Bly ontwikkel Ontwikkel jou talente en vermoens aanmekaar: [Prediker 10:10 As die yster stomp geword het, en mens die snykant nie geslyp het nie, moet hy die kragte meer inspan, maar wysheid is voordelig om iets te laat beantwoord] 3. Wees betroubaar – integriteit is nie onderhandelbaar nie: [Spr 20:6 Baie mense roem hulle eie welwillenheid, maar wie vind n betroubare man] 4. Positiewe ingesteldheid; [Fil 2:14-15 Doen alles sonder murmurering en teespraak, sodat julle onberispelik en opreg kan wees, kinders van God sonder gebrek te midde van n krom en verdraaide geslag onder wie julle skyn soos ligte in die wereld. Mat 5:41 En elkeen wat van jou een myl afdwing, loop met hom twee myl saam] 5. Gee altyd jou beste: Php 3:8 Ja waarlik, ek ag ook alles skade om die uitnemendheid van die kennis van Christus Jesus, my Here, ter wille van wie ek alles prysgegee het en as drek beskou, om Christus as wins te verkry 6. Bemeeter jou emosies: Leef doelgerig met passie maar beheer jou emosies [ Spr 25:28 n Afgebreeke stad sonder muur, so is n man wat sy gees nie kan inhou nie] 7. Dink voor jy praat: [Spr 13:3 Wie sy mond bewaak, bewaar sy lewe, wie sy lippe wyd oopmaak, vir hom is daar ondergang] 8. Hou reaksies in toom: as jy tena gekom word, ignorer dit. 2Pe 1:3 Immers, sy goddelike krag het ons alles geskenk wat tot die lewe en godsvrug dien, deur die kennis van Hom wat ons geroep het deur sy heerlikheid en deug, 9. Hou by jou roeping. 1Cor 7:20 Laat elkeen in die roeping bly waarin hy geroep is 10. Kry jou krag by God. Php 4:13 Ek is tot alles in staat deur Christus wat my krag gee. When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, When 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and start to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded With an unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- The small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you. So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children.. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. 'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.' One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked'. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.' It's important to have roots.
In today's complex world, it pays to branch out. If you really believe in something, don't be afraid to go out on a limb. Be flexible so you don't break when a harsh wind blows. Sometimes you have to shed your old bark in order to grow. Grow where you're planted. It's perfectly okay to be a late bloomer. Avoid people who would like to cut you down. Get all spruced up when you have a hot date. If the party gets boring, just leaf. You can't hide your true colours as you approach the autumn of your life. It's more important to be honest than poplar. Those are some good lessons. They remind me of some other lessons taught in Psalm 1: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." (Psalm 1:1-3) The Psalmist says that a godly man is like a tree in three very important ways. First, he is planted - he's got his roots put down deep, he's fortified, stable. Second, he bears fruit - he develops godlike qualities in his character and life. Third, he doesn't wither - he is able to survive under all circumstances, even days of difficulty. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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