1 PETER 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
It does not matter how tightly knit our families are or how many close friends we have. When we go through a difficult time or trial, many a time, we still feel all alone and that no one really cares or understands. Martha knew that feeling. She had on one occasion cried out to Jesus, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” (Luke 10:40) Jesus’ disciples also knew what it was like to feel small, alone and in trouble. They cried out, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” when they were swept up in a terrifying storm. (Mark 4:38) Today, maybe the cry of your heart is also, “Lord, do You not care that I am left all alone…that I am going under…that I am perishing?” My friend, the Lord does care for you. He loves you so much that He wants you to cast all your cares upon Him—not just some but allyour cares. He wants both your big and small cares. There is nothing too small or big for Him. If it is a care in your heart, He wants you to cast it upon Him. When the apostle Peter wrote “casting all your care upon Him”, he was talking about the continuous act of casting all your cares upon the Lord. As a care comes, God wants you to cast it to Him. That is the lifestyle He wants you to adopt. Why? The verse gives us the reason—“for He cares for you”. You are casting all your cares upon the One who loves you, and who left all of heaven to come and die for you. That is who you are casting your cares to. It is not just any person, but it is the One who gave His life for you! When you are going through a difficult time, God wants you to believe that you are never alone because He Himself has said that He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) As the object of His care, He will take care of you for the rest of your life. You are never alone and always cared for! Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
Suppose you have just heard of someone whose financial debts have been miraculously cleared. Or your elated friend has just told you that despite being an average student in school, he scored straight As in all his subjects. Perhaps on Sunday, you heard a newlywed couple share about how they won an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Hawaii, or how a once-childless couple is now expecting their miracle child. When you see or hear of others being blessed, do you ever wonder when it will be your turn? Or do you even find yourself saying, “Oh, he got blessed with the very thing that I have been praying for. There goes my blessing.” Now, just because man’s economy operates on the principle of shortage, it does not mean that God operates in the same manner. So the next time somebody gets blessed, tell yourself, “I won’t be disheartened. I won’t be jealous. I am the next one to be blessed!” Always remember that God does not have to bless anyone at your expense. Nor does He have to bless you at anyone’s expense. We don’t have to be jealous of each other. There is a portion that God gives to you which no man can touch because it has your name on it—“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven”. (John 3:27) Our God is a rich God. He owns the whole universe. He has contacts and blessings you do not know of and which are reserved just for you! There is more than enough for everybody with plenty of leftovers. In fact, you will not be able to take it all because when the blessings start coming in, they will come in a net-breaking, boat-sinking style. You will have to call for your friends in the other boats to come and help you! (Luke 5:1–7) That is the kind of blessings that our God gives. So get ready for your blessings and overflowing abundance! A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He loved the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap in the shade... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by...
The little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come play with me," asked the tree. "I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them." "Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick my apples and sell them. Then you will have money." replied the tree. The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad... One day the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" asked the boy. "Sorry but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy, but the boy didn't come back. The tree was lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was so delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am so sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a very long long time. Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy, but I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you..." the tree said". "I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied. "No more trunk for you to climb on" said the tree. "I am too old for that now" the boy said." "I really can't give you anything... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears. "I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied "Good! Old Tree Roots is the best place to lean and rest on. Come, come sit down with me and rest" The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears... This is a story for everyone. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad. When we grew up, we left them, only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they can to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents. Today, no matter where they are, tell them how much you appreciate all they do for you. This is a difficult puzzle. The aim is to find in the text books of the bible very interesting and worth trying.
See if you can find 30 Books of the Bible in the paragraph below:- This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much; he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his johnboat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are easy to spot that’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get we are forced to admit it usually it takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genesis is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Philemonade booth set a new sales record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, the books are all right there in plain view hidden from sight. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also keep in mind that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus, there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in the paragraph, waiting to be found. * Make a Right onto Believeth Blvd.
* Keep straight and go through the Green Light, which is Jesus Christ. * There, you must turn onto the Bridge of Faith, which is over troubled water. * When you get off the bridge, make a Right turn and Keep Straight. You are on the King's Highway-Heaven-bound. * Keep going for three miles: One for the Father, One for the Son, and One for the Holy Spirit. * Then exit off onto Grace Blvd. * From there, make a Right turn on Gospel Lane. * Keep Straight and then make another Right on Prayer Road. * As you go on your way, Yield Not to the traffic on Temptation Ave. * Also, avoid SIN STREET because it is a DEAD END. * Pass up Envy Drive, and Hate Avenue. * Also, pass Hypocrisy Street, Gossiping Lane, and Backbiting Blvd. * However, you have to go down Long-suffering Lane, Persecution Blvd. and Trials and Tribulations Ave. * But that's all right, because VICTORY Street is straight ahead! AMEN! Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan." Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throwback the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small. We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan, yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith? Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way. You can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13.) Nothing is too big for God. REMEMBER: Stop telling God you've got big problems.Tell your problems you've got a BIG GOD! ~possibly by Wayne Rice~ 1. Let them do all the thinking
One of the keys to transforming performance is allowing your people to find their own answers. Let them think through their own issues rather than telling them what you think the solution is and what you think they need to do. 2. Focus on solutions Although problems can certainly be interesting to discuss, focusing on solutions is more useful. If you catch yourself focusing on a problem or the drama in a situation, or even getting bogged down in detail, refocus your attention on identifying and planning the way ahead. 3. Remember to stretch Quiet-type leaders and/or comfortable-making-people leaders, make others feel uncomfortable. Great leaders stretch people to make them feel positively challenged and generate growth, and in growth there is aliveness, engagement and passion. All of these are necessary for achieving great performance. 4. Accentuate the positive By continually providing positive feedback in as many forms as possible over time helps to validate, confirm, encourage, support and believe in people's potential. As people start to see themselves in a new light, reality starts to change as well. 5. Put process before content Be highly disciplined in all of your conversations and diligent in ensuring every conversation is as productive as possible. Get the process of any conversation right before getting into any of the content. Having a good process includes establishing clear expectations so you know at every moment exactly what you're talking about, and why, and where you're trying to get to. 6. Listen for potential If we're not measuring and monitoring how people are growing, we can easily fall into the trap of focusing on their problems. Listen for where people are heading rather than for what might not be working and see people for their potential. 7. Speak with intent Be succinct, specific and generous. Being succinct requires you to decide on the essence of what you want to say and say it in as few words as possible. This will keep people's attention and interest. It also allows people to create their own mental models that correlate to the ideas you are trying to share. Being specific means paying close attention to what others say so we can be accurate and detailed in our responses. Being succinct and specific together means including everything that's relevant in a dialogue, and nothing irrelevant. Being generous is a subtle thing - it's about being committed to the other person understanding your message. It means putting yourself in their shoes when you're speaking and taking care to use words they will connect with. Being generous is also a way of showing you care about the other person and it helps to build trust. This invites the other person to take the conversation to a deeper level and in so doing, opens up the possibility of change. 8. Dance toward insight This step involves asking people the type of question that will help them think more clearly and identify their own 'aha' moments or insights. To get this dance right, first ask permission before getting personal or taking a conversation to a deeper level, then make sure you're on the same page, and then ask your question. As you facilitate this dance, you'll see people's faces change as they move from the awareness of a dilemma, to reflecting, to having an illumination and then being ready to take action. 9. Create new thinking Quiet leaders do this by starting the conversation by identifying the current reality of the other persons thinking, exploring alternatives for action with them and then tapping into their energy and motivations. 10. Follow up To help people recognise and further embed any habits they're developing or to ensure that their new thinking becomes a reality, it's important to follow up with them. By doing this in a positive and supportive way, we give them the encouragement they need to turn their delicate new circuits they've created in their brains into full-blown hard wiring. Father God we thank You for who you are, We just want to Glorify Your Name, You are the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end of all things we want to honor you for our lives for the privelage to serve you.
We bring to you our sinful thoughts and deeds please forgive us our trespasses. Give us a thirst and hunger for your presence for Your anointing. Lord open our spiritual ears so that we can hear Your Voice open our spiritual eyes so that we can see your plan for our lives. We submit to Your will,Your Plan and Your Purpose in Jesus Name Amen "For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8
Nordstrom's, one of the most successful retail companies in the world, hosted the top executives from J.C. Penny's at a business luncheon held in the Nordstrom corporate offices. Penny's, a company once at the forefront of commercial success, but whose profit margin had now been in steady decline for years, was in desperate need of some sound business advice. During the lunch one of the execs from J.C. Penny asked his Nordstrom counterpart, "What is the secret of your company's success?" It was an awkward moment, to say the least; for it is not always prudent to share company secrets with your potential competitors. Nevertheless, after a slight pause and without saying a word, the Nordstrom executive got up from the table and walked out of the room. Moments later he returned with a large, old book and placed it on the table in front of his counterpart. "This is the secret of our success," he said. The Penney's executive was dumbfounded when he saw that the book before him was a 100-year-old copy of the Franchise Manual for J.C. Penny's! Nordstrom was simply doing well what Penny's had once done – but somewhere along the way had stopped doing. Nordstrom had found and followed the values and guidelines that Penny's had lost. When Joshua was divinely chosen to succeed Moses in leading the children of Israel into their Promised Land, God charged him with a single responsibility — "Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it." The charge was then followed by a powerful promise, which holds true even to this very day — "For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." That's the bottom line every man and woman seeks. There is an ancient, time-tested and time-proven manual for success in life. It is the Bible, and we can advance our lives in ways that are pleasing to God and prosperous to ourselves by following the teaching of this Book — just as others have done who have gone before us. |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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