Victorious Christian Living Newsletter
Welcome to the May 2009 Edition
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This issue includes:
3 of My Featured Teaching Articles
Quotes for Inspiration
A Bible Quiz Question
Just for Laughs
Interesting Bible Facts
A Powerful Story
Favorite Articles from My Blog
Links to My Other Sites
Video of the Month
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The Secret of Having a Great Day
If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘good morning’ at total strangers.
-Maya Angelou-
The one thing most of us don’t realize is if we start the day by being nice and loving to our own family, it will set the tone for a better day in every other aspect. You will naturally be nicer to others, and will build a stronger bond of love and respect with your own family in the process.
It seems that most of us take for granted our relationships with spouses, children, siblings, and parents. We feel it is OK to be ill toward them because they are supposed to love us regardless of how we treat them.
Don’t they already know we love them without us reminding them of it every day?
Isn’t it OK for us to be ill and aren’t they supposed to just understand and forget about it even if we never say we are sorry?
It is sad, but many of us think along these lines when it comes to our relationships with close family members. We never think about the hurt we have caused them by our actions.
Then we go into the presence of others, put on a smiley face and pretend to be a wonderful, compassionate, understanding person. Complete strangers think we are wonderful, while our own family has just seen us act badly towards them.
We should never treat a complete stranger better than we treat our own family.
What Can You Do To Change Things For The Better?
The first hour of your day can completely set the tone for the rest of it. I have found that it really does make a big difference what you do in that hour.
My morning routine is this:
Do my bible study first thing when I wake up.
Then walk on my treadmill for 15-20 minutes. I don’t like exercise, so I use this time to pray for my needs and the needs of others to make the time pass faster. Sometimes I even lose track and walk 30 minutes. WOW!
After that I am ready to jump in the shower, get dressed and head out the door for an awesome day.
Reading the Bible takes your mind off yourself, your problems, and family problems. Make it a point to concentrate on God and the truths He is telling you in His Word. This will give you strength and clarity to face the day head-on.
Exercise, even for 15 minutes, gets your blood flowing and wakes you up. You don’t have to be a fitness guru to gain from exercise – just walk, ride an exercise bike, or anything that wakes you up and rejuvenates you. After only 15 minutes, you will feel very awake, plus eventually achieve a firmer, more toned body. (Yes, a small amount of exercise can make a big difference if done daily.)
So now you have taken care of your spiritual health and your physical health. After doing these two things, you will be in a much better position to deal with any problems that might arise.
When you put God first, He helps you in a supernatural way to get everything accomplished in record time. Even getting out the door to work or school can be accomplished with much less stress.
He wants to take care of your every need and problem.
Try putting Him first for six weeks. Then compare your life now with the way you used to start your day and see which one is better.
By Cathy Deaton
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How to Accomplish Ordinary Things in a Great Way
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
-Helen Keller- Blind/Deaf Author and Lecturer
Deep down we all dream of accomplishing something that will set us apart and catapult us into the “great and noble” category. Many people spend years of their life looking for that one thing that will make others give them the respect they feel they deserve.
Generally we fail to realize that even though you may hear of one huge thing propelling another to greatness, there have been many years of him doing ordinary things in a great way.
Many people go through life in the coast position, just doing enough to get by. They never think about giving their best, but give only as much effort as what they feel is required for the salary they are paid.
God expects each of His Children to find out what He desires them to do. Everybody isn’t called to be a pastor, missionary, or evangelist. God puts many people into secular positions so they can shine their light and be a witness to others. After all, it takes all kinds of different jobs to make the world function smoothly.
Maybe you did not ask God what He wanted you to do with your life when you were a teenager or younger adult; you just went into a vocation that you liked. Now you are older, and are not sure if God called you there or if it was just something you wanted yourself. Now you feel it is too late to change careers.
The good news is that God is so awesome, loving, caring and compassionate that He wants to start working in your life exactly where you are at the moment. Even if you chose a vocation that is not what He would have chosen for you, He won’t wait to use you until you retire and get into His chosen field.
All you have to do is start today and ask God to use you exactly where you are at your workplace or vocation. The world is full of people who are hurting and need to be in touch with someone who can show them truth and answers for their multitude of problems.
This can give you a renewed energy as you go about your duties each day. The One True, Holy, Magnificent God wants to use you to carry out His Work.
Don’t just coast through your duties and try to do the least amount of work you can. If you are a Christian, you are a representative of God wherever you are. Other people are always watching to see how you handle things that happen in your life.
No matter what we think, the greatest of people do small things each day just like the rest of us – they just do those small things with everything in them. They give it all they have, and do that particular thing above and beyond what is required of them. Then they make it a habit to do this each day until it is automatic.
Today when you are faced with everyday, ordinary and mundane things, make the conscious decision to make every moment count for God by doing those ordinary things in a great way!
By Cathy Deaton
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
God’s Best – Have You Ever Received It?
If you are a Christian, God has a specific and definite plan for your life. He works in a way that is different from what you may have been taught about the way He does things, and you must choose to carry out His plans rather than pursue your own. The choice is always up to you; He won’t force you to obey Him.
The only way you can really put your life in God’s hands is to find out about His Character by reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, truly seeking to Know Him, and surrounding yourself with other Christians so that you can grow and mature. Be very choosy about the people with whom you become close friends; they can influence you for either good or bad.
The more you get to know God, the more you will see that He always has your best interest at heart in whatever He tells you to do. It may not be the plan you had in mind, but if you follow Him, you will look back and see how much better His path has been for your life than the path you might have chosen without His guidance.
Why Most People Fail To Receive “His Best”
When God tells you about His Plan, most of the time you won’t just start doing it the next week. He reveals the plan to you and then He starts to prepare you to carry it out.
The thing is, unless He specifically tells you, you have no idea when His exact time is for everything to come to pass. His timing will always be different than yours and since He can see the big picture, He knows when you are ready, plus when the exact circumstances come together for whatever you are to do.
Every person in the Bible God called to do something great had to go through a time of preparation in order to get ready for their calling. When you don’t understand that, it is easy to either give up in frustration, or think that you have totally missed the calling itself.
First, make sure that you know without a shadow-of-a-doubt that God has called you to do a certain thing.
Then, proceed to do whatever he tells you and go forward at His pace. Don’t get ahead of Him and assume that you know how He will do things.
One thing that you must acquire to fully walk with God is patience. He is never late doing anything, but He isn’t early either; He is always perfectly on time.
Lastly, Satan will do anything to keep you from getting God’s Best for your life. There is a huge difference in “Very Good” and “The Best” and he will try to entice you to settle for less while making you think you are getting
“The Best.”
Don’t settle for anything less; it is true that you will have to wait longer for it, but in the long run you will never be sorry.
One last thing to remember:
There is nothing you can personally do to make it happen. You must trust God to bring everything together and open doors; though you must have the faith to walk through them even if what is on the other side is different from what you expected. After all, He is God and can see perspectives you may have never thought about.
If you are following your own plans and opening your own doors, you can be assured that you have settled for only “Good” or “Very Good.”
Trust, try, and prove God to see the miraculous things He can do through your life if you will only let Him.
By Cathy Deaton
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Quotes for Inspiration
Don’t be afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still.
Chinese Proverb
The less you talk, the more you’re listened to.
Abigail Van Buren
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.
Ain’t no man that can avoid being born average; but ain’t nobody got to be common.
Satchel Paige
God’s life takes broken pieces and gives us unbroken peace.
Wilbert Donald Gough
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A Bible Quiz Question
What was Matthew’s vocation before he became a disciple?
The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.
The answer to the 4-2009 newsletter quiz question is Hosea 14: 8 – “I will be to Israel like dew…I am like an evergreen cypress.”
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Just for Laughs
Wash, Boil, Serve?
According to the Knight-Ridder News Service, the inscription on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed. The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated, “Wash. Biol. Surv.” until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:
“Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you it was horrible.”
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Interesting Bible Facts
URIM AND THUMMIM – The twelve precious stones when in position in the breast-plate of the high-priest were consulted as an oracle. They were worn when the high-priest entered the Holy of Holies. There ceremony placing the engraved gems in their proper positions in the breast-plate was very solemn and imposing, for it typified the presence of the twelve tribes before the altar of Jehovah.
USURY – Interest for money or property loaned. Usury is forbidden by the laws, although it was permitted for the Israelites to take usury from any one not a Jew. This was used as a means of ruining the Canaanites.
After the return of the Jews from captivity, they were ordered by Nehemiah “to leave off usury” and to restore what had been exacted. Christ denounced all methods of extortion: “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” “Love your enemies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.”
VOW – Vows, in general, are mentioned in Job 22: 27. The earliest vow mentioned is Jacob’s in Genesis.
The law regulated the practice of bows. A man might devote to sacred uses possessions or persons, but not the first-born either of man or beast. Moses enacted several laws for the regulation and execution of vows.
The vows of minors were not binding without the consent of the head of the family. These self-imposed services were more in keeping with the ancient dispensation – in which outward sacrifices has so large a share – than with enlightened Christianity.
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A Powerful Story
The Cauliflower Jewel
Each of us owns a jewel far more valuable than any displayed in the window of Cartier’s or Tiffany’s. It’s a three-pound blob of gray pulp resembling a rotting cauliflower.
Unimpressed?
This jewel is the most incredible creation in God’s universe, a fabulous, living supercomputer with unfathomable circuitry and unimaginable complexity. It is the human mind – a collection of billions of neurons, each as complex as a small computer. Imagine having 100 billion computers inside your skull!
Each of the neurons consists of a central nerve-cell core attached to a long tail with other dendrites, and the number of connection points between these dendrites is perhaps one quadrillion in every human brain. According to one writer, the number of connections within one human brain rivals the number of stars and galaxies in the entire universe.
That’s not all, for each of these connection points is itself a marvel of complexity. The dendrites don’t actually touch each other, but they efficiently and rapidly pass messages to each other through the form of electrical and chemical impulses in a series of processes that takes less than one-thousandth of a second.
“All of this is so complex,” said one scientist, “that the brain cannot even begin to comprehend its own complexity.”
What a jewel!
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My Favorite Blog Posts
The Frog Who Would Not Give Up
I have heard this story before, but what an awesome point it makes. How many times have we stopped just short of victory because another person told us it could not be done. We ended up believing them instead of God, and failed.
When God tells you to do something it might not be easy, but if you trust Him He will give you everything you need to attain the victory. He will bring to pass what He has already promised to do.
Don’t ever let others talk you into giving up on something God has already promised the victory for. You can’t see through His eyes, so believe in faith that He will bring it to pass when the time is right. Turn a deaf ear to any criticism that might keep you from getting God’s Best.
THE FROG WHO WOULD NOT GIVE UP
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began but no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:
“Oh, WAY too difficult!!”
“They will NEVER make it to the top.”
“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one, except for those who, in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!”
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But one continued higher and higher and higher. He just wouldn’t give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
All of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it. A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.
It turned out that the winner was deaf.
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Are You A Giant Or A Burden?
This story really made me think about how easy it is to put ourselves on a pedestal and think we are better than others. We sometimes think our way is the best and only way to do things, and if others don’t agree, they are the ones who are wrong.
Ask God to help you see others the way He sees them. When you can see the other person’s point-of-view, it is much easier to understand them, even if you don’t agree with their thoughts and values. If they think you really care, then God might be able to use you to change their thoughts and heart in certain areas.
When you are open to God’s leading, you never know how He will use you in the life of another person.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GIANT?
After dinner, the children turned to Jacob and asked if he would tell them a story.
“A story about what?” asked Jacob.
“About a giant,” squealed the children.
Jacob smiled, leaned against the warm stones at the side of the fireplace, and his voice turned softly inward.
“Once there was a boy who asked his father to take him to see the great parade that passed through the village. The father, remembering the parade from when he was a boy, quickly agreed, and the next morning the boy and his father set out together.
“As they approached the parade route, people started to push in from all sides, and the crowd grew thick. When the people along the way became almost a wall; the father lifted his son and placed him on his shoulders.
“Soon the parade began and as it passed, the boy kept telling his father how wonderful it was and how spectacular were the colors and images. The boy, in fact, grew so prideful of what he saw that he mocked those who saw less saying, even to his father, ‘If only you could see what I see.’”
“But,” said Jacob staring straight in the faces of the children, “what the boy did not look at was why he could see. What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see.”
Then as if he had finished the story, Jacob stopped speaking.
“Is that it?” said a disappointed girl. “We thought you were going to tell us a story about a giant.”
“But I did,” said Jacob. “I told you a story about a boy who could have been a giant.”
“How?” squealed the children.
“A giant,” said Jacob, “is anyone who remembers we are all sitting on someone else’s shoulders.”
“And what does it make us if we don’t remember?” asked the boy.
“A burden,” answered Jacob.
To check out my blog go to Who God Is
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Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:
Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living
Handbook for Victorious Christian Living
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Video of the Month
Most – The Bridge
This is a great excerpt from the movie. The father has to make a heart-wrenching decision that ends in tragedy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRLRSXd4fzA&hl=en&fs=1]
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That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.
It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.
In Christ,
Victorious Christian Living Newsletter
Welcome to the May 2009 Edition
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This issue includes:
3 of My Featured Teaching Articles
Quotes for Inspiration
A Bible Quiz Question
Just for Laughs
Interesting Bible Facts
A Powerful Story
Favorite Articles from My Blog
Links to My Other Sites
Video of the Month
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Secret of Having a Great Day
If you only have one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘good morning’ at total strangers.
-Maya Angelou-
The one thing most of us don’t realize is if we start the day by being nice and loving to our own family, it will set the tone for a better day in every other aspect. You will naturally be nicer to others, and will build a stronger bond of love and respect with your own family in the process.
It seems that most of us take for granted our relationships with spouses, children, siblings, and parents. We feel it is OK to be ill toward them because they are supposed to love us regardless of how we treat them.
Don’t they already know we love them without us reminding them of it every day?
Isn’t it OK for us to be ill and aren’t they supposed to just understand and forget about it even if we never say we are sorry?
It is sad, but many of us think along these lines when it comes to our relationships with close family members. We never think about the hurt we have caused them by our actions.
Then we go into the presence of others, put on a smiley face and pretend to be a wonderful, compassionate, understanding person. Complete strangers think we are wonderful, while our own family has just seen us act badly towards them.
We should never treat a complete stranger better than we treat our own family.
What Can You Do To Change Things For The Better?
The first hour of your day can completely set the tone for the rest of it. I have found that it really does make a big difference what you do in that hour.
My morning routine is this:
Do my bible study first thing when I wake up.
Then walk on my treadmill for 15-20 minutes. I don’t like exercise, so I use this time to pray for my needs and the needs of others to make the time pass faster. Sometimes I even lose track and walk 30 minutes. WOW!
After that I am ready to jump in the shower, get dressed and head out the door for an awesome day.
Reading the Bible takes your mind off yourself, your problems, and family problems. Make it a point to concentrate on God and the truths He is telling you in His Word. This will give you strength and clarity to face the day head-on.
Exercise, even for 15 minutes, gets your blood flowing and wakes you up. You don’t have to be a fitness guru to gain from exercise – just walk, ride an exercise bike, or anything that wakes you up and rejuvenates you. After only 15 minutes, you will feel very awake, plus eventually achieve a firmer, more toned body. (Yes, a small amount of exercise can make a big difference if done daily.)
So now you have taken care of your spiritual health and your physical health. After doing these two things, you will be in a much better position to deal with any problems that might arise.
When you put God first, He helps you in a supernatural way to get everything accomplished in record time. Even getting out the door to work or school can be accomplished with much less stress.
He wants to take care of your every need and problem.
Try putting Him first for six weeks. Then compare your life now with the way you used to start your day and see which one is better.
By Cathy Deaton
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
How to Accomplish Ordinary Things in a Great Way
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
-Helen Keller- Blind/Deaf Author and Lecturer
Deep down we all dream of accomplishing something that will set us apart and catapult us into the “great and noble” category. Many people spend years of their life looking for that one thing that will make others give them the respect they feel they deserve.
Generally we fail to realize that even though you may hear of one huge thing propelling another to greatness, there have been many years of him doing ordinary things in a great way.
Many people go through life in the coast position, just doing enough to get by. They never think about giving their best, but give only as much effort as what they feel is required for the salary they are paid.
God expects each of His Children to find out what He desires them to do. Everybody isn’t called to be a pastor, missionary, or evangelist. God puts many people into secular positions so they can shine their light and be a witness to others. After all, it takes all kinds of different jobs to make the world function smoothly.
Maybe you did not ask God what He wanted you to do with your life when you were a teenager or younger adult; you just went into a vocation that you liked. Now you are older, and are not sure if God called you there or if it was just something you wanted yourself. Now you feel it is too late to change careers.
The good news is that God is so awesome, loving, caring and compassionate that He wants to start working in your life exactly where you are at the moment. Even if you chose a vocation that is not what He would have chosen for you, He won’t wait to use you until you retire and get into His chosen field.
All you have to do is start today and ask God to use you exactly where you are at your workplace or vocation. The world is full of people who are hurting and need to be in touch with someone who can show them truth and answers for their multitude of problems.
This can give you a renewed energy as you go about your duties each day. The One True, Holy, Magnificent God wants to use you to carry out His Work.
Don’t just coast through your duties and try to do the least amount of work you can. If you are a Christian, you are a representative of God wherever you are. Other people are always watching to see how you handle things that happen in your life.
No matter what we think, the greatest of people do small things each day just like the rest of us – they just do those small things with everything in them. They give it all they have, and do that particular thing above and beyond what is required of them. Then they make it a habit to do this each day until it is automatic.
Today when you are faced with everyday, ordinary and mundane things, make the conscious decision to make every moment count for God by doing those ordinary things in a great way!
By Cathy Deaton
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
God’s Best – Have You Ever Received It?
If you are a Christian, God has a specific and definite plan for your life. He works in a way that is different from what you may have been taught about the way He does things, and you must choose to carry out His plans rather than pursue your own. The choice is always up to you; He won’t force you to obey Him.
The only way you can really put your life in God’s hands is to find out about His Character by reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, truly seeking to Know Him, and surrounding yourself with other Christians so that you can grow and mature. Be very choosy about the people with whom you become close friends; they can influence you for either good or bad.
The more you get to know God, the more you will see that He always has your best interest at heart in whatever He tells you to do. It may not be the plan you had in mind, but if you follow Him, you will look back and see how much better His path has been for your life than the path you might have chosen without His guidance.
Why Most People Fail To Receive “His Best”
When God tells you about His Plan, most of the time you won’t just start doing it the next week. He reveals the plan to you and then He starts to prepare you to carry it out.
The thing is, unless He specifically tells you, you have no idea when His exact time is for everything to come to pass. His timing will always be different than yours and since He can see the big picture, He knows when you are ready, plus when the exact circumstances come together for whatever you are to do.
Every person in the Bible God called to do something great had to go through a time of preparation in order to get ready for their calling. When you don’t understand that, it is easy to either give up in frustration, or think that you have totally missed the calling itself.
First, make sure that you know without a shadow-of-a-doubt that God has called you to do a certain thing.
Then, proceed to do whatever he tells you and go forward at His pace. Don’t get ahead of Him and assume that you know how He will do things.
One thing that you must acquire to fully walk with God is patience. He is never late doing anything, but He isn’t early either; He is always perfectly on time.
Lastly, Satan will do anything to keep you from getting God’s Best for your life. There is a huge difference in “Very Good” and “The Best” and he will try to entice you to settle for less while making you think you are getting
“The Best.”
Don’t settle for anything less; it is true that you will have to wait longer for it, but in the long run you will never be sorry.
One last thing to remember:
There is nothing you can personally do to make it happen. You must trust God to bring everything together and open doors; though you must have the faith to walk through them even if what is on the other side is different from what you expected. After all, He is God and can see perspectives you may have never thought about.
If you are following your own plans and opening your own doors, you can be assured that you have settled for only “Good” or “Very Good.”
Trust, try, and prove God to see the miraculous things He can do through your life if you will only let Him.
By Cathy Deaton
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Quotes for Inspiration
Don’t be afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still.
Chinese Proverb
The less you talk, the more you’re listened to.
Abigail Van Buren
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.
Ain’t no man that can avoid being born average; but ain’t nobody got to be common.
Satchel Paige
God’s life takes broken pieces and gives us unbroken peace.
Wilbert Donald Gough
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Bible Quiz Question
What was Matthew’s vocation before he became a disciple?
The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.
The answer to the 4-2009 newsletter quiz question is Hosea 14: 8 – “I will be to Israel like dew…I am like an evergreen cypress.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Just for Laughs
Wash, Boil, Serve?
According to the Knight-Ridder News Service, the inscription on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed. The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated, “Wash. Biol. Surv.” until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:
“Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you it was horrible.”
Nyah Nyah!
Finding one of her students making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to gently correct the child.
Smiling sweetly, the Sunday School teacher said, “Bobby, when I was a child, I was told if that I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would stay like that.”
Bobby looked up and replied, “Well, Ms Smith, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”
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Interesting Bible Facts
URIM AND THUMMIM – The twelve precious stones when in position in the breast-plate of the high-priest were consulted as an oracle. They were worn when the high-priest entered the Holy of Holies. There ceremony placing the engraved gems in their proper positions in the breast-plate was very solemn and imposing, for it typified the presence of the twelve tribes before the altar of Jehovah.
USURY – Interest for money or property loaned. Usury is forbidden by the laws, although it was permitted for the Israelites to take usury from any one not a Jew. This was used as a means of ruining the Canaanites.
After the return of the Jews from captivity, they were ordered by Nehemiah “to leave off usury” and to restore what had been exacted. Christ denounced all methods of extortion: “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” “Love your enemies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.”
VOW – Vows, in general, are mentioned in Job 22: 27. The earliest vow mentioned is Jacob’s in Genesis.
The law regulated the practice of bows. A man might devote to sacred uses possessions or persons, but not the first-born either of man or beast. Moses enacted several laws for the regulation and execution of vows.
The vows of minors were not binding without the consent of the head of the family. These self-imposed services were more in keeping with the ancient dispensation – in which outward sacrifices has so large a share – than with enlightened Christianity.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Powerful Story
The Cauliflower Jewel
Each of us owns a jewel far more valuable than any displayed in the window of Cartier’s or Tiffany’s. It’s a three-pound blob of gray pulp resembling a rotting cauliflower.
Unimpressed?
This jewel is the most incredible creation in God’s universe, a fabulous, living supercomputer with unfathomable circuitry and unimaginable complexity. It is the human mind – a collection of billions of neurons, each as complex as a small computer. Imagine having 100 billion computers inside your skull!
Each of the neurons consists of a central nerve-cell core attached to a long tail with other dendrites, and the number of connection points between these dendrites is perhaps one quadrillion in every human brain. According to one writer, the number of connections within one human brain rivals the number of stars and galaxies in the entire universe.
That’s not all, for each of these connection points is itself a marvel of complexity. The dendrites don’t actually touch each other, but they efficiently and rapidly pass messages to each other through the form of electrical and chemical impulses in a series of processes that takes less than one-thousandth of a second.
“All of this is so complex,” said one scientist, “that the brain cannot even begin to comprehend its own complexity.”
What a jewel!
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My Favorite Blog Posts
The Frog Who Would Not Give Up
I have heard this story before, but what an awesome point it makes. How many times have we stopped just short of victory because another person told us it could not be done. We ended up believing them instead of God, and failed.
When God tells you to do something it might not be easy, but if you trust Him He will give you everything you need to attain the victory. He will bring to pass what He has already promised to do.
Don’t ever let others talk you into giving up on something God has already promised the victory for. You can’t see through His eyes, so believe in faith that He will bring it to pass when the time is right. Turn a deaf ear to any criticism that might keep you from getting God’s Best.
THE FROG WHO WOULD NOT GIVE UP
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began but no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:
“Oh, WAY too difficult!!”
“They will NEVER make it to the top.”
“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one, except for those who, in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!”
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But one continued higher and higher and higher. He just wouldn’t give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
All of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it. A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.
It turned out that the winner was deaf.
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Are You A Giant Or A Burden?
This story really made me think about how easy it is to put ourselves on a pedestal and think we are better than others. We sometimes think our way is the best and only way to do things, and if others don’t agree, they are the ones who are wrong.
Ask God to help you see others the way He sees them. When you can see the other person’s point-of-view, it is much easier to understand them, even if you don’t agree with their thoughts and values. If they think you really care, then God might be able to use you to change their thoughts and heart in certain areas.
When you are open to God’s leading, you never know how He will use you in the life of another person.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GIANT?
After dinner, the children turned to Jacob and asked if he would tell them a story.
“A story about what?” asked Jacob.
“About a giant,” squealed the children.
Jacob smiled, leaned against the warm stones at the side of the fireplace, and his voice turned softly inward.
“Once there was a boy who asked his father to take him to see the great parade that passed through the village. The father, remembering the parade from when he was a boy, quickly agreed, and the next morning the boy and his father set out together.
“As they approached the parade route, people started to push in from all sides, and the crowd grew thick. When the people along the way became almost a wall; the father lifted his son and placed him on his shoulders.
“Soon the parade began and as it passed, the boy kept telling his father how wonderful it was and how spectacular were the colors and images. The boy, in fact, grew so prideful of what he saw that he mocked those who saw less saying, even to his father, ‘If only you could see what I see.’”
“But,” said Jacob staring straight in the faces of the children, “what the boy did not look at was why he could see. What the boy forgot was that once his father, too, could see.”
Then as if he had finished the story, Jacob stopped speaking.
“Is that it?” said a disappointed girl. “We thought you were going to tell us a story about a giant.”
“But I did,” said Jacob. “I told you a story about a boy who could have been a giant.”
“How?” squealed the children.
“A giant,” said Jacob, “is anyone who remembers we are all sitting on someone else’s shoulders.”
“And what does it make us if we don’t remember?” asked the boy.
“A burden,” answered Jacob.
To check out my blog go to Who God Is
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Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:
Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living
Handbook for Victorious Christian Living
Power of the Living Word
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Video of the Month
Most – The Bridge
This is a great excerpt from the movie. The father has to make a heart-wrenching decision that ends in tragedy.
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That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.
It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.
In Christ,
