Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, ‘Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.’

‘Here, have some cooking oil,’ her Mother offers.
‘Yuck’ says her daughter.
‘How about a couple raw eggs?’
‘Gross, Mom!’
‘Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?’
‘Mom, those are all yucky!’

To which the mother replies: ‘Yes , all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! ‘

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! 

God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen.

He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. GOD LOVES YOU!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Return that love to God today.

Thanks and credits go to an unknown author for this devotion.

if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. – Matthew 6:14-15

I think if we all back up, we will realize that we are all guilty of doing some things we shouldn’t have. Yes, some are worse than others, but we are all guilty of being wrong on occassion (yes, even me . 

I believe we must overcome this, however, forgive those who hurt us. After all, we too are sinners and have sinned against God. We must forgive others as God forgave us.

Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
Psalm 79:9

He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.

One day Tim decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Tim starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable,  but no one says anything. Tim gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Tim.

Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.

The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing.  The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.

And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Tim and worships with him so he won’t be alone.

Everyone chokes up with emotion…

When the minister gains control, he says, ‘What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.’

‘Be careful how you live.
You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!’

-author unknown

1 Corinthians 13:13 - ”and the greatest of these is love”

Tonight on the radio while driving I heard the poem listed below…  And with it being Valentine’s day, it seemed appropriate to comment on love.

I have tried (unsucessfully) to find the author, but it still tells a good story (interesting dialect also). It  reminds us that we shouldn’t spend months preparing for a 1-hour wedding if we haven’t spent years preparing for a life-long marriage:

“Married at an Early Urge”

Nice night in June, stars shine, big moon
In park with girl, heart pound, head swirl
Me say me love, she coo like dove
Me smart, me fast, me never let chance pass

Get hitched, me say, she say okay
Wedding bells ring, honeymoon, everything
Settle down, married life, happy man, happy wife.

Another night in June, stars shine, big moon
Ain’t happy no more, carry baby, walk floor
Wife mad, she stew, me mad, stew too
Life one big spat, nagging wife and bawlin’ brat
I realize, at last, me move too fast.

Love is wonderful! But without God and a lot of prayer and patience it can end badly.

Looking for Mr. or Mrs. “Right” ??  Consider this . . . stop looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right, and start trying to be Mr. or Mrs. Right (then you’ll find that Mr. or Mrs. Right will show up in God’s timing without you looking).

“The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Sometimes we get caught up in the world. We get distracted by activities such as work, school, hobbies, etc. But we must ALWAYS remember that our God is always there beside us, waiting to talk to us, waiting to reach out to us, waiting to help us. But also remember, God is not  a crutch! We should not wait until we need help to reach to Him. This verse essentially reminds us to love Him at ALL TIMES!

Well, first off, God gave us life.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture – Psalm 100:3

And we also know that God gave us long life (if we follow Him):

And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” – 1Kings 3:14

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short. – Proverbs 10:27

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” – Ephesians 6:2-3

I want to THANK Kimberly for her obedience to the Lord, obeying His commands, which resulted in her living a long life, and also led to my Salvation. Without her I would be nothing, have nothing, and be lost. So I want to say Thanks from the bottom of my heart and soul for helping to lead me to Christ!  I love you sweetie!

Romans 5:5-8 God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I can only imagine how well that God (and Jesus) knows us. For there is not a human being on this earth that would want to die for a stranger. However, God sent His ONLY Son here to earth, not just to live on earth, not just to set an example of how we should live, but to die for US: for you and for me. He purposely gave forth a son in order that the Son’s purpose in life was to justify US…through His death.

As a parent, I can only imagine giving my life for my child that I know and love dearly, but God gave His life (through His Son) for US. THAT’S LOVE!

 If you haven’t stopped to Thank God today for what He has done and continues to do for you, now is the time to do it!

An empty chair sat beside her bed. The minister assumed that the woman
had been informed of his visit… ‘I guess you were expecting me, he said.

‘No, who are you?’ said the mother. The minister told her his name and then remarked, ‘I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up..’

‘Oh yeah, the chair,’ said the bedridden woman ‘Would you mind closing the door?’
Puzzled, the minister shut the door. ‘I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,’ said the woman.

‘But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head…’

‘I abandoned any attempt at prayer,’ the old woman continued, ‘ until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, ‘ Prayer is just a simple matter
of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest.. ‘Sit down in a chair;
place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair.

It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I will be with you always’.. ‘Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me right now…’ ‘So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day.

I’m careful though.If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.’

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old woman to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with her, anointed her with oil,
and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her mama
had died that afternoon. Did she die in peace?’ he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, she called me over to her bedside,
told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found her .

But there was something strange about her death. Apparently, just before Mom died, she leaned over and rested her head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?’

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
‘I wish we could all go like that.’
 
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.

I asked God for water, He gave me an ocean.*
I asked God for a flower, He gave me a garden.*
I asked God for a friend, He gave me all of YOU…

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

Psalm 36
⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
 ⁸ They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
⁹ For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. 
¹⁰ Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

I’m so glad we have such a loving God!  He takes care of us and lets us share in His righteousness (whether we deserve it or not!). He loves us, which is why He allows us to come to Him in our good times and bad. Thankfully, when we listen and follow Him, we have more of the good times and “are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of [God's] house!”

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
       bind them around your neck,
       write them on the tablet of your heart. – Proverbs 3:3

OK – so maybe you don’t plan to write them down and put the them around your neck . . . at least physically. But you should do it spiritually. These are two extremely important items in our life! Don’t fail to ALWAYS remember these in your hearts and minds.  Love and faith play an important role in our Christian life, but also in our relationship with people. It is only through faith and love that we can truly share our testimony openly with others.