HUNGRY?

Dear Friend,

Are you hungry?

 I will not hold Myself back from you
 Yes, and the more you give to Me the more I can do in you
 You come to me with open arms
 Empty hands and I will fill them
 Yes, with treasures
 Keys to open doors in My kingdom
 Keys to unlock My children who are bound
 Keys to tons of treasures
 Keys to wisdom flowing
 I am always waiting for you to come
 Run to into my office as if you are a child of the boss
 I am never too busy
 Notice when you have entered in the past
 There is no one else in the room
 It is because I am waiting for you
 The enemy wants My children to believe I don’t’ care or that their needs are unimportant to Me
 But I am waiting for you to come
 And then I want you to sit with me
 And not just run in to throw your list of requests at Me
 If you stay long enough or come in an attitude of wanting to just sit
   with Me and enjoy Me, then I will take you to new places
 I will show you new things
 I will take you to My treasure rooms if you sit with Me
 I will take you on an adventure if you would take My hand and let Me
   lead you
 Practice, Practice, Practice coming to Me during the day
 Running to the river when you feel anger rise
 Learn how to operate from the well
 Sit and be anointed
       be washed
       be restored
       be made ready – that is why you come
 Then stand up in the well and dance in your world.
 No you are not living in unreality (the enemy told you, yare are losing touch with reality)
 This time with Me?  This is reality
 Learn how to see the spiritual realm more and more each day It will become more and more real each day

 The words to a song hit me then:
   “All who are thirsty
     All who are weak
     Come to the fountain
     Dip your heart in the streams of life
     Let the pain and the sorrow, be washed away
     In the streams of Your mercy
     As deep cries out to deep
     Come, Lord Jesus Come!”

 Come to Me and I will fill your hungry soul, says the Lord.

YOU MAY NOT REALIZE...........

This should probably be taped   to your bathroom mirror  where one  could read it every day.  You may not realize it,   but it's 100% true.    1. There are at least two people in  this world  that you would die for.    2. At least 15 people in this world   love you in some way.    3. The only reason anyone would ever  hate you  is because they want to be  just like you.  4. A smile from you  can bring happiness to anyone,  even if they don't like you.  5.  Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you   before they go to sleep.    6. You mean the world to someone.    7. You are special and unique.    8. Someone that you don't even know  exists loves you.  9. When you make  the biggest mistake ever,  something good comes from it.    10. When you think the world has   turned its back on you, take another look.    11. Always remember the compliments  you received. Forget about the rude remarks.    So......   If you are a loving friend,  send this  to everyone,  including the one that sent it to you.   If you get it back, then they really do love you...    And always  remember...... When life hands you lemons, Ask  for  Tea and Brownies  and call me over!!    Good  friends are like stars..... You don't always see them,   But you know they are always there.   'Whenever  God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another I would  rather have one rose and a kind word from a friend  while I'm here than a whole truck load when I'm gone.

LOVE

I had a lot of hatred in my life. It wasn't something outwardly manifested, but there was a kind of inward grinding. I was disgusted with people, with things, with issues. Like so many other people, I was insecure. Every time I met someone different from me, he became a threat to me.

But I hated one man more than anyone else in the world. My father. I hated his guts. To me he was the town alcoholic. If you're from a small town and one of your parents is an alcoholic, you know what I'm talking about. Everybody knows. My friends would come to high school and make jokes about my father being downtown. They didn't think it bothered me. I was like other people, laughing on the outside, but let me tell you, I was crying on the inside. I'd go out in the barn and see mother beaten so badly she couldn't get up, lying in the manure behind the cows.

When we had friends over, I would take my father out, tie him up in the barn, and park the car up around the silo. We would tell our friends he'd had to go somewhere. I don't think anyone could have hated anyone more than I hated my father.

After I made my decision for Christ -- maybe five months later -- a love from God through Jesus Christ entered my life and was so strong it took that hatred and turned it upside down. I was able to look my father squarely in the eyes and say, "Dad, I love you." And I really meant it. After some of the things I'd done, that shook him up.

When I transferred to a private university I was in a serious car accident. My neck in traction, I was taken home. I'll never forget my father coming into my room. He asked me, "Son, how can you love a father like me?" I said, "Dad, six months ago I despised you." Then I shared with him my conclusion about Jesus Christ: "Dad, I let Christ come into my life. I can't explain it completely but as a result of that relationship I've found the capacity to love and accept not only you, but other people just the way they are."

Forty-five minutes later, one of the greatest thrills of my life occurred. Somebody in my own family, someone who knew me so well I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes, said to me, "Son, if God can do in my life what I've seen Him do in yours, then I want to give Him the opportunity." Right there my father prayed with me and trusted Christ.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

NEW

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:26, 27.

The heart of man may be the abode of the Holy Spirit. The peace of Christ that passeth understanding may rest in your soul, and the transforming power of His grace may work in your life, and fit you for the courts of glory. But if brain and nerve and muscle are all employed in the service of self, you are not making God and heaven the first consideration of your life. It is impossible to be weaving the graces of Christ into your character while you are putting all your energies on the side of the world.

You may be successful in heaping up treasure on the earth, for the glory of self; but “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Eternal considerations will be made of secondary importance. You may take part in the outward forms of worship; but your service will be an abomination to the God of heaven. You cannot serve God and mammon. You will either yield your heart and put your will on the side of God, or you will give your energies to the service of the world. God will accept no half-hearted service.

“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light” (Luke 11:34). If the eye is single, if it is directed heavenward, the light of heaven will fill the soul, and earthly things will appear insignificant and uninviting. The purpose of the heart will be changed, and the admonition of Jesus will be heeded. You will lay up your treasure in heaven. Your thoughts will be fixed upon the great rewards of eternity. All your plans will be made in reference to the future, immortal life. You will be drawn toward your treasure. You will not study your worldly interest; but in all your pursuits the silent inquiry will be “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6).—The Review and Herald, January 24, 1888.

This devotional is taken from Ye Shall Receive Power by Ellen G. White.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR

Dear Friend,

"And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years" Acts 13:21

One of my friends said it yesterday. I had heard it before. I have said it before. "You had better be careful what you ask for (in prayer), you might get it."

Indeed, that is exactly what happened to Israel. All the other nations had kings. Israel had an old prophet. All the other countries had national leaders. Israel had a high priest. Israel asked the aging prophet for a king. They wanted to be like other nations. They wanted a figure they could look to for protection. They wanted a king. (If you remember, Moses said this time would come. He prophesied that they would want a king. He also said that king would lead them in wrong paths.)

So God gave them a king. Saul. He reigned for forty years. He was an imposing figure, head and shoulders taller than his countrymen. He was strong.  He was promoted to king of all Israel -- and he was a failure.

As time passed, Israel began to see that their king was just a man with all of man's weaknesses. He may have been strong as an ox, but he was as weak as a hollow tree in spirit. He lacked the mental strength to be a powerful leader. He became overwhelmed with his own authority -- his own ambition. And he fell. And he almost took Israel with him.

We have all been in Israel's position. We want what we want and we want it now! Not only do we want it, but we demand that God provide it. We don't want to wait for it. We don't want to pay the price for it. We don't want to save for it. We want it -- NOW! And God had better come through because if He doesn't we will do it ourselves.

And we pay the price. And that price is much higher than the cost of the thing we want. It is a spiritual price that goes far beyond a few dollars. It saps the soul of strength. It drains the spirit of energy. It taps the resources we have reserved for God's mission, and we suffer for it. We are in pain. We are weakened. Because of our weakness, others begin to suffer with us. We no longer have the spiritual fortitude to help our brother or our sister. Instead we are pulling from them the strength they need for their own battles.

A downward spiral has begun. The trail of smoke can be seen for miles around. Doom and defeat seem eminent. But wait. Inside that hulk of a dying body is a pilot -- no, The Pilot. He has not bailed out yet. He has not given up the ship. He is pulling. He is fighting the battle for us. And He has the strength to pull us out of that fatal nosedive we have forced upon ourselves. At the last moment, the flaming hulk of our life is saved and set on a path to recovery. Not because of our strength, but because of the authority of the One who knows how to save the dying.

Israel had his David. We have our Jesus. Both are redeemers. David saved a dying nation. Jesus saves a dying World. Behold, your redemption draws near. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

PERSEVERANCE

If someone were to ask me to pick one word to best describe any success in  life....

I wouldn't hesitate; the word would be perseverance.

There have been a lot of potholes, detours and roadblocks along the way. 

Persist no matter what.

Endure discomfort.

Request help.

Steadfastly hold on to your beliefs and values.

Envision triumph.

Very consistently keep at it.

Embrace adversity as your teacher.

Refuse to give up.

Enjoy and celebrate every tiny bit of progress!

The Best Way Out is Always Through. 

BE CAREFUL LITTLE TONGUE

It's strange isn't it, how things occasionally just "slip out of our mouths."  We really never meant to say whatever we said, but sometimes we do. 


For me, most often I find it hard to keep my mouth shut when someone is sharing their problems of present difficulty with me. It's natural (I think), to want to commiserate with them, to share with them and let them

 know that you have experienced similar things in your life.


Most of the time though; what they really need is just a listening ear on which to unburden themselves.

 We have the same problem when someone mentions another person, far too often in a negative way. We are tempted to "join in" and add our personal

 comments regarding that person or persons. At times we may even be the one who is in the forefront of the discussion.

 At other times, we may be speaking directly to someone and either on purpose or inadvertently say something hurtful or mean. Once it is said, it's impossible to take it back.

 One author wrote: "My grandson, Justus, age 10, and his sister Taylor, age 13, were always teasing each other. One day, Justus was getting "sensitive" about things his sister was saying to him. I reminded him that he had said the same types of things many times in days past. With quiet

 reflection, he spoke a gospel truth: "But it doesn't hurt as much coming out of my mouth as it does going into my ears."

 There is a children's song that says, "Be careful little tongue what you say… the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little tongue what you say!

 James puts it this way in James 1:26, "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is

 worthless." (NLT)

 There are times I mess up and say the wrong thing, even though I try very hard not to. Thankfully my wife is very forgiving, but I am even more

 thankful to my God that he is even more forgiving! How are you doing?