MOHTER'S DAY 2016

TOP 10 WAYS TO KNOW YOU’RE A MOM:

10. You count the sprinkles on each kid’s cupcake to make sure they’re equal.

9. You want to take out a contract on the kid who broke your son’s favorite toy car and made him cry.

8. You read that the average five-year-old asks 437 questions a day and feel proud that your kid is “above average.”

7. You hire a babysitter because you haven’t been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.

6. You can place any amount of food on a plate without anything touching.

5. You cling to the high moral ground on not allowing your child to play with toy weapons, so your son bites his toast into the shape of a gun and shoots his brother.

4. You use your own saliva to clean your child’s face.

3. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.

2. You don’t think twice about cleaning up after your child is sick.

1. You can continue eating at a birthday party when someone else’s child gets sick.

A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: “Let’s see,” he said, “You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children.  I think I see your problem.”

Mothers are tenacious. Line moms up against a foe, and you almost feel sorry for their foe! The battles against abolition, temperance, and suffrage were won by mothers!

In the face of injustice or wickedness, mothers don’t know when to quit. They succeed where others have failed.

Generations of individuals have looked to their mothers’ examples. They have drawn strength from them to face adversity. A mother knows that! A mother knows she is at her best when she perseveres.

I read this somewhere recently:

Grandma, on a winter’s day, milked the cows and fed them hay, hitched the mule, drove kids to school, did a washing, mopped the floors, washed the windows and did some chores, cooked a dish of home-dried fruit, pressed her husband’s Sunday suit, swept the parlor, made the bed, baked a dozen loaves of bread, split some firewood and lugged it in, enough to fill the kitchen bin, cleaned the lamps and put in oil, stewed some apples before they spoiled, churned the butter, baked a cake, then exclaimed, “For goodness sake” when the calves ran from the pen, and chased them all back in again, gathered eggs and locked the stable, back to the house and set the table, ooked a supper that was delicious, then washed and dried all dirty dishes, fed the cat and sprinkled clothes, mended a basketful of hose, then opened the organ and began to play, “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day.”

One woman prayed...  (A Mother’s Prayer):

Please let me keep on going, Lord, from dawn to setting sun, ‘till I’m no longer needed, and all my work is done. Please let me be around to see my little ones grow strong, and deep my shoulder handy for their tears when things go wrong. Please let me make our home a place they’re happy to be in – and help me by example to keep them free from sin. For not until they’re all prepared to face life’s rocky road, does any mother dare to drop her burden and her load. It’s only then that she can feel she’s truly earned her rest, as thankfully she whispers, “Lord, I’ve done my very best!”

Today, moms, take a rest. Stop and savor the greatest success in your life: becoming a MOM!

Today the want ads read: MOM WANTED! But we realize that every MOM was a child first, and, like every child, Moms need a Mother, too, because they (like the rest of us) need healing!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Keep Your Hand Out of the Cookie Jar

KEEP YOUR HAND OUT OF THE COOKIE JAR

R. Kent Hughes,  in Preaching the Word, Ephesians, The Mystery of the Body of Christ, Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books, 1990, pp. 155-156 shared the following:

A little boy’s mother had just baked a fresh batch of cookies and placed them in the cookie jar, giving instructions that no one touch them until after dinner. But it was not long until she heard the lid of the jar move, and she called out, “My son, what are you doing?” To which a meek voice called back, “My hand is in the cookie jar resisting temptation!”

The fact is, no one can resist temptation with his or her hand in the cookie jar.

There are open cookie jars all around us.  The ubiquitous cookie jar of our culture is the television, dwelling in the heart of nearly every home in America. Turn it off, and the goodies are present in an open magazine or a billboard. There are living cookie jars everywhere, inviting passersby to taste their wares.

It would be so easy....But when these wares are removed from the jar, their sweetness soon turns to rot, and the decay is shared by the hand that plucked them, resulting in gangrene of the soul. 

Resisting the temptation to be tempted is “Keeping our hands out of the cookie jar.”  It is something that each Christian needs to learn how to do.  The Bible gives us many pointers on how to resist all temptations.  Some of these tips for “keeping our hands out of the cookie jar” are found in Ephesians 5:1-7.

Ephesians 5:1-7

1     Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2     And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

3     But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

4     Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

5     For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6     Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

7     Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER

WHEN THE ROLL IS CALLED UP YONDER

TRUE STORY:

A pastor’s wife was sitting in her living room visiting with her husband and asked him a question: “James, do you ever get tired and just want to go to heaven?” She followed the question up with a statement that still burns in that pastor’s mind: I am ready to go to heaven. If God decided to take me today, I am ready. The only thing I would be sad about is leaving you and our daughter, so, I want y’all to come with me.

For the next year, she became consumed with reaching the lost. She wanted to reach as many people as she could, and pull them out of the grips of hell. She wanted desperately to show them the way to heaven. Even though she gave birth that year, she reached out to the lost. She had a full time job, but she found time to sit at Jesus’ feet and to reach out to people who were steadily marching to hell. When she lost her job, she went out and knocked doors in her city, because she was consumed with getting someone to haven with her.

At the end of that year, she died. However, her death was not in vain because her life was not wasted! She was ready to go to heaven, but she wanted others to go there with her, and she succeeded in her efforts of giving them the best possible opportunity to go.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go to heaven, and I want to bring somebody with me! I can only imagine what it will be like! I can only imagine the joy I will feel when I hear the words, “Well done...” I can only imagine what it will be like when I see those who have gone on before me...I can’t wait to see them, but I want y’all to come with me! I want my family and friends to come with me.  I want people I’ve known all my life and people I’ve yet to meet to come with me.  In fact, I want people I’ve never met to come with me!

I wonder, is there anybody else that wants to go to heaven and bring as many others as possible with you?

J. M. Black penned the words to one of the old-time favorite hymns we used to sing pretty regularly in the Church...

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,

and time shall be no more,

And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;

When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,

And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there!

On that bright and cloudless morning

when the dead in Christ shall rise,

And the glory of His resurrection share;

When His chosen shall gather to their home beyond the skies,

And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.

Let us labor for the Master

From the dawn till setting sun,

Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;

Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,

And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there!

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!

How about it – is your name there? Are you ready to go to heaven? Are you willing to say that you will do your best for the rest of 2014 to help someone else make it to heaven?

When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there, and I want to see you there, too!

SWAY WITH GOD

SWAY WITH GOD

Several decades ago a man was to walk a wire across Niagara Falls with another man on his shoulders. After weeks of preliminary practice, as the final moment for the even drew near, the ropewalker cautioned his young colleague with these words: “We are about to risk our lives. I am to walk the wire, and the whole responsibility is mine. You have nothing to do but match my movements. If I sway to the left, let yourself sway to the left with me. If I sway to the right, do the same thing. Under NO circumstances should you try to save yourself, for there must be only ONE will in this adventure, and that will is MINE. You must submerge your will to ensure harmony, for without perfect unison, we are both lost. There is only one thing for you to do: SWAY WITH ME.”

As they drew near the opposite side, the unexpected happened. The long vibration of the wire broke in the center, causing two waves of movement, and each of these broke again into two more, and so on, in accordance with the Law of Vibration, that the man could scarcely keep his feet where he placed them. It was a perilous moment, but the feat was accomplished and the spectacular escapade was a success, holding a place on the front page of the newspapers.

After this, the young man who had played a secondary part settled down to private life, married, and became an active leader in Christian endeavor, and an elder in his church. And he used to say: “I learned more religion on the wire that day than in all my life. I learned that the ONLY sane and safe way to live is to SWAY WITH GOD.”

Perhaps I am connecting with a reader today that needs to learn how to sway with God. You need to trust God to keep the balance when the tightrope of life’s troubles begins to unravel beneath your feet! You need to learn that there is only ONE will in this Christian relationship – and that is God’s Will – and your will must submerge to ensure your safety! Don’t try to save yourself, and don’t try to work out your problems on your own – just “sway with God,” and you will surely make it through! Don’t try to match God’s movements – just sway with God, and allow yourself to flow with and in His Spirit!

Romans 8:14-15 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. [15] For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

How Big Is Your Faith?

HOW BIG IS YOUR FAITH?

Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman and 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 this 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 inexperienced fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, and big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small!

We laugh at that fisherman who hadn’t figured out that all he needed was a larger 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 – or allows to come our way! If you are up against a wall, and you feel as if there is no way out for your situation, look up, because God is about to make a way where there seems to be no way! God is about to open a door for you where there has never been an open door before!

What some of you need today is a greater capacity for the miraculous! You need to understand that you don’t have to throw back any blessings! You are just as deserving of a miracle as Peter was deserving to be the only man other than Jesus to walk on water!

Hebrews 11:3 – By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

That is to say, it is a faith that believes in the UNSEEN and in the creation of things that are not yet real!

·   It is a faith that can take Him for a gentleness you do not have in your temper.

·   It is a faith for courage when you are like a trembling reed shaken in the wind.

·     It is a faith for a steadfast will when you are as irresolute as the drifting sand.

·  It is a faith for righteousness and holiness when every instinct of your nature and every tendency of your training leads you in the downward road.

·   It is a faith for health and strength when your body is a wreck and the very elements of health are gone

·  It is a faith for souls that seem as hard as lodestone or diamonds – souls that seem to be of impenetrable hardness and unbreakable!

·     It is a faith for miracles where every door appears to be closed, and every effort vain!

This is the God with whom we are dealing. The God of the supernatural! He is “the maker thereof!” (Jeremiah 33:2); and Jehovah is His name!

We must learn to trust Him. We must use Him in His infinite all-sufficiency! We are talking about the Only Wise God, Who is able to do, “exceedingly, abundantly above ALL that we could ask or think!” He is the God who can make something out of nothing!

How big is your faith?  Is it big enough to take God at His word?