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preacher31
SPECIAL GROCERY LIST - Subscribe
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Scripture: 18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19 (New International Version) (Please take time and read this, and when your finished please, please say a Prayer of Thanksgiving.) Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. Visualizing the family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.' John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store. Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?' Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said, 'put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries.' Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed. The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, 'I can't believe it.' The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said: 'Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.' The grocer gave her the groceries that he had Gathered and stood in stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The other customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth every penny of it. 'ONLY GOD KNOWS HOW MUCH A PRAYER WEIGHS' THE POWER: When you read this, say a prayer. That's all you have to do. Just stop right now, and say a prayer of thanks for your own good fortune. .. So dear heart, trust God to heal the sick, provide food for the hungry, clothes and shelter for those that don't have as we do. AMEN & AMEN |
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preacher31
WHAT ABOUT MY THINGS 10/06/2009 02:03 - Subscribe
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Scripture: All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's great blessing was upon them all. Acts 4:32, NLT Reflection: . What do "things", mean to you. Are "things", important to you. Is it important to own what you possess. I think to most people ownership is very important. But today's scripture verse gives us a very different slant. None of these Christians felt that what they possessed was their own, and so they were able to give and share, actually eliminating poverty among them. This is important, THEY WOULD NOT LET A BROTHER OR SISTER SUFFER WHEN OTHERS HAD PLENTY. This question begs an answer, "How do you feel about your possessions? It seems to me that we, all of us, need to adopt a new attitude given to us by the scriptures. That attitude is THAT EVERYTHING, YES EVERYTHING, WE HAVE COMES FROM GOD, AND WE ARE ONLY SHARING WHAT IS ALREADY HIS. With that attitude I know what "things" are in my life. Prayer: Oh God thank You for sharing with me Your grace. And especially, Oh God, for sharing Your Son with me. Oh Lord let it be that the only "thing" I possess, is the power of the Holy Spirit! |
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preacher31
I HAVE A CONFESSION 10/09/2009 12:20 - Subscribe
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I am a recovering alcoholic. I have been recovering since 1978. I was one of those happy drunks, this of course only fortified my conviction to drink. If I was happy, if I made everyone happy, it was ok to drink. Of course I was never taking into account that drinking was taking over my life. I could do nothing, I could not even function normally without being drunk. Everybody loves a happy drunk, but I didn't love myself. Only when I turned my life over to Jesus, my supreme being, did I begin to recover. I received no help, no encouragement, no assistance at all from the church, only the head of the church Jesus Christ. We as a nation spend over 500 billion dollars, that's right 500 billion dollars on addiction. The emergency rooms of our hospitals, the morgue's of our cities, are filled with the bodies of drunk drivers, and overdose victims. Close to 25% of all Medicare, and Medicaid expenses come from substance abuse. We are in a war and we are loosing the battles. Among all of this, Where is the church? If, as a church, we want to see God at work in our communities, I think we need to examine and help these lives that are being lost to self-destruction. It is fine for a church to hold pot luck dinners, present Christmas Pagaents, and have Wednesday night prayer services. What is not fine, is for a church, the body of Christ, to be apathetic and unconcerned about the individual lives of our community. If, we as a church, are to serve God, then we are to serve His people. We need to see and help those lives that are being disturbed by the epidemic of addiction. The bottom line has been reached and our cities and towns are spinning wildly into self-destruction. It's time to stop building walls around our individual lives. We must respond to the call as a faith community. We must respond as a "church" of God. It's time to launch "recovery ministries" in our churches. It's time to open all aspects of our church life to addicts who are seeking recovery. It's time to make a difference, one day at a time, one life at a time, in a whole society that is caught in the "down fall" of addiction,. WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED NOW! If we are are truly the body of Christ, then we are to be INVOLVED NOW! THERE IS SOMEONE IN NEED.......DO SOMETHING! "Help me to perform whatever miracles you want of me today." Prayer to Overcome Addictions Dear God, I come to You as I come to no one else. I am so sorry. I have tried to throw away my life, my body, my soul—through addiction. But recognition of my addiction has never given me power to control it. You know this. You never blame me. You know the truth. Addiction is an attractor field in which minds and bodies become mired to escape emotional pain. But there is another, better way to escape pain. Pain is transcended through an authentic calling from You. Therefore, I surrender myself, now, to You. I demand, now, in this moment, Father, that You call me—that You call me loudly. You raise me up out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field. And as You raise me, so do You raise Humanity out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field. Together we rise, as one force in You, one at a time and together. Because the world needs us. We rise or we fall, together. For You need me. I am Your Thoughts, Your Voice, Your Hands. I rejoice in awe over my inherent holiness: I am where You reside. By Your grace, as I read this, my mind is aligned with Yours. By Your grace, the power of my mind is multiplied exponentially by all who read this. Aligned with You, we are more powerful than any evil— or any substance—can ever be. Together WE form a conduit of love that reaches into my need for addiction and I am healed. By healing myself, I now heal Humanity's need for addiction. Joy fills my soul. My gratitude is infinite. Thank You. |
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preacher31
SHOW MERCY! 10/12/2009 01:15 - Subscribe
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Scripture: But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit. Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins. Titus 1:20:23 NLT <…the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NLT Reflection: During my years in the Christian Ministry, I of course had contact with a wide variety of Christians. I delighted in my discovery of the many positive things we shared as followers of Jesus Christ.There were also negative characteristics that we as Christians seemed to share. One of those characteristics was we as Christians,"often times shoot our own wounded". We often times become impatient and judgmental with our brothers, and sisters, and reject them. Especially when they struggle with sin and doubt. Instead of rejecting them, Jude says, we should have mercy on them— just as Christ had mercy on us when he forgave our many sins. While we must not tolerate or accept sin, we are to love and accept others with kindness and mercy. Would you remember this one very important thing. Please remember this: If you know someone who has fallen away from God, your kindness may be just what is needed to lead them back to God. |
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preacher31
HIS MIRACLES TO PERFORM 10/15/2009 12:20 - Subscribe
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OUR LORD WORKS IN WONDEROUS WAYS, HIS MIRACLES TO PERFORM!!! A preacher concluded that his church was getting into very serious financial troubles. While checking the church storeroom, he discovered several cartons of new Bibles that had never been opened and distributed. So at his Sunday sermon, he asked for three volunteers from the congregation who would be willing to sell the Bibles door-to-door for $10 each to raise the desperately needed money for the church. Jack, Paul and Louie all raised their hands to volunteer for the task. The minister knew that Jack and Paul earned their living as salesmen and were likely capable of selling some Bibles. But he had serious doubts about Louie who was a local farmer, who had always kept to himself because he was embarrassed by his speech impediment. Poor Louis stuttered badly. But, not wanting to discourage Louis, the minister decided to let him try anyway. He sent the three of them away with the back seat of their cars stacked with Bibles. He asked them to meet with him and report the results of their door-to-door selling efforts the following Sunday. Anxious to find out how successful they were, the minister immediately asked Jack, 'Well, Jack, how did you make out selling our Bibles last week?' Proudly handing the minister an envelope, Jack replied, 'Using my sales prowess, I was able to sell 20 Bibles, and here's the $200 I collected on behalf of the church.' 'Fine job, Jack!' The minister said, vigorously shaking his hand. 'You are indeed a fine salesman and the Church is indebted to you.' Turning to Paul, 'And Paul, how many Bibles did you sell for the church last week?' Paul, smiling and sticking out his chest, confidently replied, 'I am a professional salesman. I sold 28 bibles on behalf of the church, and here's $280 I collected.' The minister responded, 'That's absolutely splendid, Paul. You are truly a professional salesman and the church is indebted to you.' Apprehensively, the minister turned to Louie and said, 'And Louie, did you manage to sell any Bibles last week?' Louie silently offered the minister a large envelope. The minister opened it and counted the contents. 'What is this?' the minister exclaimed. 'Louie, there's $3200 in here! Are you suggesting that you sold 320 Bibles for the church, door to door, i n just one week?' Louie just nodded. 'That's impossible!' both Jack and Paul said in unison. 'We are professional salesmen, yet you claim to have sold 10 times as many Bibles as we could.' 'Yes, this does seem unlikely,' the minister agreed. 'I think you'd better explain how you managed to accomplish this, Louie.' Louie shrugged. 'I-I-I re-re-really do-do-don't kn-kn-know f-f-f-for sh-sh-sh-sure,' he stammered. Impatiently, Peter interrupted. 'For crying out loud, Louie, just tell us what you said to them when they answered the door!' 'A-a-a-all I-I-I s-s-said wa-wa-was,' Louis replied, 'W-w-w-w-would y-y-y-you l-l-l-l-l-like t-t-to b-b-b-buy th-th-th-this b-b-b-b-bible f-f-for t-t-ten b-b-b-bucks ---o-o-o-or--- wo-wo-would yo-you j-j-j-just l-like m-m-me t-t-to st-st-stand h-h-here and r-r-r-r-r-read it t-t-to y-y-you??' |