The Beetle and the centipede

Garden creatures teach lesson about faith.

“for as he thinks in his heart, so is he .” (proverbs 23:7)

An old story tells us about a conversation between a centipede and a beetle. They were old friends who spent many days observing and chatting about every creature in the garden. One sunny day, as the centipede went for a stroll in the green grass, the beetle watched her from above, sitting on the bright yellow petals of a beautiful sunflower. The two of them had very different bodies, and suddenly de beetle was curious to know how it felt to have so many legs.

He , himself relied on his fast wings to take him wherever he wanted to go, son he couldn’t imagine depending on a couple of legs to move- let alone one hundred.

He couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer, so he zoomed off, landed on blade of grass right in front of her, and asked her flat out, “Centipede, which of your many legs do you move first when you start to walk?

The centipede was surprised at the question, and as she stopped to think, it suddenly struck her. “ I don’t  know!” As she kept  thinking about and struggled to figure out which leg she moved first, she could no longer walk for the rest of the day…….. Every time , the centipede  thought about that question, her legs would start to get in each other’s way and she’d come to a halt….

This story illustrates very well what happens to many people. Useless questions in their mind cause them to be stuck in their faith. They fail to realize that just as God works with assurance the devil works with doubt.

If we want to receive something from God, we must first do away with our doubts. The Holy Spirit said through James that a man who wavers receives nothing from the Lord (see James 1) . If  we do not learn to reject doubt,  our faith will be useless.

Often, doubts come in the form of a subtle question or suggestion (from de devil) in your mind. For example : “ No one will ever want to marry you,  because you are too old for that.” Or “ Don’t apply for that job, it’s too good for you. You won’t qualify. They surely will give it to someone better qualified than you….” These are just a few examples.

“ The good news is that :

 You  can  choose what to think about ”

You must rebuke your doubts. The dictionary of  “REBUKE” is to reprimand sharply. That’s it !!!

The moment that the doubting comes to your mind, what must you do ? Reprimand it sharply !!!!

In other words, give it no time to sit and rest in your mind, like a farmer chops off wheat stalks with a single blow of his sharp sickle, you must swiftly and sharply cut off doubts from your mind.

…….how to do that ?

Change channels in your mind. You can choose what to think about. Just like you change channels on your TV; when you don’t like what you see, you can focus your mind elsewhere when your current thoughts aren’t doing you any good.

Another good thing to remember is that too much thinking caused the centipede to get stuck. Before the beetle asked her that silly question, she’d never thought about which leg she moved first. Up to that day, she simply walked !

A big enemy of your faith is : THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT SOMETHING.

Faith , by definition, is not something we fully understand. It’s not a formula or a mathematical equation. It’s an unfathomable power that we have, but we don’t have to understand something before we use or benefit from it. For instance, I don’t understand how airplanes can fly-tons of metal, high in the sky flying at amazing speeds, but I still use them when I need to get from point A to B quickly. Do you understand how satellite television works ? And do you need to, before you can enjoy your favorite show ?

Faith works when you practice it. You don’t have to understand it before using or benefiting from it.

Faith is to be sure you’ll get good results from your actions- but not necessarily in that order. Sometimes, before you feel sure about something, you have to start doing it. Your actions can stir up your faith.

Put on your best suit, polish your shoes, and do up your hair before you go to that job interview. Just dressing and acting like you are the one can give you the confidence you need to do well at the interview.

In this case, actions precede faith.

Tidying  up your study area, ordering your books on the shelves, unflattering your desk, sharpening your pencils, and sitting up in your chair will send to your brain a message: “YOU ARE SMART!!

You are good learner and you pass this exam.”

Again , actions proceed faith. Have you been doing too much thinking and not enough doing ?

Has the beetle got you wondering about which leg to move first ?

You’d better start running…..

       May the Lord our God Bless You …..see you next time

Are you going to give up?

General Douglas MacArthur was denied
admission to the Military Academy at
West Point, not once but twice. When he
tried for the third time, he was accepted
and marched right into our history books.
Basketball superstar, Michael Jordan, was
cut from his high school basketball team.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade.
He became England ’s Prime Minister at
the age of 62, after a lifetime of defeats
and new beginnings. His greatest
contribution came when he was a senior
citizen.
Albert Einstein did not speak until he was
four years old and didn ’t learn how to
read until he was seven.
His teacher described him as “mentally
slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his
foolish dreams. ” He was expelled and
was refused admittance to the Zurich
Polytechnic School in Switzerland.
In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of
the Blue Book Modeling Agency, told
modeling hopeful Norman Jean Baker
(Marilyn Monroe), “You’d better learn
secretarial work or else get married.”
An executive from Decca Records turned
down a recording contract with an
English rock band called the Beatles and
said, “We don’t like their sound. Guitar
groups are on their way out.”
When Alexander Graham Bell invented
the telephone in 1876, it didn ’t ring off
the hook with calls from potential
backers. President Rutherford Hayes said,
“ It’s an amazing invention, but who
would ever want to see one of them?”
When Thomas Edison invented the light
bulb, he tried over two thousand
experiments before he got it to work. A
young reporter asked him how it felt to
fail so many times. Edison replied, “I
never failed once. I invented the light
bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step
process. ”
After years of progressive hearing loss,
by age 46 German composer Ludwig van
Beethoven had become completely deaf.
Nevertheless, he wrote his greatest
music, including three symphonies,
during his later years.
Therefore, we must never think that our
time is up. There ’s always something
new to learn while we’re here.
Maybe, none of these people had the
faith we do, but yet, they still made
history.
1 Recomm

The Virtuous Woman makes a difference

Proverbs 31: 31 – Give her of the fruit of

her hands, and let her own works praise

her in the gates.

People can talk and write

about her but she ’ll only

be worthy of praise when

she has fi nally touched

your life …her own works

will bring her praise.

You can’t ever fully become this V-

Woman if all you do is within your own

reach. You may be a great mother,

perfect wife, and extraordinary daughter,

but if you don ’t reach out to others

outside your own little world, you’ll still

be as ordinary as a woman can be.

Let’s consider what the Lord Jesus said

about this: “Suppose one of you had a

servant ploughing or looking after the

sheep. Would he say to the servant when

he comes in from the fi eld, ‘Come along

now and sit down to eat’? Would he not

rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get

yourself ready and wait on me while I

eat and drink; after that you may eat and

drink ’? Would he thank the servant

because he did what he was told to do?

So you also, when you have done

everything you were told to do, should

say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have

only done our duty.’ “ Luke 17:10

All that you do at home, at work, in

school, or in church is basically already

expected of you. If you do it well, you ’re

just doing what you’re supposed to do.

But when you do that AND you reach out

to others while you ’re at it, THEN you’re

doing more than what you’re asked to.

THEN you’re coming out of your comfort

zone. THEN you’re starting to make a

difference in the world outside your own.

My friend Leah, a pastor’s wife is

currently living in Dallas. She started

working with a group of young women

back when she was in the Austin church,

encouraging them to be women of God.

She was never told to do that. It was

from her own desire to see God glorifi ed

among the people in her church. Austin is

the church that has the most Sisterhood

candidates in the state of Texas.

Then there is Eunice. She arrived in the

UK without a word of English and you ’d

think she’d wait until she could express

herself before starting to do anything

there … she didn’t. Not caring about her

position as a pastor’s wife, she

immediately got herself an assistant’s

uniform and began to work in meetings

that hardly any pastor ’s wife attended.

She’d speak to people without a word of

English (don’t ask!).

Teresa is a bishop’s wife and yet every

time there’s a bishop’s conference in her

town, she pulls up her sleeves and works

hard to provide everyone with the best

food and service in the house, even

though there will be 10 other people

being paid for that! She does it just so

everything will come out better than

expected.

Look at the example set by Greici who

worked in Mauritius for years as the only

assistant in a church with about 1,000

people. She ’d work in the offi ce, clean

the church, take care not only of her own

husband but also of the single pastors ’

clothes and food. There were days she’d

stay all day long in the church counselling

people. She ’s now working in France and

is already making her impact there.

Finally we must mention Ima, who is

currently working in New York and

though she has two small children, she’s

always involved in evangelisation work.

She evangelises in the subways and is

ridiculed by people many times,

nevertheless, she keeps on doing it. She

keeps on sowing her many fruitful seeds.

Their own work praises them.

I

To be Called

Soon after Saul took over his post at the
kingdom of Israel, he disappointed God ’s
calling. God had no choice but to start
looking for a replacement immediately.
And this time, He ’d choose someone who
was more like Him. That’s when He
spotted this young man in the hills.
David was a shepherd
and a very good one.
He tended his father ’s
sheep every single day.
When lions and bears
came for the sheep,
he ’d chase them and
kill them. It’s not that
David was tall and strong; on the
contrary, he was the least in his father’s
house. David was not even chosen to go
war with the rest of his brothers …
Many people would love to be called by
God to do His Work on the Altar. They ’re
anxious and sometimes even indifferent
to everything else happening in their life.
They want to serve God but they don ’t
know why it’s taking so long. How did it
happen for David?
Firstly, God was looking, which is still
happening today. Secondly, David was not
capable in the eyes of most people (even
his father ’s). Which is comforting because
that means that the old saying ‘what’s
important is what’s inside’ is still valid, at
least with God. And thirdly, which is
where many people miss out, David was
good at what he did.
David wasn’t just another idle shepherd
out in the hills, tending to some lazy
sheep, in a boring everyday life. David
loved them enough to give his life for
them. While his brothers couldn ’t care
less about their father’s sheep, David
looked forward to being with them,
protecting them from the predators, and
caring for them as if they were his own. I
believe that this is one of the main
reasons that attracted God ’s eyes towards
David. David had God’s way of doing
things!
It’s in the little things we do and say that
we show who we really are. If you want
to serve God on the Altar and while that
doesn ’t happen you don’t love what you
do — grab a chair and wait. Or better
yet, forget it! How can God trust you to
serve Him in this amazing Work when
you can ’t even serve your human boss?
How can you obey God in everything
when you can ’t even obey your own
parents? How can you respect God when
you can ’t even respect your teachers?
If you want to be called, then be worthy
of God ’s call.
God will only call those whom He
accepts. It ’s not because you want to
serve God that He’ll use you. Or because
the Work of God needs you that you’ll be
called.
With God, it’s either all or nothing. Either
you’re all that you say you are or you’re
not. Either you’re worthy or you’re not.
Either you’re a servant or you’re not.
There isn’t such a place in between these
two extremes.

                                                                 God Bless You

Sexy

If you’re single and you’ve decided to
truly follow the Lord Jesus Christ in your
life (notice I mention ‘truly’ here, not
everyone who says they follow Him
really do with their life … anyway), you
must have noticed what
I ’m about to write
here.
Guys find you
extremely sexy. At
first, it may be because
you ’re now pure. You
don’t like talking about
the same things other women your age
do, you don ’t like going to the same
places they go and you don’t like wearing
the same kind of clothes they do. You’re
so different from most women that…
you’re actually more attractive than all of
them!
But the real reason behind this sudden
change of interest from these men is
beyond their own understanding. It ’s
spiritual. The minute you decided to
follow the Lord Jesus, you got yourself
onto satan ’s MOST WANTED list. And he’s
not stupid. He knows exactly how
vulnerable single women are with regard
to relationships.
One nice lady went to the point of telling
me the other day that she felt she was
bringing God shame for not being
married yet. As if being single was
shameful … can you see our enemy
having a field day here? Be smarter than
him and be on the look out. Don ’t settle
for anyone but a man of God – anyone
else is probably sent by satan to get you
confused about your faith, to get you to
do what ’s wrong, to carry a heavy
conscience to deal with before God and
finally to get you to give up on Him.
To be a true Christian is to be the odd
one, be it in school, at work, or at home.
You ’ll never be popular, and if you are,
you’re probably not a true Christian yet.

                                                                       God Bless You 

LIFE - The hardest Game

Give my life into His hands? That’s too
good to be true!” a young man
exclaimed. His mother left him when he
was only five years old and he had to
grow up taking care of himself and his
two little brothers.
He completely lost
his balance. Life
led him to drop
out of school and
join a gang later
on. All he wanted
was to be in
control, to find
some relief, but when one of his younger
brothers followed in his footsteps and
died in a gang fight – he thought his own
game was over.
Many young men and women have lost
control of their lives. Their youth doesn’t
mean anything when it comes to seeing
the wrong side of life. But just as a game
is made of choices, so is life.
It’s your turn and the cards are on the
table. What are you going to do?
Sometimes the best choice to make isn’t
the obvious one. It’s a hidden choice,
almost like a secret one.
Only those who search long enough get
it. When you have a relationship with
God, you know the Author of this game.
He guides you in every way, including
which relationship and career to go for.
But you may say, ‘Why hasn’t He done
that for me then?’ Well, it’s simple.
Read the first part of this paragraph again
… if you have a relationship with God …
He won’t be part of your life if you don’t
give it to Him. If you come to church but
still sleep with your boyfriend or
girlfriend,smoke, lie, steal, cheat or mix
with the wrong crowd, where does God
fit in?
If you want to win this game, you’ve got
to follow the rules … cheating your way
into life will not get you very far.

                                                                           God Bless You 

Blood of Jesus - What does it mean?

The blood of Jesus is the

foundation of redemption. Jesus

Christ died on the cross, shedding

His blood, (and was then

resurrected) as the only

acceptable payment for our sins.

The disciple Peter wrote in 1

Peter 1:18-19, “For you know

that God paid a ransom to save

you from the empty life you

inherited from your ancestors.

And the ransom he paid was not

mere gold or silver. He paid for

you with the precious lifeblood of

Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb

of God. ” The Blood of Jesus

Christ is absolutely the most

precious thing God has offered us.

Every human born has sinned

against God and fallen short of His

standard (Romans 3:23). We do

not and cannot earn salvation by

keeping the Old Testament Law

or by simply being a good person.

We will fail every time; it is in

our nature to sin. It is only

through God sacrificing His Son

Jesus in our place, that we can

acquire complete forgiveness. We

can all attain this by accepting

Jesus as our Savior, and accepting

that He shed His blood to atone

for the sins of all who repent. The

act of communion does not save

us, but we honor this wonderful

gift from God with communion as

a way to remember His sacrifice.

Blood of Jesus - Why is this

required?

In the Old Testament (after

Adam ’s original sin), God

accepted the death of an animal

as a substitute for the sinner. The

animal ’s shed blood was proof

that that one life had to be given

for another. Life is precious and

God places great value on each

one of His created beings. This

agreement demonstrated that,

while blood symbolized death, it

also showed that a life was

spared. However, this was a

temporary covenant. This blood

needed to be repeated daily and

yearly.

God would later send His only Son

providing a new covenant, or

New Testament through Jesus

Christ. Jesus would die in the

place of all sinners. His sacrifice

fulfilled completely what the Old

Testament covenant meant to. His

blood would remove the sins of

the world for all who put their

faith in Him. This sacrifice would

never have to be repeated; it is

an eternal covenant.

John the Baptist called Jesus the

“Lamb of God, who takes away

the sins of the world” (John

1:29) The Lamb of course,

referenced the unblemished

animal sacrifice of old. There are

many references to sacrificial

offerings in the Old Testament.

One that may be most familiar is

the sprinkling of blood on the

Hebrew doorposts when they

were held in bondage by the

Pharaoh of Egypt. This act

provided God ’s protection as His

curse of the death angel passed

through the streets. This curse

was just one that God sent down

on Pharaoh, moving him to

release these Hebrew slaves.

The event was then

commemorated in the Hebrew

Feast of Passover. It is now

recognized as a “type” or

foreshadowing of the blood of

Jesus. The blood is a powerful,

freeing, and protecting provision

from God. As one Christian hymn

says, “There is power, power,

wonder-working power in the

precious blood of the Lamb. ” If

you have asked Jesus to be Lord

of your life, then you too have

applied the blood of the Lamb on

the doorposts of your heart. He is

covering your heart, and your life

with his protection and ever-

lasting forgiveness of sin.

Blood of Jesus - How is this

possible?

It is possible for everyone to have

the protection and forgiveness

that the blood of Jesus provides.

Regardless of what sins and

offenses we have committed

against God, He offers this gift to

each of us. John 3:17 tells us that

Jesus didn ’t come to condemn us

but to save us.

It is not enough to say we believe

in God or know about Him. We

must want know Him personally

and accept the sacrifice of His

Son, Jesus, to receive it. The

Bible, God’s Holy Word, says that

no one can enter heaven or get to

the Father except through the Son

(John 14:6) And in John 6:40,

Jesus says that all who believe in

Him will receive everlasting life

-- with Him! We are only asked

to believe (have faith), repent

(turn from sin), receive (salvation

through Jesus), confess Him, and

transfer ownership of our lives to

Him. If you have never asked

Jesus into your life, won ’t you ask

Him now......

God Bless You