Tuesday, September 27, 2011

THE RING


A student came to his teacher with a problem:

-I came here, professor, because I feel so small, that I am powerless to do anything. They say I'm good for nothing, I do not do anything right, I'm very slow and stupid. How can I improve?

-What can I do to value myself more?

The teacher without looking at him, said:

-Sorry young man, but now I can’t help, I must first solve my own problem. Maybe later and pausing said:

-If you help me, I can solve my problem more quickly and then maybe i can help you solve yours.

-Of course, the young man stammered, but felt devalued again.

The teacher pulled out a ring that he used in His little finger, gave the boy and said:

-Ride the horse and go to market. You should sell this ring because I have to pay a debt.

-We must get for the ring as much as possible, but do not accept less than a gold coin. Go and come back with the money as soon as possible.

The young man took the ring and left.

Barely reached the market and began to offer the ring to the merchants.

They looked with some interest, till the young man told them how much the ring cost.

Barely reached the market and began to offer the ring to the merchants.

They looked with some interest, till the young man told them how much the ring cost.

When the young man mentioned a gold coin, some people laughed, others would leave without even looking at it, but only one old man was kind enough to explain that a gold coin was too valuable to buy a ring.

When the young man mentioned a gold coin, some laughed, others would leave without even looking at it, but only one old man was kind enough to explain that a gold coin was too valuable to buy a ring.

Trying to help the young man, he offered a silver coin and a cup of copper, but the young man followed the instructions to not accept less than a gold coin and refused the offers.

After offering the jewellery to everyone passing by the market and depressed by failure,he rode his horse and returned. The young man wanted to have a gold coin so that he could buy the ring, thus ending the concern of his teacher and so he could receive his help and advice.

He entered the house and said:

-Professor, I'm sorry, but it is impossible to get what you asked. Perhaps you could get 2 or 3 pieces of silver, but do not think you can fool anyone about the value of the ring.

-Important what you said young man, he replied smiling. We have to know the value of the ring first. Get back on your horse and go to the jeweller. Who better to know the exact value of the ring? Say you want to sell the ring and ask how much he gives for it. But no matter how much He offers, do not sell it. Come back with my ring.

The young man went to the jeweller and gave him the ring to examine. The jeweller looked at the ring with a loop, weighed the ring and said:

- Tell your teacher that if he wants to sell now, I cannot get more than 58 gold coins for the ring.

- 58 GOLD COINS! The Young man cried.

- Yes, replied the jeweller, I know that with time I could offer about 70 coins, but if the sale is urgent...
The young man went home excited to tell the teacher what happened...

- Sit, said the teacher, and after hearing all that the young man told him, said:

-You are like this ring, valuable and unique jewellery. It can only be evaluated by a specialist. Did you think that anyone could discover your true value?

And saying it put the ring on his finger again.

We are all like this gem. Valuable and unique and walk across all markets of life expecting that inexperienced people value us and see our worth.
Let God evaluate you and tell you your real value.




Friday, September 16, 2011

Reflection

Are we really Gods children?

Many are the times that I sense the need of a complete spiritual overhaul, amid such spiritual backwater, one can only strive with all strength in order to keep ones relationship with God afloat.

Henceforth, the need for a few pointers to vanquish this spiritual squalor.

1. Deny yourself daily

2. Carry your cross

3. Follow Jesus (and not vise versa)

Are ready to practice this?

Salvation depends on it!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Seeing through the eyes of Faith

The story is to beautiful...
Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, 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 the 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 fisherman, we throwback the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small.
We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger 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.

You can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you(Philippians 4:13)

Nothing is too big for God!





Friday, May 13, 2011

Making proper use of the tongue

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” Proverbs 18:21

A direct translation of this verse from the Portuguese, WBPT Brazilian Portuguese NT Bible would be “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who use it well will eat its fruit.
I believe you must have heard several times someone say that the word has power. Yes, and amazing how people do not give much importance to this fact. With words we can build or destroy. When the Bible refers to death it can be discourage, contamination of negative ideas, or negativity. And when it speaks of Life it can be motivate, cheer, teach, rebuke, edify, or save a person. Words can be poisonous or nutritious. There are several examples in the Bible of proper and improper use of the words. I want to cite an example where there is word of death and life.
The Bible in Book of Numbers, talks about 12 men sent by Moses to spy the land of Canaan. And after 40 days they were back with their report.
Think about this, the children of God are waiting for 40 days anxious to here the good news about the land that flows milk and honey. They gather together to hear the report the spies are bringing.

Negative report
1-Fear and impotence- “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong…” Num13: 28

2- Inferiority complex - “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” Num13:31

3-Contamination of negativity- And they gave the children of Israel a bad report…” Num13:32

4- Weakness and low self-esteem –“… and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” Num13:33

Can you imagine the impact of those words? Well Bible says that the congregation lifted up their voices, cried and wept all night. They complained and were full of fear. Num14:1-2
They had just eaten the poisonous words.

Positive report
This was from Joshua and Caleb, 2 of the 12 Men sent to spy;
1-Audacity, encouragement - Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said “let’s go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” Num13:30

2- Motivation – “...The land we passed thorough to spy out is an exceedingly good land.” Num14:7

3-Teaching and admonishing- “If the Lord Delights in us, than he will bring us into this land and give it to us…” Num14:8
What kind of words are you spreading? 

 “Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!” James3:5


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Resisting temptation

We Know well that the first place the devil battles to conquer is our mind, the devil knows that once he won our mind, he won our heart and conquered our life. He will use every tool in his possession to win this battle. Our mind is our authenticity, our Label, our Brand, our dreams, our self-esteem, and our wishes; all of this is brought to our hearts through our mind. We should not underestimate our enemy that is very astute, and persistent. He will try to find a way to our hearts using our minds. This process of the devil working in our mind is called temptation, it’s the effort he does to make us sin. Temptation is not sin unless we give in.

The Bible says in “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full- grown, brings forth death.” James 1:15

The death the Bible talks about doesn’t mean to die physically, but spiritually dead, emotionally dead, financially dead, etc etc. Once the devil wins this battle in our mind, he has control of our life, and once he has control of our lives, he takes away the joy of life, takes our peace of mind, destroys our dreams, our self esteem and laughs at our face. Plays with our lives, lets us be happy for while, and when you think your free he takes you back to hurt, oppress and humiliate you.

How to win this battle?

Submitting yourself to God, to His will, to His word, to His Laws and resisting the temptations is the only way to win this battle. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” James 4:7

I learnt this, and like to use it as an example to illustrate temptation and sin. Think of the door bell ringing as temptation, sin happens when you open the door. You cannot stop anyone from ringing your door bell, but you can choose not to open. It does bother, it is annoying because of the noise but it’s your choice to open the door and invite the person in. If you choose not to, the person on the other side will certainly give up and leave. We shouldn’t invite sin in, less even entertain it. Whenever the devil is ringing the door bell of your mind, choose not to open it, read the Bible, pray, worship.

Do not accept your mind to be the playground of the devil, “Put on the Full armor of God, so that you can take a stand against the devils scheme” Ephesians 6:11
Qoute:You can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can sure keep them from building a nest in your hair!








Thursday, February 10, 2011

Endless Love

"38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,t neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

OLD PATHS



I liked the old paths, when
Moms were at home.
Dads were at work.
Brothers went into the army.
And sisters got married BEFORE having children!







Crime did not pay;
Hard work did;
And people knew the difference.  

Moms could cook;
Dads would work;
Children would behave.
 
Husbands were loving;
Wives were supportive;
And children were polite.

Women wore the jewelry;
And Men wore the pants.
Women looked like ladies;
Men looked like gentlemen;
And children looked decent.
People loved the truth,
And hated a lie;
They came to church to get IN,
Not to get OUT!

Hymns sounded Godly;
Sermons sounded helpful;
Rejoicing sounded normal;
And crying sounded sincere.

Cursing was wicked;
Drugs were for illness;
And divorce was unthinkable.

The flag was honored;
Church was beautiful;
And God was welcome!
 
We read the Bible in public;
Prayed in school;
And preached from house to house
To be called a Christian was worth dying for;
To be called a Christian was worth living for;
To be called a traitor was a shame!
 
Preachers preached because they had a message;

And Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!
Preachers preached from the Bible;
Singers sang from the heart;
And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!

A new birth meant a new life;
Salvation meant a changed life;
Following Christ led to eternal life.
 
Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God;
Being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord;
Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;
And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!
 
Laws were based on the Bible;
Homes read the Bible;
And churches taught the Bible.
 
God was worshiped;
Christ was exalted;
And the Holy Spirit was respected..

Church was where you found Christians
on the Lord's day, rather than in the garden,
on the river bank, on the golf course,
Or being entertained somewhere else.


I still like the old paths the best!