I think we all should lighten up and laugh at ourselves sometimes. “A merry heart is like a good medicine.”
A little girl asked her Sunday School teacher, "If people from Israel are Israelites, and the people from Canaan are Canaanites, are the people from Paris called Parasites?"
Today, I was talking to my body. I do that sometimes. Well, today I said, "Hey body, let's go for a walk. It's a nice day and I think we would feel better don't you?"
Well, imagine my surprise when my body answered back--this has never happened before. Today though it said, "do it and die" So I went to the kitchen and filled a bowl with ice cream. Everyione needs to listen to their body. Right?
If my words today can help just one person I will consider my day a success. I pray this prayer today for all of you. Take what you need from these words.
Dear Father,
I come to you today to ask blessings on my friends and family. May their eyes be opened to the beauty you have given us. May their ears be opened to hear you in the wind that rushes by, in the birds singing in the trees, and in the sun that shines upon them as they go about their day. As I sit here, I hear raindrops falling outside and know that the rain is sent by you to nourish and refresh us.
I ask that if anyone reading this has a need, they will come to the throne and let their needs be known to you. I ask that what I write touch someone today. If my words can encourage and help just one person, I will know that the words are not in vain.
Father, I ask that if someone is hurting for whatever reason, I will have open eyes to see their need, open heart to offer a word of help, and open hands to give them a lift up from their discouragement and hurt. I don’t know what is on their hearts but you do. I thank you Lord and will ever praise your name.
I pray this is Jesus’ name.
Amen
Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
Thought to be by Mark Twain
Reflection:
Each of us has one life to live. Let’s live that life for the good of all that we come in contact with. Do we want to be remembered for the selfish things we did or the integrity we pass on to others. Although we only have one physical life, we will live on in the memories and minds of others. Instead of living a life full of hate and despair, let’s leave the world better off by our being in it.
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Hear So as to Be Heard February 24 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7) Note well that we must hear Jesus speak if we expect Him to hear us speak. If we have no ear for Christ, He will have no ear for us. In proportion as we hear we shall be heard. Moreover, what is heard must remain, must live in us, and must abide in our character as a force and a power. We must receive the truths which Jesus taught, the precepts which He issued, and the movements of His Spirit within us; or we shall have no power at the Mercy Seat. Suppose our Lord's words to be received and to abide in us, what a boundless field of privilege is opened up to us! We are to have our will in prayer, because we have already surrendered our will to the Lord's command. Thus are Elijahs trained to handle the keys of heaven and lock or loose the clouds. One such man is worth a thousand common Christians. Do we humbly desire to be intercessors for the church and the world, and like Luther to be able to have what we will of the Lord? Then we must bow our ear to the voice of the Well-beloved, treasure up His words, and carefully obey them. He has need to "hearken diligently" who would pray effectually. From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Blessing on Littleness February 21 He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. (Psalm 115:13) This is a word of cheer to those who are of humble station and mean estate. Our God has a very gracious consideration for those of small property, small talent, small influence, small weight. God careth for the small things in creation and even regards sparrows in their lighting upon the ground. Nothing is small to God, for He makes use of insignificant agents for the accomplishment of His purposes. Let the least among men seek of God a blessing upon his littleness, and he shall find his contracted sphere to be a happy one. Among those who fear the Lord there are little and great. Some are babes, and others are giants. But these are all blessed. Little faith is blessed faith. Trembling hope is blessed hope. Every grace of the Holy Spirit, even though it be only in the bud, bears a blessing within it. Moreover, the Lord Jesus bought both the small and the great with the same precious blood, and He has engaged to preserve the lambs as well as the full-grown sheep. No mother overlooks her child because it is little; nay, the smaller it is, the more tenderly does she nurse it. If there be any preference with the Lord, He does not arrange them as "great and small" but as "small and great." From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" God Will Answer February 18 He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (Psalm 145:19) His own Spirit has wrought this desire in us, and therefore He will answer it. It is His own life within which prompts the cry, and therefore He will hear it. Those who fear Him are men under the holiest influence, and, therefore, their desire is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Like Daniel, they are men of desires, and the Lord will cause them to realize their aspirations. Holy desires are grace in the blade, and the heavenly Husbandman will cultivate them till they come to the full corn in the ear. God-fearing men desire to be holy, to be useful, to be a blessing to others, and so to honor their Lord. They desire supplies for their need, help under burdens, guidance in perplexity, deliverance in distress; and sometimes this desire is so strong and their case so pressing that they cry out in agony like little children in pain, and then the Lord works most comprehensively and does all that is needful according to this Word -- "and will save them." Yes, if we fear God, we have nothing else to fear; if we cry to the Lord, our salvation is certain. Let the reader lay this text on his tongue and keep it in his mouth all the day, and it will be to him as "a wafer made with honey." From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" You Deal with God February 16 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:9) The Lord thus makes known His sparing mercies. It may be that the reader is now under heavy displeasure, and everything threatens his speedy doom. Let the text hold him up from despair. The Lord now invites you to consider your ways and confess your sins. If He had been man, He would long ago have cut you off. If He were now to act after the manner of men, it would be a word and a blow and then there would be an end of you: but it is not so, for "as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways." You rightly judge that He is angry, but He keepeth not His anger forever: if you turn from sin to Jesus, God will turn from wrath. Because God is God, and not man, there is still forgiveness for you, even though you may be steeped up to your throat in iniquity. You have a God to deal with and not a hard man, or even a merely just man. No human being could have patience with you. You would have wearied out an angel, as you have wearied your sorrowing Father; but God is longsuffering. Come and try Him at once. Confess, believe, and turn from your evil way, and you shall be saved. From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Mercy to the Undeserving February 14 He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. (Psalm 32:10) O fair reward of trust! My Lord, grant it me to the full! The truster above all men feels himself to be a sinner; and lo, mercy is prepared for him: he knows himself to have no deservings, but mercy comes in and keeps house for him on a liberal scale. O Lord, give me this mercy, even as I trust in Thee! Observe, my soul, what a bodyguard thou hast! As a prince is compassed about with soldiery, so art thou compassed about with mercy. Before and behind, and on all sides, ride these mounted guards of grace. We dwell in the center of the system of mercy, for we dwell in Christ Jesus. O my soul, what an atmosphere dost thou breathe! As the air surrounds thee, even so does the mercy of thy Lord. To the wicked there are many sorrows, but to thee there are so many mercies that thy sorrows are not worth mentioning. David says, "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart." In obedience to this precept my heart shall triumph in God, and I will tell out my gladness. As Thou hast compassed me with mercy, I will also compass Thine altars, O my God, with songs of thanksgiving! From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he reses in this freak establishment. No the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.
Philip K. Dick—American science fiction writer (1928-1982)
Meditations:
Each of us are complex and unique creations of God. Some of us can interact easily with others while some find social interaction very difficult. What type are you—is it easy to give of yourself or do you find this uncomfortable? Are you willing to go out of your way to help lift someone up with your words? If speaking encouragement is difficult maybe you can respond in some other way to assist someone in need. Run errands for a shut in, take care of a weary mother’s children so she can recharge her battery, take a meal to someone who is ill, are a few ways we can help our neighbors. Let our lives show God’s love through us. Be a bright spot in someone’s day. You will find the help you give will refresh another soul but the biggest winner will be you.
Think about it.
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Joyful Security February 8 I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10) Fear of falling is wholesome. To be venturesome is no sign of wisdom. Times come to us when we feel that we must go down unless we have a very special support. Here we have it. God's right hand is a grand thing to lean upon. Mind, it is not only His hand, though it keepeth heaven and earth in their places, but His right hand: His power united with skill, His power where it is most dexterous. Nay, this is not all; it is written, "I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." That hand which He uses to maintain His holiness and to execute His royal sentences -- this shall be stretched out to hold up His trusting ones. Fearful is our danger, but joyful is our security. The man whom God upholds, devils cannot throw down. Weak may be our feet, but almighty is God's right hand. Rough may be the road, but Omnipotence is our upholding. We may boldly go forward. We shall not fall. Let us lean continually where all things lean. God will not withdraw His strength, for His righteousness is there as well. He will be faithful to His promise, and faithful to His Son, and therefore faithful to us. How happy we ought to be! Are we not so? From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Justice Satisfied February 5 When I see the blood, I will pass over you. (Exodus 12:13) My own sight of the precious blood is for my comfort; but it is the Lord's sight of it which secures my safety. Even when I am unable to behold it, the Lord looks at it and passes over me because of it. If I am not so much at ease as I ought to be, because my faith is dim, yet I am equally safe because the Lord's eye is not dim, and He sees the blood of the great Sacrifice with steady gaze. What a joy is this! The Lord sees the deep inner meaning, the infinite fullness of all that is meant by the death of His dear Son. He sees it with restful memory of justice satisfied and all His matchless attributes glorified. He beheld creation in its progress and said, "It is very good"; but what does He say of redemption in its completeness? What does He say of the obedience even unto death of His well-beloved Son? None can tell His delight in Jesus, His rest in the sweet savor which Jesus presented when He offered Himself without spot unto God. Now rest we in calm security. We have God's sacrifice and God's Word to create in us a sense of perfect security. He will, He must, pass over us, because He spared not our glorious Substitute. Justice joins hands with love to provide everlasting salvation for all the blood-besprinkled From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
You can’t leave footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your butt. And who wants to leave butt prints in the sands of time?
Bob Moawad—Motivational Speaker (1937-2007)
My Thoughts:
I want to leave footprints and not butt prints. I want to be remembered by the encouragement I gave to others. I don’t want to be remembered as a “couch potato” who thought only of myself. What do you want to leave—footprints or butt prints.
Think about it.
From Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" Never Despair February 1 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. (Malachi 4:2) Fulfilled once in the first advent of our glorious Lord, and yet to have a fuller accomplishment in His second advent, this gracious word is also for daily use. Is it dark with the reader? Does the night deepen into a denser blackness? Still let us not despair: the sun will yet rise. When the night is darkest, dawn is nearest. The sun which will arise is of no common sort. It is the Sun -- the Sun of Righteousness, whose every ray is holiness. He who comes to cheer us, comes in the way of justice as well as of mercy, comes to violate no law even to save us. Jesus as much displays the holiness of God as His love. Our deliverance, when it comes, will be safe because righteous. Our one point of inquiry should be -- "Do we fear the name of the Lord? Do we reverence the living God and walk in His ways?" Then for us the night must be short; and when the morning cometh, all the sickness and sorrow of our soul will be over forever. Light, warmth, joy, and clearness of vision will come, and healing of every disease and distress will follow after. Has Jesus risen upon us? Let us sit in the sun. Has He hidden His face? Let us wait for His rising. He will shine forth as surely as the sun. From the Faith's Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app - http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
