Inspiration Shared By Lady Braids

Inspiration On 07/29/11

All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find
with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will
not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus
off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your
unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another
feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed
in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy.

 -- Wayne Dyer

Inspiration On 07/28/11

 

We're not very patient. We want instant oatmeal. We turn on lights in
henhouses to fool the hens into laying eggs before breakfast. A sign on a
Pennsylvania highway announces "Antiques manufactured while you wait."
That's the approach we like. Go after it head-on. Get it and get it now.

That approach is of some value but it does have limitations. You can get a
Cadillac by putting down the cash, but you can't get character that way.
You can get a house, but not a home. You can get money, but not life's
greatest riches.

Some things don't come by direct pursuit. They are by-products of the
pursuit of something else.

Patience is one of those things.

 -- Eddie Levick

Inspiration On 07/27/11

I have in my hand two boxes
Which God gave me to hold
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black,
And all your joys in the gold."

I heeded his words, and in the two boxes 
Both my joys and sorrows I did store
But though the gold became heavier each day
The black was as light as before

With curiosity, I opened the black
I wanted to find out why
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole
Which my sorrows had fallen out by

He smiled a gentle smile at me
"My child, they're all here with Me"
I asked, " God, why give me the boxes,
Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"

"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, 
The black is "for you to let go"

 -- Author Unknown

Inspiration On 07/26/11

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home
after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from
San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've
a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with
me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know," the son continued,
"he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on
a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere
else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find
somewhere to live."

"No, mom and dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're
asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a
terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live,
and we can't let something like this interfere with
our lives. I think you should just come home and
forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents
heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however,
they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their
son had died after falling from a building, they were
told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and
were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of
their son. They recognized him, but to their horror
they also discovered something they didn't know.
Their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find
it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to
have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience
us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather
stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful,
or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that
way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love
that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless
of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say
a little prayer that God will give you the strength you
need to accept people as they are, and to help us all
be more understanding of those who are different
from us.

 -- Author Unknown

 

Inspiration On 07/25/11

A missionary on furlough told this true story while
visiting his home church in Michigan:

"While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every
two weeks, I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a
nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days
and required camping overnight at the halfway point.

On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I
planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine
and supplies, then begin my two-day journey back to the
field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two
men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I
treated him for his injuries and, at the same time, talked
to him about the Lord. I then traveled two days, camping
overnight, and arrived home without incident. Two weeks
later I repeated my journey.

Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young
man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried
money and medicines. He said, "Some friends and I followed
you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We
planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just
as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you
were surrounded by 26 armed guards."

At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone
in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point,
however, and said, "No sir, I was not the only person to
see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all
counted them. It was because of those guards that we were
afraid and left you alone."

At this point in the sermon, which I was delivering in
Michigan, one of the men in the congregation jumped to
his feet and interrupted the missionary. He asked if he
could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary
told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted
told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning
here, and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to
putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the
urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this
church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for
you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day
stand up?"

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up.
The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were, he was
too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of
the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever hear such
prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer
except the gates of hell.

 -- Author Unknown

Inspiration On 07/22/11

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his
room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord
told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him
a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that
the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

The man did this, day after day. For many years he toiled
from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against
the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with
all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore,
and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement,
Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into
the man's mind: "You have been pushing against that rock
for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over
this? You are never going to move it"; thus giving the man
the impression that the task was impossible and that he was
a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.
"Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in
my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be
good enough."

Then he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take
his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I
have labored long and hard in your service, putting all
my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after
all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a
millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately: "My child, when I
asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that
your task was to push against the rock with all your strength,
which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that
I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. Now you
come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have
failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are
strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your
hands are callused from constant pressure and your legs
have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have
grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you
used to have. Yet, you haven't moved the rock. But your
calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your
faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I will
now move the rock."

At times when we hear a word from God, we tend to use
our own intellect to decifer what He wants, when actually
what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains,
but it is still God who moves the mountains.

 -- Author Unknown

Inspiration On 07/21/11

 

I cannot say " Our ",
if I live in a water-tight spiritual compartment; if I think a
special place in Heaven is reserved for my denomination.

I cannot say " Father ",
if I do not demonstrate the relationship in my daily life.

I cannot say "which art in Heaven",
if I am so occupied with the earth that I am laying up no
treasure there.

I cannot say " Hallowed be Thy Name ",
if I, who am called by His name, am not holy.

I cannot say " Thy Kingdom come ",
if I am not doing all in my power to hasten its coming.

I cannot say " Thy will be done",
if I am questioning, resentful of or disobedient to
His will for me.

I cannot say " on earth as it is in Heaven",
if I am not prepared to devote my life here to His
service.

I cannot say " Give us this day our daily bread",
if I'm living on past experiences.

I cannot say "forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those that trespass against us,
if I harbor a grudge against anyone.

I cannot say " Lead us not into temptation ",
if I deliberately place myself, or remain in
a position where I am likely to be tempted.

I cannot say " Deliver us from evil ",
if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual
realm with the weapon of prayer.

I cannot say " Thine is the Kingdom ", 
if I do not accord the King the disciplined
obedience of a loyal subject.

I cannot say " Thine is the power ", 
if I fear what men may do, or what my
neighbor may think.

I cannot say " Thine is the glory ",
if I am seeking glory for myself.

I cannot say " Forever and forever ",
if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.

I cannot say " Amen ",
if I do not also add, "Cost what it may,"
for to say this prayer will cost EVERYTHING.

 -- Author Unknown

 

Inspiration On 07/20/11

For years my husband and I enjoyed our daily walks together.
Sometimes we talked quietly other times we were just together
in silence.

But our walks lost their glow when, after an illness, I had to
walk as therapy. It changed our gait, our buoyancy. Moreover,
it was changing my attitude. What's the use, I thought. It's
doing no good.

Then one day a little note arrived in the mail. It said: "Keep it
up, you two lovebirds! You make my day as you pass my window
every afternoon looking so fit and happy. I am a shut-in and
don't know what I would do without the inspiration you give.
'Things will get better' your presence seems to say..."

Each of us is an instrument of God, sometimes inspiring one
another without knowing it.

This week, let someone know what they secretly give you.

 -- by June Masters Bacher
     excerpted from Daily Guideposts Book of Devotionals
     www.timothyreport.com 

 

Inspiration On 07/19/11

 

We believe we are hurt when we don't receive love. But that
is not what hurts us. Our pain comes when we do not give love.

We were born to love. You might say that we are divinely
created love machines. We function most powerfully when we
are giving love.

The world has led us to believe that our well-being is
dependent on other people loving us. But this is the kind
of upside down thinking that has caused so many of our
problems. The truth is our well-being is dependent on our
giving love.

It is not about what comes back; it is about what goes out!

 -- Alan Cohen

 

Inspiration On 07/18/11

 

God’s Word in Proverbs 18:21 tells us that life and death are in the
power of the tongue. Words are carriers of meaning, emotion, faith,
fear and energy. 

A repetitive teaching from my parents still echoes in my mind…
“It’s not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it.” And I remember,
“Think twice before you speak. If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all.”

And I heard as a child, “Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words can never hurt me.”  Now that statement is not true.
Words do carry the potential to hurt, linger, humiliate, misdirect,
anger, sadden or crush one’s spirit.

Remember words can heal or hurt…bless or stress…create or
destroy…attract or repel…motivate or discourage…decrease
or increase your opportunities … demean or develop a healthy
self-image. As parents we are not perfect. We often carry our
wounds from words and then unknowingly pass them onto our
children.

Once we forgive, heal and become aware of the impact of
words, then we can break the generation cycle of low self-
esteem and crushed spirits. Think twice before you release
words of anger, jealousy, lies,gossip, criticism, fear, vulgarity,
lack, excuses or defeat. Different words evoke different
feelings.

Send out your words like arrows with great intention, power
and focus. Don’t underestimate the power of words to make
or break you financially. Your words are boomerangs. If you
constantly speak only about lack, you will experience more
little and lack.

Be more and more aware of God’s abundance, love and
infinite provision; you can never really feel a state of lack
and stress if you remember the truth … “The Lord is my
Shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalms 23:1)

What words are you speaking and releasing today? 

 -- © Jewel Diamond Taylor. All rights reserved.   
        Originally published at www.DoNotGiveUp.net