Inspiration Shared By Lady Braids

Inspiration On 1/18/12

When you are poked or prodded or pinched
or squeezed, what comes out of you?

Does anger come flying out in a torrent of words?
Anxiety dampen your skin with a fearful sweat?
Uncertainty make you apologize for your opinion?

A breakdown of communication between your
mind and heart and soul will leave you unsure
of how you truly feel or why your feelings make
you uncomfortable.

The surest indication of internal separation is
the injurious way you respond to the world. The
surest indication of internal wholeness is the
unflustered, calm and caring way you react in
the face of crisis.

What's inside of you, is what comes out of you.

 -- Living in love and loving life,
     Terri McPherson

Inspiration On 1/16/12

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than
to be alive without breathing.     (Martin Luther King Jr)

The following is from a clipping that Steve Worden from
Tulsa OK found on the inside cover of his Grandfather’s well
worn 1909 Scoffield Bible: 

This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way
of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories
are true and its decisions are immutable.  Read it to be wise,
believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy.  It contains light
to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you.  It
is the travelers’ map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass,
the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s character.  Here paradise
is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed. 
Christ is its grand Object, our good its design and the glory of
God its end.  It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide
the feet.  Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully.  It is a mine
of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure.  It is given
you in life, will be opened in the judgment and will be remembered
forever.  It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the
greatest labor and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

Inspiration On 08/23/11

The purpose of your life is far greater than your
own personal fulfillment, peace of mind, or even
your happiness. It's far greater than your family,
your career, or even your wildest dreams and
ambitions.

If you want to know why you were placed on this
planet, you must begin with God. You were born
BY His purpose and FOR His purpose.

 -- Rick Warren

Inspiration On 08/08/11

Many in the Bible who had a detailed account of their lives went
through a period when they felt down, no matter how great they
were.

So will you.

You will have to go through some things...

...before God can send some things through you.

-- from the sermon, "The Elijah Syndrome"
    www.theonlineword.com

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 07/15/11

 

“We must not become tired of doing good.” Galatians 6:9

When we are mistreated, our animalistic response is to go on
the hunt. Instinctively, we double up our fists. Getting even
is only natural. Which incidentally, is precisely the problem.
Revenge is natural, not spiritual. Getting even is the rule of
the jungle. Giving grace is the rule of the kingdom . . .

To forgive someone is to admit our limitations. We’ve been
given only one piece of life’s jigsaw puzzle. Only God has
the cover of the box.

 -- Max Lucado

 

Inspiration On 07/07/11

I recently came upon an intersection where the following message was
written on a sign: "Obey your own signal only." The implication, I
suppose, was that it was easy to be distracted and to follow the
signal that directs traffic coming from another direction.

I thought the sign unnecessary; after all, why would a driver obey
someone else's signal?

As I thought about it, though, perhaps we need that kind of warning
from time to time. The reason is that, all too often, we fail to
obey the one signal we ought to obey - God's intention for our lives.

The problem is, of course, that there are many other signals beaming
at us constantly from any number of directions. These signals can
be alluring and attractive; they are also deceptive. When we come
to the point of decision, however, we need to decide which signal to
obey.

The test? If a signal leads us in ways that keep us from loving God
or our neighbor, it's not what God intends. That's not the signal
to obey.

For followers of Jesus, there's only one signal to obey: God's call to love.

 -- Dave Hanson, Pastor
     Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Wheaton, IL

Inspiration On 06/24/11

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy
family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the
mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the
cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel
saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things
aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very
hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had
the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good
night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the
farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their
sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and
asked the older angel how could you have let this happen? The first man
had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had
little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die..

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When
we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold
stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with
greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he
wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the
angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead."

Things aren't always what they seem.

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out
the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that
every out come is always to your advantage. You just might not know
it until some time later.

 -- Author Unknown

Inspiration On 04/22/11

The resurrection cannot be tamed or tethered by any utilitarian
test. It is a vast watershed in history, or it is nothing. It
cannot be tested for truth; it is the test of lesser truths. No
light can be thrown on it; its own light blinds the investigator.
It does not compel belief; it resists it. But once accepted as
fact, it tells more about the universe; about history, and about
man's state and fate than all the mountains of other facts in the
human accumulation.

 -- Life Magazine