Simply 4 God

Jul 15, 2009

The Little Old Man

Our pastor told us this story in church on Sunday. You may have heard or read it before but I hope you enjoy reading again. The main point behind the story is very powerful. It will make you stop and think.

A young man went on vacation to Sydney Australia. While he was walking down the street taking in all the beautiful sites, he noticed this little old man across the street from him. He noticed the little old man was walking towards him. The young man noticed the man's clothes were torn and dirty. He hair was messy and he looked like he had not bathed in quite sometime. The young thought to himself, "oh no, he is coming to beg me for money".

As the little old man got closer, the young man was already reaching in his pocket to get some money. The little old man stopped and looked at him for a moment. The young man got a little scared. He thought, "what is this old man up to"? After a few moments, the little old man said these words, "if you died today, do you know where you would spend eternity"? The little old man turned and walked away. The young man stood there thinking about the question the little old man asked him, "if I died today, do I know where I would spend eternity". The young man walked on, but this question would not leave his mind.

When his vacation was over, he went back to Atlanta, his home, and attended church. He had been going to church for quite sometime but had not joined. He had not accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. The minister began to preach. His message was on Salvation. After the sermon, the young man went up to the altar. He looked at the minister and said, "I want to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior". The minister was filled with joy! He knew this young man had attended his church for a while, and had been praying that he would join and accept Jesus Christ. The minister asked the young man after service what had changed his mind. The young man told him about his trip to Sydney Australia and the little old man.

Two years later another young man went on vacation to Sydney Australia. He was walking down a street looking at the sites when he noticed this little old man coming toward him. He started to reach in his pocket for some money as the little old man looked homeless. The little old man walked up to him and asked this question, "if you died today, do you know where you will spend eternity". He walked away. The young man could not stop thinking about the question. He could not get it out of his mind.

Upon returning home to Atlanta, he attended church. He had been going to church for quite sometime. He never joined and never accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Once again the minister was preaching on salvation. After the sermon, the young man went to the altar and said he wanted to join church and accept Jesus Christ into his life. The minister was full of joy. He knew this young man had attended church for quite sometime, yet never joined and accepted Jesus Christ. The minister was a little curious and asked the young man what had changed his mind. The young man told him about his trip to Sydney Australia and about the little old man.

The minister was really curious now. Two young men in his congregation had left unsaved but upon their return both became saved. What had this little old man said to them that made them change their minds? The minister decided to go to Sydney in search of this little old man.

The minister was in Sydney for many days. He had walked many streets in search of this little old man. When he had almost given up, he decided to walk down one more street. As he came to the corner and was about ready to cross, there on the other side of the street was a little old man. Something inside of him told him that he had found the little old man he had been searching for. He crossed the street and said, "I have had two young men visit here and when they came back they accepted Jesus Christ". What did you say to them"?

The little old man looked at him and said, "many years ago I lost everything. My home, my job, and my family. One thing I never lost was my faith in God. I promised God that whenever I came across someone I would ask them this question, if you died today, do you know where you will spend eternity? I have been doing this for many years and never knew until today if those words had changed someones life. I am glad you came and told me about the two young men accepting Jesus Christ. I now know that I am making a difference. Thank you". The old man turned around and walked away.

You never know like the little old man in the story, if you are truly making a difference in someones life when you speak of God and Jesus Christ. You may never know until you get to heaven. But, just because you do not know, don't let this stop you from telling someone about God and Jesus Christ. You never know the lives you have changed by asking a simple question as,

"IF YOU DIED TODAY, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY"?

Grace and Peace

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Jul 10, 2009

She Still Calls Me Daddy

I signed up to review books for Thomas Nelson. I got my first book yesterday and read it in one night! Here is my first attempt at writing a review for a major publishing company.

She Still Calls Me Daddy
Building a New Relationship with Your Daughter After You Walk Her down the Aisle
By Robert Wolgemuth
Thomas Nelson Publisher

She Still Calls Me Daddy is more than a “book to read”. This book is inspirational and biblical based guide to help fathers, as well as mothers, understand the “emotional roller coaster” that will begin the moment their little girl says, “I do”. The author says, “Giving her away at the altar doesn’t mean completely giving up the relationship that you’ve so carefully built over the years, it just means that the relationship is going to need some substantial renovation”.

It does not matter if your daughter is two or 22, this book takes you from the moment your daughter is born to the day she says “I do”. It is a must read for any father or mother. It will aid you in the many changes that will take place when the day comes to “let your little girl go”.

I highly recommend reading this book. I read it in one night and enjoyed every moment of it. I loved the many scripture references. I loved the personal account of what the author went through himself. I also loved the examples of biblical marriages used throughout the book.

Although my father was not alive to walk me down the aisle and “let me go” I do have a daughter and this book will aid me in knowing what her father will go through when he walks her down the aisle. I will know what to expect as well.
(I am a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program http://brb.thomasnelson.com/)

Grace and Peace

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Jul 9, 2009

Heaven or Hell: Your Choice

Something has been really bothering me lately and I have been struggling with this within my spirit for quite sometime. What I am about to write may upset others, it may even make some mad at me but, I DO NOT CARE.

First, I grew up listening, watching and loving the Jackson 5 and Micheal my whole life. When he passed away, I cried as if he was a part of my family. In many ways, he was.

But, one thing which breaks my heart about his death is this: Do people realize how short one's life truly can be? Do people realize that you can be alive and well one day and the next day YOU ARE DEAD! Do people know where they are going to spend eternity when they leave this earth? Do they?

Do you?

My daughter asked me if God was trying to tell us something with Micheal Jackson's death. I said, "yes. This is a wake-up call for people to realize that seeing the next day is not guaranteed". After all, when you wake up, (and here is a little dose of truth), you do not wake yourself up, GOD is the one who wakes you up. This is the truth my friends.

God is the one who decides if you will open your eyes or not.

Do you thank Him when you do open your eyes.? Do you thank Him for allowing you to see another day on this earth? If not you should! God is the one, the only one, who controls every breath that you take. GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know where you will spend eternity? Will it be in heaven or in hell? Are you in right standing with God? Or are you against God?
Have you asked Jesus Christ to come into you life?

These questions must be answered before it is to late. The time is NOW!!!!!! Where you spend eternity after you die depends upon it. Will you go to Heaven where you will never be hungry or thirst again? Where there will be no more sorrow or pain?

¹⁶Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:16, 17)

Or in Hell where the fire never goes out and you cry out in pain, misery and torture: ⁴⁹This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 13:49-50)

You have this one life to decide where you will spend eternity: " Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment," (Hebrews 9:27) You have the choice to make. No one else can make it for you. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

I pray that if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that you will do so today. The one thing I pray people have learned from the death of Micheal Jackson is tomorrow is not promised to you. Decide today where your soul will spend eternity:

Heaven or Hell.

Make the decision today to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior today.
Simply pray this prayer:

Dear God, I know that I’m a sinner and that my sin separates me from You. I realize that I can’t do anything to earn my way into heaven. I believe that Jesus took the punishment for my sins by dying on the cross and coming back to life. I accept Him as my Savior and Lord. And I will try my best to please You all the days of my life. Thank You for forgiving me and saving me now. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, Welcome to God's Family!

I would love to hear from you.

Grace and Peace

(all scripture from New International Version Bible)

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Jul 7, 2009

I Am Asking For Your Help

My friends, I received this email today and I am asking all of you who read my blog to please help support this cause. SoaringWords mission is to empower communities to support and inspire chronically ill children and their families to “Never give up!”

Please click on the link above to read more about the group.

I have joined this cause as I this is close to my heart. I do not have a chronically ill child, yet I do have family members who do. I do have a special needs child and any cause which has to do with children, I will support. Children are our gift from God and when they need help, we should never, ever hesitate to do all that we can for them.

This is the email I received:

Now we need your help. We are participating in a 10,000 in 10-Day Research Challenge sponsored by Hershey’s. If 10,000 of you will open your hearts and donate your time to complete the survey, Soaringwords will receive a $35,000 grant from Hershey’s to help our cause. (Participants must be adults between the ages of 18 and 54. And, the survey will take about 15 minutes of your time, so please bear with us – we only get credit for completed surveys.)

We cannot do this with out your help, and the help of your friends. The only way we will meet this enormous goal is if each of you would also be generous enough to pass this 10,000 in 10-day Research Challenge onto at least 10 (or more) of your friends and ask them to do the same. Post the survey link on your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Soaringwords knows this challenge is a lofty one. But, as an organization that inspires millions of ill kids to “Never Give Up!” how could we not accept the Challenge? You have the power to help us make the impossible a reality.

Survey Link: www.surveyforacause.com/survey

Please take this survey and support SoaringWords.

We know that nothing is impossible with God. NOTHING! So, I am asking you, PLEASE support this cause. Tell everyone you know about this. Post to your websites! Post on Facebook! Twitter! Post in your emails! Send it to everyone you know so that we can make this happen for SoaringWords!

For those who are on Facebook you can join the cause here: SoaringWords.

Thank you and God bless you all!

Grace, Love and Peace

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Jul 6, 2009

Forgiveness: Final Thoughts

First, thanking God for laying upon my heart to write My Journey to Forgiveness. Second, to my friends (seen and unseen) for your support and love. I say this from my heart:

God bless, I love you and thank-you.

The road to forgiveness is not an easy road to travel. Forgiveness can not happen overnight. It is a process which takes obedience, time and effort. It takes FAITH and TRUST in God. It takes PATIENCE. It takes a willingness to allow God to cleanse your heart, mind and soul.

You have to remember all the hurt, pain, bitterness and anger did not manifest within your heart overnight. It took quite sometime for these emotions to grow inside of your heart. Therefore, it will take sometime for these emotions to be removed from your heart.

You can not remove these emotions on your own. You can try as hard as you want to remove these emotions, but you will fail. It is only through the strength, power, grace and mercy of Almighty God who can truly help you overcome and conquer these emotions.

God's word says,

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

We, as God's children, must humbles ourselves, seek, pray and repent of our sins. Hatred, anger and bitterness are sins against God. We have to ask Him to forgive us. We have to ask Him to forgive the one who hurt us.

Jesus said these words on the Cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

Jesus was beaten, tortured, spit upon and cursed, yet He ask the Father to forgive them. We must forgive people who have wronged us. Jesus forgave us. God forgave us. We have to forgive the ones who hurt us.

Is this easy to do? No, because we want to hold on to the pain, bitterness, anger and hate. We do not want to let it go. It is only when we reach rock bottom that we reach out to God and ask HIM to help us.

He wants US to come to HIM. He wants the WORDS to come out of OUR mouth. He wants US to CONFESS to HIM what happened.

Then, He will begin the healing process.

He will begin to take away the pain, hurt, hatred, anger and bitterness from your heart. He will begin to create "a new heart within you". This process takes a long time. You must be patient. You must pray. You must be obedient to God's word. You must trust that God will remove all the ugliness within you. You must have faith that in time you will forgive.

Throughout your life, you will have to forgive many, many times. But, this is when you reflect back on the times which God helped you to forgive. God showed you how to forgive. God freed you from the pain, bitterness, anger and hurt. God gave you the victory. He gave you control back over your life.

What about the person who hurt you? You have to pray for them. God tells us in Luke 6:28, "bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you". Pray and ask God to forgive them. Pray and ask God to change them.

God knows what the person did to you. God is the only one who can take care of this person. Revenge is not ours, it is Gods. His word says,

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them." (Deut. 32:35)

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord". (Romans 12:19)

God is telling us not to seek revenge on the person. We are to turn them over to Him and let Him deal with it. I love the saying, "Let Go and Let God". Few words, but oh so powerful!

My friends, I hope and pray that my testimony has helped you realize, "that you are not alone". I have been hurt many, many times.I know I will go through it again, but I know without a doubt I will make it through with God.

I pray that if you have anger, pain, hurt and bitterness within your heart, you will ask God to HEAL you.