Stay On Course

You've been planning for the perfect vacation for six months, and now the day is finally here. The tickets are in your pocket, your bags are packed, and you're driving to the airport. On the way, you pass a favorite restaurant and think about how much you like their food. You turn the car around, go back to the restaurant, walk in, sit down and enjoy a delicious meal. The only trouble is, by the time you finish eating you've missed your flight and you don't get to take that vacation of a lifetime.

Would this ever happen? Of course not. When you're on your way to something you've been working for, planning, and anxiously awaiting, you'd never let a petty distraction throw you off track. Or would you?

Unfortunately, it happens every day. Too often, we let the distractions of the moment deny us our most treasured goals. The next time you're tempted by a distraction, keep in mind where you're already headed and how very much you desire to get there.

Ask yourself if you would prefer to have the distraction or the goal you've set for yourself. Rather than hopping from one empty distraction to another, focus your effort and attention toward those things which will bring true and lasting fulfillment. By Ralph Marston

The Beggar's Rags

A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was invited to the party.

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble. Would he dare? He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. "Please, sir, I would like to speak to the king."

"Wait here," the guard replied. In a few minutes, he was back. "His majesty will see you," he said, and led the beggar in.

"You wish to see me?" asked the king.

"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?" The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the king's face.

"You have been wise in coming to me," the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. "Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes."

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared hope for. "You are now eligible to attend the king's banquet tomorrow night," said the prince. "But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments
will last forever."

The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank you," he cried. But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old clothes again. Quickly he gathered them up.

The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he should. He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.

Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags.

One day as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the sad look on the king's face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince's words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his folly. And the king wept with him.

We have been invited into a royal family - the family of God. To feast at God's dinner table, all we have to do is shed our old rags and put on the "new clothes" of faith which is provided by God's Son, Jesus Christ. But we cannot hold onto our old rags. When we put our faith in Christ, we must let go of the sin in our life, and our old ways of living. Those things must be discarded if we are to experience true royalty and abundant life in Christ.

Stay Blessed

In a lighter mood- Money Goes To Church

A well-worn one dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty dollar bill arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank
to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation.

The twenty dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the county. "I've had a pretty good life," the
twenty proclaimed. "Why I've been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the finest restaurants in New York,
performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean."


"Wow!" said the one dollar bill. "You've really had an exciting life!"

"So tell me," says the twenty, "where have you been throughout your lifetime?"

The one dollar bill replies, "Oh, I've been to the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Lutheran
Church ...."


The twenty dollar bill interrupts, "What's a church?"
Author is Unknown

God Why Did this Happen to Me

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.-Genesis 50:20
Have you ever asked this question? Of all the questions that a person could ask of God, this is probably the most common one and also the one whose answer is not ever straightforward.

The title here implies that something bad has occurred. No one seems to ask God why they were given a blessing but always want to know what is going on when things are going more or less not according to plan.

Take a look in the mirror and examine our eyes. They are said to be the windows to the soul. The situations we have experienced through our eyes leave a profound impact on our lives – a pedestrian hit by a speeding car; a store owner shot in a robbery, a child abused by their caregivers. Or, the person you are seeing could be yourself experiencing something harsh in your life.

There is one thing that you need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt: when you follow God, He works out all things for your good. This doesn’t mean that everything that happens to you will start off that way, but it will end up benefiting you. And, God is a god of love and peace, not hatred and chaos. When bad or unfavorable things happen and affect us, He is affected too.

God has a plan for each of our lives. The only way to know it and fulfill it is to follow him. Many people have troubles because they are not taking the path that leads to who God wants us to be.

Each person has a race to run in this life. It is not solely about what we accumulate along the way, who we fall in love with or how many friends we have that determines the course and purpose of our lives. It is our willingness to follow the Master wherever He leads.

As you may have already suspected, God’s thoughts and God’s ways are higher than our ways. We don’t always know why things happen but whatever has gone on in your life, God can turn it into something good not only for you but also for someone else.
Let’s look at Joseph in the Bible for a moment. He had a gift from God. Through the jealousy of his brothers, he was sold into slavery and his father told that he was dead. Yes this was wrong and Joseph had to suffer for it, but God never left him.
During that experience, he ended up in Potiphar’s house and in another sticky situation. His wife accuses Joseph of rape because he rejected her advanced. That lands him in prison for two years! During this time, he interprets a dream for the pharaoh and lands a job as his Number 1.

There are two lessons here: Joseph was treated unfairly but he didn’t stop loving and following God. Through that, God was able to turn his situation into something good and prosper him at the same time. And, what God does for one, he will do for all.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take.- Proverbs 3:5-6

( Article by Robert Moment)

God bless you in the years ahead.

I am just taking this opportunity to thank everyone , I mean EVERYONE , who made 2010 a fabulous year..
Hoping 2011 will be even better.

· For those that have supported me and made me smile all through ..I salute you!

· For those I've disagreed with, argued with and just never got along with......well, I’m Sorry!!!!!!! Let’s try again next year.

· For those that stuck a knife in my back the past is all forgotten.... forgiveness is the best revenge (MAYBE!!!) J

· For those that have let me down.....oh well.... I should have known better !

· All the true friends that I have : you ROCK!!..Awesome!

· Congratulations to all the new mommies & fathers, newlyweds etc...,

But all in all, you guys have made 2010 a great year; I wish you and your loved ones prosperity, good health, wealth, happiness, greener pastures, abundant blessings,
· And Oh!! a wonderful festive season.

May 2011 be the year you achieve wonderful things in His guidance and strength.

MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AND BE BLESS YOU NOW AND ALWAYS

Give Thanks

Thank God we made it to the last month of the year. Congratulations. The bible says in ALL things we should give thanks. I want to encourage us to be grateful for what we have and what we want. Sometimes it’s very easy to ignore what we have and grumble about those things we think we do not have.

In this “fast” age, it is so easy to be so goal oriented that we rush through life trying to accomplish one thing or the other that we end up living in the future. We feel we would be happier and thankful when we are done with school, get a job, get married, start having children, become grandparents, etc

In learning to develop an attitude of gratitude, I learnt that understanding the power of focus is key. What we continually hold in our mind, meditate on, increases. If we focus too much on our challenges you magnify them and they begin to grow. However you can also choose to give thanks for those challenges and believing that all things would work together for your good. God can turn that challenge into a Golden chance, that test into a Testimony, a mess into a Message, a trial into a Triumph, a victim into a Victory. Remember that God is Good all the time!

It’s also possible to be focused on the success and achievements of others that you ignore what God is doing in your life. The truth in life is that there might always be someone better and ahead of you. Someone would always get a better grade, have a better car, a better job, someone’s family would look happier, their husband might be richer and more handsome than yours, and their wife might look more gorgeous and attractive.

Let’s learn to focus on where we want to be while being grateful to God for where you are right now.

For the next 31 days, I want us to spend time thinking of three things you are grateful for. Celebrate yourself and your achievements both big and small while giving thanks to God.

Gratitude is a state of mind that should be practiced daily instead of yearly. Make everyday Thanksgiving.

Take care and have a great month.

Regards,

How Heavy Is Your Bag?

One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag
and a sack of potatoes. For every person we'd refuse to forgive
in our life experience, we were told to choose a potato, write
on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of
our bags, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one
week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when
driving, next to our desk at work.

The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a
weight we were carrying spiritually, and how we had to pay
attention to it all the time to not forget, and keep leaving it
in embarrassing places. Naturally, the condition of the potatoes
deteriorated to a nasty slime.

This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our
pain and heavy negativity! Too often we think of forgiveness as
a gift to the other person, but it clearly is for ourselves as
much as anyone!!

So the next time you decide you can't forgive someone, ask
yourself...Isn't your bag heavy enough?- Author Unknown

Take care and have a great month.

God is with you!

Malachi 3:3 says:
'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed..

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

God is watching over you and whatever you're going through, you'll be a better person in the end

Take care and have a great month ahead.

Cheers!