Inspirational Alphabet

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with prayer
Thankfulness is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and also bad, but...
Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!
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THE PATH OF LIFE

When walking down the path of life,
Remember what I say,
That every man must feel the thorns
That grow along the way

And every soul will stumble,
For every man is weak,
And the road of life uncertain,
It's prospects often bleak.

But always give a helping hand,
A word of love, a smile,
To help the soul beside you walk
Across each weary mile.

For love causes the sun to shine,
And everywhere you go,
Tha painful thorns less noticed as
The roses bloom and grow.
--Bulletin Digest
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"I AM Too blessed to be stressed!"
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The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
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The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
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If you think and live like there's no God, you'd better be right.
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Wise men still seek Him.
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The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the lord lack no good thing.
Ps 34:10
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               The Wonder of God's Grace
     There was once a man who didn't believe the word of God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and going to church services all the time.
     His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
     One snowy winter evening, his wife and children were going to a worship service nearby. She asked him to come, but he refused.
     "That gospel story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"
      So she and the children left, and he stayed home.
     A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.
     Suddenly he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the house. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have made the sound.
     In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese that had been flying south for the winter and got caught in the snowstorm. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter, flapping their wings and flying around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had apparently bumped into his house.
     The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. He thought about his own pet goose in the barn. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.
     So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.
     The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
     Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.
     "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
     Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got his pet goose, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn and one by one the other geese followed it to safety.
     He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!"
     Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"
     Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese - blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.
     As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet as he pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what the gospel was about, why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!" He then arose to do God's will.

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In dealing with difficulties, we can become bitter or better; Choose the better.
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Lord, grant me:
The patience to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference. Amen
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AS CERTAIN AS LIFE

That I shall live again when life for me upon this earth is sealed by death is to me as certain as that I live today.

William Jennings Bryan stated his attitude as beautifully as it is possible to phrase it: "If matter mute and inanimate, though changed by the forces of nature into a multitude of forms, can never die, will the spirit of man suffer annihilation when it has paid a brief visit, like a royal guest, to this tenement of clay? No, I am as sure that there is another life as I am that I live today" (From: "The Prince of Peace").

This conviction is an unfailing anchor when the tempests of temptation, fear, discouragement, and doubt buffet my frail bark on the sea of life. Yes, "It restores my soul" (Psa. 23:3).
- from Words Fitly Spoken by James W. Adams
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To hear truth and not accept it does not nullify the truth.
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AN HONORABLE CREED

To live as gently as I can;
To be, no matter where, a man;
To take what comes of good or ill
And cling to faith and honor still;
To do my best, and let that stand
The record of my brain and hand;
And then, should failure come to me,
Still work and hope for victory.

To have no secret place wherein
I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
To be the same when I'm alone
As when my every deed is known
To live undaunted, unafraid
Of any step that I have made;
To be without pretense or sham
Exactly what men think I am.

To leave some simple mark behind
To keep my having lived in mind;
If enmity to aught I show,
To be an honest, generous foe,
To play my little part, nor whine
That greater honors are not mine,
This I believe, is all I need
For my philosophy and creed.
-- Edgar A. Guest
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WHERE?

WHERE there is no rule: There is confusion and decay.
WHERE every one rules: There is anarchy and disunion.
WHERE the majority rule: There is digression and politics.
WHERE the minority rule: There is opression and politics.
WHERE one elder rules: There is dictatorship and destruction.
WHERE the eldership rules: There is wisdom and scripturalness.
WHERE the Christ rules: There is love and salvation.
WHERE the Spirit rules: There is zeal and unity.