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I know many of the fine folks here have their own cross to bear; I've been praying for many of them regularly. I am always inspired by how they carry on, so positively, in the face of sorrow. Role-models for us all.
I received this via e-mail today, and had to share it - even if it is "off-topic"...
Awesome!! We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we cannot.
Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine, after the rain....
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;
But God's always ready, to answer your call....
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
a word from His lips, can calm every fear...
Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish, in dawn's early light...
The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,
to give you His grace, and send you His love.
+1 for your post. I know I don't respond to all the "prayers needed", as I should, but people are still in our thoughts and prayers.
Our cross to carry came 9 1/2 years ago when we had to go to court and seek guardianship of our 5 month old granddaughter. It took 12 months of court hearings before we were awarded guardianship, because the parents were unfit, unwilling and unable to take care of her. We were only allowed to see her once, judge ordered it, in that 12 month period. Our local Family Services had told us that "our standards were too high" and they refused to get involved.
If it had not been for our faith and a strong showing of support of our church, we would have never made it through that time.
We were able to adopt her, when she was 4, and now at 9 going on "I know everything and I'll do it myself" she is still a joy to behold. She will be 10 this month and enjoys catching bigger fish than dad and is just learning to shoot.
Take care and may God bless.
Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat . . . . Some words can give you a feeling that makes your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.
I can understand the message to a point. My biggest has been a bout of unemployment last year that lasted a long time. I hate to say it but it didn't really build my character but made me a tad coarser.
God calls it refining by fire. We often are so emmersed in the now, that we don't look to the eternal. Every trial and tribulation is an opportunity to draw closer to the love and the strength and comfort that is in Christ. We often, through pride and ignorance, try to go it alone, force the circumstances to our way of thinking, or just, through sheer effort, overcome the obstacles. We rarely take the time because of the nature of the circumstances, to stop and wonder what God would have us learn, or do, or how he would have us react. I think that comes from not being intentional in our walk with him. Four mindsets I think we need to have if we are going to be successful in this life, and in the eternal:
Self Aware: We need to know our strengths and weaknesses, our learning styles, our management styles, what is below the water line in our lives (the issues of our heart).
Highly intentional: We need to focus our energies yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily (maybe even hourly) on the things that matter most in our lives, those things tha without them, we would not be who we are. We need to investigate, plan , work towards those goals in life that we set before us.
Wisely strategic: We waste so much time and energy on things that really don't matter and that detract from our effectiveness on those things that are core to who we are, who God would have us be. Being wisely strategic means to say no to those things that would delay or keep us from achieving our goals. For instance: you really want a pristine 1873 but don't think you can afford it. along comes an ok one that you can afford. you buy it and then for the next 10 years regret it because you see its flaws. When, had you been self aware of how picky you are, had you been highly intentional and every payday sock away a little more money, and wisely strategic in your selection, you could have had the 1873 of your dreams.
Deeply Surrendered: here is the part where the stuff hits the fan. We need to be sold out, deeply surrendered, to the will of God in our lives. The example above talks about something as simple as purchasing a rifle. But imagine if you applied these principles to your vocation, your family, to service for God. Understand who you are, what makes you tick, what is at the very nature of your heart. In that matter, there are only two choices, you are either self serving, or God serving. That is the very nature of the human condition. We are either prideful or humble before the Lord. last year I discovered I was (and still am) prideful before the Lord at my very nature. I needed to change. Still trying. I have taken some highly intentional, wisely strategic steps in that direction. Some on this forum have benefitted from that. Others will in the future. To be deeply surrendered requires a constant plan to grow spiritually, to be plugged into our source of power (the one true source, the one who has all authority and power) on a daily, or even minute by minute connection. What happens in our times of troubles are we are not as connected to who we are and how much we really need and depend on God. When we are riding the crest of success, we pridefully give ourselves the credit with perhaps a mention of "Thank God" maybe. When troubles come, we are not or have not been wisely strategic and highly intentional with our walk and development of our spiritual diciplines. We need to be in the word and meditating on it continually, listening to the quiet voice of God in our lives. We need a solid prayer life that bears fruit so that we can depend on our prayers and the name of Christ. We need to practice being quiet with the lord, to fast in contemplation with the Lord, to etch his word on our heart, to serve Him and others, to practice Love of Him and others. In doing this intentionally and strategically, we can rely on him to bear our Cross. We can be sure that when we hit the valleys in our life, that we will be plugged in to the source of power that will get us over the crisis and carry us to eternity.
blessings
Mike Johnson,
"Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat . . . . Some words can give you a feeling that makes your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.
"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men
shall possess the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots
to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams
Thanks so much. It's the most on topic subject I can think of and bet that most, if not all, think the same.
DEO VINDICE
"if only one man among all of the rest will not break ...then all of them, all those who so despise men that they believe all men can be broken and all men can be bought, all of them have failed and all of them are defeated, because one alone destroys them and one alone can give heart to all other men." - Robert Crichton
The next to the last picture illustrated that the cartoon charactre's cross was too short to bridge the gap so a good last picture would have been the little cartoon character crossing the gap on one of the other cartoon character's cross to illustrate that many carry the cross not only for themselves but for others who aren't willing to carry the full burden of their own cross.
bigbore442001 wrote:I can understand the message to a point. My biggest has been a bout of unemployment last year that lasted a long time. I hate to say it but it didn't really build my character but made me a tad coarser.
Forgive me sir, but I don't believe you are in the best position to judge whether your character has grown.
I believe the name you would call me is 'agnostic' but all I know is I don't know what to believe.
Doing what's right, that's what I try to do. I don't need a reason. If that means I don't make it into heaven, well, at least I did what I thought was right.
