I asked God to take away my pride,
And God said, "No."
He said it was not for Him to take away,
But for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole,
And God said, "No."
He said her spirit is eternal,
While her body is only temporary.

Charlie was playing with his little brother Mickey when the little boy asked whether he could fly like Superman.

"Sure you can, Mickey," Charlie said. "Just flap your arms really hard."

So Mickey climbed up on the windowsill, started flapping like mad, jumped, then smashed into the ground just a few inches below.

Horrified, their mother came screaming into the room and said, "What happened?"

Charlie said, "I was just teaching Mickey not to believe everything he's told."

A little boy walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, he made his daily trek to the elementary school.

As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.

The mother of the little boy felt concerned that her son would be frightened as he walked home from school and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning would cut through the sky like a flaming sword.

A preacher and the president of a soap manufacturing company went for a walk together.

The president said, "What good is Christianity? Look at all the trouble and misery of the world! Still there, even after years, thousands of years, of teaching about goodness and truth and love and peace. Still there, after all the sermons and teachings. If Christianity is good and true, why should this be?"

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside his bed.

The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.

'No, who are you?" said the father.

The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up."

Prayer of a child:

"Bless my mom and dad... and dear God, take good care of Yourself.

If anything happens to You, we're sunk."

I was listening to a lady who called a radio pastor. The pastor was a wise, grandfatherly gentleman who has that calm reassuring voice that can melt all fear. The lady, who was obviously crying, said, "Pastor, I was born blind, and I've been blind all my life. I don't mind being blind but I have some well meaning friends who tell me that if I had more faith I could be healed."

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation!

A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."

"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.

"Yuck," says her daughter.

A boy was helping his mother bring the clothes in off the line as a storm threatened.

As they brought in the last armload and closed the door, the boy waved his hand at the heavens and said, "Okay God! Let'er go!"

Two farmers were comparing notes on the poor harvest.

"Jeb, I'm telling you the wheat was so poor I had to harvest it with scissors."

"That's nothing, Grady. I had to lather my field and shave it."

"In His Hands"

We know not what tomorrow brings although we plan ahead

For only God alone can know the pathway we must tread.

We cannot know the future - not one minute nor one hour -

Each circumstance that we must face lay only in His power.

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

What does it mean to look to Christ? William Fenner (1600–1640) explains:

"When a man looks to Christ in such a way that he follows him; when a man sees him as his only means of being happy, godly, and in the favor of God, the only means to do and be well, and genuinely desires to follow after him - this is to look up to Christ.

When a man sincerely labors to follow the counsel and direction of Christ in all his ways, he bids him deny himself - and that is the thing that he labors for. He bids him repent of all his sins, ply himself to all God’s holy paths, and rely upon him for strength and acceptance, mercy and pardon, and every blessing.

Whatever he looks for at the hands of God, he sets himself to follow Christ’s counsel, and to expect it in him. If he sees

If God brings you to it,

He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.

“If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist.

If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist.

If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician.

If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor.

But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death;

... and he sent us a Savior. ”

― D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers

A Sunday school teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible: Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.

Little Rick was excited about the task, but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Rickey was very nervous.

When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know."

A quotation from an invocation delivered by Rev. J. McCoy opening a prayer meeting in Georgia Camp Meeting.

"Oh Lawd, give thy servant dis mawning de eyes of de eagle, and de wisdom of the owl, connect his soul wid the gospel telephone in de central skies.

Luminate his brain wid de sun of heaven; turpentine his imagination, grease his lips wid possium oil, loosen his tongue wid de sledge hammer of thy power, lectrify his brain wid de lightenen of thy word, put petual motion in his arms, fill him plum full of de dynamite of thy glory; noint him all over wid de kerosene of thy salvation, den deah Lawd, set him on fire".

"When it comes time to die, make sure all you have to do is die."

- Jim Elliot

"If you do not believe in regeneration, if you do not see its utter absolute necessity, then I do not see that you have any right to regard yourself as a Christian. If you do not see that you are so lost that nothing but receiving new life from God can reconcile you and take you to heaven, then you are lacking at a vital point, a point that is integral and belongs to the very integrity of faith."
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the room

Strewn wrappings were crying for use of a broom.

The children were scattered the friends' gifts exploring

Since now most of theirs were broken or boring.

All tummies still stuffed from the fabulous feast;

Leftovers would serve for one month at least.

If the devil were to write his beatitudes, they would probably go something like this:

1. Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians - they save me the effort of trying to keep them from God's blessings.

2. Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked - its pretty easy to keep them from working for God.

3. Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church - they are my missionaries.

4. Blessed are the trouble makers - they shall be called my children.

5. Blessed are the complainers - I'm all ears for them.

6. Blessed are those who are bored with the minister's mannerisms and mistakes - for they get nothing out of his sermons.

7. Blessed is the church member who expects to be invited to his own church - for he is a part of the problem instead of the solution.

8. Blessed are those who gossip - for they shall cause strife and division - that pleases me.

9. Blessed are those who are easily offended - for they will soon get angry and quit.

10. Blessed are those who do not give their offering to carry on God's work - for they are my helpers.

11. Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister - for they shall be with me forever.

Although things are not perfect

Because of trial or pain

Continue in thanksgiving

Do not begin to blame.

Even when the times are hard

To the ARTIST He is the One Altogether Lovely.

To the ARCHITECT He is the Chief Corner Stone.

To the BAKER He is the Living Bread.

To the BANKER He is the Hidden Treasure.

To the BIOLOGIST He is the Life.

To the BUILDER He is the Sure Foundation.

To the CARPENTER He is the Door.

At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a president. I recognized His picture but I didn't really know him.

But later on, when I met Christ it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride; but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.

A pastor had been on a long flight between church conferences. The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane flashed on:

*Fasten Your Seat Belts*

Then, after a while, a calm voice said, "We shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure your seat belt is fastened."

As the pastor looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive.

The Weight of Prayer (Author Unknown)

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store. Visualizing the family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can." John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store.

An old pastor stood in his pulpit addressing the congregation about the drought that had lasted for at least 8 months.

As all stood filled with faith, he told the congregation they would gather that night for prayer.

"Folks we are going to pray for rain so come prepared to see God move in a great way."

That night as many assembled the old pastor stood and asked a simple question.

"Folks, where are your umbrellas?"

An archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert in Israel and came upon a sarcophagus containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of a prestigious natural-history museum.

"I've just discovered the 3,000 year-old mummy of a man who died of heart failure!" the excited scientist exclaimed.

In chemistry, He turned water into wine.
In biology, He was born without the normal conception.
In physics, He disapproved the law of gravity when He ascended into heaven.
In economics, He disapproved the law of diminishing return by feeding 5,000 men with two fishes and 5 loaves of bread.
In medicine, He cured the sick and the blind without administering a single dose of drugs.
In history, He is the beginning and the end.
In government, He said that he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace.
In religion, He said no one comes to the Father except through him; So. Who is He?

He is Jesus! The greatest man in history.

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Are you standing at "Wits End Corner,"
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?

Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember, at "Wits End Corner,"
Is where God's power is shown.