Shared by email with me by a friend -- we are not sure who is the author, but it is powerful!
"I Asked God"
I asked God to take away my habit. God said, "No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up."
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, "No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary."
I asked God to grant me patience. God said, "No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned."
I asked God to give me happiness. God said, "No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you."
I asked God to spare me pain. God said, "No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me."
I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, "No. You must grow on your own! But I will prune you to make you fruitful."
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, "No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things."
I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me. God said, "Ahhh, finally you have the idea."
This day is yours; don't throw it away. "To the world you might be one person, but to one person you just might be the world." May God bless you.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
His Faithful Love Enduies Forever!
Enduring love
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 NLT
The unforgettable responsive reading
It was midnight on Thursday, February 8, A.D. 356, and Athanasius, a leader in the early Christian church and passionate defender of the deity of Jesus Christ, was leading a worship service. Suddenly loud shouts and clashing armor could be heard outside the church. Soldiers had come to arrest him.
But Athanasius said, "I didn't think it right, at such a time, to leave my people," so he continued the service. He asked a deacon to read Psalm 136 and then requested the congregation to respond with the refrain, "His faithful love endures forever," which they did twenty-six times over the din of the soldiers outside.
Just as the final verse was completed, the soldiers rushed into the church, brandishing their swords and spears and crowding forward up the nave toward Anthanasius. The people yelled for Athanasius to run, but he refused to go until he had given a benediction. Then some of his assistants gathered tightly around him, and, as he recounts it, "I passed through the crowd of people unseen and escaped, giving thanks to God that I had not betrayed my people, but had seen to their safety before I thought of my own."
Athanasius was portraying to his people God's love, which endures forever. He was willing to lay down his life for his flock—just as Jesus had laid down his life for his flock a few centuries earlier.
Since God's "faithful love endures forever," why is there ever any need to worry?
adapted from The One Year® Book of Psalms with devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for November 8
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 NLT
The unforgettable responsive reading
It was midnight on Thursday, February 8, A.D. 356, and Athanasius, a leader in the early Christian church and passionate defender of the deity of Jesus Christ, was leading a worship service. Suddenly loud shouts and clashing armor could be heard outside the church. Soldiers had come to arrest him.
But Athanasius said, "I didn't think it right, at such a time, to leave my people," so he continued the service. He asked a deacon to read Psalm 136 and then requested the congregation to respond with the refrain, "His faithful love endures forever," which they did twenty-six times over the din of the soldiers outside.
Just as the final verse was completed, the soldiers rushed into the church, brandishing their swords and spears and crowding forward up the nave toward Anthanasius. The people yelled for Athanasius to run, but he refused to go until he had given a benediction. Then some of his assistants gathered tightly around him, and, as he recounts it, "I passed through the crowd of people unseen and escaped, giving thanks to God that I had not betrayed my people, but had seen to their safety before I thought of my own."
Athanasius was portraying to his people God's love, which endures forever. He was willing to lay down his life for his flock—just as Jesus had laid down his life for his flock a few centuries earlier.
Since God's "faithful love endures forever," why is there ever any need to worry?
adapted from The One Year® Book of Psalms with devotionals by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen (Tyndale) entry for November 8
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