Jun

Good Old #27

Fri Jun 1st 2012 @ 1:25 am

Days passed; then weeks. Still no word from God. The pressure from my wife, family, friends and acquaintances grew intense, and my resources were starting to dry up. Paying the bills that came from living a rich guy’s life is not a lot of fun without a rich guy’s money coming in any longer. Meanwhile, I was still holding on to what I believed: that I was supposed to wait on Him. And I’m still getting hammered by well-meaning friends reminding me that “God helps those that help themselves.” So help me, Benjamin Franklin!

Some of the time, my spirits were lifted by the sense that God was there with me: other times I felt totally alone…experiencing doubt, fear, anxiety and bouts of despair. It was during one the worst of those times of despair that bordered on depression, that I took my Bible and drove to the shore of a nearby lake and parked. It was the middle of the day during the middle of a work week so the place was virtually deserted. It was a cold, windy, winter afternoon and the skies were dark and gloomy: a perfect match for my state of mind.

I tried to pray but at that moment I was in such a dark place spiritually that I couldn’t seem to connect with God. So I picked up my Bible and turned to the 27th Psalm….not because it had any special significance for me but because it was the 27th of January. Someone had showed me how to use the Psalms and Proverbs as a sort of calendar. So I turned to the 27th Psalm and POW!

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life —of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this and nothing more:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

And then:

14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

God hit me right between the eyes with His Word! It was the first time He’d ever spoken to me directly from the Scriptures. God said WAIT. It was as simple as that. From that point forward, no more doubts. I was overwhelmed with the desire to “dwell in the house of the Lord”…it instantly became my goal in life…and in death.   And if it took a little patience from me…so be it! He had just shown me that He had indeed told me to wait…which was another way of telling me to trust Him. He wanted me to “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” I must be on the right track.

To this day, when motivational speakers talk about the need to set goals…I smile. I’ve already set mine: “That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."

Epilogue

Commenting on our need for patience, M.H. Lount has said, "God's best gifts come slowly. We could not use them if they did not. Many a man, called of God to...a work in which he is pouring out his life, is convinced that the Lord means to bring his efforts to a successful conclusion. Nevertheless, even such a confident worker grows discouraged at times and worries because results do not come as rapidly as he would desire. But growth and strength in waiting are results often greater than the end so impatiently longed for. Paul had time to realize this as he lay in prison. Moses must have asked, 'Why?' many times during the delays in Midian and in the wilderness. Jesus Himself experienced the discipline of delay in His silent years before His great public ministry began."

Thought for the Day

You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.—C.S. Lewis

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Semi-interesting fact

On average, adults in the United States eat more than 3,300 milligrams of salt daily: twice the amount experts suggest.

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Joke Du Jour

A clergyman had just enjoyed a hearty chicken dinner at the home of a rural parishioner. Gazing out the window, he remarked: "That rooster seems a mighty proud and happy bird."
"He should," the host replied. "His oldest son just entered the ministry."

Questions I ask myself

What do you do when you see an endangered animal that is eating an endangered plant?

Really?? Actual News

RIP, ‘Mr.Oreo’ Heaven just got a little more stuf.

Sam J. Porcello, the food scientist credited with inventing the Oreo cookie’s creamy, pasty, stick-together filling, died at age 76. He had been employed at Nabisco for 34 years. Porcello’s official designation at Nabisco, the parent company of Oreo, was “principal scientist.” During his tenure at Nabisco, Porcello created not only the “stuf” in the Double Stuf Oreos, but he also developed the chocolate-covered and the white chocolate-covered Oreo. In fact, Porcello held five patents relating to Oreos. We can only hope that they are all printed on chocolate and written in vanilla icing. Over 450 billion Oreos have been sold worldwide since they hit the market in 1912, so you would think the cookies practically market themselves.

Too old for this foolishness An 80-year-old woman who said she's wanted to skydive "for years" barely made it to the ground alive after she slipped out of her

harness, with only her instructor's grip on her clothes stopping a 13,000-foot plummet. The woman, only known as "Lavern" appears calm and collected in an online video as she waits to jump out of a plane, telling the man behind the camera this is how she wants to celebrate her 80th birthday. But at the last minute, she panics and clings to the aircraft's door as her tandem instructor pushes them both out into the sky. Then, she slips from her harness, and plummets the rest of the way bent almost in half, her shirt and jacket hauled up and her skin literally flapping in the wind.

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places It's not unusual for a divorce to end in anger, but a woman in Superior, WI, took things to a new level this week with a traffic-stopping gesture at the expense of her ex-husband. She put all his belongings out on the

front lawn with signs reading "Free" and "X-Husband Sale." Adding insult to injury, she slashed the tires of his SUV and spray-painted the truck with the word "Cheater" in block letters. By the way, there's no law against spray-painting a vehicle in one's own yard. The spectacle triggered enough buzz that motorists from all over town came by to check it out, even taking pictures. Neighbors say it all started when the couple's divorce was finalized. They'd been married since 1997.

Raining dogs and.. It was raining dog on one California family after a tiny puppy fell from the sky onto their property. Elaine Bouschard and her grandson

, Taylor Callaway, 7, found the dog after a hawk dropped it. "I looked up, and the hawk was just flying right here, circling around, and at that point we all just went to the puppy," Bouschard told the station. She pointed out three small "clutch marks" from the hawk's talons, and figures the "wiggly" little pup just squirmed out of the bird's clutches from about 30 feet up. "And when (the puppy) hit the ground, he bounced," she said. The family adopted the dog, which they named TJ Heavenly "My thought is that when God drops a puppy from the sky, you keep it," Bouschard said.

A meaty subject A British chef has made what is claimed to be the world's meatiest sandwich. Tristan Welch's creation is crammed with 41 cuts of meat and reportedly takes ten hours to eat.

The massive sandwich stands 15 inches high, 24 inches wide and tips the scales at more than 28 pounds. It contains over 3 pounds of ham, 4 ½ lbs of salami, turkey and bacon, one 2lbs of sausages and 11/2 lbs of chorizo. A sprinkling of salad, cheese and gherkins complete the sandwich, which took four hours to make. It was made to mark the launch of TV program Man vs Food Nation on Food Network UK. The new show sees host Adam Richman travelling through the US encouraging people to take on daring food challenges. Nick Thorogood, from the Food Network, said: "The world's meatiest sandwich is an epic creation."We expect only the very brave will take on the challenge and attempt to eat it."

Ewww! This towering sculpture is made entirely from chewing gum. More than 3,000 students contributed by sticking their piece of chewed gum on the work, which is being exhibited for the first time at the Strijp-S Festival in Eindhoven,Netherlands. I wonder how many germs per square inch?

Random Musing

I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then, whenever doubt, anxiety or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal and soon they'll forget my number. - Edith Armstrong

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Are you kidding me???
A Bible in the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.

Groaner

There were two ships...one had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided.
At last report, the survivors were marooned!

Point to Ponder

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was tired of the typical small talk and flattery he received when meeting with adoring guests at various White House receptions. FDR was certain that guests really weren’t listening to what he had to say, so at one particular event President Roosevelt decided he would make the exact same comment to each guest to see if, in fact, they were listening. As the guests arrived and shook the President’s hand he smiled politely and said in jovial tones, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.”

As Roosevelt expected, the guests simply gushed and paid the President a compliment and moved along. It’s easy to think that President Roosevelt found the interchange both amusing and ultimately a bit sad. As the last of the guests were coming through a foreign diplomat shook Roosevelt’s hand and heard the President say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The diplomat stopped for a moment and replied, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”

Remember, Christianity is more about walking than about talking