10 Little Christians

Ten little Christians standing in a line,

One disliked the pastor, then there were nine.

Nine little Christians stayed up very late,

One slept in on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians on their way to heaven,

One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven little Christians chirping like chicks,

One disliked the music, then there were six.

Six little Christians seemed very much alive,

But one lost his interest, then there were five.

Five little Christians pulling for Heaven’s shore,

But one stopped to rest, then there were four.

Four little Christians, each busy as a bee,

One got her feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three little Christians knew what to do,

One joined the sports crowd, then there were two.

Two little Christians, our rhyme is nearly done,

Differed with each other, then there was one.

One little Christian can’t do much ’tis true;

Brought his friend to Bible study, then there were two.

Two earnest Christians, each won one more,

That doubled their number, then there were four.

Four sincere Christians worked early and late,

Each won another, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians, if they doubled as before,

In just a few short weeks, we’d have 1,024.

In this little jingle, there’s a lesson true,

You belong to the building, or the wrecking crew.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works – Hebrews 10:24

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Life’s Storm

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

Later, the voice on the intercom said, “We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us.”

And then the storm broke…

The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightning lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.

The pastor confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, “As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed ominous and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm.

“Then, I suddenly saw a little girl. Apparently, the storm meant nothing to her. She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat; she was reading a book and everything within her small world was calm and orderly.

“Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world. When the plane was being buffeted by the terrible storm when it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity and all the adults were scared half to death, that marvellous child was completely composed and unafraid.” The minister could hardly believe his eyes.

It was not surprising, therefore, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, our pastor lingered to speak to the girl whom he had watched for such a long time.

Having commented about the storm and the behaviour of the plane, he asked why she had not been afraid.

The child replied, “Because my daddy is the pilot, and he’s taking me home.”

There are many kinds of life’s storm that buffet us. Physical, mental, financial, domestic, and many other storms can easily and quickly darken our skies and throw our plane into apparently uncontrollable movement. We have all known such times, and to be honest, it is much easier to be at rest when our feet are on the ground than when we are being tossed about a darkened sky.

Meanwhile, let us remember: Our Father is the Pilot. He is in control and He is taking us home. So, we should not worry!

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Good Advice to Live By

For the Lord had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom. – 2 Samuel 17:14

If you want your dreams to come true, don’t oversleep.

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

The best vitamin for making friends….B1[be one].

The 10 commandments are not multiple choice.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

Minds are like parachutes…they function only when open.

Ideas won’t work unless YOU do.

One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.

One who lacks the courage to start has already finished.

The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge.

Don’t learn safety rules by accident.

We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.

Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise.

A turtle makes progress when it sticks its head out.

One thing you can give and still keep…is your word.

A friend walks in when everyone else walks out.

AND FINALLY…

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!

— Author Unknown

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Showing Appreciation

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. – Hebrews 13:15

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview and had to see the director for the final interview.

The director discovered from the CV that the young man’s academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until postgraduate research, there was no year when he did not score A.

The director asked, “Did you obtain any scholarships in school?” the youth answered, “None.”

The director asked, “Was it your father who paid for your school fees?”

The youth answered, “My father passed away when I was one-year-old, it was my mother who paid my school fees.”

The director asked, “Where did your mother work?”

The youth answered, “My mother worked as clothes cleaner.”

The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, “Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?”

The youth answered, “Never. My mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.”

The director said, “I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother’s hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises on her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother winced when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed clothes every day to enable him to pay his school fees. The bruises on the mother’s hands were the price the mother had to pay for his academic excellence, graduation and his future. After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director’s office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes, asked: “Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?”

The youth answered, “I cleaned my mother’s hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes.”

The Director asked, “Please tell me your feelings.”

The youth said, “Number one, I now know what appreciation is. Without my mother, I will not be where I am today. Number two, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number three, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.”

The director said, “This is what I am looking for in anyone who would be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.”

Later on, this young person worked very hard and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company’s performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted would develop “entitlement mentality” and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent’s efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow grey, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort of others and the ability to work with others to get things done.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to See Farther Than Others

… And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; – Revelation 4:1-2

In life, what we see plays an important role in what we turn out to be as well as the extent of what we attain. Vision is an indicator of the possibilities that are attainable. That is why a popular saying holds that ‘seeing is believing;’ what you see is often what you get.

Vision is the difference between those that approach everyday life with energy and gusto as against those who go it with trepidation and uncertainty. Vision separates the high-fliers from the also-rans. The difference between these two categories of people is the vision they see about life, themselves, and the future. That is why eyes that look are many, but eyes that see are not common. It takes something extra to see beyond common sight and project into the future to see what will be, so you are adequately prepared and rightly positioned to take advantage of it when it comes.

That something extra is attained by “going up” or getting into the spirit. As the passage above highlights, the writer of the Book of Revelation was invited up so that he could see the things that would happen thereafter; and in the same breath, he found himself transported into the spirit realm where things were revealed to him.

If you must see the solutions to the problems of your time, or see farther than your contemporaries to know where opportunities are which you can exploit to put you ahead, then you must cultivate the habit of constantly going up and getting into the spirit.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups – porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: “Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.”

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. – 1 Timothy 6:6-7

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Jesus Really Loves You

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel tracts.

This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said: “Okay Dad, I’m ready.”

His Pastor Dad asked, “Ready for what?”

“Dad, it’s time we gather our tracts together and go out.”

Dad responds, “Son, it’s very cold outside and it’s pouring down rain.”

The boy gives his Dad a surprised look, asking, “But Dad, aren’t people still going to Hell, even though it’s raining?”

Dad answers, “Son, I am not going out in this weather.”

Despondently the boy asks, “Dad, can I go — Please?”

His father hesitated for a moment then said, “Son, you can go. Here are the tracts; be careful son.”

“Thanks, Dad!”

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This 11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door-to-door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel tract. After 2-hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking bone-chilled wet and down to his very last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the doorbell. He rang the bell — but nobody answered. He rang it, again and again, but still, no one answered. He waited but still no answer. Finally, this 11-year-old trooper turned to leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad looking elderly lady.

She softly asked, “What can I do for you, son?”

With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU! I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love.”

With that, he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed, “Thank you, son! And God bless you!”

The following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in the pulpit and as the service began he asked, “Does anybody have a testimony or want to say anything?”

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face. “None of you in this church know me. I’ve never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband had passed on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

“So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck.

“Standing on that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted, I was about to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, ‘I’ll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.’ I waited and waited — but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, ‘Who on earth could this be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!’

“I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes! There on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life! His smile! Oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with cherub-like voice, ‘Ma’am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.’

“Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn’t be needing them anymore.

“You see, I am now a happy child of the King, and since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I have come here to personally say, ‘Thank you to God’s little angel who came just in the nick of time, and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in Hell.'”

There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise and honour to the King resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated. He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably, no church has had a more glorious moment and probably this Universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honour for his son, except for one: This Father, God, also allowed His Son, Jesus, to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honour to the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.

There may be someone, reading this, who is also going through a dark, cold and lonely time in your soul. You may be a Christian, for we are not without problems, or you may not yet know the King. Whatever the case, and whatever the problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter how dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell you, “JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!”

— Author Unknown

Meditation: But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. – 2 Thessalonians 3:13

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves, but the quills of each one wounded their closest porcupine companions.

After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from one another and – alone and frozen – they began to die. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of this story: The best relationship is not the one that brings perfect people together, but one where each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities.

Meditation: We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. – Romans 15:1

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

A Greater Power Watching

There was a nature show on television about a black bear that gave birth to two cubs. One cub died right away. Three weeks later the mother died and the remaining cub was left to fend for itself. An orphaned cub in that condition is like a walking buffet for predators. And, of course, the camera immediately showed a hungry-looking mountain lion.

One day the orphan cub encountered a giant male black bear. The little cub cowered at the bear’s sheer mass. The larger bear peered around and seemed to realize that the mother bear wasn’t anywhere to be found. He gave the little cub a friendly nudge. The camera then showed the little bear happily trailing along after the larger one. The adoption papers were signed, sealed and registered at the county seat in that nudge. Papa bear proceeded to show the cub how to grub for insects and how to catch fish and how to scratch his back against a tree.

One day, the two bears became separated. The cub began to cry and looked frantically for his new father, but couldn’t find him anywhere. The cub approached a stream where he’d learned to fish and something caught his attention. He looked up to see a mountain lion ready to pounce. That same mountain lion had stalked the cub for the entire show. There was no way that mountain lion would’ve gone for that cub with Papa bear around, but now….

The camera zoomed in on the cub. He automatically mimicked the posture of his adopted father when threatened. He stood on his hind legs and bared his teeth. Then, in the exactly the same way his new father would have done, this cub let loose a mighty growl that should have reverberated throughout the forest. But, only a tiny bear cub’s squeak came out.

Well, you know what was coming. But, to everybody’s astonishment, the mountain lion lowered his head and ran off in the opposite direction.

The camera panned back to the proud little cub still standing tall on his hind legs. And then all the viewers saw what that little cub could not: a few yards behind him, at full, ferocious height, his sharp, white teeth bared in a snarl, stood Daddy bear. He may not have made a sound, but he was there.

And even though the cub couldn’t see his father, his father stood guard, protecting his young. The little cub had power available greater than anything he could produce on his own. There was a greater power watching over him.

It is the same thing for us children of God. Even though we may not see Him or feel Him; God is nevertheless jealously watching over us and is ever up to the task whenever there is a threat to our lives or wellbeing from any corner; signalling at the enemies to stay away from us.

— Author Unknown 

Meditation: You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

I Choose

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of the solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race.

The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours, I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose:

I CHOOSE LOVE…

– No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness.

– I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…

– I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…

– I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…

– I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I will invite him to do so. Rather than complaining that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, – I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…

– I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid.

– And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…

– I will go without money before I take a dishonest one.

– I will be overlooked before I will boast.

– I will confess before I will accuse.

– I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS. ..

– Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust.

– My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love.

– And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS….

– Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.

– If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL…

– I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.

– I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal.

– I choose self-control.

– I will be drunk only by joy.

– I will be impassioned only by my faith.

– I will be influenced only by God.

– I will be taught only by Christ.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; to these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek God’s face. And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. – Deuteronomy 30:19

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Understanding Spirit, Soul And Body (7)

For the end of those things is death. – Romans 6:21b

In conclusion of our series on understanding the nature and workings of the body, soul and spirit, let us consider the final destination of each of these entities at death.

Spirits don’t die. So whenever someone dies it is the soul that really dies. And, once death has happened, the body which was formed out of sand starts to decompose until it finally returns to its primordial state (Genesis 3:19); while the spirit, which is the engine of the body (this is different from the Holy Spirit), departs from the dead body and reports back to God. ‘Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it’ (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

On the other hand, the soul, which is the real person clothed in physical flesh and powered to life by the spirit (breath of God), is the one that dies (Matthew 10:28). It is the soul that will stand in judgement and be released to enjoy everlasting life among other saints or be condemned to the second death. “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

It is the soul that is either redeemed to live a new life in Christ Jesus from the earth to eternity; “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). It is also the soul that will be sentenced to hell. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

So, while the destinations of the flesh and spirit are constant, where the soul will end depends on whether the soul in question accepts Jesus’ invitation to all souls to come to Him (Matthew 11:28-29, Luke 12:20, Jeremiah 38:20). The question is, where will your own soul end?

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Understanding Spirit, Soul And Body (6)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. – John 6:63

Even as the body relies on food for sustenance and the soul feeds on information, so does the spirit require word to thrive, the best diet for it being the word of God.

The spirit, the third part of a human, responds to words. As much as it is invisible, it can be quickened to tangible activity by the spoken words. That is why you see strange things happen either to an animate or an inanimate as a result of incantations or exchange of words. That is because some spirits must have been invoked there.

However, the spirit, the engine that powers life, comes from God. So the best nutrition it can get to function optimally and effectively to play its guiding role as the big brother of soul and body is the word of God. God Himself is Spirit (John 4:24); therefore, His word is the best diet for any spirit to feed on. His word revives the dead by infusing spirit back into it; spirits don’t die. His word energises a fainting spirit (Psalm 119:25); His word stabilises the spirit and keeps it attuned to divine wavelength such that man is able to easily connect to and commune with his Creator about any matter of interest. God Himself so desires such fellowship or spiritual connection (John 4:23-24).

If you desire a refined and attuned spirit, then you need to constantly expose yourself to the implanted word of God. You can start today.

[This series will be concluded tomorrow].

You will succeed in Jesus Name!