The Wisdom of A Child

– Author Unknown

My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to “dad”.

That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.

Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn’t do.

Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids’ cars and was feeling pretty proud of his “Blue Lightning”, the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own.

Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride in his heart, we headed to the big race. Once there my little boy’s pride turned to humility. Gilbert’s car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.

A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert’s lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had “mom”.

As the race began, it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one, the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally, it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide-eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.

Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow, he set to converse with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, “Okay, I am ready.”

As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy’s car!

Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud “Thank You” as the crowd roared in approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, “So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?”

To which my young son answered, “Oh, no sir. That wouldn’t be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn’t cry when I lost.”

Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn’t ask God to win the race, he didn’t ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn’t cry out to God, “No fair, they had a father’s help!” No, he went to his Father for strength. Perhaps, we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God’s strength to get through the struggle. “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Gilbert’s simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn’t pray to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn’t there without a “dad”, but His Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.

May we all learn to pray this way.

Meditation: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ – Jeremiah 33:3

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

45 Rules

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time enough time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative (dying young).

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside, every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Meditation: Now godliness with contentment is great gain. – 1 Timothy 6:6

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Wasted Investment

Author Unknown

I recently watched a movie called “Zero Account”.

From the quality of the movie, I was already discouraged. As the movie progressed the Lord open my eyes to see a deeper meaning. A devoted Christian was going on a journey. In the bus, he was with some unbelievers and unfortunately there was a crash. Of all the passengers in the bus, he was the only one that died while some of the unbelievers left that same bus without so much as a scratch.

The Pastor of his church was so bitter that he cried unto God asking why he would take him at his young age and leave the unbelievers. At that instant, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in human form and showed him the life of the young man after death. The young man was taken to hell with an angel of the Lord. While they were there, the angel told him that his life was a wasted investment unto God and because of him so many people had been cast away in hell. He was surprised.

A demon arose and called his roommate in the university. It was shown that his roommate wanted him to show him the way of God on the night he was to be initiated into a cult group, but he said he couldn’t because he was late for fellowship. That same night his roommate was killed during the initiation by a rival cult. He never got to hear the word of God from him.

The demon called another name and a woman came forward. She was his close friend during his youth service year. People even used to call them husband and wife. So many times she invited him to clubs and parties, but never did he invite her to church. On the last day of camp on their way going home, she saw a tract in the cab they boarded. The outline said “Jesus the way, the truth, and the life”. She begged him to explain to her, but he was angry because he lost his flash drive at the stadium. Even when they got to their destination she kept on begging him to tell her more, but he refused and promised to call her the next day. She left sad and distraught. On her way home alone, she had an accident and she died. She also died without the knowledge of Christ from him.

Once again, the demon called out another name. His own biological sister came out. He was shocked. He was already in tears when he saw the others, but when he saw his sister he wept uncontrollably. She lived a wayward life, always drinking and partying. He always condemned her, but he never introduced her to Christ. She had an abortion one day and it went wrong. On the hospital bed, someone came to preach to her, but he sent the person out. Even in pains she begged him for forgiveness and for him to preach to her, but he turned deaf ears to her pleas.

On that same bed, she lost her life without the knowledge of Christ. After these three people had given their accounts, he wept bitterly because he had so many opportunities to preach to them but he didn’t. Their blood was on his hands. After this was done, the angel took him to Heaven, to the hall of judgment where they met another angel. The Angel explained to him that for everyone that didn’t go to hell, they would come to the hall of judgment before they would be given access to Heaven where their works would be tested in fire to check the quality. Those whose works had strong content and good foundation, their works would remain. But those whose works had no tangible content, it would be burnt completely in the fire.

When his works was tested, it was burnt completely. He was shocked. The moral is this: You can serve God from January till December, you can pray 24/7, you can go on an all year fasting, you can clean the church with your body day in day out, you can speak all the tongues known to man and in the spirit, BUT if you do not evangelize and preach the word of God, all you’ve done is nothing.

Even a sinner can attend service and clean the church. The primary function of a Christian on earth is to bear fruits. In the story above, the young man didn’t fulfill purpose, he didn’t preach the gospel. He did NOTHING!!! Absolutely nothing. He was a wasted investment because he didn’t impact any life on earth.

Meditation: Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ – Ezekiel 33:11

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

An Effective Insulator from Sin

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
– Psalm 119:11

Sin costs us a lot of things. Although it may seem pleasurable at the point of committing it, but the consequences of sin is usually undesirable, the harvest more grievous than the seed, and the impact of the consequences far-reaching. “Had I known…” is the common statement that follows the consequences of sin.

A whole nation has been wiped away in biblical or classical history because of their wrongdoings, not to talk of people dying by the day because of sins. God had decreed that the wages of sin is death; not that He rejoices in the death of sinners, His heart’s desire is always that all may come to repentance and be reconciled to Him. Oftentimes, the death that results from sin may not be physical. It could be spiritual, emotional, marital, academic, career, death of a dream, financial, etc.

However, because God does not desire the death of anyone in whatever form, He has offered us a lifeline to help us live above sin. True, it is very hard for a mortal to live without sinning. But, it is not impossible. That is perhaps the reason God inspired the Psalmist to affirm that by diligently internalising the word of God, he would not sin against God.

In other words, he is saying that by making time and effort to ingest the word, he had apprised himself with the knowledge of the moral will of God concerning various matters of life, so that when he needed to take an action, he would not sin against God. By having a working knowledge of the word, thereby knowing the will of God, he was insulating himself from the lures of sin. That means he was insuring himself from the different forms of death that come on account of sin. The Bible is the book where the total will of God can be accessed, maybe we should treat it as the Psalmist did.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

We will Never Serve Your God!

Author Unknown

At her father’s funeral, the pastor’s daughter (who was a prostitute) watched and listened as church members described all the wonderful deeds done by the pastor of 10,000 capacity church with worldwide television ministry.

They spoke about his care, love, generosity, miracles, signs and wonders and tenderness when he was alive. After the funeral, the daughter of the late pastor asked her siblings and her mother, “Who was that man those people were talking about at the funeral? Is he the same man that raised us? They must be telling lies!”

All the children, including Jack (a drug addict), agreed that the people were telling lies. But their mother said they were not lying.

“Your father was a good pastor, but a bad husband and bad father. He groomed and grew the church but left his family groaning. Fire was in his bone to work for God, but love, affection and intimacy were not in his mind for his family.

“I was his wife, the church was his mistress. He loved the mistress and abandoned his wife. He won the church, but lost his family. What a shame!”

The children later wrote and placed on his tomb:

Dad, you pastored and nurtured them but abandoned us.

Dad, you did a lot of revival programmes, but your family is never revived.

Dad, you counseled them, but we lived without counsel.

Dad, you were a shepherd, but we lived without a pasture; you showed them love, but we lived in the desert of affection.

Dad, you were a successful pastor, counselor, but a total failure as a husband and father.

Dad, we hardly know that you are dead, because you were never there for us.

This one thing we promise you, we will never serve your God!

Meditation: But if anyone does not provide [love, affection, counsel, guidance, discipline, intimacy, mentorship, etc] for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. – 1 Timothy 5:8

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Understanding God: How to Become a Hotcake

O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.
– Psalm 65:2

In life, business and other pursuits, the value you bring to the table is proportionate to the patronage you enjoy, which in turn determines your greatness as an individual, or profitability as an organisation. No one exists for him/herself alone; we are all made for each other. The same way no company is set up to cater to its own needs alone. Each firm has the consumers in mind, and most of its activities are geared toward soliciting or retaining the customers.

The greatness of an individual is determined by the number of persons he is able to influence, the same way a corporate institution derives its relevance from the number of clientele it is able to serve satisfactorily.

Now let’s bring this home by considering God, the Creator of the universe and everything therein. As of today, the world’s population is estimated to be over seven billion people. And considering that a large percentage of that population acknowledges the supremacy of God and professes allegiance to Him, that means God must be big!

But, mind you, God is not sought for His own sake alone. If anything, most of us seek God because of what we can get from Him, as against what we can give to Him. The Psalmist lends credence to this verity by saying that all flesh come to God because He hears prayers. We seek God because He is able to meet our expectations. That is why He is much sought after by the seconds all over.

This is a lesson for us. You have to add value to people for them to seek you. The more people you are able to create value for, the more patronage you will get, the more your spheres of influence will increase, and the more prosperous you will become.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Reason You are Going Through Times

Author Unknown

There was a group of women in a Bible Study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of them offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. Then she thought again about the verse that says, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”

He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Meditation: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:2-4

You will succeed in Jesus Name!