The Pains of Intimacy

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 companions.

After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. 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.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people. But when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and admire the other person’s good qualities, we get the best of one another. Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet.

Meditation: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. – Hebrews 10:22

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Healed and Whole

One day I dug a little hole,

 and put my hurt inside

I thought that I could just forget

I’d put it there to hide.

But that little hurt began to grow,

I covered it every day

I couldn’t leave it and go on

It seemed the price I had to pay.

My joy was gone,

my heart was sad,

pain was all I knew.

My wounded soul enveloped me

Loving seemed too hard to do.

One day, while standing by my hole,

I cried to God above

And said, “If You are really there,

They say, You’re a God of Love!”

And just like that,

He was right there,

And just put His arms around me

He wiped my tears,

his hurting child there was no safer place to be.

I told Him all about my hurt,

I opened up my heart

He listened to each and every word

to every sordid part.

I dug down deep and got my hurt

I brushed the dirt away

And placed it in the Master’s hand

and healing came that day.

He took the blackness of my soul

and set my spirit FREE!

Something beautiful began to grow

where the hurt used to be.

And when I look at what has grown

Out of my tears and pain

I remember every day

to give my hurts to GOD

And never bury them again.

Have faith in our Loving God.

There is nothing in this world

too big for our LORD.

Meditation: casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Love

Author Unknown

You’d like Jaydee a lot. Most people do. He’s the kind of guy who listens when you talk, who smiles often, and who says things that make the people around him smile. He’s intelligent, but in a way that makes others feel comfortable. It’s the way he expresses himself in simple terms that you can understand – almost like he’s articulating the thoughts you already have in your head, but haven’t yet found the right words say aloud.

It doesn’t matter who you are either. Jaydee always has a way of relating to you. Because, in a way, he’s been there with you all along. He can think like you, so he understands you. So many of us have limitations in our perceptions. We understand the soldiers but not the politics governing the war. We understand the people who go to the movies but not the ones who attend NASCAR races. But somehow Jaydee gets all of us. It’s his gift.

If he hasn’t actually been to the NASCAR race you’re talking about, he’ll be honest about it – but he’ll make you feel as if he was right there with you. And once you return home after spending a night with Jaydee, you’ll catch yourself smiling and thinking that there needs to be more people like him in the world. Because if there were, there would be far less to worry about.

Jaydee passed away today. I don’t really want to discuss the details, because honestly they aren’t relevant. It could have been a car accident. It could have been old age. We are often far too concerned with how people died, rather than how they lived. And I want you to know how he lived. He told stories – lots of stories that contained subtle insights and wisdom about our lives and the world around us. And today, I want to share with you the last story he told me before he died:

His Last Story

One Sunday morning when I was a little boy my father surprised me and took me to the fishing docks. But instead of fishing, like all the other little boys and girls were doing with their fathers, we sat down on the end of one of the docks and watched all the other children fish. For hours, we sat there and watched until we left without ever casting a single fishing line into the water.

I was simultaneously sad and angry. On the drive home I told my father that I’d never forgive him for being so cruel to me. He looked at me, smiled and said, “I love you, Jaydee.” When I didn’t respond, he asked, “Did you notice how happy all the other little boys and girls were? Did you see their smiles? Could you feel the happiness in their hearts?” After a moment of silence I quickly snapped, “I don’t really care! I just want to go fishing like everyone else!” My father sighed and kept driving.

We went back to the fishing docks dozens of Sunday mornings throughout my childhood. And each time we saw hundreds of other little boys and girls jumping and laughing and celebrating as they reeled in fish. But we still never cast a single fishing line into the water. We just sat in there on the end of that same dock and watched. And my father never explained why. But he didn’t need to. Because years later, as I entered adulthood, I suddenly realized that those mornings we spent sitting on that dock was where I learned how to love.

Meditation: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. – Philippians 2:4

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

One Good Reason to Hang on (1)

I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.
– Jeremiah 29:11 (New Century Version)

The pressures of life can be overwhelming at times that you wonder if you will ever get out of this, or will it ever end. You might even have considered calling it quit on life altogether so as to be relieved of all the stress. It can be that bad; but it does not have to get to that point.

Perhaps the vicissitudes of life have boxed you into such a state that you are discouraged from doing anything or taking any further step for fear of aggravating an already bad situation or being misinterpreted. It can be that tough; but you don’t have to let it get the better of you. You cannot afford to stop praying and trying, taking guided steps and making calculated attempts.

Whatever your own issue may be at the moment, be it finance, marriage, family, business, career, health, or other forms of social pressure, it is always good to adopt a long term perspective and see yourself vis-à-vis the challenge in a couple of years time; will it become bigger than you or you would have outgrown it? You can also borrow a leaf from Robert Schuller’s classic that “tough times don’t last; only tough people do.”

Another perspective that can help you to cope with the storms of life is the fact that challenges are part of living; they are not peculiar to you alone. The fact that you are in the midst of storm does not mean that God does not reckon with you or that He loves you lesser than someone who seems to be enjoying all the fortunes of life. God cares for all His children, even the recalcitrant ones. He is a loving Father. He does not scheme and He is not driven by the thoughts of how He might undo you. He says that the thoughts (note the plural) He has toward you are for peace, not evil; to give you a hope and a future.’ Amplified Bible says His plan is “to give you hope in your final outcome.”

This is God Himself assuring you that of all the thoughts He thinks about you, none is to hurt, undo or afflict you. On the contrary, even with your present issues in mind, His thoughts are to give you hope in your final outcome. Now that is one good reason for you to hang on.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

What Can Love Do?

This happened in Japan.

In order to renovate a house, someone tore open the walls. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside was hammered into one of its feet. He saw this, felt pity, and at the same time he was curious.

When he checked the nail, it turned out it was nailed about 10 years ago when the house was first built. What happened? The lizard had survived in such a position for 10 years! In a dark wall partition for 10 years without moving; it is impossible and mind boggling. He wondered how this lizard survived for 10 years without moving a single step, since its foot was nailed! So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it had been doing, and what and how it had been eating.

Not long afterward, not knowing where it came, there appeared another lizard with food in its mouth. The man was stunned and at the same time deeply touched. Another lizard had been feeding the stuck one for the past 10 years!

Such beautiful love was demonstrated by this tiny creature! What can love do? It can do wonders! Love can do miracles!

Meditation: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. – 1 John 3:18

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Where Do You Seek Help?

Challenges and trials are part of life, only the dead and inanimate don’t have them. We face various life situations that test our faith, maturity, endurance, skills, and expertise. But when the storms of life come billowing, do you fight or take a flight? When the vicissitudes of life become overwhelming, where do you turn for help?

Our answers to these questions are critical to how we fare in life: if you are the type that analyses a challenge and then tackles it headlong, rather than avoiding or running away from it, each encounter will certainly build up your maturity, spirituality, dignity, fortitude, and confidence; whereas, each time you take a flight and avoid a challenge constitutes a debit from your confidence and self-esteem. So, the best course to take is to fight it out. But, ensure you take the time to first analyse the situation, know how best to confront it, when to take it on, and what resources you need to realistically achieve your aim.

In the event where you are overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life, such that you are feeling drowned, it is always good to look beyond yourself and reach out for help. While it is advisable to seek help from experts in the area of your challenge or from an enlightened significant other, you should not discountenance also seeking the help of God. In the case of humans, you can only be helped to the extent of the resources available to the person you run to. But God has unlimited resources and He has monopoly of solutions. He had solved innumerable challenges since humans started becoming conscious of them; and He hasn’t stopped. So you get the advantage of experience, expertise and formidability when you run to God. Nothing fazes Him; everything thaws in His presence. He is just a prayer away; why not tell Him about the issue now?

Meditation: Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. –Psalm 61:1-2

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Fix Your Life

Author Unknown

A pastor was struggling to prepare his sermon and didn’t want to be disturbed by his five- year-old daughter, so he removed a map of the world from his study, tore it into pieces and gave it to the girl to assemble with the promise that he would answer all her questions and play with her when she was done.

He knew she would never be able to fix it.

To his amazement, in less than five minutes she returned to him in his study with the map in perfect shape, every continent and every country in its place!

The surprised father asked, ”Honey, you don’t know anything about geography, so how did you fix the world so easily and quickly?”

The five-year-old girl smiled sweetly and replied, ”The picture of Jesus was at the back of the map. And I knew that if I have Jesus in the right place, the whole world would be in perfect shape.”

That was just the right inspiration the pastor needed for his sermon.

He thanked his daughter and prepared a powerful sermon on the subject – ‘Fix your world by placing Jesus at the right place’.

Just place Jesus in his rightful place and your life will be in order. Do you really understand this?

Spread it to the world, let them know that their world cannot be fixed without Jesus. We all need Jesus!

You’ve been given this as a gift…pay it forward!

Meditation: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” – John 12:32

You will succeed in Jesus Name!