Heaven and Hell

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.”

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was a large round table with the large pot of stew, which made the Holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The Holy man said, “I don’t understand.”
“It is simple,” said the Lord, “it requires but one attitude. You see, the people here have learned to feed each other, while the greedy ones in hell think only of themselves.”
When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!

— Author Unknown
Meditation: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. – Philippians 2:3

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

10 Ways to Love Others

Here are some 10 ways to show love to other people:

1. Listen without interrupting… Proverbs 1:8

2. Speak without accusing…. James 1:19

3. Give without sparing…. Proverbs 21:26

4. Pray without ceasing…. Colossians 1:9

5. Answer without arguing…. Proverbs 17:11

6. Share without pretending…. Ephesians 4:15

7. Enjoy without complaining…. Philippians 2:14

8. Trust without wavering… 1 Corinthians 13:7

9. Forgive without punishing…. Colossians 3:13

10. Promise without forgetting…. Proverbs 13:12

— Author Unknown
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!

No Excuse Sunday

To make it possible for everyone to attend church next Sunday, we are going to have a special “No Excuse Sunday”.

Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.”
There will be a special section with lounge chairs who feel that our pews are too hard.
Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching T.V. late Saturday night.
We will have steel helmets for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.”
Blankets will be furnished to those who think the church is too cold and fans for those who say it is too hot.

Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too.
We will distribute “Stamp Out Stewardship” buttons for those who feel that church is always asking for money.

One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.
The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.
We will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton for those who say he is too loud.

Therefore, there should be no excuse for anyone not to be in church this Sunday.

— Author Unknown
Meditation: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:25

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Important Things

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, and your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.

“The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there will be no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

— Author Unknown

Meditation: And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. – 1 Corinthians 8:2

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Rags at the Banquet

Once upon a time a man lived in the streets, clad only in the dirtiest and worst of rags. One day a person from the Palace noticed him, and approached him. There was going to be a banquet at the Palace, and he had instructions to come and invite people from the highways and byways. Would the man like to come?

The fellow was indeed interested. However, he could not attend a banquet dressed in his rags. The Palace representative assured him they would exchange his rags for some suitable finery to wear to the banquet.

All was in order. The two arrived at the Palace where they went directly to the dressing chambers of the King. Servants took the filthy rags, bundled them in a little package, and proceeded to rub, scrub, and clean the man from top to bottom.

He was then allowed to choose his robes from the closets of the King. He was told that whatever he picked he would be able to keep, so he carefully examined all the many garments in the closet. He chose an exquisite inner garment of purest silk and an outer robe of finest purple satin. He was ready for the banquet!

As they left the dressing quarters, the man grabbed his old rags. The servants told him to just leave them because he wouldn’t need them anymore. However, he insisted on taking the bundle with him. Even though he didn’t need the rags now, he felt more secure somehow if he could just hold on to them.

In the Palace banquet hall, the festivities were about to begin. So many were there, including the King himself. The man was seated, looking resplendent in his new attire. He hid his bundle of rags on his lap, underneath the tablecloth, so no one would see them.

The banquet was not to be believed! There were music and dancing, and every kind of delicacy imaginable. As the trays were passed, the beggar had difficulty getting the food onto his plate. He was constantly juggling the package of old rags on his lap, balancing it so it wouldn’t fall off. It constantly distracted him from what was going on in the grand hall.

Eventually, the evening ended and the great gala event was over. Everyone was stuffed to the gills except for the man clinging to his rag bundle. He was as hungry as when he had come in. He had never eaten even one morsel of the food. He had been too busy fixing and holding on to his old rags.

Today, Jesus invites all of us to God’s great banquet, to leave our old ways and old rags, and to say, “Yes!” to Him and to a new and glorious way of living. That is good news!

Prayer: Lord, your Word says that I am a new creation in Christ. Help me to not stay with the ways of my old self, but to walk in newness of life with You today. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

— Author unknown – Adapted

Meditation: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:17

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Leaving the City of Regret

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet, I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I’m talking about my annual “Guilt Trip”.

I got tickets to fly there on “WISH-I-HAD” airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which, I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been.

No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town. As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year’s most important event, the Annual Pity Party.

I wasn’t going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there. First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had a family. You probably know ol‘ Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterdays. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share. Then Shattered Dreams would surely make an appearance. And It’s Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don’t Blame Me and I Couldn’t Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent “pity party” could be cancelled by ME!

I started to realize that I did not have to be there. I didn’t have to be depressed. One thing kept going through my mind, “I can’t change yesterday, but I do have the power to make today a wonderful day”.

I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the city of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for the mistakes I’ve made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you are planning a trip to the city of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbours, the I Forgive Myself and the New Starts are so very helpful.

By the way, you don’t have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. You too can find this new town, just ask the Lord to show you the way. Now I live on I-CAN-DO-IT street.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-15

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How Heavy is Your Bag?

One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. For every person we’d refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato, write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of our bags, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk at work.

The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually, and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in embarrassing places.

Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!

Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and while that’s true, it clearly is also a gift for ourselves!

So the next time you decide you can’t forgive someone, ask yourself…

Isn’t MY bag heavy enough?

— Author Unknown

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. – Mark 11:25

You will succeed in Jesus Name!