Prayer For My Witness

Dear God,

Please forgive me. I sometimes look at those I see and get frustrated by the way they are. Some are angry and act ugly and even curse. Others have no desire to do what is right. Some just want to "party" and live like the world all the time. Some are lazy. Some are hurting and holding on to bitterness. I don't always understand why they are that way. Then I, in my frustration, become angry and grumble. Forgive me for my ungodly attitudes and complaining. I am sorry. Help me to see the potential in others and to pray for them more and criticize them less. I pray that through my prayers to you and through my Christian testimony and example and through my words and deeds, these people would come to know you or come back and lay their issues on the altar. I pray that we all will lift our burdens to you and drop them at your feet, so that you can take them away and guide us in the way everlasting. Please relieve our grieves and burdens and replace them with your peace. Please bless us as we serve you. Please help us and pick us help when we stumble. Thank you for your mercies.

 In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen.

 

Do Good Today

Isn't he always there when we need him?

Come with me to a third grade classroom....

There is a nine-year-old Kid sitting at his desk and all of

a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet.

He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he Knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop, he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat:."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named  Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, ''Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"

Now all Of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him down Stairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.

All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk.

The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. "You've done enough, you klutz"

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the

bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good.

 

The Cold Within

Six humans trapped by happenstance

In bleak and bitter cold.

Each one possessed a stick of wood

Or so the story is told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,

The first man held his back.

For of the faces 'round the fire

He noticed one was black.

The second, looking across the way

Saw one not of his church.

And could not bring himself to give

The fire his stick of birch.

The third man sat in tattered clothes.

He gave his coat a hitch.

Why should his log be put to use

To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought

Of the wealth he had in store.

And how he'd kept what he had earned

From the lazy, worthless poor.

The black man's face spoke revenge

As the fire passed from his sight.

For all he saw in his stick of wood,

Was a chance to spite the white.

The last man of this forlorned group

Did nothing, except for gain.

Giving only to those who gave

Was how he played the game.

Their logs held tight in Death's still hands,

Was proof of human sin.

For they didn't die from the cold without,

They died from the cold within.

Forgive Me When I Whine

Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair.

and wished I was as fair.

When suddenly she rose to leave,

I saw her hobble down the aisle.

She had one leg and wore a crutch.

But as she passed, a smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I have 2 legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy.

The lad who sold it had such charm.

I talked with him, he seemed so glad.

If I were late, it'd do no harm.

And as I left, he said to me,

"I thank you, you've been so kind.

It's nice to talk with folks like you.

You see," he said, "I'm blind."

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I have 2 eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street,

I saw a child with eyes of blue.

He stood and watched the others play.

He did not know what to do.

I stopped a moment and then I said,

"Why don't you join the others, dear?"

He looked ahead without a word.

And then I knew, he couldn't hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I have 2 ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I'd go.

With eyes to see the sunset's glow.

With ears to hear what I'd know.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine.

~ Author Unknown ~

My Little Secret

I had a drug problem when l was young.

I was drug to church on Sunday morning,

I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.

I was drug to family reunions no matter the weather.

I was drug to the bus stop to go to school every weekday.

I was drug by my ears when disrespectful to adults and teachers.

I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would certainly be a better place."

Cell Phone vs Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

So remember this...
You'll never have dropped calls and unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about
our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

But most important of all...you'll never have to ask Him "Can you hear me now?"

Makes you stop and think, "Where are my priorities?"

 

Six Ears Of Corn

One day I needed to make a quick run to the hardware store. I gathered my four sons, who had been playing in the dirt, and we drove off in our old faded green Plymouth. They boys looked pretty grimy and I didn't look much better, but I wanted to get to the store before it closed.

On the way home, I noticed a weathered man and his plainly dressed wife selling vegetables out of the back of a beat—up station wagon that looked even older and junkier than our Plymouth. But the corn looked fresh and tasty, so I stopped. Their hand-lettered sign read, "Homegrown —— 8 ears for $1.00." I realized I had spent nearly everything at the hardware store. All I had were a few coins. Undeterred, I asked, "How many ears can I get for sixty-one cents?"

"How many do you need'?" the man asked.

"Well, there are six in my family, but I'm a little short here," I replied.

"It's a deal," he said and stuffed six big ears of corn into a used paper bag.

After we got home my kids showed me a paper sack on the floor by the back seat. Inside were several beautiful tomatoes, two cucumbers, a couple of green peppers and some beets. Surely the man and his wife needed the money that could have come from the sale of those vegetables. Why had they done it?

Then it dawned on me: old car, dirty kids, no money. The couple had assumed we were in need and had responded with compassion. Their generosity was humbling because they had given from what little they had.

That night as we bowed our heads and said grace, I gave thanks and a special prayer. "God, if others can give out of so little, help us always to do the same."

~Howard Urband~

Las Vegas, Nevada