MAY YOUR UNFAILING LOVE REST UPON US, O LORD, EVEN

   AS WE PUT OUR HOPE IN YOU.

   ( PSALM 33:22 *NIV )

  

   God's love for each one of us is tremendous indeed!  For

   every child of His is very important to Him!  So today I will share

   with you something thatspeaks of God's Tremendous love for each of us. 

   To you,

  

   If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

   If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.

   He sends you flowers every spring.

   He sends you a sunrise every morning.

   Whenever you want to talk, He listens.

   He can live anywhere in the Universe, but He chose your heart.

   Now God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without

   sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the

   day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

   So face it, He is crazy about you!

   Therefore let us; GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE

   IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!   Amen.

   ( 1 CHRONICLES 16:34 )

Breaking Free From the Way It Has Always Been Done 

Dan Miller

Here's a story from ThinkerToys by Michael Michalko. Imagine a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage there is a banana on a string. Before long a monkey walks over and reaches for the banana. As soon as he touches the banana, all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. After a while another monkey makes an attempt to grab the banana -- with the same result. All the monkeys are instantly sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to reach for the banana, the other monkeys will try to stop him. 

Now forget the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and obviously goes over and starts to grab it. But to his surprise, all of the other monkeys attack him to prevent him from touching the banana. 

Next, remove another of the original monkeys and replace it with a new one. Now all of the monkeys currently in the cage stop the new one from getting to the banana. Replace the third, fourth and fifth monkeys with new ones. Each one becomes a willing opponent to allowing anyone to touch that banana.

Now, none of the monkeys in the cage at this point were every sprayed with cold water. But they continue to prevent each other from grabbing that banana -- the one food that they should all naturally love. None of these monkeys ever approaches the banana again. They have no idea why it's off limits -- But that's just the way things have always been done around here.

Sound familiar? If you walked in to your work, church, marriage or neighborhood as an unbiased outsider, what would you question about the "normal" activities there? Are you accepting old traditions that defy the intelligence or spiritual insight you have today?

Do you still kiss your spouse when you arrive home or have you gradually become accustomed to expecting less?

Are you looking for meager salary guarantees and benefit packages -- and depriving yourself of the rich opportunities for free-lance work

Does your company require you to be at the office each day because you could not do the same work from home, or just because it's always been done that way?

Are you trying to get people to buy Edsels just because you're an Edsel salesman, even though your customers want a Mini Cooper?

Does your church sit in pews, sing 3 songs and have a 30 minute sermon because that's the best way to complete God's work here, or just because that's become a cultural tradition?

Take the next 7 days to challenge all your daily assumptions. You may be surprised how you can uncover some readily available fresh, tasty bananas right within your reach!

'Lord, I'm Coming Home

...God...devises ways to bring us back... 2 Samuel 14:14

Adoniram Judson's father, a Congregational minister, hoped and prayed that his son would follow in his footsteps, but Adoniram had other ideas. He considered the ministry a waste of time and talent. A self-avowed atheist, he graduated from Providence College (now Brown University), where he met Ernest [Jacob] Eames, a fellow atheist who reinforced his beliefs. Judson traveled the country living what he called 'a wild, reckless life.' One night he stopped at an inn where the only vacant room was next door to a dying man. 'I'll take it,' he told the innkeeper. 'Death has no terrors for me. I'm an atheist.' All night long he heard the sick man next door groaning and thought, 'I should go to him, but what can I say?' By the next morning the man was dead. 'Do you know who he was?' Judson asked the innkeeper. He replied, 'A graduate of Providence College. A young man about your age, called Ernest Eames.' With the words, 'Dead! Lost! Lost!' ringing in his ears, Judson returned home and surrendered his life to Christ. As America's first commissioned foreign missionary, he saw the Bible translated into Burmese and thousands of souls won to Christ. This entry from his diary says it all: 'In these deserts let me labor; on these mountains let me tell; How he died-the blessed Savior, to redeem a world from hell.' The Bible says, 'God...devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.' Can you feel a divine tug at your heart? Isn't it time you stopped running, turned around and said, 'Lord, I'm coming home?'

Money

"Because you have been trustworthy..." Luke 19:17

Money will buy you a bed but not sleep, books but not brains, food but not an appetite, a house but not a home, medicine but not health, luxuries but not happiness, image but not character, and religion but not salvation. You say, 'Does that mean God doesn't want me to have money?' No, He will actually trust you with more money when you demonstrate that your trust is not in your money, but in Him alone (1Timothy 6:17). The Bible teaches three things about money: 1) When you become a good steward of what you have, God will entrust you with more. '...Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. The first one came and said, '...Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 'Well done, my good servant!...' his master replied. '...Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities' (Luke 19:15-17 NIV). 2) When your focus is on serving others, God will entrust you with more. When Job took the focus off himself and began to pray for others, '...The Lord...gave him twice as much as he had before' (Job 42:10 NIV). 3) When you can walk away from material things to do God's will, God will entrust you with more. Abraham left the security of his home to fulfil God's plan, and he ended up one of the world's wealthiest men. On the other hand, the rich young ruler said no to following Christ because the cost was too high (See Mark 10:17-22). You ask, 'What was the cost?' Everything!

Protected by Angels

...He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. Psalm 91:11

Every two weeks the missionary went to the city to purchase medical supplies for a small field hospital where he served. On one of his trips he saw two men fighting on the street. One was seriously injured so he stopped, treated his wounds and shared God's love with him. Then he headed for home, stopping in the jungle to camp overnight. When he visited the city two weeks later a man approached him; the same one he'd helped on his previous trip. The man said, 'I knew you carried money and medicine with you, so our gang followed you to your camp planning to kill you for the money and the drugs. But just as we were about to attack, we saw twenty-six armed guards surrounding you.' The missionary replied, 'No, that's impossible; I was all alone.' The man countered, 'But my buddies saw them too. We counted them.' Months later when the missionary told this story back at his home church, a guy interrupted, 'Exactly what day did this take place?' When the missionary identified the specific day the guy was amazed. He said, 'On that exact night in Africa it was morning here, and I felt a strange urge to pray for you. It was so strong that I phoned some folks to come to the church and pray with me. Would all of you who prayed with me that day please stand up? One by one the missionary counted them; twenty-six,the exact number of the armed guards. The truth is: 'He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.'

YOU, O LORD, ARE A SHIELD FOR ME.  MY GLORY AND

                  THE ONE WHO LIFTS UP MY HEAD.

                             ( PSALM 3:3 *NKJV )

    When your life becomes filled with anxiety and

   confusion, and you become concerned about the events in

   your life today, turn to our Savior Jesus Christ!  For He

   said,  "THESE THINGS I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU, THAT IN

   ME YOU MAY HAVE PEACE, IN THE WORLD YOU WILL

   HAVE TRIBULATION; BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE

   OVERCOME THE WORLD."  ( JOHN 16:33 )

       After all Jesus' never abandons us, or leaves us to struggle

   alone!   For He has promised us; "I WILL NEVER LEAVE

   YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU."  SO WE MAY BOLDLY SAY:

   THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT FEAR.  WHAT

   CAN MAN DO TO ME?  ( HEBREWS 13:5 )  Therefore we

   can always call on Him in even the most troublesome times,

   for He is always with us!

       After all; THE LORD WILL GUIDE YOU ALWAYS; HE

   WILL SATISFY YOUR NEEDS IN A SUN-SCORCHED

   LAND AND WILL STRENGTHEN YOUR FRAME.  YOU

   WILL BE LIKE A WELL-WATERED GARDEN, LIKE A

   SPRING WHOSE WATERS NEVER FAIL.

   ( ISAIAH 58:11 )

       Also remember that when confusion, worry and fear

   enter your life, it is not from God but from satan.  For

   it is written that; GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR  OF

   CONFUSION BUT OF PEACE!  ( 1 CORINTHIANS 14:33 )

       So, BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, BUT IN

   EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION, WITH

   THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUESTS BE KNOWN TO

   GOD; ( PHILIPPIANS 4:6 ) and let Him comfort, guide and

   direct you through the troubling times in your life!   Amen.

ESUS SAID; "LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME

   TO ME, AND DO NOT HINDER THEM, FOR THE

   KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE."

                           ( MARK 10:14 *NIV )

   Now in keeping with our Saturday tradition I will share a

  laugh or two with you this morning, and I hope that

  you will enjoy the message as much as I do.

            _________________________

"Why God Made Moms "

 (The following answers were given by Elementary School

    Children to the following questions)

 Question----"Why Did God Make Mothers?""

     The answers:

     1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

     2. Mostly to clean the house.

     3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

  Q-----"How Did God Make Mothers?"

     1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

     2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

     3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just

     used bigger parts.

  Q----"What Ingredients Are Mother's Made Of ?"

     1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and

     everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

     2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they

     He mostly used string I think.

 Q----"Why Did God Give You Your Mother And not Some Other

      Mom?"

     1. We're related.

     2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's

      moms like me.

 Q----"What Kind Of Little Girl Was Your Mom?"

     1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other

     stuff...

     2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be

     pretty bossy.

     3. They say she used to be nice.

 Q----"What Did Mom Need To Know About Dad Before She

        Married  Him?"

     1. His last name.

     2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook?  Does

     he get drunk on beer? Does he make at least $800 a year?  Did

     he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

 Q----"Why Did Your Mom Marry Your Dad ?"

     1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom

     eats a lot.

     2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

     3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

 Q----"Who's The Boss At Your House?"

     1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's

     such a goofball

     2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff

     under the bed.

     3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do

     than dad.

 Q----"What's The Difference Between Moms And Dads?"

     1. Moms work at work & work at home, & dads just go to work

     at work.

     2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

     3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power

     'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at

     your friend's.

 Q----"What Does Your Mom Do In Her Spare Time?"

     1. Mothers don't do spare time.

     2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

 Q----"What Would It Take To Make Your Mom Perfect?"

     1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some

     kind of plastic surgery.

     2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

 Q----"If You Could Change One Thing About Your Mom What

      Would It Be?"

     1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean.

     I'd get rid of that.

     2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my

     sister who did it and not me.