Inspirational Thoughts

Devastated by Death

2011-06-02T21:12:00.003+08:00

When someone dear passes away, and we are devastated.. God has a lot to say...

this reminder was written by Max Lucado

God is a good God. We must begin here. Though we don’t understand his actions, we can trust his heart.

God does only what is good. But how can death be good? Some mourners don’t ask this question. When the quantity of years has outstripped the quality of years, we don’t ask how death can be good.

But the father of the dead teenager does. The widow of the young soldier does. The parents of a seven-year-old do. How could death be good?

Part of the answer may be found in Isaiah 57:1–2: “Good people are taken away, but no one understands. Those who do right are being taken away from evil and are given peace. Those who live as God wants find rest in death” (NCV).

Death is God’s way of taking people away from evil. From what kind of evil? An extended disease? An addiction? A dark season of rebellion? We don’t know. But we know that no person lives one day more or less than God intends. “All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old” (Ps. 139:16 NCV).

But her days here were so few . . .

His life was so brief . . .

To us it seems that way. We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one? A person’s days on earth may appear as a drop in the ocean. Yours and mine may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass. James was not speaking just to the young when he said, “Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away”
(James 4:14 NCV).

In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better.

And—this is important—though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones, they don’t. Ironically, the first to accept God’s decision of death is the one who dies.

While we are shaking heads in disbelief, they are lifting hands in worship. While we are mourning at a grave, they are marveling at heaven. While we are questioning God, they are praising God.

MAX ON LIFE:

Answers and Insights to your Most Important Questions

Oh God!

2011-01-02T02:37:00.000+08:00

Oh God ,

Thank You for all the pains and sufferings you gifted us with in this New Year.

Thank You for letting us, as your private beloved church, share your blood, cries and tears.

Thank You Lord because You know quite well what You are doing for the salvation of everybody.

Please please God, accept our dear sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, whom You received their souls last night, as living loving sacrifices.

Give them all the crown of martyrdom.

Please support those who are in burns and severe pains for Your name.

Please support their families who couldn’t say Happy New Year.

Please guard and guide our church through this narrow tunnel to Your kingdom of heaven.

Please accept our cries and tears with those mothers of the kids of Bethlehem.

Please Lord, show Your powerful hand which assisted Your people all through their life and take Yourself the revenge of the blood of Your dearest kids.

Please Lord …. Please accept our cries and prayers with the tears and prayers of our beloved St. Mary

New Year Message 2010-2011

2010-12-20T14:55:00.003+08:00

Do any of these words describe you? Hurried. Scattered. Stuffed. Forgetful. Busy. Packing. Behind. Broke. If they do, you aren't alone. Christmas is our annual reminder of why Santa takes the sleigh rather than the interstate and how the mall got its name.

For some, however, this time of year brings more than hassle...for some it brings heartache. Many use words like these to capture their Christmas feelings: alone, discouraged, depressed, angry, hurt. For some, the sight of happy children is a reminder of a vacant crib. The busy social schedule of some only highlights the empty calendar of others. Images of families together reinforces the pain of families apart.

This season can be challenging. If you're looking forward to December 26th more than December 25th, then I've got a story for you to consider. I'd like you to consider God’s invitation to one of the key characters of Christmas: Mary.

“Do not be afraid,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” …Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy child shall be called the Son of God.”
(Lk. 1:30, 31, 34, 35)

Mary could have spun and run, but she didn’t. Here is what she did. Perhaps with a prayer, no doubt with a gulp, she replied, “Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
(Lk. 1:38)

And so it was.

And so Christ was born.

And so we have to wonder. What was that like? To have God within you. To have the Maker of the Universe reside inside you. To sense his moving, nudging and elbowing and think, “Divinity is stirring within me!” What was it like?

The answer is closer than you might imagine.

God gives you the same offer He gave Mary: the supernatural deposit of His son in your life. Scripture declares: Jesus lives in His children.

“Christ in you the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27)

“Those who obey His commands live in Him and He in them.”

(I Jn. 3:24)

Take note of the precious preposition “in.” Christ isn’t just near you or for you or with you; he longs to be in you. God offers you the same Christmas gift he gave Mary-- the indwelling Christ. Christ grew in her until he came out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. Christ will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem and everyday you live will be a Christmas. You, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the world.

A fetus in Mary, a force in you. He will do what you cannot do. Wasn’t this the promise of Jesus?

The same hand that pushed the rock from the tomb can shove away your discouragement. The same power that stirred the still heart of Christ, can stir your flagging faith. The same strength that put Satan on his heels can, and will, defeat Satan in your life. The same power which brought Christ into Mary’s world, will bring Christ into your world.

by Max Lucado

You are Near!

2010-08-06T17:38:00.000+08:00

“God, we thank you; we thank you because you are near.” Psalm 75:1

God is the God who follows. I wonder . . . have you sensed him following you? We often miss him . . . We don’t know our Helper when he is near. But he comes.

Through the kindness of a stranger. The majesty of a sunset . . . Through a word well spoken or a touch well timed, have you sensed his presence?

by Max Lucado

The Parable of the Sandwich Sign

2010-05-16T01:23:00.000+08:00

I am the voice of the one calling out in the desert: “Make the road straight for the Lord.” John 1:23

The faces of the three men were solemn as the mayor informed them of the catastrophe. “The rains have washed away the bridge. During the night many cars drove over the edge and into the river.”

“What can we do?” asked one.

“You must stand on the side of the road and warn the drivers not to make the left turn. Tell them to take the one-lane road that follows the side of the river.”

“But they drive so fast! How can we warn them?”

“By wearing these sandwich signs,” the mayor explained, producing three wooden double-signs, hinged together to hang from one’s shoulders. “Stand at the crossroads so drivers can see these signs until I can get someone out there to fix the bridge.”

And so the men hurried out to the dangerous curve and put the signs over their shoulders.

“The drivers should see me first,” spoke one. The others agreed. His sign warned, “Bridge Out!” He walked several hundred yards before the turn and took his post.

“Perhaps I should be second, so the drivers will slow down,” spoke the one whose sign declared, “Reduce Speed.”

“Good idea,” agreed the third. “I’ll stand here at the curve so people will get off the wide road and onto the narrow.” His sign read simply “Take Right Road” and had a finger pointing toward the safe route.

And so the three men stood with their three signs ready to warn the travelers of the washed-out bridge. As the cars approached, the first man would stand up straight so the drivers could read, “Bridge Out.”

Then the next would gesture to his sign, telling the cars to “Reduce Speed.”

And as the motorists complied, they would then see the third sign, “Right Road Only.” And though the road was narrow, the cars complied and were safe. Hundreds of lives were saved by the three sign holders. Because they did their job, many people were kept from peril.

But after a few hours they grew lax in their task.

The first man got sleepy. “I’ll sit where people can read my sign as I sleep,” he decided. So he took his sign off his shoulders and propped it up against a boulder. He leaned against it and fell asleep. As he slept his arm slid over the sign, blocking one of the two words. So rather than read “Bridge Out,” his sign simply stated “Bridge.”

The second didn’t grow tired, but he did grow conceited. The longer he stood warning the people the more important he felt. A few even pulled off to the side of the road to thank him for the job well done.

“We might have died had you not told us to slow down,” they applauded.

“You’re so right,” he thought to himself. “How many people would be lost were it not for me?”

Presently he came to think that he was just as important as his sign. So he took it off, set it up on the ground, and stood beside it. As he did, he was unaware that he, too, was blocking one word of his warning. He was standing in front of the word “Speed.” All the drivers could read was the word “Reduce.” Most thought he was advertising a diet plan.

The third man was not tired like the first, nor self-consumed like the second. But he was concerned about the message of his sign. “Right Road Only,” it read.

It troubled him that his message was so narrow, so dogmatic. “People should be given a choice in the matter. Who am I to tell them which is the right road and which is the wrong road?”

So he decided to alter the wording of the sign. He marked out the word “Only” and changed it to “Preferred.”

“Hmm,” he thought, “that’s still too strident. One is best not to moralize. So he marked out the word “Preferred” and wrote “Suggested.”

That still didn’t seem right, “Might offend people if they think I’m suggesting I know something they don’t.”

So he thought and thought and finally marked through the word “Suggested” and replaced it with a more neutral phrase.

“Ahh, just right,” he said to himself as he backed off and read the words:

“Right Road—One of Two Equally Valid Alternatives.”

And so as the first man slept and the second stood and the third altered the message, one car after another plunged into the river.

From A Gentle Thunder Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1995) Max Lucado

Take Goliath Down

2010-04-19T23:53:00.000+08:00

Goliaths still roam our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Danger. Deceit. Disease. Depression. Super-size challenges still swagger and strut, still pilfer sleep and embezzle peace and liposuction joy. But they can’t dominate you. You know how to deal with them. You face giants by facing God first.

Focus on giants—you stumble.

Focus on God—your giants tumble.

You know what David knew, and you do what David did. You pick up five stones, and you make five decisions. Ever wonder why David took five stones into battle? Why not two or twenty? Rereading his story reveals five answers. Use your five fingers to remind you of the five stones you need to face down your Goliath. Let your thumb remind you of …

1. THE STONE OF THE PAST

Goliath jogged David’s memory. Elah was a déjà vu. While everyone else quivered, David remembered. God had given him strength to wrestle a lion and strong-arm a bear. Wouldn’t he do the same with the giant? A good memory makes heroes.

“Remember His marvelous works which He has done” (1 Chron. 16:12). Catalog God’s successes. Keep a list of his world records. Has he not walked you through high waters? Proven to be faithful? Have you not known his provision? How many nights have you gone to bed hungry? Mornings awakened in the cold? He has made roadkill out of your enemies. Write today’s worries in sand. Chisel yesterday’s victories in stone. Pick up the stone of the past. Then select …

2. THE STONE OF PRAYER

Note the valley between your thumb and finger. To pass from one to the next you must go through it. Let it remind you of David’s descent. Before going high, David went low; before ascending to fight, David descended to prepare. Don’t face your giant without first doing the same. Dedicate time to prayer. Paul, the apostle, wrote, “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long” (Eph. 6:18 MSG).

Prayer spawned David’s successes. His Brook Besor wisdom grew out of the moment he “strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam. 30:6). When Saul’s soldiers tried to capture him, David turned toward God: “You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble” (Ps. 59:16).

Invite God’s help. Pick up the stone of prayer. And don’t neglect …

3. THE STONE OF PRIORITY

Let your tallest finger remind you of your highest priority: God’s reputation. David jealously guarded it. No one was going to defame his Lord. David fought so that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam. 17:46–47).

David saw Goliath as a chance for God to show off! Did David know he would exit the battle alive? No. But he was willing to give his life for the reputation of God.

What if you saw your giant in the same manner? Rather than begrudge him, welcome him. Your cancer is God’s chance to flex his healing muscles. Your sin is God’s opportunity to showcase grace. Your struggling marriage can billboard God’s power. See your struggle as God’s canvas. On it he will paint his multicolored supremacy. Announce God’s name and then reach for …

4. THE STONE OF PASSION

David ran, not away from, but toward his giant. On one side of the battlefield, Saul and his cowardly army gulped. On the other, Goliath and his skull-splitters scoffed. In the middle, the shepherd boy ran on his spindly legs. Who bet on David? Who put money on the kid from Bethlehem? Not the Philistines. Not the Hebrews. Not David’s siblings or David’s king. But God did.

And since God did, and since David knew God did, the skinny runt became a blur of pumping knees and a swirling sling. He ran toward his giant.

Do the same!

Let your ring finger remind you to take up the stone of passion.

One more stone, and finger, remains:

5. THE STONE OF PERSISTENCE

David didn’t think one rock would do. He knew Goliath had four behemoth relatives. For all David knew, they’d come running over the hill to defend their kin. David was ready to empty the chamber if that’s what it took.

Imitate him. Never give up. One prayer might not be enough. One apology might not do it. One day or month of resolve might not suffice. You may get knocked down a time or two … but don’t quit. Keep loading the rocks. Keep swinging the sling.

David took five stones. He made five decisions. Do likewise. Past. Prayer. Priority. Passion. And persistence.

Next time Goliath wakes you up, reach for a stone. Odds are, he’ll be out of the room before you can load your sling.

From Facing Your Giants Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2005) Max Lucado

Tender Words to the Tired Heart

2010-03-28T04:13:00.001+08:00

Brook Besor. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of the place. Most haven’t, but more need to. The Brook Besor narrative deserves shelf space in the library of the worn-out. It speaks tender words to the tired heart.

The story emerges from the ruins of Ziklag. David and his six hundred soldiers return from the Philistine war front to find utter devastation. A raiding band of Amalekites had swept down on the village, looted it, and taken the women and children hostage. The sorrow of the men mutates into anger, not against the Amalekites, but against David. After all, hadn’t he led them into battle? Hadn’t he left the women and children unprotected? Isn’t he to blame? Then he needs to die. So they start grabbing stones.

This could be his worst hour.

But he makes it one of his best.

David redirects the men’s anger toward the enemy. They set out in pursuit of the Amalekites. Keep the men’s weariness in mind. They still bear the trail dust of a long campaign and haven’t entirely extinguished their anger at David. They don’t know the Amalekites’ hideout, and, if not for the sake of their loved ones, they might give up.

Indeed, two hundred do. The army reaches a brook called Besor, and they dismount. Soldiers wade in the creek and splash water on their faces, sink tired toes in cool mud, and stretch out on the grass. Hearing the command to move on, two hundred choose to rest. “You go on without us,” they say.

How tired does a person have to be to abandon the hunt for his own family?

The church has its quorum of such folks. Good people. Godly people. Only hours or years ago they marched with deep resolve. But now fatigue consumes them. They’re exhausted. So beat-up and worn down that they can’t summon the strength to save their own flesh and blood. Old age has sucked their oxygen. Or maybe it was a deflating string of defeats. Divorce can leave you at the brook. Addiction can as well. Whatever the reason, the church has its share of people who just sit and rest.

And the church must decide. What do we do with the Brook Besor people? Berate them? Shame them? Give them a rest but measure the minutes? Or do we do what David did? David let them stay.

He and the remaining four hundred fighters resume the chase.

David and his men swoop down upon the enemy like hawks on rats. Every Israelite woman and child is rescued. Every Amalekite either bites the dust or hits the trail, leaving precious plunder behind. David goes from scapegoat to hero, and the whooping and hollering begin.

And what about the two hundred men who had rested?

You might feel the way some of David’s men felt: “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children” (1 Sam. 30:22).

A Molotov cocktail of emotions is stirred, lit, and handed to David. Here’s how he defuses it: “Don’t do that after what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and given us the enemy who attacked us. Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the one who stayed with the supplies as for the one who went into battle. All will share alike.” (30:23–24 NCV)

Note David’s words: they “stayed with the supplies,” as if this had been their job. They hadn’t asked to guard supplies; they wanted to rest. But David dignifies their decision to stay.

David did many mighty deeds in his life. He did many foolish deeds in his life. But perhaps the noblest was this rarely discussed deed: he honored the tired soldiers at Brook Besor.

Someday somebody will read what David did and name their church the Congregation at Brook Besor. Isn’t that what the church is intended to be? A place for soldiers to recover their strength?

If you are listed among them, here is what you need to know: it’s okay to rest. Jesus is your David. He fights when you cannot. He goes where you cannot. He’s not angry if you sit. Did he not invite, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest” (Mark 6:31 MSG)?

Brook Besor blesses rest.

Brook Besor also cautions against arrogance. David knew the victory was a gift. Let’s remember the same. Salvation comes like the Egyptian in the desert, a delightful surprise on the path. Unearned. Undeserved. Who are the strong to criticize the tired?

Are you weary? Catch your breath. We need your strength.

Are you strong? Reserve passing judgment on the tired. Odds are, you’ll need to plop down yourself. And when you do, Brook Besor is a good story to know.

From Facing Your Giants Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2006) Max Lucado

The Choice

2010-03-14T17:35:00.002+08:00

He placed one scoop of clay upon another until a form lay lifeless on the ground.All of the Garden’s inhabitants paused to witness the event. Hawks hovered. Giraffes stretched. Trees bowed. Butterflies paused on petals and watched.“You will love me, nature,” God said. “I made you that way. You will obey me, universe. For you were designed to do so. You will reflect my glory, skies, for that is how you were created. But this one will be like me. This one will be able to choose.

”All were silent as the Creator reached into himself and removed something yet unseen. A seed. “It’s called ‘choice.’ The seed of choice.”Creation stood in silence and gazed upon the lifeless form.An angel spoke, “But what if he … ”“What if he chooses not to love?” the Creator finished. “Come, I will show you.”Unbound by today, God and the angel walked into the realm of tomorrow.“There, see the fruit of the seed of choice, both the sweet and the bitter.”The angel gasped at what he saw. Spontaneous love. Voluntary devotion. Chosen tenderness. Never had he seen anything like these. He felt the love of the Adams. He heard the joy of Eve and her daughters. He saw the food and the burdens shared. He absorbed the kindness and marveled at the warmth.

“Heaven has never seen such beauty, my Lord. Truly, this is your greatest creation.”“Ah, but you’ve only seen the sweet. Now witness the bitter.”A stench enveloped the pair.

The angel turned in horror and proclaimed, “What is it?”The Creator spoke only one word: “Selfishness.”The angel stood speechless as they passed through centuries of repugnance. Never had he seen such filth. Rotten hearts. Ruptured promises. Forgotten loyalties. Children of the creation wandering blindly in lonely labyrinths.“This is the result of choice?” the angel asked.“Yes.”“They will forget you?”“Yes.”“They will reject you?”“Yes.”“They will never come back?”“Some will. Most won’t.”“What will it take to make them listen?”

The Creator walked on in time, further and further into the future, until he stood by a tree. A tree that would be fashioned into a cradle. Even then he could smell the hay that would surround him.With another step into the future, he paused before another tree. It stood alone, a stubborn ruler of a bald hill. The trunk was thick, and the wood was strong. Soon it would be cut. Soon it would be trimmed. Soon it would be mounted on the stony brow of another hill. And soon he would be hung on it.He felt the wood rub against a back he did not yet wear.“Will you go down there?” the angel asked.“I will.”“Is there no other way?”“There is not.”“Wouldn’t it be easier to not plant the seed? Wouldn’t it be easier to not give the choice?”“It would,” the Creator spoke slowly. “But to remove the choice is to remove the love.”

He looked around the hill and foresaw a scene. Three figures hung on three crosses. Arms spread. Heads fallen forward. They moaned with the wind.Men clad in soldiers’ garb sat on the ground near the trio. They played games in the dirt and laughed.Men clad in religion stood off to one side. They smiled. Arrogant, cocky. They had protected God, they thought, by killing this false one.Women clad in sorrow huddled at the foot of the hill. Speechless. Faces tear streaked. Eyes downward. One put her arm around another and tried to lead her away. She wouldn’t leave. “I will stay,” she said softly. “I will stay.”All heaven stood to fight. All nature rose to rescue. All eternity poised to protect. But the Creator gave no command.“It must be done … ,” he said, and withdrew.But as he stepped back in time, he heard the cry that he would someday scream: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) He wrenched at tomorrow’s agony.The angel spoke again. “It would be less painful … ”The Creator interrupted softly. “But it wouldn’t be love.”

They stepped into the Garden again. The Maker looked earnestly at the clay creation. A monsoon of love swelled up within him. He had died for the creation before he had made him. God’s form bent over the sculptured face and breathed. Dust stirred on the lips of the new one. The chest rose, cracking the red mud. The cheeks fleshened. A finger moved. And an eye opened.But more incredible than the moving of the flesh was the stirring of the spirit. Those who could see the unseen gasped.Perhaps it was the wind who said it first. Perhaps what the star saw that moment is what has made it blink ever since. Maybe it was left to an angel to whisper it:“It looks like … it appears so much like … it is him!”The angel wasn’t speaking of the face, the features, or the body. He was looking inside—at the soul.“It’s eternal!” gasped another.

Within the man, God had placed a divine seed. A seed of his self. The God of might had created earth’s mightiest. The Creator had created, not a creature, but another creator. And the One who had chosen to love had created one who could love in return.

Now it’s our choice.

From In the Eye of the StormCopyright (Thomas Nelson, 1997) Max Lucado

For my Forever Valentine!

2010-02-20T08:00:00.001+08:00

This post should have been published on Valentine's, but I was out of town and then too busy to post it... anyway, better late than never :-)

this is an abstract of Max Lucado's book "Growing the Marriage of Your Dreams".. such a masterpiece, helped me a lot undersand marriage, and my husband's needs and expectations...

enjoy :-)

How is your marriage? Consider it your Testore cello. This finely constructed, seldom seen instrument has reached the category of rare and is fast earning the status of priceless. Few musicians are privileged to play a Testore; even fewer are able to own one.

I happen to know a man who does. He, glup, loaned it to me for a sermon. Wanting to illustrate the fragile sanctity of marriage, I asked him to place the nearly-three-centuries old instrument on the stage, and I explained its worth to the church.

How do you think I treated the relic? Did I twirl it, flip it, and pluck the strings? No way. The cello is far too valuable for my clumsy fingers. Besides, its owner loaned it to me. I dared not dishonor his treasure.

On your wedding day, God loaned you his work of art: an intricately crafted, precisely formed masterpiece. He entrusted you with a one of a kind creation. Value her. Honor him. Having been blessed with a Testore, why fiddle around with anyone else?

Make your wife the object of your highest devotion. Make your husband the recipient of your deepest passion. Love the one who wears your ring. Succeed at home first to grow the marrige of your dreams.

Searching for Happiness

2010-01-11T20:18:00.002+08:00

People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace.They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them.The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within. -- Ramona L. Anderson

Happiness is something you cannot really have... but you can only pursue! enjoy it...

Deliver Christ to the World

2009-12-09T04:53:00.001+08:00

Christmas Time is Here again! :-)

this is a Christmas thought that touched me today... enjoy reading...

“I work…using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me.” Colossians 1:29

The virgin birth is more, much more, than a Christmas story; it is a picture of how close Christ will come to you. The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer.

Better still, look deep within yourself. What he did with Mary, he offers to us! He issues a Mary-level invitation to all his children. “If you’ll let me, I’ll move in!”…

What is the mystery of the gospel? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27 NIV)…

Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Christmas. You, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the world.

by Max Lucado

When You Are Low on Hope

2009-10-23T15:57:00.003+08:00

In this moment, I'm not really low on Hope... but I'm going to a new phase of my life where the other side of the shore is not so clear yet! But I have the olive leaf, and therefore I go on...

Enjoy it, and appreciate your olive leaf! :)

Water. All Noah can see is water. The evening sun sinks into it. The clouds are reflected in it. His boat is surrounded by it. Water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the west. Water.

He sent a raven on a scouting mission; it never returned. He sent a dove. It came back shivering and spent, having found no place to roost. Then, just this morning, he tried again. With a prayer he let it go and watched until the bird was no bigger than a speck on a window.

All day he looked for the dove’s return.

Now the sun is setting, and the sky is darkening, and he has come to look one final time, but all he sees is water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the …

You know the feeling. You have stood where Noah stood. You’ve known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the office, anger at the disability in your body or the inability of your spouse. You’ve seen the floodwater rise, and you’ve likely seen the sun set on your hopes as well. You’ve been on Noah’s boat.

And you’ve needed what Noah needed; you’ve needed some hope. You’re not asking for a helicopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nice. Hope doesn’t promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one. Sometimes all we need is a little hope.

That’s all Noah needed. And that’s all Noah received.

Here is how the Bible describes the moment: “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!” (Gen. 8:11 NIV).

An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to have the bird but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise. The bird brought more than a piece of a tree; it brought hope. For isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that dreaming is worth the risk.

Don’t we love the olive leaves of life?

“It appears the cancer may be in remission.”

“I can help you with those finances.”

“We’ll get through this together.”

What’s more, don’t we love the doves that bring them?

Perhaps that’s the reason so many loved Jesus.

To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a fleck of hope, he proclaims, “Yes!” And he comes. He comes as a dove. He comes bearing fruit from a distant land, from our future home. He comes with a leaf of hope.

Have you received yours? Don’t think your ark is too isolated. Don’t think your flood is too wide. Receive his hope, won’t you? Receive it because you need it. Receive it so you can share it.

Love always hopes. “Love … bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4–7 NKJV, emphasis mine).

From A Love Worth Giving Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado

The Ultimate Outcast

2009-09-23T19:51:00.002+08:00

This one seems quite long, but it is really absorbing and worth the time...

Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me, and I wonder out loud. That’s what I’m about to do here—wonder out loud about the man who felt Jesus’ compassionate touch.

He makes one appearance, has one request, and receives one touch. But that one touch changed his life forever. And I wonder if his story went something like this:

For five years no one touched me. No one. Not one person. Not my wife. Not my child. Not my friends. No one touched me. They saw me. They spoke to me. I sensed love in their voices. I saw concern in their eyes. But I didn’t feel their touch. There was no touch. Not once. No one touched me.

What is common to you, I coveted. Handshakes. Warm embraces. A tap on the shoulder to get my attention. A kiss on the lips to steal a heart. Such moments were taken from my world. No one touched me. No one bumped into me. What I would have given to be bumped into, to be caught in a crowd, for my shoulder to brush against another’s. But for five years it has not happened. How could it? I was not allowed on the streets. Even the rabbis kept their distance from me. I was not permitted in my synagogue. Not even

welcome in my own house. I was untouchable. I was a leper. And no one touched me. Until today.

I wonder about this man because in New Testament times leprosy was the most dreaded disease. The condition rendered the body a mass of ulcers and decay. Fingers would curl and gnarl. Blotches of skin would discolor and stink. Certain types of leprosy would numb nerve endings, leading to a loss of fingers, toes, even a whole foot or hand.

Leprosy was death by inches.

The social consequences were as severe as the physical. Considered contagious, the leper was quarantined, banished to a leper colony. In Scripture the leper is symbolic of the ultimate outcast: infected by a condition he did not seek, rejected by those he knew, avoided by people he did not know, condemned to a future he could not bear. And in the memory of each outcast must have been the day he was forced to face the truth: life would never be the same.

One year during harvest my grip on the scythe seemed weak. The tips of my fingers numbed. First one finger then another. Within a short time I could grip the tool but scarcely feel it. By the end of the season, I felt nothing at all. The hand grasping the handle might as well have belonged to someone else—the feeling was gone. I said nothing to my wife, but I know she suspected something. How could she not? I carried my

hand against my body like a wounded bird.

One afternoon I plunged my hands into a basin of water intending to wash my face. The water reddened. My finger was bleeding, bleeding freely. I didn’t even know I was wounded. How did I cut myself? On a knife? Did my hand slide across the sharp edge of metal? It must have, but I didn’t feel anything.

“It’s on your clothes, too,” my wife said softly. She was behind me. Before looking at her, I looked down at the crimson spots on my robe. For the longest time I stood over the basin, staring at my hand. Somehow I knew my life was being forever altered.

“Shall I go with you to tell the priest?” she asked. “No,” I sighed, “I’ll go alone.”

I turned and looked into her moist eyes. Standing next to her was our three-year-old daughter. Squatting, I gazed into her face and stroked her cheek, saying nothing. What could I say? I stood and looked again at my wife. She touched my shoulder, and with my good hand, I touched hers. It would be our final touch.

Five years have passed, and no one has touched me since, until today.

The priest didn’t touch me. He looked at my hand, now wrapped in a rag. He looked at my face, now shadowed in sorrow. I’ve never faulted him for what he said. He was only doing as he was instructed. He covered his mouth and extended his hand, palm forward. “You are unclean,” he told me. With one pronouncement I lost my family, my farm, my future, my friends.

My wife met me at the city gates with a sack of clothing and bread and coins. She didn’t speak. By now friends had gathered. What I saw in their eyes was a precursor to what I’ve seen in every eye since: fearful pity. As I stepped out, they stepped back. Their horror of my disease was greater than their concern for my heart—so they, and everyone else I have seen since, stepped back.

The banishing of a leper seems harsh, unnecessary. The Ancient East hasn’t been the only culture to isolate their wounded, however. We may not build colonies or cover our mouths in their presence, but we certainly build walls and duck our eyes. And a person needn’t have leprosy to feel quarantined.

One of my sadder memories involves my fourth-grade friend Jerry. He and a half-dozen of us were an ever-present, inseparable fixture on the playground. One day I called his house to see if we could play. The phone was answered by a cursing, drunken voice telling me Jerry could not come over that day or any day. I told my friends what had happened. One of them explained that Jerry’s father was an alcoholic. I don’t know if I knew what the word meant, but I learned quickly. Jerry, the second baseman; Jerry, the kid with the red bike; Jerry, my friend on the corner was now “Jerry, the son of a drunk.”

Kids can be hard, and for some reason we were hard on Jerry. He was infected. Like the leper, he suffered from a condition he didn’t create. Like the leper, he was put outside the village.

The divorced know this feeling. So do the handicapped. The unemployed have felt it, as have the less educated. Some shun unmarried moms. We keep our distance from the depressed and avoid the terminally ill. We have neighborhoods for immigrants, convalescent homes for the elderly, schools for the simple, centers for the addicted, and prisons for the criminals.

The rest simply try to get away from it all. Only God knows how many Jerrys are in voluntary exile—individuals living quiet, lonely lives infected by their fear of rejection and their memories of the last time they tried. They choose not to be touched at all rather than risk being hurt again.

Oh, how I repulsed those who saw me. Five years of leprosy had left my hands gnarled. Tips of my fingers were missing as were portions of an ear and my nose. At the sight of me, fathers grabbed their children. Mothers covered their faces. Children pointed and stared.

The rags on my body couldn’t hide my sores. Nor could the wrap on my face hide the rage in my eyes. I didn’t even try to hide it. How many nights did I shake my crippled fist at the silent sky? “What did I do to deserve this?” But never a reply.

Some think I sinned. Some think my parents sinned. I don’t know. All I know is that I grew so tired of it all: sleeping in the colony, smelling the stench. I grew so tired of the damnable bell I was required to wear around my neck to warn people of my presence. As if I needed it. One glance and the announcements began, “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!”

Several weeks ago I dared walk the road to my village. I had no intent of entering. Heaven knows I only wanted to look again upon my fields. Gaze again upon my home. And see, perchance, the face of my wife. I did not see her. But I saw some children playing in a pasture. I hid behind a tree and watched them scamper and run. Their faces were so joyful and their laughter so contagious that for a moment, for just a moment, I

was no longer a leper. I was a farmer. I was a father. I was a man. Infused with their happiness, I stepped out from behind the tree, straightened my back, breathed deeply … and they saw me. Before I could retreat, they saw me. And they screamed. And they scattered. One lingered, though, behind the others. One paused and looked in my direction. I don’t know, and I can’t say for sure, but I think, I really think, she was my daughter. And I don’t know, I really can’t say for sure. But I think she was looking for her father.

That look is what mademe take the step I took today. Of course it was reckless. Of course it was risky. But what did I have to lose? He calls himself God’s Son. Either he will hear my complaint and kill me or accept my demands and heal me. Those were my thoughts. I came to him as a defiant man. Moved not by faith but by a desperate anger.

God had wrought this calamity on my body, and he would either fix it or end it. But then I saw him, and when I saw him, I was changed. You must remember, I’m a farmer, not a poet, so I cannot find the words to describe what I saw. All I can say is that the Judean mornings are sometimes so fresh and the sunrises so glorious that to look atthem is to forget the heat of the day before and the hurt of times past. When I looked at his face, I saw a Judean morning.

Before he spoke, I knew he cared. Somehow I knew he hated this disease as much as, no—more—than I hate it. My rage became trust, and my anger became hope.

From behind a rock, I watched him descend a hill. Throngs of people followed him. I waited until he was only paces from me, then I stepped out.

“Master!”

He stopped and looked in my direction as did dozens of others. A flood of fear swept across the crowd. Arms flew in front of faces. Children ducked behind parents. “Unclean!” someone shouted. Again, I don’t blame them. I was a huddled mass of death. But I scarcely heard them. I scarcely saw them. Their panic I’d seen a thousand times.

His compassion, however, I’d never beheld. Everyone stepped back except him. He stepped toward me. Toward me. Five years ago my wife had stepped toward me. She was the last to do so. Now he did. I did not move. I just spoke. “Lord, you can heal me if you will.” Had he healed me with a word, I would have been thrilled. Had he cured me with a prayer, I would have rejoiced. But he wasn’t satisfied with speaking to me. He drew near me. He touched me.

Five years ago my wife had touched me. No one had touched me since. Until today. “I will.” His words were as tender as his touch. “Be healed!” Energy flooded my body like water through a furrowed field. In an instant, in a moment, I felt warmth where there had been numbness. I felt strength where there had been atrophy. My back straightened, and my head lifted. Where I had been eye level with his belt, I now stood eye level with his face. His smiling face. He cupped his hands on my cheeks and drew me so near I could feel the warmth of his breath and see the wetness in his eyes. “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.”

And so that is where I am going. I will show myself to my priest and embrace him. I will show myself to my wife, and I will embrace her. I will pick up my daughter, and I will embrace her. And I will never forget the one who dared to touch me. He could have healed me with a word. But he wanted to do more than heal me. He wanted to honor me, to validate me, to christen me. Imagine that … unworthy of the touch of a man, yet

worthy of the touch of God…

Originally Printed in “Just Like Jesus”, by Max Lucado

A Positive Power

2009-08-23T01:35:00.000+08:00

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

Nathaniel Hawthorne came home heartbroken. He’d just been fired from his job in the custom house. His wife, rather than responding with anxiety, surprised him with joy. “Now you can write your book!”

He wasn’t so positive. “And what shall we live on while I’m writing it?”

To his amazement she opened a drawer and revealed a wad of money she’d saved out of her housekeeping budget. “I always knew you were a man of genius,” she told him. “I always knew you’d write a masterpiece.”

She believed in her husband. And because she did, he wrote. And because he wrote, every library in America has a copy of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

You have the power to change someone’s life simply by the words that you speak. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

Originally printed in A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado

God Never Sends You Out Alone

2009-08-07T15:50:00.000+08:00

When you place your faith in Christ, Christ places his Spirit before, behind, and within you. Not a strange spirit, but the same Spirit: the parakletos. Everything Jesus did for his followers, his Spirit does for you. Jesus taught; the Spirit teaches. Jesus healed; the Spirit heals. Jesus comforted; his Spirit comforts. As Jesus sends you into new seasons, he sends his counselor to go with you.

God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy. She didn’t like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied. But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother. “Besides,” he explained, “I can walk with a friend.” So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”

One school day she came up with an idea. She asked a neighbor to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her. The neighbor was happy to oblige. She took her toddler on morning walks anyway.

After several days Timmy’s friend noticed the lady and the child.

“Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?”

“Sure,” Timmy answered. “That’s Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy.”

“Who?”

“My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm. She says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ Guess I’ll have to get used to them.”

You will too. God never sends you out alone. Are you on the eve of change? Do you find yourself looking into a new chapter? Is the foliage of your world showing signs of a new season? Heaven’s message for you is clear: when everything else changes, God presence never does. You journey in the company of the Holy Spirit, who “will teach you and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26 NLT).

From Fearless © (Thomas Nelson, 2009), Max Lucado

What if this earth is the womb?

2009-08-02T16:39:00.000+08:00

Embrace it. Accept it. Don’t resist it. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God’s strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments. Gideon: from farmer to general; Mary: from peasant girl to the mother of Christ; Paul: from local rabbi to world evangelist. God transitioned Joseph from a baby brother to an Egyptian prince. He changed David from a a shepherd to a king. Peter wanted to fish the Sea of Galilee. God called him to lead the first church. God makes reassignments.

But, someone might ask, what about the tragic changes God permits? Some seasons make no sense…do such moments serve a purpose?

They do if we see them from an eternal perspective. What makes no sense in this lie will make perfect sense in the next. I have proof: you in the womb.

I know you don’t remember this prenatal season, so let me remind you what happened during it. Every gestation day equipped you for your earthly life. Your bones solidified, your eyes developed, the umbilical cord transported nutrients into your growing frame…for what reason? So you might remain enwombed? Quite the contrary. Womb time equipped you for earth time, suited you up for your postpartum existence.

Some prenatal features went unused before birth. You grew a nose but didn’t breathe. Eyes developed, but could you see? Your tongue, toenails, and crop of hair served no function in your mother’s belly. But aren’t you glad you have them now?

Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary, like nostrils on the preborn. Suffering. Loneliness. Disease. Holocausts. Martyrdom. Monsoons. If we assume this world exists just for pregrave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so. But what if this earth is the womb? Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come? As Paul wrote, “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing” (2 Cor. 4:17 CEV).

From Fearless © (Thomas Nelson, 2009), Max Lucado

The Four Forces

2009-07-22T19:12:00.002+08:00

Father Alan Jones says that building our soul requires Four Invisible Forces, namely love, death, power and time. It is necessary to love because we are loved by God. It is necessary to be conscious of death in order to understand life better. One has to fight in order to grow - but without falling into the trap of the power that we obtain in doing so, because we know that such power is worth nothing. And lastly, it is necessary to accept that our soul – although eternal – is at this moment caught in the web of time, with all its opportunities and limitations.

First Force: Love

Rabbi Iaakov’s wife was always looking for an excuse to argue with her husband. Iaakov never answered her provocations.

Until one night when, during a dinner with some friends, the rabbi had a ferocious argument with his wife to the surprise of all at table.

“What happened?” they asked. “Why did you break your habit of never answering?”

“Because I realized that what bothered my wife most was the fact that I remained silent. Acting in this way, I remained far from her emotions. My reaction was an act of love, and I managed to make her understand that I heard her words."

Second Force: Death

As soon as he died, Juan found himself in a very beautiful place, surrounded by all the comfort and beauty that he had dreamed of.

A figure dressed in white came up to him and said, “You are entitled to anything you want.”

Enchanted, Juan did everything he had dreamed of during life. After many years of pleasure, he sought out the figure in white. He said that he had experienced everything and that now he needed a little work to make him feel useful.

“That’s the only thing I cannot get for you,” said the figure in white.

“But I’ll spend eternity dying of boredom! I’d much rather be in hell!”

“And where do you think you are?”

Third Force: Power

“I’ve spent a good part of the day thinking about things that I should not think about, desiring things that I should not desire, planning to do things that I should not do.”

The master pointed to a plant and asked the disciple if he knew what it was.

“It’s a belladonna. It can kill you if you eat the leaves. But it can’t kill you just by looking at it. Likewise, negative desires can cause no harm – if you don’t let yourself be seduced by them.”

Fourth Force: Time

A carpenter and his apprentices were traveling through the province of Qi in search of building materials. They saw a giant tree; five men holding hands could not encompass its girth, and its crown reached almost to the clouds.

“Let's not waste our time with this tree,” said the master carpenter. “It would take us forever to cut it down. If we wanted to make a ship out of that heavy trunk, the ship would sink. If we tried to use it to build a roof, the walls would have to be specially reinforced.”

The group continued on its way. One of the apprentices remarked, “Such a big tree and no use to anyone!”

“That's where you're wrong,” said the master carpenter. “The tree was true to its own destiny. If it had been like all the others, we would have cut it down. But because it had the courage to be different, it will remain alive and strong for a long time.”

Silence breaks your heart

2009-07-19T15:48:00.001+08:00

“Spiteful words can hurt your feelings but silence breaks your heart.”

“I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.”

C.S. Lewis quotes

Count to Eight... Let God be Enough!

2009-07-18T16:55:00.002+08:00

“We have here only five loaves and two fish.” (Matt. 14:17)

How do you suppose Jesus felt about the basket inventory? Any chance he might have wanted them to include the rest of the possibilities? Involve all the options? Do you think he was hoping someone might count to eight?

“Well, let’s see. We have five loaves, two fish…and Jesus!” Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who told us:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Luke 11:19 NIV)

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7 NIV)

What ever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24 NIV)

Standing next to the disciples was the solution to their problems…but they didn’t go to him. They stopped their count at seven and worried.

What about you? Are you counting to seven, or to eight?

Here are eight worry stoppers to expand your tally:

Pray, first. “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him…(I Peter 5:7 AMP)

Easy now. Slow down. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him (Ps. 37:7).

Act on it. The moment a concern surfaces, deal with it. Don’t dwell on it. Head off worries before they get the best of you. Be a doer, not a stewer.

Compile a worry list. Over a period of days record your anxious thoughts. Then review them. How many of them turned into a reality?

Evaluate your worry categories. Detect recurring areas of preoccupation that may become obsessions. Pray specifically about them.

Focus on today. God meets daily needs daily. He will give you what you need when it is needed.

Unleash a worry army. Share your feelings with a few loved ones. Ask them to pray with and for you.

Let God be enough. “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matt. 6:32-33 NLT).

Eight steps. Pray, first. Easy, now. Act on it. Compile a worry list. Evaluate your worry categories. Focus on today. Unleash a worry army. Let God be enough.

P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L

From Fearless © (Thomas Nelson, 2009), Max Lucado

The magic instant

2009-07-06T01:00:00.000+08:00

For you my life partner and soul mate on your Birthday!

You'll never grow old in my eyes :)

Forver young!

This is an article by Paulo Coelho...

We have to take risks. We can only truly understand the miracle of life when we let the unexpected manifest itself.

Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day we try to pretend that we don’t realize that moment, that it doesn’t exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant.

Happiness is at times a blessing – but usually it’s a conquest. The magic instant helps us to change, drives us forward to seek our dreams. We shall suffer and go through quite a few difficult moments and face many a disappointment – but this is all transitory and inevitable, and eventually we shall feel proud of the marks left behind by the obstacles. In the future we will be able to look back with pride and faith.

Poor are those who are afraid of running risks. Because maybe they are never disappointed, never disillusioned, never suffer like those who have a dream to pursue. But when they look back – for we always look back – they will hear their heart saying: “What did you do with the miracles that God sowed for your days? What did you do with the talent that your Master entrusted to you? You buried it deep in a grave because you were afraid to lose it. So this is your inheritance: the certainty that you have wasted your life.”

We must listen to the child that we once were, and who still lives within us. This child understands about magic instants. We can muffle his sobbing, but we can’t hush his voice.

If we aren’t reborn, if we don’t see life again with the innocence and enthusiasm of childhood, then there is no more sense to living.

Let’s allow the child within us to take the reins of our existence a little. This child says that one day is different from another. Let’s make the child feel loved again.

Remember that the wisdom of men is madness before God. If we listen to the child we bear in our soul, our eyes will shine once more. If we don’t lose contact with this child, we won’t lose contact with life.

Let’s live all the magic instants of the coming years!

Written by the very same Hand

2009-06-27T19:31:00.002+08:00

There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city.

And when these two people’s paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance, and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that:

"Everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand"

The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun. Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.

by Paulo Colelho

The Cure for Disappointment

2009-06-16T19:11:00.003+08:00

Don’t ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right.

When God doesn’t do what we want, it’s not easy. Never has been. Never will be. But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and he will get us through it.

Disappointment is cured by revamped expectations.

I like that story about the fellow who went to the pet store in search of a singing parakeet. Seems he was a bachelor and his house was too quiet. The store owner had just the bird for him, so the man bought it. The next day the bachelor came home from work to a house full of music. He went to the cage to feed the bird and noticed for the first time that the parakeet had only one leg.

He felt cheated that he’d been sold a one-legged bird, so he called and complained.

“What do you want,” the store owner responded, “a bird who can sing or a bird who can dance?”

Good question for times of disappointment.

From Let the Journey Begin: God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings © (J Countryman 2009) Max Lucado

The mind.... !

2009-06-10T00:50:00.000+08:00

The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.

If you have become a negative thinker, this is because you have not cared for your mind and taken the time to train it to focus on the good.

Winston Churchill said that 'the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts "Remember the mind truly is like any other muscle in your body. Use it or lose it."

From the book: The Monk who sold his Ferrari

God is Cheering for You

2009-06-07T16:23:00.000+08:00

If your God is Mighty enough to ignite the sun, could it be that He is mighty enough to light your path?

God is for you. Not “may be,” not “has been,” not “was,” not “would be,” but “God is!” He is for you. Today. At this hour. At this minute. As you read this sentence. No need to wait in line or come back tomorrow. He is with you. He could not be closer than he is at this second. His loyalty won’t increase if you are better nor lessen if you are worse. He is for you.

God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.

God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark. We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it says. “I have written your name on my hand,” he declares (Isa. 49:16).

From Let the Journey Begin: God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings © (J Countryman 2009) Max Lucado

Hope Restored Along the Way

2009-06-01T19:41:00.003+08:00

What would it take to restore your hope?

What would you need to reenergize your journey?

Though the answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind.

The first would be a person. Not just any person. You don’t need someone equally confused. You need someone who knows the way out. And from him you need some vision. You need someone to lift your spirits. You need someone to look you in the face and say, “This isn’t the end. Don’t give up. There is a better place than this. And I’ll lead you there.”

And, perhaps most important, you need direction. If you have only a person but no renewed vision, all you have is company. If he has a vision but no direction, you have a dreamer for company. But if you have a person with direction—who can take you from this place to the right place—ah, then you have one who can restore your hope.Or, to use David’s words, “He restores my soul.” Our Shepherd majors in restoring hope to the soul. Whether you are a lamb lost on a craggy ledge or a city slicker alone in a deep jungle, everything changes when your rescuer appears.

Your loneliness diminishes, because you have fellowship.

Your despair decreases, because you have vision.

Your confusion begins to lift, because you have direction.

Please note: You haven’t left the jungle.

The trees still eclipse the sky, and the thorns still cut the skin. Animals lurk and rodents scurry. The jungle is still a jungle. It hasn’t changed, but you have. You have changed because you have hope. And you have hope because you have met someone who can lead you out.Your Shepherd knows that you were not made for this place. He knows you are not equipped for this place. So he has come to guide you out.

From Let the Journey Begin:God’s Roadmap for New Beginnings© (J Countryman 2009) Max Lucado

It Takes Practice

2009-05-24T17:06:00.004+08:00

Who said a successful relationship is easy to get? It actually needs a lot of work!

here's a really good article about Effective Communication Practices... Enjoy :)

Have you ever gotten stuck in a conversation unable to express your true feelings?

Effective communication is a complex business. If you go into it expecting things to flow easily and without a lot of effort, you're just kidding yourself. I recommend that you adjust your expectations from "simple" to "complex," especially in three key areas:

First, expect problems and misunderstandings. Even the best communicators sometimes fail to understand others, or they fall short of making themselves understood. Keep in mind that we're all human. Often you don't even know for sure why you act or feel a certain way.

Second, expect that you'll need a lot of patience. Effective communication takes time. Be careful. Recognize that effective communication deserves patience and a deliberate attempt to understand not only the words being said but also the emotions behind the words. Slow down until you get that.

Finally, expect a lot of trial and error. People have different ways of communicating. While all of us can master and use a powerful set of tools for effective communication, the way we use those tools varies from person to person—and that requires trial and error.

It takes trial and error to get good at any skill—and that includes the skill of communicating effectively.

No.. Not Blind!

2009-05-18T20:02:00.003+08:00

“Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see!" :)

True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

let me share with you this story, it inspired me...

It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb.
He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am.I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On examination it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.

The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for awhile and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.
As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late.

He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.I was surprised, and asked him. "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"He smiled as he patted my hand and said. She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
Sometimes there are some that come along that have an important message, and this is one of those kind.
Just had to share it with you all.

Author Unknown

Be Wise in Your Relationships

2009-05-12T20:12:00.002+08:00

We're wise when we recognize and value the differences in people. Our uniqueness requires that we use wisdom in order to relate to others in customized ways, rather than relating to everyone with the same, rigid style, as if everyone will think and respond the same way.

Let's look into the characteristics of genuine wisdom: "The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness" (James 3:17-18 LB).

From these verses we learn six ways to be wise when we relate to others.
1. I will not compromise my integrity (wisdom is pure). I'll be honest with you. I'll keep my promises and commitments to you.
2. I will not antagonize your anger (wisdom is peace-loving). I'll work at maintaining harmony. I won't push your hot buttons.
3. I will not minimize your feelings (wisdom is courteous). I may not feel as you do, but I won't ignore or ridicule how you feel.
4. I will not criticize your suggestions (wisdom allows discussion). I can disagree with you without being disagreeable.
5. I will not emphasize your mistakes (wisdom is full of mercy). Instead of rubbing it in, I'll rub it out.
6. I will not disguise my motivations (wisdom is wholehearted and sincere). I'll be authentic with you. I won't con or manipulate you.

by Rick Warren

Embracing Imperfection

2009-04-22T09:56:00.000+08:00

A story by a girl.

"When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!

Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember Watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite! When I got Up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad For burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: 'Baby, I love burned toast.'

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if He really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, 'Debbie, your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides-a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!' You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook.

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of GOD. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!! "

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket but into your own."

I dreamed a dream

2009-04-16T03:55:00.002+08:00

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by... When hope was high And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die... I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid... And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame
He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be... So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed... Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Looks Could Decieve!*

2009-04-15T18:22:00.002+08:00

A 47-year-old British charity worker who says she has never been kissed has become a YouTube sensation after singing in front of Simon Cowell.
Susan Boyle, a charity worker from West Lothian in Scotland, appeared on the television show "Britain's Got Talent" at the weekend.
A YouTube clip of her performance now has more than 5 million hits.

Check the story on CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/04/15/singer.simon.cowell.youtube/#cnnSTCText

Check it in the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Looks Could Decieve!*

* Thanks Kiko for Sharing :)

The Cross

2009-04-11T16:28:00.000+08:00

The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don’t you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. The symbols of other faiths are more upbeat: the six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, a lotus blossom for Buddhism. Yet a cross for Christianity? An instrument of execution?

Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman’s noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Many even make the sign of the cross as they pray. Would we make the sign of, say, a guillotine? Instead of the triangular touch on the forehead and shoulders, how about a karate chop on the palm? Doesn’t quite have the same feel, does it?

Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler. One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness.

The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

How could he do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on his Son and punished it there.
“God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God” (2 Cor. 5:21 MSG).

From His Name is Jesus (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado

The Sufferings of His Broken Heart

2009-04-06T16:06:00.004+08:00

Go with me for a moment to witness what was perhaps the foggiest night in history. The scene is very simple; you’ll recognize it quickly. A grove of twisted olive trees. Ground cluttered with large rocks. A low stone fence. A dark, dark night.
Now, look into the picture. Look closely through the shadowy foliage. See that person? See that solitary figure? What’s he doing? Flat on the ground. Face stained with dirt and tears. Fists pounding the hard earth. Eyes wide with a stupor of fear. Hair matted with salty sweat. Is that blood on his forehead?
That’s Jesus. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Maybe you’ve seen the classic portrait of Christ in the garden. Kneeling beside a big rock. Snow-white robe. Hands peacefully folded in prayer. A look of serenity on his face. Halo over his head. A spotlight from heaven illuminating his golden-brown hair.
Now, I’m no artist, but I can tell you one thing. The man who painted that picture didn’t use the gospel of Mark as a pattern. When Mark wrote about that painful night, he used phrases like these: “Horror and dismay came over him.” “My heart is ready to break with grief.” “He went a little forward and threw himself on the ground.”

Does this look like the picture of a saintly Jesus resting in the palm of God? Hardly. Mark used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see a “man of sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:3 NASB) We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief.
We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.
The writer of Hebrews would later pen, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.” (Hebrews 5:7 NIV)
My, what a portrait! Jesus is in pain. Jesus is on the stage of fear. Jesus is cloaked, not in sainthood, but in humanity.

The next time the fog finds you, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden.
The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark.
The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane.
And the next time you wonder if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this dusty planet, listen to him pleading among the twisted trees.

The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you’ll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado

God Loves to Surprise Us

2009-03-15T23:03:00.001+09:00

“People receive God’s promises by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift.”Romans 4:16

Our problem is not so much that God doesn’t give us what we hope for as it is that we don’t know the right thing for which to hope. (You may want to read that sentence again.)

Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream.
It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming ending.
It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son.
It’s Moses standing in the promised land not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the transfigured Christ…

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.

Originally printed in God Came Near

Thine is the Kingdom…

2009-03-03T16:47:00.004+09:00

There are certain mountains only God can climb. Ascend them and you’ll end up bruised and embarrassed. Stay away from them and you’ll sidestep a lot of stress. These mountains are described in the final phrase of the Lord’s prayer, “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” A trio of peaks mantled by the clouds. Admire them, applaud them, but don’t climb them.

It’s not that you aren’t welcome to try, it’s just that you aren’t able. The pronoun is thine, not mine; thine is the kingdom, not mine is the kingdom. If the word Savior is in your job description, it’s because you put it there. Your role is to help the world, not save it. Mount Messiah is one mountain you weren’t made to climb.

Nor is Mount Self-Sufficient. You aren’t able to run the world, nor are you able to sustain it. Some of you think you can. You are self-made. You don’t bow your knees, you just roll up your sleeves and put in another twelve-hour day … which may be enough when it comes to making a living or building a business. But when you face your own grave or your own guilt, your power will not do the trick.

You were not made to run a kingdom, nor are you expected to be all-powerful. And you certainly can’t handle all the glory. Mount Applause is the most seductive of the three peaks. The higher you climb the more people applaud, but the thinner the air becomes. More than one person has stood at the top and shouted, “Mine is the glory!” only to lose their balance and fall.

“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
What protection this final phrase affords.
As you confess that God is in charge, you admit that you aren’t.
As you proclaim that God has power, you admit that you don’t.
And as you give God all the applause, there is none left to dizzy your brain.

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) Max Lucado

Deliver Us from the Evil One

2009-02-22T16:56:00.002+09:00

The next-to-last phrase in the Lord’s prayer is a petition for protection from Satan: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Is such a prayer necessary? Would God ever lead us into temptation? James 1:13 says, “When people are tempted they should not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone.” If God does not tempt us, then why pray, “Lead us not into temptation”?

These words trouble the most sophisticated theologian. But they don’t trouble a child.

And this is a prayer for the child-like heart. This is a prayer for those who look upon God as their Abba. This is a prayer for those who have already talked to their Father about provision for today (“Give us our daily bread.”) and pardon for yesterday (“Forgive us our debts.”). Now the child needs assurance about protection for tomorrow.

The phrase is best understood with a simple illustration. Imagine a father and son walking down an icy street. The father cautions the boy to be careful, but the boy is too excited to slow down. He hits the first patch of ice. Up go the feet and down plops the bottom. Dad comes along and helps him to his feet. The boy apologizes for disregarding the warning and then, tightly holding his father’s big hand, he asks, “Keep me from the slippery spots. Don’t let me fall again.”

The Father is so willing to comply. “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Ps. 37:23–24 TLB).
Such is the heart of this petition. It’s a tender request of a child to a father.

The last few slips have taught us—the walk is too treacherous to make alone. So we place our small hand in his large one and say, “Please, Abba, keep me from evil.”

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) Max Lucado

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

2009-02-11T18:02:00.001+09:00

What a statement of trust! Whatever you want me to have is all I want. Some days the plate runs over. God keeps bringing out more food and we keep loosening our belt. A promotion. A privilege. A friendship. A gift. A lifetime of grace. An eternity of joy. There are times when we literally push ourselves back from the table, amazed at God’s kindness. “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup fills with blessing” (Ps. 23:5 MSG).

And then there are those days when, well, when we have to eat our broccoli. Our daily bread could be tears or sorrow or discipline. Our portion may include adversity as well as opportunity.

This verse was on my mind last night during family devotions. I called my daughters to the table and set a plate in front of each. In the center of the table I placed a collection of food: some fruit, some raw vegetables and some Oreo cookies. “Every day,” I explained, “God prepares for us a plate of experiences. What kind of plate do you most enjoy?”

The answer was easy. Sara put three cookies on her plate. Some days are like that, aren’t they? Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not. Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables—twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash. Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good? Most days, however, have a bit of it all. Vegetables, which are healthy but dull. Fruit, which tastes better and we enjoy. And even an Oreo, which does little for our nutrition, but a lot for our attitude.

All are important and all are from God.

The next time your plate has more broccoli than apple pie, remember who prepared the meal.

And the next time your plate has a portion you find hard to swallow, talk to God about it.

Jesus did.

In the garden of Gethsemane his Father handed him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to heaven. “My Father,” he prayed, “if it is possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).
Even Jesus was given a portion he found hard to swallow. But with God’s help, he did. And with God’s help, you can too.

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) Max Lucado

Love… Like a cafeteria line?!

2009-02-06T16:53:00.002+09:00

As Valentine's day is approaching, most people think about their loved ones,
but what makes me ponder is the very different concepts of Love,
all people say they "love" someone... but it really differes how they define it!

my idea about it? can't explain it in just one entry! :-)
enjoy this small article, and have a happy Valentine's!

"Love…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Wouldn't it be nice if love were like a cafeteria line? What if you could look at the person with whom you live and select what you want and pass on what you don't? What if parents could do this with kids? "I'll take a plate of good grades and cute smiles, and I'm passing on the teenage identity crisis and tuition bills."
What if kids could do the same with parents? "Please give me a helping of allowances and free lodging but no rules or curfews, thank you."

And spouse with spouse? "H'm, how about a bowl of good health and good moods. Bit job transfers, in-laws, and laundry are not on my diet."

Wouldn’t it be great if love were like a cafeteria line?
It would be easier.
It would be neater.
It would be painless and peaceful.

But you know what? It wouldn’t be love.
Love doesn’t accept just a few things. Love is willing to accept all things.

Originally printed in A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado

Time for Yearly Revisions… 2008

2008-12-31T10:09:00.002+09:00

Here comes the year end, and it’s time for some revisions,
This year has been so full of events for me, some really painful, and some really good, but in all, one thing was very clear, He was with me all the way, holding my right hand and showing me the way…

“For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal” Job 5:18*

In 2008 I…

… Gained some wonderful new friends, and lost some dear ones,
… Had my worst car accident and lost my new car totally… God gave me a new one thought!
… Experienced hard physical pain, and needed physiotherapy for the first time in my life, too early for aging problems :)
… Traveled to new places and saw wonderful scenes,
… Discovered new ways to live and to be happy in spite of all circumstances,
… Loved someone so intensely, and this someone turned me down as no one ever did before,
… Organized an event that exceeded all success expectations, that was something!
… Witnessed my sweet young sis getting engaged and understood why mothers cry when their kids get married,
… Worked with a wonderful team, helped some people discover their potential, while they helped me discover how true friends are really amazing…
… Realized how fragile and unstable life is, it can end in a second, crisis hit in unexpected ways, and changes drastically affect lives.

Hard to judge if it was a bad year or a good one, but one thing is obvious, it was an enriching one… True that what doesn’t kill you make you stronger**… And as it says goodbye, the light of new Hopes is rising, and only 2009 can tell if it’s true or not!

I’ll close this chapter, and get ready to start a new one holding on to His promise to stay until the very end. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NIV).

Jesus doesn’t give hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. (-- Max Lucado)

*Thanks to a friend for helping me find the verse :)

** Thank you kiko!

My grown up christmas list

2008-12-14T17:12:00.000+09:00

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies

Well, I'm all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal the heart
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end oh,
This is my grown up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath the tree
But heaven only knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never endOh,
This is my grown up christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never endOh,
This is my grown up christmas list

You can listen to the song in this link.

How do you embrace someone?

2008-12-11T19:32:00.001+09:00

This Morning, Somewhere between the first step on the floor and the last step out the door, you grabbed some luggage. You stepped over to the baggage carousel and loaded up. Don’t remember doing so? That’s because you did it without thinking. Don’t remember seeing a baggage terminal? That’s because the carousel is not the one in the airport; it’s the one in the mind. And the bags we grab are not made of leather; they’re made of burdens.The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. You drape a duffel bag of weariness on one shoulder and a hanging bag of grief on the other. Add on a backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of loneliness, and a trunk of fear. Pretty soon you’re pulling more stuff than a skycap. No wonder you’re so tired at the end of the day. Lugging luggage is exhausting.

Do you have some luggage of your own?

Traveling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear.Why don’t you try traveling light?

Have you ever considered the impact that excess baggage has on relationships?

We’ve made this point at our church by virtue of a drama. A wedding is reenacted in which we hear the thoughts of the bride and groom.
The groom enters, laden with luggage. A bag dangles from every appendage. And each bag is labeled: guilt, anger, arrogance, insecurities. This fellow is loaded. As he stands at the altar, the audience hears him thinking, Finally, a woman who will help me carry all my burdens. She’s so strong, so stable, so … As his thoughts continue, hers begin.
She enters, wearing a wedding gown but, like her fiancé, covered with luggage. Pulling a hanging bag, shouldering a carry-on, hauling a makeup kit, paper sack—everything you could imagine and everything labeled. She has her own bags: prejudice, loneliness, and disappointments. And her expectations? Listen to what she is thinking: Just a few more minutes and I’ve got me a man. No more counselors. No more group sessions. So long, discouragement and worry. I won’t be seeing you anymore. He’s going to fix me.
Finally they stand at the altar, lost in a mountain of luggage. They smile their way through the ceremony, but when given the invitation to kiss each other, they can’t.

How do you embrace someone if your arms are full of bags?

For the sake of those you love, learn to set them down. And, for the sake of the God you serve, do the same. He wants to use you, you know. But how can he if you are exhausted?
God has a great race for you to run. Under his care you will go where you’ve never been and serve in ways you’ve never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff.
How can you share grace if you are full of guilt?
How can you offer comfort if you are disheartened?
How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms are full with your own?

There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. Your Lord is asking you to set them down and trust him. He is the father at the baggage claim.
When a dad sees his fiveyear- old son trying to drag the family trunk off the carousel, what does he say? The father will say to his son what God is saying to you. “Set it down, child. I’ll carry that one.”
What do you say we take God up on his offer?
We just might find ourselves traveling a little lighter.
Remember God’s promise: “Unload all your worries onto him, since he is looking after you” (1 Pet. 5:7 JB).

by Max Lucado

This disorder awaits your order

2008-11-20T20:27:00.001+09:00

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing
This scares us.

This bailout with billions...These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous-
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What Next?”

What is next?

We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.
You told us this would happen.You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, you warned. Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.
You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.
We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have,Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor,Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are you taking it?

We’re listening. And we’re praying.

Could you make something good out of this mess?
Of course you can.

You always have.

You led slaves out of slavery,Built temples out of ruins,

Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,Amen·

• • • ·

God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them. (Lk. 18:7 NCV)

Prayer offered by Max Lucado© 10/4/2008

I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine

2008-10-21T21:27:00.000+08:00

Example of faith was found on the wall of a concentration camp. On it a prisoner had carved the words:
I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine.
I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown.
I believe in God, even when he doesn’t speak.

Try to imagine the person who etched those words. Try to envision his skeletal hand gripping the broken glass or stone that cut into the wall. Try to imagine his eyes squinting through the darkness as he carved each letter.
What hand could have cut such a conviction?
What eyes could have seen good in such a horror?
There is only one answer: Eyes that see the unseen.

As Paul wrote: “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4: 18).

Jesus is asking you and me to see the unseen.
To make a choice.
Either to live by the facts or to see by faith.
When tragedy strikes we are left to choose what we see.
We can see either the hurt or the Healer.
The choice is ours.

Some of his work you have seen. Most of it you haven’t. Only when you get home will you know how many times he has protected you from luring voices. Only eternity will reveal the time he:
Interfered with the transfer, protecting you from involvement in unethical business.
Fogged in the airport, distancing you from a shady opportunity.
Flattened your tire, preventing you from checking into the hotel and meeting a seductive man.

And only heaven will show the times he protected you by:
Giving you a mate who loves God more than you do.
Opening the door for a new business so you could attend the same church.
Having the right voice with the right message on the right radio station the day you needed his encouragement.

Mark it down: God knows you and I are blind. He knows living by faith and not by sight doesn’t come naturally.
And I think that’s one reason he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Not for her sake – she was better off in heaven. But for our sake –to teach us that heaven sees when we trust.

Based on a chapter By Max Lucado

Tomorrow's dream ... Today's courage

2008-10-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

Today, I thought of borrowing these bits and pieces from Lucado's Inspirational thoughts about Faith and the courage to dream again, overcoming anything that had happened in the past, and hoping for a brighter tomorrow, in His light :-)

CHILDHOOD NIGHTS: shadows on the wall, boogey-men in the closet, and scary things going bump.
Conquering the boogey-man was pretty easy back then—all it took was a plaintive "Mommee" or "Dadee" and help was on the way. A parental peek under the bed, a reassuring kiss, a nightlight, and . . . Whew! "It" was gone . . . at least until the next night.
Now that you're grown up, you've defeated all your fears . . . right? Yeah, right.
The "its" of nighttime have become full-fledge attack squadrons of anxiety. And shadows on the wall don't always disappear with the dawn.
When you holler for help, sometimes all you hear is your own cry echoing down a lonely orridor.

So what do you do?
When your dreams are darkened by broken promises,
unfulfilled expectations, or a hardened heart . . .
when giving up seems like the only option left . . .
what do you do?

There is a source of renewed courage.
There is a wellspring of faith just waiting to be tapped.
So, drink deeply . . .
It's not too late for tomorrow's dream to become today's courage.

Should you? Can you? Do you dare?
Overcoming the past takes faith… and something more... Courage!
that’s what it takes to shed the problems and mistakes of the past and to dream again.
When shame and darkness hide all glimpses of the future... when relinquishing the past means an uncertain tomorrow... when you’re at the end of yourself and about to give up.. . you can find refuge in the shadow of Jesus. Listen as he gently whispers, "It’s all right, my child. . . I will help you. I will never leave you."
Together with him, you will find the courage to dream again.

Purpose

2008-09-29T11:00:00.000+08:00

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point-ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose.
The Bible says, "It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power"

It All Starts with God

For everything, absolutely everything,
above and below, visible and invisible,. . .
everything got started in him and
finds its purpose in him.
Colossians 1:16 (Msg)

Unless you assume a God, the question
of life's purpose is meaningless.
Bertrand Russell, atheist

But do believers "assume" a God or are they - by Faith - "sure" of Him?

The Art of Being Well

2008-09-17T23:20:00.000+08:00

If you don’t want to be ill...

... Speak your feelings
Emotions and feelings that are hidden, repressed, end in illnesses as: gastritis, ulcer, lumbar pains, spinal. With time, the repression of the feelings degenerates to the cancer. Then, we go to a confidante, to share our intimacy, ours "secret", our errors! The dialogue, the speech, the word, is a powerful remedy and an excellent therapy!

... Make Decisions
The undecided person remains in doubt, in anxiety, in anguish. Indecision accumulates problems, worries and aggressions. Human history is made of decisions. To decide is precisely to know to renounce, to know to lose advantages and values to win others. The undecided people are victims of gastric ailments, nervous pains and problems of the skin.

... Find Solutions
Negative people do not find solutions and they enlarge problems. They prefer lamentation, gossip, pessimism. It is better to light a match that to regret the darkness. A bee is small, but produces one of the sweetest things that exist. We are what we think. The negative thought generates negative energy that is transformed into illness.

...Don’t Live By Appearances
Who hides reality, pretends , poses and always wants to give the impression of being well. He wants to be seen as perfect, easy-going, etc. but is accumulating tons of weight. A bronze statue with feet of clay. There is nothing worse for the health than to live on appearances and facades. These are people with a lot of varnish and little root. Their destiny is the pharmacy, the hospital and pain.

...Accept
The refusal of acceptance and the absence of self-esteem, make us alienate ourselves. Being at one with ourselves is the core of a healthy life. They who do not accept this, become envious, jealous, imitators, ultra-competitive, destructive. Be accepted, accept that you are accepted, and accept the criticisms. It is wisdom, good sense and therapy.

...Trust
Who does not trust, does not communicate, is not opened, is not related, does not create deep and stable relations, does not know to do true friendships. Without confidence, there is not relationship. Distrust is a lack of faith in you and in faith itself.

...Do Not Live Life Sad
Good humor. Laughter. Rest. Happiness. These replenish health and bring long life. The happy person has the gift to improve the environment wherever they live. “Good humor saves us from the hands of the doctor". Happiness is health and therapy.

The Art of Being Well... Speak your feelings ... Make Decisions ... Find Solutions... Don’t Live By Appearances... Accept... Trust... Do Not Live Life Sad!

By Dr. Dráuzio Varella

Thank you for the music

2008-08-24T14:41:00.000+08:00

I’m nothing special,
in fact I’m a bit of a boreIf I tell a joke,
you’ve probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I’m so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Hope!

2008-08-08T09:30:00.003+08:00

The scene recorded in Luke 24:13-24 fascinates me... two sincere disciples walking along the dusty road to Emmaus telling how the last nail has been driven in Israel's coffin. God, in disguise, listens patiently, his wounded hands buried deeply in his robe. He must have been touched at the faithfulness of this pair. Yet he also must have been a bit chagrined.

He had just gone to hell and back to give heaven to earth, and these two were worried about the political situation of Israel.

"But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."

But we had hoped …

How often have you heard a phrase like that?

"We were hoping the doctor would release him."

"I had hoped to pass the exam."

"We had hoped the surgery would get all the tumor."
Words painted gray with disappointment.
What we wanted didn't come.
What came, we didn't want.
The result?
Shattered hope.

We trudge up the road to Emmaus dragging our sandals in the dust, wondering what we did to deserve such a plight. "What kind of God would let me down like this?"

You see, the problem with our two heavy-hearted friends was not a lack of faith, but a lack of vision. Their petitions were limited to what they could imagine-an earthly kingdom. Had God answered their prayer, had he granted their hope, the Seven-Day War would have started two thousand years earlier and Jesus would have spent the next forty years training his apostles to be cabinet members.

You have to wonder if God's most merciful act is his refusal to answer some of our prayers.

Our problem is not so much that God doesn't give us what we hope for as it is that we don't know the right thing for which to hope. (You may want to read that sentence again.)

Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream.

It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I'm-dreaming ending.

It's Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son.

It's Moses standing in the promised land not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the transfigured Christ.

And it is the two Emmaus-bound pilgrims reaching out to take a piece of bread only to see that the hands from which it is offered are pierced.

Caught in the Storm of the Not Yet

2008-07-20T23:23:00.000+08:00

When life gets so dark, and God seems silent... I tend to be frustrated...

Specially when I've been sincerely praying, so I ask myself :

Hadn’t I obeyed God? Didn’t God send me there? Wasn’t this his plan? wasn't I just doing what I was told?

Doesn’t peace always follow obedience? (Why are you smiling?)

Perhaps the disciples had the same expectation. They only did what they were told. Jesus told them to get into the boat, so they did. They didn’t question the order; they simply obeyed it. They could have objected. After all, it was evening and darkness was only minutes away.
But Jesus told them to get into the boat, so they did.
What was the result of their obedience? John’s crisp description will tell you: "That evening Jesus’ followers went down to Lake Galilee. It was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The followers got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum. By now a strong wind was blowing, and the waves on the lake were getting bigger" (John 6:16–17).
What a chilling phrase, "Jesus had not yet come to them." Caught in the storm of the "not yet." They did exactly what Jesus said, and look what it got them! A night on a storm-tossed sea with their Master somewhere on the shore.
It’s one thing to suffer for doing wrong. Something else entirely to suffer for doing right.
But it happens. And when the storm bursts, it washes away the naive assumption that if I do right, I will never suffer.
Just ask the faithful couple whose crib is empty and whose womb is barren.
Just ask the businessman whose honest work was rewarded with runaway inflation.
Just ask the student who took a stand for the truth and got mocked, the Sunday school teacher who took a class and got tired, the husband who took a chance and forgave his wife, only to be betrayed again.
And so the winds blow.
And so the boat bounces.
And so the disciples wonder, "Why the storm, and where is Jesus?" It’s bad enough to be in the storm, but to be in the storm alone?
The disciples had been on the sea for about nine hours.1 John tells us they rowed four miles (John 6:19). That’s a long night. How many times did they search the darkness for their Master? How many times did they call out his name?

Why did he take so long?
Why does he take so long?

Then why does He let me suffer?

Mark tells us that during the storm Jesus "saw his followers struggling" (Mark 6:48).
Through the night he saw them. Through the storm he saw them. And like a loving father he waited. He waited until the right time, until the right moment. He waited until he knew it was time to come, and then he came.
What made it the right time? I don’t know. Why was the ninth hour better than the fourth or fifth? I can’t answer that. Why does God wait until the money is gone? Why does he wait until the sickness has lingered? Why does he choose to wait until the other side of the grave to answer the prayers for healing?
I don’t know. I only know his timing is always right. I can only say he will do what is best. "God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them" (Luke 18:7).

Though you hear nothing, he is speaking.

Though you see nothing, he is acting.

With God there are no accidents.

Every incident is intended to bring us closer to him.

Based on a Chapter in Max Lucado's Book "Gentle Thuner - Hearing God Through Storm".

A Woman's Heart

2008-06-22T16:22:00.000+08:00

A woman's heart should be so lost in God

That a man needs to seek Him

in order to find her!

Special thanks to Molto for the Quote :-)

Each Day I choose

2008-06-10T08:00:00.004+08:00

It's the beginning of a new chapter in the book of my life, today is my Birthday! :-)

I take some time to think about my past, present and future.

With each new beginning, I remind myself of choices I will have to make every day, choices that should be based on my life Purpose, shaped by my past experience and somehow affecting my future, and so I remember Max Lucado's words, Each day... I choose!

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'llinvite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I am a spiritual being…

After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.

I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal.

I choose self-control.

I will be drunk only by joy.

I will be impassioned only by my faith.

I will be influenced only by God.

I will be taught only by God.

I choose self-control.

Each day I choose: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day.

If I succeed, I will give thanks.

If I fail, I will seek His grace.

And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillowand rest.

The Dark Country of Relativism

2008-06-01T11:00:00.006+08:00

Depression invaded my life drastically in the last months, I was struggling not to fall and not to surrender as usual, but this time it was so strong…

When I expressed my depression to one of my dear friends he surprisingly said “well if you are depressed… I can now commit suicide comfortably” he was trying to say that I was the only person in his surrounding having some flame of hope still, and trying to give it to others.

They say I’m this kind of person always trying to give hope and encourage others, but lately the flame was almost dying… it was mainly because I witnessed the rise of skeptic thoughts and behaviors from some people I met during the last 2 years… they doubt everything, yes everything… After a while I realized that these doubtful thoughts were basically the fruit of their strong belief in Relativism…

Relativism is not a single doctrine but a family of views whose common theme is that some central aspect of experience, thought, evaluation, or even reality is somehow relative to something else. For example standards of justification, moral principles or truth are sometimes said to be relative to language, culture, or biological makeup. Although relativistic lines of thought often lead to very implausible conclusions, there is something seductive about them, and they have captivated a wide range of thinkers from a wide range of traditions.

Well, I won’t talk much about it here, because I fell on the blog of a very interesting thinker around, that gave me insight and brought me hope again, that there are some people that can “Think” and still “Believe”.

The blog entries are really very well expressed, I’ll just link to them in here, thanking Firestone a million times for sharing such thoughts with the world:

1- Relativism: Individualism

http://thiswontsell.blogspot.com/2008/05/on-relativism-1-individualism.html

2- Relativism: Isolation
http://thiswontsell.blogspot.com/2008/05/on-relativism-2-isolation.html

3- Relativism: Doublethink
http://thiswontsell.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-son-giant-who-had-one-head-was.html

Doubt storms never leave the boat of our lives going strait in its path... lot of times we need to anchor the boat... but what if we don't find anchor points?!

Did you ask yourself before about your anchor points? Your truths? Those are the source of safety and inner peace in our lives... did you discover them?

In Hebrews 2:1 NIV you can read:“We must pay ore careful attention…to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” If you lose your faith, you will probably do so gradually.

You will let a few days slip by without consulting your compass.

Your sails will go untrimmed.Your rigging will go unprepared.

And worst of all, you will forget to anchor your boat.

And, before you know it, you’ll be bouncing from wave to wave in stormy seas.

And unless you anchor deep, you could go down. How do you anchor deep?

Look at the verse again: “We must pay careful attention…to what we have heard…”

The most reliable anchor points are not recent discoveries, but are time-tested truths that have held their ground against the winds of change.

Truths like:
My life is not futile.
My failures are not fatal.
My death is not final.

Attach your soul to these boulders and no wave is big enough to wash you under... Don't lose your anchor points, and make sure they are time-tested!

And that's enough

2008-05-23T20:27:00.001+08:00

In times of trouble
I need to hear that God is still in control.
I need to hear that it's not over until he says so.
I need to hear that life's mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out.
They are simply a reason to sit tight.

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.”

There is a Father who will hold me until I'm better,
help me until I can live with the hurt,
and who won't go to sleep when I'm afraid of waking up and seeing the dark.

EVER!

And that's enough

“Call to me in times of trouble. I will save you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:25
Rather than worry about anything, "pray about everything."

Do You Untie Knots?

2008-05-17T21:55:00.002+08:00

A little boy, having missed his bus because of the tangled shoe strings, looked at the nearby man with tear-filled eyes and asked "Do You Untie Knots?"
"Yes" Said the man.
God says the same.

Life gets tangled.
People mess up.
We never outgrow the urge to look up and say "Help?"

No matter how little or big the knot,
God is always saying, "Yes", to our request.
And He is able to do more than we can imagine when we leave the knots in His hands.

-- Max Lucado

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20

Learning to "See"

2008-05-07T19:08:00.000+08:00

We all have eyes, we walk in the same roads of life, but I always wondered if we see the same things… and believe me, a lot of us have poor eye sight! We fail to see things that are too obvious not to be seen!

Our sight became more and more focused on ourselves, and we totally forget about life’s real challenging problems like death, mortal diseases, slumping economies and rumbling earthquakes…

Learning to "see" is a lot of what it means to be Faithful. Faith gives us new eyes, and nothing looks the same to us anymore.

This song, from my favorite film “Les Choristes”, always reminds me of “seeing” things I always forget to see when I selfishly focus on myself and my problems, that are infinitesimal comparing to other facts that I forget to “see” on my way of life everyday…

It reminds me that there are others needing my help, and the center of the universe is not me anymore! It helps me have a more generous attitude than the selfish one invading our world… remember all those lonely souls that are suffering everyday…

“See on Your Way, forgotten and lost children, give them your hand to lead them to other tomorrows…
Feel in the heart of the night , the wave of hope, passion of life and the path to glory…
Childish pleasures, too quickly forgotten …erased, while a golden light shines endlessly at the end of the road…”

Original Lyrics in French

“Vois sur ton chemin, Gamins oubliés égarés, Donne leur la main Pour les mener Vers d'autres lendemains…
Sens au coeur de la nuit, L'onde d'espoir, Ardeur de la vie, Sentier de gloire…
Bonheurs enfantins, Trop vite oubliés effacés, une lumière dorée brille sans fin Tout au bout du chemin…”

When Others Let you Down

2008-05-01T10:53:00.001+08:00

Have you ever put your trust in someone, all of it, and for your surprise he let you down?
What do you do with your disillusionment?

Discouragement turns our eyes inward. God could be walking next to us, but despair clouds our vision.
Despair does something else. Not only does it cloud our vision, it hardens our hearts. We get cynical. We get calloused. And when good news comes, we don’t want to accept it for fear of being disappointed again.

Common reaction—isn’t it?
Been hurt by love? Then don’t love.
Had a promise violated? Then don’t trust.
Had your heart broken? Then don’t give it away.

There is a line, a fine line, which once crossed can be fatal.
It’s the line between disappointment and anger.
Between hurt and hate, between bitterness and blame.
If you are nearing that line, let me urge you, don’t cross it. Step back and ask this question: How long am I going to pay for my disappointment? How long am I going to go on nursing my hurt?

Remember the disciples seeing Jesus’ empty tomb?
There it is. “But we were hoping …” The disciples had hoped Jesus would free Israel. They had hoped he’d kick out the Romans. They’d hoped Pilate would be out and Jesus would be in. But Pilate was still in, and Jesus was dead.
Unfulfilled expectations. God didn’t do what they wanted him to.

When God doesn’t do what we want, it’s not easy. Never has been. Never will be. But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and he will get us through it.
The way to deal with discouragement? The cure for disappointment? Go back to the story. Read it again and again. Be reminded that you aren’t the first person to weep. And you aren’t the first person to be helped.

The challenge too great?
Too many worries?
Your wounds too deep?
Your enemies too mighty?
Your disappointments too heavy?
Read the story of the Emmaus-bound disciples. The Savior they thought was dead now walked beside them. He entered their house and sat at their table. And something happened in their hearts. “It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us” (v. 31).
Next time you’re disappointed, don’t panic. Don’t jump out. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you he’s still in control. It ain’t over till it’s over.

Based on a chapter in Max Lucado’s book “He Still Moves Stones”

Mais c'est de nuit

2008-04-24T18:42:00.004+08:00

Another friend has passed away this week...
two wonderful young souls in less than 3 weeks...
I have faith, but sometimes life just gets too dark...
what is life, and what is death?

I remember those words of Saint Jean de la Croix, "Mais C'est de Nuit" ... But, it is night!

Je la connais la source,
elle coule, elle court,
mais c'est de nuit.

Dans la nuit obscure de cette vie,
je la connais la source, par la foi,
mais c'est de nuit.

Je sais qu'il ne peut y avoir de chose plus belle,
que ciel et terre viennent y boire,
mais c'est de nuit.

Je sais que c'est un abîme sans fond
et que nul ne peut la passer à gué,
mais c'est de nuit.

Cette source éternelle est cachée en ce pain vivant
pour nous donner la vie,
mais c'est de nuit.

De là, elle appelle toutes créatures
qui viennent boire de son eau, dans l'ombre,
car c'est de nuit.

Cette source vive de mon désir
en ce pain de vie je la vois,
mais c'est de nuit.

English translation...

I know the source,
she sank, she runs,
but it is night.

In the dark night of this life,
I know the source, by faith,
but it is night.

I know that there can be no more beautiful thing,
that heaven and earth come to drink,
but it is night.

I know that this is a bottomless pit
and that no one can go to ford
but it is night.

This eternal source is hidden
In this living bread to give us life,
but it is night.

From there, she calls on all creatures
That come to drink, in the shadow,
because it is night.

This strong source of my desire
in this bread of life I see it,
but it is night.

Waiting for so long

2008-04-18T18:00:00.000+08:00

أديش صار لى ناطرة
حتى اسمع جواب

من عندك يا ربى
صوتك عنى غاب... صوتك عنى غاب

أنا قلبى تعب مش قادرة أنطر بعد

مش قادرة أنطر بعد
أنا وضعى صعب و عم يدبل بعمرى الورد
عم يدبل بعمرى الورد
و إنت وعدت و قلت
اسألوا تعطوا... أطلبوا تجدوا
أنا عم بسأل أنا عم بطلب بدى من ها الحالة أهرب
أنا عم بسأل أنا عم بطلب تعبانة و ضيعت المهرب
دخيلك اسمعنى... أنا قلبى تعب

سامحنى يا رب ان كنت جسارة ووقاحة

عم حط الملامة عليك إنى خسرت الراحة
لو كل العالم ظلمونى بعرف إنت بتبقى حنون
لكن شو بعمل بظنونى بتخلى إيمانى يخور
شو كتار اللى لامونى شمتوا فى و ذلونى
قالوا انى مش عم شوفك
إشفينى فتح لى عيونى

يمكنك الاستماع إلى الصلاة المرتلة الجميلة فى الرابط التالى
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV1GnNcz1DU&feature=related

Just Leaves... in the Wind

2008-04-14T19:43:00.000+08:00

شوية ريح هبوا من هنا و هناك، نشفوا الورق اللى كان كاسينا
شوية ريح غيروا لون الخضار، ساد الصفار، سقط القناع اللى كان حامينا
شوية ريح هبوا من هنا و هناك و كأننا لا زرعنا، و لا حصدنا، و لا اتكسنا
و خدنا بعد ما تعبنا، بعد ما عرقنا، بعد ما دار بينا الزمن و احتار، شوية ريح

و اللى النهاردة عمار و خضار، بكرة راح يبقى تراب فى الريح

كدة برده يا ورقنا كدة؟
تعبنا فيك قد ما تعبنا...
سهرنا فيك قد ما سهرنا...
حلمنا بيك قد ما حلمنا...
و قلنا راح نصبح ندور و ندور على اصحابنا و أحبابنا
نقول للناس بصوا و شوفوا أحدث خطوط موضة بورق التين
و آخر اليوم... تغطينا... تدفينا... و أدينا عايشين

و بعد القص و التفصيل
و بعد الضحك و التهليل
فجأة كدة... لقينا نفسنا وحدنا...
مع كسوفنا... مع كسوفنا...
عرفنا آخرة المشوار بإن التين قصاد الريح ما يقدرشى
ورق التين ما ينفعشى... ورق التين ما يسترشى

بكيت كثيرا عندما سمعت هذه الكلمات من فرط تأثرى بها، إذ كانت تعبر عن كل ما يجول بخاطرى و عن كل آلامى و أوجاعى، و كأنها كتبت لأجلى...
و صرخت آه يا وجعى على أوراق نقتلعها كل يوم قبل أن تتكون لها جذورا تقوى على مواجهة الريح....

لم يعد لدى البشر الصبر و لا الاحتمال لرعاية نبتة تنمو!

As no one else!

2008-04-10T19:14:00.002+08:00

"All men have the stars," he answered,
"but they are not the same things for different people.
For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides.
For others they are no more than little lights in the sky.
For others, who are scholars, they are problems.
For my businessman they were wealth.
But all these stars are silent.
You-- you alone-- will have the stars as no one else has them--"

From The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

We choose to see things the way we want to see them,
What we admire today, we seek to change another day,
Why do we tend to be so moody!
But does true love change its perpective so easy?

لا تجبر الانسان و لا تخـــــــــيره
يكفيه ما فيه من عقل بيحيــــــره
اللي النهارده بيطلبه و يشتهــــيه
هو اللي بكره ح يشتهي يغيـــــره عجبي !!

رباعيات صلاح چاهين

The Closed Door

2008-04-06T16:39:00.000+08:00

ويدرك موريس المقصود ، وينصحه زميل له بأن يطرد البنت لكي لا يصبح بقاؤها عنده مثار مشكلة في الشارع ، والحي ، وربما أبعد من ذلك النطاق. الأستاذ موريس ضميره يعذبه ، كيف يطرد طفلة إلي الشارع وهي بلا أهل؟ ولا سند؟ ولا أقارب؟ . لكن النظرات التي تلاحقه على امتداد الشارع تجبره على اتخاذ قراره، رغم دموع زوجته، لكن ماذا يقول للبنت؟ . يناديها ويشرح لها أنها لا تستطيع أكثر من ذلك المعيشة عنده وأن عليها أن تغادر الشقة، البنت تبكي ولا تفهم، مرة وأخرى ثم يجذبها من ذراعها بالقوة ويضعها خارج باب الشقة . البنت ملتصقة بالباب المغلق تخمشه كالقطة تبكي : أنا زعلتك في حاجة ياعم موريس ؟ والنبي دخلني . وتفر دموع عم موريس وراء الباب المغلق يقول : ما أقدرش يا بنتي .. والعدرا ما أقدر. والنبي ، والعدرا ، والنبي

والباب مغلق

وخلف كل ناحية شخص وحيد

كم من باب كان مفتوحا ثم أغلق ؟

من كتاب الباب المغلق، أحمد الخميسى

I ponder on this amazingly written paragraph and wonder, how many doors we close daily, and from each side of the door a lonely person weeping and needing the other badly…
Doors that we create when we forget that Life is too short for fights and people are too precious for anger, and in the end the only thing that really solves it all is love…There’s no obstacle in the world that is impossible for surmounting… if we just have the courage!

In my coffin

2008-04-02T16:48:00.002+08:00

Yesterday night I woke up in my cold coffin to realize that my beautiful warm dream is over.

It didn’t last for long, as I’m always used to…
But this time, I woke up very abruptly; the timing and the way were enough to give me a heart attack; I wasn’t even worth an explanation for the unexpected end of this unique dream of mine! I was worth nothing… absolutely nothing…

Inside the coffin I started to experience things that became now familiar to me… every now and then someone whom I’ve trusted with my heart sends me there… sometimes they intend it and sometimes not, but the ending is always the same… and in there it all comes back to me again; sleepless nights, chest pain, breath shortage, memories of none kept promises, unrealized wishes, irrecoverable scars… and those small special things that used to make my heart sing…

Today I feel my soul is floating outside my body, I feel watching my own life without having any control… the life of someone that is buried alive…

This time I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the energy to dream again and get out of the coffin… Is there still a dream worth dreaming? They all seem fake to me now… I don’t trust dreams anymore, I’m sick of dreams that end up all of a sudden without any prior signs.

Is there a way out? It’s very cold in here…

Gentle Lights

2008-03-30T16:22:00.001+08:00

There are snowstorms. There are hail storms. There are rainstorms. And there are doubtstorms... Every so often a doubtstorm rolls into my life, bringing with it a flurry of questions and galeforce winds of fear. And, soon after it comes, a light shines through it.
Sometimes the storm comes after the evening news. Some nights I wonder why I watch it. Some nights it’s just too much. From the steps of the Supreme Court to the steppes of South Africa, the news is usually gloomy . . . thirty minutes of bite-sized tragedies. A handsome man in a nice suit with a warm voice gives bad news. They call him the anchorman. Good title. One needs an anchor in today’s tempestuous waters.
Sometimes I wonder, How can our world get so chaotic?
And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt.
Do you ever get doubtstorms? Some of you don’t, I know. I’ve talked to you. Some of you have a "Davidish" optimism that defies any Goliath. I used to think that you were naive at best and phony at worst.
I don’t think that anymore.
I think you are gifted. You are gifted with faith. You can see the rainbow before the clouds part.
But others of you wonder . . .
You wonder what others know that you don’t. You wonder if you are blind or if they are. You wonder why some proclaim "Eureka" before the gold is found. You wonder why some shout "Land ho" before the fog has cleared. You wonder how some people believe so confidently while you believe so reluctantly.
As a result, you are a bit uncomfortable on the padded pew of blind belief. Your Bible hero is Thomas. Your middle name is Caution. Your queries are the bane of every Sunday school teacher.
“If God is so good, why do I sometimes feel so bad?”
“If his message is so clear, why do I get so confused?”
“If the Father is in control, why do good people have gut-wrenching problems?”
You wonder if it is a blessing or a curse to have a mind that never rests. But you would rather be a cynic than a hypocrite, so you continue to pray with one eye open and wonder:
· About starving children
· About the power of prayer
· About the depths of grace
· About Christians in cancer wards
· About whom you are to ask such questions anyway.
Tough questions. Throw-in-the-towel questions. Questions the disciples must have asked in the storm.
Their question—What hope do we have of surviving a stormy night?
My question—Where is God when his world is stormy?
Doubtstorms: turbulent days when the enemy is too big, the task too great, the future too bleak, and the answers too few.
Every so often a storm will come, and I’ll look up into the blackening sky and say, “God, a little light, please?”
The light came for the disciples. A figure came to them walking on the water. It wasn’t what they expected. Perhaps they were looking for angels to descend or heaven to open. Maybe they were listening for a divine proclamation to still the storm. We don’t know what they were looking for. But one thing is for sure, they weren’t looking for Jesus to come walking on the water.
“‘It’s a ghost,’ they said and cried out in fear” (Mart. 14:26).
And since Jesus came in a way they didn’t expect, they almost missed seeing the answer to their prayers.
And unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake. God’s lights in our dark nights are as numerous as the stars, if only we’ll look for them.

God’s solutions for doubtstorms. Gold-flecked glows that amber hope into blackness. Not thunderbolts. Not explosions of light.
Just gentle lights.
A business-man choosing honesty.
A hospital choosing compassion.
A celebrity choosing kindness.
Visible evidence of the invisible hand.
Soft reminders that optimism is not just for fools.
Funny. None of the events were “religious.” None of the encounters occurred in a ceremony or a church service. None will make the six o’clock news... But such is the case with gentle lights.
When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they called him a ghost. A phantom. A hallucination. To them, the glow was anything but God.
When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as apparitions, accidents, or anomalies.
And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle. Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper.
But it is in burnished candles that God comes, and through whispered promises he speaks: “When you doubt, look around; I am closer than you think.”

By Max Lucado

The Child Inside Me

2008-03-16T19:23:00.001+09:00

I discovered this tiny little child inside me a long time ago, and you know what? We became friends!

My personal belief is that each and every one of us has a child inside; we usually hide him, as we move from youthful enthusiasms to the bitterness of maturity, and it becomes ever more difficult to let the child come to the surface…we realize that others expect to hear dazzling truths from us, they want us to always act maturely… and trying hard not to let them down, we hide him!

So many times to “heal my wounds” I needed to “nurture my inner child”… it's actually worthwhile to spend some time thinking about him, and to acknowledge that some of his needs (for approval, love, respect, attention, etc.) that I try to squash down today are actually still there…

“When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them; they show us the state of our decay.”
Brian W. Aldiss quote

You probably hear from your inner child when you really, really, want something or are disappointed. He might not come through in words, but instead may come through as a feeling of disappointment or desire.
How you handle this is how you’re ultimately treating yourself. If, for something you really want you tell yourself "that's dumb, you don't need it," you're being very harsh to your inner child.
How would you treat a child in that situation? It's better to nurture than to demean. Nurturing doesn't mean giving in necessarily - it means recognizing the feeling, and the urgency of your inner voice that's expressing that feeling and responding gently and fairly.

Where words fail

2008-03-08T19:30:00.001+09:00

Where words fail, music speaks.
Hans Christian Andersen quotes

And as Gibran said, Music is the language of the spirit.
It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.

Enjoy this breathtaking piece of art,
let it take you as far as it goes...
it might take you to the darkest night, or the most bright star,
it's up to you! Enjoy the ride...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCwZiae8ul0

Aie pitié de moi, Seigneur

2008-03-05T17:55:00.001+09:00

Aie pitié de moi, Seigneur, aie pitié de moi

I told him I’m ready to live his dreams, and fight with him his own fights,
But he told me he doesn’t have the energy to fight,
And I realized he was putting an end to the story,
I wonder if he really understands that while letting go his plans and surrendering his dreams, he’s surrendering mine too!

Then I remembered that I’ve been there before
Remembering the moment when I decided to take the risk… again

Only one quote is obsessing my mind now, I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. --- Mother Teresa

Yes, I wish that He didn't trust me so much…………..

Pilgrimage to the bottom of your heart...

2008-02-10T01:45:00.000+09:00

"I want to love, Lord,
I need to love.
All my being is desire;
My heart, My body,
yearn in the night towards an unknown one to love.
My arms thrash about, and I can seize on no object for my love.
I am alone and want to be two. I speak, and no one is there to listen.
I live, and no one is there to share my life.
Why be so rich and have no one to enrich?
Where does this love come from?
Where is it going?
I want to love, Lord,
I need to love.
Here, this evening, Lord, is all my love. . . .
**********
Listen, son,
Stop,
and make, silently, a long pilgrimage to the bottom of your heart.
Walk by the side of your love so new,
as one follows a brook to find its source,
and, at the very end, deep within you,
in the infinite mystery of your troubled soul, you will meet me.
For I call myself Love, son,
And from the beginning I have been nothing but Love,
And Love is in you.
It is I who made you to love,
To love eternally;
And your love will pass through another self of yours -
it is she that you seek;
Set your mind at rest; she is on your way,
on the way since the beginning,
the way of my love.
You must wait for her coming.
She is approaching.
You are approaching.
You will recognize each other,
For I've made her body for you, I've made yours for her.
I've made your heart for her, I've made hers for you.
And you seek each other, in the night,
In 'my night,' which will become Light if you trust me.
Keep yourself for her, son,
As she is keeping herself for you.
I shall keep you for one another,
And, since you hunger for love, I've put on your way all your brothers to love.
Believe me, it's a long apprenticeship, learning to love,
And there are not several kinds of love:
Loving is always leaving oneself to go towards others. . . .
********
Lord, help me to forget myself for others, my brothers,
That in giving myself I may teach myself to love."

from "Prayer," by Michel Quoist

It’s going to be okay

2008-02-04T17:28:00.000+09:00

God is whispering to you.
Those are his arms you feel.
Trust him.
That is his voice you hear.
Believe him.

Allow the only decision maker in the universe to comfort you.
Life at times appears to fall to pieces, seem irreparable.
But it’s going to be okay... How can you know?

Because God so loved the world.

If God can make a billion galaxies, can’t he make good out of our bad and sense out of our faltering lives?

Of course he can... He is God.

Risk

2007-12-27T19:08:00.000+09:00

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.*

To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements;
lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change.
It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.**

* William Shedd Quotes.
** C. S. Lewis Quotes.

I will Sing

2007-12-17T17:47:00.000+09:00

Lord You seem so far away.
A million miles or more it feels today.
And though I haven’t lost my faith, I must confess right now that’s hard for me to pray.

But I don’t know what to say and I don’t know where to start.
But as you give the grace with all that’s in my heart.

I will sing.
I will praise even in my darkest time through the sorrow and the pain.
I will sing. I will praise.
Lift my hands to honor You because Your word is true.
I will sing.

Lord is hard for me to see all the thought and plan You have for me.
But I will put my trust in You.
Lord will meet Your guide to set me free.

From Don Moen Lyrics.

It happens for a reason

2007-12-10T17:55:00.000+09:00

When I stop… turn off my senses… and just ponder… I discover a lot of unexplained things happening everyday…

Life surprises me every now and then, with things that sometimes defy any logic!

That unexpected jump at work… My best friend working with me at the same office, without any planning from our side… That old friend that surprisingly got in touch again… Those new lands I’m discovering one after the other… That painful shock I never expected… This life I’m living and never understood…

And still astonished I just sing
أمور الله عجيبة. مواعيده عجب العجاب. يغير الأزمان. و يسبب الأسباب

Yeah, I’m sure everything happens for a reason,
Just don’t let it go without reflection!

We grow old...

2007-12-09T16:29:00.000+09:00

The Gift

2007-10-12T15:55:00.000+08:00

The gift of Love gives HOPE!

Love extends an olive leaf to the loved one and says, “I have hope in you.”
Love is just as quick to say, “I have hope for you.”

The Parable of the Stones

2007-09-19T22:39:00.000+08:00

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
-- Proverbs 3 1:10 (NW)

I MUST WARN you, reader; before you begin. These words are ancient jewels mined from the quarry of my life. Read them only if you dare treasure them. For it would be better tonever know, than to know and not obey.
The hand which writes them is now old, wrinkled from the sun and labor. But the mind which guides them is wisewise from years wise from failures wise from heartache.
I am Asmara, merchant of fine stones.
I am a seller of stones. I travel from city to city. I buy jewels from the diggers in one land and sell them to the buyers in another I have weathered nights on stormy waters. I have walked days through desert heat. I have dined with kings. I have drunk with paupers. My hands have held the finest rubies and stroked the deepest furs. But I would trade it all for the one jewel I never knew.
It was not for lack of opportunity that I never held it. There was a chance in Madrid when I was young. No, it was not for lack of opportunity. It was for lack of wisdom. The jewel was in my hand, but I exchanged it for an imitation. And now I fear my days will end without my ever knowing the beauty of the precious stone.

I have never known true love.

I have known embraces. I have seen beauty. But I have never known love.
If only I’d learned to recognize love as I have learned to recognize stones.
My father taught me about stones. He was a jewel cutter. He would seat me at a table
before a dozen emeralds. "One is true," he would tell me. "The others are false. Find the true jewel."
I would ponder—studying one after the other. Finally I would choose. I was always wrong.

"The secret, "he would say," is not on the surface of the stone; it is inside the stone. A true jewel has a glow. Deep within the gem there is a flame. The surface can always be polished to shine, but with time the sparkle fades. However, the stone that shines from within will never fade."

With the years, my eyes learned to spot true stones. I am never fooled. The stones I purchase are authentic. The gems I sell are true. I have learned to see the light within.
If only I’d learned the same about love.
But I’ve been foolish, dear reader, and I’ve been fooled.
I’ve spent my life in places I shouldn’t have been, looking for someone with sparkling
eyes, beautiful hair, a dazzling smile, and fancy clothes. I’ve searched for a woman with outer beauty, but no true value. And now I am left with emptiness.
Once I almost found her. Many years ago in Madrid, I met the daughter of a farmer. Her ways were simple. Her love was pure. Her eyes were honest. But her looks were plain. She would have loved me. She would have held me through every season. Within her was a glow of devotion the like of which I’ve never seen since.
But I continued looking for someone whose beauty would outshine the rest.
How many times since have I longed for that farm girl’s kind heart, her sweet smile, her faithfulness? If only I’d known that true beauty is found inside, not outside. If only I’d known, how many tears would I have saved?
I’d trade in a moment a thousand rare gems for the true heart of one who would have loved me.

Dear reader, heed my warning.
Look closely at the stones before you open your purse.
True love glows from within and grows stronger with the passage of time.
Heed my caution.
Look for the purest gem.
Look deep within the heart to find the greatest beauty of all.
And when you find that gem, hold onto her and never let her go.
For in her you have been granted a treasure worth far more than rubies.

Seek beauty and miss love.
But seek love and find both.

From Tell Me the Secrets ©1993 by Max Lucado.

Patience... Understanding?!

2007-09-07T17:31:00.000+08:00

“Let your patience show itself perfectly in what you do.” James 1:4

Sometime ago our church staff attended a leadership conference. Especially interested in one class, I arrived early and snagged a front-row seat. As the speaker began, however, I was distracted by a couple of voices in the back of the room. Two guys were mumbling to each other. I was giving serious thought to shooting a glare over my shoulder when the speaker offered an explanation. “Forgive me,” he said. “I forgot to explain why the two fellows at the back of the class are talking. One of them is an elder at a new church in Romania. He has traveled here to learn about church leadership. But he doesn’t speak English, so the message is being translated.”

All of a sudden everything changed.
Patience replaced impatience.
Why?
Because patience always hitches a ride with understanding.
“A man of understanding holds his tongue” (Prov. 11:12 NIV).

Don’t miss the connection between understanding and patience.
Before you blow up, listen up.
Before you strike out, tune in.

Originally printed in A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado

Best Music in the score of life

2007-09-04T00:57:00.000+08:00

Love is the Best Music in the score of life!
Without it...
One would forever be out of tune
in the immense choir of Humanity!

keep yourself in tune :-)
it's hard,
but it's worth the efforts ;-)

Open the Windows...

2007-08-25T23:21:00.000+08:00

When a believing person prays, great things happen. (James 5:16)

Imagine yourself in a dark room. Windows closed. Curtains drawn. Shutters shut. In the darkness it’s hard to believe there’s daylight beyond the drapes. So you grope and try to feel your way across the floor. You take a step, disoriented and unsure where you’re headed. Progress is slow and the journey painful. Stubbed toes, bruised shins, broken vases. It’s hard to walk in a dark place.

Harder still to walk in a dark world. But many try. And, as a result, many are wounded in the effort: tripping over problems, bumping into one another in the shadows, ramming into walls.

But occasionally one of us makes a discovery.

Reaching through the blackness, a hand finds curtains and a window latch. “Hey, everybody! The walls have windows!” The drapes are pulled back and the window opened. The sun floods into the room.
What was dark is now bright. What was opaque is now clear. What was stale is now fresh. With the light comes a peace, a power, a desire to move closer to the light, and a confidence to step forward.
Our timid steps are replaced by a certainty to our walk. A certainty to move through the corridors of life, opening one window after another to illuminate.

What a difference!
And all it took was one small gesture of opening curtains and raising the window.
Prayer does the same thing for us.
Prayer is the window that God has placed in the walls of our world.
Leave it shut and the world is a cold, dark house.
But throw back the curtains and see His light.

Open the window and hear His voice.
Open the window of prayer and invoke the presence of God in your world.

Les Promesses d’Amour

2007-08-08T02:54:00.000+08:00

Les promesses d'amour chantées par les prophètes ne sont plus aujourd'hui que revanche et conquête; c'est la course au pouvoir, c'est la révolution, et c'est Dieu que l'on tue a coup de religion…
Les promesses d'hier sont restées d'être mort, et les déshérites frappent encore a la porte; tous ces crimes impunis qui nous révolte pourtant dans le monde aujourd'hui …dites moi qui les entends?

Toutes ces promesses que l'on fait encore de nos jours dans tout les discours dites moi qui les entends ; tout ceux qui sont enfermés pour avoir oser parler librement dites moi qui les entends

Les promesses d'espoirs et de fraternité on n'en parle beaucoup pour mieux les oublier au nom de la misère de la paix et de l'argent on envoi a la guerre des femme et des enfants ; du Chili au Liban … de l'Irlande au désert … ceux sont des innocents qui meurent sur notre terre ; tout ces peuples soumis a l'ambition des tirants dans le monde aujourd’hui… dites moi qui les entends?

Toutes ces promesses que l'on fait encore de nos jours dans tout les discours dites moi qui les entends ; tout ceux qui sont enfermés pour avoir oser parler librement dites moi qui les entends

Les promesses d'amoureux même quand elles sont sincères, une fois loin des yeux ne sont plus que chimères, et ne dure que le temps d'une nuit étoilée d'un désire de printemps ou d'un baiser volé…
Je les vois tous les jours, je les vois par milliers, ces orphelins d'amour que la vie a blessée…Tout ces couples détruits, qui nous laisse indifférent dans le monde aujourd'hui … dites moi qui les entends?

Toutes ces promesses que l'on fait encore de nos jours dans tout les discours dites moi qui les entends ; tout ceux qui sont enfermés pour avoir oser parler librement dites moi qui les entends

Les promesses d'hier, me semble des rassoires, quand je voix un mendiant dormir sur un trottoir… un vieil homme qu'on laisse, avec ses souvenirs, qu'on punis de vieillesse, qu'on prive de sourire… Les poètes en prisons, les savants condamnes par l'esclave affranchit, qui n'a plus de pitiés…

Toutes ces promesses que l'on fait encore de nos jours dans tout les discours dites moi qui les entends ; tout ceux qui sont enferme pour avoir oser parler librement dites moi qui les entends

Ces promesses oubliées,
Me font penser bien souvent,
Qu’on ne vient sur la terre,
Que pour être un émigrant !

Chanson par Enrico Macias.

Love, Hope and Try

2007-07-18T16:05:00.000+08:00

To love is to risk not being loved in return…
To hope is to risk pain…
To try is to risk failure…

But risk must be taken!

Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

Emotions... such a mystery!

2007-07-15T18:43:00.000+08:00

Human Emotions were always such a mystery for me; very complex, paradox, confusing… sometimes painful, other times delightful!What confuses me most about emotions is that I never was able to find an explanation about their source, mechanisms…etc.

I was just wondering why God abundantly blessed us with the great gift of emotions unlike other creatures. What an amazing and unique blessing! I would never imagine myself a reptile eating my own children! :) It’s true that most mammals do have some instinctive emotions such as the mother-child bond but they don’t reach the level of complexity of human emotions such as passion and the ability to have feelings about our feelings!

Could it be because we’re in His image and this is what He mainly “is”? … Love!

That kind of emotions that give you the power to give… forgive… and even sacrifice your life for the ones you love?! Only a Creator beyond the fence of logic could offer such a gift of love...

It Defies Logic… It’s crazy… but it’s true… Could it ever be explained?

Silence...

2007-07-08T01:22:00.000+08:00

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.

God is the friend of silence.

See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...

We need silence to be able to touch souls.

Mother Theresa

Asleep in the Louvre?!

2007-06-22T23:15:00.000+08:00

Can you imagine someone that fell asleep while visiting the Louvre?
I thought this is shameful until I read this article then I realized I did what’s worse!!

Go through this article and you’ll realize that you and I fall asleep in places much more interesting than the Louvre!!

Not you???

Just read it and tell me what you think! :-)

I fell asleep in the Louvre.

The most famous museum in the world… The best-known building in Paris… Tourists are oohing and aahing, and that’s me, nodding and snoring... Seated on a bench… Back to the wall... Chin to my chest... Conked out…

The crown jewels are down the hall. Rembrandt is on the wall. Van Gogh is one floor up. The Venus de Milo is one floor down. I should have been star struck and wide eyed.Denalyn was. You’d have thought she was at Foley’s Red Apple sale. If there was a tour, she took it. If there was a button to push, she pushed it. If there was a brochure to read, she read it. She didn’t even want to stop to eat.
But me?
I gave the Mona Lisa five minutes.
Shameful, I know.
But it wasn’t my fault.
I like seventeenth-century art as much as the next guy … well, maybe not that much. But at least I can usually stay awake.
But not that day.

Why did I fall asleep at the Louvre?
Blame it on the bags, baby; blame it on the bags.

I was worn out from lugging the family luggage. We checked more suitcases than the road show of the Phantom of the Opera.
I can’t fault my wife and daughters. They learned it from me. Remember, I’m the one who travels prepared for an underwater wedding and a bowling tournament. It’s bad enough for one person to travel like that, but five? It’ll wear you out.
You think I’ll ever learn to travel light?
I tell you what. Let’s make a pact.
I’ll reduce the leather bags, and we’ll both reduce the emotional ones.

After all, it’s one thing to sleep through the Louvre but quite another to sleep through life.
We can, you know.

Do we not dwell in the gallery of our God?
Isn’t the sky his canvas and humanity his magnum opus?
Are we not encircled by artistry?
Sunsets burning… Waves billowing…
And isn’t the soul his studio?
The birthing of love… the bequeathing of grace…

All around us miracles pop like fireflies—souls are touched, hearts are changed, and…Yawn. We miss it. We sleep through it. We can’t help it. It’s hard work carrying yesterday’s guilt around.

It’s also enough to make you miss the magic of life.

Then let’s get rid of the bags!
Once and for all, let’s give our luggage to him.
Let’s take him at his word! “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 NLT).

From

Traveling Light

When you are loved

2007-06-12T03:42:00.000+08:00

When you are loved, you can do anything in creation.

When you are loved, there's no need at all to understand what's happening,

because everything happens within you.

Quote From "The Alchemist", by Paulo Coelho (p155).

When I decided to quit...

2007-06-01T02:08:00.000+08:00

Moving on and meeting new people
Seems like the most interesting thing
New buddies, new job
A whole new world to explore
At first, tears never came and overflowed
All there was was excitement
Laughter, amazement and gladness

But during the last days, things changed.
Memories and good times shone,
Clouded my minds as I thought of leaving
While all the emotions altogether brewed.
Rivers of crystalline tears mixed with sobs,
Reminiscing the past seemed to be hard.
To grasp the thought was unbearable.

"Why do I cry?", I asked.
It's me who decided to leave, didn't I?
As I sat with clouded eyes
Nothing will be lost, I thought.
All's well.
I'll look forward to tomorrow.
All of these are foolish things to say.

Foolish...fooling myself is what I'm doing.

All the friends and colleagues that I've known
Cannot be replaced in any way.
Sure, new experiences will come.
But will these outshine the old ones?
Hard to comprehend why it's all ending.

Goodbye...goodbye...final goodbye
In this last day ...Tears mixed with laughter echoes in the halls
As the cover closes in the final day of this chapter.

Not Home Yet!

2007-05-29T15:13:00.000+08:00

"Our homeland is in Heaven" (Philippians 3:20 NCV).

This explains the homesickness you feel from time to time ...
The twists and turns of life have a way of reminding us - this world is not our homeland.
We aren't fluent in its language.
Its culture confuses our heart.
Its stress disrupts our sleep.
It promises much but delivers so much less.

But that's okay... Here is the good news ... we have an eternal address fixed in our hearts: "[God] has… set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).

But even though our eyes are fixed on Heaven, for some of us the journey has been long, very long and stormy.
We've been robbed of lifelong dreams.
We've been given bodies that can't sustain our spirits, or spouses who can't tolerate our faith, or bills that outnumber our pay cheques, or challenges that outweigh our strength - and we get tired.
It's hard to see the city in the midst of the storms.
The desire to pull over to the side of the road and get out entices us.
We want to go on, but some days the road seems so long.

Remember this: God never said the journey would be easy, but He did say the arrival would be wonderful.

So trust Him.
He'll get you home.
Soon the trials of the trip will be forgotten in the joys of the feast.

Based on a thought by Bob Gass

My Confession

2007-05-14T16:02:00.000+08:00

I have been blind, unwilling to see ... The true love you're giving.
I have ignored every blessing... I'm on my knees confessing

That I feel myself surrender ... Each time I see your face...
I am staggered by your beauty,Your unassuming grace.
And I feel my heart is turning,Falling into place.
I can't hide... Now hear my confession.

I have been wrong about you...Thought I was strong without you.
For so long nothing could move me....For so long nothing could change me.

Now I feel myself surrender ... Each time I see your face...
I am staggered by your beauty,Your unassuming grace.
And I feel my heart is turning,Falling into place.
I can't hide... Now hear my confession.

You are the air that I breath...You're the ground beneath my feet.
When did I stop believing?

Cause I feel myself surrender ... Each time I see your face...
I am staggered by your beauty,Your unassuming grace.
And I feel my heart is turning,Falling into place.
I can't hide... Now hear my confession...I can't hideNow hear my confession...Hear my confession

Song by Josh Groban in his Album "Closer"

This is exactly how I feel towards the Lord! He's the only one that deserves such wonderfull words and feelings... I really pray that evryone will one day experience His "beauty... and ...unassuming grace"

I need Help

2007-05-02T15:47:00.000+08:00

When the problem is too big, all doors are closed and I'm feeling totally helpless... I find myself asking him "Where are you? Did you leave me?"

And only at that moment... just when I admit my weakness, I can clearly hear his reply:

I'm here my child... I've never left you...
How weak your Faith is!

You're still relying on yourself...

But if you want to face the problems without falling,
you need to "surrender" in my hands,
you need to "admit" that you're not big enough,
you're not strong enough when you're on your own...

All what you have to do is to "accept" my leadership,
just like a child,
my tiny child...

Come on my child... give me your hand... don't be afraid...
I'll hold you... and I'll raise you up!
But... you need to be tiny... very tiny...
Because the Father, God, holds only tiny children!

Inspired by a thought in the book "Quand la vie devient prière", by Michel Quoist.

Shortcut?

2007-04-24T21:44:00.000+08:00

So many times the road to reach the goal is very tough, sometimes we desperately search for a shortcut! But on the road I found a quote that is saying:

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going

After deep thinking I found it very true... places that are really worth going have no shortcuts! but you know what??? They're worth the effort too!!

Thank you Ghadouda for sharing this great quote! love ya :-)

Doubtstorms

2007-04-15T17:34:00.000+08:00

Doubtstorms invade my mind so often... so many time I ask "why"?? ... "why so many hearts have to hurt"... where's God in the middle of the storm??

Sometimes the storm comes after the evening news. Some nights it’s just too much… thirty minutes of bite-sized tragedies. A handsome man in a nice suit with a warm voice gives bad news. And sometimes you can see the storm just looking around you in a normal day!

Sometimes we wonder, How can our world get so chaotic?

If you share these thoughts with me the article below might bring some light and calmness inside the storm! … Enjoy!

Doubtstorms

On Sundays I stand before a church with a three-point outline in my hand, thirty minutes on the clock, and a prayer on my lips. I do my best to say something that will convince a stranger that an unseen God still hears.

And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt.

Do you ever get doubtstorms? Some of you don’t, I know. I’ve talked to you.
I think you are gifted. You are gifted with faith. You can see the rainbow before the clouds part. If you have this gift, then I won’t say anything you need to hear.
But others of you wonder...

You wonder if it is a blessing or a curse to have a mind that never rests. But you would rather be a cynic than a hypocrite, so you continue to pray with one eye open and wonder:
- about starving children- about the power of prayer- about the depths of grace- about Christians in cancer wards- about who you are to ask such questions anyway.
Tough questions.
Throw-in-the-towel questions.
Questions the disciples must have asked in the storm.

The light came for the disciples. A figure came to them walking on the water. It wasn’t what they expected. Perhaps they were looking for angels to descend or heaven to open. Maybe they were listening for a divine proclamation to still the storm. We don’t know what they were looking for. But one thing is for sure, they weren’t looking for Jesus to come walking on the water. “‘It’s a ghost,’ they said and cried out in fear” (Matt. 14:26).

And since Jesus came in a way they didn’t expect, they almost missed seeing the answer to their prayers.
And unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake. God’s lights in our dark nights are as numerous as the stars, if only we’ll look for them. When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they called him a ghost. A phantom. A hallucination. To them, the glow was anything but God.
When we see gentle lights on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as apparitions, accidents, or anomalies. Anything but God.
“When Jesus comes,” the disciples in the boat may have thought, “he’ll split the sky. The sea will be calm. The clouds will disperse.”

“When God comes,” we doubters think, “all pain will flee. Life will be tranquil. No questions will remain.”

And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle.
Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper.

From In the Eye of the Storm Copyright 1991, Max Lucado