The Rock
mars...@my-deja.com
with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work
for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The
Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his
might. This the man did, day after day.
For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set
squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock,
pushing
with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore, and
worn
out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the Adversary
decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary
mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it
hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to
move
it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible
and
that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged
and disheartened the man.
"Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time,
giving
just the minimum effort and that will be good enough."
And that is what he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a
matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord" he
said,
"I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my
strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I
have
not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I
failing?"
The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to
serve me
and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the
rock
with all, your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention
to
you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you
come
to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is
that
really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your
back
sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and
your
legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown
much
and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you
haven't
moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to
exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This
you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."
At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect to
decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple
obedience and faith in Him.... By all means, exercise the faith that
moves
mountains, but know that it is still God who
moves the mountains.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God
unto salvation to everyone that believes...Romans 1:16
P.U.S.H!
When everything seems to go wrong,... just P.U.S.H.!
When the job gets you down,... just P.U.S.H.!
When people don't react the way you think they should,...just P.U.S.H.!
When your money looks funny and the bills are due,... just P.U.S.H.!
When you want to curse them out for whatever the reason,... just
P.U.S.H.!
When people just don't understand you,... just P.U.S.H.!
P.U.S.H - Pray Until Something Happens!!!!!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
jillsl...@my-deja.com
mars...@my-deja.com
My husband sent it to me. He is not a real outspoken person when it
comes to his faith, so it was very special that he sent it to me.
Glad you liked it.
How are you doing?? Philip started hockey last week. Oh my, what have
we gotten ourselves into?? He plays on a floor hockey league with
other 4-6 year olds. Talk about cute. He is really into it and
listens to the coach so good. He wants to practice all the time.
Remember floor hockey as kids??? I remember those sticks with the
curved end on them. I also remember getting highsticked! Yeouch.
They have to wear all the protective gear - helmet, shin guards,
gloves, etc. How come we didn't have to wear all that???? Hey - maybe
that is what happened?? hahahaha
Renee
Florida.
A man was trying to swim across the river and in one arm he held a
large rock. He was getting very tried. People along the river banks
shouted, "Drop that rock." But the man held on to it and kept
swimming. He was getting more and more breathless with the labor of
trying to swim and hold the rock. More people shouted, "Drop that
rock." Everyone standing at the banks was concerned that the man was
going to drown. They kept shouting, "Drop that rock!" But the man
continued on. The people watched as the man became weaker and they
knew that he was going to drown. Someone shouted, "Why don't you drop
that rock?!" With his last breath the man answered, "I won't, it's
mine."
This story turned out to be very inspirational since we seem unable to
let go of the things that burden us. We just have to remember that we
can let go of these things; there is Someone willing to take them from
us.
mars...@my-deja.com
shoulders would feel much better.
Thanks
Anyone else have some inspriational stories, emails, etc.??? Please
share.
jillsl...@my-deja.com
RESIGNATION
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have
decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old
again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mudpuddle and make a sidewalk with
rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat
them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with
my friends on a hot summer's day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple; when all you knew were
colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes. But that didn't
bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't
care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware
of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair, that everyone is honest and good. I
want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious
to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things
again.
I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer
crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more
days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills,
gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth,
justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in
the snow.
So . . . here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills
and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.
And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me
first, cause........
......"Tag! You're it."
Pass this to someone and brighten their day by helping them rememberthe
Simple things in Life.
I received this from two different friends, one in Ann Arbor and one in
Singapore!
mars...@my-deja.com
jillsl...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
>
> RESIGNATION
>
LOVE IT!!
I resign, too!!! Let's go play!
mars...@my-deja.com
Where is God's Perfection?
In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning
disabled
children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career,
while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools. At a Chush
fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that
would
never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried
out, "Where is
the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with
perfection.
But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child
cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's
perfection?"
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish
and stilled by the piercing query. " I believe," the father
answered, "that
when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he
seeks is in the way people react to this child."
He then told the following story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys
Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will
let
me
play?" Shay's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and
that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father
understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a
comfortable sense
of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and
asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his
teammates.
Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said "We are losing
by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on
our
team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." Shaya's
father
was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove
and
go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning,
Shaya's
team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of
the
ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the
bases
loaded with the
potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the
team
actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to
win
the
game? Suprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was
all
but
impossible because Shaya didn't even know-how to hold the bat properly,
let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the
pitcher moved a few step s to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at
least be
able to make contact. The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily
and
missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they
held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The
pitcher
again
took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the
pitch
came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat and together they hit a
slow
ground ball to the pitcher.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the
ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would
have
ended
the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right
field,
far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started
yelling,"Shaya,
run
to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He
scampered down
the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base,
the
right
fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second
baseman
who would
tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood
what
the pitcher's
intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third
baseman's
head.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards
second
base as
the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towardshome. As
Shaya
reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him,
turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third."
As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him
screaming,
"Shaya run home." Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys
lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit
a
"grand slam" and won the game for his team. "That day," said the father
softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached
their
level of God's
perfection."
Funny how this is so true and shame on us!
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world is going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the
Bible
says.
Or is it scary?
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
(who by the way, also "believes" in God)
Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread
likewildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord,
people
think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
cyberspace,but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the
school
and
workplace.
Funny isn't it?
Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an
invisible Christian the rest of the week.
Are you laughing?
Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to
manyvon your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or
what
they will think of you for sending it to them.
Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than
what God thinks of me.
Are you thinking?
Praise God in all things, and He will bless you!