A spiritual thought
archie
We will find it much easier to love others when we love God.
Prayer is not a substitute for action; action is not a substitute for prayer.
WHERE IS GOD?
If he is sincerely interested and wants to see you again, ask him to read this book in the interval. After doing that, he must decide for himself whether he wants to go on. He should not be pushed or prodded by you, his wife, or his friends. If he is to find God, the desire must come from within.
Big Book page 95, paragraph 3
Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God.
Big Book page 95, paragraph 55, paragraph 1
Always Say A Prayer
archie
We sought our soul, and it escaped us, we sought our God and He eluded us, we sought our brother, and found all three.
Prayer is the greatest act of power in the world, not because it changes things, but because it changes us, our attitudes, convictions, thoughts, convictions, feelings, words, and actions.
WHO OR WHAT IS FIRST IN OUR LIVES?
God, when I received this e-mail, ‘I thought, I don’t have time for this. And this is really inappropriate during work’. Then I realized that this kind of thinking is exactly, what has caused lot of the problems in our world today. We try to keep God in church on Sunday morning, maybe, Sunday night and, the unlikely event of a midweek service. We do like to have Him around during sickness, and, of course, at funerals. However, we don’t have time, or room, for Him during work or play. Because that’s the part of our lives we think we can, and should, handle on our own. May God forgive us forever thinking that there is a time or place where He is not to be first in our lives. We should always have time to remember all He has done for us.
Source unknown
archie
Faith in God is not just a single step but a life of walking with Him.
Faith in God keeps us from losing hope and helps us resist fear.
GOD CAN NOT DO ALL THINGS
There are things which the divine force we label God cannot do. He cannot act in violation of a law of Nature since one of the manifestations of God in the world resides in the orderliness and immutability of the laws of Nature. He cannot compel men to be good rather than bad, nor can He protect them from the consequences of their actions, or the consequences other people’s actions have for them.
Strictly speaking. God never punishes men, if we take punishment to mean an unpleasant experience not stemming directly from what a person does, but inflicted from without to teach a person to refrain from the act. In the world of God and man there is no punishment; there are only consequences. If a child plays with matches and one ignites and burns his hand-—that is a consequence. If he plays with matches and his mother takes them away and slaps his hand-—that is punishment. Punishment always involves another party’s disapproval and deliberate intervention; consequences flow impersonally from the nature of an act itself.
This means that a person who falls from the roof of a building will probably die, no matter what his reasons were for being on the roof or falling from it. If, in one miraculous case out of one thousand he comes out of it with nothing more than a broken leg it is not because God decided that he should live while nine hundred and ninety nine others died, but is due solely to physical--natural causes.
It means that a man who exposes himself to contagious diseases runs a risk of contracting the disease, even if he is doing it for the noblest of reasons. Contagion does not distinguish between a doctor trying to stem an epidemic and a criminal burglarizing the home of a sick man.
On any number of occasions, I’ve gone to the hospital to visit a congregant who had been in a serious automobile accident but emerged from it with only minor injuries. Usually, the person will say something like, If I could go through that and come out alive there must be a God! At the time, I’m usually not inclined to argue theology with the person, but I obvious can’t accept the notion that one man survived because God chose to spare him any more than I can the idea that another died because God wanted him to die. Had this patient been killed in the crash as many perfectly fine and loveable people are, would that therefore mean there is no God? Either God is real or He isn’t. Either our world is built around certain possibilities and relationships, or it isn’t. Only a childish notion of God--as-heavenly Puppeteer who determines what happens to us gives us leave to believe in God only when a tragedy happens to someone else and to decide there is no God when it touches us.
God does not punish. What we gratuitously call acts of God are sometimes acts of destructive men and sometimes acts of blind, inflexible Nature. The obvious, and very important, question which must be asked at this point is, If God doesn’t cause these things, and if He can’t prevent them, what good is He?
What good is God in a world where tragic and undeserved fates befall people at random? Well, first of all, He gives us a stable and orderly world, a world in which things conform to regular laws, so that we can learn to understand these laws and use them. Sometimes-—when a President Kennedy is shot or a relative of ours suffers from an incurable disease-—we may find ourselves wishing that the natural laws of the world were less regular, that they would change in selected, worthy cases. But would we really find the world more live able if the law of gravity sometimes applied and sometimes didn’t, if the heart sometimes needed to pump blood and didn’t at others, if neither physician nor scientist could get standard results from standardized procedures? Not only is there no power capable of overriding the laws of nature, but a world not based on cause and effect would be even harder to live in than a world of occasional tragedy.
Secondly, God has helped men discover ways of minimizing tragedy, through understanding and controlling Nature’s laws, through learning from experience-—their own and the teachings of others--which actions lead to undesirable consequences. To the extent that Man uses his intelligence and develops his conscience, he turns to God in order to reduce chaos and misfortune. When man becomes more godly, when he spends more of his resources on medical research and care for the needy, when he no longer teaches other men to despise their neighbors and themselves, there will be fewer tragic acts of God on earth.
And thirdly-—what good is God in a world where misfortune occurs so frequently? He gives men the power to overcome tragedy and find reasons for going on with life. He moves men to comfort and bereave, to give each other new strength and faith. Disaster, accident sudden death are not acts of God. The results of men to rebuild their lives after disaster is the true act of God.
page 76, paragraph 1, line 7
Why did God let it happen? God doesn’t make things happen, or let them happen. God does not judge or punish. He doesn’t distribute a minimum of quota of tumors and heart attacks each day, choosing His victims until He has used up a day’s supply of misfortune! He doesn’t mark certain people for illness and disaster, and others for health and prosperity. Things happen for natural reasons, some of which we understand and some of which we don’t. The human body is a very complicated entity; many things have to go right for it to be healthy and it is easy for some little thing to go wrong. That doesn’t mean God judges you and gives you what you deserve.
God doesn’t punish people; He helps people when they get hurt. A lot of very wonderful people have bad things happen to them, sometimes through no fault of their own, sometimes because they are careless for just a little while and the laws of Nature don’t make any exception because they were good people. When misfortune happens, they call upon God and find the strength and the courage to go on living and working and make the most of their situation.
Can God put back a severed leg, or reverse the course of an incurable disease? No, He can’t. There are laws of Nature which are the same always for all people. Sometimes, an apparently incurable disease does suddenly disappear, but it happens so rarely and arbitrarily-—and not necessarily to the most religious or most moral people or to those who could contribute most to the world-—that we say, God has chosen to intervene.
God does give men the intelligence and the desire to help others-—so that they invent artificial limbs and search for drugs to cure or slow down disease. He gives the suffering person and his family the strength to console each other and go on living.
page 81
If you believe that God causes everything in this world and if you also believe Him to be a just and moral God, then you must follow these assumptions to their logical conclusion: that people get what they deserve and therefore misfortune is divine punishment. (Unless you prefer the grotesque absurdity that God afflicts some people with blindness so as to provide others with opportunities for charity.) This puts charity and compassion on very uncertain footing: why, indeed, should we be kinder then God? Helping those whom God has chosen to afflict would be uncalled for, perhaps even rebellion against His will. Once we free ourselves of the obligation to explain every calamity as God’s will, as justified in His sight, we are free to say that misfortunes befall men for all sorts of reasons-—some of human origin, some accidental. The most useful question for our purpose is not, Why did it happen? but, Now that it has happened, what can we do about it?
When Children Ask About God, Harold Kushner, page 83, paragraph 1, line 7
archie
We speak as messengers from God, trusted by Him to tell the truth.
Prayer is the feeding time of the soul.
HE IS GOD
He is the First and Last,
The Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation
and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe
and the Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be
Unmoved, unchanged, undefeated, and never undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings peace!
The world can’t understand Him,
The armies can’t defeat Him,
The schools can’t explain Him, and
The leaders can’t ignore Him.
Hitler couldn’t silence Him,
The New Age can’t replace Him,
and Oprah can’t explain Him away!
He is Light, Love, Longevity, and Lord.
He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful, and Pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and His goal for me is abundant life. I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ancient of days, the Ruler of rulers, the leader of leaders, the overseer of the over comers, and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with me!
He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face death, He carries me home!
He is everything for everybody everywhere, very time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful. I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you’re wondering why I feel so secure, understand this, He said it and that settles it
God is in control, I m on His side, and that means all is well with my soul
Every day is a blessing for God is!
I love the Lord and thank Him for all that He has done in my life.
Source unknown
archie
We shouldn’t trust in ourselves but in God.
Prayer is the rope that pulls God and man together, but it doesn’t pull God down to us, it pulls us up to Him.
WHY WE LOVE GOD
Man depends on God for all things; God depends on man for one. Without man’s love, God does not exist as God, only as Creator, and love is the one thing no one, not even God Himself, can command. It is a free gift, or it is nothing. And it is most itself, most free, when it is offered in spite of suffering, of injustice, and of death.
We do not love God because He is perfect. We do not love Him because He protects us from all harm and keeps evil things from happening to us. We do not love Him because we are afraid of Him, or because He will hurt us if we turn our back on Him.
We love Him because He is God, because He is the Author of all the beauty and the order around us, the source of our strength and the hope and courage within us, and of other people’s strength and hope and courage with which we are helped in our time of need. We love Him because He is the best part of ourselves and of our world.
That is what it means to love. Love is not the admiration of perfection, but the acceptance of an imperfect person with all his imperfections, because loving and accepting Him makes us better and stronger.
When Bad Things Happen To Good People, page 146
archie
We will always make mistakes because we are human with many faults, however, God will always honor our sincerity.
Prayer is not to make God aware of our presence, prayer is to make us aware of God's presence.
WHERE IS GOD
Do you need Me?
I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.
I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.
I am not strange visions, I am not mysteries.
Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.
I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me,
For only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine”.
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.
Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all, and I am in all.
Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.
I am there because I have to be, because I am.
Only in Me does the world have meaning;
Only in Me does the world take form;
Only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars.
And the growth of living cells are founded.
I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling.
I am assurance.
I am peace.
I am oneness.
I am the law that you can live by.
I am the love that you can cling to.
I am your assurance.
I am your peace.
I am one with you.
I am.
Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail You.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers,
Because I know you, because I love you.
Beloved, I am there.
James Dillet Freeman, Poet Laureate, Unity Church
archie
What can we brag to God about?
Prayer is meant to be an intimate conversation with God, our best Friend.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR GOD?
People who have irrational phobias (fear of height, small places, crowds, elevators, telephones, water, darkness, or bugs) often seek out psychological help to overcome their unnatural and debilitating fears. The fear of God, though, is not an irrational emotion. It makes logical sense when you understand the facts about who God is and what He is like.
The concept of the fear of the Lord involves a recognition of the power, greatness, authority, and holiness of God. It is a healthy fear. It means we respect Him, shudder at the thought of His judgment against our sin, hold Him in awe, reverence Him, recognize Him as absolute Lord, and honor Him. The right kind of fear of the Lord, will drive us to Him--not away from Him?
Why does God want us to fear Him?
Fearing and obeying God is the whole purpose of life. When we fear, reverence, and honor the Lord, we show that we recognize Him for all that He is. We therefore stand in the proper relationship to Him as a creature before the Creator. To fear the Lord means that we take Him seriously and we desire to please Him with all that we do and say. It demonstrates that we realize we are accountable to Him for how we use every minute of every day.
A Discovery series pamphlet
archie
We will never fully comprehend what God is like.
Prayer is not a matter of coming to God with our wish list and pleading with Him to give us what we ask for; prayer is first and foremost the experience of being in the presence of God.
WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO GO WRONG, P.U.S.H.
A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God 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.
So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, 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. Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: he will do it every time!
You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t moved. Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to 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 of 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 shiny and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, 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. That you have done. Now I, My friend, I will 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.
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 do as you think they should.
Just P.U.S.H.
When your money is gone and the bills are due.
Just P.U.S.H.
When people just don’t understand you.
Just P.U.S.H.
P = Pray
U = Until
S = Something
H = Happens
Source unknown
archie
We throw away broken things but God doesn’t, He restores them, us.
Prayer is not trying to get God to change His will, it is trying to find out what His will is, to align ourselves or realign ourselves with His purpose for the world and for us.
WHERE IS GOD?
Three wise men from the East stole from man the Crown of Life, the thing that would make man and woman the happiest. They took it away from them and then they were going to hide it from them. So they got together and said now what are we going to do with this?
One of them said, I’ll tell you what we will do, we will take it to the highest, highest mountain on the face of the earth and we’ve hide it up the highest, highest cleavage and they will never think of looking for it there. The other two said, Yes, but you know how they are, they’re hunt and search and they will eventually find it. Another one said, I tell you what, we will take it to the deepest ocean and hide it in the deepest, deepest cleavage and they will never think about looking for it there. The other two said, Yes, but you know how they are, they are cunning, they are baffling, they are powerful, they will hunt and search and they will eventually find it. The third one said, I’ll tell what will do, we will hide it within himself, he will never think about looking for it there.
Source unknown
archie
Faith in God makes the impossible possible.
Faith is not knowing what is going to happen in our lives, but by trusting in God, we know it’s going to be all right.
AMAZING GRACE
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T’was Grace that taught
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and protect me
as long as life endures.
When we’ve been here ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
then when we’ve first begun.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
John Newton