• Question July 01 - 10:37 am [0]

THE QUALITIES THAT MAKE UP "THE FRUITAGE OF THE SPIRIT" DO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR HAPPINESS. They are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.

LOVE moves others to love you in return.
JOY gives you the strength to cope with challenges
PEACE helps you to keep your relationships free from strife;
LONG-SUFFERING enables you to stay happy even when you are under trial.
KINDNESS draws others to you
GOODNESS on your part makes others respond when you need help;
FAITH assures you of God's loving direction
MILDNESS will bring you calmness of heart, mind, and body;
SELF-CONTROL means that your mistakes will be fewer.

WHEN WE DISPLAY THESE QUALITIES, WE CREATE THE CONDITIONS FOR HAVING PEACEFUL RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS AND WITH GOD, WHICH RESULT IN TRUE HAPPINESS.
--author unknown

READY OR NOT

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten,will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
~ by Michael Josephson ~

Crossroads

Sometimes, when I look back and think of all the
could-have-beens in my life,

I often wonder:
Did I make the right choice....
Did I miss a road sign....
Am I on the right track....

C R O S S R O A D S.....
They happen all the time,
Saying goodbye to some,
Choosing only one.
Letting go, holding on... settling for now,
But facing what must come....

Yes, in life we all reach a crossroad sometime.
We make painful decisions and take some risks
as we pursue our dreams.

But one should not stay at the CROSSROADS too long.
For even the birds have to leave their nests sometime
& learn how to fly.

Life's road is long & rough, and there are stretches
when one has to do it all alone.

And should you meet the cross at the road, be consoled.

Yes, more often than not, the road less traveled
will surely bring you home.

Face the light and the shadow falls behind you.
Turn your back & the shadow stays in front of you.

Indeed, the truth hurts,
but it will surely set you free.
The bitter pangs of parting will give birth to
another moment called GROWING.

So grow on..... until it's time for you to move
on.... and face the crossroads again,
knowing that God loves you and is in control of
everything.
--author unknown

FINDERS KEEPERS

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

~ Author Unknown ~

WHAT IF...

What if... God couldn't take the time to bless us today because we couldn't take the time to thank Him yesterday?

What if ... God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we didn't follow Him today?

What if ... we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the Rain?

What if... God didn't walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as His day?

What if...God took away the Bible tomorrow because we would not read it today?

What if ... God took away His message because we failed to listen to the messenger?

THINK ABOUT THIS
ONE:God didn't send His only begotten Son because He wanted us to be prepared to pay the price for sin.

TWO: God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others?

THREE: God would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him?

FOUR: God answered our prayers the way we answer His call to service?

FIVE: God met our needs the way we give Him our lives???
--author unknown

FROGS

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit.

All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump out of the pit with all of their might.

The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die.

He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"

The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill him or her.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words.... it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times.
Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

Be special to others.

--Author Unknown

The Scorpion


There was this man who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him.

The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again. Another man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him.

The man replied, "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?"

Don't give up loving.
Don't give up your goodness.
Even if people around you sting.

~ Author Unknown ~