A nice passage that I found on the web and wanted to share with you guys :)
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, Who would like this $20 bill? Hands started going up.
He said, I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, Who still wants it? Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, What if I do this? And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. Now who still wants it? Still the hands went into the air.
My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value: dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to God!
The worth of our lives come not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST!
You are special-Don't ever forget it.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Types Of Trees To Learn From As Jesus says in Luke 21:29, we need to look into not only the fig tree but also other trees. There are various types of trees from which we can learn. Below I list four types of trees that expose the charaxteristics of persons worldwide and at the end of reading this, ask yourself to which category you belong to.
Tree That Has Died Twice!
We see a pathetic tree in Jude 1:12, that has died twice, the reason for its death is that it is not rooted properly. These kind of trees are the same as those discussed in Luke 8:13. People who are not rooted in Christ accept the words of God but they are not ready to practice what God says! Such trees that have no proper root will be withered when problems arise as said in Matt. 13:6.
Tree That Trusts God and God Alone:
As said in Jeremiah 17:7,8, a man who trusts in God is a blessed one. If a man trusts the Lord, then God's grace surrounds him (Psalms 32:10). No one can condemn a person who has taken refuge in the Lord (Psalms 34:22). God keeps such a man in peace (Isaiah 26:3).
Tree That Is Matured In Spiritual Sense:
This is the tree that is mentioned in Psalms 1:2,3. This tree is delighted in the commandments of the Lord and meditates on Lord's words during the day and the night. The most important blessing of this kind of a person is that "whatever he does prospers". This kind of tree lives in Jesus Christ (Colo. 2:6). The tree is rooted and established in God's love (Ephesians 3:17). If so the roots are holy then the branches and fruits will be holy too (Romans 11:16). Read John 15:5.
Tree That Is Ready To Accept God's Wrath:
Read Luke 13:7. Those who do are self-seeking, those who reject the truth and those who follow the evil are destined for God's wrath (Romans 2:8).
The Ten Commandments in the Bible are quite very popular. Most of us are familiar with it and are following it (I hope!). I will write here three more commandments of our Lord that most of us don’t take very seriously.
Rejoice In The Lord:
To rejoice in the Lord is a commandment from our Lord for His people. In Psalms 98:4,6 God clearly says this as a command to His people. To shout for joy and to rejoice in Him will not only please the Lord, but also will bring victory against protestors and victory in the battle. We all of course know what happened at the Jericho wall! The people did not put any weapon on the wall to break through it, they simply praised and shouted with joy as per Lord’s command.
If we do not take this commandment of the Lord seriously and follow, then it is considered as sin.
Sing Unto The Lord:
Read Psalms 81:2 and James 5:13 to know that this is a command from the Lord too. If you are happy, you should sing. According to Psalms 4:17, God’s people are happy even if they are not blessed with worldly blessings. If we are the disciples of Jesus, if we are with Him, we should be happy always and therefore should sing. Read Acts 16:25 – If we notice the happening in the prison closely, the singing did the miracle and had brought God’s angels down to the prison.
Blow The Horn:
Blowing the horn is nothing but warning people about God’s commandments and also to make everyone aware of His coming. Read Ezekiel 33:3-7 to see how Lord is serious about a person who doesn’t blow the horn and warn his fellow mates!
At the outset, the above mentioned commandments of the Lord may not look so serious and worth to follow. But we should remember that it is indeed a commandment, and if we do not follow any of the Lord’s commandments, it is sin!
God Had Made Us Kings And Priests Rev. 1:6 is a blessing that says that God had made us kings and priests in His kingdom. It is a heavenly blessing and the ultimate goal of a Christian. However, not every Christian automatically (by default) gets this blessing. There are some requirements apart from being a Christian.
You should be chosen by God (not the vice versa):
Duet. 17:15 says that you should choose a man from yourselves, not a foreigner as a king. God has this opinion about you. Yes, if you are a foreigner to His kingdom, you can never be a king in that kingdom. For this, we should be first chosen by God. As God Himself says in John 15:16, we did not choose Him, but He handpicked and chose us. Those who choose Jesus, choose Him for worldly blessings. But if we are chosen by God, then we will have, apart from the worldly blessings, all the heavenly blessings and the eligibility to become kings in His kingdom. In this context, God expects us to love Him (not from the millions of angels that dwell in the heaven). He also considers us to be His own property.
You should become anew:
I Samuel chapter 10 explains the incident of the anointment of Saul as king. Verse 1 says that Samuel pours oils over Saul’s head and anoints him as a king. In verse 6, Saul receives God’s spirit and he becomes a new man. Immediately after, all the miracles happen. Read: Ezekiel: 36:26, II Corin. 5:17, Ephesians 4:20-24.
You should follow His commandments:
Deut. 17:18,19 clearly states what a king who sits on a throne, should follow. The most important thing, which God says as a command is that, the king should posses himself a copy of God’s law, he should read it all days in his life and he should fear the Lord by carefully observing all the God’s words. We will receive all blessings and goodness only when we follow His teachings.
Psalms 61 is a chapter that outlines some blessings for God’s people. At the outset one may not notice the blessings mentioned in this chapter, as I did not even notice when I read it yesterday for the first time. But I wanted to read it once more and I noticed that God has kept some hidden blessings in this Psalms that is really nice to realize. I just wanted to share what I noticed in this chapter of Psalms. In the following I just outline the 4 kinds of blessings that God offers for His people:
Refuge:
Verse 3 of Psalms 61 says that God is our refuge. This means that He offers complete protection for His people. But there is one little important point that we need to notice: Read Psalms 48:2,3. This says that Zion, that is, the Church is the place where there is complete protection for God’s people. This means that once somebody is outside the church there is no protection for him/her. Church means not the literal church but fellowship with God and His people.
StrongTower:
God is a strong tower against the foes of God’s people. This means that if we come under His wings, He protects us from all evils. Proverbs 18:10 says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous is safe when he runs into it. So right from the time when we came to know the name of Jesus and obtained salvation, we have our Lord as our strong tower!
Hears Our Vows:
This is indeed a great blessing because not always our prayers and vows are heard. And, if they are heard we feel extremely happy and we get what we asked for. BUT not all vows are heard. Only if we have the habit of constant thanks giving while you are happy and blessed and fulfil your vows at those happy times, then the Lord hears your call when you are in danger! Read Psalms 50:14,15.
