"JUST CHECKING IN”

A Minister passing through his church In the middle of the day, Decided to pause by the altar To see who come to pray.

Just then the back door opened, and a man came down the aisle, the minister frowned as he saw the man hadn’t shaved in a while.

His shirt was torn and shabby, and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt down and bowed his head, then rose and walked away.

In the days that followed at precisely noon, The preacher saw this chap,

Each time he knelt just for a moment, A lunch pail in his lap. Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, He decided to stop and ask the man, 'What are you doing here?'

The old man said he was a factory worker And lunch was half an hour Lunchtime was his prayer time,
For finding strength and power.

I stay only a moment Because the factory's far away; As I kneel here talking to the Lord,

This is kinda what I say: 'I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.

DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS BEN, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY.'

The minister feeling foolish, Told Ben that it was fine. He told the man that he was welcome to pray there anytime. 'It's time to go, and thanks,' Ben said as he hurried to the door.

Then the minister knelt there at the altar, which he'd never done before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, as he met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed down his cheeks, He repeated old Ben's prayer:

'I JUST CAME by TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.

I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY.'

Past noon one day, the minister noticed, that old Ben hadn't come. As more days passed and still no Ben, He began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, But he'd given them a thrill.

The week that Ben was with them, brought changes in the ward, His smiles and joy contagious.
Changed people were his reward.

The head nurse couldn't understand, Why Ben could be so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed, He voiced the nurse's concern: No friends had come to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised, old Ben spoke up, And with a winsome smile; 'The nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, He's been here all the while.' Every day at noon He comes here, A dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down and takes my hand,

Leans over and says to me 'I JUST CAME BY TO TELL YOU, BEN, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN .

I THINK ABOUT YOU ALWAYS AND I LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, AND SO BEN, THIS IS JESUS, JUST CHECKING IN TODAY.'

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your Heart May God hold you in the palm of His hand-And Angels watch over you.  This is ME ......"Just Checking in Today"

SOME INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

1, Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela.

2, I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. - Nelson Mandela.

3, If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. - Nelson Mandela.

4, If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. - Nelson Mandela.

5, It always seems impossible until it’s done. - Nelson Mandela.

6, We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. – Nelson Mandela.

7, A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone. - Billy Graham.

8, Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. - John F. Kennedy.

9, Quality is not an act, it is a habit. - Aristotle.

10, True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. – Socrates.

11, God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion. - Desmond Tutu.

12, Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. - Mother Teresa.

13, If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. - Maya Angelou.
God bless you richly!

The Acts Of Self-Gratification Must Stop!

Admit it. You masturbate either in the past or recently—heck, maybe this morning. All men, married or single, young or old, struggle with this self-indulgence.

While it would be easy to get caught in the debate of whether or not it’s a sin (and I believe it is), let me suggest that, in my own journey as a God’s man, the reward of saving my sexual appetite for my wife is so worth waiting for.

But that’s easier said than done, especially with culture flaunting the female body and shoving sexuality in our faces. The temptation to “relieve” yourself with a helpful hand puts men smack dab in the middle of a battle for the mind.

We justify it. “Well, it’s not in the Bible.” Or “I only fantasize about my wife.” Or “God made us in His image, so He gets it.” Or “As long as I’m not having premarital sex or cheating on my wife, it’s OK.”

I know. I know. I’ve heard these and other justifications before.
But the Bible teaches us to evaluate our behaviors with the outcomes they bring. It’s the law of the harvest: “That which a man sows, he also reaps.” So, what do you reap from masturbating—even while fantasizing about your wife?

I believe you reap a substitute for God’s intended plan while training yourself to listen to your body over the Spirit and trusting your own action instead of waiting for God’s plan for a wonderful wife.

The negative outcomes of masturbation are:

1. It creates distance from God. I’ve never heard any man tell me it draws him closer to God.

2. It impacts the way you view women, or your wife, as objects of gratification versus someone with whom you're in a relationship where sex is a result of intimacy.

3. It’s addicting. Habitual masturbation is hard to stop. The chemicals released in the brain from having an orgasm are the same being released when doing cocaine or heroin.

4. It’s a slippery slope, meaning masturbation can lead to other behaviors that do not glorify God, namely porn, experimenting with pre-marital sex, cheating on your wife and learning how to hide something, allowing masturbation to become an idol.

5. It can produce false intimacy that the body and brain can wind up preferring over the real thing.

6. It short-circuits character and spiritual development in the areas of self-control, faith and patience.

So, if you are struggling with masturbation, ask yourself:
-Does it move me closer to God?
-Does it move me closer to my goals to be God’s man?
-Will it improve my relationship with women and my wife?
-Will it improve my ministry to other people?
-Does it glorify God?

If you are striving to know God and love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, then take your hand off your boy toy and allow your focus to reap a much higher reward. If you truly trust God, His plan and that sex within marriage is, can be or is going to be the absolute (mind-blowing) best ever, then stop masturbating.

Here are a few suggestions if you want help: Tips to Quitting

-Make a strong decision to no longer stop short of God’s plan.
-Make a strong commitment to be honest with yourself, God and others.
-Find strong accountability that’s open and honest with another man or men.
-Replace the false intimacy with a strong passion to be God’s man that involves your time, energy and money.
Trust me on this one. Masturbation is only a consolation. But sex in marriage is a fascination!

By Kenny Luck.

Do YOU know that Today's date is 11 12 13?

Do YOU know that Today's date is 11:12:13? This is a unique and special date which will not occur again. Therefore we pray for Mercy, Grace, Uniqueness, Favour prosperity for your today and tomorrow, May Continuous Progress of figures like this turn to Continuous Progress of achievements and promotion for 'us' and my &your miracle is accelerating and overflowing in Jesus name. AMEN. Bless you all From Adenike Salako Blog's World

THE MESSAGE PROCLAIMED

And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!' Romans 10:14-15

From the original Greek, we could translate the final question in Romans 10:14 as, "How shall they hear without one preaching?"

The Phillips translation puts it this way, "How can they hear unless someone proclaims Him?" Therefore, we see the emphasis is not on a preacher, but on preaching.

We may think the work of evangelism is only for those who are called to be evangelists.

Granted, there are people in the church whom God has raised up to be evangelists, and certainly evangelism is not limited to those who preach to hundreds or thousands at a time.

I have seen many individual believers who obviously have this gift. While it is true that some are called to be evangelists, it is also true that every Christian is called to evangelize.

Many times, however, we avoid sharing our faith, deciding instead to just live it out, be a good witness, and leave the preaching to others.

Yet in 1 Corinthians 1:21, it says, "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."

This does not mean that we need to scream and yell and wave a Bible to get the point across. What it does mean is that we are to recognize that the primary way God has chosen to reach the lost is through the proclamation of the gospel by people.

God has chosen the agency of His proclaimed Word to bring people to salvation.

Prayer: Lord, empower me to spread the good news of Your Kingdom everywhere I go.

Scriptural Reading: Romans 10:5-17

A Touching And Inspiration Story: Marriage

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door every morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office… jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed – dead.

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce –At least, in the eyes of our son— I’m a loving husband…

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage! (By Lola Onabowale)

Wielding The Sword Of God's Word

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12, NIV).

The words we use are powerful. We can never speak with more purity than when we speak God’s inspired Word. None of us can understand the power we access as we put voice to His holy words.

Whether written, read or spoken, God’s Word does not return void. As Hebrews 4:12 says, His Word is living and active. It breathes life into us, activating His power on both earthly and spiritual levels.

God’s Word speaks to us in a way no human words are able. His Word alone is capable of judging our thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts. When we ourselves don’t know what lies within our hearts, God is aware. He uses His Word to speak to our hearts. While God doesn’t condemn us, He convicts us as He teaches us His ways through the power of His Word:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

God’s Word has power to change us through conviction. His Word also has power to defeat the enemy today and forever, for when Christ comes in final judgment, He will speak words of power disarming our adversary once and for all.

"In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance" (Rev. 1:16).

Meditate on John 10:10 and take some time to thank God for your salvation. How can you live an abundant life for Christ?

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10, ESV).

By Lisa Bevere