P.U.S.H.

Photo Credit: Al Cooper via CC Flickr

This is an encouraging illustration for obedience, perseverance, faith and long-suffering. It will demonstrate to you the importance of maintaining your faith and patience with adversities that may come into your life.

A man was sleeping at 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 sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of 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: “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 sinewy 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, 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 a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves 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 react the way 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
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Source: gatewaytojesus.com

The Great Debate: No God or Know God?

Alroyfonseca via Wikimedia

There has been a question that millions of people have asked down through the ages…is there a God? Or is there no God? Was the earth, living creatures, the planets, stars and universe created by God or did everything just evolve and come into existence by chance? I just read an interesting story on “Best Real Stories” that will give you “food for thought” regarding this great debate.  I am not going to sit here and preach to you…after reading this story, you can decide.
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An atheist professor of philosophy was speaking to his class on the problem Science has with God, The Almighty.
He asked one of his new students to stand and the following conversation began…..

Professor: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Professor: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Professor: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn’t. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you? Let’s start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Is Satan good ?

Student: No.

Professor: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From…God

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Professor: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer. )

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality?  Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them?

( Student has no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son…Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him ?

Student: Yes.

Professor: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater becomes very quiet with this turn of events .)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat,
but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light…but if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it is called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir… The link between man and God is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive…
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Food for thought!

A Soldier and His Deck of Cards

Photo Credit: clarita via morguefile.com

During the North American Campaign, a bunch of soldier boys had been on a long hike, and arrived in a little town called Kasinok. The next morning being a Sunday, several of the boys went to church. A sergeant commanded the boys in church, and after the Chaplain had read the prayer, the text was taken up next. Those of the boys who had prayer books took them out, but this one boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread them out. The sergeant saw the cards, and said "Soldier, put away those cards."

After the services were over, the soldier was taken prisoner and brought before the provost marshal.

The marshal said, "Sergeant, why have you brought this man here!"

"For playing cards in church, sir."

"And what have you to say for yourself, boy?"

"Much, sir," replied the soldier.

The marshal replied "I hope so, for if not, I will punish you more severely than any man has ever been punished."

The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on march for about six days, and I have neither Bible, nor prayer book; but I hope to satisfy you, sir, with the purity of my intentions."

And with that, the boy started his story.

"You see, sir, When I look at the ace, it reminds me that there is but one God. And the deuce, it reminds me that the Bible is divided into two parts, the Old and the New Testaments. And when I look at the trey, I think of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.

"When I see the four, I think of the four evangelists who preached the Gospel: there were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And when I see the five, it reminds me of the five virgins who trimmed their lamps. There were ten of them: five who trimmed their lamps, five were foolish and were shut out.

"And when I see the six, it reminds me that in six days God made this great Heaven and Earth. When I see the seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day, God rested from His great work. And when I see the eight, I think of the eight righteous persons that God saved when He destroyed this earth. There was Noah, his wife, and their sons and their wives.

"And when I see the nine, I think of the lepers our Savior cleaned, because it was nine out of ten who didn't even thank Him. When I see the ten, I think of the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on a table of stone.

"When I see the king, it reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven - God Almighty. And when I see the queen... I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And when I see the jack of knaves, it is the devil.

"When I count the number of spots on a deck of cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year. There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year. There are four suits, the number of weeks in a month. There are 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year. There are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.

"So you see, sir, my pack of cards serves me as a Bible, almanac and prayer book."

With a tear, the marshal just waved the soldier away.