" Gift from God "

Several years ago, a preacher from a distant state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas.Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "I'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then he thought, "Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet."

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "here, you gave me too much change". The driver, with a smile, replied, "aren't you the new preacher in town?"  "yes" he replied.  "Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday."

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter." 

Verdict
Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians,and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember --You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself  'Christian.'

I'm glad you've been challenged and ministered to by the message. Always remember that the will of God will never take you to where the grace of God will not protect you....

Courage...

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says 'I will try again tomorrow ' "

It takes courage to face the truth about who you are, the choices that you have been making in your life.

There comes a time in life when you must make the difficult decision to let certain things go; a negative attitude that you know no longer serves you; a relationship where you are dying together, rather than growing together; an addiction that you know is destroying you and does not represent your highest good...

The Tale of the Old Fox

In the deep of Irangi forest, lived an old fox which had lost its front legs. No one knew how: perhaps escaping from a trap. A man who lived on the edge of the forest,scrutinizing the fox from time to time, wondered how it managed to get its food. One day when the fox was not far from him he had to hide himself quickly because a tiger was approaching. The tiger had fresh game in its claws. Lying down on the ground, the tiger ate to its fill, leaving the rest for the fox and other scavengers.

Again the next day, the man noted that the great provider of this world sent provisions to the fox by this same tiger. The man began to think: "If this fox is taken care of in this mysterious way, its food sent by some unseen higher power, why don't I just rest in a corner and have my daily meal provided for me?"

Because he had a lot of faith, he let the days pass, waiting for food. Nothing happened.

He just went on losing weight, muscles, and strength until he was nearly a skeleton.Close to losing consciousness, he heard a voice which said: "O you, who have mistaken the way, see now the Truth! You should have followed the example of that tiger instead of imitating the disabled fox."

Reflections

The 'good' and the 'great' are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice. Notably,the ability to work hard and make sacrifices comes naturally to those who know exactly what they want.
Surprisingly,hard work does not necessarily guarantee success but no success is possible without hard work.

In conclusion,

The good life is to be earned with hard work and sacrifice. A Japanese will say, “Work hard in silence and let your success make all the noise "...

Hack Life

Life is a series of seasons. Sometimes we're high on the mountain, where everything is working right and life is exciting. Sometimes we're down in the valley facing tough trials, hardships and challenges. Sometimes we're in the plains where everything seems stagnant and motionless, and life is dull. The truth is that we can't fast-forward, rewind, or skip seasons.

No season is for no reason. God brings us through every season for divine reason. Cheer up, no season is for a lifetime. Even the longest season comes to an end. Don't count yourself out yet. What you are facing right now is only temporary or seasonal. Your tears shall dry. Your pain shall end. You shall be happy again.

Therefore get ready for your next life-season. Weeping may last for a night but joy comes in the morning....all you need is to ‪#‎HackLife‬

Make Each Day Count

Mohammed Ali famous quote "Don't count the days, make the days count" reminds me of two things: first, 'this day will never happen again' and secondly, 'spending today complaining of yesterday won't make tomorrow any better'. That reminds me that I must make every day count; it might be the last and therefore must be treated as precious.

Every day we have the opportunity to be happy, make a difference, and live life to the fullest. It's really up to us to choose those things that make each day count. We all have a limited time to walk this earth, so how can we use it in a positive way that adds a little sunshine to this world? Here are some suggestions for how we can make each day worthwhile.

Be Grateful
Being thankful for what we have, who we are, and all we do is the simple act of acknowledging all the good that's in our life. An attitude of gratitude shifts our focus away from our negative emotions, fears and daily irritations to thinking and feeling more positively. Sharing gratitude and appreciation with others is also a way to develop and enjoy meaningful and lasting relationships.

Learn Something New
Is there a subject you've always been curious about but feel like you don't have time to learn? Today, with the wealth of information available to us on the Web, we can discover and learn something new every day!

Do What You Love
Doing the things we love nourishes and inspires us. When we are passionate and engaged in the activities we love to do, we come alive, and we inspire others to do the same.

Prayer
More than just praying for our children, prayer allows us to model for them the importance of taking our requests to a loving and gracious God.

IN CONCLUSION
Another way we can think about how to make each day count is to ask ourselves the questions, "If I only had a month left to live, what would I do?" and "Am I spending time doing what truly matters to me most?" We each have different things that are important to us, and engaging in those things we value the most will bring us more joy and happiness. When we choose to live a life we love, we will find ourselves in love with the life we're living.

WHEN A JUDGE CAN'T JUDGE

WHEN A JUDGE CAN'T JUDGE

A little girl was holding two apples with both hands when her mum came in and softly asked her with a smile “my sweetie, could you give your mum one of your two apples?”

The girl looked up at her mum for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other. The mum felt the smile on her face freeze. She tried hard not to reveal her disappointment.

Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apple to her mum and said  “mummy, here you are. This is the sweeter one...”..........Mmmmmmh!

The intention of the little girl is unquestionably noble but what was lacking is little patience from the mum not to conclude her case too fast. Perhaps this was the best way to convey the message behind the story; "open your mind before your mouth...." . That we should give others privilege to explain themselves; a polite way of reminding us to never conclude cases for others.....

Seraphs and Cherubs

The Bible describes three types of amazing 'heavenly beings' that don't sound like anything that we'd normally think of as 'angels'. These beings are the Seraphim (or Seraphs), Cherubim (or Cherubs), and the Four Living Creatures. Each having important roles in serving God in heaven.

Seraphs (Seraphim)

The word Seraphim (singular Seraph) means “burning ones” or nobles. They are also sometimes called the 'ones of love' because their name might come from the Hebrew root for 'love'. Seraphim are only fully described in the Bible on one occasion. This is in the book of the prophet Isaiah, when he is being commissioned by God to be a prophet and he has a vision of heaven.

These types of heavenly beings have six wings, but they only use two of them for flying. Notably, they use the rest of wings to cover their face and feet; their face because, being so close to God, they would witness His full glory which would be too powerful to behold and feet because they are considered 'unclean' and so not worthy to be shown to God. The bible doesn’t document how many Seraphim there are, but it's more than one.

Their position is flying above God's throne while their primary duty is to constantly glorify and praise God and they may also be the personal 'attendant' angels of God. Their eternal song "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." has been used by Jews and Christians for thousands of years to join with the angels in praising God. Worth noting, in Hebrew, to use the same word three times to describe something means that the person/object is utterly like the word. So calling God Holy Holy Holy (three times) means that God is utterly and perfectly holy.

NB: Seraphim are described in Isaiah 6:2 as part of God’s retinue and it seems they were creatures of fire, with six wings. Isaiah does not identify the seraphim with angels. The Hebrew name, śārāf means 'the one that burns’

In Jewish folklore, and some later Christian works, the Seraphim are said to be the highest rank of angel. This is probably because of their very close proximity to God.

Strictly Biblically speaking, the Seraphim are only described once in the Bible:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4

Cherubim (or Cherubs)

When most people think of Cherubs they'll think of pudgy little baby-like creatures, with two little wings, who are rather cute. However, that's not how the Bible describes them! Cherubs (the correct plural is Cherubim) are described in two books of the Bible, Genesis and Ezekiel (a Jewish prophet).

In Genesis they guard the Garden of Eden, following Adam and Eve's banishment from the Garden, and are described holding flaming swords.

The prophet Ezekiel has a vivid vision of heaven where he sees many angelic beings. His description of the Cherubim is powerful – almost frightening. These are powerful heavenly beings with four faces and four wings. Ezekiel's vision might seem strange, it might well be that human eyes and senses just can't properly describe the wonder of heaven.

The Bible doesn't say how many Cherubim there are, but we're told that Ezekiel saw four - and there may be more than that! Their role is to guard God's Holy domain and presence from any sin and corruption. They are sometime known as the throne angels as they are seen to be around the throne of God. In Jewish folklore the 'Throne Angels' are known as “Merkabah” and described as having four faces on four side of their heads and being arranged in a square, they can travel in any direction without having to turn.

So far from being cute, cuddly creatures, the Cherubim are the mighty and powerful guardians of God.

NB: The best biblical description of cherubim (sing cherub) is to be found in the story of the Ark of the Covenant, and it appears that they were sphinx-like creatures with human heads, the bodies of lions and two wings.

The Four Living Creatures

In the final book of the Bible, Revelation, there's a description of 'Four Living Creatures'.

These amazing creatures have features in common with both the Seraphim, in having six wings and continually praising God; and like the Cherubim, that they number four, are covered in eyes and look like a lion, ox, man and eagle. Whether these creatures are Seraphim, Cherubim or another sort of angelic/heavenly being, we simply don't know. But they are certainly amazing and very powerful.