Who God Is » Christian

Are You A Stuffed Christian?

WhoGodIs — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:23:22 +0000

This is taken from a sermon Charles Spurgeon preached in 1869 and it is powerful stuff. I certainly don’t need to add anything to it, so here it is. What an awesome word picture of what it takes to be a GENUINE CHRISTIAN!

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Are You A Stuffed Christian?

How like to a Christian a man may be and yet possess no vital godliness! Walk through the British Museum, and you will see all the orders of animals standing in their various places, and exhibiting themselves with the utmost possible propriety. The rhinoceros demurely retains the position in which he was set at first, the eagle soars not through the window, the wolf howls not at night; every creature, whether bird, beast, or fish, remains in the particular glass case allotted to it; but you all know well enough that these are not the creatures, but only the outward semblances of them.

Yet in what do they differ? Certainly in nothing which you could readily see, for the well-stuffed animal is precisely like what the living animal would have been; and that eye of glass even appears to have more of brightness in it than the natural eye of the creature itself; yet you know well enough that there is a secret inward something lacking, which, when it has once departed, you cannot restore.

So in the churches of Christ, many professors are not living believers, but stuffed believers, stuffed Christians. There is all the external of religion, everything that you could desire, and they behave with a great deal of propriety, too; they all keep their places, and there is no outward difference between them and the living, except upon the vital point, the life which no power on earth could possibly confer. There is this essential distinction, the life is absent.

It is almost painful to watch little children when some little pet of theirs has died, how they can hardly realize the difference between death and life! Your little boy’s bird moped for awhile upon its perch, and at last dropped down in the cage; and do not you remember how the little fellow tried to set it up, and gave it seed, and filled its glass with water, and was quite surprised to think that birdie would not open his little eye upon his friend as it did before, and would not take its seed, nor drink its water! Ah, you had at last to make him know that a mysterious something had gone from his little favourite, and would not come back again.

There is just such a spiritual difference between the mere professor and the genuine Christian. There is an invisible, but most real, indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the absence or the presence of which makes all the difference between the sinner and the saint.

From a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon entitled “Life’s Ever-Springing Well,” delivered April 4, 1869.

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What Kind of Prayer Describes You?

WhoGodIs — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:36:06 +0000

Christians like microwave-type praying.

Our God desires marinating-type praying.

-Peter Lord-

More and more God has been dealing with me about my prayer life. I know that sometimes I just feel a burden on my heart about a particular person or situation and pray a passionate quick prayer; then I feel a relief and am able to go about my daily business knowing that things will work out.

But more and more God has been laying on my heart situations that need in-depth prayer and showing me that it will take many prayers to give the victory.

I want my life to be such that God can use me in either situation.

I challenge you to examine your prayer life and see into which of the above categories you fit most. Let God do a work in your life regarding prayer and He will put give you more and more discipline to pray for victory in harder areas.

Learn to make prayer a vital part of your everyday life!

Everything You Do Matters To Someone Else!

WhoGodIs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:18:58 +0000

Why can’t we as Christians understand that everything we do matters to someone? Our Christian testimony goes with us in whatever we choose to do.

Somebody is always watching how you act and what you do when you face everyday situations and even major ones that you have no control over. First thing each morning, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in every step you make.

You may never know the positive effect you can have on people for eternity if you will remember that you affect others around you much more than you realize.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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2 Funny Stories – Laughter truly makes you feel better!

WhoGodIs — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:03:33 +0000

TOILET WATER

One day my mother was out and my dad was looking after me.

I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from a bad cold. Someone had given me a little tea set as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

Dad was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of “tea,” which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such good tea, my mom came home.

Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea. (“It’s just the cutest thing!”) My mom waited and sure enough, I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy. She watched him drink it, then said (as only a mother would)…”Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is from the toilet?”

WRONG INTERPRETATION

An influential Londoner wound up a business trip to the Orient with a visit to Taipei. At a luncheon, he was asked to say a few words. Since he spoke not a word of Chinese, his address was to be translated by an interpreter, sentence by sentence.

“I want you to know,” he began, “I’m tickled to death to be asked here today.”

A look of panicked confusion appeared on the interpreter’s face. “This poor man,” he said in Chinese, “Scratches himself until he dies, only to be with you today.”

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Working Replica of Noah’s Ark In SCHAGEN, Netherlands.

WhoGodIs — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:38:00 +0000

The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was opened for the first crowd of curious townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it’s only a half-sized replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.

The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That’s two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold. A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine. Biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been. Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and with occasional help from his son Roy.

Huibers, a Christian man, said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where church going has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years.

Mr Huibers spent nearly two years building the ark. He began building in May 2005, after he dreamed of the Netherlands being flooded.

“In February 1992, I had a dream that Holland will become flooded. The next day, I found a book about Noah’s Ark in the local bookshop, and since then, my dream has been to build the ark,” he said.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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Mission Trip to Lake City, Michigan

WhoGodIs — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:07:30 +0000

We got on the bus at 6 AM on Friday, September 26, 2008, and headed towards the first leg of our trip to Lake City, Michigan. It was a long ride, and we didn’t get to Fort Wayne, Indiana, until almost 10 PM. We did go on the church bus, so at least you could walk around some if you got to feeling miserable.

We were all pretty wiped out and went to bed as soon as possible. It was a good day, though, with everybody excited about what is to come. We got up early again and left today about 8 AM to complete the last leg of the trip. We ended up driving about 6 more hours before getting to our motel.

We certainly had some interesting conversations and a lot of laughter. It was an enjoyable trip, even though it was long. We finally checked in about 2 PM.

We took along a cooker and bought some food when we arrived so that we could meet the people of the church and share a meal with them. We had some great grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, some of the best french fries I have ever eaten, and some great desserts.

The people here are warm and friendly, and already we have had some great conversations with them over food.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring, as we actually start revival services in the AM Sunday service. We will be leading the whole thing, and have been praying hard that God will do something miraculous this week.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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Bless Others So You Can Be Blessed!

WhoGodIs — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:18:43 +0000

The King James Version of this verse says “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”

What an awesome verse!

Every Christian should be liberal and giving towards others. God expects us to do this first, and then He gives it back. Learn to let your everyday life be one of automatically blessing others.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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Does adversity change you for better or worse?

WhoGodIs — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:14:01 +0000

We all have times where circumstances are less than ideal, and sometimes they are downright lousy. During these times, we must make an extra effort to stay in the Word, pray, and trust God. That is the only way you can stay strong and not be changed for the worse.

It is during the hard times that you have the greatest potential to grow as a Christian, but it is also the time when you must be on guard not to fall into the trap of defeat and want to give up. Always remember that God can see the future and He is in control. In your moment of greatest despair, He is working on your behalf to give you victory.

Learn to trust Him with everything in your life. As the story below says, you be the instrument of change instead of letting circumstances change you.

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma the daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean, mother?’

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May we all be coffee!!

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - for the person who desires to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

Never Give Up on Getting God’s Best

WhoGodIs — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:10:03 +0000

As a Christian, you need to seek God first; then find what He wants you to do and set your mind to do it. Satan will use whatever or whomever he can to try to defeat you. It takes faith and determination to receive God’s Best, and you won’t get it if you give up the fight.

Gods Best has to be totally initiated, ordained, and brought forth by Him in His complete timing. You can never do anything to make it to come to pass yourself.

Ask Him to give you the faith to believe that whatever plans He has for you will come to pass when the time is right. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! GIVE UP ON GETTING GOD’S BEST FOR YOUR LIFE.

No matter how things look, God has everything under control!

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Learn how to live each day in victory.

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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A Cute Story – You Never Know what Kids are Thinking!

WhoGodIs — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:12:24 +0000

When I look back on things as a child, there were many words and meanings that I got really confused. Sometimes I didn’t know the correct word until I was much older. When you are small, you have a limited vocabulary so you just try to make something fit with a word you already know.

The end result of that can be hilarious when you get older and finally understand what the passage was really supposed to mean. Have a good laugh today as you enjoy this story.

Shirley and Marcy

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school.

He didn’t want his mother to walk with him.

She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but

yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the

mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn’t notice her.

She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would

be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed. The

next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following

behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew.

She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted,

kicking stones and twigs, Timmy’s little friend noticed the same lady

was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.

Finally she said to Timmy, ‘Have you noticed that lady following us to

school all week? Do you know her?’

Timmy nonchalantly replied, ‘Yeah, I know who she is.’

The little girl said, ‘Well, who is she?’

‘That’s just Shirley Goodnest,’ Timmy replied, ‘and her
daughter Marcy.’

‘Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?’

‘Well,’ Timmy explained, ‘every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd

Psalm with my prayers, ‘cuz she worries about me so much. And in the

Psalm, it says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days

of my life’, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!’

Check out my other sites:

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Practical ways to live a victorious Christian life

Power of the Living Word