One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day.

On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many
darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that
they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow
them to throw darts at the person’s picture.

Sally’s friend drew a picture of who had stolen her boyfriend.
Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a
picture of a  former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her
drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased with the
overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the
students threw their darts with such force that their targets were
ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with
disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the
students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry
she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her
target. Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall.

Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over
the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and
jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced.

Dr. Smith said only these words…. ‘In as much as ye have done
it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’
Matthew 25:40.

No other words were necessary; the tear filled eyes of the
students focused only on the picture of Christ.

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1. Throwing Darts Sure Can Hurt You!
2. A Story – The Devil and The Duck
3. Be Careful When You Open The Door!

**********

23 Elements of the Lord’s Prayer

1. Relationship: Our Father

2. Recognition: which art in heaven

3. Adoration: hallowed be thy name

4. Anticipation: Thy kingdom come

5. Consecration: Thy will be done

6. Universality: in earth

7. Conformity: as it is in heaven

8. Supplication: Give us

9. Definiteness: this day

10. Necessity: our daily bread

11. Penitence: And forgive us

12. Obligation: our debts

13. Forgiveness: as we forgive

14. Love and mercy: our debtors

15. Guidance: And lead us

16. Protection: not into temptation

17. Salvation: but deliver us

18. Righteousness: from evil

19. Faith: For thine is the kingdom

20. Humility: and the power

21. Reverence: and the glory

22. Timelessness: for ever

23. Affirmation: Amen

NOTE:

The first 3 petitions of the prayer make 7 points concerning God

The last 4 petitions make 16 points concerning man

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

Related posts:

1. The Power of Prayer

Please take the time to read this whole story.

********************************************************************

I had had a very busy day, and experienced a very delightful feeling of restfulness, as I settled myself in a comfortable arm-chair, after having said “Good-night” to my children. Just before going, they had sung their evening hymn. As their sweet childish voices had joined with that of their mother, one verse had made an impression on my mind.

I was familiar with it, but it came to me with a new beauty and force. It was:

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord
Familiar, condescending, patient, free,
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.”

My wife went away with the little ones to see them to bed, and I was left alone with this verse of the hymn repeating itself in my memory; and the thought came to me, supposing He were to come as He came to his disciples, am I altogether prepared to receive Him into my house, to abide with me? And as I meditated on the subject, I fell asleep, and dreamed, and, lo the door of the room opened, and in walked one whom I knew at once to be the Christ. Not the glorified Redeemer, as seen by John in the Isle of Patmos. No, he had answered the prayer of our hymn, and had come in humble human form:
“Familiar, condescending, patient, free.”

I knelt before Him, but He laid His hand on me and said: “Arise, for I have come to tarry with thee.”

My recollection of my dream here grows somewhat confused; but I remember it again when the next morning seemed to have arrived, and I was gathering my children around me, and telling them that Jesus had come to stay with us in the house. The little ones clapped their hands for joy, and my dear wife’s face beamed with rapture that seemed to transfigure her.

Just then the Lord Himself entered the room, and we took our seats around the breakfast-tablet.   What language can I use to describe the wondrous peace which filled all our souls, or how our hearts burned within us as He talked with us?

But when the meal was over, and we had family worship, which was that day a foretaste of heaven itself. I was ailed with perplexity. What should I do with my strange visitor? It seemed disrespectful to leave Him behind me at home yet it would mean serious loss to me to stay away from my place of business that day. But I could not take him with me, that was certain who ever heard of taking Christ to a counting-house?

The Savior surely knew my thoughts, for he said, “I will go with thee. How didst thou ask me? Was it not:
“Come not to sojourn, but abide with me?”

So whatever thou art doing, henceforth I will be beside thee. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

It seemed rather strange to me, but I could not, of course, question what He said, so I started for my office with the dear Lord by my side.

At my counting-house I found a man waiting my coming with a good deal of impatience. He was a stock and share-broker, who transacted considerable business for me. To tell the, truth, I was not greatly pleased to see him there, as I was afraid that he might bring forward matters which I would not feel inclined to go into with Jesus listening to our conversation.

It was as I feared. He had come to tell me of a transaction he had arranged, which, whilst perfectly honorable according to the usual code of morals of the share-market, meant the saving of myself from the fear of loss by placing another person in the danger of it. He laid the whole scheme before me, without taking the slightest notice of the Lord; I knew not if he even saw Him.

I cannot tell the bitter shame I felt. I saw how impossible it was to square such a transaction with the Golden Rule; but I could not hide from myself the fact that the broker told me of it with a manner and tone that meant that he had no doubt whatever that I would applaud him for his cleverness, and eagerly close with the offer. What must that mean to the Christ? Would it not tell him that I was in the habit of dealing with one thought in my mind-how I could benefit myself?

The broker was astonished when I rejected his proposals, on the ground that they would be prejudicial to the interest of the other party in the transaction; and left me abruptly, apparently thinking I had developed a mild species of insanity.

Humbled, I fell at my Savior’s feet, and cried to Him for forgiveness for past sinfulness, and strength for time to come.

“My child,” said He, in tender accents, “thou speakest as if my presence were something strange to thee. But I have always been with thee. I have seen and seen with grief, the way thou hast dealt with thy fellows, in business, and marveled at thy unbelief of My promise that I would ever be with thee. Have I not said to my servants, Abide in Me, and I in thee?

Just as He said these words, another gentleman entered the office. He was a customer whom I could not afford to offend, and I had uniformly shown a cordiality to him which I was far from feeling in my heart. He was vulgar, profane, and often obscene in his talk.

He had not been many minutes in my office before he made use of an expression which brought a hot blush to my cheek. I had heard him speak in a similar way before; and, although I felt repelled by it, I had, for fear of offending him, met it with faint laughter. But now I felt as I should have had it been uttered in the presence of a lady; only this feeling was intensified by the realization of the absolute purity of the Divine One who had been a hearer of the speech.

I gave expression to my feeling in a word of expostulation , and he exclaimed: “You seem to have suddenly grown very prudish,” and left me in a rage.

Again, I turned to the Christ with a cry for pardon; and again, I learned that he had beheld all my former intercourse with this man.

I was now called into the adjoining office, where my clerks were employed, and found that one of them had made a foolish blunder, which would mean a considerable complication, and perhaps loss. I am naturally irritable, and at once lost my temper, and spoke to the delinquent in unmeasured terms. Turning my head, I saw that Jesus had followed me out of my private office, and was standing close beside me.

Again I was humbled, and had to cry for mercy.

Through all that strange day, similar incidents occurred; and the presence of the Master, which I thought would have been a joy, was a rebuke to me. It showed me, as I had never dreamed before, that I had framed my life on the supposition that He had but little to do with it.

But, on the other hand, there were times during the day when my soul was filled with rapture; times when He smiled on me in loving approval, or when He spoke words of pardon and absolution, or when He opened out before my wondering gaze some fresh beauty of His character and person. Such a time was the moment when, on my return to my home, the children came crowding around Him, and wanted to show Him their toys and pigeons, and a brood of newly-hatched chickens, and I rebuked them, and said to them “Run away, children! Trouble not the Master with such trifles.”

And he seated himself and took my curly-headed little boy on His knee, and called my two little girls to His side, and said to me: “Suffer these little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

I awoke, and lo! It was a dream. — The Ballarat Christian Union.

Reference:————————————————
“Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer”
By S. B. Shaw
Copyrighted by the author 1893

from the blog: Faithful God

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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Isn’t this an accurate word picture of what faith means to many of us?  It’s easy to walk on the water if you know it is frozen underneath you and there is no chance of you falling in.

When Peter asked Jesus to let him get out of the boat and walk towards him, he was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. The minute he took them off, he started to sink.

When Jesus asks you to step out on faith and do a particular thing, make sure you keep in mind that you might be in uncharted territory, but He never is. As far as He’s concerned, the ground is very solid and stable underneath you because He will guide you every step of the way even though you can’t see the road yourself.

Hebrews 11: 6 – But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

You can’t truly please God if you are too afraid to step out into the unknown, because He has plans for your life that you have never imagined. Don’t stay in the boat, play it safe, and miss what God wants to do.

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

No related posts.

Oh that we could really understand the scope of what He accomplished through His death on the cross. It would radically change our lives forever. I pray that God will truly help me understand!

Amazing Love Video

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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Faith is hard until you get close enough to God to start to discover His True Character.

Start on that awesome journey right now. You won’t regret it.

I received this in an email, but it sure is an awesome word picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross!

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

No related posts.

Just about all of us have someone that we consider a best friend – someone who knows everything about us and loves us anyway. It is easy to believe that a best friend will always be there for us when we go through tough situations and hard times. They are a tangible, living person that we can see and touch.

As much as God loves us, why can’t we believe that He cares for us much more than an earthly friend ever could? Why do we seem to second-guess Him much more than an earthly friend?

In Bible times, there were many heathen nations that surrounded Israel. They all had numerous idols and many gods who they worshiped. In fact, many of the people worshiped a god for every aspect of their life. They had numerous idols in their houses in hopes of the gods smiling down on them and giving them good luck and good fortune.

It was for this reason that God chose not to reveal Himself in the form of a statue that they could place on their mantle. He created the world and everything in it, so He would be able to meet every need of every person on the planet all at the same time. After all, He made every one of them and knew exactly what they needed.

Just because you can’t physically see God like you can a best friend does not mean that you can’t depend upon Him to meet your every need and help you in time of trouble.

When Jesus died on the cross, rose again, and went back to Heaven, the Holy Spirit came to live in the heart of every person who has accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.  You can depend on Him to lead you in the right direction and show you how to pray for what you need.

You can’t physically see Him, but He is very real. Instead of depending on earthly friends who can lead you astray, depend on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you every step of the way.

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

No related posts.

***********************************************************************

Mark 6: 32-45 tells the story of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men plus women and children.
Jesus and the disciples had been so busy teaching and ministering to people that they hardly had time to eat. They were all weary and needed to get away to rest, but when the people saw them leaving, they were so desperate to know more truth that they followed them. When Jesus saw this, He couldn’t help but have compassion on them because the Bible says that He saw them “as sheep without a shepherd.” They were desperate to find someone who could tell them the truth.

The people had left what they were doing and followed Jesus without even thinking about food or provisions. It was getting late in the day and the disciples started to worry that they wouldn’t make it home because they hadn’t eaten.

Naturally, they tried to think of a fleshly solution to the problem. They told Jesus to let them disperse and go to the villages nearby to get something to eat.

He answered by saying to them, “Give ye them to eat.”

They tried to find their own solution to the problem and came up with only two small fish and five loaves of bread. Naturally, they couldn’t see how that small amount would accomplish anything, but Jesus had something else in mind. He wanted to teach them about the provision of God.

They saw a miracle of huge proportions and saw Jesus take care of an impossible situation. He fed five thousand people by multiplying the small amount of food until everyone was filled. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets that were left over.

What an awesome miracle the disciples had just seen. You would think that it would have made a huge impact on them and their lives would have been radically changed, but that was not to be the case yet.

After the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus went to a mountain to pray while the disciples got in the ship and sailed to the other shore.

Later that night, a huge storm came up with the disciples out in the middle of the sea. They were rowing as hard as they could, but making little progress against the huge waves and mighty winds.

Jesus decided to go to them by walking upon the sea. When they saw Him, they were very afraid until He told them who He was. As soon as He got into the boat, the wind ceased and the water became calm.

The disciples were amazed at what had just happened, but Mark 6: 52 says “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”

A few hours before, they had just seen an awesome miracle, but now they did not remember or think about the “power” which Jesus had shown in feeding the five thousand. They didn’t consider that He could use this same power to save them from the storm, so they didn’t even ask for His help.

They were not opposed to what Jesus had done, but their mind was too dull to perceive the powerful implications of it. They never connected the two things together as being from the same “power source.”

Two chapters later, we find pretty much the same thing happening. The crowd was anxious to be around Jesus and hear what He had to say, so they followed Him again out of town. This time they had been there three days with nothing to eat, having at least four thousand men plus women and children.

Jesus went through the same routine, telling the disciples they needed to provide food for the people.

Again, they only found a small amount of food, but Jesus blessed and multiplied it so the people could eat until they were full. This time they had seven baskets left over. After everyone had been completely filled, he sent them away to their homes.

Right after that, he and the disciples were getting ready to depart when the Pharisees started asking Jesus questions. He wouldn’t answer them because He knew it was a waste of time. They were not looking to understand, but only trying to find a way to trap him.

He finally got away, and they boarded the ship. Keep in mind that this was only a few hours after another miraculous feeding of thousands of people using only a few fish and loaves of bread.

Jesus told them these words in Mark 8:15, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”

Again, they had no clue what Jesus was talking about. He was trying to warn them that the Pharisees were only concerned with rules and regulations. They didn’t want to lose their power, so they were fighting against the truth that Jesus had been teaching. As the disciples discussed it, they felt that Jesus must have been upset with them because they didn’t bring along any bread to eat because He had talked about leaven.

Jesus then recounted the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men, plus women and children, and how they had twelve baskets left over. He also reminded them of the four thousand men, plus women and children who had been fed with seven baskets left over.

He not only reminded them of His sufficiency, but also of the overage that was left each time. He had done over and above what was required.

Then in Mark 8: 21 He says, “How is it that ye do not understand?”

The disciples had been with Jesus constantly and watched Him do all kinds of miracles. This had become a part of their everyday life. They didn’t seem to understand the power that Jesus had to perform these miracles and where that power came from.

As Christians, we see miracles performed in our lives or the lives of others, but many of us don’t seem to understand either?

Jesus has given every Christian the authority to use the POWER of His Name in order to fight off the advances of the enemy Satan, but you must have a close relationship with Him in order to be able to use that power.

Let the Holy Spirit show you about the Character of God, and let Him open your heart, mind, and ears to find out the truth and walk in it.

You must want to know the truth before you can really understand it. Grasp onto the promises and truths God has given you in His Word and you will find they will completely change your life.

God wants all His Children to be able to walk in His Power and live a victorious Christian life. He not only wants us to defeat Satan, He wants us to make huge advances for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.

God wants people who are sold out to Him and want to learn about His Character. Then He can use them to do mighty works for the cause of Christ.

Make the choice right now that you will be this kind of person!

I leave you with the words to the chorus of this song by Matthew West:

The Motions

I don’t want to go through the motions

I don’t want to go one more day

Without your all-consuming passion inside of me

I don’t want to spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything

Instead of going through the motions

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

Related posts:

1. The Power of Prayer
2. Do Not let Satan Devour you!

What more can you add? This says everything!!!

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

Related posts:

1. Dwell on truth and the things of God.

How true is this!!!

Satan will always be too happy to take you back so he can do everything possible to destroy you and your family.

Don’t just TRY Jesus, though, cling to Him and let Him change your life for the better. If you give control of your life to Him you won’t desire to go back to where you used to be. He can handle every problem, but you must give them all to Him to let Him take care of in His own time.

Read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding and wisdom. God truly desires for you to walk in victory over the enemy Satan.

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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