kisrobgrace

 OUCHIES IN LIFE

When kids get hurt, bandaids(trade name for an adhesive bandage to cover small cuts or blisters) can magically make the owie go away.
Somehow, another person's gentle touch can instantly make that boo-boo hurt less as the bandaid gets put on. It's good to have hurts go away, but
it's also good that we are capable to hurting! It means that we can feel
for others when they get hurt. Hurting really means that we are alive
and we can feel!

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel
36:26). God is a God of passion and feeling! He wants us, too, to be
passionate and caring. He wants our love for Him and others to be open and vulnerable, not stiff and uncaring. To love fully and to feel
passionately -- those are the marks of the God we serve! How wonderful it is for us to be so loved and cared for! It gives us the incentive to love back
and to love others that way!

We might get hurt as we go along in life, loving and caring for others.
But oh, how valuable it is to give and receive the gift of love. It's
like that bandaid that helps the owie go away. When others come and
share in our ouchies of life, it is so healing and helpful. Let's allow God
to give us a new heart and a new spirit -- we can love God and each
other with passion and caring that way -- today and forever!

gOOD TIMES vS bAD tIMES

I am rich beyond measure
Untold wealth and untold treasure
Let me share with you just a bit
Just a piece, just the tip of it.

Rolls Royce and Ferraris, got I don’t
A billion dollars earned, I won’t
A fleet of private planes, not today
A chauffeured limousine, no way

Those are the things most consider wealth
Not a bit of it goes past death
Don’t get me wrong, all that’s nice
But between that and true wealth I wouldn’t think twice

I’ve got feet that take me down halls and stairs
Legs that move and can dance away my cares
I’ve got ten fingers and ten toes
I’ve got good ears and working nose

I’ve got vision that allows me to see
Without my eyes what good is a Ferrari?
The roar of twelve cylinders cannot compare
To the feel against my face of my baby’s hair

The fanciest house or grandest castle
Without love in it is just a hassle.
I can take a deep breath and then exhale
Don’t cough, don’t sneeze, lungs say all is well.

I’ve more than enough food
Folk who still love me even when I become unglued
When it’s cold outside my body’s warm
I’m dry in the midst of the storm

Water enough to quench my thirst
I can drink it until I’m about to burst
“That’s trivial some of you think.”
Do you realize how many don’t have clean water to drink?

Yessire I’m rich beyond compare
Call me poor, don’t you dare
I may not have it all
But I understand the apostle Paul

He said if you have clothes to wear and food to eat
You ought to be content even if you’re not Wall Street
I’ve got so much more than food and clothes
I’ve still got troubles and I’ve taken blows

I face battles nearly every day
Life ain’t all no bouquet
It has its trouble, its pain and its sorrow
Sometimes I lend and sometimes I borrow

But through it all both thick and thin
I really see the truth of the shape I’m in

No life is not a ditch

Life is full
Life is rich

Take a moment and count all you own
Stop using that moaning tone

When you see the truth life switches;When you can learn to count your riches.

Robert Grace

1. RICHES

You and I can say this again and again: If it were not God helping us, our own might wouldn’t avail much. Very few of us have glorious backgrounds, yet even the handful that have noble ones-the credit goes to God from whom not only good times and light come but also the bad times and darkness(Isaiah45:7). No one gives him order about the work of His hands.

“Consider ........the rock from which you were cut........Abraham was alone when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation”. Are you walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on the sovereign Lord. My friend if you faint not, “At just the right time, he will respond to you. On the day of salvation, He’ll help you” He is not slack concerning His promises. He desires your childlike trust and dependence on Him. He wants the entire world to look to him for salvation-for He alone is God and besides Him there is no other.

Here is His promise: “those who wait on me will never be put to shame” Forget about your background good or bad. Look to the future that the Lord holds out for you. “Your enemies will always be defeated because the Lord is on your side” Isaiah 54:15. And just like his blessing to Abraham, God’s covenant of blessing towards you in Christ-will never be broken both now and forever. Amen