Tuesday, April 18, 2006

There is a time for change. "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." How true is this statement?? Are you among the people who wants to change the world, but you do not want to change yourself???

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Reinhold Niebuhr

POEM:By Changing Your Thinking
By Author Unknown

By Changing Your Thinking,
You change your beliefs;

When you change your beliefs,
You change your expectations;

When you change your expectations,
You change your attitude;

When you change your attitude,
You change your behavior;

When you change your behavior,
You change your performance;

When you change your performance;
You Change Your Life!

QUOTES ON CHANGE:
"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."
Charles F. Kettering

"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
Gail Sheehy

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Leo Tolstoy

"I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better."
G. C. Lichtenberg

"Weep not that the world changes -- did it keep a stable, changeless state, it were a cause indeed to weep."
William Cullen Bryant

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Are you a coffee bean??
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 though just 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 a 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 a 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?
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.It's easier to build a child than to repair an adult...
This is so true - May we all be COFFEE.

Would He forgive me???

The following anonymous story is a personal testimony from a believer who struggled with not feeling forgiven by God.

I had been a Christian for several years, but during that time I had occasional distressing bouts with anxiety. I just could not believe that God had actually forgiven me. Sometimes I even doubted that He was capable of forgiving a woman whose sins were as bad as mine.
I remember vividly an evening when I was looking through my photo album. As I walked back over the years, the pictures seemed to condemn me anew. They brought back to my mind the kind of life I had lived before I had confessed my faith in Christ. As I turned the pages, photo after photo leaped into focus and pointed a finger of accusation directly at me.
It all came back in huge, overwhelming waves of condemnation. The drinking (I used to brag about being able to drink anyone under the table); the smoking; the friends who swapped wives among themselves; the angry chip on my shoulder about not knowing the man who caused my birth. Then came a messy divorce, followed by a physical involvement with a man I knew I didn't love.
I closed my eyes to escape the pictures. But all I could see were nails being driven into the hands of Christ. I agonized. The photo album brought all my sins back. All my Christian joy was gone. I could see only my unworthiness, the blackness of my sin, and my terrible guilt. Shame engulfed me. I felt totally worthless and condemned.
I pleaded with the Father to help me. The Bible had become a staff of life to me, so I turned to it in desperation. Was I truly forgiven of all my sins? God led me to these verses:
Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins (Isa. 43:18-19,25).
My heart welled up with joy. My smile returned, for I knew I was forgiven and that I didn't have to remember who I used to be. I realized that I am the Lord's--for His glory and praise.
I know now that Satan, the accuser of the brethren, used those memories to oppress me. He wanted to cripple me, to make me ineffective in the service of God. But the truth of the Bible had once again triumphed.

When I look at my picture album now, I see the "new me"--not the one captured by past sins. I am covered forever with the robe of the righteousness of Christ!