INSIGHTFUL MESSAGE (From a CBS Sunday Morning Commentary)

Written by Ben Stein

Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late!!!

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on a CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees... I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discrimminated against. That's why they are Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.

It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly athiest country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat --- or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess, that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is NOT intended to be a joke; it's NOT funny, it's intended to get you thinking, in light of recent events ...

Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc... I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OKAY. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. (The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself) and we said OKAY. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock (for all you trekkie fans who didn't know...) said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide), we said an expert should know what he's talking about and we said OKAY.  Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscious, why they don't know right from wrong and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates and themselves.

Probably if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with  'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW'.

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward, re-post, or "share" this message, you will not send it to ALL the people on your contact or "friend' list because you're not sure what they believe or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass this on if you think it has merit and should be used as a wake-up call to others. If not, just discard it... no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, DON'T sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards,

Honestly and Respectfully,

Ben Stein


This was submitted by Becky Gray via e-mail. Thank you, Becky, for sharing. Please continue to share!
Love and Blessings!
Shalom! ~One Love~ 

POEM (Blessings)

Blessings

I knelt to pray when day was done,

And prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone,

Lift from each saddened heart the pain

And let the sick be well again."

And then I woke another day

And carelessly went on my way,

The whole day long I did not try

To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load

Of any brother on the road.

I did not even go to see

The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done,

I prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone."

But as I prayed, into my ear

There came a voice that whispered clear,

"Pause now, my son, before you pray,

Whom have you tried to bless today?

God's sweetest blessing always go

By hands that serve Him here below."

And then I hid my face and cried,

"Forgive me, God, I have not tried,

But let me live another day

And I will live the way I pray."

Rev. Roy Shahan

Although it is very good to pray for others, it IS our responsibility to do what we can, where we can and when we can. We are God's servants and He gives us the gifts, ability and all neccessary tools to bless those He puts in our path. Where we are not able to help, that I when God steps in and does His part. But we must always remember... don't just pray about it ---- act upon it.

Love and Blessings! Shalom! ~One Love~

SEASON OF LENT (36th Day)

36th Day of Lent

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

I remove any stone that may block the vision of who I really am.

     Easter at it's best is not a backward glance to the Cross, the tomb and the Resurrection. It is a forward look to the quality of life it forecasts for all persons. It is not the story of God playing human, but of humanity at its best, demonstrating the God-potential.

     Easter says to everyone, "No matter what challenges you may be facing in your life, with the right attitude you can go through them, even grow through them, and no tomb of human despair can hold you back."

Mark 16:4  When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

*** Reprinted from Unity's booklet   Lent 2012  Release Your Inner Splendor

POEM (Increase My Love for Others)

Increase My Love for Others

Increase my love for others, Lord;

O hear my earnest prayer!

May I be sensitive to pain

And truly love and care.

Brighten my smile, dear Lord;

May I more fervent be,

Going willingly out of my way,

A lonely heart to see.

And let my greeting be warm and true,

Lovingly meeting the eyes;

Let no one go from my presence today

With lonely tears or sighs.

may I be quick to share my time

With anyone having a need;

May Christ be filling my heart today,

And be glorified indeed!

Helen Neimy

INSIGHTFUL MESSAGE (Truth About Forgiveness)

Truth About Forgiveness

     Mark 11:25   "But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." (NLT)

     I've had someone I love very much who has attacked my character, told lies about me and has hurt me in so many ways and yet I still forgave them. But each time I forgave them they would do it again. And the unsettling thing is --- I have done so much for this person when they were in jail, I've given this person a place to stay (FREE including meals), I've given them money without asking them to pay it back, yet this person despises me because of material possession. 

     It hurts that they don't recognize what I've done for them and refuse to forgive me for the minor things I've done and yet the very person who put them in jail and practically ruined their life --- they forgive!

     And although, I say I forgive them... deep down I know I don't. Instead I just choose to distance myself from them. As long as they're out of my life then everything is good right?

     Wrong!!! Yes, it's okay to distance ourselves, especially when people keep bringing us down instead of helping us to grow. If they keep causing us to leave our spiritual realm then we should get away from them. We should never stay around someone who mentally, emotionally, or physically abuses us. But we still need to forgive them. We cannot allow the unforgiveness to harbor inside us. Otherwise it will become like a cancerous cell and spread.

     So what can you do when someone has hurt you so badly and after you've done the right thing and forgiven them, you still feel uneasy about things? I'm discovering that we can do the right thing even if it still feels wrong. Doing the right thing is doing what God requires us to do. But it feels wrong because it's our "flesh" that's trying to convince us to follow our "feelings".  By faith, we can turn to God and ask Him to heal us of our feelings and emotions so that we may be made whole again.

     Only God's Power can change how we feel towards someone who has hurt us. And He will if we are sincere about wanting to forgive them. 

      When we decide to forgive those who have hurt us and done a great injustice to us, we must bless them and pray for them. (Luke 6:28  Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.  -NLT) 

      Now I don't have too much problems praying for those who have hurt me. I'm reminded of when Jesus said, "Bless them Father for they know not what they do."

But to bless them? The word "bless" actually means "to speak well of ". So I'm expected to speak well of the person who has caused me tremendous pain? Yes, that's right. That's when you know you have truly forgiven them. When you pray and bless them, that's when you will be able to move on because you have shown mercy to those who don't deserve it.

      That is truly living Christ-like. After all, did God show mercy on us by forgiving us our sins? Does He not show mercy everytime we sin and we repent to Him for His forgiveness?

      But it isn't that easy. We are so much into the flesh that sometimes we have a false sense of right and wrong. We think that if we weren't in the wrong then we aren't the ones who need to freely forgive -- that the offender needs to earn our forgiveness. Or we are so high up on our ego that even if someone does apologize or seek our forgiveness we refuse to give it to them because we feel they don't deserve it.

     That's when we need to really turn to God for His help. When need to ask Him for strength and compassion to show mercy and forgiveness just as He has done for us.

We need to remember what Jesus has taught us. What we have done to Him and how He still forgave us and ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us.

     What is the best way to forgiveness?  PRAYER! Ask God to help you and He will happily oblige. Not only will He help you but He will smile upon you because it is pleasing to Him.

      

PRAYER:

     Heavenly Father, I'm struggling with forgiveness. I know I need to forgive but it's so hard for me Lord. I've been very hurt and I don't know how to over-rule my feelings. I need Your help with this, Father. I know Only You can help me overcome my painful feelings and conquer my unforgiveness. Father, I'm crying out to You now. Help me to forgive _______. I want to heal and be made whole again. In Jesus" Powerful name. Amen. 

SEASON OF LENT (35th Day)

35th Day of Lent

Monday April 2, 2012

I open the door of my heart to the splendor of the Kingdom of God.

     Among the fundamentals of Jesus' teachings is one idea so dynamic in its implications that it should be shouted from the housetops. When this message gets into the consciousness of humankind, we will be finished with fear and worry forever, for we will have the key to faith.

     When we fully know this message, we will never again accept anything as impossible or incurable. We will never lose hope. We will work by all the means at our command to achieve the health and well-being that we desire, and even more, we will command the means, for we will realize that we have resources within that are limitless. What is this message? The Kingdom of God is within you.

1 Corinthians 6:20  Glorify God in your body.

*** Reprinted from Unity's booklet   Lent 2012  Release Your Inner Splendor

SEASON OF LENT (6th Sunday)

6th Sunday

April 1, 2012

I follow the light of my Way Shower by being open, gentle and kind.

     God is in constant communion with us. God cannot be separated from His creation any more than your body can be separated from your mind.

     Let the festival of Passover and the observance of Holy Week serve to bring us all together in a great celebration of the integrity of our common roots in God and of the diversity of our unique individualizations of God. Could this be a key to peace?

Isaiah 60:1-3  Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you ... and nations shall come to your light.

*** Reprinted from Unity's booklet  Lent 2012   Release Your Inner Splendor