A married lady was expecting a birthday gift from her husband.  For

many months she had admired a beautiful diamond ring in a showroom,

and knowing her husband could afford it, she told him that was all she

wanted.  As her birthday approached, this lady awaited signs that her

husband had purchased the diamond ring.



Finally, on the morning of her birthday, her husband called her into

his study room.  Her husband told her how proud he was to have such a

good wife, and told her how much he loved her.  He handed her a beautiful wrapped gift

box.  Curious, the wife opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the

wife's name embossed in gold.  Angrily, she raised her voice to her husband and

said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving

her husband.

Many years passed and the married lady was very successful in business. She managed

to settle for a more beautiful house and a wonderful family, but realized her ex-husband

was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to visit him.  She had not seen him for

many years.  But before she could make arrangements, she received a telegram telling

her that her ex-husband had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to her.

She needed to come back immediately and take care of things.


When she arrived at her ex-husband's house, sudden sadness and regret filled her

heart.  She began to search through her ex-husband's important papers and saw the still

new Bible, just as she had left it years ago.


With tears, she opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.  Her

ex-husband had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if you,

being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more

shall your Heavenly Father which is in heaven, give to those who ask

Him?" As she read those words, a tiny package dropped from the back of

the Bible.  It had a diamond ring with her name engraved on it, the

same diamond ring which she saw at the showroom.  On the tag was the

date of her birth, and the words, 'LUV You ALWAYS',


How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not

packaged as we expected?  I trust you enjoyed this.  Do not spoil what

you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now

have was once among the things you only hoped for,



IF YOUR GIFT IS NOT PACKED THE WAY YOU WANT IT, IT'S BECAUSE IT IS

BETTER PACKED THAT WAY! ALWAYS APPRECIATE LITTLE THINGS; THEY USUALLY

LEAD YOU TO LET THIS GREAT LESSON FLOW AROUND.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you[/color][color=#990000][color=#990000][/color]." John 6:33

Another pretty post once again.

One of the greatest dangers we face when seeking God for a thing, is to
lose focus of the fact that what we are seeking must glorify him -
hence, we want it because it glorifies him.  When we lose focus of that,
what we are seeking can easily become an idol.  The question is, can we
be more desperate to have it than God is eager to give it?  Are we
seeking to overcome his unwillingness?  Does he need convincing we really
need what we are asking for?

Getting these questions into proper perspective will ensure we don't
fall into idolatry and understand when God says 'wait' or when he says
'No'. If we trust his love, we will agree that his 'No', is better than
our desire.  Consider the case of Hannah. Hannah desperately wanted a
child, it became the most important thing in her life - more important
than God.  However, the day she handed her idol to God, she got what she
wanted.  Abraham's blessing almost became an idol.  Abraham began loving
Isaac so much God had to address the situation.  God requested for
Abraham's 'idol'.  Abraham gave it without hesitation, instantly
'de-idolising' Isaac.

We need to beware, lest the legitimate desires we have become idolised,
hence making it impossible for God to answer.  Let's de-idolise our
prayer requests and see God move in a great way.

God bless you all.

Love, the quest; Marriage, the conquest; Divorce, the inquest. -- Helen Rowland

I love the post. What an excellent way of teaching!

I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil. -- Psalm 119:162 (The Evidence Bible).

A young man once received a letter from a lawyer stating that his grandmother had left him an inheritance. To his astonishment, it was $50,000 plus "my Bible and all it contains."

The youth was delighted to receive the money. However, he knew what the Bible contained, and because he wasn't into religion he didn't bother to open it. Instead, he put it on a high shelf.

He gambled the $50,000, and over the next 50 years he lived as a pauper, scraping for every meal. Finally he became so destitute that he had to move in with his relatives.

When he cleaned out his bedroom, he reached up to get the dusty old Bible from the shelf. As he took it down, his trembling hands dropped it onto the floor, flinging it open to reveal a $100 bill between every page.

The man had lived as a pauper, simply because of his prejudice. He thought he knew what the Bible "contained"

Well, that should have a happy ending then shoudn't it?

.

Nimshi:

Well, that should have a happy ending then shoudn't it?

But do you know how many people who left it until it was too late or that ended up dead or too old to enjoy what the Bible contains which is far greater than gold?

OLAADEGBU:

But do you know how many people who left it until it was too late or that ended up dead or too old to enjoy what the Bible contains which is far greater than gold?

Just sondered: why did you need the USD100 all over it?

Sort of destroys your comment, doesn't it?
.

I'll rather have Jesus than silver and gold. If you have Jesus you have everything.

Theology in Five Lines

God formed man,
Sin deformed him,
Education informs him,
Religion may reform him,
Only Jesus Christ can transform him.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'I tell you the truth, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" (John 3:13)

Nice lines, Graphical!

Cool cartoon, Olaadegbu! I like the anecdotes too, but I have heard them before. Thanks for sharing!

InesQor:

Nice lines, Graphical!

Cool cartoon, Olaadegbu! I like the anecdotes too, but I have heard them before. Thanks for sharing!

The OP was copied from an e-mail sent by a friend while the last one was taken from The Evidence Bible.  I can only hope and pray that it will minister to folks as it has blessed me.

Graphical:

Theology in Five Lines

God formed man,
Sin deformed him,
Education informs him,
Religion may reform him,
Only Jesus Christ can transform him.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'I tell you the truth, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" (John 3:13)

Nice one.

The Bible and All it Contains

"I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil" (Psalm 119:162).

A young man once received a letter from a lawyer stating that his grandmother had left him an inheritance. To his astonishment, it was $50,000 plus "my Bible and all it contains."

The youth was delighted to receive the money. However, he knew what the Bible contained, and because he wasn't into religion he didn't bother to open it. Instead, he put it on a high shelf.

He gambled the $50,000, and over the next fifty years he lived as a pauper, scraping for every meal. Finally he became so destitute, he had to move in with his relatives.

When he cleaned his room, he reached up to get the dusty old Bible from the shelf. As he took it down, his trembling hands dropped it onto the floor, flinging it open to reveal a $100.00 bill between every page.

Then man had lived as a pauper, simply because of his prejudice. He thought he knew what the Bible "contained."

OLAADEGBU: One of the greatest dangers we face when seeking God for a thing, is to
lose focus of the fact that what we are seeking must glorify him -
hence, we want it because it glorifies him.  When we lose focus of that,
what we are seeking can easily become an idol.  The question is, can we
be more desperate to have it than God is eager to give it?  Are we
seeking to overcome his unwillingness?  Does he need convincing we really
need what we are asking for?

Getting these questions into proper perspective will ensure we don't
fall into idolatry and understand when God says 'wait' or when he says
'No'. If we trust his love, we will agree that his 'No', is better than
our desire.  Consider the case of Hannah. Hannah desperately wanted a
child, it became the most important thing in her life - more important
than God.  However, the day she handed her idol to God, she got what she
wanted.  Abraham's blessing almost became an idol.  Abraham began loving
Isaac so much God had to address the situation.  God requested for
Abraham's 'idol'.  Abraham gave it without hesitation, instantly
'de-idolising' Isaac.

We need to beware, lest the legitimate desires we have become idolised,
hence making it impossible for God to answer.  Let's de-idolise our
prayer requests and see God move in a great way.

God bless you all.

mmh, so inspiring

OLAADEGBU: I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil. -- Psalm 119:162 (The Evidence Bible).

A young man once received a letter from a lawyer stating that his grandmother had left him an inheritance. To his astonishment, it was $50,000 plus "my Bible and all it contains."

The youth was delighted to receive the money. However, he knew what the Bible contained, and because he wasn't into religion he didn't bother to open it. Instead, he put it on a high shelf.

He gambled the $50,000, and over the next 50 years he lived as a pauper, scraping for every meal. Finally he became so destitute that he had to move in with his relatives.

When he cleaned out his bedroom, he reached up to get the dusty old Bible from the shelf. As he took it down, his trembling hands dropped it onto the floor, flinging it open to reveal a $100 bill between every page.

The man had lived as a pauper, simply because of his prejudice. He thought he knew what the Bible "contained"

Graphical: Theology in Five Lines

God formed man,
Sin deformed him,
Education informs him,
Religion may reform him,
Only Jesus Christ can transform him.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'I tell you the truth, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" (John 3:13)

Nice

mployer:

mmh, so inspiring

Agreed.