Count Your Blessings!

By Pastor Tim Henry

It's time to count your blessings.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, cash in your wallet or even spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the Earth's wealthiest people.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more fortunate than the million people who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the suffering of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend this worship service, or any other religion-related meeting, without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death ... you are fortunate. Billions of people in the world cannot.

So it's not hard for us to count our blessings, is it?

Most of us could quickly and easily jot down a rather lengthy list, including thanks for family and friends, food, clothing, cars, homes, pets, jobs, toys, health, freedom, ... and so on

But THINK about this. If we follow this logic, then it means that if we LACK these things, we cannot give thanks. We can count our blessings only if we have something to count. So what if we have no family ... no car ... no home ... no job? Does this mean we cannot give thanks?

It does not. Not at all!

Beautiful Old Testament Verses

This passage has been a motivating one for me. I find that Christians [definitely me included] are all to quick to grab the lovely verses from the Old Testament, like Jeremiah 29:11 [For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.], but often forget about the ones like the ones below. Enjoy!

Ezekiel 3:16-27

Ezekiel Is a Watchman

   
¹⁶ Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 
²⁰ “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.” 
²² Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.” 
²³ So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. ²⁴ Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them. ²⁶ I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

Check this out!

On Nov. 25, 2009, Yang Caizhen and four other Linfen-Fushan church leaders from Shanxi Province were sentenced to criminal detention for two to seven years, according to China Aid Association. The five church leaders were accused of "gathering people to disturb the public order," because they organized a prayer rally on Sept. 14, the day after 400 military police raided the church's grounds. During the raid, more than 30 believers were seriously wounded and 17 buildings were destroyed.
Yang Caizhen in the Hospital [ a while ago ]
Yang Caizhen’s daughter Esther received word last week that her mother was in the hospital. This is the second time she has been in the hospital since she was arrested. The first time, her family was not informed, so this time they think her condition is more serious. Yang Caizhen is due to be released in July or August, but her family hopes she can be released early on medical parole. Esther also said the prison recently changed its visitor policy. Previously, almost anyone could visit Yang Caizhen. Now, only close family members can visit.

SHE HAS BEEN RELEASED! 

Deo gratias!!!!!!!

Love this poem.

Inspiring.

Encouraging.

Uplifting.

Makes my mind dwell of eternity.

Anyway, here it is!

ON J.T., A BELIEVING BOY

I little thought, when last we met, 

Thy sun on earth was nearly set - 

I said what I can ne'er forget,

"Dear boy, we'll meet again."

Though thou wert tossed upon thy bed, 

And sometimes criedst, "My head, my head;" 

Yet still the smile came back - I said,

"Fair boy, we'll meet again."

No hope thy weeping mother had. 

Thy sister's face was pale and sad, 

But thine was always bright and glad -

Dear boy, we'll meet again.

"'Twas kind," thou saidst,"in God to die 

For worms like me. Once I would fly 

A darkened room - now Christ is nigh" -

Fair boy, we'll meet again.

"I love you well, my mother dear - 

"I love you all, yet shed no tear - 

I'd rather be with Christ than here -

Farewell, we'll meet again.

"I fain would live to preach to men; 

But, if my God should spare till then, 

I would be loth to die again" -

Dear boy, we'll meet again.

The Sabbath-sun rose bright and clear 

When thine was setting on us here, 

To shine more bright in yonder sphere -

Farewell we'll meet again.

I stood beside thy silent bed, 

Thy marble brow was cold and dead, 

Thy gentle soul was fled - was fled -

Dear boy, we'll meet again.

I saw thee in thy narrow rest, 

The clods upon thy coffin pressed, 

The clouds dropped tears, yet in my breast

God said, "We'll meet again."

Yes, parents, smile through all your tears, 

A crown of life your darling wears, 

The grave a shady porch appears,

To where we'll meet again.

The precious dust beneath that lies, 

Shall at the call of Jesus rise, 

To meet the Bridegroom in the skies,

That day we'll meet again.

– By Robert Murray McCheyne

Quote

" It seems to me that there are but few who really live with a passion for God-especially a passion just to be with Him. Today there is such a noise coming up before the throne of the Most High-the clamor of so-called praise, singing, and joyful shouting. But I wonder if the same people who love to sing and shout, loudly exclaiming the the praises of God, really have such an intense glory in their secret life with the Lord. When the meeting's over and there's no one there to listen except the only One who matters, do you still have that same passionate joy in your spirit, just to be alone with the Living God?"
- Keith Green

Not I, But Christ

Not I, But Christ

Not I, but Christ, be honoured, loved, exalted,

Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard,

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,

Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow,

Not I, but Christ, to wipe a falling tear,

Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,

Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.

Not I, but Christ, no idle word e’re falling,

Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound,

Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,

Christ, only Christ, no trace of I be found.

Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying,

Not I, but Christ, my strength and health be;

Christ, only Christ, for body, soul, and spirit,

Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me.

Christ, only Christ, e’re long will fill my vision;

Glory excelling soon, full soon I’ll see

Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling–

Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.

– A. B. Simpson

Family

Aren't families a blessing?

If you're part a family as amazing as mine, you'll know what I mean. I guess I don't appreciate them as I should. Way not enough! What a blessing to have 6 other people who know you real well, love you anyway, and look out for you. Why do I seem to take it so for granted? I don't know! I suppose we normally just appreciate what we've had when it's gone. All us [5] kids are still at home, and it's really neat to have things that you can all do together. We love to do BB wars especially. I have only really got into them properly recently, and have been loving it. I can't do girly stuff 100% of the time! My older brothers are just incredible. They're exactly what brothers should be, and more. Tried to get some photos on here, but it didn't work. Well, tough! Maybe another time.

Suppose my work for today is to just be grateful for the whanau, and try and be a blessing for them.

Another time [if I don't die a sudden and tragic death]

Claire

Heaven

Searching fairly extensively  through poems, photos [funny!] and writings, I came to the conclusion that not too many people think about Heaven too much, and when they do, it isn't an interesting subject to them! If fact, there was pretty much nothing. Heaven is the most amazing subject! What will it be like? I am afraid some don't like to think about it. I guess if you enjoy and not loathe sin and [if possible] are a Christian, it'll be a jolly boring place for you {the rest won't ever know! Witness to them!!!} But think! God made earth in six days, and He's had 2,000 years to make heaven! And think! Earth has gone downhill on a major scale because of sin a few thousand years ago, so we never knew what a sinless earth was like, and heaven is sinless! Isn't it something amazing to look forward to? It really won't be just a group of goody goods up in the sky, holding on to harps they don't know how to play. Imagine the singing! I didn't actually end up seeing the Royal Wedding live, or any movies of it, but heard the singing was amazing. Heaven will be infinitely more amazing than that! That's my thoughts today!
In His love,
Claire

Poverty

DID  YOU KNOW……

• Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.
• According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
• Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
• Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.
• Water problems affect half of humanity:

• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
• More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.
• Access to piped water into the household averages about 85% for the wealthiest 20% of the population, compared with 25% for the poorest 20%.
• 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometre, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 litres per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 litres of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters day.)
• Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhoea
• The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
• Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
• Millions of women spending several hours a day collecting water.
• To these human costs can be added the massive economic waste associated with the water and sanitation deficit.… The costs associated with health spending, productivity losses and labour diversions … are greatest in some of the poorest countries. Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of GDP, or some $28.4 billion annually, a figure that exceeds total aid flows and debt relief to the region in 2003.

Home

Home

Home is a comfort and home is a light,

A place to leave the darkness outside,

Home is a peaceful and ever full feeling

A place where a soul safely hides.

And being in a home should remind you that still 

There's a place that's prepared just for you 

And I think my home is just Heaven's reflection

As long as my home's here with you.

Home is where someone is waiting and loving,

And happy to see you again,

That half of your heart that somebody else treasures

The one who's your forever friend.

But it seems that He's told me, 

The life that He's showed me

Is a life mostly spent on the road

But when the world's empty charm

Has done all of its harm

I know that His love waits for me in you arms.

Cause home is a comfort and home is a light

A place to leave the darkness outside

Home is a peaceful and ever full feeling

A place where a soul safely hides.

And being in a home should remind you that still 

There's a place that's prepared just for you 

And I think my home is just Heaven's reflection

As long as my home's here with you.

And being in a home should remind you that still

There's a place that's prepared just for you

And I think my home is just Heaven's reflection

As long as my home's here with you.

– Michael Card –

Quote

I rise today
with the power of God to pilot me,
God's strength to sustain me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look ahead for me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to protect me,
God's way before me,
God's shield to defend me,
God's host to deliver me,
from snares of devils,
from evil temptations,
from nature's failings,
from all who wish to harm me,
far or near,
alone and in a crowd.

—"Saint Patrick's Breastplate,"
Old Irish, eighth-century prayer.

If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven

I was sad leaving some Christian friends the other day, when I had an epic thought - Christians never meet for the last time!

How amazing is that! It definitely made leaving easier!

If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven

Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey

And perhaps we'll never meet anymore

'Til we gather in heaven's bright city - - 

Far away on that beautiful shore

If we never meet again this side of heaven

As we struggle through this world and its strife

There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven

By the side of river of life

Where the roses bloom forever

And where separation comes no more

If we never meet again this side of heaven

I will meet you on that beautiful shore

O they say we shall meet by the river

Where no storm clouds ever darken the sky

And they say we’ll be happy in heaven

In that wonderful sweet by and by

If we never meet again this side of heaven

As we struggle through this world and its strife

There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven

By the side of river of life

Where the roses bloom forever

And where separation comes no more

If we never meet again this side of heaven

I will meet you on that beautiful shore

- Johnny Cash -

I heard a sermon on Hell recently, at an amazing conference I was at. It motivated me more to tell people about my wonderful Saviour than the Discipleship seminars I had been going through! Oh! If you are an unforgiven sinner, COME TO HIM! YOU NEED HIM! Hell is an awful place, and if you aren't saved by grace, you're going to be there for an AWFUL long time- eternity! Come to Him! I implore you!
And to you that are Christians,

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for." 

— Charles Spurgeon


Here's the poem…

Voice from Hell Oh, why am I here in this place of unrest  When others have entered the land of the blest?  God's way of salvation was preached unto men;  I heard it and heard it, again and again. Why did I not listen and turn from my sin  And open my heart and let Jesus come in?  For vain earthly pleasures my soul did I sell  The way I had chosen has brought me to hell. I wish I were dreaming, but ah, it is true.  The way to be saved I had heard and I knew;  My time on the earth, oh, so quickly fled by,  How little I thought of the day I would die. When God's Holy Spirit was pleading with me,  I hardened my heart and I turned from His plea.  The way that was sinful, the path that was wide,  I chose and I walked till the time that I died. Eternally now, I must dwell in this place.  If I from my memory could but erase  The thoughts of my past which are haunting me so.  Oh, where is a refuge to which I can go? This torture and suff'ring, how long can I stand?  For Satan and demons this only was planned.  God's refuge is Jesus, the One that I spurned;  He offered salvation, but from Him I turned. My brothers and sisters I wish I could warn.  Far better 'twould be if I had not been born.  The price I must pay is too horrid to tell  My life without God led directly to Hell. Oh, soul without Christ, will these words be your cry?  God's Word so declares it that all men must die.  From hell and its terrors, Oh, flee while you may!  So, come to the Saviour; He'll save you today!                         —Oscar C. Eliason

ALL OTHERS

ALL religious reformers came to live; Christ came to die.

ALL others leave monuments and memorials; no one can find His birthplace, grave, nor one possession. 

ALL others write diaries and memoirs; He wrote on the sand. 

ALL others choose their followers from the rich, powerful, and influential; He chose the poor and needy. 

ALL others praise human righteousness; He condemned it. 

ALL others seek those who can help them; He sought those He could help. 

ALL others promise success and happiness to their followers; He promised trib- ulation and suffering. 

ALL others held their disciples with fear and force; He invited His to leave Him if they would. 

ALL others have palaces, mansions, and headquarters; He had no place to lay His head. 

ALL reward the most talented with recognition, titles, and honor; He said, “The least should be the greatest.” 

ALL others say, “Follow me: I will show you the way;” He said, “Come to Me, I Am The Way.” 

ALL others stay dead; He arose; and all of His claims, works, and promises are true because God raised Him from the dead.

—Pastor Henry T. Mahan, Retired

Just pray about it...would you be willing to die for Jesus Christ? Would you be willing to part with all your worldly possessions for Him? Just pray about it.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE WAY IT WAS AND THE WAY IT IS (WAS) 

IN those good old times, when preachers did not grow weary, though they discoursed for three hours at a stretch; And when congregations were not given to slumber, even under such long discourses, the preacher had ample time not only to dilate upon the Doctrine of his text, but to speak, also, upon what was then called, “the improvement of the subject,” namely, the practical and experimental application of the Truths of God taught to the particular cases of his hearers. Nowadays when we are restricted to three-quarters of an hour—not altogether to our loss or yours—there are occasions on which we feel our course so wide, and our time so narrow, that having found a good sea to sail upon, and objects of surpassing interest to attract our attention in the morning, we venture to resume the current of thought and follow up with the application in the evening.

—Charles Spurgeon—1870

Thoughts

I wrote this a while ago, in the ten minutes grace I got when I was supposed to be doing dishes.

Rough as, and I've taken most of my thoughts too far, but anyway. I guess it partly shows  the thoughts that were going through my head at the time. How glad I am I didn't get a "penny for your thoughts" just then – the poor person probably would have died. Here it is…

Prejudice

Numbs opinion, dims vision,

Portrays pride, hampers decision.

Causer of even greater derision.

                  

To look without looking–

‘Tis what you see,

In everyday life,

In you and in me.

To make blind many men,           

Weaken the weaker,

Hindering truthful thought,

Apparent in the speaker.

An invisible, visible enemy,

Making heavy out of light,

Smote it dead in the bud –

Don’t give in without a fight.

Unconsciously decided, for no apparent reason,

Massacring true reason,

Portrayed in much, and little, alike,

Without set time, place, or season.

Alongside sight discrimination,

Where colour, size, and sound are law,

Unlawful, unuttered, mind set without thought,

Decided, prior to  feature or flaw.

Fight it – examine yourself,

To be not as guilty of it as I,

And winning find that deciding vice,

Is gone, with all it’s lie.

Claire Halliday ©2011ClaNaHa

Paul Washer - Live For Eternity

Live For Eternity

No one has ever been able to bare the preaching of the Gospel.
They will either turn against it with a fierceness of an animal or they will be converted.

Throw yourself upon Christ! Trust in Him, trust in Him!

We are not called to build empires!
We are not called to be accepted!
We are called to glorify God!

Eternity!

The day you stand in those granite halls
before the Lord of Glory.

And kings, the greatest men on earth are divided and split and culled.
Some cast into eternal hell, and some invited into eternal glory.
Live for eternity!

These Olympians, how, how majestic they are, but only for a moment.
They start training when they are four and five years old, they never do anything but train until they're twenty two, they run a nine second race for a medal they hang up and that's it!

Cannot, you give equal for eternal things?

There is one there who is infinite in Glory, and you will spend an eternity of eternities tracking Him down and you will never get your arms even around the foothill of his mountain.

I can't live like this anymore, I can't live just reading books, I can't live just reading about revivals and about people who knew somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody who knew you(God).

So many different things you want to know and do and all the books, get out a book on God, this one(points to bible).

For it is, for this we labor and strive because we fixed our hope on the living God.
This is not some martyr thing, in which we uselessly give our lives to nothing, only to be pulverized without hope, no, we serve God and God will honor us. We have fixed our hope on that and that gives us strength... strength.

Oh this life is a vapor, I am fourty-seven, and yesterday I was twenty-one, were did it all go, it is a vapor! While you have strength, preach! I praise God that in his providence as a young man I spent myself in the Andes Mountains, in the jungles of Peru doing what I no longer have the strength to do. While you are a young man, while there is strength in you, labor with all your might, take those stupid video games of yours and crush them under your feet. Throw the TV out the window you were made for greater things then these.

If you are a child of the King nothing on this earth can satisfy you, nothing.

I want the power of God on my life! Then somethings gotta go! I wanna know Him! Then some separation has to occur.

Anything it takes, you have to, literally be before the Lord. "Lord anything it takes! Anything it takes!"

- Paul Washer

To listen to this, go to 

http://illbehonest.com/Live-for-Eternity-Paul-Washer

It is so worth is - you really really should!