WHAT WERE THE BEST DAYS IN YOUR LIFE AND WHY?

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          There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

          To Visit neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following  

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to weep, a time to laugh,

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

While you are considering this total dedication to God that we preachers are always talking about, consider this, “You don’t always need everything you want nor do you always want everything you need.”

Let me repeat that…“You don’t always need everything you want nor do you always want everything you need.”

This truth is why one of my favorite quotes reads as follows…

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things.

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.  

I asked for riches that I might be happy.

I was given poverty that I might be wise.        

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

   

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for - But everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered

I am among all men most richly blessed.

          Two stores faced each other across a very busy street.  Their owners were in constant competition with each other.  One day, the owner of one store put out a sign that read – If you want it, we have it!

Almost immediately the other owner put out a sign –If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!

What do you want? What do you really need?  And do you work and pray toward knowing the difference?

          I met a young man not long ago who dives for exotic fish for aquariums.  He said one of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark.  He went on to explain that if you catch a small shark and confine it in an aquarium, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium.  It will stay only six inches long yet be fully matured.  But if you turn him loose in the ocean, he will grow to a normal length of approximately eight feet. 

That also happens to some Christians.  Well-behaved, little six-inch Christians swimming around in their safe little puddles; accepting no great expanded challenge.  But then, if you put them in a larger arena of opportunity where their spiritual strength is truly challenged, they begin to grow to match the challenge.  And they can become spiritual giants. 

WHO ARE YOU? NO...WHOSE ARE YOU?

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        http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
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          Who are you?  Whose are you?

You influence and are influenced according to the answer you give.          Are you are the flavor of the month because you are determined to be like everyone else no matter what?  If so, consider being more independent in our thinking and actions...because God wants you to grow up.

It may be easier being someone's shadow but wouldn't you really rather be a sun. 

Once, when we were all babies, we crawled and we cooed and sometimes cried and did things that mothers and fathers and friends laughed at and thought were cute, and excused us because after all we were babies.  And then in not that long a time, we learned, or hopefully we learned, that we were expected to grow up.

But if at twenty or thirty or forty we still continue to act like immature adults, no one laughs any more and says, “Now isn’t he cute,” “Now isn’t she a darling.”  No they say, “He or she has grown up to be a spoiled adult brat.”

And God loves us anyway.  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross says it.  The words Father forgive them for they know not what they do echoing across that rocky Golgotha ground says it. 

The whole gift of salvation, says it.  “We are family…God’s family and families live together and love together and forgive together.”

The word is out…the evidence is in…we are all sinners.  We all make mistakes on a regular basis…spiritually we move two steps forward and one step backwards, but He who made us in His image says, “I love you.  I sent my sent my Son to die for you.  Get it…believe it…be made whole by it.”

How do the those words in Matthew 5:16 read, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

In 1848, Dr. John Geddie went to Aneityum, one of the many islands in the South Pacific and worked there for God for 24 years. 

On the tablet erected to his memory these words are inscribed:

When he landed, in 1848, there were no Christians.

When he left, in 1872, there were no heathen.

WHEN A NATION STRAYS TOO FAR FROM BEING MORAL IT IS WELL ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A MESS (Continuation of Series)

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        GO TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS and read the following brain teasers.  CLICK ON URL BELOW There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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James 4:17

To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

          Eleanor Roosevelt used to say, "One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words.  It is expressed in the choices one makes."

       We will be slaves to God or slaves to sin, that’s what it boils down to.  And that's the analogy Paul lays before us a little further on in Romans, and I paraphrase:

“But now you have passed from the service of sin into the service of God; your business now is to do what pleases God, not what sin dictates.” (Romans 6:18)

       How easy it is to waste our days by pursuing the worthless.  Indeed, look at the last 24 hours.  How many of them were wonderful and worthwhile?  How many were spent in the service of our Lord?

Actually, how do we all, on an average, spend our days?  Someone took the time to provide the answer; to breakdown, as a whole, how we spend our days...during 70 years of living;   On average we spend almost

one third of our life sleeping - that’s 23 years in bed,

work takes up 16 years of our time,

television consumes 8 years,

eating?  we spend 6 years with fork and knife in hand,

travel - 6 years,
leisure - 4.5 years,
illness - though we may spend a lot of time talking about our aches and

              pains, we are sick only about 4 years,

dressing was even timed, and it was found we spend 2 years of our life just

   getting our clothes on and off.

And the most important part of our existence,

religion gets a measly ½ year.

       The Christian writer C.S. Lewis wrote to the problem: “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”

       For yes, the tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. (Anon.)

       So I ask two questions:  What do you want out of life?  And what does God want out of your life?

       In Ephesians 5:15 – 17 (Amplified Bible), the Bible says, “Look carefully then how you walk!  Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise, sensible, intelligent people, Making the very most of the time, buying up each opportunity… Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”

WHAT WERE THE BEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE AND WHY?

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF these comments AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

          There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

          To Visit neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following  

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to weep, a time to laugh,

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

ABOVE SENT APRIL 1 2012

below send apriil 8

Jesus gave us aiming instructions, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.”  And He didn’t equivocate.  He didn’t say, flip a coin and if it’s “heads” you follow Me; “tails” and you can drift or decide in any direction you want.  The magic word behind His instruction was, is and always shall be FIRST!!!

That doesn’t mean you can’t be ambitious toward a career and a good marriage.  It does mean that if you place God second, third or even further down your list, you are playing poor mathematical games with your immortal soul.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”  There’s eternity in that answer.  There’s mortality in all the other answers. 

In the fourth chapter of James, verse 8 it says, “Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.”  It can’t get much clearer than that.

The words to a beautiful old hymn puts it this way: 

"I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;

it was not I that found, O Savior true;

no, I was found of thee."

     Remember the old nursery rhyme - 

PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT,

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

I’VE BEEN TO LONDON TO VISIT THE QUEEN.

PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT,

WHAT DID YOU THERE?

I FRIGHTENED A LITTLE MOUSE UNDER THE CHAIR.

          Christians do that sometimes, it's the human weakness in us...settle for petty involvements, trivial pursuits:  chasing mouse-like projects that have about them the importance of nothingness; wasting life by pursuing no purpose worthy of pursuit. 

The royalty of the King of Kings awaits us, and we settle for minimum daily requirements and minimal dreams. 

And while we will always have the minimal accomplishment of two steps forward and one step backwards ...we can accomplish the tiny miracles that are the backbone results of continuing persistent prayer.

We can join the ranks of the spiritually best and brightest.

We can learn from our mistakes and turn a grade of "F" into a forgiven lesson and improve it to an "A."

"I am come that you might have life" said Christ...and he meant it.

Know this and do not forget it…you are never going to make a difference in this world until the world sees a difference in you.  

               Or as Will Rogers put it, "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."

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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

       http://www.speakerneil.com/

        DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

        To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

http://www.magnuspress.com/

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

 

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

 

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

       25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

       Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

WHO ARE YOU? WHOSE ARE YOU?

If you want to share this blog with a friend go to the bottom of day’s content and click on TELL A FRIEND

          There are over 900 stories and commentaries on Neil’s One A Day blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

        GO TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL

        http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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 Who are you?  Whose are you?

Are you that generous person who this last year gave more to a cause than you could afford because you believed in it?  And though it depleted your income, it raised your spirits because you just proved to yourself that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Or are you that person who said, “It’s mine; I earned it and I’m going to keep it.”  And though your bank account was now larger your spirit was smaller for you just proved that there really is one bad apple in every barrel and for just a little while you were that selfish, self-centered apple.

          There was a movie put out several years ago.  It was called AS GOOD AS IT GETS.

In that film a generous and kind woman works to get through to a broken and dysfunctional human being.  She is patient and loving and persistent and slowly he begins to heal until one day he looks at her with such hope in his eyes

and says, “You make me want to be a better man.”

Who are you influencing to want to become a better human being?

If I took a poll and asked 50 people who you are, I would get 50 varying answers because each one is a different person and therefore you are seen from 50 different perspectives.  And the fact of the matter is you are a host of different people.  Hopefully most, if not all, of you want to be the best you…all the time.

This is an old quote, and a romantic one as well but, nevertheless, can anyone say of you, “I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.”

(TO BE CONTINUED NEXT THURSDAY)

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GO TO AMAZON.COM TO BUY NEIL WYRICK'S THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN...still receiving RAVE REVIEWS 8 years after it's publication.

          "Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understaning and appreciation of Lincoln...(Lt. Colonel C.A.Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)

          "Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information.  (Maynard Pittendreigh, Presbyterian Minister)

          "THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN is an extremely well written book...it is both scholarly and very readable.  I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of that President with an altered and enlarged vision of the man. (William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer, author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn.)                                             

GO TO SPEAKER.NEIL TO SEE NEIL'S ONE MAN AWARD WINNING DRAMATIZATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

. CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

 

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“WHICH IS BETTER TO BE?  A WINDOW OR A DOOR” ” “BE A RAINBOW SEARCHER AND FINDER” “IS YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION?

Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at MAGNUS PRESS

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM’S Kindle

 http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

WHEN A NATION STRAYS TOO FAR FROM BEING MORAL, IT IS WELL ON IT'S WAY TO BECOMING A MORAL MESS

If you want to share this blog with a friend go to the bottom of these comments and click on TELL A FRIEND

        GO TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS and read the following brain teasers.  CLICK ON URL BELOW There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

James 4:17

To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

       Someone once said: “A belief is what you hold, a conviction is what holds you!”

       So what holds you, constructs you, leads you with a push when needed?

One thing is for sure...we human beings do not drift toward goodness. 

We drift toward lukewarmness, toward tolerance for more and more that should never be tolerated.

       It was a small, sleepy seaside village called Capernaum.  Its box-shaped houses were made of stone.  The roofs were fashioned of saplings held together with a mixture of sand and mud and tar. 

All the houses were sheathed in silence, except for one which was almost concealed by a noisy crowd.  And on this particular day there is great excitement.

It could hardly be otherwise for in the center of it all is a man from a small village called Nazareth.  He wears only a simple, seamless garment and as more and more speak of this Jesus, it is with awe and admiration for the word has spread that He is a healer.  Just a few days before in the synagogue, He has healed a man with an unclean spirit.  And all of Galilee is talking about it. 

Now, He can go nowhere without being overwhelmed by the sick and the lame.  Everyone wants to be near Him and be touched by Him or merely to touch the hem of His gown.

Around Him are His disciples and then suddenly there is the sound of pounding.  But not at the door.  What is it?  Who is it? 

A hole appears in the ceiling and a body is lowered down on a mat through the ragged opening.  Four persistent friends of a crippled man want him to be healed...and they are not about to sit around just thinking about it.

So there is Jesus looking down, the paralyzed man looking up, and what does Jesus say?  "Your sins are forgiven.  Take up your mat and walk."  And he does. 

It is a two fold miracle.  The man’s restoration from physical paralysis is obvious...but Jesus wants also to free him from the paralysis of guilt. 

       We preachers are always talking about this about becoming a "new person in Christ."  Not a repair job, not a thin coat of paint, but a complete, spiritual turn-around of the soul.

By way of example, next to our home is a new house and it is larger and better than the house that was there before.  The old house that had been there for years could have been repaired, enlarged and with other changes certainly improved upon.  But instead, it was destroyed.  And what rose out of the wreckage was a new, in a sense born again house...

       And that is what our being "born again" is all about.  Not just a paint job to cover up our sins.  More than just adding on another layer to our personality.  But destroying the old part of us that kept on sinning even though we knew it was wrong. 

Freed from sin.  Forgiven.  No longer paralyzed by guilt.

Choose or lose.  That's what I'm talking about, for if you do not choose to follow the Lord, you lose the opportunity to know the great overwhelming wonder and joy of becoming a new person in Christ.

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          GO TO AMAZON.COM TO PURCHASE Neil's best selling book"THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN" that is still receiving rave reviews 8 years after it's publication.

          "Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understaning and appreciation of Lincoln...(Lt. Colonel C.A.Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)

          "Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information.  (Maynard Pittendreigh, Presbyterian Minister)

           "THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN is an extremely well written book...it is both scholarly and very readable.  I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of that President with an altered and enlarged vision of the man. (William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer, author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn.)  

                                   

GO TO SPEAKER.NEIL TO SEE NEIL'S ONE MAN AWARD WINNING DRAMATIZATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

                  &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

            Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

        V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at

MAGNUS PRESS

        AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM’S Kindle

          http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

          25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

        Phone Orders:  800-463-7818

WHAT WERE THE BEST DAYS IN YOUR LIFE AND WHY?

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF these comments AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

          There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.

          To Visit neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following  

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to weep, a time to laugh,

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

When you consider the question, What are the best days of your life? what is high on the list of whoopee days and days of woes?

Well, for most of you, the day you were born probably comes to mind first.   and second should be the day you realized what you were born for.

Have you seen the bumper sticker -

I MAY BE GETTING OLDER BUT I REFUSE TO GROW UP.

Spiritually immature folk do just that…they refuse to grow up.  Refuse to admit that what really is important is not what do you do for a living, but rather what you do that makes life WORTH LIVING.

       Once, a long time ago, there were four men and they had been catching fish for years.  That is what they did for a living. Then along came a man who tapped them on the shoulder and said, “Follow me.  I want you to be fishers of men.” 

And as you know, this was no once-upon-a-time fairy tale. This was Jesus, the Son of God, actually choosing them for his disciples and they were never the same again.  Their lives changed because their purpose in life changed and what followed were the best years in their lives.  From that point on they gave them-selves to something bigger than just making a living.  You can’t do that and not start having some of the best days in your life.

Yes, God loves you the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. It’s called a tap on the shoulder; a call to your heart and soul.

 In a way life is like a dollar bill.  You can spend it any way you want to, but you can only spend it once.  And what you spend your earthly time on will determine what your time on earth is like.  You invest your life in something or you waste your life on something.

       It’s that simple.  It’s that complicated.

(TO BE CONTINUED NEXTSUNDAY)

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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER
       http://www.speakerneil.com/

        DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

        To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

http://www.magnuspress.com/

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

 

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

       25% off all books, buy 4 get 1 free and free shipping

       Phone Orders:  800-463-7818