And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.–Romans 8:28

One afternoon, a teenage girl joined her mother in the kitchen. The young lady began explaining to her mom everything that was wrong with her life-she had failed an algebra test, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she just found out her best friend would be moving away soon.

All the while, the mother was baking a cake as the young girl talked. Finally, the girl’s mother interrupted to ask if she wanted a snack. The daughter replied, “Absolutely! I love your cakes!”

“Here…have some cooking oil,” her mother offered.

“Yuck!” the girl responded. “That’s gross.”

“Well, how about a couple of raw eggs?” asked the mother.

“Gross, mom!” was the girl’s response.

“How about a cup of flour or a teaspoon of baking soda?” the mother then offered.

“Mom, those are all disgusting!” the girl said. “I don’t want those things for snacks.”

After a long pause, her mother finally said, “Dear, all these things seem bad by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!”

God works the same way in the lives of believers. Not everything in life is a piece of cake. Sometimes tragedy or hardship strikes and leaves you wondering, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why did God do this to me?” Many times we wonder why He would even let us go through such difficulties.

However, what we oftentimes don’t realize is that when God puts all these things in His order, they always work for good! We must simply trust Him that each of life’s events, combined by His hands, will turn out to be something deliciously wonderful!

Thank God for the good and bad “ingredients” He allows to come into your life. Thank Him for working all things together for your good and His glory.—-from Senior Living

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22

I ask some Christians, “How are you doing?” They say, “Okay under the circumstances.” How did you ever get there?

Circumstances are like a mattress. You’re supposed to be on it, not under it. Under the circumstances, you suffocate; on them you rest pretty well.

The only way you can run the race is to take your eyes off things or people around you and look unto Jesus. He’s the author of the race. He’s the goal to which you run. If you look unto Jesus to supply your every need for the race, you’ll find faith growing in your heart and in your life. You see, it’s not great faith in God; it is faith in a great God. (Adrian Rogers)

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers—.Acts 13:36   What a great testimony–he “served his own generation by the will of God.” It doesn’t say, he ruled his generation, but that he “served.” Although a king, David is pictured here as a servant. The word “served” means “an under-oarsman”. It is a nautical term used to describe one who rows under the authority of another, one who is subordinate. David realized that true greatness is not measured by how many servants you have, but by how many you serve. He was more concerned about giving than getting.   This is a man we should emulate. He served “his own generation”. That’s exactly what we all should do, and really that’s all we can do. We can’t change the past and we can’t control the future, but we can choose to serve in the present. Doing so will have a positive affect on the future. A lot of folks talk about what is wrong with this generation, when in reality they are what’s wrong with it! This generation is the product of the last generation. We are seeing a reflection of ourself, it just gets a little worse as time passes.To change the next generation we have to start with this one.   David made a difference in his generation and the one that followed. We should do the same. Our presence in this world should impact others for the good. Someday you will die and they will bury your body, but your influnce, for good or bad, will live on. Like an unseen hand, it will reach out from the grave and touch others. Let it be a hand that helps rather than hinders. Why not get started today?

“—–weep with them that weep.”–Romans 12:15   The prayer recorded in Psalm 56:8 indicates that God collects the tears of the saints and puts them in a bottle. Isn’t that amazing? To think that our tears are treasured and cherished by God is a great comfort. It is also a challenge. If we are to be like God we must “weep with them that weep.” Do we?   I read that during the Civil war, wives and mothers put their tears in little bottles, called “tear vials”, and sent them to their husbands and sons. Just imagine a soldier on the battlefield holding one of these in his hands and looking at the very tears that had been shed for him. This evidence that someone cared would be a great encouragement. Even so, as Christians we have an obligation to express our concern for others.People need to know that we care.   Pastor David Dykes relates this interesting bit of information: “—in the temple in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus they had an unusal custom—They made everybody walk in one door and out the other door—the worshipers would all enter the temple mount from the south, going up the steps of Solomon’s portico, Then they would do their business up on the temple mount and they would all exit usually out of the norhteastern corner. There was one exception—whenever there was a Jewish family in Jerusalem who had gone through a genuine time of heartache and sorrow, that family was allowed to walk totally against the flow of the people traffic. They would enter where everybody else was exiting and they would exit where everybody else was entering. You know why they did that? So that all the worshipers were forced to confront the faces of people who were hurting so they wouldn’t miss their pain.”   We can learn something from that custom! We need to consider the pain that others are experiencing and express our sympathy for them. People need to know that we care and when we do it shows. As I have said so often—Those who care do!

“A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up strife.”–Proverbs 15:1   Bob Griffin posted a good example of this the other day. It was written by an unknown author and makes a great point:

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving
in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in
front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the
other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head
around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at
the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, “Why did you just
do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!”

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, The Law of the
Garbage Truck. He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They
run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and
sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile,
wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it
to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take
over their day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so
love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.