Quotes From The Heart May 2012

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SOMEBODY IN JAIL?

*Skip the blame game, it will only cause depression.
*Ask God what he wants you to learn.
*Think about somebody who is in a worse place than you are.
*Be a listening heart for the person in the cell next to you.
*God sometimes creates a "Forced Shabbat." He wants you to take a rest and focus on Him. He can use an illness or a jail to slow you down and help you

focus on what's important in life.
*Look for something good in everybody that you meet, even miserable prison guards.
*Go to school, if you have a pending court case, the judge will look more favorably upon someone who is making an effort to improve their life.
*Focus on His Word: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
*This too shall pass.
*There are better days ahead.
I know that nobody in a jail cell is reading this. If you are visiting someone who is locked up, share a positive word and plant a seed of hope.
If you are living a life that may lead you to jail, please change now and ask for help if you need to. Some people lose their sanity in jail and they are never the same again.
Drugs, alcohol, anger are a few of the common baits that lure people into incarceration.
No matter who you are, somebody loves you. Jesus loves you and so do I. Even if you don't believe in Jesus, just believe that my words are an affirmation of love from my heart to yours.

Thanks for your time.
Go do something nice for somebody. (It might keep them and you out of jail.)

 

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 The beginning of grace in your life generally starts in a dark place. Your miseries are so deep, you feel like a root at the bottom of a mountain. Wisdom is knowledge gained through the appearance of Light in the dark place.

WISDOM
The following passage was taken from a book called the Message:

Job 28

Where Does Wisdom Come From?

1-11"We all know how silver seams the rocks, we've seen the stu

ff from which gold is refined,
We're aware of how iron is dug out of the ground
and copper is smelted from rock.
Miners penetrate the earth's darkness,
searching the roots of the mountains for ore,
digging away in the suffocating darkness.
Far from civilization, far from the traffic,
they cut a shaft,
and are lowered into it by ropes.
Earth's surface is a field for grain,
but its depths are a forge
Firing sapphires from stones
and chiseling gold from rocks.
Vultures are blind to its riches,
hawks never lay eyes on it.
Wild animals are oblivious to it,
lions don't know it's there.
Miners hammer away at the rock,
they uproot the mountains.
They tunnel through the rock
and find all kinds of beautiful gems.
They discover the origins of rivers,
and bring earth's secrets to light.

12-19 "But where, oh where, will they find Wisdom?
Where does Insight hide?
Mortals don't have a clue,
haven't the slightest idea where to look.
Earth's depths say, 'It's not here';
ocean deeps echo, 'Never heard of it.'
It can't be bought with the finest gold;
no amount of silver can get it.
Even famous Ophir gold can't buy it,
not even diamonds and sapphires.
Neither gold nor emeralds are comparable;
extravagant jewelry can't touch it.
Pearl necklaces and ruby bracelets—why bother?
None of this is even a down payment on Wisdom!
Pile gold and African diamonds as high as you will,
they can't hold a candle to Wisdom.

20-22 "So where does Wisdom come from?
And where does Insight live?
It can't be found by looking, no matter
how deep you dig, no matter how high you fly.
If you search through the graveyard and question the dead,
they say, 'We've only heard rumors of it.'

23-28 "God alone knows the way to Wisdom,
he knows the exact place to find it.
He knows where everything is on earth,
he sees everything under heaven.
After he commanded the winds to blow
and measured out the waters,
Arranged for the rain
and set off explosions of thunder and lightning,
He focused on Wisdom,
made sure it was all set and tested and ready.
Then he addressed the human race: 'Here it is!
Fear-of-the-Lord—that's Wisdom,
and Insight means shunning evil.'"

 

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 Sometimes I wonder
if Christians are pulling the Bread
from each others mouths
while not leaving crumbs for children.

 

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Is there a hOle in your heart
or a zerO in your bank account?
YOu are in a gOOd place.
GOd lOves yOu.
He gives yOu hOpe.
He will prOvide.
He will never leave yOu Or fOrsake yOu.
He will give yOu prOvisOn fOr yOur visiOn.

John 6:20
20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

 

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 AA
Abandonment & Abundance
The Authority of Abandonment creates Abundance.

If you have been abandoned,
accept it as the seed of abundance,
and cast all of your cares upon the one
who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Jesus came with authority from his Father.
He abandoned his life so that we would have

abundant life with the Father.

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
John 10:10-11

 

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 Imagine being in jail and Jesus is visiting you.

He says he has placed the key to your cell within your heart.
The only way to access the key is by removing the layers that have built up on your heart.

All of the layers on your heart are rooted in fear. The thickest layer is blame. There are many other layers like rejection, abandonment, pride, arrogance, haughtiness and judgmentalism. He han

ds you a golden ruler that will act as a fulcrum to pry the layers off of your heart. Jesus then tells you to always remember that you can remove all layers from your heart through Christ who strengthens you. He urges you to cast all your layers upon him.

When removing the layer of blame, he tells you to focus on the layers of blame that people used to nail him to a cross. He looks you in the eye and says: "When I was dying under the layers of sin, and people were mocking me as I was being tortured, I asked my Dad to forgive the people because they didn't know what they were doing."

Go in peace, forgive, and blame no more.

 

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 There are days that I feel so overwhelmed
that I really don't know what to pray for.
Sometimes I just feel like groaning.
Then I realize my pregnant condition.
God's mercies are new each day.
Each day is a birthing day.
God is groaning right there beside me.

Romans 8:26-28
The Message

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting,
God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.
If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.
He does our praying in and for us,
making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
He knows us far better than we know ourselves,
knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure
that every detail in our lives
of love for God is
worked into something good."

 

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Youth With A Purpose Inc. is healing children, one young person at a time.

Yesterday was a day of healing.
A group of young people sat at a dinner table and laughed.
We laughed until we almost fell out of our seats.
The dinner table was far away from painful memories
and at least for a few brief moments,
these young people could feel at peace.

 

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 FRUITCAKE STORY
I did something dumb yesterday. My actions were rooted in honor but they were still dumb. I dropped off a young lady at a store. While she was in the store, a group of young men came down the sidewalk and ogled her through the window. They even went so far as walking into the store to check her out from behind.

This girl is like a daughter to me. I am very protective as a father

should be. Impulsively I got out of my van and by the time I made it to the sidewalk, the group of young men were at least 20 yards away. I yelled at them: "Are you guys respecting the lady?" They turned, yelled some negative comments and kept walking. I stood in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at them like I was some kind of a tough guy. They kept yelling until they disappeared around the corner.

At first I felt like I had done what I was supposed to do. Slowly, the realization that I had done something dumb crept in. A man should be protective and do what needs to be done to ensure that respect is shown towards his family. These were young guys who live in a culture of disrespect and treat women as furniture. I would have been better served to go and form a relationship with them and speak about respect instead of acting like a haughty, pride filled, arrogant know-it-all.

In a City where people shoot each other over a "screw-face," my actions were dumb and dangerous. Somehow I felt like I had stepped out of the will of God. I still don't have a handle on that but I know there was a better way of handling things. Right now I'm thinking about the Zacchaeus story with Jesus. Zack was a tax collector and a cheat. Jesus saw him in a tree and didn't do what i did, he didn't call out his disrespect for people even though he knew about it. Jesus asked him to go get something to eat and formed a relationship with him. (Luke 19:1-10)

If I go off on my own impulses, I could get killed and it would be my fault for cutting short a life that could have served God longer on this side of heaven. If I'm going to live my life as a fruitcake, I'd rather form relationships that bear the fruit of showing love for your neighbor.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

 

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"Love prospers when a fault is forgiven,
but dwelling on it separates close friends."

Proverbs 17:9
New Living Translation

We all have faults.
Faults can separate friends forever.
Get over it.
I'm not perfect and neither are you.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

 

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