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~pt. 2~DONKEY TRACKS" ~~
~TRAILS OF LIVING~
Discouragement - A Tool of the Devil
By: Author Unknown Once upon a time it was announced that the devil
was going out of business and would sell all
his equipment to those who were willing to pay the price. On the big day of the sale,
all his tools were attractively displayed.
There were Envy, Jealousy, Hatred, Malice, Deceit, Sensuality, Pride,Idolatry, and other implements of evil display. Each of the tools was Marked with its own price tag. Over in the corner by itself was a harmless looking,
wedge-shaped tool very much worn, but still it bore a
higher price than any of he others.
Someone asked the devil what it was, and he answered,
"That is Discouragement."
The next question came quickly,
"And why is it priced so high even though
it is plain to see that it is worn more than these others?" Because replied the devil,
"It is more useful to me than all these others.
I can pry open and get into a man's heart with that
when I cannot get near him with any other too
Once I get inside, I can use him in whatever way
suits me best. It is worn well because
I use it on everybody I can,
and few people even know it belongs to me.This tool was priced so high that no one could buy it, and to this day it has never been sold.
It still belongs to the devil,
and he still uses it on mankind.
~TRAILS of LIFE ~
GREAT ABILITIES
Comedian Bill Crosby is getting a lot of flack these days
because he is telling his own people to quit blaming anyone
else for the problems they have, to act responsibly, and
develop and use the abilities they have. This is a message
we all need to hear regardless of the color of our skin or
the circumstances of our background.
In fact, two of life's greatest abilities are
depend-ability and response-ability. Dependability is
keeping one's word. It's being there when we say we are
going to be there, and doing what we say we are going to
do. It's keeping the commitments we make.
Responsibility is realizing that I am totally responsible
for what I say, what I want, what I feel, and for what I do
or don't do. True, I was not responsible for my background
or my upbringing, but I am totally responsible for what I
do about overcoming my background if it were less than
desirable, for what I become, and for every area of my
life. As long as I blame my past, my parents, my
background, the government, or anyone else, I will stay in
a self-pitying and self-defeating mode going nowhere fast.
Unless some think I am an armchair-theorist coming from a
highly privileged background telling others what they
should do, they are mistaken. I came from a very
dysfunctional family background, was not allowed to attend
high school, made to go to work fulltime when I was still
13, and came overseas to get an education without any help
from anyone (worked my way through college and worked three
jobs at once during the summers). I made up my mind while
still a teen that I wanted my life to amount to something
so I did what I needed to do to make it happen.
However, what I did have going for me was a firm belief
that God had a purpose for my life. I didn't know what it
was at the time but I knew that I needed to prepare myself
for whatever it might be. Sure there were obstacles to
overcome and challenges to meet, but these made me all the
stronger. Today it has paid off tremendously. I count it a
tremendous privilege to be able to publish the gospel and
Christian message and be communicating it around the world
to multiplied thousands of people. There is nothing better
in life that I could want or wish to do.
The point is, every one of us needs to know that God has a
plan and purpose for his or her life, and then employ all
of his/her powers for the achievement of that purpose. God
will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, but he will
never do for us what we can and need to do for
ourselves--otherwise he would be acting irresponsibly by
keeping us immature and over-dependent.
"Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take
pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody
else, for each one should carry his own load" (Galatians
6:4-5, NIV).
~TRAILS of SCRIPTURE~
"Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made. I will speak to you while you are there" Jeremiah 18:2 NLT
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'let me alone,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'
"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, 'Not yet.'
"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool, 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
"'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"
~TRAILS of PRAYER~
Dear Father, Make me strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Help me pass your word on to others who also will share it. Help me take my share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ. Help me avoid "civilian" entanglements that would dilute my loyal obedience to Christ, my commander. Help me be a disciplined athlete for you. Help me to be a hard-working farmer who tills in your vineyard, patiently waiting for the harvest that comes from you. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.
~TRAILS of a RIDER of GRACE~
God bless you all . and thank you again for your support. I went to the doctor yesterday and received the most powerful antibiotic available. Where urinary Tract infection. It has made me feel pretty bad. Trouble is , I have two more to take today. I sure hope that it works. I would appreciate your continuing prayers.
http://www.youens.com/mccoy/
"The White Donkey Society"
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