God's Rosebud

A new minister was walking with an older, more seasoned minister in the garden one day.  Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.
 

The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
 

It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...
 

"It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine."
 

"The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily,
But in my hands they die."
 

"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?"
 

"So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way."
 

"The path that lies before me,
Only my Lord and Savior knows.
I'll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose."

Just a simple little reminder to let go and let God unfold your life.

Its Hard

Its hard. 

When you give all you have just to be scared.

Damaged by those you feel so much for.

Your plees for love is what they ignore.

The weight you have bore has no real baring.

On the love between two ment for its sharing.

Comparing your pain to any life you could choose.

Means very little you have nothing to loose.

Confuse no other being with the one you have chose.

When love becomes business that business must close.

Composed by Jason Brown

I'm sorry, Lord Jesus!

A story of how I feel when I fail - and who helps me most!

There are some days I walk about
and want to fight or scream or shout -
I want to beat my fists and cry
I want to quit, I want to die...

I seem to be so out of sorts -
nothing's fun, not games or sports!
There's nothing that I wanna do,
except for maybe be with You!

All the things I've done for You
I actually did for ME some too,
I'm so selfish, I'm ashamed
because I know that I'M to blame...

For all the things between us now
were choices I HAD MADE somehow -
All the times I sat alone,
ignored my Lord, upon His throne!

I wisht I'd lived my whole life through
and spent it all alone with You -
Never leaving to watch TV.
or bowl or sleep (or even pee)...

And then Your Grace envelops me,
and sets my soul and spirit free...
You love me in SPITE of me,
and all the times we disagree...

You're patient, loving, kind, it's true
and I can never stop loving You -
I have forever to walk and serve
and be the servant You deserve!

Help me, Lord Jesus!

I've failed A LOT, and know what it's all about!

But Jesus has always taken me back, and helped me, and loved me like I was His own...and guess what? I AM!

Written By Michael Ingram
Published: 12/24/2005

Michael Ingram - The author of "Godspell", a short, Bible-based book by Trafford publishing, and "Finding Tracy" (co-authored with Norma Budden), also by Trafford.
You can buy a copy by going to: Trafford Publishing

When We Face Rejections

Though we often face in life
Rejections of every kind
We need to know it’s not the end
And to leave it all behind

And carry on with faith in God
That He will see us through
To fulfil what He has called us for
The work we need to do

And sometimes these rejections
Is a turning point in life
That leads to other avenues
To bring our dreams alive

If we can only see this as
A chance to expand our wings
And see there’s opportunity
To fulfil our godly dreams

For God knows what’s best for us
And He will show the way
We only need to trust in Him
And be on our knees each day

For He will bring it all to pass
Releasing hope inside
As we keep walking with the Lord
And in His love abide.

© By M.S.Lowndes

Lifeline

He awakened me this morning
Challenges and obstacles abound
My mind perplexed by the things so vexed
I listened but there was no sound

Onward with my battles
My strategies were few
Contemplating, meditating
Still no sound came from you.

Reaching for the wisdom
My brains just spinning around
No plan, no solution, no remedy
Just praying to hear the sound

Error upon error
So many tasks incomplete
Desperately using everything
Not wanting to accept defeat

Kept reaching within for my strength
Scheming to outrun my fate
But the world was closing in on me
It seemed that it was just too late

In my confusion and my remembrance
My void of speaking to God in a long time
So in my desperation calling out to him
To help me resurrect my peace of mind

As prayer flowed from my bosom
The enemy fueled the struggles in my mind
My teary eyes raised from up from the ground
Then somewhere in my tortured soul
There began a rumbling sound

And as his word fell upon me
My sorrows began to drown
It was the genesis of my deliverance
From the unsavory things he found

My praise and my prayer thanked him
That his grace turned me around
That within me begins a healing
A new victory was on its way down

What is it about the grace of God?
Never too late and always on time
For forgiveness and redemption was his gift to me
Because I remembered prayer was my lifeline.

This is from one of the spiritual Books in my someday published collection Called Curl up with Curt. Written by Curt J. Stokes