Bad Habits

A wealthy man requested and old scholar to wean his song away from his bad habits. The scholar took the youth  for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there.

The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a sightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now put out that one" said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to put it out. 

"Now put that one" said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The boy grasped
the trunk and tried to put it out. But it would no budge. "It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort.

"So it is with bad habits" said the sage. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted"

The session with the old man changed the boy's life.

Don't wait for Bad Habits to grow in you, drop them while you have control over it, else they will get control over you.

by Jay (United Kingdom)

An Inspiration - Solo Piano Original from Joseph Akins

The Fearless Lion

Last night while talking to my youngest daughter I asked her: What would be a good topic for my blog? She answered: Mom talk about fear. 

 

For several weeks my daughter has started to feel fear at bedtime. She said that she is afraid to be the last in falling asleep. The latest tragic events that have happened in the United States have created in her the fear of losing her family and the fear of been alone terrifies her.

I remember that when I was her age I had the same fear. Eventually I learned that fear was part of my imagination and later on I overcome it. 

 

I will like to share the following story written by Enrique Fuentes about the Fearless Lion. Tonight this is going to be my daughters bedtime story.

In a distant African Savannah, a lion was lost. He was more that twenty days away from his territory. Thirst and hunger were devouring him. Fortunately, he found a lake of fresh and crystal clear waters. He ran fast to drink from it, to satisfy its thirst and save his life.

 

When approaching, he saw his face reflected in these calm waters.

 -Oops! The lake belongs to another lion he thought. Terrorized he fled without drinking water.

 

Thirst was increasing and he knew that without drinking water he would die. The next morning he went back to the lake. Same as previous day he saw his face reflected, and again in panic, he back up without drinking.

 

So the days passed with the same result. Finally, in one of those day, he realized that it would be that last if he don't face his rival. He took the final decision to drink water from the lake no matter what happens. He put his head to drink and his rival, the dreaded lion, disappeared!

 

Many of our fears are imaginary. Only when you face them will disappear. Never leave your uncontrolled imagination usurps the place of the reality. Do not get lost in the creations and reflections of your own mind.  Your dreams and desires are behind your fears. What will you do to face your fears?

 

Footprints

https://youtu.be/rcko7yDBw60

The Circle of Hate

An important business man was angry, and scolded the director of one of its business. The director came to his house and yelled at his wife, accusing her that she was spending too much because there were a expensive lunch on the table.  The wife shouted to her employee who broke a plate and kicked the dog because it make her stumble. The animal went out running and bit a lady who was passing by. When the lady went to the pharmacy to get a medication, she shouted the pharmacist because the application of the vaccine hurts her. The pharmacist went to his house and shouted to his mother because he didn't like the food that she cooked.

The mother, a source of love and forgiveness, caressed his head while she said: "Beloved son, I promise you that tomorrow I will cook your favorite food. You work a lot, you are tired today, you need a good night sleep. I am going to change the sheets of your bed into quite clean and perfumed so that you can rest in peace. Tomorrow you will feel better". She blessed him and left the room, leaving him alone with its thoughts.

At that moment the circle of hate was interrupted when it collided with the tolerance, sweetness, forgiveness and love.

You And Me bye Anne Trenning

https://youtu.be/uQkZPyPuTYE

The False Human Belief

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime can break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well", the trainer said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size of rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe
the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free".

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they are.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Failure is a part of learning. We should never give up the struggle in life. You fail not because you are destined to fail, but because there are lessons which you need to learn as you move on with your life.



By Abasa Glory
Delta State, Nigeria

Beauty of Grace

https://youtu.be/5Z3pEUpqD9s

Trust Him

My favorite author is Max Lucado. I have read several of his books and one of my favorites is "When God's Story Became Your Story".

In this book Max relates about the time when Nelson Mandela was a prisoner:

"His prison life was harsh. He was confined to a six by six foot concrete room. Meals came from corn, the coffee was roasted corn mixed with water. Prisoners were awakened at 5:30 a.m. They crushed rocks into gravel. Discrimination continued even into the prison. Africans, like Mandela, were required to wear short pants and were denied bread. Yet God used it all to shape Mandela"

" He exercised daily. Most of all he honed the capacity to compromise and forgive. He developed courtesy in all situations. He study the bible for decades. After twenty seven years of confinement, at the age of seventy-two, Mandela was releases. Within four years Mandela was elected president and set up to lead South Africa. God needed an educated, sophisticated leader who'd mastered the art of patience and compromise, so he tempered Mandela in prison"

We have seasons that are hard to explain. Our lives at some point have been passed by fire. We imprisoned our frustrations and our broken dreams. Heaven knows we've felt the heat. But be still and trust him. I am with you declares the Lord. Let God make his story in you.