From: sherrys_inspirational+noreply@googlegroups.com
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:51:42 +0000
Subject: Digest for sherrys_inspirational@googlegroups.com - 2
Messages in 2 Topics
To: Digest Recipients <sherrys_inspirational+digest@googlegroups.com>
=============================================================================
Today's Topic Summary
=============================================================================
Group: sherrys_inspirational@googlegroups.com
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/topics
- Inspirational 07/27/10 Baa! Baa! I Know Who You Are! [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/cf56f20906b22e5d
- Inspirational 07/26/10 What Goes Around Comes Around [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/b9deb0e4662593ec
=============================================================================
Topic: Inspirational 07/27/10 Baa! Baa! I Know Who You Are!
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/cf56f20906b22e5d
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: "Sherry's Inspirational List" <sherrysinspirationallist@hotmail.com>
Date: Jul 26 09:10PM -0400
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/msg/2ad97e81126b576a
Sherry's Inspirational list
MISSION STATEMENT: Our mission is to be the channel, not the source, through
which we pray God's blessings may flow to others. Our ministry is not to
provide counseling, advice, or doctrinal interpretation. For this we refer
you to local spiritual leaders who may know and deal with your needs more
personally. It is our prayer that God may truly bless your day through the
inspiration we seek to channel your way. In Him, Sherry and Jim Heard
When forwarding / copying, please include the entire message.
Baa! Baa! I Know Who You Are!
Article Copyright - Debbie Porter 2002
So many voices call to us
In this world today,
Trying to entice us to
A life quite far away.
They often sound appealing,
But we'll resist them all,
If the only time we answer is
Just when our Shepherd calls.
~ Debbie Porter ~
Matt was just being Matt.
He wasn't being naughty or doing anything particularly wrong. He was just
being what he is. A nearly 15 year old, full of energy, slightly bored,
boy. We love him dearly, but when work needs to be done, a restless
adolescent can make things a little difficult.
I could hear him crash into Kylie's room with his usual over the top
exuberance, only to be greeted by a fairly cross, "Matthew! Get out!"
Realizing that his sister was otherwise occupied with school work, he
decided to withdraw and visit the next family member on his list instead.
Me!
The sound of his footsteps bounding up the hallway alerted me to his
impending arrival just seconds before his usual crash into the study door
and dramatic entrance into the room.
Turning from the computer in time to see my son explode through the doorway
and fall face down onto the carpet (as was his custom), I couldn't help but
make the comment that I'd made so many times in the previous weeks.
"Can't you just walk into a room like a normal person?"
Kylie, who had emerged from her solitude for a moment, heard my complaint
and made a typical older sister type of response.
"You just answered your own question Mum."
She paused for effect, then continued.
"He's not normal!"
Matthew chose to ignore his sister's verbal jab, preferring to roll around
on the carpet and get under my feet - literally! As he wriggled and fiddled
with everything within sight, the seemingly endless, unanswerable questions
began.
Somehow or other, my son seems to have developed the really aggravating
knack of asking things that just don't seem to have a point. Being his
Mother, I usually make some attempt to take him seriously and try to answer
what I think he's trying to ask. However, at the end of any explanation
I've become quite accustomed to hearing him say the one word that is almost
guaranteed to start my blood boiling.
"What?"
From his place under the desk, he did it to me again and this time I just
wasn't in the mood for Matthew's version of witty repartee!
"Matthew! Get out!"
Once again, my son decided that retreat was the wisest course of action, but
only long enough for him to devise a new plan of attack.
A few minutes passed, and then I heard the soft creak of the door being
opened once again. Even though it wasn't Matt's usual style, I was fairly
sure that he was the intruder. So without turning around I liltingly called
over my shoulder, "If that's Matthew Porter, I suggest he finds somewhere
else to be!"
The only response I received was the sound of the door closing once more as
my son inwardly sounded the trumpet and retreated back to the barracks.
"Hmph!" A twisted, half smile crept onto my face as my attention went back
to the office work at hand.
It was a very short reprieve. Before I knew it, the door opened again, but
this time was accompanied by a painfully falsetto announcement.
"Hello Mummy! It's your daaarling daughter, Kylie, come to visit you!"
Once again, I didn't turn around, but laughter filled my voice as I replied,
"Oh no it's not! Bye Matthew!"
As the office door closed for the third time, I rested my face in my hands
and began to chuckle. What next?
I didn't have long to wait before finding out.
Yet again, the door opened. This time it wasn't with Matt's explosive "I'm
here!" force, and it wasn't with the sneaky creak of his "please don't
notice I'm here" attempt either. It was somewhat like the way he'd entered
in his
"won't you believe I'm Kylie?" guise, but a little more determined.
I rolled my eyes and waited for the latest manifestation of his presence.
"Hello Deborah Porter," the deep, gruff voice began. "It is your husband,
Stephen Porter here!"
At that, I totally lost control and laughed out loud.
"Oh Matthew!" Tears started to fill my eyes as I somehow managed to get the
words out. "I was born at night, but not last night!"
That was his final attempt and I had to give him points for effort and
creativity, although a big zero for credibility.
Perhaps, he may have been able to trick me if he'd pretended to be someone I
didn't know very well, but he had absolutely no chance of deceiving me with
the two family members he'd chosen. The problem for him was that I am very
familiar with everything about my husband and daughter. I can recognize
their voices, right down to a sneeze, across a crowded room.
Not only are their voices so instantly identifiable, but there's also the
matter of the way they do things and, when it comes down to it, the way they
don't do things. For a start, Steve would never call me Deborah, and has
never found it necessary to remind me of his position in our marriage or his
name before! Even as newly weds back in 1982, that sort of introduction
would have been totally superfluous.
When your heart is intimately linked to someone, it's virtually impossible
for anyone else to deceive you into believing that they are that same
person. We may be momentarily bamboozled, but not for long. Our very close
relationship with the genuine would ultimately reveal the truth.
As Christians, the same is true about our relationship with the Lord. If
our hearts are linked to His, then it should be absolutely impossible for us
to ever be lured away by a lie.
In fact, Jesus made this point very clear when He told His disciples the
following:
"The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman
opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he
goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him
because they do not recognize a stranger's voice"
~ John 10:2-5 NIV ~
Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd and when we become a part of His flock;
our spiritual ears become tuned to recognize the sound of His voice. We
hear His gentle whispers of direction through the Holy Spirit within, and
with every passing year in His fold, we become even quicker to respond to
His call. His voice becomes clearer and we're able to recognize Him through
the familiarity of His actions in, through and around us.
The only time we'll be led astray, is when we stop listening for the sound
of His call and choose to go with the stranger.
So as dearly loved sheep, we can be confident that our Shepherd is always
watching over us and calling us to follow. All we have to do is make sure
that we're in His pen with the other sheep, watching for His arrival and
listening intently for His wonderfully familiar voice.
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me"
~ John 10:14 NIV ~
http://www.breathfreshair.org/Inspiration13.html
This issue of the "Breath of Fresh Air Ministries" is distributed by
www.hundred-acre-woods.com <http://www.hundred-acre-woods.com/> . You can
contact listmaster (Debbie Porter) by email: dporter2@bigpond.net.au
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one
shepherd." - John 10:16
"Ek het nog ander skape wat nie aan hierdie stal behoort nie. Ek moet hulle
ook lei, en hulle sal na my stem luister, en dit sal wees een kudde, een
herder." - John 10:16
*******************************************************************
In His Service, <>< Sherry and Jim Heard
To subscribe please send an email to:
Sherrys_Inspirational-subscribe@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe please send an email to:
Sherrys_Inspirational-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
We invite you to visit our website at:
http://groups.google.com/group/Sherrys_Inspirational
<http://groups.google.com/group/Sherrys_Inspirational>
Our mailing address is:
Sherry's Inspirational List, 950 Eagles Landing Parkway #186, Stockbridge GA
30281, USA
Donations can be made online at www.paypal.com <http://www.paypal.com/> ;
address payments to
sherrysinspirationallist <mailto:sherrysinspirationallist@hotmail.com> @
hotmail.com.
=============================================================================
Topic: Inspirational 07/26/10 What Goes Around Comes Around
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/t/b9deb0e4662593ec
=============================================================================
---------- 1 of 1 ----------
From: "Sherry's Inspirational List" <sherrysinspirationallist@hotmail.com>
Date: Jul 25 11:01PM -0400
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/sherrys_inspirational/msg/3b2311c206f263d5
Sherry's Inspirational list
MISSION STATEMENT: Our mission is to be the channel, not the source, through
which we pray God's blessings may flow to others. Our ministry is not to
provide counseling, advice, or doctrinal interpretation. For this we refer
you to local spiritual leaders who may know and deal with your needs more
personally. It is our prayer that God may truly bless your day through the
inspiration we seek to channel your way. In Him, Sherry and Jim Heard
When forwarding / copying, please include the entire message.
What Goes Around Comes Around
Author: Joan Wester Anderson
Excerpt from the book: WHERE WONDERS PREVAIL, True Accounts That Bear
Witness to the Existence of Heaven by Joan Wester Anderson
What goes around comes around. And Roberta Eschenbaum, a farm wife living
outside Miller, South Dakota, certainly knows this to be true. She had taken
a quick trip into Miller one morning, and was rushing home to get the noon
meal on the table for the workmen. As she drove, she was also keeping an eye
out for her father, who lived alone and had emphysema. "He didn't drive much
except for the twelve miles out to our farm," she says, "so I always knew
that if he needed help on the road, one of our neighbors would probably see
him and stop." But it was still a worry for her, and she often prayed for
his safety.
There was no sign of Roberta's father's car. Instead, up ahead, she saw
another vehicle stopped at the side of the road, a man peering into the
engine. "I was in a hurry, and although I always help people I know, this
man was a stranger," Roberta says. She should have kept going, especially
since the area was deserted. Yet something told her to stop. She did.
The driver was having trouble with his battery, so Roberta drove to a
neighboring farm, borrowed booster cables, drove back, and got the car
going. "This is wonderful," the driver thanked her and reached for his
wallet. "Could I...?"
"No payment necessary," Roberta smiled, getting back in her car. "Just
return this favor by helping the next person you find stalled along a road."
"I certainly will!" The man waved as she pulled out.
Two weeks later, Roberta's father phoned, with an interesting story to tell.
"I went to an auction about fifty miles southwest of here..." he began.
"Fifty miles!" Roberta was aghast. "Dad, you never drive that far alone!"
"...And I got a flat tire on the way home."
By now Roberta was in a panic. The area he was describing was a back country
road, with little or no chance of anyone coming by. Nor could her father
have changed his own tire, weakened as he was. "What happened?" she asked.
"You wouldn't believe it. A nice motorist came along right away, and changed
my tire. But when I offered to pay him, he said no. Seems a woman outside of
Miller had given him a battery jump two weeks ago, and told him to pass on
the favor. He was paying a debt to her."
Roberta felt love surrounding her like a hug. "I think God knew Dad was
going to do that, and so He arranged a rescue ahead of time," she says. "I
look for evidence of His presence all the time--and I always find it."
Joan Wester Anderson - angelwak@earthlink.net
Used with permission - Sign yourself up to receive the Story of the Week
each weekend. Click http://joanwanderson.com <http://joanwanderson.com/>
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give
him water to drink:" - Proverbs 25:21
"As jou vyand honger het, gee hom brood om te eet; en as hy dors het, gee
hom water om te drink." -Proverbs 25:21
*******************************************************************
In His Service, <>< Sherry and Jim Heard
To subscribe please send an email to:
Sherrys_Inspirational-subscribe@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe please send an email to:
Sherrys_Inspirational-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
We invite you to visit our website at:
http://groups.google.com/group/Sherrys_Inspirational
<http://groups.google.com/group/Sherrys_Inspirational>
Our mailing address is:
Sherry's Inspirational List, 950 Eagles Landing Parkway #186, Stockbridge GA
30281, USA
Donations can be made online at www.paypal.com <http://www.paypal.com/> ;
address payments to
sherrysinspirationallist <mailto:sherrysinspirationallist@hotmail.com> @
hotmail.com.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Sherry's Inspirational List" group.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
Sherrys_Inspirational-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/Sherrys_Inspirational
No comments:
Post a Comment