Demons of Sports and Associated Activities

Demons of Sports and Associated Activities

Lord, save me from:

The spirit of competition
The spirit of adversity
The spirit of rivalry
The spirit of contention
The spirit of controversy
The spirit of one-upmanship
The spirit of gamesmanship
The spirit of cheating
The spirit of lying
The spirit of advantage
The spirit of superiority
The spirit of winning at all cost
The spirit of fanaticism
The spirit of pride
The spirit of hate
The spirit of fear
The spirit of nervousness
The spirit of idol-worshipping
The spirit of alcohol
The spirit of partying
The spirit of merrymaking
The spirit of revelry
The spirit of gambling
The spirit of violence
The spirit of war

Truth Seeker

Life Ain't No Picnic

Life Ain't No Picnic

Things are never easy
I think we'd all agree
But sometimes it seems
Even our best laid schemes
Go awry at the worst time
You could almost call it a crime
When I was little I thought I could fly
No sky appeared too high
Doors opened and beckoned
And I darted through them in a second
But as I aged, life dragged me down
And turned my smile into a frown
Every day a new ache beset me
And I found it hard to be depression free
From the animal world I learned much
Not to use my pains as a crutch
Take the industrious ant for example
Proof of its laboriousness is ample
It teaches us the value of determination
Without being defeated by frustration
So why should I let trouble win the day
Let my model, the tiny ant, show the way

Truth Seeker

God's Incomparability

God's Incomparability

Rom 11:33-36 NIV
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
35 "Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Why Do We Weep?

Why Do We Weep?

Why do we weep and worry so
When things go wrong and troubles grow?
Have we no faith to just believe
When sorrows cause our hearts to grieve?
We may not understand it all
When disappointments come to call,
But God has promised to be there
If we but call His name in prayer.
We know that He is on our side
For in our hearts He shall abide
Until the rivers cease to flow
And autumn winds refuse to blow
For God is great; His word is true,
And there is nothing He can't do...
So rest assured that God is near
And wipe away that bitter tear.

Clay Harrison / T.S.

Love in Action

Love in Action

1 John 4:20-21 NIV
20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Rom 12:19-21 NIV
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Love of the World

The Love of the World

1 John 2:15-17 NIV
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Little Prayer

Little Prayer

Dear Lord thank You for today,
Walk beside me all the way,
Keep me safe from all that would
Cause me heartache if it could.
Guard my eyes, and ears, and lips,
Give me strength to come to grips
With each problem I must face,
And some courage, just in case.

Never let my footsteps stray,
'Lest perhaps I lose the way,
And whatever may befall,
Keep me humble through it all.
If a cross must be my share,
Make it one that I can bear,
And through shadows of the night,
Hold me close 'til morning light.

Grace E. Easley

Oh God, Help Me To Remember

Oh God, Help Me To Remember

Oh, God, when I have food
help me to remember the hungry,
When I have work
help me to remember the jobless,
When I have a warm home
help me to remember the homeless,
When I am without pain
help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering
help me to destroy my complacency
and bestir my compassion.
Make me concerned enough to help
by word and deed, those who cry out
For what we take for granted.

Unknown Author

The Imitation of Christ - BOOK 1 - 16th Chapter

The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
BOOK ONE
THOUGHTS HELPFUL IN THE LIFE OF THE SOUL

The Sixteenth Chapter
BEARING WITH THE FAULTS OF OTHERS
UNTIL God ordains otherwise, a man ought to bear patiently whatever he cannot correct in himself and in others. Consider it better thus -- perhaps to try your patience and to test you, for without such patience and trial your merits are of little account. Nevertheless, under such difficulties you should pray that God will consent to help you bear them calmly.

If, after being admonished once or twice, a person does not amend, do not argue with him but commit the whole matter to God that His will and honor may be furthered in all His servants, for God knows well how to turn evil to good. Try to bear patiently with the defects and infirmities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure.

If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask.

We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of ourselves.

If all were perfect, what should we have to suffer from others for God's sake? But God has so ordained, that we may learn to bear with one another's burdens, for there is no man without fault, no man without burden, no man sufficient to himself nor wise enough. Hence we must support one another, console one another, mutually help, counsel, and advise, for the measure of every man's virtue is best revealed in time of adversity -- adversity that does not weaken a man but rather shows what he is.

Once Saved, Always Saved ( NOT !)

Once Saved, Always Saved ( NOT !)

"Are you saved?" asks the fundamentalist.
"I am redeemed," answers the Catholic, "and like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling, with hopeful confidence - - - but not with a false assurance - - - and I do all this as the Church has taught, unchanged, from the time of Christ."

Catholicism and Fundamentalism
Karl Keating
p. 176

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Matt 10:22 NIV
22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

John 15:6 NIV
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

1 Cor 15:2 NIV
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Gal 6:9 NIV
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

2 Tim 2:12 NIV
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;

Heb 6:4-6 NIV
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Heb 10:26-28 NIV
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

2 Peter 2:20-22 NIV
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

Only God Knows What the Future Holds

Only God Knows What the Future Holds

James 4:13-17 NIV
13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money ." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.