A Little Boy Temper

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said "you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one."

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.

If God Should Speak

"Our Father which art in heaven....."
---Yes.

Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.
---But you called me.

Called you? I didn't call you. I'm praying. "Our Father which art in heaven....."
---There you did it again.

Did What?
---Called me. You said, "Our Father which art in heaven." Here I am.....What's on your mind?

But I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's Prayer.
It makes me feel good, kind of like getting a duty done.
---All right. Go on.

"Hallowed be thy name....."
---Hold it. What do you mean by that?

By what?
---By "Hallowed be thy name"?

It means.....it means.....Good grief, I don't know what it means. How should I know? It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?
---It means Honored, Holy, Wonderful.

Hey, that makes sense. I never thought about what "hallowed" meant before. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
---Do you really mean that?

Sure, why not?
---What are you doing about it?

Doing? Nothing, I guess. I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there.
---Have I got control of you?

Well, I go to church.
---That isn't what I asked you. What about your bad temper?

You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money
---all on yourself. And what about the kind of books you read?

Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at the church.
---Excuse me. I thought you were praying for my will tobe done. It that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example.

Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others.
---So could I

I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I really would like to cut out some of those things. I would like to, you know, be really free.
---Good. Now we're getting somewhere. We'll work together, you and I. Some victories can truly be won. I'm proud of you.

Look, Lord, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. "Give us this day, our daily bread."
---You need to cut out the bread. You're overweight as it is.

Hey, wait a minute! What is this, "Criticize me day"? Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hang-ups.
---Praying is a dangerous thing. You could wind up changed, you know. That's what I'm trying to get across to you. You called me, and here I am. It's too late to stop now. Keep
praying, I'm interested in the next part of your prayer.....(pause).
Well, go on.

I'm scared to.
---Scared? Of what?

I know what you'll say.
---Try me and see.

"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."
---What about Ann?

See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Why Lord, she's told lies about me, spread stories about my family. She never paid back the debt she owes me. I've sworn to get even with her!
---But your prayer? What about your prayer?

I didn't mean it.
---Well, at least you're honest. But it's not much fun carrying that load of bitterness around inside, is it?

No. But I'll feel better soon as I get even. Boy, have I got some plans for that neighbor. She'll wish she had never moved into this neighborhood.
---You won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you already are. But I can change all that.

You can? How?
---Forgive Ann. Then I'll forgive you. Then the hate and sin will be Ann's problem and not yours. You will have settled your heart.

Oh, you're right. You always are. And more than I want to revenge Ann, I want to be right with you.....(pause).....(sigh). All right. All right. I forgive her. Help her to find the right road in life, Lord. She's bound to be awfully miserable now that I think about it. Anybody who goes around doing the things she does to others has to be out of it. Someway, somehow, show her the right way.
---There now! Wonderful! How do you feel?

Hmmmmmm. Well, not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, I feel pretty great! You know, I don't think I'll have to go to bed uptight tonight for the first time since I can remember. Maybe I won't
be so tired from now on because I'm not getting enough rest.
---You're not through with your prayer. Go on.

Oh, all right. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
---Good! Good! I'll do that. Just don't put yourself in a place where you can be tempted.

What do you mean by that?
---Don't turn on the TV when you know the laundry needs to be done and the house needs to be picked up. Also, about the time you spend coffeeing with your friends, if you can't influence the conversation to positive things, perhaps you should re-think the value of those friendships. Another thing, your neighbors and friends shouldn't be your standard for "keeping up". And please don't use me for an escape hatch.

I don't understand the last part.
---Sure you do. You've done it a lot of times. You get caught in a bad situation. You get into trouble and then you come running to me, "Lord, help me out of this mess, and I promise you I'll never do it again." You remember some of those bargains you tried to make with me?

Yes and I'm ashamed, Lord. I really am.
---Which bargain are you remembering?

Well, there was the night that Bill was gone and the children and I were home alone. The wind was blowing so hard I thought the roof would go any minute and tornado warnings were out. I remember praying, "Oh God, if you spare us, I'll never skip my devotions again."
---I protected you, but you didn't keep your promise, did you?

I'm sorry, Lord, I really am. Up until now I thought that if I just prayed the Lord's Prayer every day, then I could do what I liked. I didn't expect anything to happen like it did.
---Go ahead and finish your prayer.

"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever." Amen
---Do you know what would bring me glory? What would really make me happy?

No, but I'd like to know. I want now to please you. I can see what a mess I've made of my life. And I can see how great it would be to really be one of your followers.
---You just answered the question.

I did?
---Yes. The thing that would bring me glory is to have people like you truly love me. And I see that happening between us. Now that some of these old sins are exposed and out of the
way, well, there is no telling what we can do together.

Lord, let's see what we can make of me, O.K.?
---Yes, let's see.

( by Clyde Lee Herring )

Modern Day Noah's Ark

The Lord spoke to Noah and said, "Noah, in six months I am going to make it rain until the whole world is covered with water and all the evil things are destroyed. But, I want to save a few good people and two of every living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build an ark."

And, in a flash of lightning, he delivered the specifications for the ark.

"Okay," Noah said, trembling with fear and fumbling with the blueprints, "I'm your man."

"Six months and it starts to rain," thundered the Lord. "You better have my ark completed or learn to swim for a long, long time!"

Six months passed, the sky began to cloud up, and the rain began to fall in torrents. The Lord looked down and saw Noah sitting in his yard, weeping, and there was no ark.

"Noah!" shouted the Lord, "where is my ark?" A lightning bolt crashed into the ground right beside Noah.

"Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best, but there were some big problems. First, I had to get a building permit for the ark's construction, but your plans did not meet their code. So I had to hire an engineer to redo the plans, only to get into a long argument with him about whether to include a fire sprinkler system."

"My neighbors objected, claiming that I was violating zoning ordinances by building the ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning board."

"Then, I had a big problem getting enough wood for the ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists and the Fish and Wildlife Service that I needed the wood to save the owls, but they wouldn't let me catch them, so no owls."

"Next, I started gathering up the animals but got sued by an animal rights group that objected to me taking along only two of each kind."

"Just when the suit got dismissed, the Environment department notified me that I couldn't complete the ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being." "Then the Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed flood plan. I sent them a globe!"

"Right now, I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission over how many minorities I'm supposed to hire."

"The tax people have seized all my assets claiming that I am trying to leave the country, and I just got a notice from the state that I owe some kind of use tax. Really, I don't think I can finish the ark in less than five years."

With that, the sky cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow arched across the sky.

Noah looked up and smiled. "You mean you are not going to destroy the world?" he asked hopefully.

"No," said the Lord, "bureaucracy and red tape already have."

The Power To Choose

Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. . . . As for me
and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).

Adam and Eve's sin also affected the area of their will. Do you
realize that in the Garden of Eden they could only make one wrong
choice? Everything they wanted to do was okay except eating from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16, 17).
They had the possibility of making a myriad of good choices and
only one bad choice--only one!

Eventually, however, they made that one bad choice. As a result,
you and I are confronted every day with a myriad of good and bad
choices. You can choose to pray or not pray, read your Bible or
not read your Bible, go to church or not go to church. You can
choose to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.
You and I face countless choices like that every day, and we
eventually make some bad ones.

Other than the Holy Spirit in your life, the greatest power you
possess is the power to choose. Someone has said that pure
Christianity lies in the exercise of the will. The animal kingdom
operates out of divine instinct. But we are created in the image
of God, which means we have a self-operated, independent will.
The essence of temptation is to function independently of God.
The basis for temptation is legitimate needs.

Sinful behavior is often a wrong attempt at meeting your basic
needs. The real issue here is are you going to get your needs met
by the world, the flesh and the devil, or are you going to allow
God to meet your needs "according to His riches in glory in
Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19)? It's an issue of identity and
maturity. The more you understand your identity in Christ, the
more you will grow in maturity. And the more mature you become,
the easier it will be for you to choose to live your life in
dependence on your heavenly Father.

Lord, I determine to exercise my great power of choice to live in
moment-by-moment dependence on You today.