Everyone say it with me...
1. I will NOT get bad luck, lose my friends, or lose my mailing lists
if I don't forward an e-mail.
2. I will NOT hear any music or see a taco dog, if I do forward an e-
mail.
3. Bill Gates is NOT going to send me money and Victoria's Secret
doesn't know anything about a gift certificate they're supposed to
send me.
4. Ford will NOT give me a 50% discount even if I forward my e-mail
to more than 50 people.
5. I will NEVER receive gift certificates, coupons, or freebies from
Coca Cola, Cracker Barrel, Old Navy, or anyone else if I send an e-
mail to 10 people.
6. I will NEVER see a pop-up window if I forward an e-mail ...NEVER --
EVER!!
7. There is NO SUCH THING as an e-mail tracking program, and I am not
STUPID enough to think that someone will send me $100 for forwarding
an e-mail to 10 or more people!
8. There is NO kid with cancer through the Make-a-Wish program in
England collecting anything! He did when he was 7 years old. He is
now cancer free and 35 years old and DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE POSTCARDS,
or GET-WELL CARDS.
9. The government does not have a bill in Congress called 901B (or
whatever they named it this week) that, if passed, will enable them
to charge us 5 cents for every e-mail we send.
10. There will be NO cool dancing, singing, waving, colorful flowers,
characters, or program that I will receive immediately after I
forward an e-mail. NONE, ZIP, ZERO, NADA!
11. The American Red Cross will NOT donate 50 cents to a certain
individual dying of some never-heard-of disease for every e-mail
address I send this to. The American Red Cross RECEIVES
donations.
12. And finally, I WILL NOT let others send me on a guilt trip by
telling me I am not their friend if I don't send an e-mail
back to them.
Now, repeat this to yourself until you have it
memorized....and hey--even if you don't pass it on, you will STILL have a great day!!
--Found circulating the Internet via email.
Have you heard the story about the man who was shipwrecked and decided
to believe God for his rescue? To refresh your memory, first a boat
came to get him. He would not get in because God was going to save him.
Then a helicopter came but again he would not get in because God was
going to save him. Time went on and finally the man drowned.
When he went to heaven he asked the Lord, "I trusted you to save me, why
did you let me down?" The Lord answered, "I sent a boat and a helicopter
to save you and YOU wouldn't let me save you!"
Earlier this year I was hospitalized. I wanted God to supernaturally
come down, touch my body, lift me up, and let me have a whale of a good
testimony. After the second surgery and 9th day, I was finally released.
The optimum word is "released". They did not release my body to the
morgue, God had moved! Just not the way I wanted it done. How many
times have we rejected God's bounty because we only wanted to receive it
one way? Our way!
One of the ways we handcuff God is by insisting on our methods and
outcomes, regardless of God's will and desires for our lives. By telling
God "this is how our lives should be ordered", we reverse the biblical
order of establishing happiness. The steps of the righteous are ordered
by the Lord. Not, the righteous shall order the steps of the Lord.
The truth is that God wants to do far more in our lives than we will
allow him to accomplish. How far could the Church advance if we would
allow God to really work His plan for our lives? How much of the
suffering which we undergo is caused by our refusal to let God handle
the tough things we face day by day?
I believe that D.L. Moody may have understood the power we possess when
we yield ourselves to the direction of The Devine. Moody was listening
to Mr. George Mueller of the Bristol Orphan Homes, who built and
maintained homes which housed up to 2000 children, and whose sole
resource was prayer. Mueller said "THE WORLD HAS YET TO SEE WHAT GOD CAN
DO WITH ONE MAN WHO IS TOTALLY COMMITTED UNTO HIM", Moody replied, "I
WILL BE THAT MAN!"
Pastor Howard Caver of Fort Worth ( www.worldmbc.com ) recently released
a book entitled "Unhandcuffing God". In the book, he gives five keys to
un-handcuffing God. One of these keys is obedience. Caver says that
"Partial obedience is no obedience". When we manipulate our situations
to get a result we expect, at best we are being only partially obedient.
Rev. Caver goes on to say "Although you may not understand what God is
doing or how He is going to accomplish something, begin obeying when God
shows you the next step". This kind of humble and innocent obedience
will allow us to release God BEST in every area of our life.
God is sending another boat to take us in. I'm going to get in and
following His plan, how about you? Let's take the limits off of God!
=============================================================
C Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved James M. Brown
email address: mailto:bishop@victoryreport.com
Bishop James 'I Feel God' Brown is the founder and Sr. Pastor of Victory
International Church in Fort Worth, TX. He is in demand locally and
nationally as a revivalist, conference speaker, and Seminar Leader. To
obtain a list of other articles send an email to: article_digest@1000churches.org or visit 1000Churches.org: Kingdom Ministry on the Net.
