The Mouse in House!!!

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain? The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me."" I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. "Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember the mouse in the house.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Hebrews 13:16 

Know your Power!!!

In a seminary mission class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push.

After pondering his problem, he devised a plan.

He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off.

As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station.

When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood.

Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable."

He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life.

For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.

J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20,

"How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." 

When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.

Faith requires action!!!

Blondin's greatest fame came in June of 1859 when he attempted to become the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across the mighty Niagara Falls.

A crowd gathered to watch him attempt this deadly walk.

The silent tension turned to cheers as they watched him walk out, turn and come back.

He asked the crowd, “How many believe that I can walk to the other side and back while pushing a wheelbarrow?”

They shouted, “We believe, we believe!”

The tightropewalker did in fact walk out and back with a wheelbarrow. Upon his return, he asked, “Do you believe I could wheelbarrow a person across the tightrope.”

Again the crowd responded with enthusiastic affirmation.

“Very well, then,” he asked, “Who would like to get in?” The crowd fell silent. No one offered to get in the wheelbarrow. Nobody put their belief in Blondin to the test.

The Blondin story goes that no one did!

Trusting Christ is not simply assenting to the facts of the gospel message. There is a decision that implies actually getting into the wheelbarrow.

Are you in the crowd or in the wheelbarrow? ?

Don't worry, Jesus has carried many across to Heaven's gates. He can be trusted!!

To whom much is given, of him much is required!!!

Ken Walker writes in Christian Reader that in the 1995 college football season 6-foot-2-inch, 280-pound Clay Shiver, who played center for the Florida State Seminoles, was regarded as one of the best in the nation. In fact, one magazine wanted to name him to their preseason All-American football team. But that was a problem, because the magazine was Playboy, and Clay Shiver is a dedicated Christian.

Shiver and the team chaplain suspected that Playboy would select him, and so he had time to prepare his response. Shiver knew well what a boon this could be for his career. Being chosen for this All-American team meant that sportswriters regarded him as the best in the nation at his position. Such publicity never hurts athletes who aspire to the pros and to multimillion dollar contracts.

But Shiver had higher values and priorities. When informed that Playboy had made their selection, Clay Shiver simply said, ‘No thanks.’ That’s right, he flatly turned down the honor. ‘Clay didn’t want to embarrass his mother and grandmother by appearing in the magazine or giving old high school friends an excuse to buy that issue,’ writes Walker. Shiver further explained by quoting Luke 12:48:

‘To whom much is given, of him much is required.’

“I don’t want to let anyone down,” said Shiver, “and number one on that list is God” 

Work Attitude!!!

An elderly carpenter was due to retire.

He told his employer of his plans to leave the business and start a life of leisure with his wife and extended family.

He would miss the money, but the time was right and he was ready to hang up his hammer.

His boss was disappointed as the carpenter had been a loyal and diligent worker for many years, so he was sad to see him go.

He asked for one last favour, requesting that the carpenter could build one last house before retiring.

The tradesman agreed, but it was soon clear that his heart wasn’t in it.

He took shortcuts, used inferior materials and put in a half-hearted effort.

In the end the final product was well short of his usual standards, a disappointing way to end his career.

When the job was finished, the employer came to inspect the work.  After taking a look around, he handed the keys to the carpenter and said, “This is your house, it’s my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked and embarrassed.

If only he had known, he would have made sure that everything was perfect.

Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness! - Matthew 25:21