Richpond First Baptist
 
The speech of a good person clears the air; the words of the wicked pollute
it.

Prayer: Forgive me, Dear Lord, because I was so tempted to spread some
juicy news, some gossip I heard!
When I thought about it, I would have been guilty of defaming someone’s
character. I didn’t care
if it was true, nor I didn’t try to find out.  It would have been
devastating, just like they did Jesus when
they crucified him. But by your grace, you did not allow me to feed into
mess.  Thank you so much for
helping me to keep my mouth shut. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that
covers me.  AMEN!


 
A minister passing through his church 
In the middle of the day, 
Decided to pause by the altar 
And see who had come to pray. 

Just then the back door opened, 
A man came down the aisle, 
The minister frowned as he saw 
The man hadn't shaved in a while.
 
His shirt was kinda shabby 
And his coat was worn and frayed, 
The man knelt, he bowed his head, 
Then rose and walked away. 

In the days that followed, 
Each  noon  time came this chap, 
Each time he knelt just for a moment, 
A lunch pail in his lap. 

Well, the minister's suspicions grew,  
With robbery a main fear, 
He decided to stop the man and ask him, 
'What are you doing here?' 

The old man said, he worked down the road. 
Lunch was half an hour. 
Lunchtime was his prayer time, 
For finding strength and power.
 

'I stay only moments, see, 
Because the factory is so far away; 
As I kneel here talking to the Lord,
This is kinda
  what I say: 

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, 
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. 
SO, JESUS, THIS IS MIKE CHECKING IN TODAY.' 


The minister feeling foolish, 
Told Mike, that was fine. 
He told the man he was welcome 
To come and pray just anytime 

Time to go, Mike smiled, said 'Thanks.' 
He hurried to the door. 
The minister knelt at the altar, 
He'd never done it before. 

His cold heart melted, warmed with love, 
And met with Jesus there. 
As the tears flowed, in his heart, 
He repeated old Mike's prayer: 


'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, 
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. 

SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY.' 


Past noon one day, the minister noticed 
That old Mike hadn't come. 
As more days passed without Mike, 
He began to worry some. 

At the factory, he asked about him,
Learning he was ill.
 
The hospital staff was worried, 
But he'd given them a thrill. 

The week that Mike was with them, 
Brought changes in the ward. 
His smiles, a joy contagious. 
Changed people, were his reward. 

The head nurse couldn't understand
Why Mike was so glad, 
When no flowers, calls or cards came, 
Not a visitor he had. 

The minister stayed by his bed, 
He voiced the nurse's concern: 
No friends came to show they cared. 
He had nowhere to turn. 

Looking surprised, old Mike spoke 
Up and with a winsome smile; 
'the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, 
That he's in here all the while
   

Everyday at noon He's here, 
A dear friend of mine, you see, 
He sits right down, takes my hand, 
Leans over and says to me:
 
 
'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, MIKE, 
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
 
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, 
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO Mike, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY.'
 
If this blesses you, pass it on. Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart 


May God hold you in the palm of His hand 
And Angels watch over you.
  
 
  Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in

Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of

life set me free from the law of sin and death.

 


One day, one friend asked another,   
'  How is it that you are always so happy?
You have so much energy,
And you never seem to get down.. '  


With her eyes smiling, she said,  
'  I know the Secret! '
' What secret is that? '
To which she replied,
I'll tell you all about it,
But you have to promise to
Share the Secret with others. '  


' The Secret is this:   
I have learned there is little I can do
In my life that will make me truly happy 
I must depend on God to make
Me happy and to meet my needs. 
When a need arises in my life, 
I have to trust God  to supply
According to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time
I don ' t need half of what I think I do.
He has never let me down. 
Since I learned that ' Secret ' , I am happy. ' 


The questioner's first thought was, 
' That ' s too simple! '
But upon reflecting over her own life
She recalled how she thought a bigger house
Would make her happy, but it didn't!
She thought a better paying job
Would make her happy, but it hadn't.
When did she realize her greatest happiness?
Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren,
Playing games, eating pizza or reading a story,
A simple gift from God. 


Now you know it too!   
We can't depend on people to make us happy.
Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that.
Trust HIM!
And now I pass the Secret on to you!
So once you get it, what will you do? 


YOU have to tell someone the Secret, too! 
That GOD in His wisdom will take care of YOU!
But it ' s not really a secret...
We just have to believe it and do it..
Really trust God! 

I just did and hope you will too. 


LETS PRAY 


Oh God,  I pray you open doors for the person who sent me this as well as those I am sending it to. Only you can open doors no man can close and for that we honour you today. Thank you for the open doors of life, health, strength, prosperity, wealth, and love. Also, thank you for closing the doors of death, sickness, weakness, despair, poverty, and bitterness. We love you today Lord and give you all the glory and all the praise. I seal this prayer, Amen!!!   

If you need God to open a door, pray this prayer for the person who sent it to you and for those you are sending it to. Believe in your heart and you shall receive what God has for you.   
I need a door to open...   

God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. Even if you do not need God to open some doors for you pass it on anyway.   

"To have God on our side doesn't mean sailing on a boat with no storms, it means having a boat that no storm can sink!"

 
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
 
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.

 
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 back of 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.  But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there.  A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.




 
So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can
do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame
of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can
turn the
entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is
set on fire
by hell itself.

Prayer:  Gracious God, our Father, the words we speak are a mirror to our
character. With words, we honor you ...with words we dishonor you.
Guard our tongues from evil and ugly words.  Thank you for the power
you give us to choose our words and use our voice for your good.
Let the words of our mouth be acceptable to you. In the name of Jesus,
AMEN!
 
 Enter [the Lord's] gates with thanksgiving and his courts with
praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is
good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues
through all generations.

 
A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said,'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table..

 

In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew,

which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

 The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly.   They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.  But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.  The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. 
 

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell. They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, 'I don't understand.   'It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill.You see, they have learned to feed each other.  The greedy think only of themselves.'   When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you.