100-199 words

She Directed Her Child’s Steps

[152 words] There once was a church pouring new cement for the walkway to the meeting house.  One of the young mothers of the congregation took her 2-year-old baby and imprinted his hand in the wet cement pointing to the door of the building.  She wanted a constant reminder to herself and everyone else that…

Being Habitually Late

[168 words] Sometimes things happen that are outside of our control, causing us to arrive late for certain events, but what about someone who is habitually late for spiritual events when they did not have to be? Being habitually late generally indicates several things:  • Selfishness• Laziness• Disrespect for other people• Disrespect for God• Misplaced…

Holy Rest

[192 words] We know that under the old covenant, God commanded the Jews to keep a Sabbath rest (Exodus 20:8-11). But did you know that God also commanded that the Jews take various weeks off, too? (Leviticus 23:4-8, 34). These “Sabbath weeks” are similar to our vacations. Today, God no longer requires Sabbath-keeping under the…

You Can’t Push a Chain

[192 words] A chain is a handy device. You use it to pull a car out of the ditch. You can hoist a heavy item. You can use one to anchor a boat or secure a gate. But can’t push with a chain. It will pull or hold but try to push and it’s pretty…

Lessons from the Eunuch, Part 2 of 5

[111 words] Open hearts are needed to hear God’s truth! While traveling, the eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah the prophet. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. Some people may have taken offense at the question, but the eunuch instead said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” The…

Hidden Treasures

[107 words] A South Dakota rancher and his bride received a nice Bible as a wedding gift from his grandfather. They wrote a thank you note and stowed the Bible in a closet. The grandfather asked every so often how they liked it. Eventually, they became curious, dug it out, and leafed through it. They…

Trust

[102 words] He holds the key to all unknown,And I am glad;If other hands should hold the key,I might be sad. What if tomorrow’s cares werehere without its rest?I’d rather He unlocked the dayAnd as it’s hours swung open,say “My will is best.” I cannot read His future plans,But this I know,I have the smiling…

Still Together

[134 words] Let me hold your hand, as we go downhill,We’ve shared our strength, and we share it still,It hasn’t been easy to make the climb,But the way was eased by your hand in mine. Like the lake, our life, has had ripples too,Ill health and worries, and payments due,With happy pauses along the way,A…

A Christian Needs a Super Bowl Discipline

[156 words] Today is Superbowl Sunday. As I thought about “The Big Game,” I remembered something that Coach Tom Landry once said. According to the former Dallas Cowboy, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.”…

A 3×4 Fence

[165 words] A person might as well put his shoulder to the burning sun and seek to stop it on its flaming course as to seek to destroy and stop the circulation of the Word of God. The Bible is like the Irishman who had trouble with his neighbor knocking his fence over. He built…

One Last Chance

[191 words] A man never opened the car door for his wife or any other woman. He felt it was a sissy, Emily Post kind of thing to do. “Besides,” he was fond of saying, “she doesn’t have two broken arms.” After many years of marriage, his wife died and he was heartbroken because he…

A Great Challenge to Christians

[189 words] Our challenge in this life is to make a positive difference for the Lord while we are on earth. The Bible clearly teaches us that serving God is vitally important (Matthew 22:37-40). Our main purpose is not working, hunting, texting, or hanging out with friends. Instead our purpose is that of serving God…

The Christian and ‘Presents’

[177 words] Concerning others, Christians should be present and be a present. Let me explain. Webster’s defines “present” as: “being in view or at hand.” The same resource also gives another definition of “present” as “something presented: gift.” So concerning others, Christians should be present (in their company) and be a present (a blessing to…

How Did You Get That?

[115 words] A little girl once asked her mother, who had a withered hand, how it came to be deformed. She replied that it had occurred when she had rescued that little girl from a fire in her crib. “It was for you, my child,” she said, “that this poor hand suffered.” To some it…

Thanks to God for My Redeemer

[146 words] Thanks to God for my Redeemer,Thanks for all Thou dost provide!Thanks for times now but a mem’ry,Thanks for Jesus by my side! Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,Thanks for dark and stormy fall!Thanks for tears by now forgotten,Thanks for peace within my soul! Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,Thanks for what Thou dost…

Definition of a Christian

[117 words] He has a mind and knows it.He has a will and shows it.He sees the way and goes it.He draws the line and toes it. He has a chance and takes it.A friendly hand, he shakes it.A rule, he never breaks it.If there’s not time, he makes it. He loves the truth, stands…

What is Your Focus?

[164 words] A New Year is before us. What your heart is focused on is eternally important. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). Are you passionate to have a heart like Jesus, and to focus on what He was focused on? A heart like Jesus is…

And Where Are Your Parents?

[163 words] Prosecutors in Knox county Tennessee decide to do something about a numbers of students that had been chronically absent from school. Under Tennessee law, parents can be held responsible for their children’s missed days. So they sent a letter to 582 parents of habitually truant students telling of a meeting they could attend…

Sincerity is Not Enough

[193 words] In a New York hospital several years ago, carbon dioxide instead of oxygen was mistakenly administered to a patient. According to the police report, the patient died almost instantly. The unfortunate patient died in spite of his own sincerity and that of the hospital authorities, the anesthesiologist, and the surgeon. In the same…

Men of Valor

[177 words] There is a description of several groups within the genealogies of Israel which deserve our focused consideration. Several are recognized for posterity as being “mighty men of valor.” While many men will live such lives as to garner no real lasting impression on subsequent generations this shouldn’t be the case with the children…

New Year Reminder

[101 words] The New Year always brings to mind new goals, new expectations, new plans, and fresh starts. As we enter into this year, remember the greatest of these never change! Our greatest goal is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:29-30). Our greatest expectation is…

The Maid of the Mist

[108 words] A cartoon from the past shows a boy standing in the very front of the boat called The Maid of the Mist. This boat carries sightseers so close to Niagara Falls that they must wear rain gear to keep from being drenched by the spray. Wearing his raincoat and hat, the boy stood…

Living It Day by Day

[161 words] She sat alone in an old people’s home,Lonely and old and gray;She wished that someone, just anyone,Would call on her that day.Did you? He lay for days on his hospital bed;The hours were long and hard.He wished someone, just anyone,Would send him a cheery card.Did you? He was far from home on foreign…

Other Things to Do

[102 words] When it is time to worship GodAnd to occupy my pew,Will I assemble with the saintsOr find other things to do?When God needs my service to HimAnd wants me to help a few,Will I do what needs to be doneOr find other things to do?When I sit down to rest awhileWith quiet reading…

A New Hope

[142 words] The word “now” comes from a Latin phrase, novus homo, which means “a new man” or “man newly ennobled.” There is a powerful lesson in that. Each moment is a change we have to start over. To become a new person, to become a better person. “Now” is an important concept in…

The Gospel Is for All

[186 words] The gospel of Christ is: Free. Even the poor can obtain it: “The poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). Plain. Even the uneducated can understand it: “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge” (Ephesians 3:1–6; cf. 2 Timothy 2:7). Equalizing. The humble are raised by it and the…

Don’t Break the Bank

[164 words] Ah, it’s that time of the year when we show people how much we love them…by spending money on them. I miss you Thanksgiving! Now I know when it comes to gifts, it’s supposed to be the thought that counts. But I also know that any gift, no matter how thoughtful or thoughtless…

Let Each One Say

[111 words] As life goes onward day by day,Let each one to his conscience sayThat flesh is weak but God is strong,That right is right and wrong is wrong.That I have found my workday flies,But therein all my life’s hope lies.That on life’s upward path I’ll run,My face forever to the sun.That I shall do…

Savior, Teach Me Day By Day

[119 words] Savior, teach me day by daylove’s sweet lesson to obey,sweeter lesson cannot be,loving him who first loved me. With a child’s glad heart of loveat thy bidding may I move,prompt to serve and follow thee,loving him who first loved me. Teach me thus thy steps to trace,strong to follow in thy grace,learning how…

Sunday Night

[149 words] I love the church that Jesus built,And I know that it is right.I go there on each Sunday morn,But not on Sunday night. I love to sing the songs to God;Such worship must be right.This I do each Sunday morn,But not on Sunday night. God bless our preacher, too,And give him power and…

Be of Good Cheer

[151 words] You cannot be sour and be a Christian! True Christianity chases gloom. Solomon said, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Proverbs 17:22), and again in chapter 15:13, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” More than once Jesus commanded his disciples to “Be of Good…

What Are You Masking?

[162 words] Seems like this time of year many are focused on people’s fears, scary movies, frightful decorations, and creepy whatever’s displayed along our streets. What is often overlooked—or maybe be masked—is the true fears we face: a broken relationship, a bad health diagnosis, or financial uncertainty. There are many fears that face us today, but…

A Family Is…

[107 words] A deeply rooted treewith branchesof different strengthsall receiving nourishment from our Father in heaven. Where character is formed, values are learned,and society is preserved. Where all members contribute a share, cooperate and work,and accept their responsibilities toward the good of the group. Where holidays are celebrated with feastingbirthdays are acknowledged with gifts,and thoughts…

Be the Best of Whatever You Are

[147 words] If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hillBe a scrub in the valley – but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill;Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,And some highway some happier make;If…

A Consistent Christian

[144 words] Could I be called a Christian ifeverybody knewMy secret thoughts and feelings,and everything I do?Oh, can they see the likenessof Christ in me each dayAnd do they hear Him speakingin every word I say?Could I be called a Christianif other folk would knowThat I am found in placeswhere Jesus would not go?Oh, do…

Keep Serving!

[183 words] One way to find joy in life, even through our own personal struggles, is to keep serving others. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). Being one who serves is part of what…

Come, Sound His Praise Abroad

[128 words] Come, sound His praise abroad,And hymns of glory sing;Jehovah is the sovereign God,The universal King. He formed the deeps unknown;He gave the seas their bound;The watery worlds are all His own,And all the solid ground. Come, worship at His throne;Come, bow before the Lord:We are His works, and not our own;He formed us…

Our Savior’s Triumph

[133 words] Thou sweet gliding Kedron, by thy silver streamOur Savior at midnight, when moonlight’s pale beamShone bright on thy waters, would frequently stray,And lose in thy murmurs the toils of the day. How damp were the vapors that fell on his head!How hard was his pillow! how humble his bed!The angels, astonished, grew sad…

There is a Green Hill Far Away

[122 words] There is a green hill far away,outside a city wall,where our dear Lord was crucifiedwho died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell,what pains he had to bear,but we believe it was for ushe hung and suffered there. He died that we might be forgiven,he died to make us…

A Persian Fable

[114 words] A Persian fable says: One dayA wanderer found a lump of claySo savory of sweet perfumeIts odor scented all the room.“What are you?”was his quick demand,“Are you some gem from Samarkand,Or pure nard in this plain disguise,Or other costly merchandise?”“No, I am but a lump of clay.”“Then whence this wondrous perfume–say!”“Friend, if the…
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