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By T. D. Jakes
There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them
walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you,
staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to
anybody that left.
The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt
they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it
doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in
your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's
over.
Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's
that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it.
Stop
begging people to stay. Let them go!!
If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains...
LET IT GO!!!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth...
LET IT GO!!!
If someone has angered you...
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge...
LET IT GO!!!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction...
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents...
LET IT GO!!!
If you have a bad attitude...
LET IT GO!!!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better...
LET IT GO!!!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him...
LET IT GO!!!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship...
LET IT GO!!!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves...
LET IT GO!!!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed...
LET IT GO!!!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying, "Take your hands off of it," then you need
to...
LET IT GO!!!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is going to do new things in the future!!!
LET IT GO!!!
Get Right or Get Left... Think about it, and then ...
LET IT GO!!!
Author: Unknown
Submitted by: Debbie Rollins
There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to take a close look at herself. Not at her circumstance, not at what she did,
not how unfair life is, or not at whom made you do it. She has to just look at herself in all her glory and imperfection.
Have you ever
admired a woman who has been through changes in her life? Or have you made up in your mind that she is just messed up. Before
you make this mistake, take a closer look. A woman who has endured the most unusual life is someone of wisdom, someone who has
been chosen by God to go through things that have made her stronger.
Think of all the great women in the Bible: Mary Magdalene,
Ruth and Naomi, the woman with an issue of blood flow, and Esther, to name a few. Mary was a prostitute, a very uneasy woman.
But by the time Jesus was done with her, she was His closest follower. Esther was unfortunate in marrying an abusive man, but by
the time God was done with her, she had married one of the wealthiest men in the land.
Women are so quick to beat the next one down
instead of trying to hold her up. Before you wonder, "What's up with her?" ask yourself, "What's up with me?" That woman could be
my mother, sister, aunt, in-law, stepmother, niece, grandmother, great-grandmother, neighbor, friend, or co-worker, etc. That woman
could be me.
Women are the carriers of life, not the channels of death. Let's build and encourage each other, as did Ruth and Naomi.
Pass this to all the women in your life. Encourage and Love, Forgive and Forget, and trust that the woman that receives this will be
touched in some way.
Author: Sherri Byrd-Bridges
This morning I woke up and said, "Good Morning, Lord." Immediately, I felt the presence of Satan. Attacking every thought,
feeling, and action. Continuing to be faithful to my Savior, I began my devotion. But, was my morning devotion in honor and
worship of Him or just something I felt obligated to do? Did I truly experience worship or did I just do it because its something
I've been taught to do?
Continuing through my morning devotion, I read from the Old Testament. Moses was instructed by the Lord to bring Aaron up
to Mount Sinai. Then, I read, "...But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he
will break out against them" (Exodus 19:24).
Yes, of course I've done what I am suppose to do. I read from the Holy Word of God and I've prayed. That's it! There, I'm done.
Now, I can go about the rest of my day.
But wait...what did God's Word say? Back up, rewind. Did He say that only Moses and Aaron were to come up to Mount Sinai?
Meditating on this for a while, I asked myself what would I do if Jesus where to say I could enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but
not come up to see Him? What if after all these years of planning to sit at His feet I was told I couldn't. What if I had gone
through the ritual of acting as if He were my Lord, but then I learn that yes, even though I am saved, I never really put Him in His
rightful place and served Him as my Lord?
"For, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).
"There my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,
but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as
each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we
who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the
grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is
teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give
generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully" (Romans 12:1-8).
Lord, means master. He is my Master and I, His servant. So, is Jesus just the Lord who has saved me or is Jesus the Lord of
my life? Will I serve Him today as my Lord and Savior or just call Him my Savior?
Author: Unknown
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 a sadness!
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
REMEMBER: EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.
Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together.
For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace.
But your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures, and returns.
For much of the way, it seems to go like this, but gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling His consistently.
You and Jesus are walking as true friends!
This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens:
Your footprints that once etched the sand next to Jesus' are now walking precisely in His steps.
Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are becoming one.
This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice another change. The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger.
Eventually they disappear altogether. There is only one set of footprints. They have become one.
This goes on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time it seems even worse!
Zigzags all over the place.
Stops. Starts. Gashes in the sand. A variable mess of prints.
You are amazed and shocked.
Your dream ends. Now you pray:
"Lord, I understand the first scene, with zigzags and fits. I was a new Christian; I was just learning. But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with You."
"That is correct."
"And when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps, following You very closely."
"Very good.. You have understood everything so far."
"When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way."
"Precisely."
"So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse than at first."
There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice.
"You didn't know? It was then that we danced!"
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
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