Comfort, Inspiration, & Life Lessons

A Lesson

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill.

In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.”

He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well”, he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by what our parents tell us, the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.

You are special – Don’t EVER forget it.”

Count your blessings, not your problems. Never be afraid to try something new. And remember that even if you think that nobody on this earth loves you, God loves you!

If you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died on the cross just for you. God loves you that much and God has a GOOD plan for your life! There is always a reason for hope!

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Do You Think God Made A Mistake By Making You Gay?

God’s Holy Word says:

Before you were formed in the body of your mother I had knowledge of you, and before your birth I made you holy. ~ Jeremiah 1:5a

God doesn’t make mistakes. Your being gay has not come as any surprise to God.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11-13

Note from Mary: Verse 13 was at the front of the Salvation Army church in which I found Jesus. It has always been a favourite of mine.

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The Will Of God ~ Author Unknown

The will of God will never take you
Where the grace of God cannot keep you,
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercy of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

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Be At Peace ~ Author Unknown

Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;
Rather, look forward with the knowledge that
God will lead you through all things.

Do not worry about what may happen tomorrow.
The same everlasting Father Who cares for you today
Will care for you now and every day.

He will either shield you from suffering, or give you the strength to bear it.
And, when you think you cannot stand it anymore
He will carry you in His arms.

Therefore, be at peace.
Put aside all anxious thoughts.
Trust the Lord and He will see you through.

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A Prayer For ChristianGays.com ~ by Mandy Deacon (“leapinglizard”)

“This site has been such a blessing to me, and my walk with God has finally got back on the right road. Thank you all.”

Father, bless this place and all who meet here.
May we know Your love and acceptance.

May our spirits be lifted as we meet in fellowship.
May Your presence be felt here by all who enter,
And may those who stumble in “by accident”
Come to know Your love and forgiveness.

Soften the hearts of those who would condemn.
Speak to their spirits so that they may know
That we are Your children too!

Spirit-born, blood-bought, children of the King!
Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered by birth,
Accepted, loved, forgiven and YOURS by Grace.
Amen

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God Bless This Group ~ by Gail (“Aussiebard”)

“I offer this up as a prayer for all the members of this wonderful ChristianGays.com site.”

God, bless this group with love and peace.
May joy and laughter never cease
to lift us when we meet.

If, at times, there’s passing tears
Let there be friends and comfort here
for the soul that longs to weep.

Give us faith and courage to share
Give us time for earnest thought and prayer
Give us the love for which we seek.

May those who enter find life a bit brighter.
May burdens be lifted, may hearts seem lighter.
May our trust and compassion grow deep.

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Rainbows

Rainbows appear after mighty storms, when things look their very worst.
Just when the skies are darkest gray, look for the rainbow first.

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To Each His Own ~ Author Unknown

I cannot change the way I am,
I never really try,
God made me different and unique,
I never ask Him why.

If I appear peculiar,
There’s nothing I can do.
You must accept me as I am,
As I’ve accepted you.

God made a casting of each life,
Then threw the mold away.
Each child is different from the rest,
Unlike as night from day.

So often we will criticize
The things that others do,
But, do you know, they do not think
The same as me and you.

So God in all His wisdom
Who knows us all by name,
He didn’t want us to be bored.
That’s why we’re not the same.

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Words of Wisdom ~ Author Unknown

Each life experience makes you stronger, more knowledgeable and more prepared for what lies ahead.
Though it may not seem like it at the time, the setbacks and hardships you face actually help you march forward.

Don’t isolate yourself from life experiences. They instruct you and guide you into your future.
Learn from your experiences. They are the best teacher anyone could ask for.

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Footprints In The Sand ~ Mary Stevenson

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it: “LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed you most you would leave me.”

The LORD replied: “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Note from Mary: This poem is copywritten and I have requested permission to reprint it from the Official Footprints in the Sand website, but after waiting for quite some time, they have not responded. I am assuming that they will grant permission, so I have posted it here based on that assumption. If, or when they do respond, if they ask me to remove it, of course I will.

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“As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.” Acts 8:36-38

Since its very beginnings, the church of Jesus Christ has wrestled over issues of inclusion and exclusion. Who can be received as a member? What are the qualifications, barriers, or tests required? Who is permitted to assume a leadership role?

In the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy is very clear that the sexual minorities of that day – eunuchs – were not allowed to be members of the worshiping community; in fact, they were excluded altogether from Jewish life. However, in the book of Acts, we find the painful yet empowering story that poignantly demonstrates the life of grace we find in Jesus Christ – Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch. In short, this outcast wants to be baptized. Recognizing the boundless invitation of God’s inclusive love in Christ, Philip receives the eunuch as a member of the church.

Beginning as early as 1969, the United Church of Christ has wrestled with similar questions of inclusion and exclusion with regard to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. However, increasingly, the UCC is seeking to be a place of extravagant welcome for LGBT persons.

In 1972, the UCC ordained the first openly gay person into ministry, the Rev. William R. Johnson. In 1985, the UCC’s General Synod declared itself to be “open and affirming” and called upon all settings of the church to become similarly poised to welcome LGBT persons as full members of the church. Despite various perspectives on human sexuality in our local congregations, the movement for full inclusion of LGBT persons continues to spread throughout all aspects of our denomination’s life and witness.

From the United Church of Christ website.

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There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for ALL of you are one in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:28

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“My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir: this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

Listen dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God!

~ James 2:1-5 “The Message”

Dear gay brothers and sisters, we have been likened unto the lepers of our day. Who is more outcast than we? So when other’s judge you, remember, this is God’s Holy Word, and it says that God has chosen us as the kingdom’s first citizens! Praise Jesus!

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Introduction to Luke from “The Message”
– for anyone who may feel like an “outsider”

Most of us, most of the time, feel left out – misfits. We don’t belong. Others seem to be so confident, so sure of themselves, “insiders” who know the ropes, old hands in a club from which we are excluded.

One of the ways we have of responding to this is to form our own club, or join one that will have us. Here is at least one place where we are “in” and the others are “out”. The clubs range from informal to formal in gatherings that are variously political, social, cultural, and economic. But the one thing they have in common is the principle of exclusion. Identity or worth is achieved by excluding all but the chosen. The terrible price we pay for keeping all those other people out so that we can savour the sweetness of being insiders is a reduction of reality, a shrinkage of life.

Nowhere is this price more terrible than when it is paid in the cause of religion. But religion has a long history of doing just that, of reducing the huge mysteries of God to the respectability of club rules, of shrinking the vast human community to a “membership”. But with God there are no outsiders.

Luke is a most vigorous champion of the outsider. An outsider himself, the only Gentile in an all-Jewish cast of New Testament writers, he shows how Jesus includes those who typically were treated as outsiders by the religious establishment of the day: women, common labourers (sheep-herders), the racially different (Samaritan), the poor.

He will not countenance religion as a club. As Luke tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance (and who of us hasn’t felt it?) now find the doors wide open, found and welcomed by God in Jesus.

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On Sun. Sept. 2, 2001, I watched Robert Schuller Jr. preach a televised sermon based on Ezekiel 34.

I believe that the points made are for all of God’s children so please claim these for yourselves.

1. God will gather his flock. (That’s Us People!)
2. God will fight our battles. (Thank God that we have an Advocate as we deal with homophobia in the Church and in society.) 3. God will shower us with blessings. (What a promise! Claim it!)

Thank you Rev. Schuller for these comforting words.

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“The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if He would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. . . . . . . . . . . He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion.” Mark 3: 2, 5 (The Message)

The rules that some Christians follow in an attempt to please God are really not God-pleasing. If we could just live by the two rules that Christ gave while He was on earth, to love God first, and to love your neighbour as yourself, then it really isn’t necessary to have any other rules, especially rules of exclusion for people who want only to love and serve the Lord but are forced to hide their true identity for fear of persecution and rejection.

As children, we need rules to keep us safe and to understand the way society works. As we grow older, we need fewer rules because we have experiences to direct us.

I think that baby Christians need rules too, and I also think that that’s where fundamentalism short-changes us. It relegates us to the position of the Pharisees who were more concerned with rules than they were with relationships, and over and over again, Jesus not only breaks those rules but He also chastises the religious leaders at the same time, which gives us an idea of His position on the subject.

Our great God is a God of the underdog, a God of the downcast and the outcast. In Jesus’ day, the outcast was the leper. Today it is gays. Did Jesus treat the lepers the way that the Pharisee’s did? No, he freely mingled with them and loved them equally.

God freely mingles with us gays today in spite of what “The Church” would try to tell us. He is alive and in the hearts of all who love Him – and He blesses us abundantly as His proof!

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Welcome With Christ ~ Cindy Lee Myers

Jesus bids us come to Him. And lest we hold back, wondering whether His invitation really includes us in particular, Jesus calls us repeatedly both by His words and through His examples. Again and again throughout the Gospels, Jesus welcomed people whom others discouraged and even despised.

The woman who had been hemorrhaging during the course of twelve years must have known the Law of Moses declared her unclean. Maybe that’s why she snuck up on Jesus, hoping to go unnoticed, yet desperately wanting just to touch His garment.

Jesus promptly rejected her unspoken request for anonymity and insisted she identify herself. He wanted her to know for sure that she hadn’t somehow hijacked her healing from Him without His permission. No, no, she was welcome with Christ.

The lepers certainly knew they were unclean. They weren’t allowed to be anywhere near healthy people. Still they came to Jesus and He welcomed them. He even touched them when His mere word would have been plenty sufficient to heal them!

And besides these, Jesus welcomed the lame, the maimed, the dumb, the blind, and even demoniacs – people with every kind of disease and disfigurement.

Sometimes the crowds tried to hush people. Blind men crying out for mercy from the Son of David were rebuked, happily to no avail. The scribes, the Pharisees and rulers of the synagogues were hands-down champion discouragers. Indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, they demanded that the people go away.

Was it with mocking that they instructed them: “Come to be healed any other day of the week.”? At a dinner in his own home, Simon the Pharisee watched a woman wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. He watched as she anointed His feet with ointment. He watched with disdain, knowing she was a sinner. He knew she was unworthy to be around righteous people, and he judged Christ as no prophet because He was obviously ignorant of her disqualified status.

But Jesus knew full well who she was. He turned the tables and confronted Simon with her evident nobility! She had shown Him genuine honor, while His host for the meal had neglected the most common courtesies of the day. Christ forgave her much and welcomed her “much love”.

Tax collectors must have embodied the essence of all that was despicable. The religious elite of Israel practically spat their hatred of Jesus: “He eats with tax collectors and sinners. He doesn’t even wash His hands!” Yes, Jesus welcomed these horrid people.

He invited Himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ place and called Levi, better known as Matthew, to join Him as an apostle. When the scribes and Pharisees kept on accusing Him of fraternizing with these riffraff, Jesus told three beautiful stories. He told them of a shepherd who jeopardized his own safety to search out and bring safely home his one lost sheep – even when he had ninety-nine more who were far less trouble to care for.

There’s a place for each of us on the Good Shepherd’s shoulders. He welcomes us all – even the one-percenters. He spoke about a woman who swept and swept, searching diligently for her one lost coin. Jesus welcomes us all – even when He has to search through the dirt to find us. And then He told them that astonishing story about the lost son.

Did the prodigal son luck out? Did he just happen to come home on the one day when his father was feeling nostalgic and extraordinarily forgiving? No way! The father was ready to forgive every day. And so is Christ. Jesus welcomes us all – no matter where we’ve been, no matter how much mercy we’ve already squandered. He bids each of us in repentance and faith to come home to Him.

Even the disciples, who had themselves received Christ’s mercy firsthand, still wondered whether some people should be welcome with Him. They marveled that He conversed with the Samaritan woman, but didn’t mention their reservations out loud. Even so, several times they actually took a shot at sending people away from Jesus. They thought the children should be denied an audience, but Jesus overruled them.

They urged the Lord to “send the crowds away” to get food, but instead He welcomed thousands with an astonishing meal. And then they were indignant with the woman in Bethany who broke the alabaster flask and poured expensive ointment on Jesus’ head. They saw only a waste of precious assets. But Jesus overruled them again. He received her sacrificial expression of lavish love as “a beautiful thing” and promised that her devotion to Him would be long remembered “wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world”.

Jesus went on record forever to make sure that every generation knows how completely He welcomed her. Jesus went on welcoming people even as He hung on the cross. Matthew and Mark record that both thieves reviled Him on Golgotha that day. Yet later, as the sky darkened and death drew near, one of them confessed the justice of their punishment and simply asked that Jesus would remember him someday, eventually “when you come into your kingdom”. But someday, eventually was no way soon enough for the Lord Jesus. Instead, Christ granted him “today . . . in Paradise”.

Come to Jesus. Know for a certainty that you are welcome with Christ. He has engraved your invitation on the palms of His hands.

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Lord, Lift My Burden

We complain about the cross we bear, but often don’t realize that it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see but we can’t.

Whatever your cross, whatever your pain, there will always be sunshine after the rain.
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall, but God’s always ready to answer your call.
He knows every heartache, sees every tear, a word from His lips can calm every fear.
Your sorrows may linger throughout the night, but suddenly vanish in dawn’s early light.
The Savior is waiting somewhere above to give you His grace and send you His love.

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

When you question God ‘why me?’.. always look at the bigger picture, and know that God is in control!

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Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
To him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’
Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?

Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’
Or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’
This is what the LORD says –
The Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come,
‘Do you question Me about My children,
Or give Me orders about the work of My hands?’ ~ Isaiah 45:9-11

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Father’s Love Letter (Scriptures from Video)

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. ~ Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up. ~ Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways. ~ Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. ~ Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image. ~ Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being. ~ Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring. ~ Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived. ~ Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation. ~ Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. ~ Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. ~ Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. ~ Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother’s womb. ~ Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born. ~ Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me. ~ John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. ~ 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. ~ 1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. ~ 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. ~ Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father. ~ Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. ~ James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. ~ Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love. ~ Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. ~ Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing. ~ Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you. ~ Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession. ~ Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. ~ Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things. ~ Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. ~ Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. ~ Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires. ~ Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. ~ Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. ~ Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. ~ Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. ~ Revelation 21:3-4

And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. ~ Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. ~ John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. ~ John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being. ~ Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. ~ Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. ~ 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. ~ Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. ~ 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. ~ Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. ~ Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father. ~ Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…Will you be my child? ~ John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you. ~ Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad.

Used with Permission Father Heart Communications