The Power of Your Smile

http://theamazingcat.com/smile.html

Great animation, for a few smiles. Click on the picture above or click here to watch it.

You Were Created to be Loved

"Fly Away With Me" series - v1 --By Han Ghazi “Consider our little friend here,” she began (referring to a blue jay that landed on the kitchen windowsill). “Most birds were created to fly. Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around.” She paused to let Mack think about her statement. “You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.” Mack nodded his head, not so much in full agreement, but more as a signal that at least he understood and was tracking. That seemed simple enough. “Living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings and removing its ability to fly. Not something I want for you.” There’s the rub. He didn’t feel particularly loved at the moment. “Mack, pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.” She waited a moment, allowing her words to settle. “And if it’s left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.” (Conversation between God—“Elouisa”, and Mack) (Excerpted from, “The Shack” –WM. Paul Young. Copyright William P. Young. Used without permission.)

Because God Loves Me

Happypizza: Here is a nice one! I came across this text in a book by Norman Wright called “Answer to Depression”. I thought this little segment was very encouraging.  It’s nice to be reminded that God is often not as hard on us as we are sometimes.
Cheers!

Yeah, even you... 😛

Because God loves me He is slow to lose patience with me.

Because God loves me He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

Because God loves me He has no need to impress me with how great and powerful He is because He is God, nor does He belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is.

Because God loves me He is for me. He wants to see me mature and develop in His love.

Because God loves me He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.

Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets the chance.

Because God loves me He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don’t trust Him and love Him as I should.

Because God loves me He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and stand up under the pressures of life for His Name’s sake.

Because God loves me He keeps on working patiently with me even when I feel like giving up and can’t see why He doesn’t give up with me, too.

Because God loves me He keeps on trusting me when at times I don’t even trust myself.

Because God loves me He never says there is no hope for me; rather, He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

Because God loves me He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might. Because God loves me He stands with me when I have reached the rock bottom of despair, when I see the real me and compare that with His beauty and love. It is at a moment like this that I can really believe that God loves me.

Yes, the greatest of all gifts is God’s perfect love!

True Love…

…suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is   not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.*
…God is love.**

*I Corinthians 13:4-8a, 13
**1 John 4:8b