In Whom Is Our Trust?

Some years back, Professor John Passmore in speaking about Australia's capital city, Canberra, said it was one of the most highly planned and well laid out and ordered cities in the world. (It was designed by American Walter Burleigh Griffin.) It was an attempt to build "an ideal urban environment for the future."

However, in spite of all the best-laid plans of men, Canberra has had [at least in the past] one of the highest suicide rates in the country, the highest unemployment rate, and the highest rate of marriage breakdown.

In our contemporary society we have sharpened the mind, strived for technological and scientific excellence, built the greatest means of transport and communication systems in the history of the world. But like ancient Egypt, we have put our trust in our own strength and that of the things we have developed, and have ignored the spirit and not relied on God.

Unless we turn back to God, we will inevitably go the same way as ancient Egypt and other civilizations, who forgot God, went.

Freezing Spirits

John Elliott says. "When you're freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and don't wake up because it feels too good."

Life can be like that too. Millions of people, whose lives are filled with the pleasures and occupied with the pursuits of the world, are lulled to sleep spiritually, warm and cozy in their complacency, oblivious to the fact that they are heading pell-mell towards a lost eternity without God and without hope.

Dear God ..
please use me ..
to help awaken those ..
who are spiritually asleep ..
and unaware ..
that they are on their way ..
to a lost eternity ..
without ..
You ..

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ..

A Persistent Duck

In Vancouver, British Columbia (reported Reuters), when a family of ducklings fell down a Vancouver sewer grate, their mother did what any parent would do. She got help from a passing police officer.

Vancouver police officer Ray Peterson admitted he was not sure what to make of the duck that grabbed him by the pant leg while he was on foot patrol on a Wednesday evening in a neighborhood near the city's downtown.

"I thought it was a bit goofy, so I shoved it away," Peterson told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

The mother duck persisted, grabbing Peterson's leg again when he tried to leave, and then waddling to a nearby sewer grate where she sat down and waited for him to follow and investigate.

"I went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below," he said.

Police said they removed the heavy metal grate with the help of a tow truck and used a vegetable strainer to lift the ducklings to safety. Mother and offspring then departed for a nearby pond.

God will also test us to see if we are determined and desperate enough to turn to Him for help. The half-hearted never make it.

Dear God ..
thank you that ..
when I am serious ..
about turning to You for help ..
You always hear ..
and answer the prayer ..
that comes from my heart.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer ..

The Importance of Little Things

Whether it's little acts of kindness, little words of encouragement, little acts of unkindness or little acts of thoughtless deeds, little things play a big role in, and are a major part of, our lives. Their impact can far outweigh the size of the words or deeds.

Furthermore, "Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones."

"Oh be careful little hands what you do!
Oh be careful little hands what you do,
God is up above,
He is looking down in love,
So be careful little hands what you do."

That song may sound silly, but it isn't.

Remember it's the little acts of kindness and love that enrich our own lives as well as the lives of those we touch.

Dear God,
help me always
to remember
that it's the everyday 'little things'
that, added together, form the character
and value (or otherwise) of my life.

Help me to also remember
'Be careful little hands' (and tongue)
what you do and say.

Thank you for hearing and answering my
prayer.