Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?

The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die. "Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it."

"Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage.

You might not know it until some time later...

No God or Know God?? An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem Science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and..... Prof: So you believe in God? Student: Absolutely, sir.   Prof: Is God good? Student: Sure.   Prof: Is God all-powerful? Student: Yes. Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.)   Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good? Student: Yes.   Prof: Is Satan good? Student: No.   Prof: Where does Satan come from? Student: From...God.. .   Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world? Student: Yes.   Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct? Student: Yes.   Prof: So who created evil? (Student does not answer.)   Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they? Student: Yes, sir.   Prof: So, who created them? (Student has no answer.)   Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God? Student: No, sir.   Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God? Student: No, sir.   Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter? Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.   Prof: Yet you still believe in Him? Student: Yes.   Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.   Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has. Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?   Prof: Yes. Student: And is there such a thing as cold?   Prof: Yes. Student: No sir. There isn't. (The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)   Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.  (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)   Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?   Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't  it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you? Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?   Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed. Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how? Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey? Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.   Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir? (The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)   Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)   Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain? (The class breaks out into laughter.)   Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )   Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son. Student: That is it sir... The link between man & God is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.......

Remember, A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.  ~ Unknown   Scripture:  The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. "  Deuteronomy 31:8 Periodically I have an epiphany about God's word.  Epiphany means; A sudden manifestation of the meaning or essence of something.  Well not long ago as I sat listening to Fr. Dr. Max Gonsalves, I had one about my level of faith.   You see, Fr. Dr. Max Gonsalves did teaching a series on "The Pentateuch -A Course on the first five Books of the Bible- At Pilar Theological College". At one point he spoke from the book of Exodus Chapter 14 verse 14.  "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."  Now how many times have we all heard this message?  If we would just learn to be obedient and be still, the Lord, our God, will fight our battles for us.  In essence, if we would turn our problems over to God and LEAVE them with God, He will handle it.   Now even though, I know this word from God and have learned so much more, I don't always adhere to it.  You see, we go before God in prayer everyday to talk to him and tell him all about our problems.  We ask God to help us and then we continue to worry about the same old problems all over again.   We go before the alter of sacrificing and place our cares and concerns there for God to take them from us and then, when we finish praying, we start worrying about the same old things all over again.  Taking the same old problems away with us.   The day after I returned home from Pilar Theological College, I issued a faith challenge to myself.  I went before the alter and pledged to God that I would not speak anything negative about my situation in the coming week.  Sounds easy doesn't it?  Well, it may not be as easy as it sounds.   I know that saying you are going to do something and then making it happen, isn't always easy.  In order to leave my troubles and problems with the Lord, I have to commit to not taking them back from him.  I can start by not speaking them into existence.  This is part one of my faith challenge.    Will you join me today?   Be Blessed Prayer: Lord, we come before the throne of grace this day, to thank You for Your word.  Lord, You are my rock and my strength.  I can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens me.  Lord, I come before You this day to place my all on the alter.  Lord, we know that You are our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end.  We know that You can do anything but fail.  Lord, we come standing on Your word and Your promise.  The promise of everlasting life through Christ Jesus, my redeemer.  Father, You have said there is power in the tongue.  The power of life and death.  We speak life into our situations.  We thank You Lord, for keeping us in perfect peace.  You speak to the storms in our lives, Peace Be Still.  You wipe away our tears and heartaches.  Thank You Lord.  Father, we surrender all to You today and we will walk away knowing that all things are in Your hands.  Thank Lord.  We praise, uplift and exalt Your name.  Praise be to God, for he is worthy of all honor, praise and glory.  Amen.

“With a thankful heart” Lyrics:-   With a thankful heart And a song of praise We’ve come to You Gathered in this place For the things You’ve done And for who You are We worship You With a thankful heart (2)   So we lift up our praise And we lift up our sacrifice to You Lord we offer our prayers And we offer our lives in gratitude For all You do We worship You With a thankful heart   With a thankful heart We will give You praise You’ve been so good Covered us with grace You have been our strength In a time so dark So we worship You With a thankful heart   We lift up our praise And we lift up our sacrifice to You Lord we offer our prayers And we offer our lives in gratitude   We lift up our praise And we lift up our sacrifice to You Lord we offer our prayers And we offer our lives in gratitude For all You do We worship You With a thankful heart We worship You With a thankful heart   Oh we give You thanks Oh we worship You Lord Oh we worship You Lord Oh we worship You Lord Oh we worship You Lord Oh we give You thanks.

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