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(Click here to display the 68 quotes shown above.)

            "John, there's a button off your overcoat. Where did you lose it?" a wife asked her husband.
            "Why, Mary," he began showing evident confusion, "Why I don't know -- musta lost it." Leaving the sentence unfinished, he rushed from the room and got into his waiting car, stepped on the gas and was gone.
            "I wonder what it could be?" Mary asked herself. "That's funny. He never hurried out that way before -- didn't even say good-bye."
            A dastardly crime had been committed. The nude body of a girl had been discovered a week before hidden in the brush by a Pennsylvania roadside. There was not a single line of evidence to mark the criminal.
            Sleuths from the state department had checked the girl's life, studied the nature of the crime, inspected the surroundings and never a clue was unearthed.
            "Here's a button," one of the detectives said.
            Just an indiscriminate button, that was all. There were thousands just like it on men's overcoats across the nation. Black ordinary buttons.
            But on some man's overcoat somewhere that button was missing and the guilty man was worrying.
            Not a word got into the news about the lost button. The detectives slipped out of sight. The case was closed. Outwardly all was calm on the police force. Business went on as usual in the little town near which the crime was committed.
            But a conscience was hammering in a man's breast, "Find that button! Find that button!" Wherever he went, to the office, on the road, to bed at night, "Find that button! Find that button!" sang a funeral dirge in his mind.
            Conscience made a sleuth out of that guilty man -- searching for a button. He played a game of button, upon which his life depended. He was cautious in his searching. No one must suspect him, after the break he made with his wife.
            "If only," he thought, "I can get out there. That's where I lost it! I remember, now, she pulled it off.  That button!"
            One dark night under cover of a driving rainstorm, he slipped out to the scene of the tragedy. A tiny beam from a flashlight broke through the brush.
            "Hands up!" an officer called. "I've got you covered."
            When the handcuffs clicked on his wrists, the guilty man asked, "Did you find the button?"
            "That was our clue. We thought the button came from the coat of the man who raped and killed the girl. We knew that sooner or later a guilty conscience would drive the murderer to the scene of the crime to find the button. And here you are."
            "His brain was like a pounding machine with all the riveters of hell hammering at him, 'Find that button! Find that button!"'
            Sin found its man! -- By William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."

            Light looked down and saw darkness, "there will I go," said light
            Life looked down and saw death, "there will I go," said life
            Love looked down and saw despair, "there will I go," said love
             So came light and shown truth, so came life and conquered death
            so came love and gave hope, and "the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us"
- Daniel L. Akin, The Southern Seminary Magazine, Winter 1997, 8.

            Love - the visitors in church may not be able to explain it or define it, but they know when it is there and when it is not.  A man will get up, dress, pass fifty other churches, and drive all the way across town if he knows that a warm experience awaits him with love and true fellowship in the house of God.  For many, the love they receive in church is the only love they will experience all week long.

            Man craves the knowledge and the sympathy of the Eternal. During a lull between the charges at the second Battle of Cold Harbor in June, 1864, the only battle that Grant said he regretted fighting, officers going through the Union ranks saw the men sitting on the grass under the trees or in the thickets sewing their names on their sleeves. Why were they doing that? It was because they expected to die in the ensuing charge and shrank from the oblivion of a nameless grave. They wanted someone in the hills of western Pennsylvania, Vermont, New York, or Wisconsin, to know who they were, how they had died, and where their bodies rested. Yes, the human heart wants to know that there is an ear to hear, and an eye to witness its sorrows, its conflicts, and its struggles. --McCartney

            Many times in my life I have been in a strange town and did not know how to get to my destination.  When I stopped for directions people would often say something like, "Go two blocks, turn left at the stop sign then go until you come to the fourth traffic light and turn right.  You can't miss it."  But I often did miss it.
            However, once when I asked directions the man did not give me a list of directions but got in his car and said, "Follow me, I'll take you right to it."  In a sense that man became the way to my destination.  In the same manner, Jesus is our way to heaven.  We do not get to heaven by following a list of directions but by following Jesus Christ.  -- Bill Gordon

            Many years ago a farmer had an unusually fine crop of grain. Just a few days before it was ready to harvest, there came a terrible hail and wind storm. The entire crop was demolished. After the storm was over, the farmer, with his little son went out on the porch. The little boy looked at what was formerly the beautiful field of wheat, and then with tears in his eyes he looked up at his dad, expecting to hear words of despair. All at once his father started to sing softly, "Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee." Years after, the little boy, grown to manhood, said, "That was the greatest sermon I ever heard." The farmer lost a grain crop, but who knows but what that was the turning point in the boy's life? He saw the faith of a godly father in practice. --Sunday School Times

            Many years ago, a Welsh minister, a man of God, beginning his sermon leaned over the pulpit and said with a solemn air: "Friends, I have a question to ask. I cannot answer it. You cannot answer it. If an angel from heaven were here, he could not answer it. If a devil were here, he could not answer it." Deathlike silence reigned. Every eye was fixed on the speaker. He proceeded: "The question is this: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?"  C. H. Spurgeon

            Many years ago, a newsboy, thinly clad and drenched by the soaking rain, stood shivering in a doorway one cold day in November.  First one bare foot and then the other was lifted for a moment and pressed against his leg to get a little warmth.  Every few minutes his shrill cry could be heard, "Morning paper! Morning paper!"  A man who was well protected by his coat and umbrella stopped to buy the early edition.  Noting the boy's discomfort, he said, "This kind of weather is pretty hard on you, isn't it?"  Looking up with a smile, the youngster replied, "I don't mind too much, Mister.  The sun will shine again."
            What a picture of the Christian life!  Chilling winds of adversity and gray skies of a sinful environment can easily discourage us.  But we can always count on better days because we know God is working in our lives.

            Martin Luther had just published his translation of the Bible. In the city of Thorn the Catholic authorities searched the whole city for every copy.  Then they made a huge bonfire in the marketplace.  After the fire had built up into a great blaze, the copies of the Bible were tossed into the fire. Suddenly, however, a terrific storm came and the wind blew many of the burning Bibles out of the fire and scattered the pages all over the city.  These were picked up, and by nightfall pieces of the Word of God were being read in hundreds of homes that would not otherwise have had the opportunity. ("Choice Illus." W.W. Clay pg. 61-62)

            You don't become happy by pursuing happiness.  It is always a by-product, never a primary goal.  Happiness is a butterfly - the more you chase it, the more it flies away from you and hides.  But stop chasing it, put away your net and busy yourself with other, more productive things than the pursuit of personal happiness, and it will sneak up on you from behind and perch on your shoulder. -- Harold Kushner, When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1986), 23.

            Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar, was robbed by thieves.  He wrote in his diary: "Let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before; second, although they took my wallet, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed." - Jerry Songer, "`Tis the Season to Be Thankful," Proclaim, (Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 35

            Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.  Mark expired at Alexandria, after having been cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.  Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.  John was put into a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterwards banished to Patmos.  Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.  James the Greater was beheaded at Jerusalem.  James the Less was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller's club.  Philip was hanged up against a pillar at Heiropolis in Phrygia.  Bartholomew was flayed alive.  Andrew was bound to a cross, where he preached to his persecutors until he died.  Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.  Jude was shot to death with arrows.  Matthias was first stoned, and then beheaded. Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death by the Jews at Salonica.  Paul after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

            If you want to utterly crush a man, said the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky in The House of the Dead, just give him work of a completely senseless, irrational nature.  Dostoevsky, who himself spent 10 years in prison, wrote:  "If he had to move a heap of earth from one place to another and back again--I believe the convict would hang himself--preferring rather to die than endure such humiliation, shame and torture."  Deprived of meaningful work, men and women lose their reason for existence; they go stark, raving mad. --Bill Moyers

            Mel Fisher had a great sixty-fourth birthday.
            A treasure hunter, Fisher owned Treasure Salvoras, Inc. and had been looking for the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha for seventeen years.  The ship, loaded with precious cargo, sank in 1622 during a hurricane.  It was on its maiden voyage from Havana to Spain.
            On a July day just before his sixty-fourth birthday, Fisher discovered the ship and its treasure about forty miles west of Key West, Florida.  Imagine his joy that day as his divers brought up from the deep an estimated 150 pounds of gold, including seventy-six gold bars, gold chains, and gold disks!
            In addition to this find, more than nine hundred silver bars and one hundred gold bars have been recovered.  It is estimated that the ship's fortune may contain a treasure worth more than $340 million.
            Finding a treasure like that is mind-boggling!  What red-blooded American has not dreamed of doing the same thing?  If he could find a treasure like that, he could make a down payment on his debts and pay the rest off in monthly installments!
            But there is a greater treasure waiting to be found.  It's neither silver nor gold, and it isn't kept in a bank vault.  It doesn't need to be protected from thieves who would come at night and steal it away.  It is free and everyone can have it.  Multiplied millions of people have found this treasure and claim it for themselves, but its wealth has not been depleted one iota.  There is as much of it today as there ever has been, and everybody can have it.
- J. B. Fowler, Basic Bible Sermons on Philippians (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1991) 79-80

            "Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers." - Robert G. Lee, SERMONIC LIBRARY, p. 101.

            A small boy made a toy sailboat. He fashioned it with loving care and finally it was ready to sail. With what pride he surveyed it, brave in its fresh red and white paint. The little boat, lifting its sails proudly to the wind, escaped from his eager fingers and swept down, down the river away from its grief-stricken owner. Though he looked long and diligently he could not find his little boat. One day, several weeks after, he chanced to be walking down the street when, lo, his eye was suddenly caught by a flash of red and white in a pawnshop window. It was his own boat! The one he had made himself! He rushed into the shop and demanded that the man give him his boat. He met with a brusque refusal. The shopkeeper said that he had paid for the little boat and before the boy could have it he would have to pay the stated price.
            With a sad heart the little fellow walked out of the store. It would take many a day for him to secure all that money, and for his own boat! But he went to work with a will and in a shorter time than he had thought possible he had earned the needed sum. With a light step he went to the store, laid down the money on the counter, and again demanded his boat. This time he received it. As he went out of the store to the street, with his little boat tucked under his arm, he was heard to say tenderly, "You are mine, little boat, twice mine; once because I made you, and twice because I bought you." Thus, we belong to Christ--because He made us, and because He bought us on His Cross. --The Gospel Herald

            Mohandas K. Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule and considered the father of his country.  He is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolence to achieve political and social progress.
            Gandhi says in his autobiography that in his student days he was truly interested in the Bible.  Deeply touched by reading the Gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert, since Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.  One Sunday, he went to a nearby church to attend services.  He decided to see the minister and ask for instruction in the way of salvation and enlightenment on other doctrines.  But when he entered the sanctuary; the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go and worship with his own people.  Gandhi left and never came back.  "If Christians have caste differences also," he said to himself, "I might as well remain a Hindu."

            Money in itself is not evil.  It's the love of money.  Money is like a brick.  You can use it to build a cathedral or to crush someone's skull.  Money is neither good nor evil in itself.  It is greed that is the root of all evil. - Paul W. Powell, Taking the Stew Out of Stewardship, (Dallas, TX: Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1996) 13

Moses had all the qualities of a good leader:
            He had a vision - a clear sense of mission.  He knew where he was going.
            He had courage - the faith to try, to risk.
            He had the determination to stick.  When hardships and obstacles came his way, he did not waver, he persisted.
            He had a humble spirit.  He was open to the advice of others and constantly sought the counsel of God.
            He did not try to do everything himself.  He knew how to delegate and readily shared his responsibilities with others.
            He had a servant's heart.  In fact, nowhere in Scripture does the Lord ever refer to him as "Moses, my leader."  It was always, "Moses, my servant."
            He always had the best interest of his people at heart.  At least five times, when the judgment came on Israel because of her sin, Moses pleaded with God in her behalf. If necessary, he prayed that God would blot his name out of the book He had written  so the people could be forgiven.
And Moses was a man of impeccable integrity.
            Yet, Moses lived in constant conflict and with bitter, cutting criticism.
- Paul W. Powell, Basic Bible Sermons on Handling Conflict, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992) 33

    "...Moses believed in God." "Let us take courage, we have the same God. We think our problems are so big. Remember what God can do!"
            Some things God arranged for Moses and the 3 to 3 and one-half million Israelites in the desert: 1) 1,500 tons of food each day, 2) 4,000 tons of wood for cooking each day 3) 11,000,000 gallons of water for drinking and washing every day, 4) a camping area of 750 square miles, or two-thirds the size of Rhode Island. To cross the Red Sea double file would require 35 days and nights, the line being 800 miles long, Instead the space must have been 3 miles wide so they could cross 5,000 abreast. "Had Moses tried to figure out all that was needed to accomplish God's command."
Pulpit Helps, June 1989, Page 10.

            Mt. Saint Helens belched gray steam plumes hundreds of feet into the blue Washington sky.  Geologists watched their seismographs in growing wonder as the earth danced beneath their feet. Rangers and state police, sirens blaring, herded tourists and residents from an ever-widening zone of danger.  Every piece of scientific evidence being collected in the laboratories and on the field predicted the volcano would soon explode with a fury that would leave the forests flattened.
            "Warning!" blared the loudspeakers on the patrol cars and helicopters hovering overhead.  "Warning!" blinked battery- powered signs at every major crossroad.  "Warning!" pleaded radio and television announcers, shortwave and citizen-band operators. "Warning!" echoed up and down the mountain, and lakeside villages, tourist camps and hiking trails emptied as people heard the warnings and fled for their lives.
            But Harry Truman refused to budge.  Harry was the caretaker of a recreation lodge on Spirit Lake, five miles north of Mt. Saint Helens's smoke-enshrouded peak.  The rangers warned Harry of the coming blast.  Even Harry's sister called to talk sense into the old man's head.  But Harry ignored the warnings.  From the picture-postcard beauty of his lakeside home reflecting the snow- capped peak overhead, Harry grinned on national television and said, "Nobody knows more about this mountain than Harry and it don't dare blow up on him...
            On May 18,1980, as the boiling gases beneath the mountain's surface bulged and buckled the landscape to its final limits, Harry Truman cooked his eggs and bacon, fed his sixteen cats the scraps, and began to plant petunias around the border of his freshly mowed lawn.  At 8:31 a.m. the mountain exploded.
            Did Harry regret his decision in that millisecond he had before the concussive waves, traveling faster than the speed of sound, flattened him and everything else for 150 square miles? Did he have time to mourn his stubbornness as millions of tons of rock disintegrated and disappeared into a cloud reaching ten miles into the sky?  Did he struggle against the wall of mud and ash fifty feet high that buried his cabin, his cats and his freshly mowed lawn -- or had he been vaporized (like 100,000 people at Hiroshima) when the mountain erupted with a force 500 times greater than the nuclear bomb which leveled that Japanese city? -- Billy Graham, _Approaching Hoofbeats_, pp. 13-14.

            "Mummy," said a little girl, "The Sabbath School teacher told us this morning that we came from dust, and we are going back to dust.  Is that really true?"
            "Yes, dear," said her mother, "that's quite right."
            "Well," said the little girl, "I just looked under the bed - and either someone is coming, or they're going."

            Nature provides us with an illustration that closely parallels the insidious tactics employed by our adversary.  According to scientists, Arctic polar bears feed almost entirely on seals.  To enjoy such a meal, they sometimes resort to a cunning bit of trickery.  If the hole through which the seal gets his food is near the edge of the ice, the polar bear will take a deep breath and swim under water to its exact location.  Remaining below the surface, he will then make a tiny scratching sound, imitating a fish.  When the charmed seal hears this, he dives in for a quick supper, only to find himself suddenly entrapped in the huge, hungry embrace of his predator.

            High atop a mountain between Argentina and Chile stands a massive statue entitled "Christ of the Andes."  The statue commemorates the signing of a peace treaty in 1903 which ended a long-smoldering border dispute between the two nations.  The Argentine cannons which had terrorized the Chileans were melted down and reshaped into the statue. Engraved in Spanish at the base of the towering monument are these words:  "Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the foot of Christ the Redeemer."
            Commendable as that hope may be, however, we know that military alliances cannot ensure true peace.  But in that upper room on his way to the cross, Jesus promised His disciples His peace.

            Not far from New York, there is a cemetery where there is a grave which has inscribed upon its headstone just one word: "Forgiven." There is no name, no date of birth or death. The stone is unembellished by the sculptor's art. There is no epitaph, no eulogy, just that one word: "Forgiven." But that is the greatest thing that can be said of any man or written upon his grave, "Forgiven."

            "Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh your thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness blow the rest away." --George Eliot

            On a sailing vessel the mate of the ship, yielding to a temptation, became drunk. He had never before been in such a state. The captain entered in the log of the ship the record for the day: "Mate drunk today."
            When the mate read this entry he implored the captain to take it out of the record, saying that when it was read by the owners of the ship he would be fired, and the captain well knew that this was his first offense. But the hard-hearted captain refused to change the record and said to the mate, "This is the fact, and into the log it goes!"
            Some days afterward, the mate was keeping the log and after he had given the latitude and longitude, the run for the day, the wind and the sea, he made this entry: "Captain sober today."
            The indignant captain protested when he read the record, declaring that it would leave an altogether false impression in the minds of the owners of the vessel, as if it were an unusual thing for him to be sober. But the mate answered as the captain answered him, "This is the fact, and into the log it goes!"
            This is a good example of how, by an accuracy of statement, but by misrepresentation of circumstances, one can injure the reputation of another. --McCartney

            On the bank of an Indian river, so the fable goes, a stork was one day busily hunting for slugs and snails.  A swan dropped down beside him, and the stork was delighted with her beauty.  "Where did you come from?" asked the stork.  "From heaven, far above the mountains," said the swan.  "Is it a good place to live?"  "Oh, it is beautiful far beyond this," was the reply.  "Do they have any snails there?" the stork inquired.  "No, indeed," said the swan with an expression of disgust.  "Oh well, then I don't care to go there," was the deliberate reply.  "I'm looking for snails."
            How many on this earth are in love with low and sensual pleasures, and prefer them even to the joys of a beautiful heaven.  They prefer SNAILS! - George Van Narmah

            It happened in Southwest Asia in the 14th Century.  The army of Asian conqueror Emperor Tamerlane (a descendant of Ghengis Khan) has been routed, dispersed by a powerful enemy.  Tamerlane himself lay hidden in a deserted manger while enemy troops scoured the countryside.  As he lay there, desperate and dejected, Tamerlane watched an ant try to carry a grain of corn over a perpendicular wall.  The kernel was larger than the ant itself.  As the emperor counted, sixty-nine times the ant tried to carry it up the wall. Sixty-nine times he fell back.  On the seventieth try he pushed the grain of corn over the top. Tamerlane leaped to his feet with a shout!  He, too, would triumph in the end!  He did, reorganizing his forces and putting the enemy to flight.

            Once in Haiti, a certain man wanted to sell his home.  One prospective buyer wanted it badly, but he was poor.  He couldn't afford the entire $2,000 asking price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to cut the cost of the house to half the original asking price, with one stipulation:  He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding just over the front door. Several years later, the original owner of the house decided he wanted the house back.  But the new owner was unwilling to sell.  So the first owner went out and found a dead dog. Bringing it to the house, he hung the carcass from the nail that he still owned over the front door. Soon the stench from the decaying carcass permeated the house, making it unlivable.  The family living there finally was forced to sell the house back to the owner of the nail.
            As long as the remainder of sin is present within your life, you will be hounded by the lord of sin.  The only way for you to be free from the dominion of the lord of sin is to have the remains of sin (the nail) removed and destroyed.

            Once there was a pastor who was very rigid about keeping an appointment at 10 AM each morning. If he were in a meeting, he would excuse himself, get in his car and drive off. Since this aroused the suspicions of his elders and congregation, they decided to investigate. No, the secretary did not know what he was up to. His wife did not know. His best friend did not know. So the elders staked him out. They followed him out of town to where he parked his car and entered a woods. When they caught up to him, he was standing by a train track as the train was passing by. He was shouting and cheering at the top of his lungs. He was pumping his fist into the air.
            Then the train passed and the elders came up to him and said -- "What on earth are you doing?" And he answered, "I can't help it. I just get so excited when I see something moving and I'm not the one pushing it!" -- Source: Rick Vanderwal

            Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.
            The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure.  I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"
            The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean.  "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings.  I'll be the strongest ship in the world!"
            The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town.  "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all.  I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."
            Years passed.  The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall.  One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.
            The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful.  It is perfect for me."  With swoops of his shining ax, the first tree fell.
            "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!"  The first tree said.
The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong.  It is perfect for me."                  With swoops of his shining ax, the second tree fell.
            "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree.  "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!"
            The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way.  She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.
            But the woodcutter never even looked up.  "Any kind of tree will do for me."  He muttered.  With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.
            The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop.  But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, with treasure.  She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.
            The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day.  Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat.  She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river; instead she was taken to a little lake.
            The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?"  The once tall tree wondered.  "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."
            Many many days and nights passed.  The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.
            But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox.
            "I wish I could make a cradle for him." her husband whispered.  The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood.  "This manger is beautiful." she said.
            And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.
            One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat.  The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.  Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered.  She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain.  The tired man awakened.  He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.
            And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.
            One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile.  She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd.  She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her.  She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.  But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.  It had made the third tree strong.
            And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.
            That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

            Once upon a time there were four men named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody .  There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.  But Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.  Anybody could have done it.  But Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about it, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, and Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.  It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody and Nobody did the job that Anybody could have done in the first place.

            Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to meet the problems of the new world.  So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming and flying.  To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming; in fact, better than his instructor.  But he made only passing grades in flying, and was very poor in running.  Since he was slow in running, he had to drop swimming and stay after school to practice running.  This caused his web feet to be badly worn, so that he was only average in swimming.  But average was quite acceptable, so nobody worried about that - except the duck. The rabbit started at the top of his class in running, but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because of so much make-up work in swimming. The squirrel was excellent in climbing, but he encountered constant frustration in flying class because his teacher made him start form the ground up instead of from the treetop down.  He developed "Charlie horses" from overexertion, and so only got a C in climbing and a D in running. The eagle was a problem child and was severely disciplined  for being a non-conformist.  In climbing classes he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there..."
            The obvious moral of that story is a simple one - each creature has its own set of capabilities in which it will naturally excel -unless it is expected or forced to fill a mold that doesn't fit. When that happens, frustration, discouragement, and even guilt bring overall mediocrity or complete defeat.  A duck is a duck -and only a duck.  It is built to swim, not to run or fly and certainly not to climb.  A squirrel is a squirrel - and only that. To move it out of its forte, climbing, and then expect it to swim or fly will drive a squirrel not. Eagles are beautiful creatures in the air but not in a foot race.  The rabbit will win every time unless, of course, the eagle gets hungry.   What is true of creatures in the forest is true of Christians in the family; both the family of believers and the family under your roof. God has not made us all the same.  He never intended to.  It was He who planned and designed the differences, unique capabilities, and variations in the Body. -- Pages 51-52  Standing Out   by Charles Swindoll

            Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him.  "Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse: "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?"  The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go.  Some time after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on.  Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts.              "Was I not right?" said the little Mouse.
            A great friend is someone who stays a friend even when things are going wrong.

            One day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering.  When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played upon him.  But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found to his delight that it was an egg of pure gold.  Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs.  As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.
            Greed often over reaches itself.