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His One Mistake

What Time Is It?

Safe At Home!

The Juggler

Facing Death

Grandmother Dying

Life Is Too Short

No Need For Grief

No Going Back!

Daddy, Save Me!

If You Could Live Over

Shadow of Death

Never An Ache!

The Way Home

Day Of Death

His One Mistake

I read an article entitled:"His One Mistake":

"He brushed his teeth twice a day - with fluoride.
 The doctor examined him twice a year.
 He slept with plenty of fresh air.
 He watched his diet and took his vitamins.
He golfed, but never more than 18 holes at a time.
He got at least 8 hours sleep every night.
He never smoked, drank, nor lost his temper.
He was set to live to be a hundred - his funeral will be held Monday.
He is survived by 18 specialists, 4 health institutions,
6 gymnasiums, and numerous manufacturers of health foods and vitamins."
We will all die!
Shouldn't we be prepared?

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Grandmother Dying

Billy Graham tells of sitting at the bedside of his dying grandmother
when he was ten years old.

He said that he watched her as she came face to face with her dead husband
and Jesus Christ. He said, " As long as I live, I'll never forget that spectacular incident.

 I was sitting at the bedside of my grandmother as she lay dying.
The room was dark, but suddenly it filled with light.
It was a startling experience.
The window shades were drawn and the light was switched off, yet the room lit up.

 My grandmother sat up in the bed which she had been unable to do for days.
Then, her face flushed with color.”
" I see Jesus!" she declared with a loud voice.
He has His arms outstretched toward me."

Then she uttered the name of her husband, Ben,
who had died several years earlier after losing an arm and an eye in the war.

" I see Ben," she said, her face beaming with life.
" He's whole again. His arm and eye have returned - I'm coming, Ben!"

With those words, my grandmother slumped over and died
 -- and the room returned to darkness
.“

What a day of reunion that will be!
We will never have to say goodbye to our loved ones in Christ again!
We will be with them soon - of that we may be certain.

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Daddy, save me!

Many years ago near Camden, South Carolina there was a fire that burned joy out of homes and sorrow into hearts.
It was a tragic fire!
It was a fire that scorched and seared human hearts with sorrow.
It was fire that blasted parental hopes.
It was a fire that left a community and a multitude of lives with broken dreams and desolating death.

This terrible fire burned a school house in which many children were having classes.
Over 70 of these children were burned to death in an inferno of fire.
They died in those flames while their horror-stricken parents watched, but were helpless to save them.

While the flames were burning, one little boy in that burning furnace could see his father standing on the outside
and screamed, “Daddy, save me!

Above the roar of the flames and from the death trap of that fiery furnace, and above all of the other screams of torment,
this father stood in tortuous agony while his little boy cried. “Daddy, save me!

The father, suffering an eternity of torture in that horrible moment, knew that no one could save his boy.
He could do nothing but stand by dazed and in shock while his child burned to death in those flames.

In the days that followed that father could hear that voice all through the day and all through his sleepless nights:
Daddy, save me!

His son’s face was ever before him. His son’s voice was always in his ears.
This father only lived for two years after that horrible tragedy.

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Day Of Death!

Suppose in your home in your food cupboard - there are bread rolls.
And you were required to eat one roll every day.
And you were told that one of those rolls had poison in it.

 I believe that you would begin to eat every roll with great caution - knowing that one of them would be your death.

 Now you know that you have so many days, and one of those days will have the poison of death for you!
You do not know which one!
It may be tomorrow!

Since we don't know the exact day or the exact moment, shouldn't we be prepared?

Death catches many unaware and unprepared.

Raphael died when his last picture was about half-finished.
The picture was carried in his funeral procession
as a mute reminder of the uncertainty of death.

Charles Dickens laid down his pen for the last time
 in the middle of his last novel.
 
Franz Schubert left an unfinished symphony.

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Never An Ache!

Dr.Wilbur Chapman, the great evangelist of the past, was met after the worship service by one of his deacons.
Aware of Dr. Chapman's poor health, he said, "Pastor, I wish you could enjoy the good health that I have.
I never have an ache, never need a doctor, and I never take any medicine.
I am the picture of perfect health."

Three weeks later Dr. Chapman was interrupted by the early morning ring of the telephone.
He was asked to come quickly to the home of this deacon.

Dr. Chapman was met at the door by the deacon's daughter.
"This morning," she said, "Dad asked me to meet him in the kitchen for breakfast  in fifteen minutes.”

I dressed and waited for him.
After a few minutes of waiting, I went to his bedroom to see what was holding him up.
He was sitting in his favorite chair with the morning paper in his lap, and his head fallen to his chest,and he was dead."
 
Never an ache! Never a pain! Never needed a doctor!
Never had the need of medicine!
He was the picture of perfect health.
Yet, in fifteen minutes he was dead!

We will all die!
Shouldn't we be prepared for that moment of death which will come to us all?

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What Time Is It?

Someone has caculated that if one's life could be represented by the 16 waking hours of the day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The time clock of life would look like this:
               If you are 10, it is now 8 a.m.
               If you are 20, it is now 10 a.m.
               If you are 30, it is now 12 noon
               If you are 40, it is now 2 p.m.
               If you are 50, it is now 4 p.m.
               If you are 60, it is now 6 p.m.
               If you are 70, it is now 8 p.m.
               If you are 80, it is 10 p.m. and getting close to midnight.

George Bernard Shaw observed: "One out of one dies."
Mark Twain once said, "This life is a losing proposition; nobody gets out of it alive."

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Life Is Too Short!

To pursue wealth and worldly possessions.
To invest it in unworthy causes.
For living with the wrong attitude toward life and others
To live it without Jesus!

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If You Could Live Life Over!

Someone asked a friend, "If you had your life to live over,  would you change anything?
The friend answered, "No."
Then, the friend began to think...

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner, even if the carpet was stained and the sofa was faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the "good" living room and worried much less about the dirt
when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have burned the pink candle sculptured like a rose before it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my children and would not have worried about about grass stains.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my spouse.
There would have been more, "I love you."
There would have been more, "I'm sorry."

If I could have another shot at life,I would be grateful and make the most of every minute.

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Rush To Death!

There is a story about a father and son in Japan.
Both were farmers who had a small plot of land.
They were taking their produce to market.

The son said, "Let's hurry father, so we can be there first."
The father said, "Be patient."
But the son was goading the ox, saying, "Let's hurry, let's hurry."

Soon they came to a little shack, and the father said, "Let's stop and visit the uncle."
But the son said, "We don't have time for that."
Yet they stopped and visited.
Then the next morning as they continued their journey; they came to a fork in the road.

"Let's take this fork," said the father.
But the son said "The other road is a lot quicker, and we'll get there sooner."
But the father answered, "But this road is more beautiful."

In the twilight it seemed there was a garden all around them.
They made camp, although the son said, "Let's not sleep, let's hurry on!"
The father answered, "We need rest."

The morning came, and they started toward the city.
They came to the top of a hill, and suddenly it seemed as though the sky was filled with the light of a million suns.
It was eight o'clock in the morning, August 6, 1945.

The city they looked down upon was Hiroshima.

The son was rushing to oblivion -- and many today are rushing  into oblivion.

Jesus said, "Give us this day."
We don't know what the future holds, but this is our day to live.
This is the only day we have!
Tomorrow may not arrive!

Live life now!
Make it count!
Make every day worthwhile!

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No Going Back!

If you had a bank that credited to your account $86,400 every morning, but did not carry a balance over day by day.
You would not be allowed to keep cash in your account, and every evening canceled whatever was left of the amount
that you had failed to spend during the day.
What would you do?

Of course, you would draw out every last penny.
Well, you have such a bank, and it is named, "Time."

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night, it cancels whatever of this that you failed to invest in a good purpose.
It carries over no balances.
It allows no overdrafts.
Each day it opens a new account with you.
Each night it burns the records of the day.

If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back
There is no drawing against "tomorrow."

We must live in the present.
We must live on today's deposits.

Invest it, so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, relationships!

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Safe At Home!

A preacher of years ago, Dr. Biederwolf, tells of a railroad engineer who was addressing an audience of railroad men:

" Men, I can't even begin to tell you what Jesus has meant to me.
Years ago, on every night when I would finish my last run, I would pull open the whistle and let out a blast
just as I came around a curve.

And I would look upon a small hill, where there stood a little, white cottage.
And there would be a little old man and a little old woman standing in the doorway.
I would lean out of the old cab window, and we would wave at each other.
And as my engine would go shooting into a tunnel, the old couple would turn and go inside,
and the little old woman would say to the little old man,  ‘ Thank God, father, Bennie's safe at home tonight.’
 
But at last the day came when we buried mother.
Then each night as I came around the curve, and blew the whistle,  the little old man would be at the door,
and I would wave to him and he would wave back.
Then as my train shot through the tunnel, he would go slowly into the cottage and say,
Thank God, Bennie's safe at home tonight.’

But by and by the time came when I buried my father also.
Now when I finish my run, and I still pull the whistle and let out a blast - there are no dear ones to welcome me home.
 
But when my work on earth is done, and when I have made my last run, and I have pulled the throttle
and the whistle for the last time, I will draw near to heaven's gate - I know I shall see that same little old couple
waiting there for me.

And as I go sweeping through the gate, I will see my dear old mother turn to my dear old father,
and hear her say, ‘Thank God, father, Bennie is safe in heaven at last!’”

Do you have dear ones waiting for you in heaven?
 Are you going to be there?

 Oh, I hope so!

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The Juggler

A large number of people were gathered on the deck of a large ocean liner one afternoon watching the performance
of an amateur juggler.

The day was clear and warm amidst a rough sea.
The juggler, an attractive young man, was deftly tossing an expensive diamond into the air
to the amazement of all the other passengers.
His catches were accurate.

Forward, backward, this side and that, he tossed the jewel, bringing “ohs” and “ahs” from the fascinated onlookers.
Pleased with the attention he was getting, he tossed the precious diamond higher and higher,
often catching it behind his back or at some very difficult angle.

When he had his audience at top pitch emotionally, he threw the diamond even higher into the air.
As he waited confidently for it to descend, the ship suddenly lurched.

The diamond missed his outstretched hand by inches, dropped into the sea, and sank five miles deep in the ocean.
This is a sad story, but there are many which are sadder still.
Millions of people are carelessly playing with their soul’s eternal destiny.
It is the most foolish and fateful gamble.

For, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul!”

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The Way Home

At the funeral of a minister, a little child was seen skipping light-heartedly through the cemetery at dusk.
Someone asked, "Aren't you afraid of this place?"
"Oh no," she replied, "I only cross through here to get home."
Death for the Christian is only a "crossing-through to get home."

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No Need For Grief

Did you ever see a farmer weep as he placed seed in the ground and covered it with the freshly turned earth?
Of course not, for that sort of burial causes no grief.
The farmer knows that the buried seed will spring up into luxuriant vegetation in due course.

Human burial is quite a different matter.
It arouses far deeper emotions because of our attachment to the precious form laid in the grave.
But for Christians this grief is tempered by the knowledge that those who die in the Lord are safe with Him,
and that we will be with Jesus in our new and glorious body.

"So also is the resurrection of the dead," says Paul, referring again to his analogy of the seed.
"It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." (1 Cor. 15:42)
Remember, to “be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (2 Cor.5:8)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is
.” (1 John 3:2)

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Facing Death

An aged lady left Buffalo by boat for Cleveland to visit a daughter living there.
Soon a dreadful storm arose and many of the passengers, fearing death, gathered for prayer.
Only the aged lady seemed unconcerned about the tempest as she sat with her hands folded and prayed.

After the storm had subsided, some of the passengers were eager to know the secret of her calmness.
They gathered around her and asked her the reason.
"Well, my dear friends," she replied, "it is like this. I have two daughters.
One died and went home to heaven. The other lives in Cleveland.
When the storm arose, I wondered which of them I might visit first, the one in Cleveland
or the one in heaven, and I just left it to the Lord; for I would be glad to see either
."

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Shadow of Death

The first wife of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, a well known minister in Philadelphia, died from cancer
while still in her thirties.
All three of his children were under 12.
Dr. Barnhouse had such victory that he decided to preach the funeral sermon himself.
En route to the funeral they were overtaken by a large truck which, as it passed them,
cast a large shadow over their car.
He asked one of his children, "Would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?"
"By the shadow, of course!" replied the 12-year-old daughter. "A shadow can't hurt you."

With that answer Dr. Barnhouse said to his three motherless children,
"Your mother has been overrun not by death, but by the shadow of death."
At the funeral he spoke on Psalm 23, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me
."

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