1244AFC110212
Read it online here, please. Today we have something a little different, a short lesson called The Seed. Māhalo nui loa, thank you very much, to long-time friend and member of the MBN, TT, for sending us The Seed. The scripture references are at the end this time.
The Seed
Don’t be afraid of failure…it may be your lifetime’s most shining moment.
With God’s hands beneath us, we need not fear what lies before us.
1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Always remember to play nice in the sandbox. You never know when one of those people may become your best friend for life.
This is an interesting and very thoughtful message for all to read. This is special!
A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still – there was nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing
Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.
When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful – in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is “Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.
“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.
Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – and it was not possible for them to grow.
All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”
So, Beloved, think about this:
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
♥ If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
♥ If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
♥ If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
♥ If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
♥ If you plant hard work, you will reap success
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
Do you want to change the world? Change the parts of it you can touch.
Do you want to change the Universe? Change yourself.
Think about this for a minute:
Do you know about the relationship between your two eyes?
They blink together;
they move together;
they cry together;
they see things together;
they react to light and delight with each other;
but they never see each other;
and yet together they give us a clearer perception of everything in life.
Consider this as well:
ó Your aspiration is your motivation,
ó Your motivation is your belief ,
ó Your belief is your peace,
ó Your peace is your target.
STAY ON TARGET!
Proverbs 19:1 – Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.
Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Proverbs 11:3 – Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.
Romans 12:1-8 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
And lastly Beloved …
Galatians 6:7-9 – Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved. 🙂
Please remember to pray for all the millions of people suffering in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the ensuing Super Storm. If there’s something you can do to help out physically or financially, please jump on it right away. But absolutely ask for Mercy and Aid for everyone who has been through this epic event which will continue to have ripples for weeks and weeks to come.
1244AFC110212
Read it online here, please. Today we have something a little different, a short lesson called The Seed. Māhalo nui loa, thank you very much, to long-time friend and member of the MBN, TT, for sending us The Seed. The scripture references are at the end this time.
The Seed
Don’t be afraid of failure…it may be your lifetime’s most shining moment.
With God’s hands beneath us, we need not fear what lies before us.
1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Always remember to play nice in the sandbox. You never know when one of those people may become your best friend for life.
This is an interesting and very thoughtful message for all to read. This is special!
A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still – there was nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing
Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.
When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful – in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is “Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.
“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.
Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – and it was not possible for them to grow.
All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”
So, Beloved, think about this:
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
♥ If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
♥ If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
♥ If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
♥ If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
♥ If you plant hard work, you will reap success
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
Do you want to change the world? Change the parts of it you can touch.
Do you want to change the Universe? Change yourself.
Think about this for a minute:
Do you know about the relationship between your two eyes?
They blink together;
they move together;
they cry together;
they see things together;
they react to light and delight with each other;
but they never see each other;
and yet together they give us a clearer perception of everything in life.
Consider this as well:
ó Your aspiration is your motivation,
ó Your motivation is your belief ,
ó Your belief is your peace,
ó Your peace is your target.
STAY ON TARGET!
Proverbs 19:1 – Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.
Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Proverbs 11:3 – Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.
Romans 12:1-8 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
And lastly Beloved …
Galatians 6:7-9 – Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved. 🙂
Please remember to pray for all the millions of people suffering in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the ensuing Super Storm. If there’s something you can do to help out physically or financially, please jump on it right away. But absolutely ask for Mercy and Aid for everyone who has been through this epic event which will continue to have ripples for weeks and weeks to come.
