CAN YOU CAST A SHADOW WITHOUT THE SUN?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

Once upon a time a tribe of very isolated people with little knowledge of anything in the modern world received a sundial.

It was a gift from friends in the outer world and they were supremely joyous when it arrived. They shouted with glee, beat upon their drums and danced long into the night. And then they made a decision, “Let us treat this present with the respect it is due. Let us build a shelter to keep it in.”

So they did.

They built a hut, a great tremendous, overwhelming hut, taller than any other hut in the entire village. Then within the hut they built a throne upon which they put the sundial and then began to treat it with great and overwhelming respect and honor. And very soon, very soon, they realized that the sundial no longer worked.

With no sun in the secluded, shadowed shelter of the hut, it did not work.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God…” Seek it in the sunlight where all can see. Seek it with such enthusiasm you leave yourself wide open for spiritual serendipities.

All manner of things happen in life and you cannot know what they will be, but if you seek first the kingdom of God…first and foremost…well, let’s put it this way, “Men are often spiritual failures not because they are spiritually stupid but because they are not sufficiently impassioned.” (rewrite of statement by Struthers Bart)

The book of Proverbs puts it this way: (Proverbs 29:18) “Where there is no vision the people perish.”

The Prodigal Son prayed a prayer that should be a challenge to everyone who reads or hears it. “Make me even as a hired servant. Make me anything but what I was.”

Would you have an ongoing Spiritual Serendipity that offers one agreeable accident after another? I believe I have said this once or twice in the last few minutes,
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…”

Below are recent Titles on my other blog “LIFE IS NOT WHAT IT IS BUT WHAT YOU MAKE IT”. To interact with them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/
Jan 20 THE LOUD SOUND OF SILENCE
Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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WE LIVE LIFE FORWARDS AND TOO OFTEN UNDERSTAND IT BACKWARDS or HINDSIGHT, THY NAME IS GENIUS!

WE LIVE LIFE FORWARDS AND TOO OFTEN UNDERSTAND IT BACKWARDS or HINDSIGHT, THY NAME IS GENIUS!

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

Now is a good time to tell a story about a wild duck that each fall when the winds grew colder would, with great vigor, flap his wings and aim toward a warmer south.

He had done this for many such seasons but this year was to be different for a disagreeable accident would take place…but then I am getting ahead of my story.

During this particular flight, he had winged as usual past cities and small towns, over highways and dusty roads, but then, as he flew low to get a better view of the land below, he spotted a barnyard.

A great fenced in area full of quacking, domestic-cated ducks being fed. He looked down with great pity and continued to fly on a bit, but on the evening breeze he continued to catch the sweet smell of fine grain such as he had never smelled before. He paused and that was enough. He turned back.

He still had a long ways to go, but he turned back. He began having second and third thoughts. Why not? I can just stop for a free meal and then be on my way.

He set his wings for a perfect three point landing and soon was feasting to his hearts content. He ate greedily and long, so much so that afterwards he was sleepy, very sleepy, and so decided to take an after dinner nap. To his surprise he slept the whole night through.

The next morning when he awakened he was very angry at himself. “I must be off,” he quacked under his breath, and moved to the far end of the yard to give himself room for takeoff. And then he thought to himself, I have a long, long way to go. It would be foolish not to have a going-away breakfast first.

The ending of this story could not be more obvious. He never did fly away. He succumbed to the easy way, the way of the crowd, and opened up the floodgates for what became a life-changing event, the loss of his freedom.

As time went on he remembered less and less what it was like before he joined the crowd and paid the price. (rewrite and edit of a story by Kierkegaard)

What am I saying? I am saying men die spiritually the same way they die physically. Usually by degrees. An ethic is forgotten, a point of honor is denied, an article of faith is misplaced and then no longer sought after. Residence taken up in a valley of indecision. Water is drunk from a lake of procrastination. Food is consumed from a field of false promises.

And the harvest? It is then a forest that has none of the seeking of God in it.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog "LIFE IS NOT WHAT IT IS BUT WHAT YOU MAKE IT". To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HOW MANY SHEPHERDS DO YOU HAVE AND WHO?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

We all know how the 23rd Psalm begins, “The Lord is my Shepherd…”, but for some the choices have been otherwise.

By way of example some have called science their. Their number is scant but they do exist and if it is so their interpretation of the 23rd Psalm reads somewhat differently.

Science is my shepherd, I shall not want.
It maketh me to lie down on foam rubber cushions.
It leadeth me beside the super highways.
It prepareth a table before me in the presence
of the world’s billions of hungry people.
Surely pleasure and prosperity shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in Shangri-la forever.

Or, call gold God. That too has been done and far too many times. And their version of the 23rd Psalm, if honesty is served, reads as follows:

Gold is my shepherd, I shall not want.
It maketh me to lie down in perfect peace beside my safety deposit box.
It leadeth me to make nothing but profits from perfect investments.
It leadeth me along the super highway in my brand new Upscalemobile.
It prepareth a table before me in the presence of those
who cannot afford a table let alone enough food to fill it.
Surely pleasure and prosperity shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell near the Bank of America, or its equivalent, forever.

Or fame and power God…it is a haunting melody that has seen a host of folk down through the ages fall victim to the tune.

Fame and power are my shepherd, I shall not want.
They maketh me to lie down besides all my awards and rewards.
They leadeth me to revel in adoration and abhor criticism.
They leadeth me to stadiums and Halls of Fame, and corporate plaques
where my name is emblazoned, as I feel it should rightly be.
They prepareth a table before me in the presence of lesser individuals
who simply are not as worthy of fame and power as I.
Surely pleasure and prosperity shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell with my bloated and precious ego always by my side.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

WHO OR WHAT IS THE SEEKER IN YOUR SEEKING?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

Once upon a time, in the year 1909 to be exact, a farmer and his wife bought a new car, all black and glistening with its shining newness. It sparkled like a piece of
polished black onyx.

As they drove it home from the dealers, the dusty road began to take its toll.

By the time they reached their front door, their jewel looked bedraggled, unloved and unkempt.

In dismay they looked at their new and treasured car and then in total agreement decided it must never be soiled like that again.

Exactly one week later, their brand new Ford, now washed and polished to its original sheen, resided in the sterile atmosphere of their pristine clean and now greatly enlarged front parlor. It was not the customary type of furniture, and the house had required major renovation and carpentry, but there it was, spic and span and safe.

For forty years, it resided there. For forty years, it never ventured out on the road that was, of course, sometimes dusty, sometimes muddy, always less than sociable. For forty years, it stayed free from any and all kind of accidents, and when the old couple died, it was sold, for $37.00.

We may shake our heads at the thought that they had spent the greater part of their lives admiring and protecting something that was worth so little.

Yet we are quite capable of doing the same thing. It often takes a tragedy, such as Katrina brought to the Gulf States several years ago (or more recently Haiti) for us to finally get around to admitting it.

Of course, we are devastated by such catastrophes, and rightly so, but in the midst of such of such destruction, if we are alive and those we love are alive, we still say again and again, “Things we can replace.”

Oh, it may not be a car in the front room, but we each have our own equivalent of front parlors where we store that which is not timeless and never will be.

The magic word in this morning’s scripture is seek. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

SERENDIPITY

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

When Thomas Edison discovered the phonograph while he was trying to invent the light bulb, that was a serendipity.

When three scientists chanced upon a powerful weed-killer when they were trying to develop a new fertilizer, that was a serendipity.

When Columbus stumbled across a continent when he was really searching for a new and shorter route to China, that was a serendipity.

If you look the word serendipity up, the dictionary says it means, the gift of finding valuable things not sought for.

Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be given unto you as well.” When we seek God with all our heart and mind and soul what I call Spiritual Serendipities will happen.

All kind of valuable spiritual things over and above your original intent emanate from God’s cornucopia when our seeking is in the right direction. All kind of agreeable accidents, is another way of putting it.

In the City of Miami, there is a certain executive I know who once was an alcoholic and who spent considerable time in jail. Finally he sought God with gusto and in the process found himself. And a host of other spiritual blessings he never knew existed, or that he wanted and needed, have suddenly descended on him.

Spiritual Serendipities.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

A minister was on vacation and enjoying his needed rest.

One afternoon as he was relaxing on the porch and looking out over a mountain scene he received a phone call from a local congregation. They had gotten word that there was a vacationing minister in their little community and they wondered if he would be willing to preach the next Sunday.

He readily agreed and the next Sunday showed up along with 12 people who had come to hear him preach. When it was all over, one of the Deacons came up to him, thanked him and then said, “We wish we could pay you something but we don’t have any money. I hope you understand.”

“It’s alright,” responded the minister. “No problem.” But as he was leaving the church he noticed an offering plate… and that the plate was completely empty.

Reaching down into his pocket he came out with a crisp new twenty-dollar bill and dropped it therein. Then he and his wife and daughter walked hand in hand to their car and prepared to drive away.

“Stop! Stop!” cried out the Deacon who had spoken to him earlier as he came rushing up with an envelope. “We couldn’t let you leave without giving you something.”

When they were back home he opened the envelope and, yes – as you’ve already figured out – in it was the easily recognizable brand new $20 bill, the same one he had dropped in the offering plate.

Turning to his daughter he asked, “Did you learn a good lesson from this this morning?” She promptly responded, “Sure did, Daddy. If you had put more in, you would have gotten more back.”

People who are obsessed with giving are more often satisfied with what they have than those who are obsessed only with what they can get.

Discontent is a part of the universe, but how sad to let it become a way of life.

Perhaps if leaves could think there would be some that would wish they were a pine needle, or wish they could be let loose from their branch to flutter though the air like a bird.

Finding fault with what is to chase some pie in the sky that isn’t has happened to everyone but how sad, for to paraphrase – man does not live by pie alone.

One thing is for sure… it is important to realize the difference between being stuffed or satisfied.

How it really is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Take praise. It is certainly good, unless you receive so much of it you can’t live without it, and become blind to criticism.

There is a bitterness to not being satisfied. The Greek word for bitterness? Poison.

If you feed your dissatisfaction with what you don’t like that people are doing, or God is doing, or life is doing to you, you will continue to be miserable.

It can be no other way. However, if you offer prayers of praise for your uniqueness and that of others, you will find more often satisfaction.

If you train yourself to be happy with what you have, you will be not only happier but blessed.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

FIRST COMES FIRST OR IT CERTAINLY SHOULD

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

What are your priorities?

When you pick up the newspaper do you turn to the ads first? The buy or cry problem?

Is your life complicated by an increasing number of on going desires and must haves, or simplified by picking and choosing prayerfully and carefully?

Have you ever stopped to think that a rummage sale is really a sermon on dissatisfaction? A getting rid of items that not long ago you felt you simply had to have or you would die. Now bought by someone else who feels that they absolutely must possess what you no longer want…

C. K. Chesterton said there are two ways to have enough: one is to get more, the other is to desire less.

I guess what I am saying is that if you really want to be happy you need to fall in love with your own life over and over again.

To search out and polish up the silver lining on your clouds. To look up at night and see both stars and darkness, but allow yourself to be over-whelmed by the lights rather than by the dark.
William Blake put it well when he wrote, “Gratitude is heaven itself.”

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

THE POTENTIAL TO BLOOM OR WILT

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

Many years ago, Luther Burbank, a patient master-student of the world of plants, discovered that in the kingdom of God’s greenery every weed is a potential flower.
So it is with you and me and all those outside who walk the streets. We have the potential to be a weed or a flower.

We have the potential to bloom or wilt.

All are born with innocence, yet one becomes a Saddam Hussein who lived to conquer and kill, and another a Mother Theresa who lived to love and help and heal.

That baby in the crib - will he become a Judas or a John? Will he change from a Saul to a Paul?

One man, one woman moves toward heaven…one toward hell.

AND YOUR POTENTIAL TO BE YOUR BEST IS JUST AS GREAT AS YOUR POTENTIAL TO BE YOUR WORST.

Romans 12:2 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. (NIV)

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

IT'S RELIGION COME TO CALL

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

One day, in the slums of a great city, a solitary figure moved toward a termite-eaten door and gently knocked.

A raucous voice on the other side screamed out a reply, “Go away, we don’t want any.”

The man knocked again, softly but persistently. Finally the door opened ever so slightly and then swung wide as the little girl, instantly recognizing who it was, called back to her mother, “It’s religion come to call.”

It was, of course, Brother Bryan of Birmingham, who was said to be the only man in that southern city who could enter a bar and lead the inhabitants in prayer with no one snickering or making fun.

At first he was called Reverend, then he acquired the honorary title of Doctor. Finally because of whom he was, he became known to everyone as “Brother Bryan.” Why? Because he called everyone he met “brother.” Rich or poor, black or white. He loved his Lord. He loved his people. He was the epitome of love.

Early in his ministry, because he worked so hard, he became seriously ill. The doctor told him that he needed to take six months off to rest or he would die. His response?

“Well, if I am that sick I had better get to work because I obviously haven’t got much time left.” From that time on he never spent as much as a week sick in bed.

Once while conducting an evangelistic service in the Cumberland Mountains, two feuding families sat on either side of the church aisle. Everyone carried guns and were ready, at the drop of a hat, to begin killing each other. Brother Bryan, never one to skirt an issue, began to preach on love.

When he had finished he asked the leader of each clan to come forward and place their pistols and rifles on the altar.

The two men, for the first time in their lives, took Christ fully into their hearts and on that that day gave forgiveness and understanding a chance to come alive. Left anger and foolishness n the sidelines and took the commandments of the Lord into their lives. And on that day, made holy not because of the calendar but because of what happened, the feud came to an end.

Toward the end of his days, when time had finally caught up with him, someone once asked how many people he thought he had helped. “I don’t have any idea,” he replied. “I have always been too busy to keep records. I leave that to the angels.”

He may not have known, but it is a fact that during his ministry he held over 8,000 funerals, married some 5,000 couples, preached at least 50,000 times and led over 8,000 people to a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

One day, St. Francis of Assisi was hoeing in his garden. A friend who had stopped by asked, “What would you do, if you knew you would die at sunset?” The reply was immediate, “I’d keep on hoeing my garden.”
Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

WHATEVER YOU ARE ALIVE TO!

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

His name is Jesus and He is and was and evermore shall be the Son of Man and the Son of God. And when you approach Him with even a little bit of your heart on fire, He can work miracles.

He can do what the Prophet Jeremiah talked about in a story he told. “I went down one day to the potter’s house and watched the potter mold a piece of clay. Something in the clay resisted the potter’s will and spoiled his dream for it. I saw the clay crumble in his hands and fall in broken pieces on the floor. But the potter did not throw it away as I supposed he would. Instead, he stooped down, picked up the broken pieces and made it over. The vessel was marred in the hands of the potter, so he made it again.” (Jeremiah 18:3-5)

When you give Christ His chance, for the first time in your life you will find out what really living really is.

Life is what we are alive to. For some life is only bar rooms and B-girls. For others, it is only shifty deals and a fast buck. For others, it is backyard gossip and boredom in the suburbs.

But God in the book of Deuteronomy puts it this way, “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil…therefore choose life, that both you and your children may live.”

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
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And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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A SHALLOW MOMENT OF SHAME

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH. I BEGAN A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER

It is more than a story that I am about to embellish. It is a history lesson. And as someone once said, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

A man named Peter huddled against a wall and shivered as he pulled his cloak more tightly around his shoulders. Not far away guards gathered round a fire too tiny to ward off the cold of a dark and moonless night.

It was 4 A.M. and grumbling members of the Grand Sanhedrin were arriving at the Temple. They were hardly happy at being awakened at such an ungodly hour. However, they all agreed it was worth the inconvenience because it was time to be rid of this thorn in their side. This man from Nazareth who acted as if he had come from heaven itself.

As these Hebrew leaders swept past, a servant girl suddenly looked at the hooded Peter and cried out, “Are you not a disciple of this one called Jesus?”

A look of fear and then anger swept across his eyes as he hissed back in reply, “Away with you woman? You speak foolishness and would get me in trouble.”

At that moment an ancient door creaked open. Peter looked toward the sound, toward the house of Annas, toward the staircase that led down into the Courtyard. Toward Caiaphas who walked ahead of the soldiers. Toward the face of his Master, lighted by a lantern’s flickering flame. It was against the law to hold a criminal trial in darkness, but no one came forward to cry out, “Hold now!” No one.

An hour later, when the trial was well underway, a man standing close to Peter turned and staring hard into his face accused, “I know you. I have seen you more than once walking with this man now on trial. You are one of his disciples.”

Peter blanched. Every part of his being called out for him to stand tall and faithful. To be courageous rather than cowardly.

Instead, softly now, for there was a great weariness in him…. no longer defiance… softly now, he almost whispered, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” The words burned in his throat and took away his breath.

To one of the guards overhearing the exchange, the man commented, “No matter what he says, that man is a disciple.”

“I am not…I am not…I am not,” Peter vehemently denied. And as he spoke a rooster, not far away, stretched himself, flapped his wings, raised his head and crowed.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

Jan 12 WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT STARS?
DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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COOL IT

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

THIS IS PART OF A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER THAT BEGAN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH.

Remember Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane and how his anger got the best of him while giving the worst to a Roman soldier.

He had drawn his sword and cut off the nearest ear.

And then Jesus, in so many words, said “Cool it, Peter” after he had drawn his sword and cut off the nearest ear. Actually Jesus said, “…all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

There is a thing called justice in the scheme of things. And there is a thing called patience. And there is Jesus looking over our shoulder.

Do you have a lot of anger in your life? I hope not…but if you do how much of it have you sown and cultivated by having an ongoing list of those you are currently mad at? Have you given the madness in your life a life of its own?

What I’m saying is, don’t love with your fingers crossed. Don’t love with a frown on both your face and your heart. Anger is a five-letter curse word. And, yes, every one of us has been mad enough to have earned a diagnosis of being temporarily insane. Well, at least I know I have…

Do you read Peanuts? Doesn’t everyone?

At any rate, a number of years ago, Lucy in one of her monologues says, “I have examined my life and found it is without flaw. Therefore, I’m going to hold a ceremony and present myself with a medal. I will then give a moving acceptance speech. After that, I’ll greet myself in the receiving line.”

She concludes somewhat sadly, “When you’re perfect, you have to do everything yourself.”

Come to think of it…this is one of the chief causes of so much of our ongoing angers…everyone else isn’t as perfect as we are….or think we are.

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. —Proverbs 14:29

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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THE WRITING ON THE WALL

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(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

THIS IS PART OF A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER THAT BEGAN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH.

A mother went berserk one afternoon when she was told by an older child that her little four year old had taken a magic marker and written all over her new wall paper.

Without viewing the damage she charged up the stairs and entered his room screaming at the top of her lungs. "Do you realize what you have done, you little monster? I saved for months to be able to help make our house beautiful and now look what you have done!”

She raved and ranted as the little boy cowered in the corner. Finally, exhausted from spanking him, yelling at him and belittling him, she charged out of the room, slammed the door and charged downstairs to view the disaster area.

And there it was. In big capital red letters, “Mummy, I love you.”

“Notable Christians must be noticeable Christians.”

Which means that a red face and a loud mouth does not do a very good job of selling Christianity.
The Greeks have a word for anger out of control, or retaliation. The word is spelled r-a-c-a, and pronounced properly it is the sound you make when you clear your throat just before you spit. It is a graphic, rather crude, illustration, isn’t it? But oh, such a beautiful description of retaliation.

Would you have more patience? Then mobilize for change. Study the Bible and apply its teaching to your life.

In Matthew 5:21-22 read, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement.” That’s only a few verses after The Beatitudes in which Christ taught that “Blessed are the merciful.”

Or read those words in the book of James “…man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:20)

“…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

No one ever said that being a practicing Christian was easy.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE AN ATTACK OF PATIENCE?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

THIS IS PART OF A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER THAT BEGAN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH.

A pastor was visiting a family one afternoon and everything had gone quite nicely and normal until suddenly the wife interrupted with the words, “I can’t just sit here and say nothing. Pastor, sitting where you are I’m sure everything seems fine…well it isn’t. My husband and our son haven’t spoken in so many years I can’t remember how many.

They live in the same house, pass each other every day and neither one of them will say a word.”
The pastor looked at the man and simply asked, “Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s true. I vowed I’d never speak to him again and I haven’t.”

“What was it all about,” asked the pastor. “I don’t remember,” admitted the man, “but I have kept my vow.”

Anger? Anger is a wind that blows out the lamp of the mind.

Do we live in an age of rage?

U.S. News reports that a serious crime is committed in America every six seconds, most of them because of anger. The average man loses his temper 6 times a week, the average woman 3. Many psychologists argue that anger out of control is the cause of most depression.

How often do you get mad and why?

Do you get mad at people because they don’t agree with you? So who are you? God?

Do you get mad at people when they don’t act as you think they should? So who gave you the right to write all the rules?

And if you tell me you have never been angry I will figure that you are either in denial or that you are a liar. Because while anger may be only one of the seven deadly sins, it is probably one of the most practiced.

But that is not the point. Not that you get angry or how often but what do you get angry about?

There is only one way you can be angry without its being a sin and that is to be angry at an opinion but not a person; to be angry at an idea, but not at people. Yes, there is such a thing as righteous indignation, but most indignation is not righteous, just indignant.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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BLANKITY BLANKITY BLANKITY BLANK

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

THIS IS PART OF A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER THAT BEGAN ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH.

An evangelist, speaking at an Annual Conference, said, “You people don’t really care about other people, about those beaten down by poverty, about some little children hungry all day long, about the homeless or lonely old people in nurses homes, you don’t give a BLANKITY BLANK about anyone but yourselves.”

And where I just said BLANKITY BLANK he used two very vulgar words.

You could have cut the silence with a knife.

He continued, “Do you realize what you just did? You were made terribly angry when I used those BLANKITY BLANK words but you weren’t angry at all at the injustice being practiced around the world.

You got angry but you just got angry at the wrong thing.”

An oft-repeated proverb reads, “You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad.” And I’d like to make an addition to that thought. - you can tell the size of a man by how long he stays mad no matter what the size of the thing that got him in that condition in the first place.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

NOT A MUMBLIN WORD

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

In the 1930’s, Roland Hayes, a gifted black singer, stood before a hostile Nazi audience in Berlin’s Beethoven Hall. As he tried to sing, they called him every dirty name that his race had ever endured.

In telling of the incident, he says, “Resentment began to swell up inside me. I began to feel toward them what they felt toward me, and then for some strange reason, I remembered a sermon I heard as a little boy.

The old minister standing there in the pulpit in my home church, talking about Jesus before Pilate. About the angry crowd and the insults…and how he said, “They pushed Jesus, they pushed Him real hard, but He never said a word, never a mumblin’ word.”

And, remembering His love, His forgiveness, I looked out at the crowd booing, hissing, insulting and I prayed silently, intently. For ten minutes they never let up. For ten minutes, I prayed not to become like them. Then, slowly, they quit and when it was quiet, I began to softly sing a song by Schubert.”

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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THE ANGLE OF YOUR WRANGLE

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

In the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team was playing in Boston. Halfway through the game, an Orioles player, John McGraw, got into a first class fight with Boston’s third baseman.

Soon, all the players on both teams exploded onto the field and fists began to fly. Soon the fight spread to the stands. Then someone set the stands on fire. The fire spread – when it was over 107 buildings in Boston lay in ashes.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 explains what really happened, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”

To find anger is to lose reason. It paves the way for many regrets and continuous acts of foolishness. One can seldom be proud of what they say or do when angry.

The book of Proverbs puts it this way: “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.”

“Daddy,” the little boy asked, “How does war start?” “Well,” answered his daddy, “In World War I the Germans marched into Belgium and…” His wife interrupted, “You’re wrong. The Archduke was assassinated. You’ve got the wrong war.”

“Who did our son ask? Just shut up and stay out of this.” Now his wife was beginning to steam, “If you weren’t so dumb I wouldn’t have had to say anything.” As their anger escalated the little boy broke in, “You don’t have to say any more. I have the answer.”

Will Rodgers once commented, “Anyone who flies off in a rage is going to have a very rocky landing.
“If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attack.” Proberbs 25:8
Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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A CLIMB TOWARD NOWHERE

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

One day a caterpillar came upon a painted stick that had been stuck in the ground. It was bright and colorful and thereby seduced him to climb it.

When he reached its top, he stretched out in all directions to find a juicy twig for the eating, but what he had climbed was only a decoration.

He had wasted his time and effort. So he turned and climbed down. And upon reaching the ground, traveled for a short distance and came upon another painted stick that had been stuck in the ground.

It was even brighter and more colorful than the first stick, so he began to climb. When he reached its top he once again stretched out in all directions to find a juicy twig to munch on, but what he had climbed was only a decoration. He had wasted his time and effort.

And so he turned and climbed down once again, and upon reaching the ground traveled for a short distance and came upon another painted stick that had been stuck in the ground. And so it was that all day long he kept finding more painted sticks and climbing to the top of them and climbing back down. He never seemed to learn. And when the day was over he was still hungry. Very, very hungry, indeed.

There are many painted sticks in life, are there not? Painted sticks called wealth, power, success, pleasure.

And Isaiah looking at life that can indeed be a lot of colored sticks wrote, “It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth; but he awaketh and his soul is empty.”

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

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YOU MEAN HE NEVER HAD A FUND RAISING DRIVE?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

George Muller. He lived in England many years ago and he was considered by many a rather peculiar duck, at best. You see he established an orphanage and all the years ran it completely by the power of prayer. Never asked for a contribution. Never had a building-fund drive. Just prayed.

Once someone was chiding him for his obstinacy on this matter and accused him of living from hand to mouth. He simply answered by saying, “You are right, my friend. We do live from hand to mouth. It is our mouth but it is God’s hand.”

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

MEMORY IS A FRIEND OR AN ENEMY. IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU MEMORIZE.

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

During World War II, our armed forces found fighting in jungles much more nerve racking than regular combat: - what with snipers firing from the treetops, from tangled jungle, always from unexpected places. The morale of our troops was badly shattered.

One young man who had survived many such fighting forays, both geographically and psychologically, was brought before the Defense Department in Washington, D.C. and asked how he had managed to come through so many nerve shattering experiences and still keep his mental and emotional equilibrium? His answer was somewhat unexpected. He replied, “I had memorized the 23rd Psalm.”

I tell you this. He hadn’t just memorized the Psalm. He truly believed it. He truly believed in a great God and His great promises about anxiety, power and immortality. By finding the source of life, he also found he could live with courage or die with dignity, whichever was the will of the Lord.

His answer was THE answer, but one the Defense Department was not quite equipped to make use of. It was not something that could be prepared in triplicate, nor a vaccination that could be administered. Even if they had wanted to, his answer can never be given, it must be found individually.

It is the same today. Faith can be explained - to some extent; it can be offered. But actually, your faith factor, your belief in God must be reached for by you, taken by you.

You see, before that young man could stand up and say that all of this happened because he had memorized the 23rd Psalm, there had to be a first time that he just read the Psalm.

And the first time he read that Psalm maybe it really had little meaning at all. Then he read it again, and again, and finally he memorized it; engraved it across the very texture of his soul. He had taken it as his own.

When Paul had his Damascus Road experience, do you think that was the only time he had ever traveled that road? Hardly. It is just that he was at the right place at the right time with the right attitude. The power and presence of Christ was offered and taken, and Saul became Paul.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HUNGRY FOR WHAT?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

There is a plant found in some jungles of this world that when eaten will satisfy the appetite, but has absolutely no nutritional value. It tastes so good that there is a distinct possibility that you might eat it to the exclusion of all other foods. Carried to the extreme you could end up with a full stomach while slowly starving to death. One tribe calls it the Devil’s Plant.

And this, as you may well already have imagined, is another example of what Isaiah was talking about. By allegory he was warning his people that if they forgot God for lesser things, one day they would wake up and find that while they thought they were enjoying a feast, in reality they were participating in a famine.

It is, of course, why the world is filled with, if not skinny people, at least definitely is filled with skinny souls.

Isaiah 29:8 (King James)
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

THEY HAVE PROBLEMS BUT WHO IS THEY?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

Once upon a time a mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the barnyard, he rushed around warning all the other animals, “There’s a mousetrap in the house, there’s a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and raising her head, said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

So the mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There’s a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized but said, “I’m so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow, but she said, “I’m sorry for you, Mr. Mouse, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So the mouse, head down and dejected, returned to the house to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the barnyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness persisted, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

But she did not get well and soon died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them.

So, the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn’t concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we all are at risk.

In the book of Genesis, Cain asked God about his brother Abel, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Because we are all involved in this journey called life, the answer is yes. We must keep an eye out for one another. Be willing to make that extra effort to encourage and sometimes even give more than just compassionate, verbal support.

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

BE IN CHARGE OF YOUR OWN SUNSHINE

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

It is sometimes impossible to make bad things good or sickness change to health. Our best made dreams sometimes come crashing at our feet. Since then we are sometimes powerless to change events obviously we must work to improve our capability to change our attitude. Do this and the sun truly shines from behind the clouds more often.

His name was John Roeling and he had a dream. He also had an accident that left him unable to walk, talk or move. For years he had wanted to link New York with Long Island by the building of a bridge. After his accident everyone but John figured he would give up on his dream.

And there it would have died, except that while the body of John was paralyzed the spirit of John soared like an Eagle.

The project had already begun. And now negativism surrounded him like a living thing.

So John did the only thing he could do. He ignored negativism. First he put it in the back seat, then in the trunk and finally he left it by the side of the road of life and moved on.

Paralyzed but moved on. Hopeless but hopeful he moved on. He took the one and only finger hat he could move and working out a code of communication he began to type out a messages to his wife that he wanted her to call the engineers again.

The accident was just a big bump in the road. A big bump. A massive bump as big as the Himalayas. But nowhere as big as the enthusiasm and power of the positive thinking of this indomitable man.

For 13 years he typed out his instructions on his wife’s arm. And one day his crazy vision, his unbelievable dream rose into the sky and crossed a body of water and at the moment I believe at least some angels in heaven sung a special song for such a spirit come alive.

The world had thought him mad but he knew some kinds of madness are the kinds of madness that turn a hell into heaven.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13-14

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST?

WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST?
These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year)

Her mother died when she was three. She suffered a terrible hip injury at nineteen that left her a cripple. Despite this downfall she found romance and looked forward to her wedding day with great excitement. He husband to be drowned the day before.

She could have muted her life with recrimination and cursed the God who gave her life. She chose to do otherwise. From her pain she began to write uplifting devotionals, thousands of them. Words that did not deny that destiny had smote her dreams but rather in admitting her vale of tears she was able to find spiritual rainbows.

And many of them were converted to hymns. And on the day she died her last words, not written but spoken with great fervor and without regret, rancor or fear were “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”

What will my last words be? And yours? And why?

So many…in their words…in their lives…have sought to find the truth that the challenge of adversity can make a soul to grow in such a way as nothing else.

And they have written it down, these folk and I share with just a few o the many I have kept after reading them. Indeed, when you have finished reading the thoughts below…why not take out a piece of paper and write down your own thoughts on how adversity has treated you and how you have reacted to it.

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. AGATHA CHRISTIE

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more. DAVID STEINDL-RAST

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. CHINESE PROVERB

Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow. DOROTHY THOMPSON

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HOW IS YOUR CRYSTAL BALL THESE DAYS?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

Yogi Berra once said, “Prediction is very hard, especially when it is about the future.” And yes, that is the problem with resolutions. They have to overcome all the stumbling blocks that lay in that time yet to come.

He was just a little boy who wanted to sell his pottery. It helped to feed his family and all he needed was for the tourist to say, “Yes.”

But the tourist was trying to bargain, to drive the already low price down even farther and the little boy was saying for the third time, “I mean no disrespect, Sir, but I weigh my piece of pottery, calculate my time spent making it and that is the cost.”

Life is like that, isn’t it.

Every decision we make has to be weighed and we have to decide what the cost will be.

Sometimes we have made wrong decisions and hoped we would not have to pay the cost, but it cost every bit of pain and problem we knew it would…or gives that special joy and peace we felt it would. We usually can easily speculate what is coming after what we have just done or left undone.

Yes, and sometimes we have made right decisions, and though they may have cost us dearly in time and effort because their was sacrifice in them, we have given prayers of thanks for it was all worth the effort and the cost.

Of that we had and have no doubt.

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17).

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

He had no brothers or sisters. Of the twenty children his mother attempted to bring into this world he was the only one who survived.

As child he sat on the knees of this mother who made him an orphan not that long after and listened to her make the Bible come alive.

It came quite naturally then that he would want to become a minister. How to finance such a dream did not come quite so naturally. He and destitution were friends and certainly to him there was no friendship there at all.

He had no idea what to do except what he had always done so he did it even more. Prayer. And one day while he was praying there came a letter through the mail. It was a letter from a man of wealth offering to finance his training.

It was a letter to man whose middle name was gratitude and for whom the affection of his mind was toward a god who he felt had blessed and would continue to bless him. He had written when still quite young, “God is an immortal Father, my soul rejoices in Him; He hath hitherto helped me and provided for me.”

It seemed to him not unusual that this heavenly Father was “helping and providing for him” once again.

The letter had come while he prayed. To him it was a message concise and clear. My life shall be one of unceasing prayer and that is what it became. He prayed on awakening. He prayed as he slid into sleep at the end of day. He prayed while getting dressed and preparing for the new hours now before him.

Prayer for him was not just something he did. It was a way of life.

At age 27 he received the challenge to become the head of a Seminary but because he was frail he wondered whether it would be a wise choice to accept or a foolish one. Truth pursued him in strange ways all his life. As he passed a house a clear child’s voice came through a window and the words were unmistakably a leading. They were from the book of Deuteronomy “As your days, so shall your strength be.”

For twenty two years he led thousands of students by obvious devotion and wisdom thoughts. His sermons inspired, his books were the equivalent of being on the New York Times Best Seller list.

But all this had taken their toll. He died October 26, 1751 of consumption.

But as it is with all of us…who he had been continued on…what he had said continued on.

How many found a life of prayer because of him. How many sung his hymns or mused on his thoughts or added to them and them stronger still.

"I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HE FOUND BY LOSING

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

He was a prodigy. When his legs were too short to reach the organ pedals he wandered into the chapel of the court of a Duke and began to play music far beyond the capabilities of one so young.

This was George Frederick Handel, who by the time of he was twenty held the world in the palm of his musical hand. He captured and was captured by the violin, the organ and the harpsichord. He wrote operas at an age when most children are still having trouble with the nature of spelling.

By the age of 20 he had taken Italy by storm and controlled the storm to his liking. Eavesdrop on any conversation in England and he was the subject more often than not. For him there was nowhere to go but up.

And then it happened.

His glory and fame did not just diminish. They plummeted. Auditoriums that had been sold out now echoed with emptiness when his music was played. He was of the past and could not catch up with the present.

He had ideas and projects and he watched them fail, one after the other. He lost money as if it had legs and was rushing him toward ruin and bankruptcy. He had risen too close to the sun and now his wings scorched and worthless were dropping him back toward earth. . He wept and his weeping was an agony he felt he could not bear.

But out of bad came good. Out of pain came promise. It matured him. It muted a tongue that had been sharp and uncaring. His temper had burned like a white hot flame and he cooled it to a gentler warmth. He was no longer the same man he had been but he was a better man.

And then it happened. On the pages of eternal history there are moments in time that have a special hope in them. This was one of those moments.

He received a manuscript from a man named Charles Jennens. It was a collection of texts about Christ. The opening words from Isaiah read “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.”

The next 23 days would be monumental. Behind closed doors that he did not open for that over three week period he began the composition of music that would capture the world. He never could explain what happened but he tried.

He wrote, “Whether I was in the body or out of the body when I wrote it, I know not.” But the world knew what had happened. The majesty of heaven briefly come to call in a way never before to recharge a million times a million souls.

To hear the Messiah is to be breathless, to rise to ones feet while at the same time wanting to fall to ones knees.

And yes, when the final words are sung, audiences everywhere have no doubt what must be done…what cannot otherwise but be done…rise as one to their feet and shout the same words that are being sung “Hallelujiah.”

Your word is like a lamp for my feet and
a light for my path.
-Psalm 119:105-

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

HE DIDN'T HAVE IT MADE

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

He was an unlikely candidate for fame for many reasons. He had a big nose, a small body and his skin was pale as death itself.

A woman fell in love with him from reading and singing the hymns he wrote but when she met him, his appearance was so unsettling there was no place for her love to go but away. Confused and saddened she said, “I only wish I could admire the casket (jewelry box) as much as I admire the jewel.”

Then this hymn writer suffered a stroke that left him with the ability to speak but took away his ability to write. Bedridden, sick and on the edge of depression he rode the enemy of his illness like a knight going into battle. He hired a secretary and dictated his hymns. Adversity was a word he could easily define but he would not be ruled by it.

His breaths may well have been short but the drive of his faith was long and strong. Poems and books poured from this shriveling and sickened frame. The little man was a giant of courage.

When Isacc Watts died in 1748 he had written 600 hymns, books on grammar, astronomy, philosophy and geography. He was prolific for his Lord and his hymns are a long line of gentle persuasion.

You may well have sung many of them many, many times. I know I have and because of it, we both are blessed.

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” “Joy to the World” “From All That Dwell Below the Skies” “O God Our Help in Ages Past” Think back on all the times you sung these words. A small country church, a large city congregation, by yourself just driving down the road.

So it was with this man who took the brawn and beauty of his brain, immersed it in the sweet and glorious power of his Savior and was able to write these hymns that have changed the lives of millions.

His life could have been one long litany of complaint and self pity. He could have wrapped himself in regrets and cursed the God who made him so. Instead he chose to remember that it is the rocks in the river that make the river sing.
“…fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” —Isaiah 41:10

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

FIGURING WHY IS A GREAT HELP FOR HOW

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

This is what happens with many resolutions. They take on not just a life of their own but a death of their own. They are signed, sealed, delivered and then promptly forgotten.

Why? Because all resolutions come down to priorities. To be ravaged by deliberate delay and righteous rationalization. “Consider your ways,” said the Old Testament prophet Haggai then and he says it now. “Consider your way of life and where it is taking you.”

Indeed, when you have finished reading these thoughts, take out a piece of paper and write at the top of the page, MY WAYS CONSIDERED. Then on this list of priorities consider what ends up at the top, what ends up on the bottom and what lies in between.

When you have finished this, on the same piece of paper write the following questions.
If you gave those who know you best the opportunity to give you advice on what to improve, what would they tell you?
And, who do you want to help?

Is there someone you want to hurt?

What will you do this next year that will matter most in the next decade?

In eternity?

How much time will you waste?

How much time will you savor?

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

NEVER TOO BUSY

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

. Once upon a time, there was an exhausted housewife who dragged herself to the ringing phone and wearily said, “Yes, who is it?”

“Oh, honey,” came back the reply, “you sound so terribly tired.”

“I am,” she said. “The baby spilt the milk…twice. I am so tired I burned a brand new blouse as I ironed it, and when I tried to play a new CD, the player just sat there in silence.”

The mother on the other end was overwhelmed with sympathy, “Oh, honey,” she said, “I’ll be over in half a hour. Meanwhile, just sit down and relax. I’ll get everything done for you and call Harry to come home and help me.”

“Harry,” responded the weary housewife, “Who’s Harry?”

There was a long silence, “Harry? Harry is your husband…isn’t this 665-1212?”

“No, this is 665-1213.”

“Oh my goodness,” said the kindly mother on the other end, “I must have dialed the wrong number.”

There was an even longer silence and then the housewife asked, “Does that mean you’re not coming over?”

You have problems that need resolutions and help with following through with those resolutions? God will come over and stay over and you won’t have to go it alone. With God there is no wrong number, only right commitment and heavenly help galore. So face this New Year with a timeless God who hasn’t given up on you and never will.

“But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand…” Psalm 10:14)

Below are recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.

YOUR TOMORROW? BRIGHTNESS OR BLIGHTNESS?

These thoughts are added to each day. Scroll down and read previous One A Days.)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters) (365 stories a year

If you change, the world around you changes - for better or for worse, but it changes. Daily you shrivel the world or brighten it or bring it darkness. You have such power to transform those tiny portions of it you come in contact with.

You’ve got a mad on toward someone for a good reason? Or no good reason? Well, the Bible in its irritating way of aiming you in the right direction says change your sword into a plowshare, plant seeds rather than rip up roots, be a solace not a petulant pest.

This New Year can be a time when we really examine, from the perspective of last year, how much we are in control and where we have no control at all. I cannot control whether you love me or forgive me, but I can make it easier for the possibility. I cannot control where storms can strike, but I can control how well I am prepared. The list of things I cannot control is long, but so is the list of solutions.

You and I can control our prayer life and our resolution life and our self-improvement life. We can seek God daily or let the Devil help us go to pot.

Oh, yes, in a world where there is much we can’t control, there is certainly much over which we have magnificent control.

Let me give you a scripture to help you in improving your future.

Proverbs 28:13 “he who conceals his sins does not prosper but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Recent Titles on my other blog. To view them go Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

DEC 29 HAVE YOU GRADED YOUR VALUE SYSTEM RECENTLY?
Dec 20 DO YOU TOLERATE TOLERANCE?
Dec 17 BE A REACHABLE!
Dec 10 TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND PUNT
Dec 3 GOD HAD A DREAM
Dec 1…THE SECRET POWER OF THE SECOND MILE
NOV 25…ARE YOU A SPIRITUAL ANOREXIC? ARE YOU READY WITH READINESS?
Nov 11 LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FOREVER,
Nov 4…AN UNEXPECTED HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS
Nov 1 …ARE YOU SNIFF AND SNUFF OR HEM AND HAW

Have you considered sharing this site with family or friends? Just have them go to Google Search and type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”.
Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE.