SOUL STRENGTH

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He was neither a preacher nor a theologian with countless degrees, but his was a soul that knew God on a first name basis.

It is why when all four of Horatio Spafford’s daughters perished at sea, he still was able to write a hymn so many of us have sung, and more than once.

“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows, like sea-billows, roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”

It is what happens in the life of those who stretch their souls…therefore…a challenge…
In this world of storm, be a rainbow.
Stretch your soul so you can forgive and not otherwise be petty and full of pout.
Build towers of kindness where angels will want to gather and sing.
Raise up the sails of your soul and let them gather in the winds of God.
Be an Eagle and fly so high you can almost hear the pearly gates swinging open for yet another soul that also stretched and stretched and stretched some more.

Be soul-strong so that when the spirit of Auschwitz, or slavery, or racism, or any of like kin or kind seeks to live, you will destroy such thoughts. You will speak out, and when you have finished speaking,
People will know that you have stretched your soul.

Psalm 23:1-4
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me to lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside the still waters.He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil;For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
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NEIL’S 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN” IS AVAILABLE ON Amazon.com’s KINDLE READER

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SHE SAID IT TO HERSELF

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Most people do not really have goals. The cost is too great and most people simply spend their lives looking for the easy way out.

Then there was Ffyona Campbell, a British long distance walker, who over a period of 11 years walked 20,000 miles and earned for charity 11,000 pounds.

She walked across America and Australia. She walked through Europe.

She walked across Africa from Cape Town to Tangier. She walking through jungles, deserts and a 400 mile wide mine field, she earned her label as “the greatest walker of them all.”

When asked why she did it she replied, “Because I said I would.”

“Who did you say it to?” she was asked.

“I said it to myself.”

What do you say to yourself when you arise each morning…before you set out to fill in the rest of the day before you?

I’m not saying that the goal of Ffyona Campbell is one that many people would want to set for themselves…but that is not the point.
The point is that she said to herself “I’m going to do it…and she did it.” It was difficult and she still did it. There were times when she could have given up on the idea…but she didn’t.

In that early morning conversation with yourself I was just talking about, tell yourself that you want to be soul-deep in your thinking….deep and dedicated to something else besides being a sloth hanging upside down from a tree.

Tell yourself you will set a personal record for walking through the jungles and deserts of life and never giving up. That if life is a marathon then you will fill its highways and byways with purpose.

And when you ask yourself why you are doing it, answer yourself, “Because I said I would.”

Say it, and do it, and say it, and do it, and keep on saying and doing it for the rest of your life.

Phl 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
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NEIL’S 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN” IS AVAILABLE ON Amazon.com’s KINDLE READER

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STRETCH YOUR SOUL (2nd in Series)

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What is the shape of this soul we need to keep on stretching?

Is it round or square? Or is it never the same shape today it was yesterday?

Is it constantly changing as we grow it larger or shrink it smaller?

Does it have doors to let the love of God in, and doors to let the evil of the devil out?

You say you love some Rock music but not the words, and that you can listen to the music and ignore the words? Really? Or is that great big ear of our soul listening and remembering?

And how do your memories affect your soul? Do they teach you? Admonish you to make better memories in the future?

What does your soul feed on?
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NEIL’S 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN” IS AVAILABLE ON Amazon.com’s KINDLE READER

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STRETCH YOUR SOUL

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A man in a bar walked over to a friend who was sitting in a corner all by himself drinking. As he drew closer he saw that his friend looked terrible. “What’s the problem?” he asked.

My mother died in June,” he said, “and left me $10,000.”

“That’s tough,” replied the friend, “No wonder you look so bad…your lost your mother, man.”

“Then in July,” the morose man continued, “My father died, leaving me $50,000.”

“Wow! Two parents gone in two months. No wonder you’re depressed.”
“And last month my aunt died, and left me $15,000.”

“Three close family members lost in three months? Things haven’t been good have they?”

“Then this past month,” continued, the friend, “nothing! Not a single dime.”

Let me tell you another story.
You may remember reading several years back about Oseola McCarty. She had lived in a small wooden frame house in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and worked her whole life as washer woman.

Then, in July 1995, she announced she was leaving $150,000 of her life’s savings to the University of Southern Mississippi. “I just want some others to have the chance for an education I never had,” was her explanation. She had dreamed of becoming a nurse but had to drop out of elementary school to help take care of sick relatives.

One story is of selfishness. The other story is of selflessness.

One individual was living with a shrunken soul. The other with a soul that stretched miles further than most.

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NEIL’S 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN” IS AVAILABLE ON Amazon.com’s KINDLE READER

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LOVE…An Etching That Has Forever In It

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

Serialization of Neil’s Internationally Distributed Novel (Rust On My Soul) (Published by Bridge Press (1985) is available on his blog Wyrick’s Writings.

To view the blog that has this serialization CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

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I have swum the Central Florida waters, where Jason Tuskes died, many times but without the same tragic results.

One Tuesday morning, this 17 year old went scuba diving in some cool spring waters not far from his home. “He’s part fish” some of his friends would often say for he was more than at home in the water.

This time all did not go well. Deep below the water he found himself wedged into a narrow passageway.

When he realized his situation was hopeless he took off his metal air tank and reaching for his diver’s knife began to etch a message on the metal surface, “I love you mom, dad and Christine.” In a short time he drowned.
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Jesus did that. Sent a message of love.

It was a cross rather than a cave where he died but from that cross he etched across the table of human history that great message of love that was Golgotha’s echo,” Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
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THE GERBER BOY

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

Serialization of Neil’s Internationally Distributed Novel (Rust On My Soul) (Published by Bridge Press (1985) is available on his blog Wyrick’s Writings.

To view the blog that has this serialization CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/
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It was 1975 and a little child was born. The name Raymond Dunn, Jr. was duly recorded on his birth certificate.

Most births are routine. His wasn’t. The Associated Press reports that at his birth he suffered a skull fracture and oxygen deprivation that caused severe retardation.

With the passing of time things only grew worse. Up to twenty seizures per day twisted his body causing severe and relentless pain. He was mute, blind and immobile.

He had allergies so severe that his body could handle only one food; a meat-based formula made by Gerber Foods.

But in 1985, Gerber stopped making the formula. His mother scoured the country to buy up all the cans any stores had in stock.

In 1990 the cupboard was bare. Raymond could not long survive.

She took her problem to Gerber and the employees of the company listened. Soon hundreds of volunteers willingly gave hundreds of hours to resurrect old equipment, set up production lines and obtain special approval from the USDA to produce the formula.

Five years later, in 1995 Raymond Dunn, Jr. known as the Gerber boy, died from his physical problems.
But during his brief lifetime he called forth an overflow of compassion from a collection of folk who saw their destiny of little things…and did it.

Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
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COMPASSION ALIVE AND WELL

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It was 1975 and a little child was born. The name Raymond Dunn, Jr. was duly recorded on his birth certificate.

Most births are routine. His wasn’t. The Associated Press reports that at his birth he suffered a skull fracture and oxygen deprivation that caused severe retardation.

With the passing of time things only grew worse. Up to twenty seizures per day twisted his body causing severe and relentless pain. He was mute, blind and immobile.

He had allergies so severe that his body could handle only one food; a meat-based formula made by Gerber Foods.

But in 1985, Gerber stopped making the formula. His mother scoured the country to buy up all the cans any stores had in stock.

In 1990 the cupboard was bare. Raymond could not long survive.

She took her problem to Gerber and the employees of the company listened. Soon hundreds of volunteers willingly gave hundreds of hours to resurrect old equipment, set up production lines and obtain special approval from the USDA to produce the formula.

 
Five years later, in 1995 Raymond Dunn, Jr. known as the Gerber boy, died from his physical problems.

But during his brief lifetime he called forth an overflow of compassion from a collection of folk who saw their destiny of little things…and did it.

“Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” –1 John 3:18
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