Inspirational Stories

[FineLinen]

Video has emerged showing a man -- identified as Jim Finch -- setting up a grill in the middle of Mayfield, Kentucky, to prepare food for locals who have been impacted by the tornado that ravaged the town on December 10.

"I just figured I'd do what I can do -- show up with some food and some water," Finch is heard saying on video as debris and rubble can be seen in the background.

Finch traveled an hour and a half to get to Mayfield

[FineLinen]

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

During World War I, in the winter of 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders, one of the most unusual events in history took place.

The Germans had been in a fierce battle with the British and French. Both sides were dug in, safe in muddy man-made trenches six to eight feet deep that seemed to stretch forever? but it was Christmas, and what happened next was astonishing.

The Germans set trees on trench parapets and lit the candles. Then, they began singing carols, and though their language was unfamiliar to their enemies, the tunes were not. After a few trees were shot at, the British became more curious than belligerent and crawled forward to watch and listen. And after a while, they began to sing.

By Christmas morning, the "no man's land" between the trenches was filled with fraternizing soldiers, sharing rations and gifts, singing and (more solemnly) burying their dead between the lines. Soon they were even playing soccer, mostly with improvised balls.

Though the war was to continue, the commanders on both sides ordered their troops to restart hostilities, this interval of peace during war was extraordinary and unprecedented.

[FineLinen]

George Dantzig

During his first year of graduate study at the University of California at Berkeley, George B. Dantzig arrived late for a statistics class. He saw two problems on the blackboard. Assuming they were homework, he copied them and a few days later turned in his solutions.

One Sunday morning six weeks afterward, the professor appeared at Dantzig's door, waving a manuscript. It turned out that the professor had merely written two examples of unsolvable problems on the blackboard. The manuscript was Dantzig's work ready for publication. George Dantzig later became known as the father of linear programming.

Had George arrived in class a little earlier to hear the professor say that these problems "couldn't be solved", he might have never even have tried to solve them -- probably like all the other students in the class.

We humans give up way too easily -- someone says it can't be done and we don't give it a second thought!

[FineLinen]

Mr. Rogers

Once upon a time, a reporter was assigned the job of writing an article about the TV host of the long-running children's program, Mister Roger's Neighborhood. The reporter was a little skeptical and didn't know quite what to expect. Through his conversations with the beloved star, he thought he'd learn about Fred Rogers. But what actually happened caused the reporter to learn about what was missing in himself, and his relationship with God.

Mister Rogers did all that with a prayer that was just three words long.

Fred Rogers was not just a TV show host. He was also an advocate for Public Television and Children's Rights, and he wondered whether the connections we make with others can help create a Heaven on earth?that when we invest in others and care for them, we create the opportunity to basically ?live' in Heaven (on earth.)

There are miraculous stories about how God used Mister Rogers. There were stories about how he inspired a boy with autism to open up and eventually start speaking. And how a man found his entire life changed after a brief encounter in an elevator with Mister Rogers. And the story about the connection he made with reporter Tom Junod is no different.

According to an article the reporter originally published in 1998, Tom had lost something when he was a child that had shaken his faith. And in their very first meeting, Mister Rogers asked him about it. Throughout their time together, he continued to bring up this beloved childhood toy - Old Rabbit - so intimately tied to Tom's prayer life.

After their introduction, Tom spent a considerable amount of time with Mister Rogers in order to write his now famous profile piece on the beloved children's TV host. It as more than just an interview - the reporter tagged along day after day.

Tom thought he'd get to know the man behind the show - that he'd separate Fred Rogers from the Mister Rogers on-camera persona. But he found there was no difference between the two. Mister Rogers was the same person when the cameras were rolling and when they weren't.

[FineLinen]

Mr. Rogers and me

I suffered up to one hundred seizures a day as a five-year-old child.  Often during a seizure, I would fall and bang my head on the floor or whatever hard object presented in my descent.

The only way for my mom to shower and dress for work without worrying was to prop me up with soft pillows and place me in front of the TV.  She turned on the children's TV show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, and I did not have a single seizure for the show's duration.  Something in his voice calmed the electrical circuits in my injured brain and allowed my body some rest.

Continued below

https://www.inspiremore.com/mister-rogers-and-me/

[FineLinen]

Rat who detected land mines in Cambodia dies in retirement

A land mine-detecting rat in Cambodia who received a prestigious award for his life-saving duty has died in retirement.

Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, passed away last weekend. said an announcement on the website of APOPO, a Belgium-headquartered non-profit group. The organization trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis.

Magawa was born in November 2013 in Tanzania, where APOPO maintains its operational headquarters and training and breeding center. He was sent to Cambodia in 2016.

The death of Magawa was announced a day after three mine removal experts working for another group were killed by an accidental explosion of an anti-tank mine in Cambodia's northern province of Preah Vihear. Almost three decades of civil war that ended in 1998 left Cambodia littered with land mines and other unexploded ordnance that continues to kill and maim.

According to APOPO, Magawa detected more than 100 land mines and other explosives during his five-year career before retiring last year.

His contribution allows communities in Cambodia to live, work, and play without fear of losing life or limb, said the group. In 2020, the rat also won a gold medal from the Britain-based People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, considered the highest award for gallantry an animal can receive.

African giant pouched rats are believed to be especially well-suited for land mine clearance because their small size lets them walk across mine fields without triggering the explosives.

Magawa

In retirement in Cambodia's northwestern province of Siem Reap, Magawa was housed in his usual cage, and fed the same food, mostly fresh fruit and vegetables, that sustained him during his active career. To keep him trim, he was released for 20-30 minutes a day into a larger cage with facilities such as a sandbox and a running wheel. His death at 8 years of age was not unusual for the species.

[FineLinen]

President Abraham Lincoln

On January 1st 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which proclaimed freedom for all slaves in the ten states which were in rebellion.

At the time, when U.S. Secretary of State Seward took the document to the President to sign, Lincoln took a pen, and held it for a moment. He then removed his hand and dropped his pen.

Lincoln turned to Seward and said, "I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it."

He hesitated, then took the pen, and without wavering, took the document and boldly signed it!

[FineLinen]

Nobody Cares

There was a man who was imprisoned during Napoleon's reign. While sulking in his dungeon one day, he etched on the wall the words "Nobody Cares".

A few weeks later, through a crack in the dungeon floor, a little green shoot sprang forth, reaching toward the tiny ray of sunlight that came from his small prison cell window.

The prisoner began giving a portion of his daily water to the little shoot and it began to grow.

One morning the man awoke to a beautiful flower. A tear rolling down his face, he crossed out the words, "Nobody Cares" and replaced them with "God Cares."

The story goes on to tell that His devotion to the flower was reported to the Empress Josephine. She was so very moved that she convinced Napoleon to set the man free.

[FineLinen]

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was busy working in his laboratory at 2 a.m. one morning when an assistant came into the room and noticed that the inventor was smiling broadly.

"Have you solved the problem?" he asked.

"No,"replied Edison, "that experiment didn't work at all. Now I can start over again."

Edison could have such a confident attitude because he knew that the road to success is often paved with disappointments that serve to extend the road, not to block it. Each failure brought him a little closer to success.

[FineLinen]

And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

The first man was called "Ah-dom", we know him as Adam. The word used for man/ mankind, in Genesis 1, is also the same word  "Ah-dom".

Ah-dom is rooted in the three Hebrew letters, aleph-dalet-mem.

One of the Hebrew words for earth is "Adamah", which contains the same three letters, however it ends with the Hebrew letter "hay".

"Adamah" means "red earth", or "red clay", and this word points to the natural earth elements, the "earth dust" that composed Adam's body, and the body of every human being since.

Man is in a very real sense, clay.

If a piece of clay is to become anything, it has to be molded, and to be moldable it must become wet.

Clay has a tendency to dry out quickly and become hardened, and once that happens, there's not much you can do with it.

Since we are made of clay, we are in constant need of water. This is true both physically, and also spiritually.

The water of His Word welling up through His Spirit will prevent us from becoming dry and hardened, and will enable us to "water" others, even to be, ourselves, a spring of living water.

[FineLinen]

Studying some remarkable events in the history of World War 2, we find the deliverance of the allied armies at Dunkirk; a true story of Divine providence in modern history.

On May 10, 1940, Hitler unleashed his armies against France and Belgium. Within days, the British army found itself outmaneuvered and unprepared for the German blitzkrieg assault led by General Rommel and his 7th Panzer division.

The German high command began boasting of the demise of the allied armies, particularly the 300,000 soldiers of the British army sent by then Prime Minister Winston Churchill to protect France and the low countries of Europe.

As the prospect of victory waned Churchill was prepared to announce an unprecedented military defeat of a third of a million soldiers.

But then a miraculous turn took place initiated by King George VI, who ordered the observance of a National Day of Prayer. The British Monarch, along with members of the cabinet, attended Westminster Abbey to pray, while millions of Britons all across the Kingdom in unprecedented unity, attended churches to join the King in prayer. Newspapers throughout the UK reported, "Nothing like it has ever happened before."

Then the miracles began:

First, Hitler ordered his troops to halt their advance for no apparent reason, which angered his generals and continues to baffle historians to this day. Secondly, a massive storm broke out in Flanders which grounded the German Luftwaffe squadrons, allowing the allied armies to travel to the beaches at Dunkirk unhindered by the German air force.

A third miracle involving the weather was that simultaneous with the storm which grounded the Luftwaffe, the English Channel was as still as a millpond...an unprecedented calm which allowed ships of every size to evacuate over 338,000 troops including 140,000 French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish soldiers from the beaches at Dunkirk.

Winston Churchill addressed the British nation and described the evacuation of Dunkirk as a miracle of deliverance..

[marie glen]

Wow! Great posts FineLinen!  :thumbsup:  Very enjoyable reading and information!

[FineLinen]

Atomas

"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (the sleep of death), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump..."

The Greek word translated here as moment is actually atomas, from whence we get our English word ATOM.

In other words, the change that is coming, and "the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:15), will take place on a sub-atomic level---NOT from without, but from within the very cells of our bodies.

It will be the result of the outworking of our salvation that first began in our spirits!

It's true that Jesus came "to seek and to save that which was lost," and to restore us back to the state in which man was originally created in the garden, before death had taken its toll.

A type of this is seen in the Old Testament book of Joshua, when the Israelites were about to cross over into "the promised land," where they would lay claim to their birthright inheritance. As you may recall, the Ark of the Covenant (a picture of Christ) was to be transported across the Jordan River first (the name Jordan means, "the descender;" and it has always been associated with death).

The people were instructed to wait patiently, and not to remove their place to go after it, until there was a space of "about 2000 cubits by measure" between it and them. They were also told to "come not near it, that you may know the way by which you should go; for you have not passed this way heretofore" (Josh 3:4).

Their eyes were to stay fixed on the Ark! Whenever the feet of the priests who were bearing the Ark stepped off of the river bank, a remarkable thing occurred--- the waters parted as they did at the Red Sea, and were rolled upstream, all the way back to a city named---are you ready for this? "ADAM."

Read it for yourself in Joshua 3:16! Surely the symbolism is clear enough, and the shadows are easily interpreted. JESUS our Savior has conquered death some 2000 years ago, when He was raised from among the dead. He alone can show us the way we should go, for we're entering into virgin territory (the "promised land" of a new, redeemed body). The glorious thing about it is, He's not just taking us back to where Adam was, before the Fall occurred; but beyond, to the place where Adam never reached, himself, in the eternal purposes of God (immortality, glorification).

NO ONE has ever passed this way before, save the Ark of God's Presence, Jesus Christ. ~Terry Crisp

[marie glen]

Atomas

"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (the sleep of death), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump..."

The Greek word translated here as moment is actually atomas, from whence we get our English word ATOM.

In other words, the change that is coming, and "the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:15), will take place on a sub-atomic level---NOT from without, but from within the very cells of our bodies.

It will be the result of the outworking of our salvation that first began in our spirits!

It's true that Jesus came "to seek and to save that which was lost," and to restore us back to the state in which man was originally created in the garden, before death had taken its toll.

A type of this is seen in the Old Testament book of Joshua, when the Israelites were about to cross over into "the promised land," where they would lay claim to their birthright inheritance. As you may recall, the Ark of the Covenant (a picture of Christ) was to be transported across the Jordan River first (the name Jordan means, "the descender;" and it has always been associated with death).

The people were instructed to wait patiently, and not to remove their place to go after it, until there was a space of "about 2000 cubits by measure" between it and them. They were also told to "come not near it, that you may know the way by which you should go; for you have not passed this way heretofore" (Josh 3:4).

Their eyes were to stay fixed on the Ark! Whenever the feet of the priests who were bearing the Ark stepped off of the river bank, a remarkable thing occurred--- the waters parted as they did at the Red Sea, and were rolled upstream, all the way back to a city named---are you ready for this? "ADAM."

Read it for yourself in Joshua 3:16! Surely the symbolism is clear enough, and the shadows are easily interpreted. JESUS our Savior has conquered death some 2000 years ago, when He was raised from among the dead. He alone can show us the way we should go, for we're entering into virgin territory (the "promised land" of a new, redeemed body). The glorious thing about it is, He's not just taking us back to where Adam was, before the Fall occurred; but beyond, to the place where Adam never reached, himself, in the eternal purposes of God (immortality, glorification).

NO ONE has ever passed this way before, save the Ark of God's Presence, Jesus Christ. ~Terry Crisp

Wow! That is awesome to read! :thumbsup: :cloud9:

[Lazarus Short]

Wow! That is awesome to read! :thumbsup: :cloud9:

Agreed - in fact, I took a nap after reading FL's story...and had a wonderful dream in which I found myself in a wonderful place and thought "I'd died and gone to heaven."

[FineLinen]

Brother Laz: how you can nap when atomas is calling us forward I will never know (lol).

F.L. took a wee nap a few weeks ago, with the deep knowledge Abba was holding me and speaking words that surpassed my very limited grasp of Him.

My God, Laz, I am continuing to hear "come up higher and I will show you..."

Our Abba is not only speaking words, He is birthing a song within us as His first fruit company.

[Lazarus Short]

Brother Laz: how you can nap when atomas is calling us forward I will never know (lol).

F.L. took a wee nap a few weeks ago, with the deep knowledge Abba was holding me and speaking words that surpassed my very limited grasp of Him.

My God, Laz, I am continuing to hear "come up higher and I will show you..."

Our Abba is not only speaking words, He is birthing a song within us as His first fruit company.

Fine Linen, I have some of my best insights in dreams.  In one, I met God, and He told me, "Dennis, every time I see you, you're a little bit older and a little bit slower."

I keep a dream diary, but the entries are occasional.  The entry before yesterday's was from last November.  In it, I was inspecting containers of my stuff.  The stuff was like what you remove from a vacuum cleaner, and the containers were dirty and stained.  Junk...all of it.

[marie glen]

Wow! That is awesome to read! :thumbsup: :cloud9:

Agreed - in fact, I took a nap after reading FL's story...and had a wonderful dream in which I found myself in a wonderful place and thought "I'd died and gone to heaven."

That is so cool! :gsmile:

[marie glen]

Brother Laz: how you can nap when atomas is calling us forward I will never know (lol).

F.L. took a wee nap a few weeks ago, with the deep knowledge Abba was holding me and speaking words that surpassed my very limited grasp of Him.

My God, Laz, I am continuing to hear "come up higher and I will show you..."

Our Abba is not only speaking words, He is birthing a song within us as His first fruit company.

  :Chinscratch: :banana:  :cloud9:

Fine Linen, I have some of my best insights in dreams.  In one, I met God, and He told me, "Dennis, every time I see you, you're a little bit older and a little bit slower."

That?s kind of funny! He probably says that to me too! :gsmile:

I keep a dream diary, but the entries are occasional.  The entry before yesterday's was from last November.  In it, I was inspecting containers of my stuff.  The stuff was like what you remove from a vacuum cleaner, and the containers were dirty and stained.  Junk...all of it.

I have in my bookmarks your Heaven Yes, Hell No thread. I was intending to post it somewhere just today, but then I forgot.. Though I?ll probably remember when I get back on facebook later. (Talk about being older and slower!)
     And now here you are. Good to see you here! :gsmile:

[FineLinen]

Rattlesnake Anti-Venom =

Sheep blood

A rattlesnake bit one of my sheep in the face about a week ago.

Deadliest snake that lives around here. The sheep's face swelled up and hurt her terribly.

But the old rattlesnake didn't know the kind of blood that flows through the sheep. Anti-venom is most often made from sheep's blood.

The sheep swelled for about 2 days but the blood of the lamb destroyed the venom of the serpent.

I was worried but the sheep didn't care. She kept on eating, kept on drinking and kept on climbing because she knew she was alright.

Often the serpents of this life will reach out and bite us.

They inject their poison into us but they cannot overcome the blood of the Lamb of God that washes away the sin of the world and the sting of death.

Don't worry about the serpent or his bite, just make sure that the Lamb's blood is flowing through your veins.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-05-23/sheeps-blood-provides-rattlesnake-anti-venom/1576314#:~:text=The%20blood%20of%20sheep%20in,in%20South%20Australia's%20Clare%20Valley

[marie glen]

Rattlesnake Anti-Venom =

Sheep blood

A rattlesnake bit one of my sheep in the face about a week ago.

Deadliest snake that lives around here. The sheep's face swelled up and hurt her terribly.

But the old rattlesnake didn't know the kind of blood that flows through the sheep. Anti-venom is most often made from sheep's blood.

The sheep swelled for about 2 days but the blood of the lamb destroyed the venom of the serpent.

I was worried but the sheep didn't care. She kept on eating, kept on drinking and kept on climbing because she knew she was alright.

Often the serpents of this life will reach out and bite us.

They inject their poison into us but they cannot overcome the blood of the Lamb of God that washes away the sin of the world and the sting of death.

Don't worry about the serpent or his bite, just make sure that the Lamb's blood is flowing through your veins.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-05-23/sheeps-blood-provides-rattlesnake-anti-venom/1576314#:~:text=The%20blood%20of%20sheep%20in,in%20South%20Australia's%20Clare%20Valley

Wow! How awesome is thAt!!  :dsunny:

[FineLinen]

In Christ name stop!

In the 4th century lived a Christian named Telemachus, in a remote village, tending his garden, and spending much time in prayer. One day, he believed he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome, so he obeyed, setting out on foot.

Some weeks later, weary from his journey, he arrived in Rome about the time of a great festival.The little man followed the crowd surging through the streets into the Colosseum. He saw the gladiators standing before the Emperor and proclaiming, "We who are about to die salute you."

Then Telemachus realized that these men were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the cheering crowd. So he cried out in a loud voice, "In the name of Christ, Stop!" Yet the games began, so he pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the wall and dropped onto the floor of the arena.

The entire Colosseum watched this tiny figure rushing toward the gladiators, crying, "In the name of Christ, STOP !!!" The gladiators thought it was part of the show and began laughing. But in a few moments, they realized it was not part of the show, and then the crowd became angry. Telemachus stood his ground, insistently pleading with the gladiators to stop their bloody show, when one of them plunged a sword into the saint's body. He fell to the sand. As he was dying, his last words were, "In the name of Christ, STOP!!!"

Then a strange thing happened.

The gladiators stood there looking at the tiny Christian lying there dead. A hush fell over the Colosseum. Way up in the upper rows, a man stood and made his way to the exit. Others followed. In dead silence, one by one, everyone left the Colosseum. The year was 404; and that day saw the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. Telemachus' martyrdom initiated an historic ban on gladiator fights by the Roman Emperor Honorius. Never again in the great stadium did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd.

One tiny man's bold voice -- one voice -- reshaped Roman history, and saved thousands of lives, by fearlessly proclaiming the truth in God's name!

[FineLinen]

An experiment

Four ceiling lights were placed in 4 corners of a room but only one plant in a random corner.

The plant would be moved to different corners of the room at random times.

The lights were to go on and off randomly. But, there was a a non-random pattern found. Whatever ceiling light that had the plant beneath it, came on more often than the other three.

https://www.trees.com/gardening-and-landscaping/how-light-affects-plant-growth

[FineLinen]

Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, awoke one morning in 1888, shocked to discover his own obituary in the morning news.

The newspaper had mistakenly printed the story about Alfred, instead of his brother, who had just passed away. As he read his own epitaph, the story of the "Dynamite King", the great industrialist who made an immense fortune from explosives -- Alfred Nobel was rudely awakened to the fact that the world viewed him as a merchant of death! The mistake was not wasted on him. Rather, it served as his wake-up call!

As he read his obituary with horror, Alfred resolved to make clear to the world his understanding of the true meaning and purpose of his life. So he used his immense fortune to create a foundation which would promote and embody his ideal for world peace...and he is now remembered, not as the "Dynamite King", but the creator of what we know now as the "Nobel Peace Prize".

[FineLinen]

It was a bright Sunday morning in 18th century London, but Robert Robinson's mood was anything but sunny.

All along the street, there were people hurrying to church, but in the midst of the crowd, Robinson was a lonely man. The sound of church bells reminded him of years past when his faith in God was strong and the church was an integral part of his life. It had been years since he set foot in a church -- years of wandering, disillusionment, and gradual defection from the God he once loved.

That love for God -- once fiery and passionate -- had slowly burned out within him, leaving him dark and cold inside. Robinson heard the clip-clop, clip-clop of a horse-drawn cab approaching behind him. Turning, he lifted his hand to hail the driver. But then he saw that the cab was occupied by a young woman dressed in finery for the Lord's day. He waved the driver on, but the woman in the carriage ordered the carriage to be stopped.

"Sir, I'd be happy to share this carriage with you," she said to Robinson. "Are you going to church?" Robinson was about to decline, then he paused. "Yes," he said at last. "I am going to church." He stepped into the carriage and sat down beside the young woman. As the carriage rolled forward Robert Robinson and the woman exchanged introductions.

There was a flash of recognition in her eyes when he stated his name.

"That's an interesting coincidence," she said, reaching into her purse. She withdrew a small book of inspirational verse, opened it to a ribbon bookmark, and handed the book to him. "I was just reading a verse by a poet named Robert Robinson. Could it be?"

He took the book, nodding. "Yes, I wrote these words years ago." "Oh, how wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Imagine! I'm sharing a carriage with the author of these very lines!"

But Robinson barely heard her. He was absorbed in the words he was reading. They were words that would one day be set to music and become a great hymn of the faith, familiar to generations of Christians:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace?
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

His eyes slipped to the bottom of the page where he read:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it?
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

He could barely read the last few lines through the tears that brimmed in his eyes. "I wrote these words and I've lived these words. Prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love."

The woman suddenly understood. "You also wrote, Here's my heart, O take and seal it. You can offer your heart again to God, Mr. Robinson.