Polycarp's Martyrdom

 On 23rd February AD 155, Polycarp a personal disciple of the Apostle John was burnt alive and speared to death. 

As an old man, he was the bishop of the Church at Smyrna in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Persecution against the Christians broke out there and believers were being fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The crowd began to call for the Christians' leader Polycarp. So the authorities sent out a search party to bring him in. They tortured two slave boys to reveal where Polycarp was being hidden.

It was a Friday afternoon. Polycarp was resting upstairs in a country home. They came in like a posse, fully armed as if they were arresting a dangerous criminal. Polycarp's friends wanted to sneak him out, but he refused, saying, "God's will be done." (The Christians there taught that a believer was not to make oneself available for martyrdom and should not seek it out, but neither should he/she avoid it when there was no choice.)

In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable, Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends, talked with them and ordered that food and drink be served to them. Then Polycarp made one request: one hour to pray before they took him away. The officers overhearing his prayers (that went on for two hours) began to have second thoughts. What were they doing arresting an old man like this?

Martyrdom of Polycarp

Despite the cries of the crowd, the Roman authorities saw the senselessness of making this aged man a martyr. So when Polycarp was brought into the arena, the proconsul pled with him: "Curse Christ and I will release you."

REPLY: "Eighty-six years I have served Him. He had never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?"

The proconsul reached for an acceptable way out: "Then do this, old man. Just swear by the genius of the emperor and that will be sufficient." (The "genius" was sort of the "spirit" of the emperor. To do this would be a recognition of the pagan gods and religion.)

REPLY: "If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don't know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian."

The proconsul threatened him with the wild beasts.

REPLY: "Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from the worse to the better, but not to change from the right to the wrong."

The proconsul's patience was gone: "I will have you burned alive."

REPLY: "You threaten fire that burns for an hour and is over. But the judgment on the ungodly is forever."

The Death of Polycarp

The fire was prepared. Polycarp lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed: "Father, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might take a portion of the martyrs in the cup of Christ. . . Among these may I today be welcome before thy face as a rich and acceptable sacrifice."

As the fire engulfed him, the believers noted that it smelled not so much like flesh burning as a loaf baking. He was finished off with the stab of a dagger.

🎀Wise words🏆

 This one touched me.......

*WISE WORDS FROM A GREAT THINKER AND OBSERVER!!*

Buffalos kill 7 people every year.

Lions kill 500 people every year.

Hippos kill 800 people every year.

Spiders kill 5000 people every year.

Scorpions kill 7000 people every year.

Snakes kill 10000 people every year.

*And then, surprisingly,*

*Mosquitoes kill 2.7 million people every year. Yes, the smallest are the deadliest!*

*Small 'sins', hardly noticed by many, are the most deadly to your spiritual life.*

Avoid *excuses* for not praying and allotting few moments of your day to your Creator.

*Sins of omission* are just as deadly as sins of commission.

*Gossiping and small lies*, are committed more frequently and are deadly.

Mind those *little compromises* that you do daily. They are the ones that will bring your downfall.

*Successful people have two things on their lips, "Smile and silence".*

Smile can solve problems, while

Silence can avoid problems.

*Sugar and salt may be mixed together*

*but ants reject the salt and carry away only the sugar. Select the right people in life and make your life better and sweeter.

*If you failed to achieve your dreams, change your ways not your Creator.*

Remember, trees change their leaves, not their roots.

*You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks at you.*

Haters will see you walking on water and say it's because you can't swim.

Even if you dance on water, Your enemies will accuse you of raising dust.

*Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands.*

Remember Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

*BE WISE!*

* If u must miss any place, don't miss HEAVEN. 

* If u must miss any appointment, plz dn't miss THE RAPTURE. 

* If u must miss any meal, plz dn't miss THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB. 

*The end is no more comments NEAR, It's HERE

Trust him !!

 🌷⭐️🌸💓🌸⚡️🌷

A  person  started  to  walk on  a  rope  tied  between two  tall  towers. 

He  was  walking  slowly, balancing  a  long  stick  in his  hands.

 HE  HAD  HIS SON  SITTING ON  HIS  SHOULDERS.

Everyone  on  the  ground were  watching  him  in bated  breath 

 and  were  very  TENSE.  When  he  slowly  reached  the second  tower,  everyone clapped,  whistled  and welcomed  him. 

They  shook  hands  and took  selfies.

He  asked  the  crowd  “DO YOU  ALL  THINK  I  can  WALK  BACK  on  the  SAME ROPE  NOW  from  THIS SIDE  TO  THAT  SIDE?”

Crowed  shouted  in  one voice  “YES,  YES,  YOU CAN.."

Do  you  TRUST  ME,  he ASKED?   They  said YES ,YES,  we  are  READY  to BET  ON  YOU.

He  said  okay,  can  anyone of  you  GIVE  YOUR  CHILD to  SIT  on  MY SHOULDER,  I will  take  the  CHILD  to  the OTHER  SIDE  SAFELY.

There  was  STUNNED SILENCE.  Everyone  became QUIET.

BELIEF  is  DIFFERENT. TRUST  is  DIFFERENT. 

FOR  TRUST  YOU  NEED  TO SURRENDER  TOTALLY. 

This  is  WHAT  we  LACK towards  GOD  in  TODAY ’s WORLD.

We  BELIEVE  in  ALMIGHTY .  

BUT  do  we TRUST  HIM?

God is with us always- inspiring story

 

Every year Martin's parents took him to his grandmother's house for the summer break, and they would return home on the same train the next day.

Then one day the boy says to his parents:

′′ I'm pretty big now. What if I went to grandma's house alone this year?"

After a brief discussion parents agree.

Here they are standing on the train station wharf, greeting him, giving him one last tip through the window, as Martin continues to repeat:

′′ I know, you've already told me a hundred times...!"

Train is about to leave and father whispers:

′′ My son, if you suddenly feel bad or scared, this is for you! ′′

And he slips something into his pocket.

Now the boy is alone, sitting on the train, without his parents, for the first time...

He looks at the scenery through the window that scrolls..

Around him strangers hustle, make noise, enter and exit the compartment, the controller comments him that he is alone.. A person even gives him a sad look...

So the boy is feeling more uncomfortable...

And now he's scared.

He lowers his head, snuggles in a corner of the seat, tears rise to his eyes.

At that point he remembers his father putting something in his pocket.

With a trembling hand he seeks to grop this piece of paper, he opens it:

′′ Son, I'm in the last wagon..."

This is how it is in life...

When God sent us in this world, all by ourselves, HE has also slipped a note in our pocket,

*MY CHILD,  I AM IN THE LAST WAGON ❤️*

*So trust him, have faith in him, our (BIG DADDY) GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US, in the last wagon.*

The Unique book- BIBLE

 

THE BIBLE UNIQUE ~ Very Unique. Please Share after reading.

    Book         Vs.  Authors

1) Genesis:          Moses

2) Exodus:           Moses

3) Leviticus:        Moses

4) Numbers:        Moses

5) Deuteronomy: Moses

6) Joshua:            Joshua

7) Judges:            Samuel

8)  Ruth:                 Samuel

9) 1 Samuel:         Samuel; Gad; Nathan

10) 2 Samuel:     Gad; Nathan

11) 1 Kings:        Jeremiah

12) 2 Kings:         Jeremiah

13) 1 Chronicles: Ezra

14) 2 Chronicles: Ezra

15) Ezra:                Ezra

16) Nehemiah:     Nehemiah

17) Esther:           Mordecai

18) Job:                 Moses

19) Psalms:           David and others

20) Proverbs:         Solomon; Agur; Lemuel

21) Ecclesiastes:   Solomon

22) Songs of Solomon: Solomon

23) Isaiah:                Isaiah

24) Jeremiah:        Jeremiah

25) Lamentations: Jeremiah

26) Ezekiel:            Ezekiel

27) Daniel:             Daniel

28) Hosea:            Hosea

29) Joel:               Joel

30) Amos:            Amos

31) Obadiah:       Obadiah

32) Jonah:           Jonah

33) Micah:           Micah

34) Nahum:         Nahum

35) Habakkuk:    Habakkuk

36) Zephaniah:   Zephaniah

37) Haggai:         Haggai

38) Zechariah:    Zechariah

39) Malachi:       Malachi

40) Matthew:     Matthew

41) Mark:           Mark

42) Luke:           Luke

43) John:           Apostle John

44) Acts:             Luke

45) Romans:       Paul

46) 1 Corinthians:  Paul

47) 2 Corinthians:  Paul

48) Galatians:        Paul

49) Ephesians:      Paul

50) Philippians:     Paul

51) Colossians:     Paul

52) 1 Thessalonians: Paul

53) 2 Thessalonians: Paul

54) 1 Timothy:            Paul

55) 2 Timothy:            Paul

56) Titus:                    Paul

57) Philemon:            Paul

58) Hebrews:      Unknown

59) James:        James (Jesus’ brother)

60) 1 Peter:    Peter

61) 2 Peter:    Peter

62) 1 John:    Apostle John

63) 2 John:    Apostle John

64) 3 John:    Apostle John

65) Jude:       Jude (Jesus’ brother)

66) Revelation: Apostle John

*BIBLE STATISTICS*

*Amazing Bible Facts And Statistics*

👉🏼 Number of Books in the Bible: *66*

👉🏼 Chapters: 1,189

👉🏼 Verses: 31,101

👉🏼 Words: 783,137

👉🏼 Letters: 3,566,480

👉🏼 Number of Promises given in the Bible: 1,260

👉🏼 Commands: 6,468

👉🏼 Predictions: over 8,000

👉🏼 Fulfilled Prophecy: 3,268 verses

👉🏼 Unfulfilled Prophecy: 3,140

👉🏼 Number of Questions: 3,294

👉🏼Longest Name: Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)

👉🏼 Longest Verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)

👉🏼 Shortest Verse: John 11:35 (2 words: "Jesus wept" .

👉🏼 Middle Books: Micah and Nahum

👉🏼 Middle Chapter: Psalm 117

👉🏼 Shortest Chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117 (by number of words)

👉🏼 Longest Book: Psalms (150 Chapters)

👉🏼 Shortest Book (by number of words): 3 John

👉🏼 Longest Chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)

👉🏼 Number of times the word *"God"*  appears: 3,358

👉🏼 Number of times the word  *"Lord"* appears: 7,736

👉🏼 Number of different authors: 40

👉🏼 Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

*OLD TESTAMENT STATISTICS:*

👉🏼 Number of Books: 39

👉🏼 Chapters: 929

👉🏼 Verses: 23,114

👉🏼 Words: 602,585

👉🏼 Letters: 2,278,100

👉🏼 Middle Book: Proverbs

👉🏼 Middle Chapter: Job 20

👉🏼 Middle Verses: 2 Chronicles 20:17,18

👉🏼 Smallest  Book: Obadiah

👉🏼 Shortest Verse: 1 Chronicles 1:25

👉🏼 Longest Verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)

👉🏼 Longest Chapter: Psalms 119

*NEW TESTAMENT STATISTICS:*

👉🏼 Number of Books: 27

👉🏼 Number of Chapters: 260

👉🏼 Number of Verses: 7,957

👉🏼 Words: 180,552

👉🏼 Letters: 838,380

👉🏼 Middle Book: 2 Thessalonians

👉🏼 Middle Chapters: Romans 8, 9

👉🏼 Middle Verse: Acts 27:17

👉🏼 Smallest Book: 3 John

👉🏼 Shortest Verse: John 11:35

👉🏼 Longest Verse: Revelation 20:4 (68 words)

👉🏼Longest Chapter: Luke 1

There are 8,674 different Hebrew words in the Bible, 5,624 different

Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the King James Version.

• Bible Written by Approximately 40 Authors

• Written over a period of 1,600 years

• Written over 40 generations

• Written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic

• Written on three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa

• Written in different locations: wilderness, dungeon, palace, prison, in exile, at home

• Written by men from all occupations: kings, peasants, doctors, fishermen, tax collectors, scholars, etc.

• Written in different times: war, peace, poverty, prosperity, freedom and slavery

• Written in different moods: heights of joy to the depths of despair

• Written in harmonious agreement on a widely diverse range of subjects and doctrines.

*10 Longest Books in the Bible*

1)  Psalm - 150 Chapters, 2,461 verses, 43,743 words

2) Jeremiah - 52 chapters, 1,364 verses, 42,659 words

3)  Ezekiel - 48 chapters, 1,273 verses, 39,407 words

4)  Genesis - 50 chapters, 1,533 verses, 38,267 words

5)  Isaiah - 66 chapters, 1,292 verses, 37,044 words

6)  Numbers - 36 chapters, 1,288 verses, 32,902 words

7)  Exodus - 40 chapters, 1,213 verses, 32.602 words

8)  Deuteronomy - 34 chapters, 959 verses, 28,461 words

9)  2 Chronicles - 36 chapters, 822 verses, 26,074 words

10) Luke - 24 chapters, 1,151 verses, 25,944 words

*10 Shortest Books in the Bible*

1) 3 John - 1 chapter, 14 verses, 299 words

2)  2 John - 1 chapter, 13 verses, 303 words

3)  Philemon - 1 chapter, 25 verses, 445 words

4)  Jude - 1 chapter, 25 verses, 613 words

5) Obadiah - 1 chapter, 21 verses, 670 words

6)  Titus - 3 chapters, 46 verses, 921 words

7)  2 Thessalonians - 3 chapters, 47 verses, 1,042 words

8)  Haggai - 2 chapters, 38 verses, 1,131 words

9)  Nahum - 3 chapters, 47 verses, 1,285 words

10)  Jonah - 4 chapters, 48 verses, 1,321.

Forgiven - True story

 I was at the grocery store this morning and heard a loud crash and something shattering. Being nosy, I walked towards the sound and saw some people whispering and looking back to the end of the next aisle. When I walked down that aisle, I saw an older lady had hit a shelf containing dishes with her cart and many had fallen to the ground and broke. She was kneeling on the floor embarrassed, frantically picking up the shattered pieces, while her husband was peeling off the bar code from each broken dish saying “Now we will have to pay for all this!”

I felt so bad for her, and everyone was just standing there staring at her!! I went and knelt beside her and told her not to worry and started helping her pick up the broken pieces. After about a minute, the store manager came and knelt beside us and said, “Leave it, we will clean this up. Let’s get your information so you can go to the hospital and have that cut on your hand looked at.”

The lady, totally embarrassed said, “I need to pay for all this first.” The manager smiled, helped her to her feet and said, “No ma’am, we have insurance for this, you do not have to pay anything!”

----------------------------------

For you who have read this so far, I would like you to give me a minute. Wherever you are, close your eyes, and imagine God doing the same for you!

Collect the pieces of your broken heart from all the blows life has thrown at you. God will heal all your wounds, and I assure you that your sins and mistakes will be forgiven. 

You see, we all have the same insurance, and it’s called Grace. Ask for forgiveness, the Manager of the universe, GOD, will say to you “Everything has already been paid for, now go on your way, all is forgiven!”

🦅Real meaning of life🦆

 

Brilliant article, just couldn't resist sharing..Its long but read…you will enjoy

#Ducks #Quack, #Eagles #Soar*

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport in Dubai. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Abdul, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Abdul's Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Abdul said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

 

Abdul smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'

Handing me my drink, Abdul said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The NST , Star and Sun Today.'

As they were pulling away, Abdul handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Abdul told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

'Tell me, Abdul ,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Abdul smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about POWER OF CHOICE one day."

 

Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.

'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!'

'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me. really hard' said Abdul.

 

'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes, slowly ... a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that it has paid off for you,' I said.

 

'It sure has,' Abdul replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Abdul made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.

Start becoming an eagle today ... 

A great Thought..

"You don't die if you fall in water, you die only if you don't swim.

Thats the Real Meaning of Life.

Sets of people in our lives

*YOU NEED THEM IN YOUR LIFE...*

No human being is an island and no tree can make a forest. You need the following sets of people in your life.

1. *THE ENCOURAGERS* - even in discouraging situations of life, these people keep you going with encouraging words; MAY YOU MEET THEM.

2. *THE HAND LIFTERS* - They are those whose hands are strong enough to hold yours up when you are weak; MAY YOU MEET THEM.

3. *DESTINY HELPERS* - They provide shoulders upon which you ride to fulfilling your dream and destiny; MAY YOU MEET THEM.

4. *The GIVERS* - these ones will give you their time, talent, and treasure in your hour of need;

MAY YOU MEET THEM.

5. *THE RECOMMENDERS* - these are the ones who mention your name in quarters where your skills and talents will be celebrated; MAY YOU MEET THEM.

6. *The CORRECTORS* - these are the ones who honestly tell you when you are wrong; they prevent you from digging a grave of mistakes that may bury your destiny; MAY YOU MEET

THEM.

7. *THE BURDEN BEARERS*: These are those that are ever willing to wipe away tears from your eyes and help you to overcome any loss, crisis or challenge. MAY YOU MEET THEM.

# Nurture every positive relationship in your life because each good person that comes into your life has a major role to play in your life.

Motivated story - ANT's journey 🐜🍃🐜

 

*A very interesting story*

One Sunday morning, a wealthy man sat in his balcony enjoying sunshine and his coffee when a little ant caught his eye which was going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size.

 The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many obstacles during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards destination.

At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analyzed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey.

The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant, one of God’s tiniest creatures. The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of Creation. It showed the Greatness of the Creator. 

In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature of God, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyze, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome.

A while later the man saw that the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was entrance to its underground dwelling.

 And it was at this point that the ant’s shortcoming that it shared with the man was revealed. 

How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the destination? It simply couldn't! So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.

The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it. 

The creature had no option, but to leave it behind to reach its destination. 

The man learned a great lesson that day.

That is the truth about our lives too.

We worry about our family, we worry about our job, we worry about how to earn more money, we worry about where we should live, what kind of vehicle to buy, what kind of dresses to wear, what gadgets to upgrade, only to abandon all these things when we reach our destination – We don’t realize in our life’s journey that these are just burdens that we are carrying with utmost care and fear of losing them, only to find that at the end they are useless and we can’t take them with us.....

🙏🙏🙏

👸This hit me hard- Divinity of women 👰

 THIS HIT ME HARD. 

Have you ever noticed how in the scriptures men are always going up into the mountains to commune with the Lord? 

Yet in the scriptures we hardly ever 

hear of women going to the mountains. 

But we know why — right? 

Because the women were too busy 

keeping life going; 

they couldn’t abandon babies, 

meals, 

homes, 

fires, 

gardens, 

and a thousand responsibilities to make the climb into the mountains!

I was talking to a friend the other day, 

saying that as modern woman

I feel like I’m never “free” enough 

from my responsibilities, 

never in a quiet enough space

I want with God. 

Her response floored me, 

“That is why God comes to women. 

Men have to climb the mountain to meet God, but God comes to women where ever they are.”

I have been pondering on her words for weeks and have searched my scriptures 

to see that what she said is true. 

God does in deed come to women

where they are, 

when they are doing their ordinary, 

everyday work. 

He meets them at the wells 

where they draw water for their families, 

in their homes, 

in their kitchens, 

in their gardens. 

He comes to them 

as they sit beside sickbeds, 

as they give birth, 

care for the elderly, 

and perform necessary mourning and burial rites.

Even at the empty tomb, 

Mary was the first to witness Christ’s resurrection, 

She was there because she was doing the womanly chore of properly preparing Christ’s body for burial. 

In these seemingly mundane 

and ordinary tasks,

these women of the scriptures found themselves face to face with divinity.

So if — like me — you ever start to bemoan the fact that you don’t have as much time to spend in the mountains with God as you would like. Remember, God comes to women. He knows where we are and the burdens we carry. He sees us, and if we open our eyes and our hearts we will see Him, even in the most ordinary places and in the most ordinary things.

He lives. And he’s using a time such as this to speak to women around the world. 

Original 🖌: Heather F.