Story

The Gift

grahamcommand Story , , ,

Based on a dream

There were two brothers who had great respect for each other

They were issued a challenge by a church elder, to give a special gift to each other, for no real reason

The gift had to be personal and unique and it had to be handcrafted

They both were eager in accepting the challenge and set to the task of think what this gift could be and then creating it

Several days passed and they shut themselves away from each other, which was unusual and very odd for they normally spent much time together

As they enjoyed each other’s company, and the production of this challenge kept them apart

Their home was unusually quiet while they each struggled with what the gift

Until on the same day after much effort, they both had their gift ready to give

The brothers meet in the living room with the gift in their hands, exchanging them both

They proceeded to unwrap their own gift, while the other did the same, so intense was their attention, they hardly looked up to see what the other thought of their gift

Soon both gifts were unwrapped, and both brothers sighed as they each saw the gift looked the same

Each held a plain covered book in their hands, upon opening them, signs of delight and relief spread over their faces

The one gift was full of old photographic memories long forgotten, while the other gift was full of handwritten boyhood memories  

“Strange how we both thought to make a book,” said the one brother

“Yes,” said the other brother, but I’m glad we filled them differently, do you like my gift to you he asked?

“Oh! Yes”, it was a wonderful idea to sort out all these old photographs, I had quite forgotten all about, thank you for your gift

“Thank you for this wonderfully written book, I shall treasure it and read it often, said the other brother

“As wonderful as both of these gifts are,” said one brother, I missed your company so much while we were busy. Never let us ever do this again, he paused, as the best gift is always being together”

“I agree,” said the other brother, and they hugged each other and laughed at their slight foolishness, thinking a made gift was more important than time spent together

Beside Still Waters

grahamcommand Inspiring, Story, Uncategorized , , , ,

Beside still waters are part of the 23rd Psalm, which still remain the best know Psalm

 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters

It has long been my favourite Psalm, but until fairly recently the part about still waters had not stood independently out from the rest of the Psalm

The Lord having led me away from the frantic demanding world of self-indulgence, towards green pastures (new life and thoughts)

Where the still waters offer peace and Refreshment, which went unnoticed at first, due to the over bearing demands of my sinful life

Similar to living in a bust town and going to the countryside, you are so used to the constant noise, the lack of load noise in the countryside is not readily appreciated

So, it was with this new experience of the still waters, which genteelly soothed my troubled spirit

Bathing my mind also washing away even the memory of those sinful and destroying thoughts

Since I have remained here in the green pastures, with the Lord’s tender care

I have no knowledge of the length of time since He freed me, and allowed me to stay here in this wonderful place

All I know for sure is the longer I am here and His love surrounds me, the power of my old self grows less with every passing day

Praise the Lord, from all blessing flow

Aman

Backslider

grahamcommand Real Life, Story , , , , ,

I write about my experience, as a Warning to others

Backslider

This is phrase you don’t hear about these days, not surprising when you consider the depths of depravity this world indulges in

I should know as I was more depraved than I would like to admit, even though I had recently surrendered all to Jesus, and was experiencing freedom far beyond description

This was after too many years of attempting to kick the habit which had by then turned into an addiction

Perhaps due to vanity or just weakness, I allowed myself to take control of my free will when I say “control” I ought to say Lack of control

I backslide and soon was overtaken by the addiction once again, it seems I had forgotten just how quickly you can get entangled and just how overpowering the effects on my mind were

My mind was quickly filled with demanding thoughts, leaving no room for any other thoughts, to the extent that I forgot everyday things I need to do

What little pleasure I gained was short lived and not satisfying at all, yet the urge to continue indulging became even stronger, snuffing out all of my creative thoughts

Leaving me unable to even start another story, until I confessed backsliding back into my porn addiction and knew that this needed to be my next story

Porn is the modern day updated version of Lust, porn poisons the mind filling it so completely, it leave no room and offers no release and certainly no freedom

Even if many may say they are exercising their free will, so they have found freedom, they as I was, they are being deceived or lying to ourselves

Know this fellow Christians any addiction is really slavery binding us with stronger chains than can be imagined, I would rather be a servant to my savior

Than continue as a slave of addition and therefore sin!

The Lost Sheep

grahamcommand Story , ,

The shepherd took great care of his flock of sheep keeping them from harm within the safety of the sturdy pen

The spring lambs now older by several months, still stayed close to their mothers from milk and warmth

All except one slightly older lamb who looked longingly at the greener looking grass outside of the pen, and as he was still young he was small enough to push himself through the gaps in the fencing

Feeling pleased with himself at escaping he scampered off enjoying this new found freedom

Stopping only briefly to much grass, which to his surprise did not taste any better

He moved swiftly onward in his freedom adventure, without any thought to any direction to go

As the day went on he glanced back but was unable to remember which was the way back home, he shuddered slightly but decided he was old enough to be on his own

He lay down awhile too rest and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine, without meaning to he fell asleep until his body shuddered again only with the cold this time

As the day had turned to night while he was asleep, the increasing darkness brought a sense of fear and loneliness

The darkness increased until he could not see his way, so he lay down and huddled himself as small as he could, trying to convince himself he was snuggled next to his mother

Several days and long lonely nights past he had lost all sense of direction, and wandered aimlessly not realizing the ground where he was walking was crumbly until it gave away under his feet

He fell with the soil onto a small ledge with no hope of getting back up onto more solid ground

With the increased sense of hopeless, he bleated, again and again, when from a distance he heard a voice he knew, the shepherd was calling to him by name

Hope sprang into the lamb’s heart and he bleated as loud as he could, and soon the strong arm of the shepherd was lifting him up to safety

Holding the lamb in his arms close to the warmth of his body, the shepherd carried the lost sheep all the way back home, where gratefully the lamb snuggled next to his parents

Even When I Fail God

grahamcommand Inspiring, Story , , , , ,

Even when I fail God, He never stops forgiving and loving me!

I am weak and You are Strong oh Lord, in my weakness you are my strength, You Lord lift me up when I have fallen.

You seek me when I am lost

You oh Lord are my friend when I am lonely, You oh Lord listen to me when I complain or grumble

You oh Lord have answered so many of my prayers, some even before I finish asking

You oh Lord are the potter, I am just the clay, mold me shape me, build me into what You would have me be

Let not my stubborn will or vanity distract me from Your loving presence

Take joy my King in what you hear, let my heart always sing praise to You, morning or night

Your presence and spirit fill my whole being that my small flickering light will shine as bright as the morning sun

Let No darkness remain within me, take everything not one thing will I withhold

I Surrender all, all my past, all my present, my free will I Surrender

Guide me, teach me, help me to listen, help me to learn

My life without You oh Lord was empty and as dry lifeless as the desert sands

Yet even the desert sands will blossom when You command it so

You oh Lord have given water to my parched soul, You have given my Joy when sadness held fast to my troubled heart

The Whisperer

grahamcommand Fiction, Story, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

He of the far-off old times, he the deceiver, the spinner of half-truths, and lies

The planter of doubts, the weaver of false stories, the instigator of myths and distractions

He waits in the shadows of himself and cunningly whispers in your ear, sowing the seed of doubt or dissatisfaction – frustration or anger

Fanning the flames of lust or envy, stirring up bitter memories from even long ago

Once he has sowed his seeds he returns often to fuel the fire of rage, to water the creeping vine of doubt, whispering other lies to add weight to his deception

Knowing full well that the more he persistently adds, the more likely he is to succeed in you falling away from the real truth

There were two young men full of hope and joy until the whisper spoke to them

He told the young man, “You will never know true happiness, unless you acquire great riches” then later he whispered “In this dog eat dog world, you must grab all you can, and let no man stand in your way, toss them aside anyone who stands in your destiny of being wealthy”

The second young mane the whisperer said “You are a failure, you have no friends and never will have, for you are to plainly dressed”

Later he whispered, “Go buy yourself fine clothes, and jewelry to adorn yourself with”

He also whispered “You deserve the finest, why wait go steal or cheat what is rightfully yours”

The Whisperer had sowed deep into the hearts of young men, and he fed off them both as the poison sped and they were enticed into darker and darker places

Both doing everything the whisperer had said and they grew hard-hearted and they even despised old friends for getting in their way

But it so happened their old friends were believers and offered a prayer for the two young men, and continued to uplift them in prayer

Until after many struggles both young men rededicated their lives to God, but you can be sure the whisperer will pursue them both even more now than before

Inventing new lies to tell or finding new distractions to entice them with

Be cautious of what you listen or let into your heart lest it deceives you. and you unwittingly feed the beast who will devour you

The Story Teller

grahamcommand Fiction, Story , , , , , ,

The Story Teller

Gather around for a while and allow me to unfold my story.

A wizened old man sat beneath a huge old tree, this is where he always sat, he was the last of the storytellers.
Nobody knew his name, he was just known as the storyteller, and the tribe which was a mixture of young and old sat eagerly awaiting him to begin speaking.
He looked deeply into the flames of the campfire, as they flickered in a dance-like motion.

“You have come to hear my stories as you have done for many years” he paused, and they all nodded in agreement.
Yet, he continued, “There will come a time in the far-off place when there will be no one to tell these stories, but if there were nobody will care to listen not even children!”
The crowd gasped in disbelief that there could ever be such a time, for it had always been the way of things, everyone from the village would gather around the fire and wait for the storyteller.

The old man stared into the flames of the fire, sighed and spoke again, “The day will come in future days when people will other things that will consume their days in such a way that the telling of stories will be just a vague memory”

“Elders will not even remember the names of any of the stories they may have heard in the past and children will not want to listen or learn such things”
The crowd around the old man were silent in amazement, listening to every word he spoke, but finding it all hard to believe.

“In these dark days he continued, there will be no gatherings as there are here today, no meeting places, nor sharing as this place.
Their minds will become too numbed by other things, they lost the ability to imagine and the desire to speak to each other”
“Such is the power of the forces of evil, which will engulf them in such dismal darkness they will have no way to oppose it strength, my heart is heavy just even thinking of these days.”
“Sadder still is no-one will be aware of the way they have become and neither will they care, for they will be lost without direction or purpose, without joy or hope, without love or compassion, without any belief or one to offer praise too”
The old man stopped speaking and stared back into the fire once again

No one in the crowd spoke, it was if they were holding their breath
The storyteller who had been staring into the flames of the fire for some time now lost in thought, he sighed deeply as if the cares of the world were upon him

Even though the crowd around him had been there since the beginning of the day, they remained silent and still, no one questioned the length of time they had been there
His gaze lifted and he looked at them, I have told you this tale of days to come and you have listened well with much patience.

Although you have not asked, I know you will want to know of this place or how I know of these things
The way of my knowledge as I had been fasting and my spirit drifted up on the wind of time and showed me this strange place as it would be in future times, my spirit sank deeply at the sight of these things to come.

This world I saw was not here my friends, this place unlike anything I have ever seen before, yet I felt great sorrow for those who lived there in those days

My friends may never have known of this place and better if you do not, this world I saw is so far away from this land of ours, a place with no storytellers to be found,

I knew not the name of this place, but somehow I know it once possessed great beauty and a race of people who used to love and care for this place where they lived

Then over time, they became to care more for themselves and gained many possessions and spent much of their time sitting hunched over glaring into strange box-like objects, they had no glimmer of emotion in their eyes

I was glad to leave that place behind but still sad at the thought there was such a place, go now my brothers and never let the flame of desire to listen to stories die lest our world becomes like that place
He arose and turn away walking away from the crowd, who now sighed with relief that where they lived was not the place he had spoken of in the story, the crowd dispersed and made their way back to their homes

Then End

A Closer Walk With Thee

grahamcommand Christian, Story , , , , ,

“Just a Closer Walk With Thee” is the title of a well known spiritual song going back many years in the pop music industry and a song that has been sung by many singing artists

As Christians, we are called to grow more like Christ as we are followers of Christ

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is speeds off in all sorts of directions, (away from God) the directions include creating humanized robots, such as the much published Artificial Intelligence Robot Sophia (“godhead” simulation

While scientists have been desperately trying to get the aging process to be recognized as a disease and who are striving for eternal life by working to find a cure or at least slow the aging process down

At some point soon the will attempt to redesign our DNA, (if they haven’t already started tampering

As with other forms of genetic tampering, the likelihood of mutants is surely a strong possibility

The X-Men film characters come to my mind as they were all mutants, although a fictional film perhaps it’s a foretaste of humans future if DNA tampering continues

Saul who later became Paul came to believe that Christ rising from the dead was the greatest of all miracles, which also promised us Life eternal

Meanwhile, the supposed Mother church is so reinventing it’s teaching, it very well may soon become unrecognizable, it has already agreed with the world Adam & Eve story is fictional

While busily encouraging and embracing other religions in an attempt to bring in a one world acceptable belief

The mother church has now accepted evolution as fact, but under Gods direction all of these things make me wonder if the mother church has become aware of their power of authority slipping away from them, so they are now struggling to regain control by appealing to the masses

So what of present-day Christians? Are we to become so tarnished by the world that Christ is not seen through our very being?

Mental Breakdown

grahamcommand Real Life, Story , , ,

Before I begin this story, the mental breakdown happened many years ago, but I promise I would write about the experience

I will have to rely on my memory for the order of how it happened including events, other details are a little vague

I was still working and it was shortly after I had meet up with my future wife, somehow the notion of there being many ways / paths that would lead to God buzzed around in my head

I think that idea had been around many years ago but at this time was being revived as it it is in this present age

At that time there were no home computer, and I was yet to discover my passion for writing, as I no longer need to use handwriting it had fallen out of use

So I turned to sketchy drawings to put on paper my thoughts, which turned into a picture storyboard , I vaguely remember some of the images but unsure how long this story was

Sometime later I was in my father’s work-shed and quoted “The three rings of truth” no idea why or what I meant
I also had a vivid dream with Carol and her mum in, but the details have faded now
I also frequently visited a large old church in the middle of the Bull Ring Birmingham, and at least on occasion I ran my hands over carved headstones – but why is now forgotten memory and a mystery

I think after the dream, a ambulance arrived at our house and I was taken to a mental hospital because of the mental breakdown

Although I didn’t see it that way, to me I believed it was God’s will and He had prepared my for this event through my drawing story.

The fact that I was taken to a mental hospital, didn’t bother me as the light-shades were similar colour to the light in my thoughts on one of my drawings
So I knew I was where I was meant to be, and continued thinking that way, until I became self-conscious when a Muslim lady gesture for me to pray with her using cupped hands

Then my thoughts of doing God’s will by being there, were shaken and living there was never the same afterwards
I’m unsure how long I remained there, I just know when I finally came back home to my parents I found it so hard to settle back into normal family life

I felt totally empty and none of pleasures from my past helped, they were just shadows impossible to even grasp hold of
I also felt uncomfortable being around my parents and started going out anywhere just to avoid being at home, at some point thoughts of ending my life invaded my mind

With such force and repetition I became unable to shake the compulsion to kill myself, but all of the methods that I had heard of seemed far to brutal
I will not go into details of the method I eventually used in my attempt to kill myself, enough to say as I stood gasping for breath I suddenly realised I was fighting to live and didn’t want to die then all thoughts of suicide left me and I went inside to get a drink of water no doubt looking pale and drained

After that day I began appreciating normal day things and giving praises for being alive and for being given a second chance to live the life God had planned out for me

Where were you in my hour of need?

grahamcommand Inspiring, Story, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

In your darkest hour of need, I was there to be your light to guide your way

In your deepest depression, I was there to lift you up and give you my endless joy

In your sorrow and grief, I was there to comfort you and hold you as my child that you are

In your loneliness, I was there to be your friend and share my deepest love beyond all understanding

When hatered surrounded you, I offered you my love so rich that even the memory of hate would dissolve away

When you were poor, I offered you my abundances so you would not lack for nothing

When you were lost and strayed far away, I came in search of you to guide you back home to me

In your foolishness, I was patient and with love greater than your earthly farther

In your youthful defiance, when you search for your own way, I was waiting to guide you back to my path

When you were disappointed, I wanted to give you all that you might be satisfied

In every hour of every day, every moment of time I was there for you

In all your life, I have been there for you, to carry you when weary, to love you unconditionally

When you reached out for me, I reached down to you and brought you to myself and held you tightly

But …..

Where were you when they whipped my body?

Where were you there when they crucified me on the tree?

Where were you there when they pierced me in the side?

Where were you when all my followers abandoned me?

Where were you in my hour of need?

Video