Parker Inspirations

There are two types of stones that we carry in our pocket. One stone is positive or encouraging. The other is cruelty and condemnation.

There is a story in the book of John (John 8:3-11) that talks about how a woman was being accused of doing wrong. The people wanted to stone her to death. Jesus wrote upon the ground twice. The second time when he arose from the ground the people had dropped their stones and went away. When he asked her where her accusers where. He also asked her, “hath no man condemned thee?

Whatever Jesus wrote on the ground showed them they were just as guilty of doing wrong. Therefore, they could not stone her. It is like the saying, “When you point your finger at someone you have three pointing back at you”.

This story represents the stone of cruelty and condemnation. Pointing out others faults and failures is away to deflect people from seeing our own faults and failures. But just as we see theirs, they see ours. We need to drop the stone and walk away. Better yet use a stone of encouragement instead.

One thing that lacks today is words of encouragement. When we are kind one to another, life around us is much better. There are five stones that we need in our pocket.

The first stone is the stone of Praise. God created us to be joyful and happy. In Luke 19 the people were praising the Lord and the Pharisees wanted Jesus to make them be quiet. In verse 40 it says, “And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out”. The world today does not want us to praise the Lord or each other. Everywhere you look there is negativity. The news is the biggest of all. Sometimes you hear of something good that happened but that is rare.

The second stone is bread. The bread here is the word of God. Jesus when he was tempted of the devil, he used scripture to answer him. In Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. A little further in verse 7 it says, “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”. The word of God is very powerful. We can find the answers to every problem we have.

We need the third stone for sure. It is the Cornerstone. (Acts 4:11, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner”. Without a solid foundation we will crumble and fall. In my spiritual life Jesus is my foundation. I get strength from the Bible. All the answers to every problem is there. There are people in our lives that need a personal touch. God uses us to help others find the solid ground. When I am hurting it is an encouragement to me when someone is just there as a friend.

Have you ever been so thirsty you thought you would just not make it? This fourth stone is water. Water has many great qualities. It quinches our thirst. It cools us when we are hot. It is calming when we need to relax. God’s word is water to the soul. Water is an essential part of both our spiritual and physical being. We can give the water to meet someone’s needs. (John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”.)

I believe the greatest stone is Prayer. The word prayer is used 78 times in the Old Testament and 53 times in the New Testament. When Jesus went to pray it says he went a stone’s throw away. He was not far from the disciples. They could see him praying. They asked Jesus to teach them to pray. They saw Jesus pray often.

I never knew my children saw me pray when they were young. But as adults they recall seeing me pray when they were children. Even now with them far away I have prayed with them on the phone. Prayer is so powerful. My dad when he was alive was a great prayer warrior. My big brother has prayed many times over the phone with me. Even my sister has prayed for me over the phone. Because they pray with me, I know they pray for me even when I don’t see.

What stones do you have in your pocket? Stones that hurt or stones that help?