Bear's Inspirations

Bear's Inspirations This page is dedicated to the Inspirations done every morning on Kissin 99.3 in Columbus,GA with Be

02/13/2025

A Lover's Prayer

Father, I ask you to forgive me for my lack of patience and for being self-centered and always thinking about myself and what I want and wanting to be comfortable all the time instead of trying to be a help to other people. Most of all, I pray that you'll help me to always be gentle and good and understanding with this woman who's chose to live her life with me. She loves me with all her heart, with a love that's innocent and trusting and unselfish. You've had your hand on our lives since the day we met. We'd both been hurt a lot and neither one of us was ready to open our hearts again. But there was something wonderful about that moment almost like the world had conspired to place an emphasis on our meeting when we came together that day. I realized immediately how much she was. There was this bright burning knowing in her eyes that cut right through her shyness and it was weird how we trusted each other right from the start. Whatever kind of carpet there was in that room caused an electric shock when our hands touched and we both laughed and it all got started in a relaxed and easy going way. And you brought us along and brought us through everything that could have wrecked us along the way. Every time I look at her I see the little girl who believes the world's a good place, that everybody's got good in them, and that darkness is just a place that the light hasn't got to yet. Father, help me to trust you the way she trusts you. I want to have that kind of faith. No matter how bad things look, she believes if she does her best and tries hard enough, everything will turn out all right. Forgive me for being in such hurry all the time and being worried. But there really isn't any reason for it. I think some times I look for the worst in people, trying to find something wrong with them so I can feel better about me. She's always looking for the good in people and the funny thing is, she always seems to find it. Help me to be as gentle and thoughtful and kind as she is and to not always be making everything about me, to not always be trying to get everything the way I want it all the time. She's the one that's taught me about kindness. And when I do remember to give a little bit of it back to her, when I remember to be thoughtful, she's so grateful that tears come to her eyes and she touches my face with her hand and I've never seen love like that. I'll never understand why she loves me the way she does. Of all the gifts You've given me, that's the greatest gift of all. Help me to comfort her when she troubled and to some how make her realize how beautiful and wonderful she really is. I don't deserve her, but Lord how I love her. Help me to be good to her. Amen


Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/12/2025

The Cross Room

The young man was at the end of his rope.

Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer.

"Lord, I can't go on," he said.

"I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied,

"My son, if you can't bear it's weight,

just place your cross inside this room.

Then open another door and pick any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief.

"Thank you, Lord,"

he sighed, and did as he was told.

As he looked around the room he saw many different crosses;

some so large the tops were not visible.

Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall.

"I'd like that one, Lord,"

he whispered. And the Lord replied,

"My son, that's the cross you brought in."

Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/11/2025

Rite Of Passage



Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?



His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.



He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.



He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.



The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him.

Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blows the grass and earth, and shakes his stump, but he sits stoic ally, never removing the blindfold. It is the only way he can become a man!



Finally, after a horrific night the sun rays warm him and he removes his blindfold. It is then that he discovers his father sitting on the stump next to him. He has been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.



We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him. If you liked this story, pass it on to someone you are thinking about. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn...



Work for the Lord – The pay isn’t much but the retirement is out of this world!!!



Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/10/2025

Everything Happens For A Reason
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there…to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be but you lock eyes with them, you know that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would never realize your potential, strength, will power or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test limits of your soul.

Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can
create whom you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact they are probably
the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart,
forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being
cautious to whom you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but also
because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things. Make every
day count. Appreciate everything that you possibly can, for you may never experience it again.

Talk to people whom you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in
love, break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to.

Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in
yourself, no one else will believe in you. Create you own life and then go out and live it.

Share this with anyone whom you believe
has made a difference in your life!
"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see is obstacles."
~Author Unknown~

02/10/2025

Put The Glass Down
A lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on stress management.
He demonstrated the weight of water. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience,
"How heavy would you guess this glass of water is?"
The students answered between 5 ounces & 500 mg.
"It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it.
"If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.
"If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.
"If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance.,
"It is the exact same weight in each case, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
The lesson . . .
"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier."
"What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."
We have to put down our burdens periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.
So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down, don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow, if you must. Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment, if you can.
Pick it up again later when you have rested. . .
Rest and relax.
Life is short, enjoy it!!

02/06/2025

Prints of Elbows On My Bed

I was but a youth and thoughtless...
As all youths are apt to be;
Though I had a Christian mother...
Who had taught me carefully?

There came a time when pleasure...
Of the world came to allure,
And I no more sought the guidance...
Of her love so good and pure.

Her tender admonitions fell...
But lightly on my ear,
And for the gentle warnings...
I felt an inward sneer.

But Mother would not yield her boy...
To Satan's sinful sway,
And though I spurned her counsel...
She knew a better way.

She made my room an altar...
A place of secret prayer,
And there she took her burden...
And left it in His care.

And morning, noon, and evening...
By that humble bedside low,
She sought the aid of Him who...
Understands a mother's woe.

And I went my way unheeding...
Careless of the life I led,
Until one day I noticed...
Prints of elbows on my bed.

Then I saw that she had been there...
Praying for her wayward boy,
Who for love of worldly pleasure...
Would her peace of mind destroy?

Long the conflict raged within me...
Sin against my Mother's prayers,
Sin must yield - for Mother never...
While she daily met Him there.

And her constant love and patience...
Were like coals upon my head,
Together with the imprints...
Of her elbows on my bed.

And so, at last, the fight was won...
And I to Christ was led,
And Mother's prayers were answered...
By her elbows on my bed.
© Original Author

Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/05/2025

God Wanted Me To Tell You

It shall be well with you from this day forth. No matter how much your enemies try this year, they will not succeed. You have been destined to make it and you shall surely achieve all your goals this year. For the remaining months of the year, All your agonies will be diverted and

victory and prosperity will be incoming in abundance. Today God has confirmed the end of your sufferings sorrows and pains because HE that sits on the throne has remembered you. He has taken away the hardships and given you JOY. He will never let you down. I knocked at heaven's door this morning, God asked me... My child! What can I do for you? And I said, Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message... God smiled and answered... Request granted.

Have a Blessed Day!!

Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/04/2025

Don’t Quit

by Edgar A. Guest
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must,
but don't you quit.

Life is q***r with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst,you must not quit.



Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

02/03/2025

God and the Spider
During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your
will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought,
"Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin
to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered
strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider
web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see
them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last
stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved
on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as
if no one had entered for quite a while.

"Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget what God can work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. And remember with God, a mere spider's web becomes a brick wall of protection.

02/03/2025

A Mouse, A Pig, A Cow, and A Snake
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this
is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me... I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a
mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can
do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a
mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap
catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

01/30/2025

A Good Brew

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.



Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the

kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.



All the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken

up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that t he cup itself, adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.



What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then began eyeing each other's cups.



Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on

the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups enjoy your coffee



Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

01/29/2025

The Trouble Tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.



While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.



Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."



"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page

01/28/2025

Hold The Rope

A party of botanists... spent their vacation in the Swiss Alps collecting specimens of rare flowers. They started out one morning from a small village and after a several hours' climb came to a precipice overlooking a green valley dotted with a peculiar flower, which, examined through field glasses proved to be of unusual value. From the cliff on which the party was standing, to the valley was a sheer drop of several hundred feet. To descend would be impossible, and to reach the valley from another approach would mean a waste of several hours. '



During the latter part of their climb a small boy had attached himself to the party and had watched with interest the maneuvers of the botanists. After discussing the situation for several minutes, one of the party turned to the boy and said, "Young fellow, if you will let us tie a rope around your waist and lower you over this cliff so that you can dig up one of those plants for us, and let us pull you back up, without harming the plant, we will give

you five dollars."



The boy looked dazed for an instant, then ran off, apparently frightened at the prospect of being lowered over the cliff by a rope. But within a short time he returned, bringing with him an old man, bent and gray, with hands gnarled and calloused by hard labor. Upon reaching the party of botanists the boy turned to the man who had made the offer and said:



"Sir, this is my dad. I'll go down in the valley if you'll let my dad hold the rope."




Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

01/27/2025

God's Wings
An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God's wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.
Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.
She could have flown to safety but refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast.
Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.
-- Author Unknown
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge."
Psalm 91:4

01/27/2025

Pedal
I used to think of God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him.

But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since I took the back seat to Jesus, My Lord. Christ makes life exciting. When I had control, I thought I knew the way, but it was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at breakneck speeds; it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it often looked like madness, He said "Pedal!" I was worried and anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered the adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared", He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their
gifts to take on my journey, our journey, my Lord's and mine. And we were off again. He said, "Give
the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that
in giving I received, and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd
wreck it, but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to
clear high rocks, fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the
strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my
delightful constant companion, Christ.

And when I'm sure I just can't do any more, He just smiles and says ... "Pedal."

-- Author Unknown

01/24/2025

PANCAKES

Six-year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents' pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard, and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.



He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk, and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor

which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten. Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove, (and he didn't know how the stove worked!). Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.



Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky. And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him. Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him, and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.



That's how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky, we insult a friend, we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in

tears because we can't think of anything else to do.



That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets allover Him. But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to "make pancakes," for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried ...



~ Author Unknown ~





Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

01/23/2025

Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly.


Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

01/16/2025

Hanging By A Thread

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.

He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.

HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP! He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. "Jack, Jack, can you hear me?"

"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!".”I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?".”Yes, but who are you, and where are you?".”I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere. " ."The Lord? You mean, GOD?”.”That's Me."

"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'II stop sinning. I'II be a really good person. I'II serve You for the rest of my life."

"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”.”I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”.”Okay. Let go of the branch. ““'What?"

"I said, let go of the branch, just trust Me. Let go"

There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE 'UP THERE??”

'Have you ever felt like Jack? We say that we want to know the will of God, but when we find out what it is, we can't handle it. Sounds too scary, too difficult. We decide to look elsewhere. When He says, "Let go of the things that stand between you and Me, and trust Me with your life," it sounds pretty scary. But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands."

Mandi Collier
Bear's Inspiration Page
www.bearsinspirations.homestead.com

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