Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 9 – No. 2807 July 14, 2007
Thought for the week: "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." – W.T. Purkiser
When I was a newly commissioned Lieutenant in the Army, I was assigned as a temporary assistant in an administrative office in a Military Intelligence unit. One day a log came around with a cover sheet instructing all assigned officers to read it and initial it as indication of their compliance.
I figured it meant me too, so I read and initialed it. BUT a few days later, it came back addressed specifically to me. An attached note read: "You are not permanently assigned to this unit and are thus not an authorized signee. Please erase your initials and initial your erasure." So I did.
Arnold Palmer was invited to speak before a convention of blind golfers. He asked the golfers how they were able to determine in which direction to hit the ball. One of the golfers explained that his caddy starts ahead of him with a little bell that he rings as he stands near the hole. The man explained that he then hits the ball toward the sound of the bell.
Arnold asked how well it worked. The blind man said, "It works like a charm. In fact, if you're game, I'd be willing to take you on for a round of 18. And just to make it interesting, I'll bet you $10,000 I can beat you!"
Palmer was flabbergasted. "Ten thousand dollars? Are you sure you want to risk that much money?" The blind golfer assured him that he was, and the deal was struck with a handshake. With that, Palmer asked, "What time do we tee off?" The blind man answered, "Oh, at our usual tee time. Midnight!"
"Today I know that I cannot control the ocean tides. I can only go with the flow. When I struggle and try to organize the Atlantic to my specifications, I sink. If I fail and thrash and growl and grumble, I go under. But if I let go and float, I am borne aloft."
James Calvert (1813-1892) was a zealous missionary to cannibals on the Fiji Islands. His faithful work bore fruit in the lives of those accustomed to taking the life of others. Years later an English earl visited the Fiji Islands and was critical of a chief's conversion to Christianity. "You're a great leader but it's a pity you've been taken in by those foreign missionaries. No one believes the Bible anymore. People are tired of the threadbare story of Christ dying on a cross for the sins of mankind. They know better now. I'm sorry you've been so foolish as to accept their story."
The old chief responded with a gleam in his eyes, "See that great rock over there? On it we smashed the heads of our victims. Notice the furnace next to it. In that oven we formerly roasted the bodies of our enemies. If it hadn't been for those good missionaries and the love of Jesus that changed us from Cannibals into Christians, you'd never leave this place! You'd better thank the Lord for the gospel; otherwise we'd already be feasting on you. If it weren't for the Bible and its salvation message, you'd now be our supper!"
From: "Spiritual Gratitude," Kindred Spirit, (Volume 16, Number 1, p. 6). Cited on: WITandWISDOM www.witandwisdom.org.
In 1999, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a novel called Pay It Forward (later turned into a movie). It starts with a teacher's assignment to "Think of an idea for world change and put it into action." Trevor, the 12-year-old hero, comes up with an idea. If he does something "real good" for three people and asks in return that instead of them "paying him back," they "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three other people, who are in turn asked to pay it forward, the math quickly shows that he could change the world.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
One medical doctor I read about claims that of all the patients who come to him saying they need help, approximately 25 percent don't want to get well at all. Others just want sympathy. Some don't even want to live. About 50 percent want the doctor to fix them. They would rather he operate on their body, than they operate on their lifestyle. Only 20 to 25 percent accept responsibility for their own recovery and well-being.
A large Christian counseling organization did a mini-survey with their counselors. They came up with the same percentages. One quarter of their clients didn't want to get well. Approximately half expected the counselor to fix them. And only one out of four accepted responsibility for their recovery. The reality is that a counselor can't fix anybody. They can only help a person see what the cause of their difficulty is and guide them to work through and resolve it.
When it comes to being overweight, for example, many of us say we want to weigh less than we do. However, most of us don't eat anything we don't want to eat. Thus we get confused between a wish and a want. Unless we have a biological problem, many of us wish we weighed less but don't want to badly enough to do what it takes to lose weight.
Only when we truly want to overcome our problems and be made whole—and accept responsibility to do what we need to do to make it happen—will we. As Jesus asked, "Do you want to be made whole?"
Suggested Prayer: "Dear God, please give me the want and the will to be made whole, and with your help, do what I need to do to in order to be made whole. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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