Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 3109 August 01, 2009
Thought for the week: "Beware the barrenness of a busy life." – Socrates
"Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not." – Brian Tracy
"You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving." – Anonymous
"You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair." – Chinese Proverb
"An attitude of gratitude creates blessings." – Sir John Templeton
"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." – Lewis L. Dunnington
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." – Calvin Coolidge
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?
Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?
Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table, you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
A young second lieutenant at Fort Bragg discovered that he had no change when he was about to buy a soft drink from a vending machine. He flagged down a passing private and asked him, "Do you have change for a dollar?" The private said cheerfully, "I think so, let me take a look." The lieutenant drew himself up stiffly and said, "Soldier, that is no way to address an officer. We'll start all over again. Do you have change for a dollar?" The private came to attention, saluted smartly, and said, "No, sir!"1
Ed note: "Jesus always spoke with authority but was never authoritarian." – Unknown
1. James W. Hewitt, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 42.
Someone suggested that we imagine this fishing club where the members merely sat around swapping fish stories about the big one they landed, the whopper that broke away, but they never stepped into a boat or cast their line in the water. What kind of a fishing club would it be whose members were content to admire the trophies on the wall, but never go out and actually go fishing?
A lot of churches are like that. They sit around bragging about the days when their boat was full of fresh fish. They look nostalgically to the days when the main purpose of their church was to go fishing, to reach others for Christ. But they never actually go fishing; they merely talk about going fishing. That's not what we're about as a church.
The church in the world is a lot like the story that E. Stanley Jones tells of the missionary in the jungle. He got lost with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally found a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. The native said he could. "All right," the missionary said, "show me the way." They walked for hours through dense brush, hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said. "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path."
Our path out of the jungle of this world is God in Christ. We may have some Rabbis, Masters, Father's, Teachers, and Reverends but we are all like the missionary. We rely not upon men but Christ who is our path.1
As Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6, NKJV).
The song "Thank God for Dirty Dishes" makes the point that if you're lucky to have enough food to make dirty dishes, you should be grateful. Instead of grousing about property taxes, be thankful you own property. When you wait in line at the bank or are stuck in traffic, be grateful you have money and a car to drive.
Easier said than done!
For me, appreciation doesn't come naturally. I'm not sure how, but somewhere along the way I came to associate gratitude with settling for whatever you get and not pushing harder to get more. Gratitude seemed like a form of surrender and a poor life strategy. If you're satisfied with the way things are, you'll never feel the urge to make them better.
What a pity I had to reach my 50s before I began to appreciate appreciation and realize it's rewarding to feel good about something—and there's always something to feel good about.
Although I don't do it enough, I've come to understand the profound wisdom in clichés like "stop and smell the roses" and "count your blessings." They remind us how easy it is to overlook things we could enjoy now while we look for what we think will make us happy later.
I'm still a novice at this, but I can tell you the more I appreciate, the happier I am. And the more appreciative my children learn to be, the happier they'll be.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."1
You've probably read how the late newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst invested a fortune in collecting great works of art.
On one occasion he read about an extremely valuable painting and was determined to obtain it for his collection. Apparently, his agent searched in art galleries worldwide—all to no avail. Some months later, the prized painting was actually found in one of Hearst's own warehouses!
Oh the incomparable riches and unlimited blessings that we all have in Christ Jesus—riches that will take eternal ages for us to fully comprehend and appreciate. Today, they are ours for the taking. Above all is God's full and free pardon for all our sins and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Have you discovered and accepted these incomparable gifts from God for yourself?
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding so that I will see all the riches of grace you have in store for me, and accept these. And above all, help me to see my need for and accept your gift of salvation, sins forgiven, and the gift of eternal life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
NOTE: If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior and are not sure of life after death, be sure to read "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.
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