Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 3909 September 26, 2009
Thought for the week: "Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they are there." – Unknown. Submitted by Karen Willestoft
"I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that; then I realized I was somebody." – Lily Tomlin
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." – Margaret Thatcher
"I think I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others." – Booker T. Washington
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now." – Chinese Proverb
"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reasons for remaining ashore." – Vincent Van Gogh
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." – Winston Churchill
Notice: Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current market conditions, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.
There's a beautiful story about a little boy who couldn't wait for his new baby sister to come home from the hospital. He couldn't wait to be near her, to talk to her. But his parents didn't want him to be left alone with her. After all he was only four years old, so they wanted to supervise his visits. He kept begging to be alone with her, so one night his parents finally relented. The boy tiptoed into her room, stood next to his sister's crib and said: "Tell me about God—I'm starting to forget."
There are times when we as adults get so caught up in the "rat race" and all of our responsibilities. Perhaps we need to go to the children around us and say, "Tell me about God—I'm starting to forget."
When I confronted my daughter after she hurt another child with a mean comment, she cried and immediately wanted to apologize. That was a good thing, but I wanted her to know an apology can't always make things better.
I told her the parable of Will, a 9-year-old whose father abandoned his mom two years earlier. Will was angry, and he often lashed out at others with hurtful words. He once told his mom, "I see why Dad left you!"
Unable to cope with his cruel outbursts, she sent him to his grandparents for the summer. His grandfather's strategy to help Will learn self-control was to make him go into the garage and pound a two-inch-long nail into a four-by-four board every time he said a mean thing.
For a small boy, this was a major task, and he couldn't return until the nail was all the way in. After about ten trips to the garage, Will began to be more cautious about his words. Eventually, he even apologized for all the bad things he'd said.
That's when his grandmother stepped in. She told him to bring in the board filled with nails and instructed him to pull them all out. This was even harder than pounding them in, but after a huge struggle, he did it.
His grandmother hugged him and said, "I appreciate your apology, and of course I forgive you because I love you, but I want you to know an apology is like pulling out one of these nails. Look at the board. The holes are still there. The board will never be the same. Your dad put a hole in you, Will, but please don't put holes in other people. You're better than that."
A fourth-grade teacher once told me how she relates this story to her class. When a child says or does an unkind thing, she says, "Did you just put a nail in someone?" Then she'll ask, "Did you take it out?"
She says her students always know what she's talking about and recognize what they did was wrong, which isn't always the case if she just asks what happened, which usually results in the child blaming everyone else.
She also urges students who've been hurt not to automatically reply, "That's all right" after an apology because usually what was done was not all right and the person who said it didn't feel it was all right either. She tells her class to say instead: "I accept your apology" or "I forgive you."
The teacher uses the story to help her kids understand difficult family matters outside the classroom, too. She tells them some people will never take out the nails they've pounded into them, but everyone has the power to pull them out themselves and get on with their life rather than let others rule them.
She told me, "The story is simple, but the message is powerful—especially when reinforced with 'You're better than that.'"
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."1
I have read how when the books of a certain Scottish doctor were examined after his death, it was found that a number of accounts were crossed through with a note: "Forgiven—too poor to pay." But the physician's wife later decided that these accounts must be paid in full and she proceeded to sue for money. When the case came to court, the judge asked but one question. Is this your husband's handwriting? When she replied that it was, he responded: "There is no court in the land that can obtain a debt once the word forgiven has been written."
One of the problems common to many—if not most—of us is that we find it very difficult to forgive someone whom we feel has hurt us deeply.
The good news is that when we confess our sins to God and ask for his forgiveness, he forgives us totally and absolutely. He does this not because he ignores the just penalty for our sins, but because in his everlasting love for us he gave his Son, Jesus, to pay that penalty for us through his death on the cross. Because Jesus paid our penalty for us, God can now write across our debt, "Forgiven—too poor to pay." And he wipes out our debt forever!
If we have confessed our sins to God and asked for his forgiveness, we need to accept his forgiveness by faith—regardless of how we feel. However, if we still don't feel forgiven, we need to deal with the problem of false guilt and/or shame. I have addressed this problem before but will do so again in the next Daily Encounter. In the meantime be sure to thank God regularly for his forgiveness regardless. And because God forgives all of our sins and wrongs, we need to forgive all who have wronged us. As we have said before, "Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for all you have done for me in giving your Son Jesus to pay the penalty for all my sins. In confessing my sins to you, I thank you for your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Please help me to be as forgiving to others as you have been and are to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
Note: If you have never received God's forgiveness, for help be sure to read, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian" at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9
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Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing How to Mend a Broken Heart I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
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Loving & Understanding People by Dick Innes
I Hate Witnessing by Dick Innes
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