Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 12 – No. 3410 August 21, 2010
Thought for the week: "The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." – Samuel Johnson
"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character." – T. Alan Armstrong
"Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty." – Benjamin Franklin
"Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape!" – Unknown
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." – Winston Churchill
"We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give." – Unknown
"Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they are always there." – Unknown
Football in the fall. Basketball in the winter. Baseball in the spring and
summer. This pastor has been an avid sports fan all his life. But I've had
it! I quit this sports business once and for all. You can't get me near one
of those places again. Want to know why?
Every time I went, they asked me for money.
The people with whom I had to sit didn't seem very friendly.
The seats were too hard and not at all comfortable.
I went to many games, but the coach never came to call on me.
The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.
I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites—they came to see
their friends and what others were wearing rather than to see the game.
Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.
The band played some numbers that I had never heard before.
It seems that the games are scheduled when I want to do other things.
I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up.
I don't want to take my children to any games, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.
Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization.
Noah built the ark in Iraq.
The Tower of Babel was in Iraq.
Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq.
Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq.
Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.
Jonah preached in Nineveh—which is in Iraq.
Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
Amos cried out in Iraq.
Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.
Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq.
The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the Fiery Furnace!).
Belshazzar, the King of Babylon, saw the 'writing on the wall' in Iraq.
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
The wise men were from Iraq.
Peter preached in Iraq.
The 'Empire of Man' described in Revelation is called Babylon—which was a city in Iraq.
Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq!
The names used in the Bible for Iraq are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq means country with deep roots.
Indeed, Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible. No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq.
I was given a most precious gift this morning when I woke up. It's a gift I never received before. It's one I can't keep, can't return, can't save, and don't know how well it will really work. I do know it's a most wonderful and beautiful gift. I hope I value and appreciate it enough to use it wisely. That gift is this day! Enjoy yours—make it a very special one.
Ray Lammie's Thought for Today. To subscribe send a blank
email to belbarbara@aol.com with Subscribe Thought for Today
in the subject line.
Amy Carmichael said, "A cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted."
If a cup is full of sweet water and is jolted, what will come out of the cup? Sweet water. If you gave it a harder jolt, what's going to happen? More sweet water. If someone is filled with sweet water and someone else give him a "jolt," what will come out? Sweet water! Jolts do not turn sweet water into bitter water. That is done by something else.
Jolts only bring out of the container what's already in the container. If you're filled with sweetness and light, and you get jolted, you're going to spill sweetness and light. If you're filled with honey, the honey will come out. If vinegar comes out, what does that prove? It shows what was already in the container. In other words, bitterness is not based upon what the other person did at all. It is the result of what we do and are. Jim Wilson
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice" (Ephesians 4:31).
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered, or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom, and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Ed. NOTE: Above all, what will matter most at the end of life's journey is that you are prepared to meet your Maker face to face. Click HERE for your Passport for Heaven. Don't leave earth without it.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."1
Some years ago I prayed and asked God to give me something special that would equip me to better serve him. Did God answer my prayer? I didn't think so for a long time. I got the opposite of what I had in mind when I prayed this prayer, and it turned out to be a nightmare for a long time. But I have to admit that if there is any depth in the ministry the Lord has entrusted to me today, so much of it was learned during those nightmarish years. Now I see clearly that God did answer my prayer and though the experience was, at times, incredibly painful, I do believe I am a much better man as a result.
The words of the following old poem may be simple but, for me, are quite profound:
For every hill I had to climb,
For every stone that bruised my feet,
For all the blood and sweat and grime,
For blinding storms and burning heat,
My heart sings but a grateful song –
Those were the things that made me strong.
For all the heartaches and the tears,
For all the anguish and the pain,
For gloomy days and fruitless years
And for the hopes that lived in vain;
I do give thanks, for now I know,
These were the things that helped me grow.
'Tis not the softer things of life
Which stimulate our will to strive,
But bleak adversity and strife
Do most to keep our will alive.
Over rose-strewn paths the weaklings creep,
But brave hearts dare to climb the steep.2
As said before, God wants to use our trials and struggles to make us better. Satan wants to use them to make us doubt and become bitter. To become better or bitter is each person's choice.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, as I look back I can see how you have used the difficult times in my life to help me stretch and grow, to help me to become more understanding of and sensitive to others, and to better equip me to serve you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer of long ago. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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