Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 19 – No. 3117 July 08, 2017
Thought for the week: "Our greatest legacy will be those who live eternally in heaven because of our efforts." – Anon
"You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you cried." – 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." – Winston Churchill, British Prime Minster
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." – John Wooden Basketball Coach
"Do not wait! The time will never be 'just right'. Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." – Napoleon Hill
"Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles." – E. Stanley Jones
"I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism." – Charles Schwab
"Keep your eyes open. If there's a problem, there's an opportunity." – Carol L. Dannhauser
"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." – Eleanor Roosevelt
"Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make." – Donald Trump
International evangelist Luis Palau recalls the first time he ever asked God to directly answer a prayer. Luis was supporting his mother and siblings by working in an Argentine bank. A bank strike had shut down the local economy, and money was exceedingly tight. Luis prayed and asked God for money to pay for bus fare to his job the next day.
Just to demonstrate that even international evangelists start out as spiritual babies, notice that Luis Palau left home really early the next morning, just in case he had to walk to work. Already he didn't trust that God would answer his prayer. On the way to the bus stop, he searched the ground for loose change. Surely that would be God's method for answering his prayer. Someone would drop the money, Luis would find it, and he would ride to work in comfort. But there was no change to be found on the sidewalks.
On his way to the next bus stop, Luis encountered a man who needed some help getting his car started. He stopped to help, then continued on his way. A few moments later, the man pulled alongside Luis and offered him a ride. This man happened to work at the building across the street from the bank.
– Luis Palau, with Ellen Bascuti. The Peter Promise (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Discovery House Publishers, 1996),
pp. 43-45. Cited on www.sermons.com
Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.
Those suffering grew to love him and revered the sacrificial life he lived out before them. One morning before Damien was to lead daily worship, he was pouring some hot water into a cup when the water swirled out and fell onto his bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more hot water on the same spot. Again, there was no feeling whatsoever. Damien immediately knew what had happened. As he walked to deliver his sermon, no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. He normally began every sermon with, "My fellow believers." But this morning he began with: "My fellow lepers."1
Is this not similar to what Jesus did for us. He became one of us, so he could identify with us, and give his life as a sacrifice for us. "He [Jesus] is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:3-5, NKJV).
Motivational speaker Danny Cox tells about a "Broom Hilda" cartoon in which her troll-like, naive, innocent little friend Irwin puts on a long-tailed formal tuxedo jacket, picks up a conductor's baton and walks into the woods alone.
Irwin steps up on a fallen tree trunk and begins to wave his arms as if to conduct. There are no musicians, only rocks, trees and flowers. Soon, musical notes pour from the rocks, trees and flowers and fill the panel.
Finally, Irwin turns and confidently says to the reader, "It's all in there; you just have to work at getting it out."
– Seize the Day by Danny Cox and John Hoover, Career
Press, Hawthorne, N.J., 1994, p. 81. Cited on www.sermons.com/
Abe was fiercely independent even at the age of 85, but after a mild stroke his son insisted that he move in with him. Abe missed going to the park near his old apartment and one Saturday he set out to find it. When he became disoriented, he asked a young boy where the park was. The boy named Timmy said that he'd like to take Abe there but that he didn't have time because he was out looking for God. Timmy said he needed to talk to him about why his parents were getting a divorce.
"Maybe God is in the park," said the old man. "I'd like to talk to him too about why he has made me useless." And so they set off together to find God.
At the park Timmy began to cry about the divorce and Abe lovingly held his face in both hands and looked him straight in the eyes. "Timmy, I don't know why bad things happen, but I know it's not because of you. I know you're a good boy and your parents love you and you'll be OK."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Timmy gave Abe a big hug and said, "I'm so glad I met you. Thanks. I think I can go now."
From across the street Timmy's mother had seen them hug so she approached him and in a worried voice said, "Who was that old man?"
"I think he's God," Timmy said.
"Did he say that?" the mother demanded.
"No, but when he touched me and told me I'm going to be OK, I really felt better. I think only God can do that."
When Abe got home, his son in a scolding voice asked, "Where were you?"
"I was in the park with God," Abe said.
"Really? What makes you think you were with God?"
"Because he sent me a boy who needed me, and when the boy hugged me, I felt God telling me I wasn't useless."
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand" (Philippians 4:6, 7, TLB).
Paul Dickson discovered that the size of the cut he inflicted on himself while shaving was directly proportionate to the importance of the event for which he was shaving. That led him to an interest in other "universal laws" evident in daily life. The following are a few of the many he has collected:
"No books you lend are lost except those you particularly want to keep." "There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself; hire someone; or tell your kids not to do it." "You can throw a burnt match out of the window of your car and start a forest fire easier than you can start one under dry logs in your fireplace with a box of matches and the complete edition of the Sunday newspaper."
Let's face it, more often than not, it's life's little annoyances that get to us and hit our "worry" button. As one humorist put it:
It's the little things that bother us
and put us on the rack,
you can sit upon a mountain,
but you can't sit on a tack!
And most of us have at least one "worry" button—by whatever name you call it—which is an area of weakness that God wants us to overcome. As long as I have a "worry button" that is still active, it's a reminder that I still have some growing to do so I can get to the place where I quit worrying and trust God for everything!
Hmmm ... I'm still working on mine ... but God hasn't finished with me yet. Fortunately.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that I can bring all my 'worries' to you. This is relatively easy to do. However, when I do this, please help me to leave them with you and trust you for the outcome, which is much harder for me to do. But when I do, thank you for your gift of peace that replaces the worries. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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