Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 – No. 3811 September 17, 2011
Thought for the week: "Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart." – Elizabeth Andrew, writer
"You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life." – James G. Bilkey
"It's the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class." – John Willard Marriott
"I am grateful for all of my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties." – James Cash Penney
"A life [truly] touched by God always ends up touching other [lives]." – Mark Mobley
"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." – Warren Buffett
"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." – Colette
A teacher posed the following problem to her arithmetic class:
"A wealthy man dies and leaves ten million dollars. One-fifth is to go to his wife, one-fifth to his son, one-sixth to his butler, and the rest to charity. Now, what does each get?"
The classroom fell silent for a moment, and then an earnest young voice piped up: "A lawyer!"
Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble; it is a "steering wheel" that directs us in the right path throughout life.
Do you know why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large and the rear view mirror is so small? Because our PAST [if and when resolved] is not as important as our FUTURE. So, look ahead and move on.
Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.
All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy it; they will not last forever. If going wrong don't, worry; they can't last long either.
Old friends are like Gold! New friends are Diamonds! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a base of Gold!
Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!
When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.
A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision."
When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them; and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.
WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES; it takes away today's PEACE.
Credited to Walid Hassan. Submitted by Roy Simmons.
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, and make it a very special one.
Ray Lammie's Thought for Today. To subscribe Click HERE.
"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which, if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world."
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
And in 1802 Thomas Jefferson said: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property—until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
I've been doing these commentaries for almost 14 years, so they chronicle the lives of my four daughters. Feeling wistful watching Samara, my eldest, applying to colleges, I recalled a story I told about her when she was only five.
She saw me packed to leave on an overnight trip, and she pleaded, "Please don't go, Daddy." I told her I had to go, and she threw a tantrum.
When she calmed down, she took a new tack: "Then take me with you."
When that didn't work, she made her final offer: "Then promise to wear the tie I made you."
She was referring to a tie she gave me for Father's Day adorned with a picture she drew with colored Sharpies. It was a sweet thought, but I'd feel ridiculous wearing it while speaking to serious business executives.
Still, it was my best way out, so I promised. I admit I thought about wearing a more appropriate tie the next day. After all, she would never know. But I promised her, and in our family that's a really important thing.
I wore the tie the next day and told my audience why I was wearing it, making the point that if you want to be trusted, you have to keep your promises.
When I returned that afternoon, I went straight to my office from the airport. My wife and Samara showed up in a surprise visit. When Samara saw me wearing her tie, she beamed and gave me the biggest hug ever. "I knew you would," she said. "You're the best daddy ever."
I was so glad I'd kept my promise to that little girl. After all, a promise is a promise.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"He who fears has not been made perfect in love."1
Everybody needs to love and be loved. We all know this, but what we don't always realize is that some of us don't get our love needs met because we're afraid to love and be loved. This is because somewhere in our past we were hurt by those who were supposed to love us. To love again means to be hurt again.
Take Jill for example. She was continually accusing Tom, her husband, of being over-interested in other women. Any friendliness Tom showed toward the opposite sex was misinterpreted by Jill based on her own fear.
Through counseling, Jill came to see that her fear belonged to her past. When she was very young, her father left her mother for another woman and abandoned her as well. Deep down Jill feared that Tom would do the same to her.
Tom loved Jill very much and had no intention of leaving her. Neither did he have any personal interest in any other woman. However, because of Jill projecting her fear on to Tom, her accusations were pushing him away. Had she not realized and received help to overcome her problem, she may very well have destroyed her marriage and the love she needed the most. Unless resolved, all too often the thing we fear we make to happen.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to recognize any unresolved fears in my life that may be hurting myself or others, and to find the help I need to overcome so I can be made perfect in love. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name. Amen."
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