Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 13 – No. 4211 October 15, 2011
Thought for the week: "God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials." – J. K. Gressett
"If you don't fail now and again, it's a sign you're playing it safe." – Woody Allen
"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel." – Unknown
"Friendship is a candle whose flame glows brighter when the hour is darker." – Unknown
"A real friend is when you can sit alone together and never say a word ... and walk away feeling that you have had the best conversation." – Unknown
"Transformation through reconfiguration: We become transformed to the express image of Christ through the reconfiguration of our thinking, habits, and all else we do, say and believe. Believe me; it takes courage to do so." – Pete Patterson
"Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in." – Alan Alda
"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." – Cynthia Ozick
In the 1980s, John Knoll and his brother Thomas began experimenting with a computer program to manipulate images. Software companies thought they were crazy, because photographers didn't use computers at that time. Initially, the brothers called their program Display, then Imaginator, and finally they settled on Photoshop®. Today Photoshop® is used by amateurs at home and professionals in business around the world. A San Jose Mercury News article noted its place in popular language. When something looks too good to be true, people say, "It must have been Photoshopped."
If you read this front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.
A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her.
They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was freed, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as if she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The man who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.
May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.
And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.
Most of us have lied to get out of trouble. From childhood denials ("it wasn't me") to adult fabrications ("the check is in the mail"), what seem like harmless falsehoods easily fall from our tongues. And then we make up more excuses or tell more lies to protect the first one. Soon the "cover-up" is more serious and credibility-damaging than whatever we lied about in the first place.
The natural tendency to avoid discomfort makes our lives more difficult in other ways as well. Some people damage or endanger their most important relationships at home or work by failing to acknowledge and deal with small problems that then fester into serious ones.
Here's a useful piece of advice: "When you're in a hole, stop digging." Whether our problems are of our own making or not, whether we know exactly how to resolve them or not, the first step is to stop making things worse. Stop making excuses. Stop blaming others. Stop ignoring our strong and persistent feelings. And stop dismissing and discounting what others are telling us about their needs and feelings.
Once we stop digging, we can work on getting out of the hole. It may take more honest self-reflection, self-restraint or simple will power. Perhaps we have to adjust our schedules or simply be more attentive and considerate. Sometimes the best thing to do is ask for help and someone will throw us a rope.
Like so many aspects of character, this is often easier said than done. But when we manage our lives thoughtfully and with integrity, things do get better.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."1
"Down the streets of Portsmouth more than [two] hundred years ago," said Lt. General Ira C. Eaker in a speech he was making, "walked a sailor with one arm, one eye, a persistent state of nerves, and unable to tread a ship's deck without being seasick. Indeed he would probably have been in a home for the incurable were not his name Admiral Lord Nelson. The man's spirit drove the flesh. The point is, when weighing the characteristics of a leader, remember a stout spirit can drive a weak body a long way."
I believe this same principle applies to all who seek to live in harmony with God's will and serve him; that is to people with the right attitude and a determined spirit.
When God says that not many of those he uses to do his work are wise or influential by the world's standard, I don't believe he is saying that we shouldn't be prepared or well qualified. What he is saying is that he uses ordinary people who are available, who use the gifts they have and have stick-ability, a stout spirit, and hang in and hang on when the going gets tough, but don't hang up! These are those who trust in God, who believe in a noble cause—God's cause—and dedicate their lives to help fulfill it; and who know at the end they will be welcomed into Heaven by Jesus himself with his words, "Well done good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of your Lord!"2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you choose and use ordinary people to do extra-ordinary as well as ordinary tasks for your Kingdom. I am available and pray that you will use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. No matter how small or large my calling may be, help me to be faithful, and give me a stout, determined spirit so that I will never give up. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name. Amen."
1. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV).
2. Matthew 25:23.
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