Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 1712 April 28, 2012
Thought for the week: "A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road." – Henry Ward Beecher
I love the story about the first grader who stood in front of his classroom to make a speech about "What I want to be when I grow up." He said, "I'm going to be a lion tamer and have lots of fierce lions. I'll just walk into the cage and they will roar."
He paused for a moment, thinking about what he had just said and then added, "But of course, I'll have my mommy with me."
You walked into my life
unexpectedly.
You smiled a gentle smile,
spoke a kind word,
and placed some
flowers in my hand—
an orchid and
forget-me-nots.
And then you left.
The flowers have
long since faded
but the fragrance of
your presence never will.
So be assured of this—
I will forget you not!
Month One
Mommy,
I am only .25 inches long
but I have all my organs.
I love the sound of your voice.
Every time I hear it
I wave my arms and legs.
The sound of your heart beat
is my favorite lullaby.
Month Two
Mommy,
today I learned how to suck my thumb.
If you could see me
you could definitely tell that I am a baby.
I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though.
It is so nice and warm in here.
Month Three
You know what, Mommy?
I'm a boy!
I hope that makes you happy.
I always want you to be happy.
I don't like it when you cry.
You sound so sad.
It makes me sad, too,
and I cry with you even though
you can't hear me.
Month Four
Mommy,
my hair is starting to grow.
It is very short and fine
but I will have a lot of it.
I spend a lot of my time exercising.
I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes
and stretch my arms and legs.
I am becoming quite good at it, too.
Month Five
You went to the doctor today.
Mommy, he lied to you.
He said that I'm not a baby.
I am a baby, Mommy, your baby.
I think and feel.
Mommy, what's abortion?
Month Six
I can hear that doctor again.
I don't like him.
He seems cold and heartless.
Something is intruding my home.
The doctor called it a needle.
Mommy, what is it? It burns!
Please make him stop!
I can't get away from it!
Mommy! HELP me!
Month Seven
Mommy,
I am okay.
I am in Jesus' arms.
He is holding me.
He told me about abortion.
Why didn't you want me, Mommy?
Every Abortion Is Just: One more heart that was stopped. Two more eyes that will never see. Two more hands that will never touch. Two more legs that will never run. One more mouth that will never speak.
Author Unknown.
Submitted by Patricia Brown, Canada
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
In the early 1900s, a little-known philosopher named James Allen wrote a powerful essay called "As a Man Thinketh" in which he argued that we are what we think, that a person's character is the sum of his thoughts. He declared that the power to control our thoughts (whether we use that power or not) is the ability to mold our character and shape our destiny.
This is a profound insight, making us personally responsible not only for our conduct but for our circumstances.
He wrote, "As a plant springs from the seed, our actions, character, and even our circumstances spring from our thoughts." As long as we believe we're the creatures of outside conditions, we will fail to become the rightful masters of our lives. But if we do the hard work of reflecting continually to identify and modify negative beliefs and attitudes, we'll be astonished at the rapid transformation it will produce in our lives.
Our thoughts and actions can be either jailors of negativity, imprisoning us in degrading circumstances, or angels of freedom, liberating us to achieve our noble potential.
The relationship between attitudes and circumstances is now well recognized, captured in aphorisms like "Change your attitudes and you change your life," and "It's not your aptitude but your attitude that determines your altitude." But it's Allen's connection between thoughts and character that is especially interesting. Yes, our destiny is determined by our character, but our character is not determined by destiny.
We can't always control when bad thoughts and negative impulses enter our minds, but we can decide either to nurture or to reject them.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."1
Leo Buscaglia wrote, "There was a girl who gave me a poem, and she gave me permission to share it with you, and I want to do that because it explains about putting off and putting off and putting off—especially putting off caring about people we really love. She wants to remain anonymous, but she calls the poem, "Things You Didn't Do," that said the following:
Remember the day I borrowed your brand
new car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I dragged you to the
beach and you said it would rain, and it did?
I thought you'd say, "I told you so," but you didn't.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the
guys to make you jealous, and you were?
I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.
Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry
pie all over your car rug?
I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I forgot to tell you the
dance was formal and you showed up in jeans?
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.
Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do.
But you put up with me, and you loved me,
and you protected me.
There were lots of things I wanted to make up to
you when you returned from Viet Nam.
But you didn't.2
Is there something you need to do today for someone you care about—something that you've been putting off for too long? Why not do it today?
Also, is there someone who needs to put his or her life right with God? You know who you are. Be sure to do this today. And is there a reader who needs to accept God's forgiveness. If so, be sure to read the article, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian"
online at: www.actsweb.org/christian. Remember that "now is the accepted time ... now is the day of salvation."1 The fact is that none of us has any guarantee of tomorrow.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that your Word reminds us that 'now is the day of salvation.' Please give me the courage to do what I need to do and to do it today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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