Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 14 – No. 4412 November 03, 2012
Thought for the week: "Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes." – Peter F. Drucker
"A person all wrapped up in himself makes a very small package." – Anon
"He who throws mud loses ground." – Anon
"The older we get the more we realize that service to others is the only way to stay happy. If we do nothing to benefit others, we will do nothing to benefit ourselves." – Carl Holmes
"People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness." – John Wanamaker
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." – John Wooden
"Nothing would be done at all if a man or woman waited until they could do it so well that no one could find fault with it." – John Henry Newman
"Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes" – Emily Dickinson
"Once upon a time we had the good sense to realize that periodic despair is normal, that squabbles between husbands and wives or parents and children are unavoidable, that not everybody is intended to live in bliss unending. We even had enough horse sense to realize that anyone who is happy all the time must be mad. One indication of good health is precisely the capacity to be unhappy when reality warrants it—to be unhappy without anxiety, apology or defensiveness."
Driving home one night, Bill picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, Bill began to feel suspicious of his passenger and checked to see if his wallet was safe in his pocket. It wasn't there! Bill slammed on the brakes and ordered the hitchhiker out, demanding that he hand over the wallet. The frightened hitchhiker gave him a billfold and Bill drove away. Arriving home, he began telling his wife about the experience. She said to him, "Bill, you left your wallet at home this morning."
In Jesus' day, the scribes and Pharisees were quick to judge others while not realizing they had far worse faults in their own lives. Jesus rebuked them for seeing a speck in another's eye while they had a plank blocking their own vision.
Thought: Many relationships have been hurt because someone was too quick to judge. Don't jump to conclusions. "And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" (Luke 6:41).
I haven't read your book yet, You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing, but I will, and love the title. I wanted to share an experience I had concerning broken wings. This experience came when I needed it the most. In June 2003 my husband was in a terrible car wreck. He spent several days in the hospital. I have expressed my gratitude to God many times for saving his life. His body was one solid bruise, a whiplash, and broken ribs. I had to get a strong stance just to help him up (he's 6'3" tall) as he couldn't do that by himself. I did great for two weeks, but utter exhaustion and emotional drain attacked me.
I went to bed one night, half praying, half crying and half asleep, sort of in that twilight zone, just before falling asleep. Some may call this a dream, but to me it was straight from God. I had what I call a vision. I saw a beautifully wrapped package with beautiful ribbons and bows. I tore into it immediately and there lay a bird's wing, shimmering in brilliance and outlined in silver and gold. I immediately fell asleep and awakened the next morning totally restored.
I just knew that had to be in the Bible and I found it. It was Psalm 68:13 (NIV): "Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold."
The Comforter had come to me, and, by the way, my husband recovered.
In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy asks Charlie Brown, "Why do you think we were put on earth?"
Charlie answers, "To make others happy."
Lucy replies, "I don't think I'm making anyone happy," and then adds, "but nobody's making me very happy either. Somebody's not doing his job!"
People like Lucy are so sure happiness is a matter of getting something that they ask not what they can do for others, but what others can and should do for them. They usually feel shortchanged or cheated. They become so preoccupied with what they don't have that they can't enjoy what they do have.
What's more, they don't realize one of the best ways to be happy is to experience the joy and sense of self-worth of making others happy.
Dennis Prager, in his book, Happiness Is a Serious Problem, argues that it's human nature to want and feel we need more. The problem is, the quest for more is endless because we can always add more to whatever we have. As a result, the Lucys of the world often live in an "if only" world that keeps them one step away from happiness: "If only I could get this raise, make this sale, pay off my debts, or win this game, I'd be happy."
Abraham Lincoln understood that happiness is essentially a way of looking at one's life. "A person is generally about as happy as he's willing to be," he said. Thus, we're more likely to experience happiness if we realize it's not just getting what we want. It's learning to want what we get.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus], 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"1
If ever there was an individual who would have qualified for heaven through his goodness, it would have been Nicodemus, a religious leader of Christ's day.
By all human standards Nicodemus would have been a model citizen—strong in character, a man of integrity, and a sincere religious leader. It was to this good man that Jesus said, "You must be born again." In other words, unless a man/woman is born again, he/she will not even see the kingdom of God/heaven, let alone enter it.
"You must be born again," meant that Nicodemus, like everybody else, needed to be born spiritually (as well as physically) if he was to enter God's heaven.
Once, after addressing a group of church workers, the famous evangelist Dwight Moody was confronted by an angry person. "Mr. Moody," she said, "do you mean to tell me that I, an educated woman, taught from childhood in good ways, and all my life interested in the church and doing good, must enter heaven the same way as the worst criminal of our day?"
"No, madam," said Mr. Moody, "I don't. God does. He says everyone who would enter heaven, no matter how good they think they are, or how well educated, or zealous in good works, must be born again [that is, born spiritually]."
The difficult thing to grasp is that our sin has made us spiritually dead to God. This is why we all need to be reborn spiritually. To become a member of the human family, we were born physically. To become a member of God's family, we need to be born again spiritually. But how can we do this?
Contrary to what many people think, it isn't by being good or through good works...or religion. It is simply by confessing our sinfulness to God and by believing that his Son, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and by responding to his call to receive him into our heart and life as personal Lord and Savior.
If you're not sure that you have been born again spiritually, you can be—right now—by sincerely praying a prayer such as the following: "Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to pay the consequences or penalty for all my sins. And dear Jesus, I thank you for doing this for me. Please come into my life as Savior and Lord and help me to become the person you want me to be and to live always for you. Thank you for your forgiveness and the assurance that I will spend eternity with you in heaven forever."
If you prayed this prayer, please let us know by clicking on: MY DECISION and we will send you the web address for free articles to help you grow in your spiritual life.
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