Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
To receive the email edition of Weekend Encounter (without charge) click on the Subscribe button.
Privacy policy: We do not sell or rent subscriber's e-mail
addresses to anyone. We value your privacy.
Global Communications Outreach:
Learn how to be a missionary right from your own home and have a vital part in worldwide gospel outreach by becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus Partner. Click HERE There is no charge.
Vol. 15 – No. 1613 April 20, 2013
Thought for the week: "Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet!" – Unknown
"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." – Walter Elliott
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." – Dorothy Parker
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working." – Pablo Picasso
The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise." – Alden Nowlan
"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little 'extra'." – Jimmy Johnson
"It is curious that people who are filled with horrified indignation whenever a cat kills a sparrow can hear the story of the killing of God told Sunday after Sunday and not experience any shock at all." – Dorothy Sayers
A man goes into a drugstore and asks the pharmacist if he can give him something for the hiccups. The pharmacist promptly reaches out and slaps the man's face.
"What did you do that for?" the man asks.
"Well, you don't have the hiccups anymore, do you?"
The man says, "No, but my wife out in the car still does!"
In 1872, at the age of 16, Booker T. Washington decided he wanted to go to school. For a boy, born a slave to a plantation cook in Virginia, who had no idea who his white father was, this was a huge step. He decided that he would enter the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. With nothing more than a small satchel of clothing, he started walking from Malden, West Virginia, 500 miles away. Eventually he made it to Richmond, about eighty miles from his destination. He worked there for a few days unloading pig iron off a ship, spending his nights on the ground under an elevated board sidewalk. He continued his journey and finally reached Hampton Institute. He asked the "head teacher" for admission.
Washington later recalled, "Having been so long without proper food, a bath, and change of clothing, I did not make a very favorable impression upon her, and I could see at once that there were doubts in her mind about the wisdom of admitting me as a student." The teacher delayed a decision about Booker while she admitted other students, and he waited anxiously. Finally, she said to him, "The adjoining recitation room needs sweeping. Take the broom and sweep it."
"It occurred to me at once that here was my chance," he wrote. "Never did I receive an order with more delight. I swept the recitation room three times. Then I got a dusting cloth and I dusted it four times." He cleaned the walls and closets. "I had the feeling," he continued, "that in a large measure my future depended upon the impression I made upon the teacher in the cleaning of that room. When I was through, I reported to her. She was a 'Yankee' woman who knew just where to look for dirt. She went into the room and inspected the floor and closets. Then she took her handkerchief and rubbed it on the woodwork about the walls, and over the table and benches. When she was unable to find one bit of dirt on the floor, or a particle of dust on any of the furniture, she quietly remarked, 'I guess you will do to enter this institution.'"
"I was one of the happiest souls on earth. The sweeping of that room was my college examination, and never did any youth pass an examination for entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine satisfaction. I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed."
Booker T. Washington not only passed that examination, but he kept a job as a janitor to help pay his expenses. In June 1875, he graduated on the honor roll and as one of the commencement speakers. Booker T. Washington was a dreamer who backed up his dreams with action.
Note: "Booker Taliaferro Washington was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to Republican presidents. He was the dominant leader in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915."Wikipedia
There are times when I felt a "shaking-in-my-boots" kind of fear. I think many people experience this type of shaking fear at one time or other. During my two years of active duty I served one year in Vietnam. I distinctly remember a shaking fear. The Viet Cong fired rockets into our camp. Exploding ammunition repeatedly shook the ground until the middle of the night. Looking out the bunker opening the night sky was a burnt-red color. We greatly feared.
The book of Proverbs has been my companion for the last eight months. I am finding this book to be a collection of action-words for how to handle life with wisdom. A reference is made to those who refresh others with deep friendship. Another reference is made to avoiding overuse of alcohol.
I centered my thoughts on the phrase "Fear of the Lord" repeated several times in the book. I looked up the Hebrew definition of fear and found it is used as either a noun or a verb. Used as a noun fear is defined as shaking or being shaken. The verb form used frequently in Proverbs is defined as what flows from the gut or proceeds from God. What God says is awesome and what we hear shakes us. Because God is love we relax and revere Him.
In the 9th chapter, the fear of the Lord is the path to wisdom and knowledge of God. Knowledge in this context means an intimate relationship with God. Because of this intimacy, reverence is inferred. In the 19th Chapter, fear of the Lord leads to life accompanied by satisfaction and without fear of harm. In the 22nd chapter, humility and fear of the Lord brings honor and a satisfying life.
My journey through Proverbs is encouraging. I see life as an opportunity to learn. Awesome words lead to trust because love flows from God. We live in safety and can relax and take life one day at a time. He has the whole world in His hand.
Today is the only day that you will ever have in your life. Yesterday is now history and you cannot use it. Tomorrow is still a mystery, and you cannot use it. Today is all the present, the only present that you have, a present that needs reception, a clean start, an opportunity to improve on what is left from yesterday and make a solid base for what is yet to come tomorrow. Every day is worth pondering over to avoid wondering about.
Marta was a hard-working single mother. When her minister sermonized about "living a life that matters," she worried that working to raise her kids and going to church wasn't enough. So, on the bus to work she made a list of other jobs she could do and volunteer work she could try.
Sylvia, an elderly woman, saw the worry on Marta's face and asked what was wrong. Marta explained her problem. Sylvia said, "Oh my, did your minister say you weren't doing enough?"
"No," Marta said, "But I don't know how to live 'a life that matters'."
"You don't have to change jobs or do more volunteer work," Sylvia consoled her. "It's enough that you're a good mother. But if you want to do more, think about what you can do while doing what you already do. It's not about what you do, but how you do it."
"You don't understand," Marta said. "I sell hamburgers. How do I make that significant?"
"How many people do you deal with every day?" Sylvia asked.
"Two to three hundred."
"Well, what if you set out to cheer, encourage, teach or inspire as many of those people as you could? A compliment, a bit of advice, a cheerful hello or a warm smile can start a chain reaction that lights up lives like an endless string of Christmas bulbs."
"But that's just being nice," Marta protested.
"Right," said Sylvia, "Niceness can change lives."
Marta looked at the old woman. "What do you do?"
"I was a housekeeper until I retired," Sylvia said. "Now I just ride the bus, talking to people."
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."1
"In our Monday morning group," wrote Milt Richards, "we have been reflecting on what it means to follow Jesus. In our scripture lesson for today we read the story of Jesus meeting Matthew. Here is a person who is one of the most disrespected and loathed persons in the community. Crowds of people had been clamoring to see and hear Jesus, the new miracle worker among them who claimed to be the promised 'Messiah.' Yet, as Jesus moved on his way, a very special thing happened. The record specifically states that Jesus saw Matthew."
Not only did Jesus see Matthew—the despised and hated tax collector—but he also called him saying, "Follow me." In choosing to accept Jesus' invitation, Matthew became one of Jesus' special disciples—and his life and writings continue to make an impact on the world today.
Jesus, of course, was heavily criticized by the religious elite of his day for mixing with despised tax collectors and obvious sinners, but he had no intention of being "politically correct" in order to please the elite. He lived only to please his Father, who sent him to earth to seek and to save the lost; that is, the spiritually lost.
No matter how you and I are accepted, rejected, neglected or made to feel, Jesus sees us too. And his invitation is exactly the same as it was to Matthew:
"Follow me."
Accept Jesus' invitation and your reward in heaven will also be great. To do so, be sure to click on God's Invitation at: http://tinyurl.com/6k49w.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you for Jesus' invitation to me to follow him. I gladly accept his invitation. Please help me to live in total harmony with your will and to honor Jesus and you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Matthew 9:9 (NIV).
NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness for all your sins and his invitation for a full pardon Click on: www.actsweb.org/invitation.php.
Or, if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ, please click on www.actsweb.org/decision.php to note this.
8. Receive Daily Encounter E-mail ... Without Charge
Daily Encounter, a without charge weekday e-mail inspirational from ACTS International is now going to 390,000+ subscribers. Scores of letters from around the world have come from readers saying how much they are being helped by this brief, practical devotional.
Over 100 million e-mail Daily, Weekend and Prayer Encounters are delivered to subscribers every year!
NOTE: Some ISPs (especially AOL) now use e-mail filtering software that allows you to add e-mail addresses to your 'buddy', 'safe', or 'approved' list. Please be sure to add acts@actsweb.org to yours so you won't miss any issue of Daily Encounter.
One of ACTS greatest needs is Prayer Partners to stand with us as we seek to share the gospel with millions of people around the world through E-mail and the Internet and to win the lost to Jesus. If you would like to be an ACTS Prayer Partner, please subscribe to the Prayer Encounter list. Approximately one prayer report is e-mailed monthly. Thank you.
Weekend Encounter and Daily Encounter are just two of the ways the nonprofit organization, ACTS International, is working to improve the spiritual and emotional life of many thousands of people around the world.
Every weekday Daily Encounter is going to 390,000+ subscribers, and every week Weekend Encounter is going to 7,700+ subscribers worldwide—many of whom are in places where it is forbidden to spread the Christian gospel and message. Plus, we reach several hundred thousand more every week through our advertising. As a result, every day we are seeing an average of 5-6 salvation responses from around the world—almost 3,000 in the past 12 months!
If you find value in the Weekend Encounter and/or Daily Encounter, we hope you will be comfortable donating at least $26. That's only 50 cents a week for an entire year (tax-deductible in the U.S.). You can donate in one of the following ways:
Oprah Winfrey: "Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi." – Oprah Winfrey
1. Bible concordance and Bible helps
2. New Hope Crisis Counseling with trained
lay/volunteer counselors. www.newhopenow.org 3. E-Word Today for a daily Bible reading
4. To find your ZIP+4 Area Code in the U.S.A.
5. How to find and write to your U.S. Representative
6. ASK ... Smart answers fast
7. Send a greeting card without charge for all occasions
8. To check the weather in your area
9. Hoax Web Sites
10. Plus many more sources of helpful information
"Because the world is hungry,
go with bread.
Because the world is filled with strife,
go with peace.
Because the world is filled with deceptions and lies,
go with truth.
Because the world would die without,
go with the love of God."
