Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 15 – No. 2913 July 20, 2013
Thought for the week: "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about learning to dance in the rain!" – Vivian Greene
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." – Nelson Mandela
"Choice, not chance, determines human destiny." – Robert W. Ellis
"The man who chases two rabbits catches neither." – Confucius
"A man does not have to be an angel in order to be a saint. " – Albert Schweitzer
"Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product." – Eleanor Roosevelt
"You're never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." – C.S. Lewis
In his book, When Everything You Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, Harold Kushner writes: "Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it."
Do you ever walk into a room with some purpose in mind, only to completely forget what that purpose was?
Turns out, doors themselves are to blame for these strange memory lapses.
Psychologists at the University of Notre Dame have discovered that
passing through a doorway triggers what's known as an event boundary in
the mind, separating one set of thoughts and memories from the next.
Your brain files away the thoughts you had in the previous room and
prepares a blank slate for the new locale.
It's not aging, it's the door! Thank goodness for studies like this.
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and set us free. Amen!
NOTE: This prayer circulated via e-Mail and was credited to Billy Graham. However, according to Truth or Fiction, Billy Graham was NOT the writer of this prayer. Nevertheless, it is an excellent prayer.
Are there people in your life who regularly cause you to feel bad about yourself?
Most of us care what others think of us, so knowing that someone doesn't like us, or doesn't approve of the judgments we've made, or doesn't like how we look can be hurtful. And when we're judged by someone whose approval we crave, such as a parent, spouse, teacher, or boss, the criticism can cause intense distress and damage self-esteem.
Harsh or relentless disparagement from people who love us, often clothed as caring advice or helpful prodding, can be particularly toxic.
It's helpful to realize that it's one thing to feel bad when someone doesn't approve of us; it's quite another to allow their disapproval to shape our self-image.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." She was absolutely right. Negative comments about our lives are opinions, not facts.
How we feel, however, is a fact, and an important one at that. Thus, it's rational and healthy to nurture relationships that bring out the best in us, and to cut off or distance ourselves from those that bring us down.
There are, however, two strategies worth trying before you limit or eliminate contact with critical people whom you care about, or who are important to people you care about.
Try to fix the relationship by respectfully confronting the negative influences in your life honestly and directly. Don't attack them for hurting you, just explain how you feel when they criticize you and see if they care about you enough to modify their conduct.
If that doesn't work, try to build immunity to their negativity. Think of the hurtful comments of your incorrigible critic as irrational ravings—and ignore them.
If neither of these strategies work, more drastic action may be justified.
It may be uncomfortable, but it's relatively easy to exclude annoying friends and co-workers from your life. Family and committed relationships are another matter entirely. You are entitled to happiness and healthy relationships and it's unfair for you to be imprisoned by the wishes and wants of others. Nevertheless, there are both moral and practical reasons that require you to make serious and sustained efforts to fix these relationships before you disown, disavow, or divorce someone who is part of a network of relationships that will be affected by your actions.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."1
Richard Halverson in Pulpit Helps asked the question: "Who hasn't failed? The Apostle Paul failed, Peter failed, every one of the twelve apostles failed. David, Israel's greatest king, 'a man after God's own heart,' failed. Moses, giant among the Israelites, giver of the law, deliverer of his people, failed. Jacob, father of Israel, failed. Isaac, son of promise, failed. Abraham, progenitor of Israel, father of the faithful, prototype of those who are righteous through faith, failed. Even our first parents, in their human perfection, failed.
Who hasn't failed?
"It is not failing that is the problem; it is what one does after he has failed. To take failure as final is to be a failure. To see in failure the school of [God's] Spirit is to let failure contribute to one's growth in Christ."
When we fail, the important thing is to get up, confess it to God and, where necessary, to the person whom we have hurt if we have hurt someone, and ask for their forgiveness. Then we need to forgive ourselves as God forgives us, and learn from the experience.
Remember, too, it's not God's goal to make us good but to make us whole, and the more whole and mature we become, the less we will act out in destructive ways—and the less we will fail. The only real failure, after we either fall or get knocked down, is to not get up one more time.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please forgive me for where I have failed (be specific) and help me learn and grow through this experience so I won't make the same mistake again. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus name."
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