Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 1915 May 9, 2015
Thought for the week: "Dig the well before you are thirsty." – Chinese Proverb
I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." – Albert Schweitzer
"The truest test of integrity is to still do the right thing, even when no one can ever find out." – Oprah Winfrey
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." – Booker T. Washington, Educator
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward; safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." – Diana Spencer, princess of Wales
"The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare." – Bobby Knight, basketball coach
"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul." – Hosea Ballou
A young odd job man goes to the home of a wealthy business man.
Ringing on the bell of the grand house, the door opens and the master of the house inquires what this young man wants: "Hello Sir, I am looking for work and wondered if you could give me any odd jobs to do, gardening or decorating."
The wealthy business man considered for a moment and said, "Yes my man, I think the porch is in need of a lick of paint. Can you redecorate it?"
'Oh no problem sir, I will do that straight away."
Half an hour later the doorbell rings again and the smiling young man declares, "I've finished the Porsche. Do you want me to paint the Mercedes as well?"
According to an article in Christian Victory, Holiday Inn had a plan to erect a hotel on the Mount of Olives. They sent engineers to survey the hotel site to make preparations for building. Their conclusion was that it couldn't be done as they found that there was a geological fault under the Mount that is causing it to split.
Some 2,500 years ago the Bible, as stated by the prophet Zechariah, said that this split (possibly caused by a great earthquake) will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth to put down all evil and rule and reign forever. As the Bible says, "Then the Lord will go out fully armed for war, to fight against those nations. That day his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a very wide valley running from east to west, for half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south" (Zechariah 14:3-4, TLB, NLT).
The lesson which life constantly repeats is to 'look under your feet.' You are always nearer to the ... true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars. Every place is the center of the world.
Our choices reveal our character, but more importantly they shape our character. Thus, the more aware we become of the choices we make every single day—choices about our attitudes, words, actions and reactions—the more power we have over our own destiny.
Senator Bob Bennett of Utah said, "Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make .... If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself."
It's true. When we accept moral responsibility for our choices, we take charge of our lives. Yet one of the most common rationalizations for moral compromise is the claim that "I had no choice." Executives or school administrators who cheat to protect their jobs, athletes who take illegal performance-enhancing drugs to stay competitive, and employees who resort to lying to get what they want frequently convince themselves that they were forced to do whatever they did.
This self-delusion of powerlessness is particularly strong in teenagers who struggle to deal with hormone-intensified impulses and emotions that can create moods and urges that seem beyond control.
Despite the power of intense desire, fear and fury, we always have the power to choose what we think, say and do—even when we're under tremendous pressure, and even when we don't like our options.
Like a ship without a captain to steer it, when we hide behind a self-justifying illusion of helplessness, our lives move in aimless and random directions and sometimes run aground. If we take control, we have control.
"Let us not become weary in doing good: for in due season we will reap, if we don't faint."1
Had Thomas Edison not been a man of faith, perseverance and determination, we may still be working by gaslight or, at least, it may have been many years before the first electric light was seen. It has been reported that Edison failed over 6,000 times before perfecting the first electric light bulb.
On one occasion a young journalist challenged Edison saying to him, "Mr. Edison, why do you keep trying to make light by using electricity when you have failed so many times? Don't you know that gas lights are with us
to stay?"
To this Edison replied, "Young man, don't you realize that I have not failed, but have successfully discovered six thousand ways that won't work!"
Because Edison believed an electric light was possible, he refused to give up. He tried countless types of material in his search for a filament that would work. He sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia, Jamaica, Ceylon and Burma to search for fibers to test in his laboratory--all to no avail.
On October 21, 1879, after thirteen months of repeated failures, Edison finally succeeded in finding a filament that would work. While experimenting, the thought came to him, "Why not try a carbonized cotton fiber?" After going through two spools of cotton, he eventually perfected a strand only to break it while trying to place it in a glass tube. He still persevered with this idea for two more days and nights without sleep. Finally he succeeded in placing a carbonized thread into a vacuum-sealed bulb! Eureka! It worked.
"Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You that You have a mission in life for me to fulfill. Give me the insight to know what it is, the faith to believe You will help me, the courage to attempt to do it, and the perseverance to hang in there and 'not faint' till my life's work is done. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus's name, amen."
1. St. Paul (Galatians 6:9).
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