Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 3515 August 29, 2015
Thought for the week: "If you're going to spend your life climbing the ladder of success, be sure it is leaning against the right wall." – Unknown
Heather and Marcy hadn't seen each other in a while, so they decided to meet for lunch.
The talk naturally got around to their respective love lives. Marcy confided that there really wasn't anyone special in her life. Heather, on the other hand, was beaming about the new man she had found.
"He's perfect. He's handsome, and last night when we went out to dinner, he said the four little words I've been waiting to hear a man say to me!"
"He said, 'Will you marry me?'" Marcy asked.
Heather replied, "No, he said, 'Put your money away.'"
Pretty isn't beauty. Pretty is how you look; Beauty is who you are. Pretty is in the face and body; Beauty is in the heart, mind and soul. Pretty fades; Beauty grows.
Mary looked through her kitchen window then frowned. "Those workmen," she fumed, "have dumped a load of trash right outside the back door."
Then the children came and shouted with delight! They saw, not a load of trash, but a glorious heap of play material.
Watching and listening, mother soon saw the children change the trash dump into a gleaming spaceship complete with excited astronauts—all done through the power of imagination.
Does life for you seem dull and ugly right now? Do you have a "trash dump" staring you in the face? With God's help and the power of imagination you, too, can create a new image of what your life can be.
As the Bible says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4 NIV).
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."
Really? Insults, teasing, gossip, and verbal abuse can inflict deeper and more enduring pain than guns and knives.
Ask anyone who as a kid was fat, skinny, short, tall, flat-chested, big-busted, acne-faced, uncoordinated, slow-witted, or exceptionally smart. In schoolrooms and playgrounds across the country, weight, height, looks, and intelligence are the subject of more taunting and ridicule than race or religion.
And it doesn't get better. Unkind words, tasteless jokes, criticism, and ridicule don't lose their sting when we become adults.
There's nothing new about this. But if we trivialize how damaging words can be, especially to youngsters, the ethical significance of verbal assaults can be lost. When we say words can't hurt anyone, we negate the feelings of those who are genuinely hurt.
Instead of minimizing the importance of words, we should encourage parents and teachers to demand a higher level of respect and greater sensitivity precisely because words can be so powerful.
Yes, we should try to fortify our children's sense of self-worth so they can bear insults and sarcasm better. And we should urge them not to take what others say too seriously. But it's just as important to teach them that words have the power of grenades and must be used carefully.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"1
A Daily Encounter reader writes: "I need help strengthening my faith to realize God will keep His promises as found in His Word in Matthew 6:25-27. 'Too little too late' has always been my experience so far."
I can appreciate this person's struggle and doubts as I've struggled with some of these things myself at times.
I've been a Christian for many years and the greatest evidence I have of God meeting my needs and leading me is as I look back over the course of my life. In doing so I stand amazed at the course my life has taken, the way God has provided through the good times and the bad, the mean times and the lean. I can truly say with the hymn writer, "Jesus led me all the way."
Whenever I worry or am afraid, I keep praying, "God, I'm worried/afraid but I choose to trust in you." When I do this, in time my feelings catch up with my choice to trust God.
What I believe Jesus is saying in today's Scripture is not to be over-consumed with these issues he talks about.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to learn to trust You in every circumstance knowing that my life is in Your hands. Help me always to be responsible, but not to worry and doubt. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus's name, amen."
For the article, "Winning Over Worry" go to: http://tinyurl.com/2mkeph
1. Jesus (Matthew 6:25-27, NIV).
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