Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 18 – No. 5316 December 31, 2016
Thought for the week: "Love received and love given comprise the best form of therapy." – Gordon William Allport
"I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves." – Wilhelm von Humboldt
"Never test the depth of the water with both feet." – Anonymous
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." – Winston Churchill
"No one was ever lost on a straight road." – Indian Proverb
"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." – Carl. W. Buechner
"If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good change you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction." – Sam Walton, Wal-Mart Founder
"Conscience is a man's compass." – Vincent Van Gogh, Painter
A little seven-year-old boy prayed one night before bed for God to give him a baby sister.
When he awakened the next morning, the youngster found that there was no baby. Undaunted, he prayed a second time for the same thing. Still no baby.
Some months later, the boy and his father made a trip to the local hospital. When the two of them arrived, they stepped into a room in the maternity section and found the boy's mother holding a precious baby sister in her right arm, and yet another baby sister in her left! The proud father looked down into the eyes of his son and said, "Now, aren't you glad you prayed?" To which the little boy responded, "Yes, and aren't you glad I stopped when I did?"
Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald Reagan, said that her dad made a lasting impression on her the day after the assassination attempt of 1982.
She says, "The following day my father said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John Hinckley. By showing me that forgiveness is the key to everything, including physical health and healing, he gave me an example of Christ-like thinking."
'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"
"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three..." But no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loosened strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand.
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
"The touch of the Master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice,
He's "going" and almost "gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.
Roger Crawford was sixteen years old before he could tie his shoes, and even then Velcro made it possible. But he excelled in other areas such as sports, becoming a star tennis player. While in high school he was a championship player, winning more than 95 percent of his matches. He continued at nearly the same pace in college and has succeeded as a pro. You can look at Roger and see that he has a disability. As Roger explains it, however, most people's disabilities cannot be seen, but they're just as real and in many cases more pronounced than his.
Roger was born with one leg missing from the knee down. He doesn't have hands complete with four fingers and a thumb. As a matter of fact, he has only two extensions from where the fingers usually are, and yet he uses the two extensions to accomplish some remarkable successes. Roger doesn't complain about what he does not have, but makes full use of what he does have. This attitude enabled him to become the first athlete with severe disabilities to compete in an NCAA division college sport.
– Something to Smile About by Zig Ziglar,
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1997,
p. 13.
6. What I've Learned: The Perspective From 13-Year-Olds
By Michael Josephson, Character Counts (423.5)
A few years ago I got a note from Sam Rangel, an eighth-grade teacher in Corona, California. He distributed some of my commentaries on "What I've Learned" to his students and asked them to write down what they'd learned over the past year or in their lives. Here's the world of growing wisdom from the 13-year-old perspective:
I've learned that work comes first; fool around later.
I've learned that being popular isn't everything.
I've learned that being pretty on the inside is better than being pretty on the outside.
I've learned that not everything in life is fair.
I've learned that all people want is someone to listen to them.
I've learned that girls seem to fight with their friends a lot, but almost never with their enemies.
I've learned that it takes a long time to make a friendship and a fraction of a second to destroy it.
I've learned that your imagination is as important as your knowledge.
I've learned that to say no to someone is not wrong.
I've learned that by following others, you aren't following yourself.
I've learned that the harder it is to do something, the stronger it makes us.
I've learned that I am responsible for me.
I've learned to give everybody a second chance.
I've learned that teenagers will do dumb things.
I've learned that if you respect your elders, they will respect you too.
I've learned that words do hurt people more than sticks and stones.
I've learned that when I come to a fork in the road, ask for help.
I've learned that the easy way is not the best way.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"As He [Jesus] was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!' When he saw them, he said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'" (Luke 17:12-19 (NIV).
I read where "a soldier in the American Third Army was sent to a rest camp after a period of active service. When he returned to his outfit, he wrote a letter to General George Patton and thanked him for the splendid care he had received. General Patton wrote back that for thirty-five years he had sought to give all the comfort and convenience he could to his men, and added that this was the first letter of thanks he had received in all his years in the Army."
How sad it is when we don't live with an "attitude of gratitude" and remember to continually thank our loved ones, our friends, our work mates, and how about our employees and/or employer, for all the many blessings they continually give to us.
How much sadder when we don't continually thank God and express our heart-felt appreciation to him for his innumerable blessings to us—especially for and to Jesus for his dying on the cross in our place to give us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, which is the greatest gift in all the world.
"Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You for Your great gift of salvation, Your gift of forgiveness, and for Your gift of eternal life. And thank You for all the many blessings You give to me every day here on earth. Please give me a thankful heart and may I remember Your Word that reminds me to give thanks in all circumstances. Gratefully in Jesus's name. Amen."
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