Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 17 – No. 4315 October 24, 2015
Thought for the week: Thought for the week: "Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God." – Author Unknown
"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." – Victor Hugo
"I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love, even when I do not feel it.
I believe in God, even when He is silent."
These lines were found scrawled on a cellar wall in Cologne which was destroyed by bombing in WWII. Author Unknown
"Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality." – Abraham Lincoln
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." – Mother Teresa
"If nothing is ventured, nothing is gained." – Sir John Heywood
"Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they resolve. 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." – Harold Kushner
My partner and I were in our police car when we were dispatched to break up a domestic dispute. We spoke with the couple, and the problem was quickly resolved.
On leaving, I was admiring the craftsmanship of their turn-of-the-century home and reached for what I thought was the front door.
Realizing my mistake, I was turning away in embarrassment when I heard my partner say: "If you have any more problems, we'll be in your closet."
A young man who was an avid golfer found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in nine holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off, an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him. To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time.
Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball—and directly between his ball and the green. After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age I'd hit the ball right over that tree."
With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay.
The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age, that pine tree was only 3 feet tall."
The Louvre in Paris is perhaps the most famous art museum in the world. It displays originals by such masters as Delacroix, Michelangelo, Rubens, da Vinci, Ingres, Vermeer, and many others. Since 1793, the Louvre has encouraged aspiring artists to come and copy the masters. Some of our most famous modern artists have done that have become better painters by copying the best the world has ever known.
An article in Smithsonian magazine tells about Amal Dagher, a 63-year-old man who has been duplicating art at the Louvre for 30 years. Dagher remains in awe of the masters and continues to learn from them. He said, "If you're too satisfied with yourself, you can't improve."
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Malachi 3:3).
This verse puzzled a woman in a Bible study and she wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at the next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy—when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
A friend of mine has an adorable four-year-old daughter. She is bright, and she is talkative. If tryouts were being held for a modern-day Shirley Temple, I think she would win, hands down.
One night there was a violent thunderstorm. The lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled—it was one of those terrifying storms that forces everyone to stop and tremble a bit. My friend ran upstairs to his daughter's bedroom to see if she was frightened and to assure her that everything would be all right. He got to her room and found her standing on the windowsill, spread-eagled against the glass. When he shouted, "What are you doing?" she turned away from the flashing lightening and happily reported, "I think that God is trying to take my picture."
Why don't most people feel that important—that good about themselves? Why don't most people like themselves as much as that little girl likes herself? Why are so many people down on themselves, and why do some even hate themselves?
I find that there is not too much correlation between people's circumstances and accomplishments and their self-concepts. I know people who definitely are socially successful, having achieved a significant number of worthwhile things in their lives, and who despise themselves. Contrariwise, I know others who by societal standards have not accomplished much at all, but who think themselves as worthwhile and valuable.
Tony Campolo in John Van Diest, Answers To Life's Most Perplexing Problems, Multnomah, 1998, p. 166.
"Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light"1
I have read that one of Denmark's leading sculptors had a consuming ambition to sculpt the greatest statue of Jesus Christ ever made. He began by painstakingly shaping a clay model of a triumphant, majestic figure. "This will be my masterpiece," he stated on the day the model was completed.
However, during the night, a heavy fog rolled into the area and sea-spray seeped into the sculptor's studio through a partially open window. In the morning, he was shocked to see his model. The droplets of moisture that had formed on the statue created the illusion of bleeding. The head had drooped. The facial expression had melted into compassion. The arms drooped and expressed welcome. The artist was horrified and was aghast at having to start all over again.
As he kept looking at his statue of the Savior, his thoughts began to take a different shape. He realized that this image of Christ was much closer to reality. He then wrote his caption and placed it under the figure: "Come unto me!"
Indeed, that is the call of Jesus to each of us today, "Come unto me."
Suggested prayer: "Dear Jesus, 'Just as I am without one plea / But that thy blood was shed for me / And that you bid me come to thee / O Lamb of God I come, I come.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV).
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