Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 18 – No. 3916 September 24, 2016
Thought for the week: "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God" – Corrie ten Boom, author, The Hiding Place
A small bird built a nest in a shrub outside my study window. Every morning he sang.
As I listened, I asked myself, "Do I have a song like that every day? Am I irritable? Do I fret and fume, or do I have a song? Not a song expressed vocally, but a melody in the heart.
Sometimes the shrub sways roughly, buffeted by bitter winds. sometimes the ground was hard with frost, yet always there was bird song.
One morning rain pounded on the study roof. Surely there'll be no song today, I thought. But, yes, it came stronger and more glorious than ever.
When clouds roll over my life, and sorrows and heartaches press down on me, I remember that bird--and also Paul's word to "Rejoice in the Lord always."
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be lad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous Gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority Always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from The public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally Collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a Dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the Beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 Years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota,Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of Democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million Criminal invaders called illegal's—and they vote—then we can say Goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
6. One Way to Change Your Life—Change Your Expectations
By Michael Josephson of CHARACTER COUNTS (967.1)
Einstein said it's a form of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result. So, if you want something different, do something different, or change your expectations, or both.
In my own life, I've found that adjusting my expectations has made a big difference in my ability to enjoy my life.
Unmet expectations are frequent and potent sources of disappointment and resentment—both of which generate unhappiness. For a long time, however, I resisted the idea of changing my expectations because it seemed as if I was just lowering my standards so I could become more accepting of failure, mediocrity or a lack of follow-through.
Recently, I discovered I could comfortably adjust my perspective about expectations in a way that has dramatically reduced frustration without compromising my integrity.
I came to realize I have two very different sorts of expectations.
The first relates to my aspirational standards—what I want and hope for from myself, and what I often think I'm entitled to from others. In this sense of the word I think it is reasonable and proper to expect the people I deal with to be wise, prudent and genuinely grateful. Or, in another venue, I expect my teenage children to really want to spend time with me.
The second type of expectation is a prediction, not a standard. It is a reflection of what I realistically think will happen—how I truly expect people to act.
When I impose my aspirational expectations on others I am bound to be disappointed and often my judgmentalnesss is resented by those who have disappointed me. On the other hand, when I look at events through the lens of realistic expectations in the context of the way things really are rather than how I want them to be, it is more likely that I will be pleasantly surprised than frustrated.
I've come to realize that expecting people to meet my hopes and desires is not only unfair, it's unrealistic. Human nature is such that expecting all people to be wise, prudent and grateful all the time is foolish, and when I put myself in the position of a teenager and realize how much more important it was to me to spend time with my friends than with my parents I realize my "expectations" had no basis in reality or common sense.
I find I still hope for the best, but expect much less.
So when the adults in my life are uninformed, careless or ungrateful, or my children seem neglectful, it just doesn't annoy me as much.
"'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.'"1
Earl Nightingale tells about a strength test in which people were asked to squeeze a dynamometer (a machine that tests the power of your grip) as hard as they could. After that first squeeze had been measured, they were put under hypnosis and told they were very strong. When asked to grip the machine again, their scores averaged forty percent better.
Their physical strength did not increase under hypnosis. But their ability to use that strength did. It wasn't the hypnosis that did it, but their belief about themselves.
When we are led to believe we are stronger, we react accordingly. There is a sense in which we all go through life "self-hypnotized" in that a great deal of what we do is determined by what others have told us--and what we have told ourselves--and believed!
What we need to do is listen to what God's Word, the Bible, says about us, believe it, and act accordingly. As the Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" [that is, things that are in harmony with God's will].2
If there is one thing I have learned over the years it's that God never calls any of us to do anything that he hasn't equipped us to do. And he calls all of us to be faithful servants in His work on earth, and to be faithful stewards of all that He has given to us: our time, talents, money, and our resources.
Suggested prayer, "Dear God, I come to You making myself available. Please use me to be a part of Your plans and the work You are doing in the world today. Like the doubting father in today's Bible text, I do
believe; help me to overcome any and all unbelief. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."
1. Mark 9:23-24 (NIV).
2. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV).
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