Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 8 – No. 1306 April 01, 2006
Thought for the week: "The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." – William James
"Depending upon the government for your future financial security is like hiring an accountant who is a compulsive gambler!" – Denis Waitley
"The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions." – William F. Scolavino
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." – Vince Lombardi
"Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances." – Bruce Barton
"The godly give wise advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray." – Proverbs 12:26 (NLT)
"Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways." – Proverbs 20:30 (GN)
"Education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education." – Martin Luther King, Jr.
While browsing around in the attic, Junior came across an old report card which had been his father's. He brought it downstairs and compared it with the one he had just received at school and which he intended to show when his dad was in a good mood. When Dad was seated in his easy chair, Junior approached.
"Hey Dad, just look at this old report card of yours and then look at the one I just got. Why, your grades aren't any better than mine."
"You're right, son," he said. "I guess the only fair thing to do now is give you what my Dad gave me."
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter say's, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same women for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points."
"Only three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"Only one point? Well I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!" The man cries. "At this rate the only way to get into heaven is by the grace of God!"
St. Peter smiled. "There's your 100 points! Come on in!"
It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
James Bender, in his book, How to Talk Well (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1994), relates the story of a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year," the reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."
He is very much aware of the correctness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.
So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: If we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Corinthians II 9:6
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:7-10
"A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him [Jesus], crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.' Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.'" (Matthew 15:22-23, NIV).
Vancouver, British Columbia (Reuters). When a family of ducklings fell down a Vancouver sewer grate their mother did what any parent would do. She got help from a passing police officer.
Vancouver police officer Ray Peterson admitted he was not sure what to make of the duck that grabbed him by the pant leg while he was on foot patrol on Wednesday evening in a neighborhood near the city's downtown.
"I though it was a bit goofy, so I shoved it away," Peterson told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
The mother duck persisted, grabbing Peterson's leg again when he tried to leave, and then waddling to a nearby sewer grate where she sat down and waited for him to follow and investigate.
"I went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below," he said.
Police said they removed the heavy metal grate with the help of a tow truck and used a vegetable strainer to lift the ducklings to safety. Mother and offspring then departed for a nearby pond.1
When the Canaanite woman came to Jesus for help, the disciples tried to get Jesus to send her away, but she refused to go. She was desperate for help for her child. Jesus certainly tested her by telling her that his ministry was for the "lost sheep of Israel," and that it wasn't right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs. In her determination she replied, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
And Jesus replied, "'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour."2
God will also test us to see if we are determined and desperate enough to turn to him for help. The half-hearted never make it.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that when I am serious about turning to you for help, you always hear and answer the prayer that comes from my heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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