Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 8 – No. 3006 July 29, 2006
Thought for the week: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"The Bible is like a lion, it needs no defense; let it out of its cage, and it will defend itself." – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do!" – Unknown
"The Devil is a better theologian than any of us, yet is a Devil still." – A. W. Tozer
"The world is round, and the place which may seem like an end may also be only the beginning." – Ivy Baker Priest
"Don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big God is." – Unknown
"Some people say I cannot sing, but no one can say I didn't sing." – Florence Foster Jenkins
"In order to be a leader, a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible." – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th US President
"Thanks to the invention of the telescope, planets that are 100 billion miles away look to be only 50 billion miles away." – John Wagner
"There's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for Walter O'Malley. There's nothing he wouldn't do for me. That's the way it is—we go through life doing nothing for each other." – Gene Autry
In August of 1991, I was told I had brain cancer, and my chances of living another five years were, at best, 50-50.
When word of this leaked out to my friends, two of them began a letter-and-card-writing campaign, and all the pilots employed by our airline got involved. The response was overwhelming. I received stacks of cards and letters every day. My doctors and nurses also let me know that they were interested in my recovery, gave me a lot of tender, loving care, and the treatment that I received from the radiation department where I took my radiation was incredible. And the all-female team in that department deserves special mention for its perpetual smiles and supportive attitude. My pilot buddies collected enough money to send me and my whole family to Disney World for a beautiful vacation. Surrounded by all that love, I couldn't help but get better. I am now classified as a cancer survivor, and the support of my friends continues to this very day. I am convinced that "friend therapy" can be a big factor in recovery.1
"Two are better than one ... For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him" (Ecclesiastes 4:9,10).
1. Via Ann Landers column, author Unknown. Cited on KneEmail. To subscribe, send any message to: kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org
While teachers can have a lifelong effect on the way students think, psychologist and teacher Haim Ginott has focused on a more immediate aspect of impact: the creation of a positive or negative physical and emotional environment that can determine the quality of a child's life.
"I've come to a frightening conclusion," he said. "I am the decisive element in the classroom. My personal approach creates the climate. My daily mood makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. It is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized."
Yet as profound as this observation is for professional educators, it's even more so for parents. Parents' power to create the daily climate and lasting environment in which their children grow is so awesome it must be used consciously and responsibly.
Since our daily moods make the weather, we should try to shield our children from the thunder and lightning of our frustrations and anger. Instead of the dark clouds of cynicism, fear and depression, we should discipline our own emotions and give them the light and warmth of love, hope and good cheer. Conscious efforts to be positive, enthusiastic and supportive can have a huge impact, not only on the emotional well-being of our children, but on their ability to experience the joys and pains of childhood in healthy and constructive ways.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!'" (Daniel 6:16, NIV).
Most of us will be familiar with the story how Daniel, supposedly because of his religious beliefs, was thrown into a den of hungry lions. No question, Daniel got a dirty deal. He was set up by jealous lesser men who wanted him out of the way. It seemed as if they were about to succeed except for one thing: They overlooked Daniel's trust in God.
The interesting thing, however, about Daniel being thrown into the den of lions is that God didn't deliver him out of the den before Daniel first found deliverance in it.
Imagine if Daniel had fought against being thrown into the den (which he would have been justified in doing) and gone into the den fighting against it every inch of the way, chances are the lions would have torn him to shreds before he hit the bottom. But Daniel didn't. He accepted his lot and trusted his life to God who shut the lion's mouths.
On more than one occasion I have asked God that if I am not going to be delivered out of my "lion's den" (naming the frustrating situation I'm in), would he please help me to find deliverance in it.
Sometimes, like Daniel, God has a lesson for us to learn in our present difficult situations and before he delivers us out of it, like Daniel we need to find deliverance in it. The good news is that once we learn the lesson we don't have to go through the same experience again.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, regardless of my feelings and my circumstances, I choose to trust my life to you in the situation I am in right now with which I am really struggling. And like the father who wanted Jesus to heal his daughter said, 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing How to Mend a Broken Heart I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
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