Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 8 – No. 3606 September 09, 2006
Thought for the week: "Our doubts are traitors / And make us lose the good we oft might win / By fearing to attempt." – William Shakespeare
Dick Larson was a skilled CPA but not an expert at promoting his own business. So when an advertising company offered to put his business placard in the shopping carts of a supermarket, he took them up on the offer. Unfortunately, an entire year went by before he could trace a single call to that source. Finally, one day the call came:
"Richard Larson, CPA?" the caller asked.
"That's right," he answered. "May I help you?"
"Yes," the voice said. "One of your shopping carts is in my yard, and I want you to come and get it."
Doubt sees the obstacles
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions 'Who believes?'
Faith answers, 'I.'
When it comes to prayer, feeling is not the most important thing. Feelings re fickle, easily influenced by heath, morale, weather and mood. Prayer is too important to be put at the mercy of our feelings. "What if I don't feel like praying?" Plenty of God's people have felt the same way. Don't worry about it. Pray anyway. The purpose of prayer is to maintain our relationship with God, not merely to express our feelings.
– David A. Hubbard, The Practice of Prayer.
Cited in parabLes, etc., July 2005
Have you ever noticed how some televangelists are always making urgent pleas, asking for money to keep their ministry afloat...?
They often promise that if you "plant a seed of faith" (translated: give them money) you will receive one hundredfold in return. And to prove their point, they will provide testimonials of some who gave and how God blessed them a hundredfold.
However, I have a question. If they really believe that for every dollar you give, you will receive one hundred in return, then instead of asking us to support them to keep their ministry afloat, why don't they give to us and receive a hundredfold for themselves?
Thought: The apostle Paul once warned about men of corrupt minds and destitute of truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
A cartoon depicts an old king seeking admission at the gates of heaven. The gatekeeper locates his name in a large book and says skeptically, "Edward the Good, huh? Well, Eddie, we will be the judge of that."
The point is that, in the end, generous self-appraisals of our goodness won't matter. Our obituaries, epitaphs and eulogies will be built on what we did with our talents and resources and how we touched lives.
In the hurly-burly of everyday living, it's hard to keep perspective. Money, position, pride and power seem so important—until they're not. In the end, all our possessions, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else and the wins and losses that once seemed so important will be insignificant.
What will matter is not how many people we knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when we're gone. What will matter is how long we will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Benjamin Disraeli said, "Life is too short to be little." We make our lives little by filling them with jealousies and grudges, self-righteousness and self-deception, shallow or dysfunctional relationships, and work without purpose or meaning. Life is enlarged by giving and receiving love, by parenting and teaching, by encouraging and supporting, by charity and service, and by expanding our knowledge and exploring profound truths.
So if we care about our legacy, we need to be more strategic about how we live our lives. Just think about what you want people to say about you after you die and then live backwards. In other words, earn the eulogy that you and those who love you would be proud of.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
A man was recently complaining to me about how most men rejected him. In his mind he was convinced that it was their entire fault. As kindly as I could I tried to get him to see that fundamentally "what we project is what we get back."
If one or two people reject me that's par for the course. Not everybody is going to like me. Expecting them to do so is totally unrealistic.
However, if many people reject me then I can be reasonably sure that the reason probably lies within me. In reality, "We tend to treat ourselves the way we were treated and then others treat us the way we treat ourselves." If, for example, I felt rejected as a child, I will tend to continue acting as if I am still being rejected, and imagine in my mind that others are still rejecting me also. While this is understandable, it is self-deception.
Furthermore, as long as we blame others for the reactions we have, we can never overcome our problems. It's far too easy to want others to change. The reality is that the only person I can ever change is me. And when I change, people's reaction to me will also change—because what I consistently project I will consistently get back! That's pretty much a law of life. What we sow is what we reap.
The road to recovery begins with facing the truth and reality of what we are contributing to the problems we have. Only then can we help ourselves and only then can God help us. Denial of reality is the way to self-destruction. As Jesus pointed out, only the truth can set us free.2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me the courage to see anything in me that causes people to react negatively to me in any way. And lead me to the help I need to overcome my problem/s. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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