PRIDE
A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
Humility makes great men twice honorable.
To be proud of virtue is to poison yourself with the antidote.
RELATIONSHIPS
Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.
Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?
SUCCESS
One today is worth two tomorrows.
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.
HAPPINESS
The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
Wish not so much to live long as to live well.
Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.
I was reminded recently the life I’m living is no dress rehearsal. It is the real thing.
The life you’re living today is the real thing. Sometimes we live as if this is all a run-through, as if we’ll have another shot at it someday.
This is it.
Jamie Oliver is a TV Chef with a number of popular cooking shows and best selling cookbooks. A couple of years ago he began a campaign in the UK to ban unhealthy foods from the public schools. He demonstrated to schools how they could serve foods that were both healthy and cheap, that would benefit both the school system and the students.
A number of school systems adopted the plan, but there was a huge public outcry. The plan provided for all students to have two portions of fruit and three vegetables a day, which sounds pretty good, but many parents became outraged.
In fact, in one school in South Yorkshire, a group of parents came to the school during recess and met their kids at the back fence so they could secretly pass them hamburgers and french fries, (which the British inexplicably call chips. Chips they inexplicably call crisps, and I don’t know what they call crisps, but now I think I have wandered from the subject.)
Here was a plan designed to help everyone. It was less expensive, it would create healthier kids, it would reduce childhood obesity and the problems that come with it — and a lot of people, both parents and school kids, fought the change kicking and screaming all the way.
Why? Because fruit and vegetables don’t bring the immediate gratification that pizza and ice cream do.
Take it from someone who has done the research! It’s a lot easier, and more immediately satisfying, to eat junk food.
But the fact is people who consistently eat well are much healthier; everyone knows this.
The other thing I’ve noticed is people who consistently eat healthy food tend to prefer healthy food. Maybe not at first, but it’s something they develop over time. That’s because eating right is an acquired taste. It’s a habit you develop. It may not come naturally, but if you’ll do it anyway, you’ll reap the rewards.
The same can be said for serving others. It’s an acquired taste. It’s a habit you develop. Our natural tendency is to ask: “What can you do for me? I will accommodate you to the extent that you can bring some benefit into my life.”
That’s our natural tendency. We think, naturally, that we will be most happy when we have people looking after us and tending to our every whim.
That’s relationship junk food. The truth is we are most happy — looking at the long-term — when we learn to give ourselves in service to others.
The late Dr. Everek R. Storms of Ontario spent his life searching, reading, counting and cataloguing the promises of Scripture.
His finally tally was there are 7487 promises in the Biblical directed from God to his people.
The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel each contain more than one thousand promises. A favorite passage of Dr. Storm is Psalm 37: “Practically every verse is a most wonderful promise,” he says.
Gives new meaning to what the writer of Hebrews wrote: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)
Stress.org claims that 43% of all adults suffer stress related health problems. An estimated one million workers are absent on any given workday because of stress related complaints.
The number of workers who reported feeling highly stressed doubled between 1985 and 1990; stress accounts for 40% of employee turnover.
Paul reminds us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phi. 4:6-7).
There’s a Dennis the Menace cartoon in which Dennis and his friend Joey are walking away from the Wilson’s house with their hands full of cookies.
Joey asks, “I wonder what we did to deserve this?” Dennis tells his friend, “Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we’re nice, but because she’s nice.”
The same can be said of our Heavenly Father. He gives, not because we’re good, but because he’s good. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us for our iniquities. Instead, is the one…
…who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:4-5)
J. Carl Laney, Professor of Biblical Literature at Western Seminary, lists 12 things every believer should pray for:
A growing relationship with God.
Positive relationships with family members.
Energy and enthusiasm for work or career.
Wisdom to make right decisions.
Your service to church and community.
The special needs of family and friends.
The spiritual lives of your church leaders.
Wisdom for government leaders.
The moral integrity of today’s young people.
The safety of those serving in the armed forces.
A lasting peace among peoples and nations.
The opportunity to be a blessing to someone today.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
In his book Faith in the Game, Tom Osborne, former Nebraska Cornhusker head coach, writes…
Discipline get us from point A to point B, whether we are engaged in athletics, academics, business, or spiritual matters. It is surprising how disciplined we are in many areas of our lives yet assume we will be given spiritual power without practicing spiritual discipline. In a figurative sense, we want to be a 300 pound weight lifters but only want to go into the weight room on Christmas and Easter.
In Hebrews 12:2, Paul stresses the importance of where we fix our eyes. In athletics, proper vision and focus are critical factors. The baseball player’s eyes must be locked on the rotation of the baseball in order to hit it. A receiver must watch the football into his hands if he is to catch it.
In a spiritual sense, the eyes are equally important. Paul says the eyes should be fixed on Jesus as our model.
Speaking of phone calls to God, Dutch artist Johan van der Dong opened an exhibit last year designed to challenge people to rethink religion.
The exhibit is called “God’s Hotline.” Johan set up a cell phone number for God. When you call you hear: “This is God, I am not able to speak to you at the moment, but please leave a message.”
Some have criticized the project for being disrespectful, but the artist’s intent was to remind people that God is available anywhere, anytime.
It’s also interesting that in the week before the exhibit opened, more than 1000 people called to leave a message. Apparently people do want to know that there is a God who is listening!
Of course, the cell phone is a prop, and perhaps not the best one but it illustrates a point. The truth is God not only speaks to us when we listen, but he also listens to us when we speak. Do you have something to say to him today?
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Here’s an old joke. I mean really old, but I can’t resist. It’s been told a zillion ways; here’s a more recent version of it.
A journalist interviewing Rick Warren noticed a red phone on his desk. When he asked about it, Warren said, “That’s my direct line to God. I can call him any time I want, day or night. It’s $1000 a minute, but it’s worth every penny of it.”
Later, when the journalist was interviewing Bill Hybels, he noticed the same type of red phone. He said, “Is that what I think it is? A direct line to God?” Hybels said, “Yes.” “One thousand dollars a minute?” the journalist asked? Hybels said, “Yes, and worth every penny.”
Next, the same journalists interviewed Joel Osteen and saw the same red phone. He pointed at it and I said, “I bet I know what that is.”
Osteen said, “It’s a direct line to God.”
The journalist said, “I bet I know what it costs.”
Osteen said, “Twenty-five cents per call.”
The journalist said, “Hold on a second. I don’t understand. Warren and Hybels both have a phone like this, and they pay a thousand bucks a minute to use it. How come you can can call God for only 25 cents?”
Osteen looked at the reporter and said, “Sir, we’re in Texas. It’s a local call.”
Hahahaha….