Message For All Seasons
I'm a novice at growing flowers. But I've learned to appreciate the difference between annuals and perennials. Every spring I usually buy trays of annual bedding plants. Once in the ground, they immediately take root. Their brief life always ends with the autumn frosts, and the soil lies barren until my next annual spring planting. I prefer to plant perennial flowers. They go on living from year to year, and regularly bloom, flower, and reproduce.
Only One Option
If you were to ask several people to draw a crooked line on a piece of paper, no two lines would be identical. There is a lesson in this: There are many ways to be crooked, but only one way to be straight.
The Beacon
When a helicopter crashed in a cold, mountainous wilderness, the pilots survived but were seriously injured. The frozen afternoon stretched toward an even more freezing night. The situation seemed hopeless—until a rescue helicopter appeared, its searchlights illuminating the darkness. It spotted the wreckage, landed nearby, and carried them off to safety.
The Hiding Place
In this world's misery there is only one sure refuge: God Himself. "He is a shield to all who trust in Him" (Psalm 18:30).
Money And Time
During a trip to London, I visited the Bank of England Museum, then made my way to The Clockmakers' Museum. At some point, it struck me that both money and time have been very important commodities as far back as anyone can remember. Yet they present one of the great dilemmas of life. We trade our valuable time working for money, and then we spend our money to make the most of our time off. We seldom possess the two with any degree of balance.
Too Much Ambition
If you are familiar with the works of William Shakespeare, you know that Macbeth was one of his characters. Macbeth wanted so much to be king that he resorted to murder—and he paid for it with his life.
Behind The Throne
During my lifetime I have seen evil men rise to political and military power, make colossal blunders, and pass off the scene. Even good leaders leave a record that includes mistakes and weaknesses.
A Wasted Life
It's frustrating to talk to some people about God, Jesus, and salvation. They shrug you off by saying, "You have your belief and I have mine." Or, "I won't tell you how to live if you won't tell me how to live."
Pressuring God
Under General George Patton's command in World War II, the Third Army had been driving back the Nazis until fog and rain forced the troops to stop. Patton telephoned a chaplain to ask, "Do you have a good prayer for weather?" Immediately the chaplain complied with the general's request. He wrote a prayer, which Patton ordered to be printed and distributed to the 250,000 soldiers under his command, directing them to pray for clear weather.
