You Can Do It!
A young boy was at the barbershop for a haircut. The room was filled with cigar smoke. The lad pinched his nose and exclaimed, "Who's been smoking in here!" The barber sheepishly confessed, "I have." The boy responded, "Don't you know it's not good for you?" "I know," the barber replied. "I've tried to quit a thousand times but I just can't." The boy commented, "I understand. I've tried to stop sucking my thumb, but I can't quit either!"
Getting In Shape
A woman went to a diet center to lose weight. The director took her to a full-length mirror. On it he outlined a figure and told her, "This is what I want you to look like at the end of the program."
Three Needs
I've heard it said that there are three things a person needs to be happy:
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Something to do-meaningful work or helping others.
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Someone to love-someone to whom we can give of ourselves, such as a spouse, a child, or a friend.
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Something to look forward to-a vacation, a visit from a loved one, improved health, the realization of a dream.
Digging For Treasure
Profitable Bible study involves more than just opening to a chapter and reading what's there. Here are seven guidelines to help you make the most of your study of the Bible.
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Set aside a regular time. Unless you schedule it, you'll neglect it.
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Before you start reading, ask God for help and understanding.
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Carefully think about what you are reading. Not all of the Bible's treasures lie like pebbles on the surface. To mine the gold, you have to dig.
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Seek to understand what the author was saying to the first people who read the book or letter before you decide how to apply it today.
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Write down at least one truth or principle you can put into practice.
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Try different translations of the Bible. If you find yourself skimming over familiar words, a new translation may focus your mind on the passage in a new way.
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Don't get discouraged. Some parts of the Bible are more interesting than others, and some you may not understand at all. But there's enough that you can understand, and it will revolutionize your life if you apply it.
Unopened Tomorrows
We often wish we could see what lies around the corner in life. Then we could prepare for it, control it, or avoid it.
Love Needs Expression
Somehow the command to love doesn't get through to us. We may confess that we lack a strong faith, but seldom do we admit that we are deficient in love. Perhaps we feel we're as loving as the next person, and maybe a little bit more.
First Breath
Russell Nagy's moving choral anthem "The Promise" contains these words:
Silently by night,
in mortal flesh enshrouded,
He who framed the mountains
draws first breath.
Far from human sight,
the Promise ne'er forgotten
Is in love begotten
to conquer death.
© 1993 by High Street Music
The Call Of The Present
The life of the mother of Jesus was simple and plain. She did the tasks that others did at her age, learning how to be a good homemaker for her future husband. There was nothing out of the ordinary about her external life-at least not revealed in Scripture.
Knowing God Personally
Most Christians would prefer to see God perform mighty miracles rather than to have fellowship with Him and learn His ways.
What To Give God
In Romans 12:1, the apostle Paul applied the truths of what he had already written to the followers of Jesus in Rome. He said, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice." He also urged us to keep our bodies from sinning and to avoid the world's corruption by renewing our minds (v.2).
White Space
For nearly 50 years, Ann Landers dispensed advice in a daily column carried by more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide. When she died on June 22, 2002, her daughter Margo Howard wrote a farewell column. She asked the editors to leave a blank space for the last part of the column as a memorial to her mom.
A Tale Of Two Slaves
Spartacus is not just a film legend but a historical figure. Historians say that he was likely a Roman soldier who deserted, was recaptured, and then sold into slavery as a gladiator.
Respect
As a schoolteacher, my wife has noticed that behavior seems to be deteriorating with each successive class of students. Many children show little respect for older people.
Born In Us
During a visit to England's picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon, I was struck by how a town's identity and future can be affected just because someone was born there. Every year, half a million people come to visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare, whom some consider the most influential playwright in the English language.
Unopened Gifts
Can you imagine a child on Christmas morning leaving his presents unopened? Yet, millions of people are doing something like that by ignoring or rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior. Everyone has a gift with a tag that reads: TO: (your name) FROM: God. But it can be opened only by repentance and faith.
Job Opening
About this time last year, a job became available in the church my wife and I attend. Just over a week before Christmas, my mother-in-law, Lenore Tuttle, died at the age of 85. When she went home to be with Jesus, she left a void not only in our family but also in our church. We were now without one of our most faithful prayer warriors.
Life Words
Words of encouragement can be "life words," bringing new motivation to our lives. Mark Twain said that he could live for a whole month on one good compliment.
Secret Security
Feeling secure is a high priority in this unsafe, volatile world. A private investigation agency in Florida promises to "work diligently to restore the sense of security and safety that you and your family deserve."
Two Bethlehems
The birth of Jesus Christ was unlike any other. Mary's was an "other world" conception. The angel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you" (Luke 1:35). The child conceived in her was from outside our world. And it had to be so, because the boy born to Mary was Immanuel, "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).
"But God . . ."
What if Joseph had succumbed to the advances of Potiphar's wife? (Genesis 39). Imagine how he could have justified his sin. "But God, You don't want me to be unhappy, and you know how lonely it is here. Besides, I think I really love her."
Confronted By The Cross
World-famous Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was sent to a Siberian prison because he criticized communism. Languishing there under intolerable conditions year after year, he decided to end his life. But suicide, he firmly believed, would be against God's will. He thought it would be better for a guard to shoot him.
The Big News
In December 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their "flying machine" off the ground. Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: "We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas."
Door Of Humility
Over the centuries, the entrance to Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity has twice been made smaller. The purpose in the last case was to keep marauders from entering the basilica on horseback. It's now referred to as the "Door of Humility," because visitors must bend down to enter.
Use Your Weapons
Above all, [take] the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. -Ephesians 6:16
Forgotten In The Gifts
In Western culture, the Christmas season is a time for a revelry of gift-giving. A world-famous department store annually issues a catalog of gifts of value beyond extravagance. One of them was a $10 million zeppelin-a 230-foot-long, 50-foot-wide airship capable of flying for 24 hours without refueling.
Choose Your Alliances Carefully
The Star Alliance is an affiliation of airlines that seeks to maximize passenger benefits. If you're traveling on a member airline, you can accumulate frequent-flyer miles after transferring flights and enjoy faster check-in. The Alliance's Web site calls it "a more civilized way to fly the world."
A Glimpse Of Glory
Age has its troubles-failing hearing and eyesight, forgetfulness, aching backs, arthritic hands. These are intimations that we are wasting away. Yet, Paul insisted, inwardly we are "being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). How so?
Touched At Christmas
In the past I've been annoyed by crowded church services during the Christmas season. I disliked the jam-packed pews and the hard-to-find parking places. I've even grumbled after being shunted to an overflow room when the sanctuary had filled long before the service began. Why don't these people who come once a year just stay home? I thought.
Coming Full Circle
In his fascinating book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton tells how he left what he thought was the Christian faith, only to find the real thing later in life. To illustrate his spiritual journey, Chesterton describes the absurd scene of planting the flag of the British Empire on a foreign island, but then discovering it's actually the coast of England.
Just Imagine!
What will it be like when we see the Lord for the first time? The song "I Can Only Imagine" asks,
When I’m Afraid
David fled from the home of the priests in Nob with Saul in hot pursuit. He made his way to Gath, the home of his enemies, where he was instantly recognized and brought before King Achish.
