Sometimes you just have to leap and learn to fly on the way down. Among the worlds domesticated animals, only dogs outnumber pigs. And that is why there is no silence anymore in the country. Courage is fear that has said its prayers. If at first you don’t succeed, you’ll get lots of advice. An expert is a man who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today. The deepest principle in human nature is to be appreciated. William James
July 18, 2019 Verse of the Day Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 NIV
He knows everything about you By Pastor Mark Jeske Libertarians in our country regularly sound agitated alarms about government surveillance, secret wiretaps, data mining, and spy drones. We love our privacy in this country. Technology companies don’t ever want to let government agents into the data in their smartphones. Do you know that God knows absolutely everything about you? Does that creep you out, or does that reassure you? His eyes see it all, his ears hear it all, and his infinite RAM capacity is greater than all the server farms on earth linked together. He remembers it all. That’s actually good news for believers. You may think of yourself as pretty small and insignificant, just another grain of sand on the seashore. Compared to 50+ billion stars in each of the 50+ billion galaxies in the limitless and expanding universe, you and I are, well, pretty microscopic indeed. But we are not insignificant! God pays close attention to everything about you. He planned you from all eternity. He designed your adult shape, loaded gifts and abilities into your DNA, placed you in a unique location on earth, chose you to be his, washed you of your evil residue through your baptism, and lives in you personally. He watches everything you do and say and takes immense delight in your growth and development. “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16). You matter that much to the supreme Lord of the universe
The trouble with some people is that they are educated beyond their intelligence. One of the greatest mysteries of life is how the idiot that your daughter married can be the father of the smartest grandchildren in the whole wide world. Genius: A person who aims at something that no one else can see and hits it. To bear up under loss, to fight the bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over anger, to smile when tears are close, to resist evil men and base instincts, to hate hate and to love love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to seek ever after the glory and the dream, to look up with unquenchable faith in something evermore about to be, that is what any man can do, and so be great. Zane Grey The longer we live the more we realize that the people who want to help themselves can only do so by helping others. It’s a basic law of success. Or as Zig Ziglar so wisely said, “You can get everything you want in life, just by helping enough other people get what they want.”
July 19, 2019 Verse of the Day The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 NIV,
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt
July 20, 2019 Verse of the Day Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 NIV
Behind every successful man stands a very surprised mother-in-law. Work hard and save your money and when you are old you will be able to afford to buy the things only the young can enjoy. Experience is knowing a lot of things you shouldn’t do. People who try to command respect are wasting their time. Respect can’t be commanded. It has to be earned. The greatest ability is dependability. Good supervision is the art of getting average people to do superior work.
Ahem—did you consult me? By Pastor Mark Jeske The most fundamental principle of prayer is the one we forget the quickest—that God is holding gifts and blessings in his heavenly arms, ready to drop them on our lives, and he’s just waiting to be asked. Some argue, “If he knows everything, then he knows what you need and should just give it right away.” The reality is that God likes the experience to be interactive. He wants us to feel part of the solution. And so he waits: “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). You don’t have to try to justify yourself. Jesus Christ’s perfect life and innocent death have already justified you. You don’t have to argue with God—he knows everything about your life. You don’t have to be afraid—he’s not a distant, aloof, mysterious power. He is your Daddy. You don’t have to feel embarrassed at your stuttered, mumbled prayers. The Spirit edits everything you say into the proper form. You don’t have to beg. As God’s child you have the privilege of stepping directly into his royal throne room. What things do you lack in your life? Bring them to him. Has it been a while since your last serious prayers? Don’t stay away—he loves to hear from you no matter what. What is hurting your heart or your body right now? Talk to him. Who among your friends needs his help? Bring their needs to him. What does your church need? Just ask. He’s waiting . . .
“Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty expanse. Praise him for his powerful acts; praise him for his abundant greatness…Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah!” -Psalm 150 (CSB) http://www.if714.org/?p=25767
July 21, 2019 Verse of the Day God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 NIV
Consider how hard it is to change yourself and then you’ll understand what little chance you have of trying to change somebody else. Learn from the mistakes of others; you can never live long enough to make them all yourself. Good executives never put off until tomorrow what they can get someone else to do today. It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Emerson The reason I know my youth is all spent is that my get-up and go has got-up and went. The Old English word for white was “balde.” When settlers named the bald eagle, it was for the birds white head, not his featherless skull. The 7,000 feathers on a bald eagle weigh only 21 ounces. The wing and tail feathers are incredibly strong. They are made of keratin, the same material as human fingernails.
July 22, 2019 Verse of the Day For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
Of course modern man sees no angels, experiences no miracles, even though they are there. He is just too busy with other things. How can you hear angles sing with a radio in your ears, a TV making all sorts of noise (especially during commercials) or music blasting away. Are we so totally self-centered that only a catastrophe gets our attention? When we lack the society of our fellowmen, we take refuge in that of animals, without always losing by the change. Nature speaks freely to the individual, but rarely to a crowd. By the time someone says to you, “To make a long story short...” It’s too late. A man’s wealth can be estimated in terms of what he can do without. It’s only five miles to the top of Mt. Everest. Almost everybody can walk five miles, can’t they?
July 23, 2019 Verse of the Day no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:17 NIV
Father, whether we are living in times of plenty or want, weeping or laughing, war or peace, may we always devote our heart and soul to seeking the LORD our God. Amen. - http://www.if714.org/?p=25799
When you pray, don’t give God orders; report for duty. To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again. In their eternal calm, he finds himself. Somebody said, “The computer is down! I hope it’s something serious.” No two snowflakes are alike, in contrast to politics, where all the flakes are alike. Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy more tunnel. The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. Emerson