Image

Do you know what the Christian name for God is? Father: Jesus said when you pray say, ‘Our Father in heaven…’ – There’s a wonderful old photograph of President John F Kennedy sitting working at his desk in the Whitehouse; the most powerful seat in the world. Underneath the desk sits his young son, John junior. No other boy had such instant access to the President. No other boy could call this man “Dad”. How amazing to have such a father! When a Christian prays, we enter into heaven’s throne room: we sit at the feet of the Most High, the Almighty, the ruler and Sustainer of the universe, and we call Him “Father”!

 

Explore Bible notes 31/5/2012

‘The Art Of Marriage’

A good marriage must be created.

In a marriage, it’s the little things that are the big things…

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say “I love you,” at least once each day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together and facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude

in thoughtful ways.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is not only marrying the right person,

It is also being the right partner. (Anon)

The Story of the Praying Hands: Late in the 15th Century, two young wood-carving apprentices in France confided to each other their desire to study painting. But such study would take money, and both Hans and Albrecht were poor.

Finally, though, they had a solution. Let one work and earn money while the other studied. Then, when the lucky one became rich and famous, let him in turn aid the other. They tossed a coin and Albrecht won. So while Albrecht went to Venice, Hans worked as a blacksmith. As quickly as he received his wages he would forward money to his friend.

The months stretched into years – and at last Albrecht returned to his native land, an independent master. Now it was his turn to help Hans. The two men met in joyous reunion, but when Albrecht looked at his friend tears welled from his eyes. Only then did he discover the extent of Hans’ sacrifice. The many years of hard labour in the blacksmith shop had calloused and bruised Hans sensitive hands. His fingers could never again handle a painter’s brush.

In humble gratitude to Hans for his years of sacrifice, the artist, the great Albrecht Dürer, painted a portrait of the work-worn hands that had laboured so faithfully in order that he might develop his talent. He presented this painting of ‘praying hands’ to his devoted friend. It has since become familiar to millions of people.

Source: The Best of Bits & Pieces, 1994, New Jersey: The Economics Press, p.161-162

Window sticker seen on the back of a sports car, driven by an older person: ‘I’m not an O.A.P. I’m a recycled teenager.’

“If you ever think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.”

Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop)

Good deeds are like chickens; they always come home to roost.

Seagull Management: “Seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everybody and then fly out again!”

Ken Blanchard

Tortoises only make progress when they stick their necks out; the same can often be said about humans!

The concept of the Trinity can never be completely understood or rationalised by the human beings. There have been many attempts at developing illustrations of the Trinity. However, none of the popular illustrations are entirely accurate. The popular egg illustration fails in that the eggshell, the egg white and yolk are parts of the egg; none of them are the egg in and of themselves. Similarly with the apple illustration: the skin, the flesh and seeds of the apple are parts of it, and not the apple itself. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not parts of God; each of them is fully God.

Another model used to try and explain the Trinity is to take three separate measurements of a room; measuring its length, its breadth and its height. Each of the measurements describes something of the room, but you can’t visualise what the room actually looks like without having all three measurements. One room yet with three distinct dimensions.

A better illustration, perhaps, for explaining the Trinity is water, ice and steam as being one of the same essence or substance but with each having a different relationship from the other… yet this too fails to adequately describe the Trinity because water, ice and steam cannot all fill the same place at the same time whereas God can. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not forms of God; each of them is fully God. So, while these illustrations give us a picture of the Trinity, a picture can never be entirely accurate. An infinite all-powerful God cannot be fully described by a finite illustration.

A symbol of the Trinity (known as the “Shield of the Trinity” or “Scutum Fidei”)

When the light turns green and the car in front of you doesn’t go, do you give them a little “love tap” on the horn? – Patience is something you understand from the driver behind you but not from the driver in front of you.

Worry is like a rocking chair; Try as you might, it won’t get you anywhere.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12 NIVUK

There is the potential of abundant fruit stored up within every man. If you will just labour and toil and persevere the harvest season eventually arrives. Then the fruit is produced almost effortlessly.

A colleague went on holiday to Rome and while they were there they came across some members of a Christian group, called the Community of St. Egidio, who serve Christ on the streets of Rome by sharing their lives with the poor and marginalised. Years previously, they’d found a crude, life-sized wooden statue of Jesus in a skip. (Here’s a picture of it.) It had been thrown out because it had been damaged – both the arms had broken off. But they picked it up and kept it. They said we are going to be the arms of Jesus; we are going to be his hands and feet and eyes. They called the statue Cristo dell’impotenza (Christ of weakness). Their base is the Church of St. Egidio in Rome and the statue is housed there, as a symbolic reminder. Friends, that’s what we are called to do and to be: we are to be Christ’s arms and hands and feet, and his eyes and ears and mouth… we are to use our spiritual gifts to serve the body and grow the kingdom.

R. Ian Seymour

Our minds work like magnets to attract that which we think about, be it positive or negative. I understand that when a piece of industrial steel is magnetised it is capable of lifting about twelve times its own weight. But, of course, when it’s demagnetised it can’t even pick up a paperclip! It’s the same with us – if we are positive, switched on, magnetised, then we can accomplish great feats but if we are negative or demagnetised, then we will accomplish nothing!

Excerpt adapted from Maximise Your Potential by R. Ian Seymour

The human mind is like a parachute: it only works properly when it is open! Similarly with change, it is only effective if people are open to it.

“No man is an island.”

John Donne (1573-1631), English poet and preacher

“If you want the rainbow you have got to put up with the rain.”

Dolly Parton (country and western singer, song-writer)

‘The Touch of the Master’s Hand’

’Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who will start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar,” then, two! “Only two?”
“Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”
“Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three…” But no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As sweet as a carolling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice;
And going and gone,” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand
What changed it’s worth?” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of the Master’s hand.”

by Myra Brooks Welch

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another, with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil – this is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 NIV

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.

Ancient Chinese proverb.

It is one thing having stubborn tenacity and refusing to change your mind; it’s another being down right pig-headed and awkward. The following story illustrates the point well.

One night, prior to the Second World War and just before the invention of radar, a battleship spotted an intermittent light fast approaching it from out of the darkness. The captain of the battleship alarmed but ready for action, ordered his signalman to flash a message in Morse code. “Unidentified vessel, change your course immediately.” No sooner had the message been dispatched than back came the same reply. “Unidentified vessel, change your course immediately.” The captain saw red and instructed his signalman to send a new message: “Change your course immediately, I am a Captain.” The response was again instantaneous and read, “Change your course immediately, I am a Seaman, Third Class!” By now the captain was furious and so one last time the signal went out, “Change your course immediately, I am a BATTLESHIP.” As before the response came back just as swiftly, “Change your course immediately, I am a LIGHTHOUSE! … Your call!”

Original source unknown: This adaptation from Discover Your True Potential by R. Ian Seymour

“John 3:16”

One day, a local coach driver found himself in charge of a bus full of school children, on a trip to the nearby mountains to visit a disused mine and museum.

The children enjoyed their visit but the day passed quickly and before they knew it, it was time to get back on the bus and return to school again.

The homeward journey down the steep mountain was especially hazardous, with several dangerous bends overlooking a sheer drop. But the coach driver wasn’t worried! He was familiar with this road and knew each twist and turn like the back of his hand. It was safe enough travelling in a low gear, with one foot constantly on the brake. And the children were happy: They were enjoying the ride and became exhilarated each time the bus handled a tight bend allowing them sight of the sheer drop below. But the sound of the children’s laughter and shrieks of delight changed into screams of panic as it became apparent that the driver was having trouble in slowing the vehicle down!

The brakes had suddenly failed and the bus began to gather speed. The driver frantically pumped the brake pedal but it was no use. The bus began to hurtle downhill out of control. Some of the children began to cry and they all screamed when the bus hit a bend too fast and skidded towards the edge of the cliff, which seemed to reach out in an attempt to swallow them up! It seemed certain that they would all be killed but then, somehow, at the very last second the driver managed to pull the bus around. It scraped against the retaining wall, sending masonry and rubble over the edge of the void, and then it clipped some trees and vegetation which slowed it down a little. But still, the bus continued on its downhill run. It was out of control and gaining speed again.

The near escape brought the driver to his senses and he forced himself to think hard. He had travelled this road many times and he searched his memory to recall how many bends were left and how best he should try to negotiate them in order to save their lives. Suddenly, a feeling of dread consumed him as he realised that coming up was a long straight section of road leading to a very sharp bend, which overlooked the cliff. The bus would pick up speed on the downhill straight and they would be travelling far too fast to take the bend! They would end up over the cliff and would all perish – unless… just maybe, there was still a slight chance.

The driver knew that just before hitting the bend there was a dirt track on the opposite side of the road, which led up a ravine to a wooden cabin. If he could just steer the bus onto the dirt track, it would begin to climb uphill again until eventually they would slow down enough to stop. It was their only chance.

When they reached the straight stretch of road the driver could see the bend ahead and the dirt track… Then, his heart came into his mouth. Across the dirt track there was a young boy swinging on a wooden gate. If he steered the bus onto the dirt track he would hit the boy but if tried to take the bend they would all end up over the cliff. As the impending disaster approached the driver became quiet and tears rolled down his face. He knew what he had to do… The young boy at the gate was killed instantly, but everyone else on the bus was saved!

When the emergency services and local press arrived at the scene, everyone hailed the driver as a hero. His bravery and quick thinking had saved the lives of so many people. Relieved parents and teachers also arrived and they too sought out the driver to thank him personally.

Eventually, they found him leaning over the body of the dead child. He was inconsolable and he wept uncontrollably. The people gathered around him and tried to reassure him that there was nothing else he could have done. “Of course,” they said, “it was horrible and extremely sad that the boy had to die, but what else could he have done. He shouldn’t think too badly of himself. After all, think of all the other lives he had saved.” The driver looked up. “No! No, you don’t understand,” the driver wept, shaking his head. “This boy that was sacrificed, he was my child; my son; my one and only son!”

Based on the Bible verse, John 3:16 - original source, unknown

“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

James Allen

James Allen (1864-1912), quote from the book, As A Man Thinketh

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Martin Luther King (1929-1968), US Baptist minister and civil-rights leader.

“Think about it! You go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce, receive a prescription you can’t read, take it to a pharmacist you don’t know, get medicine you don’t understand and take it with confidence! Now that’s faith!” – Bob Gass

“Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, Make me feel important.”

Mary Kay Ash (entrepreneur)

A Communist textbook describes a ‘kiss’ as ‘the approach of two pairs of lips with a reciprocal transmission of microbes and carbon dioxide’. Now, technically speaking that definition is perfectly correct… but you try saying to someone, ‘Let me give you a transmission of microbes and carbon dioxide!’

“Consider the postage stamp: It always sticks to a thing till it gets there!”

attributed to Craig Degnan

“Turn failure into fertiliser.”

Denis Waitley, writer and motivational speaker

Aim for the moon – even if you fall short you’ll probably still be up there with the stars.

If you are anything like me, lessons of life seem always to be learnt the hard way. It seems as though I often have to make the same mistake time and time again before I finally figure out how not to do something. Either that or I discover that what I am attempting to do simply isn’t going to work or I finally understand I need to change direction. In her book, “There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk,” Portia Nelson wrote a piece of prose entitled, “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters.” Here it is, see if you can relate to it.

Chapter One

I walk down the street.

There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost… I am helpless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in the same place.

But it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in… it’s a habit.

But my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter Five

I walk down a different street.

Portia Nelson

There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk

A Ladder To Becoming A Better Listener (Step by step instructions)

L: Look into the eyes of the person speaking to you.

A: Ask questions.

D: Don’t interrupt.

D: Don’t change the subject.

E: Empathise.

R: Respond verbally and non-verbally. (Anon)

According to an anonymous e-mail the following article about ‘men’ was seen in a woman’s publication:

Men are like government bonds; they take so long to mature.

Men are like high heel shoes; they’re easy to walk on once you get the hang of it.

Men are like horoscopes; they always tell you what to do and are usually wrong.

Men are like mascara; they usually run at the first sign of emotion.

Men are like place mats; they generally only show up when there’s food on the table.

Men are like new-born babies; they’re cute at first, but you soon get tired of cleaning up after them.

Men are like laxatives; they irritate the “stuffing” out of you.

“Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve.”

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian painter, sculptor, architect and engineer.

Interesting but true: If you assign a value to the corresponding letter of the alphabet, where A=1, B=2, C=3, etcetera, the word ‘ATTITUDE’, when you add up the value of each letter, equates to a value of 100. There is a great simile here: If we are to have the right attitude in life, that’s what we need to do; give ‘it’ (whatever it is) 100%.

A = 1

T = 20

T = 20

I = 9

T = 20

U = 21

D = 4

E = 5

—

Total = 100%

There is no such thing as “the rest of God” without opposition. – I once heard a story involving two artists who were asked to paint pictures of peace as they perceived it. One painted a quiet, still lake, far back in the mountains. The other painted a raging, rushing waterfall which had a birch tree leaning out over it with a bird resting in a nest on one of the branches. Which one truly depicts peace? The second one does, because there is no such thing as peace without opposition. The first painting represents stagnation. The scene it sets forth maybe serene; a person might be motivated to want to go there to recuperate. It may offer a pretty picture, but does it depict “the rest of God.”

Joyce Meyer

Note: Source: Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, 1995, Oklahoma: Harrison House, p.127

“By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), English preacher.

Decide to decide – then take action. To borrow a line from a well-known nursery rhyme: “There were two little dickie birds sat upon a wall” – one decided to fly off. How many were left? Most people answer one, but the correct answer is still two. Just because one bird decided to fly off doesn’t mean that it actually did fly off!

R. Ian Seymour

“Failure can paralyse us to impotence or propel us to performance.”

Phil Wall, charity worker and motivational speaker

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

Anon

A pencil drawing depicting the Holy Trinity from the notebook of William Blake (1757-1827)

An honest man does not make himself a dog for the sake of a bone. (Danish proverb)

Dig your well before you’re thirsty

As soon as you think it ink it

(otherwise you’ll forget it!)

“Big shots are just little shots who kept on shooting.”

attributed to Christopher Morley

A big-game hunter is the guy who sits with the remote control and continually flips over the TV channels all Sunday afternoon during football season. – Anon.

There are two ways you can climb an oak tree: You can either climb it or you can sit on an acorn!

People who wait for their ship to come in get disappointed or die on the pier.

Bob Gass

It’s A Frog’s Life

Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
– or so I’ve heard it told.
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
the cream was deep and cold.
“Oh, what’s the use?” said No. 1,
“’tis fate – no help’s around.
Good bye my friend! Good bye sad world!”
And weeping still he drowned.
But No. 2 of sterner stuff,
dog paddled in surprise.
The while he wiped his creamy face
and dried his creamy eyes.
“I’ll swim awhile, at least,” he said,
– or so it had been said.
“It wouldn’t really help the world,
if one more frog was dead.”
An hour or two he kicked and swam,
not once he stopped to mutter.
But kicked and swam, and swam and
kicked, then hopped out – via the butter.

Anon.

Some people are like concrete; they are all mixed up and permanently set!

“Consultants are people who borrow your watch to tell you what time it is and then walk off with it.”

Robert Townsend, management guru and writer

Be nice to your children; one day they’re going to choose your nursing home!

Someday when the kids are grown, things are going to be a lot different. The garage won’t be full of bikes or electric train tracks on plywood and I’ll actually be able to park both cars neatly in just the right places. Someday, when the kids are grown, the sink won’t be choked up with rubber bands or paper cups and the blender won’t stand for six hours coated with the remains of a midnight chocolate milkshake. Someday, when the kids are grown, the telephone won’t look as if it’s growing out of a teenager’s ear. It will simply hang there, silently, amazingly available, free of lipstick, human saliva and mayonnaise. Someday, when the kids are grown, I won’t have to answer; “Daddy, is it a sin that you’re doing 47 in a 30 mph zone?” Or promise to kiss a rabbit goodnight, or wait forever until they get home from dates. Someday, when the kids are gone, the place will begin to take on a … touch of elegance. The clink of china and silver will be heard on occasion, the crackling of the fireplace will echo through the hallway. The phone will be strangely silent, the house will be quiet … calm … always clean … and empty … and we’ll spend our time not looking forward to someday, but looking back to yesterday and thinking… “Maybe we could baby-sit the grandchildren and get some life back into this old place!”

Chuck Swindoll

Hiding in the tall grass of the African plains, a hungry lion stalked a grazing herd. The lion picked out an old bull, which he then attacked and killed. As the lion feasted on its prey, it would stop every once in a while and let out a mighty roar of triumph. Now it just so happened that there was a hunter nearby who heard the lion roaring so he sneaked up on it and shot the lion dead!

And the moral of this little tale is simply this: When you mouth is full of bull keep it shut! – Anon

Jesus said, “Take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

– Matthew 7:5

(What must plank-eye do before assisting speck-eye? Why?)

“When you bend to help lift another to their feet, you can’t help but lift yourself at the same time.”

R. Ian Seymour

When depressed remember this: Even through the thickest, darkest clouds the sun is still shining brightly. We just have to persevere and keep on climbing until eventually we will break through the clouds and back into the glorious sunshine again!

“U-turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

Margaret Thatcher (from a speech given at the Conservative Party Conference, 1980.)

“When you’re down in the mouth, consider Jonah – he came out of it all right!”

Thomas Edison (1847-1931), inventor

Life is like riding a bicycle; if you want to keep moving you have got to keep pedalling. Of course, it’s okay to free-wheel occasionally but keep that up for too long and you’ll end up falling off.

“People and rubber bands have one thing in common: they both must be stretched to be effective.”

John Maxwell

“Let failure become your teacher and not your undertaker.”

Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker and writer

Do The Thing You Fear To Do

Don’t let fear get a hold on you,
Instead, do the thing you fear to do.
If you’re lost and not sure which path to take,
Listen to your heart, the truth it won’t fake.

But you won’t find the courage by waiting around,
So get down off the fence and onto solid ground.
For in overcoming the fear you’ll look back and see,
That it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.

So don’t let fear get a hold on you,
Just do the thing you fear to do,
And next time fear raises its ugly head,
Jump straight into action and kill the fear, dead!

R. Ian Seymour

“Always take the offensive. Never dig in.”

General George S. Patton (1885-1945), US military commander

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs one step at a time.”

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“The most wasted of all days is that during which one has not laughed.”

Nicolas Chamford (1741-1794), French writer

Many a pair of shoes are worn out between the words ‘saying’ and ‘doing’.

An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

Proverbs 24:26

Bicycle Leadership: “Bicycle leadership is when you bend your back to those above you while you trample those below!”

Ken Blanchard, author and speaker

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

the rains fall soft upon your fields and,

until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

An old Irish blessing

“The man who is always as busy as a bee should be very careful: Someday he might wake up to the fact that someone has swiped his honey.”

Anon

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.”

Solomon, King of Israel – 10th century B.C. (Proverbs 23:4 NIV1984.)

Motivation is the ability to set people on fire but without making their blood boil.

“Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.”

W. C. Fields (1880-1946), actor

The door of opportunity is always marked ‘PUSH’.

Don’t ever give up

Source & artist unknown

Jesus said, “If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 21:22

‘The Fisherman’s Prayer’

God grant that I may live to fish

Until my dying day,

And when my final cast I’ve made

And life has slipped away,

I pray that God’s great landing net

Will catch me in its sweep;

And in His mercy, God will judge me

Big enough to keep. – Anon

The hardest thing in the world for some people to say is the word, “No” – but, when it comes to managing ones time effectively that is, unfortunately, a word that often must be said.

“It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off! You cannot make progress without making decisions.”

Jim Rohn (writer and speaker)

“For most men life is a search for a proper manila envelope in which to get themselves filed away.”

Clifton Fadiman (professional editor and literary critic)

Provide continuous all-out-knock-your-socks-off service to your customers and build a ‘protection screen’ that no competitor can even hope to penetrate.

Sign seen in a tailors shop window, under the heading REPAIR SERVICE: “As you rip, so shall we sew.”

Talking about talent (and for a bit of fun), try testing your powers of observation: count how many F’s there are in the following quotation – read slowly.

If you counted three, try again! There are actually six F’s. (Most people ignore the word ‘of’ which appears three times!)

When it comes down to how you think, remember GIGO – Garbage Input Garbage Output

“Don’t watch the clock, copy it and keep going!”

Samuel Levenson

Committees are groups of people who keep minutes and waste hours.