Chasing success is like running after the wind; you can never quite catch it. So, don’t chase success; instead, attract success by doing attractive things.
Quote
“The secret of success is constancy to purpose.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British prime minister
“Every person has their vocation. The talent is the call.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes being B-U-S-Y just means Being Under Satan’s Yoke!
If you don’t plan how you will spend your time someone else will spend it for you.
For a little fun try this challenge and see if you can crack the code, without looking at the answer.
YYUR
YYUB
INOUR
YY4ME
(Translation: Too wise you are. Too wise you be. I know you are. Too wise for me.)
“If you’ll work hard on your job you’ll make a living, but if you’ll work hard on yourself you’ll make a fortune.”
Jim Rohn
“Don’t worry that the world will end today: it’s already tomorrow in Australia!”
Charles M. Schultz (1922-2000), cartoonist and author of ‘Peanuts’
Charles F. Stanley writes:
How Long, O Lord?
No one likes delays. And nothing diminishes the pain we feel as the days pass and we continue to struggle with our hopes and fears. Whether it’s the hours that throw off our plans, the days and weeks that cause uncertainty, or the years we spend wondering if God will ever fulfil His promises to us, it’s human to feel frustrated, anxious, and as if our hopes are dying within us.
Why? Because we lack control over our circumstances. Someone else seems to be impeding our progress—deciding how the scant moments we’ve been given in this life will be spent and preventing us from enjoying the one thing we think will truly make us happy.
Like David, we cry out, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1).
I don’t know what it is you’re hoping for, but I do know (…) first hand that waiting on God is one of the most difficult lessons to learn. I imagine that, like David, there’s a lot of pain in your heart as you wait. Perhaps you fear the Lord’s forgotten you. Maybe you can’t help but wonder, Why not me? What makes me so unworthy? Friend, though I know it hurts more deeply than words can express, please be assured that there’s always hope with our heavenly Father. As you go through your season of waiting, you must always remember that …
The Lord isn’t neglecting you and hasn’t forgotten you. He’s working in the unseen on your behalf (Isa. 64:4)—every single moment. Your responsibility is to set your heart on Him and trust that your life is safe in His all-powerful and loving hands.
You aren’t just waiting around, doing nothing. As you anticipate the Father’s instruction and intervention, continue serving Him as you carry out your daily business. Keep seeking, obeying, and having intimate fellowship with Him—even when circumstances don’t seem to be going your way.
You’re not missing worthwhile opportunities. It may seem as if you are. But if God says “No” or “Wait” about some possibility before you, trust Him. Don’t try to make it happen. Rather, count on His faultless wisdom to protect you from choices that would ultimately harm you.
You’re not alone. Everyone you know is facing a delay in some area or another. Yes, you may look around and see people enjoying the blessings you desire. You may think you’re the only one struggling with your particular issue—the only one the Father hasn’t provided for. But realize those thoughts of humiliation and defeat come from your enemy, who’s always trying to isolate and destroy you (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
In every nation, there are people just like you, waiting for similar blessings and experiencing the same feelings. In fact, throughout Scripture, there’s not a man or woman whom God used in a powerful way who didn’t first face a long and difficult time of waiting. So don’t despair … take it as the Father’s special favour and guidance in your life.
Charles F. Stanley, 'Waiting For God' devotional, day 2 of 8, YouVersion
The resurrection makes Christianity unique. In the global village in which we live people are increasingly asking, ‘What is the difference between Christianity and other religions?’ The answer is basically very simple. Christianity is the only religion in the world based on the resurrection from the dead of its founder.
No Buddhist has ever claimed that Buddha rose from the dead. When he died it was a passing away in which nothing whatever remained behind. The same applied to Mohammed. According to tradition he died on the 8th June 632AD at the age of 61 in Medina, where his tomb is annually visited by thousands of Muslims. But down the ages the claim of Christianity is that Jesus not only died but rose from the dead and is alive today, changing people’s lives. If this is true, then Christianity stands by itself. There is no real comparison with other religions because their founders are dead. Christians claim that the founder of their faith is still alive.
Val Grieve, ‘Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb’, 2017, EP Books: Welwyn Garden City, UK, p12-13
The greatest example of how God transforms grief into joy is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.
Norman Vincent Peale
First crucified then sanctified.
Asked why he began studying Greek at the age of 94, Oliver Wendell Holmes replied, “Well, my good sire, it’s now or never!’
Behave like a duck; stay calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like heck underneath!
“Stress is like electricity; if there is an overload the body blows a fuse.”
Dr Malcolm Carruthers
Drop a frog into a pan of hot water and it will immediately try to jump out. Drop a frog into a pan of cold water, heat it up, and you end up with boiled frog! –– You can’t afford to be complacent.
Q: Why did the teenager cross the road? – A: Because his parents asked him not to!
Max Lucado writes: “Accept God’s permission to be who he made you to be. A frog can flap its little legs and never fly. Some of you have been flapping a long time – too long. Your heroes are birds; your mentors are birds. You think you should fly and feel guilty that you can’t. Enough of this bird-brained thinking! Be a frog! It’s okay to jump. You have some strong thighs beneath you, so get hopping.”
Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life, p.38
Years ago Archbishop William Temple said, ‘The church is the only organisation that exists for the benefit of its non-members.’
Andy Stanley writes: “Read the Gospels and you will have a difficult time finding even one example of Jesus being fair. He chose twelve apostles from among hundreds of disciples. He gave preferential treatment to three of the twelve. He didn’t heal everyone. He didn’t feed every hungry crowd. He stopped in the middle of a virtual parade and invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house. Why him?
He ensured that strangers would live and allowed Lazarus to die. And what about the incident at the pool at Bethesda? John tells us that Jesus singled out a single man among “a great number of disabled people… the blind, the lame, the paralysed.” (John 5:3) I don’t mean to be crass, but you can’t help imagine him tiptoeing through the crowd saying, “Pardon me, excuse me, pardon me.” Then he finally reaches the one lucky guy. I say lucky. He had been there for thirty-eight years. Jesus leans down and whispers, “Do you want to get well?” Does he want to get well? Seriously? This must have actually happened. No one would fabricate that question and put it in Jesus’ mouth. The man assures Jesus he does. Jesus heals him. And only him. Then tiptoes back through the crowds of sick people, followed by the healed man carrying his mat. Can you imagine?
Talk about unfair. How about this one: He tells the fellow known as the rich young ruler that in order to gain eternal life, he has to sell everything and join his entourage. Then, a few months later he whispers to the criminal crucified next to him that on that very day they will meet in paradise! Seriously? One guy has to dedicate the rest of his life to Jesus; the other guy gets in with a minute left on the clock?
Somewhere in the midst of Jesus’ seeming lack of fairness and consistency is a clue for how the local church is meant to operate. [Some church leaders] hide behind, “If we do it for one, we will have to do it for everyone.” To which I can hear Jesus shouting, “No you don’t! I didn’t!” If we are not careful, we will end up doing for none because we can’t do for everyone. The better approach is to do for one what you wish you could do for everyone, knowing that everyone is not going to be treated the same way.”
Source: Andy Stanley, Deep and Wide, 2012, Michigan USA, Zondervan, p.76-78
“The human mind is a wonderful thing. It starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you get up to speak in public.”
Roscoe Drummond
“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure!”
Thomas Edison
You can be a victim of life or a victor of life. The choice is yours. It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you choose to react to what happens that determines the role of ‘victim’ or ‘victor’.
“We are not always able to see with clarity God’s hand in the circumstances of our lives, and we live with a lot of uncertainty. Finite creatures cannot always understand what our infinite God is doing. (…) God’s providence is best read backwards!”
Phil Allcock
Explore Bible notes, 31/7/2019
“You don’t have to be able to see the whole staircase just to take the first step.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader
“Go out on a limb because that’s where the fruit is.”
Will Rogers (1879-1935), American humourist and actor
“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
Abraham Lincoln
Enthusiasm is caught not taught
Christians are to be good news before they can share the good news; in other words, make friends first!
Ask, is it that you can’t believe or won’t believe? In other words, is the issue of your believing a problem of the mind or of the heart?
Most people meet Christ on the road to Emmaus rather than on the road to Damascus. They meet Christ in others as they talk on the way, rather than being struck by divine revelation and a blinding light.
(Adapted) John Pritchard, Living Faithfully, 2013, SPCK London, p.133
Great fear will always lose out to great faith.
“Do the thing you fear to do and the death of fear is certain.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet and essayist.
When God forgives He consigns the offence to everlasting forgetfulness. He wants us to do the same. When you love those who have hurt you; when you love the unlovely, you’re just doing what God did for you.
“There are lots of people who want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”
Oprah Winfrey
“The be all and end all of life should not be to get rich, but to enrich the world.”
B.C. Forbes (1880-1954), Magazine publisher
“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”
Diana Scharf Hunt
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV). God promises to use His Word to instruct you in the way you are to go one step at a time!
Joyce Meyer
Joyce Meyer, The Everyday Life Bible, 2018, Faith Words: New York, p.955
“Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding.”
Harvey Mackay
“The secret of being happy is not in doing what one likes but in liking what one does.”
James M. Barrie
‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’
I’d like to build the world a home,
And furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honey bees,
And snow-white turtle doves.
I’d like to teach the world to sing,
In perfect harmony,
I’d like to hold it in my arms,
And keep it company.
I’d like to see the world for once,
All standing hand in hand,
And hear them echo through the hills,
For peace throughout the land.
a song by The New Seekers
David McNally writes: “Have you ever seen a boat in dry dock? It is the place where the boat is lifted from the water for the purpose of repairing and cleaning the hull. Overtime, various forms of debris accumulate on the hull, which has the effect of slowing the boat down because of increased resistance in the water. A well-maintained and clean hull minimizes this resistance and enables the boat to maximise its capabilities.” – As for the boat, same for us: we need to take time out to replenish, recuperate and maintain a healthy balance.
Source: David McNally, Even Eagles Need A Push, p.53
We are never alone unless we want to be, because God is never further than a thought away.
Jesus washed his disciple’s feet but Simon Peter was reluctant to having his feet washed… it was just too close up and personal. Would you have been reluctant? – Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” It is uncomfortable needing someone to wash us – it’s undignifying! We only submit to it when we know we need cleaning and cannot clean ourselves. We can’t earn forgiveness; we need to be washed. Jesus said, ‘since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.’ (John 13:14-15 NIV)
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
Abraham Lincoln.
An honest man does not make himself a dog for the sake of a bone. (Danish proverb)
Stephen Gaukroger writes: ‘Scientists tell us that two theories are needed to explain how light works – one theory says that light is made up of particles, the other that it consists of waves. Neither theory on its own is enough to explain what light is; both are needed. Yet science has still not discovered how the two work together. It defies the imagination… Similarly, we cannot explain how God and man could both be present in the person of Jesus.’
Source: Stephen Gaukroger, It Makes Sense, p.51
“A good leader is like the Abominable Snowman; their footprints are everywhere although they themselves are nowhere to be seen.”
Warren Bennis (adapted)
A good listener is silent flatterer.
‘God is love, and it’s in loving others that we are most like Him… The best way to spell ‘love’ is T-I-M-E!’ – You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving!
Rick Warren
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan Publishing, p.136
When you have a gold mine you get the dirt as well.
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence its AstroTurf!
The grass is not greener over that side of the fence. The grass is not greener over this side of the fence. The grass is only greener where you water it!
“Never give in. Never… Never… Never… Never.”
Winston Churchill (acclaimed as the shortest public speech ever made)
Persistence Conquers Resistance
Prayer meetings create God meetings.
The main cause of nervousness is fear of the unknown.
Dig your well before you’re thirsty
Your past presents your future. Your ability unveils your destiny: your purpose. You can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do it. God planned and packed you on purpose for His purpose. He designed you and His design defines your destiny: your purpose.
This life is a short-term-missions trip. The reason why we are not simply caught up to Heaven as soon as we believe and are saved is because we have a job to do here on Earth.
‘One of the marks of vocation is that you do not have to pursue what you can attract.’ Here is an interesting test. What does God bring your way when you do not seek it out?’
Source: Paul Valler, Get A Life, 2008, Nottingham: IVP, p.158
The resurrection is rooted in history, grounded in Scripture and confirmed by experience.
Nicky Gumbel
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have and should have.”
Louis E. Boone
Salvation is found not by trying but by trusting.
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it will achieve.”
Napoleon Hill (1883-1970), writer
As soon as you think it ink it
(otherwise you’ll forget it!)
Q. How much does your TV cost you – not to buy, to watch?
“You wake up in the morning, and lo! Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the magic tissue of the universe of your life. No one can take it from you. No one receives either more or less than you receive. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt. You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you.”
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931), popular English novelist
If you are not moving forward then you are really going backwards.
Author, R. Kent Hughes writes, “Each of us has an eternally designed work assignment which includes the task, the ability, and a place to serve. Whatever the task to which He has called you, you will be equipped for it as surely as a bird is made for flight. And in doing the works He has called you to do, you will be more and more your true self… Everything we do ought to be done to the glory of God.”
R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man, 2001, Wheaton Illinois, Crossway Books, p.151boat hook
Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?” One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, Earth is not Heaven.
Rick Warren
The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding birthday gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance!
Rick Warren
Action is always the antidote to despair.
God’s plans and God’s timing are perfect. Who am I, then, to tamper with a masterpiece? – Anon
‘Auld lang syne’ is a Scottish phrase meaning: old times remembered with affection or nostalgia (Literal translation: old, long, since):
Auld Lang Syne (verses 1&2)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min’?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Always give without remembering and receive without forgetting.
Some people say nothing is impossible, but there are an awful lot of people doing nothing every day.
John Mason (writer)
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.
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
Abraham Lincoln
Do It… Do It Right… Do It Right Now.
You can’t move ahead when you’re in neutral or reverse. To start moving forward again, you have to get into first, first. Get into gear!
R. Ian Seymour
Don’t delay; start today.
Don’t hesitate, initiate.
There are two ways you can climb an oak tree: You can either climb it or you can sit on an acorn!
You must get good at one of two things: planting in the spring or begging in the fall.
Jim Rohn
Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British Prime Minister
I have never heard anything about the resolutions of the apostles, but I have heard a great deal about their acts.
Horace Mann (1796-1859), American educational reformist
One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum in which men steal through existence like sluggish waters through a marsh, without either honour or observation.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish novelist and poet
Do the things you have to do, when you have to do them and the day will come when you’ll be able to do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.
Zig Ziglar (motivational speaker and author).
Well done is better than well said.
Benjamin Franklin
People who wait for their ship to come in get disappointed or die on the pier.
Bob Gass
When your ship is sinking don’t just sit around waiting to be rescued; instead, grab a bucket or whatever else you can lay your hands on and start bailing out!
The right time and the right place is usually right now!
Victory comes through surrender.
Life is like an ice-cream cone; just when you think you’ve got it licked, it goes and drips all over you.
Anon.
“Life is tough! There is no such thing as the easy life and the sooner we accept this fact, the easier and happier life becomes.
R. Ian Seymour
“The only way to get the best out of an argument is to avoid it.”
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955), writer and lecturer
“The best words for resolving a disagreement are, ‘I could be wrong, I often am, and it’s true.”
Brian Tracy
“The first half of our lives we are romantic. The last half we are rheumatic.”
Vance Havner, author