Choices

It has been wisely said that "it is choice not chance that determines our destiny." The fact is that we are where we are today primarily because of choices we have made in the past. Furthermore, we will be where we are in five, ten, or twenty years—and throughout eternity—based on choices we have or will yet make.

Floyd Lane, a talented basketball player who attended City College in New York in 1951, accepted a $3,000 bribe to shave points in just three games. Because other players were doing this, he decided to go with the group.

Big mistake. He and the other players got caught, arrested, and expelled from school. For the next 23 years he was unable to get a job as a player or a coach in sports because of what he had done. Finally, in 1974 his old college employed him as a coach.

When we make mistakes, which we all do from time to time, it's encouraging to know that we still have the choice to put things right. Fortunately, when we admit what we have done, God forgives us. And where possible, where we have hurt others, we need to make amends for what we have done. We also need to forgive ourselves. The important thing is to think first, pray, and make wise choices from now on. 

And most critical of all is to choose to accept God's forgiveness. Whatever else, DO NOT leave earth without God's gift of forgiveness. 

Dear God

please help me 

to make wise choices 

in everything I do

—especially in choosing 

to love 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz.

Give of Your Best

Give of Your Best

I have read how on one occasion when visiting Scotland Queen Mary was strolling with a group of children. Suddenly the sky turned gray and thick, dark clouds appeared. The queen stopped at a nearby house and asked if she might borrow an umbrella. She told the lady of the house, 'I'll send it back to you tomorrow.' The lady was understandably reluctant about lending a good umbrella to a total stranger, but she remembered that she had an old one in the attic. One rib was broken and there were several ragged holes in it, but she nevertheless, turned it over to this lady at her front door with a weak apology.

"The next day there was another knock at the door. This time, when she opened it, a man in gold braid stood with a big envelope in hand. 'The queen sent me,' he said, 'and asked me to thank you for the umbrella.'"

Can you imagine how this woman must have felt knowing she gave the Queen a broken umbrella and didn't give her best.

For those of us who claim to be God Fearing I wonder how we will feel at the end of life's journey when we stand face to face with God to give account of our life and realize that we didn't give God our best—but only our broken "unwanteds." 

Uncommon Common Sense

Have you ever noticed that common sense is not very common and that much of our reasoning is not always reasonable?

We have all sorts of reasons and excuses for why we say what we say and do what we do. And then there are the real reasons—the motives behind our choices and actions.

People come to discussions with hidden agendas. Some bully to get what they want. Others manipulate. Some even quote or misquote Scriptures to get things done their way. Whether this type of control is with a high and mighty hand or in a sweet, manipulative manner makes no difference. Both are equally dishonest and are destructive to personal growth, conflict resolution, and interpersonal relationships.

Common sense tells us that we need to avoid these and all other dishonest games. Being truthful can be difficult at times, but when our words are spoken in love, it is the only way to grow and develop healthy and intimate relationships.

While God doesn't make our choices for us, he has, as noted in today's Scripture passage, promised to give wisdom (common sense) to all who ask him. So wisdom is available if we will ask God for it and truly mean it.

Dear God

please give me

wisdom

and discernment

so that my life

will bring much glory

to your name.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz

Thoughtfulness

According to William A. Ward, "Thoughtfulness comes in many forms, and is virtually always welcomed by its recipients. Thoughtfulness is a habit—a way of life well worth cultivating and practicing.

"The thoughtful person is quick to pay a well-deserved compliment, or to send a prompt note of congratulations to someone who has received a promotion, an honor, or special recognition.

"Thoughtful people don't wait for opportunities—they imaginatively create numerous opportunities to make life brighter, smoother, and more enjoyable for those about them. Our thoughtful attitudes and generous deeds can make many people happy—including ourselves."

Being thoughtful is being kind, it is being loving.

Today, make sure you go out of your way to be thoughtful and kind—first of all to your own loved ones … and in some way to every life you touch.

Dear God
please help me
to be loving
kind
and thoughtful today
to my own loved ones
and to someone
who needs
a touch from you.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz.

Stepping Stones to Success

 

Many achievements in life have come from a setback, an accident, or some kind of crisis or even suffering. For instance, the first cars had to be started by cranking the motor by hand. At times the engine would "kick" back the crank handle. This happened to Charles Kettering and it broke his arm.

"There must be a safer way to start cars than this," Kettering reasoned and he went on to invent self-starters for cars.

Jacob Schick was prospecting for gold where the temperature fell to 40 degrees below zero. He had a hard time trying to shave with a blade without sufficient hot water—so he invented the first electric shaver.

Eugene O'Neill had no specific goal or aim in life until he became ill and had to go to hospital. While lying flat on his back he began to write his plays.

So, when things go wrong in your life and you experience a major setback, lose your job, or have an accident, not always, but perhaps God has something for you to learn, or something else he wants you to do. The important thing is to be open to what God is saying.

True, disasters happen because we live in a broken, sinful world. Sometimes, however, a disaster is "God's wake-up call" to teach us an important lesson, to help us grow, or to lead us in a different direction.

Most of us God leads through his Word, our circumstances, and through a "still small voice" within that gives us a sense of what God wants us to do.

Dear God

help me

to see/ hear/ learn

what you are saying

to me in every adverse circumstance

I may experience,

as I truly want to be what you want me to be

and to do what you want me to do.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz.

Show Me—Don't Tell Me

 

A boy came home from school one day with a note from his teacher saying she had to punish him for swearing. His father took him aside and said, "Well, son, what about it?"

The boy replied, "I have nothing to say, Dad. I deserved it. She heard me say what I said and called me into her office."

"Then what happened?"

"Well, she asked me where I had heard such language. But I didn't give you away, Dad. I blamed it on the parrot."

Need I say more except to say that the heart of all effective teaching is "show me don't tell me." That is, we need to model what we want our children to learn, to become, and to do!

Dear God

please help me

to model

for my children

and others

the kind of person

you want me to be

so that others seeing

what you have done

in my life

will want the same

for themselves.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz. 

Teachable

Seeing is not always believing. Old beliefs as well as old habits die hard. For centuries people believed Aristotle's opinion that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth.

I am not an engineer but according to a report I read, in 1589 Galileo challenged Aristotle's teaching. He invited learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo went to the top of the tower and at exactly the same moment pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight.

Both landed at the same instant, but the professors still wouldn't believe what they saw. They insisted Aristotle was right.

To move ahead in life and to grow—intellectually, emotionally and spiritually—it is important that we examine all our beliefs, test them, hold to the true and discard the false. Admittedly, this is much easier said than done, but done it must be if we are to keep learning and growing. Unless we are open to and willing to change, we get set in our ways and cease to grow.

Dear God

please confront me

with every issue in my life

I need to be aware of,

help me to be teachable,

and give me the courage

to make necessary changes

in my life where needed.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz.

The Power of Holding Hands

We all have areas of weaknesses so we all need the support of a few friends with whom we feel safe, who won't judge, condemn or reject us, and will love and accept us as we are. None of us can make it on our own. We were created for relationships. We all need each other.

One reason we fall is because we try to make it on our own. God never meant for us to go it alone. We all need each other for support, and as long as we admit our needs, confess our areas of weaknesses, and keep holding hands, we're not likely to fall because we help hold each other up.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Dear God

please give me

a few friends

who know me

as I am

and love me still

—friends

with whom

I can share

openly

and honestly,

laugh,

cry,

work,

and play

and friends

who will hold me up

when I feel

too down

to be able to stand up

on my own.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz.

I Believe ...

Beliefs from Azhar Abbas

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Tips for Leaders

On an occasion following a great victory Napoleon was asked how he made his army cross the Alps and he replied, "One does not make an army cross the Alps; one leads it across."

Whether a boss, a parent, a teacher, or a friend, the most effective way to lead others, to teach others, to motivate others, to train our children and/ or to influence others is by example; that is, by who we are, by what we do, and most of all by how much we care about them. In other words, we need to model what we want others to learn and do. We need to lead the way, not by being demanding or controlling, but by showing through both our caring and our doing—by example not by telling.

Furthermore, "People don't care how much we know until they know how much we care," and as Carl Jung stated, "Where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other."

Dear God
please help me
to teach others
your ways,
not by my telling them how
but by showing them how by my example.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz ...