James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Winston Churchill exemplified integrity and respect in the face of opposition. During his last year in office, he attended an official ceremony. Several rows behind him two gentlemen began whispering. "That's Winston Churchill." "They say he is getting senile." "They say he should step aside and leave the running of the nation to more dynamic and capable men." When the ceremony was over, Churchill turned to the men and said, "Gentlemen, they also say he is deaf!"
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said "The human race is divided into two classes -- those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, 'Why wasn't it done the other way?'"
How many times have we left a job, a project, a church, an important relationship because we just didn't find it good enough? Some of us make a lifestyle of it! But God wants us to be the kind of remarkable people who don't criticize, complain and go out looking for something better all the time. He wants us to be people who determine to make a difference in the lives of the people and situations He allows us to face!
Is your job is boring and you need a change? Ask the Lord how you might grow in your giftings there. Ask Him to help you come up with a creative solution and maybe even improve your workplace altogether! Do you want to leave your church because it doesn't have an exciting children's ministry? Perhaps the Lord is calling you to help start one up!
Let's be doers! Let's be people of vision! There's much too much to be done for the Lord to be sitting around criticizing. Let's determine to stop being complainers and go forth and do great things for Him!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]I'm not sure where I read it, but the idea has always been ingrained in my mind -- if you want to be a good teacher, be a good student. When Yeshua (Jesus) lived on the earth, his disciples were called "talmudim". The Hebrew literally means "students". "Talmudim" comes from the verb, "Lilmod", "to learn". In essence, talmudim are learners.
Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. ...
In the 4th century lived a Christian named Telemachus, in a remote village, tending his garden, and spending much time in prayer. One day, he believed he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome, so he obeyed, setting out on foot. Some weeks later, weary from his journey, he arrived in Rome about the time of a great festival.
A survey asked mothers to keep track of how many times they made both negative and positive comments to their children. The surveyed mothers admitted that they criticized at least ten times for every one time they said something favorable. Another survey taken in one city's schools found that the teachers were negative seventy five per cent of the time. This study concluded that it takes four positive statements to a child from a parent or teacher to offset the effects of one negative statement. Wow, when I think about how many times I've said negative things to people in my lifetime, I have some positive paying back to do!
In today's society fast food is making billions. It's slogans are "have it your way" and "have it hot and and have it now". How easy it is for us to fall into this "fast food mentality". It has almost become who we are. But in God's kingdom there's no fast food. We can't always have it our way and now. When we are caught up in this fast food mentality, we lose the true meaning of patience. True patience is the ability to wait on the Lord through trials without complaining and worrying; it is to be tested and persevere through trial.
Have you ever noticed that most of our phone conversations go something like this? You call, say a word or two, they'll say a short thing or two in reply and then something like "Ok, in the middle of something, gotta run, talk to you later"! That's a good example of most of our telephone conversations with people when we were living in the United States.
Yesterday, there was a fascinating article in Bloomberg about how the prices of some paintings are falling rapidly. As I read the article I wondered just how much paintings actually go for.