Spiritual Thoughts

BELIEVE WHILE OTHERS ... Believe while others are doubting. Plan while others are playing. Study while others are sleeping. Decide while others are delaying. Prepare while others are daydreaming. Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing. Save while others are wasting. Listen while others are talking. Smile while others are frowning. Commend while others are criticizing. Persist while others are quitting. by William Arthur Ward AsAManThinketh.net @mydailyinsights.com Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision." - Helen Keller For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

HOPE Hope is something that brings sunshine into the shadows of our lives. It is our link to a better tomorrow. Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal ….. we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast… Hebrews 6:18-19

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers . Robert Quillen (1887-1948) Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32

We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them. William Arthur Ward As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house …… For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. 1 Peter 2:4-7

He who gains a victory over other men is strong; but he who gains a victory over himself is all powerful. Lao Tzu A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. Proverbs 29:11

"Ours is a WALK in Christ, not a sitting down" Unknown As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so WALK in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7

Triumph is just " umph " added to try. - God's Little Instruction Book for Students But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ …. 2 Corinthians 2:14

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will. - Ben Stein Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Don't worry about bad times because sometimes the most beautiful things we have in life are changes and mistakes. Live with no regrets because everything happens for a reason. - Jacks Kuhn And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

A Word on Words: "Lord's Prayer: 66 Words Gettysburg Address: 286 Words 10 Commandments: 179 Words Declaration of Independence: 1,300 Words Pythagorean Theorem: 24 Words Archimedes' Principle: 67 Words US Government Regulations on the Sale of Cabbage: 26,911 Words" Unknown Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

It might help us to remember that the ones who sigh and whose hearts melt and who faint at the thought of the coming events are those who do not have God . So when we ourselves find our own lives hit this level of depression, we need to pull ourselves up in the knowledge that God loves us and has a desire that we might share in eternity. It is those who have forgotten this that sigh and faint. Isa.13:7, Nah.2:10 Peter Cresswell And when they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every knee become as weak as water.' It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 21:7 NIV "And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold,

A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either command them, or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil. -Dominic He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Proverbs 16:32

"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes." - Henry J. Kaiser Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5:15-17

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." - Arnold Schwarzenegger In this you greatly rejoice , though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. -Aesop Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25

"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up ." Unknown Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God….. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:1-3, 6

Just for today I will be happy. Just for today I will try to live through this day only, not to tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do things for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime. Just for today… - Sybyl F. Partridge But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow , for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward with the life that God intended for you. - Og Mandino Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

Love is the greatest thing that God can give us, and it is the greatest we can give God. Jeremy Taylor Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, i s not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Cor

Hard work means nothing to a hen. Regardless of what business forecasters say about the price of eggs … regardless of what others expect of her … regardless of fluctuations in the commodities market … she keeps on digging worms and laying eggs. If the ground is hard, she scratches harder. If it’s dry, she digs deeper. If it’s wet, she digs where it is dry. If she strikes a rock, she digs around it. If she gets a few more hours of daylight in the barnyard, she digs a few more hours. Have you ever seen a pessimistic hen? Have you ever seen a hen cackle in disgust at the prospect of her job? Did you ever hear one cluck because the work was hard, the conditions were poor, and some of here eggs were taken from her before they hatched?? NO. Hens save their breath for digging. They save their cackles for the eggs that are laid. Unknown You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain , brethren, against

"Let a person rejoice when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has reached the end of some particular line of indifference or folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope." -- James Allen Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 1 Peter 4:12-13