Spiritual Thoughts

  C hange is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. ~ John F. Kennedy   B e renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the Truth . ~ Ephesians 4:23-24

  L ove cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. ~ Karl A. Menninger   B eloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God . ~ 1 John 4:7

  D o not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Buddha   T ake therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof . ~ Matthew 6:34

  Friday Tale - Just One Minute   H e almost killed somebody, but one minute changed his life. The beautiful story comes from Sherman Rogers' old book, FOREMEN: LEADERS OR DRIVERS? In his true-life story, Rogers illustrates the importance of effective relationships.   During his college years, Rogers spent a summer in an Idaho logging camp. When the superintendent had to leave for a few days, he put Rogers in charge.   "What if the men refuse to follow my orders?" Rogers asked. He thought of Tony, an immigrant worker who grumbled and growled all day, giving the other men a hard time.   "Fire them," the superintendent said. Then, as if reading Rogers' mind, he added, "I suppose you think you are going to fire Tony if you get the chance. I'd feel badly about that. I have been logging for 40 years. Tony is the most reliable worker I've ever had. I know he is a grouch and that he hates everybody and everything. But he comes in first and leav...

  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. ~ Lao Tzu I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice . ~ Proverbs 8:20

  F orgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. Yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. ~ Marianne Williamson   W ho is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us. ~ Micah 7:18-19

  O ur lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, BUT by how we respond to those challenges. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie   R emember how the LORD your God led you on this long journey through the desert these past forty years, sending hardships to test you, so that He might know what you intended to do and whether you would obey His commands. ~ Deuteronomy 8:2

  I nstead of dwelling on negative thoughts, cause your mind to dwell on peace and joy. ~ Ernest Holmes   T he steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in You. ~ Isaiah 26:3

  Friday Tale - Paradoxical Commands P eople are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.   If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.   What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.   Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway .   Because in the end, it's GOD that matters, anyway. ~ Kent M. ...

J udging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are. ~ Anonymous   F or in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ~ Matthew 7:2

  A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. ~ Alexander Pope L earn diligently, and listen to words of knowledge. ~ Proverbs 23:21

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. ~ Confucius   T herefore, prepare your minds for action keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Peter 1:13

  Don't say you don't have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~H. Jackson Brown. Jr. There is a season for everything, and a time for every event under heaven. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Friday Tale - If You Can IF you If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;   If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;   If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and...

  P eople don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. ~ Michael S. Miller   G od Himself knows how much I want to see you. He knows that I care for you in the same way that Christ Jesus does. ~ Philippians 1:8 (CEV)

M ake this true for you: "I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." ~ Steven Covey   I have chosen the way of truth: Your judgments have i laid before me. ~ Psalms 119:30

  C ourage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~ Unknown  B e silent and listen, every island in the sea. Have courage and come near, every one of you. They helped everyone his neighbor, and everyone said to his brother, "Be of good courage." ~ Isaiah 41:1, 6

  N ever regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness, and bad days give you experience. ~ FearlessMotivation.com  T here is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This I saw that it was from the hand of God. ~ Ecclesiastes 2:24

Friday Tale - Eat a Frog "IF it is your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first."   I heard this quote when I was 18 and it has stuck with me every since. I do all the hard stuff that I don't want to do first thing in the morning. I wake up, work out, have difficult conversations and do tasks that are my least-liked. By 10 a.m., I have nothing to worry about and can think clearly.   When I put something off that I don't want to do, I dread it all day. Get it over with first thing in the morning and have a clear mind the rest of the day! What do your mornings look like? ~ Unknown  S o then be all the more eager to make your calling and election certain, for if you keep on doing this you will never fail. ~ 2 Peter 1:10 (ISV)

  L ife leaps like a geyser for those willing to drill through the rock of inertia. ~ Alexis Carrel  A nd we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, BUT imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ~ Hebrews 6:11-12

  I t does not matter how slow you go, so long as you do not stop. ~ Confucius  I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD. Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths." ~ Psalm 122:1 and Micah 4:2

T he value of life lies not in the length of days, BUT in the use we make of them. ~ Michel de Montaigne  S o teach us to number our days, so that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12