Spiritual Thoughts

  Friday Tale - Life is the Coffee   A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.     After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."     "Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really w

  S tart where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. ~ Arthur Ashe   Y ou are my friends if you do what I command you. ~ John 15:14

  G reat opportunities to help others seldom com, BUT small ones surround us every day. ~ Sally Koch   W e have not ceased to pray for you so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. ~ Colossians 1:10

  S mall opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. ~ Demostheses   H e will bless those who fear the LORD, the small together with the great. ~ Psalm 115:13

  S ometimes when you're in a dark place you think you've been buried, BUT you've actually been planted. ~ Christine Caine T he righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. ~ Psalm 92:12

  Friday Tale - Blame   I n ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.   Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.   Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.   After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!   Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our

  D irect your attention to finding a way forward, rather than on assigning blame. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie   M ay the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus. ~ 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

  T ake your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing - no one to blame. ~ Erica Jong   T his I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. ~ Philippians 1:10

  W hen you blame others, you give up your power for growth and change. ~ Dr. Robert Anthony   S ome people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the LORD. ~ Proverbs 19:3 (GNB)

  T he best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to rely on, lean on, or blame. The gift is yours. This is the day your life begins. ~ Unknown   Y ou shall be blameless before the Lord your God. ~ Deuteronomy 18:13

  Friday Tale - Hut on Fire   T he only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.   One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?" Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him!   "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.   The Moral of This Story : It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we

  K eep on going and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something while they were sitting down. ~ Charles F. Kettering   BUT as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of your loving-kindness in the morning, for you have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. ~ Psalm 59:16

  P rotect your vision. Prevail over adversity. Persevere in the midst of turmoil. Passionately act upon your convictions. Purposefully walk into the day. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher   W hen you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you. ~ Deuteronomy 4:30-31

  N early all men can stand adversity, BUT if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ~ Abraham Lincoln   A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, BUT the slow to anger calms a dispute. ~ Proverbs 15:18

  M ore than anything else, what keeps a person going in the midst of adversity is having a sense of purpose. ~ John C. Maxwell   B lessed is the man whom You chasten,  O Lord, and whom  You teach,  that You may grant  him relief  from the days of  adversity, for the Lord  will not abandon His people. ~ Psalm 94:12-14

  Friday Tale - Choose a Life that Matters   * Some day the things we have collected, our wealth, our fame, our power - Will not matter . * Some day what we owe or what we are owed - Will not matter . * Some day our wins, our losses, and our to-do lists - Will not matter . * Our grudges and our resentments our frustrations and our jealousies - Will not matter . * Whether we are beautiful or brilliant, our gender and our skin color - Will not matter .   **** So what will matter? * What will matter - Is not what we have, but what we gave. * What will matter - Is not what we bought, but what we built. * What will matter - Is not what we learned, but what we taught. * What will matter - Is not our competence, but our character. *

  I ntegrity is choosing your thoughts and actions based on values, rather than personal gain. ~ Chris Karcher   I t is better to be poor and walk in integrity, than to be stupid and speak lies. ~ Proverbs 19:1

  I t has always seemed to me that the test of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. ~ Chinua Achebe   B etter is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich. ~ Proverbs 28:6

  L ive so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.   T he integrity of the upright will guide them, BUT the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them. ~ Proverbs 11:3

  N obody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong. ~ Thomas Jefferson   H onor shall uphold the humble in spirit. ~ Proverbs 29:23

  Friday Tale - Make Mistakes I hope that i n this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year. Don’t QUIT . ~ Neil Gaiman B e on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like the brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13-14