Spiritual Thoughts

V ery often, a change of self  is needed more than a  change of scene. ~ Lou Holtz   T hat, in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. ~ Ephesians 4:22-24

  I t's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. ~ Lou Holtz   I n all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ~ 1 Peter 1:6-7

  Y ou can either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The choice is yours. ~ Unknown   F or the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are a way of life, to keep you from the evil. ~ Proverbs 6:23-24

  Friday Tale - Winning Attitudes   Instead of saying this: Say This!!!!! We've never done it before           We have the opportunity to be first.  It's too complicated                          Let's look at it from a different angle  We don't have the resources           Necessity is the mother of Invention  It will never work                               We'll give it a try  There's not enough time                     We'll reevaluate some priorities  We already tried it                               We learned from the experience  There's no way it'll work                     We can make it work  It's a waste of time                          Think of the possibilities  We don't have the expertise           Let's network with those who do  It's good enough                          There's always room for improvement!  We're understaffed                          We're a lean, mean machine!  We don't have enough

  T here are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live. ~ John Adams   BUT the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. ~ James 3:17-18

  D evelop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never  cease to grow. ~ Anthony J. D'Angelo   G ive me understanding, a teachable heart and the ability to learn, so that I may keep Your words and observe them with all my heart. ~ Psalm 119:34 (Amplified)

  T he past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living. ~ Roy T. Bennett   F or you were formerly darkness, BUT now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ~ Ephesians 5:8, 10

  I 've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. ~ Martha Washington   F or a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be a door keeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of sinful people. For the LORD God is a sun and shield, no good thing does He withhold from those who walk blameless. ~ Psalm 84:10-11

  Friday Tale - Reason to Smile   C omedian George Burns said that he was advised: “Let a smile be your umbrella.” He said, “I tried that once. I had pneumonia for six weeks and shrunk a $450 suit.” All right. Maybe it won’t keep you dry in the rain, but there are other good reasons to smile. It’s said that it requires more muscles to frown than to smile, and who wants to overwork their facial muscles? Smiling also puts others at ease and helps establish instant rapport. And if that isn’t enough, when you smile it releases endorphins in your brain and gives you a feeling of well-being and contentment. So, if you smile when you don’t feel like it, you’ll soon be smiling just because it feels so good. Here are a few more reasons to smile: •       Smiling is a universal language that everyone knows. •       People will enjoy being around you when you smile. •       Smiling reduces stress, which may improve your overall health. •       Smiling will change the sound qualitie

  O bstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. ~ Henry Ford T he one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ~ 1 John 2:10

  A re your habits moving you toward your life goals? Or are they keeping you stuck in one place? ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie   M y only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. ~ Acts 20:24

  T hings turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. ~ Art Linkletter   B etter is a little with the respect of the LORD than great treasure and turmoil with it. Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred. ~ Proverbs 15:16-17

  I f you can't fly, then run; if you can't run, then walk; if you can't walk, then crawl, BUT whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. ~ Martin Luther King Jr. W e continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all His wisdom and understanding so that you will walk in a manner worth of the Lord, to please Him in all respects. ~ Colossians 1:9-10

  Friday Tale ~ The Story of 143   143 is code for “ I love you ,” especially used on pagers back in the 1990s and currently used while emailing and texting.   143 is based on the number of letters in each word of the phrase: I (1), love (4), you (3).   As the story goes, dating back to the early 1900s from Minot’s Ledge lighthouse off the coast of Cohasset, Massachusetts. The story begins in 1895, when the lighthouse changed its flash pattern after a recommendation that all lighthouses have numerical flash sequences. The order, one quick flash, four flashes, then three flashes, was apparently chosen at random.   In 1915, a new assistant lighthouse keeper, Winfield Scott Thompson, came to the Minot’s Ledge lighthouse. His family lived on a neighboring island and could see the flash of the lighthouse at night. According to legend, Mary Thompson, Winfield’s wife told their children that it was the “ I Love You ” flash, their father’s way of telling them how much he loved them fr

  T he outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs. ~ James Lane Allen   T he righteous man who walks in integrity and lives life in accord with his Godly beliefs - how blessed are his children after him who have his example to follow. ~ Proverbs 20:7 (Amplified)

  E xamine, inquire. Search out the grounds of your beliefs, the for and the against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you. ~ Frances Wright   BUT examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:21; Philippians 1:10

  H ope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you see it, you'll never make it through the night. ~ Leia Organa   BUT as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long. ~ Psalm 71:14-15

  A lways remember to take your Vitamins: Take your Vitamin A for Action, Vitamin B for Belief, Vitamin C for Confidence, Vitamin D for Discipline, Vitamin E for Enthusiasm ~ Pablo   T he beginning of wisdom is:  Acquire wisdom and with all your acquiring, get understanding. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. ~ Proverbs 4:1, 22

  Friday Tale ~ Test Kitchen of Life   A young woman was complaining to her father about how difficult her life had become. He said nothing but took her to the kitchen and set three pans of water to boil. To the first pan, he added carrots; to the second, eggs; and to the third, ground coffee.        After all three had cooked, he put their contents into separate bowls and asked his daughter to cut into the eggs and carrots, and to smell the coffee.      “What does all this mean?” she asked impatiently.       “Each food,” he said, “teaches us something about facing adversity, as represented by the boiling water. The carrot went in hard but came out soft and weak. The eggs went in fragile but came out hardened. The coffee, however, changed the water to something better.”     “Which will you be like as you face life?” he asked. “Will you give up, and become hard, like the eggs, or soft like the carrots, or will you transform adversity into triumph, like the coffee?”      As

  F ear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson   D o not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. ~ Isaiah 41:10

  C ommon man's patience will bring  him more happiness than common man's power. ~ Abu Bakr   I implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another. ~ Ephesians 4:1-2

  H e who avoids complaint  invites happiness. ~ Abu Bakr   D o all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. ~ Philippians 2:14-15

  T he golden age is before us,  not behind us. ~ William Shakespeare   D o not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" Do not let your heart envy sinners BUT living in the fear of the LORD always. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. ~ Ecclesiastes 7:10, Proverbs 23:17-18