Spiritual Thoughts

  L ove is a choice - a willingness to be present to others without pretense or guile. ~ Carter Heyward L ove is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag and is not arrogant. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4

  T here is a choice you have to make, In everything you do. And you must always keep in mind, The choice you make, makes you. ~ Unknown B e renewed in the attitude of your mind and put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living. ~ Romans 12:2 (BBE)

 Friday Tale – Our Character is Shown by… The jokes we CHOOSE to share…and not to share. The derogatory terms we CHOOSE to use…and refuse to use. The promises we CHOOSE to break…and the ones we keep. The rumors we CHOOSE to spread…and those we ignore. The resources we CHOOSE to waste…and those we use wisely. The lies we CHOOSE to tell…and not to tell. The responsibilities we CHOOSE to accept…and those we shirk. The courtesies we CHOOSE to extend…and fail to extend. The efforts we CHOOSE to put forth…and not put forth. The quality we CHOOSE to provide…and the corners we cut. The information we CHOOSE to share…and that which we hoard. The listening we CHOOSE to do and not do. The respect we CHOOSE to give…and fail to give. The helpful hands we CHOOSE to extend…and those we keep in our pockets. ~ Charles D. Brodhead Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.~ Psalm 51:10

  A lways continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox L et Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your principles. ~ Psalm 119:173

  E verybody in your situation  has the same choice: You can rue your situation, or  you can dedicate yourself to changing it. Accept responsibility for your future. Refuse to complain, criticize, or condemn. ~ Mark Ford P ut false ways far from me and  graciously teach me your law!  I have chosen the way of faithfulness;  I set your rules before me. ~ Psalm 119:29-30

  T o live is to choose. BUT  to choose well, you must know  who  you are and  what  you stand for,  where  you want to go, and  why  you want to get there. ~ Kofi Annan BUT  Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and Your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me and worse,  if anything  BUT  death parts you and me." ~ Psalm 56:8-9

  W hen you feel the need to hurry, remember that everything in life    is a CHOICE. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie I  call heaven and earth to witness against you today,  that I have set before you Life and Death,  the Blessing and the Curse.  SO choose life in order that you may life,  you and your descendants,  by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice and by holding fast to Him. ~ Deuteronomy 30:19-20

  F aith and trust are not just feelings. They are a choice to trust God even when the road ahead seems uncertain. ~ Unknown   T rust in God at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us. ~ Psalm 62:8

H appiness is a choice. You grieve, you stomp your feet, you pick yourself up and choose to be happy. ~ Lucy Lawless   Y our words are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. ~ Psalm 119:111

Y ou either get bitter or you get better. It is that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choice does not belong to fate,  it belongs to you. ~ Josh Shipp   I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. ~ Psalm 119:30

  E verybody in your situation has the same choice: you can rue your situation or you can dedicate yourself to changing it. Accept responsibility for your future. Refuse to complain, criticize or condemn. ~ Mark Ford   B ut the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, BUT one thing IS necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." ~ Luke 10:41-42

I t is choice - not chance, that determines your destiny. ~ Jean Nidetch   T hen Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than men; we have no other choice." ~ Acts 5:29 (Amplified)

L ife is all about the little decisions you make every day.  You cannot change the decisions of the past, BUT every new day is another opportunity to make the right ones. ~ Unknown   I f any of you lacks wisdom to guide him through a decision or circumstances, he is to ask of God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him. ~ James 1:5

  A dversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it. It is our choice. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie   B efore I was afflicted I went astray. BUT now I keep Your word. ~ Psalm 119:67

  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

  A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided. ~ Tony Robbins   J esus said, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ~ Matthew 7:24

Friday Tale - It's Your Choice O ne day, a grandfather told his grandchildren about his journey to America. He told of the trains and ship that he took from his home in Eastern Europe. He told of being processed at Ellis Island and how he had gone to a cafeteria in lower Manhattan to get something to eat. There, he sat down at an empty table and waited for quite some time for someone to take his order. Nobody came. Finally, a woman with a tray full of food sat down opposite him and explained to him how a cafeteria works.       She said, “You start at that end” – pointing toward a stack of trays – “and then go along the food line and pick out what you want. At the other end, they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.’       The grandfather reflected a moment and then said, “I soon learned that’s how everything works in America. Life’s a cafeteria here. You can get anything you w...

T here are two primary choices in life: accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility to change them. ~ Denis Waitley A ccept correction, and you will find life; reject correction, and you will miss the road. ~ Proverbs 10:17

O ne good wish changes nothing. One good decision changes everything. Our choice. ~ Unknown L et Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. ~Psalm 119:173