11 Teach me Your way, LORD,
and I will live by Your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name. (M)
12 I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,
and will honor Your name forever. (N)
13 For Your faithful love for me is great,
and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol. (O)
14 God, arrogant people have attacked me;
a gang of ruthless men seeks my life.
They have no regard for You. (P)
15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and abundant in faithful love and truth. (Q)
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your female servant. (R)
17 Show me a sign of Your goodness;
my enemies will see and be put to shame
because You, LORD, have helped and comforted me.
05 January 2011
02 January 2011
Thought for Today
Our hearts are the wrapping which preserve God’s
word, we need to no more.
-The Koran, Sura 4:155
When was the last time you sat down to have a heart to heart with yourself? Have you really examined your heart lately? Are you harboring childhood wounds? Are you still nursing a broken heart? Are you frightened? Angry? Guilty or ashamed? Is there someone you need to apologize to? Who have you forgiven lately? If God were to speak through your heart today, what would you hear? In the everyday quest to get through life, we sometimes forget we really do have all we need. It’s tucked away safely inside of us. It contributes to our thoughts and motivates our actions. If we clear it out it will actually speak to us and tell us exactly what to do. When was the last time you had a heart to heart with yourself?
With a pure heart, I am balanced in life.
word, we need to no more.
-The Koran, Sura 4:155
When was the last time you sat down to have a heart to heart with yourself? Have you really examined your heart lately? Are you harboring childhood wounds? Are you still nursing a broken heart? Are you frightened? Angry? Guilty or ashamed? Is there someone you need to apologize to? Who have you forgiven lately? If God were to speak through your heart today, what would you hear? In the everyday quest to get through life, we sometimes forget we really do have all we need. It’s tucked away safely inside of us. It contributes to our thoughts and motivates our actions. If we clear it out it will actually speak to us and tell us exactly what to do. When was the last time you had a heart to heart with yourself?
With a pure heart, I am balanced in life.
29 December 2010
Thought for Today
Life Quiz 1
ANONYMOUS
This isn’t like any other quiz . . . don't bother getting a pen and paper.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman Trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name the ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prizes.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Best Actress.
6. Name the last decades’ worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. And these are no second-rate achievers. They’re the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Life Quiz 2
ANONYMOUS
Now here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one.
1. Name two teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of five people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name six people whose stories have inspired you.
Easier?
The lesson!
The people who make a difference in your life aren’t the ones with the most credentials, the most money, the most awards; they’re the ones who care. On which list would your name be placed?
ANONYMOUS
This isn’t like any other quiz . . . don't bother getting a pen and paper.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman Trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name the ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prizes.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Best Actress.
6. Name the last decades’ worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. And these are no second-rate achievers. They’re the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Life Quiz 2
ANONYMOUS
Now here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one.
1. Name two teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of five people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name six people whose stories have inspired you.
Easier?
The lesson!
The people who make a difference in your life aren’t the ones with the most credentials, the most money, the most awards; they’re the ones who care. On which list would your name be placed?
27 December 2010
Thought for Today
8 I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. Rev 3:8
21 December 2010
Thought for Today
A Share in Suffering
It is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint, or a converted sinner, or a chuchman (a so called priestly type!), a righteous person or an unrighteous one, a sick person or a healthy one. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings. But those of God in the world-watching with Christ in Gethsemane. That, I think, is faith; that is metanoia; and that is how one becomes human and a Christian. How can success make us arrogant, or failure lead us astray, when we share in God’s sufferings through a life of this kind?
from A Testament to Freedom 510
It is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint, or a converted sinner, or a chuchman (a so called priestly type!), a righteous person or an unrighteous one, a sick person or a healthy one. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life’s duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings. But those of God in the world-watching with Christ in Gethsemane. That, I think, is faith; that is metanoia; and that is how one becomes human and a Christian. How can success make us arrogant, or failure lead us astray, when we share in God’s sufferings through a life of this kind?
from A Testament to Freedom 510
17 December 2010
Thouhgt for Today
Witness
Sitting here one night six floors up on my little balcony when
I heard shots and saw them boys running. My eyes went straight
to the lot beside Mason’s bar and I saw something black not
moving in the weeds and knew a body lying there and knew it
was dead. A fifteen year old boy the papers said. Whole bunch
of sirens and cops and spinning lights the night I’m talking about.
I watched till after they rolled him away and then everything got
quiet again as it ever gets round here so I’m sure the boy’s people
not out there that night. Didn’t see them till next morning when
I’m looking down at those weeds and a couple’s coming slow on
Frankstown with a girl by the hand, had to be the boy’s baby sis-
ter. They pass terrible Mason’s and stop right at the spot the boy
died. Then they commence to swaying, bowing, hugging, wav-
ing their arms about. Forgive me, Jesus, but look like they grief
dancing, like the sidewalk too cold or too hot they had to jump
around not to burn up. How’d his people find the exact spot.
Did they hear my old mind working to lead them, guide them
along like I would if I could get up out this damn wheelchair and
take them by the hand.
excerpt from Briefs by John Edgar Wideman
Sitting here one night six floors up on my little balcony when
I heard shots and saw them boys running. My eyes went straight
to the lot beside Mason’s bar and I saw something black not
moving in the weeds and knew a body lying there and knew it
was dead. A fifteen year old boy the papers said. Whole bunch
of sirens and cops and spinning lights the night I’m talking about.
I watched till after they rolled him away and then everything got
quiet again as it ever gets round here so I’m sure the boy’s people
not out there that night. Didn’t see them till next morning when
I’m looking down at those weeds and a couple’s coming slow on
Frankstown with a girl by the hand, had to be the boy’s baby sis-
ter. They pass terrible Mason’s and stop right at the spot the boy
died. Then they commence to swaying, bowing, hugging, wav-
ing their arms about. Forgive me, Jesus, but look like they grief
dancing, like the sidewalk too cold or too hot they had to jump
around not to burn up. How’d his people find the exact spot.
Did they hear my old mind working to lead them, guide them
along like I would if I could get up out this damn wheelchair and
take them by the hand.
excerpt from Briefs by John Edgar Wideman
21 November 2010
Thought for Today
I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed--you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessions I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men; and alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin--it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am habit!
-Anonymous
-Anonymous
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