What a Life! for July 18-22, 2007

The wisdom literature of the Bible is a collection of human experiences handed down throughout the ages as an aid toward understanding and solving life’s problems. The following is a collection of eight modern bits of wisdom to help us in life.

1. Jim and Kaye Johns tell us that unforgiveness is a sin that affects many lives. The world’s standards try to justify the hurts caused by an unforgiving attitude. We need to ask God to help us rise above the benchmarks of the world and to live as Jesus taught, loving our enemies, doing good to those who hurt us, and forgiving unconditionally from our hearts. (Matt. 5:44)

A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. When forgiveness seems impossible by our own strength, we need to be open to the grace of God to help us forgive. Forgiveness is not an emotion. Sometimes we do not feel like forgiving. Forgiveness is an act of will, made possible by the power of Christ’s Spirit living within us.

2. Faith is the ability not to panic. If you are worried, you did not pray and turned everything over to God. If you really prayed, you do not have to worry.

3. Lisa Jimenez tells us “If a child has not had a serious fall within the first year of life, they are being too closely guarded.” That statement is also true for adults. Have you had a serious fall in the past year? If not, is it because you’re being too closely guarded? Are you too cautious? Too safe? Too practical? Too boring?

Your lack of courage is costing you – a lot! It is your lack of courage that keeps you from greater profits, more intimate relationships, and a life you love! The good news is that one act of courage, in any area of your life, has a powerful effect on all the other areas of your life. Your career, your marriage, your friendships need just one outrageous act to bounce you out of a rut and into a more abundant, courageous life!

Courage is like a muscle. It is weak until they work it out. However, it does not take long to build this courage muscle into a strong, fit, powerful force! One courageous act leads to another. It creates a courageous mentality. The goals and dreams you are seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck. (Jesus’s three favorite friends were Peter, James, and John – people who stuck out their necks.)

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape. When we get tangled up in our problems, we need to be still. God wants us to be still so God can untangle the knot.

5. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

6. Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” No matter how bad the storm may be, when you are with God, a rainbow is always waiting.

7. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise it is just hearsay.

8. Cardinal John Henry Newman gave us this great prayer. “O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world lies hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.