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Will
You can't build a
reputation on what you are going to do. ── Henry
Ford.
It's always easy the
night before to get up early the next morning.── Source
Unknown.
On June 13
1889
the Spokane newspaper printed an editorial pleading for the establishment of a
fire department. Seattle had recently been ravaged by fire
and the paper
desired to prevent the same calamity from happening in Spokane. Nothing
however
was done. Two months later Spokane burned to the ground. ── Source Unknown.
At their school
carnival
our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!)
so out I went Saturday
morning to find an aquarium. The first few I priced ranged from $40 to $70.
Then I spotted it--right in the aisle: a discarded 10-gallon display tank
complete
with gravel and filter--for a mere five bucks. Sold! Of course
it was nasty
dirty
but the savings made the two hours of clean-up a breeze.
Those four new fish
looked great in their new home
at least for the first day. But by Sunday one
had died. Too bad
but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second
casualty
and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up.
We called in an
expert
a member of our church who has a 30-gallon tank. It didn't take him
long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap
an absolute
no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to
protect. Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of
others
we unfortunately use "killer soaps"--condemnation
criticism
nagging
fits of temper. We think we're doing right
but our harsh
self-righteous treatment is more than they can bear.── Richard L. Dunagin.
During the Civil
War
Abraham Lincoln said that he could get any number of men who were
"willing to shed their last drop of blood." The problem
said
Lincoln
was that he found it difficult to get anyone willing to shed that
first drop! ── Today In The Word
November
1989
p.9.
The child who is
eager to help around the house is usually too young to do it.── Source Unknown.
Alexander de
Seversky
U.S. aviator and engineer
was once visiting a fellow flyer in the
hospital. The young man had just lost his leg; de Seversky
who had had an
artificial leg for some time
tried to cheer him up. "The loss of a leg is
not so great a calamity
" he said. "If you get hit on a wooden leg
it doesn't hurt a bit! Try it!" The patient raised his walking stick and
brought it down hard on de Seversky's leg. "You see
" he said
cheerfully. "If you hit an ordinary man like that
he'd be in bed for five
days!" With that he left his friend and limped into the corridor
where he
collapsed in excruciating pain. It seems the young man had struck de Seversky
on his good leg! ── Today in the
Word
October 29
1992.
Will is the whole
man active. I cannot give up my will; I must exercise it. I must will to obey.
When God gives a command or a vision of truth
it is never a question of what
He will do
but what we will do. To be successful in God's work is to fall in
line with His will and to do it His way. All that is pleasing to Him is a
success
── enrietta
Mears
Dream Big: The Henrietta Mears Story
quoted in Christianity Today
June 21
1993
Page 41.
An old sailor
repeatedly got lost at sea
so his friends gave him a compass and urged him to
use it. The next time he went out in his boat
he followed their advice and
took the compass with him. But as usual he became hopelessly confused and was
unable to find land.
Finally he was
rescued by his friends. Disgusted and impatient with him
they asked
"Why didn't you use that compass we gave you? You could have saved us a
lot of trouble!" The sailor responded
"I didn't dare to! I wanted to
go north
but as hard as I tried to make the needle aim in that direction
it
just kept on pointing southeast." The old sailor was so certain he
knew which was was north that he stubbornly tired to force his own personal
persuasion on his compass. Unable to do so
he tossed it aside as worthless and
failed to benefit from the guidance it offered. ── Source
Unknown.
We accompanied our
son and his fianc?when they met with her priest to sign some pre-wedding
ceremony papers. While filling out the form
our son read aloud a few
questions. When he got to the last one
which read: "Are you entering this
marriage at your own will?" he looked over at his fianc? "Put down
'Yes
'" she said. ── Lilyan
van Almelo
Reader's Digest
May 1993
p. 138.
Einstein gave
grudging acceptance to "the necessity for a beginning" and
eventually
to "the presence of a superior reasoning power
" but
never did he accept the doctrine of a personal God. Two specific
obstacles blocked his way. According to his journal writings
Einstein
wrestled with a deeply felt bitterness toward the clergy
toward priests in
particular
and with his inability to resolve the paradox of God's omnipotence
and man's responsibility for his choices. "If this being is
omnipotent
then every occurrence
including every human action
every human
thought
and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it
possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts
before such an almighty being? In giving out punishment and rewards He
would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be
combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him?"
Seeing no solution to this paradox
Einstein
like many other powerful
intellects through the centuries
ruled out the existence of a personal
God. ── Hugh Ross
The Finger of
God
Promise Pub.
1991
p. 59.
During his days as
guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary
R.B. Kuiper once used the following
illustration of God's sovereignty and human responsibility.
"I liken them
to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If
I wish to support myself by them
I must cling to them both. If I cling only to
one and not the other
I go down."── R.B.
Kuiper.
"I read the
many teachings of the Bible regarding God's election
predestination
his
chosen
and so on. I read also the many teachings regarding 'whosoever
will may come' and urging people to exercise their responsibility as human
beings. These seeming contradictions cannot be reconciled by the puny
human mind. With childlike faith
I cling to both ropes
fully confident
that in eternity I will see that both strands of truth are
after all
of one
piece." ── John Morren
Decision
Making and the Will of God
p. 205.
Toad baked some
cookies. "These cookies smell very good
" said Toad. He ate one.
"And they taste even better
" he said. Toad ran to Frog's
house. "Frog
Frog
" cried Toad
"taste these cookies that I
have made."
Frog ate one of the
cookies
"These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!" said Frog.
Frog and Toad ate
many cookies
one after another. "You know
Toad
" said Frog
with
his mouth full
"I think we should stop eating. We will soon be
sick."
"You are
right
" said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie
and then we will
stop." Frog and Toad ate one last cookie. There were many cookies
left in the bowl.
"Frog
"
said Toad
"let us eat one very last cookie
and then we will stop."
Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie.
"We must stop
eating!" cried Toad as he ate another.
"Yes
"
said Frog
reaching for a cookie
"we need willpower."
"What is
willpower?" asked Toad.
"Willpower is
trying hard not to do something you really want to do
" said Frog.
"You mean like
trying hard not to eat all these cookies?" asked Toad.
"Right
"
said Frog. Then Frog put the cookies in a box. "There
" he
said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."
"But we can
open the box
" said Toad.
"That is
true
" said Grog.
Frog tied some
string around the box. "There
" he said. "Now we will not eat
any more cookies."
"But we can cut
the string and open the box." said Toad.
"That is
true
" said Frog. Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf.
"There
" said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."
"But we can
climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and
open the box
" said Toad.
"That is
true
" said Frog. He climbed the ladder and took the box down from
the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box. Frog took the box
outside. He shouted in a loud voice. "Hey
birds
here are
cookies!" Birds came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies
in their beaks and flew away.
"Now we have no
more cookies to eat
" said Toad sadly. "Not even one."
"Yes
"
said Frog
"but we have lots and lots of willpower."
"You may keep
it all
Frog
" said Toad. "I am going home now to bake a
cake." ── Ray and Anne Ortlund
Renewal
1989
Navpress
Page 73-74.