| It
Is More Blessed To Give Than To Receive
A young man, a student in one
of the universities, was one day taking a walk
with a professor, who was commonly called the
student's friend, from his kindness to those who
waited on his instructions. As they went along,
they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes,
which they supposed to belong to a poor man who
was employed in a field close by, and who had
nearly finished his day's work.
The student turned to the professor,
saying: "Let us play the man a trick: we
will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind
those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when
he cannot find them."
"My young friend," answered
the professor, "we should never amuse ourselves
at the expense of the poor. But you are rich,
and may give yourself a much greater pleasure
by means of this poor man. Put a coin in each
shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch
how this affects him."
The student did so and they both
placed themselves behind the bushes close by.
The poor man soon finished his work, and came
across the field to the path where he had left
his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat
he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, but
feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel
what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment
and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He
gazed upon the coin, turned it around, and looked
at it again and again. He then looked around him
on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He
now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded
to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was
doubled on finding the other coin. His feelings
overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up
to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving
in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless,
and his children without bread, whom this timely
bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from
perishing.
The student stood there deeply
affected, and his eyes filled with tears. "Now,"
said the professor, "are you not much better
pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"
The youth replied, "You have
taught me a lesson which I will never forget.
I feel now the truth of these words, which I never
understood before: "It's more blessed to
give than to receive.""
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Office
Prayer
Lord Jesus, as I enter this work place,
I bring your presence with me.
I speak your peace, your grace and your perfect
order
Into the atmosphere of this office.
I acknowledge your Lordship over all
That will be spoken, thought and decided, and
Accomplished within these walls.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for the gifts
You have deposited in me.
I do not take them lightly, but commit
To using them responsibly and well.
Give me a fresh supply of truth and beauty
On which to draw as I do my Job.
Anoint my creativity, my ideas and my energy
So that even my smallest task
May bring You (Christ) honour and glory.
Lord, when I am confused, guide me.
When I am weary, energize me.
When I am burned out, infuse me
With the light of your Holy Spirit.
May the work that I do and the way that I do it,
Bring hope, life and courage to all that I come
In contact with today.
And, oh Lord , even in this day's most stressful
Moments...may I rest in You.
In your strong and powerful name,
Jesus Christ, I pray Amen!
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How
To Have A Shepherd's Heart
- Listen. God speaks
to those who have the time to listen. Are
you too caught up in work, schedule, family
or leisure that
you are not hearing what God wants to say to
you? Maybe it is
time to slow down and listen.
- Let your joy show.
Can others tell that you are a joyful
believer in Christ? Do your actions or language
testify to
what you believe?
- Know what to look for.
Are you waiting for the proverbial
"burning bush" in order to confirm
your faith, or determine
your belief? God typically speaks through less-flashy
means:
in mangers, in the lives of the poor and needy,
in the
mundane tasks of daily life. Don't overlook
God.
- Make Jesus the Master
of your life. Do you allow Him to rule
your life, or are you ruled by your boss, your
spouse, your
children, or the almighty dollar?
- Believe what you hear.
The shepherds believed what the angels
had told them - and acted upon it. Do you believe
what you
read in God's Word? Do you believe His promises
for your
life?
- Go! Over your
lifetime, and over this past year, have you
moved closer to Christ in your understanding
and love? It's
time to move toward Christ. What will you do
this coming year to become closer to your Savior?
- Seeing is believing.
When the shepherds beheld the Christ
child their belief was confirmed and they left
the stall
changed men. Have you allowed your life to be
changed by
Christ?
- Tell others. The
shepherds could not keep silent about the
Messiah. They shared the Good News and others
were impressed
- not by their eloquence or delivery, but by
the truth. Have
you shared the Good News?
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The
Winning Attitude
by John C. Maxwell
What is an ATTITUDE?
It is the "advance man" of our true
selves.
Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward.
It is our best friend or our worst enemy.
It is more honest and more consistent than our
words.
It is a thing which draws people to us or repels
them.
It is never content until it is expressed.
It is the librarian of our past.
It is the speaker of our present.
It is the prophet of our future.
Change your thought patterns
That which holds our attention
determines our actions. We are where we are and
what we are because of the dominating thoughts
that occupy our minds. William James said, "The
greatest discovery of my generation is that people
can alter their lives by altering their attitudes
of mind."
Romans 12: 1,2
says:
I urge you therefore, brethen,
by the mercies of God,
To present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
Acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service
of
worship. And do not be conformed to this world,
but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what the will of God is, that which
is
good and acceptable and perfect.
Two things must be stated to emphasise
the power of our thought life. Major premise:
We can control our thoughts. Minor premise: Our
feelings come from our thoughts. Conclusion? We
can control our feelings by learning to change
one thing: the way we think. It is that simple.
Our feelings come from our thoughts. Therefore,
we can change them by changing our thought patterns.
Our thought life, not our
circumstances, determines our happiness. Often
I see people who are convinced that they will
be happy when they attain a certain goal. When
they reach the goal, many times they do not find
the fulfilment they anticipated.
You often can see this phenomenon
among mothers. First they said, "when Johnny
gets out of elementary school. I'll be happy!"
And they are, for a while. Next you hear them
telling their friends, "When Johnny graduates
from high school, I'll be so happy!" And
they are, at least for the summer. Johnny's graduation
from college brings the same result, and so does
Johnny's marriage. So does the birth of Johnny's
first child, when Mamma becomes an ecstatic grandmother,
and the feeling may continue she becomes a babysitter.
But if Mamma has not learnt how
to be happy between her special blessings, she
will not have a steady, enjoyable life.
The secret to staying on an even
keel? Fill your mind with "Whatever
is true, whatever is honorable... whatever is
good repute, if there is any excellence and if
anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell
on these things" (Philippians
4:8) Paul understood. That which holds
our attention determines our actions.
Develop good habits
>Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thoughts.
The cycle chart below will help you from proper
habits. Habits aren't instincts;
they're acquired actions or reactions. They don't
just happen; they are caused. Once the original
cause of a habit is determined, it is within your
power to accept or reject it. Most people allow
their habits to control them. When those habits
are hurtful, they damage our attitudes. The following
formula wil assist you changing bad habits into
good ones.
STEP#1: List your bad habits.
STEP#2: What was the original cause?
STEP#3: What are the supporting causes?
STEP#4: Determine a positive habit to replace
the bad one.
STEP#5: Think about the good habit, its benefits
and results.
STEP#6: Take action to develop this habit.
STEP#7: Daily act upon this habit for reinforcement.
STEP#8: Reward yourself by noting one of the benefits
from your good habit.
Continually choose to have a
right atitude
Once you make the choice to possess
a good attitude, the work really begins. Now comes
a life of continual deciding to grow and maintaining
the right outlook. Attitudes have a tendency to
revert back to their original patterns if not
carefully guarded and cultivated.
"The hardest thing about
milking cows," observed a farmer, "is
that they never stay milked." Attitudes often
don't stay changed. There are three stages of
change in which you must deliberately choose the
right attitude.
Early Stage - The first few days
are always the most difficult. Old habits are
hard to break. The mental process must be on guard
continually to provide right action.
Middle Stage - The moment good
habits begin to take root, options open that bring
on new challenges. New habits are formed that
will either be good or bad. The good news is:
"Like begets like." The more right choices
and habits you develop, the more likely good habits
will be formed.
Later Stage - Complacency can
become the enemy. We all know of incidents where
someone (perhaps us) successfully lost weight,
only to fall back into old eating habits and gain
it back.
Our decision to continually choose
the right attitude will bring many benefits. A
friend with whom I have worked for five years
on attitude change told a large conference of
leaders, "If you knew me five years ago,
you would not recognise me today. My family, ministry
and self-image have greatly improved. Daily I
work on my attitudes. I am not what I want to
be, but I am not what I used to be either. I want
to grow in the next five years like I have the
last five. To do this I must continually choose
the right attitude." There is no improvement
except through change. To improve continually
we must change continually.
You are the key to changing your
attitude. When faced with the need for improvement,
too many people are like the man who walked into
a psychiatrist's office. He had placed half a
cantaloupe on his head for a hat. Around each
ear he had wrapped a piece of bacon. The psychiatrist
rubbed his hands in glee, "I've got a live
one this time," He thought to himself. Then
the man with the cantaloupe on his head and pieces
of bacon wrapped around each ear sat down. "I've
come," he said to the psychiatrist, "to
talk to you about my brother."
No one but you can determine what you will think
and how you will act. That is good! Now, take
control and begin the exciting journey of attitude
improvement.
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