Hard Work Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can. (Lowell Thomas, columnist) Have you ever become so weary in the middle of a project that you felt you just couldn’t go on for another minute? Near the end of a tiring workday we might just want to...
Affliction II Affliction may be lasting, but it is not everlasting. Affliction was a sting, but withal a wing: sorrow shall soon fly away. (Thomas Watson) We’ve all experienced times of great difficulty which seemed like they would never end. Watson’s poetic words...
Affliction I Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride. (Richard Sibbes, 17th century Anglican theologian) Sibbes was probably not promoting poverty and affliction as circumstances of life to be desired. Rather, he was emphasizing the danger of...
Winds When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. (Peter Marshall, late US Senate chaplain) Who doesn’t want a life of ease with a minimum of trials and difficulties? Yet, as...
Religion II Religion is not a thing which it is possible to put off and put on like a Sunday dress… If you think you are doing so, believe me that as yet it is not a religion, but a web of delusions. (Edward Reynolds, 17th century English bishop) In many churches...
Religion I Most men. . . play at religion as they play at games, religion itself being of all games the one most universally played. (A. W. Tozer, author) If religion (a system of beliefs) is only a game, then it probably doesn’t make much difference how we play...
Truth Correct practice flows from correct truth. (Christopher Yuan, author, seminary professor) Yuan continues, “We’re often encouraged in our society to embrace relevance and pragmatism at the expense of truth . . . We must resist the natural impulse to disjoin...
Do Your Best The pursuit of perfection will ultimately limit you [and it] will cost too much. (Craig Groeschel, leadership speaker) Excellence in your work is a worthy goal to pursue, But, as Groeschel suggests, pursuing perfection may be too costly. How? Because in...
Heartily The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is “extra.” (Bear Grylls, TV personality) That’s obvious, isn’t it? But Grylls is speaking about more than spelling or word choice. To achieve more than “the ordinary,” you have to really put in some...
Listen Everyone has something to teach you if you are willing to listen and learn. (Chikamso Efobi, British nature writer) Sometimes we give more credence to people who have letters after their names (Ph.D, M.D, etc.) or to those whose pictures and voices are seen and...
Words We often use the same vocabulary but not the same dictionary. (quoted by John Stonestreet, worldview author) Stonestreet continues, "Ideas are smuggled into our use of language all the time.” That’s the way false “isms” creep into our society. False religions...
A Prayer Lesson Lord, help me to not be a perfectionist...did I spell that correctly? This well-intentioned prayer is a contradiction in itself. How serious are we about our behavioral inconsistencies, whether they’re impatience, perfectionism, a short temper, or one...