GOD OF HOPE

Daily Stop & Thinks

Stop & Think: July 5, 2020

Friendship I

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. (Henry Ford)

Pastor David Miller put it this way, “A smart friend knows what’s best. A wise friend does what’s best.” And then he added, “Be a wise friend.” Sometimes it seems easier just to say what is expected or what might make someone feel better. But, best friends are willing to say the hard words in a loving way that will help their friend to grow. 

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense . . . As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. (Proverbs 27:9, 17)

Stop & Think: July 4, 2020

Freedom

May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. (Peter Marshall, late chaplain of the United States Senate)

We cherish our liberty and freedoms on this Independence Day, and rightly so. We thank God for the civil liberties we enjoy as Americans, and we also want to share these freedoms.  So, we might well ask, “How do we express our liberty before others?”  We can enjoy our freedom even more when we make it possible for others to experience the same kind of personal liberty.

For you have been called to live in freedom, . . .  But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:13)

Stop & Think: July 3, 2020

Humility

A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant. (Anonymous) 

There is a downside to accomplishment, isn’t there? After winning a contest of any kind, there are accolades that make you feel good, but they may also make you prideful. You might begin to think you’ve done it all by yourself, ignoring the team or the coaches and trainers who contributed to your success. The loss of humility is too high a price to pay.

Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom . . . humility precedes honor. (Proverbs 11:2; 15:33)

Stop & Think: July 2, 2020

Teamwork

Showing your team they matter is the most important part of your job. (Sarah Goggin, chief people officer)

Team leaders, at whatever level, are often so concerned about the task at hand, progress in the project, or personal advancement, that they may forget what is even more important. According to Goggin, putting team first should be a priority. The more care, concern, and appreciation you show your team, the more likely you (and they) will be successful.

So, encourage each other and build each other up. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Stop & Think: July 1, 2020

Smiling

Don’t let the world change your smile, let your smile change the world. (Ravi Shankar, late Bengali musician)

Does it seem to you that a lot of people are not smiling nowadays? They seem to be burdened by the threats of unemployment, disease, or protests in the streets. They might even be frowning, their minds filled with the troubles of the world, as if they’re carrying those concerns all by themselves. Perhaps, we could help them simply by sharing a smile; maybe they’ll smile, too. 

A glad heart makes a happy face. (Proverbs 15:13)

Stop & Think: June 30, 2020

Support

Support is only worth what it costs you to give it. (Source unknown)

Journalist Shane Snow wrote something very similar, “A value isn’t a value unless it costs you something.” “Words are cheap,” and far too many times we promise or make commitments that we can’t or don’t follow through on. But, unless we are willing to contribute to a cause or project financially or by giving our time and effort, our “support” may be of little value.

Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you (2 Corinthians 12:19).

Stop & Think: June 29, 2020

Conscience

It is not as hard to know what is right to do as to do what you know is right. (Source unknown)

As children grow, they begin to develop a sense of right and wrong. That’s what parents and teachers work for, lovingly correcting wrong and encouraging right. But knowing the difference between them is one thing; choosing the right over the wrong may be quite another. The critical issue is whether they have developed a conscience and learned to listen and follow it.

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith (1 Timothy 1:5).

Stop & Think: June 28, 2020

Mercy

Mercy shown is evidence of mercy received. (Source unknown)

When you see someone who is gracious and kind to others, you are probably seeing a person who himself has been granted mercy and kindness. As someone else has written, “Our deeds of mercy are evidence of God’s grace.”  To live with a sense of peace and to live peaceably with others will often require a demonstration of grace and forgiveness.

There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you (James 2:13).

Stop & Think: June 27, 2020

Fair or Not?

The sooner you learn that life is not fair, the better off you’ll be… (Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State)

Rice continues, “…because you’ll spend less time railing against life’s unfairness . . . and more time figuring out how. . . to deal with things that you’re not very good at.” We often feel that we’ve been cheated or overlooked. But, as Rice says, we won’t get far that way; instead, we need to move on to do what we do best without undue concern for how others might respond.

It matters very little how I might be evaluated by. . . any human authority. . . It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

Stop & Think: June 26, 2020

Work

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. (Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet)

Writing as a poet, Atwood uses picturesque language to make a point more clearly than a simple statement in prose might. Basically, she’s saying, you should always work hard so that at day’s end something of value may be the result. If you come to quitting time and don’t feel you’ve accomplished much, just be sure you’ve given it your best and wait for good results.

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 5:12).

Stop & Think: June 25, 2020

Aim High

Not failure, but low aim, is crime. (James Russell Lowell, 19th century editor and diplomat)

We may look at a business that has closed as a failure; someone must be blamed for not keeping the enterprise going. The lessons learned from the lack of success in keeping the work afloat may be of far more value than if the work had struggled on into the future. Perhaps the goal was too high; but as Lowell says, that’s no crime. Keep working to attain higher goals.

But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me (Philippians 3:12).

Stop & Think: June 24, 2020

Example

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand! (Quoted by Benjamin Franklin)

A great reminder to teachers. The 3-step process is teaching or doing it alone, showing the learner how to do it, and working with him in doing it. Then the learner will be able to move out on his own to reproduce what he has learned. When we limit ourselves to just teaching by lecture or rote memorization, we limit the student’s opportunity to learn well by example and practice.

And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching (Titus 2:7).