Daily Stop & Thinks

A joy that is shared is a joy that is doubled. (Professor John Roy)

It’s much more fun to share your good fortune with someone else than to enjoy it alone, isn’t it? Whether it’s a good report from a doctor, an unexpected gift, a tax refund—whatever brings joy to us, we want to share the news. Even when we don’t have much, we can share something that will bring joy to someone else.

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled          up in rich generosity (2 Corinthians 8:2).

The real democratic . . . idea is not that every man shall be on a level with every other man, but that every man shall have liberty to be what God made him [to be], without hindrance. (Henry Ward Beecher, 19^th century social reformer)

“All men are created equal.” But what does that mean? We don’t all have equal talent, ability, or resources. That’s true, but the democratic ideal is that no one should be deprived of the opportunity to develop their abilities and skills to be all they can be. Because we’re not in this world alone, we should work to benefit others as well.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others (1 Peter 4:10).

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been. (Mark Twain)

There are a lot of wrinkle-removing products offered in magazine ads and on TV commercials. Do you suppose you can really reverse the aging process with some cream or oil? If we live our life with frowns, no doubt it would be nice if we could remove the wrinkles they form. But if our wrinkles are from smiling—now, that’s a good thing!

A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:13).

We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have. (John Maxwell, leadership speaker and author)

As we grow older, we begin to think more and more about how much longer we might have to live. It’s a worthless pursuit, because unless we’ve been given a terminal diagnosis, we can’t know the future. We do know, however, that all of us will eventually die. We can’t choose the date, but we can determine to live life to the fullest for whatever time we have.

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so we may grow in wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

When love is felt, the message is heard. (Jim Vaus, converted gangster)

Bad news and corrections are very difficult to deliver. But even difficult words, spoken in love, can be received well and appreciated., even life-changing. Theodore Roosevelt is quoted as saying, “Nobody cares what you know until they know that you care.” We all need to learn how to say hard things with an attitude of concern, humility, and love.

Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Some people care too much, I think they call it love. (Winnie the Pooh, a cartoon character)

What is love after all? Spooning under the moon by the lagoon in June? Well, there are a lot of romantic ideas about love. But, according to the Bible, real love is acting toward another in his or her best interest. It’s an action, and it’s unselfish. If we all understood and practiced that kind of love, we’d have stronger marriages, families, and communities.

[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:7).

Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart; where your heart is, there is your happiness. (Augustine, 4^th century theologian)

What makes you happy? What gives you the most pleasure? Is it something you can share with others, or do you enjoy it only in private? Because happiness is so transient, we all need to find worthwhile activity to enjoy, especially with family and friends. And there is another dimension, too. A heart focused on spiritual realities can provide a deep, abiding happiness and joy.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).

Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy marshmallows which is close. (Anonymous)

Is that what makes life happy—marshmallows? If money can’t buy happiness—and it can’t—certainly the things that money can buy won’t bring happiness either. Even though we know that’s true, many of us seem to be in a mad rush to make more money so we can buy transient, unfulfilling “things” in the hope they will make us feel happy. How foolish!

Psalm 144:15 – Blessed [happy] are the people whose God is the Lord.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. (C. S. Lewis, 20^th century British writer)

Men and women look everywhere for something to satisfy: food, sports, sex, fame and fortune, drugs, alcohol. But when it can’t be found in what the world offers, where do we turn? Perhaps we should recognize that there’s more to this life than we can find in the world around us. We should look to the God who has something better.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 1:17).

No matter how just your words may be, you ruin everything when you speak with anger. (John Chrysostom, 5^th century Early Church Father)

You can’t take back your words once you’ve spoken them. It’s not like the delete key on your computer. What’s worse, you can’t remove the attitude those words relayed. The anger may be remembered even when the words are forgotten. Remember telling your kids to count to ten before . . .? It works for adults, too. Try it before you hurt someone with angry words.

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry (Ephesians 4:26).

A good character is the best tombstone. … Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. (  C. H. Spurgeon, 19^th century British preacher)

How do you want to be remembered? What would you like people to say about you? That will be determined pretty much by the way you live, speak, and act before you die. And it will not be the words and actions so much as the attitude you displayed and your integrity. It’s a matter of what people thought you to be on the inside; that’s character.

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity (Proverbs 11:3).

It is a poor thing to fear that which is inevitable. (Tertullian, 2^nd-3^rd century B.C. Christian writer)

Is there anything you can do about the inevitable? What will be, will be, they say. But, fearing it just makes life harder while you wait for the inevitable. Wouldn’t it be better to prepare for it? If you know it’s coming, don’t sit and wait; plan, consider the options. Look for ways to handle what’s coming.

For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).