Daily Stop & Thinks

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).

My best teachers were not the ones who knew all the answers, but those who were deeply excited by the questions they could not answer. (Brian Greene, science professor)

We look to our teachers as authorities, and expect them to know their subject fields well. But, no one can know everything, and the teacher who acknowledges his limits is to be respected more than the “know-it-all.” Teachers who are eager to find answers can instill the same eagerness to discover in their students, and everyone profits from the extended learning.

Intelligent people are always ready to learn (Proverbs 13:15).

To become someone you have never been, you must let go of who you have been till now. (Sam Adeyemi, motivational speaker)

There are probably many people who wish they could change their personality or image. They crave success, popularity, and an improved status in life. As much as we might like to be different, few of us are willing to make the changes necessary to become something that we are not at present. Change requires commitment and, maybe, help from someone else.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. (E.B. White, writer and grammarian)

100 years ago today, the U.S. Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. It includes the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the major natural wonders of the world. Such a wonder ought to open our hearts to the one who created it. Gerry Spence wrote, “I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.”

Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty (Revelation 15:3).

To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do. (John Adams, 2^nd U.S. President)

This is Presidents’ Day in the U.S., a day to honor the men who have led our country for more than two centuries. Adams’ comment may be over-simplified but it’s certainly worth considering. To do good is a worthy purpose, but it can hardly be done consistently unless there is strong, ethical character behind it. Be sure to care for your “inner person”; be good to do good.

Never get tired of doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13). At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9).

Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve. (Wilfred Peterson, late author and columnist)

There are many definitions of success, and this one could be helpful if you’re hesitating to move forward on a project you’ve dreamed about. Peterson would probably ask, “How serious are you about it? Are you really passionate to see it done?” If not, maybe it’s better to move on to something else. To succeed, you must give it your all, so examine your heart and move on.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires (Psalm 37:4).

You will never influence someone who doesn’t first feel accepted by you. (Mike Lee, pastor)

If your employee, student, or companion feels that you don’t regard him or her as a valued person with ability, you will certainly not be able to affect them much. Positive influence must begin with a positive relationship. As we’ve noted before “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (Jack Kemp).

Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. (1 Peter 5:3)