Daily Stop & Thinks

Focus on the target, not the adversity. (Tom Sheard and Wally Armstrong, authors)

These authors were relating lessons about life to be learned from golf with particular applications to spiritual life. This is an especially pertinent axiom for all of us who have faced obstacles at one time or another. We should avoid concentrating on the difficulty and give our fullest attention to the goal we are aiming to achieve.

It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:13).

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?” (Brian Tracy, Canadian-born American motivational speaker and author)

In Tracy’s view, apparently, success is not so much what you may attain for yourself but what you contribute to the well-being of others. Think of a person who has amassed great wealth and achieved some measure of fame for his accomplishments. What of lasting value has she or he provided for society in general or their local community?

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25).

You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning within your own. (Eleanor Doan, author)

If we have an idea or opinion that we want other people to be enthusiastic about, we need to show an obvious excitement that will be contagious. Half-hearted support may be worse than no support at all. A lukewarm attitude won’t be effective in gaining the help you may want. Enthusiasm is essential to attract support and cooperation.

For I know your eagerness to help . . .  and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action (2 Corinthians 9:2).

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions. (G. K. Chesterton, 19th-20th centuries English writer and critic)

Truth is always true, and untruth is always false. If some untruth might be accepted as truth by some, it does not thereby become true. Even though it’s politically or socially acceptable to circulate rumors (or false news), that doesn’t alter the truth. We should be very careful, not only to recognize falsehood, but always to share truth.

An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies (Proverbs 12:17), Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor (Ephesians 4:25).

There are no mistakes. Only opportunities. (Tina Fey, actress)

Actually, there are mistakes; regrettably, we all make them. But the implication of Fey’s comment can be of great value. We must not let our missteps defeat us. They should be learning experiences—occasions to pick ourselves up, brush off the embarrassment and hurt, make corrections, and move on. Ask God to help you make good out of your mistakes.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28).

Tis the good reader that makes the good book . . . (Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century American essayist)

Emerson continued: “. . . in every book he finds passages which see confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.” Readers are always looking for a book that informs or entertains them, one that brings pleasure and satisfaction from reading it. To benefit, the reader must diligently seek for its hidden gems.

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. (Nehemiah 8:8).

Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts. (Margaret Lee Runbeck, early 20^th century author)

The ability to communicate by speaking is a wonderful gift of God. Friends talk at length, but as Runbeck suggests, periods of silence can be just as important. Listening is an art, and sometimes it’s not what is said that is so helpful as the quiet times of merely “hearing” what is not said. Silence between friends can be of great value.

There is a time for everything . . . a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7).

Leaders aren’t people who are served but who serve the people around them. (Daniel Reinhardt, High School salutatorian)

This high school graduate shared with his classmates a very important lesson that many young adults have yet to learn. Graduates today are too often focused on “what’s in it for me”—a good salary, great job benefits, and opportunities for prestige. It would be better to find a place where you can serve others and make a worthy contribution to your community.

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant . . . just as [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:26, 28).

Where you are pleased with yourself, there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing. (Augustine, 4^th & 5^th century Christian theologian)

Self-satisfaction can be a limiting attitude. It’s good to be pleased with our work and accomplishments, when we’ve done our best. But, as Augustine suggests, we should never be satisfied that we’ve done all we can. To be the very best we can be and to achieve the very best we can requires continuing effort to move forward and to improve.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me (Philippians 3:14).

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. (Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist)

Do you remember what it was like when your young children began coloring? Colored scratches were all over the paper and even off the paper. Learning to color within the lines was the first sign of good progress. As they grew, they began to express creativity and, with some, real talent. Continuing to be creative beyond childhood was the next challenge.

I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with . . . all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs  . . . and to engage in all kinds of crafts (Exodus 31:3-5).

The leaders who make the most progress make the fewest excuses. (Bart Blair, pastor)

Everyone—even the most effective leaders—make mistakes from time to time. It’s how you handle those missteps that ultimately determines how successful you are. From the very beginning (Genesis 3), we have tried to blame others for our errors. Successful leaders, however, soon learn that making excuses only makes problems worse.

He holds success in store for the upright (Proverbs 2:7).Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority (Hebrews 13:17).

To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. (George Washington, first president of the United States)

Washington seems to be saying that freedom is not to be held selfishly. We all want our space, the liberty to speak our mind, the right to act on our own. However, for a society to enjoy liberty there must be the cooperation of the community to guarantee equal rights of freedom to all its members. That’s what we in the U.S. celebrate on this Independence Day.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. . . . Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:13).