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Scripture for the day: Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.
Thought for the day: Winners, those who accomplish much in the kingdom of God, are prayerful. They spend time alone with the Lord in communion with Him and growing to become more like Him. At the same time, those who qualify for the winner’s circle are positive. They tend to focus on what’s right rather than what’s wrong, on answers rather than anxiety, on the future rather than on their failures. Those who fail generally do so because they’ve set themselves up to fail. They tend to focus on the negative side of situations and forget the God who’s in the midst of it all. Those who look at trials and conflicts from a negative point of view tend to expect very little in the way of results – and generally get just about what they expect.
One man said, “I’d rather shoot for the moon and miss than aim too low and hit.” In other words, I’d rather die knowing I’d aimed for the greatest good and failed to achieve all I’d aimed for than to set my sights on mediocrity and accomplish it. The world is going to hell in a hand basket, true enough. People are intent on removing the last vestiges of God from every public arena without a doubt. For all the peace treaties ever signed between nations not a single one has ever stood the test of time. They say violent crime is down in America but more people die in our Nations capital on any given day than on the streets of Baghdad. Drug use seems more prevalent today than ever before and I don’t have to recite the statistics regarding the moral decay our world is facing today. The truth is all too painfully obvious. Now we are faced with two choices. We can focus on all that’s wrong and wring our hands and fret until the cows come home even as we withdraw inside our beautiful white-washed church buildings and protect ourselves from the horrors of the outside world and sing Amazing Grace until Jesus comes back to rescue us. Or we can remind ourselves each day that God is still on His throne and He will allow nothing to happen to us except it be for our own good and His glory.
Thomas Edison tried over 2,000 times to make the light bulb work. He had a pile of burned filaments outside his shop window that covered the ground all around. Later, when he’d actually achieved what must have seemed at times impossible, someone asked him why he didn’t give up after he’d failed so many times. Edison said, “I didn’t fail. I discovered over 2,000 ways not to make a light bulb.” You see, he only needed one that worked; all the rest were what we call experience.
Let me ask you something: what are you facing today? Does it seem impossible? Have you tried so many times and in so many ways that you just can’t see how it could ever actually work out? My God knows how to bring you through; honestly He does. Have you tried taking it to Him and putting it in His hands? Maybe you’ve made such a mess of it that you think it’s broken beyond repair. The God I serve is absolutely masterful at fixing broken situations; I think He specializes in such things. Why not take it to Him and leave it in His heavenly fix-it shop for awhile? Come back to it when He lets you know its ready and you may be very surprised at what He’s done with it.
Now go take on your world. - Bill