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pt.2
~TRAILS OF LIVING~
Sioux Indian Story "My grandfather took me to the fish pond on the farm
when I was about seven, and he told me to throw a
stone into the water. He told me to watch the circles
created by the stone.Then he asked me to think of
myself as that stone person. "You may create lots of splashes in your life but the
waves that come from those splashes will disturb the
peace of all your fellow creatures," he said. "Remember that you are responsible for what you put in your circle and that circle will also touch many other circles. You will need to live in a way that allows the good that comes from your circle to send the peace of that goodness to others. The splash that comes from anger or jealousy will send those feelings to other circles. You are responsible for both."That was the first time I realized each person creates the inner peace or discord that flows out into the world.
We cannot create world peace if we are riddled with
inner conflict, hatred, doubt, or anger. We radiate the
feelings and thoughts that we hold inside, whether we
speak them or not. Whatever is splashing around inside
of us is spilling out into the world, creating beauty or
discord with all other circles of life.
~TRAILS of LIFE~ What to be stressed about There's much cause for stress in the news today. Tropical storms are causing billions of dollars of damage, prompting a state of emergency yesterday. Hundreds of children were killed in Russia this past week. Terror threats abound. And now we learn that all this stress is cause for even more stress. Today's Dallas Morning News is reporting on a groundbreaking study of heart disease, presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. Researchers followed 29,000 people in 52 countries. Their work required a decade of research and 262 scientists to complete. The good news: scientists have concluded that 90% of the risk factors for heart attacks can be prevented. The bad news: stress is a more significant cause of heart attacks than had been known. The problem is psychological, not physical, stressâtension at work or home, financial problems, feeling a loss of control, etc.Most psychologists believe that it is not possible to avoid all stress. Rather, the key is to be stressed about the right things, in the right ways. There's an old saying: you're successful if you can choose your problems. If we can decide what matters most and focus our energy there, we can eliminate many of the peripheral causes of tension and stress in our lives. Kierkegaard believed that "courage is to will one thing." His maxim works for psychological health and stress reduction as well. So what should be our "one thing?" What cause is worth our lives, what focus which will center and simplify us? Today's reading in Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest is one of my favorites in the book. It begins, "Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don't rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service, to rejoice in the fact that God has used you. You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you." Chambers concludes: "It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man's life is the relationship of worth to His Father" (August 30 reading). In other words, "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). Are you right with the Father today? Is your heart connected with his? Are you seeking and obeying his will? Be stressed about that commitment, and you'll find less cause to be stressed about everything else. This is the promise of God--Dr. James C. Denison
~TRAILS of SCRIPTURE~
âOur people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.â âTitus 3:14
The Puritans are often maligned and ridiculed. Most people on the street think of them as witch-hunting Pharisees of the 17th century. The media describes them as narrow-minded legalists living in a world without love, humor, or joy. J.I. Packer, however, found their true lives to be quite different. He writes this in his book A Quest for Godliness. âSo,in their heavenly-minded ardor, the Puritans became men and women of order, matter-of-fact and down-to-earth, prayerful, purposeful, practical. Seeing life whole, they integrated contemplation with action, worship with work, labor with rest, love of God with love of neighbor and of self, personal with social identity, and the wide spectrum of relational responsibilities with each other, in a thoroughly conscientious and thought-out way. In this thoroughness they were extreme, that is to say far more thorough than we are, but in their blending of the whole wide range of Christian duties set forth in Scripture they were eminently balanced.â What a refreshing picture of the Puritans! And what a role model for living a life of balance in this day and age of confusion and strife. Planting both feet firmly on the word of God, a clear eye on the realities of life, and calloused hands on the work of the day, the Puritans not only lived life as it was meant to be lived, they also forged a life for millions to follow.What life will you lead? What future will you forge? Our families, our church, and our nation all need people of Puritan passion.* Joni Eareckson, quadriplegic
~TRAILS of PRAYER~
"Dear God, please help me to so live that
my behavior and attitude will never turn anyone away from
you. But help me to live so that people will see Jesus in
me and want the same for themselves. Thank you for hearing
and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
~TRAILS of a RIDER of GRACE~
I hope that you enjoyed today's letter. I still need your prayers. God bless you all. I am still experiencing urinary problems.Thank God I was able to preach at two churches this past Sunday.
http://www.youens.com/mccoy/
"The White Donkey Society"
Internet Ministry of Grace for those that are disabled both physically & spiritually.
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