The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
When I was eleven years old we lived in San Antonio, Texas. What a wonderful place for a young boy to live. The warmer climate allowed for an abundance of wildlife, which actually lived right in the city. There were horned toads, all kinds of snakes, frogs and toads, tarantulas and scorpions, doves, crows, ravens and crackles, armadillos, coons, skunks and rabbits. Everyday was a real adventure for me turning over rocks and exploring the wonders of Gods creation. But where I learned the most was delivering papers. I had a paper route with the San Antonio Light from the time I was eleven until I was thirteen. Every afternoon and Sunday morning I would deliver the paper. It took about two hours a day seven days a week. At the end of the month I would get about thirty-five dollars which made it all worth the while. I can remember every Saturday going downtown on the bus and taking a guitar lesson, which I paid for myself. I also bought my first guitar and amp by myself. What I see now, is that I was learning to do a daily routine regardless of the circumstances. Later on in my twenties I made some decisions in which I was only thinking of myself, and this led to thirty years of substance abuse and self-centeredness. Today in my daily time of devotion and staying sober one day at a time, I draw upon my paper route experience of doing one thing everyday, and trying to do it well. By the grace of God I dont have to live the way I used to. I am grateful, today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ROMANS 8:38-39 NIV
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SEGMENTS OF SOLITUDE
My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
Psalm 62:5
Henri Nouwen called solitude the furnace of transformation. This doesnt refer to mere personal privacy for a twelve-second pit stop where we get a quick fix to reenter the race. Its more than that. Its an oasis of the soul where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new ways. Its where much of the clutter of life is identified and exterminated, thanks to the merciless heat of the furnace. Soul surgery transpires as serenity replaces anxiety.
In solitude, struggles occur that no one else knows about. Inner battles are fought here that seldom become fodder for sermons or illustrations for books. God, who probes our deepest thoughts during protracted segments of solitude, opens our eyes to things that need attention. It is here He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others.
CHARLES SWINDOLL ..Intimacy with the Almighty
***********************
The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. BILL W. A.A. Grapevine, July 1965
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
When I was eleven years old we lived in San Antonio, Texas. What a wonderful place for a young boy to live. The warmer climate allowed for an abundance of wildlife, which actually lived right in the city. There were horned toads, all kinds of snakes, frogs and toads, tarantulas and scorpions, doves, crows, ravens and crackles, armadillos, coons, skunks and rabbits. Everyday was a real adventure for me turning over rocks and exploring the wonders of Gods creation. But where I learned the most was delivering papers. I had a paper route with the San Antonio Light from the time I was eleven until I was thirteen. Every afternoon and Sunday morning I would deliver the paper. It took about two hours a day seven days a week. At the end of the month I would get about thirty-five dollars which made it all worth the while. I can remember every Saturday going downtown on the bus and taking a guitar lesson, which I paid for myself. I also bought my first guitar and amp by myself. What I see now, is that I was learning to do a daily routine regardless of the circumstances. Later on in my twenties I made some decisions in which I was only thinking of myself, and this led to thirty years of substance abuse and self-centeredness. Today in my daily time of devotion and staying sober one day at a time, I draw upon my paper route experience of doing one thing everyday, and trying to do it well. By the grace of God I dont have to live the way I used to. I am grateful, today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ROMANS 8:38-39 NIV
***********************
SEGMENTS OF SOLITUDE
My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
Psalm 62:5
Henri Nouwen called solitude the furnace of transformation. This doesnt refer to mere personal privacy for a twelve-second pit stop where we get a quick fix to reenter the race. Its more than that. Its an oasis of the soul where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new ways. Its where much of the clutter of life is identified and exterminated, thanks to the merciless heat of the furnace. Soul surgery transpires as serenity replaces anxiety.
In solitude, struggles occur that no one else knows about. Inner battles are fought here that seldom become fodder for sermons or illustrations for books. God, who probes our deepest thoughts during protracted segments of solitude, opens our eyes to things that need attention. It is here He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others.
CHARLES SWINDOLL ..Intimacy with the Almighty
***********************
The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. BILL W. A.A. Grapevine, July 1965
