WITandWISDOM™ - E-zine

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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 15, 2006
ISSN 1538-8794

~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS:

It is when the world sees us being saved in the present rather than just saved from the past that our lives will demonstrate that we have the power of God rather than just a form of godliness. – Jim Hohnberger, Escape to God, http://isbn.nu/078521447X

~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS:

In Decision, Joni Eareckson Tada writes:

Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you’re surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women’s conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded. "How do you do it?" she asked as she capped her lipstick.

"I don’t do it," I said. "In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?"

"This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I’m alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That’s when a friend arrives to get me up.

"While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, ’Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don’t have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don’t have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.’"

"So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked.

"I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It’s not mine. It’s God’s. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning."

I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be.

From: Joy Hard Won, Citation: Joni Eareckson Tada, "Joy Hard Won," Decision (March 2000), p.12

Source: SermonCentral Weekly Newsletter,
http://www.sermoncentral.com/newsletter_subscribe.asp

~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT:

There is a story about a rather legalistic Seminary student who wanted to have a scriptural basis for everything he did. He felt he was on solid ground if he could quote the Bible, book, chapter & verse to okay his actions.

He did all right with that until he began to fall in love with a beautiful co-ed. He wanted very much to kiss her, but he just couldn’t find a scripture to okay it. So, true to his conscience, he would simply walk her to the dormitory each night, look at her longingly, & then say "Good night."

This went on for several weeks, & all the time he was searching the Bible, trying to find some scripture to okay kissing her good night. But he couldn’t find one, until finally he came across that passage in Romans that says, "Greet each other with a holy kiss." He thought, "At last, I have scriptural authority for kissing her good night."

But to be sure, he went to his hermeneutics professor to check it out. After talking with the professor, he realized that the passage dealt more with a church setting than with a dating situation. So once again he simply didn’t have a passage of scripture to okay kissing his girl good night.

That evening he walked her to the dormitory & once again started to bid her "good night." But as he did, she grabbed him, pulled him toward her, & planted a 10-second kiss right on his lips.

At the end of the kiss, the Seminary student gasped for air, & stammered, "Bible verse, Bible verse." The girl grabbed him a 2nd time, & just before kissing him again, said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Source: SermonCentral Weekly Newsletter,
http://www.sermoncentral.com/newsletter_subscribe.asp

~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING:

The family was viewing old slides and one flashed on the screen that caught everyone's attention. My father, wearing his favorite golf shirt, was holding me at the tender age of three weeks. The look on his face told all. "There's my prize possession," my father said. Touched, I smiled at him as he continued, "I wonder whatever happened to that golf shirt?"

Contributed to "Life In These United States" by Jeanne Graves

Source: Beliefnet Presents, http://www.beliefnet.com/user/newsletter_choose.asp

~~~~~~~ TRIVIA:

Do you know how much your state (USA) collects in taxes as compared to the others?

http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/05staxrank.html

Source: The Pocket Newsletter, Copyright ©1996-2005, All Rights Reserved, http://thepocket.com


WITandWISDOM™ - E-zine