St_Worm2 said:
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Hi
@BibleloverBill, Elrod is, among other things, a secular motivational speaker, so I get his quote from that perspective (of course, it would have been helpful to have been able to read the context that it was written/spoken in as well!). That said, when I read it, the very first thing that came to mind was the
Serenity Prayer.
As for quote #2, I have no disagreement with that quote. God is in the business of pulling the wicked/ungldly up out of the muck and mire of their sinful lives .. cf
Romans 4:5, making us His own, and then hammering and chiseling us into the likeness of His Son for the balance of our lives. He's not in the business of making people "happy" (at least not "in the moment" anyway), nor should we, as Christians, make a regular practice of doing so either.
--David
Click to expand...
Hi David,
I thought the name was familiar. But whatever I read, I compare with what I know of Scripture before I respond. Did you know all of the famous individuals like Elrod and the founding fathers of Psychology who all hated Christianity and the Mega church preachers and the modern proclaimed prophets and the religions (even cults and Islam) and all successful businesses and politicians have to have obey some or many of the commandments God's Word in order to be famous and successful? My first responses to Elrod's quote was
1 John 1:9 and what the first recorded word of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ in their first preaching event. Do you know what that is? Also the 2 Oklahoma church services I watched via Facebook streaming the last 2 Sundays emphasized Grace and Responsibility. What does that mean to you?
BTW, most just know one of the paragraphs of the Serenity Prayer.
In response: Until I got born again on May 25, 1967, my top priority was to please the adults in my life and keep moral and ethical as my Mom and her manifested. My father was an alcoholic. But the first thoughts that came to my mind was a time usage list I had sent to hundreds of people several times during the past 15 years of Internet ministries. Also Psalm 37,
Philippians 4:4-8,
Ephesians 2:8-10, and Jude 20-23. And daily true Christians are being opposed, despised, hated, and persecuted. And why are there 2 groups of Christians mentioned in
John 10 and
1 Corinthians 3?
Time & Friends
(author unknown)
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every penny, of course!
Each of us has such a bank. Its' name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special -- special enough to spend your time.
And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their heart to us.