LESSEN YOUR BOREDOM TIME (Continuation of Series)

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Let me share a story.

As a woman finally finished reading a book, she closed it and sighed, “That is the dullest book I have ever read.”

As the fickle finger of fate would have it, she later met, fell in love with and married the man who had written the book she had been so bored with a few years before.

So she decided to read the book again.  This second reading produced a completely different impression.  She found it exciting and informative, and could hardly put it down.

What had changed?  Not the author.  Definitely the reader because she now had a relationship with the author; loved the author and in the process proved the fact that love gives new meaning to anything and anybody, even to life. 

          That’s right, when you form a relationship with the author of your life…YOUR CREATOR…you will have a completely different attitude toward life.

          Philippians 4:8 offers an antidote for boredom “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” 

Indeed, think about these things, and then follow through and do them.

You are what you think.  Yes, what you think, is who you are. What you think up to do…and be…and say, defines you. 

Such as: Are you compassionate toward another human being?  Really compassionate.  You can’t love people and treat them like you love them and be bored. 

Do you say the word “God” with so much enthusiasm it warms your soul? 

And what about the all out love Jesus talks about?  Practice it as against the normal human tendency towards dislike, greed, jealousy and all of like kin and kind and who you then become is, to say the least, certainly not boring.

Is boredom a sin?  NO!  Is it a disease?  YES!  And there are cures

When was the last time you did something you used to enjoy but hadn’t done for weeks or months or years?

It isn’t just that as we grow older, we grow lazier.  It is just that, if we are not careful, we allow ourselves to grow lazier until finally getting up out of a chair can become the most exciting part of the day.  Not to go somewhere.  Not to do something new or resurrect something wonderful from the past.  Just getting up.

In short, if are you are not willing to settle for a boring life, then don’t be content with mediocrity.          

In fact, if somewhere along the line you gave up on some physical, or mental or spiritual exercising effort, you unfortunately took the first step on the slippery road to a boring existence.

You think I’m being facetious?  That I don’t seriously mean what I’m saying?  Well consider the following.  At work do you find yourself killing time… doing as little as you can get by with?  At home do you expend as little effort as possible being a better parent or mate?  Do you have no dreams for tomorrow, no deeds in the recent past of which you can be proud? 

          And when you retire, is it your plan to do as little as you have to? Dedicating yourself to idleness, to nothingness?

          Sure, resting is wonderful, but it is a thousand times more wonderful if you are resting from having done something worthwhile that enlivens your mind, body and soul.

          Unfortunately, I have lost the name of the author of the following story, but it could have been written by many. And I am not recommending poverty when I share it, but listen deep and think about the message it sends

          “Take somebody who knows what it means to walk to school with a lunch wrapped up in a little brown greasy bag; somebody who knows what it means to be required to move but nowhere to move to; somebody who knows what it means to be forced to pay up but with nothing to pay down; somebody who knows what it means to wet their pillows with the midnight dew. 

          “Take somebody like that, and you will find passion, you will find feeling. For people like that, God is real; they live on the edge.  Life is not boring for those who know they are needy.”

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Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

 

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ARROGANCE AND HUMILITY

  

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 There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

 

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 Most likely you are not a member of foot washing church, and so it will not be happening at your church this morning.  But for the sake of inward discussion, think about it... how would you feel if I asked you to wash my feet?  Or if I asked you to allow me to wash yours?

Oh, I know at least for some it would be embarrassing.  I can understand that – never have done it myself.  And for others, prickly pride would rise up and…well, it is hard to wash another's feet when you’re standing on a pedestal.                                                                        

And oh yes, please remember...Jesus washed ALL their feet...EVEN THE FEET of Judas.

       You have heard of the title Pharisee and it most likely makes you think of pride personified, and rightly so for when it came to sacrifice, they were kings of the temple. 

       They gave a tenth of everything they received...not just a tenth of everything they earned.  It was said of them, "they even tithe their herbs."

And there were more excesses.  The Torah called for fasting only on special festivals, but not the Pharisees, they went for spiritual overkill and fasted twice a week; every Monday and every Thursday.    

And then they basked in the reputation all this sacrifice gained for them… enjoyed every minute of it and went back for more.  So, that which was essentially good lost much of its goodness because it was swallowed up in a tsunami of spiritual swagger.

Praise and pride... they are so difficult to handle without contaminating us; letting us view our accomplishments through distorted magnifying glasses. 

       A prime example: During the Beatles heyday, John Lennon, stated that they were more popular than Jesus Christ.

       Then there was Voltaire, the atheist who almost destroyed France with his twisted philosophies.  He was going to rid that nation of every Bible and dethrone God. 

       He boasted that within 100 years there wouldn't be left one Bible left in France, except in some dusty old museums.

But before his death, he lost his mind.  When the doctor, nurse or friends would enter his room, he would shrink back into his bed and shriek "The Nazarene.  The Nazarene."  The nurse attending him declared that for all the money in France she would never again nurse another dying infidel.  And just before he did die, he cried out, "Thou hast conquered, thou Nazarene."

Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

       http://www.speakerneil.com/

DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

http://www.magnuspress.com/

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

TIME IS WONDERFUL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH IT? (Continuation of Series)

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At a church camp, the speaker was talking about how God has a purpose for everything in His creation.  He explained that there were reasons for dirt, wind,

trees, animals, even cockroaches.  One of the children raised his hand to ask a question, “If everything God made has a purpose, why did He make poison ivy?”

That really stumped the speaker till one of the children made a suggestion, “God made poison ivy because He wanted us to know that there are some things we should keep our grubby little hands off.”

When we propose to ourselves to do something wrong, we need to have prayed enough and thought enough about the consequences to have the good sense to keep our grubby little hands off of some wrong purposes in life.

As it says in 2^nd Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold the new has come.

Why go to the trouble?  Why not just drift with the tide or go with the flow?  Because you are more than a stick of wood.  You are a creation of Almighty God and you owe it to yourself and to your God to be the very best you can be.

If your life is to have meaning, you must have something TO DO, something TO LOVE, and something TO HOPE FOR.  Otherwise you may well spend your life whining rather than winning the race.  And a wasted life is like a giant tear that never stops flowing.

To make life worthwhile, you need to be a traveler rather than a tourist.  You must, in a positive, God-driven way, participate in the process of life rather than just stand on the sidelines and watch as the opportunities pass you by.

We have a choice:  victory or victim-hood.  And when we choose victory through God, therein lays the force of focus:  a spiritual grounding, a new appreciation of time and our obligation to it.  Someone has wisely observed, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away.” 

Jeremiah 17:7-8 put wings on the following thoughts and we should learn to fly with them.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the Water
that sends out its roots to the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.

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"Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understaning and appreciation of Lincoln...(Lt. Colonel C.A.Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)

"Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information.  (Maynard Pittendreigh, Presbyterian Minister)

"THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN is an extremely well written book...it is both scholarly and very readable.  I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of that President with an altered and enlarged vision of the man. (William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer, author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn.)                                             

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“WHICH IS BETTER TO BE?  A WINDOW OR A DOOR” ” “BE A RAINBOW SEARCHER AND FINDER” “IS YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION?

Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

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MAGNUS PRESS

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LESSEN YOUR BOREDOM TIME

If you want to share this blog with a friend go to the bottom of day’s content and click on TELL A FRIEND

GO TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS and read the following brain teasers.  CLICK ON URL BELOW There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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Revelations 3:15-17 KJV

I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot.  Would that you were cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will to spew you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

 

In the first century, John, one of the twelve Disciples and writer of Revelations, was discouraged with the church at Laodicea.  Disgusted might be a better word because they were dead in the water and making no effort to resurrect.

Nor was the Lord happy with their enthusiasm hiatus.  Therefore through John, the Lord spoke to their love affair with the inconsequential, “…because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”

They weren’t suffering from negativism or positivism for those are active traits.  Rather, they were suffering from an abundance of apathy.  Too bored to care about anything, they were bogged down in emotional limbo.

Why?  Why would anyone chose this malady of the mind?  Why would anyone pass by the offer Christ makes, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV).

Why would anyone want to feed on lethargy and sup on doldrums till their life is tired and grey with boredom?

Who would one thoughtfully invite monotony to come to call, and perhaps become a permanent part of their daily living? 

No one, you would probably answer.  But yes, there are a ton of somebody’s who do just that on a regular basis - say ”No” to every new opportunity.

       “What do you believe in?” a man was asked.  And without a pause he replied, “A little bit of everything and anything.”

He probably considered himself a very open-minded individual, but in fact he was explaining why he was really open-ended.  Everything and anything flowing in and out with little thought or concern.

Do you know what the Greek origin for the word enthusiasm means?  Possessed by God.  Being filled with God.   

When you are possessed by God, filled with God, all of you wants the best for you.  Nothing less.  And once you’ve reached that point, then you actually will have more energy to accomplish so much more of what God’s world offers.  And I know I am telling many of you what you already know.

       We are essentially made up of three parts: the mental, the physical and the spiritual.  And to ignore any of these three is to set up a pattern of living that can easily become like a can of lukewarm Coke – Unsatisfying.  Undesirable.  Boring.

Allow me to put to you some questions.

Do you exercise your mind every day?  Not occasionally.  Not ere now and then.  But every day.   Strengthening your brain so you think better, sharper?  Many scientists say dementia and Alzheimer’s is allergic to a mind being pushed to its limits.  Stop Alzheimer’s by mind exercises – no.  Slow it down - yes.  And enough scientists agree for me not to ignore it.

Do you exercise your body regularly to keep it from becoming shrunken and run down and flabby?  Don’t want to, you say.  It eats up time.  No doubt about it, it is time consuming.  But what were you going to do during that 30 minutes you might be exercising that was more important?

Do you exercise your soul by more often communicating with God thereby strengthening your understanding of and relationship with Him who created you? Certainly you can’t think it is good for you to never think about your soul.

Actually, do you consider exercising of any kind so boring you do as little of it as possible? 

I think that almost everyone would admit to the truth of the following statement … that if you become enthusiastic about keeping all parts of the earthly “temple” God gave you in good shape, it can be exciting. 

Certainly not boring.

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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

       http://www.speakerneil.com/

DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/

 

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

 

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

 

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

 

ARROGANCE AND HUMILITY (Continuation of Series)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

          There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

          To Visit Neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following 

 

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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An admirer once asked the famous orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what was the most difficult instrument to play. 

         

 He responded with quick wit: "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that's a problem.  And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony."

          Ah, what a terrible father pride is as it begets bitterness, anger, jealousy, resentment… the list goes on and on until it ends with the final word STUPIDITY underlined and in capital letters.

Warning - when I say "humility" you most likely think of being a doormat. Wrong thought.

Rather think of humility as a threshold to a door to learning because a humble person is willing to admit they don't know it all.  A humble person is an ongoing student.

What's another good thing about being humble?  Humble people get to know and understand others better because they are willing to deal with them as equals rather than play the role of the arrogant divider.

In short, don't live as if the world revolves around you, but rather that you and others are living on this same revolving globe with each of you learning from and teaching each other all at the same time.

         

 The bowl was full and so was His heart; a heart full of love and humility and sadness for soon the hands that held the bowl would be pierced and He would die.

         

And there in the upper room, the bowl was filled with water, ready, as was the custom, so that a servant could wash the feet of the seated guests.

When the Disciples entered the room, arrogance was in full bloom as they loudly argued who was the greatest among them...and therefore, who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven...

It would be a cold day on the sands of the Sahara before any of them would even think about washing these feet dirtied by Jerusalem's streets.  To perform such a menial task would be demeaning, in particular since they were the twelve chosen ones.

An inferiority complex was certainly the last thing they were suffering from.

So the son of man and the Son of God did what they could not – would not do, removed His outer cloak, tied a towel around His waist, knelt down and began to wash their feet.  And His humility was a lesson devoutly made.

Oh, He had tried to teach them this lesson many, many times before, the importance of servitude, but it was just as hard a lesson for the Disciples to accept then as it is for you and me to accept today.

But then they finally got it – the big picture.  Or as Mark describes it in chapter 10 verse 45: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

       http://www.speakerneil.com/

DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

 

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

 

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

Boundaries Unlimited

I Am

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

Letters to America

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html 

 

ARROGANCE AND HUMILITY

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG AND CLICK ON THE ENVELOPE.

           

There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

 

          To Visit neil's other blog One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins click on the following  

 

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/ 

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Proverbs 25:6

Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,

and do not claim a place among great men;

it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”

than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.

When you think wisdom quite possibly you think of wise old Solomon, the son of King David.  And thi scripture is but one of over... three thousand such wisdom thoughts from out his fertile mind.    

"Do not exalt yourself..."

In Hebrew exalt carries a heavy handed meaning - swelling up...like in what can happen to all of us if we get a big head.  And then the scripture reads, "Do not claim a place among great men..."  All around Solomon were those who did just that...claimed to be great.  Indeed to such a degree that if an award were given, they felt certain they deserved it most.

Oh, how easily it happens when fueled by arrogance and self-satisfaction; to become a self-serving and self-appointed know-it-all, to give out high and mighty advice to someone who has not even asked for it.  And then to actually get angry when people don't take that advice.

Perhaps you have heard the account of the fellow who attempted to give such advice on the subject of humility by writing a book about it.  However, he ran into trouble choosing a title for his book.  "Humility and How I Attained It" somehow didn't seem to fit; nor did "How I Became Humble."  He finally decided on "Me and My Humility"… and then so you would recognize this purveyor of such wisdom should you happen to meet him on the street, he included a twelve full-page pictures of himself! 

Humility.  If you think you have it, you are probably in danger of losing it.

 

(To be continued next Tuesday)

 

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Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER

       http://www.speakerneil.com/

DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY BUFF IN YOUR FAMILY?...Why not give THIS HIGHLY ACCLAIMED  BOOK

To buy Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN or other of his books click on the following

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/

OR GO TO AMAZON.COM

       AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM and amazon.com Kindle

OTHER BOOKS BY REV. WYRICK

Poor Richard's Almanack for the 20th Century

 

Sixty Plus and Not Holding

 

Boundaries Unlimited

 

I Am

 

The ABC"s of Parenting and Grandparenting

 

Letters to America

 

http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html