What's Your Net --- Worth?

What’s Your Net --- Worth?

These are sermon notes, not written in a polished or finished manuscript form. For this and other sermon videos: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4zUK_ahzdiU15PL6dcAXA/videos

Reading – Luke 5:1-11

(Crisis in Hawaii 1/13/18). Imagine that you are in Hawaii. That’s nice. It’s a beautiful day as always. You’re relaxed, calm, enjoying the water and the sun. Just another day in paradise. Then suddenly you hear a warning that there is a missile heading toward you. That’s not nice! Then what happens next? You remember a sermon you heard recently about procrastination, and, well … you panic! You’re not prepared! You rush to put things in order and do what you can. Then you learn it was a false alarm all along. A man accidentally pushed the wrong button. Relaxed again, you probably go back to what you were doing – or not doing – before it all started.

Have you ever felt alarmed about the urgency of serving Jesus Christ? Has your heart ever been stirred – your spirit moved – to the point that you were ready to make a drastic change, a complete surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord?

Something just like that happened just off the shore of Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee …

It was all so ordinary – the fishermen, the boats, and the nets – until Jesus came on the scene. He challenged Simon Peter to move farther out in the Sea of Galilee and drop the nets just once more. Peter caught the fish, and Jesus caught Peter! Then He sent him to catch others! Say, what could He do with our boats and nets? What’s your net worth?

Fishing on the Sea of Galilee – Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs, p. 457

Fishing in the Gospels – Justin Rogers – GA Nov 2017, p. 13

Fish and Faith

Fishing villages: Bethsaida, Capernaum, etc.

Fishermen: Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

Fish stories: the dragnet (Matt 13:47-50).

Fish: Grk. ἰχθύς (ichthys) – ichthyology

ἰ – First letter in Ἰησοῦς      JESUS

χ – First letter in Χριστός    CHRIST

θ – First letter in θεός         GOD

ύ – First letter in υἱός          SON

ς – First letter in σωτήρ      SAVIOR

“Saint Peter's fish” – Tilapia galilaea

Matt 17:24-27

“The Jesus Boat” – photos and history

An ancient boat built with wooden joints was discovered during the drought in 1986. It is believed to be a fisherman’s boat dating from the later part of the first century B.C. to 70 A.D. Dated by the coins and pieces of pottery that were found in it.  It is located in the Yigal Allon Museum, next to Kibbutz Ginosar, only a few minutes drive north of Tiberias. The boat is preserved to a length of 26 1/2 feet, a width of 7 1/2 feet, and a height of 4 1/2 feet. Seven different types of wood were used in the hull’s construction, which was built in the contemporaneous Mediterranean “shell-based” method, in which the frames were attached, with edge-fastened mortise-and-tenon joinery, only after much of the hull’s shell had been constructed. Could hold about fifteen adults.  For the full story with photos, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee_Boat.

Leading up to Luke 5

Luke 4:14-15       Power of Spirit, Widespread Report, Teaching, Being Praised

Luke 4:16-30       Powerful, Gracious Preaching: Offering Grace, Rebuking Unbelief

Luke 4:31-37       Casting out the Unclean Spirit in Capernaum Synagogue

Result: Amazement

Luke 4:37   Report About Him into Every Locality in Sur­rounding District

Luke 4:38-41       Rebuking Fever, Laying Hands, Healing All Types of Diseases, Exorcisms

(Note this earlier, first mention of Simon, before Luke 5.)

Luke 4:42-44       Heralding Good News of Kingdom, Sought by the Crowd (Unable to Escape!)

Luke 5:1-3  Multitude Pressing and Hearing, Forcing Him to Teach from a Boat!

To improve your net worth,

Get as close to Jesus as you can.

Luke 5:1

When we share their desperate passion to be near Him, all the externals (attendance in the assembly, Bible study, prayer, etc.) will follow. Those elements are symptoms, the fruit of our faith.

To improve your net worth,

Give Him control of your boat.

Luke 5:2-3

Your boat is not yours but His, if you are His.

Jesus is never a mere passenger. He is the pilot, the captain of every vessel He enters.

To improve your net worth,

Listen to His every word.

Luke 5:3

We can only imagine the content of His message, since it is not recorded here.

To improve your net worth,

Hear His personal challenge.

Luke 5:4

He calls you to do something different, something difficult, something even radical because of your allegiance to Him.

To improve your net worth,

Admit you cannot succeed alone.

Luke 5:5

Admitting your weakness is the first step to accessing His strength.

“Toil” renders the Gk. kopiao, “to labor to the point of exhaustion.” Peter had spent all he had, so he was spent.

You know that same frustration. Doing the same old, same old over and over, but not accomplishing what really matters.

To improve your net worth,

Say, “Master, at Your word I will.”

Luke 5:5

Note the term “Master.” Once you acknowledge Jesus in that way, you become His servant, ready to obey.

Notice Simon’s influence over others in that boat. He said, “I will,” but then we read, “They did.” You have that same kind of influence over others in your life.

To improve your net worth,

Launch out deeper and drop it.

Luke 5:6

How deep is “deep?” It’s deeper than where you are right now!

It’s a risk. It takes faith, the conviction that Jesus knows where the fish are, and we do not.

You’ll never know what He can do in your life until you drop that net where you have not dropped it before.

To improve your net worth,

Get partners to help.

Luke 5:6

Did you notice in Luke 5:1-2 that there were two boats?

There was no competition or rivalry among these seasoned fishermen. Nor is there among seasoned Christians. When God brings the catch, it’s “all hands on deck.”

To improve your net worth,

Fall before Him; confess your sin.

Luke 5:8-10

Some may think, “What business does Jesus have entering my boat and taking control of it?” Simon’s thought was just the opposite. “What business do I have being in the same boat with the Master? I am not worthy!”

It is that admission of failure that is the key to success.

It is when you confess your sin and fear – and only then – that Jesus will say, “Do not fear!”

It is pride that keeps some from that admission.

To improve your net worth,

Forsake, follow, and … FISH!

Luke 5:10-11

How could they leave their business, which was so vital to their lives and to the economy? As important as their work was, they were so captivated by Jesus’ call that they went after Him!

We may define conversion as a change in what one fishes for.

“From now on, you’ll be catching men!”

Measuring Your “Net Worth”

It’s not the size of your net …

Not the weight of the fish in your net …

Not the composition of your net …

Not the color of your net …

Not the history of your net …

But who controls your net and what you do with it as a result.

Nothing else matters. Nothing.

Sticking to It – The Philosophy of Euclipides

Here's another post you may enjoy. 
"The Best Bible Class Experience You Have Ever Had." 
http://coryhcollins.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-best-bible-class-experience-you.html

I'll start with a silly old tale of unknown origin. A Greek man brings his torn pants to his tailor. The tailor looks at the pants and asks the man, “Euripides?” The man responds, “Yes. Eumenides?” Well, in that same spirit, I would like to introduce the fictitious ancient Greek philosopher, Euclipides. If you asked him what to do with all your loose ends and scattered papers, he would say, of course, “You-clip-a-dese!” What would be his cheap, simple, yet immensely effective tool? The paper clip.

The following article was written by James Clear. It describes a very practical, visual way to follow through every day on whatever spiritual goals and habits you have in mind, using paper clips. This strategy will work with prayer, Bible reading, sharing Christ with others, writing notes of appreciation, visits, phone calls, you name it.

How to Stick With Good Habits Every Day by Using the “Paper Clip Strategy”

In 1993, a bank in Abbotsford, Canada hired a 23-year-old stock broker named Trent Dyrsmid. Dyrsmid, was a rookie so nobody at the firm expected too much of his performance. Moreover, Abbotsford was still a relatively small suburb back then, tucked away in the shadow of nearby Vancouver where most of the big business deals were being made. The first popular email services like AOL and Hotmail wouldn’t arrive for another two or three years. Geography still played a large role in business success, and Abbotsford wasn't exactly the home of blockbuster deals.

And yet, despite his disadvantages, Dyrsmid made immediate progress as a stock broker, thanks to a simple and relentless habit that he used each day.

On his desk he placed two jars. One was filled with 120 paper clips. The other was empty. This is when the habit started.

“Every morning I would start with 120 paper clips in one jar and I would keep dialing the phone until I had moved them all to the second jar.” — Trent Dyrsmid

And that was it. 120 calls per day. One paper clip at a time.

Within 18 months, Dyrsmid’s book of business grew to $5 million in assets. By age 24, he was making $75,000. Within a few years, outside firms began recruiting him because of his success and he landed a $200,000 job with another company.

I was introduced to Trent Dyrsmid through my friend Nathan Barry. The quotes in this article come from an email exchange I had with Dyrsmid on April 1st, 2015, and April 2nd, 2015.

Habits That Stick vs. Habits That Fail

When I asked Dyrsmid about the details of his habit, he simply said, “I would start calling at 8 a.m. every day. I never looked at stock quotes or analyst research. I also never read the newspaper for the entire time. If the news was really important, it would find me from other ways.”

Trent Dyrsmid’s story is evidence of a simple truth: Success is often a result of committing to the fundamentals over and over again.

Compare Trent’s results to where you and I often find ourselves. We want to be consistent with our workouts, but struggle to make it into the gym. We know we should write more thank-you notes or eat healthier meals or read more books, but we can’t seem to find the motivation to get it done. We’d like to achieve our goals, but we still procrastinate on them.

What makes the difference? Why do some habits stick while others fail? Why did Trent’s paper clip habit work so well, and what can we learn from it?

The Power of a Visual Cue

I believe the “Paper Clip Strategy” works particularly well because it creates a visual trigger that can help motivate you to perform a habit with more consistency.

Here are a few reasons visual cues work well for building new habits…

Visual cues remind you to start a behavior. We often lie to ourselves about our ability to remember to perform a new habit. (“I’m going to start eating healthier. For real this time.”) A few days later, however, the motivation fades and the busyness of life begins to take over again. Hoping you will simply remember to do a new habit is usually a recipe for failure. This is why a visual stimulus, like a bin full of paper clips, can be so useful. It is much easier to stick with good habits when your environment nudges you in the right direction.

Visual cues display your progress on a behavior. Everyone knows consistency is an essential component of success, but few people actually measure how consistent they are in real life. The Paper Clip Strategy avoids that pitfall because it is a built-in measuring system. One look at your paper clips and you immediately have a measure of your progress.

Visual cues can have an additive effect on motivation. As the visual evidence of your progress mounts, it is natural to become more motivated to continue the habit. The more paperclips you place in the bin, the more motivated you will become to finish the task. There are a variety of popular behavioral economics studies that refer to this as the Endowed Progress Effect, which essentially says we place more value on things once we have them. In other words, the more paper clips you move to the “Completed” bin, the more valuable completing the habit becomes to you.

Visual cues can be used to drive short-term and long-term motivation. The Paper Clip Strategy can provide daily motivation, but you start from scratch each day. However, another type of visual cue, like the “Don’t Break the Chain” Calendar that I described in my article on the Seinfeld Strategy can be used to showcase your consistency over longer periods of time. By stacking these two methods together, you can create a set of visual cues that motivate and measure your habits over the short-run and the long-run.

Creating Your Own Paper Clip Strategy

There are all sorts of ways to use the paper clip habit for your own goals.

• Hoping to do 100 pushups each day? Start with 10 paper clips and move one over each time you drop down and do a set of 10 throughout the day.

• Need to send 25 sales emails every day? Start with 25 paper clips and toss one to the other side each time you press Send.

• Want to drink 8 glasses of water each day? Start with 8 paper clips and slide one over each time you finish a glass.

• Not sure if you’re taking your medication three times per day? Set 3 paper clips out and flip one into the bin each time you swallow your pills.

Best of all, the entire strategy will cost you less than $10.

1.    Grab a box of standard paper clips (here is a cheap set).

2.    Get two standard paper clip holders (here you go).

3.    Pick your habit and start moving those bad boys from one side to the other.

Trent Dyrsmid decided that success in his field came down to one core task: making more sales calls. He discovered that mastering the fundamentals is what makes the difference.

The same is true for your goals. There is no secret sauce. There is no magic bullet. Good habits are the magic bullet.

by James Clear – https://jamesclear.com/paper-clips

From Cory: You and I can learn from “Euclipides” to use this practical, visual way to follow through every day on our spiritual goals and desired godly habits. This paper clip strategy will work with prayer, Bible reading, sharing Christ with others, writing notes of appreciation, visits, phone calls, you name it.

Give it a try! You’ll be clipping along before you know it!

Teaser Questions for Jonah 1-2

What can you find out about Assyria and its capital, Nineveh, in the 700s BC?

Who would want to go and preach there? Why or why not?

How does Jonah’s commission compare with our “Great Commission?”

What is your first reaction when you think about … Jonah fleeing from God?

What would you have done? Why?

What can you find out about Tarshish? Can you locate it?

There are several fascinating ironies in Jonah 1. What ironies do you see?

About the sailors and Jonah in 1:5?

About the captain’s words to Jonah in 1:6?

About the lots being cast and the cause of the storm in 1:7?

About Jonah’s admission in 1:8-9?

About the men’s reaction to Jonah’s having fled in 1:10?

About the men’s desperate efforts to save Jonah in 1:11-13?

About the men praying to, fearing, offering sacrifice to, and paying vows to Yahweh in 1:14-16?

About the calm that resulted from Jonah’s ejection in 1:15?

About Yahweh appointing a fish to swallow Jonah in 1:17?

What do you think Jonah learned, or what should he have learned, from his encounter with the fish?

What are your thoughts about “near-death experiences?”

What would you have prayed from the belly of the fish?

Does the Bible specify that the “fish” was a “whale?”

How might you compare Jonah with the people of Nineveh?

How might you compare the fish with Jonah?

What’s in Your Wallet?

He was arguably the greatest basketball coach of all time, whether at the college or professional level. He broke all kinds of records. He led the UCLA Bruins to ten national titles in twelve years, including seven consecutive championships. His players at one point won 88 games in a row, and he was chosen as the national coach of the year six times.

As you may know, he was John Wooden. He died in 2010, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday. Wooden believed that, before you could lead anyone else, you had to lead yourself. His personal principles empowered him to have the great influence he exerted, both on and off the court. No matter your field, whether ministry, business, or sports, you would do well to study the life and character of John Wooden.

What made the difference in his life was an item that he kept in his wallet.

It was a piece of paper that Wooden's father gave him when he was only twelve. Tattered and worn, it was his constant companion and source of guiding principles. Here’s how it read:

Be true to yourself.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Help others.

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

Make friendship a fine art.

Build shelter against a rainy day.

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

For 87 years, until he was 99 years old plus, this creed molded Coach Wooden’s life.

In addition, he believed that happiness comes from making and keeping nine promises:

1. Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness and prosperity as often as possible.

2. Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special that you value.

3. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best in yourself and others.

4. Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

5. Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

6. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future.

7. Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile.

8. Promise to give so much time improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

9. Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

If the Apostle Paul had owned a wallet, what would he have kept in it? What were his guiding principles, his compass points, his fundamental beliefs? Here is a passage that gives us a clear sense of the road map that he followed, and the one that must be ours as well.

Phil 3:8–14 (NASB95)

8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

What’s in your wallet?

Cory Collins

Life's Journey - Guest Post from Jim Parrow

This post was written by our brother and friend Jim Parrow, who presented it recently to the Keller church of Christ. Jim is not only a fine man; he is a native New Yorker and a very capable speaker. Thank you, brother! Note: this post appears unedited, just as Jim gave it.

LIFE’S JOURNEY

What was started after the French had given up on a project they began in 1881 and was restarted by John Findlay Wallace in 1904, then handed off to John Frank Stevens in 1905, completed under George Washington Goethals between 1905 -1914?

48 miles long

110 feet wide

37 feet deep

Displaced 211 million cubic yards of earth

Took 10 years to build – Once the US took over the project

Cost $375 Million dollars and 25,000 lives 1881 -1914

Connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

Via 3 UP LOCKS & 3 DOWN LOCKS

Connected through the 164 SQ MILE manmade GATUN lake

Now used by more than 15,000 ships per year

Construction was through very dense jungle

Swarming with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders

Exposing workers to mosquitos carrying Malaria and Yellow fever and a host of tropical diseases.

Workers were dying at the rate of 200 per month.

The project required the construction of housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, sewage systems, repair shops, warehouses, and a railway ALL IN ADDITION TO THE Project itself.

Years of arguments, disputes, claims, counter claims, accusations and a flood of criticism overwhelmed all the Engineers in Charge but especially Col Goethals. He never let the obstacles or criticism sway him from the completing the monumental and very difficult task before him.

Oh yes - the project is known as the Panama Canal

Helped to shorten a war that the critics could not have foreseen in 1914

while enhancing world trade and reducing a 67 day journey to 8 hours.

We can turn to Genesis 5:32 through 10:1 and find another overwhelming project that was put before a man to accomplish facing odds and challenges we cannot comprehend, and at the time, unlike the Panama Canal, for no apparent reason to every ones understanding, except of course for Noah. Do ya think Noah would be criticized???

At the age of 500, he was assigned his civilization saving task. I’m only 69 and I already have lower back problems, hurt when I carry in the groceries, along with a host of other issues, so I can’t begin to imagine what Noah must have felt like at his age doing such tremendous manual labor, let alone the mental challenges he would face.

Vs 5 of Gen 6 tells us “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

In Vs 7 he went on to say – “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created and with them the animals, birds, and creatures that move along the ground” – but Vs 8 “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord”.

Ch 6 vs 9 / Ch 7 vs 4 outlines the specific instructions of WHAT he was to build, HOW he was to build it, WHAT would be permitted to go into it, and HOW he would need to provide for the survival of the precious cargo and VS 5 tells us Noah “DID ALL THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM”!

At 600 years of age the floodwaters came. Noah, his wife , Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives entered the ark and after 150 days, God sent a wind Ch 8 vs 1and “the water receded”.

On the 601st year on the 2nd month on the 27th day the land was once again dry and God told Noah to come out of the ark. Ch 8 vs 13-15

Ch 9 then goes on to tell us about God’s covenant with Noah and via the rainbow in the sky declares unto Noah God will never flood the earth again.

Noah lived to see God’s plan move forward until at the age of 950 years he died. Noah never allowed the difficulty of the task, or his obvious critics to sway him from him completeing his God’s task – God’s Way.

We know that George Goethals lived with 10 years of critics who kept telling him he was a fool, the project could never be done, it was not worth the time and money and lives, and on and on.

We do not read the specific of the Critics that must have berated Noah as he and his family followed God’s commands, but I believe it is logical to believe that building a huge boat in the middle of dry land with no water in sight could not have been accomplished without a century of criticism and ridicule.

Those who do not know God will always criticize those who do and though we live in the world we must refuse to be a part of the world.

2 Peter 2:5 – goes right back to Noah – “And spared not the world, but saved Noah the eighth person, A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

1 John 2:15 – “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father IS NOT IN HIM”

John 15:19 – “If ye were of the world the world would love his own: BUT because ye are not of the world, I have chosen you out of the world , therefore the world hates you”

In our schools, our jobs, our athletic teams, our business dealings our neighborhoods, our political system, the world will tempt you to cheat, steal, gossip, backstab, lie, fulfill the desires of the flesh, hate, seek revenge or look the other way when someone else does, OR FACE THE RIDUCULE, CONTEMPT AND REJECTION OF THOSE WHO DO! They may be your Boss, Co-Worker, Neighbor, Class mate, your closest friend or even a family member. The Devil does not give up! He will not stop trying to tempt you to “go along to get along”. Even when you don’t, others will claim that you do.

Matthew 11:19 claims Jesus was a glutton, a wino, friend of sinners

Mark        14:64 claims Jesus spoke blasphemy

John          8:48 - 52 that Jesus was possessed by the devil

As Children of the Almighty and Everlasting God we MUST heed the words of Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to the world, but be ye transformed [Metamorphose – Metamorphosis – change from one thing into something else] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”

Like a Spiritual Panama Canal – We must make our own spiritual journey from the Kingdom of the World to the Kingdom of Almighty God through a world full of even more challenges and dangers than Goethals faced.

Like Noah we must enter into our own Spiritual Ark to carry us through the crashing waves, and stormy seas that are all around us here on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 assures us that “. . .if any man be IN Christ [Our Spiritual Ark] he is a new creature. The Old Things [like life on earth before the flood] are passed away, behold ALL things become new [like Mankind after God directed Noah to leave the Ark.]

If you need help to face your critics, to face the challenges before you, this making your life difficult and effecting your walk with the lord, we are all here for you. These are challenges common to us all and no one in this family of God will judge you because you have fallen and need help to get back up and make yourself right with the Lord.

If we can lift you up and lighten your load

As we sing # 394 “What Will You Do with Jesus” Ask yourself - What will “I” do with Jesus? Will “I” enter in to His Ark of Salvation so “I” can make my Journey to Eternal Life Safe in His Care?

If we can help you in any way 

Come forward now as we stand and sing!   

Simple Ways to Get the Most Out of Today – Author Unknown

John 9:4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

Of course the first step to improving each day is to draw near to God in Bible study and prayer. Effective living focuses on worshiping Him, serving Him, and sharing Him with others every day. Based on that foundation, the following are practical tips (from an unknown author) that can bring satisfying results in each of our lives.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day.  And while you walk, smile.  It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.  Talk to God about what is going on in your life.  Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, “My purpose today is to__________ today.”  “I am thankful for______________.”

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water.  Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds and walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.  Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out credit card.

9. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don’t take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.

12.  You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with this question:  “In five years, will this matter?”

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. God heals everything in His own time and way – but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: “I am thankful for __________.”  “Today I accomplished _________.”

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed or depressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You’ll be smiling before you know it.