Just For Today

Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires, I will take my "luck" as it comes, and fit myself to it.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do a least two things I don't want to do--just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.

Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit. I won't find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself, and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.

Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

A BETTER PLACE

A BETTER PLACE

Whenever the subject of love comes to mind I keep going back to the classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.

The story revolves around three characters, Sydney Carton the Englishman, a wild, drunken lawyer; Charles Darnay  a Frenchman, a  fine gentleman; and Lucie Manette, the woman who is loved by both men.

Carton and Darnay though opposite in manners bear an uncanny resemblance to each other. But it is Darnay whom Lucie loves. Carton realizes this, and concedes that he cannot win the heart of Lucie. He knows Lucie does not deserve a drunken, disgraced lawyer like  him.  As much as Carton loves Lucie, he gives way, to Darnay.  

It happens that these three characters are in Paris at the height of the French revolution.  

Darnay  is arrested by the revolutionists to answer for the crimes committed by his father. He is accused before the revolutionary court which condemns  him to die by guillotine.

Lucie is driven to despair. Darnay suffers agony, as the day of execution comes near, without a ray of hope.

Carton’s love for Lucie compels him to a make  a last ditch effort to save Darnay.  He trades places with Darnay in prison, for after all they look alike. Darnay slips out and joins Lucie making their escape.

On the day of execution Carton willingly goes to the guillotine and dies in place of Darnay.

Before he dies he delivers this classic immortal lines: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go than I have ever known.”

This is love unsurpassed.

Dickens may have written about a lonely fictional hero, who sacrificed his life to save the life of another man for the sake of the only woman they both love. But the great novelist offers a far, far better message behind this tale: The great and surpassing love of Christ for mankind, who willingly made the ultimate sacrifice by going to the Roman gallows,  in our place, and receiving the penalty for our sins.

 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

At  the end of the story Sydney  Carton  in the face of death is certain that he is going to a far, far better place than he had ever known.

Jesus said,

“In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”(John 14:2)

LESSON FROM THE GRAIN OF WHEAT

LESSON FROM THE GRAIN OF WHEAT

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  25  He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.(John 12:24-25)  

It is easy to visualize the Lord’s parable of the grain of wheat  planted on the ground, for people who live in the farm. The vivid picture which runs in the Lord’s parable is the use of ordinary, common place occurrence like farming.

Man has survived on this planet from the grains planted and grown on vast tracts of land. Basic practice in agriculture  is almost universal, and what could be more clear than the  use of  this  common scene to illustrate  deep spiritual insights.  

Another distinct mark of the parable is that the lesson given is paradoxical.

When the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of life, death, and God’s Kingdom, He reduces these weighty  concepts in parables.

In this parable  there is the picture of the grain of wheat falling on the ground and dies. When a grain of wheat is planted the grain actually dies and new wheat grows and yields more grains which are harvested.

The spiritual analogy  is that death leads to life. The paradox is one dies like that grain of wheat, in order to have new life. When we "die" to ourselves, we "rise" to new life in Jesus Christ.

A farmer would have no difficulty understanding this inspiring message of hope, and so are we. The seeds which are planted on earth literally die and in dying they rise and grow as new plant life becoming fruitful and yielding more grains.

This parable further describes a man who terribly clings to his earthly life on earth, anchoring his hope only upon his earthly existence, and loves only the things of this world. He is mindless of or perhaps rejects the reality of a life to come through Jesus Christ. The Master describes this man like a seed who abides alone, sadly lifeless.

The Lord says this man we will lose what real life is.

Saving the life and losing the life is a figure of speech.

The Savior, the Christ of the Christians, has explained this to his disciples in this way: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it whoever loses his life for My sake will  find it.”(Matthew 6:23-25)

The picture of the grain of wheat dead and buried on the ground and growing, yielding a harvest is a metaphor of our Lord’s own death, burial and resurrection. And here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.(2 Timothy 2:11)

My friend my earnest wish is for you to believe in Christ, who proclaimed: “I AM the resurrection and the life. He who  believes in Me will live even though he dies, and whoever  lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John  11:25-26)

AT THE RIGHT MOMENT ONE DAY AT A TIME

AT THE RIGHT MOMENT ONE DAY AT A TIME

We live in a fast paced, hurried, noisy, and stressful world.

I met a friend who came from the big city, relocating his work and family in a rural town. The first thing he observed was the laid back tempo which, he found hard to adjust because he was used to the pressure loaded, edgy, and time conscious frenetic activity. 

I remember reading about a Christian missionary who visited the Bedouin nomads and lived with them for a few days. The tribe did not have the modern conveniences. They live in tents. They did not have electricity. They follow the natural rhythm of nature. They tend their flocks by day, and sleep soundly at night. They get plenty of sun, fresh air, and burn up calories  through physical work. They simply flow with the natural cycle of rest, sleep, eat, work, and fellowship.

The missionary noted the absence of debilitating stress in their way of life. 

Modern society doesn’t operate that way, anymore. It is not surprising that we have become a generation of stressed out,  irritable, high strung, impatient, unkind, and  anxious people. 

Surely there must be more to life than this. 

There is no better guide to life than God’s Word, revealed in the Bible. 

Before modern Psychology and Psychiatry, became special disciplines the Bible has already laid out the principles which could help us cope with life’s stressors.   

God designed the mind to be a very powerful force, which could bring healing and balance, if it is fully focused on the right virtues.

In his exhortation to the Christians in Philippi, St. Paul taught them to think or meditate on the things which are true, noble, just pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8)

Every day we have no control over the circumstances that come in our way. We are likely to be exposed to negative and depressing people or situations, even distressing or hurting life events.

St. Paul reveals to us this nugget of divine teaching. He says we should not allow these things to overwhelm our thoughts. To let our thoughts helplessly dwell on  life’s unwholesome stressors, would only mean a troubled, fearful mind. 

The Saintly Apostle tells us take control of our thoughts, by directing the mind to dwell outwardly on the good and godly virtues. This is the best prescription to take when we suffer from the  ill effects of seemingly unbearable stress. A mind that thinks of pure, noble, true, lovely and praiseworthy thoughts, has no place to entertain negative, fearful and harmful thoughts.

Most people are too proud to accept help in times of trouble. They are the best candidates headed for emotional and mental breakdown if they are not careful in dealing with stress.

It is not God’s will for our lives to take more than we could ever carry. When the load is too heavy, cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7). The problem for most hard driving people is they often plunge and get ahead adding the worries of tomorrow to the cares of today, in a telescopic effort to be in control.

The problem is, no one can ever claim to be in absolute control, even with the best laid out plan. Only God Almighty is in control. We don’t need to get ahead of Him, because the Lord Himself goes before us. He dispenses His mercy and grace at the right moment one day at a time.