I once read about a man who loved to hunt, and bought two topnotch bird dogs. He kept and trained them in his large back yard.

Down the street lived a vicious-looking bulldog who liked to crawl under the fence to attack the two setters. Day after day he would come, and the two setters would tear the bulldog apart, until he could take no more and slip away with his tail between his legs.

But, each day, for weeks, he kept returning. And each day would go home whining in pain, licking his wounds.

After several weeks something interesting happened. The setters had only to hear the bulldog coming and quickly scurried into the basement of their owner’s home. They had had enough, even though they had beaten the stuffing out of the pesky bulldog time and time and time again.

The bulldog’s dogged persistence made him the winner. Determination, persistence, hanging in when others check out—that’s what makes a winner a winner.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to give up on and let go of those things in my life that are not in harmony with your will, and to never give up on those things that are. And give me the wisdom to know the difference. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name.”

1. 2 Corinthians 4:1 (TLB)(NLT).

I love one-liners. Many are like modern proverbs and are like nuggets of gold or pearls of wisdom. Here are a few:

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” – William Blake

“Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” – David Lloyd George

“I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail.” – Jim Elliot

“Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; heaven so real that we must have men there; Christ so real that our supreme motive and aim shall be to make the Man of Sorrows the Man of Joy by the conversion to him of many.” – J. Hudson Taylor.

“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” – Chinese proverb

“You are wise when you learn from your mistakes. You are wiser still when you learn from others’ mistakes.” – Rob Acker

“The experience of resistance and frustration is often an indication that you are doing the wrong thing.” – Brian Tracy

“Every person is working for him or herself.” – Brian Tracy

“He who never walks except where he sees other men’s tracks will make no discoveries.” – Unknown

“Success is a marathon, not a sprint.” – Unknown

And, “If it’s going to be, it will be up to me.” – Robert Schuller

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” – God (Jeremiah 32:27, NIV).

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” – God (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV).

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a heart for wisdom that I might know your truth and live according to it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

For more great quotes see “Quotable Quotes” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/quotes.php. Also check out Weekend Encounter as there are new quotes every week. See this week’s edition at: https://learning.actsweb.org/weekend_encounter.php

1. Proverbs 8:33 (KJV).

In 1832, French engineer Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps was traveling on the Mediterranean Sea. One of the passengers on the ship (he was on) came down with a contagious disease and the ship was quarantined. Lesseps became very frustrated. To help kill time he read the memoirs of Charles le Pere who had considered the feasibility of building a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

In 1869 the Suez Canal was completed. It was constructed following the design by and under the leadership of de Lesseps which, thirty-seven years earlier during that quarantine, was germinated and conceived. The entire world has reaped the benefit ever since.

In my own life and work almost every major change for the good that I have made has been the result of a setback or crisis of some kind. Most of the things I write about have come out of my own struggles, setbacks, and failures and my subsequent search for answers to these issues. I turned to writing in the first place over four decades ago when I felt God had put me on the shelf and forgotten I existed. I never wanted to be a writer but God has used my writing to help many others.

Be assured that God wants to use your trials, failures, and setbacks, too, not only to help you grow, but also so you will be able to help others who are going through the same or similar trials that you have gone through.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please use the struggles in my life to help me become more Christ-like and compassionate so I can be a comfort to other fellow-strugglers. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV).

I recently read about a woman who planted some 50,000 daffodil bulbs in her back yard—one at a time—over a period of nearly fifty years!

“Year after year, she kept planting bulbs until she had created five acres of ineffable magnificence, beauty and inspiration. After seeing the spectacular garden one woman remarked, ‘It makes me sad in a way. What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal 35 or 40 years ago and had worked on it one bulb at a time through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!’ Her daughter responded, ‘Start tomorrow.’ The mother said, ‘I’ll start today.’”²

It’s amazing what can be accomplished by doing just a little every day, day after day. You’ve probably heard the old saying that says, “Inch by inch anything’s a cinch—but yard by yard it’s miles too hard.”

When I first wanted to write a book, it seemed like an overwhelming task. However, a friend suggested I considered writing just one page at a time. “I can handle that,” I said to myself … and that’s what I did 205 times.

Not many people are going to plant five acres of daffodils and not everybody is going to write a book. However, the important thing is to invest your life in a worthwhile cause that will achieve at least three things: (1) it will have eternal value, (2) it will benefit others, and (3) it will give you a deep sense of satisfaction in that you will not have lived in vain but have achieved something worthwhile with your life. It doesn’t have to be profound or earth shattering—just significant. And that you can start today … one “bulb,” one “page,” one kind word of encouragement, one act of kindness at a time … every day for the rest of your life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a noble cause for which to live—not so big that it will cause me to be proud … not so small that it will never be a challenge … but big enough to make me stretch and grow … and give my life significance. And most of all grant that it will be a blessing to others and bring glory to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ecclesiastes 11:4, 6 (TLB)(NLT).

2. KneEmail #777, Mike Benson, Editor, http://www.oakhillcoc.org

I have read how, when William Montague Dyke was a child, he was blinded in an accident, but he never allowed this handicap to deter him. He graduated with high honors from an English university and, while a student, fell in love with the daughter of a high-ranking British naval office whom he was to marry.

Before the wedding he had an eye operation in the hopes that it would restore his eyesight. However, he didn’t want the bandages removed from his eyes until his wedding day when he stood before his bride to be. If the surgery failed, he would remain blind for the rest of his life. If successful, the person he wanted to see first was to be his bride.

The wedding day arrived. The dignitaries and guests waited in anticipation as the organ played the wedding march and the bride, accompanied by her father and the groom’s surgeon, slowly walked the aisle to the altar. As William’s sweetheart stood before him, the surgeon took a pair of scissors from his pocket and removed the bandages.

The entire party and all the guests held their breath for a brief moment until they heard the words of William which echoed throughout the cathedral as he said to his soon-to-be bride, “You’re more beautiful than I ever imagined!”²

In one sense this gives us a faint glimpse as to what it will be like when we get to heaven and stand face to face with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we see him in all his majestic beauty—the God of all creation—no words this side of heaven could ever describe, nor any imagination ever perceive, what this experience will be like. As a hymn we used to sing with great enthusiasm in my childhood days expressed it, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!”

Just make sure that your name is written in God’s book of life and that you, too, are on your way to heaven. For help be sure to read, “How to know God and be sure you’re a real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, Thank you for your wonderful promise that all who believe in your Son, Jesus, and have accepted him as their personal Lord and Savior and have had their sins forgiven have Jesus’ promise that he is now in Heaven preparing a place for us and is coming back to take us to be with him and you for all eternity. ‘What a day of rejoicing that will be.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV).

2. Adapted from Making Today Count for Eternity, by Ken Crockett. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, pp. 101-102. Cited on www.sermons.com.

Michael Josephson of Character Counts shared how, “two young men in Florida removed a stop sign and brought it back to their fraternity house as a trophy. A fatal accident occurred at the sign-less intersection and the men were convicted of manslaughter.

“In Tennessee, a couple of teenagers were in a high-rise building and one took a dare by the other and slid down a trash chute in the hall—right into an automatic trash compactor. He died and his friend was traumatized, possibly for life.

“What makes these stories all the more tragic is that we’re not talking about bad kids; we’re talking about fundamentally decent kids who made really bad choices.”

Good people can make bad choices just as bad people can make good choices. The fact is we are all the sum total of all of our past choices. Our past was shaped by the choices we made in the past. Our present is also shaped by our past choices, and our future will be shaped by the choices we make today.

Let us be certain not to make our choices by default, but by very careful and prayerful planning, for the choices we make will make us—for time and eternity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please forgive me for all the bad choices I have made in the past and help me to make wise and careful choices today and in the future. As with Joshua of old … ‘as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: If you have never made the choice to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and thereby receive God’s forgiveness for all your sins, for help read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian

1. Joshua 24:15 (NIV).

Some 350 or more years ago a shipload of travelers landed on a distant land. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness.

In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?

Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision and certainly had no prophetic vision of what God’s plan was for this nation yet to be.

With a clear vision of what we can become and achieve in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. As individuals, organizations, churches, and a nation without a vision of what God wants us to be and do we will eventually demise, “for without a vision the people perish.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding and give me a vision of what you are doing in the world in which I live and see clearly how I can be a part of your plans. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV).

Creeds are principles by which to live. If we want to live worthwhile and purposeful lives, it pays to choose and believe in a worthwhile and purposeful creed. Many have been written by others. A well thought-out one was written by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It is as follows:

“I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

“I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

“I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living, but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

“I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business, or personal affairs.

“I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

“I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man’s word should be as good as his bond; that character—not wealth or power or position—is of supreme worth.

“I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

“I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God … and that the individual’s highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

“I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.”

We would all do well to read this creed often and practice it all year long.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to live according to a sound creed, the principles of which are all in harmony with your Word and your will. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Micah 6:8 (NIV).

While what I am about to say will not apply in every country, but where I live if we want to find work when times are tough, we need to be willing to work at whatever work we can get. To give government handouts to people who are able to work but are not willing to work at whatever work is available, is irresponsibility on the part of the government which, in turn, is keeping people irresponsible and immature. Furthermore, mothers who keep having babies so they can live on government support is also a travesty of justice. And people in prison should be given work to do and pay their own way. As God’s Word says, “Whoever does not work should not eat.”²

When overseas students write to ask me for financial support to help them to come to America to study, I share my experience with them.

When I came to the U.S. from Australia to study for Christian work, I had no means of support—no student allowance, no scholarship, no family support, and no government help. Survival meant working part-time during the school year and full-time during the summers to put myself through college.

I took any job I could get even though I was a technical college graduate and a skilled tradesman. I scrubbed floors and walls, weekly cleaned a black soot-filled coal-burning boiler that heated an entire factory; I crawled through huge factory equipment on my back to clean it. In the summers I drove a city passenger bus in Chicago (got lost in it a couple of times) in the morning and evening rush hour shifts, painted houses in the middle of the day, and worked at a large city church as a janitor at nights and weekends—seven days a week!

No job was ever too menial, but I was never out of work and all my bills were paid. I always thanked God for his provision of work. I am sure that this did as much to train me for my life’s work as did my formal education. I never asked God to give me money … what I prayed for was that he would help me find work … and I never went hungry.

So, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” and in due course “you will reap if you faint not!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to keep on being faithful in the little things because they are as important as the big things. And help me always to work with a positive attitude and a grateful heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV).

2. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NLT).

In the computer world we’re probably all aware of the initials, “WYSIWYG” (pronounced wissiwig) meaning “What You See Is What You Get.”

In the real world it’s pretty much the same; or it could be worded this way, “What you look for is what you find.”

Steve Goodier in his book, Are You Living in the Past? Shared how both the vulture and hummingbird fly over the same desert. The vulture sees rotting flesh. The humming bird sees colorful desert plants. Each sees and finds what it’s looking for.

We do the same thing. What we hunger for and thrive on is what we look for and find. As Frederick Langbrige put, “Two men look out the same prison bars, one sees mud, the other stars.”

If we hunger for evil, that’s what we’ll find. If we hunger for material wealth and possessions, that’s what we’ll seek after. If we hunger for illicit love, that’s what we’ll look for, see, and find, etc., etc. But if we hunger for righteousness that’s what we’ll pursue, and if we hunger for God, we will find him.

Mary Norman summed it up very well: “I’ve never seen the face of God / To draw it in a book / But I have seen the hand of God / It’s everywhere I look.”

It’s true in that what we see is what we get and what we look for is what we find. It depends on what we hunger and thirst for.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to develop a thirst for righteousness, for things of eternal value, and above all a hunger and thirst for you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 5:6 (NIV).