In his book, Life Changes, James Hefley writes about Barry Luppin who was just twenty-six when a rare nerve disease sent him into the world of silence. Unable to pursue the law career he had planned, he drifted aimlessly for eight years bemoaning his deafness.

Then he determined, in his own words, to “put my chin up and fight.” He learned to lip read and went into the auto leasing business. The business prospered into a multi-million-dollar enterprise.

Barry never allowed his handicap to keep him from normal work. When a customer calls, his secretary picks up an extension phone. She hears the caller and mouths the words silently to Barry who sits nearby. He replies in normal speech never letting on that he is stone deaf.

“If you have a physical handicap, you can run into a corner and hide,” says Barry, “or you can just try harder than the next man and make a success of yourself.”

In many ways life is what we make of it. If we choose to live in harmony with God’s will and his purpose for our life—no matter what our circumstances—our life can then be an investment not only in this life but also in eternity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see what my God-given life purpose is and live in harmony with that and your will. I come to you as I am—warts and all—and trust my life to you. Please make something beautiful of my life. And in the words of the hymn writer, ‘Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for your courts above.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 56:11 (NIV).

To be politically correct many would say that Christians should keep out of the political arena. But think about William Wilberforce (1759–1833), the British politician who became the leader of the movement to abolish the inhumane slave trade. His life is a prime example of Christian political activism par excellence.

When he first became a committed Christian, however, he seriously considered withdrawing from parliament, but John Newton (a former slave trader himself) and author of one of the world’s best known hymns, “Amazing Grace, ” convinced Wilberforce to remain in parliament, as God had placed him there for a useful purpose. It turned out that as a politician Wilberforce had a much greater influence on the social ills of his day, and campaigned fervently for decades to help, with other Christian leaders, end the slave trade. He was actually dying when he received word of his success re the end of the slave trade.

Wilberforce said, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”

To this task this one man committed his entire life … and helped greatly to change a great part of the world. Would that we had such parliamentarian reformers today! There is a desperate need for them. Furthermore, you and I may never become another Wilberforce, but with God’s help each one of us can make a lasting and eternal impact on the world in which we live and circulate. Will YOU volunteer today to be one of these persons? Remember, we Christians are called by Christ to be the salt (purifying effect) of the earth.²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in whatever role my life is invested to be actively involved in being ‘salt of the earth,’ and thereby help in a positive way to be a purifying effect in every area of life here on earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 13:1. (NIV).

2. Matthew 5:13.

Attitude, as it has been said, is much more important than aptitude. Aptitude says that we can do things, but attitude will determine how well we do them. Aptitude will determine how well we can think, but attitude will determine how well we feel about what we think. Aptitude will help us see things that perhaps others don’t see, but attitude will help how we interpret what we see and what we do about it. A person with a healthy, positive attitude can achieve much more with his average aptitude than a person with a highly skilled aptitude but who has a negative and self-defeating attitude.

People with a positive attitude will see the glass half-full and be thankful, while those with a negative attitude will see the glass half-empty and complain about it. Both are correct of course but it’s attitude that makes the difference in how they see things. In life we see things not the way they are but the way we are. And if we don’t have an honest and realistic attitude, we will distort the most obvious facts to make them match our prejudiced attitude.

Then, of course, there are those who will argue that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. You can’t win with these people because no matter what you say, they will disagree with you because they have a disagreeable attitude.

In all of life it’s attitude that makes the difference. Aptitude is a gift. Attitude is a choice.

I like what Michael Josephson of Character Counts said, “So, at least for today, I’m not going to worry that roses have thorns; I’ll rejoice that thorns have roses.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see the roses on the thorny bush, the rainbow in the rain, and the hidden blessings you have for me in every circumstance. Help me to develop a thankful attitude so that I will put to best use the aptitudes you have gifted me with. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 5:20 (NIV).

A common question asked in motivational seminars is: “If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do with your life?”

Participants imagine all sorts of things: take flying lessons … write a book … travel around the world … start a business … learn to play a musical instrument … make pottery, and so on.

Think of Martin Luther King’s life-transforming, world-impacting statement: “I have a dream.” And while King didn’t live to see his dream fulfilled, his dream and what he started made a powerful impact on his world and helped change the world for every American. The fears he and his family faced from constant harassment and threats on his life would have overwhelmed all but the bravest of souls. However, it was his dream that overcame his fears and caused him even in death to triumph.

Remember, it’s normal to be afraid. Most of us struggle with fear from time to time. It’s part of the human condition. The important thing is not to deny one’s fears but to acknowledge them, and not allow them to control us. As one author put it, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

If the fear of failure were removed, what would you really like to do? Whether it’s something small or something major doesn’t matter. What is your dream, or better still, what is God’s dream for you? And what will you do about it? Will you choose to allow your fear to control you? Or, with God’s help, will you allow your dream to control your fear?

Remember too, that it’s okay to fail in attempting to reach a goal. Failures are par for the course. In many ways they are our greatest teacher. The only real failure is not to get up one more time than we fall down—and to give up on our dream. Remember, too, failure is an event not a person. Know your dream. Trust God and put your dream in charge of your fears and, in time, as you step out in faith to begin to fulfill you dream, you will be able to say, “No fear. No kidding. That is, fear no longer has control over me!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to know my God-given life purpose and to make that my dream. Please give me the courage to step out in faith to begin fulfilling my dream—today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 27:24 (NIV).

I have read how “the Roman Aqueduct at Segovia, Spain was built in A.D.109. For eighteen hundred years it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, ‘This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor.’ They did and they ruined it. They laid modern iron pipes to carry the water. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall.”²

The same principle applies to one’s personal and family life, to his business, and/or to his or her church. When the Roman Aqueduct stopped serving others, it slowly fell apart. When a business or a church stops serving others, it too begins to fall apart. When family members ignore family responsibilities, the family rapidly falls apart. And as individuals when we stop using our God-given gifts—both natural and spiritual gifts—and fail to fulfill our God-given life purpose, little by little, what we once had in golden opportunities to serve we lose.

It’s an old adage but there’s a lot of truth in it: If you don’t use it, you will lose it!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to use the gifts and talents you have given me to serve you by serving others in the endless opportunities you give me every day. Grant that when I come to the end of life’s journey I won’t be among those who have nothing but ‘dry bricks’ to offer you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Galatians 5:13 (NKJV).

2. Cited on KneEmail #774, http://www.forthright.net/kneemail/

In his weekly Character Counts series, Michael Josephson wrote, “Years ago I was talking to a group of Army generals about the way politicians often treat the defense budget as an all-purpose public works fund to help bring money into their districts. One general admitted, ‘Yes, if the chairman of the Appropriations Committee comes from a place that makes trucks, we’re probably going to buy those trucks. That’s the way it is, the way it always was, and the way it always will be.’

“I suggested that it was a form of bribery to buy the trucks just to please the politician. The general barked, ‘It’s not bribery. It’s extortion!’

“‘Don’t sound so powerless,’ I replied. ‘You’re a GENERAL!’

“Without skipping a beat, he answered, ‘Yeah, but I’m only a one-star.’”²

How many times do you and I make the “Yeah, but…” excuse to avoid personal responsibility? And how many times do we try to make it sound like we are agreeing with someone by saying, “Yes, but …” when all the time we are meaning “No”?

It’s a thought worth pondering … and a practice worth dropping.

As Edward Everett Hale said, “It’s true I am only one, but I am one. And the fact that I can’t do everything will not prevent me from doing what I can do.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the ‘yes, but’ disease and help me to become an ethical, responsible person remembering that character does count. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 5:37 (NIV).

2. Michael Josephson, “I’m Only a One-Star,” Character Counts, 384.4.

Glen Weber wrote how “the first transcontinental flight across the country from New York, NY, to Long Beach, California was completed by American aviation pioneer Cal P. Rodgers in an early Wright flyer called the Vin Fiz after a soft drink company that sponsored the trip. On September 17, 1911, he left Sheepshead Bay at Brooklyn, NY, and arrived in California on December 10, 1911, 84 days later. Rodgers actual time in the air was 3 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes. The airplane was forced down by weather and mechanical failure more than 30 times resulting in ‘light crashes’ to crashes that required major repairs. When Rodgers landed in Long Beach, the only original parts on the airplane were the rear rudder and the oil pan on the engine. I would have given up the first time I lost my wings.”²

That’s determination and persistence! Obviously Cal Rodgers had a mission that he was determined to fulfill and a goal he planned to reach. Men and women like this are the ones who make things happen. They never give up.

As Christians who have the Good News of the gospel—the greatest news and message in all the world—we need to be more determined than ever to live and spread the gospel message especially in this day of ever increasing terrorism motivated by false religion, and an ever-increasing moral decline promoted by those who are determined to tear down all moral standards as set by God for the good of all mankind.

As the Apostle Paul said, “It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others], and so we never give up!” An excellent admonition for every day of the year.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding so I will clearly see and understand fully all that is happening in today’s world that seeks to destroy Christianity and all that your Word teaches (including the killing of Christians), and do everything in my power to live for you, to demonstrate my faith in my daily life, and do all I can to spread the Good News of the gospel to my neighbors and to the far ends of the earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

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

2. By Rev. Glen Weber, Spirit of Grace Fellowship www.spiritofgracefellowship.org.

“In The Death of Ethics in America, Cal Thomas quotes a letter written to the Washington Post in the mid ’80s. ‘I’ve lived both lives, Yuppie and non-Yuppie,’ the writer said. ‘In the first, I was married to a professional woman and on our dual incomes we Club Med-ed, sports car-raced, alpine skied and Kennedy Centered our 14-year marriage into oblivion.

“I’m now 42, remarried to a woman who gave up her ‘professional’ career to provide full-time care for our one- and five-year-old daughters, and living in Gaithersburg, Maryland—on one salary. Trips to Australia and Europe, Saturday night dining at Nathan’s, and Wolf Trap concerts are distant memories. Vacations are now taken in our nine-year-old used pop-up camper, and dining out means ‘Hooray! Daddy’s bringing home a pizza.’ We’ve just started into the second round of … one hundred readings of Pat the Bunny for our one-year-old. Satisfaction level in my first life measured about 2 on the 10 scale. Measured now, satisfaction is about 9.5.’”²

One thing is certain, money can’t buy happiness, satisfaction, love or loving relationships. These qualities come from within and are greatly determined by our values and attitudes. There’s nothing wrong with money in and of itself. It’s what we do with it that counts. As God’s Word said, it was “the love of money” that was “a root of all kinds of evil.”³

With noble values one can do noble deeds with his or her money. It’s a case of motives: Do we possess our possessions or do our possessions possess us?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of trying to keep up with the Joneses and putting material possessions first in my life. Help me to have a healthy attitude towards money and possessions, earn what I can within reason, and contribute sacrificially, generously, and wisely to worthwhile causes—especially causes that help my fellow man and bring glory to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 12:15 (NIV).

2. Michael Josephson in Character Counts. www.charactercounts.org

3. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV).

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England, said, “I remember being taught by my parents from my earliest childhood, that the one thing about being British was you did not have to be told what to do. You rose to your responsibilities and took the initiative. Religious belief played a fundamental part in shaping that character because, whether you take the Old Testament or the New Testament, it puts the emphasis on the dignity and responsibility of the individual. You are accountable because you have freedom.”

We, too, have freedom which is a priceless privilege. However, some people, because of this freedom, seem to think they can do as they please both before man and God. As such they are not free, but are in bondage to their own selfishness and passions. They are also boundary busters with little or no respect for other peoples’ person, property, or principles. They have confused liberty with license forgetting that the price of freedom is still eternal vigilance—which includes moral and ethical responsibility.

If we abuse our privileges, ultimately we lose them.

With freedom comes responsibility and with responsibility, accountability. We are accountable to our fellow man and above all we are accountable to God. As today’s Scripture says, “For we must all stand before God’s judgment seat … [and] each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

Suggested Prayer; “Dear God, please help me to so live that I will always act responsibly, that my life will always bring glory to your name, and that I will not be ashamed when I stand before you face to face and give an account of how I lived my life here on earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 14:10-12 (NIV).

For successful living it is important not only to have a positive attitude and to think positively but, equally important, to be a positive realist.

For example, I have read how Admiral Jim Stockdale was repeatedly tortured during eight years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War—and survived.

Strange as it may at first seem, “In an interview with author Jim Collins, Admiral Stockdale commented that the optimists were the ones who were least likely to survive the camps. They refused to accept reality. They kept predicting that they would be freed soon. And every time their predictions failed, they lost a little more hope, until one day the optimists died of broken hearts. They had great attitudes, but they failed to deal realistically with their situation. Stockdale remarked, ‘You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.’”²

To express it another way, if you’ve been hit by a “Mack truck,” all the optimism and positive thinking in and of itself won’t take the pain away. One needs to be a positive realist who says to him/herself, “Yes, I’ve been hit by a massive problem. I’ve been hurt badly and am in deep pain. However, with God’s help and any other help I need, I will do everything in my power to overcome my circumstances and survive triumphantly.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be a positive realist with great faith in you knowing that no matter what happens to me, you always have a lesson for me to learn and always want to use my circumstances to help me grow and become strong in faith and character. Also, please help me to see and accept my responsibility and the part I need to play in overcoming my difficulties and adverse circumstances. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 23:7.

2. Jim Collins, “Good to Great” (New York: Harper Business, 2001), pp. 83-85. Cited on www.sermons.com.