A young teenager named Cody went on a mission venture to Ethiopia. While there he was exposed to poverty conditions he never knew existed. On one occasion, a little boy tugged on his shirt, evidently indicating that he wanted the t-shirt which Cody was wearing.

Cody gently turned him away and kept his shirt. He returned to the States and began to reflect upon the trip. The face of the little boy would not leave his memory. Nor would his t-shirt.

Cody began a campaign to collect t-shirts to send to the poverty-stricken country. He made calls, knocked on doors, and eventually had a whopping 18,000 t-shirts of which 10,000 were usable.

CNN called after hearing of his efforts and reported that they had discovered a relief plane to ship the shirts free of charge—but they could not guarantee where they would end up.

The relief agency used a jet and flew into a country not requiring a customs inspection—you guessed it—Ethiopia. The recipients were ecstatic. So was Cody.²

Perhaps, more often than not, if we look for the obvious, we will see it every-which-way we turn. And, if we are in tune with God and living in harmony with his will, we will see it.

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, please help me to see the world around me through the eyes of Jesus and be what he would be and do what he would do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:27 (NIV).
2. “Vision—It’s The Tool of The Spirit.” Adapted from John Ortberg, www.willowcreek.org.

For better or for worse—what we believe shapes our lives. This is especially true in what we believe about ourselves.

In life we don’t see (and believe) things the way they are but the way we are. And the way we see things is largely dependent on the way we see ourselves. If we see and believe we are lovable, we will act in a lovable manner and attract love to us. If we believe we are capable and have integrity, we can achieve great and noble goals with our life.

On the other hand, if we believe we are unlovable, we will act accordingly even though it is a lie. That is, we will act in such a way that we will get ourselves rejected, and the thing we fear we will make happen.

I know a man who believes he isn’t very smart because he doesn’t have a university degree, but he is highly intelligent and is very clever. But because he believes his own lie about himself, he has cheated himself of what he could have achieved with his life. I believe in education but a college degree doesn’t make one smart or give one wisdom. There are many brilliant uneducated people and there are many educated fools.

The lies we believe, deceive. As Jesus said so poignantly many years ago, only the truth will set us free. He also said, “According to your faith [what you believe] so be it done to you.”

Suggested prayer, “Dear God, please give me ‘ears to hear’ the lies I tell myself and the ‘eyes to see’ them for what they are—lies! Give me the courage to discard them forever, and so deliver me from their power over me. Help me always to see and the courage to walk the ‘Truth Road.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Matthew 9:29 (NIV).

Some years ago an energetic young man began as a clerk in a hardware store. Like many old-time hardware stores, the inventory included thousands of dollars’ worth of items that were obsolete or seldom called for by customers.

The young man was smart enough to know that no thriving business could carry such an inventory and still show a healthy profit. He proposed a sale to get rid of the stuff. The owner was reluctant but finally agreed to let him set up a table in the middle of the store and try to sell off a few of the oldest items. Every product was priced at ten cents. The sale was a success and the young fellow got permission to run a second sale.

It, too, went over just as well as the first. This gave the young clerk an idea. Why not open a store that would sell only nickel and dime items? He could run the store and his boss could supply the capital.

The young man’s boss was not enthusiastic. “The plan will never work,” he said, “because you can’t find enough items to sell at a nickel and a dime.” The young man was disappointed but eventually went ahead on his own and made a fortune out of the idea. His name was F.W. Woolworth.

Years later his old boss lamented, “As near as I can figure it, every word I used in turning Woolworth down has cost me about a million dollars!”²

One of the age-old killers of enthusiasm is: “It can’t be done.” But if the idea is creative and it comes from God, it can be done! It may not be easy, but it can be done.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if you have planted a good idea in my mind and heart, please give me the courage to go ahead with it regardless of what others think or say, the wisdom to know how to do it, and the zeal to finish it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 12:10-11 (NLT).
2. Cited in Bits and Pieces

Because Daily Encounter has subscribers from around the world, I receive all sorts of requests from people the world over. Every now and then someone wants me to help them come to America to get an education. The best help I can give them is to share how I did it.

In more youthful days—much more youthful—I had a very definite sense of God’s call to Christian work. I also had a strong desire to come to America (the U.S.) to study and get prepared for whatever it was God was calling me to do. I was not smart enough to know that my family was poor, but I did know that there wasn’t any way they could help me. I didn’t have any money either. But I had a will to work. I didn’t ask God to give me the money I needed to get started, but what I did ask God for was to give me the work so I could earn the funds I needed. Wow, the work poured in and I was able to earn enough to pay for my fares and for my first semester at college in the U.S.

In the summer when in Chicago, I drove a CTA city passenger bus in the morning and evening rush hour shifts, painted houses in between these shifts, and at night worked as a janitor in a very large church. I worked seven days a week. I did all sorts of other work (some very menial), too, during the school year. It was never easy and I often had to take any kind of work I could get. But God provided the way and I made it through college and grad school.

How true is the old saying, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Furthermore, it is my personal conviction that if anything is God’s will, there’s always a way to do it. And faith says, “with God’s help I will ‘Carpe Diem’—seize the day and find the way!”

Even today, many years later, I am working a second job part time in order to support myself and keep ACTS gospel ministry operating. But as the Apostle Paul said, “And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry [of telling his Good News to others], we never give up.”²

Is there something you have wanted to do for a long time but have never gotten around to doing? Do you have a sense that God is calling or wanting you to do something but you feel it is impossible right now to do? The best thing to do is just begin … no matter in how small a way. When I wanted to go to grad school for further training for my work, I went to the grad school administration office and told them that I was very interested in their course and wanted to take it, but it was impossible because I had a very sick wife, two young children, a full time ministry and was hopelessly busy, so I’d enroll anyhow. And I did—and completed the course over a five-year period—one day at a time.

Ivan Turgenev said, “If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.” Another has said, “Beginning is half done.” And as God’s Word says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Be sure to stay busy and plant a variety of crops, for you never know which will grow—perhaps they all will.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to discover your plan and purpose for my life and show me how I can be a part of what you are doing in the world today. No matter what it is, give me insight to know what it is and the courage to take the very first step today towards fulfilling this purpose. And thank you for the wonderful privilege of being a part of your plan. Thank you, too, for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ecclesiastes 11:4, 6 (TLB-NLT).
2. 2 Corinthians 4:1 (TLB-NLT).
3. Ecclesiastes 11:4, 6 (TLB-NLT).

Irving is credited with having made the remark that “a barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.” Another way of saying the same thing is that “the race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on running.”

One of the encouraging aspects about God is that you don’t have to be an expert or anything out of the ordinary for him to use you. God uses people just like you and me. Consider, for example, the men Jesus chose to be his disciples: a couple of fishermen, a despised tax gatherer, a thief, and so on.

Jesus himself didn’t attend college or seminary (or the equivalent in his day) but chose as his profession to be a carpenter as was his father, Joseph.

For God to use us, we just need to be available and faithful to his calling, and get adequately trained so we can do the best we can in our service to the Lord. While the disciples weren’t qualified to be disciples when Jesus called them, they spent the next three years being trained by the Master Teacher Par Excellence—the Lord himself.

Remember, it’s better to be a barking dog than a sleeping lion.

What a difference we Christians would make in our family and all our relationships, in our church, and in the world in which we live if we would all pray the following prayer at the beginning of every day: “Dear God, I’m available. Please make me usable and use me today to be as Christ to my family, to someone in need, and in some way to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 1:26–28 (NIV).

When in college … quite a few years ago now … in my ethics class, I learned that if anything is helpful to a person or persons physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially or spiritually, it is right. On the other hand, if anything is harmful to any person or persons (including myself) physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially or spiritually, it is wrong. An even greater standard and the final absolute authority for correct ethics is that which is based on God’s Word, the Bible.

When we consider the Enron and other business debacles, too many athletes taking drug enhancement steroids, manipulating media that add their particular spin to news reports, and some (maybe many) politicians who speak in part-truths that are designed to deceive, we cannot help but wonder about the lack of ethics in today’s world.

In spite of what modern secularists tell us—that people are basically good and with education we will continue to improve, scandals like this have always been with us and always will be because we are sinners. And in a society where we don’t teach the difference between right and wrong, where moral absolutes have been abandoned, where tolerance and not truth is absolute, where political correctness supersedes reality, and where our ethics are based on that which is convenient rather than on what is right and what is wrong, let’s not be surprised when we continue to see fraudulent scandals.

For we who claim to be followers of Jesus, let us be sure to base our ethics regarding what is right and what is wrong on the Word of God, and, with his help, always strive to live in harmony with the principles found therein.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a love for your Word and, as David said, ‘hide it in my heart so I won’t sin against you.’ Help me to establish and live according to ethics based on your Word so that I will never bring shame to your name. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NKJV).

NOTE: Wishing all citizens of the U.S.A. a very happy July 4, the celebration of Independence Day. If you care to read the text of The Declaration of Independence you can do so at http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm

In his book, Peak Performers, Dr. Charles Garfield describes how the astronauts keep their spacecraft on course.

“On their flights between earth and the moon, it was said, the Apollo ships were off course much of the time. In each instance, the spacecraft would wander off its path and the crew would correct—wander off and correct, again and again. And do you now what? It didn’t matter. What mattered were the results. They got to the moon. They got home. They did it by having the discipline and knowledge to get themselves back on course. They followed not a perfect path, but a critical path.”

Whether we’re shooting for the moon, seeking to achieve a better personal or family life, or seeking to obey and serve God, whatever our goals, the principle is the same. There are always unpredictable and unexpected events that call for change and adjustment. Although the astronauts had to be precise in their calculations, they still allowed for mistakes and corrections. The person who doesn’t allow for such adjustments will probably not reach his or her goals. As Garfield said, the critical path is the way to reach any target.

For the Christian, our goal is to obey and serve God and to go on to maturity. We will stumble at times, make mistakes, fail, and hit many a bump in the road. When we fall, however, the important thing is to get up, correct our course and go on. This is the critical path for us.

And as one author reminds us, The bumps are what we climb on!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, every day I commit and trust my life and way to you and commit my life to serving you. Thank you that you are always with me to guide and direct my life and correct any wrong or harmful turns that I might make—to keep me on target with the goals and purpose you have for my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 24:16 (NIV).

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Nature never breaks her own laws.” Fortunately for us it doesn’t. If it weren’t for the law of gravity, for example, the earth wouldn’t stay in its orbit and we’d all fly off into outer space. If we try to break nature’s laws—such as the law of gravity, we can’t. It will break or even kill us!

There are universal moral laws, too, without which our society would fall apart. If we defy these laws, they will also break us, or rather; we will break ourselves against them. Most man-made laws are important too. They make living together possible. Imagine driving on today’s highways without any traffic laws!

There are also laws that govern human development. For example, every child needs considerable nurture, unconditional love, acceptance and approval throughout his developmental years. When this law is violated, so are our children—many of whom are left with broken lives. There are also laws that apply to adult health, happiness, and well-being. Defy, ignore or break these laws and we break ourselves.

God has also given us spiritual laws … not to take away our joy or freedom, but to give us the fullness of life as well as eternal life. We defy these laws to our eternal destruction.

We heed these laws not because we are legalists and have to obey them, but because we want and choose to obey them because we know we need to for our own well-being and that of our loved ones. As the Psalmist wrote, “God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light. God’s laws are pure, eternal, just. They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to understand that all of your laws are for my total well-being—both for this life and for the life to come. Give me the good sense and courage to always live in harmony with your laws so that I will live in harmony with myself, others and you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:7 (TLB).
2. Psalm 19:7–11 (TLB).