We are social people and suffer under prolonged isolation. There’s a reason prisons use solitary confinement as a severe form of punishment. But isolation occurs in more insidious ways as well. When we feel hurt, depressed, frustrated, or angry we often act like a wounded animal and crawl off into a hole somewhere by ourselves to lick our wounds. But isolating like this is a dangerous path to walk.
The conscience is an interesting human faculty. It defines the moral code by which a person lives, or at least hopes to live by. As far as I know, everyone has a conscience. But it’s also clear that not everyone lives by the same standard of conscious morality.
Are you struggling with getting older? Someone once said, “As you get older you will understand more and more that it’s not about what you look like or what you own, it’s all about the person you’ve become.”
My feeling is we can’t be afraid of failure. The only way we can grow and mature is to take risks that sometimes end in failure.
Shortly after taking off, the co-pilot guided our craft towards the notorious pass. Within minutes it became very apparent that the limited visibility would not let us proceed. We would’ve been flying blind. Beads of sweat began to pop out on my forehead as the plane became engulfed in clouds.
When I see a football player do his “touchdown dance,” pound his chest, and point to himself after a touchdown, I must wonder. It’s as if he’s saying, “I’m the only one who accomplished this task! I’m the greatest!” Too often our ego gets in the way of recognizing who gave us the opportunity to succeed.
Life sometimes has a way of dealing out circumstances unevenly. Dads and moms often try to balance praise and reward so that each child can feel fulfilled and encouraged. As encouragers we try to be even-handed and fair with our appreciation in order that each child feels equally blessed and loved.
One of my fishing partners had taken his motor home to a state bass fishing competition. In his haste to get some pre-fishing completed, he failed to check the water in his motor home. The half-tank of drinking water had set for many weeks. Giardia had built up in the tank and quickly infected him.
We hunters often get a “bad rap” because of our hobby. Many naively believe that the hunter is to blame for the dwindling populations of many threatened species in our world. On the surface, this may sound logical, but the truth is that the sportsmen have done a great deal to preserve and enhance fish and wildlife resources.
He shut off the car, got out and walked around the vehicle, but not seeing anything wrong, he got back in, started it, and pulled forward very slowly. Then, he felt the right rear end of the car sag and he knew immediately that the wheel had come off!
There’s something about strolling along a quiet beach that brings calm — an escape from the struggles and challenges of life. With a passion for excellence in any career comes the need to keep balanced as well. Christ regularly took time for solitude with His Heavenly Father. Throughout Scripture we see how God meets man in the “quiet places” of His creation.
In December 1958, the powerful New York Giants clashed with the Baltimore Colts and a young quarterback, Johnny Unitas, pushing the game into the NFL’s first-ever overtime. It was perhaps the most exciting football game ever played!
For most of my life I’ve had a hard time accepting compliments too. Just saying, “Thanks,” seemed vain. If a friend paid for lunch, I protested, making a mental note to reciprocate. Plain and simple, I’ve had a hard time receiving love.
Just about the time Les estimated that his grandson had reached the other side of the trees, he looked up and saw a huge Kodiak brown bear at the top of the hill above his grandson on the other side of the trees! The bear had evidently spotted his grandson and took off down the hill toward him.
In James 2, James introduces us to two kinds of faith. The one faith is a superficial faith. It’s the kind of faith to expect when we hear someone say, “I believe there’s a God.” The second kind of faith that James talks about is genuine faith. James first offers the example of Abraham to demonstrate the link between faith and action.