CHAPTER 1
Five to Help You Thrive
A woman of faith placed the following sign over her kitchen sink: divine worship conducted here three times daily. To her, the mundane had become miraculous, and all her daily work, worship.
Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but by applying five simple principles it's possible.
1. Rise thankfully. "Are you having a good day?" I asked a bank teller. "This morning I was able to place my feet on the floor," she replied, breaking into a smile. I couldn't help but smile back! Each morning when we rise, we choose to either be grateful or grumpy, pouting over yesterday's problems or praising God that we're alive and able to live another day.
2. Pray expectantly. Since many who pray don't truly expect answers to their prayers, they keep fretting over their problems even after they've talked to God. According to the Bible, we can pray and believe and receive — or pray and doubt and go without (James 1:6–7).
3. Speak kindly. Kind words flow from kind hearts. Knowing this, the psalmist prayed for the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart to both be acceptable to God (Ps. 19:14).
4. Forgive quickly. It is by God's grace that we've been saved, and nothing is more characteristic of God than forgiveness. If He can forgive us instantaneously, then we can forgive others quickly.
5. Work worshipfully. Some work only to make a living; others find real meaning in their work by making it an experience in worship. One of the greatest discoveries in life is learning that our walk with God is not limited to one day a week or one place that seems "worshipful."
The next time a friend extends a hand, saying "Give me five," recall these "Five to Help You Thrive" and keep applying them to your life.
Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24)
Leaving That Old Baggage Behind
Satchel Paige, the baseball diamond philosopher of another era, gained national recognition with his rules for successful living. The most frequently quoted of these was "Don't look back. Something may be gaining on you."
Paul the apostle agreed, saying he had decided to forget things of the past that might hold him back, choosing instead to reach forward to the challenges before him. He wanted to make the most of his future and knew this would be impossible if he allowed past mistakes to monopolize his mind and emotions.
We can forget what God has forgiven.
Forgiveness erases all guilt, assuring a clean slate for all our tomorrows, placing the past forever behind us and turning away all accusing fingers, hopefully including our own. Why should we live with guilt over past sins when we have asked the Lord to forgive them? He has promised to forgive those who confess their sins to Him (1 John 1:9) and this should settle the question.
Leaving our failings behind requires faith. We don't know what the future holds, but we can know the One who holds the future. This kind of confidence in God will enable us to break free from regrets about the past and focus on the opportunities the future is sure to bring.
Many waste their lives looking back and ever longing for an instant replay of the past so they can make adjustments. They'd like to rewind and restart life to get a better education, enter a different field of business or employment, marry a different wife or husband, even refuse to move to the area where they now find themselves.
Looking back weighs us down with guilt and despair.
Looking up to the forgiving One enables us to leave that old bad baggage behind.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward ... (Phil. 3:13)
The Greatest Time of Your Life
Why not resolve to make these your greatest days? They can be!
But for this to be true, you may have to change your definition of greatness.
Unless you resist the culture's call, you'll find yourself being influenced by those who associate greatness with getting. If this happens, your waking hours will revolve around what you can accumulate. Your main purpose in life will be to gather as much money and property as possible; you'll spend yet another year as a junk collector.
A man I was counseling had just discovered he had a terminal illness and shared his feelings about life with me. "It's been deceiving," he said.
This successful businessman had spent his entire life in getting and now had little time to enjoy his wealth. He had carefully kept his life for himself, but lost it. There had been no time set aside to worship God and precious little to enjoy his family. Now he had only a short time left to live and there was no way to call back those wasted years. The real purpose of life had eluded him.
The one who spends his or her life gathering temporary trophies to impress others will ultimately be disappointed. Focusing on gaining wealth and popularity to the exclusion of the real and lasting values of life produces inward poverty. It is the giver who gains, the investor who draws interest, the person of faith who moves mountains.
Not all the blessings of giving are received in this life. A message on a weathered old gravestone in an English cemetery says, "What I spent, I had. What I saved, I lost. What I gave, I have." Wise ones give their hearts to God and their hands to serving others. Embracing these great goals could make these your greatest days.
"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matt. 10:39)
Forgive the One You Love
"I can never forgive her."
Those harsh words came from a man who was so angry at his wife that he thought their marriage was over.
Once he had spoken to her in a romance language. Now his speech was vitriolic, bitter, loveless — a collective climate that pervades too many homes. No wonder marriage breakups have become one of our most prevalent problems.
What is the cure for this epidemic?
Forgiveness.
But how can we forgive when we have been hurt so deeply by wounding words, attitudes, or acts of those we love? Power to forgive comes from realizing that we have been forgiven. And both our own forgiveness and the ability to forgive others are results of responding to God's love.
"I just can't forgive her," the wounded husband repeated, as I searched for words that would rescue this marriage.
"No, you can't," I finally answered, "unless you are willing to forgive as you have been forgiven." Since God has forgiven us, we can forgive others.
Forgiveness erases all guilt, assuring a clean slate for the future. It places the past behind us forever and turns away all accusing fingers.
Yet you may not feel forgiven. The magnitude of your sin looms large night and day. You confess the same sin again and again, yet it meets you when you awake in the morning and is often your final thought at night. You would give all you own to go back and relive one regrettable hour, but that is impossible.
What can you do? Believe the promises of the Bible concerning forgiveness. Someone has said, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
And the one you love isn't perfect — just in need of your forgiveness.
Allow God's love to take away the pain you're both feeling.
Forgive — as you have been forgiven.
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
(Matt. 6:12)
What You and George Washington Have in Common
On April 21, 1891, a three-day auction began to sell a remarkable collection of George Washington relics. Among these items was a letter from the former president to his brother, John, dated July 18, 1755, in which he described his survival of a hail of French musket fire in battle.
Imagine John Washington's reaction when he read the following in his brother's letter: "I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses were shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me."
Obviously, George Washington was spared for good reasons. The American Revolution was ahead, and he was to play a major role in it. For one thing, he would be the praying leader at Valley Forge; at war's end, as president, he was called "father" of the newborn infant republic. He was spared because he had important work to do.
So do you.
Each of us has been miraculously spared from death many times. We who are alive have all escaped while death has been leveling others about us. Some of these narrow escapes are programmed into our memories. Some we don't even know about.
During his presidency, George Washington wrote that it would pain him to believe that Americans would fail to consider the power of the God "who alone is able to protect them."
We have all been protected from dangers that could have taken our lives. How should we then live? The psalmist said it well: "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Ps. 90:12).
It is always wise to seek God's will, and do it!
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him. (Ps. 37:23–24)
When You Think God Is Against You
"All things are against me."
Those were the words of the patriarch Jacob, and considering what he'd been through, his faithless lament is understandable. Joseph, his son, had disappeared years earlier, and this grieving father was convinced he had been killed by a wild animal.
Another son, Simeon, was being held hostage in Egypt, where he had gone with his brothers for food to sustain their families through the famine that was devastating their homeland. Now some high Egyptian official was demanding that Jacob send his youngest son, Benjamin, on the next trip for food in order to secure Simeon's release.
What else could go wrong?
Perhaps that's how you feel today.
All you feared has come upon you, and Jacob's calamity strikes close to home. But of course this distressed father was wrong; all things weren't against him. Actually, the opposite was true. In short order, he'd see long-lost Joseph again and benefit from the wisdom in Joseph's statement of brotherly forgiveness: "You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good ... to save many people alive" (Gen. 50:20).
During my teens, I discovered Romans 8:28, a New Testament echo of Joseph's words. "You've chosen a difficult verse to live by," said my pastor. And I couldn't imagine what he was talking about. It seemed easy to accept that God loved me and would arrange the events in my life to my advantage. Later, after living through times that tested my faith, I saw this was not as easy as it seemed. True, but not easy.
A pastor once visited a farmer and saw a sign on his weathervane that said, "God Is Love." "Do you mean that God's love is as changeable as the weather?" asked the pastor. "No," replied the farmer, "I mean God loves me no matter which way the wind blows."
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28)
Little Things Matter a Lot
Stepping up to the counter of an outdoor restaurant in California, I ordered a glass of milk. When the server brought my order, her casual comment took me by surprise: "You might want to taste this first; we're not too sure about it."
How could she be so relaxed about offering me a glass of milk she had doubts about?
"If you're not sure about it, I don't want it," I replied.
Not to be denied her sale and still at ease about the whole matter, the waitress picked up the glass, took a sip, and this time confidently set it before me. "It's fine," she said.
It wasn't fine enough for me, even after her taste test. Why? Because I was directly affected. And some things we take lightly may matter a lot to others because they are affected in real or perceived ways that may not occur to us.
The members of the church at Corinth had a problem. Food that had been offered to idols was available to the public at reduced prices. But would that bargain be too costly in other ways?
Paul, their friend and faith-builder, settled the matter for them. "We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one," he wrote (1 Cor. 8:4). But then he explained that not everyone understood the real issue, so it would be better to abstain from eating this cut-rate food for the sake of believers whose conscience is weak (vv. 9–13).
A man I know still winces at the pain and disappointment he felt when, as a teen, he heard an angry leader of his church using profanity. The damning deacon was unaware of the lasting wounds he was inflicting on the boy standing nearby.
Being careful costs. But believers who are willing to pay the price in little things will avoid wounding tender hearts and their consistent examples may turn others to God.
Beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. (1 Cor. 8:9)
Great Gifts for Our Children
Since my daily radio broadcast, books, and weekly newspaper column penetrate prison walls, I frequently receive letters from prisoners. One of these was so moving it has remained unforgettable.
The writer, a twenty-seven-year-old convict, told of spending many years behind bars for a variety of offenses. Writing from solitary confinement because of trouble he had caused in the prison, he admitted reading one of my books only because there was nothing else available. His story was a heartbreaker.
Like many chronic offenders, this troubled young writer had grown up the child of alcoholic parents. By the time he reached seventh grade, he was hooked on alcohol and other drugs, and dropped out of school.
"My mom and dad really had bad drinking problems," he wrote. "In 1971, Mom shot Dad point-blank in the chest; that was the last time I cried." His tearless cry for help still haunts me.
While this inmate's plight may seem extreme, it demonstrates how vital it is that parents provide examples of trusting God in tough times instead of blaming each other when things go wrong. Kindness, not conflict, builds faith among family members.
According to the Bible, the love-climate of every marriage should illustrate the love of God for us. Our children should be able to learn about God's love for them by seeing the affection of their parents for each other (Eph. 5:22–33). Anger destroys love. Encouragement amplifies it.
I once heard a man tell my father he was going to ruin me by his frequent praise of my work on the farm. But Dad was no dummy. He knew the more praise I received, the harder I worked. Families that build one another up are continually creating memories that make the past pleasant and the future hopeful.
Let's not wait for birthdays or Christmas to give our children the best gifts of all: memories of affection instead of anger, praise instead of putdowns . . . every day.
"How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:11)
The Seven Last Words
The children of a woman nearing the end of life were gathered around her hospital bed, listening to her final, faint whispers. Standing with them, I sensed their sorrow and the significance of the moment as each strained to hear their mother's last words.
While last words of loved ones are often treasured and remembered by family members, none are as well-known as those seven last "words" of Jesus on the cross:
1. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
2. "Today you will be with Me in Paradise."
3. "Woman, behold your son! . . . Behold your mother!"
4. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
5. "I thirst."
6. "It is finished."
7. "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."
The first of these passion pronouncements reveals that forgiveness is available and teaches us that we can forgive all who wrong us. The second offered comfort to a dying criminal who chose faith while others doubted. The third word, spoken to Mary and John, reminds us of the importance of family.
The fourth word from the cross may be the most mysterious. It spoke of Jesus's separation from God on our behalf, that we might never be separated from Him. It described the agony of One forsaken, that those who believe might never be forsaken. The fifth word revealed the humanity of Christ. He understands our pain and gives us grace to endure it.
