There’s more to life than being indispensable.

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the best things my old Dad taught me was not to take myself too seriously; as this little poem says:
Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom.
Sometime, when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room.
Sometime, when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole.
Just follow this simple instruction,
And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it, up to the wrist;
Pull it out; and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.
You may splash all you wish when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore.
But stop; and you’ll find in a minute
That it looks quite the same as before.

The moral is: Be proud of yourself, but remember, there’s more to life than being indispensable.

Posted in Feeling Indispensible, Life's journey, Self Destruction, Taking self too seriously | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Count your garden by the flowers

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Four hundred years ago it was common for churches in England to inscibe on their walls the words ‘Think and Thank’. It was to remind worshipers that the greatest boost for faith is to make yourself count your blessings. There’s an old Italian poem that says:
Count your garden by the flowers
Never by the leaves that fall.
Count your days by golden hours,
Don’t remember clouds at all.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows,
Count your life with smiles, not tears.
And with joy on every birthday,
Count your age by friends, not years.’
Well, it’s true, and I like so many others, have discovered that the surest way to lift myself out of the blues is to discipline myself to count my blessings. Like exercise for the body, this is something we have to make ourselves do. But the blessings far outweigh the effort.

Posted in Blessings, Positive Thoughts, thankfulness, Transformation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

We are the way we think

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The eminent philosopher William James, believed that of all the marvellous discoveries of the modern world the greatest was that people can change their lives by changing their attitudes. We are the way we think, and I am the only person who can ruin my day. If I choose to have a good day, nobody can spoil it, because life is ten percent what happens to us and ninety percent how we respond to it. The opposite is to go through life burdened with anxiety about things that may or may not happen, and allow worry to become the interest we pay on a debt we may never incur.
For two thousand years the Bible has been urging us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our minds’ – quietly doing the will of God, and, thereby, living with the assurance that God is at work in all things for our ultimate good.

Posted in Faith, Fear, Positive Thoughts, Renewed Minds, Spiritual Insight, Transformation, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Happiness is like a butterfly

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The greatest conundrum of modern life is that we don’t become happy by pursuing happiness. Harold Kushner talks about this in his evocatively titled book ‘When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.’ ”You become happy by living a life that means something,’ he says. The happiest people you know are probably not the richest or the most successful, and probably not the ones who spent most time reading the latest books on how to be happy and fulfilled. The happiest people are those who work hard at being honourable, kind and generous people. Some wise person put it this way: ‘Happiness is like a butterfly. Chase it and it will elude you. But turn to other things and you’ll find it gently sitting on your shoulder.’
And those other things are the things that enlarge our spirits, not just our possessions.

Posted in Generous spirit, Happiness, Personal Growth, Spiritual blindness, Spiritual Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Going to church could save your life

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Do you know that twenty percent of fatal accidents happen in cars, and a further sixteen percent happen in buses, trains and aircraft? Furthermore, pedestrians are the victims of fourteen percent of all accidents. But that’s not all, seventeen percent of accidents occur in the home. Of the remaining thirty three percent, thirty two percent of deaths occur in hospitals. All of which may suggest that it is unwise to ride in cars, buses, trains or aircraft, and also unwise to stay at home or go to hospital.
The good news, though, is that only one hundredth of one percent of deaths occur in church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. So, for safety’s sake, go to church as often as possible. It could save your life; not to mention what it might do for your soul!

Posted in Accidents, Attending Church, Church, Security, Soul | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beauty sleep

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Do you know that we spend a third of our lives having no idea of what we are doing? It’s when we are sleeping. We don’t really understand why we sleep except that, if deprived of it for just ten days, we’d die. However, our sleep cycle is never complete until we get a dose of “Rapid Eye Movement” sleep, which means that we are dreaming. We need to sleep and we also need to dream, because without it there’s no rest of body and no refreshment of spirit. Dreaming boosts the immune system and promotes optimal functioning of our nervous, skeletal and muscular systems.
But the real secret to sound sleep is a life that is free from anxiety. That’s why the Bible says to people who have faith: ‘When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.’

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They just don’t get it!

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old legend about a beautiful swan that one day alighted on a lake where a crane was wading around in the shallows searching for snails. The crane looked at the swan in wonder, then asked where it came from. “I come from heaven!” replied the swan. “And what is heaven?” asked the crane. So the beautiful bird went on to describe a realm of unutterable beauty and blessedness. Finally the crane asked: “Are there any snails there?” “No! Of course there are not.” The swan replied. “Well,” said the crane, “You can have your heaven. I want snails!”
How easy it is to forfeit the glory we were created for because we can’t see beyond the little things of this life. It’s what Jesus meant when he talked about people who look, but don’t see; and listen, but don’t hear. They just don’t get it.

Posted in Beauty, Blessedness, Heaven, Spiritual blindness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Depriving sin of its food

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The engineers who built the Panama Canal had to overcome some of the greatest engineering problems of all time; but there was one problem that nearly beat them. It was yellow fever – the disease that killed the workers like flies. Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, but every attempt to kill the mosquitoes failed. Finally someone came up with a ridiculously simple solution. They drained the swamps where the mosquitoes bred, thereby depriving them of their food. Eventually the mosquitoes died out and so did yellow fever.
That same strategy is the only way we rid ourselves of those compulsive behaviours that have us beaten and destroy our lives. The Bible says:’But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to feed sinful desires.’ We may not be able destroy them directly, but we can deprive them of the things they feed on.

Posted in Self-control, Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Enemy Within

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that can be seen from outer space. It was built centuries ago to protect northern China from invasion; and it did so until 1644 when Manchu invaders bribed a gatekeeper to let them through one section. Then, once inside, they wrought havoc on the sleeping defenders and the nation that rested secure behind it. The real weakness turned out not to be the enemy on the outside but the enemy on the inside that let them in.
So it is in our lives. No matter how well we hedge our lives around and how secure we try to make ourselves, if the gatekeepers of our lives can’t be trusted, the rest will probably do us little good and we will become our worst enemies. And those gatekeepers are our conscience and our self control

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Touching the invisible

Posted on July 13, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The capacities of various creatures to connect with their environment is truly amazing. We only perceive thirty percent of the range of the sun’s light, and one seventieth of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy, but many animals do much better. Bats detect insects by sonar; pigeons navigate by magnetic fields; and bloodhounds perceive a world of smell unavailable to us. Perhaps this explains why the spiritual or “unseen” world is clear to some while being hidden to others. It requires an inbuilt capacity that is activated only through some sort of spiritual renewal.
Jesus said, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Perceiving spiritual truth requires the capacity for spiritual discernment. But the good news is that God gives that freely to all who honestly seek it. Remember, Jesus said “Seek and you’ll find.”

Posted in Discernment, Faith, Fingerprints of God, God, Knowing God, Seeing Jesus, Seeking and Finding, Spiritual blindness, Spiritual discernment, Spiritual Insight, Wonder | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment