86a – Work Till You Win
Think a minute…One day in 1894, Guglielmo returned to his room on the third floor of his parents’ house. He had spent several months reading books and filling notebooks with detailed drawings and diagrams. Now it was time to work at bringing those drawings from paper into practical inventions to use in real life.
He got up early every morning and worked all day until late at night. In fact, his mother began to seriously worry about his health. He worked so long and hard every day, barely stopping to eat or sleep, that he continued losing weight.
Finally, the day came when he announced to his family that he was ready to show them what he had been working tirelessly to build. They climbed the stairs to his room on the third floor. Guglielmo pushed a button which rang a bell down on the first floor. His mother was amazed and proud of her son. But his father was not! He saw no value or use in being able to send a signal only a short distance. So, Guglielmo kept on working.
Little by little he made changes in his invention to send a signal from one hill to the next, and then beyond the hill. Eventually, through his perspiration and perseverance, his invention was perfected.
Guglielmo Marconi became famous as the inventor of wireless telegraphy, which started the technology for the invention of radio. Marconi not only received the Nobel Prize in physics, but also a respected position in the Italian senate and many honorary degrees.
Someone said: “The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom.”That’s why, “You gotta work it to win it.” You can accomplish nearly anything—if you commit your heart and life to it by combining your vision with hard work. Your dream plus diligence and determination will keep you working till you win. But there is just one Person who can help you win at living the right, best dream for your life—and that is the Inventor of you. If you will give Jesus your heart and life, He will give you the guidance and power to keep working each day to reach your potential—and to have all the success He designed you to enjoy and use for others. Just think a minute…
86b – Master Plan
Think a minute…Ben Banneker was a respected Black American scholar who became a brilliant mathematician, designer, and engineer. In fact, Ben was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State to a top team of engineers to design the master plan of a modern city. The group of international engineers was led by French architect Charles L’Enfant. L’Enfant’s grand plan was to be used for this modern masterpiece that included both artistic beauty and the latest technology in transportation and communication.
Unfortunately, for this genius architect L’Enfant, he soon was accused of trying to control the plan for his own purposes. Before the land had even been surveyed, the chief engineer and architect chose to return to France, taking the American government’s plans with him.
With their city plans gone, the U.S. Secretary of State called an emergency meeting of all the city commissioners and engineers, including Ben Banneker. In the meeting, Ben shocked them all by assuring them that he had thoroughly studied L’Enfant’s plans and Ben was quite certain he could remember every detail.
At first, the committee did not believe that anyone could keep in their mind all the complex designs and drawings of an entire large city! To memorize the architectural details of just one building would be amazing enough. But Ben began to precisely draw all of the original plans he still had in his mind. That beautiful modern city was built entirely from Ben’s memory, which Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson had put his trust in. In fact, you may have even visited this city. For the plans that Ben Banneker carried in his mind were for Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.
Did you know that your Maker has a brilliant and beautiful master plan for your life? He’s just been waiting for you to come home to Him, so you can follow His master plan as you start building the life He made for you to fully live and experience. Once and for all, won’t you ask Jesus to take charge and begin changing your mind and heart? Then you can start living the true, best life He custom-designed for you to enjoy. Just think a minute…
86c – The Right Motivation
Think a minute…A school teacher was complaining about a little boy in her class who was not showing any interest in learning. She said, “David will not do his school work. He’s not even motivated to try!” But that same boy David will jump out of bed early in the morning to go fishing or play with his friends. He just needs the right motivation.
Everyone can be motivated. Just watch people leaving work every Friday. Even at the end of a long week of labor, they still have plenty of motivation and energy for parties and pleasure that evening and throughout the weekend.
Maybe you had a school teacher who motivated you by making a certain subject interesting and exciting. He or she inspired and gave you the desire to learn. They explained things so you could clearly understand—and as a result you did much better in that teacher’s class than you did in other classes.
We parents are our children’s most important teachers. We are the main ones responsible to motivate our children, so they want to learn to succeed and become their best in life. But to do that we cannot just tell our kids with words alone; we must also show them that we believe in them. We must spend time watching and listening to our children, so we can help them know what their natural talents are. Then we need to encourage them in that area so they can fully develop their own special abilities—whether it’s academics in school, business, social skills and relating to people, working with their hands, music, sports, or whatever they naturally excel at and enjoy.
You and I can motivate our children by always loving and accepting them without conditions, no matter what they do. We must understand the difference between approval and acceptance. Even when we do not approve of everything they do, our kids need to know that we still always accept and love them. Then when our children do something well and right, we need to encourage and motivate them to become more confident.
Maybe you yourself never had someone who motivated you to become your best. But today, if you’ll ask Jesus to take charge of your heart with His real love and power, He can start changing your life. He wants to show you the special abilities He gave you. He will also help you fully develop them. As you become your best, you can share His love by encouraging and motivating others to become their best. Just think a minute…
86d – Charge What You’re Worth
Think a minute…The famous car manufacturer Henry Ford was the first to use the assembly line in his factory for mass production. His company built and sold hundreds of cars every day. Then one day the big generator that produced all the electricity for Ford’s factory suddenly stopped working. The entire factory shut down, costing Ford a massive amount of money.
He quickly called one of the nation’s top engineers to come fix it. The expert engineer soon arrived and began examining and tinkering with the big generator. After only one hour, the engineer had found the problem and fixed it! Immediately Ford’s factory began making cars, and money, again.
A few days later Ford received the bill in the mail from that top engineer for fixing Ford’s factory generator. The bill was $10,000! Ford could not believe how expensive it was, so he called the engineer on the phone. He said: “Excuse me, sir! Isn’t $10,000 rather high for just one hour of tinkering?” The engineer replied: “Mr. Ford, I’m charging you $10 for my one hour of tinkering, and $9,990 for knowing WHERE to tinker!” Ford answered: “I guess you’re right.” Ford gladly paid the engineer his $10,000.
People usually accept your own estimate of yourself. They give you the same worth that you give yourself. So don’t sell yourself short. I’m not saying we should be full of pride, thinking we are better than other people. But if you have special abilities, training, or experience in a certain skill, then you have reason to be confident in your work and charge what you’re worth—whether it be with computers, sales, carpentry, construction, business, farming, teaching, music, etc.
Obviously, the One Who really knows your abilities is the One Who gave them to you. In fact, no matter what the world says your value is, your real worth comes from how much your Maker paid for you. God Himself paid for you with His own life. Jesus said He became a human being to die for all your sins, so you could choose not to be separated from Him and live alone forever in terrible suffering and guilt. Today, won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for all of your wrong living and sins, and to become the Lord of every area of your life. It’s only then you can start learning your true worth from your Creator and Savior. Just think a minute…
86e – The Miracle is in the Mix
Think a minute…A little boy named John was watching his mother bake a cake. She put all the ingredients on the table: flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, and vanilla. When his mother was not looking, little John sneaked a taste of each ingredient. However, they tasted bad by themselves! Then he watched his mother mix all the ingredients together and put it into the oven to bake. That night after John enjoyed two big pieces of the cake, he said: “Wow! How can mixing all those BAD-tasting things make such a GOOD cake?”His mother smiled and answered: “The magic is in the mix!”
Sooner or later bad things happen to all of us. Maybe you did not get that job or promotion you deserved; or someone in your family suddenly became seriously sick or was terribly injured in an accident. It’s a fact: Life is a series of problems. But quite often, “Trouble can be the first path to truth.” In fact, our problems can give us our most valuable and treasured lessons for life. So, “Don’t give up, simply grow up.”But it takes a truly teachable, humble, and strong person to suffer wisely.
Everybody suffers, but not everybody grows better from it. We need to learn how to profit from our pain, and understand that there is a purpose behind every problem—a kind of magic or “miracle in the mix.”
Each day of our life is a training course on how to become the person you were created to be. If you give God control of your life, you cannot lose. No matter what happens to you, His inner peace and power enables you to grow stronger and wiser from everything life throws at you. So, you actually learn how to “suffer successfully.” We face challenges every day in the classroom of our life, with the greatest Teacher in the world. But usually, “We humans don’t know God is all we need until He’s all we’ve got.” He is the only One who can masterfully mix all of your life’s experiences together, both good and bad, to produce a truly successful, satisfying life. Since you were created an eternal soul and person, you have to live with yourself forever—long after your short life here is over. But you must first put your life in God’s hands every day, before He can start blending together everything in your life for your lasting happiness and good. Won’t you ask Him right now to take charge of your heart and life so He can get started? Just think a minute…