93a – The Ugly, Undisputed Queen
Think a minute…When she was born in the European nation of Hungary in 1874, Kincsem did not look like a champion racehorse. In fact, she so lacked the strong features of a winner that her owner immediately sold her.
Kincsem became the new owner’s least valuable horse, so he put her in the smallest, darkest stall at the end of the stable. A few nights later a small gang of gypsies stole Kincsem. The thieves were caught and the horse returned to her owner. He asked the gypsy leader why they had chosen to steal Kincsem, since it had the lowest value of all his 59 beautiful racehorses? The gypsy chief answered: “Horses, like people, do not have to be beautiful to be great.”
Interestingly, Kincsem’s name means, My Fortune. Yet her size and features were not right for a race horse, especially her skinny hind legs. But in June of 1876, as a two-year-old she ran her first race…and won. No one was more surprised than her owner. Two weeks later she raced and won again!
Strangely, Kincsem started every race in last place. In those days they did not have starting gates, and she always stood lazily behind the starting line and did not begin running until the other horses were already racing down the track. Then she would shoot from the starting line, kick in to high gear, and pass them all to win!
Eventually, Kincsem was entered to run against the winner of the German Derby, Europe’s biggest horse race. Ten thousand people watched in wonder as this ugly, skinny mare beat bigger, stronger stallions. There had never been a champion like this before…nor since. Incredibly, Kincsem won every race she ran as a two-year-old, and also as a three-year-old! In fact, to our knowledge, no race horse in history has ever equaled Kincsem’s lifetime record. In 54 major races, she won every single race! This unwanted, skinny mare became the Queen of the Sport of Kings. One of the ugliest horses ever born became the greatest horse that ever lived with the most wins.
Maybe you have felt rejected or disrespected. But the One Who created you values you as His unique masterpiece who is as important as any other person in the world. Others may see what appear to be your seeming weaknesses, but He sees your special strengths. He loves you the way He made you. He does not want you to look like or be like anyone else. He designed you with your own special personality, abilities, and appearance. If you ask Him to take charge of your heart and character, Jesus will help you fully become the one-of-a-kind man or woman He made you to be. Just think a minute…
93b – Happiness: Mood or Mode? (Part 1)
Think a minute…The extremely wealthy David Geffen was asked if now that he is a billionaire is he happy? He laughed and answered: “Anyone who believes money makes you happy does not have money.” Rich people around the world will tell you that just having heaps of money alone cannot make you happy. In fact, it often brings you more worries and relationship problems. It’s a fact of life: “Happiness is not in things, it’s in us.”
The realities of life are basically the same for happy and unhappy people. People who are truly happy do not have a magic button to get them out of problems and pain. They just use everything that happens in their lives to make themselves better, stronger, wiser, and more satisfied.
“The happiest people are those who have no particular reason for being happy other than they have chosen to be.”They do not wait for events or other people to make them happy. Happiness is not your mood, it’s your mode of operating every day. Your way of life. Your way of thinking, loving, and giving to others. It’s your way of working, playing, helping, laughing, relaxing, and enjoying each moment of life that you’re given.
In computer language, what is your life’s “operating system”? How do you process and respond to people and experiences that come in to your life each day? Do you see all the possibilities and purposes for your life? Do you daily focus on the good or the bad?
To have happiness, you must have the “attitude of gratitude”. A recent study showed that people who daily write down three good things in their life they’re grateful for, for just one week, are happier and healthier for six months to a year! Just by daily counting your blessings one-by-one.
Victor Frankl survived Auschwitz, the horrifying Nazi death camp where his pregnant wife was murdered. He said: “Nazis can take everything from me—including my life—but they can never take away my choice to be happy.”
Won’t you make that life-changing choice to be a happy person today and every day of your life? Ask the Giver of life and happiness to take charge of your heart and way of living? Only God the Son can guarantee your lasting satisfaction, joy, and peace that no one can take away from you. Just think a minute…
93c – Happiness: Mood or Mode? (Part 2)
Think a minute…“Some people cause happiness wherever they go—others whenever they go.”Ask yourself: “Are people happier when they see me coming or going?” The only way to get happiness is to give it to others. The miracle of love is the more you give the more you have. “Joy shared becomes joy doubled.” It’s like perfume: you can’t pour it on others without getting some of it on yourself.
Happiness only comes to those who give themselves to a purpose greater than just their own personal happiness.It’s a fact that we get less and less satisfaction the more we take for ourselves. It’s called the Law of Diminishing Returns. But people who celebrate life each day learn to see and experience joy in the simplest experiences; so their capacity for happiness just keeps growing.
Happiness in life is made up of small, yet mighty and meaningful moments: the little kindnesses of a smile, a sincere compliment, a tender touch, heartfelt encouragement, or forgiveness to someone who needs it. “Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully.” The only way to find real life is to give it away. A young man who died tragically in his 20’s after desperately searching for happiness, simply wrote: “Happiness not shared is not real.”
But to give yourself you must be yourself—and no one else. After all, everybody else is taken! It’s not possible to be happy until you learn to be who you were made to be.Remember, no one else can be you as well as you can. To be somebody, you must first be yourself. “To find yourself, you must first find the One Who created you.” The great news is He’s as close as a prayer away. He’s just been waiting for you to come home to Him, and let Him take charge of the life He gave you.
Remember, living your own way will only end up breaking your heart and happiness. That is why Jesus desperately wants to enable you to become all He designed and made you to be. Won’t you ask Him to forgive you for your self-centered, sinful living, and to take control of your heart? Only then can you start living His way, and start enjoying real, lasting happiness that becomes your daily mode of living—not just a passing mood or moment. Just think a minute…
93d – Saved in the Storm
Think a minute…In England during the 1700’s, it was fairly common for boys to spend several months in boarding school before heading out to sea. This is what happened with John. He was 11-years-old when his father, a master of a trade ship in the Mediterranean, took John on the journey with him.
This prepared John for his service in the British Navy. Yet sadly, while John learned his skills of sailing from his father, he did not learn self-control and discipline. John was soon arrested, publicly whipped, and demoted to just a common sailor for deserting his duty on ship.
Later, while still a teenager, John sailed on a ship bound for Africa. By now, young John was wilder than ever. He did not choose his friends wisely and continued to sink deeper into immoral, uncontrolled living.
In Africa, John ended up in the service of a slave dealer. The slave trade attracted John as a profitable business and way to get rich. However, before he knew it, John was put to work on the dealer’s plantation laboring with the other slaves.
Finally, at age 21, John escaped on a ship called the Greyhound, where he continued his wild living. He again chose the wrong friends who mocked and made fun of the God-worshipping sailors on board, including the captain.
One night, John’s ship, the Greyhound, was caught in a violent storm. The boat’s side caved in and it began to sink as the water came flooding in. One of the sailors yelled, “We’re all going to die!” At that moment, for the first time in John’s life, he prayed and cried out to God: “Lord, have mercy on us!”
Amazingly, the ship did not sink! John never forgot it. In fact, God’s mercy that night in the storm not only saved John, but so completely changed him for the rest of his life that he wrote a song about it, which is sung by millions around the world today: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found—was blind, but now I see!”
John Newton’s song and story can become yours too, because God is offering His full, free gift of forgiveness and new life to you today. Won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for your wrong heart and sinful living?If you give Him complete charge of your heart and life, He can start changing you into the man or woman He created you to be. Just think a minute…
93e – Grace to Change
Think a minute…The statesman and financer Cecil Rhodes who started his world-famous Rhodes Scholarships was also known for being a fine dresser. He once invited a young man to his home for dinner. This guest traveled far by train, so he arrived just in time to go directly to Rhodes’ home in his wrinkled, travel-stained clothes. When he got there, he was embarrassed to see all the other guests wearing their finest evening clothes. But the host, Rhodes, suddenly disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.
A few moments later Rhodes returned wearing a shabby old blue suit. The young man later learned that his host, the distinguished Mr. Rhodes, had been dressed in a formal evening tuxedo. But when he heard of his guest’s embarrassment, he slipped away to change into an old suit. Grace is doing whatever it takes to make a person feel accepted.
A passenger on a train was in the dining car looking over the lunch menu. The list included both a chicken sandwich and a chicken salad sandwich. He decided to get the chicken salad sandwich, but mistakenly wrote chicken sandwich on the order slip. When the waiter brought the chicken sandwich, the customer became angry. Instead of showing the customer his order slip that proved he was the one who made the mistake, the waiter kindly returned the chicken sandwich and brought the customer a chicken salad sandwich.
Later, the customer picked up his order slip and saw that he had been wrong, not the waiter. He apologized and offered to pay for both sandwiches; but the waiter said nicely: “It’s no problem, sir. I’m glad you ended up with the sandwich you wanted.”
Even though the waiter knew he was right and the customer was wrong, he was gracious enough to unfairly take the blame first, allowing the customer to see his own mistake—and hopefully in the future to be humbler and slower to judge others. That is the power of grace to change our heart.
The Bible says: “God’s kindness leads us to repent and change.” The Creator of the universe showed us His amazing grace and kindness by humiliating Himself and becoming a human being to pay the penalty for all our sinful pride, rebellion, and wrong living. Won’t you ask Him to forgive you, and then to start changing everything in your heart and life according to His gracious, wonderful plan for you? Just think a minute…