I’ve been through some uneasy work situations where it seemed that people were against me and there was no recourse, no where to take my complaint. I felt alone, like the penguin in the picture.
My situation is pretty insignificant compared to Christian martyrs of the past, believers who suffered because of their faith in Christ. The New Testament, particularly the book of Acts gives several examples of persecution against Christians and how God gave them a fearlessness as they put their trust in Him.
The trial and crucifixion of Jesus is one of the most extreme examples of enemies proudly attacking a person because of their faith. On the cross, we see the most horrible picture of “what flesh can do” to a person. With complete trust in God and confidence in the Word, Jesus was not afraid, and because of that we have salvation through his sacrifice.
Dear Lord, Help me to not be afraid of circumstances, but to put my trust in you and your Word. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 56 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
I’ve been so sick on occasion that I didn’t feel like doing anything. I didn’t even want to sit up and read because my eyes were sore. Sickness, grief, depression and other afflictions can get us down to where it feels like our soul clings to the dust, and our soul melts from heaviness, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:25. We feel like a desert wasteland, as shown in the image. Nothing is growing, nothing is green.
It’s amazing what a little medication can do for the body. A friend can come alongside to share the grief, or offer an encouraging word to help lift the heaviness of our heart. Rain in the desert can bring out beautiful blossoms and colors.
The Psalmist also asks for God’s help. “Quicken me” he says, “Make me understand the way of Your precepts” he prays. Once we start thinking about it we can begin to meditate on his wondrous works and offer the Lord praise for his grace and kindness toward us.
The passage continues: “Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law graciously.” God’s word or law is our help and comfort.
Dear Lord, when our body is sick or our soul is heavy, please help us to turn to your word. Let it revive us, strengthen us and comfort us. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 119 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes KJV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
I’m trying to think of times when I was excited about going somewhere. Perhaps a graduation ceremony for one of my kids. I enjoy going to ball games and concerts. A weekend campout is lots of fun.
The anticipation of going somewhere special is a great feeling, isn’t it? When you get there, you are among other people that are as excited as you. Like the penguins in the picture, everyone is headed in the same direction, moving toward the event.
In Psalm 122, the Psalmist expresses gladness in anticipation of going to the house of the Lord. Is it because of the great music, special programs or preaching? Actually, it’s a time to draw near to God as a group of believers. It’s a time to grow more secure in our faith.
Dear Lord, help me to anticipate with gladness the time when I will go to the house of the Lord. Let my visits be frequent, and let my love for you grow as I worship you in the congregation. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 122 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Will RogersThe U.S. Navy is the most powerful force on the oceans of the world. Not only that, but if you look at the Navy website, you will find that it is also the most mobile, effective and efficient humanitarian force in the world.
Think back to tsunami’s, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters in the costal areas of the world. Within a couple of days there is an aircraft carrier and other vessels providing security and aid to the people directly affected. The Navy also has two hospital ships deployed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans for just such disasters, and they are on-station quickly for longer term medical support.
In this October 30, 1930 quote, Will Rogers makes his point as delicately as ever. Just because you haven’t used your life insurance, and it cost money, doesn’t mean you should drop it because you aren’t dead!
Cut back our Naval defenses, in order to save some money, to the point where they can no longer be effective in a dangerous world, and someone will challenge us. I just hope people don’t have to die to find out!
The image of Will Rogers taken in his later years was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
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How could one man be gifted with so much talent and energy? Follow Will as he travels across America and the world. He worked and starred with all the performing legends of his day. He was friends with famous aviators, influential politicians, and the most wealthy people in the world. He met with Presidents. Yet through it all, he never forgot his humble Oklahoma roots and people loved him for it.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. The story of his life will inspire you and you’ll weep as you read of his untimely death in 1935.
There will never be another Will Rogers, but his legacy lives on through his quotes and the work of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, OK. How many of us would like to say with Will Rogers: “I never met a man I didn’t like?”
Give the gift of Will Rogers and watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
For whatever reason we don’t seem to take notice of problems until they become a crisis. Government seems to be especially bad about this, and the news media knows that crisis headlines sell.
Will Rogers makes a great observation with this quote. In fact, sometimes it seems that the government prohibits putting out the fire and then proceeds to throw gasoline on it – remember the subprime mortgage disaster?
The image in this iPhone screenshot comes from Rogers’ movie “An Unwilling Hero.” I love that hat!
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Don’t you wish you could be like the sea otter in the picture? Not a care in the world. Even catching food looks like a game for these fun-loving creatures.
Burdens come in many forms, relationships, financial, school work, pressure at the job, child rearing, and many others. They stick to us like Velcro to felt, and in many cases, we learn to live with them.
Suppose you are a busy housewife with a couple of toddlers at home. Exhausted, you answer the door, and a friend offers to watch the kids and pick up the house so you can get some rest. Later, you wake refreshed and find the house clean and the kids happy. Your friend took your burden willingly and gladly.
What relief, what joy, when the burden is cast away! We are not alone, gentle reader. We can cast our burden on the Lord, and He will sustain us. We can put our trust in Him.
Dear Lord, Help me to cast my burden upon you, the cares and worries of this life that weigh me down. Most importantly, lift the burden of sin from my life, that I might know you and trust you more each day. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 55 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Have you ever been excited about something? I just received my new iPhone 4 in the mail the other day, and the anticipation of opening the package and using my new phone got my heart racing. Only a geek would understand!
All of us have our passions – things that set our hearts to racing in anticipation. Spurgeon reminds us in this quote that our love for God should excite us as well, and it should impact everything we do.
The beautiful image of frost on the trees in winter fits well with Spurgeon’s final thought. We should make God our only object – we need to focus on Him so that our zeal would not grow cold. I’ve got a long way to go, but I thank God for the help of His Spirit.
I hope you have been blessed by this quote from Charles Spurgeon and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Matching the image and quote adds quite a bit to the meaning of the selected verse. The geese flying against the beautiful sunset conveys the natural beauty of this world and God’s majesty. It should remind us of his protection as a shield. It should also remind us to walk uprightly.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 19 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ASV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
A group of students from Taylor University were in Egypt for the spring semester, but their stay was cut short by the recent unrest. One of the young ladies is a friend of our family, and we followed the situation closely. We prayed for her safety as Americans were evacuated from Cairo, and the group was finally able to flee to Turkey.
The unrest in Egypt made it dangerous for foreigners and religious groups to stay. Innocent people had been killed at their place of worship. In an instant, you could become an enemy of an angry crowd because of your race or religion. You could be harmless and helpless, as the fawn in the picture, but still become the object of hatred and violence.
I’m sure that Psalm 18 becomes relevant to these students, with the possibility that violence could erupt around them at any moment. They were rescued from violent men and saved from their enemies.
The Psalmists response is praise. Exuberant praise! “O Lord; I will sing praises to your name.” I’m sure these students and their parents are praising God for their deliverance from possible harm.
Our deliverance might not be quite so dramatic, but should our praise be any less? If God can deliver us from small things, then He can deliver us from any thing. We can especially praise God each day for delivering us from our sins through Jesus.
Dear Lord, I praise you for my deliverance and protection. I praise you especially for your great salvation through Jesus Christ your son. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 18 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes NIV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
As we grow older we are constantly adding to our resume. Employers, degrees, accomplishments, publications begin to add line after line.
For many of us, such things are a source of pride, but how did we get to where we are? The truth is that each of us is blessed with talents and skills that are gifts from God. Each step of the way God protected, directed and blessed our efforts whether we realize it or not.
As Spurgeon makes his point, “The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to God,” all glory should go to God. If we truly understand this, there is no room for pride. If we ruffle our feathers to look more important, like our aquatic friend in the picture, we take glory due to God for ourselves.
One of the great illustrations of humility in the Bible is found in the story of Daniel. He was established as a young man of great learning and integrity as we enter chapter 2. When Daniel appears before King Nebuchadnezzar to interpret the king’s dream, he gives all credit to God. He says: “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…” in verse 28.
Humility doesn’t happen all at once for most of us. It’s a process of growth and faith. The first step is thanking God for the talents and gifts he has given us.
Dear Lord, I want to thank you for what you have given to me, especially the gift of life through Jesus Christ. May I surrender to you day by day the things that make me proud, that I may serve you in true humility, that you may receive all the glory. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
It constantly amazes me that the Psalmist can capture our deepest emotions in words across the ages. “Out of the depths” describes so many situations in my life – financial problems, relationship issues, dangerous situations, etc. “Lord, hear my voice!”
But, I also know that God is a holy God. I don’t want to approach Him when I am ashamed of the sin in my life. It takes faith to believe that “there is forgiveness with You,” as the Psalmist says. We know that forgiveness before God comes from the work of Jesus on the cross.
It’s hard to have faith from the depths, but God hasn’t left us alone. The Holy Spirit can help us and comfort us – he can even give us the faith we need. The image on the left is from a deep canyon filled with broken rocks. Let’s ask the Lord to help lift us up and set things right.
Dear Lord, out of the depths I call upon you! Give me the faith to believe you have provided forgiveness through Christ. Help me through these difficult situations. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 130 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes NASB iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Will RogersAfter WWI numerous peace [disarmament] conferences were held. Will Rogers attended for the humor value and sent dispatches back to the U.S. newspapers. He saw the futility in such agreements that tried to limit arms, as if that would bring world peace.
In this Will Rogers quote, he points out that even if we try to limit arms, it still won’t keep nations from coming up with new ways to kill people. Little did Rogers know in 1929 that within 15 years civilization would advance into the atomic age with weapons so powerful, entire cities could be wiped off the map.
Yet this quote still rings true today. Treaties, hailed as advances toward world peace might reduce some aging weapons, but new ones are always being developed to take their place.
But it’s worse than that. The U.S. seems to be willing to lay down arms and even limit vital defensive capabilities, even if the other side doesn’t abide by the terms of the treaty. That doesn’t even take into account rogue nations whose stated intent is to use nuclear weapons to destroy their enemies, including the U.S.
This is real simple. A strong defense is the best offense. Oceans don’t protect us like they used to. If we don’t develop the best defensive and offensive technologies we won’t be able to protect ourselves and our allies from future threats. Nobody wants to find out that we have no defense against an enemy that has a better way to kill us in the next war. But that would also assume we had leaders that possessed common sense.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
All my information about quicksand comes from watching old western movies years ago, but if I remember, the more you struggle to get out, the faster you will sink.
Imagine the patience and fortitude it would take to remain completely still while waiting for a friend to fetch a rope or tree limb to pull you to safety. Any struggle whatsoever would send you deeper into the sand.
There is one thing you can do, however. You can call out to your friend and tell him your troubles. You can tell him your fears and urge him to quickly bring relief.
Suddenly, you feel the rope in your hand, and the steady pull to safety. The only feeling better than that is the placing of your feet back on solid ground. Next is the gasp of relief and a shout of thanks to your friend!
How many times have I struggled through a situation, and emerged bruised and battered. I might even say: “Boy that was a lucky break!”
But wait. Have I been patient? Have I cried out to the Lord for rescue? Have I praised him with a song of praise? Have I encouraged others to put their trust in the Lord as Psalm 40 admonishes us?
Dear Lord, I’ve failed to be patient and pray for help so many times. In your mercy, teach me to trust you more, that you might be glorified. Put a new song in my mouth, that I might sing your praises. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 40 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.
Politicians and candidates that don’t tell the truth really are to be pitied. Reporters and news organizations that make up stories and repeat the lies of the candidates are also to be pitied.
Interestingly, it seems that the mainstream press seems to attack, without mercy, candidates that tell the truth. Every detail of their lives, clothing, bank records, shopping habits, children, contents of their trash cans are probed in detail. Candidates supported by the mainstream press can do and say whatever they want, true or false, without question.
In this day and age, we need candidates and politicians with integrity. I think people instinctively sense the efforts of the mainstream press to cast truth as a lie, and a lie as the truth. While there are many people that “ain’t any more interested in politics than they are in long underwear,” as Will Rogers says, I believe that more people are becoming interested.
May God give honest politicians strength to stand, and may God give voters the wisdom to choose truth over lies.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will RogersIt was 10 degrees F (-12C) this morning and I had to do some work on my car. After a few minutes it was becoming more and more difficult to do even the simplest manipulation with my fingers. Not only that, it was painful. Can you imagine how difficult it must be for crap …
When I read about Jonah, or the Israelites in the wilderness, my first instinct is to think: “What a bunch of stubborn boneheads! Don’t they ever learn?” Just about the time I start to congratulate myself on what a fine example of obedience I demonstrate, compared to others, the Lord sees fit to humble me. …
Will RogersJust like Will Rogers said in 1932, voters seemed to “vote against all of ’em” recently. The funny thing was that the Democrats were the ones that overwhelmingly got voted against. The other funny thing is that the Democrats were the ones that didn’t seem to have a clue what the voters were going …
Affliction is a relative thing. For some believers it means giving up their lives under severe persecutions. For others, they may loose all their possessions or be thrown in jail. For me, it may be a more trivial affliction, such as a temporary financial problem, relationship difficulty, or health problem. Whether the affliction is great …
Do you remember, as a child, being taken somewhere by your parents? If it was a place you really wanted to go, like the state fair, you were very excited. Additionally, you were absolutely confident in their choice to take you where they said they would. Not only was it exciting, it was a great …
Will RogersThe Democrats seem to be some of the most unhappy people these days. They are always upset or mad about something. Perhaps it has something to do with what Will Rogers says in his quote – they are made at the truth. There’s been a lot of “Bush bashing” by the Democrats, but when …
Will RogersWill Rogers is famous for his good old-fashioned common sense. If there was ever a Will Rogers quote that highlights the utter foolishness and irresponsibility of the way the Congress has spent our taxpayer money, and borrowed against our future generations, it is here. Since Will Rogers published this quote in 1932, Congress hasn’t …
Will RogersAccording to this Will Rogers quote, things sure haven’t changed in Hollywood since 1931, have they? I don’t even have to mention names – all you have to do is look at the tabloid covers at the grocery store to find out about Hollywood marriages. The tabloids feature all the dirt on breakups, and …
God remembers our prayers! He knows our needs. He cares about His children. What great comfort we can take in this knowledge. The heavens are vast, as shown in this NASA photograph. Just as the Lord remembers each and every star, he can remember our prayers and fulfill them to our delight, as Spurgeon says. …
Like many people, I give to my local church and other charitable organizations. My expectation is that the money will be used in the most efficient way by these organizations to further the goals of the various ministries. Suppose it is found out that members of the charitable organization are living high-on-the-hog, buying luxury items, …
