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Sometimes we should take a closer look at our scriptures. For instance, the Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish; it never says a whale. And Eve ate the forbidden fruit; it never says an apple.

Likewise, God does not guarantee that all things work together for good. Do you think for people in hell things have worked out for their good? He declares that all things work together for good “for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.”

This is a significantly different meaning! In other words, things most certainly work out good for you if – and this is a big if – you are a follower of Christ, willing to trust in His plan, willing to trust in His will, and to seek to fulfill His will. Under those conditions, all things do work together for good!

No matter what kind of setback you face, no matter what kind of rejection by man, no matter what kind of suffering you have in this life, no matter what kind of disappointment and hurt you endure, God can bring good out of any situation, even out of any evil of our own or that is thrust upon us.

If you choose to trust God, He can bring good out of the darkest, most dismal situation.

Why don’t you start looking for the good that God wants to bring? This is what God’s Word means when He talks about things working out for good.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 8.48. Live for God, on purpose, trusting Him in all areas of your life, looking for His divine hand in every situation.

The Dilemma of Discouragement

Thanksgiving is now history, and we are moving full-speed into the “most wonderful time of the year” – Christmas! Special holiday music, gift-giving, parties and gatherings, delicious food, colorful lights and displays, family and friends gathering together... all these and so many other things combine to make this time of the year an absolute delight.

At least it’s a delightful time some of the time and for some people. This time of the year is also a time when many people, for any number of reasons, become very depressed and discouraged.

When a person becomes depressed and discouraged, they inadvertently place themselves in a position where they may do and say things that are not in their own best interests, and may in all likelihood lead to a disastrous outcome.

If you have found yourself in such a situation, you are not alone. The Bible is filled with many individuals who became deeply discouraged. How can you avoid these situations, and what do you do if you are in the midst of being discouraged right now?

This Sunday morning, we will look at a number of Biblical examples, and discover how to deal with “The Dilemma of Discouragement.”

Develop the Right (Self) Attitude

Here are 10 suggestions to help you develop and maintain a healthy self-image. Read them slowly. Meditate on them regularly.

1. Hate your sin, but never hate yourself.

2. Be quick to repent.

3. When God gives you light, walk in it.

4. Stop saying negative things about yourself. God loves you and it’s wrong to hate what He loves. He has great plans for you, so you’re in conflict with Him when you speak negatively concerning your future.

5. Never be afraid to admit that you’ve made a mistake and don’t always assume that when things go wrong, it must be ’my fault’.

6. Don’t meditate excessively on what you’ve done, right or wrong; both of these activities keep your mind on you! Center your thoughts on Christ.

7. Take good care of yourself physically. Make the best of what God gave you to work with, but don’t be obsessed with your appearance.

8. Never stop learning but don’t allow your education to become a point of pride. God doesn’t use you because of what’s in your head: He uses you because of what’s in your heart.

9. Realize that your talents are a gift, not something you have manufactured yourself; never look down on people who can’t do what you do.

10. Don’t despise your weaknesses they keep you dependent on God.

Law of the Garbage Truck

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.”

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.

Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so... Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Now... go have yourself a blessed, garbage-free day!

When Everything Goes Wrong

by Alan Smith

Here is a list of “Murphy’s Laws for Churches":

• Video projectors always work before the class meeting begins.

• The probability of the preacher tripping over the mike cord is greater on “Bring A Friend” Sunday than any other week.

• The largest Bible Class will show up when the teacher feels his/her worst.

• No matter how many bulletins you print, you’ll always need one more.

• A member living 15 miles away will be 15 minutes early; members living two blocks will be 15 minutes late.

• The shorter the agenda, the longer the business meeting.

• Saying “Let us pray” or singing “Just As I Am” causes babies to cry.

• When you answer the Bible teacher’s question right, nobody remembers; when you are wrong, nobody forgets.

• The furnace only fails when the outside temperature is more than 20 degrees below zero. The air conditioner only fails when the outside temperature is 90 degrees or above.

• When the preacher misspeaks in a sermon, at least half of those taking notes will write the remark down as an important thought from the sermon.

Murphy’s Law ("Whatever can go wrong will go wrong") manifests itself in a multitude of ways in our lives. In fact, there are times when it seems that EVERYTHING is going wrong. How we react to those situations says a lot about our character.

Do we react by saying, “Everything will turn out all right eventually”? We may be living in a dream world.

Do we react by saying, “How could God do this to me”? Our bitterness may cause us to turn away from God.

Or do we react by turning to God, praying for strength, trusting Him to see us through?

In Acts 4, the apostles were threatened by government officials and forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. They prayed, “Now, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word....” (Acts 4:29)

Father, there may be those reading this message whose world has come crashing down around them. May you bless them with strength; make them mindful of just how much they need your help. May you use the times when things go wrong as opportunities to manifest your glory in a special way. In Jesus name, amen.

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

Make that Your Attitude, Too!

Your ability to succeed in life often comes down to a single choice: how you react to what has been done to you in the past, or is being done to you right now. Dr. Viktor Frankl endured the Holocaust by this principle. The Nazis killed his family, placed him in a concentration camp, starved and beat him. When the war ended Frankl was neither broken, bent nor bitter. When asked how he endured such treatment with a positive outlook he said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Ground Zero is a massive canyon where the Twin Towers once stood. Three thousand people died there. And how did New Yorkers choose to respond? A sign at the edge of Ground Zero proclaims, “The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.” That’s an attitude terrorists will never conquer. And it’s the attitude God’s Word calls us to adopt: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NKJV).

Every day you choose the clothes you wear, the food you eat, and the attitude you adopt. And there are only two kinds of attitudes – good ones and bad ones. A good attitude is the one the Psalmist adopted when he woke up each morning: “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24 NKJV). Make that your attitude too!

as seen in word for today http://www.rhema.co.nz/index.php#email

How to Fight Spiritual Warfare

by Rick Warren

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
— Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

There are four things we need to do when we are battling spiritual warfare in our lives:

1. Acknowledge the adversary. Satan is real (1 Peter 5:8-9). When you’re being attacked, it’s proof that you’re a believer. The more you make an impact for God, the more the Devil is going to fight you. You never outgrow it; it just gets more intense.

If there were no Devil, why would God send his Son to fight what does not exist? The Bible says in 1 John 3:8, “The Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil” (NLT).

2. Accept God-given authority. Most believers are very ignorant about the authority they have to use against the Devil. Matthew 28:18-19 says we have all authority in heaven and earth. Then Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples ...” (NIV). He transfers the authority to you and me. He does that because he’s given us a specific mission (2 Corinthians 5:20).

3. Put on God’s armor. When Paul wrote about the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17), he was in prison chained to a Roman guard. Paul used the Roman centurion as a model for spiritual armor. Paul says, just as the Roman soldier is properly dressed to do battle, we also need to be dressed for battle.

For instance, I will often pray, “Lord, I put on the helmet of salvation that will protect me from the thoughts the Devil will try to give me. I don’t want to think the Devil’s thoughts. I don’t want to think my thoughts. I want to think your thoughts, so that that I may be a voice for you. I put on the belt of truth. Lord, I want to share the truth, not falsehood. I want to lead people into righteousness.”

4. Aim the artillery. The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in your thought life, in your mind (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Paul says the weapons God gives us to use demolish arguments – that’s the way people think; they pull down pretension – that’s the way people think.

We take every thought captive. In this battle for thoughts, we have four weapons: humility, faith, truth, and praise.

© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved. Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America’s largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.

The Last Impression

Yesterday I was buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for our two golden retrievers at our local pet store and was about to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. On impulse, upon hearing this rather stupid question, I told her “No, I didn’t have a dog, but I was starting the Purina Diet again.

“Although I probably shouldn’t, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but I lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.”

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete, so I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me.

I told her, “No, I stepped off a curb to sniff noses with an Irish Setter and a car hit us both.”

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard!

The pet store won’t let me shop there anymore!

November is quickly drawing to a close, and the Christmas season is now upon us. What a perfect time to let people know about our Lord! Take advantage of the many opportunities that are available at this time of the year to share the good news that God loves them, and sent the best gift ever – salvation through His Son, Jesus!