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opening In 1491 Christopher Columbus was forty (considered quite old at that time), homeless and broke. Christopher Columbus was an outstanding sea captain – but nobody took very seriously his idea of sailing west in hopes of discovering a new route to the Indies. Columbus didn’t give up.

He once wrote, “Our Lord made me skilled in seamanship, equipped me with the sciences of astronomy, geometry and arithmetic, and taught my mind and hand to draw this sphere... then our Lord revealed to me that it was feasible to sail from here to the Indies and placed in me a burning desire to carry out this plan.”

Five centuries ago people had a certain map that reflected their understanding of the world at that time. It wasn’t changed until the courageous Columbus (1451-1506) challenged the conventional wisdom by sailing to the West Indies. His “never give up” attitude resulted in one of the most significant breakthroughs in world history.

Winston Churchill (the great political statesman of Great Britain) was once invited to speak to his old alma mater boys‘ school. Churchill, now one of the most famous men in the world and also one of the world’s greatest orators, had done very poorly in this school.

He approached the podium. All the boys were sitting up straight, totally quiet, waiting for great words of wisdom. Churchill stood behind the podium looking in the eyes of each boy. Then he quietly said, “Never give up.” He stared at them again and shouted “NEVER GIVE UP!” Next he pounded the podium and at the top of his voice he screamed, “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!!” Winston Churchill then sat down. His speech was made up of just one piece of advice – never give up.

In Philippians 1:6 we read, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

I’m not sure what exactly you are going through, but this I know – the people who make a difference in the world, and in their own lives, decide to never give up.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 10.12. Live for God, on purpose, trusting in Him and never giving up!

all-nothing All or Nothing

Have you ever thought about what your obituary will say? What have you accomplished? What honors have you received? What degrees have you earned? What has been your occupation, and how far did you advance? Some people seem to think that their life’s value is determined by the sum total of all they have done or accomplished.

The apostle Paul certainly would have been considered quite successful according to those standards. In Philippians 3, he indicates that in all of Judaism, he was the top of the top – a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” among the strictest of the keepers of the law, blameless in regard to righteousness, zealous in every way. But, in verse 8, he says that he counts “all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.”

Paul had it all. But, he counted it for nothing.

Whatever you are, or whoever you have become, you need to consider it all as nothing, that you may win Christ. For the Christian, it’s either all or nothing. You can’t hold onto the world’s values and still honor Christ. For Christ, you must refuse the values of this world. But, in return, you receive the riches of Christ!

Join us this Sunday at WFA as we look at Philippians 3:4-14, and recognize that, for us, it is either “All or Nothing!”

falling-forward Failing Forward

by Os Hillman

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:13-14

Back in the 1970’s, Tom Watson was the up and coming golfer on the PGA Tour. But time after time, when Tom led a tournament coming into the last round, he would choke, bogey a few holes, and finish in the middle of the pack. Soon, the media began calling him a “choker.” That kind of criticism only increases the pressure and the tendency to choke.

In an interview with Guy Yocom for Golf Digest, Watson said, “Everybody has choked. In the 1974 U.S. Open, I kept hitting the ball right to right. My nerves wouldn’t allow me to adjust. That’s what choking is—being so nervous you can’t find a swing or a putting stroke you can trust.”

How did Watson overcome his tendency to choke? “Byron gave me the best cure for it,” Watson recalled, referring to Byron Nelson, the legendary golf pro of the 1930s and ‘40s. “[Byron said], ‘Walk slowly, talk slowly, deliberately do everything more slowly than you normally do. It has a way of settling you down.”* That advice helped Tom Watson overcome his nervousness. He went on to win many tournaments, including five British Opens.

Everybody fails. It’s part of the process that leads us to maturity and success. Most successful entrepreneurs have been through a number of failures in life, but they usually don’t think of their failures as defeats. They think of them as lessons.

My failures have served to help many people who are also experiencing failure in their lives. God will always have a redeeming value in our failures if we let Him reveal His life through them.

If you hope to succeed, learn everything you can from your failures.

as seen in Os Hillman’s email devotional, “Today God Is First”

How to be Thankful
in Tough Times

by Rick Warren

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” — Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

Don’t worry about anything.
Worrying doesn’t change anything. It’s stewing without doing. There’s no such thing as born worriers; worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That’s good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. Jesus says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34, NLT)

Pray about everything.
Next use the time you’ve been worrying for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you’d have a whole lot less to worry about. Some people think God only cares about religious things, such as how many people I invite to church or my tithing. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He’s interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.

Thank God in all things.
Whenever you pray, you should always pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love — but gratitude. It actually increases your immunities; it makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They’re never satisfied; it’s never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.

Think about the right things.
If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think; the way you think determines how you feel. And the way you feel determines how you act. So if you want to change your life, you need to change what you’re thinking about.

This involves a deliberate conscious choice where you change the channels. You choose to think about the right things: focus on the positive and on God’s word.

Why? Because the root cause of stress is the way I choose to think.

When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the Apostle Paul tells us the result is, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

What a guarantee! He is guaranteeing peace of mind.

as seen in Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Connection”

Making God a Priority

by David Jeremiah

“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.”
— Exodus 23:19a

One of the values of daily Bible reading is that it keeps individual Bible verses set in their original and indispensable context. For instance, a favorite verse of Christians regarding God’s faithfulness is Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” While the verse sounds like a blank check from God to us, it isn’t.

The apostle Paul wrote those words to a church that had given sacrificially to him while he was imprisoned in Rome (Philippians 4:10-18). They had put the kingdom of God above their own needs; they had made the advancement of the Gospel through Paul a priority in their lives by providing for Christ’s chief apostle in his dire straits. So Paul tells them, “Because you have sacrificially made God a priority in your life, God will meet your needs.” That doesn’t mean we earn God’s blessing by giving. But it does mean that God looks for those whose “heart is loyal to Him,” on whose behalf He can show himself strong (2 Chronicles 16:9).

When we make God the priority in our life, He promises to be our provider, defender, and deliverer.

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Today’s Turning Point” daily devotional. www.TurningPointOnline.org

Attitude and Circumstances

by Jim Burns

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” — Philippians 4:11-13

I love the story of the little boy who was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, baseball cap in place, toting ball and bat. He was heard to say, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world.” Then he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it and missed. “Strike one.” Undaunted he picked up the ball, threw it into the air and said to himself, “I’m the greatest baseball hitter ever,” and then he swung at the ball again. And again, he missed. “Strike two!” He paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. Then a third time he threw the ball into the air. “I’m the greatest hitter who ever lived,” he exclaimed. He swung the bat hard again, and missed a third time. He cried out, “Wow! Strike three. What a pitcher! I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”

His circumstances hadn’t changed but his attitude had changed, and that makes all the difference in the world. What difficult time are you going through right now? Is there really something that can change it? If you can do something about it, great; don’t wait another day. But if you can’t change the circumstance, then change your attitude and that will make all the difference in the world.

as seen in “Today’s HomeWord,” a daily devotional with Jim Burns. Visit them online at www.homeword.com

i-am I Am...

• A child of God (Romans 8:16)
• Redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Psalms 107:2)
• Forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14)
• Saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8)
• Justified (Romans 5:1)
• Sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11)
• A new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• Partaker of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)
• Redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13)
• Delivered from the powers of darkness (Colossians 1:13)
• Led by the spirit of God (Romans 8:14)
• A son of God (Romans 8:14)
• Kept in safety wherever I go (Psalms 91:11)
• Getting all my needs met by Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:19)
• Casting all my cares upon Jesus (1 Peter 5:7)
• Strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10)
• Doing all thing through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
• An heir with God and a joint heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17)
• An heir of eternal life (1 John 5:11-12)
• Observing and doing the Lord’s commandments (Deuteronomy 28:12)
• Blessed coming in and blessed going out (Deuteronomy 26:6)
• An imitator of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1)
• The light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
• Blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3)
• Healed by His stripes (1 Peter 2:24)
• Exercising my authority over the enemy (Luke 10:19)
• More than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)
• An overcomer by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11)
• Daily Overcoming the Devil (1 John 4:4)
• Walking by Faith and Not by Sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
• Bringing Every Thought into Captivity (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Being Transformed by Renewing My Mind (Romans 12:1-2)
• A Laborer Together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9)
• The Righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Continually Praising the Lord with My Mouth (Psalms 34:1)

The Last Impression

last A Sunday school teacher was teaching her young students about Noah and the ark. She asked them what they thought Noah may have done to pass the time in the ark for forty days.

After waiting a few moments, the teacher suggested, “Maybe he did a lot of fishing. How about that?”

One little boy gave her a funny look and said, “I don’t think so. It’s kinda hard to fish with just two worms!”

Has there ever been a winter we are happier see conclude? I’m not sure how your winter has been, but here in Delaware, this has been the absolute snowiest winter in recorded history. Now with three consecutive days with temperatures in the 70s, we say hello to spring on Saturday morning! I am thankful for the changing seasons, but even more thankful that Jesus Christ never changes! Join us this Sunday at WFA to worship our unchangeable God!