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A young couple was visiting a jewelry store. They browsed through cases of magnificent diamonds with their gleaming yellow light along with many other splendid precious stones.

Among those beautiful stones, one in particular caught his wife’s eye. It was completely lusterless and didn’t seem to be in the right place. “That is one terrible looking stone, do you see that?” she said. The curious husband asked a clerk if they could see the stone.

The clerk opened the case, took out the stone and held it in his hand for a few minutes. When he opened it, there was a perfectly flawless stone. There was not a place on it that didn’t gleam with the splendor of the rainbow. “How did you do that?” they asked in surprise.

“This is an opal”, he replied. “It is what we call the sympathetic jewel. It only needs contact with the human hand to bring out its wonderful beauty.” Merely a touch brings out this stone’s beauty.

We live in a world where beauty is hidden under sorrow, sin and suffering. How many lives only need the warm touch of human sympathy, love and compassion to make them gleam with a radiant splendor? Reach out and touch someone this week for His glory! Share with them the love of God. Not only will they receive a glimmer of joy, but you will gleam with His radiance too!

In Isaiah 6:8, the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah replies, “Hineni,” which translated means “Here am I; send me.”

Let’s say “Hineni” today, and be used by the Lord to bring out the beauty of those around us!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 10.13. Live for God, on purpose, reaching out and touching those around us with the love of Christ.

What Works When Life Doesn’t

On the day of Jesus‘ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, scores of Jews lined the streets as Jesus rode one the back of a donkey into the city. The people had been discouraged and depressed due in no small part to the Roman occupation of their city. They were looking for some way – any way – to escape the tyranny of their foreign occupation. And, they believed that this one named Jesus was the answer.

The people created a special pathway for Jesus, laying down their coats, as well as palm branches. This was their version of the “red carpet” treatment! With loud shouts, together they cried out “Hosanna!” and quoted Psalm 118, singing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They welcomed the One who they believed to be their Savior.

On that first Palm Sunday, we see demonstrated a principle that still is true today. When your life is turned upside down, and it’s difficult to see how you will make it, there is something that always works! Praise works!

How are things in your life right now? Physical difficulties? Trouble at work? Financial problems? Relationship issues? If you are having problems, and life just “isn’t working” right now, then learn what they realized on that first Palm Sunday, and begin to praise and worship the Lord!

Stuart Briscoe writes, “it is encouraging to realize that God’s Word recognizes and addresses our inmost feelings, fears, and failings. It is good to know of the personal experience of the inspired writers who, perhaps to our surprise, experienced what we experience today and found answers in the Lord. But best of all, the psalms remind us of what works when life doesn’t simply because God is still working in our lives for his good purposes. And it is God who makes life work.”

Psalm 100:4 tells us to “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name.” Be sure to join us this Sunday – Palm Sunday – and discover together “What Works When Life Doesn’t.” Your life may never be the same!

Which Wolf Do You Feed?

A story has been told about a grandfather trying to teach his son about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Each one who follows Christ lives with the struggle of conflicting desires and behavior. On the one hand, we want to be obedient and pleasing to the Lord. On the other hand, we still live with our natural, sinful desires that seek to please ourselves. This is real: there is tension between the two. What is clear from the Scriptures is that we become slaves to whatever we give ourselves to (see Romans 6:16) – or as the story would put it, to whichever wolf we feed.

Christ died to set us free from being slaves to sin. Though we still struggle, we can experience victory over our sinful desires. How? By focusing on God; by feeding on His Word; by receiving the nourishment that comes from pursuing our relationship with Christ – who said, “I am the bread of life.” The Apostle Paul encourages us to be intentional about gaining the advantage in this struggle, saying “...count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.‘ (Romans 6:11)

Today, feed the good wolf. Remind yourself that you belong to God and with the Holy Spirit’s help in your life, count yourself dead to sinful desires and behaviors and alive to Jesus.

Giving to Others

by Jim Burns

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” – 1 John 3:16-18

A little boy was told by his doctor that he could actually save his sister’s life by giving her some blood. The six-year-old girl was near death, a victim of disease from which the boy had made a marvelous recovery two years earlier. Her only chance for restoration was a blood transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the illness. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

“Johnny, would you like to give your blood for Mary?” the doctor asked. The boy hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, Doc. I’ll give my blood for my sister.”

Soon the two children were wheeled into the operating room-Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and the picture of health. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.

As his blood siphoned into Mary’s veins, one could almost see new life come into her tired body. The ordeal was almost over when Johnny’s brave little voice broke the silence, “Say, Doc, when do I die?”

It was only then that the doctor realized what the moment of hesitation, the trembling of the lip, had meant earlier. Little Johnny actually thought that in giving his blood to his sister he was giving up his life! And in that brief moment, he had made his great decision!

Rules from God

1. Wake Up – Decide to have a good day.

“This is the day that the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24)

2. Dress Up – The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

3. Shut Up – Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we need to listen twice as much as we talk.

“He who guards his lips guards his soul.” (Proverbs 13:3)

4. Stand Up – For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.

“Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good...” (Galatians 6:9-10)

5. Look Up – To the Lord.

“I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

6. Reach Up – For something higher.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

7. Lift Up – Your prayers.

“Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything.” (Philippians 4:6)

Americans and Easter

A new study released last week by the Barna Group reveals that a majority of Americans see Easter as a religious holiday, but fewer identify the resurrection of Christ as the underlying meaning.

From February 7-10 of this year, 1,005 adults were interviewed by telephone regarding their opinions relating to Easter and what the holiday means to them. The research discovered that:

• Two out of three Americans (67%) view Easter as a religious holiday.

• Only 42 percent linked Easter to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• Two percent said that Easter was about the “birth of Jesus.”

• Three percent described Easter as a celebration of spring or a pagan holiday.

• Eight percent said that Easter means nothing to them or that they do not celebrate the occasion.

The study also revealed that members of the Boomer generation (age 45-63) were more likely to describe Easter as a religious holiday than other age groups — 73 percent compared to 58 percent of Mosaics (age 18-25) and 66 percent of Busters (age 26-44). Interestingly, only 66 percent of Elders (age 64 and over) described Easter as a religious holiday.

For the complete report go here – http://bit.ly/bYz8Rk – to The Barna Group.

Learning to Get Back Up

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe falls 10 feet from its mother's womb and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From this position it considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from its eyes and ears. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its offspring to the reality of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels.

When it doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.

Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they'd get it too, if the mother didn't teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it.

The late Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, "I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished and they go to work.

“They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they're knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they've accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do.”

The Last Impression

Wanda’s dishwasher quit working so she called a repairman. Since she had to go to work the next day, she told the repairman, “I’ll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I’ll mail you a check.

“Oh, by the way, don’t worry about my bulldog. He won’t bother you. But, whatever you do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, talk to my parrot! I REPEAT, DO NOT TALK TO MY PARROT!!!”

When the repairman arrived at Wanda’s apartment the following day, he discovered the biggest, meanest-looking bulldog he had ever seen. But, just as she had said, the dog just lay there on the carpet, watching the repairman go about his work.

The parrot, however, drove him nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling and name-calling. Finally, the repairman couldn’t contain himself any longer and yelled, “Shut up, you stupid, ugly bird!”

To which the parrot replied, “Get him, Spike!”

Get your “hosannas” on this Sunday at WFA! This is Palm Sunday, and we want to join together and proclaim, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” It’s going to be a wonderful time of worship that you will not want to miss! Invite a friend and enjoy His presence this Lord’s Day!