Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 179). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) He continues, “The details may vary, but we all live with highs and lows.”   We all do. He goes on, “Advice columnist Ann Landers gets this when she says, ‘Opportunities are often disguised as hard work. Most people fail to recognize them.’ Those who study human experience agree almost universally that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you choose to respond.”   How you and I choose to respond makes the difference. He then quotes Seminary president and author Charles Swindoll, one of the most gifted Bible teachers in our generation, who wrote: “Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude.… I believe the single most important decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my attitude choice. It’s mo...

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 171). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now that thought is not the whole thought.   That is what is called a grabber.   Here is the whole thought by James, “Faith is not a part of the Christian life … it’s the whole thing!”   That clears up what he is saying, doesn’t it? He continues, “Faith isn’t like love and joy and hope. Faith isn’t something to add to your spiritual arsenal. Faith is the gun that fires the bullet! Faith is everything! If you can’t trust God; if you can’t lay hold of His promises, expect a lot of defeat in your life.” He goes on, “The thing about faith is that you can’t tell by looking at a person how much faith he or she really has. Faith in a person is like water in a bucket— you find out how much is inside when you bump it. When circumstances bump you, you...

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 159). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now usually when there is a misunderstanding we are very critical of the other person.   We want to set them straight.   But as 1 Corinthians 13: 7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things.” James says, “Love finds itself saying on a regular basis, ‘That’s not what she meant.’ It believes the best about the other person. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s not why he did that.’” James goes on, “When Jesus said, ‘Judge not lest you be judged,’ He was specifically dealing with motives. Of course, we have to judge actions. What we’re not to judge are motives. We don’t know why people do what they do.   Don’t ever say, ‘I know why she’s up there. I know why he does that.’ You probably do not. When you hear somebody critici...