Wishful thinking can be larger than life. Lets begin with one man’s observations about the atheist, the politician, and the diplomat. “The definitely concrete fact that they (the atheist), do not acknowledge God determines their knowledge of God. And the fact that they do not want to admit His existence, later gives them, in plenty, the means of legitimizing their desire. If the wish is ever father to the thought, it is abundantly so here. …how cheaply are thoughts and reasons to be had. …the history of philosophy might well be written as the history of wishes; and the history of history-writing as a history of wishful thinking; and indeed, the history of religions as the history of pious wishes. ” “The art of political and tactical speech in general — alike to the man in the street and for the official spokesman — invariably consists in seeking reasons for…
Tag: <span>confidence</span>
What lacks in a contemporary person who finds themselves outside of Christ? They have no expectation of the daily blessing which Our God has for his children. They have no realistic expectation of Christ’s soon coming return. Hope deferred makes their heart sick. In the story of Ruth chapter 1, Naomi finds herself bereft of husband and two sons. Her comment to her daughters in law goes, ” If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” Ruth 1:12-13 A life without hope is a frightful proposition. Job 14:7 teaches us “For there is hope for a tree, if it be…
The “Twilight Zone” featuring Rod Serling’s “from another world” commentary, peaked TV interest in a forgotten childhood. The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy suspense, science fiction, horror, and psychological thriller and fantasy tropes. The original series, shot entirely in black and white, on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964. Wikipedia Dun dun dun da — dun dun dun da — dun dun dun da — the mysterious and unique-sounding background music, set the tone for suspense. The series sparked fear in me — many times. Why did we keep watching? Forbes offers this, “A handful of theories offer explanations why. One is what I’ll call the controlled-environment theory, which says that when we watch scary movies, we’re intentionally triggering our fight-or-flight response in an environment where we control the variables. This theory is similar to the thinking…
Confidence is a great thing. Don’t throw it away. Reliance, trust, belief in the powers of; these thoughts relate to confidence. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” Eleanor Roosevelt. “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Joe Namath. “To have faith doesn’t mean you get any less frustrated when you don’t do your best, but you know that it is not life or death.” “Take what you are given, and when you continue to work hard, you will see results. That will give you the confidence you need to keep going.” Tom Lehman “The moment you doubt whether you can fly,…
Cast not away your “confidence” — “freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech, openly, frankly, without concealment, without ambiguity or circumlocution, without the use of figures and comparisons.” “… which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Heb 10:35-36 Straight from the shoulder, without beating around the bush, with no holds barred, candidly, freely, cast not away your confidence, for it has great recompense of reward. Clarke writes “Having so great a fight of sufferings to pass through, and they of so long continuance, God furnishes the grace; you must exercise it.” What is the promise to be received? Elevation. Humility, of the sort which suffers above, receives elevation or honor; those clothed in humility get grace. Those who run the race with patience, have laid aside encumbrances and sins. The weights have…