Mi Choza De Nipa

From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, Today, 07-Apr-2008 edition   THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK By Dr Bill Maier   “Think before you speak,” we tell our children. But how well are we taking our own advice?   Very few of us would intentionally say things that hurt our children’s feelings, but too often the words we use can confuse them and do a lot of emotional damage – especially when they are young.   Put yourself in the place of a young girl going through puberty. She develops a little chubbiness around her middle, and her friends have already made fun of her at school.   Imagine how she feels when her mother says to her: “Do you really need to eat that dessert?”   Or what about the boy who struggles to do well in school and then has to sit and listen as his parents brag about his sister’s straight-A average?   What we say and how we say it can do irreparable harm ...

DREAMING GREAT DREAMS (Healthy Habits by Luis Palau , June 2001)   When I was about seventeen years old and beginning to take the Word of God seriously , one verse bothered me. I just couldn’t believe that it meant what it said. I checked other translations to see if I could find a better rendering. But the verse says essentially the same thing in each translation.   Jesus Christ declares in that verse , “I tell you the truth , anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” (John 14:12)   That is a fantastic , almost incredible promise , but there it is. It came from the lips of the Lord Jesus and has been proven many times. Have you proven it true in your own life?   As a teenager growing up in Argentina , I felt frustrated about evangelizing the unsaved. “Lord , there are millions of people in this country alone , ” I realized. “Yet here we sit , Sunday...

LIGHTING THE FIRES OF REVIVAL (Healthy Habits by Luis Palau , June 2001)   The apostle Paul’s desire to win the world to Jesus Christ always challenges me. Despite the stonings , beatings , and other hardships he endured , he sought to fan the fires of revival still brighter.   Paul used strategic thinking to carry out his ministry as an ambassador of Christ. His missionary journeys were carefully planned to saturate major cities and provinces with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He never considered it carnal or beneath his dignity to make such plans.   Even though Paul had a definite strategy to win his generation to Christ , he wasn’t bound to it. He remained sensitive to the Spirit’s leading. You remember how the Spirit compelled him to go to Macedonia , for instance , even though he had other plans (Acts 16).   This is an exciting concept to me. On the one hand , God intends for us ...

CATCHING A VISION FOR EVANGELISM (Healthy Habits by Luis Palau , June 2001)    At the end of World War II , Robert Woodruff declared , “In my generation it is my desire that everyone in the world have a taste of Coca Cola.” Talk about vision!   Today Coca Cola is sold from the deserts of Africa to the interior of China . Why? Because Woodruff motivated his colleagues to reach their generation around the world for Coke.   How big is your vision? Have you ever dreamed about what God could do through you to help win the world in our generation to Jesus Christ? After all , as Oswald Smith said , the only generation that can reach this generation is our generation.   Even though the Lord limited His own public ministry to the Palestine area , He came and lived and died for the whole world. After His resurrection He commissioned His disciples to “make disciples of all nations.” (M...

EXPERIENCING THE GREATEST THRILL (Healthy Habits by Luis Palau , June 2001)   As a young man I was excited about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at street meetings , children’s meetings , and rallies. I prayed and studied and preached , but felt frustrated.   The day came when I finally decided I didn’t have the gift of evangelism , after all. It was obvious. No matter how zealously I preached , no one was coming to Jesus Christ. Nothing I did seemed to make a difference. I was inspired by the things I read and heard about Billy Graham’s ministry , but I knew I didn’t have what he had.   I gave God a deadline: “If I don’t see any converts through my preaching by the end of the year , I’m quitting.” Oh , I would still be an active Christian , but I would dedicate myself to teaching believers rather than evangelizing the lost.   The end of the year came ...

DON’T FORGET TO PRAY   “The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” (Joshua 9:14 , NIV)   After the days of Moses when the armies of Israel , led by Joshua , were conquering the Promised Land marked out for them by God , the surrounding kings and nations were understandably terrified. This was because God was with the Israelites giving them great victories wherever they went.   However , the men of Gibeon , a nearby country , resorted to trickery and outsmarted Joshua. They sent a delegation to Joshua with the appearance of having come from a distant land so they could deceive Joshua into making a treaty with them. Their donkeys carried worn-out sacks and old wineskins that were cracked and had been mended. They wore old clothes , and worn and patched sandals , and the bread they carried with them was dry and moldy.   Their ruse worked. Joshua signed...

======================================= Thought for the week: “The opposite of courage is not cowardice but conformity.” -- Unknown =======================================   WORDS OF WISDOM    1.  The best way to get even is to forget.  2.  Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.  3.  God wants spiritual fruit , not religious nuts.  4.  Some marriages are made in heaven , but they ALL       have to be maintained on earth.  5.  Sorrow looks back , worry looks around , and faith looks up.  6.  Words are windows to the heart.  7.  A skeptic is a person who , when he sees the handwriting       on the wall , claims it’s a forgery.  8.  It isn’t difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill ,       just add a little dirt.  9....