221 Sermon Illustrations on Wisdom

The Rev. Philip Henry used to give two pieces of advice to his children and others, in reference to marriage. One was, "Keep within the bounds of profession." The other was, "Look at suitableness in age, quality, education, temper," etc. He used to observe, from Gen. ii. 18, "I will make him an help meet for him;" that where there is not meetness, there will not be much help. He commonly said to his children, with reference to their choice in marriage, "Please God, and please yourselves, and you shall never displease me;" and greatly blamed those parents who concluded matches for their children without their consent. He sometimes mentioned the saying of a pious gentlewoman, who had many daughters: "The care of most people is how to get good husbands for their daughters; but my care is to fit my daughters to be good wives, and then let God provide for them."

Rehoboam and the young men. Taking advice from unspiritual men spells blunder. If we make God the source of our counsel (Jas. 3:15) we will avoid all folly. Older men not usually on side of evil. Conflicting counsel of men

It was an ancient custom, when an heir was impleaded as an idiot, to put before him an apple or a piece of gold, and try which he would take; if he took the apple and not the gold, he was cast for a fool, as unable to discern the true worth of things. This is the way with all who prefer trifles to realities.

We were so sure in the Philippines that we could not get too much light that we built our houses to admit it in floods, and contemptuously disregarded the English and Dutch experience of two centuries. We called people lazy if they hid themselves at midday, and we bravely went abroad in the full glare of the light. Even the heavily pigmented Filipinos darkened their houses, and were astounded at our foolishness in doing what they did not dare to do. Collapse always came in time--if not a real collapse, at least a degree of destruction of nervous vigor which demanded a return to darker climates to escape chronic invalidism or even death.--Major CHARLES E. WOODRUFF, _Harper’s Weekly_.

As with a fortress, so with many fortified evils. It is often better to flank them than to exhaust strength by direct attack.

To let a fortress go, so far from being disgraceful, is often one of the best things a general can do. If MacMahon had let Metz go, the Germans could not have got round Paris without tremendous losses and months of fighting. If Lee had abandoned Richmond in 1862 the war might have been protracted indefinitely. The greatest mistake Osman Pasha made in 1877 was holding on to Plevna too long. Napoleon let Genoa go in spite of the fine defense of Massena, but he soon recovered it after he had defeated the Austrians in the field. In the American civil war Burnside was compelled by the press to advance, with the result of the failure at Fredericksburg and the loss of 12,000 men. A field army should never be risked for a fortress.--Dr. MILLER MAGUIRE, London _News_.

Life would be simplified and made safe if men, like spiders, would always allow their life plans to be dominated by the clue that comes from above.

A great principle never forgotten by the spider is that she must always spin behind her a thread that will enable her to find again the points that she has left; this serves at once as her guiding thread for return, and as the road on which she travels. A consequence of this rule is that the starting-point, the center of the first operations, must be at the top of the web, and often higher still, so as to dominate the whole. From this point the explorer lets herself down, suspended from her inseparable thread, balances herself, and if she does not find the sought-for point, climbs back along the thread which she absorbs in ascending. (Text.)--MAURICE KOECHLIN, _La Nature_.

Sir Wyville Thompson and, later, Sir John Murray, unraveled some of the mysteries of the hidden depths of the sea, such as the Gulf stream and the waters that wash the Cape of Good Hope. They have found that there are currents flowing over one another in different directions, as in the case of air-currents above us. The aim is to be able to utilize these cross-currents, both of air and water, for the benefit of man.

Still more were it wise to use the many and even the contrary currents of life so as to make all serve man’s best interests.

The wisdom or unwisdom of things is not always apparent on their face. Paul speaks of “the foolishness of preaching.” Most of the great inventors and discoverers were not considered wise in the initial stages of their great careers. Columbus was misunderstood and ridiculed, Watt was regarded as a dreamer, Morse found few supporters, Ericsson could not get Government support for building the _Monitor_, yet all these men were great and wise men. A curious instance of wise foolishness is that related of an important advertiser, who said:

We once hit upon a novel expedient for ascertaining over what area our advertisements were read. We published a couple of half-column “ads” in which we purposely misstated half a dozen historical facts. In less than a week we received between 300 and 400 letters from all parts of the country from people wishing to know why on earth we kept such a consummate fool who knew so little about American history. The letters kept pouring in for three or four weeks. It was one of the best-paying “ads” we ever printed. But we did not repeat our experiment because the one I refer to served its purpose. Our letters came from schoolboys, girls, professors, clergymen, school-teachers and in two instances from eminent men who have a world-wide reputation.

Many a good plan has failed through oversight of some forgotten or neglected factor.

Two years after Mr. Cassatt became general manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Robert Garrett walked into the office of George B. Roberts, then president, and exclaimed gleefully: “Mr. Roberts, we have secured control of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. We are not disposed, however, to disturb your relations with the property, and you need not give yourself any uneasiness on that score.”

This road, owned by New England capitalists, extended from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and had been operated in the interests of the Pennsylvania. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, always on the lookout for an open path to New York, coveted the small but important stretch of track and resented the Pennsylvania’s control of it.

President Roberts was amazed and not a little discomfited by the easy assurance of Mr. Garrett. As soon as the exultant Baltimore and Ohio man had gone there was a conference between President Roberts and Mr. Cassatt.

“Garrett says they’ve got the P. W. & B.,” said Mr. Roberts.

“Oh, no, they haven’t,” replied the general manager.

That night there was a meeting of Pennsylvania Railroad directors in New York. Mr. Cassatt was the presiding genius. He told them where he could lay his hands on a block of P. W. & B. stock that would put the control forever in the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Before the directors rose from their chairs a check was drawn for $14,949,052.20. It hangs in a frame now on the walls of the treasury of the Pennsylvania Railroad, canceled to show that the money was there waiting when it was presented. At the time it was written, it was the largest check ever recorded. The Garretts were completely routed. They couldn’t understand how they had come to overlook that block of stock, and they were equally at a loss to know how Cassatt had discovered it and negotiated the purchase over night.

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In morals, quite as truly as in physics, the profitable time to deal with any evil is in its incipient stage:

The diseases that occupy the physician most are maladies that have reached an advanced stage, when it is not easy to combat them. On the other hand, the study of diseases at their outset, when they yield best to treatment, is almost neglected. It is certain that if every physician were also a trained physiologist, watching to relieve the slightest functional troubles, he would often be able to recognize small changes that are the common preludes to grave maladies.--_Revue Scientifique._

We all know what distance does. Standing on the floor of a cathedral in St. Petersburg, the loud conversation of the multitudes surging in and out seems to roar in the ear. But standing in the tiny dome, three hundred feet above, all the harshness is strained out and the sounds become song. Those who dwell inland know how the trees strain out the roughness, and the surge and the roar of the waves turn to music, falling on the fluted tree-tops. Near at hand the frescoes in the cathedral dome are blotches of blue and red; from the floor beneath they melt into the most exquisite tints, and shaded lines proclaim the genius of an artist. For the architect planned that dome to be seen from afar, and God plans the events of childhood and youth to be surveyed from the summit of maturity.

— N. D. HILLIS

A young man who was an inveterate talker was sent by his parents to Socrates to learn oratory. On being presented to Socrates the young man spoke so much that Socrates was out of patience. When the bargain came to be struck, Socrates asked him double the price. “Why charge me double?” asked the young man. “Because,” said Socrates, “I must teach you two sciences; the one to hold your tongue, and the other how to speak.”

Silence may be as eloquent as speech. The art of the matter is practise, each at the right time and in the right place.

A gentleman had a fine setter-dog who was accustomed to take his daily bone, with due allowance of meat adhering, to the lawn to enjoy at his leisure. On one occasion he observed several magpies planning to get a share of the dainty. They quietly approached the dog and placed themselves one at the head, about two feet from the animal, who was too busy to notice them, a second near the tail, and one or two by his side. When all were placed, the bird near the dog’s tail gave a sudden nip to that member. The dog, of course, wheeled to catch the offender, who fled, while his hungry comrades rushed to the bone, hastily snatching what they could. The fleeing magpie led the outraged dog to some distance, drawing him on by fluttering as if injured, without really taking flight.--OLIVE THORNE MILLER, “The Bird Our Brother.”

The best strategy in life is frequently to take advantage of an enemy’s mistakes.

In Mark Twain’s “Autobiography,” in the _North American Review_, is General Grant’s own opinion in regard to the inception of Sherman’s march to the sea.

“Neither of us originated the idea of Sherman’s march to the sea. The enemy did it,” said Grant.

He went on to say that the enemy necessarily originated a great many of the plans that the general on the opposite side gets the credit for. In this case, Sherman had a plan all thought out, of course. He meant to destroy the two remaining railroads in that part of the country, and that would finish up that region. But General Hood made a dive at Chattanooga. This left the march to the sea open to Sherman, and so, after sending part of his army to defend and hold what he had acquired in the Chattanooga region, he was perfectly free to proceed with the rest of it through Georgia. He saw the opportunity, and he would not have been fit for his place if he had not seized it.

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This is the fable of a spider as quoted from _Blackwood’s Magazine_:

A spider, it seems, had occasion to borrow a sum of money. A journey round to the generously disposed brought him two thousand cowries each from the cat, the dog, the hyena, the leopard, and the lion. When pay-day came round, the spider remained at home to receive the visits of the creditors in a certain prearranged order. First came the cat to claim repayment of his loan. “Hush!” said the spider. “I hear a noise outside--it is a dog come to see me; you must hide under this calabash for safety.” The cat was scarcely hidden when the dog, coming in, made a similar request for his money. Says Master Spider, “There is a cat under that calabash; take him, and consider the debt paid.” No sooner said than done. Just then a snuffling and scraping were heard at the door. The third creditor, the hyena, had arrived. “Don’t be alarmed, my dear dog, but hide here till he has left,” and the spider bustled him under the calabash. “I smell a dog,” said the hyena, routing about. “Under that calabash,” the spider replied. “Eat him up, and your debt is paid.” The dog paid the penalty of his simplicity, and all was quiet once more. The hyena was preparing to leave, when he heard an ominous sound that sent him crouching against the wall. It was the pattering of the leopard’s feet at the door. “Quick! Under this calabash,” cried his host, and the hyena curls up in the fatal cache, only to meet a like fate from his more courageous enemy. “My debt is repaid!” said the leopard, and ran against the lion coming in. A terrible fight ensued, for the leopard and the lion are equal in strength, so the natives say. While blood and dust make havoc in the house, and both animals are exhausting their strength, the spider is busy at the fire. Seizing a pot of boiling grease, he pours it over the clawing mass. Leopard and lion roll apart in their death agony, and the spider has only to straighten and clean up before resuming once more the humdrum life of fly-catching.

The burglar hesitated. Back of him was a sheer drop of twenty-five feet to the ground. In front of him was a determined woman, grasping in her hand a huge revolver. She covered him steadily.

“I won’t shoot,” she said, “if you will remain still.”

She advanced upon him and poking the muzzle of the gun in his face reached into his pocket and pulled out his revolver.

“Come in.”

The burglar obediently stept inside the room. All his courage was gone.

“Sit down,” said the woman.

He sat down.

She got a huge ball of heavy cord from her bureau and spent the next twenty minutes in tying him up. Then she pointed out of the window.

“Is that your wagon out there behind the barn?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thought you would carry away my silver in it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The woman called her husband, who was hiding behind the baby’s crib in the next room.

“Here, John,” she said, “take some of this furniture out.”

John came in and got to work. The burglar watched with curious eyes. Suddenly his face blanched. He looked out of the window and saw in the light of the moon what John was carrying.

“What are you doing to me?” he asked.

The woman began cutting his cords.

“I’m going to load you up with all of the old eyesores that we have had in the house for these many years,” she said, merrily--“all the furniture presented to us at Christmas by kind-hearted relatives, all the prizes we have taken at card-parties, all of the things we have bought at sales, all the family portraits--everything that we have been simply dying to get rid of.”--_Life._

There are 5 different kinds of thinkers:

1. The Synthesist.

2. The Idealist.

3. The Pragmatist.

4. The Analyst.

5. The Realist.

Each is described, and a test is provided to show which pattern fits you.

C. S. Lewis on the wisdom of Christianity:

"This is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have."

A characteristic of true wisdom is that it is impartial or steady. It does not vacillate, taking one position in one circumstance and another in a different situation. It operates on consistent principle.

In a conversation between Groucho Marx and William Buckley, Groucho excused a contradiction by quoting Thoreau: “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” At this Buckley rolled his eyes and faced the camera with a winning grin as he corrected Groucho with the exact quotation: “A FOOLISH consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

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[Bartlett’s gives the originator as being Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Essays: First Series [1841]. Self-Reliance” — RGH]

Sermon in Job series. Wisdom must come by revelation. Job 28

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DIGGING DEEPER

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I. Searching with all your worth.

II. Where people look for wisdom.

A. Personal experience.

B. Human history, anthropology.

C. Science.

D. Religion.

III. The nature of God's revelation.

A. God reveals truth through nature and revelation.

B. Can we trust the Bible?

C. Smart people can believe.

IV. Seeking God with all your heart.

A. When we value something, we put effort into finding it.

B. Typical cycle for Godly wisdom.

V. A lifestyle of discovery.

A. Growth of "full time" students.

B. Seek God daily.

C. Explore deeper issues with friends.

D. Challenge self with quality books, magazines.

E. Reveal commitment.

F. Remain humble.

VI. Are you prepared to receive God's wisdom today?

#4380

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“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James the Apostle, James 1:5, NIV).

Have you ever noticed that common sense is not that common and that often our reasoning is not always that reasonable. We have all sorts of reasons for why do what we do. And then there are the real reasons — the true motives behind our choices and actions.

For one example, people come to planning meetings with hidden agendas. Some bully to get what they want. Others manipulate. Some even quote, or rather, misquote Scriptures to get things done their way. Whether this type of control is with a high and mighty hand or in a sweet, manipulative manner makes no difference. Both are equally dishonest and lack wisdom. They are also destructive of personal growth, conflict resolution, and interpersonal relationships.

Common sense tells us that we need to avoid these and all other dishonest games people play. Fortunately, God has promised to give wisdom (common sense) to all who ask him. So wisdom is available if we truly want it and ask God with the right motives.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, so often I lack wisdom and as Solomon prayed, ‘Please give me wisdom and an understanding heart so that my life will bring great glory to your name.’ Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Wisdom

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” — Prov 9:10

Men are always seeking for greater wisdom, but they usually bypass the Ultimate Source of wisdom. The Scriptures clearly point this direction. They reveal, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov.9:10). But what has man done with this tremendous resource at his fingertips? Ignored it! “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Rom.1:21,22). Since God’s wisdom resides in His Word, it is imperative to know what He has revealed, but even many Christians ignore a regular time reading and studying the Scriptures. Therefore, many of their decisions are foolish, because they’ve not consulted the Ultimate Source of wisdom.

Wisdom begins with knowing God. He gives insight into living because he created life. To know God is not just to know the facts about him, but to stand in awe of him and have a relationship with him. Do you really want to be wise? Get to know God better and better. Amen.

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #2428]

God assures us and instructs us to know that all of life must have wisdom.

It is out of wisdom that our life flows with meaning and effectiveness. Wisdom is basically what we need to rightly understand and apply knowledge. We have certain knowledge “about” marriage, for example, but we must have wisdom to know how to live out our marriage relationships successfully.

Without the wisdom to apply what we know, we leave our lives in jeopardy and risk utter failure.

For this reason, God clearly teaches us that “... the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding....” (Proverbs 9:10). This is stated several different ways in Proverbs, such as “... the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction....” (Proverbs 1:7).

Job, the oldest book in the Bible, states: “...and to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding....” (Job 28:28). David, a man who faced many tragedies in his life, especially at the hands of his enemies, said: “... the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all those who do His commandments....” (Psalm 111:10).

The fear of the Lord is a deep and profound reverence and awe of God. It is what comes over a person in the realized presence of Holy God -- an immediate denial of self and a spontaneous response to Him as Lord. Everything else in life comes out of such an encounter with God.

God is no longer the “last point of reference” for our life but He becomes the first. This immediate relationship with God in the midst of life becomes a preventive to disaster and failure.

All too often we live life in a corrective state. After we make poor decisions in our own wisdom and experience failure, pain and suffering, we call on God to make our mistakes right. We must go to God first if we are to gain His wisdom and avoid failure.

The challenges we face today certainly create a tremendous need for God's wisdom: global terror, economic uncertainty, broken homes, church division and bewilderment, and workplace stress. Thus, it is imperative that our relationship with God be the initial starting point for all of life.

A healthy sense of God and His presence will always bring an immediate wisdom with which to live.

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[Original illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #18420]

Bill Moyers, at the Inaugural Prayer Meeting, recalled a story by Brooks Hays whose stand against segregation cost him his Arkansas Congressional seat in 1958: Pointing to dog next to him he said: "Old Fergus here, who goes with me every day, is a liberal when he's sniffing through the bushes looking for a rabbit, but a conservative when he buries the bone."

In his painting "An Allegory of Prudence," the 16th century Venetian artist Titian portrayed Prudence as a man with three heads. One ehad was of a youth facing the future, another of a mature man eyeing the present, and the third, a wise old man gazing at the past. Over their heads Titian wrote a Latin phrase that means, "From the example of the past, the man of the present acts prudently so as not to imperil the future."

PHILOSOPHY

1) Words can’t break bones, but they can break hearts.

2) Those who walk with God won’t run from people’s needs.

3) Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up.

4) We’re richer when we give and poorer when we keep.

5) Because of the cross of Christ, we can become friends of Christ.

6) Amid the darkness of sin, the light of God’s grace shines in

7) Enthusiasm for Christ is contagious; has anyone caught it from you?

8) Be as patient with others as God has been with you.

9) It is better by far to die for something, than to live for nothing.

10) The God who sends you will also sustain you

11) It’s always darkest before the dawn

12) To change your outlook, remember God’s looking out for you

13) Confession of sin is not an admission of weakness, but a sign of strength

14) The harder you work at what you should be, the less you’ll try to hide what you are

15) Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like eating without chewing

16) Work well done for Christ will receive a “well done” from Christ

17) Don’t complain over what the world is coming to; proclaim the one who is coming to the world

18) We are not saved by good works, but for good works

19) Spiritual victory comes only to those who are prepared for battle

20) Apply yourself to the scriptures and the scriptures to yourself

21) The Bible is not meant merely to inform, but to transform

22) Grace is everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything

23) Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear

24) If you keep in step with God, you’ll be out of step with the world

25) Salvation is so simple we can overlook it, so profound we can never comprehend it.

26) To avoid lying, do nothing that needs to be covered up.

27) Give your all to Christ, who gave His all for you

28) There is always enough time to do God’s will

29) Love always seeks to help, never to hurt

30) Never try to carry tomorrow’s burdens with today’s grace

31) Nails could not have kept Jesus on the cross had love not held Him there

32) Use self-control with your remote control

33) The smallest light still shines in the darkest night

34) Selfishness makes Christmas a burden; love makes it a delight

35) He who has no money is poor; he who has nothing but money is even poorer

36) God’s love is persistent, but never pushy

37) Faith is not a leap into the dark, but a step into the light

38) I’d rather be a fool in the eyes of men, than a fool in the eyes of God

39) Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God

40) Live dangerously, but in the hands of God

41) Faith without works is not faith at all

42) It’s not how much you’ve done, but how much you haven’t. It’s not how much you’ve given, but how much you’ve kept, that really matters.

43) Don’t let your past determine your destiny

44) The man who never reads, will never be read On average, an avid reader earns $600,000 more in their lifetime than a non reader.

45) He who will not use the thoughts of other mens brains, proves that he has no brains of his own

46) Some peoples glass is half full, others half empty, it just depends on their outlook, positive or negative.

47) If you look for the good, you will find it; if you look for the bad, you will also find it

48) If you want to be served, you must serve; if you want friends, you must be a friend.

49) You are never more like God, than when you give

50) Nothing is lost or wasted if we learn from it

51) Though the people should support the government, the government should not support the people. We have enough government intervention in our lives, aren’t you glad we don’t get all the government we pay for?!

52) You should always mean what you say, and only say what you mean. Be quick to listen and slow to speak

53) When a man knows he is about to die, he usually says what is most important and truthful.

54) Where others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king.

55) If you use the joy rule and think of Jesus, then others, then yourself; you will really feel true joy

56) Ask yourself, If building God’s church depended on me, would it ever get done?

57) The flexible grass bends in the wind; where the rigid tree falls. So, the open minded survive to carry on; where the stubborn fall to ruin.

58) Its not what you eat, but what you digest; its not what you learn, but what you use that makes you wise

59) Knowledge is power, but only if you use it

60) Always try to improve yourself, never to prove yourself

61) Tomorrow is never here, so don’t put it off

62) Plan to be here forever, but live as if it were your last day

63) Accuracy of statement is truth, inaccuracy is kin to lies

64) Don’t tell someone, Jesus loves them, until you are ready to love them too.

65) No-one should be above the law and no-one should be below the law either

66) Justice comes with absolutes, with absolutes comes the opportunity for mercy

67) Perfection changes with the situation and circumstances

68) Necessity is the seed of invention

69) If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime; if you do the crime, you do the time

70) The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh; everything is His, He just lets us use it for a while

71) Don’t give anything less than your best to everything you partake in

72) Where there is a will, there is a way

73) Life is what you make it, life is experience

74) If you can’t say it nicely, don’t say it at all

75) If your goal is the sky, shoot for the stars

76) Sometimes God’s children should be seen and not heard

77) Wisdom comes with experience, not age

78) You have not because you ask not; you know not, because you ask not

79) Responsible curiosity never killed the cat

80) Health and happiness go hand in hand

81) Of the body’s 600 muscles, the hardest to keep in shape, is the heart

82) Just be yourself, it’s something that can’t be taken away

83) If you want to truly be great, you must learn to heal, because hurting people is easy

84) When does a man’s obligation to others exceed his obligation to himself? 85) A little humility is good for us all

86) We are what we see and hear

87) A fool talks, it is the wise man that listens

88) Haste makes waste

89) No-one knows what he can do until he tries

90) You can’t please everyone, so you have to please the Lord

91) Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration

92) The beginning is the most important part of the work

93) A good name is greater than riches

94) When you reach the bottom, there is only one way to go, UP

95) Do not underestimate the capabilities of anyone

96) The greatest mourners, are the greatest rejoicers

97) We need to be teachers not suppliers

98) Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he will eat forever

99) We need to leave the 99 to try to save the 1

100) We should not pray that the problem would be removed, but that the Lord would be glorified through the problem. For if the Lord gains, we gain

101) Quitters never prosper, cheaters only cheat themselves

102) You don’t have to fight to be a man, but sometimes you have to fight when you are a man

103) Walk away from trouble when you can

104) War is costly, peace is priceless

105) The trick for getting what we pray for is to pray for things for other people. To get things for ourselves; well, that is why God invented work

106) Never put passion before principle 107) Don’t waste time, its all we have

108) Even the fool knows we can’t reach out and touch the stars, but that doesn’t keep the wise man from trying

109) Don’t punish people, educate them

110) Sometimes you might have to fight for the truth, but no matter how right or just the cause, there is always a price to pay

111) If you mistake the hand of God for the hand of men, you will miss the Spirit’s corrective discipline read James 1:

2-3

112) Sometimes a lie can tell you more about someone than the truth

113) The misnomer about civilization and riches is that you can buy anything

114) The body is just a shell for the real person

115) We believe what we want to believe

116) History teaches us that man learns nothing from history

117) If you don’t speak out, your silence will speak fro you

118) You have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything

119) Whatever you do today you have to sleep with tonight

120) If you do something you don’t believe in, you’ve done wrong; if you don’t do something you believe in, you have also done wrong

121) Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven

122) If you live a Christian life and there is no heaven or hell, what have you lost? Nothing! If you live a sinners life and there is a heaven and hell you’ve lost eternity

123) One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

124) A miss is as good as a mile

125) Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way

126) Life is not so much a matter of position as of disposition

127) The best vitamin for making friends is B1

128) If you don’t care where you are going, any road will take you there

129) A pint of example is worth a gallon of advise

130) He who throws mud loses ground

131) No-one raises his own reputation by lowering others

132) Nothing ruins the truth like stretching it

133) A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks

134) Ideas won’t work unless you do

135) The future is purchased by the present

136) One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time

137) Lost time is never found again

138) The hard thing about business is minding your own

139) Triumph is just “umph” added to “try”

140) Caution is not cowardly, carelessness is not courage

141) He who forgives ends the quarrel

142) Children need more models than critics

143) Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them

144) The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime

145) If the going gets easy, you may be going down hill

146) Dieters-people who are thick and tired of it

147) Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise

148) The best labour saving device is doing it tomorrow

149) A turtle makes progress when it sticks out it’s neck 150) Failure is the path of least persistence 151) Hard work is the yeast that raises the dough

152) Patience is counting down without blasting off

153) God’s last name is not “dammit”

154) Some folks won’t look up until they are flat on their backs

155) If you want your dreams to come true, don’t over sleep

156) Friend-one who knows all about you and still likes you

157) Money talks and often says “goodbye”

158) Birds have bills too and they keep on singing

159) Forbidden fruit is responsible for many a bad jam

160) God’s retirement plan is out of this world

161) A good example is the best sermon

162) The 10 commandments are not multiple choice

163) Well done! Is better than Well said!

164) Minds are like parachutes, they only work when open

165) Live as you wish your kids did

166) Swallowing your pride seldom leads to indigestion

167) If you can laugh at it, you can live with it

168) People don’t fail, they give up

169) When looking for faults use a mirror, not a telescope

170) Smile it only takes 13 muscles, a frown takes 64

171) Kindness is a language deaf people can hear and blind people can see

172) The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge

173) A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor

174) A small leak can sink even the greatest ship

175) Through faith we understand that we are not physical beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience

176) You can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails

177) We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves

178) Tact is the ability to see others as they wish to be seen

179) A bad conscience has a very good memory

180) Hug your kids at home, belt them in the car

181) Spare the rod, spoil the child

182) One thing you can give and still keep is your word

183) A friend walks in when everyone else walks out

184) If you must cry over spilled milk, then please try to condense it

185) Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image

186) Make friends before you need them

187) It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it

188) The smallest good deed is better than the greatest intention

189) Success is more attitude than aptitude

190) Our favorite attitude should be gratitude

191) The greatest of all faults is to imagine that you have none

192) Too many of us speak twice before we think

193) Some people develop eye strain looking for trouble

194) everyone has 20/20 hindsight

195) The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts

196) It is much easier to be critical than correct

197) Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death

198) It is no crime not to be perfect

199) If others have messed up, you need not mention it

200) No man knows less than the man who knows it all

201) Patience carries a lot of wait

202) ONE WHO LACKS COURAGE TO START HAS ALREADY FINISHED

203) A quitter never wins, a winner never quits

204) Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often

205) Break a bad habit -drop it

206) Don’t learn safety rules simply by accident

207) Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

208) Past failures are guideposts to future successes

209) There is not right way to do the wrong thing

210) Read the Bible, it will scare the Hell out of you

211) An atheist is a person who has no invisible means of support

212) Money is a good servant but a cruel master

213) Seek joy in what you give not in what you get

214) Procrastination is the thief of time

215) Success comes in cans, failure comes in can’ts

216) good is never good when better is possible.

217) Anger is one letter short of danger 218) The greatest remedy for anger is delay 219) 2/3 of promotion is motion

220) Having a sharp tongue can cut your own throat

221) Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important

222) The nearest thing to Heaven is a child

223) There is a special kind of sunshine in a smile

224) You can’t treat love like something you buy

225) Wonder “Why”!

226) Christians should make the best citizens

227) No road is too long if we meet in the middle

228) A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

229) Practically Perfect people never let sentiment muddle their thinking

230) If you can imagine yourself as something, you can become it

231) It’s not how much you make, but how you manage what you make that will make you rich

232) When you decide to change something in your life the past drops away and you are floating away on the wings of the future

233) Defeat habit with innovation

234) Don’t worry about what you want, concentrate on what you already have

235) A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush

236) It is better to have one true friend than all the acquaintances in the world

237) The truth only hurts when you don’t tell it

238) Judge by the way you want to be judged

239) Whatever you give you will get more of the same

240) Think Positive 241) Freedom is just another word for “nothing left to lose”

242) Friendship is built on caring, sharing, and trust

243) You must look forward to everything, or you will be looking backwards and it will be too late

244) You have to be your own man not a puppet on a string

245) Many people believe in what they see; what do they see in me?

246) Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched

247) Dishonesty is forsaking the permanent for temporary advantages

248) What men call accident is the doing of God’s providence

249) Doing the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans

250) Speaking much is a sign of vanity

251) When we face problems on the highways of life, we can usually find others on the same road

252) Procrastination can lead to frustration and failure

253) A soft answer turneth away wrath

254) It is better to be alone than in bad company

255) Christians should abstain from all appearances of evil

256) The way to be nothing is to do nothing

257) Few things are impossible to diligence and skill

258) The good are the enemies of the best

259) Give the hardest task to the laziest person and he will find the easiest way of doing it

260) Battles are won by those who believe in winning

261) If you always live with those who are lame you will learn to limp

262) Strive to be physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight 263) The path of duty is the path of glory

264) Giving advise is sometimes only showing our wisdom at the expense of others

265) The purpose of the government is not to guarantee happiness but to safegaurd the pursuit

266) Great men are not always wise

267) Silence is sometimes the severest criticism

268) A caring parent will be conscientious and strict

269) Reprove your friend privately, commend him publicly

270) Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted as wise

271) Be silent always when you doubt your sense

272) If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others

273) Though the mills of God grind slowly, they grind extremely small

274) The wise man will never cease learning

275) Admitting that you are wrong, is to admit that you are wiser today than yesterday

276) Idle money is useless money

277) Timing is the essence of life

278) Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water

279) The greatest friend of truth is time; her greatest enemy is prejudice; and her constant companion is humility

280) The happiest people don’t have the best, they make the best of what they have

281) The ability to simplify is to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary can speak

282) If you are reluctant to ask the way you will be lost

283) Opportunities are never lost, the other fellow takes the ones you miss

284) It’s not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we do that makes life blessed

285) People stop living when they have no reason to live

286) Make yourself necessary to somebody

287) The greatest good you can do for another is not to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own

288) Opinions should be formed with great caution and changed with greater caution

289) You’ll gain a lot of ground if you only give a little

290) I don’t know where I’m going, but there is no sense being late

291) Love never dies with pain, it’s too bad pain never dies with love

292) The hotter the fire, the purer the gold

293) Nothing grows without rain

294) Its not how you say it, but how it is understood that makes it wrong

295) You have to make a choice, you can’t have everything at the same time

296) Hope helps, despair doesn’t

297) Slim is better than none

298) Value should be a priority not an option

299) We’re here for a good time, not a long time

300) Everyone has a river they need to cross. Some have physical, others mental, neither is easier. All need help, yet they need to do it alone

301) Walk the edge but keep Jesus between you and the cliff

302) There will be a lot of compromising before you reach your horizon

303) Everything can be prevented but you can’t prevent everything

304) The story of love has no end

305) Those who gossip to you will gossip about you.

306) Some people get delt a better hand, but is is how you play it that determines if you win or lose

307) No legacy is so rich as honesty

308) The true greatness of wisdom is knowing that you know so little

309) We need to know when to stand up and when to shut up. We need to know when to hold them and when to fold them

310) You’ve got to keep an ave in the hole; always have a little more than you show

311) An accident is never just one thing

312) There is no perfect man, just perfect intentions

313) Noble men are determined by their actions

314) The “I will” spirit is the spirit of rebellion

315) When I die I don’t want justice, I want mercy

316) For me, death is when the earth recedes and heaven opens up

317) No-one is ready to die unless he has learned to live

318) We will play a better game if we remember who is in the grandstand. Heaven looks on!

319) ACTS- adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication

320) Courage is doing what you are afraid of, there can be no courage without fear

321) Success is a journey not a destination

322) The vain man hates his like; the exceptional man seeks out his

323) The greatest pleasure in life is doing the impossible

324) the greatest mistake you can make is to continually fear that you will make one

325) You can’t force flower petals to open but they will open up beautifully in their own time

326) How is it that we don’t recognize when love begins, but we always recognize when it ends

327) If you want to change the world, start by changing your own 328) It’s never over, so you never lose if you persevere

329) It’s a short distance from a halo to a hang mans noose

330) Accent the positive, eliminate the negative

331) If you let your mind go, your body will follow

332) You can’t always plan family time, so you need to seize the moment

333) Move closer to God and He will move closer to you

334) A man who fails to listen is blind, not deaf

335) I can’t succeed with out u, Lord

336) Players who specialize in Home Runs, tend to strike out a lot

337) You don’t know what you have until it is gone

338) Nothing heals a broken heart like time, love and tenderness

339) If you are “one in a million”, in China there are 1,000 just like you

340) It’s not how good you make love, it is how you make love good that counts

341) When the tide comes in, every ship in the harbour moves up; when the tide goes out, the opposite is true

342) A journal is a savings account for ideas

343) Observe the obvious

344) Words are the most powerful gun used by mankind

345) Its not what you say, but how you say it that will be remembered

346) When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future

347) Procrastination does not exist until it interferes with productivity

348) A social event is just concealed warfare

349) God can deal with your failing, He can’t deal with your quitting

350) It takes less time to do something right, than to explain why you did it wrong

351) If you want the last word in an argument, say “I guess you are right”

352) the man always gets the last word “yes dear”

353) Inflation is when the buck doesn’t stop anywhere

354) Let someone else blow your horn, the sound will go twice as far

355) Man is at his best when stimulated by the hope of reward, the fear of failure, and the light of a star

356) We see things not as they are, but as we are

357) The greatest firmness is the greatest mercy

358) Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrows, it only saps today of its strength

359) To love is to admire with the heart, to admire is to love with the mind

360) He who is always blowing a fuse is usually in the dark

361) Everybody is ignorant, just on different subjects

362) Just be glad your not getting all the government you are paying for

363) Fame is fickle food upon a shifting plate

364) Listening to both sides of a story will show that there is more than both sides to the story

365) Nearly all men can stand adversity but to test a man’s character give him power

366) Memory is affected not only by what you see, but by how you see it

367) A fact is something that hasn’t been proven wrong yet

368) Boring is a state of mind

369) Necessity is the seed of change, desire is the seed for invention

370) Turn the other cheek; there is a better world waiting for the meek

371) Testimony is not evidence

372) The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it

373) A great deal of talent is lost for want of a little courage

374) Self confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings

375) In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king

376) Sometimes it takes more to run from your problems than it does to face them

377) Life is fragile, handle with prayer

378) Whenever a door closes something usually gets caught in it

379) If you pile up enough full tomorrows you will get a lot of empty yesterdays

380) God made everything except unbreakable hearts

381) Everyone is vulnerable it just depends if they want to show it

382) You never fail if you are working with God

383) God works in mysterious ways

384) If you aren’t working for God, you are working against Him

385) Why go to the forest to seek God, He is found at home

386) I serve Him alone, who in the end will save me

387) Respect causes obedience, fear causes rebellion

388) We need to give God life service not just lip service

389) Sin is progressive, one sin leads to another

390) Let others conform to your mold instead of you to theirs

391) You never make a mistake when you are obeying the will of God

392) He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet

393) In the end God will not look you over for medals but for scars

394) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love yourself as God loves you and love others as yourself

395) Do not only do unto others what you would have them do to you; but do unto others as they would have done to themselves

396) Faith tells us what the senses can’t but it isn’t contradictory to their findings

397) Tolerance is a virtue of a man without convictions

398) Tolerance exists where truth doesn’t

399) Love is the most intolerant virtue; for love must be truthful and true to its convictions

400) Some think love is a noun. That is, it is something we find or posses, or discover. But love is a verb, an action verb. It is something we do.

401) What is missing here “chch”? “U” “R”

402) When adversity strikes, don’t get down except on your knees

403) Roots grow deeper when the wind blows strong

404) Christ is the only door into heaven

405) A parents greatest responsibility is to point the way to God

406) Gratitude to God leads to growth in godliness

407) Because of the cross of Christ we can become friends of Christ

408) “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.”

409) You can be sincere and be sincerely wrong

410) We are either on God’s side of the fence or Satan’s side. But don’t sit on the fence, because Satan owns the fence

411) It’s not your theology that will win lives to Christ, but rather your love...a love that can only be Jesus. Dear children let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth 1 John 3:

18

412) You will never soar with eagles if you spend all your time with turkeys

413) The Christian life is not a matter of our ability, but of our availability

414) If you won’t risk offending someone with Christ, you will never win anyone to Christ

415) God expects us to be people lovers not people pleasers

416) I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it, God’s in control of my life and I think I like it

417) Your Christian faith won’t make you perfect, but it ought to make you different

418) Live in the present with all its opportunities; not in the past with all its mistakes & regrets

419) What your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve

420) There is no reason for telling a lie because your friends will understand and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.

421) We have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; but the Gospel of Christ may justly be ashamed of us. ... John Tillotson (1630-1694)

422) One should change the way they present the gospel as to not offend people, but they should never change the gospel to not offend people.

423) That perfect devoting ourselves to God, from which devotion has its name, requires that we should not only do the will of God, but also that we should do it with love. “He loveth a cheerful giver,” and without the heart no obedience is acceptable to Him. -- Francois Fenelon (1651-1715)

424) There is nothing more awesome than the love of our Lord or the faith of a child.

425) If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to worship

426) In some ways life is like a game of Hide-n-seek; we are all either hiding from God or seeking Him.

427) “It’s not the outlook but the uplook that counts”. Keep looking up friends. Want to hear from you again...

428) faith makes all things possible, NOT easy!!!

429) The most important thing you think , is what you think about God

430) Only the fear of God can take away the fear of men

431) Sin would have fewer partakers if the consequences occurred immediately. 432) Passion for Jesus Christ is the key to miracles by the Holy Spirit

433) Some men think they have made a success of life when all they’ve really made is money!

434) The Lord gave you two ends...one for sitting, one for thinking. Your success depends on which one you use..Heads you win, tails you lose! -- Gas Flame

435) Financial bondage is the immediate consequence of misunderstanding God’s purposes for money! -- Bill Gothard

436) A sentence of death wonderfully concentrates the mind! -- Napoleon

437) You can sit on a mountain but you can’t sit on a tack!

438) Neither genius, fame, nor riches show the greatness of soul. Only love and kindness can do that.

439) The strength of a country is the strength of its religious convictions! -- Calvin Coolidge

440) Hungry man sit long time with open mouth waiting for roast duck to fly in!

441) A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure

442) No matter how difficult the challenge or how hopeless the task, if you are on course, just keep going!

443) Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even! -- Ann Landers

444) There is no fear of judgment for the man who judges himself according to the Word of God! -- Howard Hendricks

445) The Lord gives us friends to push us to our potential...And enemies to push us beyond it! -- Jim Vorsas

446) Three choices every person needs to make right: Master, mission, and mate -- Eleanor Doan

447) A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market

448) The door of opportunity is so wide open that it’s off its hinges -- Ernie Reb

449) Stormy weather is what man needs from time to time to remind him he’s not really in charge of anything -- Bill Vaughn

450) A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues 451) It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom -- Horace Greeley

452) God’s love for us is not a love that always exempts us from trials, but rather, a love that always sees us through trials

453) To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

454) The words of an engraving from the cathedral of Lubeck, Germany, beautifully reflect our Lord’s teaching here:

Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us, You call Me master and obey Me not, you call Me light and see Me not, you call Me the way and walk Me not, you call Me life and live Me not, you call Me wise and follow Me not, you call Me fair and love Me not, you call Me rich and ask Me not, you call Me eternal and seek Me not, if I condemn thee, blame Me not.”

455) DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT THORNS AMONG ROSES; BE GRATEFUL FOR ROSES AMONG THORNS.

456) It has been estimated that in one’s lifetime the average person will consume 150 head of cattle, 2,400 chickens, 225 lambs, 26 sheep, 310 pigs, 26 acres of grain, 50 acres of fruit and vegetables. “Man shall not live by bread alone...” That is a lot of food, how much of the Word of God are you consuming? The Word of God is the Bible, the Bread of Life.

457) A Bible that is falling apart, usually belongs to someone who isn’t.