Tag Archives: Joy Jar

The 12/15/13 Joy Jar

15 Dec

Advent is the perfect time for reflecting about the positive things in life and hope. One of the great American spiritual leaders was Rev. Norman Vincent Peale:

Norman Vincent Peale
(1898-1993)
Champion of Positive Thinking
Born in Bowersville, Ohio, USA, on May 31 1898, Norman Vincent Peale grew up helping support his family by delivering newspapers, working in a grocery store, and selling pots and pans door to door, but later was to become one of the most influential clergymen in the United States during the 20th-century.
He was educated at Ohio Wesleyan University and Boston University. He was a reporter on the Findlay, Ohio, Morning Republic prior to entering the ministry and went on to author some 40 books. Ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1922, Peale served as pastor at a succession of churches that included Berkeley, Rhode Island (1922–24), Brooklyn, New York (1924–27), and Syracuse, New York (1927–32) before changing his affiliation to the Dutch Reformed Church so that he could become pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City (1932–84). There he gained fame for his sermons on a positive approach to modern living, which were regularly broadcast, first on radio and later on television. The church had 600 members when he arrived to pastor in 1932; it had over 5,000 by the time he retired in 1984. In 1969 and 1970 he was president of the Reformed Church in America.
Peale confessed that as a youth he had “the worst inferiority complex of all,” and developed his positive thinking/positive confession philosophy just to help himself. In 1937, Peale established a clinic with Freudian psychiatrist Dr. Smiley Blanton in the basement of the Marble Collegiate Church. (Blanton brought with him the “extensive experience” of having undergone psychoanalysis by Freud himself in Vienna in 1929, 1935, 1936, and 1937.) The clinic was described as having “a theoretical base that was Jungian, with a strong evidence of neo- and post-Freudianism” (Carol V.R. George, God’s Salesman: Norman Vincent Peale and the Power of Positive Thinking , p. 90). It subsequently grew to an operation with more than 20 psychiatric doctors and psychologically- trained “ministers,” and in 1951 became known as the American Foundation for Religion and Psychiatry. In 1972, it merged with the Academy of Religion and Mental Health to form the Institutes of Religion and Health (IRH). To his death, Peale remained affiliated with the IRH as president of the board and chief fund raiser. Indeed, Peale pioneered the merger of theology and psychology which became known as Christian Psychology.
Peale applied Christianity to everyday problems and is the person who is most responsible for bringing psychology into the professing Church, blending its principles into a message of “positive thinking.” Peale said, “through prayer you … make use of the great factor within yourself, the deep subconscious mind … [which Jesus called] the kingdom of God within you … Positive thinking is just another term for faith.” He also wrote, “Your unconscious mind … [has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough.”
His simple, optimistic, and dynamic sermons brought increasing numbers of parishioners and increasing fame to Peale. For 54 years Peale’s weekly radio program, “The Art of Living,” was broadcast on NBC. His sermons were mailed to 750,000 people a month. His life was subject of a 1964 movie entitled One Man’s Way.
In 1945, Peale and his wife started Guideposts magazine; its circulation now tops 4.5 million, the largest of any religious magazine. Peale also published several best-selling books, including The Art of Living (1937), Confident Living (1948), The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), and This Incredible Century (1991). His most popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking, has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 languages.
With his wife, Ruth, Peale founded the Foundation for Christian Living in 1945. He died on December 24, 1993, at 95. Ruth carries on the work they began. http://normanvincentpeale.wwwhubs.com/

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the wisdom of Rev. Peale.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.
Norman Vincent Peale

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
Norman Vincent Peale

It’s always too early to quit.
Norman Vincent Peale

Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful.
Norman Vincent Peale

Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.
Norman Vincent Peale

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.
Norman Vincent Peale

The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
Norman Vincent Peale

Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.
Norman Vincent Peale

Four things for success: work and pray, think and believe.
Norman Vincent Peale

If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.
Norman Vincent Peale

It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.
Norman Vincent Peale

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.
Norman Vincent Peale

Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.
Norman Vincent Peale

Drop the idea that you are Atlas carrying the world on your shoulders. The world would go on even without you. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
Norman Vincent Peale

Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.
Norman Vincent Peale

We tend to get what we expect.
Norman Vincent Peale

Be interesting, be enthusiastic… and don’t talk too much.
Norman Vincent Peale

The Gateway to Christianity is not through an intricate labyrinth of dogma, but by a simple belief in the person of Christ.
Norman Vincent Peale

Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture… Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.
Norman Vincent Peale

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.
Norman Vincent Peale

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The 12/14/13 Joy Jar

15 Dec

Today is well into the Christmas Season and as we enter the last couple of weeks before Christmas, it is good to reflect on the season. Daily Christian quotes have a great series of reflections about the Advent Season. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is reflecting on Advent.

The event of Christ is the only event in human history that promises relocation and centering, meaning and purpose. This promise and its fulfillment evoke passionate and heartfelt praise and thanks, especially for those aware of their own brokenness and the healing which Christ brings into their lives.
Robert Webber

A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes… and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along ,that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home. While we wait, we have to trust, to have faith, but it is God’s grace that gives us that faith. As with all spiritual knowledge, two things are true, and equally true, at once. The mind can’t grasp paradox; it is the knowledge of the soul.
Michelle Blake

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty founder was a child himself.

Charles Dickens

In spite of the many benefits God has blessed us with, how many times do we complain about little difficulties and trials? We lose sight of the big picture and fail to appreciate the really important things. Just as we cannot benefit from a wrapped gift under a Christmas tree until we open it, so gratitude can be seen as our way of opening the gift of God’s love intended by all the small and big positive events of our lives.
Ronda De Sola Chervin

As we prepare for our traditional celebrations, let us remember those who will not be looking forward to this festival. Let us remember too how Jesus identified with the oppressed and the homeless. Let the joy of the festival touch more of the people of our world this year than ever before. May God be glorified and may people of good will once again experience His peace.
Denzil John

For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all; No palace too great, no cottage too small.
Phillips Brooks

Often times when we think of becoming a Christian, we think of what it is doing for us – that we are reconciling in our relationship with our creator that we are having our sins forgiven, that we are being saved… I think that the call to receive Christ is more like Gabriel’s visit to Mary where he asks us, will you carry the Christ, will you carry the salvation of the world?
Mike Wilkins

The way to Christmas lies through an ancient gate….It is a little gate, child-high, child-wide, and there is a password: “Peace on earth to men of good will.” May you, this Christmas, become as a little child again and enter into His kingdom.
Angelo Patri

The spirit of Christmas needs to superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world.
Stuart Briscoe

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.
Howard Thurman

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem; not to mention that Friday at Calvary.
Joe Gatuslao

Immanuel will bring lasting, true peace. (Isa 7:14) Not just an end to physical war, although that is what we usually think of when we think of peace. No, this is a deeper peace. A peace between us and God. True reconciliation between the Creator and his creatures. Through Immanuel life for us and his death for us we will be at peace with God. This isn’t our doing. We didn’t make the peace. We didn’t even take the first step. God did. Because that is God’s attitude toward us: always seeking, always restoring, always saving. Immanuel comes to show us that we matter, each and every one of us, to God. Jesus Christ, our Lord, and God’s Son, is Immanuel – God with us. Jesus was born a child and lived among us, died our death on the cross, all so that we would have peace with God, from this time forth and forever more. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts has done this.
Charles P St-Onge

When Christ entered our world, he didn’t come to brighten our Decembers, but to transform our lives.
Rich Miller
http://dailychristianquote.com/dcqchristmas2.html

For more information about Advent, The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html

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The 12/13/13 Joy Jar

13 Dec

Today is Friday the 13th and some folk believe that the day is unlucky. The ‘Joy Jar’ exercise was one of finding something to be grateful for every day. Grateful people are not superstitious because they are hopeful and no matter the circumstances, there is something to be thankful for.

Philippians 4:11
New International Version
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is overcoming superstition with hope.

“If a black cat crosses your path, it signifies that the animal is going somewhere.”
Groucho Marx

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”
Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

“What the mind doesn’t understand, it worships or fears.”
Alice Walker

“The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.”
Francis Bacon

“Superstition [is] cowardice in the face of the Divine.”
Theophrastus

“Superstition has been defined as the use of a form whose significance has been forgotten.”
Dion Fortune, Esoteric Orders and Their Work and The Training and Work of the Initiate

“Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a curse, a punishment by his deity for some transgression, as though his god were a petty storekeeper, counting up the day’s receipts.”
Sheri S. Tepper, The Visitor

“It will seem to many persons very inconsistent with their ideas of the dignity of a spirit that they should appear and act in the manner I have described, and shall describe further; and I have heard it objected that we cannot suppose God would permit the dead to return merely to frighten the living, and that it is showing Him little reverence to imagine He would suffer them to come on such trifling errands, or demean themselves in so undignified a fashion. But God permits men of all degrees of wickedness, and of every kind of absurdity, to exist, and to harass and disturb the earth, whilst they expose themselves to its obloquy or its ridicule.”
Catherine Crowe, The Night Side of Nature

“There is a faculty in man that will acknowledge the unseen. He may scout and scare religion from him; but if he does, superstition perches near.”
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet And Others: Ghost Stories 1861-70

“You may substitute knowledge for superstition without satisfying the needs that drive people into superstition’s arms.”
Susan Neiman, Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-up Idealists

“We live in a world where unfortunately the distinction between true and false appears to become increasingly blurred by manipulation of facts, by exploitation of uncritical minds, and by the pollution of the language.”
Arne Tiselius

“When even the brightest mind in our world has been trained up from childhood in a superstition of any kind, it will never be possible for that mind, in its maturity, to examine sincerely, dispassionately, and conscientiously any evidence or any circumstance which shall seem to cast a doubt upon the validity of that superstition. I doubt if I could do it myself.”
Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain

In the end, people are left with empty superstition or acknowledging that there is a higher POWER:

“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
Abraham Lincoln

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
C. S. Lewis

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The 12/12/ 13 Joy Jar

12 Dec

As the year of the ‘Joy Jar’ ends on Christmas and the year of aspiration and accomplishment begins, it is time to reflect on the past year.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
New Living Translation
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

One lesson from the ‘Joy Jar’ exercise is to be thankful. Kelly Clarkson wrote an anthem for all who have gone through and EMERGED from a period of TRANSITION:

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone

What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over ’cause you’re gone

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I…
http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-doesnt-kill-you-lyrics-kelly-clarkson.html

Actually what the ‘Joy Jar’ year has taught moi that it is God and moi. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the truth that ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger.’

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.
Henry Ward Beecher

The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.
Leonardo da Vinci

Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
A.A. Milne

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
Louisa May Alcott

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.
Thomas Carlyle

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

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The 12/11/13 Joy Jar

12 Dec

Moi will end the “Joy Jar’ exercise on December 25, when we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel, God among us. It is a Season of hope and beginning. During the course of the past year, moi has seen the Healing Power of God. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the Healing Power of God.

The wish for healing has always been half of health.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

RPM Ministries shared The Top Three Dozen Quotes on God’s Healing for Life’s Losses:

Quotes of Note for Finding Hope When You’re Hurting

“When tragedy strikes, we enter a crisis of faith. We either move toward God or away from God.”

“There is no human experience which cannot be put on the anvil of a lively relationship with God and man, and battered into a meaningful shape.”

“Christianity doesn’t in any way lessen suffering. It enables you to take it, to face it, to work through it, and eventually convert it.”

“God’s Word empowers us not to evade suffering, but to face suffering face-to-face with God.”

“In suffering, God is not getting back at you; He is getting you back to Himself.”

“Shared sorrow is endurable sorrow.”

“No grieving; no healing. Know grieving; know healing.”

“We live in a fallen world and it often falls on us.”

“The world is a mess and it messes with our minds.”

“Spiritual friendship with God results in 20/20 spiritual vision from God.”

“To deny or diminish suffering is to arrogantly refuse to be humbled. It is to reject dependence upon God.”

“Crying out to God empties us so there is more room in us for God.”

“Faith does not demand the removal of suffering; faith desires endurance in suffering.”

“Faith understands that what can’t be cured, can be endured.”

“Comfort experiences the presence of God in the presence of suffering—a presence that empowers me to survive scars and plants the seed of hope that I will yet thrive.”

“In this life, your scar may not go away, but neither will His. He understands. He cares. He’s there.”

“Spiritual emergencies can produce spiritual emergence.”

“Faith looks back to the past recalling God’s mighty works. Hope looks ahead remembering God’s coming reward.”

“In Christ, loss is never final. Christ’s resurrection is the first-fruit of every resurrection.”

“When we wait on God, we cling to God’s rope of hope, even when we can’t see it.”

“Hope waits. Hope is the refusal to demand heaven now.”

“Waiting is refusing to take over while refusing to give up. Waiting refuses self-rescue.”

“In Christ, we move from victims to victors.”

“God is a ‘time God.’ He does not come before time. He does not come after time. He comes at just the right time.”

“Faith is entrusting myself to God’s larger purposes, good plans, and eternal perspective.”

“Faith is seeing life with spiritual eyes instead of eyeballs only.”

“Through faith, I look at suffering, not with rose colored glasses, but with faith eyes, with Cross-eyes, with 20/20 spiritual vision.”

“Instead of our perspective shrinking, suffering is the exact time when we must listen most closely, when we must lean over to hear the whisper of God.”

“True, God shouts to us in our pain, but His answers, as with Elijah, often come to us in whispered still small voices amid the thunders of the world.”

“God’s eternal, heavenly story doesn’t obliterate my earthly, painful story; it gives it meaning.”

“Grace math teaches us that present suffering plus God’s character equals future glory. The equation we use is the Divine perspective.”

“Worship is wanting God more than wanting relief.”

“Worship is finding God even when you don’t find answers.”

“Worship is walking with God in the dark and having Him as the light of your soul.”

“Every problem is an opportunity to know God better, and our primary battle is to know God well.”

“Problems can either shove us far from God or drag us kicking and screaming closer to Him.”
http://www.rpmministries.org/2010/06/the-top-three-dozen-quotes-on-god%E2%80%99s-healing/

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says it best:

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

It the end of it all, we are left with God is good.

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The 12/10/13 Joy Jar

10 Dec

Some may wonder what happens to moi after the ‘Joy Jar’ exercise ends on Christmas Day. Sonia Choquette wrote in The Meaning of Christmas:

That hidden meaning is that Christmas is the festival of the human heart. It is a time of year when all the universe conspires to raise the vibratory level of consciousness on earth to one of peace and love toward ourselves and one another. This season resonates to the sweet, childlike innocence that resides in all of us. A time when the heavenly forces inspire us to shift our focus away from fear and toward one of joy, and healing.
The Christmas festival emphasizes this shift in two ways; one is the rebirth of the soul and the second is the return of the light to earth. Even before the rebirth of Christ which centers around our modern day Christmas festival, as far back as recorded history, in fact, these two themes of rebirth and light have emerged again and again during this time of year.
It is as if Divine Consciousness moves forward year after year, during the darkest season, to bring us back to light….
http://www.awakeningpath.com/articles/latest_sonia_ch_041128_the_meaning_of_chri9.htm

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is looking forward to Christmas as the beginning of a period of change and growth for moi.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
Maya Angelou

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Reinhold Niebuhr

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.
Margaret Mead

When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.
Viktor E. Frankl

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
C. S. Lewis

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Winston Churchill

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
Lao Tzu

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Wayne Dyer

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
Alan Watts

If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.
Gail Sheehy

Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.
Arnold Bennett

Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
Confucius

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The 12/09/13 Joy Jar

9 Dec

The ‘Joy Jar’ exercise will end on December 25. In many ways it has been like running a race. In this time, this place, and this culture – being a Christian is like running a race. It requires endurance. Jim Eliff of Grace Online Library posted Seven laws for running the Christian race:

1. Run to win: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
2. Observe strict discipline: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training… I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
3. Don’t look back: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
4. Get constant encouragement: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us…run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
5. Throw off restraints: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
6. Discount pain: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:22-24).
7. Don’t let up until you cross the line: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/christian-life/seven-laws-for-running-the-christian-race/

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is running the race until the Lord calls me Home.

“I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. Let us then, who are “perfectly mature” adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you. Only, with regard to what we have attained, continue on the same course”.
Philippians 3: 14-17

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The 12/08/13 Joy Jar

8 Dec

Moi is winding down the ‘Joy Jar’ exercise. The ‘Joy Jar’ will officially end on Christmas Day. After the Mayan Calendar thingie went up in smoke, moi looked the idea of finding something to be grateful for every day. People who are grateful are hopeful and look forward to the future. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is looking toward a wonderful future.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
Winston Churchill

The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
Oscar Wilde

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.
William Shakespeare

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Steve Jobs

If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.
Winston Churchill

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.
Albert Ellis

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.
Bob Marley

I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.
Mahatma Gandhi

Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.
Jim Rohn

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Malcolm X

Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.
Wayne Dyer

The future starts today, not tomorrow.
Pope John Paul II

Study the past, if you would divine the future.
Confucius

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
Marcus Aurelius

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The 12/07/13 Joy Jar

8 Dec

The last few days in Seattle have been the coldest that it has been in months. Today was particularly cold. Luckily for moi she is reviewing Heat Holder socks. http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/dr-wilda-reviews-heat-holders-socks/ Moi spent the day running around. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is worm socks.

I’m also a fan of ridiculously coloured and patterned socks.
Daniel Radcliffe

I always saw Michael Gambon wearing madly psychedelic socks, and I always thought that’s it is one of the few areas where men can really express colour and have a bit of a dandyish quality to their outfit.
Daniel Radcliffe

Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas a man speaks only when driven to speak by something outside himself like, for instance, he can’t find any clean socks.
Jean Kerr

I’ll tell you one thing you can’t do: you can’t put your shoes on, then your socks on.
Flavor Flav

You choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color.
Gary Oldman

With everybody having a Facebook and a Twitter, I feel like regular people consider themselves stars. It’s a live, real-time upload of every time we buy a pair of socks, the most telling sign that we’re losing our politeness. When you know everything about somebody, you can talk to them any way you please.
Jeff Ross

I don’t think people need to know what colour socks I’m wearing today; I don’t think people need to know what shower gel I’m using. There’s too much information in the world, and there’s no magic or mystery anymore.
Noel Gallagher

Obviously, people who commit crimes should be punished. Even people who steal socks and ‘Snow White’ videos should probably do time if they have priors, especially serious priors. But the punishment has to fit the crime, and the standard has to be the same for everyone.
Matt Taibbi

I like the light that comes off metal shutters at siesta time in the summer, having a break from driving in the shops at motorway services, the odour of petrol at petrol stations, rolling down little slopes. I hate it when you tread in a puddle and the water soaks your socks.
Audrey Tautou

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Roland glares at Connor and Connor glares back. Then he says what he always says at moments like this.
“Nice socks.”
Although Roland doesn’t look down right away, it derails him just enough for him to back off. He doesn’t check to see if his socks match until he thinks Connor isn’t looking. And the moment he does, Connor snickers. Small victories are bet­ter than none.”
Neal Shusterman, Unwind

“Granny always said finding justice was as tough as putting socks on a rooster.”
Jessica Maria Tuccelli, Glow

“There was still plenty of water in the basement, and I felt it soaking me from the knees on down. If someone wanted to torture me until I told them a critical piece of information, all they would have to do is get my socks wet. It feels terrible.”
Lemony Snicket, Who Could That Be At This Hour?

“Friendship is like putting butter on your socks before you slide them on. Sure, we all do it occasionally, but most of us would rather eat breakfast bare-handed at least once in a while. 
”
Jarod Kintz, The Merits of Marthaism, and How Being Named Susan Can Benefit You

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The 12/06/13 Joy Jar

6 Dec

Laughter is really and truly the best medicine. No one was as wickedly funny as Groucho Marx. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the humor of Groucho Marx.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.
Groucho Marx

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Groucho Marx

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
Groucho Marx

I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.
Groucho Marx

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot.
Groucho Marx

All people are born alike – except Republicans and Democrats.
Groucho Marx

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.
Groucho Marx

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.
Groucho Marx

She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.
Groucho Marx

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Groucho Marx

Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.
Groucho Marx

Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.
Groucho Marx

A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running.
Groucho Marx

I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.
Groucho Marx

I read in the newspapers they are going to have 30 minutes of intellectual stuff on television every Monday from 7:30 to 8. to educate America. They couldn’t educate America if they started at 6:30.
Groucho Marx

I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book.
Groucho Marx

Humor is reason gone mad.
Groucho Marx

I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.
Groucho Marx

My favourite poem is the one that starts ‘Thirty days hath September’ because it actually tells you something.
Groucho Marx

There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, ‘Yes,’ you know he is a crook.
Groucho Marx

Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?
Groucho Marx

I didn’t like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions – the curtain was up.
Groucho Marx

Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.
Groucho Marx

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