Muhammad Ali to his daughter

BOXER MUHAMMAD ALI'S ADVICE TO HIS DAUGHTER -
******************************
***************
An incident transpired when Muhammad Ali's daughters arrived at his home
wearing clothes that were quite revealing. Here is the story as told by
one of his daughters: "When we finally arrived, the chauffeur
escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father's suite. As
usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged
many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day. My father
took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said
something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes
and said, "Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is
covered and hard to get to.

Where do you find diamonds?
Deep down in the ground, covered and protected.

Where do you find pearls?
Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a
beautiful shell.

Where do you find gold?
Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock.
You've got to work hard to get to them."

He looked at me with serious eyes. "Your body is sacred. You're far more
precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.

I Love You Anyway

 
I Love You Anyway

The fear of rejection may be one of the most basic fears of the human experience. Dr. Joe Harding tells a heart-warming story of a man who finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was Friday. He told his wife that morning what he was about to do. All day the man felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to approach his employer. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise.

The man arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china. Candles were lighted. His wife had prepared a festive meal. Immediately he figured that someone from the office had tipped her off! Finding his wife in the kitchen, he told her the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate the man found a beautiful lettered note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I  knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."

While on his way to the kitchen to get dessert he noticed that a second card had fallen from her pocket. Picking it off the floor, he read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."

Total acceptance! Total love. Her love for him was not contingent upon his success at work. In fact, just the opposite. If he were to fail there, if he were to be rejected by his boss, he'd be all the more accepted at home. She stood behind him no matter what; softening the blows, healing the wounds, believing in him, loving him. We can be rejected by almost anyone if we're loved by one.

That's the way families can be with each other. And I like to think that's the way God is with us, too!  "We love Him because He first loved us."

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

How Are You Growing?

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

A common question we often ask one another is this: How's it going? It is a question of polite inquiry, a question that normally evokes a "pretty good" or "fine" response.  Well, let me ask you a deeper, more important question: How are you growing?  You see, God commands us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Are you doing very well with this command?

TEN 'GROWING' TEST QUESTIONS

1. Am I reading my Bible for information or transformation?(James 1:22-25)

2. Am I allowing people or circumstances to steal the joy that Jesus promised to me? (John 10:10)

3. Is there anything in my life that God is consistently convicting me of that I am trying to ignore? (Ezekiel 14:1-5)

4. Who are the people in my life that God has placed around me for the purpose of me sharing Christ with them and/or inviting them to church? (II Corinthians 5:16-21)

5. Is there anyone I need to apologize to? (Ephesians 4:25:27)

6. Is there anyone I need to forgive? (Ephesians 4:32)

7. Is there a sin I need to confess to others and ask for help? (James 5:16)

8. Am I fully utilizing the gifts and abilities that God has blessed me with…or am I simply choosing to waste my life? (I Peter 4:10)

9. Do I know more lines from the movies that I love than verses from the Bible that I read? (Psalm 119:11)

10. Is there anything going on in my life privately that, if it became public, would cause me and/or the body of Christ to be embarrassed? (I John 1:9, James 5:16)

THE BIG TEST

May you and I always be serious and focused on spiritual growth ... because it really matters. Remember, there is a meeting at the end of life between you and Jesus (The Judgment Seat of Christ). You are going to have to give an account of your life, and I of mine. God wants that meeting to be one of joy and reward, not sorrow and loss.

So start today growing strong in Jesus Christ.

Love, Pastor Jeff Schreve From His Heart Ministries

Love is Action!

Love is Action!

I took my daughter, Helen (eight years old) and son, Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?"

"Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Plus, I thought the children had to wait till the parents came to pick them up. I bent down and asked what was wrong.

She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!"

She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched both me and my wife do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. First, we went back to the Petting Zoo, since Brandon was by himself. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.

Dave Simmons, "Dad, The Family Coach"

The Qualities of Skillful Leadership by Jim Rohn

This is something I like to read over and over!

Just sharing with you folks!

+++++++++++++++++++++

The Qualities of Skillful Leadership by Jim Rohn

If  you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a  person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the  gifts, skills, and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a  parent. I call leadership the great challenge of life.

What’s  important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working  on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:

Learn to be strong but not rude. It is an extra step you must take to become  a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake  rudeness for strength. It’s not even a good substitute.

Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake kindness for weakness.  Kindness isn’t weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind  enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate  enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and  not deal in delusion.

Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build  your influence, you’ve got to walk in front of your group. You’ve got to be  willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first  sign of trouble.

You’ve got to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can’t get to the high  life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. Humility is  almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the  human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about  the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance  between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars.  So humility is a virtue; but timidity is a disease. Timidity is an affliction.  It can be cured, but it is a problem.

Be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to  build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in  accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without  being arrogant. In fact I believe the worst kind of arrogance is arrogance from  ignorance. It’s when you don’t know that you don’t know. Now that kind of  arrogance is intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate  that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take.

Develop humor without folly. That’s important for a leader. In leadership, we  learn that it’s okay to be witty, but not silly. It’s okay to be fun, but not  foolish.

Lastly, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just  accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I’d  like to think it’s unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It’s fascinating.  And I’ve found that the skills that work well for one leader may not work at  all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to  work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community, and at home. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++