Showing 226 to 250 of 538 results
226. Just a Visitor
Illustration
Michael P. Green
An anonymous writer tells about an American tourist’s visit to the Polish rabbi Hofetz Chaim: Astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench, the tourist asked, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?” “Where is yours?” replied the rabbi. “Mine?” asked the puzzled American. “But I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through.” “So am I,” said ...
227. Keys To Success
Illustration
Michael P. Green
One morning the young new president of a bank made an appointment with his predecessor to seek some advice. He began, “Sir, as you well know, I lack a great deal of the qualifications you already have for this job. You have been very successful as president of this bank, and I wondered if you would be kind enough to share with me some of the insights you have gained from your years here that have ...
228. Know The Context
Illustration
Michael P. Green
There is a story of two lawyers on opposing sides of a case. During the trial, one thought he would make a great impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said, concerning his opponent’s client, “We have it on the highest authority that ‘All that a man has will he give for his skin.’ ” The other lawyer knew the Bible better. He said, “I am very much impressed by the fact that my dis...
229. Know The Context
Illustration
Michael P. Green
On a Christmas card the following verse was cited: “They exchanged gifts and made merry … (Rev. 11:10).” The context of the verse, which describes anything but what it appeared to mean on the Christmas greeting, is rejoicing over the death of God’s two witnesses at the hand of the beast.
230. Knowin Where It's Goin
Humor Illustration
Michael P. Green
Do your givin’ While you’re livin’ Then you’re knowin’ Where it’s goin’
231. Leading by Example
Mt 23:1-12; Mk 12:38-40
Illustration
Michael P. Green
General Eisenhower would demonstrate the art of leadership with a piece of string. He'd put it on a table and say: "PULL it and it will follow wherever you wish. PUSH it and it will go nowhere at all. It's just that way when it comes to leading people. They need to follow a person who is leading by example."
232. Learning To Walk In The Fields
Mt 11:29-30
Illustration
Michael P. Green
The “yoke” Jesus refers to in Matthew 11 is well illustrated by the process of training a young bullock to plow. In some parts of the world, the farmer will have the young bullock harnessed to the same yoke as a mature ox. The bullock, dwarfed by the other animal, will not even be pulling any of the weight. It is merely learning to walk in a field under control and with a yoke around its neck; the...
233. Let Go Of The Branch
Humor Illustration
Michael P. Green
A man was walking along a narrow path, not paying much attention to where he was going. Suddenly he slipped over the edge of a cliff. As he fell, he grabbed a branch growing from the side of the cliff. Realizing that he couldn’t hang on for long, he called for help. Man: Is anybody up there? Voice: Yes, I’m here! Man: Who’s that? Voice: The Lord. Man: Lord, help me! Voice: Do you trust me? Man...
234. Let It Walk, Deacon Jones
Humor Illustration
Michael P. Green
During a sermon, the country preacher said to his congregation, “Now let the church walk.” Deacon Jones said, “Amen, let it walk.” “Let the church run,” said the preacher. “Let it run,” echoed Deacon Jones. “Let it fly,” said the preacher. “Amen, brother, let the church fly,” said Deacon Jones. “Now it’s going to take money to let it fly, brother,” said the preacher. “Let it walk,” said Deacon ...
235. Let the Lower Lights Be Burning
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Jesus stressed the positive effect we can have on others when he said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16, rsv) But if sin dims our testimony so that our “light” is no longer visible, some of those we might have influenced for Christ may drift on in spiritual darkness. On a dark and stormy night, with ...
236. Life As Stewardship
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, is recorded as having said the following: “Never say about anything, ‘I have lost it,’ but only ‘I have given it back.’ Is your child dead? It has been given back. Is your wife dead? She has been given back. ‘I have had my farm taken away., Very well, this too has been given back. Yet it was a rascal who took it away. But what concern is it of yours by whose instru...
237. Life Is Like A Deck Chair
Humor Illustration
Michael P. Green
In a “Peanuts” comic strip, there was a conversation between Lucy and Charlie Brown. Lucy said that life is like a deck chair. Some place it so they can see where they are going; some place it so they can see where they have been; and some place it so they can see where they are at present. Charlie Brown’s reply: “I can’t even get mine unfolded.”
238. Life's A Cake Mix
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Paul’s statement in Romans 8:28 that “all things work together for good” sounds like the ingredients for a cake after they have been mixed together. Some of the ingredients used to make a cake taste good by themselves. Other ingredients, such as alum, baking powder, or flour are not very palatable. Nevertheless, they are essential and must be mixed with the good-tasting ingredients to produce a de...
239. Life's Flight Simulator
Illustration
Michael P. Green
When American Airlines trains their pilots they first seek to prove them by use of a simulator. The simulator is designed to present the pilot with a variety of potential problems so that he will be able to handle any emergency in the future. First the pilot is tested with simple challenges, which eventually build up to catastrophic situations. The pilots are given more difficult problems only aft...
240. Life's Honesty Exam
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Dr. Madison Sarratt, who taught mathematics at Vanderbilt University for many years, before giving a test would admonish his class something like this: “Today I am giving two examinations; one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. If you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There are many good people in the world who can’t pass trig, but there are no good people in...
241. Life's Switchyard
Illustration
Michael P. Green
In St. Louis there is a railroad switchyard. One particular switch begins with just the thinnest piece of steel to direct a train away from one track to another. If you were to follow those two tracks, however, you would find that one ends in San Francisco, the other in New York. Sin is like that. Just a small switch, a choice this way or that, will cause us to deviate from God’s will, placing us ...
242. Light & Truth
Illustration
Michael P. Green
The relationship between truth and holiness is similar to that between light and vision. Light cannot create an eye or give a blind eye vision, but it is essential to seeing. Wherever light penetrates, it dissipates darkness and brings everything into view. In a similar manner, truth cannot regenerate or impart spiritual life, but it is essential to the practice of holiness. Wherever truth penetra...
243. Limit of Two Per Customer
Illustration
Michael P. Green
One of the biggest flops the federal government has ever promoted was the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Even decades later it stands as a reminder. Literally millions of these coins are stored in the government’s vaults, unused and unwanted. Even when they were first issued, no one wanted them, and they soon became the basis for seemingly endless jokes. However, this rejection was not universal. A pos...
244. Limits of Apologetics
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Voltaire is reported to have said, “If a miracle occurred in the market place of Paris and in the presence of two thousand men, I would rather disbelieve my own eyes than the two thousand.” Facts alone, irrespective of how well they are presented, will never bring a man to Christ.
245. Little Savages
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Every baby starts life like a little savage—completely egotistic and self-centered. Babies want what they want, when they want it, be it a bottle, mother’s attention, or a dry diaper. Deny a baby these “wants” and he or she is seized with rage. Babies have no morals, no knowledge, no skills for survival. All children, not just certain children, are potential delinquents! If permitted to continue i...
246. Long Term Effects
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the “jolt” may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because they believe there is long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bo...
247. Looking Through Christ
Illustration
Michael P. Green
If we look through a piece of red glass, everything is red. If we look through a piece of blue glass, everything is blue. If we look through a piece of yellow glass, everything is yellow, and so on. When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, God looks at us through the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us in all the white holiness of his Son. Our sins are imputed to the account of Christ and his righ...
248. Loss of Hope is Deadly
Illustration
Michael P. Green
In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl, successor of Sigmund Freud at Vienna, argued that the “loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man.” As a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl contended that when a man no longer possesses a motive for living, no future to look toward, he curls up in a corner and dies. “Any attempt to restore a man’s inner ...
249. Lost In Disneyland
Illustration
Michael P. Green
A young boy about seven years old went to Disneyland with his family, but in the excitement of going on all the rides, he was separated from them. He was having such a wonderful time that it was quite a while before he realized that he was lost. When he discovered the predicament he was in, he at first figured that he could find his way back to his family. But, after a time, it finally hit him tha...
250. Love letters
Illustration
Michael P. Green
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s parents disapproved so strongly of her marriage to Robert that they disowned her. Almost weekly, Elizabeth wrote love letters to her mother and father, asking for a reconciliation. They never once replied. After ten years of letter writing, Elizabeth received a huge box in the mail. She opened it. To her dismay and heartbreak, the box contained all of her letters to he...
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