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It is a great joy and privilege to be alive in this time in history. Never
before in the world's existence have there been so many advancements in
technology, travel, agriculture, modernization in daily living and the list
goes on. We are to recognize that we are a blessed people given privileges
that many have never seen and we need to make the choice of appreciating
this day and making the best of what we have been given. Many times we
forget of the joys that surround us and choose to murmur and complain about
the mundane trials of daily life. We are to consciously make the choice to
see that our positives greatly outweigh our negatives. I encourage you to
choose to be happy right where you are and allow the sustenance of God to
keep you filled with Praise and Thanksgiving. (Daniel 12:4) (1 Peter 2:9)
I hope today's message ministers to your heart to be an optimist who
chooses to see the good in everyone and everything.
CHOICE OF LIFE
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood
and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how
he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed
him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed
Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an
employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to
look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry
and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the
time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to
myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good
mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can
choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the
positive side of life." "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away
all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to
situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to
be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you
live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant
industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about
him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never
supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one
morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying
to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the
combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found
relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released
from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw
Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was,
he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I
declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind
as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was
that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay
on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live,
or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry
continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going
to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the
expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared."
In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' "I knew I needed to take
action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly
nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. She asked if I was allergic
to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as
they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!'
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as
if I am alive, not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors,
but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every
day we have the choice to live fully.
Author Unknown
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore
choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."
Psalm 3:4-8 "I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of
His holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD
sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have
set themselves against me round about. Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God:
for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast
broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: Thy
blessing is upon Thy people. Selah."
Isaiah 26:3-4 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for
in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength."
Psalm 28:6-8 "Blessed be the LORD, because He hath heard the voice of my
supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in
Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my
song will I praise Him. The LORD is their strength, and He is the saving
strength of His anointed."
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: MESSAGES TO REMEMBER
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem110.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: OUT OF DARKNESS
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony103.htm
There are some people who wake-up and say 'Good Morning Lord' and other
people who wake up and say 'Oh Lord its morning.' Which one are you?
In Christ's Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
