MALANKARA ARCHDIOCESE
OF THE SYRIAC ORTHODOX CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA

by DeVern Fromke

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.

The eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days; those of the canary in 14 days; those of the barnyard hen in 21 days. The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days; those of the mallard in 35 days. The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days. Notice, they are all divisible by seven.

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.

• Each watermelon has an even number of strips on the rind.
• Each orange has an even number of segments.
• Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
• Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.

Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.

All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty-fold, sixty-fold, and a hundredfold – all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linneus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

Thus, the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.

Only the God-planned life is successful. Only the life given over to the care of the Lord is safe.

by John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

"To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

True contentment is found only in Christ.

There has never been a society in the history of the world that has had as many commodities as Americans have. We are living in affluence that is unheard of in the world's history. The key philosophy behind it all is this: only as you accumulate enough assets to satisfy your particular lifestyle can you really be happy.

Sad to say, Christians have bought into that philosophy. Now, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with commodities, but it is wrong to think you'll find true happiness in them. If God chooses to give you material possessions, it's because of His good pleasure. But if you make those possessions the love of your life, you're being deceived about true contentment.

In Philippians 4:11-12 the apostle Paul says, "Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." He was saying, "I have contentment that is absolutely and totally unrelated to possessions."

Where did Paul find his contentment? In Philippians 1:21 he says, "To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He found it in Christ, not in material possessions. Professor Howard Vos said of Paul, "Christ is all to him, he lives only to serve Christ, he has no conception of life apart from Christ. . . . Christ's goals, Christ's orientation to life and society and mission, are his." If you want to be like Paul and have true contentment, make Christ the love of your life, not material possessions.

Suggestions for Prayer

If you are seeking happiness apart from the Lord, confess your sin and forsake it. Acknowledge that contentment is found only in Him

For Further Study

Read Ecclesiastes 2:18-26. What conclusions did the Preacher reach about daily contentment?

by Wes Hopper

"Self-confidence has ever been the best substitute for friends, pedigree, influence and money. It is the best capital in the world; it has mastered more obstacles, overcome more difficulties, and carried through more enterprises than any other human quality."
Orison Swett Marden

There is no doubt that having a strong belief in yourself is fundamental to being successful. After all, if you don't believe in yourself, very few other folks will, either. But sometimes we're blessed with a friend or mentor who sees in us what we can't, and encourages us to be our best.

With that help, we can begin to set bigger goals and make bigger plans. Here's the important point - every time we accomplish a big goal we improve our self image. The better our self image, the better we handle the bumps in the road to our goals.

Self confidence is our message to the Universe that we believe in our goal, and our plans. We see the results in the stories of visionary people like Elon Musk, co-founder of Pay Pal and Tesla Motors, plus SpaceX and Solar City. Self confidence to the maximum!

When we're looking at the opportunities in our life, we should be clear that we're not looking at what can go wrong, but how it can go right. Then we follow that path, regardless of the sniping from the unbelievers. The more critics you attract, the more certain that your path is a good one.

Find people that think like you and hang out with them. You can support each other and make a difference in the world at the same time. Every good thing that has ever happened is the result of someone like you who chose to believe they could.