President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a speech at a university in Paris in April, 1910 and in it he spoke these words:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." As a follower of Jesus Christ, these words ring so true. When you come to Christ and receive forgiveness…only then does the real journey begin. We find ourselves not in some kind of religious bliss but fighting for life in a world and culture who look at us as though we have lost our senses. But when Christ calls a man or a woman, we will be in that arena. And life will not always be easy…and may often seem hard. And we will fail and need to repent and get back on track. That’s what repentance is. We think of repentance as our way of avoiding judgement and hell. And it is, but it is more a change of direction. When we stumble in our quest to follow Christ, the call to repentance is the call to come back home…to come back to life and the one who gives life. The key is to fight the good fight, to use every ounce of courage and strength that God himself will grant us. And our part is to never give up. No one else knows all the battles that you have fought, and they may not know the battle or battles that you will fight today. But God knows and he is cheering, along with all of heaven for you. And they are rooting that you will stand firm in the faith and show your courage by the trust you put in God, knowing that is where you will find your strength. But in our journey, we will do everything with the love of God. It is a new day. So, gear up, the challenges await us, heaven is raising its cheers for us. I will meet you in the arena and we will do and be the absolute best we can and bring glory to the God who will be with us in all things. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. (14) And do everything with love.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." As a follower of Jesus Christ, these words ring so true. When you come to Christ and receive forgiveness…only then does the real journey begin. We find ourselves not in some kind of religious bliss but fighting for life in a world and culture who look at us as though we have lost our senses. But when Christ calls a man or a woman, we will be in that arena. And life will not always be easy…and may often seem hard. And we will fail and need to repent and get back on track. That’s what repentance is. We think of repentance as our way of avoiding judgement and hell. And it is, but it is more a change of direction. When we stumble in our quest to follow Christ, the call to repentance is the call to come back home…to come back to life and the one who gives life. The key is to fight the good fight, to use every ounce of courage and strength that God himself will grant us. And our part is to never give up. No one else knows all the battles that you have fought, and they may not know the battle or battles that you will fight today. But God knows and he is cheering, along with all of heaven for you. And they are rooting that you will stand firm in the faith and show your courage by the trust you put in God, knowing that is where you will find your strength. But in our journey, we will do everything with the love of God. It is a new day. So, gear up, the challenges await us, heaven is raising its cheers for us. I will meet you in the arena and we will do and be the absolute best we can and bring glory to the God who will be with us in all things. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. (14) And do everything with love.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ