Life is like a game of tennis. The player who serves well seldom loses.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

If You Change One Thing, You Change Everything

Looking back on your life, what would you change if you could?

In the classic 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, the main character, a small-town bank officer played by Jimmy Stewart, is about to commit suicide when an angel shows him how different the lives of people in Bedford Falls would be if he hadn’t been born. The movie is a favorite because it affirms how each of us touches the lives and shapes the future in unexpected and often marvelous ways.

More modern films like Back to the Future, Sliding Door, and Frequency are built on a similar premise: If you change the past, you change the future – often in dramatic and unpredictable ways. If you change one thing, you change everything.

Given the potential impact of every decision you make, it’s wise to think ahead. Although few things turn out exactly as we plan, the better we understand how our choices start a chain reaction of events, the more likely we are to get what we want.

The enormous complexity of cause and effect leads to another conclusion: It’s futile to look back at our lives with “what if” scenarios. What’s done is done. Although changing our past would change our present, it would do so in ways that are so unpredictable that we could never know whether it would be for better or worse.

Accept and celebrate the fact that what you are today is a direct result of everything that’s happened to you. It’s pointless to wish things were different. Remember, if you change one thing, you change everything.

By Michael Josephson

 ¹⁹ This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NIV)

What makes me weak? My fears…

What makes me whole? My God.

What keeps me standing? My faith.

What makes me compassionate? My example of Christ.

What makes me honest? My integrity.

What sustains my mind? My quest for knowledge. My questions.

What teaches me lessons? My mistakes.

What if I can’t go on? Not an option…

What makes me victorious? My courage to climb.

What makes me a person? My heart.

Who says I need love? I do.

What empowers me? Christ, who sacrificed for Me.

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
~Goethe

We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. John 6:69

Because the well runs dry, we know Jesus is the river of living water
(John 4).

Because the storm rages, we know Jesus is the Lord of the storms
(Matthew 14).

Because the floods overwhelm, we know Jesus is the rock on which to build (Matthew 7).

Because the foundation shivers, we know Jesus is the cornerstone that will not move (Matthew 21).

Because sickness comes, we know Jesus is the healer (Matthew 4).

Because we’re bankrupt through the debt of sin, we know Jesus is our redeemer (Galatians 3).

Because we grieve, we know Jesus is the voice calling from the shore, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (John 21).

Because we’re full of doubt, we know Jesus is the nail-scarred palm inviting our touch (John 20).

 Listening Is Wanting To Hear~~~Jim Cathcart

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace… Romans 15:13

The real tragedy is not that man dies, but what dies within man while he is alive on earth.

Quoted by Jane Harber in One Foot on a Banana Peel…Looking Through Grief…To The God of All Comfort.

 ⁵ In my anguish I cried to the LORD,
and he answered by setting me free.

 ⁶ The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
       What can man do to me?

 ⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
       I will look in triumph on my enemies.

 ⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
       than to trust in man.
Psalm 118: 5-9