THE PAINTING Author Unknown

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art.

They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art."

The young man held out this package. "I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.

"Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift."

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."

But the auctioneer persisted. "Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"

Another voice angrily. "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"

But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?"

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

"We have $10, who will bid $20?"

"Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters."

"$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"

A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!"

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is over."

"What about the paintings?"

"I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: "The son, the son, who'll take the son?"

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

WHEREVER WE ARE By Sally I. Kennedy

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

The night was still. Not a breath of air stirring. Just a few chirpy insects awake.

A crescent moon played peekaboo behind milky clouds, pale and fluorescent. Lightning flashed in the distance; a rapid succession of heavenly electricity, making the murky skies seem mystical and magical.

“How incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful!”, I thought. “How dramatic. How magnificent!”.

I’d just gotten back from a long awaited trip. I experienced such majestic beauty in the mountains. It was amazing, God’s handiwork in such awesome ways.

When I arrived home, I was struck by how truly beautiful it was outside, right there behind my house that evening. Once again I was overwhelmed with the grandeur of God.

I’ve said it before, there is beauty ‘in our own back yards’. Wherever we are, there the Lord is. And in the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy, beauty, and peace.

If we can’t see anything around us, right where we are, God is still there. His presence is awesome and filled with glory.

Open my eyes, Lord, that I might see, your beauty and wonder all around me, wherever I am. In Jesus’ name!


Sally I. Kennedy, ©2008
Irish Thursdays Weekly Devotionals,
http://www.sallyikennedy.com

THE WAY OUT By Sally I. Kennedy

Enter through the narrow gate…wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it…small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

The way in was a piece of cake. Go over the small bridge, follow one trail, then another where it forked off.

We sort of wandered and just kept going; it was interesting. Pretty soon we were at a place, on the mountain, we'd never come to before. Ooh, the waterfall! This was great.

Took awhile for me to even think about leaving. It was fun, it was exciting! But as I tired, and got thirsty, I was ready to get out of there. Shadows were longer. It began to feel as if a storm was gathering. I sure didn't want to get caught in a thunder and lightning downpour way out there.

Yup, sticky and sweaty, ready to get back to the parking lot to the car, grab a bottle of water. Hmm, was it this fork we took? No, didn't think so. Did not look familiar at all.

One turn, another turn. Oh gosh, where was that trail??! I was wishing we'd done a `Hansel and Gretel' thing, and strewn breadcrumbs on our way in. But then, the mountain jays and chipmunks would probably have made off with them by now.

Eventually, the path narrowed. Oh yes, there it was! That little bridge leading out. Still there.

Happy ending to story. It made me think about how easy it is to find my way into things (situations, relationships, etc), and sometime how not so easy to find my way out. I believe, the Lord is the answer to finding the Way out.

That is good news.

KEEPING ON TARGET By Francis J. Kong

"Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again." This is what the Bible says.

Have you heard the phrase, "You cannot keep a good man down."

Now let's look at the practicality of this.

In his book, `Peak Performers,' Dr. Charles Garfield describes how the astronauts keep their spacecraft on course.

"On their flights between earth and the moon, it was said, the Apollo ships were off course much of the time. In each instance, the spacecraft would wander off its path and the crew would correct—wander of and correct, again and again. And do you know what? It didn't matter. What mattered were the results.

They got to the moon. They got home. They did it by having the discipline and knowledge to get themselves back on course. They followed not a perfect path, but a critical path."

Whether we're shooting for the moon, seeking to achieve a better personal or family life, or seeking to obey and serve God, whatever our goals, the principle is the same. There are always unpredictable and unexpected events that call for change and adjustment. Although the astronauts had to be precise in their calculations, they still allowed for mistakes and corrections. The person who doesn't allow for such adjustments will probably not reach his or her goals. As Charles Garfield explained, the "critical path" is the way to reach any target.

For the Christian our goal is to obey and serve God and to go on to maturity. We will stumble at times, make mistakes, fail, and hit many a bump in the road. When we fall, however, the important thing is the critical path—to get up, correct our course and go on. And as one author reminds us, "The bumps are what we climb on!"

This is why Grace is so important.

I like the bumper sticker that says: "Christians are not perfect, only forgiven!"

When Jesus Christ said to Thomas the doubter as he is more popularly known, Jesus said "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Me."

Jesus was providing for us the critical path.

He knows that the journey to His Eternal Presence is not a smooth ride.

There will be bumps along the way.

Grace makes us see our own plank in our eyes rather than the splint in someone's eyes. Legalism and hypocritical self-righteousness sees the mistakes of others and blur the mirror so they cannot see themselves. There are many professing Christians who are so legalistic, cruel and condemning they cannot see their own sins.

And this is so far from the model that Christ Himself displayed.

Do not question any person's state of spirituality.

Never say, be gracious.

Exhibit a Christ-like character.

If for no other reason than this:
There will be three things which will surprise us when we get to heaven; one, to find many there that we did not expect to find there; another, to find some not there whom we had expected; a third, and perhaps the greatest wonder, will be to find ourselves there. Not because we have taken the perfect path but because we have taken the critical path.

A BUSINESS PERSON'S GREATEST REWARD by Francis Kong

One night a wife found her husband standing over their newborn baby's crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.

Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arms around her husband.

"A penny for your thoughts," she whispered in his ear.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only P450.00! (Made in China !)"

It's amazing to see how certain people cannot detach themselves from the business life they live even when they are alone with their family.

Last Saturday was no ordinary Saturday for me.

There was no speaking engagement for me on that day and that is very rare.

Weekends are the first to go in my calendar. Business companies would invite me to do out-of-town talks for their people and schools would invite me to do parenting or faculty development seminars and I enjoy doing it. But last Saturday got me doing something else. I had to do a "superman act." I had to stand as one of the primary sponsors in two weddings that were just two hours apart. And that's not the only
challenge I had. I had to show up in both wedding receptions notwithstanding the fact that one was in the Ortigas area and the other one in Ermita! Somehow God is merciful. Things turned out right. It was stressful but it was fun.

I did it not because I had to do it but because I wanted to. The parents of the newly wed couples are dear friends of mine. Both Romy and Tenny Menorca as well as Guillermo and Rebecca Go are very dear to me.

The two weddings featured a lot of contrasts. One was held in a Catholic church the other one Evangelical. One was heavy in ceremony while the other one was deep in Scriptures. The Menorca 's have wonderful sons (no daughters) while the Co's have wonderful daughters (no sons). One wedding motif required male sponsors to wear the traditional Barong while the other one was strictly coat and tie. You should know that by now, I have developed the wonderful skill of changing clothes inside my car on my way to different functions and occasions.

Now let me tell you what I saw common with the two weddings.

Both weddings were beautiful.

Both wedding receptions were grand and majestic.

You should have seen both the newly-wed couples, they look stunning.

You should have seen the parents, they all looked so proud and happy.

Both weddings packed a lot of joyful tears and merry laughter.

But the one most important common thing I see in both weddings is this: that the kids and their parents are close to each other and they love each other deeply.

Now this is the business person's greatest reward: to have a successful family and to be able to support the children and usher them not just down the aisle but down the path of having their own successful families as well.

So many business people I know are not blessed with this kind of success.

They rush down the aisles of career or business accomplishments and many of them actually achieved their goals only to turn around and see that the roads getting there have been littered with a lot of family casualties along the way. The most tragic moment comes to a person's life when that which one thinks would deliver the ultimate success leads to disappointment and defeat.

You know you're there when this haunting thought nags you: "Is this all there is to it?" But here is how to avoid them:

The warning signs are clear when you hear yourself saying, "But I'm doing this for the family!" You have to stop for a while and seriously ask yourself whether you are indeed doing it for the family or are you doing it for yourself?

Another warning sign is this. You begin to miss your kid's ball games, their recitals, their plays... their birthdays... and you're not interested in attending those corny parenting activities in school.

Now be careful! The "Red Alert Warning"... "Code Red"... comes when you begin to say, "I deserve some happiness of my own...." This is extremely dangerous. This is when stupid decisions are made and you begin to dig a hole that will only get deeper and deeper.

We always pay for the choices we make.

You can fail in your business and you can fail in your career but if you have a successful family then you are still successful.

Take care of your family. Make sure that they are your partners in what you do. Share with them your victories as well as your defeats; your joys as well as your regrets. Be a significant part of their lives and make them conscious of their spiritual walk as well. While I was sitting there listening to the priest and the pastor delivering their message they were both correct when they said, "Unless the Lord builds the house the laborers build in vain."

My last piece of advice is this. Perhaps this is the strongest piece. The best thing you can do for your kids is to love their mother.