Week Three, 2019

THE PASSWORD

By Florida Senator John Grant, retired

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Passwords drive me crazy. I have various electronic devices with a myriad of applications, each having different password requirements. It is hard (and probably not wise) to have a universal password.

I get messages like, “Sorry but your password must contain an upper case letter, a number, a punctuation mark, a gang sign, an extinct animal and a hieroglyph. Finally I found a solution. I changed my password to “incorrect.” If I forget, I can write in anything and the screen will say “your password is incorrect.”

Passwords are important and often govern access to various places and things. They also verify the authenticity of the holder. I had a close friend, now deceased, who was a guard in combat during World War II. Penetration by the enemy of the perimeter was always a concern. Often the enemy would steal allied uniforms and try to sneak through. The guard would request a secret password and if the intruder could not correctly respond, the enemy was shot on sight.

Someone who had parachuted behind enemy lines during the invasion of Normandy once told me they were issued clickers and once on the ground if they saw anyone, they would click and if the click was not countered with a similar click they knew that the person was hostile and acted accordingly.

God has a password to get into heaven. His code is not some secret, obscure combination of letters and numbers; rather it is as simple as believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord and accepting that God raised him from the dead. Any other would-be heavenly password will leave us locked out. This password should be easy for us to put into our minds and souls, but for some of us it is a hard concept to grasp. We might want to be the lord of our own lives or think we can get into heaven on our own merits.

Often I go places where they have a Wi-Fi connection. To get in, I need the password, but once I put the password in my device, the whole Internet is open to me.

The same is true with God’s password. When we believe and confess Jesus as Lord, the gates of heaven are open to us. The benefit of knowing the code is not only for heaven. It also benefits us in this life: realizing that we are forgiven, having the assurance of God’s acceptance, and enjoying freedom from guilt.

Do you know the password?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Consider trying these habits for success:

▪ Waking up earlier. Adding an hour to your day by waking up an hour earlier can make you more conscientious and optimistic.

▪ Eating a healthy breakfast every day. This will give you the fuel your body needs for energy and help you keep focused during the day.

▪ Have a task that you are dreading on your to-do list? Getting it done first thing in the morning will help improve your productivity by saving yourself from stressing and agonizing over it all day.

▪ Exercising in your free time. An active body leads to an active mind. Make time to exercise whether it is in the morning, evening or on the weekends.

▪ Practicing an attitude of gratitude. Be less focused on what you may be missing and more focused on being in the present and enjoying the moment where you are.

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By 2025 machines could be working and performing 52% of office tasks – Time

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The 16th President of our country wrote powerful lessons for leaders.

1) Don’t let fear hold you back! Risk-taking is an essential element of success.

2) Realize that there is life after failure. If you fail, pick yourself up and try, try again.

3) Never write yourself off!

Just look at President Lincoln’s life.

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The Barna group released a study that indicates up to 80% of church-goers do not participate in The Great Commission.

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Don’t let too much of yesterday eat up your time today.

Sixty might be the new forty, but nine is the new midnight.

The Bible is the only book whose author is always present when one reads it.

Never let anyone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything.