Luke 10:29 "And who is my neighbor?"
A Jewish expert in the law, in attempting to test Jesus, asked him this question. Jesus masterfully answers the question by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, then asks the expert who was the (real) neighbor in the story. The expert, probably one who himself avoided association with people from Samaria, was forced to say that the real neighbor was the Samaritan, for in the story, a priest and a Levite walked past the man who'd fallen into the hands of robbers.

With pressing needs all around us, countless wonderful ministries requesting help, and crushing circumstances for people we know, we may wonder "Who is my neighbor?" or "What is my responsibility?" or "How involved should I be?" or "Is this a need that You want me to help meet?"

There seem to be at least two issues here. Having a heart open to meet needs of people I encounter Having wisdom to discern specifically what God desires me to do in each situation

What helps me is to head into each day asking the Lord to guide my steps, help me be sensitive to needs, and to seek His wisdom (sometimes in an instant) as to what to do. There are unique day-to- day needs we encounter that require our kindness, listening ear, and genuine concern. For these we can ask God to "control the flow" of what can seem to be interruptions. Every day has them.

There is also the need to accomplish the goals God has given us...work, family, ministry, etc., so we need to be a wise steward or the time, talent, roles, abilities, and resources God has given us. We are not the solution to every problem people present to us so learning how to respond, not out of guilt but out of wisdom, is essential to effective service and to finishing the race of life still passionate about serving Him.

Lord, please help me have a heart of love and wisdom as I encounter needs today. May I always follow your direction.

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dave@youronedegree.com

Applies to each person as they enter Texas.
Learn & remember:

East Coast and California-types pay particular attention!

1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.

2. Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road."
I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. They are cattle & oil wells.
That's what they smell like to you. They smell like money to us.
Get over it.

4. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed.
We have $250,000 cotton strippers that are driven only 3 weeks a year

5. So every person in every pickup waves.
It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of doves are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand.
You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

7. Yeah, we eat catfish & crawfish.
You really want sushi & caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

8. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season.
It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

9. We open doors for women.
That is applied to all women, regardless of age.

10. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu.
Order steak. Or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham & turkey.

11. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and Picante Sauce.

Oh, yeah..! .. We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat ......It AIN'T REAL CHILI!! Chili was born and bred in San Antonio .... and real chili never met a tomato!

GOD BLESS TEXAS!!!

Dear God:

Why didn't you save the school children at . .

Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96

Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97

Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97

West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97

Stamps, Arkansas 12/15/97

Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98

Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98

Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98

Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98

Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98

Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99

Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99

Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99

Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99

Santee, California 3/5/01

El Cajon, California 3/22/01 ?

Sincerely,

Concerned Student



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Reply:



Dear Concerned Student:

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,

God



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How Did This Get Started....?



-----------------

Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray

O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in

our schools.

And we said, OK...

------------------



Then, someone said you better not read the Bible

in school, the Bible that says "Thou shalt not kill,

Thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors

as yourself,"

And we said, OK...



-----------------



Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our

children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might

damage their self-esteem.

And we said, an expert should know what he's

talking about so we won't spank them anymore...



------------------



Then someone said teachers and principals better

not discipline our children when they misbehave.

And the school administrators said no faculty member

in this school better touch a student when they

misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity,

and we surely don't want to be sued.

And we accepted their reasoning...



------------------



Then someone said, let's let our daughters have

abortions if they want, and they won't even have

to tell their parents.

And we said, that's a grand idea...



------------------



Then some wise school board member said, since

boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway,

let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they

can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to

tell their parents they got them at school.

And we said, that's another great idea...



------------------

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't

matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs.

And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, including

the President, does in private as long as we have jobs

and the economy is good...



------------------

And someone else took that appreciation a step further

& published pictures of nude children &then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet.

And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....



------------------



And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs,

murder, suicide, and satanic themes...

And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead...



------------------



Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.

------------------



Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...



"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

------------------



Pass it on if you think it has merit! If not then just discard it, but don't sit back and complain about what bad shape this world is in...



"If you can read this, thank a teacher....

If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier."

Euless Trinity getting prepared mentally right before taking the football field. There is no better highschool football than in Texas.

Take a look:

http://www.dfw.com/multimedia/dfw/news/archive/1027Haka/index.html

Can you read this?

Olny srmat poelpe can.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is
taht the fri st and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset
can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh
and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

if you can raed tihs psas it on !!

And we only thought spell check was important!