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IN THE ARENA

On April 23, 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.   The speech became popularly known as “The Man In the Arena” because of the following section of the speech which struck a note in the hearts and minds of those who heard his words and were inspired by them.   He said:   “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 the 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...
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JACOB'S WELL

As Jesus journeyed   from Judea to Galilee, He passed through Samaria.  As He traveled through that country, He came to the city of Sychar, which was part of the parcel of land given by the patriarch Jacob to His son Joseph.  In this location was Jacob’s well, which still exists to this day.  The group stopped at the well, and Jesus sat down to rest from the journey while His disciples went into the city to buy provisions.    As Jesus sat there on the well, there came a Samaritan woman to draw water from the well.  Jesus, looking at her, said, “Give Me to drink.” (John 4:7).   The woman, surprised that a Jew would speak to her, said, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9).   Jesus’ response transcended the simple conversation that they were having, and went straight to the spiritual level.  He said, “If thou knewest the gift of...
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BEHOLD, I WILL DO A NEW THING

We often act as though we have figured God all out.   We expect for Him to operate only in certain ways that we are accustomed to.   As He has moved for us in the past, so we expect for Him to move now and in the future.   Often, however, He chooses methods that are totally unexpected to us, and we are forced to think of God in ways we never have before.   At such times the ground under us may seem unstable, and we are forced to walk by faith rather than by sight.   This is good, though.   Without such changes in our lives we will not have opportunities to grow and to learn that it is He that is leading us , and not the reverse.   When the Apostle Peter saw Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a stormy sea (see Matthew 14:22-32), it shattered all of Peter’s usual conceptions about the Lord.   He was forced to question whether this was really the One that he thought he had known up to now - “Lord, if it be Thou…”.   With one word fr...
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