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Go To Meeting
(Last Great Day—2016)
Michael Heiss—October 24, 2016
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Good morning, everyone! We're here on the 8th day of the Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles ended and today we celebrate the Last Great Day.
We will see, in my opinion, is perhaps one of the most beautiful and picturesque verses in all the Bible. It is rich in imagery, if you'll think about it.
Proverbs 25:11: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."
When I think of that, my mind tends to think of a painting with a beautiful mahogany frame, and perhaps a velvet background. You see a table with a white tablecloth. On that tablecloth is a big silver basin or bucket or bowl and in it are beautiful a red delicious apples. Just a picturesque view, 'A word fitly spoken…"
Proverbs 15:23: "A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!"
We're going to see why this is so good. There is a physical, almost metaphysical reason for this, that I think, for the most part, goes right over our heads. It went over mine for many a year.
Proverbs 10:20: "The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little."
Years ago Stevie Wonder—the great singer, writer, composer—had a song out and I remember listening to and saying to myself that that is a beautiful song. It went like this:
I just called to say I love you.
I just called to say I care.
Those words could, indeed, be said to be "fitly spoken" and constitute "…apples of gold in pictures of silver."
Some years ago when I was part of a visiting team, we were visiting a couple who had a 16-year-old daughter. As we were talking, she mentioned that she was going for her driver's license. Four or five months later we were back visiting them again. Many times I don't quite remember things the way I should, but I remembered that one.
During the conversation the second time around, I looked at her and said, 'Did you ever get your license?' Her eyes just beamed; she was grinning from ear to ear. I had remembered. It was small, it really wasn't much of anything. But to her it was a big thing. To her it might as well have been "…apples of gold in pictures of silver."
Our grandson lives three or four miles away and his dad brings him over quite often. As these kids 8, 9, 10, even 7, all they want to do is be on the computer. That's all they're doing is playing games on the computer.
We've got to figure out how to keep them off that computer. Grandpa likes to put his little servant to work, so we have a section of the yard/pavement and I said, 'Tommy, I need to have you sweep these leaves into the corner.' He can't quite get down and pick them up and get them into the trash bin, but he can sweep them into the corner.
Afterwards he comes and says that he's finished. So, I go out and look and I say, 'Wow! Did you do that by yourself?' He grins and says, 'Yes!' That was a good job! And he's grinning from ear to ear! I told and eight-year-old kid that he did a good job. But that constituted a "…word fitly spoken…" which is like "…apples of gold in pictures of silver."
Years ago a famous author was commissioned by a great magnet: Andrew Carnegie. This many was Napoleon Hill who was one of Carnegie's right hand men. Napoleon Hill put together thoughts in a little book, which is very famous in the field of positive thinking and so forth. It's called Think and Grow Rich.
Of course, Napoleon Hill wrote it from the point of view of making money. Think positively and money will come your way. Well, I wasn't thinking that, but metaphysically he was correct.
He pointed out what God shows in His Word. God has written in Proverbs, as a man thinks, so is he! But why is that? When you think a thought it goes out into the universe. You can't help it; it's physical energy. All thoughts are physical energy.
When you think a thought—positive or negative—it goes out from you and crystallizes into physical reality. It just works that way, and it has been demonstrated to work that way.
In our office we have some people that every year they come in to have their taxes done and they have a tale of woe: this happened, that happened, don't know how I'm going to get through things. There's a cloud over them. It's somewhat similar to a cartoon I saw years ago:
Here were two men walking in the desert, and way off in a distance was a log. In the next scene one of them trips and falls over that log. The only log in the desert and he trips and falls over it! The caption was: Face it, Ed, you're accident prone!
He's thinking negatively! That's why he tripped over the log. It's like a cloud that follows. On the other hand, when you think positively, well then, positive things tend to happen. It's just that way.
That is how, interestingly enough, God reads our minds. I didn't fully think about it, realize it, until I read Napoleon Hill's book and I started meditating and thought: of course, you dummy, God has this receiver, the most sophisticated receiver you can possibly imagine.
It's like every day in the atmosphere, radio stations and TV stations are broadcasting in magnetic waves. They're going around day and night. All you have to do is on your radio or TV tune into the right frequency, station or channel and in comes a message loud and clear.
Well, when we think a thought it's out there! All God has to do is tune into the frequency and He's got it all the instant you think it. It's nothing mysterious. God must be some Supernatural Being, which He is!
The methods by which He does it; He has a method for everything He does. I don't know what the receiver is like, I don't know if it's just in His mind or some other device, but He can pick up those messages, whether positive or negative. That's how He reads our minds!
In a like manner, I want to look at the power of saying thank you!
Psalm 136:1:1: "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures forever; to Him Who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever; to Him Who by understanding made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever; to Him Who stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever" (vs 1-6).
Verse 26: "Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, for His mercy endures forever."
Here we have being thankful to God. What this does is it gets your mind off yourself. This is one reason that being thankful and thinking outwardly can arrest the process of osteoporosis.
Proverbs 14:30: "A sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones."
As you know, this disease is bone disease, "…rottenness of the bones." What that means is that within you are thoughts of envy, jealousy, bitterness, you're thinking inward. You're concentrating on all your problems, all your misery and everything that happens to you. Oh, woe is me!
But when you thank God, or when you say thank you to others—researchers have proven this several times—sometimes it is simply a thank you card. I've received a thank you card from some of you. When you write a thank you card, you're thinking outwardly, not inwardly. If you're going to thank somebody:
- maybe he held a door open for you
- maybe he said 'Hi'
- maybe came over to cheer you up sometime
Whatever he or she did to say thank you, you theoretically can't be concentrated on think of yourself. You can't be negative and say thank you, which is why an attitude of gratitude is so important. It takes your mind off of you. It takes my mind off of me.
The researchers found—even medical doctors have found—that when you on a program such as that, for some reason—they don't fully understand it—the disease in the bones is reduced, it's lessoned.
Of course, it recedes, because the mind is less on self and is outward. The thoughts of bitterness and anger tend to dissipate, because you can't concentrate on hating somebody if you're thanking him; you can't do it. That is why being in a state of gratitude is so important.
Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones"—one that's weak, feels miserable and one that says that 'I can't do anything; I can't accomplish anything'—because the person is concentrating on himself.
Proverbs 18:14: "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a broken spirit who can bear?" That's what it is!
- when you think of others
- when you send a card to others
- when you call someone to thank him
for anything
- your mind is off yourself
I'm saying this repeatedly because it is so important, it so profound, it so basic, it is so simple! Yet, how many times do we simply fail to do it? Maybe you know somebody who is sick or the wife or husband is sick, whatever it is, and you just write a card. Maybe it's not a thank you card. Maybe it's a 'Stevie Wonder card':
- I'm just writing this to say that I'm thinking of you
- I'm just writing this to say we're friends and I hope you're feeling better
When you write that your mind can't be negative! It goes outward and it crystallizes into reality. Your spirit is lifted up, and the person who receives it that person's spirit is lifted up. It's a certainty, just a law of the universe, and God set it up that way.
Proverbs 12:25: "Heaviness in the heart of man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad."
The same thing, because it's a positive word. When you take in a positive thought, you become more positive. God has worked it out so that the spirit, the mind and the body are all wrapped up together.
The very famous Greek philosopher Socrates—he wasn't wrong in everything—said, 'A sound mind in a sound body'—meaning you can't have a sound body for long unless your mind is sound. In order to have a sound mind, it's got to be positive. It doesn't matter if you understand God or not, you can be almost an atheist, but if you think positively it works for the atheist, too.
But how much more should it work for us who have God's Spirit! How much more should we be attuned to those of us who are not so fortunate? Going through rough and tough times and just need a cheerful word. Just need someone to say, 'I'm thinking of you. Let's get together and maybe we can talk sometime.'
Whether written or spoken, that good word—whether in a thank you card, a telephone call or spoken in person—indeed, in the eyes of God, is like "…apples of gold in pictures of silver."
Scriptural References:
- Proverbs 25:11
- Proverbs 15:23
- Proverbs 10:20
- Psalm 136:1-6, 26
- Proverbs 14:30
- Proverbs 17:22
- Proverbs 18:14
- Proverbs 12:25
Also referenced: Book:
Think Positively and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
MH:bo
Transcribed:
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