One of the things that preachers get to do is visit folks in the hospital. Sometimes these visits are challenging. Most people only go to the hospital when they have to and are ready to go home as soon as possible. Illness is never any fun. It is too often tragic.
But there are times of pleasant surprise at the hospital. I went last week to see a wonderful lady who had been feeling rough for some time. She had a marvelous attitude and she was not hesitant to communicate it. As I was about to leave I said something about hoping that she would be better soon. This was her reply, a reply that exemplified Christian faith: Well, the devil can’t get me and the Lord don’t want me yet.”
I think you will agree that she had made an astonishing statement of faith. She knows that she is a faithful child of God. This, according to God’s promises (1 Peter 5:6-8), would protect her. She also recognized that the day would come for her that she would leave this world (see Hebrews 9:27). But the remarkable thing about her statement was the faith it revealed. Her good faith was revealed in a healthy, strong and positive attitude.
As I mentioned, preachers go to the hospital. We also go to homes that are troubled. We visit the funeral home and we conduct funerals. In other words, we see Christian people when they are in some of their most stressful times. Some folks do well under stress. Others do not. The difference has very little to do with the severity of the situation. The difference has to do with attitude.
Trouble has a tendency to reveal what we really are. It does so by removing whatever “cover” we keep over our real and actual selves. In other words, trouble reveals our attitude. As children of God, we have an advantage in this realm. We have been told by God what kind of attitude or mindset we ought to have. We are to have the mind of Christ (Philippians’ 2:5-11) and we are to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-2). When we learn to think like God would have us think, when we learn to have a mind of faith, we will live a life of confidence in God. And perhaps we will be able to say something as inspiring as “the devil can’t get me and the Lord don’t want me yet.”

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 When to Remember and When to Forget

Source: Dennis Gulledge

“Proper equipment in life demands a good memory, likewise the ability to forget” (N.B. Hardeman, Tabernacle Sermons, Vol. 3). We do not always exercise our memories in ways that are best suited to our best development spiritually. We forget those things we should remember and we treasure up those things we should let fly. Someone wrote:

Forget each kindness that you do as soon as you have done it; Forget the praise that falls to you the moment you have won it; Forget the slander that you hear before you repeat it; Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer where ever you may meet it.

Remember every kindness done to you, whate’er the measure; Remember praise by others won, and pass it on with pleasure; Remember every promise made and keep it to the letter; Remember those who lend you aid and be a grateful debtor; Remember all the happiness that comes your way in living; Forget each worry and distress, be hopeful and forgiving; Remember good, remember truth, remember heaven’s above you, And you will find, through age and youth that many hearts will love you.

I sit beside my lonely fire
And pray for wisdom yet:
For calmness to remember
Of courage to forget.
-Charles Hamilton Aide