AUG. 7, 2026

The rewards of vision and hard work.

"Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper." Pr 13:4 NLT

In the fall of 1894, Guglielmo retreated to his room on the third floor. All summer while on vacation, he read books and filled notebooks with squiggly diagrams. Now the time had come for him to work. Every day, he rose early.

He worked all day and long into the night, to the point that his mother became alarmed. He had never been a robust person, but now he had become appallingly thin. His face was drawn, and his eyes were often glazed over with fatigue. Finally, the day came when he announced that his instruments were ready. He invited the family to his room and, pushing a button, he succeeded in ringing a bell on the first floor!

While his mother was amazed, his father was not. He saw no use in being able to send a signal so short a distance. So Guglielmo labored on. Little by little, he made changes in his sending circuits so he could send a signal from one hill to the next and then beyond the hill. Eventually his invention was perfected-partly due to vision and inspiration, but mostly due to perseverance.

Guglielmo Marconi was eventually hailed as the inventor of wireless telegraphy, radio's forerunner. He not only received a Nobel Prize in physics but also acquired a seat in the Italian senate. If you want what successful people have, you must be willing to do what successful people do-and 99 percent of their success is due to vision and hard work. "Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper."

The rewards of vision and hard work Vision, inspiration and perseverance

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JUL. 29, 2026

God is working on your behalf.

"We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him." Ro 8:28 NCV

The Bible begins with these words: "In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit was moving over the water.

Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good" (Ge 1:1-4 NCV).

Even when your life seems like a jumbled mess, you can trust the God who brought order out of chaos and light out of darkness to help your life make sense. When you believe that "All things work together for good" (Ro 8:28 NKJV), it redefines the bad things that happen. The worst day of your life can turn into the best day. There's a silver lining to every cloud, and every downside has a potential upside.

When you interpret life through this prism, it gives you confidence that everything is going to be alright. It reassures you that the best is yet to come because God said, "For I know the plans I have for you...they are plans for good" (See Jer 29:11 NLT).

But sometimes you have a part to play. God is setting up divine appointments, but you must keep them. God is a gift-giver, but you must fan your gift into flame. God is calling, but you must answer (See Isa 6:8). God is ordering your footsteps, but you must keep in step with the Spirit. If you faithfully do your part, you can count on God to do His part—which is to work on your behalf.

God is working on your behalf A silver lining in every cloud

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JUL. 28, 2026

Study. Work. Hope. Perseverance.

"Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings." Pr 22:29 NKJV

Helping the deaf to communicate was what truly motivated Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. Perhaps that's because his mother and his wife were both deaf. "If I can make a deaf-mute talk," Bell said, "I can make metal talk." For five frustrating and impoverished years, he experimented with a variety of materials to make a metal disc that would vibrate in response to sound, reproduce those sounds, and send them over an electrified wire.

During a visit to Washington, DC, he called on Joseph Henry, a scientist who was a pioneer in research related to electricity.

He presented his ideas to him and asked his advice-should he let someone else perfect the telephone or should he do it himself?

Henry encouraged Bell to do it himself, to which he complained that he lacked the necessary knowledge of electricity. Henry's brief answer was, "Then get it." And so Bell studied electricity.

A year later, when he obtained a patent for the telephone, the patent office officials credited him with knowing more about electricity than all the other inventors combined.

Study, work, hope, and perseverance are "common things," but they are the keys to uncommon success in life. And as Bell discovered, perseverance is often the most challenging. Longfellow wrote: "The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." Solomon wrote: "Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men."

Study. Work. Hope. Perseverance. Perseverance is often the most challenging.

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JUL. 23, 2026

Always do a good job.

"The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it." Ge 2:15 NCV

The first thing God did when He made Adam was put him to work. That's because work gives us a sense of purpose, meaning, and dignity. "God put the man in the garden...to... work it."

So Adam was a gardener. But whether you count cash in a bank, trade futures on Wall Street, flip burgers in a beach-side stand, whip up pasta specials at a five-star restaurant, fell giant timber in the forest or split and deliver firewood, coach a team, pastor a congregation, publish bestselling books, deliver newspapers in the early morning hours, star in your own television show, farm a large acreage, mow and edge neighborhood lawns, go out on the road as a salesman for computers, drive a truck loaded with machinery, build homes, clean swimming pools, argue cases before a judge, or settle family disputes as a counselor, always do a good job.

A wise man once said: "Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence."

The biblical character Daniel did that. And like cream, he rose to the top in Babylon. "Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him" (Da 6:3 KJV).

There are no small jobs, only people who perceive them as small and become small in doing them. The Bible says: "Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper" (Pr 13:4 NLT). So always do a good job.

Always do a good job Purpose, meaning, and dignity

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JUL. 22, 2026

Talk back to your giant.

"I come against you in the name of the Lord." 1Sa 17:45 NIV

Goliath towered over David. But David

looked at Goliath through the eyes of his omnipotent God who sits high, looks low, and conquers all. "You come against me with sword and spear...but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." Intimidation is one of Satan's favorite weapons. He will get you to think yourself into a state of fearfulness.

One day, cartoon character Charlie Brown was having lunch at school when he confided to his friend Linus that he didn't feel good enough to approach a certain young lady: "I can't talk to that little red-haired girl because she's something and I'm nothing. If I were something and she were nothing, I could talk to her, or if she were something and I were something, then I could talk to her. Or if she were nothing and I were nothing, then I also could talk to her.

But she's something and I'm nothing so I can't talk to her." Linus responded: "For a nothing, Charlie Brown, you're really something!" Charlie Brown had allowed the

redhead's beauty to intimidate him and force him to the sidelines. As His redeemed child, God thinks you're really something. David said, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy" (Ps 107:2 NKJV).

And because David's words lined up with God's Word and His plan, Goliath was stopped. So whatever "giant" you're facing today, stand up to him and announce, "You are coming down in the name of the Lord!"

Talk back to your giant God thinks you're really something.

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JUL. 9, 2026

One life at a time.

"If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Mt 10:42 NLT

Les Goldberg's friends thought he was crazy when he cashed in his personal investments to buy a home to lease for the homeless. A retired engineer, Les felt it was the only decision he could make. He had spent a minimum of one hour each day with his homeless friends and had helped renovate several properties on their behalf.

In all his efforts, Goldberg never regarded the homeless as irresponsible or unreliable; he only saw them as people. Hurting people! He figured the house he purchased could be used as both a temporary shelter and a drop-in center—a place where homeless people might pick up mail, make phone calls, follow up job leads, and receive donated commodities.

Four homeless men lived at the house, paying minimal rent to offset expenses. House rules were strict:

• no alcohol,
• no drugs,
• no loitering.

Goldberg has never been rich. For twenty years he ran his own business, making about $25,000 a year designing and installing fire sprinklers. He simply was a man who saw an unmet need and found a way to help meet it.

Mother Teresa said: "We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love." Jesus put it this way: "If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." As you go through this day, keep your heart open and ask God to make you a solution to someone else's problem. When you do, "You will surely be rewarded."

One life at a time

Hurting people

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JUL. 16, 2026

You're called to do "good works".

"Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Col 1:10 NKJV

Many people know how Helen Keller overcame the difficult physical challenge of being left without hearing, speech, and sight after contracting fever as a baby and how she eventually learned to communicate by learning Braille. Her life inspired millions of people. One of her ardent admirers was author Mark Twain. She was invited to visit every president at the White House from her childhood on. What many people don't know, however, is how hard Helen worked as an adult. After graduating with honors from Radcliffe College, she worked to help others until her death at the age of eighty-eight.

She authored numerous articles. She gave lectures for the American Foundation for the Blind and raised millions of dollars for them.

On her eightieth birthday, she was given the Helen Keller International Award for those who give outstanding help to the blind. In the Bible, Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians: "That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him" (Col 1:10 NKJV). And he gave them two ways in which they could do this: "Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (NKJV). Faith and works; spirituality and service; ministering to the Lord and meeting the needs of others. That's how Helen Keller lived.

You say, "But my goal is to please the Lord rather than people." Here's how you do that: "With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men" (Eph 6:7 NKJV). Hymn writer Charles Meigs wrote: "Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee."

You're called to do "good works" Help me to live for others.

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JUL. 7, 2026

The harvest law.

"Whoever sows generously will also reap generously." 2Co 9:6 NIV

The Bible clearly teaches that those who give generously to God's kingdom purposes will receive something back in return for participating. Furthermore, there's a correlation between how much you give and how much you get back. "Whoever sows generously will also reap generously."

This is good news for reluctant givers. When you give away something valuable, it can feel like a loss. You had something; now you don't. And that can be a tremendous disincentive to give more.

But Paul put this concept in a completely different light. He said that giving to God's work is not giving something away. It's an investment, not a loss. The farmer who sows doesn't lose seed; he gains a crop. No rational farmer would say, "I'm afraid to sow my seed because then I won't have the seed anymore. What will happen if I need this seed?" Any farmer knows that if he wants a crop, he must sow his seed.

This is powerful news for anyone who's afraid to give because of financial insecurity. It suggests that the wisest move we could make financially is to begin sowing our financial seed. When we do, God gets involved in our finances. And that's the most financially secure place we could be. Why? Because when we give, it enables God to return to us more than we've given, to entrust more to us in this life. This in turn enables us to give more. "You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion" (v. 11 NIV).

That means if you give like you're supposed to, God will give you more.

The harvest law."Be generous on every occasion."

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