Sam Levinson, in his book entitled Everything But Money, says his family had plenty of everything -- fights, neighbors, cockroaches, relatives -- everything, that is, but money. The Levinsons were a poor family, but mama Levinson, a woman with a good head on her shoulders, never told the children they were nearly destitute. She took a shoe box, slit a hold in the top for a money slot, and marked it "For the Poor". All the extra pennies went into the box for those unfortunate enough to be poor, whoever and wherever they were.
Mama Levinson had learned an important lesson of faith somewhere. Much of life is determined by the person you think yourself to be. If you think yourself to be poor, you are poor. More than anything else, poverty is a state of mind. Many of our problems are simply problems of perspective.
In Hollywood, there is an exclusive school attended by children of movie stars, producers and directors. Asked to write a composition on the subject of poverty, one little girl started her literary piece: "Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor." Isn’t that a poor story?
Listen to Paul’s words found in 2 Corinthians 6:10, “poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” From all outward appearances Paul was poor as Job’s turkey. He was in prison. Under severe persecution. Life had, in many ways, been cruel to him. Nonetheless, on the inside he knew that he was as rich as Bill Gates!
Someone has said that:
Attitude oftentimes makes us or breaks us.
The Redeemed Team
Mama Levinson had learned an important lesson of faith somewhere. Much of life is determined by the person you think yourself to be. If you think yourself to be poor, you are poor. More than anything else, poverty is a state of mind. Many of our problems are simply problems of perspective.
In Hollywood, there is an exclusive school attended by children of movie stars, producers and directors. Asked to write a composition on the subject of poverty, one little girl started her literary piece: "Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor." Isn’t that a poor story?
Listen to Paul’s words found in 2 Corinthians 6:10, “poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” From all outward appearances Paul was poor as Job’s turkey. He was in prison. Under severe persecution. Life had, in many ways, been cruel to him. Nonetheless, on the inside he knew that he was as rich as Bill Gates!
Someone has said that:
- We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have.
- We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it.
- We cannot control life’s difficult moments, but we can choose to make life less difficult.
- We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds.
Attitude oftentimes makes us or breaks us.
The Redeemed Team
