Your giftedness will get you noticed, separate you from the rest of the pack and give you a head start on others. But your advantage will only last so long. Song writer Irving Berlin understood this truth when he said, “The toughest thing about success is, you’ve got to keep on being a success. Talent is only a starting point in business. You’ve got to keep working that talent.” You can’t coast on your abilities. If you try to wing it, others will soon fly past you. Mega-best-selling author Stephen King asserts that, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one, is a lot of hard work.”
And much of that work takes place in your character and your private world. Haven’t you own people who should have risen to the top but didn’t? They had all the talent they’d ever need but they didn’t succeed. Their talent made them stand out but their lack of integrity made them sit down. Their friends, families, coaches and bosses see their giftedness but wonder why they keep falling short of expectations. Their talent opens the door but their wrong choices shut it.
Consider Nehemiah’s talent. He rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls in under two months – an astounding feat! Now consider Nehemiah’s character. While some of his peers lined their pockets by lending money at such exorbitant rats people couldn’t repay it, he said, “What you are doing is not right” (Ne5:9). Then he announced, “I didn’t act that way; I also devoted myself to working on the wall” (Ne5:15-16). Want to develop your character? Follow in his footsteps?

Do you have FAITH?

An Atheist Professor of Philosophy was speaking to his Class on the problem Science has with GOD, the ALMIGHTY.
He asked one of his new christian students to stand

Professor : You are a christian, aren't you, son?

Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, you believe in GOD?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Professor : Is GOD good?
Student : Sure.
Professor : Is GOD ALL - POWERFUL?
Student : Yes.
Professor : My Brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD
to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn't.
How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent)

Professor : You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella.

Is GOD Good?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Professor : Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...GOD...
Professor : That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this World?
Student : Yes.
Professor : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And GOD did make everything.
Correct?
Student : Yes.
Professor : So who created evil?

(Student did not answer)

Professor : Is there Sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness?
All these terrible things exist in the World, don't they?
Student : Yes, sir.
Professor : So, who created them?

(Student had no answer)

Professor : Science says you have 5 Senses you use to Identify and Observe the World around you. Tell me, son...have you ever seen GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?
Student : No, sir.
Professor : Have you ever Felt your GOD, Tasted your GOD, Smelt your
GOD? Have you ever had any Sensory Perception of GOD for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Professor : Yet you still believe in HIM?
Student : Yes.
Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol,
Science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my Faith.
Professor : Yes, Faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as Heat?
Professor : Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as Cold?
Professor : Yes.
Student : No, sir. There isn't...

(The Lecture Theatre became very quiet with this turn of events)

Student : Sir, you can have Lots of Heat, even More Heat, Superheat,
Mega Heat, White Heat, a Little Heat or No Heat.
But we don't have anything called Cold. We can hit 458 Degrees below Zero which is No Heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as Cold.
Cold is only a Word we use to describe the Absence of Heat. We cannot Measure Cold.
Heat is Energy. Cold is Not the Opposite of Heat, sir, just the Absence of it.

(There was pin-drop dilence in the Lecture Theatre)

Student : What about Darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
Darkness?
Professor : Yes. What is Night if there isn't Darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the Absence of
Something.
You can have Low Light, Normal Light, Bright Light, Flashing Light...
But if you have No Light constantly, you have nothing and its called Darkness, isn't it? In reality, Darkness isn't. If it is, you would be able to make Darkness Darker, wouldn't you?

Professor : So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is, your Philosophical Premise is flawed.
Professor : Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the Premise of Duality. You
argue there is Life and then there is Death, a Good GOD and a Bad GOD.
You are
viewing the Concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, Science can't even explain a Thought. It uses Electricity and Magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view Death as the Opposite of Life is to be ignorant of the fact tha