Say That Again

By Norman Cox

With over forty-eight years of ministry and business behind me, and countless hours of study and preparation for writing and speaking, it is not surprising that I have some insights to pass on to you. One result is this collection of truths about life.These revelations are what I like to think of as "modern-day proverbs" given in contemporary language. These are quotes inspired by life experiences and many truths found scattered throughout God's Word. Often, when I have shared these quotes, people would stop and say to me, "Say that again." What did not make sense at first, did so when they heard it again.In all these tidbits of knowledge and direction, I feel sure you will find at least one quote that will really jump off the page and catch your attention. Take some time to glean from all these years of study, ministry, and life experiences. You may find a quote you will never forget.Nothing is worth more to remember than a quote about life based on the truth of the Word of God. Enjoy these quotes and their interpretations, and you, too, may receive a "life quote" that you can pass along to others. Don't be surprised if someone, one day, says to you, "Say that again."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098072742

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Say That Again

Norman Cox

ISBN 978-1-0980-7273-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-7274-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Norman Cox

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All scripture references are New King James Version.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part 1 Wisdom

Winning Isn’t Everything, but Finishing Is

Growing Older Is a Fact, Growing Old Is a Choice

If You Do Not Know about the Past, You Will Not Know about the Future

Many Dreams Were Never Realized

What Costs Us in Life Is More Expensive than What We Pay for in Life

Better to Die with a Full Spirit

A Wise Man Knows More than He Says, a Foolish Man Says More than He Knows

If You Live What Is Right, You Won’t Have to Settle for What Is Left

God’s Rewards Are Better than Man’s Awards

Excellence Brings Opportunity

Of All People Who Have Sight Only Some Have Vision

Busy Bodies Are Never Busybodies

If We Pursue How to Be a Blessing

Any Accomplishment Worthy of Praise

Part 2 Faith

To Remain Full of Faith, Stay Faithful

When You Speak It, You Release It

God Will Not Always Give You an Explanation

God Will Take Your Nothing and Make Something

Faith Expressed Relieves Stress

When You Face the Impossible, Begin to Faith the Possible

If You Can See the Invisible,You Can Do the Impossible

Keep on Believing and You Will Keep on Receiving

God Often Wants to Make Our Faith Bigger

When You Don’t Understand God’s Leading

When You Wait in His Presence

Do Not Just Believe God for What You Can Receive

When Our Faith Is Great Our Expectation Is High

Entertainment Is TemporaryInspiration Is Permanent

Part 3 Prayer

The Best Way to Prepare Is to Pre-Prayer

Bended Knee Christians

Prayer Keeps Us Aware

We Must Serve God Facedown

We Must Intercede to Succeed

Great Works for God

If You Really Care, You Will Pray

The Easiest Disobedience Is Prayerlessness

A Church with Prayer Is aChurch Going Somewhere

What You Say Tells If You Pray

Prayer Births Faith in God’s Word

Foreword

I have known Norman Cox for over four decades, and he is one of the most capable communicators I have ever known. Norman has a humor and insight that is both intelligent and enlightening. At one time, Norman was my co-host on a local TV program, and it was there his line of questions and answers caused us all to appreciate his perceptive insight and depth of understanding life. His core of beliefs shows that he is a man of character and integrity.

I, for one, am happy that he has taken time to write this book and share a piece of himself with you the reader. I always called Norman the new normal because if everyone could look at life through his eyes, the world would be a better place. As you read this book, you might just find yourself saying, Say that again.

Dr. Cleddie Keith¹

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¹ Dr. Cleddie Keith has pastored Heritage Fellowship in the Cincinnati area since 1982 and is a foremost leader in the modern-day Pentecostal movement. He is a world-renowned speaker and has appeared on numerous national television broadcasts.

Part 1

 Wisdom

1

Winning Isn’t Everything, but Finishing Is

Competition in our life reaches beyond the realm of sports into our daily lives. We compete daily to keep up with our health, our bills, and what we think are the expectations of our boss, our family, our church, and friends.

Within all these areas, competition can be a good thing, motivating us on to improvement, and challenging us to be the very best we can be, rather than have a mediocre life. From the early days of sports in school to the adult years of competing in business, and then back around again to teaching our own children about competition, we learn how to celebrate victory and how to handle defeat.

With all this in mind, we have heard of those who were so obsessed with winning that they stressed out or burned out in life in the midst of trying to reach their goals. Winning indeed is a goal to achieve, but is not everything. All that life gives us is not a winning scenario. At times, when winning has been out of reach, survival is the mode for a period of time. Losing is also a part of life, even more so to those who tend to constantly achieve more, or to those prone to gambling in various aspects of life by accepting high risk for possible high gain.

Everyone at one time or another will win and lose. To lose is not necessarily to suffer defeat, nor is winning always the ultimate achievement. In sales, a no is considered another step to a yes. After enough attempts, the yes will come. So it is in life. One big win or point of success only comes after many attempts that have not been successful.

I read once where Thomas Edison attempted to perfect the light bulb over one thousand times. When asked how it felt to fail one thousand times, he said, I didn’t fail one thousand times, the light bulb was an invention that took one thousand steps.

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he met success. R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York City caught on. Babe Ruth hit a record 714 homeruns in his career. He also struck out 1,330 times, many times more than his homerun total.

In his early years, Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor on the grounds that he lacked imagination and had no good ideas. He went bankrupt several times before Disneyland proved to be successful.

All those mentioned above are remembered, but not by their failures when they could have chosen to quit. They are remembered by their success, which eventually came, because they knew winning isn’t everything, but finishing is.

The apostle Paul taught us the same thing about our life when he wrote, not so much about winning in life, but rather about finishing in life. In 2 Timothy 4:7, he wrote near his life’s end, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (emphasis mine).

Early in his life, the apostle Paul, as a respected soldier in the Roman army, thought he was doing God’s will by having Christians thrown to the lions and murdered. After accepting Christ as his Savior, he was just as passionate about preaching the gospel of God’s love. For his boldness, he was thrown into prisons, ridiculed, and attacked by those who opposed him. He did not quit his pursuit of spreading God’s good news when he may have looked to many to be a failure, but rather he kept his eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:14) at the end of life, knowing winning is not everything, but finishing is.

Finally, the life of Christ exemplifies this the most. He came to earth to teach us about the love of God and to reveal to us God’s plan for our destiny with him. His zeal in his earthly ministry was only exceeded by his determination to complete God’s plan of redemption for mankind, by his own sacrifice and resurrection. This would set the stage for multitudes afterward, to become sons of God through Jesus His son.

He has won the victory over death, hell, and the grave. It will soon be consummated at his return when all evil is eventually thrown into the Lake of Fire to be there forever.

At the cross, it seemed Jesus was defeated. However, he had his eyes on the completion of God’s purpose for his life to redeem man through his suffering and resurrection. It has been said that from the cross, he could see the temple. It was there that the giant veil in front of the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom when he died. This symbolized that men no longer needed the priest to go into the Holy Place to God for them. Now, through faith in Jesus, our eternal High Priest, we can go before God in prayer anytime for ourselves, and for forgiveness and fellowship. Jesus looked down through time, on the cross, to see our redemption with God, through his own sacrifice. When those onlookers at Calvary thought he was a failure and was finished, he was looking at the completion of the work, which was the ultimate victory for whosoever would believe. How appropriate that his last words on the cross were, It is finished. While others thought at that moment he had lost it all, his final words were in fact, a declaration of victory.

Finishing is everything, and it takes both winning and losing to get there. So remember, when you lose, it is only a part of life as you try to reach your goal. When you make it through and finish your goal, then you have won. Therefore, winning itself isn’t everything, but finishing is—because in finishing, in reaching your goal and completing your task, you have then, and only then, really won in life. So work to win, but when that does not happen, keep on working to finish because winning isn’t everything, but finishing is!

2

Growing Older Is a Fact, Growing Old Is a Choice

When you reach the age that you know you have more years behind you than ahead of you, one thing you realize is just how quickly time gets by and, consequently, how short our life span is in the overall scheme of time. The longest life span recorded was only of one man, Methuselah, who lived 969 years. Even his longevity was as a vapor compared with eternity.

It is said that fine wine is better as it ages. So it is true with the righteous. Proverbs, the book of wisdom, chapter 3 begins with these words: My son do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Again, in Proverbs 9:10–11, it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding—for by me your days will be multiplied and years of life will be added to you.

In contrast again in Proverbs 10:27, we are told that the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. Notice the righteous get prolonged days while the wicked lose years.

Many other examples can be sighted from the Word of God where lives are extended, as was the life of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:6. God desires us to live long, prosperous, and healthy lives. He instructs us in his Word about the importance of healthy eating (Lev. 11; Deut. 14), and that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 6:19).

I have found that we can do only so much for this aging body, but may be able to do the most good with our aging mind. As we get older, it is easier to be comfortable with our well-worn attitudes, outdated opinions, and habitual routines, rather than keep on a learning curve. We may need to rethink our longstanding positions, and actually change our lives for improvement, by doing things we have never done in the past.

Electronic devices are upgraded almost daily, and it is an even greater challenge to keep yourself updated as you age. Changes in daily living, communication, music, nutrition, business trends, fashion, morality, and countless other characteristics of our culture, pull on us mentally, physically, and emotionally in an ever-changing world. As we get older, we can set back and say, I’m not changing anymore. That attitude will leave us in the dust of modern life, and we will be less effective to touch lives with our influence and testimony of God’s hope and love.

We will age, but we do not have to get old in our thinking, attitude, ways, and lifestyle in general. It is the aged Christians, who have not fallen prey to getting set in their ways, from whom we gain valuable wisdom.

The Bible says the older women should teach the young ladies (Titus 2:3–4). In contrast, the young men can draw from the wisdom and spiritual experience of the men in the older generation (1 Tim. 1:2, 5). As we gain years behind us, we realize more and more not to sweat the small stuff, but rather believe God for the big stuff. We learn not to be anxious, but to rest in his will.

As we age, we may slow down a bit and become more mellow, but we should work to constantly stir up the