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October 31, 2014

// October 31st, 2014 // Comments Off on October 31, 2014 // Daily News

Wal-Mart bringing Black Friday to Halloween weekend

Halloween weekend is shaping up to be a big event for retailers—just not for the reason you might think.
Although many consumers plan to extend their Halloween celebrations past Friday, Wal-Mart on Saturday will shift its focus from orange and black to red and green, when it kicks off its first round of holiday deals.
The world’s largest retailer joins the likes of Amazon, Office Depot and OfficeMax, which are also launching their first holiday deals over the weekend, in what’s already shaping up to be another highly promotional holiday.
“As soon as they put away their Halloween costumes, our customers start prepping for Thanksgiving, buying Christmas trees and shopping for gifts,” said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S. “They want the best deals now.”
Starting Saturday, Wal-Mart will offer discounts on 20,000 items spanning groceries, toys and electronics, as it tries to reestablish itself as the low-price leader. In addition to this broader assortment of deals compared to a year ago, the company will offer free shipping on its top 100 gifts, removing its minimum-purchase threshold of $50. These items were compiled by Wal-Mart’s merchandising team and include board games and licensed “Frozen” products.
Then on Monday, Wal-Mart will once again hold a 24-hour online sales event, which will feature 15 “Black Friday and Cyber-Monday-like deals,” double the number from last year.
Wal-Mart offered deals at the beginning of November last season, as well, though they were more web-focused. This year, the retailer’s goal is to spread its discounts across stores, its mobile app and the internet. It’s also better integrating its physical and digital presences, allowing shoppers the option for same-day in-store pickup on its early Cyber Monday deals.

Today’s Inspiration

The Foundation of Happiness

by Joyce Meyer – posted October 31, 2014

All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of His creation, the foundation of all happiness …] and the whole [duty] for every man .
—(2 Timothy 2:15)

The writer of Ecclesiastes was a man who literally tried everything to be happy. He had much wealth, great power, and many wives. He restrained himself from no earthly pleasure. Anything his eyes desired, he took. He ate, drank, and made merry.

He had tremendous knowledge, wisdom, and respect, yet he hated life. Everything began to appear useless to him. He tried to figure out what life was all about and became more and more confused. Finally, he realized what his problem had been all along. He had not been obeying God’s commandments. He was unhappy because of it and made the statement that the foundation of all happiness is obedience. There are many, many sad, grieved individuals walking around blaming their unhappy lives on people and circumstances, failing to realize that the reason for their dissatisfaction is their disobedience toward God.

I believe you want to be happy. The key to happiness is obeying God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says that obedience is “the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances.”That means that anything out of order or harmony got that way through disobedience and only obedience can bring it back into harmony. Every time we obey God, something in our lives improves.

Thursday October 30, 2014

// October 30th, 2014 // Comments Off on Thursday October 30, 2014 // Daily News

Number of billionaires doubles since financial crisis

The super-rich club has become less exclusive, with the amount of billionaires doubling since the financial crisis, according to a report from global charity Oxfam.
There were 1,645 billionaires globally as of March 2014, according to Forbes data cited in the Oxfam report, up from 793 in March 2009.
Oxfam honed in on this figure to highlight the growing gap between the world’s rich and poor. Hundreds of millions of people live in abject poverty without healthcare or education, while the super-rich continue to amass levels of wealth they may never be able to spend.
The report ‘Even it Up: Time to End Extreme Inequality’ noted that the world’s richest 85 people saw their wealth jump by a further $668 million per day collectively between 2013 and 2014, which equates to half a million dollars a minute.
In January Oxfam issued a report highlighting that the world’s 85 richest people’s collective wealth is equal to that the poorest half of the world’s population.
“Far from being a driver of economic growth, extreme inequality is a barrier to prosperity for most people on the planet,” said Winnie Byanyima, international executive director of Oxfam.
“Inequality hinders growth, corrupts politics, stifles opportunity and fuels instability while deepening discrimination, especially against women,” she added.
The Oxfam report is the opening salvo of a fresh Oxfam campaign – Even it Up – which aims to push world leaders into helping ensure the poorest people get a fairer deal.

Today’s Inspiration

First Things First

by Joyce Meyer – posted October 30, 2014

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
—Matthew 6:33

Too often we spend all of our time seeking God for answers to our problems when what we should be doing is just seeking God.

As long as we are seeking God, we are staying in the secret place, under the shadow of His wing. Psalm 91:4 says, “Under His wings shall you trust and find refuge.” But when we start seeking answers to all the problems and situations that confront us, trying to fulfill our desires rather than God’s will, we get out from under the shadow of His wing.

For many years I sought God about how I could get my ministry to grow. The result was that it stayed just the same as it was. It never grew. Sometimes it even went backward. What I didn’t realize was that all I needed to do was to seek the kingdom of God, and He would add the growth.

Do you realize that you don’t even have to worry about your own spiritual growth? All you need to do is seek the Kingdom, and you will grow. Seek God, abide in Him, and He will cause increase and growth.

A baby just drinks milk and grows. All you and I have to do is desire the sincere milk of the Word, and we will grow (see 1 peter 2:2). We can never experience any real measure of success by our own human effort. Instead, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; then all these other things we need will be added to us.