OP---------------------"Good Fences Make Good Neighbors"

Only Serious and Respectful Christian Commentary Please!

Wendy Blight
JULY 25, 2014

She Met God in the Grocery Store
WENDY BLIGHT

"You are the light of the world ... In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14a, 16 (NIV)

A simple prayer. A morning routine. "Open our eyes, Lord, so we can see how You want to use us this day." Little did we know how mightily God would answer our request.

We had just arrived for a girls' weekend, and my friend Karen and I planned a trip to the local market.

A young mom woke up that same day with the same idea. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail, slipped on her flip-flops, grabbed her keys and ran out the door.

As Karen and I approached the checkout, we found ourselves behind a woman waiting on someone to arrive. She motioned for us to go ahead while looking back toward the aisles. But before we could move our cart forward, a young mom with a cart full of groceries and crying child in tow, approached, waving to the older woman.

As we allowed the young woman to get in front of us, my heart began to pound and I began to tremble. In that moment, the Lord impressed on my heart something so strange... "Buy her groceries."

What? He spoke again in a whisper: "Love that young woman. Buy her groceries."

I hesitated but then reached out, tapped her on the shoulder and spoke the words God laid on my heart: "I know it sounds strange, but God told me that we are to buy your groceries."

She gave me a quizzical look but with tears filling her eyes, graciously accepted. Then she and the other woman left.

Moments later, the other woman returned. She identified the young woman as her daughter, Micah. She shared how Micah's husband recently walked out on the family, shattering their world, leaving her feeling unloved and unworthy of love.

She could barely make ends meet. She felt abandoned by everyone, but most especially God. Days before our God-ordained appointment in the grocery store, Micah and her mother had prayed. Micah's prayer is what astounded us: "God if You are real, if You love me, show me that You have not forgotten me!"

The reason for God's urging became so clear. God wanted to extend unconditional love to Micah ... to offer something tangible to her for which nothing would be expected in return.

Have you ever felt that "urge"? The whisper in your heart to reach out and do something that feels uncomfortable ... awkward ... even embarrassing? Trust that feeling. Quite often it's God's invitation to participate in His heavenly work. It's God moving you to let your light shine into His broken and hurting world.

In today's key verse, Jesus tells us we are "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14a). This is because when we invite Jesus into our lives, He fills our hearts with the light of His unconditional love, making us living, breathing vessels of that love. God then intentionally intersects our lives through divine appointments so that we can shine the light of love we have received into the life of another.

In the midst of Micah's deepest sorrow and desperate cries for love, God responded intimately and personally. He showed her unconditional love. He met the cry of her heart. Upon finishing her story, Micah's mother spoke words forever etched on my heart: "Micah now knows that God has not forgotten her!"

On an ordinary day, in an ordinary store, performing an ordinary chore, God called two mothers to an extraordinary task. He crossed our paths with one of His girls who needed to experience His extraordinary love.

Micah met God in the grocery store that day. And thankfully, so did I.

Open my eyes, Lord, so that I can see how You want to use me this day. Give me the ability to see the world through the lens of Your heart, to recognize Your divine appointments and to have the courage to say, "Yes." In Jesus' Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Luke 10:27, "He answered, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NIV)

Tragic day, happy day, reflections on the death of my son Christopher

July 24th, 2014 | Posted by Greg Laurie

Today is the 6-year mark of the departure of my son to heaven. These “anniversaries” are never easy.

I remember that day so vividly . . . July 24, 2008. It was a happy day.

The sun was out, it was warm, and I was babysitting my granddaughter Stella. My wife, Cathe, was teaching a Bible study to Stella’s mother, Brittany, and Brittany’s mother, Sheryll. Brittany’s husband, Christopher, was driving to work at his job at our church in Riverside where he was the art director.

It was almost past 10:00 A.M. and usually Topher (his nickname) would let his wife know he was there safely, but there was no message. Brittany called him and he did not answer. She texted him . . . Still no answer.

Brittany told me and I called and texted Christopher. No answer.

My last text to him was “Where are you?”

You can’t text from heaven.

There was no response, because our firstborn son, Christopher David Laurie, had left this world for the next one at 9:01 A.M.

When I heard the news it was as though time stopped. I could not believe this was actually happening to us. But it was.

There is still such pain and sadness there. It was a tragic day.

Yes, even six years later, I look back on that day as tragic. I wonder what went through my son’s mind as he realized he was going to have a collision. It happened so fast.

Did he cry out for his mother?

Did he cry out for me?

Or did he cry out to Jesus?

Many years ago I took a very young Christopher out surfing with our friend Ricky Ryan. We were waiting for some waves when suddenly a monster set started to build. As any surfer knows, when waves are coming, you either catch them or paddle toward them to go over or under them. You never run from them, or you will be pounded in the whitewash.

A little panic hit me as I thought of how vulnerable Christopher was. I was thankful to have a seasoned surfer like Ricky there. We both looked at each other, grabbed each side of Christopher’s board, and started to paddle full speed toward the huge waves.

Christopher, just a little boy, with eyes like saucers, saw those waves and cried out, “Oh, Lord Jesus!” Needless to say, we survived that day.

I wonder if that is what Christopher said on July 24, 2008, when he realized this life was about to end here and a new one about to begin on the other side. I’m sure it was something along the lines of “Oh, Lord Jesus!”

For Christopher, as he left this world for the next one, it was a happy day. There in heaven he was welcomed by the Lord. One day we will see him again. And once again, it will be a happy day.

So today is a tragic day. But it is, in other ways, a happy day. And one day, it will be the happiest day of all when we see each other and Jesus face to face.

Like the New You
 by Joyce Meyer - posted July 26, 2014

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
—2 Corinthians 5:17

You can be a blessing everywhere you go because Jesus lives in you and His life overflows from within you. Not only that, you can like yourself because of what Jesus has done in your life. According to today’s scripture He has completely recreated you. There’s a new you!

The old you died with Christ. Now spiritually you’re alive in Christ, a new creature, filled with possibilities. As you learn God’s word, He will use it to change you into His image. The new you that is inside will make its way to the outside where other people can see it.

God says that you are valuable so don’t determine your worth and value by the way other people have treated you and what they have said about you. The fact that someone rejected you doesn’t mean you are a bad person.. Perhaps the person rejecting you has problems of their own and are merely critical. God says you’re accepted in Christ and what He says is more important than what anyone else says. (see Ephesians 1:6, NKJV).

Why don’t you decide right now to like yourself?. Plunge into the ocean of God’s love and say, “If You love me, God, I can love myself.”

I’m talking about loving yourself in a balanced way, not a selfish, self-centered way. I finally got tired of thinking negative thoughts about myself, not liking myself, hating myself, listening to every negative person who wanted to tell me everything that was wrong with me. I decided to believe what God said about me, and you can do the same thing.

Stop letting people run your life, and be led by the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to please people all the time and be a God-pleaser instead. Enjoy the new you and maintain peace with yourself by refusing to live in guilt and condemnation, recognizing that God is greater than all your sins. Let go of your past mistakes and embrace all the new things God has for you.

Love Yourself Today: You are a new creation in Christ. I hope you like what He has made!

Gone for Good
July 26 Greg Laurie Ministries

He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

— Micah 7:19


Have you ever done anything you wished you hadn't done and were ashamed of? If you have repented of that sin and have turned your back on it, then the Bible clearly declares that you are forgiven.

In speaking of our sins, God says, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25). And Micah 7:19 tells us that God will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Have you ever lost anything in a lake or in the ocean? It's pretty much a lost cause. Once it goes down, it goes way down.

Years ago I was scuba diving in Hawaii. As we started making our way out, it was about fifteen feet deep, then about twenty feet deep, then about seventy feet. We kept going, and the shelf of sand kept lowering and lowering. Then all of a sudden, it dropped straight down. I looked down and could not see the bottom. It was scary. I looked at that and hovered there for a minute. Although I wasn't any deeper than I had been three minutes before, I turned around and started swimming back. I can guarantee that if you dropped something down to those depths, you would never see it again.

God has taken your sin and has thrown it into the deepest part of the sea. To put it another way, it is gone. Therefore, you need to accept God's forgiveness and put it behind you.

The Raging Battle
July 26, 2014/ Dr. Tony Evans
In His Presence: Psalms 37:4

“I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please”(Galatians 5:16-17).

The very Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. God wants to express His mind, His thoughts, His desires, and His will through our mortal bodies. But for us to see this happen, we need to be under the Holy Spirit’s control. While this is taking place, we are going to experience conflict within ourselves. This is one way we can know we are Christians. If we have no battles raging within, we are probably not saved. There is no opposition within us. God says the flesh and the Spirit are total opposites; they are not going to get along with each other at all.

How do we know the difference between the flesh and the Holy Spirit within us? The Spirit will want to please God, and the flesh will want to please ourselves. That’s why the war going on inside of us is good, not bad. Most of us feel guilty about having such a battle. Of course, we may not like the feeling, but the two laws operating in our bodies should give us occasion to praise God.

One Minute Please

If a battle is being waged within you, that’s a good thing because it indicates that the Spirit is active.

TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014  

Daily Devotion with Greg Laurie      
 TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014  

   DEVOTION
You Don't Have to Work for It    


   When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
—Romans 4:4–5

As a young Christian, I remember thinking that the reason God was blessing me was because of my disciplined Bible study. I would get up well before school every morning and study the Scripture for about an hour. Then I would pray for an hour or more (I know because I kept checking my watch). I could say to my friends, "While I was studying the Bible for an hour and praying for over an hour today, the Lord showed me. . . ." It gave me bragging rights. I thought that when I got to school, God would use me because I had done so much for Him. Look at how faithful I was! Look at how diligent I was! I was so proud.

Then one morning my alarm didn't go off, and I woke up very late. I didn't have time to pray or read my Bible . . . and it turned out to be one of the most blessed days of my life. God even allowed me the privilege of leading someone to Christ that day. I thought, What does this mean? Don't read the Bible or pray? I think what God was trying to say to me was, "Greg, don't do those things to seek My approval. Rather, do those things because you have My approval."

It is not because of what we have done that we have God's approval; it is because of what God has done for us. We put our faith in Him, and then God puts His righteousness into our account. He loves us when we do well, but He also loves us when we stumble.


Today's devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013  

With a consistent monthly circulation to more than 270,000 homes, Turning Points Magazine & Devotional has become a trademark resource of the Turning Point ministry. With inspirational articles and instructive daily devotionals, Turning Points is unique and fresh each month and provides something for every reader. Based on the radio and television teachings of Dr. Jeremiah, Turning Points is ministering to tens of thousands all over the United States.

Today's Devotion: August 1
Law of Imitation
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32
Recommended Reading
Colossians 3:12-14

The Latin phrase lex talionis refers to the “law of retaliation,” illustrated by the biblical instruction of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Exodus 21:24). The biblical guideline was meant to limit punishment, not mandate it; and the New Testament suggests a better response to wrongdoing: love and grace instead of retaliation.

Nothing is more impulsively human than retaliation, and nothing is more supernaturally surprising than the extension of grace in all things—especially when one has been wronged. And in Ephesians 4:32, there is a reason for such an unnatural response: We should extend grace to others because of the grace that has been extended to us by God. It takes a measure of disregard and contempt to say, “Even though God has extended grace to me, I choose not to extend that same grace to others.” God had every reason not to extend grace to humanity, but He did anyway. And He calls us to do the same. We can know it’s the right thing to do when we feel a natural resistance to doing it.

Instead of the law of retaliation, practice the law of imitation. Do for others what you have seen God do for you.
A sound theology must be a theology where grace is central to it.

R. C. Sproul

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Great stories and great ACTIONS showing the love of Christ!

Stories like these solidify and bring to earth God's unique love for each of us.

Thank you, Jimmie Lee!

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How to Gain Wisdom
 by Joyce Meyer - posted August 02, 2014


If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.  (Proverbs 1:23)

We need to pray and obey God’s leading when He speaks to us. Obedience is not to be an occasional event for us; it is to be our way of life. There’s a big difference between people who are willing to obey God daily and those who are willing to obey only to get out of trouble. God certainly shows people how to get out of trouble, but He bestows abundant blessings on those who decide to live wholeheartedly for Him and who make obedience to Him their lifestyle. The only pathway to true peace is obedience to God.

Many people obey God in the big issues, but they aren’t aware that obedience in the little things makes a difference in His plan for their lives. The Bible says plainly that if we are not faithful in the little things, we will never be made rulers over much (see Luke 19:17). There is no reason for God to trust us with a major responsibility if we are not going to be faithful to do the little things He has asked us to do.

I strongly urge you to be obedient to God even in the smallest of things. A sixteenth-century monk called Brother Lawrence was well known for walking continually in the presence of God. He said that he was pleased to pick up a piece of straw from the ground in obedience to God and because he loved Him.

In the verse for today, God says He will make known His words to us if we listen to Him when He corrects us. If we follow His guidance and are pleased to do each little thing He asks of us, then He will open His wisdom to us, and we will have more revelation than we could ever imagine.

Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries

Daily Devotion ? BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY
08.2014/Daily Devotions/ Jenzen Franklin Ministries


“The…Lord has given me…words of wisdom, so that I may know how to comfort the weary.” Isa 50:4 NLT

God has given each of us a tongue: a simple, basic tool to help us encourage one another. It has been given to all—young and old, rich and poor, wise and foolish. It is a tool we can use to discourage or encourage. Too often we use our tongue to tear people down rather than build them up. And it is in the closest relationships that we are usually the most critical. Criticism given in the wrong spirit undermines a person’s self-esteem. And it can make that person become critical of others too! We also hurt people with our ridicule and sarcasm. “What makes you think you’re so smart?” or “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard.” Laughing at another’s mistakes, making fun of a person and labeling them as “a klutz,” “lazy,” “sloppy,” “stupid,” or “fatty” may get a laugh from others, and even from the victim, but such words often leave painful wounds. We can discourage people by trying to show off our superior knowledge. Sometimes we hurt them just by talking too much and leaving them no time to express themselves. It gives the impression that what they have to say is relatively unimportant compared to our words of wisdom. So each day you need to pray for guidance and then let God tell you what to say. And He will: “The…Lord has given me…words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he…opens my understanding to his will. The…Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened” (vv. 4-5 NLT).

It was the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning who began one of her most famous poems with this line: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” She went on to enumerate the various ways her love could be measured and described. And her last line comes close to a biblical thought: “I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”


Saying that her love would only be perfected in heaven comes close to the idea Jesus shared with His disciples: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Love may be perfected in heaven, but the pinnacle of love on earth is to deny oneself and prefer the needs of others over one’s own—even to the point of laying down one’s life, as Jesus would demonstrate only a few hours after stating these words. It would be wrong to think Jesus was talking only about literal death. There are many ways to die to oneself in the pursuit of loving and serving others while living.


Paul said the greatest virtue of all is love (1 Corinthians 13:13), and Jesus said the best way to demonstrate it is by dying to self while living for others.


We are as we love, not as we know.

Richard Sibbes

August 3, 2014

Explanations

by Charles R. Swindoll


James 1:22–25

Once upon a time life was simple and uncomplicated. Oh sure, there were struggles and problems, but they weren't all that complex. Good and evil did battle with each other. So did willpower and laziness. Right fought against wrong in the main event and not too many folks remained neutral. There was a clear, unmistakable line between winning and losing . . . victory and defeat . . . accomplishment and failure . . . actual war between opposing forces and peace, real peace—not smoldering, game-playing peace.

Sometimes we hated ourselves and we openly confessed our guilt and shame. On other occasions we tightened our belts, did the hard thing, and we made it happen. We felt proud of our determination and we passed on that pride to our young. They even believed in us! A marriage was for keeps. A job was for work. A crime was for punishment. Irresponsibility was frowned on, a broken promise was inexcusable, adultery was a scandal, hardship was endured, extra effort was admired and applauded.

Then, ever so slowly, the fog rolled in.

All the evils of the world, once black as tar, turned strange shades of gray. Instead of our seeing them clearly as wrong or someone's fault, they became fuzzy . . . and ultimately "explainable." Which, being interpreted, means "excusable." And the outworking of all this is a remarkable twist, a subtle switching of roles.

It's now the guilty (you'll excuse the expression) who is more protected than the victim. It's the one who protests an act of violence who is frowned upon, not the doer of the deed. It's the guy who uses words like discipline and diligence and integrity and blame and shame who is the weirdo, not the one who has developed the scientific gift of explanation and rationalization.

"If a drunk driver kills my wife or cripples my kids, how dare I hate him? We all know alchoholism is a disease and nobody gets a disease on purpose. But if I do hate him and if I'm caught up with such rage that I kill the driver, you can't be angry with me. After all, wasn't I suffering from temporary insanity? (That's a brief disease . . . like the flu.)"

Explanations abound, everything from poor toilet training and unfair parents to oppressive work conditions and governmental rip-offs. Sometimes in my more maddening moments I entertain crazy "what if" ideas. What if we were suddenly stripped of our twenty-first century maladies and "scientific" explanations? What if there was a resurgence of such dated phrases as:


"I have decided to . . ."
"I will . . ."
"I will no longer . . ."  
"I am wrong . . ."  
"Starting today, I won't . . ."

That would mean saying farewell to foggy terms like:


"I am thinking about it . . ."  
"I'm working on it . . ." and,  
"Someday I plan to . . ."

which psychologists, pastors, and counselors worth their salt realize mean little more than, "I'm working out some great excuse for not doing it."

How do I know? I've learned those phrases too! And occasionally, when I get cornered by a hard set of facts, I dip into my bag just like you do—especially if I'm not ready to come to terms with my own responsibility. Out come those handy little guilt-relieving "explanations."

Little by little I'm learning just how enamored I was of all those catch phrases that made me forget I was on a sinking ship.

Let me level with you. And I say this for one reason only—to encourage you to replace explanations with decisions and actions. If I had continued giving in to those lame excuses, my marriage would not have held together, my ministry would have become mediocre, I would never have finished one book I wanted to write, I would not have a close friend, I would have jumped from job to job because of the pressure, and I would still be a fat slob.

Jesus was right. After telling His disciples how to live fulfilled lives, He put the clincher on it by adding, "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them" (John 13:17, emphasis added).


Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1988, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
- See more at: http://www.insight.org/resources/devotionals/explanations.html?ga=homepage-intro#sthash.5TzC31VT.dpuf

You cannot serve two masters: God and money.—Matthew 6:24 (TLB)

Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else. It is a staggering fact that for the past few years people have spent ten times as much for luxuries and non-essentials as they have for all charitable and religious purposes. This is a commentary on our shallow and superficial religious faith.

While the Bible warns us against greed and selfishness, it does encourage frugality and thrift. Even Jesus said to His disciples after He fed the multitude, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” Although our Lord had the power to create, He Himself lived frugally and without luxury. John Wesley had a threefold philosophy about money. He said, “Make all you can; keep all you can; and give all you can.” Most of us get all we can, spend all we can; borrow all we can; and give meagerly to God.

Prayer for the day

Lord, give me a generous heart so that others may know Your love and compassion.

Presented by: Billy Graham Ministries
for August 4, 2014

Ills of the Human Race
By Billy Graham   •   August 6    •   Topics: Salvation, Sin

>Daily Devotion
>Ills of the Human Race

Set thy house in order . . .
—2 Kings 20:1

Man condemns himself by his refusal of God’s way of salvation. In love and mercy, God is offering to men and women a way of escape, a way of salvation, a hope and anticipation of better things. Man in his blindness, stupidity, stubbornness, egotism, and love of sinful pleasure, refuses God’s simple method of escaping the pangs of eternal banishment. Suppose you were sick and called a doctor who came and gave you a prescription. But after thinking it over you decided to ignore his advice and to refuse the medicine. When he returned a few days later, he might have found your condition much worse. Could you blame the doctor? Could you hold him responsible? He gave you the prescription, he prescribed the remedy. But you refused it!

Just so, God prescribes the remedy for the ills of the human race. That remedy is personal faith in, and commitment to, Jesus Christ. The remedy is to be “born again.” If we deliberately refuse it, then we must suffer the consequence; and we cannot blame God. Is it God’s fault that we refuse the remedy?

Prayer for the day

Lord Jesus, as You sat looking over Jerusalem, You wept. Give me the same compassion for those who have not accepted Your remedy and been born again.

Crisis in Our Culture
In His Presence: Psalms 40:8

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse”(Malachi 4:5-6).

Men, when we look at the state of our culture and our country today, we find that we are in a crisis situation. How can we not be when 40 percent of our children go to sleep at night with no dad at home? Among the minority populations, that statistic goes up to 63 percent, and in the innermost inner cities, it rises to 83 percent. There is no respect or dignity among men anymore. They are fathering children but not taking the responsibility to help rear them. Men have become like the fabled abominable snowman, whose footprints are everywhere, but he cannot be found.

In the Bible, whenever Satan wanted to destroy a nation, he went after the male children. While the children of Israel lived in Egypt, eventually one of the pharaohs ordered the death of all male babies born in the land. In Jesus’ time, King Herod ordered all the male children under the age of two to be killed in Bethlehem in his efforts to stifle the prophecy of a king born to the Jews. Satan understands that if he can immobilize the men, he can hijack the culture.

Presented by Brother Tony Evans Ministries;  Dallas Texas

Face Life with Boldness and Courage
 by Joyce Meyer - posted August 06, 2014


Then you will prosper if you are careful to keep and fulfill the statutes and ordinances with which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Dread not and fear not; be not dismayed.
—1 Chronicles 22:13

Recently a group of pastors asked me a question: Besides God Himself, what one thing had helped me get from where I started in ministry to the level of success I currently enjoy? I immediately said, “I refused to give up!” There were thousands of times when I felt like giving up, thought about giving up, and was tempted to give up, but I always pressed on.

Don’t let life defeat you. Face it with boldness and courage, and declare that you will enjoy every aspect of it. You can do that because you have the awesome power of God dwelling in you. God is never frustrated and unhappy. He always has peace and joy, and since He lives in us and we live in Him, surely we can attain the same thing.

When you are in pain, you don’t have to dwell on the pain and let it ruin your day. You can still accomplish what you need to do by God’s grace, and you don’t have to fear and dread that you may feel that same way tomorrow. I have ministered to others many times while I was in pain myself. Whatever we go through, God will always be with us. Choose to believe that Jesus is your Healer and that His healing power is working in your body right now!

When tempted to worry, Dave always says, “I am not impressed.” He believes we should be more impressed by God’s Word than our problems. He says if we don’t get impressed, we won’t get depressed, then oppressed, and ultimately perhaps even possessed by our difficulties.

No matter what you are facing right now, God has a great life planned for you. It includes prosperity and progress in every area of life. It includes great peace, unspeakable joy, and every good thing you can imagine. Refuse to settle for anything less than God’s best for you!

Trust in Him Trusting God means believing He lives in you, and all that is His is yours. Be strong and courageous and never give up, and you will have everything He wants you to have in life.

God’s love for us is like an intricately cut diamond. The longer we examine each facet, the deeper our understanding of it. Jesus uses the father in the story of the prodigal son to describe His heart and affection for the lost. When the prodigal returned home, the father could have cut him off from the family. This was the acceptable course of action against a person who had brought such shame upon his family. It was naive of the son to think he could return home, even as a servant.

But this father does the unexpected. When he sees his son in the distance, he runs to him, embracing and kissing him. The father is more concerned with having his son return than with hearing why he returned. He is given a robe, a ring, and shoes—these are visible signs to the community that the son is a part of his family.

We serve a loving God: He searches for us and runs to us. He embraces us and adopts us into His family. When God’s love touches our lives, we are inspired to seek and love the lost as Jesus did.


God’s mercy and grace give me hope—for myself, and for our world.

Billy Graham

Children will sometimes fake an illness to get out of school and may even convince themselves they are sick. The Pharisees had the opposite problem. They convinced themselves they were better than others and avoided those they saw as lower than themselves.


Jesus confused them. His authority and healing power could have allowed Him to choose His associates and to gain status in the synagogue. Instead He was moved with compassion toward those who called upon Him: the sick, destitute, and unclean.


Pride makes us blind to the work of God. We forget His sovereignty. Pride also blinds us to our own need for a Savior, and we withhold grace from those we feel do not deserve it. It is important to confess our pride or we will end up like the Pharisees, taking God’s grace for granted and missing opportunities to lead others to Christ. If we are not careful, pride will distance us from others and from God.

God Has a Purpose for Us
In His Presence: Jeremiah 29:11

“David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers”(Acts 13:36).

Men, the worst thing in the world is to live out our 75 or so years of life not knowing why we were put here in the first place. When God placed Adam in this world, He told him to fill the earth and tame it. He was to create a culture out of the wild. Adam knew he had a purpose for his life. The tragedy today is that men have settled for the mundane and become satisfied by emptiness. They haven’t gotten around to exploring God’s reason for their existence. If we don’t know why we have a life to live, then anyone who whispers in our ear can distract us from our divinely ordained reason for being.

God has a purpose for each of us; we need to pursue God’s special future. But if we just settle for the definition of manhood given us by society, the entertainment industry, the sports industry, and our buddies, then we will never discover the purpose God has for us. Real living is when we are completing the work that God has called us to do.

Satan is seeking to overrun this world with evil. But God is ready to partner with us when we take up the mantle of manhood. Through the Holy Spirit, He will work in and through us, but it requires taking a risk.

God has created a systematic chain of command by which He operates. He expects this chain of command to become part of our lives as well. Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes under the authority of God the Father. A man is to place himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is not a statement of equality, but of function. God ordained this order at creation. Further, a woman comes under the authority of her husband as a statement of submission to God.

What happens when we break the chain of command? Satan began his plan of attack on man right in the Garden of Eden. He got Eve and Adam to switch roles. Eve took the lead and Adam became the follower. It was a disastrous experience. Sin was introduced to the world along with its companions, death and disobedience.

God has stitched women in such a way that they are built to be responders. When the man leads the home by placing himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ, the woman will follow. But for a follower to be a good follower, they must have someone worth following. If the man refuses to recognize the authority of Jesus in his life, then the woman will step into the leadership role.

The carnal Christian is also characterized by rejection of the Christian faith. If the carnal Christian stays on the road to carnality long enough, he will apostatize—fall away from the life of faith. He or she may deny Christianity. Can a Christian go so far as to become a rank sinner in his actions? Yes, “for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:26-27).

God will intervene on behalf of the carnal Christian, but He will also judge. Even the blood of Jesus will not save him from God’s wrath. This does not mean that salvation will be lost, but God will judge that person. There will be emotional consequences. It may even mean an end to his life. The price tag for apostasy is staggering. “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

Consequences of Neglect

In His Presence: Psalms 103:12

Husbands often take their wives for granted; wives often take their husbands for granted. In much the same way, Christians often take “so great a salvation” for granted (Hebrews 2:3). It is a salvation that cost God His Son. It is a salvation that has given us eternal life. Our salvation has provided us with the enablement of the Holy Spirit. This salvation has given to us the authority of God’s Word. It has provided us a home in heaven. This is a salvation that’s replete with eternal rewards. It calms the most hurting heart and restores the broken life. How can people neglect that kind of salvation?

Nothing and no one can compare with this salvation. How can we pass over this? We will not escape; there is a price. “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives’ . . .  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:4-8).

The natural product of being a Christian is to be disciplined as a son. But neglecting our great salvation comes with further discipline, because the discipline must turn us away from our wandering.

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Never loose Hope!

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
—Jeremiah 33:3

What a remarkable verse. What a magnificent invitation! God spoke these words originally to the prophet Jeremiah when he was imprisoned by an evil king who hated his messages from the Lord. So there he was, imprisoned and with an uncertain future, and God was saying, "Call to Me. Pray to Me. I will answer you. I'll show you things beyond what you could have ever dreamed."

And He says the same thing to each of us. But He won't show us those "great and mighty things" unless we do call. In Luke 18:1 we read that Jesus "spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart." If you ever needed an answer for why you ought to pray, that is the best one right there. Jesus told you to. Beyond the simple blessing of obedience, however, those of us who pray will experience the joy and satisfaction of answered prayers — such as the salvation of a loved one, a divine healing, or God's special provision in our lives.

Prayer is God's appointed way for our obtaining things. James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not ask." There are potential answered prayers waiting for you . . . answers that you won't receive unless you ask for them.

Maybe you have wondered, Why is it that I never seem to know what the will of God is for my life? Again, you do not have, because you do not ask. Why is it that I never have the opportunity to lead people to Christ? You do not have because you do not ask. Why am I always just scraping by and never seem to have enough? You do not have because you do not ask. Why do I have this affliction or problem that won't go away? You do not have because you do not ask.

Let me be clear here: I am not suggesting that if you pray, you never will be sick again, never have an unpaid bill, or never wonder what God's will is for your life. But I am saying there are many times when God will indeed truly heal you, provide for you, and reveal His will to you. He's just waiting for you to ask.

God is good.  <><

“Just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the days of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me . . .  I was angry with this generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways”; As I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest” ’ ’’(Hebrews 3:7-11).

For many years the sons of Israel lived in the land of Egypt. Eventually the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and forced them to make buildings of bricks. They suffered terribly until finally God raised up a leader to guide them back to the Promised Land, where God had taken Abraham hundreds of years before. Moses led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness of Sinai. There they began to complain bitterly about the lack of food and water and tried God’s patience. God said their hearts were hardened.

The Hebrews’ hearts were hardened because they were tricked by sin. Sin leads us to stop believing God. We believe the sin instead. One of the reasons why many of us are in our present dilemma is because we have stopped believing God. We have developed hearts of unbelief.

How do we know that we have been taken in by the deceitfulness of sin? Does the sin bother us less often? When evil doesn’t anger and upset us—when we have gotten used to it—our hearts have been hardened.

“When it prospers, you will…prosper.” Jer 29:7

Are you at a place in your life and you’d rather not be there? Well, God has a word for you, but it may not be one you want to hear. It’s the same word Jeremiah brought to his people when they were slaves in Babylon, far from everything near and dear: “You’re not going home anytime soon, so change your attitude, dig in and make the best of it. Buy homes, plant gardens, let your children get married…and in addition, pray for the peace and prosperity of the city where you’re living because when it prospers, you will prosper” (See Jer 29: 5-7). The Israelites were in exile because God had allowed them to be taken captive. So, could it be that you are where you are today because God placed you there to bless those around you? Instead of putting your life on hold waiting for circumstances to change, start sowing into other people’s lives what you want to come back as a harvest in your own. Why? Because when they are blessed, you’ll be blessed too! How do we know? Because Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you…the measure you use…will be measured to you” (Lk 6:38 NIV). Martha Washington said, “I’m determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be. I’ve learned that the greater part of happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” That sounds just like Paul: “I have learned [to be] content in…every situation” (Php 4:12 NIV). If you want to go from surviving to thriving, make the most of where God has placed you.

Jesus said His mission was “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The Jews to whom He said those words were confused. How could they be lost? After all, they were the chosen people of God.

People today who hear the biblical term “lost” have an equally hard time comprehending the meaning. Lost from who or what? In the Jews’ case, God had rebuked the spiritual leaders of Israel, her shepherds, for allowing their “sheep” to wander off into carnality and captivity. He said through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away” (Ezekiel 34:16). The Jews were lost because they had wandered away from God and they needed to be found. That’s what Jesus meant in the three parables He told about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (Luke 15:3-32). Jesus was fulfilling God’s promise to seek “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6; 15:24).

But His mission was extended to all of God’s creation—to reconcile the world back to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). If you are apart from Christ, you are lost. But Christ has come to seek and save you today.

I do not know if there is a more dreadful word in the English language than that word “lost.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.
—Psalm 30:11

In Isaiah 61:2 it was prophesied that the coming Messiah would “comfort all who mourn.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who mourn are blessed for they will be comforted (see Matthew 5:4). The comfort of God that is administered by His Holy Spirit is so awesome it is almost worth having a problem just to be able to experience it. It goes far beyond any kind of ordinary human comfort.

Let God be your source of comfort. In those times when you are hurting, just ask Him to comfort you. Then wait in His presence while He works in your heart and emotions. He will not fail you, if you will only give Him a chance to come to your aid.

In His Presence: 2 Corinthians 5:20

Carnal Christians are characterized by a willful refusal to grow. The writer of Hebrews says that they “have become dull of hearing. For though by this time [they] ought to be teachers, [they] have need again for someone to teach [them] the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and [yet they] have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the world of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:11-14).

The writer here says they had become dull of hearing. Notice that he says they have become dull of hearing, not that they are dull of hearing. This implies that they used to be good listeners at one time, but that changed. They had become willfully rebellious against God. They started by being neglectful and disinterested, and then they became insensitive to sin.

The Greek term used here to mean ”dull of hearing” has to do with slowness of perception due to moral laxness. It was the word used as an epitaph for a mule! So the writer was telling his readers that they had become like mules. Now mules are not the greatest thinkers; they are used for manual labor. The mule-minded Christians had regressed so much that they were of little value to God—not because God had made them that way, but because they had become that way.

The writer of Hebrews included a simple test to determine who is a “milk” Christian—a carnal Christian—and who is a “meat” Christian—a mature Christian. “By this time you ought to be teachers” (Hebrews 5:12). We should be able to sit down with our children and explain simple Bible truths. Husbands should be able to sit down with their wives and answer their questions. By this time, if we are meaty, mature Christians, we should be able to sit down with the Bible and help someone else know the Truth. We should be able to lead an unbeliever to the Lord.

“Everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness . . . But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil”(Hebrews 5:13-14). If we willfully refuse to go deeper into the things of God, we will not use the Word because we won’t know the Word. The old saying goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” We can’t lose our salvation, but we can forget how to walk in the Word and how to be His representatives.

If we are mature Christians we use God’s Word every day. We practice His Word in our everyday life. The phrase “senses trained” comes from the Greek root word forgymnasium, like a training ground. We are trained in discernment of good and evil.

The carnal Christian is also characterized by rejection of the Christian faith. If the carnal Christian stays on the road to carnality long enough, he will apostatize—fall away from the life of faith. He or she may deny Christianity. Can a Christian go so far as to become a rank sinner in his actions? Yes, “for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:26-27).

God will intervene on behalf of the carnal Christian, but He will also judge. Even the blood of Jesus will not save him from God’s wrath. This does not mean that salvation will be lost, but God will judge that person. There will be emotional consequences. It may even mean an end to his life. The price tag for apostasy is staggering. “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (vv. 28-29).

When a person’s carnality reaches the point of rejecting the Christian faith, many things can happen. Financial, emotional, social, and mental difficulties are just a few things that could catch up with them. If they live in persistent rebellion against God, God is going to discipline them. “We had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplines us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:9-10).

The purpose of God’s discipline is to bring us back to Him in reconciliation. He does not discipline in vengeance or because He is angry. Our parents disciplined us the best they could, but God disciplines perfectly every time. He knows everything. He knows what the carnal Christian has done, so God is never caught by surprise.

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful” (v. 11). A person living in carnality is going to experience discipline that will hurt. What is the difference between a Christian in the will of God going through trials, and a person out of the will of God going through discipline? If we are in the will of God, we can “consider it all joy” (James 1:2). If we are out of God’s will, we will not have joy in the midst of our problems.

Upmost for his Highest

Some things only work in pairs: shoes, socks, gloves, the two parts of scissors, the two wings of a bird, the two sides of a coin. And that applies to Jesus’ mission in the world: seeking and finding. It makes no sense that Jesus Christ would come into the world to seek those who are lost and not find them.

Jesus was criticized by “Pharisees and scribes” for socializing and sharing meals with “sinners” (Luke 15:1-2). Earlier, Jesus had answered their objections in a word: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32). “Sinners” were those who needed to be found—those He came seeking. To amplify the point, He told three stories about “finding.” A single sheep was lost and found, a coin was lost and found, and a son was lost and found (Luke 15:3-32). He meant that He associated with sinners—and found them—because they knew they were lost; they knew they needed finding, unlike the Pharisees.

If you have been found by Jesus, it is because He came seeking you. If you want Him to find you, tell Him you are lost and want to be found.

It is only as God seeks us that we can be found of Him. God is seeker rather than sought.

Arthur Skevington Wood

Marriage is a covenantal union designed to strengthen the capability of each partner to carry out the plan of God in their lives. Whether your marriage has drifted off course or was never on course at all, God can redeem your marriage to make it satisfying and whole.
One way of beginning this process is by understanding that marriage is a covenant. Many of us in our day today have lost touch with this word - covenant. But if we do not know what a covenant is, then we do not know what we are supposed to have, develop, or protect over time. It's like trying to hit a bull's eye without a target.
According to God as He lays it out for us in the Scripture, a covenant is a spiritually binding relationship between God and His people inclusive of certain agreements, conditions, benefits and effects.
Whenever God wanted to formalize His relationship with His people, He would establish a covenant. Simply stated, it is a formal arrangement made within a legal capacity between God and His people. In order to enjoy a satisfying marital relationship, we must first begin by aligning our thinking with God's thinking on the matter. Without a divine frame of reference, we will stray from God's formula for a healthy, productive home and life.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you.” 1Timothy 4:12
You shouldn’t be overlooked because of your age, your gender, your nationality, your education or your financial status. People will try to put you down, but if you trust God He will lift you up. Timothy started preaching in his teens. He became Paul’s traveling companion, which was no small honor. But in those days society said you didn’t come into maturity until you were thirty, therefore Timothy wasn’t qualified for leadership. Since Timothy was facing criticism, Paul wrote, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” With God it’s not the length of your life that qualifies you, but the depth of it. Look at Timothy’s credentials: “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures” (2Ti 3:15 NKJV). Timothy was nurtured in God’s Word and grounded in the truth. “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2Ti 1:5 NKJV). So Paul writes to the Philippian church and says: “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly…For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel” (Php 2:19-22 NKJV). The right to work in God’s service is not determined by your years on earth, but by your experience with God, your growth in grace and in His Word.

There are 212 occurrences in the Holy Bible concerning property. Sometimes when we discuss property, especially something which belongs to us like a car, truck, boat, animals, bank account or our houses and properties if we own them, things can quickly change for us for better or worse! When talking about what we own to another the conversation might go smoothly, or even not so smooth if someone says some things which we do not want to hear about what we own and many times because we just cherish; and can even sometimes just idolize the dickens out of them, being quite vain about them at the same time. Most of us know and agree that it takes care and maintenance in order to keep our possessions in good working order. Most wars also have been fought over and above in the age of man to primarily satisfy one goal. That's right and you guessed it, the acquisition of property by an adversary. Now, the Bible states that we are God's property if we have been called by God's name, and through the election process that all Christians should undertake through the Holy Spirit of God.

And that is to become fully aware, or as fully aware that we humans can be; about how God has designated us. That being, the believer in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.To be not only a possession to Him, that being God's eternal property, but also a very good and rich property that God in His wisdom will become progressively more involved in. And these things happen as we grow closer to Him acknowledging the fact that we belong to Him in return and with a great benefit of an eternal state of being with God's eternal maintenance toward His possessions! The Bible also states that, "God is no respecter of persons," but that statement only clarifies the fact that God does not respect the person who lives in the flesh, and according to the destinies that God has set before them. And it is they who will die in their sin and in their flesh if we do not go forth from God and with effort; concerning them, as God calls many in different stages of their lifetimes to repentance of their sin.

The Bible says that these are not worth very much to God or the ones who reject Christ, because they have not been deemed His eternal possessions as we have now become and realize through what Christ has accomplished for us even over others!. But as Christians and evangelical we must also share the truthful and accurate gospel of Christ Jesus with everyone. And we do this being competent aboutr God's word so that others may come to this extraordinary knowledge also; because only God knows who will become one of His most loved and coveted possessions; as God can only know these things about all of us and at all times of the seasons which we all must go through. Being an eternal living possession of God should be every Christian's goal concerning others. We are God's eternal glory in the land you know!

When we read in our passage for today that Adam and Eve were naked before each other (Gen.2:25), I want us to realize that the word used here means more than physical nakedness. It means they were transparent. They were open to one another. They had become best friends.

Is your wife or your husband your best friend? Is he or she the person you share your total being with? That's important, because the reason God created marriage was so that you and I could experience the Trinity.

What is the Trinity? Three coequal persons who are one. What is marriage? Three persons who become one - a man, a woman, and the Lord. That's marriage. It's a picture of a higher unity, a symbol on earth standing for the reality in heaven. The marriage relationship is the closest we'll get in this life to the oneness and unity of the Trinity.

Will you join me in praying that God will enable us to make our marriages everything He meant them to be … and will you join me in committing yourself to this goal?

In fact, Jesus’ use of “father” represented a major shift in how the Hebrews used the term—almost exclusively to refer to human fathers. God was rarely called Father by the Jews (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 2:10), but Jesus called God “Father” (Abba—Matthew 11:26) and taught His disciples to do the same (Matthew 6:9). But this was not the formal, Victorian “father” of the English language. This was the abba of the Hebrew family unit—the “papa” or “daddy” used by children the world over today (Mark 14:36). Jesus introduced a new way to relate to God—a familial way of fondness and closeness.
However you view and address your earthly father, feel free to address your heavenly Father the way Jesus did—as Abba Father.
The name Jehovah carries majesty in it; the name Father carries mercy in it.

Thomas Watson

American life changed permanently on September 11, 2001. Terrorists hijacked jetliners and turned them into missiles, destroying New York City’s Twin Towers, damaging the Pentagon, and killing thousands. The War on Terror began. In the aftermath, Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman gave up a $3.6 million contract and enlisted in the Army to serve his country. He couldn’t enjoy the spoils of freedom while others did the dirty work to preserve it. His sense of honor and ethics compelled him. Unfortunately Tillman’s decision cost him his life. He was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Men, God’s kingdom will cost you your life. Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). A kingdom man understands that God never said a godly life would be easy; He just said it would be worth it. A kingdom man zeros in on one purpose only—advancing the kingdom for the betterment of those within it, which glorifies the King. He pursues this at whatever personal cost.

Anyone who has fought in war or battled on an athletic field knows that victory does not come just because you want it. Victory is earned only through sweat, guts, and blood, and sheer determination. It comes to those who know that purpose is far greater than pain.

Then shall your light break forth like the morning . . .
—Isaiah 58:8

We all probably want more light in our lives. That would mean more clarity, better understanding, and less confusion. The prophet Isaiah declared that if we would divide our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into our homes, cover the naked and stop hiding ourselves from the needs around us, our light would break forth (see Isa. 58:7–8). He also said our healing and restoration and the power of a new life would spring forth quickly. That sounds good to me, and I am sure it does to you also.

Isaiah also wrote of justice, and he said it would go before us and conduct us to peace and prosperity, and that the glory of the Lord would be our rear guard. If we are actively helping the oppressed, God goes before us and He also has our backs! I like that feeling of safety and certainty.

Isaiah further said if we would pour out that with which we sustain our own lives for the hungry, and satisfy the need of the afflicted, our light would rise in darkness and any gloom we experienced would be comparable to the sun at noon (see Isa. 58:10). The sun is very bright at noon, so it sounds to me like helping people is the way to live in the light.

The Lord will guide us continually, and even in dry times He will satisfy us. He will make our bones strong and our lives will be like a watered garden (see Isa. 58:11). All of this happens as a result of living to bring justice to the oppressed.

I hope you are seeing what I am seeing through these promises. I think most of us waste a lot of our lives trying to get what God will gladly give if we simply do what He is asking us to do: care about the poor, the hungry, the destitute, orphans, widows, the oppressed, and needy. Live your life to help others, and God will satisfy you in every way possible.

Trust in Him When you care about God’s children you can trust Him to release more light into your life. If you follow His instructions, as written in His Word, for how to live a godly life—living your life to help others—He will gladly give you all He has promised.

I believe Matthew said " As for me and my house we shall serve the Lord."

One of the Christian’s responsibilities in following Christ is to have a new attitude toward work. So many young people want Christ without responsibility. Jesus was not a drop-out. As a carpenter, He worked hard with His hands. The Apostle Paul made tents for a living while he carried on the work that God assigned him. Whatever work a Christian does is done unto the Lord. He should do his best at whatever his trade or vocation. He should be faithful, clean, and honest.

Jesus worked all His life. But the greatest work that Jesus did was not in the carpenter’s shop, nor even at the marriage feast of Cana where He turned the water into wine. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, nor even the dead to rise. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He taught as One having authority, or when He scathingly denounced the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. The greatest work that Jesus did was not in the great ethical program He presented to mankind—that program which has become the foundation for Western culture. What, then, was His greatest work? His greatest work was achieved in those three dark hours on Calvary. Christ’s greatest work was His dying for us.

Some years ago, I heard a story about an eagle. It flew over a river one winter and noticed a large chunk of ice floating in the water. The eagle landed on the ice to relax for a minute. He had eagle eyes so he could see a waterfall up ahead. He could hear the roar of the cascading torrent downstream. But he knew he had plenty of time to fly away. So he stayed. But as the eagle stood on the ice, his talons froze to it. As he spread his wings to fly away, he went nowhere. He was stuck. He had waited too long, and he plunged over the falls on his chunk of ice.

As a man, you are a leader by position and function. You are ultimately responsible for those within your domain. You can lead those under your care to safety or drive them to harm. But to sit and wait passively is a choice for destruction. Joshua chose well and ruled well, and as he neared the end of his life, he reminded his people of their choice: “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve,” he said. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). You must make the same choice every day. Ruling well is a lifelong skill forged through faithfulness and dedication. A kingdom man chooses daily to give his all to rule well.

The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the ledger but on the spiritual side. You receive a sense of being honest with God. You receive a consciousness that you are in partnership with God—that you are doing something constructive—that you are working with Him to reach the world for Jesus Christ. You are also enabled to hold on to this world’s goods loosely because the eternal values are always in view. How do you give? Is it liberally and cheerfully? Or is it sparingly and grudgingly? If you have been giving God the leftovers of your substance and your life, you have been missing the true joy and blessing of Christian giving and living.

There is never any conflict between true science and our Christian faith. It is my own feeling that when all of the truth is known, it will be found that the Genesis story is a wonderfully accurate record of what took place when the world was created. This may be a telescoped record, giving only major points, but I believe it is scientifically accurate. To discard the Bible because we do not understand everything in it, or in the world, would be a foolish thing to do. Let me also suggest that teachers should confine themselves to those areas in which they are qualified. I have known unbelievers to attack the Christian faith through their teaching, even when they did not have the remotest idea of what true Christianity is. For instance, one does not send an art critic to write up a football game, or a sports writer to evaluate a painting. Ask God to give you the wisdom to keep things in their proper perspective, and—above all—faithfully read your Bible and pray every day. If you do, God will give you the faith and wisdom you need to meet any problem.

In our day much of the world believes little or nothing. People are broad but shallow. Agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, meaninglessness, have gripped much of the world—and even the church. Our youth are desperately searching for a purpose and a meaning in their lives. They are searching for fulfillment which they are not finding in sex and drugs. By contrast, our Pilgrim forebears stand as shining examples of men who were narrow but deep, certain of what they believed, unswerving in their loyalty, and passionately dedicated to the God they trusted, and for whom they would willingly have died. I say to you, more than 350 years after the Pilgrim Fathers landed in the New World: Dream great dreams, embrace great principles, renew your hope, but above all, like them, believe in the Christ who alone can give total meaning and an ultimate goal to your life. “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”