Sunday, September 5, 2021
Giving And Sacrificing
In the First World War, there was a young French soldier who was seriously wounded. His arm was so badly smashed the arm had to be amputated. The soldier was a magnificent specimen of young manhood, and the surgeon was grieved the young man must go through life maimed. So the surgeon waited beside the young man's bedside after the surgery to tell the young man the terrible news about having to amputate the arm. When the young man awakened from the anesthetic and the young lad's eyes opened, the surgeon said to him: "I am sorry to tell you that you have lost your arm." "Sir," said the lad, "I did not lose it; I gave it for France." Jesus was not helplessly caught up in a mesh of circumstances from which He could not break free. Apart from any divine power He could have called upon, to the end of His earthly life Christ could have turned back and saved His life. However, Christ did not lose His life; He gave it. The cross was not thrust upon Him; He willingly accepted the cross for us.
Saturday, September 4, 2021
Give Us This Day...
Matthew 6:34---Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
“Do not
worry…” Jesus’ words are easier said than done, aren’t they? It’s hard to even
imagine a life completely free from all worry. Whether it’s big, life-altering
circumstances or the daily nuisances of life, we all struggle with worry. Maybe
that is why Christ, in the first sermon He ever delivered, spent a significant
portion of His time on this very subject. The word “worry” in this section of
The Sermon on the Mount is actually translated as “anxious.” It literally
means, “To divide the mind.” Isn’t that a great mental picture? Worry divides
the focus of our minds. It takes our attention from what is utmost, and
scatters it here and there, resulting in a complete lack of direction if we
aren’t careful. So how do we guard against a divided mind? Jesus’ answer was
clear: “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matthew 6:33). So maybe
the question isn’t, “How do I keep from worrying?” Maybe a more fruitful
approach is, “What am I seeking?” Nothing focuses the mind like the Holy Spirit
of God. He puts our lives into perspective, pulling out the weeds of this world
that can choke out the fruit of the Spirit. As a child of God, we have the
incredible privilege of coming to Him in prayer. This sacred time with Him is
our opportunity to lay all of our burdens at His feet. The problem is, we tend
to lay them there, and then pick them back up. Are we more capable of solving
problems than He? Have we more resources? More knowledge? More wisdom? More
love? Of course not! So we must lay them down in sincere faith, and leave them
there in unwavering trust. Where are your burdens? Are they dividing your mind
- distracting you and robbing you of joyful living? Or, are they where they
belong – in the capable hands of your loving, sovereign Father?
Friday, September 3, 2021
Gave All He Had
I once heard the story of a rice farmer who saved an entire village from destruction. From his hilltop farm, he felt the quake and saw the distant ocean swiftly withdraw from the old shoreline, like some prodigious animal crouching back for a leap. He knew that the leap would be a tidal wave. In the valley below, he saw his neighbors working low fields that would soon be flooded. They must run quickly to his hilltop or they would all die. His rice barns were dry as tinder. So with a torch, he set fire to his barns, and soon the fire goon started ringing. His neighbors saw the smoke and rushed to help him. Then from their safe perch, they saw the tidal wave wash over the fields they had just left. In a flash, they knew not only who had saved them but what their salvation had cost their benefactor. They later erected a monument to his memory bearing the motto, "He gave us all he had, and gave gladly." I think the same words could be said of our heavenly Father and the gift of his only begotten Son!
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Gaining And Storing Spiritual Power
Eph. 6:10--- Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
The spirit is light and love. The spirit of light and love is like water. The spirit of God is referred to in the Bible as living water. We lose spiritual power by not storing up the spirit when the spirit or the power of the spirit is available. Spiritual power is like a stream of water flowing through our life. When we do not construct a damn to hold back or store up the water or spiritual power, we will not have a resource from which to draw when we need the power. Much of our spiritual power goes unused. Our spiritual power goes unused because of our faulty beliefs, our doubts, our ignorance about the spirit, and the attack of satanic evil against us. Spiritual power may not appear according to the way we want the power to appear. Spiritual power may not appear at the times and places we want the power to appear. Spiritual power is the province of God, not the province of human beings. The spiritual power of light and love comes from God and is not created, generated, manufactured, fashioned, molded, or shaped by any human. The stream of God's living water flows through our hearts. We can open our heart and let the living water flow in or we can close our heart and the living water will seem not to exist. We can open our hearts and the living water of God's healing love pours into us. We can open our hearts and we can store up the power of the living water by being humble, giving, compassionate, forgiving, and counting our blessings.
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Being an Example
Proverbs 22:1--- A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.
More than
anything else, the Presidency of the United States rests on the character of
the person who inhabits the office. This is how the founders of the U.S.
designed it. It was their idea to find a person in America with great character
who would shape the character of the nation. The first person they found was
George Washington, a man who did this job splendidly. When he took the oath of
office, he wrote, “I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my
conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent. “The annals of history
are filled with men and women who’ve set examples of character that are worth
emulating. Yet unfortunately, just as many or more people have set examples of
character that teach us lessons on what not to do. Now the truth is that our
lives are going to be scrutinized according to the kind of character we’ve
shown. When others look at us, they will either see a person they want to be
like or a person they don’t. And as today’s passage clearly says, someone with
a good name (reputation) will be held in high esteem. Don’t simply aspire to be
mediocre in your character. Live a life of the character that will leave a lasting
example for generations to come!
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