Two Ways Of Living

He who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. - John 12:25

We have our choice. We may live for self, take good care of our lives, not exposing them to danger, not making sacrifices, looking out for our own interests, and we may prosper in the world; people will commend our prudence and congratulate us on our success. We may reach old age hale and well preserved, and greatly enjoy our accumulated honors and possessions. This is one way of living. Lord God There seems to be something pleasant about such a life; but really it is only the grain of wheat preserved in the garner and kept from falling into the ground. The life abides alone, well enough kept perhaps, but with no increase. It has been no blessing in the world. It has done nothing for the glory of God. It has fed no hunger; it has won no reward. That is the whole outcome of selfishness. “He that loveth his life shall lose it.”

The other way is to forget self; not to think of nor care for one's own life, but to throw it away in obedience to God and in unselfish service. People will say you are foolish thus to waste your golden life, thus to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others or in Christ's cause. But was Christ Himself foolish when He went to His cross? Let the redeemed Church be the answer. Were the martyrs foolish when they threw their lives away for Christ's sake? Ignatius said, when facing the fierce lions in the arena, “I am grain of God. Let me be ground between the teeth of lions if I may thus become bread to feed God's people.” Were such martyred lives wasted, thrown away? Is any life wasted that becomes seed-corn to produce bread by-and-by for the world? The way to make nothing of our lives is to be very careful of them. The way to make our lives eternal successes is to do with them just what Christ did with His.

Acceptable Offerings

She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. - Mark 14:8

This was a wonderful commendation to come from the lips of the Christ. Mary could not have done better than this if she had been a thousand times as gifted. We get two lessons. One is that all Christ wants is what we have ability and opportunity to do. He asks no impossibilities. The poorest things, the smallest offerings, are acceptable if they are really our best in the circumstances.

A child in a mission school offered her teacher a handful of weeds and grasses, wilted and soiled at that, which she called a bouquet. Did the teacher refuse the gift, and criticize the poor withered weeds? No, she accepted them with as sincere gratitude and as many thanks as if some wealthy friend had offered her an elegant bouquet of flowers. The child did what she could; and the teacher looking behind the gift saw the love in the little heart, and that transfigured her poor gift. So it is that Christ accepts our poorest work, or our homeliest offering, if it is our best

But the lesson has another side. “She did what she could.” It is this, then, that pleases Christ. Are we doing what we could do? Do we always bring to Him our very best gifts? Do we never put Him off with the faded flowers, keeping the fresh and fragrant ones for ourselves? Do we do for Him our very best work? Are we faithful?

If we are only doing half what we might, we cannot take the comfort of this commendation. The widow's mites were very acceptable coming from her, because they were all she had; but they would not have elicited any such commendation if one of the rich men had given them. A little child's ministry is very beautiful for a child, but it would not be as fitting in the father or mother. We must really do the very best we can if we would have this commendation.

Believing Prayer

All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." - Matthew 21:22

There are other scriptures qualifying this. In the first place, it is not all asking that is really praying, and therefore not all asking that receives. St. James says, ” Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. ” A man asks for money, not to use it for the glory of God and the good of others, but for his own glory and pleasure. Again, the Psalmist says, ” If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” That is, if one is cherishing a secret sin in his heart while he is trying to serve God, no prayers that he offers will be heard or answered. So here are at least two kinds of asking that will not bring an answer.

Then there are conditions. One is that we must ask in Christ's name. That implies that we believe in Christ as our Savior, and are His faithful friends, and therefore have a right to use His name. This condition narrows down the promise to the true followers of Christ. Another condition is that we are abiding in Christ, and His words are abiding in us. So there is a double ” if” . Even a Christian who is following afar off does not come within the circle of this promise.

Then there is another qualification which belongs to all promises to prayer. God Himself must be the judge as to the things we ask, whether they would really be blessings to us or not. There may be things we desire very earnestly that it would be the greatest unkindness to grant us. Is God then bound by this promise to give us what we crave? By no means. What is good the Lord will give. ” No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” But He will withhold even from the most upright the things which in His Divine wisdom He sees would not be good things. This is implied in every such promise as this.

Building Men And Women Of God (1)

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 - These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart; 7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

A great preacher once said, 'When times are troubled we cry, "God, give us men to match our mountains." In reply, God gives us children and says, "Here's the building material."' Our children are building kits and we are expected to develop them into men and women of God. Here's a Bible blueprint.

First, 'These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts'. Parent, if you don't practise scriptural principles, your children won't either. Indeed, if you don't live what you preach your words will fall on deaf ears and create rebellious hearts. You don't have to be perfect, but you must be genuine.

Second, 'Impress them on your children'. You must emphasise, stress, prompt, make clear, drum in and imprint. Nothing passing or passive there! It's to be a deliberate, thorough, active and repeated process.

Third, 'Talk about them'. Your kids won't catch the truth by osmosis. You have to talk, not in religious-sounding tones they don't understand, but in natural language, in natural ways, at natural times. 'Talk about them when you sit at home', in the comfort of familiar surroundings. 'When you walk along the road', in the easy give-and-take environment on the way to the park or to school. 'When you lie down and when you get up', watching for opportunities, because teachable moments come and go unannounced. Carpe diem! Parents who 'seize the day' discover that God has equipped them to mould their children into men and women of God.

Tell Jesus

The apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught. - Mark 6:30

That is just what we should always do when we have been trying to do any service for Jesus. We should do it as well as we can, and then go and tell Him what we have done. At the close of each day we should go to Him and tell Him of all that we have done or tried to do during the day. We should tell Him how we have lived, how we have done our work, how we have wrestled with temptation, how we have treated our friends and those with whom we have met, how we have performed our mission as His servants, what words we have spoken for Him, what efforts we have made to do good or to give comfort or help, and how we have responded to the needs of others.

We must also not forget to tell Him about the day's failures. Did we lose our patience? Did we give in to temptation? Did we neglect to share words of encouragement with those we should have? Were we unkind to anyone? We must tell Him of the efforts to do good which seemed to come to nothing. Often we are like the disciples who had toiled all night long and caught nothing. At the end of the day we feel like we've achieved nothing for all our efforts. Then sometimes we are tempted to stay away from the Master and give no account: what have we to report? Nothing but a fruitless day. But we should not keep away from Jesus -- the one who sends us. Jesus had days in His own life that seemed fruitless, and He can understand our sadness when we come to Him with nothing.

So let's tell Him everything. That is the kind of prayer that will bless us at the end of the day. If we have to give account to Jesus for how we have spent our time each day, it will make us be careful how we spend our time. It will keep us in more intimate with Him. Then His understanding nature will strengthen us for better service the next day.

Apply This To Your Life Today... Make a practice of telling Jesus how you spent your day -- warts and all! Tell Him everything and let Him bless you.

An Unanswered Question

For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? - Matthew 16:26

That is putting the case in its most favourable light. The whole world is the largest possible gain. But suppose a man gets it, it cannot keep him from trouble; it cannot give him peace of conscience; it cannot comfort him in sorrow; it cannot make a soft pillow for him when he is dying; it cannot purchase heaven for him when he is gone. All he can do with the world, after he has it, is to keep it until he dies; he cannot carry any part of it with him to the other life. “How much did he leave?” asked one, referring to a millionaire who had just died. “Every cent,” was the reply. He left all. So it is easy to see that there is no profit, but rather a fearful and eternal loss, in gaining even all the world at the price of one's soul.

Then think for how much smaller price than “the whole world” many people sell their souls. Some do it for a few hours' guilty pleasure; some for a political office; some for money; some for honor which fades in a day. In a newspaper this advertisement appeared: “Wanted - A nice cottage and grounds in exchange for a lot of choice liquours.” No doubt many people answered the advertisement. Men are continually giving home and property and peace and love for strong drink. They are selling their souls also in many other ways for pitiable trifles. They are bartering their heavenly birthright for a mess of pottage.

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Ah! that's the trouble. When the soul is lost, there is no way of recovering it. When we have made our choice, and lived our life, whether right or wrong, there is no possibility of changing the results. Life is given to us only once; and if we live it wrongly, there is no chance to live it over again. A soul lost cannot be gotten back; no money will redeem it.

Apply This To Your Life Today...

Faithfulness

"He said to him, 'Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.' - Luke 19:17

It is remarkable how much the Word of God makes of faithfulness - simple faithfulness. It is not great things that God requires of us unless our mission is to do great things; He asks only that we be faithful in the duties that come to our hand in our commonplace days. That means that we do all our work as well as we can; that we serve well in the varied relationships of life in which from time to time we find ourselves; that we stand heroically in our lot, resisting temptation and continuing true and loyal to God; and that we fulfil our mission in all ways according to the grace given unto us, using every gift and talent for the glory of God and the good of the world. The world crowns “success;” God crowns “faithfulness.”

Jesus tells us that faithfulness in this life lifts us to places of authority hereafter. So, then, life here is only a trial to see what we are capable of doing. It is after all a real probation to find out who may be set over large trusts. And the real life is to be begun in the other world. Those who prove faithful here will have places of responsibility in the kingdom of glory.

This ought to give a new and mighty motive to our living in this world. Our eternal honor and employment will depend upon the degree of our faithfulness here. good men and women often say at the close of their lives, “If I could only begin now, with all my experience, I could live my life much better.” Well, if they have been faithful, that is the very thing they will be permitted to do in the next world. A mother who had brought up a large family said: “I have just learned now how to train children. I could do it well if I could begin it again.” If she has learned this, that is just what Christ wanted her to learn. Now she is ready for full service in His kingdom.

 

Prayer - For All Those Going Through Financial Crisis

I Will Rise Up Out Off The Dust Of Poverty Through The Blood Of Jesus And The Power Of The Holy Spirit
 

Now, Father In The Name Of Jesus We Set Ourseves Before Your Throne, Heaven And Earth Bear Record, We Are In Agreement That The Recession,The Depreeion, Inflation And Every Other Economic Downfall Does't Belong To Us. We Are The Children Of God, Not The Children Of The World; We Are The Children Of The Light, Not The Children Of Darkness. We Walk In The Light As You Are In The Light Lord. You Are Our Source.  We Lay Hold Today Of Every Promise, Every Word You Said, Every Oath You Declared To Abraham, You Will Perfrom That Oath And That Promise To Me And My Household. We Declare It. We Claim It. We Receive It. It Is Done. In Jesus Name      Hallelujah

Abide in Him

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in Me while I abide in him produces much fruit…”
(John 15:5)

Did you know that God wants you to live in Him? He wants to be your source of life. He wants you to abide in Him and rely on Him for everything. He wants to be your source for strength, provision, hope and joy. Like the air you breathe, He wants you to rely on Him for your very existence.

Abiding in God begins by meditating on Him, His Word and His goodness. You stop and think about Him when you go to sleep at night. You think about Him when you first wake up. You think about His promises all throughout the day and continually fellowship with Him in prayer. You make Him your number one priority and stay connected with other believers at church. Notice what this verse says will happen when you abide in Him - you will produce much fruit! When you are connected to God, everything you set your hand to will be fruitful and blessed. Just like a branch thrives when it is connected to the vine, you’re going to thrive and be prosperous when you are connected to Almighty God.

Depend on Him today and make Him your number one priority. Abide in Him and let Him pour out His abundant favor and blessing on you all the days of your life.

Prayer for Today:
Father in heaven, today I choose to abide in You. Like the air I breathe, I know I am totally dependent on You. Thank You for Your promise of blessing on me and help me to always be a blessing to other people. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

God's purpose

He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . —Mark 6:45

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.