Make The Most of Every Opportunity

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9,10 ESV)

What about now? What about today? You realize that tomorrow has not been promised to any of us. What I do today is important. Don't let the failures of yesterday spoil today. Even a cup of cold water will not go without reward. For those of us who have "living water," let us offer some to others today. Freely you have received, freely give. Stay faithful!

Let Us Labor For The Master...

LABOR DAY - Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:4-5 ESV)

Too often, we think that our labor for God has to be some super-magnanimous act. But all that is required of the Lord's servant is that he/she be faithful. Christ said that a cup of cold water given to the least of these His servants will reap its' reward! (see Matthew 10:42)

Our Lord gives one more answer to who is a true laborer or not. In Matthew 24 tells us whom He considers the true laborer. "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (Matthew 24:44-46 ESV)

Let us pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his fields. Amen, come Lord Jesus.

Being Occupied With God

"Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD! Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!" (Psalm 113:1-3 ESV)

In other words, every place on this mortal soil, is a proper place to worship and offer praise! Note, I didn't say the only place.

In the early '60's, when JFK was our president, his brother served as Attorney General. While on tour of Brazil, Robert Kennedy was introduced to a farmer from the interior of Brazil. He decided to ask this simple farmer a deep philosophical question. "What did the farmer esteem as his highest calling throughout the day in his existence in the interior of Brazil?" Without a moment's hesitation, the farmer replied, through his interpreter, "Being occupied with God."

Certain that the farmer had misunderstood his question, Kennedy asked him the same question once again. Again, the simple farmer immediately responded through his interpreter, "Being occupied with God." Unbeknownst to the Attorney General, the simple farmer living in the immense Amazonian Rain Forest had recently responded to the Gospel call of a missionary and had come to know the Maker of the Universe in an intimate way.

Being occupied with God is one simple way we can fulfill the Scriptural admonition to praise the Name of the Lord from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same.

No Condemnation!!

"The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned." (Psalm 34:22 ESV)
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1 ESV)

The Holy Scriptures tell us that the human race is under a curse. We have committed Cosmic Treason against the Sovereign of the Universe. Scripture also tells us that this Sovereign has provided a way to escape the judgement that is coming. Jesus, God's son, came into the world, lived a life of perfect obedience and then offered that life as a propitiation for our sin.

For everyone who flees to Jesus for refuge, there will be no judgement of conviction. Trust Christ my friend, He has paid the price of redemption. We are free! Embrace Him and rejoice dear hearts!

2. I hear the Savior say,
   “Thy strength indeed is small;
   Child of weakness, watch and pray,
   Find in Me thine all in all.”
   • Refrain:
     Jesus paid it all,
     All to Him I owe;
     Sin had left a crimson stain,
     He washed it white as snow.
3. For nothing good have I
   Whereby Thy grace to claim;
   I’ll wash my garments white
   In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
4. And now complete in Him,
   My robe, His righteousness,
   Close sheltered ’neath His side,
   I am divinely blest.
5. Lord, now indeed I find
   Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
   Can change the leper’s spots
   And melt the heart of stone.
6. When from my dying bed
   My ransomed soul shall rise,
   “Jesus died my soul to save,”
   Shall rend the vaulted skies.
7. And when before the throne
   I stand in Him complete,
   I’ll lay my trophies down,
   All down at Jesus’ feet.

Predestined To Be Conformed

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,..." Colossians 3:16a ESV "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11 ESV

Scripture, God's Word, is to be at home in our lives in a very copious, magnanimous way. It is the Spirit's work to conform believers to the likeness of Jesus Christ. However, the Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum. The Spirit always uses the Word of God in our day-to-day transformation.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus told his disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes He would bring back to their memories all that Christ had taught them. The Word that we hide in our hearts, is the same Word that the Holy Spirit uses to conform us to the image of the Son that He loves. Just as a potter keeps his hands wet as he molds the clay, the Holy Spirit wets His hands with the "water" of God's Word as He molds and makes us into the image of the Beloved Son.

Let us renew our efforts of hiding God's Word in our hearts so that God's Spirit may continue His work in our lives.

Why Am I Here?

And he [Jesus] said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 ESV

Contrary to popular culture, the one who dies with the most toys doesn't win. The chief end of man is not the accumulation of stuff but to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. Let us not exchange the truth for a lie. We are to worship the Creator and not the creature. Whenever we value our "stuff" more than we value the Lord, we are guilty of breaking the 10th Commandment. And James tells us that if we break one of God's commandments we have become accountable for all. [James 2:10]

Praise For My Wife On Our 42nd Anniversary

"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain... Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.'" Proverbs 31:10,11; 28,29 ESV

Today my wife and I celebrate our 42nd Anniversary. I have said often and will continue to say until my dying day, that outside of coming to know Jesus Christ, she is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I would not be who, what or where I am today without her. She truly has been "the wind beneath my wings."