COMMITMENT

Committed to Jesus means we are alive to God.  God’s Word says, “He that has the Son has life.”  The Christian has life now.  Your eternity with God began when you became a Christian.  Eternity is not a matter of time, rather it is a matter of  kind, God’s kind of life.  That is why we must be able to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”  What does it mean for Christ to live in us?

One it will mean that we are sensitive to His presence.
We must love consciously, aware, that we live in the presence of  Christ.  Can we accept the truth that we play life to Christ?  Yet, we are constantly looking to the audience for judgment.  This makes us just a collection of mirrors, reflecting what eveyone else expects of us. We must learn that we stand or fall before our Master, Jesus.

Secondly, committed to Christ will mean that we are responsive to His will.
The will of God and the will of Jesus are exactly the same.  Their will is revealed to us in the pages of the Holy Bible.  God has given us a sufficient piece of His mind and placed it in Holy Writ.  This involves hearing and studying the Word of God so we can be approved unto God, workmen who need not to be ashamed.  We must commit ourselves to living His truth.

Thirdly, committed to Christ means that we are dedicated to His purpose.
The purpose of God through Jesus is to make known His love to all mankind.  The uplifted Jesus upon the cross is the demonstration of the love of God.  Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I shall draw all mankind to me.” If such love will not draw humanity to God, nothing will.  Now, we Christians are the instruments of God’s purpose for God to love people through us.  The Church, God’s people, are in the loving business.

The story is told of a man who inherited a plot of sour land which was covered with stones, stumps, tangled underbrush and weeds.  After months of hard work: picking up the stones, grubbing out the stumps, killing the weeds, uprooting and burning the underbrush and fertilizing and cultivating the soil, he finally developed a beautiful garden.  One day the minster visited and admired its beauty.  The preacher said, “Just see what you and God have done.”  “Yes,” replied the gardener, “But you ought to have seen it when God had it alone.”

Nothing better illustrates our relationship with God.  It is through people that God reaches people. The communication of the saving gospel is from person to person.  We are the means of conveying God’s truth and love to the world.

“IMPERFECT”

I just finished reading the book; “Imperfect: An Improbable Life” by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown.  It is an enjoyable read. I especially liked it as it deals with baseball and Jim Abbott, who was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, just about 20 miles from my home town.

The amazing thing about Jim Abbott is what all he accomplished although born without a right hand.      He gives much credit to the positive support of his parents.  They did not want him to be a handicap.  They challenged him not to be different.

He was an all American at the University of Michigan and an Olympic gold medalist. He became a major league baseball pitcher for ten seasons on four different teams.  He threw a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Indians September 4, 1993.  He retired from baseball in 1999.

Jim Abbott made the most of what he had been given.  There were happy moments but also incredibly difficult moments.  His life was a tremendous struggle with triumph and adversity.  But, he hung in there and continued to do all he could.  He tells that he could not have made a success of his life without the encouragement and support of his family, friends and especially his wife.  They believed in him.

Today, he serves as a motivational speaker and guest pitching instructor for the Los Angeles Angels.  He lives in California with his wife, two children and their dog.  He continues to serve others with his “family to family Helping Hands” which is a free online discussion group for parents and friend to share ideas  and support each other when faced with challenges.

This is a soul searching book causing one to think: am I doing my best with what I have to do with?
We must not allow circumstances to define who we are.  We must make the most of what we have been given. Outward appearance does not define who we are.  Life is what we do with what we have been given.

I thought about “Imperfect.” Is there any other kind?  None of us are perfect, everyone has some faults, flaws, imperfection.  THE ONLY ONE  PERFECT WAS AND IS JESUS.  Since this is true, He alone could and did make the perfect sacrifice to offer us salvation.  The Perfect died for the imperfect.
Hebrews 5: 9  “and, once made perfect, He bcame the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.”

Amounting to something is all about being everything God created us to be.

 

JESUS LOVES ME

Senior version of Jesus Loves Me”

Here is a new version just for us who have white hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost there) and all you others, check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me. 

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)

YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I’ll go
On through life, let come what may,
He’ll be there to lead the way.

(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear,
“Have no fear, for I am near.”

(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life’s victories have been won.
He will take me to my home above,
Then I’ll understand His love.

(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.

YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

This truth is not just for we seniors, it is for everyone who will put their trust in Jesus.
Al Maxey writing one of  his articles entitled it, “When Love Came Walking.”  He tells that this is what the world saw when Jesus came and lived among us. Jesus was love walking.  We never knew what love was until He demonstrated it in the life He lived.  Now, what the world wants to see through the followers of Jesus, is love walking.  Words alone will not do it.  The world has heard our words, they want to see love in action.

Let Jesus shine through you. Show them His love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EBOLA, THE KILLER DISEASE

Ebola, the disease that has killed over 900 people in recent months in West Africa is causing great concern world wide.  We know it best from the return to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia of Doctor Kent Brantly and missionary, Nancy Writebol both stricken by this deadly disease. They were infected while working at a clinic for Ebola patients in Liberia. Both are part of a missionary response team sponsoreed by the Christian relief organizations SIM USA and Samaritan’s Purse.  They remain in serious condition at the hospital in an isolation ward.

Kent Brantly told the Southeastern Church of Christ in Indianapolis before leaving for this work, “In October, my wife, Amber, and the kids and I are moving to Monrovia, Liberia, to work as medical missionaries in ELWA Hospital…I have never been to Liberia but am going because God has a call on my life.  God did not give us a spirit of timidity, he said, quoting the Apostle Paul.”

Both of these people have a deep faith willing to sacrifice themselves to save others.  They are doing what Jesus asked, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  John 15:13
They are trusting in Jesus promise, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:39
As Christians, we are to live unselfish lives, seeking to be a blessing to others.  Life here in this world is so short and “only what is done for Christ will last.”

Bad things happen to all people because we are sinners who live in a fallen, sin-cursed world. There are many possible answers to why suffering?  Some might be:
Bad people cause trouble.
Bad luck –  being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Bad choices which we make and are responsible.
Bad health due to the fact that we are mortal, human beings, living in a world of inflexable, natural laws.

I want you to know that we are all involved in the tragic possiblity of suffering. Every intelligent person knows that he lives every minute of his life on the brink of disaster.  Life is transitory, perilous and potentially horrible.
Times of adversity show us how much we need God.  He asks us “to live by faith not by sight.”  If everything would be so good here in this life time, there would be no reason to want to leave it.  If this world were heaven, what would heaven be for?  As Christians, we look forward to that day when we can climb down out of the cab of time and walk the flowered bordered avenues of eternity.  It is my anticipation of Heaven that keeps me going here.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”   Hebrews 10:35-36

BROKEN PIECES

The Duke of Norfolk once sent the King of England a priceless treasure as an expression of his love and esteem. It was a PORTLAND VASE, a rare antique.  Because he wanted to share his treasure with the nation, the King had the vase placed in the British Museum.

At a later date, so the story goes, came disaster.   The Duke’s chief servant was dismiss for a wrong doing.  The servant hated the Duke for this and sought vengeance.  The servant remembered how much the Duke loved that Portland Vase so he planned to hurt the Duke by destroying the vase. The servant went to London and located the Portland Vase.  When visitors were gone from the area, he quickly climbed over the barrier.  At last, his moment of revenge had come.  Hatred blinded him to caution. With both hands he grasped the beautiful master piece and raised it high above his head. Then with all his might, he sent it crashing to the floor.  His evil work was done.

The priceless Portland Vase was smashed into a thousand pieces.  Shocked and grieved, the workers swept up the shattered pieces.  The antique was  broken beyond repair, or so it seemed.

The King hearing of the tragedy, told them to save every piece.  This is my most precious and treasured gift.  We’ll search for a man who can repair it, no matter what it costs. At long last, such a man was found.  He came to London and for months he labored.  Working with great skill and endless patience, he picked up each broken fragment and found its place in the original vase.  Delicately, he fixed the vase back to its original form.  You may see the Portland Vase in the British Museum today.  Only by looking carefully can you tell of its restoration.

I do not know of the truth of this story but it beautifully speaks of what God had done for mankind.  Satan, through sin, had as it were, picked man up and threw him down upon the ground, breaking him into pieces.  Now, God could have ignored broken humanity. He could have swept mankind aside and forgot the whole thing.  But no, His love for man was too great.  So, He sent His Son, Jesus on a rescue mission, a mission of restoration.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth to seek and to save the lost, the broken pieces, sinful mankind.   Jesus came to pick up the broken pieces and restore man to his rightful place in God’s family.  Christ came calling through the preaching/teaching of the Good News of salvation, that everyone can be forgiven and made whole.

David understood this when he wrote the 23rd Psalm and said, “He restores my soul.”  God revives me, He makes me whole, unbroken through His Son, Jesus.

A song by Bill and Gloria Gaither says it all..
“Something beautiful, something good.  All my confusion He understood.
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, But He made something beautiful of my life.”