“DO NOT BE AFRAID”

Harry J. Taylor, famous American Journalist and Economist, tells how as a boy, his father took him down into a mine.
The descent was made in a barrel which twisted alarmingly.  The bewildered boy was kept from fear by the grip of his father’s hand.  Then, his father led him into the darkness of the mine.  Eventually, they met a man carrying a light upon his hardhat.  He told them that there was gas about.  The situation was dangerous.  Then, in the tense atmosphere, someone asked the boy if he was afraid.  He replied, “I’d be scared except my father is with me.”
Then, the journalist remembers his father smiled and said, “Then, you will never be scared, son, because a greater Father than I, will always be with you.”

We fight our fears with faith in Jesus, who said, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am the living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”    Revelation 1:17-18
Our fears are overcome by our trust in Jesus.

Dwight L. Moody tells of seeing boys jumping from a porch into the arms of a man. They were enjoying themselves.  One boy stood off to the side watching, refusing to jump.  Moody asked the boy why he didn’t join the others and jump into the man’s arms?  The boy replied, “he ain’t my father.”

Trust your Heavenly Father to guide you safely to Himself.

 

 

“TWO PARTINGS” by Timothy Max Smith

I have been studying the life of Moses and came to that very familiar story of The Parting of the Red Sea. “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” Exodus 14:21-22 (NIV)

Maybe you are like me, hearing this story since your childhood. And maybe like me you have always been impressed with how God set this up and then provided so miraculously. But thanks to a devotional thought from Louie Giglio, I was able to put an even greater “parting” with this one.

Matthew 27:50-51 reads: “Then Jesus shouted out again, dismissed his spirit, and died. Look! The curtain secluding the Holiest Place in the Temple was parted, split from top to bottom…” (SEV)

It’s important to understand that the veil was not a small curtain. It was 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and was about one inch thick.  The veil was so massive and heavy that it took 300 priests to manipulate it.  The fact that the veil was torn from the top down, some 60 feet from the floor (where humans could not reach it), shows that God was the One that caused the parting of the veil – torn from top to bottom. Why? So that we could have safe access to Him.

I began thinking about some of the similarities between these two events. Moses stretched forth his arms over the sea to begin the act of salvation for the Israelites – Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross to start the act of our salvation.

1. A path was opened by God for the Israelites – A path was provided for us through the curtain.
2. The Israelites crossed on dry land to safety because of the Sea parting – We get to cross into the safety of the Holy of Holies because of the curtain parting.
3. The enemy of Israel was defeated once and for all by the Sea – Our enemy Satan was defeated once and for all by allowing us access to God.
4. The waters were walled up on either side keeping them from destroying the Israelites – The curtain was torn to wall up our sin keeping it from destroying us.

As Louie Giglio wrote: “The truth is this: when Christ gave His life in death on the cross He parted something far more significant than the Red Sea as God did for Israel in Exodus. When Jesus cried “It Is Finished,” the curse over your life was shattered into oblivion and the veil of the temple in Jerusalem, that majestic curtain separating the people from God’s very presence, was ripped in two.”                 Louie Giglio :The Bright Light of Glory

I want to give my passion and my life to this One who parted the sea and parted the curtain so I would never be parted from Him.

I am thankful to my son, Tim for this message.   Max

WE WILL NOT FALL

We will not fall.  We will reach our heavenly destination by God’s help and our own determination to cooperate with Him in our preparation for our Heavenly Home.  God will enabled us to remain faithful.  He can keep those who are committed to Him.  IF we let God have His way in our lives, we will reach our heavenly destination.

Perhaps this illustration will help:  Suppose a man who is wealthy and kind picks out a poor youngster, who would never otherwise have had a chance, and offers him the privilege of a university education. The benefactor is giving the lad something which he could never have achieved for himself.  The man is offering the boy an immense and unexpected privilege.  But the lad cannot make use of that privilege and cannot enter into it unless he is prepared to work and to study and to toil. He must make whatever sacrifices are necessary to obtain an education.The gracious free offer and the personal hard work have to combine before the privilege becomes fully effective.

It is so with God.  God has called us in His free mercy and His unmerited grace, but we must appropriate, apply that grace of God through obedient faith.  We must determine to live for God.

“I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight;
Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight.

I am resolved to go to the Savior, leaving my sin and strife.
He is the true one, He is the just one, He hath the Words of Life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true each day.
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth, He is the living way.

I am resolved to enter the Kingdom, leaving paths of sin.
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, still will I enter in.”

Believe as if everything depends on belief.
Pray as if everything depends on prayer.
Work as if everything depends on work.

GOD DID

When our son, Dan, was just a young boy, his mother took him to the store to buy a bathing suit. The suit was purchased and when they got home, Jo noticed a tear in the cloth of the swimming suit. She was upset because she didn’t have time to return the suit nor to mend it. At the meal time, Jo said that she wished she had noticed the hole before she bought the suit. Dan said, “Well mom, you can’t expect to buy everything perfect.” Jo answered, “No, but you don’t expect to pay the full price for something that isn’t perfect.”   Dan’s face got serious and then he said, “GOD DID.”

Listen to this scripture: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

The PERFECT died for the imperfect. The GODLY for the ungodly. The SINLESS for the sinful. God so loved us that He gave His Son for us that we might have abundant and eternal life. We ought to be thinking, I just can’t believe that. It is too good to be true. It is indeed a wonder. But, that is the GOOD NEWS. God loved His creation so much that He offered His Son to take our place in paying the penalty for our sin which is eternal death, separation from the presence of God. He wants us to be with Him. He is a Father and desires the best for His children.

Accept His love and express your love for Him. Be a part of the family of God through accepting and living for Jesus.