Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Faithfulness of God
1 Peter 2:5-6 says, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in Scripture, Behold
I lay in Sion a chief conrner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded."
This past Sunday our church celebrated her 100th birthday! As part of our Centennial Celebration a family
in the church donated a monument stone to be placed outside. During our worship service it was my responsibility to
share what the stone represented.
It was my joy to share that the stone represented the faithfulness of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of our church. Through good times and bad, times of feasting and times of famine, times
of celebration and times of mourning, for 100 years our Lord has proven Himself faithful!
In our own
past lives, is it not true that He has shown Himself faithful? Is it not true that He continues to show Himself faithful
today? And, is it not true that we can trust Him to continue to remain faithful to us in the future - through the remainder
of our lives here on earth, as well as into eternity?
This sense of security comes from having Jesus Christ as
the Cornerstone of our lives. If we will build our lives on Him, our Foundation, then we will find security.
Great is His faithfulness! To God be the glory!
Think on these things....
12:00 pm cdt
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Redeeming the Time!
Our church is celebrating her 100th Anniversary this weekend. We are having a huge Centennial Celebration
to commemorate all that the Lord has done for us and through us over the past century. As I meditate on this, I cannot
help but keep thinking of the following Scriptures:
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will
of the Lord is." - Ephesians 5:15-17
Now more than ever we are close to the time when the
Lord will return in majesty and glory to take us to our eternal home to be with Him forever. Whether it be through the
Lord's Return, or through death, the reality we must all face is we will sooner or later depart this earth and enter into
eternity. That is just a simple fact we all must face.
This reality, and the above verses, ought to sober
us and motivate us. Our days are numbered. They are few. The time alloted to us is not to be wasted.
We should live wisely. We should make the most of the time given to us. We should first discern and then do the
will of God for our lives.
Think on these things....
8:54 am cdt
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Are You Expecting? - Part 2
1 John 3:2-3 says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."
Yesterday I wrote of abiding in
Christ so that we will not be ashamed when He returns. Today, John continues to speak of the imminent return of Jesus
Christ. He offers first a word of encouragement, and then a word of admonition.
The encouragement
he offers lies in two realities: The first is that we are God's children! We are entitled to all of the
blessings of having God as our Heavenly Father! He loves us! He cares for us! He is concerned for us!
He has promised to meet our needs (see Philippians 4:19)! It is truly a blessing to be adopted into the family of God,
with God as our Father!
Second, He has promised that we will finally, ultimately, and completely be like
Him on the day we see Him! No longer will we have to face the stresses and trials of this life. No longer will
we wrestle with the flesh. No longer will we contend with aging and sickness and death!
The admonition
he gives in the above verses is this: In light of the reality of Jesus' return, and the fact that we are the children
of God who will one day be like him, then it is important that we "purify" ourselves. By this, John means
that we should continue to abide in Christ so that we have His power working within us to overcome the old fleshly nature.
It means confessing and turning from any and all sin in our lives. It means a life of absolute surrender to the Lordship
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is coming again - soon! Hallelujah! When He returns, He doesn't want to
find a dirty vessel!
Think on these things....
7:18 am cdt
