Characteristics Of True Christians Being Selfless And Hospitable

Key Verse: “Contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality” Romans 12:13  (AMP)

The Bible tells us to contribute to the needs of God’s people. This is very important in the Body of Christ. Galatians 6:10 “So then, while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers).” (AMP).

There are so many people in the church who are hurting and in need and we have to reach out to them and help whenever we can. There are some in the Body of Christ who have the gift of giving as we see in Romans 12:8 which says in part, “If we can give, we should be generous.” (Contemporary English Version).

When we provide for the needs of others, we should do so with generosity and with a cheerful heart as the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” When God has placed in your heart to give to someone, then I encourage you to do so. If we have the means to help them, then we should do so even if you have to sacrifice something to do it.

Let me give you an example. When we were living in Washington in the States, the Lord laid it on my heart to give to a woman in our church. I spoke to my wife about it and initially she agreed, but then she thought about it and didn’t want to give up her money later. One morning, she went to a women’s meeting at the church and in her way home she stopped at a grocery store. As she was getting ready to check out, an announcement was made that the next person to come to the register with purple nail polish would get some free groceries. Guess who had on purple nail polish?

When she went to the register to show them her nails, the groceries contained everything she went to shop for and had had cat food (we had a cat at the time). When my wife came home and told me what happened, I just laughed a little and the next day I had my wife give the money to the woman. They hugged and wept. It was beautiful.

My point is when God tells you to give to someone, do so; not so you will get something in return because that is not why we should do it, we should do so to show the love of God. Then we are told to be hospitable or to entertain others. The Bible specifically talks about Bishops, Elders and widows being hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2, 5:10, Titus 1:8).

Then we are told to be hospitable and the Bible gives a reason as we see in Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (AMP).

This is something that is important as we are showing the love of God when we do so. Growing up, my mother would take people into our home when they didn’t have anywhere else to go. This came from the love of God in her heart. When we are hospitable we should do so from the heart and not out of compulsion as the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 4:9 “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Another version of the Bible tells us this “Keep open house for all with a glad heart.” (1 Peter 4:9 Bible in Basic English).

As Christians, we should always show forth the love of God and we do so when we provide for the needs of and show hospitality to others.

*** Written by Edwin D. Kerns | Gospelfeet Ministries ***

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Give It Your All

“…I will go … and if I perish, I perish” – Esther 4:16 NIV

Esther, a Jewish girl married to a pagan king, broke with long-standing tradition, marched into her husband’s throne room, spoke her mind, and rescued her people from annihilation. One girl saved a nation because she was willing to put everything on the line.

Are you feeling inadequate today? Are you thinking, ‘someone else should be doing this job instead of me?’ Then read these words written by clergy Edward Everett Hale: ‘I am only one; but still I am one. I can’t do everything; but still I can do something: and because I can’t do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.’

How many people did it take to rescue the dying man on the Jericho Road? (Luke 10:25-37) One Good Samaritan. How many people did it take to confront Pharaoh and lead the exodus out of Egypt? One man, Moses. A respected leadership expert writes: ‘God has put a dream inside you. It’s yours and no one else’s. It declares your uniqueness. It holds your potential. Only you can give birth to it. Only you can live it. Not to discover it, take responsibility for it and act upon it is to negatively affect yourself as well as those who would benefit from your dreams.’

Poet John Greenleaf Whitter wrote, ‘For all sad words of tongue and pen; the saddest are these, “it might have been.”’ In your twilight years, will you look back and feel like you have spent your life struggling to fulfill other people’s expectations? Or know that you lived it to the fullest by striving to fulfill your God-given dream?

Think about it now, while there’s still time to change direction.

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Contending For Holiness

TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-4

Key Verse: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)

When the head of government of a country who was visiting another nation was told of a crisis back home, he cut short his trip and returned to address the domestic challenge. It would have been cruel and heartless of him to have continued the journey while his country was engulfed with unrest. A good and caring leader or shepherd in the household of God would behave the same way.

Our text today identifies Paul the apostle as a concerned guardian. About to close his three-year ministry in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, he was told about the divisive tendencies creeping into the Church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). It was a disheartening news for Paul who had spent one and a half years with the Corinthian Church teaching the brethren the pure and undiluted word of God (Acts 18:11). Now, he heard that these Corinthian Christians were poised to adapt to the low standards around them. Some of them had already compromised by breaking into factions engaging in incest, resorting to lawsuits to settle disputes between them, abusing spiritual gifts and manifesting unholy conduct at home, in the Church and in the public.

Although Paul could not stop his work in Ephesus to visit Corinth, he quickly dispatched a grave letter to the brethren to draw them back to the uncorrupted teaching of Christ. He warns that what they have been accused of are acts of carnality that should not be seen among genuine Christians. As a true shepherd, Paul told them the truth that liberates. He delivered to them “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

Fighting the good fight of faith, defending Christ’s doctrine of outward and inward holiness as qualification for entry into heaven is the responsibility of all believers. Wherever we are, God enjoins us to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). It is our primary and sacred duty.

THOUGHT FOR YOU: A firm stand for holiness is a courageous stand for Christ.

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A Message Of Hope

TEXT: JEREMIAH 29:10-19 

Key verse: “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10).

A missionary went to some Indian villages with the gospel message. One day, after preaching in an open market, a Muslim gentleman approached him and said: “You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have.” The missionary smiled and inquired: “I should be pleased to hear what it is.” The Muslim said: “You know when we go to Mecca we at least find a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, which is your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave.” The missionary smiled again and replied: “That is just the difference. Mohammed is dead; Mohammed is in the coffin. And false systems of religion and philosophy are in their coffins, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and kindred and tribes, is not here; He is risen. And all power in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. That is our hope.”

That hope, which is still alive in us, is why Jesus is not in the coffin. For the Israelites, the Lord knew what would give them hope at the hour of their needs. Against the backdrop of his struggle with incurable false prophets at home, Jeremiah addressed a letter of hope to the exiles at Babylon. Jeremiah’s letter was intended to calm their nerves and bring them hope from the living God. He mentioned that the Lord had thoughts of peace towards them and not of evil.

God’s plan was to give them an expected end, that is, a future and a hope. They must, therefore, forsake the counsel of false prophets, who had been prophesying an immediate end to their captivity. Rather, they should be praying for the peace of the city wherein they were taken captives.

As Christians, God’s thoughts for us should be our only concern. We should not be bothered about what other people may think of us. The Lord wants to give us the desire of our heart, if only we let Him reign supremely in our life.   Thought for the day: Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the Source of your hope.

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Eternity Is It

TEXT: JOB 30:15-31

Key verse:  “For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living” (Job 30:23).

During World War II, a group of soldiers spent a few hours in London on the eve of their being returned to the war front. A church sought to fill those hours with entertainment and companionship. At the close of the evening, one of the soldiers stood up to express their appreciation to the leaders of the church. For a moment, he spoke in a light vein, endeavouring to keep the frantic false gaiety of the evening. But a few moments later, he became serious. He said, “We are returning to the front to face battle. Some of us will die! Can anyone tell us how to die?” There was silence for a moment. Then a woman stood up and quoted the reassuring word of Jesus Christ: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). She went down to the piano and started playing the hymn: “Leaning on the everlasting Arms,” heads were bowed in reverence. Many felt that the question had been answered.

Job, in our text, affirmed his belief in the certainty of death. He had gone through hardship, agony and depression as revealed in our text today. While the confusion lasted, he comforted himself in the fact that death would one day bring an end to the chain of perplexing situations he found himself. What a great lesson mankind ought to learn from this.

We must strive for a firm understanding that anything outside the will of God will fade away, and any other “god” who receives our worship in form of excess time, thought, energy or resources will most surely burn and be swept aside.

It’s time we turn our hearts to God and do everything as unto the LORD. We can no longer give our lives to what is temporary and transient. It’s time we worship Him and follow where He leads. It’s time we draw close to His presence and remember the eternal glory that awaits us in eternity with the Almighty.

THOUGHT FOR YOU: Let everything be uncertain...eternity is certain.
 

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When God Fights For You

TEXT: JOSHUA 10:1-11

There is so much truth in the saying that “if God is all you have, then you have got all you need.” This is because if we allow God have full control of our lives, He will manifest His power in every area of our needs.

Israel, on their way to the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, encountered many hostile nations. But they prevailed against all. News of their incredible victories made kings to panic. Indeed, Gibeon, a great city of mighty men, found it expedient to submit to the superior power of Israel even under tough terms. Adonizedec, king of Jerusalem, feared Israel and was incensed with Gibeon for submitting and signing a pact with them. Panic-stricken, he arranged a confederacy with four neighbouring kings against Gibeon. Gibeon handed the battle to Israel who routed the confederacy of five Amorite kingdoms.

Notice how the event was captured in verse 10: “And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.”

This string of victories did not come to Israel by dint of hard work or military might; God fought for them. As long as Israel was in good standing with Him, the Lord of hosts remained their Banner.

God still fights for His people. For those who through repentance and faith in Christ have submitted their lives to God, He is the Source of their victories. When God fights for you, no confederacy of demons or men can withstand you.

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God Chastises For Correction

TEXT: JEREMIAH 29:1-9 

Key verse: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them” (Jeremiah 29:4,5).

Billy Graham, in his book entitled, Worker’s Handbook, said: “If life were all easy, wouldn’t we become flabby? When a ship’s carpenter needed timber to make a mast for a sailing vessel, he did not cut it in the valley, but up on the mountainside where the trees had been buffeted by the winds. These trees, he knew, were the strongest of all. Hardship is not our choice; but if we face it bravely, it can toughen the fiber of our souls. God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness.”

Jeremiah wrote to the Israelites, who were in captivity in Babylon as a form of discipline by the Lord, that they should move ahead with their lives and pray for the heathen nation that enslaved them. 

From experience, we discover that trials and suffering can come from three sources. Firstly, it can come due to disobedience to the commandment of God, that is, as a result of sin. Secondly, it can also be permitted by God without any iniquity on the part of man. Job’s experience is an example. Thirdly, it can be as a result of satanic oppression. In all these causes of calamities, it is the one by Satan that is the easiest to handle. When God demonstrates His omnipotence by allowing divinely arranged trials in our lives, we should realize that it is to achieve His own glory through us. If it is from Satan, all we need do is to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, pray and believe God for solution. The most difficult of all trials to tackle is one caused by sin. Some people hide sins in their hearts and go about as if there is no problem. But God, who knows the state of their hearts, will not answer their prayers.

Whatever your calamity, you need to, first of all, examine your life. Ask God to reveal, through His Spirit, the cause of the problem to you. Then, make your way right with God.

Thought for you: Chastisement is designed for our good; to bring us closer to God.

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Avoid Working Against God

TEXT: 2 KINGS 16:1-9 

Key verse: “And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree” (2 Kings 16:4).  

Donald Arthur Carson, a Canadian-born, Reformed Evangelical theologian and professor of the New Testament, said: “In the first garden, ‘Not Your will but mine’ by Adam changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now ‘Not My will but Yours’ by Jesus Christ brings anguish to the Man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory.” 

Ahaz would equally have had such a beautiful testimony in his life, if he had allowed God’s will as against his, to dominate his existence. This would have made not only his entire life’s story to be somewhat different, but equally had a transforming impact on the Israelites. Sadly, he was indifferent to God’s unequivocal warnings about the conduct of the people around him and the dangers of emulating their evil ways.  

Clearly, Ahaz was a king who was not guided by a sense of history and who never bothered to read the Scriptures. Otherwise, he would have recognized in Leviticus 20:3 and 5 that God emphatically said “1 will set my face against that man” who makes his son to pass through fire, and who defiles His holy sanctuary. He did enough to incur God’s wrath, and had a measure of it. 

Today, some so-called Christians have followed the path of Ahaz. They set aside days to celebrate old idolatrous practices, though under different colourations. They spend fortunes on revisiting the evils, which drew their ignorant ancestors far away from the living and true God. Believers will do well to avoid association in any form with any and all of these evils. Are you involved in any form of superstition, idolatry or compromise with those who do them? Confess your sins and sever your relationship with all forms of idolatry.  

Thought for you: Anything you want more than God is an idol.  - See more at: <<Daily Manna>>

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TEXT: 2 KINGS 16:1-9

Key verse: “And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree” (2 Kings 16:4). 

Donald Arthur Carson, a Canadian-born, Reformed Evangelical theologian and professor of the New Testament, said: “In the first garden, ‘Not Your will but mine’ by Adam changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now ‘Not My will but Yours’ by Jesus Christ brings anguish to the Man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory.”

Ahaz would equally have had such a beautiful testimony in his life, if he had allowed God’s will as against his, to dominate his existence. This would have made not only his entire life’s story to be somewhat different, but equally had a transforming impact on the Israelites. Sadly, he was indifferent to God’s unequivocal warnings about the conduct of the people around him and the dangers of emulating their evil ways. 

Clearly, Ahaz was a king who was not guided by a sense of history and who never bothered to read the Scriptures. Otherwise, he would have recognised in Leviticus 20:3 and 5 that God emphatically said “1 will set my face against that man” who makes his son to pass through fire, and who defiles His holy sanctuary. He did enough to incur God’s wrath, and had a measure of it.

Today, some so-called Christians have followed the path of Ahaz. They set aside days to celebrate old idolatrous practices, though under different colourations. They spend fortunes on revisiting the evils, which drew their ignorant ancestors far away from the living and true God. Believers will do well to avoid association in any form with any and all of these evils. Are you involved in any form of superstition, idolatry or compromise with those who do them? Confess your sins and sever your relationship with all forms of idolatry. 

Thought for the day: Anything you want more than God is an idol. 

- See more at: http://dailymanna.dclmhq.org/2014/09/topic-avoid-working-against-god.html#.VB3KohawHIU

TEXT: 2 KINGS 16:1-9

Key verse: “And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree” (2 Kings 16:4). 

Donald Arthur Carson, a Canadian-born, Reformed Evangelical theologian and professor of the New Testament, said: “In the first garden, ‘Not Your will but mine’ by Adam changed Paradise to desert and brought man from Eden to Gethsemane. Now ‘Not My will but Yours’ by Jesus Christ brings anguish to the Man who prays it but transforms the desert into the kingdom and brings man from Gethsemane to the gates of glory.”

Ahaz would equally have had such a beautiful testimony in his life, if he had allowed God’s will as against his, to dominate his existence. This would have made not only his entire life’s story to be somewhat different, but equally had a transforming impact on the Israelites. Sadly, he was indifferent to God’s unequivocal warnings about the conduct of the people around him and the dangers of emulating their evil ways. 

Clearly, Ahaz was a king who was not guided by a sense of history and who never bothered to read the Scriptures. Otherwise, he would have recognised in Leviticus 20:3 and 5 that God emphatically said “1 will set my face against that man” who makes his son to pass through fire, and who defiles His holy sanctuary. He did enough to incur God’s wrath, and had a measure of it.

Today, some so-called Christians have followed the path of Ahaz. They set aside days to celebrate old idolatrous practices, though under different colourations. They spend fortunes on revisiting the evils, which drew their ignorant ancestors far away from the living and true God. Believers will do well to avoid association in any form with any and all of these evils. Are you involved in any form of superstition, idolatry or compromise with those who do them? Confess your sins and sever your relationship with all forms of idolatry. 

Thought for the day: Anything you want more than God is an idol. 

- See more at: http://dailymanna.dclmhq.org/2014/09/topic-avoid-working-against-god.html#.VB3KohawHIU

Burning Spiritual Desire

Text: Psalm 119:33-40

Key verse: “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness” (Psalm 119:36).

One day, a proud young man came to Socrates, a classical Greek Athenian philosopher, to ask for knowledge. Socrates, who easily recognized the young man’s pomposity, led him through the streets, to the sea and chest deep into water. Then, Socrates asked: “What do you want?” The young man, with a smile, replied: “Knowledge, O wise Socrates.” Socrates repeated the exercise the second and third time, but the young man still maintained: “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful.” On the fourth time, after putting him in water for fifty seconds, Socrates let him up and asked again: “What do you want?” This time, the pompous young man screeched: “Air! I need air!” Then, Socrates said: “When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”

The psalmist placed himself in such a situation to seek God and His righteousness as much as he needed air. This could explain why he forgot everything else and placed righteousness as a top priority of his heartfelt desire. His heart’s desire was expressed through his petitions. He wanted to know more of God’s statutes in order to keep them unto the end. He further requested for understanding so that he could observe God’s law with his whole heart. The Lord is not interested in partial obedience. Rather, He delights in total obedience to His commandments. The psalmist also prayed for restraining grace, requesting God to turn away his eyes from beholding vanity. 


Considering the fact that “the world passes away and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abided forever,” every heaven-bound pilgrim should always pray for grace to be preserved from the pollution of this present evil world. The coming of the Lord is imminent. What is the topmost desire in your life? Are you constantly having a critical self-examination of your life? Have a burning desire to please God.

Thought For You: Devotion signifies a life given or devoted to God.

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Divine Illumination

TEXT: PSALM 119:17-24

Key Verse: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 119:18). 

Charles H. Spurgeon said: “We would be abler teachers of others, and less liable to be carried about by every wind of doctrine, if we sought to have a more intelligent understanding of the Word of God. As the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Scriptures alone can enlighten us rightly to understand them, we should constantly ask His teaching and His guidance unto all truth.”

“When the prophet Daniel sought to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, what did he do? He set himself to earnest prayer that God would open up the vision. Therefore, if you desire to be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” remember that prayer is your best means of study. “Like Daniel, you shall understand the dream and its interpretation when you have sought God. You may force your way through many barriers to understanding with the leverage of prayer. Thoughts and reasoning are like the steel wedges which give a hold on truth, but prayer is the lever which forces open the treasure hidden within.”

The essence of this divine illumination propelled the psalmist in our text today to, among other things, offer a supplication to God for Him to open his eyes to behold wondrous things out of His law. The psalmist knew that God’s mind, which is revealed in the Scriptures, was deeper than the deepest ocean. Therefore, he prayed earnestly to God to show him the light in this strange and dangerous world of darkness.

A natural man, by nature, is blind to the things of God. There are wonderful things which God has hidden in the Scripture from the casual readers of the Bible. Yet, the same Bible passages give eternal life to those whose eyes are opened by God. He is ready to reveal more of Himself to you. But are you ready? Seek His face now in earnest prayer and He will bring divine illumination upon your life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s word is the fountain of living waters to the sincere seeker. 

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God Can Heal You

TEXT: LUKE 13:11-22

Key verse: “And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:12,13). 

Dr. Will Mayo, one of the founders of Mayo Clinic Minnesota, United States of America told a story of some patients who were miraculously healed. He said: “We knew they could not live. But I have seen a minister come to the bedside and do something for them that I could not do, although I had done everything in my professional power, but something touched some immortal spark in them and in defiance of medical knowledge and materialistic common sense, that patient lived.” 

That was the healing power of God. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who came to give life in abundance, manifested His healing virtue upon the woman with the spirit of infirmity. When He encountered her, He loosed her from an eighteen-year infirmity. Not even the hypocritical upbraiding of the ruler of the synagogue, who took offense that the woman was healed on the Sabbath day, could dampen Christ’s compassion for her. If men could feed their animals on the Sabbath day, why would this long-suffering woman not be healed on the same day?

Much to the joy of the crowd, Christ illustrated the benefits inherent in the kingdom of God with the grain of mustard seed, which could grow into a great tree, with branches spread far and wide, and providing succour for needy birds. Similarly, He spoke about leaven, which, when used for baking bread, could permeate a bowl of flour and turn it into a big meal. Such is the influence of the grace of God in the lives of men.

Jesus cares for you. He is interested in your spiritual, physical and material well-being. He saves from sin, heals all sicknesses and diseases and delivers from all infirmities. Whatever affliction you may be suffering today, whatever infirmity, sickness or disease you may have been coping with all these years, Jesus is able to take it away. Pray to Him and you will not be disappointed.

THOUGHT FOR THE YOU: God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.

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Giving Up Everything

TEXT: LUKE 14:25-35

KEY VERSE: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

One day, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman asked General William Booth to reveal the secret of his success. Booth, after some hesitation, had tears dropping from his eyes and said: “I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I have, men with greater opportunities, but from the day that I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of what Jesus could do with them, on that day I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth there was.” Booth’s total surrender moved Chapman to conviction and he remarked: “I learned from William Booth that the greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”

Answering the call to follow Christ always requires a change, but the change may not be in physical location, profession, or status. The change is in our heart, as we take our cross to follow Him. It is a change where we learn the secret of living in righteousness and serving God with eternity in view.

Peter, James and John were partners in a small fishing business on the sea of Galilee. This was their source of support for themselves as well as their families. Yet, when they heard the call to become “fishers of men,” they eagerly responded and followed. Matthew was a tax collector, but he walked away from his life of security when Jesus called. He left everything and followed. Abraham in the Old Testament moved his entire household to follow God without even knowing where he was being sent (Genesis 12:1-5). Moses, at eighty years of age, left the tending of flocks to follow God’s call to lead His people out of bondage to Pharaoh. Elisha slaughtered his yoke of oxen and burnt the plowing equipment as he set out to follow Elijah.

Following Christ is a divine call to lose mundane things to gain eternity of blissful and enduring happiness. As we draw closer to our heavenly Father, we will find His call to be irresistible. 

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THOUGHT FOR YOU: The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his absolute surrender.

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It Pays To Be Humble

TEXT: LUKE 14:1-11

Key verse: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

William Carey, who is considered as the father of modern missions, was said to have spent his early years as a cobbler. He later became one of the greatest linguists the Church has ever known, having translated parts of the Bible into about 24 Indian languages. However, when he first went to India, some people regarded him with dislike and contempt. At a dinner party, a distinguished guest, in an attempt to humiliate Carey, said in a loud voice: “I suppose, Mr. Carey, you once worked as a shoemaker.” But Carey responded humbly: “No, your lordship, not as a shoemaker, only a cobbler.” Carey could not claim to make shoes, but only to mend them. That is humility.

From Jesus’ remarks, in our text, it is equally clear that high spiritual or social attainment does not violate humility or personal disposition and good manners toward those who may appear to rank below us in life. The fact that a person is born again does not give him license to breach normal civility or to be rude or despise others including sound protocols.

In most of our churches, it is the norm of some Christians to resist ushers’ directives and be bent on having their way in choosing the place they want to seat. In public places and in traffic, there are others who would resist everyone, including law enforcement agents, and ignore procedures just because of their position in society.

Jesus is teaching us today to imbibe humility. We do not need grab honour or arrogate it to ourselves; God honours and gives place of importance to the one He chooses according to His will and divine evaluation. There is no place for the proud because God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). To continue in sin is to resist God, which is an expression of pride. Confession, genuine repentance and faith in the atoning blood of Jesus will bestow upon you the saving grace.

THOUGHT FOR THE YOU: Pride goes before a fall.
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Wisdom Is Precious

TEXT: JOB 28:12-28 

Key verse: “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).

One day, Henry Ford, an automaker, had a challenge with power supply in his factory and asked Charlie Steinmetz, an electrical genius, to build him some generators. Steinmetz did. But one day, the generators grounded to a halt. The repairmen tried their best to fix the problem, but they could not. Ford, who got disturbed, called Steinmetz, the original builder of the generators. Steinmetz tinkered with the machines for a few hours and they roared into life. But Ford got a bill of $10,000. Surprised, he inquired why the bill was so big. Steinmetz replied: “For tinkering with the generators, $10 and for knowing where to tinker, $9,990.” The major repairs on the generators did not cost much, but the wisdom to know exactly what was wrong and how to effect the repairs was the principal cost.

This was what Job emphasized in today’s text. To him, wisdom is precious, perfect and valuable. In other words, wisdom is much better than anything else. He averred that true wisdom “cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies.”

Job’s explanation and exaltation of true wisdom also suggested that it could not be acquired through educational pursuits or research.  This has led us to the great revelation that true wisdom is to have the fear of the Lord and to depart from evil.

True wisdom, which is the secret of successful living here on earth and having eternal life, is living righteously and godly, having reverential fear for God that leads to true and pure worship, obeying His word and abhorring all manner of evil. It, therefore, requires that we seek the Lord through repentance, restitution and fervent prayer for the impartation of God’s wisdom.

THOUGHT FOR YOU: Whatever makes men good Christians, imbibe it.

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