Come Over

Text: Psalm 15; Acts 3:19; James 4:8

There’s a land of peace and plenty,

and its gates are open wide;

And the pure in heart and

holy in its shelter may abide,

It is not through gates of glory

that a soul must enter in;

But all who would find entrance

there must leave the ways of sin.

Come over, come over,

to the land of corn and wine,

There is nothing can compare with the many

holy pleasures there,

Come over, come over, leave the

desert plain below and come away,

Away, come o…ver.

There is bread of heaven growing,

in its fair and fertile fields,

And the wine of love its

vineyard to the thirsting mortal yields;

There are mountain heights of

glory that awaits the traveler’s rod,

And blest retreats where

empty souls draw nearer unto God.

Who would stay without its borders,

in the desert dark and drear,

When the luscious grapes of

eschol are so very, very, near?

Enter in then with rejoicing,

for the Lord is on your side,

And in His glorious presence

ever more you shall abide.

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On The Other Side

Text: John 14:1-4; Rev. 22:12; Titus 2:13

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing...I know my Master is there and that is enough."

*** Author unknown | culled from www.sunnyskyz.com ***

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Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Text: Hebrews 12:2; Acts 4:12, 16:31; Matthew 11:28-30

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you say?

There’s light for a look at the Saviour,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

Through death into life everlasting

He passed, and we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more has dominion –

For more than conquerors we are!

His word shall not fail you – He promised;

Believe Him and all will be well;

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

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Recipe For Happiness

Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5; Luke 12:15

I learned a long time ago that life is not always fair. One child gets born in a poverty stricken nation while another gets born to Hollywood millionaires. I have seen God-fearing believers struggle to make ends meet while the leaders of organized crime and casino owners make millions of dollars each and every week. Whenever God is approached about this seemingly unfairness His answer is always the same. “Be content,” He says, “with such things as you have” (Heb. 13:5).

To be content means to have an uncomplaining acceptance of one’s position in life and if you are content you will not worry, murmur, envy, or be overcome with greed. Contentment is necessary because your happiness is based on how content you are. The Message Bible records in Phil. 4:11, 12 these words of the apostle Paul, “I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.” The only cause of sadness in one’s life is the lack of contentment; therefore, we must strive to be content at all times.

Contentment is a vital necessity that needs to be in full bloom in order for faith to work. If you’re not content then you’ll gripe and complain about your current circumstances and negative words of doubt and unbelief will flow out of your mouth. This, of course, will hinder your faith from bringing the blessings of God into manifestation in your life. People who complain are not content, thus they are never happy.

Remember, Paul calls contentment the “recipe for happiness.” When was the last time you heard a happy person speak negatively? A joyful Christian knows that their suffering is the stepping stone to better things to come and this is why all you’ll hear out of them are positive faith-filled words. To be happy you must be content and this comes by accepting your position in life without complaining about it. There is no other way. Besides, complaining never changed anything anyway.

The pursuit of a better life always begins with contentment but it doesn’t end there. Consider what Paul says in Phil. 3:12, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Paul is telling us to always be content but never be satisfied. To be content we must always be growing and pressing on.

The word “grow” means to ‘increase’ and 1 Tim. 6:6 says “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Growth is what keeps your contentment alive and it is easy to be content if you know increase is on the way. At a new job, for instance, a worker should be content and thankful for the starting wage (Luke 3:14) but nobody wants to work at the same company for several years and get paid the same amount as the day they started. No, for the worker to be content then increase must take place. Likewise, the employer expects from the new hire increase in effort and productivity. When enough companies do not grow they close their doors and often times this lead the nation into an economic tailspin. The same will happen to us mentally, physically, and spiritually if growth is not a major factor in our lives.

The greatest hindrance to growth is satisfaction. This causes you to accept things as they are and creates in you a “whatever will be will be” mentality. In truth, satisfaction is the birthmark of laziness. Those who are lazy will not work at all nor do those things that are required for growth to happen because they simply do not care about the important things in life. They are willing to sit back and watch the world pass them by yet they’ll be the first ones to complain when hardships prevent them from enjoying the finer things in life.

The secret to overcoming the spirit of laziness and to enter into a state of contentment is to grow hungry for the things of God. Hunger is the result of not being satisfied and it makes a demand on growth.

If you’re satisfied with where you’re in life then you won’t push yourself to climb to the next level of spiritual development and maturity. This attitude prevents growth from happening. 2 Peter 3:18a says, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Growth is a command from God and is what contentment feeds on. The very first command given to Adam and Eve was “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:22).

In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) the unfruitful servant was condemned and sent away into eternal torment. As you can see, growth is very important to God. He is the God of increase and He wants and expects you to grow. Therefore, if your life is not yet filled to capacity with the things of God, then allow dissatisfaction to create in you a craving for more of the benefits that come as a result of being a follower of Christ. In other words, become a seeker of God.

It stands to reason that the quality of one’s life is in direct proportion to the quality of their search for God. Jer. 29:12, 13 says, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” We cannot seek God and pursue Him half-heartedly and expect to find Him. He deserves greater honor than that. We are in a season where God is telling us to turn our eyes back upon Him.

Today graven images are taking the place in the lives of many believers. A graven image does not have to be a statue like the golden calf built while Moses was on the mountaintop meeting with God. No, a graven image is anything we have our eyes on that takes the place of God. Do you play golf with your friends on Sunday instead of taking your family to church? If so, then your golf game has become a graven image. Is the TV set on when you should be having a family Bible study? More times than not there is no greater damaging idol than the television set and the video store.

Do you live for the “almighty dollar”? Does money consume your thoughts? Do you work overtime and spend time away from your family and church when it really isn’t necessary? Is the accumulation of “things” the only motive you have for living? If so, then you are an idol worshipper. We are told in Matt. 6:33 to “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

The problem today is that too many believers are seeking the “things” and hoping that God will be added to their lives. This ought not to be. Anything in your life that you prioritize before God is a graven image no matter how good the “thing” may be in and of itself.

The quest for a better life will always lead to the throne room of God and we must not let “things” take the place of God in our lives. Besides, when you seek God and find Him you’ll have everything you’ll ever need. When Jesus becomes your “all in all” contentment will flood over you like a mighty river. In His presence is “fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). Truly, that is the recipe for happiness.

*** Written by Randall Brewer ***

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The Continuing Struggle

Text: Romans 7:7-25

Key Verse: “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:18-20)

Paul says that as a Christian, redeemed by the grace of God, there is now something within him that wants to do good, that agrees with the Law (because the Law describes God's holy nature), that says that the Law is right. There is something within that says what the Law tells me to do is right, and I want to do it. But also, there is something else in me that rises up and says No! Even though I determine not to do what is bad, I suddenly find myself in such circumstances that my determination melts away, my resolve is gone, and I end up doing what I had sworn I would not do.

So, what has gone wrong? Paul's explanation is, It is no longer I who do it; it is sin living in me. Isn't that strange? There is a division within our humanity. There is the I that wants to do what God wants, but there is also the sin which dwells in me. Human beings are complicated creatures. We have within us a spirit, a soul, and a body. These are distinct. Paul is suggesting here that the redeemed spirit never wants to do what God has prohibited. It agrees with the Law that it is good. And yet there is an alien power, a force that he calls sin, a great beast that is lying still within us until touched by the commandment of the Law. Then it springs to life, and we do what we do not want to do.

This is what we all struggle with. The cry of the heart at that moment is: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) Right here you arrive at where the Lord Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Blessed is the man who comes to the end of himself. Blessed is the man who understands his own spiritual bankruptcy. Because this is the point — the only point — where God's help is given.

This is what we need to learn. If we think that we have got something in ourselves that we can work out our problems with, if we think that our wills are strong enough, that we can control evil in our lives by simply determining to do so, then we have not come to the end of ourselves yet. The Spirit of God simply folds his arms to wait and lets us go ahead and try it on that basis. And we fail, and fail miserably — until, at last, out of our failures, we cry, O wretched man that I am! Sin has deceived us, and the Law, as our friend, has come in and exposed sin for what it is. When we see how wretched it makes us, then we are ready for the answer, which comes immediately in verse 25: Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Who will deliver me from this body of death? The Lord Jesus has already done it. We are to respond to the feelings of wretchedness and failure, to which the Law has brought us because of sin in us, by reminding ourselves immediately of the facts that are true of us in Jesus Christ. We are no longer bound to our sinful flesh by the Law. We are married to Christ, Christ risen from the dead. We must no longer think, I am a poor, struggling, bewildered disciple, left alone to wrestle against these powerful urges. We must now think, I am a free son of God. I am dead to sin, and dead to the Law, because I am married to Christ. His power is mine, right at this moment. Though I may not feel a thing, I have the power to say, No! and walk away and be free, in Jesus Christ.

*** From Ray Stedman Ministries | www.raystedman.org ***

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He Meets All Needs

Text: Mark 8:5-9

Key Verse: “So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets” (Mark 8:8)

A global increase in population, especially in developing nations with rising prices of goods, is a serious threat to survival. Severe drought in numerous nations of Africa has made many families to go hungry or at least compromised their diets. In the midst of hunger and scarcity, God has always provided for those who trust His ability to change difficult situations and provide their needs.

The text above focuses on the compassionate nature of Christ to always find enduring solution to the plight of those who come to Him. The preceding chapter captures different categories of people with diverse ailment and challenges who were healed and delivered. They were astonished beyond measure “saying, He hath done all things well: He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak” (Mark 7:37). Christ provided food for the hungry and fainting people, to support them and to sustain the spiritual blessings they had received.

Sometimes, we ignore the physical needs of others in pursuit of the spiritual alone. Yet, the two are necessary. Although the multitude did not complain or tell Jesus of their hunger, He nevertheless, recognized the need and supplied food. Sometimes, we are too slow to recognize people’s needs, and even when we do, nothing is done about it.

Are there hungry people in your local church? You may not be able to heal the sick but you can provide something for somebody in your local assembly. Identify a needy person today and allow the compassion of God to move you to meet their needs and lighten their burden. On that score, you will be a true follower of Christ.

God cares for every minute detail of our lives. He is not too busy with important matters alone; He is also interested in every minor or major area of our lives. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Though for You: Christ will supply all your needs, if you trust Him.

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Go, Labour On

Text: John 13:15; 1 Peter 2:21; Matthew 12:50

Go, labour on, spend and be spent.

Thy joy to do the Father's will;

It is the way the Master went,

Should not the servant tread it still?

Go, labour on; it's not for nought,

Thy earthly loss is heavenly gain.

Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not,

The Master praises, what are men?

Men die in darkness at your side,

Without a hope to cheer the tomb:

Take up the torch, and wave it wide,

The torch that lights time's thickest gloom

Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice,

For toil comes rest, for exile home;

Soon shall thou hear the Bridegroom's voice,

The midnight peal, "Behold, I come!"

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Did He Hang For Me?

Text: Rev. 2:11, John 8:36; Deuteronomy 30:19

So you say He hung on the tree,

That I might be set free?

But I was never shackled.

I walked free, speak unheckled

The one that is in chains knows not,

Still a slave, though his freedom’s bought

So you say He willingly bled,

That I might not to hell be led?

Was it I that paved the path to hell

Or designed its flaming cells?

Before all is life and death to choose

Choose hell and heaven you lose

So you say He bore my sins?

Enough! You paint such torrid scenes!

But He died thousands of years ago!

Yet, this death, you link to me?

His blameless blood was split that the lost

Be redeemed. He alone could pay the cost

Ah, did He die for me on that cross?

Did He bleed to save me, save us

From unseen fetters of sin;

Tethers that eyes have not seen?

He that has ears let him hear,

For the day of reckoning is near!

*** Written by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson ***

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When Life Seems Unfair

Text: Job 20-21; Isaiah 55:9

Key Verse: Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts – that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity that he is delivered from the day of wrath? (Job 21:29-30)

Life seems to be unfair. There appears to be a basic unfairness at the root of things, and this is what causes many people to be troubled by Christians' claims about a loving, faithful, just, and holy God. You often hear the question raised, If there is a good God, why does He let this kind of thing happen? Job is raising the same question. He says to these pious, respectable friends, your arguments do not square with the facts.

You say God always visits wrath upon the wicked. What about these wicked people who live without a touch? God never does a thing to them. What about the fact that He seems to treat people very unfairly? Folks who seem to deserve nothing but the grace of God, who are a loving, gentle, kind people, have endless problems and die forsaken. And some who are selfish and cruel and self-centered are the ones who seem to be able to live without struggle. What about this?

Job tells his friends, if you'll just inquire among those who travel, the people who get around and see life, you'll find that they support what I'm saying. The wicked often escape the day of calamity. It's not just true around here; this is true everywhere. The wicked live above the law, and nobody tells them that they're doing wrong. They get by with it. They die highly honored in their death, their graves are adorned and guarded, and God does nothing about that. So he says at last in verse 34: So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!

If you intend to argue with Job, you had better get your arguments well in hand. This man is able to see through the error of logic in these people's position. They have a theology that does not square with experience, and that is where the problem lies.

These friends represent people – and there are many around today – who have placed God in a box. They have what they think is a clear understanding of all the ways of God, and they can predict how He is going to act, but when He acts in a way that they do not understand and do not expect, they have no way of handling it because it is their creed they have faith in, and not in God Himself.

This is what Job is learning. His creed has been demolished by his experiences. He has had to file his theology in the wastebasket because it did not fit what he was going through. Someone has well said that a person with a true experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument. Job's friends are unable to answer him because his experience rings true.

*** From Ray Stedman's Ministries | www.raystedman.org ***

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If God Be For Us

Text: Romans 8:31-32

Rejoice in the Lord! oh, let His mercy cheer;

He sunders the bands that enthrall;

Redeemed by His blood why should we ever fear

Since Jesus is our "all in all"?

"If God be for us, If God be for us,

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Who? Who? Who?

Who can be against us, against us?"

Be strong in the Lord! Rejoice in His might,

Be loyal and true day by day;

When evil assail, be valiant for the right,

And He will be our strength and stay

Confide in His word - His promises so sure;

In Christ they are "yea and amen";

Though earth pass away, they ever shall endure,

It's written over and over again

Abide in the Lord: secure in His control,

It's life everlasting begun;

To pluck from His hand the weakest, trembling soul -

It never, never can be done!

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