I
am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to
be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I
can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”—John Newton
Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College
Hebrews 12:1 admonishes Christians to “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” Many times those weights are simple distractions that create
enormous drag. One preacher illustrated it this way: “It’s perfectly
legal to run a race in army boots.” He said it wasn’t wise and would
guarantee failure, but you can legally do it. Many of the things that
prevent spiritual growth and development are legal, they just don’t lead
to success.
Source: The Last Men’s Book You’ll Ever Need, David Moore
An
unknown writer said, “This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way
of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its
doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its
decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it
to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort
to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s
compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character.
Recently I talked to a man I will
call Mr. Luke Warm, for he is neither cold not hot. He says he is a Christian
but seldom attends church. “I am under a great deal of tension where I work,”
he explained, “and often go fishing on weekends for relaxation. Church is all
right, but a person can’t do everything, you know.”
The captain of a ship looked into the dark night and saw a light in the
distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message, “Alter your
course ten degrees south.” He promptly received a reply, “Alter your course ten
degrees north.”
The furious captain sent another message, “Alter your course ten degrees
south. I am a captain!” Soon another reply was received, “Alter your course ten
degrees north. I am seaman third class Jones.”
In a British weekly called the “Glass
Window” this letter was published: “It seems ministers feel
their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I
have been attending church quite regularly for 30 years and I have
probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot
remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister's time might be
more profitable spent on something else”
When Billy Sunday was converted and joined the church, a
Christian man put his arm on the young man’s shoulder and said, “William, there
are three simple rules I can give to you, and if you will hold to them you will
never write “backslider” after your name.
“Take 15 minutes each day to listen to God talking to you;
take 15 minutes each day to talk to God; take 15 minutes each day to talk to
others about God.”
During a recent visit to Israel, my attention
was drawn to a dirt lot, somewhere in the middle of the Judean region. The lot
was filled with what looked like rough pieces of wood lying in disorganized
piles. I assumed that they were lumberyard rejects, and inquired of their
purpose. Our guide explained that they were actually olive trees. To my
amazement, he began to explain that these stumps would be planted and watered.
Soon this abandoned field would be a beautiful grove of olive trees. He shared
with us how durable the olive tree is and how it is used in these three ways:
In the 1880s a young man who was an earnest Christian found employment
in a pawnshop. Although he disliked the work, he did it faithfully as
unto the Lord until a more desirable opportunity opened for him. To
prepare himself for a life of Christian service, he wrote on a scrap of
paper the following resolutions: “I do promise God that I will rise
early every morning to have a few minutes—not less than five—in
private prayer.
In 1973, a horse named Secretariat became a legend in his time. Not only did Secretariat win the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, but he
did it with an unprecedented performance. At the Belmont Stakes, he not
only won the race by 31 lengths, but he set new records along the way
as he went faster with each phase of the run. For one-and-one-half
miles, that famous thoroughbred ran faster every second. Secretariat was
accelerating at such an incredible pace that his trainer noted if the
race had been extended another lap, his heart would have literally
exploded.
Monarch butterflies are a celebrated species that automatically capture
attention with their brilliant beauty. Each fall, these butterflies
migrate from the United States and Canada to Angangueo,
Mexico. Amazingly, they all congregate at the top of the same mountain
each year with phenomenal punctuality around the first of
November. They are so dense that you can actually hear the noise of
their wings flapping when they take off to fly, and the trees literally
bend from their cumulative weight.
In Rebuilding Your Broken World, Gordon MacDonald suggests twenty-six
questions to help develop accountability and invite feedback. If we
desire to grow, we should submit our selves to a spiritual mentor and
answer these questions honestly.
1. How is your relationship
with God right now?
2. What have you read in the Bible in the past
week?
3. What has God said to you in this reading?
4. Where do
you find yourself resisting Him these days?
5. What specific things
are you praying for in regard to yourself?
It's time to plant our gardens. As you plant, may I suggest the following rules for your garden planting:
Plant three rows of squash: 1. Squash gossip; 2. Squash criticism; 3. Squash indifference
Plant three rows of peas: 1. Purity; 2. Patience; 3. Perseverance
Plant six rows of lettuce: 1. Let us be unselfish and loyal; 2. Let us be faithful to duty; 3. Let us search the scriptures; 4. Let us not be weary in well-doing; 5. Let us be obedient in all things; 6. Let us love one another
Somewhere in the beginning of each day, you probably find yourself looking at your reflection in the mirror. Many of us never give a second thought as to how that reflection is produced. All surfaces reflect some light, but only a special type of surface reflects light in such a way that it can form a mirror. In 1835 German chemist Justis von Liebig devised a process for coating plates of glass with metallic silver. This was the beginning of the mirror as we know it today and helped it become a common household item.
