Let's Continue On

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green; from Baptist Bread

Hebrews 6:1b & 19 ...let us go on unto perfection... Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Lots of folks quit way too soon--let's keep on keeping on! Let us go on in spite of the spirit of the age and even our own faults and failures. There is great nobility in getting up and going on after you have been flattened by circumstances and conditions. It is great to have the illuminating attitude of I won't quit! Dr. Tom Malone once said, "If preachers wouldn't quit, U-Haul would go out of business!" I think too, that it would be ridiculous to quit due to others' discouraging displays or outright defections. Let's continue on! So what if resources have dried up, material blessings have been besieged, or physical health decimated--who cares! What you have in Christ, you have in spite of all the diversions and defeats the devil can throw your way. What you have at hand is sufficient for the day. Think about it, all Moses had was a rod. All David had was a sling. All Samson had was an ass' jawbone (think about what he could have done with a 30.06!). Hey, even Paul's thorn became a long-range positive in his life. What you have is what God has supplied you at this point in your life--use it! Let's continue on! Our hope is in the Lord, and He can do with our widow's mites, handfuls of meal in barrels, and poured-out lives.

Remember: "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I John 3:3).

No Need to Pack

Devotional by Bro. Mike Goerlich; from Baptist Bread

Isaiah 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

In the eighth century B.C., the nation of Assyria invaded the northern tribes of Israel; and in the sixth century B.C., Babylonianish armies did the same to the remaining tribes in Judah, destroying Jerusalem as well. After seventy years in Babylon, the captives of Judah were allowed to return to rebuild Jerusalem. Prophesying that return, the prophet Isaiah warned Judah not to bring "Babylon" back to Jerusalem--to "go out of the midst of her... [and]... be clean..." (vs. 11).

The apostle Paul picked up on Isaiah's words and applied them to Christians. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (II Cor. 6:17). We aren't leaving captivity in Babylon, but we are leaving the captivity of sin. The temptation when leaving spiritual Babylon and returning to Christ is to bring that lifestyle with us--the lifestyle of the world. But Paul says to separate ourselves from the world--its lifestyle, its priorities, its values, and its methods.

Did you pack your bags when leaving the world and coming to Christ? If not, it may be time to divest yourself of that baggage. All Jesus needs is you. You cannot take the extended hand of Christ if your hands are filled with that which you have brought from the world. C.H. Spurgeon said, "Hold everything earthly with a loose hand."

A Birthday Bear

 

Today is my little sister's birthday. Already she is eleven years old. As she grows in height, I feel as though my five-foot frame is shrinking. Another three inches and she'll have passed me up! (chuckle)

I'm so thankful for my little sister. So often I fail in being the big sister she needs. So often I find myself irritated, impatient, and short toward her. The Lord is daily teaching me to be lovingly patient. "Charity suffereth long, and is kind." Oh, how very lovingly patient the Lord is with me!

After Bonnie opened her other presents this morning, I told her to look inside my pink knitting bag. Hidden in the bottom, buried beneath balls of yarn, was the white fuzzy creature that you see in the photos. She was very pleased and, as all little (and big) girls do exclaim, "Awww! How cute!" She promptly named him Snowball.

I had such fun creating the little six-inch fellow! My rough idea for it was inspired by a crocheted bear pattern. I plan to make more cuddly creatures in the future. As number two is being constructed, I shall encipher my pattern and share it here once completed.

Wouldn't you just love to hug it? =D

Charity... beareth all things.

Boot Camp

Devotional by Mrs. Molly Audiss

(From Christian Womanhood's weekly evotions)

II Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

The teenage boy who lives down the street from me joined the military and just left a few weeks ago for boot camp. I have been thinking about him, wondering how he is doing. I can only guess that he falls into his bunk each night exhausted, having worked harder than ever before in his young life. He is probably being pushed to the limit all the time, and learning to go farther and endure more than he ever thought possible. This summer is no picnic for him. I look forward to seeing him again; I know that he will be different--more mature, more confident than the high school kid he was when he left home. The next time we meet, he will have changed into a man.

Those officers at boot camp will probably not be very nice to my young friend. They are not trying to make his life happy or easy. Just the opposite--those men are deliberately making life difficult for the new recruits in order to turn them into soldiers. Those boys who got off the bus as recent high school grads will graduate from boot camp with an understanding of warfare. They will have become soldiers in just ten weeks. That, no doubt, is a painful, but necessary process. No 18-year-old athlete/prankster/goofball is ready for battlefield. There must be officers who care enough about those young men that they are willing to make their lives exceedingly uncomfortable now in order to save their lives when they go to fight in war, hence, boot camp.

I believe that our life on earth is a "boot camp" for Heaven. No, Heaven is not a battlefield or a war, but it is a place where we will live with an eternal, holy God forever and ever. We are not naturally equipped to know how to live for God as we should, and I believe that our earthly lives are practice for our heavenly ministry.

The Holy Spirit is the commanding officer at boot camp. He daily instructs us and trains us to learn how to praise, obey, love, serve, and trust. He prompts us to go against our own desires to do what is pleasing to the Lord. It is not easy; often it is very difficult as He pushes us to the limit of conquering the sin and pride in our lives. He loves us enough to stretch us farther than we think we can grow in wisdom and knowledge, grace and truth. He tests us each and every day, revealing our weaknesses, challenging our decision to live for Christ, testing our sincerity.

He does all of this out of love, knowing that "...our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17). He wants us to graduate from boot camp as mature, confident soldiers, able to stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat and hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:23b).

My neighbor knew for a long time that he wanted to be in the Army. He knew when he signed up that boot camp was not going to be fun. He anticipated the fact that the officers were going to be very tough and that life was going to be difficult for a while. He knew all of this, yet he looked forward to joining the Army. He wanted to be a soldier. If you are serious about serving God, you will pay a price to serve Him. Just like boot camp separates the men from the boys, Jesus Christ will bring trials into your life to make sure you really, really, want to be used by Him.

I am not talking here about the Christianity that goes to church once a week, then lives like the world the rest of the week. The service I am speaking about is the burning desire in your heart to serve God and be used by Him. Not everyone feels that way about the Lord. If you ask Christ to use you, and to fit you to His image, then you are asking for boot camp. My pastor says that God never uses a man greatly until He hurts him deeply.

"What?! No, thanks. I don't mean that I want trials, problems, and burdens. I only meant that I wanted to be a good Christian and love everybody and have a nice, comfortable life, with a nice family, lots of friends, and a nice, pretty church to attend on Sundays."

Well, that is a general picture of American Christianity, but it is not the level of Christ-likeness that the Lord most desires for His children. Jesus Christ was brutally murdered; that is true Christianity. He will expect His children to also go through hardship in order to fit them to the image of His Son. It makes a parent proud when there is a striking resemblance of themselves in their children. ("Oh, look, Junior is the spittin' image of his dad!") When you get to Heaven, don't you want people to see the resemblance of your Father in you? I do. I want to resemble Christ, my Elder Brother, and I want to resemble my Heavenly Father.

Life on earth is so brief compared to eternity. It is no longer than a ten-week boot camp. Don't waste this time living a life of ease, in pursuit of material things. Be courageous and ask the Lord to use you and change you. Be warned, you are asking for trials--expect them, knowing that, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13). Recruits know that boot camp is hard, but they look ahead to the honor of wearing the uniform, being true soldiers.

Of course, life on earth as a Christian is not all about having it tough and never having anything nice, and being hated by everyone. No! "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17a). The Lord is generous and kind. The Christian life is wonderful. I have a wonderful family, a great church, and many great friends. God gives me so many things I don't deserve. What I am saying is that, for those of you who have that burning desire inside your heart to do great things for God, to be more than average, to have your life count for what truly matters, then God will have to put you through the fire before He can use you to your greatest potential. It is painful, and you will never get past it completely, as there are more trials along the way as your relationship deepens with Christ. But boot camp can be endured as you "Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14b), because your Commanding Officer (the Holy Spirit) is with you all the way, making you into the soldier you want to be.

Go ahead, sign on, and allow the Lord to make you into something more than you ever thought possible for His service. Boot camp only lasts a short time, and you will have all of eternity to be glad you "endured hardness as a good soldier."

God Owns Your Reputation

Devotional by Mrs. Molly Audiss
(From Christian Womanhood's weekly evotions)

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

One of the greatest spiritual mentors I have had in my life is my high school principal, Dr. Don Boyd. God used him to teach me and lead me at the time I was just giving my life to serve God. One of the many doctrines that I remember him teaching us was the principle that God owns everything we have. He said that God owns our house, our school, our church, our clothes, our relatives, our friends, our lives, and our reputations; and He can do whatever He wants to do with them. I readily agreed with this truth, except the part about our reputations. I struggled with that one for many years. I felt that our reputations were our responsibility to create and uphold. I though about Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold," and I was convinced for a long time that my reputation was all up to me to defend and uphold by my lifestyle and godly living.

But, like so many things, the Lord has shown me in my own life, as well as through Biblical examples, that Mr. Boyd was right. My reputation is in God's hands. He owns it as much as He owns everything in this world. Let's look at the lives of three great men of the Bible.

Joseph is the Bible character that I most admire (Genesis 37-50). There is nothing recorded about him that shows sin, evil, or wrongdoing. He was a wonderful example of a godly Christian, and he had a wonderful reputation, even as a teenager, but the Lord allowed him to lose everything and become a slave in a foreign country. He made himself a good reputation, and the Lord let him lose his good reputation when a very influential woman lied about his purity. For years he was in prison, with no way to defend himself or restore his good name, but when God wanted Joseph to regain his honor in the eyes of men, He made it happen. In one day Joseph went from being a prison inmate to being the vice president, so to speak of the most powerful nation in the world. God does what He wills with man's reputation.