The Rich Young Ruler

“Poor youth! He had a good mind to be a Christian, and to inherit eternal life, but thought it too dear, if it could be purchased at no less an expense than of his estate! And thus many, both young and old, now-a-days, come running to worship our blessed Lord in public, and kneel before him in private, and inquire at his gospel, what they must do to inherit eternal life: but when they find they must renounce the self-enjoyment of riches, and forsake all in affection to follow him, they cry, ‘The Lord pardon us in this thing! We pray thee, have us excused’ ...He will not!” —George Whitefield

“Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown . . .” —William Penn

Mark 10:21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

His Presence

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings . . .
–Philippians 3:10

W.C. Burns of India wrote, “Oh to have a martyr’s heart, if not a martyr’s crown.” Popularity and adulation are far more dangerous for the Christian than persecution. It is easy, when all goes smoothly, to lose our sense of balance and our perspective. The important thing is to walk with Christ, to live for Christ, and to have one consuming passion—to please Him. Then, whatever happens, we know that He has permitted it in order to teach us some priceless lesson and to perfect us for His service. He will enrich our circumstances, be they pleasant or disagreeable, by the fact of His presence with us.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Lord, my soul wants to love and know You far more deeply. Forgive the times I have set my eyes on things that keep me from You.

P.S. On a personal note, we like to wish our dear friend, Evangelist Michael Surber, a very Happy Birthday! May God continue to richly bless you for all that you do to further His Kingdom our brother in Christ!!

Satan at Work

Satan is at work in our world. The Bible is my authority. He exists and he has control over thousands of young people, whose hearts have never been captured by Jesus Christ. He has hundreds of agents writing pornographic literature and producing sex movies to pollute young minds. He has intellectuals in high positions teaching a hedonistic and permissive philosophy.

Daily I come in contact with mixed-up people who are caught in the anguish of their own unpreparedness, intellectuals who have been seduced by false science, and rich men who are held in the grip of insecurity. They have no commitment to any goal. They lack an anchor for their real selves. And I long to take every one of them by the hand and lead them into the presence of the One who said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:
So many are without You, Lord! Use me to lead others from a destructive course to the one which will give them the satisfaction that only You can give.

Everything you do...

"In whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God and praise him in all things, good or bad, because he is worthy.

Saved from what?

“When I ask someone if he is saved and he sarcastically says, ‘Saved from what?’ how should I respond?”

He almost has a right to be sarcastic (what Shakespeare called “the lowest form of wit”). As Christians, we should be careful when we use words like “saved,” because they make no sense to an unbeliever. We put up signs proclaiming “Jesus saves,” and wonder why the world asks which bank He saves at. I would never ask a person if he is saved. In addition, a false convert will say that he is saved, despite the fact that he is trusting in his own righteousness.

I find that the best way to witness is to begin in the natural realm, then ask what the person thinks happens after someone dies—“What’s on the other side?” If he thinks there is a heaven, ask if he is good enough to go there, then take him through the Good Person test. Once he understands his sin, then the fact that Jesus can “save” him from death and hell will make sense.

Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

Graven Images

Many modern cultures worship graven images, which are anything that is venerated—whether it is an image of a rat, a Buddha, Mary, dead “saints,” or even an icon of Jesus on the cross. For those who would disagree with such thoughts, read carefully Exod. 20:4,5. The Ten Commandments couldn’t make it any clearer that we are not to bow down to any image. God alone is to be worshiped. It is a tragedy that the Roman Catholic church removed the Second Commandant from their catechism and split the Tenth Commandment into two to hide the fact that it is missing.

Micah 5:13 Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands;

Hope

Without Jesus of Nazareth, none of us have any hope. If He was not who He said He was, we are still in our sins and hell awaits us. Never doubt the promises of God, even for a moment. He who does so cuts gaping holes in his own parachute.

Job 17:15 Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?

What do you think of Christ?

Ultimately, in one way or another, or at one time or another, we shall be faced with this question: What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? If Jesus Christ is not who He claimed to be, He is a deceiver, or an egomaniac. We must answer this question with both belief and action. We must not only believe something about Jesus, but we must do something about Him. We must accept Him, or reject Him.

Jesus made clear who He was, and why He came into the world. He asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” They told Him of a variety of designations on the human level. Then Jesus turned to them and asked, “But whom say ye that I am?” Whereupon Peter replied with his historic affirmation, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13–16).

This is the apex of faith. This is the pinnacle of belief. This is where the faith of each must rest if he hopes for salvation. Christ is inescapable! You, too, must decide, “What shall I do with Christ?”

Giving Thanks

For the Christian, every day should be Thanksgiving Day. We should even be thankful in the midst of problems. The Apostle Paul said, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation" (2 Corinthians 7:4). He knew that God was working all things together for his good, even though he was going through trials (Romans 8:28).

Problems will come your way. God will see to it personally that you grow as a Christian. He will allow the storms, to send your roots deep into the soil of His Word. We pray more in the midst of problems, but it's been well said that you will see more from your knees, than you will on your tip toes.

A man once watched a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. In an effort to help it, he took a razor blade, and carefully slit the edge of the cocoon. The butterfly escaped from its problem . . . and immediately died.

It is God's way to have the butterfly struggle. It is the struggle that causes its tiny heart to beat fast, and send the life's blood into its wings.

Trials have their purpose. They make us struggle -- they bring us to our knees. They are the cocoon in which we often find ourselves. It is there that the life's blood of faith in God helps us spread our wings.
Faith and thanksgiving are close friends. If you have faith in God, you will be thankful because you know His loving hand is upon you, even though you are in a lion's den. That will give you a deep sense of joy, and joy is the barometer of the depth of faith you have in God. Let me give you an example. Imagine if I said I would give you one million dollars if you sent me an email. Of course, you don't believe that I would do that. But imagine if you did. Imagine if you had knowledge of more than 1,000 people who had sent me an email, and every one received their million dollars -- no strings attached. More than that. You had actually called me, and I had assured you personally that I would keep my word. If you believed me, wouldn't you have joy? If you didn't believe me -- no joy. The amount of joy you have would be a barometer as to how much you believed my promise.

We have so much to be thankful for. God has given us "exceeding great and precious promises" that are "more to be desired than gold." Do yourself a big favor -- believe those promises, thank God continually for them, and "let your joy be full."

An old farmer once had an ungodly relative visit him. After the farmer had bowed his head and thanked God for the food they were about to eat, the relative rudely said, "What did you do that for? There's no God. We live in an age of enlightenment." The old farmer smiled and said, "There is one on the farm who doesn't thank God before he eats." The relative sat up and said, "Who is this enlightened one?" To which the farmer quietly replied, "My pig."

Spiritual Butterfly

Pray about where you should fellowship. Make sure the place you are going to call your church home calls sin what it is -- sin. Do they believe the promises of God? Are they loving? Does the pastor treat his wife with respect? Is he a man of the Word? Does he have a humble heart, and a gentle spirit? Listen closely to his teaching. It should glorify God, magnify Jesus, and edify the believer. One evidence that you have been truly saved is that you will have a love for other Christians (1 John 3:14). You will want to fellowship with them. The old saying that "birds of a feather flock together" is true of Christians. You gather together for the breaking of bread (communion), for teaching from the Word, and for fellowship. You share the same inspirations, illuminations, inclinations, temptations, aspirations, motivations, and perspirations -- you are working together for the same thing, for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God on earth. This is why you attend church -- not because you have to, but because you want to.

Don't become a "spiritual butterfly." Send your roots down. If you are moving from church to church, how will your pastor know what type of food you are digesting? The Bible says that your shepherd will have to give an account to Him that has entrusted you to him (Hebrews 13:17), so make yourself known to your pastor. Pray for him regularly. Pray also for his wife, his family, and the elders. Being a pastor is no easy task. Most people don't realize how many hours it takes to gather a fresh sermon each week. They don't appreciate the time spent in prayer and in the study of the Word. If the pastor makes the same joke twice, or shares something he has shared before, remember, he's human. So give him a great deal of grace, and double honor. Never murmur about him. If you don't like something he has said, pray about it, then leave the issue with God. If that doesn't satisfy you, leave the church, rather than divide it through murmuring and complaining.

A woman once spread some hot gossip about a local pastor. What he had supposedly done became common knowledge around town. Then she found that what she had heard wasn't true. She gallantly went to the pastor, and asked for his forgiveness. The pastor forgave her, but then told her to take a pillow full of tiny feathers to a corner of the town, and in high winds, shake the feather out. Then he told her to try and pick up every feather. He explained that the damage had already been done. She had destroyed his good reputation, and trying to repair the damage was like trying to pick up feathers in high winds.

The Bible says that there is life and death in the power of the tongue. We can kill or make something alive with our words. The Scriptures also reveal that God hates those who cause division among the brethren (Proverbs 6:16). Pray with the psalmist, "Set a guard O Lord, over my mouth; keep the door of my lips."

Remember the old saying, "He that gossips to you, will gossip about you."

Is life worth living?

“Is life worth living?” To scores of people life has ceased to be worth living. To all of you I have good news. God did not create you to be a defeated, discouraged, frustrated, wandering soul, seeking in vain for peace of heart and peace of mind.

The answer to your problem, however great, is as near as your Bible, as simple as first-grade arithmetic, and as real as your heartbeat. Upon the authority of God’s Word, I tell you that Christ is the answer to every baffling perplexity which plagues mankind. In Him is found the cure for care, a balm for bereavement, a healing for our hurts, and a sufficiency for our insufficiency.

Pure Hearts

It is impossible to live pure lives until we have pure hearts. Many people today are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are teaching purity of motives, desires, and actions to old, deceitful hearts! No wonder we have ended up such moral failures, in spite of our vaunted knowledge and psychological approaches.

Pure motives, desires, and actions stem from pure hearts. Pure hearts will be Christlike. It is God’s desire that we be conformed to the image of His Son. If Christ lives within us and our bodies become the abode of the Holy Spirit, is it any wonder that we should be like Him?

Where Ever You Are

I know we have readers all over this world and I would like to take a moment and say two things to you.  Firstly, I want to personally say 'Thank You' for taking the time to stop by the website and read a post, watch a video, check out a link, or listen to a Christian radio station. You are such a blessing to us here at this ministry! We pray that whatever you might find here, that God uses it to do a radical work in your life and in your walk with Christ. We hope that you keep stopping by to see what new and wonderful ways God is using this ministry. May this page also be a blessing to you.

Now, secondly, I want to challenge you. Call it a dare! I want you to share your faith with someone today. Use what you've seen, read, or heard on this website, give out a tract, make a tract, share your testimony, write it out and pass it out as a flier, and whatever you do or use, share Christ with someone today. Don't be afraid, God didn't give us a spirit of fear. If we are truly Christians, and we say we love Jesus, and follow Jesus. Then we need to do what He has said. You see, my Bible says that Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. So, why shouldn't we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and reach out. Time is short. Make it a matter of urgent prayer!

Someone said once, "Jesus is all we need". But I say to you, "Jesus is all we have"!

Thank you and God Bless,
-Michael

Integrity

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do . . .
–Philippians 4:9

Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. What our young people want to see in their elders is integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and faith. What they hate most of all is hypocrisy and phoniness. That is why it is important for us to go to church, to read the Bible, and to say grace at the table. Let them see us doing what we would like them to do.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Take away the “front,” Father, that so often creeps into my life. I would live in such a way that young people will be drawn to You, too.

Eric Ludy - The Ancient War Cry

The Gospel - God Is Just by Paul Washer

Where are the Men? - Paul Washer

The Spirit is Willing - Eric Ludy

Dangerous Praise

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.Psalm 51:15
By asking the Lord to open his lips, David showed how difficult it is to offer thanks to God. This is something God demands of us (Psalm 50:14). Talking about the Lord and thanking him publicly require an extreme amount of courage and strength, because the devil is constantly trying to stop us from doing this. If we could see all of Satan's traps, we would know why David prayed for the Spirit's strength and asked the Lord himself to open David's lips. He wanted to tell the devil, the world, kings, princes, and everyone about the Lord.

Many things can keep our lips shut: the fear of danger, the hope of gaining something, or even the advice of friends. The devil uses these ways to stop us from offering thanks to God, as I have often experienced in my life. And yet, at important times, when God's honor was threatened, God stood by me and opened my mouth in spite of the obstacles. The Spirit urges us on—just as Peter says, "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). The Spirit prays to God for us with many groans (Romans 8:26). Then the Lord opens our lips to announce his praise.

Whenever Scripture talks about praising God publicly, it's talking about something extremely dangerous. This is because announcing his praise is nothing other than opposing the devil, the world, our own sinful nature, and everything evil. For how can you praise God without first declaring that the world is guilty and condemned? All who condemn the world are asking to be hated and put themselves in a very dangerous situation.

You're Will, not my own

"The secret to the true Christian life is exchanging our own lives for the life of Jesus Christ; allowing our bodies to be completely overtaken by a foreign power – the very Spirit of Almighty God. And declaring along with Paul, “…it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Most of us stand in the way of letting Christ truly live in and through us.

Instead of giving Him the ownership papers to our home – our body, mind, and spirit – we treat Him like a hired servant.

We come to Him when we need answers; we expect Him to provide us with quick solutions to our problems; we demand that He meet our needs and follow our self-made agendas. And when He doesn’t respond, we quickly dismiss Him and take matters into our own hands. We are led by our own whims and desires. We make our own choices, and then ask God to bless them.

We often believe we are submitted to God’s will, but in reality we expect Him to bend to our own plans. We follow our own hearts and desires, and then ask God to make our spiritual lives vibrant in the midst of it all.

But the true Christian life doesn’t work that way. When we exchange our lives for Christ’s, we lay our own agendas, dreams, desires, and plans at His feet. We get completely out of the way, and allow Him to live His life through us in whatever way He chooses.

This is a difficult life-change to make. For our entire lives, we have been the sole rulers of our internal home. We are used to making the decisions. We are used to calling the shots. But now we must take a lower position.

Our entire home – our body, mind, and spirit – now belongs to a new Ruler. We turn the ownership papers over to a new Master. He is not our servant; we are His servant. We come and go as He commands.

Even after two years in Christian ministry, Eric and I were amazed to discover how much of our lives were still under our control. We had been trying to overcome spiritual struggles using our own strength and willpower. Our joy and peace were conditional upon our circumstances. And as a result, our Christianity mirrored the defeated, mediocre spiritual existence of our modern times.

Before we were married, we had given God the pen to write our love story. But now we knew we must allow Him to write our life story. We needed to give up our entire existence, so that Christ could live through us.

And once we exchanged our lives for His, things began to dramatically change.

The still small whisper of God’s Spirit began directing our steps, rather than our own logic and human reasoning. The supernatural power of God’s Spirit began challenging and fortifying us to conquer sin and live lives that radiantly reflected the righteousness of Christ. And though that refining fire was painful, we gained the unquenchable joy that comes from a cleansed inner life." -Leslie Ludy

Tragedy

Do not be surprised if, in a church of 22,000, you can only find 300 who are prepared to reach out to the lost. Sadly, most Christians are afraid to share their faith with nonbelievers and would rather stay home than tell others how to find eternal life. Such reluctance among churchgoing Christians is a tragedy, but it will leave you with an army (small though it may be) of soldiers who keep their eyes peeled for opportunities to present the gospel message to the unsaved.

These soldiers know that the fear they battle isn’t from God. They are aware that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), and they are the ones God will use for His purposes.

Judges 7:3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”

180 Movie

For all those who watched the YouTube video of me passing out 180 movies I posted, I am so blessed to let you know that the young lady told me tonight that she sat down and watched it with her mom. She then let me know her mother was very against the movie, but she persuaded her mom to watch the rest of it with her. She said her mom hadn't completely changed her mind, but it gave her a lot to think about. I pray that God continues to use 180 to change minds and hearts, and to reach people with a sound gospel presentation! I thank God for people like Ray Comfort and the Living Waters team for everything they do!

If you haven't seen the 33 minute movie, you can watch it here at the bottom of this page.

Call of God

“Abraham’s removal out of his country, out of Ur first and afterwards out of Haran, in compliance with the call of God: So Abram departed; he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but did as he was bidden, not conferring with flesh and blood (Gal. 1:15,16). His obedience was speedy and without delay, submissive and without dispute; for he went out, not knowing whither he went (Heb. 11:8), but knowing whom he followed and under whose direction he went.” Matthew Henry

God has spoken to every Christian—to go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature. We must not be disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Limited Time

How wonderful will that day be! The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea (see Hab. 2:14). In the meanwhile, we have a limited time to take the living waters of the gospel to this lost and dying world. Don’t waste your life chasing things that don’t matter. Pray that God gives you such love for the lost that it will swallow your fears.

Zechariah 14:8 And in that day it shall be— That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.

Vanity

“And when I have gone to the last city and preached my last sermon, and when I have offered my last prayer for the last sinner, when this old body of mine is worn and ready to crumble back to dust, and when my loved ones have gathered around my bed and the death gurgle is heard in my throat, when the old world is receding and heaven is opening a way, I stand in the presence of Him whom I have preached and loved and have not seen, I want the first one-thousand years to sit at His feet and say, ‘Thank You, Jesus, for saving me that dark and stormy day from a drunkard’s and a gambler’s hell.” E. Howard Cadle

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity." Ecclesiastes 12:7-8

Turned off by Worship

“Every glimpse that is given us of heaven and of God’s created beings is always a glimpse of worship and rejoicing and praise because God is who He is... Any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” A. W. Tozer

Revelation 5:4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to opentand read the scroll, or to look at it.

Receive Jesus Christ

As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord.
Colossians 2:6

The life of faith is represented as receiving-an act which implies the very opposite of anything like merit. It is simply the acceptance of a gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty vessels into which God pours his salvation. The idea of receiving implies a sense of realization, making the matter a reality. One cannot very well receive a shadow; we receive that which is substantial: so is it in the life of faith, Christ becomes real to us. While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us-a person who lived a long while ago, so long ago that his life is only a history to us now! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person in the consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means grasping or getting possession of. The thing which I receive becomes my own: I appropriate to myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, he becomes my Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able to rob me of him. All this is to receive Christ-to take him as God's free gift; to realize him in my heart, and to appropriate him as mine.

Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only received these blessings, we have received CHRIST JESUS himself. It is true that he gave us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin; he gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but we are not content with them; we have received Christ himself. The Son of God has been poured into us, and we have received him, and appropriated him. What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain him!

Being Punished for 'Thought Crime' is Absurd

The idea that merely thinking could be a crime does seem absurd. But thought and attitude crimes are a reality in our society. In a hate crime, one is punished not just for committing a specific crime against someone, but for his supposed thoughts toward that person. If a man beat up a heterosexual, for example, he would deserve one sentence. But beating up a homosexual, if it could be proved that he once expressed a negative attitude toward homosexuals, would get him a substantially increased sentence. Also, students who mention wishing for the death of a teacher or fellow student are taken seriously and punished. They could merely mention it on Facebook or in texting, for instance, and immediately be in trouble—because it shows the intent of the heart , even if they are not actively planning it.

If you are caught thinking about assassinating the President of the United States, you will find yourself in serious violation of the law. Again, you don’t have to commit the act. You simply have to be thinking about it, and express that thought verbally or in writing. Some may argue that conspiracy to murder the president is different because it is a serious crime. And that’s the point. They don’t consider pornography of the mind to be a serious crime. God does. Man’s moral standards are extremely low, while God’s are incredibly high. He is so holy, He requires perfection in thought, word, and deed. If we burn with unlawful sexual thoughts toward another human being, God sees that as adultery (see Matt. 5:27,28). And if we have a seething hatred in our heart for another person, God sees that as murder (see Matt. 5 :22; 1 John 3:15).

He judges the thoughts and intents of our heart, and He will see to it that the guilty get their just dessert. Adulterers and murderers will end up damned in a terrible place called hell.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” the says to you, But his heart is not with you.

God has witnessed!

"If your family and friends saw your thoughts on a big movie screen, what do you think there reaction would be?"

Micah 1:1-4. Notice the word “let” in v. 2. Those who allow God to speak to them will understand that He has witnessed every transgression of His Law. Those who refuse to hear will eventually find to their horror that He has witnessed every secret sin, but by then it will be too late to partake in His mercy. They will see Him when He comes in flaming fire and will drink the wine of His wrath. How we must mediate on verses that warn us of that day, when mountains will melt under Him and great valleys will split like wax before a fire, like waters pouring down a steep place. In light of these thoughts, do we plead with sinners? Are we horrified at their fate? Do our eyes run with water as we pray for them? If they don’t, it may be because we have never truly meditated on the terror they will face at the coming of Almighty God.

Micah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

Strength in Weakness

For my strength is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9

A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God's work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness. When God's warrior marches forth to battle, strong in his own might, when he boasts, I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my conquering sword shall get unto me the victory, defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who marches in his own strength. He who reckoneth on victory thus has reckoned wrongly, for it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. They who go forth to fight, boasting of their prowess, shall return with their gay banners trailed in the dust, and their armour stained with disgrace. Those who serve God must serve him in his own way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth he casteth away; he will only reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love. God will empty out all that thou hast before he will put his own into thee; he will first clean out thy granaries before he will fill them with the finest of the wheat. The river of God is full of water; but not one drop of it flows from earthly springs. God will have no strength used in his battles but the strength which he himself imparts. Are you mourning over your own weakness? Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give thee victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.

When I am weak then am I strong,

Grace is my shield and Christ my song.

ARE YOU DECEIVED?

The Big Man on Campus

There was once a young college student. He was a bright young man, well liked among his peers. He was the typical " big man on campus". He was at every party, every sports gathering, the standard girls wanted to be with him, guys wanted to be like him. Then one day something changed in this young man. He was introduced to Jesus Christ. The man on campus was no longer going to all the parties. He could be found standing out in the court yard of the campus, passing out gospel tracts and preaching open air. God had changed this young man's heart so, that there was no denying he was not what he once was. He was truly and new creation in Christ.

His close friends, feeling concerned for his actions which they viewed as social suicide, kept trying to distract him from what he was doing. One day, they were so concerned that they ascorted him to the campus library and were determined to sit him down and talk some sense into him. After several hours of them pleading with him to stop, not that they were against his new found faith, but rather he should be less vocal about it, they all set around him and looked at their friend. They saw tears swelling up in his eyes. His face looked flushed and his hands were slightly shaking. After a long aquired silence, the young man looked at his friends and yelled out with trimbling lips, "HE SHED HIS BLOOD FOR ME!"

When we are wanting to go out and share our faith with others, we battle a spirit of fear. And it's not always full out opposition against the gospel, some times it can be very suttle. Job had comforters come to him, but remember they were not comforting at all! When Peter tried to defer Jesus from going to the cross, He said, "get behind me Satan!" And we need to not only put on the full armor of God, but to remember to ask God to guard our eyes, ears, and mouth too!

So take this as a world wide 'double dare' to share your faith. Yes people should see Christ in you, but at the same time to we need to have the balance of being still and knowing He is God and going out pulling them from the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. I challenge you, go out of your way to tell some one about Jesus. And not only the love, grace, and mercy of God, but remember that the God of the Bible is also a God of wrath and judgement too!

Lonely

There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
–Proverbs 18:24

How many lonely people there are today! God did not create man to live in miserable inner loneliness. In that first Eden, God Himself came down to keep the man He had made from being lonely.

One of the most heartening things Jesus said to His disciples was, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He came to restore fellowship between man and God, and to take away human loneliness. Jesus Christ will take away loneliness from your soul. He will be your companion and friend.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
You want to fill all the lonely moments, Lord, and turn them into times of incredible delight. May I never fear loneliness again.

The Church in thy house

The church in thy house.
Philemon 1:2

Is there a Church in this house? Are parents, children, friends, servants, all members of it? or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the question go round-Am I a member of the Church in this house? How would father's heart leap for joy, and mother's eyes fill with holy tears if from the eldest to the youngest all were saved! Let us pray for this great mercy until the Lord shall grant it to us. Probably it had been the dearest object of Philemon's desires to have all his household saved; but it was not at first granted him in its fulness. He had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, ran away from his service. His master's prayers followed him, and at last, as God would have it, Onesimus was led to hear Paul preach; his heart was touched, and he returned to Philemon, not only to be a faithful servant, but a brother beloved, adding another member to the Church in Philemon's house. Is there an unconverted servant or child absent this morning? Make special supplication that such may, on their return to their home, gladden all hearts with good news of what grace has done! Is there one present? Let him partake in the same earnest entreaty.

If there be such a Church in our house, let us order it well, and let all act as in the sight of God. Let us move in the common affairs of life with studied holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a Church than of an ordinary household; family worship must, in such a case, be more devout and hearty; internal love must be more warm and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified and Christlike. We need not fear that the smallness of our number will put us out of the list of Churches, for the Holy Spirit has here enrolled a family-church in the inspired book of remembrance. As a Church let us now draw nigh to the great head of the one Church universal, and let us beseech him to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of his name.