A Reminder

A reminder tonight of something I've reminded you of, oh, a couple thousand times probably. But as Paul says we need reminding. We are a forgetful people. We too often forget the most important things we know--simultaneously.

Here's your reminder (our reminder): If you are still on this earth, God has something for you to do--tomorrow. And it's spectacular. Show everyone you meet the love of Christ. No one else is going to meet all the same people that you will meet tomorrow. They are in the appointment book He made for you. They either need to be reminded of, or they need to encounter, the great salvation that God has provided through His Son. As Dwight Moody put it:

For God--the greatest Lover
So loved--the greatest degree
The World--the greatest number
That He gave--the greatest act
His only begotten Son--the greatest gift
That whosoever--the greatest invitation
Believes--the greatest simplicity
In Him--the greatest person
Should not perish--the greatest deliverance
But--the greatest difference
Have--the greatest certainty
Everlasting Life--the greatest possession.

Tomorrow, may the Spirit enable us, through our lives, to make that truth undeniably true.

You have been reminded.

Don't forget.

The Path of Suffering

'''And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you in His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

Where the path of suffering leads: The God of all grace . . . will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

Spiritual Self-Confidence

"Without Me, you can do nothing."

"I can do all things through Christ who is my strength."

Nothing is more dangerous to Christian growth and victorious living than spiritual self-confidence.

The Mercies of God

The mercies of God: the Creation that clearly--and undeniably--declares His divine power and majestic attributes, a law that shows us our desperate need for a Savior, grace greater than all our sins, mercy that frees us from condemnation, regeneration that makes us alive in Him, redemption that declares the price fully paid, justification that removes our sin guilt and replaces it with His righteousness, propitiation that willing accepted the wrath of God that we deserved, reconciliation that transforms us from enemy to friend, a joint-heirship that makes us spiritually rich beyond our comprehension, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us--makes us each day more like Him and gives us victory over sin in our life, access into the very throne room of God emboldened by the prayers of the Spirit on our behalf, a promise that all will be well--for His glory and for our good, an adoption into His family--His beloved child by His choice, the lavishing of an inescapable love, eternal life in His presence.

"With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan God has for you is good, meets all His demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity."

Threat

The greatest threat to the power of today's church to transform lives is today's church. The church is called to Be holy as He is holy. To meet the needs of the poor, the orphan, and the widow. To speak the truth in love. To live in harmony with one another. To confront sin in the body. To practice hospitality to strangers. To treat the alien in the same way you who are an alien in this world desires to be treated, To love sacrificially God's fellow sheep, To comfort the hurting, To preach the gospel to the lost. To give double honor--from our wallets--to those who have been called as ministers in the church. To be unspotted by the world. To as much as possible live in peace with all men. To remember that no Scripture is of any private interpretation--God says what He means.

And if you believe that the threat applies to everyone else's church and not your own--pride goes before a fall. The angel of light is in the building. Soon he will reveal himself as the devouring lion.
Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a servant that doesn't shame His Lord, one who rightly divides the Word of God.

Why?

Our Father rarely tells us "why." He tells us "wait." And He trusts that now, in the present tense, we will find peace in the midst of deep sorrow knowing how much He loves us. He tells us that often--that He loves us. He demonstrated that love on the cross that bore His Son--His Dearly Beloved--Who died for us that He might give us hope. A sure hope, not a wishful hope. A death has been defeated hope. A death is dead hope. A "I Am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in me will never die." hope. A new life hope. A reunion hope. An eternal reunion hope. And He is touched by our sorrow. He weeps with those who weep. Our tears are precious in His sight. No doubt, He was a young man--perhaps a boy--who wept with His mother when His earthly father died. He is always by our side--He is at hand. Joy comes in the morning--in that eternal morning when we will all meet again. And He--our eternal Lover--will be there. And we will have no more "whys" to ask. 

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

We are loved by everlasting love.

Necessay

God has no insignificant, second class citizens in His kingdom. He clearly tells us that those we have a tendency to view as "less than necessary" are vital to the kingdom work--the kingdom is dependent upon their faithfulness.

God has no children that He doesn't love fully and unconditionally with every fiber of His eternal being as the God who is love. We, like John, are all the disciples whom Jesus loves.
Embrace today your "vitalness" and the depth of His love for you.