by MIMADMIN | May 7, 2015 | What Do You Think?
Luke 12: 22 And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? 26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? (Observation) Worry is futile. The disciples are valuable to God and He will care for them. (Interpretation) The disciples are and even every believer is, a valuable possession of God Almighty. God is in control of all things and knows the outcome of all circumstances. We believers, on the other hand, have control only over our obedience to His commands and must trust God for the outcome of our circumstances. Therefore, I submit for your consideration, that worry has no value whatever and is a complete waste of time. It is an exercise in futility. (Cross-reference) Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Luke 10:38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and...
by MIMADMIN | May 7, 2015 | Testimonies
I never served in the military, but have had the privilege of meeting many current and former active duty soldiers at different stages of my life. I often feel like a “thank you for your service” is not nearly enough to express how grateful I am for their commitment to keeping our country safe. In many cases, you hear stories about long deployments that kept them away from their families, assignments that placed them in harms-way where they were permanently injured; or even times where they were constantly threatened in a foreign land where they were sent to protect the local residents. The life of an active soldier seems to be filled with opposition. The life of a disciple of Jesus often follows a similar pattern. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4, right after Paul reminds Timothy that he wants him to share what he has learned with others, he points out the fact that Timothy will “suffer hardship with as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. He follows it up with, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” For the follower of Christ, avoiding entanglement is critical to fully and completely letting Jesus be Lord of our lives. But what entangles men? What are some of the daily battles we fight and how can we gain victory over these areas of our life that can derail our “active service” for the Lord? Different parts of the world provide their own unique challenges for followers of Jesus who are engaged in active ministry. In first world...
by MIMADMIN | May 7, 2015 | What Do You Think?
Mark 9: 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is for us. 41 “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. (Observation) Jesus tells His disciples not to “hinder” anyone working a miracle in His name. Jesus follows with the principle ‘he who is not against us is for us.” The one who assists a follower of Christ “will not lose his reward.” (Interpretation) Someone who ministers in the name of Jesus Christ, whether his service be spectacular or mundane, “will not lose his reward.” Therefore, why should a fellow servant “hinder” those good works? he should not. (Cross-reference) 2 Corinthians 9: 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; (Testimony) When I was aged 16 years and 2 days my father died, without warning, of a heart attack. Cash was in short supply. Dad’s friend and our veterinarian R. J. Peglow came to the farm the same day and instructed my mother,...
by MIMADMIN | May 7, 2015 | Articles, Testimonies
Several years ago, I moved my young family from Colorado Springs to Salida. I had taken a new position with a company that wanted to establish an outpost there, along the upper Arkansas River valley. My wife and I finally found a home we felt was affordable, just outside of town and we put it under contract. The process went smoothly and in a few weeks, we were closing in on our new place and packing to move. I had started with the new company while living in the Springs and things were going well. We had a plan and it looked, for all intents and purposes, that GOD was directing us to make the move. We shuttled our belongings to a storage facility in our new town and took up residence in a dingy little motel that agreed to let us rent a room for a few weeks, just until we closed on our new place. It was cramped and less than ideal, but the four of us endured it. We avoided any major conflict, opting to walk across the highway to a small city park and “get some air,” rather than arguing with one another. I must admit, the last three weeks of our six week stay entailed many park visits. Then came the day that I received a phone call from the headquarters of my new employer, back in New England. I had crossed swords with the secretary of the owner of the company, in defending one of my support staff from an unprovoked attack. When the smoke cleared, the woman at the home office had...
by MIMADMIN | May 7, 2015 | Articles, Testimonies
A good friend of mine shared a story with me that has stuck with me ever since. He lived many years under the influence of alcohol, and indicated that even as a non-believer, he had a conversation with God every day. It was a simple conversation, but a profound one nonetheless. It went like this: each day, God would quietly ask him in the depths of his heart “Today, John?” To which he would reply solemnly, “No God, not today…” This conversation continued for years as this man’s life self-destructed around him. God, ever faithful, kept asking the question, and he kept answering in the same manner until the one day when God took him down to rock bottom and asked the question “Today, John?” And John answered “Yes, God, today.” Twenty seven years of sobriety later, my friend looks back on that time and reflects on two thoughts. The first is what a waste of precious life that yielded nothing but heartache, pain, despair, and damage to him and those around him that he loved. He drank fully of the deceptions the world offered up to him and received nothing of value in return. The second thought is how thankful he is that God kept asking him the question. At any time, God might have said “Fine, I will no longer ask – you are on your own.” As I reflect on what I’m going to tell my accountability partners on our next call a week from now, my friend’s two thoughts hit home for me. I have committed to certain things and have routinely reported to my...
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