Tag: Christ

  • And Walk in Love

    And Walk in Love

    Some may be familiar with the song: Footprints in the Sand.   Many of us are familiar with the comfort of the poem: Footprints in the Sand.  The poem speaks of the comfort of our Lord, Christ Jesus, during those most difficult times when we thought that we were walking alone. The poem was likely inspired by a sermon of Charles Haddon Spurgeon –  THE EDUCATION OF SONS OF GOD. (The link to it’s opening paragraph is well worth your consideration and prayer.)

    The test of Spurgeon’s sermon is Hebrews 5:8 KJV

     “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered

    Yes, we are all comforted at times from this application of the letter of Hebrews to our personal suffering.  We may wipe away a tear of loneliness and defeat in eventual memory and thankfulness that Christ Jesus IS always with us.

    Yet lately, not only was I finally comforted by this thought, but through conviction of the Spirit I have thanked the Lord for small ways He might use me to comfort others.

    Worse, I realized that I often thought that I walked alone because I never reached out to hardly anyone with this same love of our Lord, the One always carrying me and leaving footprints in the sand of many lonely places.

    I’ve sat with hundreds of my neighbors at almost every football game for the last two years.  I have lived in this small PA town for six years.  I see many nameless faces in the grocery store, at our community food bank, at the Borough Hall shelter after a last year’s hurricane,  and even almost every week at church.  

    “Who is my neighbor?  I have no idea.  

    After walking just a little in Jesus’ love, as if He were using me to walk with another, I became convicted even more.

    I am no different than someone who does NOT know Jesus.  I have not bothered to engage their souls in relationship in the same loving way as our Lord did for so many on every unexpected occasion. 

    Ephesians 4:17-5:2 excerpts:  17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

    18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

    19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

    20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

    30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

    32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

    “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

    Dear Lord,
    Forgive me. 
    I have not imitated God.
    I have not imitated the example of God’s Son.
    Most of all I have NOT walked in love — agape — as Christ Jesus loved me.
    I have not sacrificed time for hardly any neighbor.
    ..
    “I have not sacrificed my love for others as a sacrifice to God — the same God who did sacrifice his Son on the Cross for me.
    Dear brother or sister in the Lord,
    How are you doing with that?

    When was the last time you reached out to your neighbor to help carry their hurting soul?  Are you also convicted?

    Matthew 25 excerpt:
    40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
    ..
    Show your thankfulness.
    ..
    “Leave some footprints on the heart of someone walking alone — someone much in need Christ Jesus to walk with them through the sands of this brief time.
  • 10 Disciplines of a Godly Man

    10 Disciplines of a Godly Man

    Are you a Godly man? (Or Godly woman, is your discipline and witness strong enough to SHARE and encourage your husband or the men in your life: sons, friends, co-workers, brothers saved and unsaved?) This book will help.

    Let’s start with this: 1 Timothy 4:  Instead, train yourself to be godly. 8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

    10 Disciplines of a Godly Man – (link has a brief audio file where you can listen to a sample from the book)

    Our Men’s Bible study is taking a look at this tool for our faith.  I can recommend it to you not only because we are examining the principles & scriptures, but also knowing the author, Kent Hughes, is one of the godly leading men  of my daughter’s church, College Church in Wheaton IL.

    READ: your Bible. DAILY.

    SHARE your Christian Social Witness

  • Act Accordingly – Acts 1:

    Act Accordingly – Acts 1:

    It’s a big important event.  The many details and much planning are well beyond our comprehension.

    We know the time is near.  The clock of our daily existence counts down toward a moment of Highest importance which we do not fully understand.  We watch and wait.

    This is the setting of the beginning of Acts.  Luke has set the scene, one we can understand more in a 20th c. context of waiting for a launch of men to the moon.  We are most uncertain of the outcome.

    We will discover more about the author of Luke-Acts, a two-part book, later in Acts.  Doctor Luke begins with a summary of his Gospel as describing about Jesus until the time “he was taken up into heaven…” 

    The Apostles have received their instructions after Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This same Holy Spirit had descended on Jesus at the beginning of His three-year journey toward the Cross.

    ‘What do we do now, just watch?’ they must have thought. The risen Christ Jesus gives his first orders as King.  He needs to populate His Kingdom. GO find faithful followers who will be baptized – changed permanently – and receive the Holy Spirit.

    Our risen Lord affirms: Acts 1: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

    And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

    9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

    10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

    Here is their dear friend and teacher, who they thought had been taken from them by death.  He is risen in great power over sin and death!  His Kingdom begins: but not on earth (for now), but in Heaven.

    Who will be subject to the righteous rule of love and grace by the risen Christ Jesus,

    King and Lord?

    Our Lord Christ Jesus will return once more for His servants.  Who do you serve? Are you willing?  Are you ready?

    What must you do?

     

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