RELATIONSHIPS: PERSONAL COMMUNICATION

          Don’t be like the couple who were about to marry, but the man was drafted into the army. He decided to continue the relationship with his fiancée so he bought a year’s worth of post cards. Each day he mailed one post card. When he returned home, the Postmaster at their town had married his fiancée. The lady had developed a personal relationship with the Postmaster who delivered the letters.

CONSCIENCE (JOB 27:6)

          “Every man has within him a Guardian Angel,” states one anonymous writer, for conscience is ever on the watch, ever ready to warn us of danger.

          Another writes, “Conscience is condensed character.” Self-interest asks, “Is it gratifying?” Expediency asks, “Is it advantageous?” Caution asks, “Is it safe? But conscience asks, “Is it right?”

          Conscience is one of the greatest gifts of God to man. It is a moral compass to keep us in the right direction. It is a divine voice in our soul. It is  the great beacon light God sets in all. “It is still the small voice.” Whatever creed be taught or land be trod, Man’s conscience is the oracle of God.

          Sometimes a person may feel he is suffering because of sin he has committed. A sense of guilt may overwhelmed him and make him say, This happened to me because of my sin. There are three ways to resolve such a problem. First, realize that suffering in general is neutral. All persons, good and evil, sinners and saints are vulnerable to the afflictions of life. Second and best, is like Job—to have a conscience without reproach. Third, if there has been sin, confess it, repent of it, and accept God’s forgiveness.

TRUE BLESSINGS

          Blessed are those, then, who hold their earthly possessions in open palms. Blessed are those who, if everything they own were taken from them would be, at most inconvenienced, because their true wealth is elsewhere.

          Blessed are those who are totally dependent upon Jesus for their joy (Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven).

WHEN TRIALS COME

          God’s proving grounds comes when trouble hits and the evil motives in our lives begins to surface. When you are on a lake where the water is calm and clear, the rainbow ripples of light playing on the surface, everything has an air of peace and beauty. But let the winds rise and the clouds open, and the water churns, bringing up the dredges of dirt and muck from the bottom. So it is with our lives. When calamity hits us, hard thoughts of God may begin to surface. If God is so loving and wise, why did He allow this to happen?

          Archbishop Leighton said, “Extraordinary afflictions are not always of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trials of extraordinary graces. God has many sharp jewels; and those He especially loves, and means to make the most resplendent, He often has His tools upon.”

SALVATION—FREE BUT NOT CHEAP (LUKE 22:39-44)

          A miner came to British pastor and author G. Campbell Morgan at the close of a service and said, “I’d give anything to believe that God would forgive my sins. But I just can’t accept the idea that all I have to do is to trust in Him. It is too cheap.” Morgan asked, “Have you been working today?” Yes, “I was down in the pit.” “Did you pay to get back out?” Of course, not! The miner replied. “It didn’t cost me anything. I just got in the cage and was pulled to the top.” “Weren’t you afraid to trust yourself to that cage? Wasn’t it too cheap?” “Oh, no. The ride was free. But the company paid a lot of money to sink the shaft and make it safe.”

          Suddenly the truth dawned on the miner. He saw that salvation was free, but he also realized that it had cost the Son of God a tremendous price to come down from heaven and rescue fallen man. In Luke 22, we get a faint glimpse of the agony that swept over Christ as He prayed in the garden. Looking ahead to the cross, He saw the terrible physical and spiritual suffering He would endure in dying for us.