The truth is that Jesus is not only an
“answer” to our needs. He is much more than even the real, sufficient, and only
answer to all needs. First, Christ can meet our needs, but that is not why He
is God. Jesus is much more than an answer, even more than the answer. He is the
Lord of the universe, and we are to come to Him not just in needs, but in
everything (Winkie Pratney, The Thomas
Factor).
THE GREAT
COMMISSION
Brother Andrew says it well, “There
are no closed doors. Show me a country closed to the Gospel and I will show you
a way to get in. I may not be able to tell you how to get back. But after all,
Jesus just said, ‘Go.’ He didn’t say ‘Come back’ (Winkie Pratney, The Thomas Factor).
TRIALS AND
TESTINGS
Someone has wisely said that if the
believer’s road is exceptionally smooth and seems to be clear of barriers and
detours, he probably has missed a turn somewhere. No one invites difficulties,
but there they are in the lives of “the righteous.” They are ours to endure and
to thank the Lord for (Psalms of Victory).
RELIGION
WITHOUT CHRIST
William Booth, founder of Salvation
Army said I am of the opinion that the chief dangers which confront the coming
century (twentieth) will be religion without the Holy Spirit; Christianity
without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration,
politics without God, and heaven without hell.
This revelation is the characteristic
of our day in the twenty-first century too.
DISOBEDIENCE
TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
At the door of a home of the deceased, he met a
believing friend of the family and asked him whether Marie had been saved. The
answer was “Three weeks ago I had a strong impulse to speak with her, but I
didn’t do it. Now I can give you no answer.” A moment later the visitor asked
the same question of a Sunday School teacher. Sorrowfully she answered: “Two
weeks ago it was as though a voice was saying to me that I must speak with
Marie. I didn’t do it and now I don’t know how it was with her.” Deeply
impressed, the questioner went to the mother of the girl and said: Marie was a
believer, wasn’t she?” Tears streamed from the eyes of the mother, and sobbing
she said: “A week ago, an inner voice warned me, ‘Speak to Marie.’ I thought of
it again and again but neglected to do it at the right time, and you know how
suddenly and unexpectedly she was gone—and now I don’t know.”
This is a person who is disobedient to
the Holy Spirit. He grieved the Holy Spirit and not only that but also quenched
the Holy Spirit.
JESUS
Jesus was compassionate toward needy people. Why did He
move among them at all? Out of pity for them? Yes, but still more out of
obedience to the call of God the Father. He had a foreordained ministry to
fulfill. He had come to reveal the kingdom of God in word and deed. His
ministry of healing was an integral part of His deliverance of human beings, and
it belongs to His mediation of the kingdom of God as much as His preaching does.
Jesus’ miracles and His proclamation were integral part of His redemptive
ministry in the world whereby the Sovereignty of God was inaugurated in the
world (Anonymous).
GOD’S GRACE
AND COMPASSION
God foresaw what His Son was to
suffer. It has been said there was a cross in the heart of God long before the
cross was erected at Calvary. As we think about it we will be overwhelmed at
the wonder and greatness of His love for us. Rev 13:8, “Jesus Christ was the
Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.”
LONELINESS
Loneliness can be the starting point
of a new journey toward moral and spiritual maturity. If people who are lonely
would abandon the search for someone to care for them, and set themselves
instead, to care for someone else, they would be amazed to discover that their
loneliness was quite bearable, even if it was not entirely banished.
Loneliness assumes many forms, each
equally undesirable—an unsatisfied inner ache, an inner vacuum, a craving for
satisfaction. The human heart has an insatiable longing to be loved.
A CURE FOR LONELINESS
People were created with a twofold
need—fellowship with God and companionship with other human beings.
Blaise Pascal, the noted French
scientist held that in every human heart there exists a God-shaped vacuum.
Centuries before him Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, put his finger on the root
cause of loneliness: “
God
created man for Himself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in
Him.”
Albert Einstein the great scientist
demonstrated that loneliness invades the lives of the intellectual as well as
those in lower stations of life. It is no respecter of persons. Loneliness is
universal.
BLESSED ARE
THE MEEK (MATTHEW 5)
When Jesus was born an angel was sent
to announce it to the shepherds. The shepherds did not sk God if He was sure He
knew what He was doing. Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have
first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite they would have
looked around to see if anyone was watching. Had he gone to the successful,
they would have first looked at their calendars. So he went to the shepherds.
This has always been true of the
Christ. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you
have to get on your knees. The meek are those who kneel to the knees of their
hearts before Jesus Christ (Max Lucado, The
Applause of Heaven).
