26 Dec 1995
WHAT ELSE CAN WE BE ?
Read : Acts 11: 19-26
During an interview, the great Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski said, " It is not from choice that my life is music and nothing more, but when one is an artist what else can he be ? When a whole lifetime is too short to attain the heights he wants to reach, how then can he devote any of the little time he has to things outside of his art ? "
The interviewer then inquired, " And you have not yet attained the heights you seek ? " I am nothing ! " replied the artist shaking his head. " If you could know the dream of what I would like to be, you would realize how little I have accomplished. "
Paderewski’s words spoke to me of the goal and attitude that every Christian should have. He had declared, " When one is an artist, what else can he be ? I would ask, " When one is a Christian, what else can he be ? "
8 October 1996
A CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE
Read Colossians 3 : 12 - 25
He was a remarkable
person. Author of 150 books, Toyohiko Kagawa was a teacher, a poet, a
philosopher, a scientist, and an evangelist. He wrote on various subjects
ranging from scientific studies to theological issues. During World War II, he
was imprisoned for his pacifistic views. But he never ceased to love and serve
God. Often he repeated these 3 prayers: "Father, forgive." "God, let me live to
serve." "O God, make me like Christ." Those brief petitions reveal the spiritual
dynamics of a truly Christian lifestyle. That 3rd prayer cannot be realized
unless we take seriously the other two. Jesus said that He "did not come to be
served, but to serve" ( Mt. 18:21 - 22 ). He became the supreme example of His
own teaching when on the cross He prayed for His executioners, "Father, forgive
them, for they do not know what they do" (Lk. 23:34 ). Only to the extent that
we serve and forgive can we become like Jesus. And that will require God's
enabling grace. How He longs to hear us pray. "Father, forgive," "God, let me
live to serve," and "O God, make me like Christ."
These are essential to a Christian lifestyle. ---VCG
11 June 1997 ( Wednesday )
My God !
Read Matthew 27 : 32 - 50
As Jesus hung on the
cross, suspended between heaven and earth, He uttered several phrases. Of the
things He said while death approached, one phrase seems to stand out in its
intensity : " My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me ? " ( Mt. 27 : 46 ) .
Imagine it. Jesus Christ, who had enjoyed the glories of heaven with the
Father for all of eternity past, was now being forsaken. God had turned His back
on Him. Abondoned so that he could be our sin-bearer, Jesus cried out in agony.
Those words, " My God, My God, " represent Jesus' deeply felt emotions as He
suffered there. The personal nature of the pronoun My intensifies the reference
to God, as Jesus addressed Him during His suffering.
Contrast Jesus' wrenchingly painful expression with the way the phrase " My
God " is tossed around in our society, and you can sense a problem. So often
these words are used flippantly and casually. While Jesus said " My God " in an
intense reference to the Sovereign of the universe, many people use it as an
offhand reference to some mundane experience.
God's name is holy. Use it intensely. Use it boldly. But always use it
reverently.
--- J. David Branon
17 Dec 1996 ( Tuesday )
He knows Your Name
Read Matthew Psalm 147: 1 - 9
How many stars are there? Astronomers don't know. They simply assure us that the cosmos
contains more stars than can be numbered. Billions for sure---probably trillions!
Figures like that are hard for us to grasp. Even a million is mindboggling. If you were
counting a million $1 bills at the rate of 60 a minute for 8 hours a day 5 days a week,
it would take you nearly 7 weeks to complete the task. At the same rate it would take over
133 years to count a billion dollars.
Scripture declares that God, the Maker of the sun and moon, "made the stars also" (Gen.1:16).
It likewise declares that He "brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by
the greatness of His might and the stength of His power; not one is missing" (Isaiah 40:26).
So if we ever wonder whether God is able to carry us with all our burdens, let us remember that
He is the sovereign of the stars. Surely He who is the guide of the galaxies can deal with our
situations.
If the skies are clear tonight, look heavenward and be thankful that the God who calls each star
by name knows, loves, and cares for you. --- Vernon C. Grounds (VCG)
ÿ Email : revival3@singnet.com.sg
Regards
Wong Chee Kong
" Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old
he will not depart from it "
( Proverbs 22 : 6 )
(
" . . . out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water . "
J
( John 7 : 38 )
ÿ http://web.singnet.com.sg/~revival3