One door,and only one,but yet its sides are two,
I'm on the inside,on what side are you?
Back and forth,back and forth,go the pounding waves of the sea.They are no problem for God,however.The One who created the mighty oceans does with them what He wishes.
When the turbulent seas of adversity are threatening,we need to remember the awesome power of God.As the seas fled before Him,so too can the obstacles that seem so overwhelming to us.They have no more resistance to God's power than water in a teacup.
THE TIME CAME WHEN THE LORD GOD FORMED A MAN'S BODY FROM THE DUST OF THE GROUND,AND BREATHED INTO IT THE BREATH OF LIFE,AND MAN BECAME A LIVING PERSON.
Genisis 2:7
In Sunday School class the teacher told the children about God creating man from the dust of the ground.And then when a man dies,his body goes back to dust again.
A little boy raised his hand and when he was acknowledged he said,"I have someone under my bed,and I don't know whether he is coming or going.
TO ADAM GOD SAID,"BECAUSE YOU LISTENED TO YOUR WIFE,AND ATE THE FRUIT WHEN I TOLD YOU NOT TO,I HAVE PLACED A CURSE UPON THE SOIL.ALL YOUR LIFE YOU WILL STRUGGLE TO EXTRACT A LIVING FROM IT.
ALL YOUR LIFE YOU WILL SWEAT TO MASTER IT,UNTIL YOUR DYING DAY.THEN YOU WILL RETURN TO THE GROUND FROM WHICH YOU CAME.FOR YOU WERE MADE FROM THE GROUND,AND TO THE GROUND YOU WILL RETURN".
Genisis 3:17&19
The blessings of the Lord are known
By all who will obey;
His wisdom,truth,and love are shown
To all who walk His way.
WE SHOW WHAT WE KNOW WHEN WE ACT ON THE FACT.
David Morse -- American missionary to India -- became great friends there with the pearl-diver, Rambhau.
Many an evening he spent in Rambhau's cabin reading to him from the Bible, and explaining to him God's way of salvation.
Rambhau enjoyed listening to the Word of God, but whenever the missionary tried to get Rambhau to accept Christ as his Saviour -- he would shake his head and reply, "Your Christian way to heaven is too easy for me!
I cannot accept it. If ever I should find admittance to heaven in that manner -- I would feel like a pauper there...like a beggar who has been let in out of pity.
I may be proud -- but I want to deserve, I want to earn my place in heaven -- and so I am going to work for it."
Nothing the missionary could say seemed to have any effect on Rambhau's decision, and so quite a few years slipped by.
One evening, however, the missionary heard a knock on his door, and on going to open it he found Rambhau there.
"Come in, dear friend," said Morse.
"No," said the pearl-diver. "I want you to come with me to my house, Sahib, for a short time -- I have something to show you. Please do not say 'No'".
"Of course I'll come," replied the missionary. As they neared his house, Rambhau said: "In a week's time I start working for my place in heaven;
I am leaving for Delhi -- and I am going there on my knees."
"Man, you're crazy! It's nine hundred miles to Delhi, and the skin will break on your knees, and you will have blood-poisoning or leprosy before you get to Bombay."
"No, I must get to Delhi," affirmed Rambhau, "and the immortals will reward me for it!
The suffering will be sweet -- for it will purchase heaven for me!"
"Rambhau, my friend -- you can't. How can I bear you to do it -- when Jesus Christ has suffered and died to purchase heaven for you!"
But the old man could not be moved.
"You are my dearest friend on earth, Sahib Morse. Through all these years you have stood by me in sickness, in want -- you have been sometimes my only friend.
But even you cannot turn me from my desire to purchase eternal bliss....I must go to Delhi!"
Inside the hut Morse was seated in the very chair Rambhau had specially built for him -- where on so many occasions he had read to him the Bible.
Rambhau left the room to return soon with a small but heavy English strongbox. "I have had this box for years," said he, "and I keep only one thing in it. Now I will tell you about it, Sahib Morse. I once had a son..."
"A son! Why, Rambhau, you have never before said a word about him!"
"No, Sahib, I couldn't." Even as he spoke the diver's eyes were moistened.
"Now I must tell you, for soon I will leave, and who knows whether I shall ever return?
My son was a diver too. He was the best pearl diver on the coasts of India. He had the swiftest dive, the keenest eye, the strongest arm, the longest breath of any man who ever sought for pearls.
What joy he brought to me! Most pearls, as you know, have some defect or blemish only the expert can discern, but my boy always dreamed of finding the 'perfect' pearl -- one beyond all that was ever found.
"One day he found it! But even when he saw it -- he had been under water too long.... That pearl cost him his life, for he died soon after."
The old pearl diver bowed his head. For a moment his whole body shook, but there was no sound. "All these years," he continued, "I have kept this pearl -- but now I am going, not to return, and to you, my best friend -- I am giving my pearl."
The old man worked the combination on the strongbox and drew from it a carefully wrapped package. Gently opening the cotton, he picked up a mammoth pearl and placed it in the hand of the missionary.
It was one of the largest pearls ever found off the coast of India, and glowed with a lustre and brilliance never seen in cultured pearls. It would have brought a fabulous sum in any market.
For a moment the missionary was speechless and gazed with awe. "Rambhau! What a pearl!"
"That pearl, Sahib, is perfect," replied the Indian quietly.
The missionary looked up quickly with a new thought: Was not this the very opportunity and occasion he had prayed for -- to make Rambhau understand the value of Christ's sacrifice?
So he said, designedly, "Rambhau, this is a wonderful pearl, an amazing pearl. Let me buy it. I would give you ten thousand dollars for it."
"Sahib! What do you mean?"
"Well, I will give you fifteen thousand dollars for it, or if it takes more -- I will work for it."
"Sahib," said Rambhau, stiffening his whole body, "this pearl is beyond price. No man in all the world has money enough to pay what this pearl is worth to me. On the market a million dollars could not buy it. I will not sell it to you. You may only have it as a gift."
"No, Rambhau, I cannot accept that. As much as I want the pearl, I cannot accept it that way. Perhaps I am proud, but that is too easy. I must pay for it, or work for it..."
The old pearl-diver was stunned. "You don't understand at all, Sahib. Don't you see? My only son gave his life to get this pearl, and I wouldn't sell it for any money. Its worth is in the life-blood of my son. I cannot sell this -- but I can give it to you. Just accept it in token of the love I bear you."
The missionary was choked, and for a moment could not speak.
Then he gripped the hand of the old man. "Rambhau," he said in a low voice, "don't you see? My words are just what you have been saying to God all the time."
The diver looked long and searchingly at the missionary, and slowly, slowly he began to understand.
"God is offering to you salvation as a free gift," said the missionary. "It is so great and priceless that no man on earth can buy it. Millions of dollars are too little. No man on earth could earn it. His life would be millions of years too short. No man is good enough to deserve it. It cost God the life-blood of His only Son to make the entrance for you into heaven. In a million years, in a hundred pilgrimages, you could not earn that entrance. All you can do is to accept it as a token of God's love for you -- a sinner.
"Rambhau, of course I will accept the pearl in deep humility, praying God I may be worthy of your love. Rambhau, won't you accept God's great gift of heaven, too, in deep humility, knowing it cost Him the death of His Son to offer it to you?"
Great tears were now rolling down the cheeks of the old man. The veil was beginning to lift.
"Sahib, I see it now. I have believed in the doctrine of Jesus for the last two years, but I could not believe that His salvation was free. Now I understand. Some things are too priceless to be bought or earned. Sahib, I will accept His salvation!"
If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper--not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness--not godliness.
Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys. Love is present through the trials.
Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child, Then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.
Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
As a mother, there is much I must teach my child, But the greatest of all is love.
GOD KNOWS BEST
Our Father knows what's best for us So why should we complain?
We always want the sunshine, But HE knows there must be rain.
We love the sound of laughter And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their Tenderness if we never shed a tear.
Our Father tests us often With suffering and with sorrow,
He tests us,not to punish us, But to help us meet tomorrow.
For growing trees are strengthened When they withstand the storm,
And the sharp cut of the chisel Gives the marble grace and form.
God never hurts us needlessly; And HE never wastes our pain,
For every loss HE sends to us, Is following by rich gain.
And when we count the blessings That GOD has so freely sent,
We will find no cause for murmuring and no time to lament....
For Our Father loves HIS children, and to HIM all things are plain.
So HE never sends us pleasure When the soul's deep need is pain.
Whenever we are troubled, And when everything goes wrong
It is GOD working in us, To make our spirit strong.
THE POWER OF GOD WITHIN YOU IS GREATER THAN THE PRESSURE OF TROUBLES AROUND YOU.
God is Spirit,and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.-John 4:24
GOD IS ALWAYS PRESENT WITH US
THOUGH HIS FACE WE CANNOT SEE;
HE PROTECTS AND GUIDES AND COMFORTS
AS HE CARES FOR YOU AND ME
Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God's presence.
We have been spiritually reborn into the family of the King of the universe. Peter called us a "royal priesthood".
1st Peter 2:9
John declared that through Christ's sacrifice on the cross we are 'Kings and priests to His God and Father.Revelation 1:6.
We may look like everyone else but as Christians our speech and our actions should cause others to ask "What's different about her, about him?" We're royalty,of course. What a privilege, what a responsibility. Every day we represent One who is the "ruler over the kings of the earth". Revelation 1:5.
A CHILD OF THE KING OF KINGS SHOULD BEAR A FAMILY LIKENESS.
Our citizenship is in heaven,from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20.
According to the writer of Hebrews,there is a heavenly-mindedness that is proper.It's the virtue that enabled Abraham,Isaac,and Jacob to live by faith as tent-dwelling nomads in Canaan.
The Christians who do the most for this world,are the ones who think most of the next world.
AS YOU MIND YOUR EARTHLY DUTIES,KEEP HEAVEN IN MIND.
I said, "I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue".
Psalms 39:1
According to God's word, and out of love for Him, the words we use should be chosen carefully. First, we must never use God's name in any way that irrevelently addresses Him or disrespectfully speaks of Him (Exodus 20:7)
Second, our tongue should be used for blessing others, not cursing them. (James 3:10) And third, no corrupt language should pass through our lips. (Ephesians 4:29)
Why should we avoid bad language? Because God says we should keep our words pure and it pleases Him when we obey.
CHILDREN OF THE KING SHOULD USE THE LANGUAGE OF THE COURT.
Is salt good or bad?
Its not that simple,is it? For instance,the salt that melts dangerous ice on winter roads is also the salt that eats through the steel of cars.And the salt that an athlete needs to prevent dehydration is the salt that some experts believe plays a significant role in many health problems,such as high blood pressure.
Truth,like salt,has more than one side.As we learn more about what the Word of God says on a specific subject,we grow in our understanding of how to apply God's truth to life.Then,as we obey that truth,our lives will demonstrate its different effects.
For example,as Christians we are the preserving salt of the earth(Matthew 5:13),but we are also a sign of destruction to those who resist Christ's ministry.And because He lives in us,our lives are to have the same effect on others.The Savior is merciful and patient to those who call upon Him in faith,but He is also the Judge,whose anger rests upon those who arrogantly resist Him.
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