Articles
Let Me Thank You
Let Me Thank You
By Coral Blake
We are remarkably blessed by our Eternal Father. He gives us our everyday needs, whether through gifts or through the capacity to work for them. He also gives us uncountable things we do not need, but things that give us joy, comfort, and knowledge. As David sang: “Let the LORD be magnified Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants” (Psalm 35:27). He gives us the strength and capacity to learn and grow from the hardships we endure in this life. He gives us the blessings of love from friends and family and the memories to hold on to when we have lost someone. He gives so much there is no way one could list them all. “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22).
He also allows us to thank Him. He asks us to give back monetarily, to give to others in need, and to love as He has loved us. (2Cor. 8:3-5)
Jesus is our example, and we are to emulate Him. This is easier when we are doing the giving, when we are able to do for ourselves and others, when we are busy at His work.
But half of the equation of helping, giving, loving is receiving. Someone has to receive it. And that goes for thankfulness, too. If I am the recipient of God’s gifts and am to do as He asks, then He is to be the recipient of my gifts and thankfulness. “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life” (Prov. 22:4).
Are we any better than our Father? No! Of course not! So why do we hesitate to accept these gifts and thankfulness?
Humility is the point of the lesson Jesus taught when He washed His disciple’s feet, He taught us that He is humble in the washing but also we are to be humble in the receiving of the washing of our feet. (John 13:3-17) We need to take a humble stance in both the giving and receiving of these things. Peter had difficulty with this principle: “Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me’” (John 13:8). This is what makes us family and is how we fulfill the roles He has given to us in this life; to be fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. (Mark 10:29-30)
Let me thank you, for being there for me, for prayers, and time, and gifts. Let me do as God has asked of me. And in turn, let me help you when you have need, too. Let’s be kin.
What Losses Have You Suffered for Jesus?
The story is told of an unknown dreamer who awoke from a deep sleep in which he had a disturbing, yet enlightening, dream. One wonders if the unknown dreamer could be any one of us. His account follows:
“I saw in a dream that I was in the Celestial City—though when and how I got there I could not tell. I was one of a great multitude which no man could number, from all countries and peoples and times and ages. Somehow I found that the saint who stood next to me had been in Heaven more than 1,860 years. “Who are you?” I said to him. (We both spoke the same language of heaven, so that I understood him and he me.)
“I,” said he, “was a Roman Christian; I lived in the days of the apostle Paul; I was one of those who died in Nero’s persecutions. I was covered with pitch and fastened to a stake and set on fire to light up Nero’s gardens.”
“How awful!” I exclaimed.
“No,” he said, “I was glad to do something for Jesus. He died on the cross for me.”
The man on the other side of him then spoke: “I have been in Heaven only a few hundred years. I came from an island in the South Seas. A missionary came and told me about Jesus, and I too learned to love and follow Him. My fellow-countrymen killed the missionary, and they caught and bound me. I was beaten until I fainted and they thought I was dead, but I revived. Then next day they knocked me on the head, cooked and ate me.”
“How terrible!” I said.
“No,” he answered, “I was glad to die as a Christian. You see the preacher had told me that Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns for me.”
Then they both turned to me and said, “What did you suffer for Him? Or did you give up in sacrifice and service to Jesus?”
And I was speechless before them. And while they both were looking at me with sorrowful eyes, I awoke, and it was only a dream! But I lay on my soft bed awake for hours, thinking of the money I had wasted on my own pleasures, or my extra clothing, and costly car, and many luxuries; and I realized that I did not fully know what the words of Jesus meant: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
Taking the Slums Out of People
“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mould men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (Ezra Taft Benson).
Counting God’s Promises
Two little girls were counting their pennies. One said, "I have ten pennies."
"No," said the first little girl, "You have just five pennies, the same as I."
"But," the second child quickly responded, "My father said that when he got home tonight he would give me five more pennies; so I have ten pennies."
Trustfully, she counted as hers what her father had promised. That's exactly how a Christian can be poor in the estimation of the world, and at the same time, be rich in the things of God. A Christian counts as his whatever his heavenly Father has promised.
A Moments Wisdom
--A fault denied is twice committed.
--The only complete mistake is the mistake from which we learn nothing.
--The man who is incapable of making a mistake is incapable of anything.
--The biggest mistake is the fear that you will make one.
--“When does the service begin?” whispered a visitor to someone sitting beside him in a Gospel meeting. “Sir, service begins just after the meeting ends,” was the reply.
Upcoming Sermons:
9/25/22 AM - Repentance and Baptism: How to Become New; PM - Trustworthiness: Christian Integrity
10/2/22 AM - The Jesus You Never Knew; PM - Themed Song Service: “I Set My Rainbow in the Cloud”
10/9/22 AM - A Sermon on Sleeping; PM - Guest Speaker: Doug Sanders - “What If?”
10/16/22 AM & PM - Gospel Meeting with Wilson Copeland
10/23/22 AM - I Will with God’s Help; PM - Homilies from the Hypocrites
10/30/22 AM - May the Lord Give You Peace; PM - The Making of a Fool
