Yes, I Must Be In Heaven

Early in my career as a doctor, I went to see a patient who was just coming out of anesthesia. Far off church chimes were sounding. The woman murmured, "I must be in heaven." Then she saw me. She said, "No, I can't be, there's Dr. Campbell." What would the woman have to say if she came out of anesthesia and saw one of us standing there? Hopefully she would say, "Yes I must be in Heaven."

Yea and Amen!

II Corinthians 1:20, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." In Jesus the answer is YES, not maybe, or we'll see, but YES. God is the giver of all good gifts and hopefully we will receive through Christ Jesus all of his good gifts. Perhaps it would help us to study just what is promised to us, and then hold on to it in Jesus. It could be Christmas in July in all of our lives.

Love Never Fails

You might know the verses out of I John 4:7,8 which reads as such, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." It is wonderful that God is love and we can know him and experience as well as share his love. In I Cor. 13:8 it says, "Love never fails, ..." Could we surmise then, that our God never fails. Well of course we can and we should know at all times that God is love and that love never fails. It is important that we live in the reality of what I'm saying here. God is for us at all times and he is here to help us at all times. He is not missing or tardy. He is ever present with us and because of that we should rest in his peace.

The Blessing Of Rain!

All of this rain that we have had lately reminded me of these verses where Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:43-45, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." If God treats the evil and unjust with the blessing of sending the sun and rain upon them as well as upon us, shouldn't we walk full of his grace towards them as well?

Fret Not!

I often remind myself of a very important principle found in God's word. In Psalm 37:1-2 we read, Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb." In verses 8 - 9 of the same chapter it says, "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." We need to be careful and not worry about evil people and their deeds for God has it all in hand and will in His good timing deal with all these people and their situations. Care to rest with me in the Lord?

God's Wisdom

There is so much wisdom to be found in God's word, and the book of Proverbs offers its own bounty is this area. For instance Proverbs 19:11 says, "The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression." It is good for us to restrain our anger (be angry and sin not - Eph. 4:26), and it is to our credit to overlook an offense directed at us. We are called to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. How much of God's wisdom is evident in our lives?

You Are Not Your Own!

Paul writing to the church at Corinth in chapter 6:19-20 says, "What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Mark these words, "ye are not your own", for they are at the foundation of most believer's problems. We aren't in charge of our lives, God is. If we don't believe it, we will be taught by the Holy Spirit that it is true. Most problems can be linked to our refusing to obey God and his word. The prevailing reason that we disobey is that we want to do our own thing in our own way. Are we not able to see that we cannot serve God and self at the same time? Life has got to be lived in God way at God's time. Anything else falls short of the glory of God for we are not our own we are bought with a price.