One Drop!

Colossians 1:14 says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." It is awesome to have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ through the shedding of his blood on Calvary, and to have even our sins forgiven. We have been reconciled to God by Jesus' actions. Scripture says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). How much of the Lord's blood did it take? Was one drop enough? The Apostle Paul said that he was the chief of all sinners, and I lay claim on being second place in that respect. If the truth were known we were all great at sinning and we needed Jesus to lay his life down for each of us. In my life I have thought that it took a lot of Jesus' blood for my sins to be forgiven, but I now know that just one drop of that precious blood is all that is needed for even the vilest of sinners. I know people who need to go to Christ to receive redemption through his blood, and I pray for them regularly. Do you know some that need Christ? Please hold them up to God on a regular basis, for we don't know when Christ will return for the redeemed, but we do know that He will.

Do We Trust The Lord?

I remember it well, the pastor was asking for one of the youth to come up on the platform and to help him. A young man shyly went forward. The pastor asked him if he trusted him and he replied, "sure I trust you pastor". The pastor asked him to turn his back toward the pastor and to fall back and he would catch him. Before the youth took the leap the pastor asked him once again if he trusted him and he answered yes. Then the stage was set, the youth was to fall back and trust the pastor to catch him. On the count of three the young man fell back and down toward the floor of the platform he went. The pastor waited until just before he hit the floor and was just about to catch him when the young man fearing that the pastor wasn't going to catch him stepped back and caught himself. They tried one more time with the same results. I related to this example. There are times when God asks us to trust him and we say we will, but God lets us go farther than we feel safe and then we catch ourselves. Do we trust in the Lord? With all our hearts? I hope that we all do, for we will be given plenty of chances to prove it to the Lord and ourselves.

God's Goodness!

In Romans 11:22 it says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou shalt be cut off." Praise God for his goodness for it leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). It is so good to be in the arms of the Lord, basking in his goodness. Let us all walk in his light and be blessed by his goodness.

Give and it shall be given unto you.

Luke 6:38 says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Our motive for giving should be love, and when we do give, we lovingly receive in return.

Open Your Hand To The Poor!

In Deuteronomy 15:11 God says to his people, "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." In this town where we live there are people standing on the corners with signs in hand asking for help in their hour of need. It is a blessing to see so many reach out to help others. We Christians should be the most giving of all for God gave us his only son to be our savior. We of all people understand what it is like to be needy and yet have someone love us enough to meet our need. Let's all join in with the many that are helping others in this difficult economic hour.

Straining at gnats while swallowing camels

In Matthew 23:23 Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone." Men like rules to follow and keep, for in doing so they feel righteous and justified. On one occasion, Jesus spoke that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, with the second part being loving our neighbors as ourselves.(Mark 12:28-31) It is very important that we not omit the greatest commandment of all. May God help us to correctly see so that we don't do as the scribes and Pharisees, who as Jesus said strained at gnats while swallowing camels.(Matthew 23:24)

Maturity!

Ann Landers once said, "Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even." I've known several Christians who could grow greatly by heeding her advice. How mature are we?