MY SON'S LOVE IS A LIFEBOAT

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
JOHN 6:47

Long ago, a huge British ship called the Titanic was hit by an iceberg on its voyage. The Titanic was considered man's unsinkable masterpiece, and yet it sank. Hundred of lives were lost, drowned  in the icy sea, because the ship was not prepared for the emergency. There were not enough life jackets or lifeboats for everyone aboard.
Everyone will face death sometimes, but I have a life jacket for you. It is My truth. I have a lifeboat for you it is the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. I will not make you put on the life jacket. I will not make you climb into the boat. But I have prepared them for you.
If you will wear the life jacket of My truth and climb into the lifeboat of My Son's mercy, you will live come on. Get into the boat!

OUT OF SLIMY PIT

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and more; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
PSALM 40:2

Long Ago David Said that God lifted him out a of slimy pit and set his feet on a solid rock. Do you think David was speaking figuratively or did God actually lift him out of it? In Israel you still find a few areas where there are slimy pit, usually composed of petroleum mixed with unstable soil.
    The prophet Jeremiah had his own pit experience when he was thrown into by King Zedekiah. There he was left to die a slow death until a servant of the king rescued him. A similar pit, which was a teardrop-escape shape-proof prison, existed at the House of Caiaphas in Jerusalem. Prisoners were lowered into this pit by ropes and could never get out.
     The pit that David reffered to could be metaphorical pit. We say someone is in the "pit of depression. " Some of the things that drive us into the pit are not because of our doing. We may suffer from an illness, lose our jobs, or be deserted by our spouse.
     And sometimes we figure the pit ourselves. Drug, alcohol, or sexual addictions can become prisons that can hold anyone as fast as any maximum security prison in the world can.
    But ultimately, it doesn't matter how you got in the pit as much as who can get you out of it. Where is God? No matter how deep your pit, His hand can reach down to lift you up. No dungeon or pit is deep enough to shut out the presence of God. No darkness can overwhelm the light of His presence.
     Sometimes God let's you wait until you can call on him for deliverance so that you know it was Him not your ingenuity,or connection that freed you. When you know where you have been and who delivered you from the dsrkness you can appreciate your wonderful Rescuer and Savior.

POWER OF CONVICTION

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?""
Acts 2:37

The Christian is called to bear fruit, If there is to be fruit, seed must be sworn. For the practical christian life,  the seed is the word.
    First of all, the word must find its way into the hearts of men;' and only as man mediates upon the word will he find power for the practical christian life.
   "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditates  day and night. And he shall be like trees planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Psalm 1:2,3).
   These two versed describe the basis for a fruitful christian life meditation daily upon the word of God. Note the results.
First, a tree planted by the rivers of water will never dry up but will constantly be growing.
Second, as the season for fruit-bearing come, there will be fruit.
Third, "his leaf shall not wither" (the leaf is essential for further growth).
Fourth, there is the all-inclusive promise, "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
He lead us how to conduct personal devotions. As food for the physical body is essential for life and strength, so the Word is essential for spiritual vigor and conviction of sin, regeneration of soul, faith.
Psalm 62:11 says that all power belongs unto God, but as the children of God,we are. Heirs of God, joint heir with Christ, and have access to the power of God in our life. " Is not my word like as a fire? Saith the Lord; and like a hammer  that breaketh the rock in pieces?" (Jer.23:29), So then, it is through the Word of God that power is manifest.
Paul admonished Timothy to preach the Word, Men's words fail as so many burnt embers on the hearts of men. They do not bring conviction. But something almost mystical is seen about God's Word. For when it is given, men are convicted of sin God says in Romans 3:23. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." In Romans 6:23 He says: "For the wages of sin us death." These words prick the hearts of men. Were I to say it in my own words, or as something coming from me, men would not be convicted.

EXPLANATIONS

"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
Isaiah 46:4

Warren Wiesbe once said, "Nothing is harder to heal than a broken heart shattered by experiences  that seem so meaningless. But God's people live on His promises."
    A grocery list of biblical reasons explaining the why and wherefores behind suffering doesn't always help when you're hurting. What does help are the promises of God. Even though God's promises are usually devoid of standard explanation and don't always detail the blueprint behind His plan, they do point to the loving character of our good and kind Lord.
   Take Isaiah 46:4 Even for someone bent over with old age and arthritis, God's explanation is simple and powerful, "I am he, I am he who will sustain you." God wants us to understand  that He alone is the source of help and hope. God owes us no explanations. He did enough explaining on the cross to show that His love is sufficient to meet every need.
   Look again at our verse for the day. In one short sentence, God promises that He will rescue, carry, and sustain you. How? At least six times, God uses the personal pronoun to point to Himself His promises are signed, sealed, and delivered on the basis of who He is. And He is faithful. He is loving. He rescue you and carries you. It's a promise.
   Lord, I don't survive because You roll out in front of me the blueprint behind my painful experiences. I don't live on reasons why. I lean in Your loving faithfulness. This will be enough.

THE PERFECT PHOTOGRAPH OF MAN

those who serve must serve with strength that God gives them, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power forever and ever Amen.
1 Peter 4 : 11

History, biography, and fiction do not gives a true photograph of man; they are records of men as seen by their fellows, but the inner man is not fully made great strides in recent years, but the camera does not reveal "the hidden man of the heart." There are secret within which neither friend nor enemy can fully discover. In fact, man is not fully acquainted with himself. Only in the Bible does a man see himself with every secret thing exposed to the eyes of Omniscience. Nothing is hidden from the searchlight of the Bible. It brings the holiest of men to self-debasement. Great soul like Moses, David, Habakkuk, Daniel, John, and Paul are stripped of every vestige of self a righteousness in the presence of the revealing light of Scripture.
    In Bible photography nothing is touched up. Blemishes are not removed but revealed. The writer of the Bible do not escape the exposure of their own sins. The divine Photographer does not "touch up" these men and omit the records of their shortcomings. It is recorded of Noah that he got drunk, that Abraham told a lie, that Moses lost his temper, that David committed murder and adultery, that Peter and swore, and that Paul quarrelled with his best friend. Had men written the records of such lofty characters, their faults would not have been recorded.
     It is this supernatural power in the Bible that convicts men of sin, compelling them to cry out, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." The sacred books of the ancient religious have no such power.

"Eager Hearers"

 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the nect day, spoke to them and Continued his message until midnight,"

 ACTs 20:7

     Today's passage may cover more than a year's time in Paul's ministry. We know he had intended to remain in Ephesus until pentecost. (1 Cor.16:8), probably of A.D. 55, though the unrest in Ephesus may have accelerated his departure. By the end of the passage, Pentecost of A.D. 56 is approaching (V.16). In summary form, Luke traces the apostle's travels around the Aegean, pausing only to recount in detail one remarkable incident that he himself witnessed. Realizing that his lengthy and fruitful ministry in Ephesus is at an end, Paul bids the church there a fond farewell. Then, following the Spirit's guidance (19:2), he travels to Troas (2 Cor.2:12); through Macedonia, where he encourages the believes but suffers "conflicts" and "fear" over sins in the corinthian church (2Cor.7:5-6); and finally on to Corinth, where he stays three months. But the Jews there have not forgotten Paul, and as he is about to sail for Jerusalem, he learn of a plot against him. Thus, he changes his plan and, with several companins for protection, returns through Macedonia, receiving gifts for the church in Jerusalem (2Cor.8:2-3). Paul and Luke remain in Philippi briefly, perhaps to observe Passover, while the others go ahead to troas. The party reunites there and stays seven days.

      Paul had not foundec the church at troas, but when the believers gather for wordhip on the first day of the week ( the first Nes Testament reference to sunday worship), he joins them and preaches long into the night. The christians rejoice at this "extraordinary opportunity to receive instruction from an apostle," according to Dr. Simon Kistemarker. Yet the hour is late and the many lamps in the room make for warm conditions. Thus a young man named Eutychus, sitting on a windowsill, dozes off and falls three stories to his death. Luke, a physician, can verify he is dead. But Paul, rushing to Eutychus' body, embraces him and proclaims him to be alive, which leaves the church "not a little comforted." Thus like Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, and peter before him, Paul is used by God to raise a person from death.

       Paul remains with the Christians of Trias through the night, celebrating the Lord's Supper with them and exhorting them till daybreak. Then he and his companion depart, they by ship and he, for unexplained reasons, by foot, to continue on toward Jerusalem.

      The belivers of Troas were willing to sit late into the night in a warm, crowded room to hear the preaching of the apostle Paul. Yet we often struggle to sit through a half-hour sermon, even in airconditioned comfort. Ask God to help you rejoice in the blessing of the Word preached. And pray that your pastor will preach it faithfully.

        

THE PLAN BEHIND THE CROSS

"Indeed Herod's and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen."
ACTS 4:27-28

Satan clearly played the leading role in instigating the Crucifixion. He entered the heart of Judas Iscariot, the betrayed of Jesus. Satan sponsored evil was working in the hearts of the Jewish mob who clamored for Jesus' crucifixion. The Devil puffed up Pilate with pride and intimidated him with fear so that he would condemn an innocent man in order to gain political popularity. Finally, Satan-sponsored sin provided the cruel soldiers to ridicule Jesus with spit and slap in the face.
      And how did the early Christian view it all? They praised God that the men responsible for Christ's death had only done what divine  power and will had decided beforehand should happen. In his most daring attempt to frustrate the plan of God, Satan cut his own throat and performed the deed that was God's provision for man's redemption.
     Suppose God the Father had taken the view many modern Christians take the view that days that anything Satan wants must be bad for God's people? It's the same view implies that if Satan wants one thing to happen, God must want the exact opposite to happen. The result? God would have canceled the Crucifixion. If God had done that, none of us would be saved!
      The truth is, Satan and God mat want the exact same event to take place but for different reasons. Satan's motive in Jesus'  crucifixion was rebellion; God's motive was love and mercy.
      Lord, I realize that although Satan was a secondary cause behind the Cross, it was the Father who ultimately willed it and allowed the Devil to carry it out. It's a mystery. . . and I praise You for Your mysterious ways. . . We have salvation because of them!