Celebrating
Jesus
"And when one of them that sat at meat with him
heard these things, he said unto him, blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God." (Luke 14:15)
We are told those will be blessed who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.
There is a great celebration day coming. We can also celebrate Jesus and the
joy of our salvation as we obey the Father's call and follow Him.
Each week many assemble to share words of the Lord and set at his spiritual table.
Just as we may give unto others food for their bodies we are also to share spiritual food for their souls.
As we may give to support missions at home or aboard so others may be fed physically,
may we never neglect to also share spiritual food with those
outside our gatherings or homes to provide spiritual food.
The true Bread of Life sent down from heaven is the only thing
which can satisfy souls. Many have need of that which can build up
the spiritual man in preparation for all eternity.
Sometimes we must also provide for physical needs before there
will be acceptance of spiritual bread needed for souls.
Prayers of faith are action prayers which will be willing to help bring the answer.
When we pray for the poor, are we willing to share what we have with them?
When we pray for the lost to be saved, are we actively involved in sharing the gospel message with them?
When we pray for others to feel God's love who may be less lovely to us, will we put aside our differences
and love them anyway? When we pray for God to bless others financially to help spread
the gospel message, are we willing to help be the answer?
These are things which we must consider to be faithful stewards of the things God has entrusted us with.
As we celebrate Jesus, let us look around at the many needs and not only pray
about what we 'see or hear', but see what we pray about as something we may be the
answer to. God will place others upon our hearts and minds when we have a
desire to be pleasing to Him. He loves us so much, and gave his very best
to us. May we give our very best to Him and ask Him to speak to our
hearts today and always. May we seek to do unto others as we would have others
do unto us.
Blessings in Christ,
Jo Ann
J. P.'s Inspirations (c) 2001
Abiding in Christ is abiding in love.
"The greatest of these is "love".
Jesus
Made A Way
"I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
(1 Cor. 2:2)
Knowing Christ and his supreme sacrifice for us is the most important thing we could
ever focus on. The Apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthians here and telling
them he had not focused on them, but on the Lord Jesus Christ and his power.
Do we have our minds set on "knowing Christ" and seeking Him?
As the words to the song read, "open our eyes, Lord; we want to see Jesus."
We can reach out by faith and touch him as we seek Him in prayer and follow Him.
We should also look at our lives and examine to see if our main focus is
Jesus first. When we look toward God regardless of the circumstances,
everything seems to fall into place and things seem to go 'right' for us.
'Knowing nothing except Christ' will eliminate the many hindrances
that may come our way. When others do not agree with us,
problems arise, sickness comes our way, friends or loved ones fail us;
we can resolve to "know nothing" except Christ and the cross of Calvary.
The burden or worries that "could" or "would be" present will seem to
flee as Christ fills our soul with his peace.
Things that may seem to irritate us can actually become a joy to us when
we focus first on "knowing Christ" and trusting him with all the problems of life.
He will carry them and give a peace that we cannot understand or explain.
"Knowing Christ only" in the unpleasant circumstances of life will carry us through them and on toward our eternal reward.
We may see the problems, but "knowing Him" as our number one focus gets us through
life's many circumstances which we each must walk through.
If we have a bad day, we don't have to focus on the day but on the one who created it.
He knows all about each day of our lives as "our times are in his hands".
Let Christ reign today in power and might. He will open our eyes and let us behold
the beauty of the cross by His Spirit. If there is nothing new
we know, simply "knowing Christ" is knowing 'all we need' to make it through
this life and all eternity.
Be blessed today,
In Christ,
Jo Ann
J. P.'s Inspirations
You Never Know
You never know when someone
might catch a dream from you.
Or something you say may
open up the windows
of a mind that seeks light;
The way you live may not matter at all,
But you never know, it might.
And just in case it could be
that another's life, through you,
might possibly change for the better
with a better and brighter view,
it seems it might be worth a try
at pointing the way to the right;
Of course, it may not matter at all,
but then again, it might.
Source Unknown
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