A very simple question, “Whom are you living for?” The answer is in His Word.
“And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again”. – II Corinthians 5:15
If we are true believers, true disciples of Jesus Christ, true followers --- then the answer is as simple as the question: we no longer live for our self but for Him (Jesus) who died for us.
Are we living for Jesus? Or, are we living for someone or something else. Are we living for Jesus and His kingdom purposes? Or, are we living for other purposes. Are we living just to get from paycheck to paycheck to pay the bills, to pay the “man”? Are we living to have more? Are we living to ___________ --- you fill in the blank. I’m not saying we should not work to provide for our needs and wants. That’s a given. We have a responsibility to provide for our families and to not let our debts go unpaid (Rom. 13:8). However, I believe our attitude toward that objective comes into play as we examine – “Whom are we living for?” Yes, we are in the world. A world created by God Almighty. But this will not be the final resting place of our souls. Paul also states in II Corinthians 4:18, “For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
So, while we are here let us remember that we are to live for Christ who died for us. Let us live for His kingdom and His kingdom purposes. Let us live that others may see Christ in us that they too may come to live for Him.
Bottom Line: Whom are you living for? May it be for Him who died for you and was raised again to set you free from sin and death. Amen? Amen!
MG
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Rolled Away To Let Us In
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground but the men said to them. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words. – Luke 24:1-8
Although the above passage of scripture concerning the empty tomb is from the book of Luke, I love reading the account in the other three gospels, too. Please take time to look them up and read: Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-7; John 20:1-18.
There are several things we could talk about and dwell on in these passages: (1) Jesus was true to His word – He rose on the third day; (2) The tomb is empty – We serve a risen and living Lord and Savior. I like the fact that the stone was rolled away. The women and the disciples were able to see for themselves that their Lord had risen “just as He said.” You see the stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out it was rolled away to let us in. What a testimony (witness) the women and the first disciple had in telling of that experience.
Bottom Line: May we all know that the stone was rolled away for us to look in and to see that indeed – “He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.” Hallelujah!
Love in Christ,
Morris
P.S. I want to share with you the words of a hymn I remember singing as a child.
He Lives
By Alfred H. Ackley
I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the world today;
I know that he is living, whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He’s always near.
In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And tho’ my heart grows weary I never will despair;
I know that He is leading thro’ all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last.
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.
Although the above passage of scripture concerning the empty tomb is from the book of Luke, I love reading the account in the other three gospels, too. Please take time to look them up and read: Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-7; John 20:1-18.
There are several things we could talk about and dwell on in these passages: (1) Jesus was true to His word – He rose on the third day; (2) The tomb is empty – We serve a risen and living Lord and Savior. I like the fact that the stone was rolled away. The women and the disciples were able to see for themselves that their Lord had risen “just as He said.” You see the stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out it was rolled away to let us in. What a testimony (witness) the women and the first disciple had in telling of that experience.
Bottom Line: May we all know that the stone was rolled away for us to look in and to see that indeed – “He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.” Hallelujah!
Love in Christ,
Morris
P.S. I want to share with you the words of a hymn I remember singing as a child.
He Lives
By Alfred H. Ackley
I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the world today;
I know that he is living, whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He’s always near.
In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And tho’ my heart grows weary I never will despair;
I know that He is leading thro’ all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last.
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
His Word
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. – Isaiah 55:10-11
A very familiar passage of scripture to us that I personally feel we need to return to every so often to remind us of the sovereignty of God’s Word. Which is why we need to be in some type of daily Bible reading and why we need to hear His Word shared.
Week after week, month after month, year after year His Word is shared on Sunday mornings at CCC. If I did not believe that this passage was true, others and myself would not be here sharing from His Word on Sundays. But, I do believe it! And, whether it is me or Lamar or Bill or Buck or L.A. or others that are sharing His Word it does not matter – because seeds of His Word are being planted into hearts, souls, minds, and spirits of all who hear. And, it will not return empty! It will accomplish (achieve) its purpose. Amen? Amen!
So, I encourage you to get into His Word – read His Word – hear His Word – let those seeds be planted and bring forth the fruit that He desires so that His purposes may be accomplished in your life.
Bottom Line: Get into His Word, read His Word, hear His word – it will not return empty.
Love in Christ,
Morris
A very familiar passage of scripture to us that I personally feel we need to return to every so often to remind us of the sovereignty of God’s Word. Which is why we need to be in some type of daily Bible reading and why we need to hear His Word shared.
Week after week, month after month, year after year His Word is shared on Sunday mornings at CCC. If I did not believe that this passage was true, others and myself would not be here sharing from His Word on Sundays. But, I do believe it! And, whether it is me or Lamar or Bill or Buck or L.A. or others that are sharing His Word it does not matter – because seeds of His Word are being planted into hearts, souls, minds, and spirits of all who hear. And, it will not return empty! It will accomplish (achieve) its purpose. Amen? Amen!
So, I encourage you to get into His Word – read His Word – hear His Word – let those seeds be planted and bring forth the fruit that He desires so that His purposes may be accomplished in your life.
Bottom Line: Get into His Word, read His Word, hear His word – it will not return empty.
Love in Christ,
Morris
Monday, February 1, 2010
Whatever is Lovely
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable --- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. – Philippians 4:8
To me there is no doubt that there is a battle going on for our minds. Paul is giving us instructions here about what our minds should be thinking about. There is so much negative stuff to be thinking about these days. Hardly any news agency reports on what is noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Some do. Every now and then you will see a story about such things but they really are just every now and then.
Sometimes I think we need to put out of our mind all the ignoble, wrong, impure, ugly, and abhorrent things we hear and see, claim this verse of scripture and let it just kind of clean us up. Let it soak in, let it wash us, and let it clean out our thought life.
Can we agree that this February, the “love” month, we will think of whatever is lovely? Let’s just begin there. It's a good starting point. I hope you will.
Bottom Line: Where are your thoughts? What are you thinking? May we all think on what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Love in Christ,
MG
To me there is no doubt that there is a battle going on for our minds. Paul is giving us instructions here about what our minds should be thinking about. There is so much negative stuff to be thinking about these days. Hardly any news agency reports on what is noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Some do. Every now and then you will see a story about such things but they really are just every now and then.
Sometimes I think we need to put out of our mind all the ignoble, wrong, impure, ugly, and abhorrent things we hear and see, claim this verse of scripture and let it just kind of clean us up. Let it soak in, let it wash us, and let it clean out our thought life.
Can we agree that this February, the “love” month, we will think of whatever is lovely? Let’s just begin there. It's a good starting point. I hope you will.
Bottom Line: Where are your thoughts? What are you thinking? May we all think on what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Love in Christ,
MG
Friday, January 1, 2010
Starting Off on the Right Foot
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” – Isaiah 30:21
We are all about to begin a New Year and we will all be walking in some direction. My prayer for all of us is that we start off on the right foot heading in the direction the Lord has for us -- both individually and corporately as His body --the Church.
We are all on a journey here on earth and, yes, we will be physically walking on the earth in our homes, in our work places, in schools, out in the public but, we also walk a spiritual journey with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit we will be directed in our physical journey and our spiritual journey with Him. Every new day of 2010 brings about the opportunity to hear from Him. We just have to listen for Him. We need to learn to discern His voice above all the other voices clamoring for our attention. We need to know His voice (John 10:3-5) -- In the midst of a storm? Yes. But also as a gentle whisper as He did in speaking to Elijah (I Kings 19:12).
So, along with the prayer of us starting off the New Year on the right foot and in the right direction I will be praying that our ears will hear the voice behind us saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Bottom Line: May your New Year start off on the right foot and may your ears hear His voice directing you every step of the way as you journey through 2010.
Love in Christ,
MG
We are all about to begin a New Year and we will all be walking in some direction. My prayer for all of us is that we start off on the right foot heading in the direction the Lord has for us -- both individually and corporately as His body --the Church.
We are all on a journey here on earth and, yes, we will be physically walking on the earth in our homes, in our work places, in schools, out in the public but, we also walk a spiritual journey with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit we will be directed in our physical journey and our spiritual journey with Him. Every new day of 2010 brings about the opportunity to hear from Him. We just have to listen for Him. We need to learn to discern His voice above all the other voices clamoring for our attention. We need to know His voice (John 10:3-5) -- In the midst of a storm? Yes. But also as a gentle whisper as He did in speaking to Elijah (I Kings 19:12).
So, along with the prayer of us starting off the New Year on the right foot and in the right direction I will be praying that our ears will hear the voice behind us saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Bottom Line: May your New Year start off on the right foot and may your ears hear His voice directing you every step of the way as you journey through 2010.
Love in Christ,
MG
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Greatest Gift
When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:44-46
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” What a wonderful truth for us to receive, take in and meditate on. Have you ever tried to imagine complete darkness? (Personally, I do not want to go there even in my imagination. I like the light! I like it when on December 22 the daylight hours start becoming a longer part of our day.) But, have you ever tried to imagine no stars, no moon, no sun, no street lights, no lights from a neighbor’s house, not even a single match striking to light a single candle? To me, complete darkness – total absence of light – does not depict a very inviting place to be.
Which is why I love this scripture so much! Jesus, sent by Father, came to show the Way, to light our path, to bring us out of darkness into his wonderful and marvelous light (I Peter 2:9) and to eternal life.
During this season of thanksgiving, where we usually give thanks for a lot of things in our life, let us not forget to give thanks for the most wonderful and greatest gift of all -- Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Let’s give thanks to God our Father for sending (giving – John 3:16) us His One and Only Son --- the Light of the world who has taken us from dreadful darkness into lighted pathways where we can walk hand-in-hand with Him.
Bottom Line: Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all is the Light of the world and everyday for those who believe in Him, He faithfully lights up the pathways for us to follow.
MG
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” What a wonderful truth for us to receive, take in and meditate on. Have you ever tried to imagine complete darkness? (Personally, I do not want to go there even in my imagination. I like the light! I like it when on December 22 the daylight hours start becoming a longer part of our day.) But, have you ever tried to imagine no stars, no moon, no sun, no street lights, no lights from a neighbor’s house, not even a single match striking to light a single candle? To me, complete darkness – total absence of light – does not depict a very inviting place to be.
Which is why I love this scripture so much! Jesus, sent by Father, came to show the Way, to light our path, to bring us out of darkness into his wonderful and marvelous light (I Peter 2:9) and to eternal life.
During this season of thanksgiving, where we usually give thanks for a lot of things in our life, let us not forget to give thanks for the most wonderful and greatest gift of all -- Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Let’s give thanks to God our Father for sending (giving – John 3:16) us His One and Only Son --- the Light of the world who has taken us from dreadful darkness into lighted pathways where we can walk hand-in-hand with Him.
Bottom Line: Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all is the Light of the world and everyday for those who believe in Him, He faithfully lights up the pathways for us to follow.
MG
Monday, November 9, 2009
Be Active
I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. – Philemon 4-6
To be active in our faith requires some type of action on our part. It is not enough just to go to church on Sundays. It is on each one of us individually to share our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with others. It is so easy to say, “That’s the role of the pastor or the evangelist.” I may not have actually said that in past years but I have certainly thought it.
This scripture was not written to a pastor or an evangelist. It was written to Philemon, a business owner in Colosse, whom Paul had converted to the Way. Philemon hosted the local home church there. It could have been you.
The point to me is that we need to be constantly emptying ourselves so that more of Christ can come in and then we begin emptying ourselves again and more of Christ comes in. By being willing to be “active in sharing our faith” we make room for more of Christ in our own life. And then we begin having a “full understanding” of all we have in Christ.
Let me ask us all some questions. And I do mean all so that includes myself.
Are you actively sharing your faith? Are you telling of the changes He has brought about in your life? Are you sharing what He has done for you? Are you telling of His goodness and mercy and grace in your life? Are you gaining in the “full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ”? I believe we all need to seriously be in the process of answering those questions.
Bottom Line: Are you active in sharing your faith in Christ Jesus?
MG
P.S. Let's be thankful this Thanksgiving season for our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that we live in a country where we are allowed to be active in the sharing of our faith.
To be active in our faith requires some type of action on our part. It is not enough just to go to church on Sundays. It is on each one of us individually to share our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with others. It is so easy to say, “That’s the role of the pastor or the evangelist.” I may not have actually said that in past years but I have certainly thought it.
This scripture was not written to a pastor or an evangelist. It was written to Philemon, a business owner in Colosse, whom Paul had converted to the Way. Philemon hosted the local home church there. It could have been you.
The point to me is that we need to be constantly emptying ourselves so that more of Christ can come in and then we begin emptying ourselves again and more of Christ comes in. By being willing to be “active in sharing our faith” we make room for more of Christ in our own life. And then we begin having a “full understanding” of all we have in Christ.
Let me ask us all some questions. And I do mean all so that includes myself.
Are you actively sharing your faith? Are you telling of the changes He has brought about in your life? Are you sharing what He has done for you? Are you telling of His goodness and mercy and grace in your life? Are you gaining in the “full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ”? I believe we all need to seriously be in the process of answering those questions.
Bottom Line: Are you active in sharing your faith in Christ Jesus?
MG
P.S. Let's be thankful this Thanksgiving season for our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that we live in a country where we are allowed to be active in the sharing of our faith.
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