THE NECESSITY OF PREPARATION

In May 2013, 13 yr old Arvind Mahankali of New York, correctly spelled the word “knaidel” (a German-Yiddish word for a dumpling) to win the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

He had finished third each of the two previous years. In both of those years he was eliminated when he failed to correctly spell a German-derived word.

In preparation for his third attempt at the prize, he worked to strengthen his area of weakness.

“This year I prepared German words & I studied them, so when I got German words this year, I wasn’t worried,” he said after his victory.

No one has yet invented a way to magically acquire knowledge - or anything else worthwhile - without effort.

If we are going to learn what we need to know to succeed in life, whether in our ministry, our career, our family, or even our hobbies, we are going to have to devote the time & effort required to gain the skills & knowledge we need and then continue to devote the time & effort required to maintain what we have learned.

2 Tim 2:15 (ICB): “Do the best you can to be the kind of person that God will approve, and give yourself to him. Be a worker who is not ashamed of his work—a worker who uses the true teaching in the right way.”

- (ministry127.com)

“If we prepare ourselves for life's inevitables, we will not be perplexed by life's transitions.” -  Jack Hyles.

SILENCED

William Hague Wood turned infidel recently. He attended a revival meeting several nights at High Shoals & ran an opposition meeting outside the church.

He made mighty addresses & declared that the preachers were talking nonsense. He said they were frauds & were deceiving the people.

On Sunday his tongue was paralyzed while he was making a speech ridiculing the church. This frightened his hearers, who broke for the church. At night Wood attended the meeting & handed up the following note to the preacher in charge:

"I now believe that there is a hell & that I am doomed for it. Pray for me."

There was a great sensation in the congregation & in less than five minutes the altar would not accomodate half the mourners.

- Pentecostal Evangel. (moreillustrations.com)

Ps 7:12 (GNT): “If they do not change their ways, God will sharpen his sword. He bends his bow and makes it ready.”

“The Judge will pass sentence, not according to what any other person has said concerning you, but according to what you have yourself spoken. They that are accused, then, have no fear, but they that accuse.” -  John Chrysostom.

THE COST OF INDECISION

Former President Ronald Reagan says he learned the need for decision-making early in life.

An aunt had taken him to a cobbler to have a pair of shoes made for him. The shoemaker asked young Ronald Reagan: “Do you want a square toe or a round toe?”

Reagan hemmed & hawed. So the cobbler said, “Come back in a day or two & let me know what you want.”

A few days later the shoemaker saw Reagan on the street & asked what he had decided about the shoes.

“I still haven’t made up my mind,” the boy answered. “Very well,” said the cobbler.

When Reagan received the shoes, he was shocked to see that one shoe had a square toe & the other a round toe.

“Looking at those shoes every day taught me a lesson,” said Reagan years later. “If you don’t make your own decisions, somebody else will make them for you!”

- Archie B. Lawson (ministry127.com)

Col 3:15 (GNT): “The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.”

“A father's responsibility is not to make the child's decisions, but to let the child watch him make his.” -  Ed Cole.

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

The first thing we need to understand is we cannot save ourselves.

Imagine being on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean & falling overboard. Because no one saw you fall in, the ship continues toward its destination, leaving you hopelessly stranded. 

After treading water for several hours, you find yourself surrounded by sharks. You face certain death at any moment. Exhausted from trying to stay afloat, you slip underwater & begin to drown. Somehow, you force your way to the surface for one more gasp of air.

As you are about to go under for the last time, a helicopter appears miraculously out of nowhere. The rescue squad inside the helicopter throws out a rope & lassos your hand, pulling you out of the water just seconds before the sharks move in for the kill.

The helicopter flies you back to shore, where you receive treatment in the hospital. After you recover, you begin to brag about how you saved yourself. 

"I'm really proud of my hand. This hand saved me. Let me tell you how I found the helicopter in the middle of the ocean...."

Just like that, we are also helpless to save ourselves from hell. God doesn't want our help, either.  Because Jesus does all of the saving, we have no right to brag about anything we have done. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ep 2:8-9). 

- Kent Crockett, (aksermonillustrations.blogspot.com)

“Grace puts its hand on the boasting mouth, and shuts it once for all.” -  Charles Spurgeon.

“Self-righteousness is the devil's masterpiece to make us think well of ourselves.” -  Thomas Adams.

THE SECOND MILE

It is not noteworthy to do all that is expected of us. Many often do that. A believer in Christ is expected to do much more than that.

A man in a hospital, just after a severe operation, asked his nurse to turn his pillow. She at once rearranged two pillows & made him much more comfortable.

As minute after minute & hour after hour dragged on, he noticed that whenever he asked this nurse for anything, she always did more than he asked: did it instantly & cheerily.

Finally he asked her if she remembered what the Lord said about going "the second mile," and told her how gratefully he had noticed that she always went that second mile.

And it meant, oh, so much, to a weak, suffering patient lying there in helplessness!

This man had learned a new lesson from his nurse; all unconsciously she was showing him the meaning of that grace of God that does "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." (Ep 3:20).

- Sunday School Times. (moreillustrations.com)

“Go the extra mile. It's never crowded.” -  Author unknown.

Col 3:23 (WE): “Whatever your work is, do it gladly. Do it as you would do it unto the Lord and not for people.”

PRACTICALITY

Not long ago a heathen woman was saved chiefly by hearing the Word of God read. She suffered very much persecution from her husband.

One day a missionary asked her:

"When your husband is angry & persecutes you, what do you do?"

She replied: "Well, sir, I cook his food better; when he complains I sweep the floor cleaner; and when he speaks unkindly I answer him mildly. I try, sir, to show him that when I became a believer in Christ, I became a better wife & a better mother."

The consequences of this was that, while the husband could withstand all the preaching of the missionary, he could not stand the practical preaching of his wife & gave his heart to God.

- Evangelical Visitor.(moreillustrations.com)

Gal 5:22-23 (VOICE): “The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

“It is of no use for any of you to try to be soul-winners if you are not bearing fruit in your own lives. How can you serve the Lord with your lips if you do not serve Him with your lives? How can you preach His gospel with your tongues, when with hands, feet, and heart you are preaching the devil's gospel, and setting up an antichrist by your practical unholiness?” -  Charles Spurgeon.

REVEALING SELF

There is an allegory that reads something like this:

A man was complaining of his neighbors. “I never saw such a wretched set of people,” he said, “as there are in this village. They are mean, greedy of gain & careless. They are forever speaking evil of one another.”

“Is it really so?” asked the angel who was walking with him.

“It is indeed,” said the man. “Why, only look at this fellow coming toward us. I know his face though I cannot tell his name. See his little, sharp, cruel eyes darting here & there. The very droop of his shoulders is mean and he slinks along instead of walking.”

“It is clever of you to see all this,” said the angel, “but there is one thing which you do not perceive.”

“What is that?” asked the man.

“Why, that is a looking-glass we are approaching.”

- (moreillustrations.com)

Js 1:23-24 (GNT): “ If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like.”

“The man who gazes upon and contemplates day by day the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who has caught the glow of the reality that the Lord is not a theory but an indwelling power and force in his life, is as a mirror reflecting the glory of the Lord.” -  Alan Redpath.

ARE WE OBEYING?

S. D. Gordon, in his Quiet Talks on Power, says that a prominent clergyman in New England tells this experience:

"In the house of his pastoral work he was called upon to conduct the funeral service of a young woman who had died quite unexpectedly. 

As he entered the house he met the minister in charge of the mission church where the family attended & asked him, ‘Was Mary a believer?’ To his surprise, a pained look came into the young man's face as he replied:

`Three weeks ago I had a strong impulse to speak to her, but I did not; & I do not know.'

A moment later he met the girl's Sunday school teacher & asked her the same question. Quickly the tears came as she said:

`Two weeks ago, Doctor, a voice seemed to say to me, "Speak to Mary," & I knew what it meant, and I intended to, but I did not & I do not know.'

Deeply moved by these unexpected answers, a few minutes later he met the girl's mother & thinking doubtless to give her an opportunity to speak a word that would bring comfort to her own heart, he said quietly, `Was Mary a Christian girl?'

The tears came quick to the mother's eyes as she sobbed out, `One week ago a voice came to me saying, "Speak to Mary," and I thought of it, but I did not do it at the time & you know how unexpectedly she went away & I do not know."'

- The King's Business. (moreillustrations.com)

1 Thess 5:19 (AMP): “Do not quench the Holy Spirit.”

THE WIFE

The word wife literally means weaver.

In the times before the factories arose, the wool was spun by the girls, who were therefore called spinsters; and the thread was woven into cloth by the mother, who was therefore called wife.

And it is well remarked that "in this word is wrapped up a kind of earnest, indoor, stay-at-home occupation, as being fit for one who bears this name."

This is indeed a far cry from many who bear this name today.

- The Biblical Illustrator (moreillustrations.com)

Pro 31:31 (GNT): “Give her (wife) credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.”

“Try praising your wife, even if it does frighten her at first.” -  Billy Sunday.