BROKEN FELLOWSHIP

In the factory, work was going on full speed & every machine was working & producing to its utmost limit. Suddenly a main machine came to a standstill, and the power had to be switched off, making the other machines also idle.

The work had come to a standstill. What had happened? Just this - the belt round the main pulley shaft & that particular machine had snapped, and the whole shop was thrown idle.

Fellowship with God by His Spirit is like the belt.

When it is preserved intact, the service of the Lord goes on spontaneously; but, when fellowship is broken, the work comes to a standstill until fellowship is re-established.

- (moreillustrations.com)

1 Cor 1:9 (GNT): “God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

“Most Christians do not have fellowship with God; they have fellowship with each other about God.” -  Paris Reidhead.

BOASTING

When the Cornerstone Bank in Waco, Nebraska, was robbed of some $6,000 in November of 2012, the bank employees were able to give the police a fairly good description of the teenage girl who pulled off the crime and the car in which she escaped.

As it turned out, the investigators didn’t really need those descriptions, because the thief recorded a YouTube video titled “Chick bank robber” boasting of her smartness.

- (ministry127.com)

“The truth is attention seekers are looking for validation. They want to know that they are worthy.” – Unknown Author.

Js 4:16 (EHV): “But right now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”

“Least doers are the greatest boasters.” -  William Gurnall.

THE SECOND COMING

Mr. Mark Kagan, speaking at one of the Advent Testimony meetings, said that when on a visit to Palestine he & some other Christians gathered together in an upper room within the city wall of Jerusalem, to remember Christ's sacrifice & death.

After the meeting was over, he & another friend went to the Mount of Olives; and as they passed along they caught up a Jew who said that he also was going to the Mount of Olives.

"We orthodox Jews," he said, "as we watch the things that are happening in the world, cannot come to any other conclusion than that the Messiah's coming must be near at hand. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and I am going there every day that I may be ready to give Him a welcome."

Seeing that Israel is making such preparations for His coming, what is the Church doing?

- Christian Herald. (moreillustrations.com)

“Now, a crown is waiting for me. I will get that crown for being right with God. The Lord is the judge who judges rightly, and he will give me the crown on that Day. He will give that crown not only to me but to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” – Paul (2 Tim 4:8 ICB).

“The apostolic church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death and heaven.” - Alexander MacLaren.

GENEROSITY

The story is told that one day a beggar by the roadside asked for alms from Alexander the Great as he passed by.

The man was poor & wretched and had no claim upon the ruler, no right even to lift a solicitous hand. Yet the Emperor threw him several gold coins.

A courtier was astonished at his generosity & commented:

"Sir, copper coins would adequately meet a beggar's need. Why give him gold?"

Alexander responded in royal fashion:

"Cooper coins would suit the beggar's need, but gold coins suit Alexander's giving."

- (aksermonillustrations.blogspot.com)

1 Tim 6:18 (NLT): “Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.”

“Want to snatch a day from the shackles of boredom? Do overgenerous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Do a deed for which you cannot be repaid.” -  Max Lucado.

PROFESSING OR POSSESSING

Come with me to an underpass outside of the freight yards of one of our great railroad centers. Here are 2 or 3 men – hobos, vagabonds, tramps.

One says, “I hope that I will have a million dollars.” Another says, “I hope that I will have two million dollars.” A third says, “I hope that I will have ten million dollars!”

The total assets of the three amount to forty-three cents!

Now go to the paneled board room of one of New York’s great banks. Here are several captains of industry. One explains that the expansion of our economy calls for the expenditure of 60 millions dollars to build a new chemical plant. A Du Pont says that he will put up 15 million dollars; a Rockefeller agrees to duplicate this sum; a Ford & a Mellon nod their agreement & the matter is settled.

But you ask, “Gentlemen! Do you really have money like that?” They nod with assurance & say, “We know that we have it.”

“You mean that you hope that you will have it?” we question. “No,” they reply, “we know that we have it.”

The difference between a tramp & a multimillionaire is the difference between a professing Christian - who hopes that he will have eternal life and a possessing Christian - who knows that he has eternal life.

- Donald Barnhouse (ministry127.com)

Rom 8:16 (TLB): “For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we really are God’s children.”

“If any man is not sure that he is in Christ, he ought not to be easy one moment until he is sure. Dear friend, without the fullest confidence as to your saved condition, you have no right to be at ease, and I pray you may never be so. This is a matter too important to be left undecided.” -  Charles Spurgeon.

CHOOSING RIGHT INFLUENCE

Franklin Roosevelt’s closest adviser during much of his presidency was a man named Harry Hopkins. During World War II, when his influence with Roosevelt was at its peak, Hopkins held no official Cabinet position. Moreover, Hopkins’s closeness to Roosevelt caused many to regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure. As a result he was a major political liability to the President.

A political foe once asked Roosevelt:

“Why do you keep Hopkins so close to you? You surely realize that people distrust him & resent his influence.”

Roosevelt replied: 

“Someday you may well be sitting here where I am now as President of the United States. And when you are, you’ll be looking at that door over there & knowing that practically everybody who walks through it wants something out of you. You’ll learn what a lonely job this is & you’ll discover the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins, who asks for nothing except to serve you.”

Winston Churchill rated Hopkins as one of the half-dozen most powerful men in the world in the early 1940s. And the sole source of Hopkin’s power was his willingness to serve.

- (ministry127.com)

“I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.  All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.” – Paul (Phil 2:20-21 NLT)

“God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” -  D.L. Moody.

BE PREPARED TO GRAB OPPORTUNITIES

An ambitious young man asked a great merchant to reveal the secret of his success.

"Just jump at your opportunity," answered the merchant.

"But," queried the young man, "how can I know when my opportunity is coming?"

"You can't," replied the merchant. "Just keep jumping."

- Friendly Chat  (moreillustrations.com)

“I will prepare and someday my chance will come.” - Abraham Lincoln.

2 Tim 2:21 (HCSB): “So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

“God is preparing His heroes. And when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment. And the world will wonder where they came from.” -  A.B. Simpson.

YOU & YOUR SELF

Once in his dream a man was haunted by a mysterious veiled figure. As soon as he had gained a fortune, the veiled form snatched it away from him.

When he was about to enter into peace & joy, the veiled figure attacked his mind with fear & anxiety.

When he was hungry & sat down to eat, the veiled figure snatched his food away from him.

When he was overcome with slumber & lay down to sleep, this enemy of his life filled his mind with thoughts which banished sleep.

When he had won fame, the veiled figure took away his reputation.

When he stood at the open door of a great opportunity & was about to enter, the hand of the veiled one suddenly closed the door against him.

Enraged, the unhappy man cried out to his adversary, "Who art thou?" and, stretching forth his hand, seized the veil & ripped it from the face of his tormentor; and lo, the face that he saw was his own!

This dream sets forth the great truth that man is his own chief adversary & foe. If he is his own best friend, he is also his own worst enemy. Men make or ruin themselves.

Our fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves & we are the ones, & the only ones, who make or mar our destiny.

- (moreillustrations.com)

“There is one knob to the door of a man's life, and that is on the inside. That door never opens except as the man inside opens it.” - Megiddo Message.

Rev 3:20 (TLB): “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me.”