LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

A lovely story is told by Mrs. R. J. Richardson, a missionary refugee from China. When traveling with two little children, she was examined by a Japanese soldier whose rude handling of her person provoked her protest.

This was answered by a harsh slap on her face, which stunned her mentally & physically. She was finally released & got into her rickshaw & drove off.

"As we passed through a little lane, seeing nobody in sight, I gave vent to my feelings & began to sob. I could not help it. When the rickshaw-puller heard me crying, he turned around & said, 'Don't cry, lady. Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake.'

This humble servant of the Lord, a perfect stranger to me, was being used of the Lord to bring me a message of comfort & to give me a thought that would overcome all feeling of resentment."

- The Sunday School Times (moreillustrations.com)

"God is not looking for extraordinary characters as His instruments, but He is looking for humble instruments through whom He can be honored throughout the ages."  -  A.B. Simpson.

Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too … love your enemies … You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect.  (Mat 5:38-39, 44 & 48 GNB)

CHORUSES AND HYMNS

An old farmer went to the city one weekend & attended the big city church. He came home & his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the farmer, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”

“Praise choruses,” said his wife, “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.

The farmer said, “Well, it’s like this. If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well that would be a hymn.”

“If on the other hand I were to say to you, ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, . . .’

Well, that would be a praise chorus.”

           

- (ministry127.com)

"In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth; God is pleased when we're pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our Maker's praise without anxiety."  - A.W. Tozer.

Eph 5:19 (KJV): "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

           

"Praise is not only speaking to the Lord on our own account, but it is praising Him for what He has done for others."  - D.L. Moody.

POISONING YOURSELF

When a rattlesnake is cornered, sometimes it becomes so angry that it bites itself.

When a man harbors hatred or bitterness in his heart he is poisoning himself just like the rattlesnake that bites itself.

- (ministry127.com)

"Hatred is self-punishment."  - Hosea Ballou.

Ecc 7:9 (CEV): "Only fools get angry quickly and hold a grudge."

"Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.

"A bitter spirit will keep you from being a better person."  -  Woodrow Kroll.

GIVING TO THE LORD

A man on vacation was strolling along outside his hotel. Suddenly, he was attracted by the screams of a woman kneeling in front of a child.

The man knew enough to determine that the child had swallowed a coin. Seizing the child by the heels, the man held him up, gave him a few shakes & a quarter dropped to the sidewalk.

“Oh, thank you sir!” cried the woman. “You seemed to know just how to get it out of him. Are you a doctor?”

“No, ma’am,” replied the man. “I’m with the Internal Revenue Service.”

It is understandable to be unenthusiastic about paying taxes, but when it comes to giving to the Lord we should have a joyful spirit. After all, He has given us every good thing we have.

- (ministry127.com)

2Co 9:7-8 (GNB): "You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly. And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause."

"After giving something to God, you are no longer accountable for it. Your blessing is based on your giving, not on what others do with the gift."  -  Ed Cole.

THE SANCTIFICATION PROCESS

The process of sanctification can be compared to an iceberg, which is almost 90% under water. As the sun shines on the iceberg, the exposed part melts, moving the lower part upward.

In the same way, we are usually aware of only a small part of our sinfulness, which is all we can deal with at any one time.

However, as the light of God works in our lives & changes us in the areas we know about, we become aware of new areas needing the work of God.

- 'Discover the Book God Wrote' by Bill Bright (ministry127.com)

Job 34:32 (GNB): "Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil?"

"Many blush to confess their faults, who never blush to commit them."  - William Secker.

FEAR

According to an ancient legend, a man driving one day to Constantinople was stopped by an old woman who asked him for a ride. He took her up beside him & as they drove along, he looked at her & become frightened & asked, "Who are you?"

The old woman replied: "I am Cholera"

Thereupon the peasant ordered the old woman to get down & walk; but she persuaded him to take her along upon her promise that she would not kill more than five people in Constantinople. As a pledge of the promise she handed him a dagger, saying to him that it was the only weapon with which she could be killed. Then she added: "I shall meet you in two days. If I break my promise, you may stab me."

In Constantinople 120 people died of the cholera. The enraged man who had driven her to the city & to whom she had given the dagger as a pledge that she would not kill more than five went out to look for the old woman & meeting her, raised his dagger to kill her. But she stopped him, saying: "I have kept my agreement. I killed only five. Fear killed the others."

This legend is a true parable of life. Where disease kills its thousands, fear kills its tens of thousands. Fear betrays man's spirit, breaks down his defense, disarms him in the battle, unfits him for the work of life & adds terror to the dying bed.

- (moreillustrations.com)

"Negative minds full of fear and doubt produce negative lives, which can ultimately destroy your life."  -  Joyce Meyer.

"For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." – Job (Job 3:25 KJV)

"Fear God and you'll have nothing else to fear."  - Woodrow Kroll.

FORWARD & UPWARD

"Between an airplane & every other form of locomotion & transportation there is one great contrast.

The horse & wagon, the automobile, the locomotive, the speedboat & the great battleship - all can come to a standstill without danger & they can all reverse their engines or their power & go back.

But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up. It dare not stand still. If it loses its momentum & forward-drives, then it crashes.

The only safety for the airplane is in its forward & upward motion.

The only safe direction for the Christian to take is forward & upward. If he stops, or if he begins to slip & go backward, that moment he is in danger.”

- C. E. Macartney (ministry127.com)

"No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on that one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." - Paul (Phi 3:13)

"The future is as bright as the promises of God."  -  William Carey.