No Fear Of

 
Writing on the subject of fearing , Leslie Weatherhead, noted English writer and preacher, once drew a parallel be­tween the beginning of life and what is often perceived to be the end. A baby would never choose to leave the security of its mother's womb, so safe, so secure, so warm, he said. But Nature prevails and when the time is right the baby is sent forth into the uncertain and unknown. But what a surprise awaits the child – a loving mother holds it close to her warm body and she feeds it and cares for its every need. All around are people who shower affection upon it.

Is it not much the same, Weatherhed speculates, at ? Again, we are reluc­tant to leave, reluctant to embark on an uncharted journey into the unknown land. But if the Bible is true, there awaits for all who believe in Jesus a welcome, full of affectionate reunions, full of joy and unprecedented love and peace. With such a prospect in store, we need to have no fear of . - Linda Gramatky Smith

The above reminds us of the confidence and faith of Paul as he spoke of . He viewed the time of a Christian's change from this mortal body with the challenge: "... then shall be brought to pass the say­ing, is swallowed up in victory. O , where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory" (1 Cor. 15:54-55)? Indeed the cold fact of holds no fear for the faithful child of God, for he is able to stare it squarely in the face with the con­fidence he will one day overcome it. Should we dread leaving the "comfort" of this world? Not at all - for the next one will be far better! – Bill Moseley

 

 

 

No doubt all have seen the fellow on the TV commercial, walking around with a phone in his ear in all sorts of places, ask­ing the question, "Can you hear me now?" Pretty clever phone advertisement, the implication being, "if you have our phone service, you can hear wherever you are?" Well, I suppose its good to hear folks, but I sometimes wonder if God might not have that same question of us?

In order to become a Christian, God has said clearly that one must "repent and be baptized for the remission of sins..." (Acts 2:38 ). Then as he views the way most men respond to that, he may well be wondering, "can you hear me now?" Evi­dently some do not, for they keep on try­ing to be God's people without comply­ing with the terms of admission into his church!

Around the time of year we have just gone through, we hear a lot about the birth of Jesus. Now that's a great mes­sage and one that we need to be thankful for - that Jesus was born into the world. But how about his ? Some say it is enough to have "communion" to honor that once or twice a year; witness most denominations around us. But God, through the inspired writer, shows us that his people came together on the "first day of the week to break bread" (Acts 20:7). Is God wondering, "can you hear me now?" Many seem not to hear, because they go right on with their customs along this line without ever considering what God has said on the matter.

Or how about the worship of the church? Do we not realize that has set this forth in the New Testament? Has not God said, in effect, "when you come to­gether to worship you should pray to me, sing songs to praise me and edify one another, to lay by in store and to observe my Son's ?" Yet men go on with human forms of worship. God surely must be thinking, "Can you hear me now?"

Well, you get the point. Apply this to any situation you want to. In all things, let us make sure we hear God! – Bill Moseley

 

 

 

In our age of affluence most of us don't want for much that we don't get! With a little ingenuity one can make a little go a long way. I heard about one guy whose cleaners had been charging him $2 to clean and press his shirts. So instead he just donated the shirts to the Salvation Army and when they got them cleaned and hung up, he would go down and buy them back for $1!

I fear that especially among the younger folks we see a generation that doesn't appreciate the value of a buck anymore (if they ever did). Now I'm not saying we should be tightwads and skinflints, but at the same time we need to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with. I stood behind one young lady in a store here awhile back. She laid her pur­chase on the counter, handed the clerk some money and left. The clerk called her back to get her change. Her reply? "Just keep it; I don't want to fool with it."

I guess its folks like that that cause me to seldom walk across a parking lot without picking up any loose change along the way. Guess I'm not proud on things like that, but some of us can re­member when we hardly had the means to buy a quart of milk or loaf of bread! But such attitudes as shown by the young lady at the store demonstrate how unappreciative many have become hav­ing been reared in an age of plenty. Be thrifty, but not stingy. Be generous, but not extravagant. Sensible things in life always lie between extremes. – Bill Moseley