I more fear what is within me than what comes from without.
-- Martin Luther

The best and brightest of God's saints is but a poor mixed being.
-- J. C. Ryle

Count me among that number!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -- Galatians 6:9

I attended an evangelism conference this week and heard several good speakers. The consistent theme from each of them was perseverance. We are to run this race to the finish, but sometimes that is hard.

Weariness is a part of life. Weariness is a part of ministry.Weariness is definitely something that over takes us when we set our hearts on doing good for others. The wonderful blessing of God, however, is that He will renew us and sustain us and rekindle us. He does it through the encouraging word of a friend. He does it through His presence, the Holy Spirit in us. He does it through songs that lift our hearts. He does it through Scripture and prayer. So while our bodies and spirits may get weary, let's not let our hands fall idle. If we will serve with faithfulness, discipline, and integrity, God's grace will empower us to do what He has called us to do.

Remain faithful - persevere to the end!

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is aliar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. -- 1 John 4:20

"O how I love Jesus!" we sing. Jesus responds by asking how well we are doing with loving our brothers and sisters! We can't love God if we can't love those around us.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 1 John 4:16

We can be sure that God loves us. That love is more than just the
grace that reaches us when we are saved. God's love extends through us.
His love is redemptive in our loving behavior to others. His presence
is seen in our loving attitudes and deeds. God wants His love to be
shared by us to others. In this way, his love blesses us when we
receive it and also when we share it!! 

Tell someone you love them today!

We too often love things and use people when we should be using things and loving people. - Author Unknown

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vision

The other day, I was driving along when the drizzle made mud of the dust on my windshield. It was then I discovered my washer fluid was empty. I made an executive decision that I would keep heading toward my destination without stopping to buy more washer fluid. Bad choice.

As I kept driving my windshield kept getting worse. I would use the wipers every once in a while hoping that the moisture would clean off the windshield with a swipe of the wiper blade...no luck. It only smeared it on thicker. It got so bad, in a short amount of time, that I had to pull off at the nearest gas station and buy a gallon of fluid. Then I had to wait in the parking lot a few extra minutes as the smudge was cleared away with the new fluid and my wipers beating furiously over my windshield.

That is life, friend. You cannot move forward without a clear vision for where you are headed. At least that is what the Scriptures say. Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." (KJV) It can kill a person to drive with the windshield unclear and you cannot get to where God is wanting to take you in life without clearly having His vision for your life before you. You need to fill up your tanks with the fluid of His Word (Ephesians 5:18) and you need to do what it is He is asking you to do.

May we aspire to INFLUENCE lost people for the sake of Jesus Christ, to CONNECT with other believers in Christ, to DEVOTE ourselves to becoming more like the image of His Son by studying His written Word and finally to HELP wherever we see a need that we know we can fulfill because our gifts from God are for that very purpose!

Let's make these more than words in 2009. Let's make them reality!
We WILL be the church God is calling us to be - and it starts with you and me.

Prayer of Jabez

"Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested." 1 Chronicles 4:10

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
-- Mother Teresa

Only a life lived for others is worth living.  -- Albert Einstein

Only a life lived for Christ is worth living. -- Barbara Parker

A life lived for Christ will be a life lived for others ...

The Holy Spirit is not a blessing from God, He is God.
-- Colin Urquhart