Go And Tell The Gospel

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). (John 1:41)

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Successful soul winners have their priorities in order.

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They See The Sinner’s Condition. They have a burden for the lost. (Andrew was burdened for Simon Peter). They are burdened about his present state (Eph. 2:1-3; Eph. 2:12). They are also burdened about his prophesied state (Luke 16:19-31; Psa. 9:17). They knows that men are headed to an eternity apart from God (2 Thes. 1:8-9). They are moved by this knowledge and they have a desire to snatch men from the jaws of destruction.

They Sense The Urgency Of Sinner’s Need. They know that the night is coming when no man can work (John 9:4). They know that life is just a vapor and that men are perishing without the promise of another minute (James 4:14; Pro. 27:1). They know that the window of grace will close with the return of Jesus. They know that the lost sinner has no inkling of knowing he is lost from God, Hell bound and hopeless, apart from the salvation that can only be found in Jesus Christ!

They Seize Every Opportunity To Share The Gospel. They look for the open door of opportunity wherever it may appear. They are sensitive to the Lord and His leadership. They watch the person they are witnessing to and they seek to sense what the Lord is doing in the conversation. Not every contact is a time of reaping! It may be a time of sowing seed or watering, but that is just as important. Their duty is to Go and Tell The Gospel!

Jesus The Lamb Of God

John 1:35-37

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In these words, John sets forth two important truths regarding the Lord Jesus Christ.

He Is The Savior Of Sinners. He is the “one and only” Lamb of God. He is the only solution to Man’s problem. Man’s problem is that he is a sinner (Rom. 3:10-13). Man’s problem is that his sin is leading him to Hell (Rom. 6:23). Jesus Christ is the only solution to man’s sin problem (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; John 10:9; 1 John 5:12).

He Is The Sacrifice For Sin. He is the “Lamb of God.” This name pictures Jesus as a sacrificial animal. When Jesus came into this world, He came for the sole purpose of going to the cross to die for sin (Mark 10:45). Only His death can satisfy God (1 John 2:2; 4:10). Only His blood can cleanse the sinful soul (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5). Jesus is the only Lamb God will accept.

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We are to trust in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We are to come to Him for the cleansing power. We are to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. We are to fully trust in His grace every time.

Jesus Is The Creator And Controller

John 1:3

Jesus Is The Maker Of All Creation. Everything was made through Him!

Jesus Is The Master Of All Creation. He is the power that holds the universe together (Col. 1:16-17).

Jesus is the Creator and He is in control.

The world is all in His hands and all things are working toward the purpose for which He designed them!

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But the Lord Jesus humbled Himself and became a creature in creation! God became dependent upon a human mother. Jesus stepped out of eternity, laid aside His glory and entered this world as a human baby! The greatest expression of God’s power was when Jesus added humanity to His deity and came to live and die among men (Phil. 2:5-8).

Jesus was born into this world 2,000 years ago as a helpless infant. He lived here in poverty and rejection only to die a horrible death on a cross. He did all of this because He loved us (Rom. 5:8).

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Jesus is our Creator and Controller.

But Jesus is also our Christ, our Messiah, and Savior!

An Old Smoking Friend

He took a long drag on a cigarette and leaned forward, watching the passing vehicles with interest, happily smiling, and talking to his friend. They were sitting on the front steps of a building. It was their lunch break after hours of hard work, painting and repairing an old shopping complex.

He had just finished half of his lunch. The rice was hard and cold, with salted fish and jungle vegetables. But that was all he could afford, and he must find and muster the energy to work.

He had a cigarette between his fingers, his usual 'dessert' after a meal. He looked inside the cigarette box, examining slowly the last few sticks, before retrieving the lighter inside. Then the terrible sound, half coughing, and half clearing the throat, before he lit the cigarette.

Then he looked at the passing traffic and took a long drag on the cigarette....

The pictures of the cancer diseases on the cigarette box didn't bother him. They never would, never on the long-term, elderly and heavy smokers, though they looked very scary and ugly to me. Old habit dies hard, really hard!

I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long while since I kicked the habit.

I looked at him for a long, long while, recognizing him as an old friend.

He looked much older, thinner and frailer, though I was his senior in school many years ago...

The old man burst into a laugh, smiling and talking to his friend, probably something funny.

But he didn't notice me, or was he avoiding me? I remained a distant stranger to him.

The old man took the last long drag on the cigarette, before he threw it and stepped on it....

Gracious and Kind

Some said we should be more gracious and kind.
Now that I'm older and wiser, I can't agree more.
But I think it is good to be gracious and kind every time.
No matter what happens!

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When we are younger, life is such a breeze!
We are what we are, we do what we do, and we do so happily.
We don't care what we put into our mouths.
And we don't care what spew out of our mouths.
We don't care what we do and where we go.
And we don't care what gets near us and influences us.
We take thing as it is, and we do thing as we please.

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Things change as we grow old.
We devote more times to God's word and prayer.
We become watchful over what we say and do.
We lean to be humble, kind and thankful.
We learn to treasure our loved ones and our friends.
We learn to speak with grace, trying to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry.
It is wonderful just to watch how people have changed!

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But must it be only when we are much older that we become wise?
Does it take so much time to be gracious and kind?
Now that is entirely up to us.
We plan and decide what we want to do with our lives.
And we reap the consequences.

It is easy to be gracious and kind.
Just love your neighbors the way you would love yourselves,
And life will be a breeze.
Oh Yes!

Have a nice day.

Depression Kills

A local lecturer of a higher learning institution was found dead in the kitchen of her home on Wednesday evening (8th February 2012) with a knife lodged in her throat. Police classified the incident as sudden death, since initial investigation didn't indicate any foul play.

The deceased was said to have been suffering from depression over the past few weeks. She had been taken on Monday to see a private doctor, who issued a two-day medical leave. Her husband was then advised to have her evaluated at a mental hospital.

Police retrieved a hand-written note left behind purportedly by her, which said she was stressed.

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Depression kills. Let's be on our guard! Let's take a break when we feel tired, bored and disengaged. Let's do other things we love.

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Let's interact with friends. Let's read books. Let's climb a slope or hill. Let's go to the beach. Let's watch some movie or TV.

Just take a break.

Stay away from depression

Enjoy your life.

More Blessed To Give Than To Receive

Naked we come, naked we go. What we have is all given to us by God to use in accordance with His wishes. And God has blessed us abundantly with His spiritual blessings from the heavenly realms. The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not be in want.

It's more blessed to give than to receive. Freely we give, freely we will receive. God loves a generous giver, a willing giver and a cheerful giver. But He hates a stingy giver, a reluctant giver, and a hateful giver.

What about you? Is it easy for you to give what you have and share it with others?

Some give the remainder of what they have. Some give away the things they don't want. Some give away the things no more in use.

What about us? Can we give our best for those in needs? Our money? Our time? Our love? Our friendship? Our attention? Our care?

It's more blessed to give than to receive. What do you think?

Dog Fight

I think when it's enough, it's enough.

If we are in the middle of an argument and we want to stop arguing, we just keep quiet. We have done the person no wrong. Besides, it's good to let the matter dies down when no solution is available.

Keeping quiet doesn't always mean we have lost. Besides, it is also good for our heart.

I always like to look at people who desire to argue but have no one to argue. Oh! They look really miserable!

I remember seeing dog fights. When some dogs retreated and stopped fighting, the other dogs stood still and didn't know what to do.

Once I loved to argue. Then I loved to see people argued. It was interesting to see them bite one another. Now I prefer to go away. I have many interesting things to do to please my friends and the God I love. Precious time is at stake here.

Over the years as we grow up and mature, we will find out that there are certain things that are not worth having and doing. And one of them is arguing. Believe me. I had learned it!

Have a good day.