“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”— Phil. 1:21.

How close life and death are! In this verse there is only a comma between them, and every one of us stands where that comma stands, between life and death. Life is the vestibule of death, and death is close on the heels of life. The systole and diastole; the throb and beat of the pulse; the swing of the pendulum this way or that!

Paul is enamoured with the joys of life. He was a toiler and a traveller, and lived amid the busy throng that jostled him in the streets. The philosopher, as he passed, carrying his scrolls of learning, said: “To me to live is knowledge”; the soldier, passing, looked with contempt on the man of letters, and said: “To me to live is fame”; the merchant in passing, said, with pride: “To me to live is riches”; the toiling masses passed by, saying: “To us to live is toil and trouble.” Amid all these, the Apostle strikes in with no bated breath, saying joyously: “To me to live is neither wealth, nor labour, nor fame, nor glory, but Christ.”—the origin of his life.

If we would become partakers of the Divine Nature, we also must have such a definite experience. We can trace our natural life back to our parents, and our spiritual life must begin in the hour when, in early childhood, or later, we are made partakers of the Nature of the Risen Saviour (John 1:12-13; 2Pe 1:4).

Christ must be the model of our life. Every man works to a model. Consciously or not, we are always imitating somebody, and every true follower of Christ seeks to approximate to the measuring of the stature of our Lord–“Beholding, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory.”

Christ must be the aim of life. That His will may be done on earth as in heaven; that others may know and love and serve Him as we do; that He may be the crowned King of men–that must be our purpose and aim. External things have no power over the one who can say: “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”; then we can triumph over Death itself, and say: “To die is gain.”

The mountain peaks of the Christ-life that we would live call to us, but they often seem too steep and high for us to reach, but Thou knowest and hast an infinite compassion for Thy children. Fulfil in us the good pleasure of Thy will, and realise in us the ideals Thou hast taught us to cherish. AMEN. –F B Meyer

After hearing my youngest son explain why he went into the army and law enforcement afterwards, this story from Senior Living echoes something I’ve heard before. As Christians we need to give serious thought as to how we will spend our lives, lest they be wasted.

The chaplain walked in and saw the soldier lying on the bed. The news was bad. His leg had been terribly injured and had to be amputated. Now, it was up to the chaplain to break the news to the wounded soldier.

“Son,” the chaplain spoke as the drowsy soldier opened his eyes, “you’ve lost your leg in a great cause. You’ll never walk again. I’m sorry.”

The soldier’s parched lips opened as he struggled to make the words come out, “I didn’t lose my leg. I gave it.”

When we enter eternity, we’ll either be known as people who lost our lives, or gave them for a greater cause. And the key factor in how we’ll be remembered isn’t necessarily our means of departure (we don’t have to be martyred to give our lives), but it’s how we live every day.

If you want to give your life to a greater cause – live for that cause right now. And of course, there’s no greater cause, nor a greater King, than Jesus Christ. Live daily for Him and give your life for the sake of His Kingdom!

Pray and ask God to help you live for Christ daily and give your life for the sake of the gospel.

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.“–2 Cor. 12:9

You can’t give serous thought to life without thinking of God and thinking of God brings several things to mind—His wonderful works, precious promises, lasting love, marvelous mercy, and great grace. And I think I am safe in saying that of all things nothing is more amazing than grace– even though it cannot be fully understood or explained.

If I try to describe grace there seems to be no end to the things I could say, yet no way to adequately explain it–I fail before I begin. In fact sometimes I feel the more I try to describe it the more I distract from its beauty. Still I feel compelled to try. Once you experience the grace of God you can’t help but want others to know of its greatness.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor, unconditional love, and undeserved kindness. Grace is receiving what you need although you do not deserve it, cannot earn it, cannot purchase it, and cannot pay it back– even if you tried. It is a gift with no strings attached. It enriches, empowers, enables, and enlarges. It is free and, like gravity, flowing from the higher to the lower, from the greater to the lesser. And it flows from an infinite inexhaustible gushing source.

Somethings seem too good to be true and we are reluctant to believe it or receive it. But God’s grace is too good to not be true! The mind of man cannot possibly conceive of such a thing. It is contrary to our natural reasoning and inclinations. We tend to think we must do something to appease the wrath of God and to gain His favor, obligating Him to come to our aid. Grace, however, throws all that out the window. Grace must flow freely, ever downward, to supply what is most needed to those who are totally undeserving.

The last verse of the Bible says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” ( Rev. 22:21) and that is my prayer for each of you. I could want nothing better and you need nothing more than grace. In that one simple word we find all we need.

“Rejoice alway…“– Phil. 4:4

Winston Churchill said, ” The price of greatness is responsibility“. He was right. The great person is devoted to duty— regardless of the difficulties. He gives great attention to little things. He does ordinary thing extraordinarily well— so much as he is able to do. Taking Jesus as the model for his ministry he does what Jesus did—those things that please the Father.