After writing about Andrew making Christ known to his brother Peter, and Christ feeding the 4,000 so they could continue with Him, my thoughts went to Epaphras who took the gospel to the Colossians. As I thought about that my mind was flooded with memories of those God used to tell me of Christ. I had never heard the gospel until a high school classmate named Gary Wilson tried to lead me to Christ. Sadly I ignored him.

It wasn’t until 7 dreadful years  later, when I was 24, that someone else shared the gospel with me. After a friend urged me to go to church, to get me to play on the church’s softball team, I heard the gospel again. Bro. Gene Hankins, pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Willard, Mo., preached his heart out as he made the gospel clear to me and I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. That changed everything in my life. To this very day I still thank God for using someone to lead me to Christ.

Chances are you have a similar story in that someone told you about Christ. No doubt you have often thought about where you would have been had someone not told you about God’s saving grace. It would have been a sad sad story had someone not cared enough to share the gospel with you. Their effort brought about the greatest day of your life.

Now it is your turn. You know someone who is exactly where you were before someone told you about Christ. They are lost and on the road to a devil’s hell and there is only one thing that can help them – the gospel. More than anything in the world that person needs Christ. They need what you have. God forbid that you fail to share it with them. Having received so greatly from the Lord you are now indebted to provide the message of salvation to those who have not yet heard or received it.

Epaphras was faithful to share the gospel with others and we need to do the same. Every person has a circle of family and friends around them and it is their duty and privilege to share the glorious gospel of Christ with them. God forbid that we fail! – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346 

LOOK UP
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.– Psalms 121:1-2

I’ve had the habit of walking with my head down since I was a little boy. My mother used to say,”I can tell it’s Harold David coming down the road a mile away. He always walks with his head down”. I didn’t see that as a problem–I was looking for stuff! But, there is a sense in which looking downward is a very big problem. And there’s a lot of folks guilty of it. They are always focused on things below, rather than things above; the soil, rather than the stars; burdens rather than blessings; earthly problems rather than heavenly prospects.

The Psalmist was wiser than that. Rather than focusing on his miseries he looked to the mountains, for there he saw the handiwork of God and was reminded of His great power. He knew God was the source of his help. Looking to God rather than his grief he found a sense of safety that provided him peace and joy. Hopefully we will learn from him. Far too many of us are miserable because we are in the habit of walking with our head down, rather than looking up. We see nothing but problems, instead of looking to God and seeing provisions.

Fortunately some have discovered the secret to contentment. They keep their head up and their eyes on God. They look to God’s Word for comfort, confidence, and courage. And as their vision of His greatness increases the size of their doubts and fears decreases. On many occasions I’ve watched dogs on a cold day move out of the shadows into the sunshine so as to soak up the warm rays of the sun– we should be so wise. By keeping ourselves in the sunshine of God’s precious promises we find warmth and comfort in this cold hard world in which we live.

The Psalmist looked “unto the hills“, not at the valleys. Mountains are pictures of strength and stability, reminding us of what God is to us. So, whatever challenge you are confronted with today, remind yourself that “help cometh from the LORD“. With Him nothing is impossible. Shift your focus from your difficulty, depression, defeat, danger, etc. to the Lord. Take the up-look and you will have a new out-look. – HDS, 10-17-13

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346 

THERE IS HOPE
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”- 1 John 1:9
Somehow, some way, someone convinced them that there was a better way to live. So they disobeyed God’s word, dishonored God’s will, doubted God’s wisdom, disregarded God’s warnings, deserted God’s way, and departed in a different direction in pursuit of something they thought would bring them happiness. They forsook God in an effort to please themselves, but it isn’t working.

While this could be said of millions, I’m talking about people I know and love dearly. They are on a course that leads to destruction rather than delight because they have been deceived.

What they’re doing breaks my heart, but it doesn’t lessen my love for them. More importantly, it does not not diminish God’s love and concern for them. Although they are blind and bound to sin that grieves the heart of God He doesn’t stop loving them. Although they are unconcerned about Him, He is still very much concerned about them. In some cases they might feel that God has given up on them, but He hasn’t. He is willing and able to forgive and cleanse their sins if they repent. He is the God of second chances. As with Israel, He is able to restore the years the locust has eaten. He can turn an ash heap into a mountain of happiness.

Your problem isn’t God giving up on you, but you giving up on God! Feeling there is no hope you give up the hunt for help. When you do that you are giving up the blessings you could have had. That doesn’t make sense – but sin never does. As I often say “God’s will is not only right, it is best”. Get there as fast as you can!  Wherever you are in life, whatever you’ve done, it’s not too late if you are willing to turn back to God. He will welcome you with open arms. As someone said:
“You are not too dirty for God to cleanse. You are not too broken for God to fix. You are not too far for God to reach. You are not too guilty for God to forgive.  You are not too worthless for God to love.
The only thing that keeps you away from God and His blessing is your sinful stubborn pride. Please, I beg you to turn back to God. You will be glad you did, and I will be thrilled. More importantly God will be pleased and that’s what is most important. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346