“….Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.”- Psa. 51:12

If we could ask the apostle Paul what he saw as life’s greatest blessing, I suspect he would answer something like this: “Personal salvation with its provision of the present and the future.” For him, nothing else really mattered. He constantly looked beyond his trials and adversities, sensing the presence of Jesus Christ and rejoicing in the prospect of happiness in heaven with Him.

Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand spent 14 years in prison for preaching the gospel. Although his captors smashed four of his vertebrae and either cut or burned 18 holes in his body, they could not defeat him. He testified, “Alone in my cell, cold, hungry, and in rags, I danced for joy every night.” During this time he turned to a fellow prisoner, a man he had led to the Lord before they were arrested, and asked, “Have you any resentment against me that I brought you to Christ?” His response: “I have no words to express my thankfulness that you brought me to the wonderful Savior. I would never have it another way.” These two men exemplify the supernatural joy that can be experienced by believers who live on the edge of death as the result of being severely persecuted.

Salvation, which brings strength for today and hope for tomorrow, lasts forever. Therefore, we don’t have to be defeated by troublesome circumstances. When we know we are saved, we have the assurance that God is at work in our lives, preparing us for the eternal realities of the better world. Yes, salvation is life’s greatest blessing. (H. V. Lugt)

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

“Abstain from all appearance of evil” – 1Thessalonians 5:22

   When it comes to sin, we often set ourselves up for defeat. We try to see how close we can get to moral failure, or heady success, or romantic involvement without doing anything wrong.

   Paul, however, tells us that is wrong. Our goal should be, not merely to keep from committing big, public sins but to abstain from anything that might lead to sin for us, or look like sin to others. We are to foster a pure heart and an irreproachable Christian witness.

   While this command does not give the legalist the right to add to God’s law or raise God’s standard of holiness, it should give the sincere Christian a timely warning about the dangers of sin. It is not to be played with, tested out, or carelessly ignored. It is to be avoided at all costs.

   Don’t be satisfied with merely escaping the culmination of any sin; abstain from sin’s beginnings, from its first flickering flame.

   And avoid all appearance of evil. We are quick to judge the besetting sins of others, and equally quick to defend our own. Yet no sin is acceptable to God and so no sin should be downplayed by us. Every sin—whether public and noticeable or private and indiscernible—must be conscientiously avoided or battled.

What about you? Are you flirting with sin, or are you shunning its very appearance? Is your heart and mind consecrated to the Lord, and is your life above reproach to the glory of God? (Baptist Bible Hour)

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

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”– 1 Peter 1:8

   Christian faith is a paradox. It loves someone you have never met, it believes in someone you cannot see, and it enjoys this person with a fullness that cannot be described or surpassed.

   Whom having not seen, ye love. Christian faith is personal, not just believing for the sake of believing or formulating an abstract worldview. Christians do not just love truth, or justice, or peace, or purity. Christians love Christ! Christianity is not a philanthropy; it is not a philosophy; it is not even a religion. It is a relationship.

   Yet believing. There are a thousand obstacles to the Christian faith. Professors may try to trip you up, tragedy may tempt you to lose heart, and discouragement may threaten to undo your faith from the inside out. But true Christianity believes in Christ anyway, trusts in Christ regardless, draws near to Christ relentlessly. No matter what the obstacle or opposition, true faith yet believes.

   With joy unspeakable. Truth can be shared, but faith cannot. Nor can it be expressed. You have to experience Christ to appreciate Christ. You have to know Christ to embrace Christ. And you have to see Christ to enjoy him and find your satisfaction in him. ( Baptist Bible Hour)

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

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

Faith is implicit trust in the Word of God. It is confidence in the trustworthiness of God. It is the conviction that what God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass. It deals primarily in the realm of the future (“things hoped for”) and the realm of the invisible (“things not seen”).

Whittier said that “the steps of faith fall on the seeming void, and find the rock beneath.” But not so! Faith is no leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence, and finds that evidence in the Word of God.

Some people have the misconception that if you just believe a thing strongly enough it will come to pass. But that is credulity, not faith. Faith must have some revelation of God to lean on, some promise of God to cling to. If God promises something, then it is as sure as if it had already happened. If He foretells the future, then it is certain to be fulfilled. In other words, faith brings the future within the present and makes the invisible seen.

There is no risk in believing God. God cannot lie, He would not deceive, and He cannot be deceived. To believe God is the most rational, sane, logical thing a person can do. What is more reasonable than that the creature should believe the Creator?

Faith is not limited to possibilities but invades the realm of the impossible. Someone has said, “Faith begins where possibilities end. If it’s possible then there’s no glory for God in it. If it’s impossible, it can be done.”

 Faith, mighty faith the promise sees
 And looks to God alone;
 Laughs at impossibilities
 And cries, “It shall be done.”

Admittedly there are difficulties and problems in the life of faith. God tests our faith in the crucible of trial and affliction to see if it is genuine (1 Pet. 1:7). We often have to wait long years to see the fulfilment of His promises, and sometimes we have to wait till we reach the other side. But “difficulties are food for faith to feed on” (George Muller).

“Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6). When we refuse to believe Him, we are saying that He is a liar (1 John 5:10), and how can God be pleased by people who call Him a liar? –(William MacDonald)

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