—-I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.–Job 23:12   I read about a fellow who bought a book on healthy living and set out to live a more healthy lifestyle. Immediately he threw out any food that wasn’t on the designated list. He stopped eating anything green, because he read that they were associated with certain diseases. He rejected anything grown in the ground because he feared that pesticides and other chemicals would affect his health. Although he didn’t have much of a selection he stuck to the rules stipulated in the diet.   In a few weeks the man noticed a drastic drop in his energy level and other health related issues. In a state of confusion he went to the doctor. When the doc asked,”What do you eat each day?”, he explained his new diet. The doctor replied,”You cannot function on little or no food every day. You need food to feed your body.”   The same thing is true spiritually. When you deprive yourself of the nourishment derived from God’s Word your spiritual health will suffer, and that can affect you adversely in every other way. You simply cannot neglect God’s Word and remain spiritually healthy.   So, how is your diet? Do you regularly feed on God’s Word? Do you spend quality time alone with God, drawing upon His strength? If not, why don’t you stop what you’re doing and plan a course of action. Set a time when you be alone and prayerfully consider what portion of God’s Word you will study. Then stick with it. You will be glad you did!

Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work—-Exodus 35:35

Jim didn’t like teaching the boys class at church, but he pressed on dutifully because he’d been asked and he didn’t want to disappoint his pastor. What he really liked, however, was using his day off to do yard work at the church. He devoted every other Tuesday to mulching, mowing, trimming, clearing, raking, planting, and weeding. He knew that the appearance of the church’s lawn was important in attracting visitors to the Sunday services where they could hear the Gospel. But truth be told, he was a poor Sunday school teacher.

One day after talking with his pastor, Jim realized he didn’t have the gift of teaching. He had the gift of weeding–well, the gift of serving, of helping. When he began working more fully within his areas of giftedness, he was happier; and so was everyone else.

The Lord has made each of us differently, with different passions, abilities, and gifts. We’re happier when we’re doing what God has called and gifted us to do. Others will be blessed, too, and the Lord will be honored.(Turning Point)

Be good and true; be patient; be undaunted. Leave your usefulness for God to estimate. He will see to it that you do not live your life in vain.
Scottish preacher George Morrison

” And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

Matthew 28:5-6

Our hope is alive today because of the empty tomb.

George Bernard Shaw, while a great writer and playwright, was well-known as an atheist in his day. His writings contain an undertone of rebellion against God and rejection of Scriptural teaching. He championed the socialistic and humanistic causes of his day. Yet at the end of his life, as he looked back on all he had fought for, he had this to say: “The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.”

Shaw’s hope for Europe had been placed in a dying and corrupt belief, and Shaw realized that his life had been spent in vain. He had hope in his atheistic beliefs. He had hope that his view of the world was correct. But as he came to the end of his life, he realized his hope was misplaced.

With the world events that surround us daily, life almost seems without hope. World leaders becoming more hostile, the economy’s downturn, and the downplay of our alliance with Israel are all reasons some people have become worried. But as Christians, we have hope even in the darkest of times.

Look at— our passage today, “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Christ died on Calvary for our sins, but He conquered the grave and arose three days later.

Our God is alive! Other religions point to a leader, but also point to his grave. Our leader, the Lord Jesus Christ, has an empty tomb, proving His ability to conquer even death. There is no circumstance, activity, change of events, or sudden disaster that takes God by surprise. He has control over all and has the ability to conquer any situation that comes up.

Our hope is alive today because of the empty tomb. No matter how dark things become, how bleak a situation looks, or how troubling the times are, we can remain hopeful because our home is not here on earth but with Christ in Heaven.

That cool, crisp morning that Christ rose from the grave was the same morning our hope became alive. Because our God is alive, we know He is in control of everything. We know His promises are true, and we know that He is coming again to take us home to Heaven one day.

Where is your hope? Is it in a national leader, a global system, or a certain belief? The only hope that is alive today is hope in Jesus Christ. No other hope will be able to withstand the darkest of days in your life. Take time today to remember your hope in God. Remember the next time someone complains about the events in the world that your hope lies with an unchanging, immovable, all-powerful God who has everything under His control. -By Dr. Paul Chappell

Love your enemies….
Matthew 5:44

In the comic strip Peanuts, Linus once explained, “I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.” The English playwright, W. Somerset Maugham, similarly said: “I’ve always been interested in people, but I’ve never liked them.”

Perhaps you can identify with those sentiments. People can be rude, obnoxious, selfish, foolish, trying, vexing, and vicious. Some of them even fall into the “enemies” category–people who criticize us or try to take advantage of us. We naturally feel resentment, anger, fear, and even hatred.

Yet Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you….”

We can only do this on our knees. The person we most dislike is still a soul for whom Christ died. We don’t have to always agree with our critics or defer to our enemies, but loving unconditionally is simply letting the love of Christ flow through us like warm water through a pipe. The most unlovable person is the one who needs love the most. After all, if Christ loved us, He can help us love others.

So find someone you don’t like, and pray for them today!

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln                          ——from Turning Point

The following is from Missionary Dennis Blankenship:   Dear Preacher Friends,

I hope each of you enjoyed a good day in the Lord yesterday. I wanted to write a note thanking each of you for praying for us and standing with us as we serve the Lord in East Africa.
Yesterday evening I was asked to preach in a mission work in East Kampala and gladly accepted. Upon arriving and while setting up (they meet in a children’s day care) I met a man named John, who rents a room next door.
After speaking for a few minutes, I found out John is from Rwanda and is a college student in Kampala. I asked if he was a Christian and he said ‘Yes, but I don’t like going to Church.’ I told him Christians should love going to Church. He said, ‘I can’t go.’ After some prying, I found out that as a 12 year old, during the genocide in Rwanda, he was hiding in the Church and the killers came in a slaughtered a group of people, including everyone in his family, except he and his brother. God spared his life. He said, when I’ve been to Church since that day, after about 20 minutes, it all comes back to me and I have to leave.
I challenged him to trust God and He would heal his heart and give him victory because God wants him in fellowship.

Have you ever been in a situation where your ‘pat’ answers seem so small to some people’s big problems?

I write this note to you men, so that you’ll know how to pray for us as we labor here.

During the genocide in Rwanda, 800,000 were murdered in 100 days.
In S. Sudan, 2.5 million were killed during their twenty year war.
These people are suffering and I know God is the answer to their hurting heart.
Pray for us to have wisdom and the power of God on our lives, daily.
Pray for John and the many like him who need the Saviour.

I love you all,

Bro. Dennis   My Note: The next time you are tempted to complain, just remember– your problem could be worse than it is and we all have more than we deserve!