“And let us not be weary in well doing—“ Galatians 6:9   Weary and worn from his ten year fight against the slave trade in England, a discouraged William Wilberforce opened his Bible in search of inspiration. As he leafed through it a small note fell to the floor. It was a letter written from John Wesley just before he died. The note said: “Unless the divine power has raised you up–I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the oppostion of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might.”   That was just what Wilberforce needed to renew his vigor. We need that reminder as well. Every great enterprise has its difficulties. If we truly give ourselves to the pursuit of God’s will we can expect opposition and obstacles, but we must keep going. We might grow weary in the work, but we should not grow weary of the work. We all go through difficult and discouraging days. It is essential that we keep our focus on God and draw from the resources He provides, never fogetting that “in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”   It is always too soon to quit.

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:14   “He died climbing” is inscribed on a monument erected to an Alpine guide, who perished when attempting to reach the top of a mountain. In that tribute we see a reminder of what our attitude should be. We should be looking upward, pressing onward, and climbing higher. We should always press on in the pathway of duty.   “He died climbing” could be said of numerous Christians who refused to quit, who pressed on in the face of great difficulties and danger. Rather than give up many became martyrs for Christ sake. We read their stories and marvel, but we ought to do more than that—we need to follow their example.   Let us not be one of those who became content and stopped pressing on, as though we had gone as far as we needed to go. Neither let us be in the camp of those who became fearful and ceased to go on because of the danger. Our life is in God’s hands whether we be sitting on the plain or inching our way up the steep mountain side, hanging on by our finger tips. If our cause is nobel and our motive pure we have nothing to fear. All is well.   Fear belongs to those who quit climbing. Indeed, the way may be rough and tough, even painful, but we are never at liberty to stop. Press on dear pilgrim! The prize will be worth the pain. One day you will stand on the summit and look back on your journey and realize that had you stopped you would have missed the best. Keep climbing until that day when it can be said of you,”He died climbing.” It will be worth it all!   “I’m pressing on the upward way”

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Corinthians 15:55

A young boy was seen cutting across a cemetery lot just around dark and was later asked by an observer, “Aren’t you scared?” “No,” said the boy. “I only cut through here to get home.”

The boy didn’t see any reason to fear the cemetery; the only thing he focused on was how quickly he was going to get home.

In the same way, we have no reason to fear death; it is merely a shortcut to our heavenly home. The Bible tells us that the instant we are absent from this life and this body, we are present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). In other words, we are literally carried from this life to the next in the arms of the One who created us . . . we are never alone, even for a moment. What a comforting thought!

Friends, if we have accepted the Lord as our personal Savior, we have an eternity yet to live with Him! We should rejoice in that fact and keep our eyes firmly fixed on Christ until we so long for heaven that, like the little boy, we see no reason to fear the shortcut home. (From Turning Point)

Death for you as a child of God is to fall asleep in His arms and awake in the other world, alive forever beyond the power of pain, safe forever from all sickness and suffering.
Winkie Pratney

“—-they are without excuse.”–Romans 1:20 (read vs.18-24)   Do you remember the song that says “Excuses, excuses, you hear them every day.”? We sure do! Several years ago a famous actor filed for bankruptcy. After making millions he was flat broke. He blamed it on “fast women and slow horses.” Another “entertainer” became famous for saying,”The devil made me do it.”   The excuses go on and on. This isn’t anything new. Man has been making excuses since the first man. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. And so the story goes. We just keep blaming others and ,sadly, most people don’t see the need to stop. Making excuses seems to be in our system.   Excuses are foolish–we are each responsible for our actions. Excuses get easier and easier–we end up deceiving ourself. Excuses are dangerous–they keep us from dealing with the real problem. Even God can’t help the person who keeps making excuses. Until we see ourself as God sees us we don’t stand a chance of getting things right. We simply have to get honest about our condition and stop making excuses.   Man’s ultimate folly is that, although he knows there is a God, he refuses to recognize Him as such. The creature denies his Creator. That explains why the world is in its present sinful condition. Instead of embracing the truth he suppresses it and makes excuses. But God says,”they are without excuse.”   Maybe it’s time you got honest about your life and stopped making excuses. Things won’t get any better until you do.   “An excuse is the skin of reason stuffed with a lie”

“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.——It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”–Psalm 119:67, 71   Some have learned that something bad can produce something good. We don’t usually see it at the time, but later it becomes apparent.   A little girl was walking in a garden when she saw a beautiful flower. She picked it because she felt it was too pretty to be in the dirt. She then took it home and washed it off, but it quickly wilted and died. When the gardener saw what she had done, he said,”You have destroyed my finest plant!” The tearful little girl said,” I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it in all that dirt.” The gardener replied, “I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.”   So it is in the garden of life. God knows exactly what we need, although we do not understand. While we would rather avoid pain and suffering it is sometimes the only thing that draws us to God or helps us become more like God. Yes it hurts, and no we don’t understand, but it is true. Someday, when we mature or when we graduate to glory, we will see the benefit. Until then we must trust the One who cannot lie.   “It would be better if we could learn without suffering”, you say.Yes and it would be better if we lived in a world that had not been tainted by sin, but we don’t. This is where we are and sometimes this is what it takes to get us where we need to be. Someday you will see that it is true. What you are going through might be painful, unfair, overwhelming and confusing, but the day will come when will look back and see that God created some good out of your experience. Ask God to give you the grace to accept your trial and the strength to keep going. He will do it.