Many great things could be said about the apostle Paul, but one of the most notable to me is his thoughtfulness toward others. He refused to leave others out of the picture. He ministered to them and he mentioned them. It is obvious that other were important to Paul. And they should be important to us. But, sadly, not everyone gets the attention they need. J. R. Miller wrote:

There really is no higher attainment in life—than that of being a blessing to others in one’s own place. Every noble-spirited young person is ambitious to live well and helpfully, to do something worth while. But not all the really heroic things bring fame in this world. One may be a hero in God’s sight—and yet never hear a hurrah from any human lips.

When the country needed defenders, one boy entered the service, fought bravely, rose to honor, and returned, when the war was over, with high rank. He was greeted as a hero. His younger brother had stayed at home caring for his widowed mother and the little children—only a common farmer, without fame. But with God he was no less a hero than the other.—-

In one of his epistles, Paul speaks of certain of his friends as “men that have been a comfort unto me.” He was in prison, and in his loneliness these men had cheered and strengthened him. They had been kind to him, and their kindness had comforted him.—-The friends that Paul names were a comfort to him, because they sympathized with him with a sympathy that was not obtrusive, not officious, not always reminding him of his chain and prison—but that manifested itself in quiet, unostentatious, inspiring ways. The word comfort is from a root-word which means to strengthen. It is like our noun cordial, in its old sense, something that invigorates, exhilarates; something that stimulates the circulation, making the pulses quicker, the life fuller. Paul’s friends were a cordial to him, not lessening his sufferings nor lightening his burdens—but making him braver and stronger for endurance. They were a comfort to him.

Paul himself was a wonderful example of a man who was a comfort to others. What his life, with its rich fullness and its genius for friendship, must have been to those who came into personal companionship with him! What a privilege it was to his fellow-craftsmen to have him working with them at their tent-making! His presence must have made the work seem lighter and the atmosphere of the shop brighter. We do not begin to realize what it means to us—to live with certain people, to have them for friends, to drink from the fullness of their life.

One wrote of Phillips Brooks, after his death: “We did not know how much of God was walking with us!” Just so, men did not know how much of God was walking with them—when they had Paul for their companion, friend, teacher. The more closely we study his life and his words—the more do we find in him and in his teachings of love, of the delicate refinements of love, of all gentleness and kindness. The thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is as matchless as a picture. It is like a dream in its beauty. But it was a dream which was realized in the writer’s own life. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.” Some people praise this wonderful picture of love—but do not think of living it. What a comfort we would be to each other—if we really lived in all our common days, the teaching of this great chapter!

“And he requested for himself that he might die.” – 1 Kings 19:4

It was a remarkable thing that the man who was never to die, for whom God had ordained an infinitely better lot, the man who should be carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and be translated, that he should not see death-should thus pray, “Let me die, I am no better than my fathers.” We have here a memorable proof that God does not always answer prayer in kind, though he always does in effect. He gave Elias something better than that which he asked for, and thus really heard and answered him. Strange was it that the lion-hearted Elijah should be so depressed by Jezebel’s threat as to ask to die, and blessedly kind was it on the part of our heavenly Father that he did not take his desponding servant at his word. There is a limit to the doctrine of the prayer of faith. We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for. We know that we sometimes ask, and do not receive, because we ask amiss. If we ask for that which is not promised-if we run counter to the spirit which the Lord would have us cultivate-if we ask contrary to his will, or to the decrees of his providence-if we ask merely for the gratification of our own ease, and without an eye to his glory, we must not expect that we shall receive. Yet, when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, if we receive not the precise thing asked for, we shall receive an equivalent, and more than an equivalent, for it. As one remarks, “If the Lord does not pay in silver, he will in gold; and if he does not pay in gold, he will in diamonds. ” If he does not give you precisely what you ask for, he will give you that which is tantamount to it, and that which you will greatly rejoice to receive in lieu thereof. Be then, dear reader, much in prayer, and make this– a season of earnest intercession, but take heed what you ask. ( Charles Spurgeon)

“—Men shall be blessed in Him.” Psalms 72:17

EVERY thing out of Christ is under the curse; all blessings are treasured up in Him, and can only be received and enjoyed by union to and communion with Him. If in Him, He is made of God unto us, wisdom, righteousness, strength, sanctification, and redemption; if separate from Him, His work will profit us nothing. How important then is union to Jesus! All who are in Him are blessed with the favour of God, which compasses them as a shield; with access to God, by the Spirit, as to a kind and indulgent Father; with the friendship of God; He calls them not servants but friends, and His friendship is a good fortune; with justification before God, as the great Lawgiver and Judge of all; with sanctification by God, to the praise, honour, and glory of His grace; and ultimately they will be glorified with God through eternal ages. All things are theirs, and for them is laid up a crown of righteousness, which fadeth not away; a treasure in Heaven which corrupteth not, and where thieves cannot steal. Oh, blessed state! Oh, happy persons! But this honour have all the saints.

Blessings abound where Jesus reigns:
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.
In Him the tribes of Adam boast,
More blessings than their father lost.— James Smith (1840)

Ask yourself, “Is there something in my life that’s hindering my walk with Christ? Something that’s holding me back? Is there something that is excess baggage? Something keeping me from being all I ought to be for the Lord Jesus Christ? Whatever it is, if you want to win the race, lay it aside. Good things become bad things when they keep you from the best things.

“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  And they were haughty , and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. ” – (Ezekiel 16:49–50)

Ruth Graham, commenting on the downward spiral of morality in our nation, exclaimed, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” But Ruth was wrong! The fact is, God never owes anyone an apology, regardless of what He does. He makes no mistakes! But, make no mistake about it— America must repent or perish.

Pastor Greg Laurie wrote:”Sodom was once a great power in her day—a city-state, a dominant force. But God judged her. He identifies her sins in Jeremiah 23:14: “ I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery , and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers , that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.”

They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil. . . . We live in a time in our nation when right is wrong and wrong is right. Everything is upside down.

God gives another assessment of the sins of Sodom in the book of Ezekiel: Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. Pride . . . gluttony . . . laziness. . . . Think of our nation and the sense of entitlement. Everyone expects to be entertained. I am reminded of the famous statement by the Roman satirist Juvenal as he spoke of Rome and her decline: “The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now concerns itself no more, and longs eagerly for just two things—bread and circuses!”

It seems to me that is what America is like today: “Entertain us. It’s all about us.”

I believe that our nation has two choices before us: One is judgment. The other is revival. Judgment is coming, that is clear. But my prayer is there will be at least one more revival before this happens.”

Dear friends, the future of America doesn’t depend on military might, government, the economy, etc. The only thing that can save America is a revival in the churches– a revival that results in souls being saved and society being changed one person at a time. Only God knows if we have time, but we don’t have a chance without it.