….be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.–1 Timothy 4:12

It is a serious thing to live!

The book of our life is not the making of our own character and destiny only–but it is also helping to make that of others.

There is a wondrous power in personal influence. Your life is helping to mold some other life–and often the one that is dearest to you. What we are–goes to help make another what they are. What we are–engraves itself upon the life of our friend or family. The conduct of the parents–is being written in the lives of the children!

We are either contributing to the world’s good–or evil. An evil man is a dangerous man–for he influences others.

We have no right to live as we please. Our children, our friend, our neighbor–has a right to demand a holy life from us–for their own sake.

The child has a right to say, “Father, for my sake I demand that you to live a pure life.” It is a wicked thing to start a child wrong in life–by our unholy conduct!

It is not an easy thing to heal the wound which our wrong conduct has made in the life of another. We may, by repentance and begging forgiveness, heal the wound–but it will be hard to remove the scar!

By God’s grace–you can make your future record clean and pure. Will you do it? –From Grace Gems

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Heb. 10:17)

God’s ability to forget sins that have been covered by the blood of Christ is one of the most soul-satisfying truths in Scripture.

It is a great wonder when we read, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12). It is a marvel that we can say with Hezekiah, “Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back” (Isa. 38:17). It boggles the mind when we hear the Lord saying, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins” (Isa. 44:22). But it is even more wonderful when we read, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34).

When we confess our sins, He not only forgives, He forgets instantly. We are not stretching the truth when we say that He immediately buries our sins in the sea of His forgetfulness. This is illustrated by the experience of a believer who was having a ding-dong struggle with a besetting sin. In a moment of weakness, he gave in to the temptation. Rushing into the presence of the Lord, he blurted out, “Lord, I’ve done it again.” Then he thought he heard the Lord saying, “What have you done again?” The point, of course, is that in that split second following confession, God had already forgotten.

This is a delightful paradox-that the omniscient God can forget. On the one hand He knows everything. He counts the stars and names each one. He numbers our tossings and keeps count of our tears. He marks the sparrow’s fall. He numbers the hairs of our head. And yet He forgets those sins that have been confessed and forsaken. David Seamands said, “I don’t know how divine omniscience can forget but I know it does.”

There is one final point! It has been well said that when God forgives and forgets, He puts up a sign reading “No fishing.” It is forbidden for me to fish up my own past sins or the sins of others that God has forgotten. In this respect we must have a poor memory and a good forgettery. (By William MacDonald)

“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.-Mark 14:26-31

One of the quietest, most humble Presidents to ever lead our country was Abraham Lincoln. He was known to stop along campaign routes to talk with voters and even entertain the requests of children. The story is told that he once received a letter from a young girl who told him he should grow out his beard so his face wouldn’t look so skinny. Lincoln followed the request, hence the bearded face we’re all used to.

Lincoln was a firm believer in the providence of God and even gave obeisance to God’s provision in his address to the nation about the National Day of Fasting and Prayer in 1863. He also issued a stark warning about not giving God the praise He deserved.

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

Lincoln didn’t accept any praise for leading the nation through a turbulent time but pointed the people to God and advised that they thank Him for their blessings.

Pride is a sin that those who have it assume they don’t. Pride can blind someone and cause them to ignore even the toughest of warnings. Remember Peter’s pride? Even though Jesus warned him that he would deny Christ, Peter scoffed and ignored the Lord’s warning.

But just as Jesus predicted, Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed, “And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.” (Mark 14:70-72)

Be careful that pride doesn’t fill your heart and cause you to turn a deaf ear to correction and help. If you immediately feel defensive or combative when someone corrects you, be careful that pride isn’t keeping you from listening to help from others.

Take a minute to evaluate your heart. Has pride filled your heart? Do you become defensive when someone corrects you? Ask God to expose any pride you might have and humble yourself before Him. Be careful to not allow pride in your life by staying humble each day.(Dr. Paul Chappell)

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, “I am getting ready to move.” ( Author unknown)