As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:30

I know of no better way to start the day and prepare for whatever lies ahead than to be reminded of the great resource I have in the Word of God. This is what I’m talking about:

“Here is one of the great understatements of the Bible: the word of the LORD is tried.

God’s people, for thousands of years, have cast their lives into the mold of God’s Word. They have married, invested, raised children, decided careers, and set their ambitions according to the Word of God. They have found in the Bible their comfort in times of loss, their direction in times of change, and their joy in times of prosperity.

God’s Word has been tried, tested, scrutinized, and relied upon by Christians throughout the ages. And, just as David testified, they have found it more than sufficient for their every need. They have discovered, in every generation and in every imaginable circumstance, that God’s Word truly is perfect.

His counsel is always wise, His history is always accurate, His lessons are always true, and His commands are always relevant. God’s way is perfect.

But David was not merely making an observation or teaching an academic lesson; David’s point is that because God’s Word has been tried and tested by millions of saints through the centuries, and has been found perfect, each of us should therefore build our lives on this tried and sure foundation.

Who do you look to for direction and for advice? Do you trust popular opinion, or well-meaning friends, to help you make decisions and find meaning in life? Or do you go to God’s perfect Word over and over again, for counsel in every area of life?

The Word of the Lord is tried, it is proven, it is sure — but have you tried it?” (From “A Good Thing”)

Here’s an article from the pen of Charles Swindoll that is sure to get the attention of those of us who are “feeling our age”. If you feel you don’t need this now simply file it away for future reference–your day is coming!

Growing old, like taxes, is a fact we all must face. Now, you’re not going to get me to declare when growing up stops and growing old starts—not on your life! But there are some signs we can read along life’s journey that suggest we are entering the transition (how’s that for diplomacy?).

Physically, the aging “bod” puts on the brakes. You begin to huff and puff when you used to rip and zip. You prefer to sit more than stand . . . to watch more than to do . . . to forget your birthday rather than remember it! Mentally, the aging brain longs for relief. You can’t remember like you used to, and you don’t respond like you ought to. You start thinking more about yesterday and tomorrow and less about today.Emotionally, you undergo strange fears and feelings you once swore would “never occur in me,” such as:

• Being negative, critical, and downright ornery at times. 
• Being reluctant to let those who are younger carry more responsibility.
• Feeling unwanted and “in the way.” 
• Preoccupied with “what if” rather frequently. 
• Feeling guilty over previous mistakes and wrong decisions. 
• Feeling forgotten, unloved, lonely, and passed by. 
• Threatened by sounds, speed, financial uncertainty, and disease. 
• Resisting the need to adjust and adapt.

All this—and there is much more—is worsened by the memory of those days when you once were so very efficient, capable, needed, and fulfilled. As you look into the mirror, you’re forced to admit that the fingers of age have begun to scratch their marks upon your house of clay . . . and it’s hard to believe your twilight years could be of any worth.

How wrong! How terribly wrong! How destructive such thoughts can be! How quickly such thinking can sentence you to the prison cell of self-pity surrounded by the four bleak walls of doubt, depression, uselessness, and grief.

God’s patriarchs have always been among His choicest possessions. Abraham was far more effective once he grew old and mellow. Moses wasn’t used with any measure of success until he turned eighty. Caleb was eighty-five when he began to enjoy God’s best goals. Samuel was old, old when the God of Israel led him to establish the “school of the prophets,” an institution that had a lasting influence for spirituality and godliness in the centuries to come. And who could deny the way God used Paul during his last days on his knees, writing words of encouragement in letters we cherish today!

No one fails to see that growing old has its difficulties and heartaches. It does, indeed. But to see only the hot sands of your desert experience and miss the lovely oases here and there (though they may be few) is to turn the latter part of your journey through life into an arid, tasteless endurance which makes everyone miserable.

Please don’t forget—God has decided to let you live this long. Your old age is not a mistake . . . nor an oversight . . . nor an afterthought. Isn’t it about time you cooled your tongue and softened your smile with a refreshing drink from the water of God’s oasis? You’ve been thirsty a long, long time.

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.–2 Peter 3:13

A Christian railroad engineer was speaking to a group of his coworkers about heaven. He went into a lengthy description saying:

“I can’t begin to tell you what the Lord Jesus Christ means to me. In Him, I have a hope that is precious and life everlasting. Let me explain. Many years ago, as each night I neared the end of my run, I would always let out a long blast with the whistle just as I’d come around the last curve.

“Then I’d look up at the familiar little cottage on top of the hill. My mother and father would be standing in the doorway waving to me. After I had passed, they’d go back inside and say, ‘Thank God, Benny is home safe again tonight.’

“They are gone now, and no one is there to welcome me anymore. But someday when I have finished my ‘earthly run’ and I draw near to heaven’s gate, I believe I’ll see my precious mother and dad waiting there for me. And the one will turn to the other and say, ‘Thank God, Benny is home safe at last.'”

We will see those loved ones, those believers who went home ahead of us, at the gates to welcome us home when we draw near. It will be a joyous time of celebration with our Lord and the ones we love! Today there are those in your life who have not yet experienced salvation through Jesus.

Have you exhausted all efforts to bring them to Jesus? Share with them what heaven means to you and tell them of your desire to welcome them home one day to eternity.

……Pray that others will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as you seek to show them the promise, hope, and joy of spending eternity with Jesus. ( From “Senior Living”)

Charity suffereth long, and is kind….–1 Corinthians 13:4

The ideal Christian life, is one of unbroken kindliness. It is dominated by love—the love whose portrait is drawn for us in the immortal thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. We have but to turn to the gospel pages, to find the story of a Life in which all this was realized. Jesus never lost his temper. He lived among people who tried Him at every point—some by their dullness, others by their bitter enmity and persecution, but He never failed in sweetness of disposition, in long-suffering patience, in self-denying love. Like the flowers which give out their perfume only when crushed, like the odoriferous wood which bathes with fragrance the ax which hews it—the life of Christ yielded only the tenderer, sweeter love to the rough impact of men’s rudeness and wrong. That is the pattern on which we should strive to fashion our life and our character. Every outbreak of violent temper, every shade of ugliness in disposition, mars the radiant loveliness of the picture we are seeking to have fashioned in our lives.

The perfect beauty of Christ, should ever be envisioned in our hearts, as that which we would attain for ourselves. The honor of our Master’s name, should impel us to strive ever toward Christlikeness in spirit and in disposition.

We represent Christ in this world; people cannot see Him, and they must look at us to see a little of what He is like. Whatever great work we may do for Christ, if we fail to live out His life of patience and kindness, we fail in an essential part of our duty as Christians. “The servant of the Lord must be gentle.” Only as our own lives shine in the brightness of holy affectionateness, and our hearts and lips distill the sweetness of patience and gentleness, can we fulfill our mission in this world as Christ’s true messengers to men.

Life is too short to spend even one day of it in bickering and strife. Love is too sacred to be forever lacerated and torn by the ugly briers of sharp temper. Surely we ought to learn to be patient with others, since God has to show every day such infinite patience toward us. Can we not, then, train our life to sweeter gentleness? Can we not learn to be touched even a little roughly, without resenting it? Can we not bear little injuries and apparent injustices, without flying into an unseemly rage? Can we not have in us something of the mind of Christ which will enable us, like Him—to endure all wrong and injury and give back no word or look of bitterness?

There is no temper so obdurately( stubbornly resistant) bad—that it cannot be trained into sweetness. The grace of God can take the most unlovely life—and transform it into the image of Christ! (By J. R. Miller, 1912)

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.–2 Cor. 10:12

I have carried this following article, by an unknown author, in my Bible case for about 40 years. We create a lot of unnecessary problems for ourselves by comparing ourselves to others. We need to be reminded that it isn’t wise!

If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater then Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now when you are so possessed with the loving God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.