Inspiration

THE WAY

 

 

Hi Everyone:

 

Acts 24:14, "However, I admit that I worship the God of our followers as a follower of the Way." I have always wondered why we don't call born again believers members of the Way. There are several scriptural references to the Way being an organized group of people. John 14:6, Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life; Acts 9:2, Paul went to Damascus to find Christians who belonged to the Way.

 

Of course I will admit a name does not make anyone a follower of Jesus; faith is required for that. Someone once asked me if we had a leader, someone similar to the Pope for Catholics? I told him we have no human leader but we do have a leader as it is simply stated in John 14:6 when Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Thus our leader is Jesus Christ; He died for us and was resurrected for us so that we who believe will have everlasting life (John 3:16).

 

This information is readily available in the Bible, read it and you will discover amazing truth.   Nick    No. 375

Inspiration

TAKE COURAGE

 

 

Hi Everyone:

 

Acts 23:11 "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." The Lord spoke to Paul to encourage him to keep up the good fight, as Paul would say, and press on to deliver the Good News of salvation.

 

I'm sure there are times in our lives when we need encouragement to continue spreading the Good News of Jesus and the best place to get it is the Bible. We may not receive a pat on the back, so to speak, from others but you can be sure Jesus is watching and keeping track of everything you do for Him. It's kind of odd to imagine we are doing things for Him when in reality we are doing things for others and ourselves. I look forward to the day when I will meet, face to face, the many lives my ministry has touched, whether it's encouragement or even leading a lost soul to Jesus.

 

My passion is to help others and to honor God in the process. Whenever I receive a nasty reply from someone, I know the devil is behind it so it rubs off like water on a duck's back. Discouraging responses will never touch me because I look to Him and Him only. Actually I have a heavy heart for that kind of person because I know where they are going in the end unless they turn to Jesus; an opportunity they have until they take their last breath. Jesus says, "I have overcome the world." So who needs to worry or be concerned when winds of adversity blow our way. If you are down and need to be lifted try:

 

Reading the Bible and discover the strength you need, Nick                                          Number 374

374 TAKE COURAGE Acts 23

 

Inspiration

SAUL! SAUL!

 

 

Hi Everyone:

 

Acts 22:7, Jesus said: "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' On his way to Damascus he heard Jesus' voice, fell to the ground and became temporarily blind. He was instructed to go into the city and would be told what he was to do.

 

A man named Ananias greeted Paul and told Paul his sight would return and it did. Then he proceeded to tell Paul he was chosen by God to be His witness to the gentiles (verse 21). That was the beginning of an amazing change and journey of evangelism. Here we see a man whose dedication to the destruction of Gentiles probably had no equal and now he is just as adamant and passionate about delivering the Good News as he was persecuting them.

 

We have an awesome God don't we? When He has a plan for you be ready and don't hesitate. Be like the Disciples when Jesus called them; they immediately left whatever it was they were doing and followed Him without question. That is called faith. Is your faith like that; if not would you like it to be? Try:

 

Reading the Bible to discover the truth to increase your faith, Nick                                   Number 373

Courage

COURAGE OF CONVICTION

 

Acts 21:13, "Then Paul answered: 'Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'" These are the words of a very committed Disciple of Jesus; ready to die, actually ready for anything.

 

Do we have the courage of our convictions? Are we ready to stand tall under adversity when it comes our way? By the grace of God we are not in the kind of situation as Paul but there are Christians throughout the world that are being tortured and killed in the name of Jesus; last I heard was about 150,000 each year.

 

We need to pray for these people, they are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. These murders are some of the reasons God told the brethren in Heaven (Book of Revelation) the time is not right yet for His return. If I recall He said, "Many more have to be martyred." His love is unimaginable; He wants more people to be with Him.

 

Discover the truth by reading the Bible.   Nick                                                          Number 372

Glory to God

 

In the book, Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren does an outstanding job of 'The Reason For Everything.' I was so impressed by his approach that I felt compelled to 'borrow' a page from his book for this topic, which is actually putting into action his point number five.

 

The reason we are here and everything on the earth is really for the glory of God. Revelation 7:8 states 'You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power: for you created everything.' In all the universe there are only two of God's creations that fail to bring glory to Him: fallen angels (demons) and us (people).

 

How can we bring glory to God? Jesus told the Father, "I brought glory to you on earth by doing everything you told me to do." Therefore, as Jesus honored the father, we can also honor Him. There are actually five ways we can honor God in the very same way He honored the Father.

 

We can honor God by worshipping Him, not by duty or guilt, but out of love and appreciation.. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. The next verse tells us not to be conformed to this world, but rather be conformed to the things of God. The bottom line is that we are to "use our whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God," Romans 6:13.

 

We can honor God by loving other believers. There are three wonderful verses of scripture that Rick Warren touches on: "Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life," 1 John 3:14, "Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified," Romans 15:7, and finally as Jesus said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." I would encourage you all to read 1^st Corinthians 13, a great description of love.

 

We can honor God by developing Christ-like characteristics. When we become part of God's family He wants us to mature spiritually. The more we mature as spiritual Christians, the more honoring it is to God. The Bible says, "As the spirit of God works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more," 2^nd Corinthians 3:18. The Bible also tells us that we should always be filled with the fruit of  the Holy Spirit because that is pleasing to God, Philippians 1:11.

 

We can honor God by serving others. God has blessed each one of us with certain gifts and it would certainly be honoring to God to use our gifts in the service of others. 1^st Peter 4:10 tells that …' God has given gifts to each of you from His great variety of Spiritual gifts…manage them well…this will bring glory to God.'

We can bring glory to God by telling others about Him, just as Jesus did. This has to be viewed as one of life's greatest privileges. Once we know the truth, He expects us to share. Perhaps the most effective method of telling others is to live the first four points of this message; however we must always be ready to tell others with love and respect. A point to ponder is where we would be if someone didn't vocalize the way of salvation to us. The Bible says, "As God's grace brings more and more people to Christ…God will receive more and more glory.

 

AND THIS IS THE REASON WE ARE HERE, PRAISE THE LORD.