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Crossing the Road to be a Friend

Poet Samuel Foss wrote, “Let me live by the side of the road and be a friend to man” (“The House by the Side of the Road”). That’s what I want to be—a friend of people.  ODB

Weary Travelers –

The Battered and Wronged –

Those with a Wounded and Disillusioned Heart –

Above is a list (May 16, 2017 on ODB) of people who suffer.  The list could be longer and include other problems.  Who could declare freedom from the burden of suffering whether caused by a personal lack of responsibility or someone else’s heartless interference.

Perhaps it would be better to cease the discussion of who suffers or the causes of suffering.   Samuel Foss may have said it best and the Biblical illustration of the Good Samaritian pictures it best Luke 10:25-37.  The Bible says all who were on the same road with the injured man passed by without helping.  Who did Samuel Foss want to be a friend to?  Weary people, battered and wronged people and people with wounded and disillusioned hearts.”

The Bible encourages someone to “stand in the gap.” Nehemiah 4:7  Summarizing:  Each person needs to see others in need and “cross the road” or “be willing to help.” To be more like Jesus our heart must be like His.  If our heart agrees with His then whoever lies beside the road, whatever the reason they be there or what time or resources it takes to help them we “MUST” do the “RIGHT THING!” Be a friend of people!

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“WHICH RELIGION SHOULD I FOLLOW”

WHICH RELIGION SHOULD I FOLLOW

Q.  I am trying to decide which religion I want to follow.  How did you decide that you wanted to be a Christian?  I don’t have any religious background, but now that I’m out of college i’ve decided I need to start thinking about it.  R.W.

A.  I”m grateful for my parents’ example of faith in Christ, and for their commitment to take me to church and teach me about the Bible.  No doubt God used these to prepare me to make my own commitment to Christ as a teenager.

But I became a Christian not because I grew up in a Christian family or went to church, but because I sensed a need in my heart to have my sins forgiven and to know God personally.  I realized later that God had put that desire within me, and I believe He is doing the same in your life.  Within every of of us is what has been called, “a God-shaped vacuum” – a spiritual emptiness in our souls that only God can fill.  My prayer is that you won’t try it with anything less than a the living God.

That is why I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ, for He was God in human flesh, sent from Heaven to open the way to God.  Only one thing separates us from God, and that is our sin – and no matter how hard we try, we cannot erase our sins by our own efforts.

But by His death on the cross Christ became the final sacrifice for our sins.

Ask God to help you discover from the Bible who Jesus is and what He has done for you – and then give your life to Him.  The Bible says, “Christ also suffered once for sins . . . to bring you to God” (I Peter 3:18).

– Billy Graham

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Integrity Wins Battles

What does the Bible say about integrity? 

So I’m asking that you give me the hill country which the Lord promised me. You will remember that as spies we found the Anakim living there in great, walled cities, but if the Lord is with me I shall drive them out of the land. (Joshua 14:12 , tlb)

The Bible says Caleb and Joshua gave a good report whereas the majority gave a negative report not to enter the land God had pledged.  Forty-five years later he would receive his land.  God was and still is honored.  The people were challenged and saw miracles.  Amazing how God keeping His Word affects the person or persons immediately involved but also those around the work of God also.

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. ” Samuel Johnson

Five characteristics outline Caleb’s life and please remember anyone could be as faithful as Caleb and find a beautiful Christian life.  Before we go further let us examine five characteristics in Caleb’s life.

1.  Right Start – Starting is important but starting right is most important.

2.  Resisted the majority – he believed God.

3.  God promised land and forty-five years later He would deliver.   (Numbers 14:24 ; Deuteronomy 1:34-36 ).

The integrity with which he had boldly contradicted the cowardly advice of the ten spies years before was as strong as ever. Although his inherited land still had giants, Caleb knew the Lord would help him conquer them.

Like Caleb, we must be faithful to God, not only at the start of our walk with him, but through our entire lives. We must never allow ourself to rest on our past accomplishments or reputations.

4.  His faith was seen in:  His Words – “Surely if the Lord is with me.”

5.  His faith was seen in His Works – “If the Lord is with me I will drive them out of the land.”  I will drive them out just as the Lord has said.  His faith of forty-five years had not wavered nor weakened.

Caleb wanted to make his pledge but may have not known all he would face. However, he would face them anyway and simply believe God.  A man of integrity can do nothing else.  Once a child of God has pledged he can not turn to the right or left.

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”  Tom Peters

Finish your course and never turn back.  Your destination has been assigned, you may not know all you would like to know but it has been and is still settled. If your INTEGRITY is as it should be there will be no recourse.

GET GOING FOR GOD!  The Giants may be bigger than us but my friend THEY ARE NOT BIGGER THAN GOD!!!!!!