“We make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him.” —2
Corinthians 5:9
“It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our
primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the
highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win
souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be
well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to
failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal.
At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is
measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul was like a musician who gives
no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from
his Conductor.[…] Paul spoke of the
importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the
wrong direction. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection,
lest…I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).” CHAMBERS
Can you think of your favorite novel? How many times have you read it? Four times?
10 times? You know the story
line, you know how the story begins and ends. You may even know how the main character
thinks and feels. If you never read it
again .. it would not matter … I am not that intense when it comes to books. I
don’t think I have ever read but a few books even twice. Most books that I have read, I can remember I
read them, but often cannot remember the title or the author. Well, there is
one exception … the Bible.
The Bible is much more than a “good read”. The Word helps us keep our focus on our
highest priority. We need to read from it
every day .. maybe more than once a day … we memorize verses … hide them in our
hearts (Psalm 119:11). No problem
remembering the Author’s name … (2 Peter 3:16) “All scripture is God-breathed …
inspired by God” The Bible .. the physical
book is nothing more than a wood product .. paper, ink, and maybe leather … but unlike your favorite novel .. it requires
the presence of the Holy Spirit in you to understand it. It is more than just a pleasant memory ..
although it does bring comfort … it is life changing. It brings eternal change .. provides divine
revelation. You want to keep your focus
on the main thing … read the word of God … ELGIN
p.s One more thing …
if you had read this far, this probably doesn’t apply to you. One of the things I receive more requests for
than anything else here in Haiti is the Bible. When I ask a pastor how many people have
Bibles in his church it is normally less than 20%. Picture this … there is a person who has five
Bibles and does not read any of them … and there is a person who does not have
a Bible and, so, like the first person never reads it. What is the difference? The first person is on a hunger strike. They have chosen to starve themselves, even
though the “food” sits in front of them. The second person is starving and craves what
he does not have. A picture of the United
States and Haiti.
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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