Lord Light My Way

Comment

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on February 6, 2014 at 2:00am

CHURCH ON THE MOVE

MEMORY VERSE: And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).

Leaders in the Early Church were men of limitation. They simply could not care for all the needs of all the people all the time. When others in the church began to shoulder responsibility, the church began to move. And that is the Bible plan.

Little is accomplished when all the work of a church is left to the pastor. Regardless of his dedication, drive and discipline, he is but one person and will find himself frustrated in trying to meet the needs of so many.

When a congregation is on the move, its members care for one another and for others. They are not content with spectator Christianity nor even with fulfilling their obligations to serve on boards and committees. Their interest is in personally ministering to people. To them it is not enough to listen to sermons and analyze them. They are, themselves, "sermons in shoes."

Generally great ministers are produced by great churches. Asked once for the secret of his ministerial success, John Wesley answered: "It is the people. From one Sunday to the next they are continually at it."

Christianity began with a tiny minority. Those fiery believers soon multiplied into thousands and gained the reputation of turning the world upside down (see Acts 17:6). But the task was not accomplished by the leaders alone.

Ask your pastor about opportunities to serve. Your desire to help will be a blessing to his heart.

And the activity in the Lord's work will be good for yours.

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on February 3, 2014 at 6:20am

SUCH AS I HAVE

MEMORY VERSE: Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts 3:6).

Luke, the physician, wrote the Book of Acts. It is properly called The Acts of the Apostles. And it is a book of action; the story of the Early Church on the move.

The first Christians had little of this world's goods. They had no expensive church buildings, none of the things that make a church appear successful in our day.

People are easily awed by trappings that are designed to impress, but spiritual power is far more important. The church at Laodicea, described in the Book of Revelation, looked prosperous but was poor in the areas that really mattered: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked... (Revelation 3:17).

As Dr. Luke recorded the experience of Peter and John in their encounter with the lame man, he must have felt the pain and frustration of this one who had been afflicted for so long. Luke knew the limitation of man in helping some who are helpless.

"Silver and gold have I none," said Peter. And the poor man's heart must have drooped. But then the blessing came...he was healed of his affliction.

Peter had neither silver nor gold and therefore was not accountable to give what he did not have. But what he did have was exactly what the blind man needed.

Let us give "such as we have" that others may be blessed.

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on February 2, 2014 at 9:54am

FELLOWSHIP

MEMORY VERSE: And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).

Millions have joined in singing the great song of fellowship, "Blest Be the Tie That Binds," written by John Fawcett, an English Baptist minister. The song was written to commemorate an experience in Fawcett's life.

In 1772, after only a few years in pastoral work, John Fawcett was called to a large and influential church in London. His farewell sermon had been preached in his country church in Yorkshire and the wagons loaded with his furniture and books stood ready for departure to the new home and work.

Fawcett's congregation was brokenhearted.

Men, women, and children gathered about him and his family with sad and tearful faces.

Finally, overwhelmed with the sorrow of those they were leaving, Dr. Fawcett and his wife sat down on one of the packing cases and gave way to tears.

"Oh, John!" lamented Fawcett's wife, "I cannot bear this! I know not how to go!"

"Nor I, either," returned her husband. "And we will not go. The wagons shall be unloaded, and everything put in its old place."

The congregation was filled with joy and their continued fellowship was the basis for the song by John Fawcett that has blessed so many for so long.

The Early Church was strong in fellowship.

The church that is strong in fellowship is strong in its witness in the community.

What are you doing to deepen fellowship in your church?

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on February 1, 2014 at 8:59am

WHAT TIME IS IT?

MEMORY VERSE: And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power (Acts 1:7).

The question asked by the disciples just before the ascension of Jesus was to be expected: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? They were familiar with the many prophecies concerning the kingdom and they longed for their fulfillment.

"It is not for you to know...." the Lord replied.

And still no one knows.

Writing on this text, Dr. H. A. Ironside said, "Men persist in endeavoring to ferret out that which is the Father's own secret, and so they attempt by various ways to find out when the King will come...Some day He will make everything plain. When God's time comes prophecy will be fulfilled to the letter."

While the disciples were not told the date of the setting up of the kingdom, they were told what to do at that moment and in the immediate future. They were to wait for the promise of the Father and when that was fulfilled they were to witness at home and to the entire world.

We do not know when Jesus will return but we do know that we are to be busy taking His Word to the world. The disciples were to wait and then witness because the coming of the Holy Spirit would make their witnessing effective. On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came, enabling the disciples to be powerful witnesses. But no more waiting is required. Since Pentecost, all believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body the moment they are born again through faith in Christ. When the King returns...witnessing opportunities will be over.

It's time to witness for Christ today.

What are you waiting for?

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on January 31, 2014 at 5:49am

  THE TIME IS AT HAND

MEMORY VERSE: Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Revelation 1:3).

Israel is a nation.

Russia has a form of government built on atheism.

The Common Market moves toward a United States of Europe.

What does it all mean?

To most students of the Bible it means that we are living in the last days.

The weight of evidence for the truth of Bible prophecy is now so strong that any informed person would have to close his eyes to escape seeing its fulfillment.

Christ is coming!

He will come in fulfillment of His promise to the disciples: I will come again, and receive you unto myself (John 14:3).

He will come as promised by the two angels who appeared at His ascension. These heavenly messengers announced, This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).

He will come as described by Paul, the apostle: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

Yes, Jesus will return.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on January 30, 2014 at 5:46am

ETERNAL SALVATION

MEMORY VERSE: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him (Hebrews 5:9).

Salvation is eternal.

At the moment of new birth one receives eternal life: Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24); And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:11-13).

Since eternal life begins at salvation, simple logic demands that it never be terminated. If eternal life could be lost it would not have been eternal when received. And as we have seen, the Bible says that upon receiving Christ we have eternal life as a present possession.

Each Person of the Trinity guarantees the security of the believer: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one (John 10:27-30); And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

The old hymn says it well:

"More secure is no one ever
Than the loved ones of the Saviour."

Through faith in Christ you have ETERNAL life.

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on January 29, 2014 at 6:06am

THE TIME OF NEED

MEMORY VERSE: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Throughout our threescore and ten there are crisis times. Trouble may approach from a number of directions: health, finances, family, storms, earthquakes, national crises, death. in these times of anxiety, it is good to know that we can come to the throne of grace to obtain help for each occasion.

And God knows what we need.

When Adoniram Judson was dying, news came to him that some Jews in Turkey had been converted through reading the account of his suffering in Burma. "This awes me," said Judson to his wife. "This is good news. When I was a young man, I prayed for the Lord to send me to the Jews in Jerusalem as a missionary. But He sent me to Burma to preach and to suffer the tortures of imprisonment. Now, because of my sufferings, God has brought some Jews in Turkey to repentance."

In our deepest sorrows, God understands. Walter Brown Knight shares this helpful thought: "Sometimes when our souls are overwhelmed by sorrow, our prayers lie so deep in our innermost being that we are powerless to articulate them in words. How comforting it is to know that we do not need words to pray prevailingly." Paul agrees: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit [himself] maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26,27).

Troubled?

Tell it to Jesus. He's listening in your time of need.

Comment by Vijaya kumari on January 28, 2014 at 8:57pm

Comment by Vijaya kumari on January 28, 2014 at 8:56pm

Good morning friends,

                                         I am filled with trouble and anxiety, but your commandments bring me joy.  

Comment by Marshall Ray Blake on January 28, 2014 at 9:08am

DEPARTING TIME 

MEMORY VERSE: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand (2 Timothy 4:6).

Christians go to heaven when they die. Death is departing time. Paul wasn't looking forward to centuries in a grave awaiting the Resurrection. He had already expressed his assurance of arriving in heaven immediately following death: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8); For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain...For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better (Philippians 1:21,23).

As time counts down for the child of God, he is simply approaching his departure date when he will embark for heaven. In her poem, "A Christian Death," Wava Campbell has written:

Rejoice with me, my friends, I say rejoice!
I see my Master's face, I hear His voice.
It calls me from my misery and pain
To heaven's gate; how glorious is my gain.
I ran the race of life with all my might;
I turned not to the left, nor to the right.
And now I have arrived, I am set free;
Rejoice with me, my friends, rejoice with me!

Nearing his departure date, Paul looked back over life and felt good about his investment of the years. What words of satisfaction and triumph: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

Having spent his days serving Christ, he could look in both directions at departure time and have confidence.

Are you ready for departing time?

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