dW 04.04.08

scripture

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

 

quote

 

Shall light troubles make you forget weighty mercies?

John Flavel

 

thoughts

 

I am overwhelmed. I had to take a breather from rushing to and fro on campus so I found a table between many large, tall trees. I put my bag on the ground. I sat up on the table top and laid back. In the trees around me I could see squirrels chasing each other in their branches and I saw many different types of birds gliding about between them. I took a deep breath and noticed jet trails in the sky. They were running north and south. They floated quickly and faded slowly in the piece of sky overhead. I felt the breeze on my face and the coolness of the midmorning. A bird chirped in the brush and I felt peace. I then realized that if I had lain there any longer I’d fall asleep. So I said a prayer to thank God for His creation and His care over me.

 

Take some time today to breath and meditate on God.

dW 04.03.08

scripture

 

1 Peter 1:3-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

 

thought

 

Faith has a price. Here Peter explains that it is worth more than gold.

It is a great encouragement that even though being in the flames hurts

us we know that God gives us the strength to endure and that the end

result will be worth it.

 

quote

 

Matthew is supposed to have suffered martyrdom by being put to death by a halberd, a slender ax for splitting helmets, in a city of ancient Ethiopia.

Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, till he died.

Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in Greece.

John miraculously escaped death when put into a cauldron of boiling oil at Rome.  He afterwards died a natural death at Ephesus.

James the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem.

James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle or wing of the temple, stoned, and finally beaten to death with a fuller's club.

Philip was hanged up against a pillar at Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia.

Bartholomew was put to death by the command of a barbarous king in Armenia.

Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to the people till he expired.

Thomas was run through the body by a lance in the East Indies.

Jude was cruelly put to death in Persia.

Simon Zelotes was crucified by the Druids in Britain.

Matthias was stoned and then beheaded.

- Unknown

dW 04.02.08

scripture

 

Psalm 57:2

I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me.  

 

observation

 

What is the purpose of life? Ask God.

Why ask God? Because he directs our lives.

For what result? To fulfill HIS purposes for us.

 

thought

 

A missionary who served in Papua New Guinea named Brad Buser explained how we like lists. We like to make them and order all the items on the list in their significance. Christians should attempt to keep God at the top of the list. However, Christians are human too so God gets knocked down the list every now and then. He then commented that putting God at the top of our lists are not enough and is actually an insult to God. We must make God the list. Once God is the list, the other stuff begins to take care of itself by either by getting addressed or put to the wayside because it was actually a distraction. What would it take for you to make God your list?