Untapped Wealth

An elderly woman in Scotland lived in abject poverty. Many years earlier, her son had left to live in America and had not returned to visit. One day a friend inquired, “Does your son ever help you?” Reluctantly she admitted, “No, but he writes me long nice letters and sends me interesting pictures.”

The friend wanted to speak harshly of the man, but he held back, and simply asked, “May I see the pictures?” The woman took them out of a drawer and to his friend’s amazement they were all sizable banks notes. Through the years she had been needlessly living in poverty.

Many Christians are like that. They exist as spiritual paupers while possessing unlimited wealth. By failing to read and study the Scriptures, they neglect to cash in on their treasures. Many people put their Bible on the shelf instead of in their hearts (Our Daily Bread, July 28, 1992).

THOSE WHO DREAD CHANGE

A poet expressed it like this: Our fathers have been churchmen for a hundred years or so, And to every new proposal, their answer is always, “No,” Their motto is, “Nothing ventured nothing lose.”

DEAD WORSHIP

Remember that the Lord approves of neither idol worship not idle worship. Leaving some worship services I feel like the little boy who went to “big church” for the first time. On the sanctuary wall hung a plaque in memory of young men of the congregation who died in the armed services. The plaque captured the boy’s attention. In the middle of the service, he whispered to his mother, “What is that for?” Hoping to quiet him with the answer, she replied, “It has been placed there in memory of the young men who died in the service.”

The little boy responded, “Which service did they die in, the morning service or the evening?” (Anonymous)

CELEBRATIVE WORSHIP

Methodist Bishop Arthur Moore told the story about a young minister who asked his bishop to hold a “quiet hour” in the young minister’s church. The bishop responded, “What your church needs is not a quiet hour but an earthquake! I don’t want to be as quiet as some of your people until I am dead (Paul W. Powell, Building an Evangelistic Church).

LIFE’S BASIC PRINCIPLES PART 2

Most people think:

Happy are the pushers: for they get on in the world.

Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.

Happy are they who complain: for they get their own way in the end.

Happy are the blasé: for they never worry of their sins.

Happy are the slave-drivers: for they get results.

Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world: for they know their way round.

Happy are the trouble-makers: for people have to take notice of them.

MONEY

A person’s attitude towards money and material things can determine his/her relationship to God. A grandfather who had a weak heart won $100,000 (dollars) in the sweepstakes. Due to his weak heart, his children did not know how to tell him this news. They went to their pastor and told him the story. The pastor said, I know how to tell him. One day the pastor was with this grandfather and asked him, Francis, If you have 100,000 dollars`1 today, what will you do with it? He said, “I will give it all to the Lord’s work. The Pastor fell down dead” (Dr. Adrian Rogers).

GOD UNDERSTANDS (PSALM 139:1-12)

The One who made you is the One who can mend you.