"Say Little, Serve All, Pass On" ~JND

Do you seek a place? among your brethren? Don't. Be content with that lowly, obscure, out of the way place that the Lord has put you. He sees everything and makes a note of all that you've done for Him. Go quietly on with the Lord.

"Oh, to be emptier, lowlier,

Mean, unnoticed, and unknown,

And to God a vessel holier

Filled with Christ and Christ alone."

(Anonymous)

"Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Did You?

"Did you give him a smile?

He was downcast and blue.

And the smile would have helped him

To battle it through.

Did you give him a hand?

He was slipping down hill,

And the world, so I fancied

Was using him ill.

Did you give him a word?

Did you show him the road?"

~Anonymous~


"A certain priest...and likewise a Levite...looked on him, and passed by on the othere side." Luke 10:31, 32.

"Onesiphorus...oft refreshed me." 2 Timothy 1:16

Obedience

I think that it is of the utmost importance that a child learns obedience. If he does not know how to obey you might as well forget about the rest. The same is true about us and God, our Father. It's a lesson that He will teach us over and over until we learn it. And then again just to make sure. It boils down to submission: the realization that He knows best. We can knock our heads against the wall again and again but until we finally rest in submission to His will we won't be happy.

Submission is the "serene expression of one at perfect peace in the hand of God." (selected) It is not resignation.

It seems to me that obedience is an act and submission is an attitude. One can be obedient without being submissive. But can one be submissive without obedience? It probably goes beyond obedience. Perhaps obedience is a moot point when one is submissive.

I often would tell my children, "Obedience is not obedience unless it's immediate." Otherwise it's on their time table and at their wim as to when and whether they are going to obey. That's not obedience.

The Adventure called "Life"

"To see God's hand in everything makes life a great adventure."

Follies and Faults

"How often are our follies and our faults the opportunity for the display of the grace and wisdom of God and for the fulfilment of His counsels hidden from the world until then! Our sins and faults alone have conduced to the glorious accomplishment of these counsels in Christ." JND Synopsis, vol. 1, p.412 (I Samuel)

We often get very discouraged because we have failed. Yet, we should feel shame in that we have dishonored the Lord. The remedy, though, is not to dwell on our past mistakes, but to judge them and go on, realizing that God will use them to teach us what He wants us to learn. What a wonderful God that even our failures can be turned to blessing!

Humility

"Humility is perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed or irritatited, never disappointed. It is to expect nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at rest and peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above me is trouble." ~selected
(From my notes, October 1974)

A Loving God

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. What is it about this verse that makes it easy for even the youngest child to memorize? It's one of the verses that is so common that even the man of the street can recite it. I suppose the Lord made it that way so that if a person only knew this one verse he could be saved. For this verse has everything in it that a person needs to get to heaven.

"God does the loving and giving. We do the believing and having." ~Bruce

Godliness with Contentment

The Scriptures tell us to be content with food and raiment, (1 Timothy 6:8). Enough to eat, clothing to wear, and a roof over our heads. But there's something even better than that. The Bible tells us that godliness added to contentment is great gain, (1 Timothy 6:6). And how does one "get godly"? I suppose that spending time reading the Bible and praying is good place to start. That's where we can learn more about God. When you're occupied with something you become like that object. Thus occupation with Christ is a sure way to make one godly. Because we cannot read our Bibles all day long, it's just not practical, we can take the Scriptures with us when we memorize verses and bring them to mind during the day. And we can certainly pray (without ceasing) as we go about our business.