Thought To Uplift The Heart

There are times in life when we wish for words to encourage those we care about, but knowing the outcome, it is only the Lord who has the capacity to lift the heart from the sadness of losing those we love in this life. Life is like a book with many chapters, some happy, some sad, but all necessary to our spiritual growth that evolves over all the years of our life. It makes us, who we are in our daily life! Some think of death as an ending of life, the painful loss of a loved one. I prefer to think of death as just another chapter in the book of life...you might say an epilogue of this life, but not an ending but the beginning of a new chapter yet to be seen, but promised by our Lord to be a joyful retreat of praise and worship....The end of our story is known only to God! May we all look forward to that day with anticipation! God bless!

Respectfully submitted by,

Jan Sherman

How Safe Are You?

Safe is one of those words that give you peace of mind. It gives you a feeling of security and comfort. This brings to mind the question, “How safe are you?” You probably would respond with, “Pretty safe,” but are you?

Here's some food for thought. An ancient story is told about a slave who traveled with his master to Baghdad. As he walked the busy streets he found himself in the market place where he saw Death in human form. Death looked at him with such a piercing look that it frightened the slave and he interpreted that look to mean that Death was planning soon to take his life.  He quickly rushed back to his master & told him what he had seen in the market place & asked if he might ride his camel to Samara, 15 hours away, because he was sure that he would be safe there, for Death would not know where to find him. The master gave him permission, & quickly the slave was on his way to Samara.  A few hours later the master was in the market place where he also saw Death in human form. He walked up to Death & asked, "Why did you look at my slave with such a threatening look?" Death answered, "That was not a threatening look. That was a look of surprise. I had a date with him tonight in Samara & I was surprised to see him here in Baghdad." [Melvin Newland]

Sometimes we jump the gun like this slave and do ourselves more harm than good. If we would just put all our trust in the Lord, we would have absolutely nothing to worry about. Death does not have the victory over us. We have victory over death through the precious blood of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Here's the question again. “How safe are you?” Could it be that God wants to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings for protection, but you are not willing to allow Him to do so? (Matt. 23:37) God gave His only begotten Son to mankind, that whoever would believe in Him, would not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Are you numbered among the ones that have accepted this free gift of salvation or are you still rebelling and rejecting the Savior? Without the Savior Jesus Christ, you are not safe at all.

God wants you safe, but He will not force you to do anything against your will. Remember the prayer of Jesus in the garden? He said, “Not My will, but Yours!” Is this your desire today? If so, surrender your heart, soul and mind to a risen Savior and begin living the good life by hearing (Rom. 10:17), believing (John 6:29), confessing (Matt. 10:32), repenting (Acts 3:19), and being baptized (1 Pet. 3:21).  Then walk in the light (1 John 1:7), remain faithful (Rev. 2:10) and be sure to tell others (Matt. 28:19).

A New Sister in Christ

Last Wednesday evening, after Bible Study, I had the pleasure of talking with one of our members about baptism.  She declared that she had been listening to the sermons and studies and the parts about baptism really stood out.  She had come to the conclusion that her baptism was not for the right reason and felt that she needed to do it according to the holy scriptures.  Considering how important baptism is to our salvation, we decided we could not delay this act of obedience, therefore we readied her for baptism.

I was able to speak to her husband, who by the way is a new Christian too, and he wanted the privilege to baptize his wife.  This was a wonderful gesture on his part so we went over what he must say and how she must respond.  Once she was ready, he baptized her into Christ and she is now confident that her baptism is scriptural and she has been added to the Lord's church by God Himself (Acts 2:47).

What a glorious occasion knowing that another soul has been saved for the kingdom's sake.  The devil has no claim on this soul any longer and the victory is in Christ Jesus.  Amen! 

Cynthia Wilson was baptized into Christ on the 23rd of February, 2011.