Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Finish Well..Rev. M.D. Rogers
Before he died, the apostle Paul wrote with confidence about his life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7, NKJV). He wasn't boasting. He was saying that he had remained true to the course God had laid out for him. He had not only lived well but also finished well.I believe that every Christian has a course set out before him—whether, like Paul, he is in full-time ministry or not—and that he will be judged based on how successfully he finishes it. We all are called to both begin and end well—and to live well in between.
As I age, I think more and more about finishing my life well. Like most people I've always tended to think that the end is far away, somewhere in the distant future.
Scripture confirms, however, that we have no guarantee of tomorrow. As the psalmist wrote, "My times are in Your hand" (Ps. 31:15). I have to ask myself: If I went home to be with the Lord tomorrow, how would anyone know whether I finished well?
The final word on whether a person finishes well belongs to God and God alone. I'm not sure anyone else will be around to hear His "Well done, good and faithful servant" (see Matt. 25:21), if He should say that to us—certainly not those who are still living.
Not many people are remembered beyond one or two generations after their deaths. So if nothing else, you can finish well by leaving behind a good name that your children and grandchildren can remember.
If you don't have children, then you can leave a good name among those who knew you best, whether friends or associates. For that to happen, you will have to spend some time being a blessing to others, using your time and gifts to serve their needs.
Ultimately, it is most important to finish well in God's eyes. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, not many people were happy with the job he was doing. Yet today there aren't too many cities in the United States that don't have some memorial to his work and name.
Perhaps we should remember Nehemiah's prayers as we consider our lives and our desire to finish well. On two separate occasions, Nehemiah prayed that God would remember him for the work he had done: "Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people" (Neh. 5:19); "Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!" (Neh. 13:14).
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
God's Way
God’s Way
Rev. M.D .Rogers
For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” [This is] the Lord’s declaration.
“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and
My thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:8–9
God’s ways are not our ways. When
you try to understand how God does things, from a human perspective, it never
adds up. Look in the Bible. Did it make sense to Abraham or Sarah when God told
them they would have a son in their old age? No, Sarah laughed at God! How do
you think Noah felt when God told him to build a huge boat so that he and his
family would survive the coming flood? Or Gideon, watching his army dwindle
from tens of thousands to only 300,fwhile told by God they would
defeat thousands of Midianite soldiers. And of course, Jesus’ disciples must
have been pretty confused and scared as they watched their Messiah crucified
outside of Jerusalem.
So, when you feel God leading you
to do something, or if you seem to be up against an insurmountable obstacle in
your life… remember that God’s Ways are Not Our Ways. Trust in Him, and
remember Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares
the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.
Rarely does God do something exactly as we think He will. Our problem is that we try to second-guess God, saying, “Oh, now I know what God is planning to do!” Moses experienced this as he learned how God was going to deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt. God told him He would harden Pharaoh's heart. Yet, the result was not what Moses anticipated. Rather than allowing the Hebrews to leave, Pharaoh increased their hardship. Rather than becoming a hero among the Hebrews, Moses was despised by them for bringing greater suffering. Moses returned to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?”(Exod. 5:22).
Much of the frustration we experience as Christians has nothing to do with what God does or doesn't do. It has everything to do, rather, with the false assumptions we make about how we think God will and should act.
Have you ever done the will of God and then things seemed to become worse? Moses completely misunderstood what the results of His obedience to God would be. When things did not turn out as he anticipated, Moses became discouraged. God had told Moses what to do, but He had not told Moses what the consequences would be.
It is foolish to attempt to do God's work using your own “common sense.” God does not eliminate your common sense, He consecrates it. He gives you His wisdom so you can understand His ways.
As you look back on God's activity in your life, you will recognize the supreme wisdom in how He has led you. As you look forward to what God may do, be careful you do not try to predict what He will do next. You may find yourself completely off the mark.
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