Sunday, November 05, 2006
Bearing up to persecution But I know the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor. Psalm 140:12 NLT Praising God in suffering
"Young Charles Simeon had reason to question Psalm 140:12. A recent graduate of Cambridge, he had been installed as rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in that college town, much to the dismay of the liberal-thinking parishioners, who couldn't abide the evangelical preaching of this Bible-loving cleric. When the old-time members locked their pew doors to keep out other worshippers, Simeon put seats in the aisles. Then members came early and threw out the aisle seats.
Nicknamed Sims, Simeon was hooted at when he walked in the town. "I was the object of much contempt and derision," he admits. One day he took a walk, asking God to guide him to "some text which should sustain me." Opening his New Testament, he read about Simon of Cyrene, who bore the cross of Jesus. Simeon found this to be great encouragement indeed, partly because he thought they might have given Simon of Cyrene the nickname of Sims, too! "To have the cross laid upon me that I might bear it after Jesus. What a privilege! Now I would leap and sing joy, as one whom Jesus was honoring with a participation in his sufferings."
If you're facing times of persecution and feel that you're misunderstood, learn a lesson from Sims and start praising God.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
"Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good." "Benjamin Franklin is best known for his inventions (lightning rod) and his aphorisms ("early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"). But he was also a key figure when the thirteen colonies were giving birth to a new nation in America."Psalm 127:1 NLT"
At the age of 81, Franklin was the oldest representative at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Weeks after the convention began, representatives were still haggling about the relative voting power of large states and small states. Then Franklin stood up and said,"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.…Have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men.…We have been assured, sir, that 'except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it,' and without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."
The verse from Psalm 127 had its effect. A compromise was soon worked out, and a Constitution ratified by the states the following year.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
"For Solomon has abandoned me… 1 Kings 11:33 NLT"
Final epitaphs
"How would you like to be remembered after your death? Have you considered what the epitaph on your gravestone might read?
One headstone in Ribbesford, England, marking the grave of a woman named Anna Wallace, reads: "The children of Israel wanted bread, and the Lord sent them manna. Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife, and the Devil sent him Anna."
Not the final words Anna expected, I'm sure. But as always, those she left behind got the last word.
You have to cringe and wonder when you see the gravestone of a man from Plymouth, Massachusetts, named John McMahon. It says: "He Was a Failure As a Husband and Father." How would you like that as your legacy?
But the saddest epitaph of all isn't found on a tombstone; it's found is the pages of Scripture. When faced with the task of memorializing the wise king Solomon, God had some sobering words. "Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians…He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He had not obeyed my laws and regulations as his father, David, did." Solomon was buried in the city of David, and in spite of all the good things he did, he will forever be remembered as the king who turned his back on God.
We would all do well do ask ourselves a simple question: If God were to write my obituary, what would he record?
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