O' what a Day to Remember!

I recollect this day in the year 2001 how Christ made a difference in my life. I accepted Him as my personal Lord and savior (7.4.2001) through a simple way but it has changed my life’s direction and goal. As I look back from now, I don’t have any regrets in making that decision. He has always been faithful to me (1 Cor 1:9).  On this day I contemplate the joy I had that very night I received Him in my life. All I had was a simple childlike faith to go to Him and confess my sins and by faith received Him as my Lord and Savior.

In this brief post I like to share how I led to that decision on that day and how significant it is. So that if you have not received Him in your life, you can confess your sins and receive Him by faith as your Lord and Savior. Will you? Trust me you will never regret for making this costly decision.

As I was young and energetic youth I was so active in attending church meetings regularly and had many Christian friends, also went to lot of Christian camps but still my heart was far from God. I still haven’t surrendered my life to God. I attended a youth meeting in our church at Coimbatore on 7th of April. That very afternoon I have come to know how John Stott, a good Christian evangelical writer, received the Lord in his life during his school days.

I dropped the preacher after the meeting in my bike to the nearby stop. While driving the preacher asked me have you received Jesus in your life? I just nodded my head but deep within I know who I am. That very evening I started to search my book shelf and found a book named ‘Truth about Jesus’ by John Stott. I started reading this book because I heard about this man that afternoon. Coming to a particular chapter –chapter 10 – ‘Reaching a decision’, Stott expounds the verse Rev 3:20 poignantly. It meant a lot to me that evening. I believe I was convicted by the Spirit of God and I confessed my sins to Him and with tears received Him through faith. Truly it was joy filled night to me. I ran to share to one of my friend next day morning about my new spiritual experience. He too was excited and prayed with me. O’ what a Day to Remember!

I beseech every reader of this article to think about your own life. Have you received Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?

Delay not for making this decision. Your life will be safe in His hands. God has a good plan for your future (Jer 29:11).  

Don’t try Him, rather Trust Him in simple faith!

Our response to Covid19 - Fear or Faith?

Life in this trouble some days are fearful and uncertain. We are living in difficult times. Faith will be tested and proved and for some it could be shaken. On the outset life seems living on the edge crippled with fear. Where we are heading towards and what are we going to achieve in this world? “No one knows”. Till now we were all chasing after the wind. Now, Life seems to be still and meaningless.

We have faced uncertainties every time and it is filled with sorrow and questions.

Covid19 has taken the Center stage in the world arena. Everyone’s focus are now set on the statistics that corona brings into human history. The death toll is alarmingly increasing, and the hope of people were set on finding a way out from this menace. Living life amidst all these challenges makes us feel so weak and sick.

Eat, fun, celebrate are all have tossed up and have become not so attractive words to us. Fear has robbed our fun. Trust in God has lost its grip and self-reliance has taken its hold. Can God be trusted in difficult times like this? We trust the man-made hand sanitizers that can kill the germs. But truly do we trust in the everlasting, mighty, and faithful God and his promises? How can we beat the odds and trust God completely? Isa 26:3 says – “You will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”. There is imperfect peace because of imperfect trust in God. Can faith be truly our antidote? There is a constant battle between faith and fear. It’s a critical choice that we need to make.

Jesus helps us to overcome fear. Do we allow him to take control of our lives? Do we know Him personally as our Lord and savior? He is the only hope to this dying world. It is high time for us to come to him and confess our sins and repent from our wicked ways. To receive his pardon and his mercies are we too far off? He is truly a prayer away from us, call unto Him and He will answer you. And let us find solace and rest for our troubled souls.

Let God who is Sovereign answer our cries in this crisis. Our lives are in His hands. He determines the number of days we live (Ps 90:9-12). Let us not be gripped by the fear of death. He can heal the Nations, as He is the God of the Nations. He can heal the people who are afflicted and restore peace and health in this world. The greatest of all healing is salvation of our souls. Amen!

Finishing the Race!

Text: Heb 12:1-3

            NASB                                     ESV                                        NIV

NAU  Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

ESV  Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

NIV   Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

CTX:  

In Hebrews 10:36, the author exhorted his readers, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” [lit., “the promise”]. Then he devotes chapter 11 to many examples of Old Testament saints who endured by faith, although they did not receive the promise (Christ), which we have received. In our text, the author returns to the theme of endurance, saying, we have both this great cloud of witnesses from the Old Testament and Jesus Himself, who is the supreme example of one who endured horrible suffering by faith. He endured the cross and now is at the Father’s right hand.

The writer of Hebrews combined these two themes of athletics and citizenship in this important 12th chapter. The atmosphere is that of the footraces in the arena. We can see the runners laying aside their training weights and striving to run their races successfully. Some get weary and faint, while others endure to the end and win the prize. First the writer pictures the race (Heb. 12:1–13), and then emphasizes citizenship in the heavenly city (Heb. 12:14–29). In the minds of his readers, these two themes would go together; for no one could take part in the official games unless he was a citizen of the nation.

The one theme that runs through this chapter is endurance (Heb. 12:1 [“patience”], 2–3, 7; also see 10:32, 36 [“patience”]). The Jewish believers who received this letter were getting weary and wanted to give up; but the writer encouraged them to keep moving forward in their Christian lives, like runners on a track (see Phil. 3:12–14).

How to run this race that is set before us?

1. LET US RUN THIS RACE AS WE HAVE MANY EXAMPLES LIVED BEFORE US

The opening phrase of 12:1 refers back to chapter 11. All of the Old Testament saints, who endured all sorts of trials by faith, should encourage us to keep running when we feel like quitting. The word cloud was a classical Greek metaphor for a large multitude.

Jesus Himself Is The Main Motivation To Keep Running.

We are not alone in this race. We can be encouraged when we go through suffering and persecution.

  

2. LET US RUN WITH LESS WEIGHT SO THAT WE CAN FINISH

We Must Lay Aside Every Encumbrance.

The word means weight. It can refer to physical weight (obesity), or to unnecessary baggage. Ancient Greek runners would actually run naked so as not to be encumbered. Olympic athletes in our day wear some pretty skimpy outfits. They don’t want anything to slow them down or drain their energy.

Weight refers to sin. This doesn’t refer only to certain besetting sins, but to all sins. Sin always begins in the mind, and so we must judge all sin at the thought level. Pride, lust, envy, greed, anger, grumbling, selfishness—all of these things originate in our thought life. If you cut it off there, it goes no farther. If you entertain these things, they incubate and develop into sinful words and actions (James 1:14-15).

But the author’s point is, you can’t run the Christian race if you keep tripping over your sin.

3. LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE THE COURSE SET BEFORE US

Note two things:

A. God sets the course.

If you’re running a marathon, you can’t make up your own course. If we stray from the course, we’ll be disqualified. The race is “set before us,” just as Jesus had “the joy set before Him.” God is the Sovereign One who sets the course for each of us, just as He set the course of the cross for Jesus.

To finish the Christian marathon, it’s important to keep in mind at all times that the Sovereign God sets the course. We may not like parts of the course. We may be prone to grumble, “Why did the course have to go over this hill, or through this swamp?” The answer is, “Because the Sovereign God planned it this way.” We won’t be able to run by faith unless we submit our will to His will.

B. We Must Run With Endurance.

Running with endurance requires adopting a certain mindset.

This is what Jesus meant when He talked about counting the cost of following Him (Luke 14:28-33). Before we make a glib commitment to be a Christian, think it through. Are we willing to put out the effort, the sweat, the endurance, and the pain of going the distance? If not, don’t start the race, because we’re going to look pretty silly when we drop out after 400 meters.

Obviously, one key to running the whole distance is motivation. But where do we get the motivation to run the Christian marathon? Our author suggests two sources, both valuable, but the second is incomparably greater than the first.

CH Spurgeon who said it is Perseverance that took the snail to enter Noah’s ark.

4. LET US RUN JOYFULLY THOUGH IT IS NOT AN EASY RACE

(Illus): American Pastor steven Cole shares his experience with one Christian lady struggling with sin.

 Many years ago, a young woman who was a drug addict found my name in the phone book and began calling me frequently. She was married with two small children, but she was hooked on drugs. She had no concept that normal people sleep at night, and so she would call at 2 a.m. from some phone booth where she was stoned out of her mind.

She professed to believe in Christ, and said that she wanted to follow Him, but she had no idea of what that meant. On one occasion when she was relatively sober, I described in detail what a daily walk with Christ looks like. I explained what a daily time in the Word and prayer was like, what obedience to the Bible means, how to think like a Christian, etc.

When I was done, I asked, “Have you ever done anything close to what I’ve just described?” She said, “Yeah, I did that once for two weeks, but it didn’t work.” She thought that she had given it a fair try in two weeks! I explained to her that the Christian faith isn’t a two-week sprint. It’s a lifelong marathon.

The Christian life is a lifelong, grueling race that entails some long hills to climb and some swampy marshes to plod through. To make it to the end, you need self-discipline to get into good shape, you will need to maintain your motivation, and you will need sustained effort. No one enters a marathon with the thought of dropping out after a mile. Finishing well is everything. In this race, you are not competing with other believers. We’re all on the same team. We’re competing against the enemy of our souls, who opposes God’s kingdom and wants us to drop out.

5. LET US RUN WITHOUT GETTING DISCOURAGED

 Fixing our eyes on Jesus is the key to not grow weary and lose heart.

The literal rendering is, “that you not fail through weariness, fainting in your souls.” Spiritual failure happens gradually from continuous weakening (B. F. Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 398). Just as a runner who is not in excellent condition gradually slows down and finally collapses, so the believer who does not keep looking with faith to Jesus will eventually collapse. We call it “burn out” today, and it seems that there are many who are weary in their souls in the Christian marathon. The remedy is to fix our eyes on Jesus.

(Illus): The King said in the empire whoever wins the race will marry the princess. Many contested. One handsome person said he will win the race and marry her. Many have quit the race in the middle. Many were distracted by the audience and the golden apples were thrown to distract the runners so that they could miss the focus. They lost the race. Sadly the handsome man too was distracted by the golden apples.

CONCLUSION

Ish 40:28-30

You can’t run the race if you’ve never entered it. If you’ve never put your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you aren’t even in the race. If you don’t enter the race and run with endurance, you won’t get the prize.

Questions to ponder:

1.      How do we find the balance between our effort to run the race and God’s power working through us (see Phil. 2:12-13).

2.      What are some spiritual encumbrances in our lives that are not necessarily sin, but they keep us from running well?

3.      Is there any golden apples that distract us from this race?

Who can understand my Loneliness?

The pain of loneliness is true. On the face of life’s disappointments every individual faces loneliness in this life. The emptiness of wondering what lies ahead, and what the future holds is bothering to many of us. The fear that uncertain times and changes in life, children grow, people move, close ones leaves us and loss happens in the business. We feel we are left alone.

The pain of loneliness is no respecter of age, beauty, profession or lifestyle. It can strike a young child at preschool and it can hit the elderly after the loss of a spouse. It can affect the college student, who is new on campus, the graduate who is just starting out in life, the married couple growing apart and the divorcee facing life alone. It affects the rich, poor and it even affects the famous celebrity’s. 

At a conference Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, offered a purpose statement for his entertainment industry: “Fundamentally, we’re about eliminating loneliness and boredom. That’s what entertainment does."

The entertainment industry expects us to see boredom as bad, which is why advertisers, sponsors, filmmakers, and game-makers collaborate to create shows, movies, and games that will capture our attention and keep us preoccupied. Lot of children and young adults in our nation have taken captive by the gaming industry.

Bunch of young people vent out their boredom and loneliness by consuming alcohol, drugs and many more substance. And few think if they can budge themselves in peer pressure and going to dance party’s they can get rid of this problem.

Bible tells in Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death”. Let us beware of not going in the wrong paths.

Loneliness is a real problem. Some comfort for those in loneliness can come through love of friends and family, a companionship built on commitment to a person’s good. To some extent it can ease the pain of loneliness. But for sure it is not the permanent fix.

A Truly Connected Life

A Truly connected life must not be defined by internet access or phone usage by gluing ourselves to social Medias such as Facebook and Watsapp. It’s the life where we are connected to God and to one another, where we know our real worth is. Saint Augustine of Hippo has said like this “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” 

The antidote for loneliness is close relationship with Jesus Christ. You may ask at this juncture who is He? The best place to start with is reading the Bible and get to know Him personally. As we get to know Him more in our lives, our thinking will be gradually transformed. He gives the inner peace which the world cannot offer to us. His abiding presence in our lives will be suffice to face any kinds of turmoil in life.  Jesus said like this in John 10:10b “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”.

Jesus Christ can change our hearts and minds if we are letting Him to do that. He works to bring about good things, clear paths, new beginnings, full lives in us. He assures us that we are not alone! Jesus has said “And surely I am (Jesus) with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mat 28:20b (Bible).

Why don’t you TRUST Him and experience the real peace.

Jesus is the answer to the cry of our lonely hearts!

What will be spoken of me in my funeral? (2 min read)

 

One who gained his life on this earth? Or One who wasted his life for Jesus? I want to be in the latter. Living as a fool for Christ in this world. Whether this world accepts me or not I am not hurt. I am accepted by my Lord and I know where I am heading to…Do you know your destiny?

As I was watching the funeral service of Rev. Dr. Billy Graham the great Evangelist I was deeply moved by the statement made by his son Rev. Franklin Graham and his daughter Anne Lotz Graham. Anne Graham said my dad loved the scriptures and always loved to read the portions of scriptures. Franklin Graham said like this while my dad was on this earth he preached about Heaven to millions and wrote about Heaven in a book and now he Himself is in Heaven, in the presence of God. What a hope and an assurance it is.

A few resolutions taken on the day of His funeral:

ü  To preach the infallible Word of God.

ü  To carry the Bible to the pulpit and speak with all authority.

ü  To preach Repentance.

ü  To Preach Christ and win people for Christ.

Heaven and Hell are real ones. Don’t think it’s a Disney tales that we tell to the children. It’s a matter of choice that determines your destiny. You will be surprised one day in knowing your destiny. Before it is too late, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ wherever you live now on this earth and turn your life to Him.

A life well lived will always impact others and will leave a legacy behind. The quality of life lived on this earth is important. Examine yourself and ask honest questions to yourself. Because we cannot lie to ourselves.

Repent of your sins – Take heed to what the Bible talks about Heaven – Give your life to Jesus. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Oh how I wish my funeral also be impacting others, at least one?

To God be the Glory!

Your Choice Matters

During my student days I heard this imaginative story and it made sense to me:

There was a small lad who had only one rupee coin in his hand and went to a sweet shop with his mom. Looking at the sweets displayed in the shop, his eyes went to and forth. The lad could not resist his temptation and started saying to his mom I want this. I want that. The mom gently replied son all that you have is just one rupee in your hand. You cannot buy so many things with it. Make a choice what sweet you need to buy with your one rupee coin.  

We have only one life to live in this world. But we wanted to do so many things with that.

It’s nothing wrong to be ambitious. But we need to make certain critical choices in our lives to keep us going forward.

It’s not how long we live, but how we live that matters.  

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We all have to make choices in life, and often those choices result in significant consequences

Who we are today is because of the choice we made in our life.

We will have regrets in life if we failed to make right choices.

So how can I make the right choices?  Who can help me? 

"God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him."

- Jim Elliot

Few quotes on choices:

“Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you” - John C. Maxwell

“Life is about choices: Some we regret, some we are proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The Message: We are what we chose to be”   - Graham Brown

"The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day." - Chuck Swindoll

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Spiritual Dimension

As Iam speaking on the critical choice that we need to make in our life concerning our faith.

We need to understand that God has placed in us the spiritual dimension of knowing Him and also to believe in Him.

 It is Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician and philosopher, put it rightly like this:

"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ."

 If we try to stuff anything but God into that God-shaped hole in our lives, we'll end up dissatisfied, restless, discontent. But fill that God-shaped vacuum with God. What do we find? In a word: contentment or fulfillment in life.

The problem with most of us is that we have substituted God with Materialism, work, wealth and pleasures of this present life. That God has no place in our lives. I believe that’s why we feel we are lonely in this world. That’s why we feel no one cares for us. No one loves me or accepts me.

I was browsing through one of the blog in the internet (https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/21st-century-lifelessness ) 

21st CENTURY LIFELESSNESS!

Our communication Wireless; Our business Cashless; Our telephone Cordless; Our cooking Fireless; Our youth Jobless; Our religion Creedless; Our food Fatless; Our faith Godless; Our labour Effortless; Our conduct Worthless; Our relationLoveless; Our attitude Careless; Our feeling Heartless;- Our politics Shameless; Our education Valueless; Our follies Countless; Our arguments Baseless; Our commitment Aimless; Our poor Voiceless; Our life Meaningless. Finally,Our Existence -USELESS????

When you allow God to take over your life, you will understand the meaning and purpose of your very existence. Otherwise we don’t have any purpose in our lives.

James Dobson – A Psychologist and a writer – said like this

When God doesn’t make sense, nothing else makes sense in our lives.

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Another important thing to consider in the spiritual dimension is: God’s Disclosure of himself.

God has revealed himself to the world unless otherwise we cannot know him.

Purpose of God’s Revelation: It is for our good to believe and obey Him.  

The special revelation is none other than the scriptures that we are talking (The Holy Bible) and the person of Christ himself.

The choice is with you. But remember the choice that you make now on these matters have eternal consequences.

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Whom to follow the rest of our life?

My story:

In 2001 as I was pursuing my B.com studies I was in my late teen I made a critical choice in my life. To follow God in my life. As I read the Bible I understood that only one person could save me. I decided to commit my life to him to know him as my Personal God. He changed my attitude my perspective towards life.   

Today when I look back I don’t have any regrets in making that choice in my life.

Soren Kirgegarrd the Danish thinker said like this:  “Life can be understood backwards, which has been lived forwards. So therefore live life forwards”

Today who we are depends on the choice that you and I make in life.

Make a choice to know God in your life. Search for the real one and it is worth to follow Him the rest of your life.

Examples of people who made wrong choices??

Way back in 1998-99 I did my schooling in Nilgiris. I had a friend in my class xii. We are friends and we used to play cricket together. We used to sit together in the same bench in the class. But one day I heard the news that he ended his life, because of some strain in relationships. I really don’t know exactly the details. But I feel bad that he made a wrong choice in his life.

Is there anyone who is going through a similar struggle in finding meaning and purpose in life?

The scripture says like this. Listen to this:

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land.”  - Deut 30:19,20

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Listen to this conversation:

A sadhu (Guru) and a boy was having a conversation on the riverside. The boy wanted to fool the wise sadhu by doing something. So what he did was. One day he took a small sparrow in his hand and asked the sadhu. Is the sparrow in my hand dead or alive? The boy thought if the sadhu says that the bird is dead he will leave the bird to fly in the sky. If he says the bird is alive, he thought to strangle that bird and kill by his hands to fool him. But to the surprise of the boy the sadhu said the life or death of the bird depends on you. It’s in your hands.  

God is the solution to your problems. Give him the control of your life. He can direct your lives well.

Your choice Matters. Think about it!

Leaving a Godly Legacy

CT Studd’s famous quote goes like this “Only one life and that too will soon pass away, only what is done for Christ will last forever”.  Life is too short on this earth. We never know when we kick our bucket. What we have is our life today.

It’s my privilege and joy to share this message to the youths gathered at Periyamalai, a 55 km away from Hosur, the first mission station for FMPB (Friends Missionary Prayer Band) in the year 1967.Along with few friends from Hosur and Bangalore we went to this place on May 10^th 2013 and it was a real blessing in my life.

What would we like to be written on our grave tomb after we leave this world? It’s a serious question and it needs a serious introspection of our lives. It is purely based on how we live our lives now.

Let’s draw our focus to the book of Acts chapter 20:17-38 the farewell speech of Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders at Miletus.

As we read these verses in our own versions, we can derive 6 important lessons from the life of Apostle Paul that will help us to leave a Godly legacy.

Lesson 1: Live a life of transparency vs.18

There is no shadow of doubt or hypocrisy in the life of Paul. His life was so real, transparent and it was an open book to all who lived in Paul’s time. What can be said of our lives today?

Lesson 2: Serve God with Humility vs.19

We cannot serve God with pride and arrogance. It all needs a humble attitude and a servant heart to serve God. Paul in Eph 3:8 says ‘Iam less than the least of all God’s people’. And in 1 Cor 15:10 he says He is the least of the apostles. Someone said the problem in missions is that nobody wants to be second. Today our Model for humility is none other than Jesus Christ. He humbled himself on the cross to the point of shedding his Blood for us. He is truly the humble servant king (Phil 2:1-11). It is worth imitating His humility.

Lesson 3: Be willing to proclaim the Gospel of God vs.24

Paul’s passion and ambition is to preach the Gospel (Rom 15:19, 20). He is not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation (Ro 1:16). AT Pierson says “It is the responsibility of the whole church to preach the whole gospel to the whole world”. Today we gossip many things with our friends. Why not we gossip the gospel? There are places and people groups in our country who have not heard the name of Jesus even once. Let’s have the passion and ambition like Apostle Paul to preach the Gospel.

Lesson 4: Equip the people of God with right doctrines vs.20, 24-27, 31

In all of these verses we can capture the words like Preach – Taught – Testify- Declare – Proclaim- Warning. 1 Tim 4:13 Paul exhorts Timothy to devote himself to preaching and teaching of God’s word.

 Today as we listen to so many fanciful and wrong interpretations of God’s word, the challenge is to preach  & teach Gods word correctly (2Tim 2:15).God is counting on us. And we are responsible for our generation.

Lesson 5: Have a simple lifestyle vs. 33

We read Paul did not covet no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Leaving a legacy requires living a simple life. Many a times we easily complicate life by living in discontentment. There is true joy and peace when we live in contentment. Today the watch word in the advertising world is ‘sophistication is simplicity’. But the truth is other way round. The teachings of Jesus too call’s us to live a simple life. Let’s heed to the warning given in Luke 12:15 “for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possess”.

Lesson 6: Learn to give and support God’s work vs.35

Giving requires commitment and sacrifice from our end. The early church modeled it. Why not we?  2 Cor 8:1-4 we read the Macedonian church set an example in giving in difficult times.

John Wesley the great Methodist preacher said “Earn as much as you can, save as much as you can, give as much as you can”. Christ himself said “for it is more blessed to give than to receive”.

Give as the Lord directs you, Give generously and Give cheerfully for the Glory of God! 

Are we willing to give up our life of complacency and be serious in our commitment to God? If then we too can leave a godly legacy like Paul.