Live While You Have a Chance

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Ecclesiastes 9:10.
It is a solemn thing to die, but a far more solemn thing to live. Every thought and word and deed of our lives will meet us again. What we make of ourselves in probationary time, that we must remain to all eternity. Death brings dissolution to the body, but makes no change in the character. The coming of Christ does not change our characters; it only fixes them forever beyond all change….
I appeal to the members of the church to be Christians, to be Christlike. Jesus was a worker, not for Himself, but for others…. If you are Christians you will imitate His example….
Awake, I beseech you, from the sleep of death. It is too late to devote the strength of brain, bone, and muscle to self-serving. Let not the last day find you destitute of heavenly treasure. Seek to push the triumphs of the cross, seek to enlighten souls, labor for the salvation of your fellow beings, and your work will abide the trying test of fire.
Let us remember that while the work we have to do may not be our choice, it is to be accepted as God’s choice for us. Whether pleasing or unpleasing, we are to do the duty that lies nearest. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
If the Lord desires us to bear a message to Nineveh, it will not be as pleasing to Him for us to go to Joppa or to Capernaum. He has reasons for sending us to the place toward which our feet have been directed. At that very place there may be someone in need of the help we can give.
Whatever the line of work in which we engage, the Word of God teaches us to be “not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11…. “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:24.
The Faith I Live By p. 169
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-My coworker Ray went home sick with a possible kidney stone. Please keep him in prayer. Ron
—-It looks like two doors are opening to share Revival Plan with influencers and workers. I need to give a presentation Sunday and would appreciate prayers for both and other doors to be open. Time is short. Pastor Rich
—-Please pray for healing and protection for my daughter Natalie. Since she made decision for baptism and started sharing her faith she is under terrible attack on her health! Iwona
—-Please pray for my son Scott’s health. Nathaniel
—-My 81 year old Mom keeps getting sick. Shes overworking herself. She’s not realizing that she’s not that young anymore. I’m very worried. I wish she’d see her Dr. please pray for her health. She’s my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I’m the baby of the family and I still rely so much on her. PLEASE PRAY for her. Her name is Joyce. Heather
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl, my mother found a huge, green caterpillar crawling on a plant in the garden. She brought it inside and showed me. I let it crawl on my hands while she got a glass jar, poked holes in the top, and put inside it a few leaves from the plant it had been on. Then we placed the caterpillar inside the jar. Within a week or two, that big, green creature had made a cocoon. Every day I would watch to see if it was coming out of its self-made prison. One day, just as I was coming home from school, that cocoon began to move. By the time I had gotten home, it was beginning to split. I was so excited! For the next hour or so, I watched the wonderful that was taking place. No longer was the creature before me a huge green worm. When it first wriggled out of its cramped quarters, its wings were crinkled up and useless, but as it stood there, a change began to take place. It moved its wings back and forth pumping fluid into them. Before long, those crinkled up wings were about 5 inches across, fuzzy brown, and had beautiful big blue eye spots. I had never seen a moth like this before and its beauty delighted me. So it is in the Christian life. If we allow Him to, the Holy Spirit changes us from an ugly “caterpillar” to a beautiful new creature. The Apostle Paul was a good example of this. He was present at the stoning of Stephen in AD 34. Speaking of Paul’s experience Luke says, “When they (the Sanhedrin) heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him (Stephen) with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Acts 7:54-8:4 Paul was very zealous in his relentless persecution of Christ’s followers. He was filled with a great hatred for those who worshipped Jesus. He was sincere in his hatred, but sincerely wrong. Still, our Loving Saviour did not give up on Paul. He used the memory of Stephen’s death to reach this man who working so hard to destroy Christians. He was fighting against that memory by being even more vigilant in his seeking out those whose beliefs differed from his. But in His mercy, our Great Redeemer stepped in to put a stop to it. On the Damascus road, our Dear Saviour met that persecutor face to face. He said to this shocked and dazed man, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” 9:4,5 How surprised Paul was to see the Living Christ! As he listened to Jesus give him his commission, he must have thought of all of the needless deaths he had caused. Then the vision ended and Paul (as he was later called) found that he was without sight. He must have wondered how he could ever proclaim the Good News while unable to see. For three days, Paul fasted and prayed. He went over and over in his mind the Scriptures relating to the Messiah. The Holy Spirit brought to his mind the passages that were needed and enlightened his understanding. Then, he was ready to receive his sight again. God did this in a special way to get him in contact with fellow believers. “And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” vs 10-16 So it was. Paul spent the rest of his life proclaiming the very message that he had tried to silence. Paul had become a changed man. He tells us, “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13,14
May we also put our former life behind us and follow Him with our whole heart. May we allow the Holy Spirit to change us into a new creature. (2 Cor 5:17) May we press toward the Heavenly Kingdom and soon see Jesus face to face is my prayer.
Rose