Clean Up The Environment

Help stamp out pollution -

Clean up your speech!

What a frustrating problem pollution is! Everybody suffers from it, yet everybody contributes to it.

Pollution takes many forms, but one type is often overlooked. Charles Swindoll calls it "verbal pollution", passed around by grumblers, complainers, and criticizers. "The poison of pessimism," Swindoll writes, "creates an atmosphere of wholesale negativism where nothing but the bad side of everything is emphasized."

A group of Christian friends became concerned about this form of pollution and their personal part in it. So they made a pact to avoid critical words for a whole week. They were surprised to find how little they spoke! As they continued the experiment, they actually had to relearn conversation skills.

In Ephesians 4, Paul called believers to that sort of decisive action. He said we are to "put off" the old self and it's conduct that grieves the Holy Spirit and "put on" the new self that builds up others. As we rely on the help of the Spirit, we can make those changes in our conduct, our thinking, and our speaking.

If we want to be rid of verbal pollution, we must choose to change and ask for God's help. It's a great way to start cleaning up our spiritual environment. -JEY

Love Hurts!

Nothing costs as much as loving

except not loving.

"Sometimes love sure hurts!" The mother and father were expressing the difficulties and heartaches of guiding their children through their teen years. "Maybe if we didn't love them quite so much it wouldn't be so hard," the husband added.

Even though love brings pain and sorrow, what would life be without it? In his book "The Four Loves", C.S. Lewis wrote:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness...... The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers ...... of love is hell."

To love is to take risks, to expose our hearts. Sometimes it hurts! It hurt Christ, but He kept on loving, even at the cost of His life. He commanded us, "Love one another as I have loved you."

We must keep loving that spouse, that teenager, that neighbor, that co-worker. It is Christlike -  and it's better than locking your heart in a coffin of self-centeredness. - DCE

Apprenticeship Program

Children may close their ears to advice,

but their eyes are always open to example.

Life certainly was a lot simpler years ago. If a man was a carpenter, his son was likely to be the same. That's because the shop was at home and the boy worked with his father. That's because the shop was at home and the boy worked with his father. The son watched carefully as Dad cut the wood, planed and smoothed it, then fastened it together to build a table or a bench. It was appenticeship by example.

Most young people don't learn their trades like that anymore. Vocations are far too complex and the training way too demanding.

One aspect of lif, however, is the same as it was years ago. Children not only learned how to do things from Dad and Mom, they also learned about life. They saw their parents' values and ethics in action every day in their homes.

Christian moms and dads still have "little apprentices" watching how they put their beliefs into practice. It goes on at mealtime, in the car, in the store, in conversation with or about neighbors - all the time. What a wonderful opportunity to teach our children how to live for Christ! And young people not only need it, they want it.

Paul told his children in the faith to imitate him - to follow his example. Are we living for Christ in such a way that we want our children to imitate us? -DCE

Who Is Like Him?

The God of all grace

makes Saints out of the worst of sinners.

I know a young woman who refuses to believe that she can be forgiven of her sins because, as she says, "God wouldn't want someone like me." She recognizes the stain of her immoral conduct, but she doesn't realize the wonder of God's grace!

Actually, no one can fully comprehend God's grace, but like th eprophet Micah we can marvel at it an rejoice. Although he sorrowfully recounted the sins of his people, Micah went on to acknowledge the Lord's goodness. And he expressed confidence in God's promise to forgive and bless His people.

God's people today have even more reason to praise HIm. Micah didn't realize that God's Son would one day become a human being, live in a sinless life, and pay the price for our sins on the cross. He didn't know that Jesus would break the power of death and live in heaven as our Advocate until we join Him there. And MIcah couldn't read Paul's yet unwritten exclamation. "If God is for us, who can't be against us? He who did spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

In the words of Micah, we can say with confidence and adoration, "Who is God like You?" -HVL

The Man Called Jesus

I do not seek My own will,

but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 5:30

The Scripture teaches that even though Jesus did become a man, He never was anything less than God. Yet for a period of thirty-three earthly years He voluntarily gave up the independence exercise of His own rights as God. While on earth He submitted Himself to the Father, so that every word was spoken as God would have Him speak it, and every act was done precisely as God would have Him do it.

Do Not Be Anxious

Do not be anxious, said the Lord,

Have peace from day to day -

The lilies neither toil nor spin,

Yet none are clothed as they.

The meadowlark with seetest song

Fears not for bread or nest

Because he trusts our Father's love

And God knows what is best.

Soil Preparation

Spiritual growth occurs

when faith is cultivated.

A family moved from the fertile farmlands of nirthwestern Ohio to Arizona. Th ewoman wanted the kind of lush, green lawn they had back home, so they went to work on the rocky ground typical of the area.

 Using a pickax, the husband pried the largest rocks from the sun-baked earth. Then, on hands and knees, they sifted out the smaller stones until a layer of topsoil emerged. After planting seeds and watering the ground for several weeks, they had a green lawn.

If we went to plant a lawn or a garden, the soil must first be broken up. Even the most productive land must be turned over and tilled. Otherwise, growth is difficult, if not impossible.

God sometimes prepares the soil of human hearts to receive His Word by a breaking-up process. It may be through a disaster like a hurricane, flood,or fire. Other times it comes through sickness, disappointment, or deep sorrow.

If you have been experiencing trouble or heartache, God may be softening the soil of your life so that the ssed of His Word can grow in you. Don't fight it. Let HIm have His way. Allow Him to produce patience and maturity in your heart. One day you'll thank Him for His soil preparation. -DCE