Growth

The Bible tells us that when we accept Christ, we're like a newborn baby. I was thinking about that, and you know how little babies all have that big water-head. Their bodies are small but their heads are huge. And when you stand them up and step back to let them walk to you, their head kind of rolls around and POW! They fall. As new Christians we are just like that. We step out into this new life that God has given us and if we are not careful, (and even sometimes when we are) we fall. But just like a good parent, God picks use up, dusts us off and tells us to keep coming. Keep walking toward Him.
When my son was a baby, we had to teach him to walk. At first he fell a lot. Then before we knew it he was walking, running and jumps. He doesn't fall near as much as he did when he was a baby.
See when we start out as new Christians we stumble and sometimes fall. But as we grow by keeping our eyes focused on Christ, then we start to walk better.
I don't fall near as much as I did early on. I have found out that if you stay in God's word and spend time with Him in prayer then that helps you to grow stronger. And when you do stumble and fall, get up turn to God and get it right with Him.
Christian maturity isn't about age, it's about devotion.
Stay Strong!!!

Vern

Legend Has It

Legend has it that a missionary was swept overboard while traveling on a very high & rough sea, & was subsequently washed up on a beach at the edge of a remote native village. Nearly dead from exposure & lack of food & fresh water, he was found by the people of the village & nursed back to health. He lived among them for 20 years, quietly adapting to their culture & working alongside them. He preached no sermon, & made no personal faith claim. He neither read nor recited scripture to them.
But…when people were sick, he sat with them, sometimes all night. When people were hungry, he fed them. When people were lonely, he gave a listening ear. He taught the ignorant & always took the side of the one who had been wronged.

The day came when missionaries entered this village & began talking to the people about a man named Jesus. After listening for awhile to their story, the native people began insisting that Jesus had already been living in their village for many years. "Come", one of them said, "we'll introduce you to him." The missionaries were led to a hut where they found their long-lost companion!

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men… It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23,24
If it's work, school or whatever. Live right, so you can share often.

Vern

Wal-Mart Sermon

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God..."

(1 John 3:1)

We often find ourselves in our local Wal-Mart (don't laugh that's where I see you) to buy groceries, shop for birthdays, holidays… oh who am I kidding, If my fiance' and I have a night without our boys we somehow end up at Wal-Mart. But anyway, When we go in, my boys and I usually head straight for the toys. Other than cutting grass that's another reason I had children, so that I could play with toys and no one would think I was crazy. One night when we were in the toy section, I noticed most of the kids in there didn't have a parent with them and they were running WILD! Some were flying up and down the aisles on bikes, some were ripping toys out of there packages and playing with them, some were throwing Nerf footballs around and some kid was just walking around knocking stuff off the peg hooks just to watch them fall (he was a weird little kid, he laughed a lot).

I got to thinking that if they were mine I'd bust their tail, but I didn't; because they were not mine. But just like I didn't discipline them, I also didn't buy them anything., again because they're not mine. Now my boys are a different story. Of course they aren't do any of those things, for one they are good kids, but they also know that I am prone to busting a tail. I can discipline them, because they are mine. On occasion I buy them things, again, because they are mine. You by now probably see where I'm going. I hear so many people say "I've prayed and prayed but I get no answer". You will not until you're His. See just like I don't take care of those kids at Wal-Mart because they're not mine. God will not take care of us until we are His. He will not hear any prayer from an unbeliever other than a prayer for repentance. But when you are His, He can provide for you, and sometimes discipline you when needed.

God is my Father. I come to Him as a child comes to his Father. Jesus when teaching us to pray, told us to use Father. When you accept Christ you become heirs with Christ. You inherit the things of God. Nothing makes me more happy than when my sons come to me with their problems or needs. If it makes an imperfect father like me happy, how much more do you think it makes an all perfect, all loving God happy.
Make sure that you are His. Accept Christ today.

Vern