Coming to God just as you are…He wants you just as you are.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

An artist was searching the streets of New York City for a model to pose for a portrait he wanted to call — ‘The Prodigal’. One day was passing Central Park and saw an poor homeless person lying on a bench and thought: ‘He’s perfect! That man would represent the prodigal son beautifully in my painting.’ He asked the homeless guy if he would be willing to sit for his painting and he would gladly pay him for his time. Naturally, the the poor man agreed.

On the day and time appointed, a man knocked on the door of the artist’s small Brooklyn studio. Excitedly, he answered his door only to find a clean-shaven young man dressed in a suit and tie standing before him. Disappointed, he said, “You must have the wrong door sir, the law office is down the hall”. “But you made an appointment with me,” the man replied, “No,” said the artist, “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you before. I made an appointment to meet with a homeless guy here at this hour.” “Well,” said the man, “I am the homeless guy.” “You?” said the artist, “You’re the same guy?” “Yes, he replied. After you left me last week, I found some money and thought I would get a new suit of clothes before you painted me.” “Oh,” replied the artist, “Well, you’re just not right for the job.”

The beggar wanted to show himself a masterpiece before the artist — but the artist wasn’t looking for that. He wanted to create the masterpiece himself! Likewise, when we come to God, we must not come in our own garments of self-righteousness. We must come before him transparent, with no inhibitions, or worries, or pride. God has already seen our weaknesses and faults. We’re not hiding anything from Him anyway.

The Master Artist has an appointment with us today. Let’s not come disguised as someone else. Let’s come as we are so that He can make a priceless masterpiece.

The dangers of complacency

On August 7, 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit gained fame for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. For his feat, which he referred to as “le coup”, he walked the wire for 45 minutes. He made eight crossings between the towers, over 1300 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan. In addition to walking, he sat on the wire, gave knee salutes and, while lying on the wire, spoke with a gull circling above his head. Crowds were spellbound over his performance. Five months later, Petit was on a high wire in St. Petersburg, Florida practicing with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was 30 feet up in the air and must have become complacent. He suddenly slipped and fell to the concrete. As the 25 year old acrobat lay on the ground, he was observed crying “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it. I don’t ever fall.”

 

“Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” – Amos 6:1

 

We need to examine our lives and rid ourselves of any spiritual complacency. Today in prayer, ask the Lord that “Thy will be done, not my will” and follow Jesus in all that you do.

 

“I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when it’s so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.” – Jimmy Carter

 

God’s Word: “For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them” – Proverbs 1:32

The misery of being rich

Some people search for joy in materialism. There is a vast difference in making a living and making a life. Many make a fabulous living, but have a pathetic life. And there is a lot of difference.

In 1923 eight (8) of the world’s wealthiest people gathered for what the press called the most important economic conference of the century. Those 8 men were the president of the largest steel company in America. The head of the largest utility company. The head of the greatest commodities company, The president of the NY stock exchange. A member of the presidents cabinet. The greatest bear on Wall Street, and the head of the world’s largest monopoly.

What happened to those 8 powerful men? Rich. Whose lives were larger than life. Who certainly knew how to make a living. But what kind of a life did they have. 25 years later a press reporter followed up on their lives. And here is what happened to them.

The president of the largest steel company, Charles Swab, died bankrupted. — The Utility Executive, Samual Insel, died a fugitive from justice. Exiled in Greece. His fortune gone. The greatest Commodities speculator, Art Quetin, died, absolutely penniless. — The president of the NY Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, went to the penitentiary, where he died. — A member of the presidents cabinet, Albert Fall, was released from prison, so he could go home and die. — The Greatest Bear on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, committed suicide. — The head of the world’s largest monopoly, Ivan Kruger, committed suicide.

They all knew how to make a living, but they didn’t know how to make a life. They did not have joy that made life worth living. What about you? Are you sacrificing your health for a few more dollars? Are you sacrificing the joy of your marriage for a few more dollars? Are you sacrificing the joy of your children by spending money like water on them, to keep from spending time with them?

What sense does that make? If you leave them a fortune and they do not have what you have, they will loose it very speedily. The Bible says, “A child left to his own way will bring its parents shame.” What’s your decision?

So you are making lots of money. Big deal. If there is no joy in your life, if there’s no joy in your home, if there’s no joy in your marriage, if there’s no joy with your children — IF THERE’S NO JOY WITH GOD — You are not going to have real joy, lasting joy, meaningful joy, until you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.

The Auction. A must read story

The upstate NY man was rich in almost every way. His estate was worth millions. He owned houses, land, antiques and cattle. But though on the outside he had it all, he was very unhappy on the inside. His wife was growing old, and the couple was childless. He had always wanted a little boy to carry on the family legacy.

Miraculously, his wife became pregnant in her later years, and she gave birth to a little boy. The boy was severely handicapped, but the man loved him with his whole heart. When the boy was five, his mom died. The dad drew closer to his special son. At age 13, the boys’s birth defects cost him his life and the father died soon after from a broken heart.

The estate was auctioned before hundreds of bidders. The first item offered was a painting of the the boy. No one bid. They waited like vultures for the riches. Finally, the poor housemaid, who helped raise the boy, offered $5 for the picture and easily took the bid. To every-one’s shock, the auctioneer ripped a hand written will from the back of the picture. This is what it said: “To the person who thinks enough of my son to buy this painting, to this person I give my entire estate.”

The auction was over. The greedy crowd walked away in shock and dismay.

How many of us have sought after what we thought were true riches only to find out later that our Father was prepared to give us His entire estate if we had only sought after His Son alone?

Tonights question and news story…do you think Churches or Pastors shoul be involved in politics?

Pews (Photo credit: Etsy Ketsy)

A recent poll by the general American Public says that a majority of the people think religion should be kept out of Politics. What do you think after reading the story below?

AFP – Wed, Mar 21, 2012   Fifty-four percent of Americans think churches should steer clear of politics, according to a Pew Research Center poll announced Wednesday during a presidential campaign tinged with faith issues.

Pew said it was the third consecutive poll in four years to reveal that Americans who favor churches speaking out on political and social issues are outnumbered by those who believe they should not.

Of the 1,503 adults it surveyed by telephone on March 7-11, Pew said 40 percent believed churches and other houses of worship “should … express their views on day-to-day social and political questions.”

Sixty percent of Catholic respondents said the church should keep out of political issues, according to Pew’s findings.

Early this month, New York‘s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the increasingly outspoken US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the church was called upon to be “very active, very informed and very involved in politics.”

With President Barack Obama up for re-election in November, the Catholic church is fiercely opposing his proposal for all employee health plans — including those at religious-affiliated institutions, such as hospitals — to cover the cost of contraceptives.

The Pew survey also found that 38 percent of Americans say there has been “too much expression of religious faith and prayer by political leaders.” Another 30 percent said there has been too little.

“The percentage saying there is too much expression … has increased across party lines, but this view remains far more widespread among Democrats than Republicans,” said Pew in a summary of its findings.

Pew, which posted full details of its research on its website (www.pewforum.org), said its survey had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.