JESUS, THE FINAL WORD ON THE SUBJECT, HAS SPOKEN.

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CURRENT RADIO SERIES Songs of Encouragement   CURRENT TV SERIES Songs of Encouragement

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” --John 14:6 You and I live in an age of tolerance. But tolerance doesn’t just mean respecting another person’s viewpoint or worldview or opinion. In this day and age, tolerance means that all truth or all belief systems and ideas are equally true. It means that truth is relative to you and your circumstances. So whatever you believe is equal to what I believe; and therefore, our beliefs are in essence the same. And this is particularly true when it comes to religion. Now, the uninformed and sometimes those who want to appear intellectually superior or sophisticated will suggest that every person chooses their own path to eternity. And because individuals are in charge of their own future, whatever they choose will take them to the place they have proposed to go. So what do you think about this notion? Are all religions the same? As a Christ follower, how do you respond to something like that? Well, this sounds pretty muddled and confusing until you look at what Jesus had to say on the subject. He said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s it. The final word on the subject has been spoken. If you believe the Scripture is the Word of God, then there’s only one way to heaven: Jesus. Be prepared to give an answer. Stand on the Word and tell others what the Scripture says. JESUS, THE FINAL WORD ON THE SUBJECT, HAS SPOKEN.

Stop Complaining

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.”
Numbers 21:5–7

In the church today we often divide sins into two categories: those we think are really bad, and those that don’t seem to us to be all that serious. Often people draw that line precisely between the sins that really tempt them and the ones that don’t. That way they feel good in evaluating themselves compared to those around them, but that doesn’t change the way God views sins. He hates all of them, even the ones we deem to be “little” sins. And one of the worst of those that we so often overlook or excuse is complaining.
Mark Twain said, “Don’t complain and talk about your problems. Eighty percent of the people won’t care and the other twenty percent will think you deserve them.” But complaining is far worse than just ineffective—it is wrong.
Complaining reveals that we are not thankful for the multitude of blessings that we have received. The way God views complaining is vividly illustrated for us by the poisonous snakes God sent among the Israelites when they complained about God’s provision for them. God had graciously freed them from slavery, taken them across the Red Sea, and fed them with manna from Heaven, yet they still complained. It is not an “acceptable” sin.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

Every time we murmur and complain, we are insulting God’s love and care for us.