Making a Difference for God

Preachers of the gospel are like Old Testament priests who light the altars of God in the present world. When people respond with faith in Christ and present their lives to him in ordinary service to one another, God enjoys the smell of sacrifice.
For us every new day presents a new opportunity to add fragrance to the offering and bring glory to God. A day offered to God is a good day, even if we seem to be losing the game as people play it.
The everyday life of the Philippian congregation constitutes a "sacrifice and offering of faith" to God. And on that altar some drops of wine are sprinkled. That libation is Paul's life, which is slowly spent for God and for the benefit of his church. When Paul's eyes see (not merely the prison walls, but) the altars of God being lit around the Mediterranean Sea, he feels deep joy. "I am glad," he writes, "and you should be glad too."
In the old tabernacle, the sacrifice of praise to God was lit in the morning and evening. The lamb was sacrificed, the flour sprinkled, the wine poured out. It was "an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord" (Numbers 28:8). Today that offering is burning on all five continents. The world takes no notice. But God is pleased. And you and I rejoice.
And if your & my contributions have added to the flames of some altars, we couldn't have put our lives to better use.

Hope for Today

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great  is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;  it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:21-26

Our hope today, like Jeremiah's hope long ago, is in the Lord alone.  Every one of us needs a Savior. God has provided One. God is faithful, and he has not changed his mind about providing us new mercies each morning.  My prayer is that we may all wait quietly for Him, and that we may see and meet the Savior in worship this Sunday and every day. 

 Pastor Brink

God Never Gives Up

The devotional reprinted below brought me great encouragement this week.  It seemed like such a “God thing” that this Word would “just happen” to come on this particular day, even though it was written months ago by someone who does not know us.  It strengthened my heart, and I wanted to share it with you too. 

Pastor Brink

GOD NEVER GIVES UP!

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion ... "   Philippians 1:6

One day a mother whose 25-year-old son had turned his back on God was telling me she had given up on her son. After years of praying for him and trying to convince him that he needed the Lord in his life, she was sure that God had written him off. She had decided no longer to pray for him. It was one of the saddest things I'd ever heard: a parent giving up on a child.

I told her how glad I was that God never gives up on us. If he did, you and I would not stand a chance. If I would have had to hang on to God throughout my life, I would be hopeless. The only reason I am who I am today and the only reason I am where I am in my walk with the Lord is that God refused long ago to give up on me. If it were up to us to stay close to God then things fell apart, we would be lost.

Thank God for his assurance in Philippians 1:6: "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." God never gives up. It's the most beautiful assurance we have. Even when we are tempted to let go, God refuses to give up. And because God never gives up on us, we may never give up on the people around us as long as we or they live. Each day offers a new opportunity for grace and for turning back to God.

Prayer:  Father, thank you for hanging on to us even when we want to let go. We love you, Lord! Help us, in your name, to hang on to others who still need to turn back to you. Amen.

TODAY is copyright 2005 by the Back to God Hour.