TODAY'S QUOTE

"Bible records and church history reveal to us

that many of God's servants have at times

handed God their resignation."

Erwin W. Lutzer in

Failure The back Door to Success

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"A. W. Tozer.  This man, who knew God so intimately

had days when he was so discouraged he felt he could not

continue as a minister.  Imagine!  A man who instructed

thousands in the deep things of God often felt he was a

miserable failure.  He too, was made of flesh and blood."

-Erwin W. Lutzer 

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"God may allow His servant to succeed

when He has disciplined him to a point

where he does not need to succeed to be

happy.  The man who is elated by success

and is cast down by failure is still a carnal

man.  At best his fruit will have a worm in

it."

-A. W. Tozer

PRIDE

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"Pride goes before destruction.

And a haughty spirit before stumbling."

(Proverbs16:18 NASB)

I worked for a man one time that was a nice guy.

Working for him again would be just fine.  But, let's

 just say that he had an excess of "self esteem".

I remember well when he bought the company waiting

for the new business cards to come out.  For some 

reason my interest was in seeing the one for my 

department head, or my boss - not the owner's card.

When the new cards came out it was overwhelming

the way the new owner's pride showed through on the 

card to the exclusion of the department heads position

on the card.

Being acquainted with the truth above, I was stunned

recognizing in an instant that the days of that company

were limited.

The company lasted possibly five or six years.

Then this man's next venture did not succeed.

And the last time I talked to him he was back to

working for some else.

Pride does go before failure.

WRECKED BY ATTITUDE

Several thousand years ago, even before your were born,

there was a king in Judea named Amaziah.  Now Amaziah

was unique in this respect:

"He did what was pleasing to the LORD,

but did it reluctantly."

(2 Chronicles 25:2 TEV)

His attitude in serving God was just like your attitude,

and my attitude, about speed limits.  If we observe them at

all, IT IS RELUCTANTLY.

That is the way Amaziah served God.  Just because he had to.

Not because he wanted to. And if you will read his life's story 

you will see this got him into a lot of trouble and he was 

eventually assassinated.  He was wrecked, totaled out.

In contrast, there later came another king with another 

funny name, "Hezekiah".   Hezekiah reigned over the same

nation that Amaziah did, for the same length of time.

But his attitude was different.

"King Hezekiah did what was right and what was

pleasing to the LORD his God.  He was successful,

because everything he did for the Temple or in

observance of the Law, he did in a spirit of complete

loyalty and devotion to his God."

(2 Chronicles 31:20-21 TEV)

Hezekiah, "Succeeded in everything he did,..."
(Chapter 32:30)

Hezekiah had a reign of prosperity and success because
of his love for God.

Yes, just like you and me, Hezekiah messed up some,
but he had a life that was blessed by God because of
his devotion to God.

Is life going like you want?
Check your devotion to God.

UNPREPARED

"'All my possessions for a moment of time.'

cried Queen Elizabeth when dying."

"'I have provided for everything in the course of my life

except death, and now, alas! I am to die unprepared.'

were the last words of Cardinal Borgia."

From 

Two Hundred Select Illustrations

by Stuart P. Garver, B.D.

p.38



God said,

"For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul"
Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?"
(Mark 8:36,37 KJV)

When life's closing day came, 

a Queen and a Cardinal failed at life. 

Are you prepared to do better?

A LIFE OF NEW BEGINNINGS

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Many years ago, before your folks even knew you were

coming, I was reading the works of an outstanding saint

of a past era.  He said,

"The Christian life is a life of new beginnings."

That offended me.  I had been a Christian for years

but then God did a new work in my life.  So it was

watch out world.  Here I come.  The rocket has blasted 
off.   I'm going into orbit and will be communicating 
with you earthlings from my Holy cloud the rest of my life.

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Boy did I have a lot to learn.

The Scriptures say,

"I plead to you therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God that all of you present your

bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,

which is your reasonable service."

-Romans 12:1 I LOVE JESUS (UKJV)

And I had.

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But, "living" sacrifices can crawl off the alter.

Not intentionally.  But life hurts.  And when you hurt,

you move, adjust, etc. to lessen the pain.  And eventually

you squirm clear off the alter.

Then you wonder, "What happened?"

Last night I was reading about a great saint of

an earlier generation.

This brother had made a written covenant with God

at a young age.  (I don't have that much courage.) 

And a very few years latter he had to renew that covenant.

In fact, he did at least twice.  But the first time he wrote on it,

"Backslidden.  Restored.  Yet too cold, Lord,

I still wish to continue this.  Pardon the past and strengthen

me for the future, for Jesus' sake. Amen."

This turned me on.  Because he had failed, NO.

But because after his failure he went on to be a great

man of God.  Greatly used and respected.

A life with a new beginning, and another new beginning.

Jesus said,

"If any man will come after me,

let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

-Luke 9:23 I LOVE JESUS (UKJV)

 A cross is an instrument of death,

-like a noose,

-the gas chamber,

-a firing squad,

-the guillotine.

In other words,

each new day we are to die to self.

As Paul said,
"I die daily."

"Our God is a God of new beginnings."
-Statement made in Brother Bakht Singh of India
page 205

Lord, you know I did not make it through
this day well.  But if you will grant me another
day, when I wake up I'll pick up my cross.
I'll die to myself, grab you by the hand and
make a new begging again tomorrow.

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