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The Yoke

As Christians, we're very familiar with the Cross. We see it on church steeples and wear it on gold chains around our necks. We know that it's an instrument of death. It symbolizes sacrifice. It represents death.

But there's another ingredient that's just as essential in our relationship with Christ as the Cross, and that's the yoke. We aren't as familiar with the yoke, are we? We don't see it on church steeples or wear small yokes on gold chains around our necks. But the yoke, like the Cross, is necessary to our spiritual maturity.

The yoke is an instrument of sacrifice. It symbolizes service. It represents sweat. And if we're really serious about our relationship with Christ, we're ready at any moment to pick up the Cross or be fitted with the yoke. We're willing to die or to serve. We're ready to sacrifice or to sweat.

There's a legend that states in Jesus' day, He was known for making perfect yokes in the family carpenter's shop. The legend stands that men would bring their animals from miles around just to have Jesus make the yoke for their oxen. It's important that a yoke fit perfectly. If it's too small, it grinds the neck of the animal and can rub it raw. And one can actually put a very light load on the back of the oxen, but if the yoke is too small the load will feel very heavy.

And if a yoke is too large, the oxen can't get a good grip. It rides too loosely around their necks making it difficult to pull a load. And again, one can actually put a very light load on the backs of the oxen but it will seem very heavy if the yoke is too big.

But when a yoke fits just right, one can put a heavy load on the oxen, and it will feel extremely light, because everything is in exact balanced proportion.

Know It!
Jesus Christ has spend your lifetime custom-designing a yoke that will only fit you. It fits you perfectly. Will you allow Him to break you, remake you and reshape you in His image and be fitted with His yoke?

Read It!
Psalm 22:8; Isaiah 28:16; Mark 8:34; Matthew 11:28- 30.

Pray It!
Ask God to help you learn the importance of total surrender in your relationship with Him and what it means to pick up the cross and be fitted with the yoke.

Satuday, November 3

Share Your Story

Beloved let us love one another: love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

We all have a story to tell. Some of us have been through some things that made us at one point give up on life. You couldn't take the hurt and the pain anymore. Just tired of the suffering. Tired of going through. The bible say that God is love. If you don't love you dont know God. That is something. So many of us have gone through some tough situations and experiences in our lives that few people know or nobody know. We are afraid to share our story. Share your story because you will be healing someone else life with your story, your testimony. Just imagine with me for a moment the people who will be heal through your story. You can save someone from killing themselves. You can save someone from depression. You can save someone from hurting someone else. Your story is to bring God glory. When you are sharing your story, you are sharing it with love in your heart, for God lives there.

I had to endure some things. Face and deal with some things all my life. To the point I wanted to give up on life. I wanted to throw in the towel. I was tired of how my life was going. I wanted answers to questions that I had concerning my life. I thank God that he has been with me through everything I have gone through and experience. I am here to tell you that the lord is with you and he understand you. He know what you deal with and face with. I am here to let you know that he love you. I love you. Share your story. You will be helping someone else. When you share your story, you are sharing your life and you are doing it because you love. Your Story, Your Testimony will be for his glory. Below is a poem I written about my life. Hope it encourage and heal someone life today. God bless you and I love you.

Hiding
Crying
Fighting
Lying
Laughing
Giggling
Frustration
Humiliation
Disappointment
Discouragement
Embarrassment
All these things represent my life
My childhood
I am misunderstood
Day after day
People making fun of me
Laughing at my speech
What did you say
Say it again
Talk properly please
Stop stuttering
The shame
The hurt
The pain
The struggle
The trouble
Being judge
I had enough
I give up
Time to die
How should I go
How about suicide
I cant take it anymore
The finger pointing
People looking at me
Saying in their mind is there something wrong with me
The struggle to live life
Not taken seriously
Because I speak differently
Special education
Speech therapy
The things I have been through
You wouldn't know by looking at me
I ask why me
Why was I born this way
Why I have to go through this everyday
Why the struggle in my speech
Lord what are you doing with me
The lord reminds me that he is with me
This is just temporary
You have go through the suffering
You will go through the pain
Your joy is coming again
Hiding
Hiding my true feelings
Hiding everything
I don't allow you to see
I keep on smiling
Keep on laughing
Just to cover
Cover up my hurt and pain
Wondering when it will all end
But I learn to put my trust
Trust in the God of love
He continue to be with me
In spite of everything
From childhood to now
I can say that God been with me all the way
He is with me now

Friday November 2nd

Dressed for the Banquet

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; . . . for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10

Have you gone to a “come as you are” party? Your hands, face, and clothing may be stained and dirty from working in the garden, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a “come as you are” party.
But cleanliness and special clothing are required to attend the King’s heavenly banquet.
Christ spoke of a man who entered a king’s wedding banquet not wearing proper clothing. Promptly, the man was rejected (Matthew 22:11–13). Sounds harsh! But the man had rejected the king’s clothing. The king himself had offered cleansing and special garments so his guests could fittingly attend his feast.
Dirty and naked we come into this world. Dirty and naked we remain, stained with sin, until Christ washes us in the blood of the Lamb through Baptism and the Word. He covers us with His garments of salvation and righteousness. Washed and dressed by our Savior, we are prepared for His heavenly feast. In Christ, we do not fear rejection. Christ Himself gives us forgiveness, salvation, and admission to His everlasting wedding banquet.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who cleanses us from all sin and covers us with His coat of righteousness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Sunday November 4th

The Cherished Word

As for you, continue in what you have learned . . . [knowing] how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14–15

A Chinese missionary told how the scarcity of Bibles in China makes them far more precious. Unlike Christians lured into complacency by easy access to Bibles, Chinese Christians regard the Bible as a precious commodity.
Why is the Bible so special? Every page is God’s holy Word. It teaches God’s infallible Law and man’s inability to keep it. Scripture reveals Christ’s saving work to redeem the sinful world. It tells of Christ’s victory over death by His resurrection, and it leads us to eternal life. The Bible equips us to love and serve God and man. It corrects our failures, warns us of danger, and leads us to obedience. It brings us to faith and offers forgiveness without good works on our part. Scripture foretells of Christ’s second coming to judge the living and the dead. All things will pass away, but His Word is everlasting.
Between two covers, within reach, lie God’s gifts of wisdom, forgiveness, and eternal life in Christ. Daily He tenderly invites us to open the Bible, read His Word, and thank Him for His truth.

Heavenly Father, enable us to cherish and learn from Your holy Word. Amen.

Off the Wire

The following are actual news clippings from around the world.

o Police in Northbridge, Mass., caught a former donut- shop employee who robbed the place after he left a trail of coins leading to his apartment.

o Fishermen in Russia's Far East have been buying up Chinese-made Barbie dolls and using their golden hair as bait.

o A man from Saegertown, Pa., was tired of looking at two telephone service boxes at the edge of his property, so he ripped them up with a tractor. The state police noted the man couldn't be reached for comment; his phone is no longer in service.

o An Australian cricket player, desperate for some plain food after two weeks in India, called home for an emergency shipment of canned baked beans and spaghetti.

o Bank tellers in Virginia Beach, Va., handed over the money when a robber demanded cash. But they also slipped in an explosive dye pack that burns at about 400 degrees. The crook stuffed the loot down the front of his pants and was out the door before he realized something was wrong.

o A motorist led officers on a freeway chase until his sport-utility vehicle ran out of gas, but the pursuit didn't end there. The man jumped out of his SUV and began pushing it. California Highway Patrol officers waited until he got tired and then arrested him.

o A lawmaker seeking re-election to the Danish Parliament has said the country's 11 million pigs should be given toys to play with.

Often times truth really is stranger than fiction, isn't it? It's hard to believe these actual news clippings were pulled from a wire service. Have you ever wondered what would happen if Christians had a wire service? What if anyone, at any time, could tap into a wire service and pull information from it about your spiritual life?

What would they read?

o Seventeen-year-old Christian says God is the most important thing in his life, but he hasn't read the Bible in months. Says he can't find it.

o Nineteen-year-old female disciple was seen tailing an elderly woman driver and angry because she was going too slow.

o Sixteen-year-old president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes received $1.00 more in change than he should have at Wal-Mart. After he pocketed the money, he turned to his friends and said, “You could tell it was her first day on the job. Serves her right. What a twit!”

Or would people be able to pick up positive news about you? Clippings that tell about your integrity, your character and your commitment to stand up for the under-dog? Though there really isn't any such wire service for Christian actions, isn't it enough to know that your heavenly Father sees all, hears all and knows all?

Know It!
As a Christian, your greatest desire should be to reflect God Himself.

Read It!
Mark 9:50; Mark 16:15-20; 1 Corinthians 16-17; Ephesians 5:1.

Pray It!
Ask God to point out any actions or habits in your life that are misrepresentative of Him.

Gems of Life

There's an old Arabian tale of a caravan of camels making its way across the sandy desert. As the men and their animals inched their way across the sand, the camel drivers began to notice small rock-like pebbles. Some of the drivers dismounted and gathered a few of the stones and placed them in their pouches. Others didn't want to add weight to the already burdened animals.

When evening approached, around an oasis, the drivers washed their pebbles and were startled to find that they had actually found precious jewels! Early the next morning, the caravan quickly returned over the same route expecting to find more of the same pebbles, but the special rocks were gone. The camel drivers who had taken time to gather a few pebbles were grateful, but were also disappointed that they hadn't gathered more when they had the opportunity.

We can look at these gems in two different ways. (1) God Himself. You can have as much of God as you want. All you have to do is choose Him. Like gathering pebbles, make it a point to gather time for God. Get alone with Him. Read the Bible. Get to know Him in as deep a way as possible. The saddest thing in life would be to someday think back and say with regret, I wish I would have gotten to know God better. You can, right now! So do it.

We can also see these gems in another way. (2) In a sense, you've had the opportunity to scatter a few pebbles of worth during your day today. Did you speak a kind word to the lonely person in the cafeteria? Were you too busy running to practice that you didn't take time to smile at someone along the way? In the rush of your school day, did you stop and pick up a book for someone who dropped it? These are the gems of the day that can't be picked up again. Once you pass by an opportunity, you'll never have that exact same opportunity again. Are you making good use of the situations God brings your way? Or like the drivers who were too lazy to pick up the pebbles, do you tend to think, I'm too busy today. But maybe tomorrow I'll pick up some gems and spread them around.

Start collecting some gems right now. Today, make time to read your Bible and pray. Set some spiritual goals for yourself. Then make a list of ways you can distribute God's gems tomorrow to those around you.

Know It!
Let God know He can trust you with people who have specific needs by passing out gems. Make it part of your lifestyle to become as close to Christ as you can.

Read It!
2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Philippians 2:1; Colossians 2:6-7.

Pray It!
Ask God to give you specific opportunities to spread gems of kindness to those around you.

Precious Gems

There are two more ways we can look at the gems along the road. (1) We can see them as personal invitations to an eternal life with Christ through faith in Him. Noah was somewhat like that camel caravan in his day. He scattered pebbles of invitation to those around him to come to the safety of the ark. He desperately warned his neighbors and friends of the impending flood. But since the earth had never been watered by rain, and people didn't know what it was, they simply laughed at him. (Up to this particular time, the earth was watered with a daily dew.)

Many people helped Noah build the ark. He had carpenters, laborers and men working with pitched. They worked on the ark, around the ark and even inside the ark. They built the rooms, the cages and filled the ark with hay, grain and other edibles. They did a lot of great work, but because they didn't pick up the gem of Noah's invitation, they weren't saved.

Good actions won't save us. A good lifestyle won't save us. Until we accept the gem of invitation from God Himself to forgive our sins and live eternally with Him, we won't be saved.

We can also view the gems (2) as God's precious fruit of the Spirit. His fruit is yours for the asking. He'll cultivate it, grow it and multiply it in your life, if you'll do your part and tell Him you desperately want to produce godly fruit. To all who want joy and peace and love, God will grant it-plus other fruit of the Spirit as well.

Know It!
Why stop short? Instead of simply settling for a good life, go for the best life possible-a life fully committed to Jesus Christ. Allow Him to give you all He has in mind for you to receive: A full platter of the fruit of His Spirit and plenty of invitations to extend to those around you so they, too, may inherit eternal life with Him.

Read It!
Proverbs 10:28; Proverbs 12:20; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:6.

Pray It!
Ask God to help you distribute His invitations for eternal life to those around you. And make time on a daily basis to allow Him to develop His fruit of the Spirit in your life in fullness.