My Prayer (06/14/17)

Read 2 Corinthians 3:6.

Lord, make me an effective minister.  My sufficiency is in You and from You.  Keep me focused more on obedience than success.  Should any praise come my way, help me remember to deflect it back to You in praise.  You alone deserve the glory!  Thank You for the privilege of the call.

Giving When You Want To Hold On To It

Here is the Communion meditation for service tomorrow morning.
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Read 1 Kings 17:7-16. Elijah asked the widow to give all that she had when everything within her said, “You don't want to do that.” We're not told exactly what it was that changed her mind, but there must have been something about what Elijah said and how he said it. She believed his word, the promise he gave concerning God's ability to provide. Her faith and her fear slugged it out, but it was her faith that won after the 15^th round.

Being Communion Sunday, we're thinking of Someone else Who gave sacrificially. Jesus was asked to give all that He had. Something inside Him struggled with the prospect. Let's hear His exact words: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39). In Jesus' prayer, you hear both His humanity and His divinity, both His vulnerability and His submission.

It wasn't that Jesus was afraid of death. Being human, I don't think He was thrilled with the idea, but I don't think that's why He had to slug it out in prayer. What was it that Jesus battled through? The answer, I believe, is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21. “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” It wasn't the righteousness part that caused the inner turmoil but the idea of being a sin offering. Isaiah gives us insight here:

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.” (Isa. 53:5-6)

My sin, His suffering. Not an appealing deal, if your name is Jesus Christ. The good

news is that Jesus did give His all, when He had every right to hold onto it.

“Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.”¹

Before you come to the Communion table, ask yourself, “What is it that Jesus wants me to give to Him, but I am holding onto it?” Is it bitterness or resentment? Is it fear or doubt? Is it anger or a critical spirit? Is it disobedience in another area? You might want to hold onto it, but today Jesus is asking for it. Won't you give it to Him?

1Hall, Elvina M. “Jesus Paid It All.” Hymns of Glorious Praise. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1969. Hymn #101.

Verse of The Week (12/18/15)

Ready, Set, Go

School Supplies for "Ready, Set, Go!" Event

This year Apollo Assembly of God is partnering with the Apollo Area Business Association to provide back-to-school supplies.  Don't let that box deceive you.  It is crammed full!  The deadline for supplies is Sunday, August 4.  Who thinks we can fill another box?

"...at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need..." (2 Cor. 8:14)


 

Scratch-and-Sniff Gods

Dating should be a serious process, right?  After all, you might end up marrying that person!  What if that process, however, relied only on your nose? (No kidding.  I'm not making this up.) 

This experimental dating approach has to do with pheromones.  Each single submits a previously-slept-in T-shirt.  Hoping their noses know, singles invest time sniffing T-shirts.  Particularly arousing scents are carefully noted.  Read more at huff.to/Nm3SCn. 

What a romantic phone call that makes.  "Hi, _____, my name is ______.  I was at the party the other night.  Your smelly T-shirt got my attention.  Want to go out?"  (Way to win her heart, Romeo.)

Would people actually be that careless or desperate?  In dating, evidently yes.  Sadly, people are also that desperate when choosing their god.  He/she/it doesn't have to be true, powerful or even alive.  All that matters is the feeling.  All that matters is what the senses say.  This is an addictive scratch-and-sniff approach to religion.  People form individualized, syncretistic gods by scratching out truth and sniffing out benefits.  These gods smell good but they're ogres waiting to disappoint.

Consider the fragrance of Christ.  Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-16.