The guillemot is a small arctic sea bird that lives on the rocky cliffs of northern coastal regions. These birds flock together by the thousands in comparatively small areas. Because of the crowded conditions, hundreds of females lay their pear-shaped eggs side by side on a narrow ledge, in a long row. Since the eggs all look alike, it is incredible that a mother bird can identify those that belong to her. Yet studies show that she knows her own eggs so well that when even one is moved, she finds it and returns it to its original location. The Word of God tells us that the Almighty God of all heaven and earth is intimately acquainted with each of His children. He knows our every thought, feeling, emotion, every decision we must make, and every problem we are going through. Therefore, the knowledge of the Almighty Eternal God should evoke praise, comfort, and peace to every born-again believer. So perk up your ears to hear what the Lord is saying to you right this minute: “So my counsel is—don’t worry about things such as food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat and they don’t need to store up food because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27; Living Bible). It helps to know God and to have an intimate relationship with Him too in order to experience this genuine peace. You ask, “How can this be?” It’s like this: how do you know people and know what they are thinking? You have to spend time with them, talk to them, and listen to them. It works the same way with our God. You have to get alone with Him and His Word then open up your heart to hear what He is saying to you. God desires for you to know Him personally. The reason He sent His Son to earth was for this purpose. The more we read His Word and talk to Him the more we become acquainted with the love and integrity of God. A young boy was waiting in the foyer after church for his family. The pastor saw him standing around and struck up a conversation. Since the boy had just come from Sunday School the pastor decided to ask him some questions to determine just how much the children were learning about God. He said, “Young man, if you can tell me something that God can do, I’ll give you a dollar.” Thoughtfully the boy said, “Sir, if you can tell me something that God can’t do, I’ll give you a whole bag of dollars!” Obviously, the boy had been spending time learning God’s Word because his confidence level was strong. When we spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, or in His house we will be charged up in our faith to stand strong. Depression and worry always gives way to the power of God’s Word. Victory is yours today. Back in the days of the Great Depression a Missouri man named John Griffith was the controller of a great railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi River. One day in the summer of 1937 he decided to take his eight-year old son, Greg, with him to work. At noon, John Griffith put the bridge up to allow ships to pass and sat on the observation deck with his son to eat lunch. Time passed quickly. Suddenly he was startled by the shrieking of a train whistle in the distance. He quickly looked at his watch and noticed it was 1:07pm, the Memphis Express, with four hundred passengers on board roaring toward the raised bridge. He leaped from the observation deck and ran back to the control tower. Just before throwing the master lever he glanced down for any ships below. There a sight caught his eye that caused his heart to leap pounding into his throat. Greg had slipped from the observation deck and had fallen into the massive gears that operate the bridge. His left leg was caught in the cogs of the two main gears. Desperately, John’s mind whirled to devise a rescue plan. But as soon as he thought of a possibility, he knew there was no way it could be done. Again, with alarming closeness, the train whistle shrieked in the air. He could hear the clicking of the locomotive wheels over the tracks. That was his son down there—yet there were four hundred passengers on the train. John knew what he had to do, so he buried his head in his left arm and pushed the master switch forward. That great massive bridge lowered into place just as the Memphis Express began to roar across the river. When John Griffith lifted his head with his face smeared with tears, he looked into the passing windows of the train. There were businessmen casually reading their afternoon papers, finely dressed ladies in the dining car sipping coffee, and children pushing long spoons into their dishes of ice cream. No one looked at the control house, and no one looked at the great gear box. With wrenching agony, John Griffith cried out at the steel train, “I sacrificed my son for you people! Don’t you care?” The train rushed by, but nobody heard the father’s words which recalls Lamentations 1:12, “Is it nothing to you, all who pass by?” (Condensed and adapted from “Is It Nothing to You?” by Dr. D. James Kennedy; March 19, 1978; Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.) To be in John Griffith’s place would be a most painful experience: to give your son so that strangers could live and then for them to not even know. How it must trouble the God of heaven and earth when people don’t acknowledge that He gave His only begotten Son to die so they could live. Take a walk in His shoes. Think! How would you respond to it? What is even more troubling is when people know that God sacrificed His Son on Calvary, but they don’t care. Be thankful with heartfelt gratitude and let Him know today. Just imagine how you would feel if you handed someone a gift, he took it, said “Thank You” then laid it down with no attempt to open it nor even find out what it was. Now, put yourself in the place of God. He has given every person a gift to enjoy and yet there are millions of people who never take the time to find out what it is, they never put it to work, then use excuses for not being fulfilled in life. Hopefully, you’re not guilty of this. The Word of God declares emphatically: “As each of you has received a gift (a particular talent, a gracious divine endowment) employ if for one another as good trustees of God’s many faceted grace and faithful stewards of the extremely diverse gifts granted you by His unmerited favor” (I Peter 4:10). So, God has given to each person a specific gift; therefore, we are responsible for what we do with it. The gift that we are given is for everyone’s benefit and it is imperative that we use it or others will be robbed of a blessing. Some years ago a study was done by an agricultural school in Iowa. It reported that production of a hundred bushels of corn from one acre of land required 4 million pounds of water, 6,800 lbs. of oxygen, 5,200 lbs. of carbon, 160 lbs. of nitrogen, 125 lbs. of potassium, 75 lbs. of yellow sulfur, and other elements too numerous to list. In addition to these ingredients are required rain and sunshine at the right times. Although many hours of the farmer’s labor are also needed, it was estimated that only 5 percent of the produce of a farm can be attributed to the efforts of man. And so it is with our individual gifts: we use them but God causes the increase. We bless others with them but God gets the glory. We receive benefits and rewards from them, but we honor the One who has given us the gift. The gift that has been given us fits our personality and understanding and flows naturally. But of course, we are able to enhance our gift with use and we are able to increase our use of it by using it more. Another important part of using our gift is it encourages others to do the same. When a speck of dust blows into your eye, instinctively the eye is rubbed by your finger. There is no debate with the finger about whether it should bless the eye. Later, after pulling down the lid, causing the eye to water, the speck is washed out. In a short time the eye is back to normal and everybody is happy. But without the hand including its specially gifted active finger, the irritant would have remained an annoyance. Each member of our body is equally important and that’s the way it is in life. Every gift blesses another gift. Your God-given gift is very important and you must never be hindered from using it. Use it unreservedly for the benefit of others. And it will return to you in ways and measures that you never knew. God’s Word says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure and pressed down and running over…” (Luke 6:38). P.T.L. |
Pastor J.C. Myers, III
Pastor J.C. founded Joy Christian Ministries in 1992. He was Sr. Pastor at Joy Christian Ministries in West Sacramento, California from 1992-2016. He was succeeded by his 2nd son, Pastor Brandon Myers who had been under his father's ministry and teaching for 39 years. Archives
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