"Save one more for Jesus!"
" HE THAT WINNETH SOULS IS WISE" (PROVERBS 11:30)
In the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes: "In 1999, my father died of cancer. In his final week the disease kept him in a semi-conscious state, 24-hours a day. As he dreamed, he'd talk out loud. Sitting by his bedside, I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams.
"One night near the end, while my wife, my niece and I were by his side, dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course he was too weak, so my wife insisted that he lie back down. He persisted in trying to get out of bed so my wife finally asked, 'Jimmy what are you trying to do?' he replied, ' Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus.' He repeated that phrase over and over. During the next hour he probably repeated it a hundred times, 'Got to save one more for Jesus!' As I sat by his bed with tears flowing down my cheeks. I bowed my head to thank God for my dad's faith. At that moment dad reached out and placed his frail hand on my head and said, as if commissioning me, 'Save one more for Jesus! Save one more for Jesus'"
Then Warren continues, "If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about most - finding His lost children! I intend for that to be the theme of the rest of my life." How about you? Today, who are you going to talk to about Jesus Christ, our Saviour? How many souls are you saving for Jesus?
Your siginificance and security (S.S.)
" WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD. AND THAT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING!"
(1 JOHN 3:2)
All of us long to be valued for who we are, not just for what we do! So we look to others to affirm us. When that doesn't happen we seek approval through acquiring more things, affairs, endless activity and obsession with appearance, food or money. Can you recognise any of those?
As long as you seek significance and security (SS) from any source other than God, you're setting yourself up for disappointment, because certain people, places and things will always have the ability to take you in the wrong direction. So be smart! Identify your danger areas and protect yourself. The truth is, until you change your definition of significance and security and transfer it to the only One who can give you both, you will never experience them.
Making the transfer involves two steps. (1) Identifying the things and people from which you draw your significance and security. (2) Replacing them with the truth that your S.S. is based on your relationship with God - nothing else.
Question: are you more likely to 'blow it' when you're around certain people? In certain situations? In certain moods? If so: (a) pray more, making Jesus Lord of your relationships, desires and moods; (b) take better control of your time; (c) stop building your future around your past! If you've fallen (and who hasn't) get up again. Listen: "We are: children of God." Whose child are you? God's! What a family connection! Listen again: "And that's only the beginning." Wow! Your best days are ahead! You're significant and secure - because you're His!
