WAKE HIM UP!

WAKE HIM UP!
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” Hebrews 4:16

Eloise worked the cash register in the food court at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute. She was by far and away one of my favorite people. I liked a lot of things about Eloise: her happy smile, helpful spirit, and love for everyone. But what I liked best was her down-home, streetwise wisdom that came out in some of the most memorable quips. I could give you a bunch of them, but here’s one that just might be a good word for you.
One morning, as I reached into my pocket to pull out the cash for my breakfast, I asked Eloise how she was doing, to which she replied, “Not all that great.”
“Really?” I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Well,” she quipped, “I had to wake Him up this morning!”
I wasn’t quite getting where she was going with that, so I asked, “What do you mean? Wake who up?”
“Don’t you know your Bible?” she teasingly said with an obvious sense of joy at stumping the Moody president. To save me any further embarrassment, she went on to say, “When the disciples thought they were going to die in the storm at sea, they had to wake up Jesus so He would help them. I had to wake Him up this morning,” she said, “’cause I needed His help!”
See why she’s one of my favorite people?
What she didn’t say, though, was that it seems like Jesus was the last resort for those panicked disciples. Luke tells us that it wasn’t until the boat was nearly swamped, and it was clear that they were in great danger, that someone had the brilliant idea to wake up Jesus.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we are usually pretty slow as well to wake Him up. Well, actually, we don’t need to wake Him up since the God who watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:3)! In reality, we’re the ones who need to wake up. We need to wake up to the truth that we are not as capable as we think we are to deal with life’s challenges; that our wisdom and instincts are flawed; that trying to manage life by the seat of our pants usually gets us into a heap of trouble.
So, thankfully, the writer to the Hebrews assures us that we can come to Jesus with what the text literally says is “unstaggering confidence”—confidence that He understands our plight and is ready to help us in our time of need. And, in case you’re wondering how He will help you in your time of need, think about His grace that will help you endure, His mercy, His power to overcome, His wisdom to show you the way. And don’t forget His calming presence and His peace that passes understanding in the midst of life’s storms. They are all available for the asking!
So, next time you are overwhelmed with life and don’t know what to do, take a little advice from my friend Eloise: wake Him up! And don’t wait until He is your last resort. You’ll get exhausted and disheartened if you try to bail out your boat all by yourself!
Which reminds me of a wonderful old song that we used to sing in church when I was a boy. It goes, “I need thee, Oh, I need thee! Every hour I need thee! Oh, bless me now my Savior, I come to thee.” You’ll need Him sometime—probably today—so make that the theme song of your life.
YOUR JOURNEY…
Would you say that Jesus is your first option when life gets in your face? Or is He your last resort?
What specific steps can you take toward being aware of God’s presence and desire to step in and help you?
At least once today, plan to intentionally call on God. Ask for His wisdom to know what to do and His grace to do it in a way that would be pleasing to Him. Make it a daily, lifelong habit!

courtesy of joe Stowell rbc ministries

A Departing Blessing

A cancer-stricken believer was dying. I was in his room as his family gathered around him. One by one he spoke to his children, to their spouses, and to his young grand children. He gave each a loving, tender blessing. Even his warnings were spoken with gentleness. He reminded them to keep the Lord in the center of their lives. We wept together, knowing that soon he would no longer be with us. A few days later he was gone.
Our Savior was doing much the same thing just before He ascended to heaven. Rather than weep as they saw Him leave, His disciples were filled with great joy, even though they understood only dimly how they would experience His blessings. But Jesus would soon send the Holy Spirit to indwell them (Acts 1-2). He would carry on a ministry of intercession for them "at the right hand of God" (Romans 8:34). And the promise of His return would comfort them (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
As we think about our Savior ascending to heaven, let's rejoice in the blessings He left us. And as we have occasion, let's encourage our loved ones to keep Jesus at the center of their lives. Someday we will depart from this earth, and our example and words may be the most precious blessing we can leave behind. —David C. Egner

READ: Luke 24:44-53
While He blessed them, . . . He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. —Luke 24:51

My Utmost for his highset

When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16 ). Belief is not the result of an intellectual act, but the result of an act of my will whereby I deliberately commit myself. But will I commit, placing myself completely and absolutely on God, and be willing to act solely on what He says? If I will, I will find that I am grounded on reality as certain as God’s throne.
In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will. Belief must come from the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God. Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. I must will to believe. But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. I must surrender myself completely to God.
Everyone has been created with the ability to reach out beyond his own grasp. But it is God who draws me, and my relationship to Him in the first place is an inner, personal one, not an intellectual one. I come into the relationship through the miracle of God and through my own will to believe. Then I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of the transformation in my life.-- rbc ministries

How to become an effective cristian

How to become a christian? but first lets know first what really a christian is

The word Christian means CHRIST-IN. A Christian is somebody who has asked Jesus into their lives.
Many people have different views about what a Christian is, however the bible is quite clear on this point. Let us first explore what a Christian is not.
It is not simply someone who goes to church. Going to church will not make you a Christian. By the same token when you visit a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop you do not become a chicken leg!
It is also not only living a good life; there are a lot of good people in the world, who are not Christians.
Many also believe that because we live in a so-called Christian country that this by default makes us Christians.
These unfortunately are all untrue. If all of these do not make us christians what does?

next is who is Jesus
Jesus is really the Son of God, then we should take notice of what he says, after all here is the Son of the creator of the planet and universe which you and I are a part of.

However if Jesus is really the Son of God, then we should take notice of what he says, after all here is the Son of the creator of the planet and universe which you and I are a part of.
What Jesus had come to do was unique because he came down to earth to represent God and renew our relationship with him.
But the good news about Jesus is that although he died on a cross, he rose again. This is clear from the bible as there were over 500 witnesses.
The question we need to ask ourselves is. If this Jesus is alive today, (which I believe he is) can he make a difference in my life.
I can tell you that he can make a big difference in your life. If you have not experienced it why not give it a go. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

There is no dispute that Jesus walked this earth, there is so much historical evidence that proves this.
However was he simply a good man who had religious tendencies or was he the Son of God?
If he was simply a good man, then his death was like any other death and that would be the end of it.

Lastly is how do i become one?
You and I were originally intended to have a relationship with God. If we look back in the bible we find that God had a relationship with us in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1:27-31), but sin came into the world when man disobeyed God and ate fruit from a forbidden tree (Gen 2:8-25)

God wants to have a relationship with me and you but he can�t stand sin. Many people would think of sin as murder etc. The bible teaches that we sin in thought and word and deed. So it is not what we do but also what we think. Oh no ! That seems to cover all of us. (Rom 3:23). Imagine writing down all the things that we have done wrong in a big book. How many volumes would you or I get up too!

God has a problem he wants to have a relationship with you and me but he can�t because our sin cuts us off.

However God provided a way so that our sins (the things we do wrong) can be forgiven by coming down to earth in the form of Jesus. When Jesus was crucified on the cross he provided a way to allow our sins to be forgiven and restore our relationship with God. This is good news!!(John 3:16)

Once we say we are sorry to God he will take away our sin and make us a brand new person (2 Cor 5v17), a christian. He also gives us the free gift of Eternal Life. This means that when we die the next phase of our life begins, Spending eternity with Jesus (John 27-29).