Our Greatest Need
- If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
- If your greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
- If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
- If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
- But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. (Author Unknown)
Mary Had The Little Lamb
Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.
Micah 5:2
Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall —
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
Isaiah 7:14
Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
John 6:38
Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
1 Peter 1:18
Mary had the little Lamb—men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
Matthew 28:6
Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Mary had the little Lame—mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
Revelation 5: 5,6
When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar.
Psalm 2:12
Revelation 19:11-16
Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal
The Unspeakable Gift
Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the homes of the poor. No one whom he visited thought that he was their ruler. One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the coarse food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he visited the poor man again and disclosed his identity by saying, “I am your king!” The king thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor, but he didn’t. Instead he said, “You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!”
The King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave himself to you and me. The Bible calls Him, “the unspeakable gift!”
Accommodation
God is willing to make any accommodations to have fellowship with us. Like becoming human. Illustration: A hospital patient was in an accident and is left with the sense of smell only. Her mother wanted to communicate her presence, so used a perfume the girl would remember as her mom’s. Now the perfume is not the mother’s essential nature, but is an extension of her real self to communicate on the girl’s level. God also is not essentially a body, but he became human. He extended Himself to communicate on our level so we could respond.
Become a Dog?
Lying at your feet is your dog. Imagine, for the moment, that your dog and every dog is in deep distress. Some of us love dogs very much. If it would help all the dogs in the world to become like men, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down your human nature, leave your loved ones, your job, hobbies, your art and literature and music, and choose instead of the intimate communion with your beloved, the poor substitute of looking into the beloved’s face and wagging your tail, unable to smile or speak? Christ by becoming man limited the thing which to Him was the most precious thing in the world; his unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father. - C. S. Lewis
Purposes of the Incarnation
1. To do the Father’s will (Jn. 6:38)
2. To bear witness to the truth (Jn. 18:37)
3. To bring light to the darkness (Jn. 12:46)
4. To bring true judgment (Jn. 9:39)
5. To bring abundant life (Jn. 10:10).
Study
In a recent Michigan State University study, 97% of the faculty members and staff who bet $40 that they could stay with a six-month exercise program were successful. Only 19% of a non-betting group stayed with their six-month program, however.
TIP: Consider incentives when you want to change behavior.
Out of the Country
John L. Swigert, Jr., the Apollo 13 astronaut who went to the moon in 1970, recalls how his job almost interfered with filing his federal income-tax forms: “On the second day of Apollo 13, April 12, I asked Mission Control to begin work to get me an extension of the filing date for my income tax. Since I had been a last-minute substitution on the Apollo 13 flight, things had moved so fast that I didn’t have a chance to file my return.”
The IRS didn’t have to make a special ruling to grant Swigert a two-month extension because of his I’m-on-my-way-to-the-moon excuse, though. There was already a regulation that provided an automatic extension for anyone out of the country.
Quote
- When you made out your income tax return this year, we trust you remembered that it’s better to give than to deceive.
Cheating
An IRS funded survey showed: 1/5 of filers admit to understating income, 1/10 to overstating deductions, 1/6 claim dependents illegally, more than 50% said they thought everyone would cheat if they felt they could get away with it. The more tax evaders a person knows, the more likely he is to cheat.