Issue1

Funny how we set our clocks to arise at 4:00 am or 5:00 am to be at the job by 8:00 am, yet when Sunday comes, we can't get to church by 11:00 am to praise the one who gave us the jobs!

Funny how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother, but find it hard to introduce them to our family.

Funny how small our sins seem, but how big "their" sins are.

Funny how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God.

Funny how much difficulty some have learning the gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone.

Funny how we can't think of anything to say when we pray, but don't have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.

Funny how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God's direction in our lives.

Funny how many church goers sing "Standing on the Promises" but all they do is sit on the premises.

Funny how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel.

Funny how we sing about Heaven, but live only for today.

Funny how people thing they are going to Heaven but don't think there is a Hell.

Funny how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant.

Funny how when something goes wrong, we cry, "Lord, why me?" but when something goes right, we think, "Hey, it must be me!"

Oh wait...maybe all this isn't so "FUNNY" after all. Funny how we probably will all read [these ponderisms], but few of us will take the time to pass [them] on....I took the time.... WILL YOU?
--Author Unknown

    Have you ever wondered why God said "...I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev 3:15-16 KJV)? Wouldn't you think that God would prefer us to be lukewarm on the way to getting hot for Jesus as opposed to being cold and not wanting Jesus at all? But God in His infinite wisdom knows that in a lukewarm state there is indifference and complacency. God is a god of simplicity. He leaves no room for confusion or error. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" (KJV). So in paraphrase, Jesus is saying that those who have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior and who are not living according to His Word are automatically against Him.

     The thing with Christians who are lukewarm is that they are trying to staddle a fence that doesn't even exist. They have a tendency to become comfortable with things that don't necessarily line up with the Word of God thereby leaving an open door to a religious spirit. The sad thing is people who are bound by religious spirits know the Word but have no knowledge of how to apply the Word. They have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof just like the Pharisees did in Jesus' day. According to the scriptures, the Pharisees prayed daily, studied the Word, paid tithes and adhered to the Law of Moses in detail. Yet and still, in John 8:44, Jesus told the Pharisees "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (KJV).

     It is time that we as Christians take a stand and diligently pursue the heart of God. Think of yourself as a lump of coal burning in midst of fire. Only the coals that stay in the fire will remain hot. Any coal that becomes separated from the flame will become lukewarm and eventually cool off and die out. The key to staying "hot" for Jesus is found in Hebrews 10:25. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." We must come out of the grey area and leap into the red (the blood of Jesus) which is the only way to stay "HOT" for Jesus.
                                                                                       -- Donald DuPree



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