Vows 4 and 5

FAITH:

4. GUARD YOUR WORDS ABOUT OTHERS

Never pass anything on - about anybody else that will hurt him. "Love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). The talebearer has no place in God's favor. if you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God's children, bury it forever. Find a little garden out back - a little spot somewhere - and when somebody comes around with an evil story, take it out and bury it and say, "Here lies in peace the story about my brother." God will take care of it. "With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged."

If you want God to be good to you, you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, "But that's not grace." Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father's table, He expects to teach you table manners. And He won't let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table. And what is that? The etiquette of the table is that you don't tell stories about the brother who is sitting at the table with you - no matter what his denomination, or nationality, or background.

5. NEVER ACCEPT ANY GLORY

God is jealous of His glory and He will not give His glory to another. He will not even share His glory with another. It is quite natural, I should say, for people to hope that maybe their Christian service will give them a chance to display their talents. True, they want to serve the Lord. But they also want other people to know they are serving the Lord. They want to have a reputation among the saints. That is very dangerous ground - seeking a reputation among the saints. It's bad enough to seek a reputation in the world, but it's worse to seek a reputation among the people of God. Our Lord gave up His reputation, and so must we.

Meister Eckhart once preached a sermon on Christ cleansing the Temple. He said, "Now there was nothing wrong with those men selling and buying there. There was nothing wrong with exchanging money there; it had to be. The sin lay in their doing it for profit. They got a percentage on serving the Lord." And then he made the application: "Anybody that serves for a commission, for what little bit of glory he can get out of it, is a merchant, and he ought to be cast out of the temple."

I go along with this. If you are serving the Lord, and yet slyly -perhaps scarcely known to you - you are hoping to get just a little five percent commission, then look out! it will chill the power of God in your spirit. You must determine that you will never take any glory, but see that God gets it all.

Now, it is the easiest possible thing to give a message like this. The hard thing is to make it work in one's own life. Remember that these five vows are not something you write in the back of your Bible and forget. They have got to be written in your own blood. They have to be made final, irrevocable, if it only comes off the surface, it is no good. Much of our consecration is just that way - it comes off the surface. Many of our promises conic off the surface. No, no. Let it come out of the depths of your heart, the deep depths of' your spirit.

These vows cut against the old human nature. They introduce the cross into your life, and nobody ever walks back from carrying his cross. When you make these vows, remember, they strike at the heart of your self-life and there is never a place to go back to. And I say, "Woe unto the triflers!"

In America - and maybe in other places too - SO many people are saying, "Try Jesus try God!" Triflers, experimenters, tasters they arc. Like a rabbit with a half dozen holes so if one is stopped up lie can flee to another! No! From the cross there is no place to flee You don't "try" Jesus. He is not there to be experimented with. Christ is not on trial. You are. I am. He is not! God raised Him from the dead and forever confirmed His deity and scaled Him and set Him at His own right hand as Lord and Christ. Turn everything over to Him, and you'll find your life begin to lift. You'll blossom in a wonderful way.

Now, if you happen to be one of those on whom God has laid His hand for a deeper life, a more powerful life, a fuller life -then I wonder if you would be willing to pray this kind of prayer: -0 God, glorify Thyself at my expense. Send me the bill - anything, Lord. I set no price. I will not dicker or bargain. Glorify Thyself. I'll take the consequences.

This kind of praying is simple, but it's deep and wonderful and powerful. I believe that if you can pray a prayer like that, it will be the ramp from which you can take off into higher heights and bluer skies in the things of the Spirit.

FRIENDS:

Father, Assure us that we are your people and that you are our God. Remind us that the love of Christ compels us to do what we never thought we could do and grow to heights we never imagined. Precious is the name of Jesus! In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE CHALLENGE
May 1
Mark 9:33-50; 2 Cor 1:1-11; Psalms 95; 1 Samuel 1-2
May 2
Mark 10:1-16; 2 Cor 1:12-24; Psalms 96; 1 Samuel 3-5
May 3
Mark 10:17-34; 2 Cor 2; Psalms 97; 1 Samuel 6-8

~Samuel~
It's the end of the race that matters.

Trophies aren't given for great starts. Medals aren't awarded for entering the race. A good start is crucial, but in the end, the end is all that matters.

First Samuel is a book of good starts but bad finishes.

It seems that every key character put his best food forward and ended up in last place.

Take Eli for example.

A sterling religious leader. A man with a heart for God. Perceptive and strong, the last of the great priests. But look at the end of his life. The ark of the covenant has been captured. Two of his rebellious sons are killed. When he hears of their deaths, he falls over and breaks his neck.

Samuel is another case. Dedicated to God's service by Hannah, his mother, he anointed Israel's first kings. But he didn't learn from Eli's mistakes. Just like his mentor, he failed to train his family and his sons turned away from God.

But the most dramatic example is Saul, Israel's first king. He seemed to be the perfect man---handsome and meek, brave and victorious in battle. But success led to disobedience, and he slid from prominence to paranoia to suicide.

Why are these stories in the Bible? To remind us that we too are in a race. And that race isn't over. How we started isn't nearly as important as how we finish.

FOOD:

Raisin-Orange Coffee Cake

1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup raisins
3 cups Bisquick baking mix
3/4 cup dairy sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
Brown Sugar Topping (below)

Heat oven to 400°. Generously grease round pan, 9 x 1 1/2 inches. Mix marmalade and raisins. Mix baking mix, sour cream and milk until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 30 seconds. Gently smooth into ball on surface floured with baking mix. Knead 10 times. Divide into 12 parts. Shape each into 3 1/2-inch round. Place 1 teaspoon marmalade mixture in center of each. Bring edges together; pinch. Dip bottom of each into margarine, then into Brown Sugar Topping. Arrange 7 balls, coated sides up, evenly spaced in pan. Place remaining balls in spaces on top. Bake until golden, 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. 6 to 8 servings.

Brown Sugar Topping: Mix 3 tablespoons Bisquick baking mix, 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons quick-cooking oats until crumbly.

High Altitude: Heat oven to 450°. Use square pan, 9×9x2 inches. Decrease sour cream to 1/2 cup. Increase milk to 1/2 cup. Arrange 12 balls in single layer in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

FUN:

A priest was preparing a man for his long journey into the night. Whispering firmly, the priest said, "Denounce the devil! Let him know how little you think of his evil." The dying man said nothing.


The priest repeated his order. Still the dying man said nothing. The priest asked, "Why do you refuse to denounce the devil and his evil?" The dying man said, "Until I know where I'm heading, I don't think I ought to aggravate anybody."