Highland Lakes church of Christ

People often look in the wrong place to find real power. Sometimes, folks look for power in the teachings of human beings. That way they may find a power, away from God, that can often corrupt; the kind that wants to control others. This can cause immense suffering and pain. So, when it comes to true power, power that gives substance and has good results, where do we go?

The teachings of Confucius are great, but not divinely inspired and cannot provide salvation. The writings of John Locke influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the creation of the new government of the United States, but Locke believed we can only know those things we experience through our senses.

Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish philosopher, was a great writer and thinker, but Kierkegaard believed man must take a leap of faith into the unknown. The Bible teaches faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. There is no “leap”.

Politicians like to demonstrate their power in elective office and sometimes the people are the ones who suffer. One of the lessons of humans and political power (in many areas) is this, although they may mean well, their use of power leaves something to be desired, doesn’t it?

We humans need to seek true power, not the power that makes us want to control and change others, but the power that changes our lives and prepares us for heaven. For this, there is only one source: the Bible. It has the powerful word of God, “…it can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32b) – selected

Many years ago, a great meteor shower could be seen from the Southeastern United States. Nothing like this meteor shower had ever been witnessed by those that had the privilege to so see it. In fact, it scared people. People that saw this great event began thinking that the world was about to end. They thought the skies were quite literally falling out of the heavens. On one particular boat, an old grizzled captain told his men not to worry. He told them that he had his eye on the North Star and that as long as it was in the sky they would be ok. This old captain had come to rely heavily on the North Star to guide his ship safely across the seas. He put his faith and his trust in that star and he knew he was safe as long as that particular star could still be seen.

This old captain can teach Christians an important lesson today. As long as our great star is still standing, we have nothing to fear. I don’t think we have to ask ourselves who the Christian’s great star is. It is Jesus Christ! As the North Star pointed the way for sailors, so Christ is directing our path here on earth and with this eventually home (John 14:1-6). As the North Star stands out in the night sky, Christ stands apart from all other men that have ever lived on this earth (Hebrews 4:14-16). As the North Star is constant and immovable, Christ remains the same in a world full of change (Jude 3).

Recognizing Christ in this way is easy. However, it is not enough to simply recognize Christ as our great guide in heaven; we must be willing to put our entire faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. Imagine the amount of faith the old captain in our story had in the North Star. When others believed the entire world was collapsing down on them, he knew things were ok because of one star. In today’s world, Christians can become overwhelmed by the things that confront us. Often times Christians lose their faith when things begin to crumble around them. When fear and desperation are taking root in your heart, it is vital that you take a lesson from an old captain trying to reassure his crew during a great meteor shower…keep your eye on the star (Philippians 4:6-9)! — BULLETIN DIGEST

Even though we do not observe Thanksgiving as a holy day or a religious holiday, it is a time when most Americans are thankful for the blessings they have received.

Such an expression of gratitude is proper. But rather than expressing it just one day each year, we ought to be thankful every day. We receive blessings on a daily basis, therefore we should be thankful daily. In the model prayer of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:11, Jesus taught us to pray to God so that He might, “Give us this day our daily bread.” 1 Timothy 4:3 states that God created foods which are “to be received with thanksgiving.” Verse four continues the thought by saying, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.”

Our thanksgiving should be directed to God for the blessings we have because He is the source of all good things. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). “God who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24-25). Many of the people, who will be thankful on Thanksgiving Day, will fail to be thankful to God. Since ““all things” we receive are from God, we should thank Him for all things — all the physical blessings and privileges we enjoy.

After Jesus had cleansed ten lepers, only one of them thanked Him for it. Jesus asked, ““Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18). Those who receive blessings from God must be thankful to Him.

Christians ought to be even more expressive and fervent in their expressions of thanksgiving to God because not only are they blessed with those material blessings that sustain physical life but also receive all spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3) which sustain them spiritually and enable them to overcome sin and death in order to live eternally.

Those spiritual blessings, if you are not receiving them now, are available to you if you will submit to the gospel for the salvation of your soul. There is no better way to show gratitude to God for that which He has graciously given to us than by living in submission to His will, loving, acknowledging, and thanking Him as obedient children. Thanksgiving Day, and every day, let us give thanks to God. – Gene Taylor, Centerville Road church of Christ, Tallahassee, FL

A person stands before judge and jury, places one hand on the Bible and the other in the air, and makes a pledge. For the next few minutes, with God as their helper, they will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

They are a witness. Their job is not to expand upon nor dilute the truth. Their job is to tell the truth. Leave it to the legal counsel to interpret. Leave it to the jury to resolve. Leave it to the judge to apply. But the witness? The witness speaks the truth. Let them do or less and they taint the outcome. But let them do that – let them tell the truth – and justice has a chance.

The Christian, too, is a witness. We, too, make a pledge. Like the witness in court, we are called to tell the truth. The bench may be absent and the judge unseen, but the Bible is present, the watching world is the jury, and we are the primary witnesses. We are subpoenaed by no less than Jesus himself: “You will be my witnesses – in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world” (Acts 1:8).

We are witnesses. And like witnesses in a court, we are called to testify, to tell what we have seen and heard. And we are to speak truthfully. Out task is not to whitewash nor bloat the truth. Our task is to tell the truth. Period.

There is, however, one difference between the witness in court and the witness for Christ. The witness in court eventually steps down from the witness chair, but the witness for Christ never does. Since the claims of Christ are always on trial, court is perpetually in session, and we remain under oath. For the Christian, deception is never an option. It wasn’t an option for Jesus.

One of the most astounding assessments of Christ is this summary: “He had done nothing wrong, and he had never lied” (Isaiah 53:9). Jesus was staunchly honest. His every word accurate, his every sentence true. No cheating on tests. No altering the accounts. Not once did Jesus stretch the truth. Not once did He shade the truth. Not once did He avoid the truth. He simply told the truth. No deceit was found in His mouth.

And if God has His way with us, none will be found in ours. He longs for us to be just like Jesus. His plan is to shape us along the lines of his Son (Romans 8:28). Examine your heart. Ask yourself the tough questions. Do you tell the truth . . . always? If not, start today. Be just like Jesus. Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. What do you think? Thoughts from reading “Nothing but the Truth” by Max Lucado (Just Like Jesus) — via Ken Darnell

Many striking metaphors are used in the New Testament to describe the Christian life. Jesus compared it to carrying a cross (Matthew 16:24). The book of Hebrews describes it as a race which must be run with patience/perseverance (12:1). Peter compared it to the process of growth and development by which an infant becomes an adult (1 Peter 2:2).

One of the most vivid metaphors associated with the Christian faith, however, is the New Testament picture of Christianity as a battle which must be fought and won. Paul commanded Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) and he reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). This is the great Armageddon described in the book of Revelation 16:16.

Fortunately, this is a battle whose outcome has already been assured. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us“ (Romans 8:37). In Christ is the assurance of:

1. VICTORY IN LIFE. For the Christian, successful living is not a matter of wealth accumulated, or status attained, or personal triumph recorded. Rather it is the result of having “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). As Soldiers of Christ, we have been equipped with weapons “. . . that have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). On the daily battle ground of temptation, Satan can be routed and put to flight with the sword of the Spirit “which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

2. VICTORY IN DEATH. Jesus promised that even the gates of Hades (i.e. hell) will not overcome the church (Matthew 16:18). By His resurrection Jesus crushed the head of Satan and broke the power of death. So complete and irrevocable was His defeat of death that the Bible says He “has destroyed death and has brought light and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). The reality of Christ’s resurrection assures His followers that for them too, death will one day “be swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

3. VICTORY IN ETERNITY. Victory in Christ extends beyond the grave to ultimate triumph in eternity. The Bible says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train, and gave gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8). One of the gifts which the triumphant Jesus offers His faithful followers is Eternal Life (Romans 6:23). In eternity, the legions of Christ will stack their armor and receive the crown of final victory from their Commander (2 Timothy 4:8).

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57) — Bobby Dockery (Fayetteville, Arkansas)