Topic(s): Eternity & Judgment, Home

I would imagine many of you will put some time in on the road in coming weeks. Like me, you probably look at an atlas or the internet to find the most direct route. A while back a friend sent me a set of directions to help me find my way. I thought you might find this interesting.

Directions to His House:

Make a Right turn onto “Believer’s Blvd” (John 3:16). Go straight down the “Way of the Cross” (Hebrews 5:8-9), passing the mile markers of “repentance,” “confession,” and “baptism” (Luke 13:3, 5; Matthew 10:32; Acts 2:38). Go through the Green Light, which is Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Galatians 3:26-27).

From there, turn onto the “Shepherd’s Path,” which passes by green pastures and still waters (Psalm 23). Make a right turn and keep straight. You are on the “King’s Highway”—Heaven-bound (1 Peter 1:4)!

Go a second mile, for that’s where the most beautiful scenery is (Matthew 5:41). Exit off onto “Grace Blvd” (Ephesians 2:8-9). From there, make a right turn on “Gospel Lane” (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).

Keep straight. Then make another right on “Prayer Avenue.” As you go on your way, yield not to the traffic on “Temptation Blvd.” Also, avoid SIN STREET because it is a DEAD END.

Pass by “Envy Drive,” “Lust Circle,” and “Hate Avenue.” Don’t slow down as you pass “Hypocrisy Alley,” “Gossiping Lane,” and “Backbiting Blvd.” These look like short cuts, but they’ll get you lost.

Take the time for the scenic view and travel the “Path of Kindness,” “Charity Trail,” and “Joy’s Corridor.” You’ll have to travel down “Long-suffering Lane,” “Persecution Blvd,” “Patience Pass,” and “Tribulations Street” for part of the journey, but that’s all right, because VICTORY LANE is straight ahead!
I hope to see you when we all get home, so drive safely!
                                                       —Josh Allen, Morristown, Tennessee

Lincoln Said...

Topic(s): Blessings, God's Mercy, Nature of Man

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us!”
                                                  —Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of 1863

The Power of Late Night Thoughts

Topic(s): Christian Life

What we think at any time is important (Proverbs 23:7), but it seems to me that our late night thoughts are fraught with particular significance because they “set our course” for the next day. If a person drifts off into sleep with prayerful thoughts about God and heaven, and serving the Lord, it cannot help but impact him for good come morning. But on the other hand, if one fills her head at late night with evil thoughts, it can only be productive of wicked pursuits in her daylight activities.

First, let us note the blessings of good late night thoughts: “Stand in awe, and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord” (Psalm 4:4-5). Again, “My soul shall be satisfied…when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate upon thee in the night watches” (Psalm 63:5-6). Yes, “The thoughts of the righteous are right…” (Proverbs 12:5).

On the other hand, how spiritually destructive are the wrong kind of late night thoughts. Observe this warning from a prophet of old, “Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it…” (Micah 2:1). The wicked man “deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good…” (Psalm 36:4). No wonder the Bible tells us, “the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 15:26).

The way we live our lives is determined by what we think. Solomon stated, that what one “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Thus, we cannot over emphasize the importance of thinking good things, and especially at night upon our beds.
                                                                                     —Maxie Boren

Questions God Won't Ask

Topic(s): Christian Life, Nature of Man

• God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but He will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
• God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He will ask how many you helped to clothe.
• God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but He will ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
• God won’t ask what your job title was, but He will ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
• God won’t ask how many friends you had, but He will ask how you treated your friends.
• God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but He will ask about the content of your character.

Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.