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Weary

Are you covered with the mud of sin? Do you find yourself
diseased with the belief that you could never be of any value
to our Heavenly Father? Are you wondering if you are living
up to your potential and purpose? On the authority of God’s
Holy Word, friends, I tell you that God is not going to cut you
off because you have failed. No, not at all! You’ve failed. I’ve
failed. We have all failed. We have all sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God. But that is the very reason Christ died!

~ Unknown ~

The heart in which the Holy Spirit dwells will always
be characterized by gentleness, lowliness, quietness,
meekness and forbearance. The rude, sarcastic spirit,
the brusque manner, the sharp retort, the unkind cut—
all of these belong to the flesh and have nothing in
common with the gentle teaching of the Comforter.

~ A. B. Simpson ~

SOURCE:

Pass a note to the organist asking whether he/she plays requests.

See if a yawn really is contagious.

Slap your neighbor. See if they turn the other cheek. If not, raise
your hand and tell the preacher.

Devise ways of climbing into the balcony without using the stairs.

Listen for your preacher to use a word beginning with 'A' then 'B'
and so on through the alphabet.

Sit in the back row and roll a handful of marbles under the pews
ahead of you. After the service, credit yourself with 10 points for
every marble that made it to the front.

Using church bulletins or visitor cards for raw materials, design,
test and modify a collection of paper airplanes.

Start from the back of the church and try to crawl all the way to
the front, under the pews, without being noticed.

Raise your hand and ask for permission to go to the rest room.

Whip out a hankie and blow your nose. Vary the pressure exerted
on your nostrils and trumpet out a rendition of your favorite hymn.

Chew gum; if the sermon goes on for more than 15 minutes, start
blowing bubbles.

Try to indicate to the minister that his fly is undone.

By unobtrusively drawing your arms up into your sleeves, turn your
shirt around backwards.

Line up your little beany baby stuffed animals, (the ones your mother
gave you to keep you quiet in church). During the prayer begin pushing
them two at a time up to the front of the church. If it is a long prayer,
you can get at least eight to the front before the prayer is over.

While people are locating the announced congregational song, step
out in the aisle and begin waving your arms as if directing the hymn.

Sit close to the front, and during the prayer, turn around backwards,
point, and count softly how many people do not have their heads
bowed and eyes closed.

See how many hard candies you can stuff in your cheeks before
your mother catches you.

Begin coughing and get louder and louder until you get to excuse
yourself and leave the room.

Choose a different song than was announced and begin singing it
as loud as you can.

God Delights in You!
DB Reading: Jeremiah 33:10-13; 30; 31:1-26

Is there any sin so grievous that God cannot or will not forgive? Many believe there is, and that they have
committed it. Every time something goes wrong, they tell themselves they're just getting what they deserve
because of their past. Yet, no punishment ever feels great enough. They always fear that the worst is yet to
come. They feel like they must do something more to pay for their sin or to somehow fix their past. Though
they can easily apply God's grace to anyone else, they struggle to believe that Jesus' blood would cover their
worst sins. Unable to imagine that Jesus (or anyone else who really knew them) could feel any differently
about them than they do, they tend to beat themselves up emotionally, punish and neglect themselves, and
constantly condemn themselves.

It sounds like God agrees with them: "Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one
to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.... I have struck you as an enemy would 
and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. Why do you cry
out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done
these things to you" (Jer 30:12-15).

God agrees that no human remedy exists for our "great guilt and many sins." That is why we need him! Yet,
immediately after establishing our hopeless condition, he declares, "But I will restore you to health and heal
your wounds" (Jer 30:17)! When we confess our sin (yes--even "that" sin) to God and accept his gift of grace,
he forgives our unforgivable sin, cures our incurable guilt, and restores our broken relationship with him.

God hears us when we cry out, "You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore
me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand,
I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth" (Jer 31:18-19).

Though we may still be mad at ourselves, God is no longer angry. He responds to our anguish with compassion:

"Is not [your name] my dear daughter, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against her, I still
remember her. Therefore my heart yearns for her; I have great compassion for her" (Jer 31:20 adapted).

God delights in his children! Though he often disapproves of our behavior, he is quick to forgive, without
holding a grudge. He is no longer concerned with the failures of our past. Just as we wouldn't want our
children to hate themselves for past mistakes, God doesn't want us to beat ourselves up for sins he forgave
long ago. If we, as mere humans, can love and forgive our own children, even forgetting their misdeeds,
how much more can God truly "forgive and forget" out of a heart filled with love?

God "will remember their sins no more" (Jer 31:34), not because he has a faulty memory, but because he is
a compassionate father who delights in his relationship with his children. Desiring to restore and rebuild, he
chooses not to dwell on our mistakes. "I, yes, I alone am he who blots away your sins for my own sake and
will never think of them again" (Isa 43:25 LB). "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you
with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt" (Jer 31:3-4).

Are you not his dear daughter, the child in whom he delights? He has forgotten your sin, but he has not
forgotten you. His heart yearns for you. With great compassion and everlasting love, he is reaching out to
you. Let yourself fall into the waiting arms of his warm embrace.

____________________________________________
The Daily Bible Journal Project is based on daily readings from
The Daily Bible (F. LaGard Smith, Harvest House).


Add the Daily Bible Journal Project to your website.

John was a loyal choir member, but he could not carry a tune.
To make things worse, he sang loud and made others sing off
key. Without success, the choir director had tried to discourage
John from participating in the choir.

The choir director asked the pastor's help in getting John out
of the choir. The pastor agreed to try. The pastor tried to find
tasks and responsibilities that would interfere with John's
attendance at choir rehearsal or keep him out of the choir loft
on Sunday morning.

John, however, would not accept any of the tasks or responsibilities,
stating that he would not shirk his duties as a loyal choir member.

Finally, the choir director gave the pastor an ultimatum, "Either
you find a way to get John out of the choir or I will resign as
choir director."

So, with much uneasiness, the pastor called upon John at home
one evening and said, "John, I must ask you to drop out of the
choir."

John was shocked and asked, "Why would you ask such a thing?
We need all the singers we can get."

The pastor replied, "Well, John, people are complaining about
your singing."

"How many?" was John's response.

Not wanting to be too harsh and admit that nearly everyone in
the congregation had been complaining, the pastor said, "I've
received more than a dozen complaints."

"I'm sorry, pastor, that's not enough. I've heard a lot more
complaints about your preaching and you haven't quit yet."

Source: The Cybersalt Digest

Guards escorted a handcuffed prisoner into the courtroom
where I stood as the court deputy.

"Is this a tough judge?" the prisoner asked.

"Yes," the bailiff said. "A tough but fair judge."

"Yeah? How tough?"

"The toughest judge since Pontius Pilate," the bailiff replied.

"I don't know him," said the prisoner. "I'm not from around here." 

A grizzled old sea captain was often spotted by his crew opening
a small, locked box on the bridge, peeking inside at its contents
and shutting the lid before anyone might glimpse inside. The
crew's curiosity grew and, on the day he retired, they rushed to
the bridge, cut the lock and looked inside the box. There they
found a sheet of paper that read, "Left - port. Right - starboard."

Are you afraid to make a mistake? Some people feel as if no one
is ever paying attention until they make a mistake! If you goofed
in a big way recently, maybe you need to hear about Roy Riegels.

The story is told about Roy and the 1929 Rose Bowl championship
football game between Georgia Tech and the University of California.
Shortly before halftime, a man named Roy Riegels made a huge
mistake. He got the ball for California and somehow became
confused and started running in the wrong direction! One of his
teammates outdistanced him and tackled him after he had run 65
yards, just before he would have scored for the opposing team.
Of course, Georgia Tech gained a distinct advantage through the
error.

The men filed off the field and went into the dressing room. All
but Riegels sat down on the benches and on the floor. He wrapped
his blanket around his shoulders, sat in a corner, put his face
in his hands and wept.

Coach Nibbs Price struggled with what to do with Roy. He finally
looked at the team and said simply, "Men, the same team that
played the first half will start the second."

All the players except Roy trotted out to the field. He didn't budge.
Though the coach looked back and called to him again, he remained
huddled in the corner. Coach Price went to him and said,

"Roy, didn't you hear me?"

"Coach," he said, "I can't do it. I've ruined you; I've ruined the
school; I've ruined myself. I couldn't face that crowd in the
stadium to save my life."

But Coach Price put his hand on Riegels' shoulder and said, "Roy,
get up and go on back; the game is only half over."

Roy Riegels went back and those Tech men will tell you that they
have never seen a man play football as well as Roy Riegels played
that second half.

The next time you make a mistake, it might be good to remember
the ABC method of handling mistakes.

A -- Acknowledge your error and accept responsibility for it. Don't
try to fix the blame on other people or circumstances. When you
fix the blame, you never fix the problem.

B -- Be gentle with yourself. The game is only half over. This is
not the first mistake you ever made, nor will it be the last. You
are still a good and caring person. Besides, later you may laugh
at the blunder, so try to lighten up a bit now.

C -- Correct it and move on. Correcting mistakes may also mean
to make amends, if necessary. "Those who are wise don't consider
it a blessing to make no mistakes," says Wang Yang-Ming. "They
believe instead that the great virtue is the ability to correct
mistakes and to continually reinvent oneself."

Now, go make your mistakes. And though some may be no less
than spectacular, if you practice the ABC method, you'll live to
laugh about many of them.

SOURCE: