The Strongest Nails in the World

The Strongest Nails in the World

My friend Alan was working with a carpenter friend of his on a building project. Out of the blue, Alan sprang this rather unusual question on the carpenter, "Do you know what the most powerful nails in the world are?" The craftsman paused on his ladder for a moment and then he replied, "I don't know. U.S. Steel?" Alan said, "No. The strongest nails in the world are the three nails that held Jesus Christ on His cross." And then Alan just walked into the other room. A few minutes later, the carpenter called for Alan. He said, "Man, you've got to help me. Every time I drive a nail now, it's like I'm nailing Jesus to the cross." My friend responded, "Well, in a way, we did."

For some people, Jesus' death on a cross is just history. For others, it's a religious event. But to some of us, the brutal death of Jesus on that Roman cross is a deeply personal event. I hope it is for you, or soon will be. In Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God, there are two words that are literally life-changing. In fact, they're even eternity-changing. They're the difference between someone who has Christianity and someone who has Christ. Between someone who has a Christian religion and someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus. Ultimately, these two words are actually the difference between heaven and hell.

Galatians 2:20: "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." There are the two words, "for me." One of my associates was on a plane recently with a man in his 30s who talked pretty openly about his years of spiritual searching. He said that as a young man he moved beyond his boyhood church and began experimenting with a buffet of spiritual beliefs and experiences. But nothing satisfied the restlessness in his heart. Then one day he came back to visit the church he grew up in. Here's what he said: "As soon as I walked in the door, I saw something I'd seen hundreds of times as a boy - the cross at the front of the church. But suddenly I was overwhelmed with something I had never realized before. I said out loud, "For me. What Jesus did on that cross was for me." He said his search ended that day, and the hole in his heart was finally filled.

My guess is that you know about Jesus dying on the cross. You know He died there to pay for our sins. But you somehow may have missed that life-changing moment when, in your heart, you walk up to that cross and say those words, "For me, Jesus. What You did there is for me." When my friend said that in a way we all did help nail Jesus to the cross, he was right. Because it's our rebellion against God and His ways, all our "my way" choices that left us cut off from God and under His death penalty until Jesus came and did the dying for all of our sinning. And in reality, it wasn't the nails that kept Him on the cross. After all, He's the Son of God! No, it was His deep love for you that kept Him there 'till your bill was fully paid with His life.

If you have never had your "for me" moment with Jesus, that could happen this very day right now and right where you are. Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm taking for myself what you died to give me. You paid for my sin so I don't have to. You died for my sin so I don't have to. Now I embrace you as my Savior; as the driver of my life. I'm taking you for me."

Ron Hutchcraft

The story about my Friend

The story about my Friend

I would like to tell you a story of a friend so dear to me. You see; He saved my life. I want you to understand that He would do it for you too. This is how it happened.

I was wandering around down this wide path, and it was so dark I could hardly see and I was always stumbling. I remember I was so poor and lonely, I was not the only one on this path, and there were many there, all around me. I do not know where I was or where I was going. I was sick and close to death, there just did not seem like there was any point in living anyway. I just had nothing to live for. I had no friends. It was so dark there; you see, I was also blind. I was constantly told, "You do not want to see what is ahead anyway."

I felt like the whole world was on my shoulders and I felt so dirty inside and out.

But at a certain point, I do not know exactly when or where; there was a man standing in my path, facing me, I perceived. I asked Him, "Who are you?"

And He answered in a voice that seemed to so kind in this dark place, where nobody is nice to anyone. He said, "A friend."

I said, "But sir, I do not know you, how is it that you say you are my friend?"

He said to me, "You answer rightly, you do not know Me, but if you follow Me, you will know Me."

I said, "I do not know if I can make it, as my feet feel so heavy and I am so weary."

Again, that voice that seemed so full of feeling and a genuineness I never thought I would hear. His voice was gentle, but, there was quality in it that seemed ageless.

He said to me, "My dear friend, let Me take your burdens of pain and guilt. Give it all to Me and I will take it on My back, and I will hang it on a tree for you." It seems so strange that this Man should be in this place. But I decided to trust Him anyway. So I said, "Alright, take it."

It was then, for the very first time, I felt free. Then He spoke again and said, "Open your eyes, and see." Immediately my eyes opened and I could see... light! Could this be the One I have heard people call the Light of the World?

He said, "Do you want to live and be in good health?"

I said, "Sir, by what authority do You say these things, and who sent You?" He just smiled a smile that pours love into you, and said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me by My Father who sent Me to you."

I said, "Truly, You are a friend indeed."

He said to me, "In My Father's kingdom, there you will have many friends. There is no sickness or hatred, no death or pain, just rejoicing forever."

I said, "How do I get to Your Father's kingdom?"

He said, "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Then, suddenly, understanding flooded my entire being, and I fell to my knees and worshipped Him saying, "I believe You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the anointed One, You are Jesus the Christ, my Saviour!"

He said, with words of purest love, "I am He. Come, enter into the kingdom of My Father and your Father, My God and your God."

I then said, "What would You have me to do for You Lord?" Jesus answered me and said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and he who believes and is baptised will be saved, and he who does not believe will be condemned."

Now you know I mean it when I say to you that Jesus is the way when you are lost, the One who cannot lie because He is the Truth. He will give you life, and give it more abundantly, because He is the Life. Now, having said that, do you want to live in the light of God, who will meet your every need, and live in prosperity by His riches in glory in Christ Jesus, or do you want to die in darkness forever?

Do you want to reap the harvest of good health, or do you want to continue in your sins and reap the rewards thereof (sickness and disease and death)? For it is written, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows that he will also reap.

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Galatians 6:7) Now do not get all offended if you think I called the unsaved sinners. Remember this: it is written, "For all have sinned and fall short the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) You can only be righteous through faith in Christ. (Romans 3:22)

This is a wise saying:

"A dog is not a dog because he barks, a dog barks because he is a dog; and a man is not a sinner because he sins, a man sins because he is a sinner."

Darren Hollingsworth

[Shared by Sis. Bensi]

I Waited Patiently

I Waited Patiently

I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-3, NIV

David says that after he waited patiently, the Lord turned to him heard his cry. After he waited patiently, the Lord lifted him out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. After he waited patiently, the Lord set his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand. After he waited patiently, the Lord put a new song in his mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. After he waited patiently, he lived in such a way that caused many to see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

I waited patiently for the Lord.

You are faced with a decision about what the Lord wants you to do with your life. The options are exciting and filled with potential. Because your options are all good, you believe that no matter what you choose you are confident that the Lord will bless you. You think about it when you wake up in the morning and you are thinking about it as you drift off to sleep at night. Wait patiently for the Lord.

Your family is struggling with a problem you never imagined you would face. You've investigated every possible solution and are in a quandary as to what you should do. You are the head of the family and the decision will ultimately fall on your shoulders. Wait patiently for the Lord.

As a church leader you want to make sure you shepherd the flock with godly wisdom and spiritual insight. You are constantly reminded of the serious ramifications of decisions that will shape the future of your congregation. God called you to lead. It's time to lead. Wait patiently for the Lord.

You are in your last semester of college and the world is opening up to you. Offers are coming in for lucrative positions with some of the best companies in your field. Opportunities for adventure and travel are abundant. You want to do whatever brings glory to God. Wait patiently for the Lord.

Your son is about to make a decision that could shape the rest of his life. You want to offer him the best advice you can. You remember when you were in his shoes and how you wished for someone to mentor you. You don't want to tell him what he should do, but you do want to share a word from the Lord. Wait patiently for the Lord.

You've worked for thirty years with a company that has rewarded you well and helped you to build a good life. Unexpectedly an offer comes that will totally change your world. You and your wife have talked about it and prayed about it, and she has assured you that she will support you in whatever you decide to do. Wait patiently for the Lord.

You are tired. You are confused. You are wondering what God's plan is for you. Your world feels unstable and you feel vulnerable. You have experienced more change than you ever thought possible. You take every step with caution. Part of you wants to go back to the way things were, but you sense that God has better things in store for you if you will step out on faith. Wait patiently for the Lord.

I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.

Tom Norvell

I Saw the Blood - THE VISION

I Saw the Blood - THE VISION

I saw the form of a man. His face was not discernable. I can't tell you the color of His hair or eyes and I can't describe His features. I saw His form and I knew it was Jesus. The crown of thorns on His head was a recognizable part of the form. This identified Him to me and I gasped as I realized I was looking at Him. Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

There was a multitude of rowdy people. They were standing everywhere and the noisiness of their voices filled the air. All eyes were fastened on the Man. He was standing there in silence and blood was already flowing freely from His scalp where the thorns were imbedded. He was pulled roughly and fastened to a whipping post, as a soldier stood ready to begin the flogging. I heard the first crack of the whip and then I saw it, blood and flesh tore loose from His back. When I saw the blood, it looked florescent. I could see it showering on the people. With each lash, more flesh and florescent colored blood splattered the crowd. I counted the lashes of the whip. Thirty-nine times it rose and fell on His back. The whip caused deep furrows where the flesh had been ripped away. I wanted to turn away to hide my face. I didn't want to see Him suffer anymore but my eyes remained fastened on Him.

The next moment I saw the cross being placed on His shredded and bleeding back. He was weak and the weight of the cross pushed Him forward. He was stooped over trying to bear the load. I couldn't discern if He was stooped over from the weight of the load or if weakness had Him bowed to the ground. Steadily the florescent stream of blood flowed and fell on the ground from His wounds. He was making footprints in His own blood. The raging crowd walked behind Him, trampling His blood under their feet. The streets were being painted a deep crimson red.

Then I saw Him. He was hanging there. The soldiers had lifted Him high. When they raised the cross. Blood flowed from His hands and His feet and I saw a stream running off the base of the cross at ground level. The ground lapped it up and swallowed it but the florescent stain remained there. He was stained, covered, painted from the top of His head to the soles of His feet with His own blood. As I gazed at Him, He hung His head.

As I looked into the crowd I could see traces and splotches of florescent red. It was on faces of some who had cried out against Him. Feet were stained that had trampled His precious blood in the streets. Innocent babies and children were speckled with His blood and the family and loved ones who huddled near His feet had traces of red on them.

When the vision was over I was weak and completely spent. I sobbed for a long time as I contemplated the agony He went through for me, for you, for whosoever will. I remember seeing the splattered blood on the crowd and realize some of them were saved by the very blood they demanded to see.

Recently I did a study on the Crucifixion of Christ. While realizing the suffering and the great trauma the body of the victim endures, I saw this vision of the Blood of Jesus as He went through the agonizing and degrading process of death by crucifixion. I can tell you this without reservation, my life is forever changed. Whenever I hear the death and resurrection story of Christ, because I SAW THE BLOOD, I will never be the same again. I will never again associate Easter with a white and fluffy, pink nosed rabbit and hidden pastel colored eggs, but my mind will flash to recollections of a perfect LAMB covered in It's own BLOOD, colored dark florescent red.

Sometimes I still sob as I remember the cross, His suffering and what it purchased. Forever, I am changed by the BLOOD.

Donna M. Davis

Insisting on Driving

Insisting on Driving

My wife and I are some of those psychos that I call marathon drivers. Now I know long-haul truckers have to do it for a living. But sometimes we choose to do it, just because we want to get somewhere quickly. Of course, like most men, I like to be the one driving, sometimes for longer than I should. My wife tells me that our lives start to be in danger from the time I start rubbing my right leg while I'm driving. Apparently, that's the first tip-off of fatigue. She will gently offer to drive and I will, of course, refuse. She offers several other times to drive, when I start doing a Jane Fonda workout at the wheel, when I turn on some obnoxious radio station at full volume, when I open the window to let in the 20-below wind chill. Finally, just before we're just about to become a National Safety Council statistic, I grudgingly pull over to the side of the road. We change seats, and I'm out before she can start up the car again.

I have a feeling I am not the only one who hates to give up the wheel, even if it's dangerous to keep driving. A lot of us want that control, not just of our vehicle, but of our lives. And no one's going to get our hands off the wheel of our life - including God.

Now maybe you're a very independent person. You've driven your life all these years, and you're not about to relinquish the wheel now. But all these years, the One who created you has been saying, "Isn't it about time you let Me drive?" And while you may have tried to keep God happy by being religious, you have stubbornly tightened your fingers around the wheel.

The truth is we were never created to drive our own life! The Bible makes that very clear when it says in Colossians 1:16 that "all things were created by Him and for Him." Now it's talking about Jesus Christ. You were created by Jesus. You were created for Jesus. And you've had a hole in your heart all these years because you didn't have Jesus. The One who gave you your life is supposed to be running your life. But it may be that you've insisted on being your own god, because whoever's driving your life is who your god really is.

Which leads us to an important warning from God in our word for today from the Word of God. Proverbs 29:1 says, "A man (and it could just as easily be a woman) who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes (or warnings) will suddenly be destroyed without remedy." Now chances are that you've had many warnings in your life that you shouldn't be driving and that you should move over; you should turn the wheel over to the God who made you.

It may be that someone who really loves you has been encouraging you to come to Christ, but you've been too proud to let that happen. Well, that's expensive pride; maybe fatal pride... eternally fatal pride.

At the moment God decides our life is over, your eternity is totally in His hands. And He will care about only one thing: did you give your life to His Son Jesus, who gave His life to die for your sins on the cross. So many of us who have finally turned the wheel over to Him put it off as long as we could only to say now, "Why did I wait so long?" There's such peace and security when He's driving.

Now Jesus is saying it again today, "Let Me drive." If you keep driving, you will ultimately crash. Please, while there's time, let go of the wheel of your life and turn it over to the One who was meant to drive all along. If you'd like to begin this personal relationship with Jesus, what you need to do is tell Him that right now, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I've put You off. I've postponed You. I've ignored You. I've tried to compensate by being religious and good, but none of that will pay for my sin. It took You dying on the cross, and now, Jesus, I'm grabbing You like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard. You are my only hope. I am Yours beginning today."

There's some great information that will help you be sure that you belong to Him at our website. And I would encourage you to go there as soon as you can today at YoursForLife.net. Would you check it out?

Don't let your stubbornness, your pride, cost you Jesus, because that will cost you heaven. You've driven long enough. Why don't you let Him drive the rest of the way?

Ron Hutchcraft

"Welcome Home"

"Welcome Home"

Some longtime friends dropped by for a visit recently and they told us a moving story of what has happened to their son. Tom is a missionary pilot in Mexico - one of those spiritual heroes, I think, who take the Gospel and God's help to places they could otherwise never go, including a mountain village in Mexico where the pilots have been God's instruments to launch a mighty work for Christ. And then came the crash. With three missionary pilots and several passengers aboard, a defect in their plane's almost new engine caused this terrible crash. Tom was one of those who survived that crash that could have very well killed everyone. The villagers who loved them actually traveled hours to reach them and rescue them. Tom's body was badly shattered, and his recovery has been long - it's been grueling. But recently he was flown back to the area where he ministered. His parents choked up, and honestly so did we, as they told us what happened as he got off the plane. There to greet him was a crowd of cheering Mexican friends. And they were holding a banner that simply said "Welcome home, Captain Tom!"

I'm hoping you and I can get a "welcome home" like that someday in heaven. It all depends on what we live for in the years until we get home.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Paul clearly lays out what matters most to him about the legacy of his life. In 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, he writes these words to the people that he's invested his life in spiritually: "What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy." Paul is looking forward to getting to heaven and seeing a lot of people that he touched for eternity. That is the welcoming party he's living for.

Basically, Paul says there are two things that matter in life: the Savior you serve and the lives you touch. That is your reward for the years you spend on this planet, that's your legacy, that's your joy. Or at least it's supposed to be.

It's possible that your life's priorities have gotten a little inverted by the pressures and the people and the problems that tend to fill up your life. You've been taken over by a truckload of earth-stuff. One friend of mine summed it up pretty well the other day. When someone asked him if he's ever played Trivial Pursuit, he says, "Every day." He's not talking about the game. He's talking about his life.

Just hearing about Pilot Tom's "welcome home" was an important values-clarification reminder. If you've become consumed and sidetracked with a lot of stuff that's non-eternal, maybe it's time to get with Jesus and replace your agenda with His agenda to "seek first His kingdom" (Matthew 6:33).

And if you're a little weary or discouraged in your faithful service for Jesus, I hope you'll be encouraged by the thought of the reward you're building, the legacy you're developing and the lives that have been touched by your sacrifices who will be thanking you forever. The people you've risked to take to heaven with you will be there, humanly speaking, because you cared. The lives that have been touched by the ministries you've given to will, in the Bible's words, be "credited to your account" (Philippians 4:17).

All that really matters is what's going to meet you when you get to heaven. First, your Savior who will welcome you with the words you have lived to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And the people your life in Christ has touched for eternity. Who knows, maybe they'll be holding a banner with your name on it that says, "Welcome home!"

Ron Hutchcraft

From Surviving - To Thriving!

From Surviving - To Thriving!

Increase... and possess the land. Deuteronomy 8:1 NIV

After 400 years of slavery God handed the Israelites the deed to a lush, plentiful land they could finally call home. Up until now everything they owned had been provided for them by their Egyptian captors. But slavery had crushed their will and destroyed their initiative, consequently God had to break them of their reliance on people rather than on Him. (People-dependency can make you vulnerable and stunt your growth.) So when God led the Israelites into the wilderness and the leeks and onions they enjoyed in Egypt were gone, they were forced to develop an appetite for manna - something only God can provide!

Understand this: When God takes away an old source or system and gives you a new one, it doesn't mean the old one was no good. It just means He's chosen a new way of guiding and providing.

When God makes you a promise He always keeps it, but you have to be willing to remove the training wheels of your reliance on people. In the wilderness the Israelites griped and bellyached for the comfort of the familiar, even though it meant going back to an old season that was over. But they couldn't, and you can't either! When God said, "Increase… and possess the land" (Deuteronomy 8:1 NIV), His plan for them went beyond surviving – to thriving. It meant being weaned off the breast milk of people-dependence and on to the meat of God-dependence. Paul writes: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV). When God pushes you out of your comfort zone en route to your destiny, expect to go through some unfamiliar, anxiety-producing territory. It's the only way to go from surviving - to thriving.

Bob Gass