My Father’s Greatest Achievement

Perhaps the greatest achievement of my father as a servant of God was that he left behind a congregation that was spiritually alive; that is, a congregation willing and able to hear from Jesus and to follow him. He didn’t leave us with the feeling that we had to circle around what he taught us and never grow beyond it.

There is a group in Indiana who has been spiritually dead in the water since their leader died.  Their meetings, I hear, consist of gathering to listen to recordings of him preaching.  God help him.

Preacher Clark would have been displeased with us if we had done that.  He expected us to follow on with Christ and grow in the grace and knowledge of God.

God has more to tell us, and He has more to do to us to make us like Him.  Let’s seek Him and wait for His voice.  He is a faithful Father!

Just You

God has been good to us all.  He is worthy of all our praise and devotion.  The next time you thank Him for His goodness, however, I want you not to think of “us”.  I want you to think only of your life and the grace God has shone toward you, alone.

Yesterday, I realized that when I give God praise, I often do it with reference to us all.  And at other times, the many who have refused His grace will come to mind while I am talking to Him.  But the Lord impressed on me to forget about all others (for the moment) and to just praise and thank God for His great mercy shown to me as an individual, to make my praise very personal, between Him and me without reference to anyone else.

That kind of communication with God brought with it a sweet, humbling feeling.  Try it sometime, and let the Lord take a walk with you through your past and remind you of how merciful and kind He has been to you as a solitary soul, throughout you life.