Cornerstone

John 3:16

No one can out give God. He began at Creation. There He gave mankind life. He gave all that was necessary to sustain human life. Beyond that He gave mankind a chance and a choice whereby humanity could have a great life enjoying an intimate relationship with God.

The human race failed to see the significance of the chance and the choice that was theirs for the taking. A few came to know God in a special way. In time God gave again. This time He gave His only begotten Son who came to die on a Cross so that once again mankind could know the offer of a chance and a choice. The offer is still available to all who will accept it. The offer extends a chance to those who will make a choice to enjoy a great life in Christ.

In addition to these tremendous gifts God gave mankind the Church. The Church is the sum total of those who have made a choice to enjoy an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Because of His sacrifice on the Cross forgiveness is available to any who will turn from sin and allow Him to be the Lord and Savior of their life.

But God continued to give. He gave the Church the Comforter. The Holy Spirit, known also as the Comforter is given to the Church so that all who have been forgiven of a sinful life and have rejected sinfulness to live for Christ can now know an abundant life. Once again God has given us a chance and a choice. This choice is to admit the corruption of the nature as a result of the original sin in the Garden, asking God to cleanse the nature while filling the void with the fullness of Himself. Life in the Spirit is known in full as the believer is made as God originally intended mankind.

No one can out give God. It is for us to receive. He only expects obedience and complete submission to His will in return.

Dr. Gayle Woods

1 Peter 3:8-11 (8)

In Sri Lanka, more than 30,000 people were killed. But all the elephants, deer and other wild animals survived, says H. D. Ratnayake, deputy director of that nation’s wildlife department. In the 12 hours before Hurricane Charley hit Florida, 14 electronically tagged sharks off Sarasota who had never left their home region before fled into deep waters and stayed away for two weeks before returning. The same sharks reacted similarly when Tropical Storm Gabrielle was about to strike according to Biologist Mike Heithaus.

Although animals are not in as much agreement when the weather is peaceful it illustrates God’s desire for His people. Peter says, “be ye all of one mind . . .” 1 Pet 3:8. After speaking of being “of one accord, of one mind,” Paul goes on to say “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Vs. 5

For His pleasure can we try harder to get along with our brothers in the Lord? For His pleasure can we try harder to work together to accomplish His mission for the Church? If we try to think His thoughts we will find that this comes easier. If the Word of God comes to life in our lives we will find that working with our brethren in unity comes more naturally.

Dr. Gayle Woods