Cornerstone

Mark 4:10-13 (11)

A man born in the city decided to move to the country and start a chicken farm. He bought 200 baby chicks and a farmhouse with some land around it. The chickens all quickly died. He bought 200 more baby chicks. Again, they all died. Puzzled and distressed, the man wrote to the county agricultural agent and described his problem. He concluded his letter, “I want very much to be a successful chicken farmer. Therefore, can you tell me: Have I been planting the chicks too close together or too deep?” Whereupon the county agent wrote back and said, “I can’t answer your question until you send me a soil sample.”*

The disciples seemed to be about that dense sometimes. Sometimes I am as well. And yet I take great satisfaction in reading that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14) Because of my relationship with Jesus Christ I now have a greater insight into the meaning of God’s Word. There are some passages of Scripture that we will still struggle with until we develop more in Christian growth. But as Mark Twain once said, “Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand. The Scripture which troubles me most is the Scripture I do understand.” It is essential that we accept and work with what we DO know as we are developing a greater understanding of the Word.

*Adapted James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 211.

Dr. Gayle Woods

John 12:23-27 (25)

David Augsburger writes in Sticking My Neck Out that when James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the captain of the ship sought to turn him back. “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages,” he cried. Calvert only replied, “We died before we came here.” (p. 154)

The paradox is that we must go down before we can go up. We must surrender before we can serve. If you would serve Jesus you must follow Him. His way led to a cross.

This type of commitment brought great men of God to express their heart desire:

Evangelist George Whitefield said, “O Lord, give me souls, or take my soul.”

Missionary Henry Martyn cried, “Here let me burn out for God.”

Missionary David Brainerd declared, “Lord, to Thee I dedicate myself. Oh, accept of me be Thine forever. Lord, I desire nothing else; I desire nothing more.”

Evangelist Dwight L. Moody implored, “Use me, then, my Savior, for whatever purpose and in whatever way Thou mayest require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with Thy Grace.”

Reformer Martin Luther prayed, “Do Thou, my God, stand by me against all the world’s wisdom and reason. Oh, do it! Thou must do it. Stand by me, Thou true, eternal God!”

Missionary “Praying Hyde” pleaded, “Father, give me these souls, or I die.”

Dr. Gayle Woods