CHOOSE

COUNT THE COST

Lu 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

The cost of traveling has certainly gone up. Gas prices have gone to unbelievable highs and we find ourselves searching the signs to see who has the cheapest prices. It would certainly be foolish to start on a long trip and not take the cost of gas into account. We would eventually find ourselves stranded somewhere with an empty tank.
As we journey through life on our Christian walk sometimes we fail to count the cost and we wind up feeling stranded with our spiritual tank completely empty.
Serving Christ never comes without sacrifice. We must first sacrifice our own desires and submit to the will of God. That might seem like a great sacrifice at first but God will never ask you to give up anything that He does not give you something better.
If we do not sacrifice time we seem to waste it. The time you spend in prayer and in Bible study is never wasted. If you are willing to pay the price of giving God the time it takes to get to know Him and become close to Him your spiritual tank will not be empty. If you take the time and trouble to share Christ with others you will have no less of Him but will have an even closer relationship with Him.
You are probably familiar with the Dead Sea. It is fed by pure clean water which flows in but doesn't have an outlet. The only way for the water to get out is through evaporation. The water that is left behind is filled with minerals and eventually the water is unable to sustain life, thus the name.
Many Christians never count the cost of only receiving and not sharing. They go to church, they hear the sermons and the singing and it flows into them clean, clear and brimming with life. They then go out into the world and none of it flows out.The cost of that is spiritual stagnation.
God has blessed each of us greatly. We must pass along those blessings to others. The cost of keeping them to ourselves is much too great.
Note: These devotionals are a way of sharing God's blessings with others. If you receive a blessing from them you can help to share them with others by sending them along to those you know or by telling others how to get them. shilohbaptist.blogspot.com.
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YIELD

Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

In this modern day when everyone is concerned about boosting their own and everyone elses self esteem most people don't like to think of themselves as servants to anyone or anything. The truth is that we all yield to something even if it is our own selfishness and our own weakness.

I was once riding with someone who slowed down to let another car go ahead of him. The other passenger in the car said, "Why, did you let him go first, you could have beat him."

The driver, I thought very wisely, answered, "I try to never race another car at an intersection, I don't want a tie."I was certainly glad that the current driver was driving and not the other passenger. I didn't want a tie either.

Just as failure to yeild in traffic can cause tragic accidents, failure to yeild in other matters can be just as tragic. How many marriages have failed because neither person was willing to yeild? How many churches have internal problems because some are not willing to yeild?

On a deeper level how many lives are on collision courses because people are not willing to yeild themselves to God and His will. God is glorified through you having a close relationship with Him. He is honored by you living the abundant life in Jesus Christ. When you yeild to your selfishness, or to your weaknesses it is destructive to you. When you yeild to God by being obedient to Him, he is glorified, and you are fulfilled in Him.

We hear a lot about road rage on the news. Road rage is anger from people who refuse to yeild.

Psalm 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

I think it is spiritual road rage, from people who refuse to yeild to the will of a Holy and Riteous God.

ROAD SIGNS

John 14:1-6 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.(2) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (4) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (5) Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (6) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Road signs are very helpful as we travel. They tell us what road we're on, and they even tell us generally in which direction we are going. If a highway is numbered with an odd number it is generally running North and South. If it has an even number it is running generally East and West.

Highway signs give us some very important information to make our trip easier and safer. One important detail before you begin a trip is knowing your destination. It wouldn't make much sense to just start out not having a destination, yet many people go through life just wandering along without direction, without destination, not realizing that they will end up lost.

Jesus spoke to the disciples first about the destination which is His Father's house, a house with many mansions and a place being prepared. He then tells them the way, "I am the Way". Jesus is the way to eternal life. Any other way will not only leave a person wandering without direction but will leave him ultimately lost. The way to the place Jesus is preparing for us is through Him and Him alone.

Have a safe trip. Pay attention to the signs (warnings) along the way. When you see a sign along the highway I hope you think of where you are ultimately going and remember that Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

INTRODUCTION TO SIGNS

I was driving down the road the other day when I began to pay special attention to the traffic signs. As I read them I began to apply spiritual applications to the different signs. It was then that I felt the Lord was leading me to write a series of devotionals using traffic signs as object lessons.

Before I began I wanted to study and make sure this would be a study that would honor God and please him. As I began to study the word signs I found that there are different meanings for the word in the original languages, according to Strongs Concordance. Most of us are familiar with what Jesus said to the Pharisees regarding signs:
Matthew 12:38-39 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a SIGN from thee. (39) But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a SIGN; and there shall no SIGN be given to it, but the SIGN of the prophet Jonas:

The sign that the scribes and Pharisees were seeking was for him to perform some miracle that they might believe.

The word sign was used more often in the Old Testament to signify a warning. The following passage from the book of Eziekiel is an example.

Ezekiel 4:3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a SIGN to the house of Israel.

It is mostly in this context that I am preparing this series of devotionals and object lessons. I hope in doing so that as you travel the highways and see the traffic signs that they will turn your thoughts to spiritual matters.

May God bless you as you read these and may you grow in His love and Grace as you study them. I will begin putting a new one on starting tomorrow.

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APOLOGY

I want to apologize for not having a new devotional today. I have several prepared but I can't seem to find them on this computer. I will have to find them this weekend and will begin fresh Monday.

Sometimes that is the way things work out. I once saw a sign that said Life Is What Happens When You Are Making Other Plans. I guess I planned but life is a little different.

I have been working on a series of object lessons using road signs. I hope to get started on that next week.

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