SUNDAY JUNE 28, 2020
TOPIC: BEFORE PRIDE DESTROYS YOU
TEXT: JOHN 3:1-8
KEY VERSE: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (JOHN 3:3).
Pride, shame and fear of condescension are prominent among the reasons influential people do not identify with the gospel. This was why Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. You must be born again was Christ's message to him. Converted, Nicodemus afterward owned Christ publicly. Though he was a ruler, he did not talk with Christ about state affairs, but about the concerns of his own soul and its salvation. What a privilege to preach salvation to a sinning political leader when he comes to a preacher by himself!
Our Saviour spoke of the necessity and nature of regeneration of the new birth to Nicodemus. Life begins with birth. A new life begins with a new birth. To be born again is to begin to live a new spiritual life of righteousness and holiness.
There is no alternative to this: if we want to walk with God, we must have a new nature, new principles, new affections and new aims. By our first birth, we were corrupt, 'shapen' in sin. We, therefore, have to be made new creatures. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were.
Ask yourself if you currently have that new birth. If not, why halting between two opinions? Christ is ready to save you. He is inviting you to, "Come unto [Him], all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and [He] will give you rest." Sin breeds crisis and restlessness in the soul. But Christ gives peace and rest to everyone who confesses his/her sins, repents of them and accepts Him as Lord and personal Saviour.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Jesus is waiting to save anyone who comes to Him.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 KINGS 19-20
HIGHER EVERYDAY
SUNDAY JUNE 28, 2020
MADE TO MAKE IMPACT
TEXT: EPHESIANS 2:5-10
MEMORY VERSE: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (EPHESIANS 2:10).
In an article titled, How to Change Someone's Life for the Better, Richard D. Sanford states, "There is no real way to measure the enormous impact any one of us can have on another person's life." This is because most people do not understand that sometimes, the smallest things can change the course of history for a person and for all of those that he or she comes in contact with. By so doing, you strengthen and cement your relationship with your Creator.
If you are God's product for helping the world, or impacting lives, you must do what you are created to do, whether in secular or spiritual matters. Passion drives people to fulfilling their ordained destinies. Scientists like Louis Pasteur, the French Chemist and Biochemist, who invented the first vaccines against rabies and anthrax; Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the incandescent light bulb; and Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, impacted the world.
In the Christian circles, ministers such as C. H. Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, George Muller and Kenneth Hagen, have greatly made their impacts. Use your gifts and skills now.
QUOTE: Use your gifts and skills now.
CHALLENGE: You can change someone's life today.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, imbue me with the spirit of selfless service.