True Self-Denial
Lent is a period of 40 days prior to Easter (excluding Sundays). For many people it commemorates Jesus' fasting in the wilderness. They "give up something" for Lent every year, like sweets or TV. This can yield spiritual benefits, but denying yourself things and denying yourself aren't the same. In Luke 9:23, Jesus taught the latter.
Check Your Work
I'm getting pretty good at math. That's because every day my son Steve and I have a little math session. He does his 30 junior high math problems, and I help him check them over. Sometimes we even get them all right.
Guidance From Above
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is changing the way we work, travel, and play. Using the signals from multiple satellites, an inexpensive GPS receiver can compute your location anywhere in the world. Using the information can help a lost hiker return to camp, enable a driver to locate a house in a strange city, or guide commercial fishermen back to the place of a big catch. In a very real sense, it is "guidance from above."
A Reminder Of The Cross
Telephone poles play a crucial role in developed countries. They support lines of communication that enable people to "reach out and touch" others in just about any corner of the globe. And in many communities, telephone poles carry power lines that make it possible for people to use lights and appliances.
Spiritual Service
Members of the upper level Brahman class in India never stoop to do any menial labor. So how shocked Shriman Naraarayan was when, spending time at Gandhi's ashram (a spiritual retreat center for Hindus), he was assigned a task that he felt was beneath his dignity.
Worse Than Dying
The apostle Paul said he would rather die than give the impression that he was serving the Lord for money. That's why he supported himself while preaching in Corinth. To him, anything that marred his testimony for Christ was worse than dying.
Treated Like A King
King Abdullah, the ruler of Jordan since 1999, has been known to disguise himself and go out into public places. His purpose is to talk with ordinary people and find out what they are thinking, and to check up on civil servants to see how they are treating his people. He has visited hospitals and government offices to learn what kind of service they are giving.
You Can Always Pray
The young mother called out to the missionary, "Come quick! My baby is going to die." Gale Fields was in Irian Jaya helping her husband Phil translate the Bible into Orya, a tribal language. But they also provided medical help whenever possible. Gale looked at the malaria-stricken child and realized she didn't have the right medicine to help the infant.
Holy Fruit
Billy Graham told about the conversion of H. C. Morrison, the founder of Asbury Theological Seminary. He said that Morrison, a farm worker at the time, was plowing in a field one day when he saw an old Methodist preacher coming by on his horse.
