A cheap skate is always on thin ice with his friends. * * * LIVING THE WAY WE PRAY The average tongue has a double standard. In a certain home, as the family sat down to eat dinner, the father asked God’s blessing upon the food, thanking the Lord for His boun tiful goodness. Then, as they started to eat, the father said something about how tough the meat was, that the potatoes didn’t seem to be quite done, and the salad had evidentally been made too early for the lettuce was wilted. His daughter was puzzled. She asked, “Daddy, did God hear you a moment ago when you prayed?" He looked up for a moment and assured her, "Of course, dear.” Again she thoughtfully responded, “Then, daddy, did He hear you now while we’re talk ing at the table?” Again he nodded his head, “He most certainly did!” Still puzzled, the youngster tried to conclude, “Well then, which time did He believe?” What a picture is given of the tongue in the Bible. James says, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth pro- ceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (James 3:9 and 10). We need to follow the leading of the Psalmist David who petitioned God, “Set a watch, 0 Lord, before my mouth: keep the door of my lips” (Psalm U l:3 ). * * * Our ability to meet with God in the prayer closet, is the measure of our success in staying WITH God out of it. * * * WHOSE BURDEN? God’s Word assures the Christian that He desires us to burden Him with that which burdens us. Peter encourages us to cast all of our care upon Christ, for we are the special object of His love. I f the load you are shouldering today, problems, pres sures, d isa p p o in tm e n ts , anxieties, 14
THE HANDIWORK OF GOD How perfectly trike science reveals the accuracy of Scripture, for as the Psalmist states, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made.” 4 s an exam ple, think of the human body temperar ture. I f it had been set any higher, we would bum up our tissues, if any less the cold would be unbearable and we would perish. This is true in nature, too, with the freezing point at 32 degrees. Any higher or lower wguld prove disastrous to man and beasts, as well as all plant life. It is also interesting to realize that oceans do not freeze at 32 degrees above zero. We can be thankful for that. In polar seas the yearly thawing would not be able to balance the yearly freezing and ice would accumulate throughout the centuries. To prevent such a calamity God put salt into the sea and arranged that evaporation takes nothing but fresh water back to the land. What an interesting substance wa ter is. Its molecules flock together as a blanket of snow descends in winter. The moisture forms clouds and shades us from the sun. As steam, it drives ponderous machinery. Did you know that if you take water apart and light a match to it, it would blow up? God puts it together and holds it together in just the proper balance. How wonderful the matchless han diwork of God. Of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul writes under the inspira tion of the Holy Spirit, “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (hold together).
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