THE K I N G ’ S BUS INE S S
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But even after we become Christians, with an eternal home with Christ in view, it is possible for us to miss God’s best in this life by a misplaced emphasis on “ the wrong world.” Per haps now more than ever, Christians need to be reminded to “ put first things first.” L THE COMMAND. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Knowing human hearts (1 Sam. 16:7; John 2:25) and how easily they can be deceived and diverted (Mk. 4:19), our Lord exhorted His followers to put the emphasis in the proper place. Diligence in obeying the Lord, in. seeking Him and His glory first can prevent one’s falling into the snare of thinking the material world and its demands are of greater importance than the unseen spiritual world. No person is in a position to re ceive God’s blessings until he has taken the very first step and has become a member of God’s family. This rela tionship can come only as a person receives Christ as his personal Saviour (John 1:12). Once that all-important step has been taken, the individual will be faced with many décisions, large and small. Human wisdom will not suffice for them; there is a need to look to the Lord continually and to claim James 1:5, 6. Studying the Word, spending time with the Lord in communion and inter cession, and serving Him in various means will often conflict with other activities. Some of them will be per fectly legitimate but “out of order.” Seek Him first! R. G. LeTourneau, the well-known Christian businessman, at one time faced the decision of attending a young people’s meeting or using the time to design a much-needed piece of machinery. He met the crisis with a hbart willing to do God’s will and went to the meeting. Later, in a very brief time, the blueprint seemed to unfold in his mind. The resulting suc cess of that and other machinery has made Mr. LeTourneau one of the fore most manufacturers in America. II. THE COMPULSION. Christs’ answer to His antagonists was “Thou shalt love”—first thy God, and then thy neighbor. (Note the or der: to love God wholeheartedly en- HOME HOSPITALITY HEADQUARTERS Since we all have to stay 'home more this summer, why not discover how much fun it can be? Plan picnics on your own lawn . . . real family and neighborly hospitality. And you'll find everything you need for barbecues and picnics, all under one roof at “ Sells-for-less” prices at Closed Sundays No Liquor Sold For Those Who Have Topics
possible to God. It, will thrill you to see that by His grace chains of life time habits are snapped. Memorize this verse. * III. THE CRISIS OF SIN. We now come to the third attack of Satan. Although victory is right fully yours, you are likely to experi ence a ’ failure at some point. Sin will suddenly crop up and immediately your enemy will be on the job to say: “Now you’ve done it. I thought you were a Christian. Christians don’t do those things.” Nevertheless, God makes provision in His Word for any failures of His children. The verse, 1 John 1:9, speaks of the assurance of forgiveness. Here the Lord not only promises to for give us, but also to cleanse us. IV. THE CRISIS OF LIVING THE- LIFE. •Your needs for the future warfare, for living the life, and for witnessing, will doubtless be heavy. God assures us that it is our privilege to wait upon Him and to see each need met. In John 16:24 we have the assurance of provision. The Word of God, which is the "sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17), is your weapon of defense as well as your weapon of offense. It is through the Word that faith comes as a shield to ward off the darts of the enemy (cf. Rom. 10:17; Eph. 6:16). Our Lord had a threefold temptation by Satan, and He met each temptation by quot ing Scripture, saying, “It is written” (Matt. 4:1-11). If our Lord Jesus Christ deemed it necessary to thus meet Satan,' how much more we need to be prepared to say to Satan, “It is written,” or “Thus saith the Lord!” SEPTEMBER 10, 1944 P U T T IN G F IRST TH IN G S FIRST M atthew 6 :33 ; 22:35-40 By Morena Holme* Downing The story is told that when David Livingstone’s body was taken back to England, crowds thronged the streets to pay tribute to the noble missionary to Africa. An elderly man among them was heard to sob aloud, and people wondered at his deep grief. It Tyas revealed that he and Living stone had been friends in their youth and, as an ambitious young man, he had scorned Livingstone’s choice to give his life for Christ in Africa. With a life of selfish interest behind him, the man saw with regret who had piade the wiser choice and he cried out: “I put the emphasis on the wrong world.” Our Lord evaluated the worth of a soul more than the whole world.
IT'S AN IDEA How about m a k i n g this month a “Perfect Attendance Month” (cf. Heb. 10:25)? Idea 1. Go over your mem bership roll, select those who have signed the active or as sociate pledge and are still in the community, and make them the basis for your attend ance campaign. • ' Idea 2. Have this list of names read in church or Bible school, and a n n o u n c e the number the society must av erage through the month in order to have a perfect score. If the number is 20, make sev eral posters, with just the fig ures 20 and a C. E. on them. .Whatever the number, make the members conscious of it. ’• ■ . . Idea 3. If a member has to be absent because of illness or .an equally good reason, he should bring another with him on the following Sunday in order to make up for the low average the week before. Idea 4. Close the month’s activities with a “Strategy Party” at which time plans can be made for maneuvering the Christian forces of your society in the c a m p a i g n against absenteeism during the coming months. —Carlton C. Buck.
re-occur, but you have the \yofd of God in your heart with which to meet it every time. n. THE CRISIS OF TEMPTATION. The second attack of Satan may be along this line—he may whisper to your heart: “You have life, all right, but you are a weakling;- you have always been a weakling, especially in the case of this or that.” He will re mind you of some sin which through out the past years of. yo.ur life has gripped you. How will you answer him? Will you attempt to produce your own argu ments, of will you resort to the in vincible Word of God? The promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 will meet this attack of Satan, and will give you the assurance of victory. Believe it, and you will see that those things which are impossible with men are not im-
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