that if the Lord has endowed you with a beautiful sing ing voice, He ifiay call you to serve Him in a melody ministry. Or, if you have the artistic ability to draw or paint, God may use these enablements for His glory. But natural gifts are not always conclusive evidence. God called Billy Sunday aWay from playing baseball to preach ing the gospel. He called Dwight Moody from selling shoes to evangelizing the world. Circumstances too may indicate the path which God intends for you. I f you’re the sole support o f invalid parents, it could be that God doesn’t intend for you to leave them and become a foreign missionary in Tim buktu. Or, if you’re a “ natural” in business, and a fail ure as a speaker, it may be that God simply is not calling you to accept the pastorate of a church. But again cir cumstances do not always indicate. Philip was called to leave a great revival to minister to one soul on a desert road (Acts 8:5, 26). Deferment does not mean denial. Sometimes the lead ing is just a step at a time. Remember, the Christian life is part o f your training. And an important lesson every one needs to learn is patience. God is ofttimes the Pro fessor of that course. God Loves You . . . Exceedingly We must always bear this in mind, no matter what comes. If we’re children o f God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are the eternal objects o f the in comparable love of God. “We’re near, so very near to God, nearer we could not be. For in the person o f His Son, we’re just as near as He. And dear, so very dear to God, dearer we could not be. For in the person o f His Son, we’re just as dear as He.” It’s true . . . gloriously true. We don’t have to guess about the love o f God for us. He has demonstrated His love universally, conclusively. Not only does God care for a world lost in degradation, but He has done something about it (Gal. 4 :4 ,5 ). He gave His Son, His wellbeloved Son, to pay the terrible price o f sin, and to procure complete pardon fox’ tfie sin ner (John 3 :16 ). The price was unbelievably great, but God paid it to prove that He loves us (1 Pet. 1 :18 ,19 ). Nor does the love o f God stop with the attainment of salvation. Those whom God loves, He keeps (1 Peter 1 :5 ). When one is saved, he is given an honored place in the family o f God (Rom. 8 :16 ). Provision is made for our needs (Phil. 4 :19 ). Protection is afforded by the power o f God. Employment is given so that the Christian may earn imperishable rewards (2 Cor. 5 :20 ). An eternal home is being prepared., (John 14 :2 ). The sting is re moved from death (1 Cor. 15:54-57). The future is as bright as Heaven’s morning. No, there is no doubt that God loves us. But some may worry . . . can God, so pure and holy, really love one like me, so unlovely, so weak, so great a failure? The answer is “ Yes.” God knows all about us and yet He loves us. For He sees us not as we are today with all our deficiencies and faults, but as we will be when the process o f sanctification is completed. For some day we shall be like Christ. He is the great Pattern o f eter nity. And we are to be fashioned like Him, by the power o f God. You can safely trust a God who loves you like that. His love will foresee and provide. His love will care for your scores o f insufficiencies. His love will not allow you to hurt yourself, even though you should be blindly bent on doing so. His love unselfishly desires your best. His love wants you —not your service—not your possessions -"‘-ju st you. Who can measure the love o f God?
Dr. William W. Orr These messages fo r young people can he obtained in booklet form by addressing the author.
To Sum it All Up Let us look again at the whole matter. If God had a plan, it would certainly be a greatly superior plan, be cause God’s wisdom is boundless and His power is un limited. But God does have a plan. And how do we know? First o f all, we know because He plans all His works, and man is the highest o f His handiwork. Our bodies show planning and our environment confirms this. Then the Scriptures plainly teach His plan for us and we may safely believe them. However, there is an important requisite. God plans only for His children and we must be a real Christian before He can plan fo r us. But everyone may be a Christian, for Christ died for all. Then the second necessary step is our surrender. We must yield to Christ and keep yielded. This is very important, for our new heart Guest, the Holy Spirit, cannot lead us unless we allow ourselves to be led. God has a great master plan. And He is working out everything according to this gigantic blue-print. Yet all o f God’s children may have a part in that plan. And it is very vital that every Christian know his part and fulfill it. How can we know our part? There are certain general rules which the Scriptures plainly teach, but there are personal decisions as well. Our trust should be an active trust. We should seek to prepare ourselves for any eventuality. The matter o f prayer is vastly important, and every Christian should be saturated with the truths of the Word of God. All these things aid in the accomplishment o f God’s plan for us individually. It is quite all right for us to put out the fleece if a decision is to be made, and we can learn a great deal from reading God’s dealings with other Christians. Sometimes when one is apparently up against a stone wall, a spiritual balance sheet will decide. We must not despise closed doors, for they also indicate the will of God. Our hearts as well must be free and clear o f sin, or else the Lord cannot hear us. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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