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Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Rickey Wagoner Regional Transit Authority
Saved by the Book
Rickey Wagoner, a driver for the Greater Dayton [Ohio] Regional Transit
Authority, said he stopped his bus to check a mechanical problem around 5
a.m. Monday (2/24/14) when three men approached him. A struggle ensued.
Wagoner was short three times - two times in the chest and once in his leg -
and stabbed in the arm. He was able to wrestle the gun away from his
attackers, and they fled.
Wagoner called 911 reporting the incident and the injuries he sustained. He
was taken to the hospital and released the following day! How could he
recover so quickly - especially since he had been shot twice in the chest?
The two bullets fired at his chest had been slowed by a book of paraphrased
Bible verses that he was carrying in his shirt pocket. Wagoner said in his
911 call that he felt two shots to his chest and that he felt like he'd
"been hit with a sledgehammer." Police later reported that two
small-caliber bullets hit the booklet called "The Message," which has Bible
verses in contemporary language, and were found lodged inside the book.
That Bible book saved his life! The Bible can save OUR lives, too!
Observe James 1:21-25: "21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant
wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to
save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was
like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be
blessed in his doing."
Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and is FATAL (Matthew
7:13-14). But "the Book" (the Bible) informs us that God loves us so much
that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16; 1
Peter 2:24). Through Jesus, we can enjoy the forgiveness of our sins and
receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).
In order to accept His offer of salvation, we must "plant" the Word by
receiving and believing the message that Jesus, the Son of God, died for our
sins. We must place our faith and trust in Him and His perfect sacrifice
(Acts 16:30-31). We must "put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness"
through our repentance (Acts 17:30-31). Then, confessing our faith in Jesus
(Romans 10:9-10), we must be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). Then, as we continue to walk in
the light of His Word, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from all
sin (1 John 1:7).
Receive it, believe it, and obey it and you will be "saved by the Book" -
for the Book tells us about Jesus who "took the bullet" for our sins and
died in our place so that we might have forgiveness and receive the gift of
eternal life.
Won't YOU implant the Word in your heart and be saved by Christ through your
trusting obedience?
David A. Sargent
Rickey Wagoner, a driver for the Greater Dayton [Ohio] Regional Transit
Authority, said he stopped his bus to check a mechanical problem around 5
a.m. Monday (2/24/14) when three men approached him. A struggle ensued.
Wagoner was short three times - two times in the chest and once in his leg -
and stabbed in the arm. He was able to wrestle the gun away from his
attackers, and they fled.
Wagoner called 911 reporting the incident and the injuries he sustained. He
was taken to the hospital and released the following day! How could he
recover so quickly - especially since he had been shot twice in the chest?
The two bullets fired at his chest had been slowed by a book of paraphrased
Bible verses that he was carrying in his shirt pocket. Wagoner said in his
911 call that he felt two shots to his chest and that he felt like he'd
"been hit with a sledgehammer." Police later reported that two
small-caliber bullets hit the booklet called "The Message," which has Bible
verses in contemporary language, and were found lodged inside the book.
That Bible book saved his life! The Bible can save OUR lives, too!
Observe James 1:21-25: "21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant
wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to
save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was
like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be
blessed in his doing."
Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and is FATAL (Matthew
7:13-14). But "the Book" (the Bible) informs us that God loves us so much
that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16; 1
Peter 2:24). Through Jesus, we can enjoy the forgiveness of our sins and
receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).
In order to accept His offer of salvation, we must "plant" the Word by
receiving and believing the message that Jesus, the Son of God, died for our
sins. We must place our faith and trust in Him and His perfect sacrifice
(Acts 16:30-31). We must "put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness"
through our repentance (Acts 17:30-31). Then, confessing our faith in Jesus
(Romans 10:9-10), we must be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). Then, as we continue to walk in
the light of His Word, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from all
sin (1 John 1:7).
Receive it, believe it, and obey it and you will be "saved by the Book" -
for the Book tells us about Jesus who "took the bullet" for our sins and
died in our place so that we might have forgiveness and receive the gift of
eternal life.
Won't YOU implant the Word in your heart and be saved by Christ through your
trusting obedience?
David A. Sargent
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Heart Held High
BROKEN THINGS
Many of us are broken at one time or another. We are sometimes broken in
spirit, sometimes broken in body, sometimes broken in relationships and
sometimes broken by the death of a loved one or even the loss of a job. We
often struggle to find a reason for this happening, but we just as often
struggle for a reason to go on, to have some purpose in our lives. We want
to cry out, "What's the use?" "Why should I even try." "No one cares, no one
sees me."
It may be that you are hurting, lonely, feeling dejected, useless or
abandoned. broken. I understand how hard that is to deal with in your life
right not, but remember that God always has a use for you, always has love
for you, even when you feel unlovable and unloved.
I recently found a quote from "Heart Held High," that reminds us of some
amazing things about God. The author wrote, "We are now his broken things.
But remember how he used broken things. The broken pitcher of Gideon's
little army. The broken roof, through which the crippled man was lowered,
and the broken alabaster box, which shed its fragrance over the broken body
of our Savior."
Have you been broken? Maybe that is not the "end of life as you know it".
Maybe God does have more for you to do and be for him.
Don't get caught up in holding on to things so dearly here on this earth,
that the loss of them breaks you beyond use or recovery. The apostle Paul
had the right idea about holding onto things. He shared his philosophy
regarding t his in Philippians 3:7-11.
"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them
worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless
when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For
His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so
that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my
own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous
through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with Himself
depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that
raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death,
so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the
dead!" (NLT)
What are you holding on to? What gives you the ability to stand strong when
your world crumbles around you? Paul also wrote these words in 2
Thessalonians 2:15, "With all these things in mind, dear brothers and
sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to
you both in person and by letter."
You see the key is to "stand firm and keep a strong grip on" God's word. You
may be broken now or may be yet in the future, but remember to let go of the
world and stand firm in the Word of God. Because, even broken things can be
used by Him.
Russ Lawson
Many of us are broken at one time or another. We are sometimes broken in
spirit, sometimes broken in body, sometimes broken in relationships and
sometimes broken by the death of a loved one or even the loss of a job. We
often struggle to find a reason for this happening, but we just as often
struggle for a reason to go on, to have some purpose in our lives. We want
to cry out, "What's the use?" "Why should I even try." "No one cares, no one
sees me."
It may be that you are hurting, lonely, feeling dejected, useless or
abandoned. broken. I understand how hard that is to deal with in your life
right not, but remember that God always has a use for you, always has love
for you, even when you feel unlovable and unloved.
I recently found a quote from "Heart Held High," that reminds us of some
amazing things about God. The author wrote, "We are now his broken things.
But remember how he used broken things. The broken pitcher of Gideon's
little army. The broken roof, through which the crippled man was lowered,
and the broken alabaster box, which shed its fragrance over the broken body
of our Savior."
Have you been broken? Maybe that is not the "end of life as you know it".
Maybe God does have more for you to do and be for him.
Don't get caught up in holding on to things so dearly here on this earth,
that the loss of them breaks you beyond use or recovery. The apostle Paul
had the right idea about holding onto things. He shared his philosophy
regarding t his in Philippians 3:7-11.
"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them
worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless
when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For
His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so
that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my
own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous
through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with Himself
depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that
raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death,
so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the
dead!" (NLT)
What are you holding on to? What gives you the ability to stand strong when
your world crumbles around you? Paul also wrote these words in 2
Thessalonians 2:15, "With all these things in mind, dear brothers and
sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to
you both in person and by letter."
You see the key is to "stand firm and keep a strong grip on" God's word. You
may be broken now or may be yet in the future, but remember to let go of the
world and stand firm in the Word of God. Because, even broken things can be
used by Him.
Russ Lawson
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