Points to Ponder

Great Truths About Life That Little Children Have Learned

*No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
*When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.
*You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
*The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandma's lap.
*You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
*Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.

TRUE HAPPINESS
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed means 'happy, blissful, joyous, ecstatic.' Those characteristics the Lord lists are like an explosion on His lips, a description of the inner joy we can experience. This expression was commonly seen in the Book of Psalms. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly," it says in Psalm 1:1. Anyone who has ever been burned by ungodly counsel will attest to the fact that a man who doesn't get mixed up with ungodly counsel is happy. "Blessed is he whose transgression if forgiven," we read in Psalm 32:1. We are to be blissful and ecstatic over the fact the Lord has taken away our sins. That's the same expression Christ used when He began talking about the Christian Life. Blissful, happy, joyous - these are the words that describe the Christian Walk. Matthew 5:1-12 describes Nine Characteristics of the happy Christian Life. If you want to know what happiness is all about, search through this 'happiness manifest' from the Lord Jesus. He'll explain what true happiness is all about.

THE MISSING PIECE IS CHRIST
Colossians 2:9-10
In Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him.

Insight into who you are and why you are here is available only from the Creator, because you were created for Him. The missing piece in your life is not more education or better therapy. The missing piece in your life, if you don't know Christ, is to put Him in the center where He belongs. God created you uniquely for Himself. He put a vacuum within you that cannot be filled with anything else but Him. When you stuff in all the madness of this age trying to find meaning to life, you will never discover it. But something happens when you say a simple prayer giving into God and receiving Him into your life. Then Jesus comes to live within you. God loves you, He knows you, He has a plan for your life. He wants to know who you are and why your are here, and if you will put your trust in Him, He will give you that perspective in your life. You were created in God's image, so you are really only yourself in relationship to God. When you let God take control of your life through His Son, life begins to have some meaning.

PUT GOD FIRST
Psalm 88:13
To You I have cried out, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer comes before you.

I remember reading about a great prayer warrior, Andrew Murray, who said that sometimes he has so much to do, he had to add an extra hour to his prayers. As a flawed human being, I have often rushed through my day trying to accomplish my work without taking time to pray. Those are the times I get to the end of the day fatigued, frustrated, and with a sense of failure. But if, by the discipline of my heart, I push work aside and refuse to tackle it until I have met God and hallowed His Name, my work is energized. I don't know how it happens, but it does. More things in less time. Better things happen that would not happen otherwise. I'm not a mystic, nor am I trying to read something into this that isn't there. I'm just saying that when you put God first, God takes care of you. He takes care of the things you need.

ONE PLUS GOD
Ezekiel 22:30
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me
for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

When Frances Havergal, author of the hymn, "Take My Life and Let It Be," was a teenager, her parents moved to Dusseldorf, Germany, where she was placed in a German school. She was the only Christian among 110 pupils. The others made fun of her, teased her, even persecuted her. Her response? "It was very bracing," she wrote. "I felt I must try to walk worthy of my calling, for Christ's sake. It was a sort of nailing my colors to the mast." You might be the only Christian in your school, on your ball team, at your office, or in your family. What an opportunity! Christians are the salt of the earth. It doesn't take a lot of salt to season the whole pot. The presence of even one believer can hinder sin, delay judgment, prompt conviction, and extend the kingdom of God. Paul and his two companions were apparently the only believers on the storm-tossed ship in Acts 27. But their presence saved all 276 people on board. The odds against Elijah on Mount Carmel were 450 to 1, but One Plus God is a Majority. The feeblest light is best seen in the thickest darkness. Don't be afraid to nail your colors to the mast.