The Power of a Good Example
by Pastor Greg Laurie
Noah and Lot both lived before a cataclysmic judgment. Noah was waiting for the Flood; Lot was waiting for the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, where he lived. Lot, however, didn’t reach his family like Noah did. Lot’s problem was that he compromised. He lowered his standards to extend his reach.
One day the angels of the Lord came to Lot and said, loose paraphrase, “You’ve got to get out of here with your family. Judgment is coming down fast.” But when Lot informed his daughters’ fiancés, they laughed in his face.
Lot, his wife, and their daughters basically had to be dragged by the hand out of the city. That’s why Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32 NKJV). As she was leaving Sodom, she was warned not to look back, but she did anyway. In the original language, the words that describe her looking back don’t indicate a quick look. Rather, she looked with longing.
Have you ever looked at something with longing? To put it another way, have you ever been at Krispy Kreme when the sign is lit up and the glazed doughnuts are coming down the conveyor belt? That’s how Lot’s wife looked at Sodom and Gomorrah, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
I find it interesting that Noah spoke and his family moved. But Lot spoke and his family laughed. What kind of an impact are you having on your family? How effective is your word as a parent? As a mother? As a father? World changers draw their families to Christ, but those who are changed by the world drive their families from Christ. We all have moments of inconsistency and even hypocrisy, but our children are watching us. They are looking to us as examples. Be a good one.
Copyright © 2018 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Today's Devotional Sponsor:
Mistrust without a Cause
Charles Spurgeon
And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
1 Samuel 27:1 NIV
The thought of David's heart at this time was a false thought, because he certainly had no ground for thinking that God's anointing him by Samuel was intended to be left as an empty unmeaning act. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted His servant; he had been placed in perilous positions very often, but not one instance had occurred in which divine interposition had not delivered him.
The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied; they had not assumed one form only, but many - yet in every case He who sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his finger upon any entry in his diary, and say of it, "Here is evidence that the Lord will forsake me," for the entire tenor of his past life proved the very reverse. He should have argued from what God had done for him, that God would be his defender still.
But is it not just in the same way that we doubt God's help? Is it not mistrust without a cause? Have we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's goodness? Have not His lovingkindnesses been marvelous? Has He once failed to justify our trust?
Ah, no! our God has not left us at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of love has shone forth amid the blackness; we have been in stern conflicts, but over our head He has held aloft the shield of our defence. We have gone through many trials, but never to our detriment, always to our advantage; and the conclusion from our past experience is, that He who has been with us in six troubles, will not forsake us in the seventh.
What we have known of our faithful God, proves that He will keep us to the end. Let us not, then, reason contrary to evidence. How can we ever be so ungenerous as to doubt our God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel of our unbelief, and let the dogs devour it.
Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches
Ingredients
• Sandwich rolls (cut with one side intact)
• Cooked Meatballs (your favorite recipe or frozen, pre-made meatballs)
• Pasta Sauce (homemade or jarred)
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
1. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Place your frozen cooked meatballs or homemade cooked meatballs in a large pot.
4. Cover with your pasta sauce. Gently fold the meatballs with the sauce, Heat the meatballs and sauce on low-medium, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are heated thoroughly.
4. Fill a roll with as many meatballs as you can fit (usually 4-5 meatballs, depends on size of meatballs and the size of the roll). Top with more pasta sauce from your pot. Place filled sandwich rolls closely on baking sheet. Top each sandwich with shredded mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake until cheese is melted, hot, and bubbly.
DAILY SMILE:
First Airplane Ride
Kid Jokes
Submitted by Douglas
I was six years old when my daddy took me for my first airplane ride.
We boarded the plane and I got the window seat. After a short while I turned to daddy and exclaimed, "Daddy! We're so high up all the cars on the freeway down there look like ants."
Daddy moved over and looked out the window. After a moment he smiled and said, "Those are ants my dear, we haven't taken off yet."
No comments:
Post a Comment