'Nough Said

Unusual Opportunity -- A friend of America's KESWICK has four Yankee game tickets valued @ $350 each. He is willing to make those tickets availabe to the highest bidder (all four only) and will split the proceeds between New Song Fellowship Church (Lancaster, PA) and America's KESWICK. You can send you bid to my by responding to this post. We will close the bids by 5:00 PM tomorrow. Please include your name and phone number.

‘Nough Said

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides 1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)

“Do not love the world….This is in sharp contrast to what the Gospel of John tells us…”For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” What does John mean by “Do not love the world?” We know that God loves the world and yet John is challenging us not to love the world. As this scripture verse continues John begins to unravel why “We” are not to love the world….the words lust and pride come to mind. In Greek, the root word for lust, “thumos,” means to strongly desire or have a passion for. As a matter of fact, the English Standard Version goes “the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions.”

Thumos is also used as a word for anger. Pride would be translated as a word to mean pretense or arrogance. When we, as men of integrity, allow runaway desire and arrogance to guide our footsteps, those footsteps are leading us down a path away from God. John’s point here is not to love the world by the world’s standards, but the standards set down by Jesus. We are to love this world from God’s point of view.

And that’s what I shared at my church’s men’s breakfast. I borrowed some of that from The Communicator’s Commentary. The men’s breakfast at my church needed revival. A former trustee announced in church one day that he would cook breakfast for all who would come and felt that our former location at a local diner was no longer suitable for good men’s fellowship. I felt the Lord give me a nudge to approach Warren and ask if he thought a devotional was in order since we were going to use the church kitchen for this event. He immediately said it would be great and what did I have in mind? After all, before they started going to the diner for breakfast, it was held at the church and there was prayer time.

Well this aforementioned verse is one that has really been in my heart since my days at the colony. Since I have gone from the realm of the blue color to polo shirts and khaki pants, it is a verse that keeps things in perspective for me. I had one of those weeks at work where every selfish thing that could be said and done reared up. It made it very hard to focus on what I wanted to mediate on for my devotional. I felt the enemies fiery arrows all five days of my work week. It was only when I sat down with my Bible open to work on my breakfast devotional that I felt any peace. One night I found myself in the Book of Mark.“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:35-36(ESV)

Here is some of what I borrowed from the Believer’s Bible Commentary to finish my devotional.…”Now there is always the temptation to save our life, to live comfortably, to provide for our future, to make our own choices, with ourselves as the center of everything. There is no surer way of losing one's life. Christ calls us to pour out our lives for His sake and the gospel's, dedicating ourselves to Him spirit, soul, and body. He asks us to spend and be spent in His holy service, laying down our lives, if necessary, for the evangelization of the world. That is what is meant by losing our lives. There is no surer way of saving them.”“Even if a believer could gain all the world's wealth during his lifetime, what good would it do him? He would have missed the opportunity of using his life for the glory of God and the salvation of the lost. It would be a bad bargain. Our lives are worth more than all the world has to offer. Shall we use them for Christ or for self?”

The most important time of the year is all around us, brothers, and to say I can’t repent enough is an understatement. I can, at times, forget what was done on the Cross but the Father doesn’t let me stray too far and then He jars my memory. It’s not about me and what goes my way at anytime. It’s about Him and what He has done for me all the time. ‘Nough said! -- Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a frequent Freedom Fighter contributor.

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 16;1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35

Great Quote: “Frequent notice is taken of the great flocking there was to Christ for help in various cases. All are concerned to know this, if they expect him to heal their souls. They must not indulge the ease of the body. As the happiness of heaven with Christ, is enough to make up for the loss of life itself for him, so the gain of all the world in sin, will not make up for the ruin of the soul by sin. And there is a day coming, when the cause of Christ will appear as glorious, as some now think it mean and contemptible. May we think of that season, and view every earthly object as we shall do at that great day.” Matthew Henry

Join us tonight for our monthly Men's Fellowship Night. Dinner is at 6:15 PM followed by the program. Bill Welte, President and CEO will be our speaker. Can't attend tonight? Join us by watching the webcast at 7:00 PM -- www.americaskeswick.org. Let us know that you are a member of the Freedom Fighter family.