The Constraint Of The Call

“Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” — 1 Corinthians 9:16

Beware of stopping your ears to the call of God. Everyone who is saved is called to testify to the fact; but that is not the call to preach, it is merely an illustration in preaching. Paul is referring to the pangs produced in him by the constraint to preach the Gospel. Never apply what Paul says in this connection to souls coming in contact with God for salvation. There is nothing easier than getting saved because it is God’s sovereign work – Come unto Me and I will save you. Our Lord never lays down the conditions of discipleship as the conditions of salvation. We are condemned to salvation through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Discipleship has an option with it – “IF any man. . . ‘

Paul’s words have to do with being made a servant of Jesus Christ, and our permission is never asked as to what we will do or where we will go. God makes us broken bread and poured-out wine to please Himself. To be “separated unto the gospel” means to hear the call of God; and when a man begins to overhear that call, then begins agony that is worthy of the name. Every ambition is nipped in the bud, every desire of life quenched, every outlook completely extinguished and blotted out, saving one thing only - “separated unto the gospel.” Woe be to the soul who tries to put his foot in any other direction when once that call has come to him. This College exists for you, and you – to see whether God has a man or woman here who cares about proclaiming His Gospel; to see whether God grips you. And be ware of competitors when God does grip you.

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Max Lucado Daily: You Have Today

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Psalm 90:14

You can’t spend tomorrow’s money, celebrate tomorrow’s achievements—or resolve tomorrow’s riddles.

You have today!

Paul rejoiced in prison.  David wrote Psalms in the wilderness.

Paul and Silas sang in jail.  And Jesus prayed in the garden of pain.

Suppose—you choose not to work or worry your day away, but decide to give it a fair shake.

You trust more.  Stress less.

Amplify gratitude.  Mute the grumbling.

And what do you know?  Before long the day is done and—surprisingly decent.

It’s what I call a day changer!  So you resolve to do the same the next day and the next.

Days become weeks.  Weeks become months.  Months become years of good days.

It’s the way good lives are built.  One good day at a time!

“This is the day the Lord has made!  Rejoice and be glad in it!”

Have a great day—every day!

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Get Up With God

Happy Groundhog Day (Or Not)

We do weird things here in America.

Today, millions will be watching as a large rodent named Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his hole and looks around to see if he sees his shadow. If he does, he’ll get depressed and then disappear back down into his hole which means we’ll have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, then he’ll stay above ground and celebrate the absolutely 100% scientific certainty that spring will come early.

This Phil-nomenon is so big that Hollywood actually made a movie about it, entitled – aptly enough – Groundhog Day. In it, Bill Murray plays a grumpy TV weatherman named Phil Connors who is forced to report on the day’s events. (I like his rather succinct summation: “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.”)

The plot of the movie is a lot like life. Phil is doomed to live the worst day of his life – Groundhog Day – over and over and over. He starts out completely self-absorbed but as he watches the consequences of his selfish actions repeatedly pile up wreckage all around him, he slowly begins to realize that there might be a better way. He stops focusing on himself, starts helping others and eventually discovers that the only way to true joy is through … LOVE. He gets a kiss from Andie MacDowell, the spell is broken and everyone lives happily ever after. The End.

Do you ever feel like you’re living your own version of Groundhog Day where you’re stuck in a rut making the same mistakes over and over and over?

Even the Apostle Paul had days like those. Here’s what he said, in the greatest Bible tongue-twister of all time:

I do not understand what I do.
For what I want to do,
I do not do,
but what I hate,
I do.

And if I do
what I do not want to do,
I agree that the law is good.
As it is, it is no longer
I myself who do it,
but it is the sin living in me.
I know that nothing good lives in me,
that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire
to do what is good,
but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good
I want to do;
no, the evil I do not want to do –
this I keep on doing.
Now if I do
what I do not want to do,
it is no longer I who do it,
but it is sin living in me
that does it.

Basically, he’s stuck:

So I find this law at work:
When I want to do good,
evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being
I delight in God’s law;
but I see another law at work
in the members of my body,
waging war against
the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner
of the law of sin
at work within my members.

What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me
from this body of death?

Great question. Here’s the answer. (It’s even more effective and long-lasting than a spell-breaking kiss from a movie star.)

Praise be to God —
through Jesus Christ our Lord!
(Romans 7:15-25)

Only Jesus can save us from ourselves. So …

DON’T GET STUCK
GET JESUS