Heavenly Blessing - Monday September 08, 2014
However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20 NIV
This spring God blessed our church with a large grant to help us pay for the sanctuary in our new building! This is a remarkable and miraculous blessing for our little church. But God reminded me about another, more important, reason to rejoice: I am going to heaven, and He wants me to bring as many people along with me as possible.
I recently observed one of our deacons, Troy, sharing the gospel after church. I told Troy that seeing him share the good news and hearing about just one person repenting of his sins and coming to Christ means more to me than our half million dollar grant. Here are a few verses that help me get God's perspective on His priorities.
"I [Jesus] tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7 NIV).
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36 NIV).
"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for your-selves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings" (Luke 16:9 NIV).
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10 NIV).
Should we rejoice and thank God for all the material blessings He lavishes upon us? Yes! But let us never forget the most important thing: to use the resources He gives us to seek and save the lost-that is a true heavenly blessing!
Submitted by:
Bill Young
The Rock Church
Sandy, Utah
One-Year Reading Plan:
Isaiah 1:1-2:22
2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Psalms 52:1-9
Proverbs 22:26-27
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.