JURONG OUTREACH - May 06

JUMP
7 May 06

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. The boy could
HEAR his father’s voice, but all he could SEE was flame, smoke, and blackness.

As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t SEE you!” The father replied, “But I can see YOU son... and that’s all that matters!” The boy jumped and was SAVED because he trusted his father.

God is looking for FAITH! The Scriptures teach us that, Without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently SEEK Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus asks the haunting question; "....when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). He is looking for the kind of faith that will trust and obey Him even when life is difficult.

But I can’t see Him!” someone might object. No, but He sees YOU… and that's all that matters! He is not far from anyone of us! (Acts 17:24-27) “The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth” (Psalm 33:13-14). He sees YOU, and He cares! He cared enough to provide a way of salvation from that “burning house” (SIN). His Son had to die so that YOU and I can be saved (Ephesians 1:7). If we will trust Him – trust Him enough to “jump” – He will catch us and care for us eternally.

Donner Atwood has written: “The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are SEEN; not that we know all the answers, but that we are KNOWN.”

Salvation requires FAITH on our part - faith that will:

trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from SIN in repentance

(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess Jesus (Romans 10:9-10),
and be baptized (immersed) in the name of Christ for the

forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16). Then if we continue

to be faithful to Him, He will save us (1 John 1:7).

Jesus warned His disciples: “In the world you WILL have tribulation” (John 16:33). He also told them to trust Him even when times were difficult: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). Jesus never promised that life would be easy, but He did promise that following Him would be worth every difficulty, every sacrifice (Mark 12:28-30).

The house is burning (1 John 2:17) and will one day be burned up! (2 Peter 3:10). The Father is waiting with outstretched arms calling for you to “jump” through your obedient faith. Even though you can’t see HIM, He sees YOU! You can trust your Heavenly Father! Take that “leap of faith,” today by trusting and obeying His will.

God Always has an Answer

We say: “I can’t go on.”

God says: “My grace is sufficient”

(2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 91:15).

We say: “I can’t figure things out.”

God says: “I will direct your steps” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We say: “I can’t forgive myself.”

God says: “I forgive you” (1 John 1:9; Romans 8:1).

We say: “I can’t manage.”

God says: “I will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19).

We say: “I’m afraid.”

God says: “I have not given you a spirit of fear”

(2 Timothy 1:7).

We say: “I’m always worried and frustrated.”

God says: “Cast all your cares on ME” (1 Peter 5:7).

We say: “I don’t have enough faith.”

God says: “My Word will give you faith” (Romans 10:17).

We say: “I’m not smart enough.”

God says: “I will give you wisdom”

(1 Corinthians 1:30; James 1:1-5).

We say: “I feel all alone.”

God says: “I will never leave you or forsake you”

(Hebrews 13:5).

JUST A FEW MORE MINUTES
14 MAY 06

Just a few more minutes . . . please, Mommy!"

Although my own children were grown, I found myself turning instinctively in the direction of the little voice. He was trailing after his mother, looking reluctantly over his shoulder at a display of remote-control toys in the large department store.

He couldn't have been more than four years old. With chubby cheeks and wispy blond hair going in several directions, he trotted behind his mother down the main aisle of the department store. His boots caught my eye. They were green. Really green. Bright, shiny, Kermit-the-Frog green. Obviously new and a little too big, the boots stopped just below his knees, leaving a hint of dimpled legs disappearing into rumpled shorts. Perfect boots for the rainy transition from summer to fall.

He stopped abruptly at a display of full-length mirrors, lifting one foot at a time, grinning and admiring his boots until his mother called for him to catch up to her. Dressed in a suit, heels clicking on the tile floor, she was tossing items into her cart as she and her son made their way to the checkout lanes at the front of the store.

I smiled at the picture he made clumping noisily behind his mother. I found myself wondering if she had just picked him up from day care after a busy day in an office somewhere. I sighed as I selected an item and put it in my own cart. My days of trying to juggle a full-time job and two small children had been busy, sometimes even hectic, but I missed them.

Finishing my own shopping, I forgot about the little boy and his mother until I stepped outside the store. There a panorama

unfolded before me. The rain had slowed to a drizzle,

perforating the numerous puddles in the parking lot. Several mothers with their small children were hurrying in and out of the department store. The children were, of course, making beelines to the puddles that dotted their way from the cars to the store's entrance. The mothers were right behind them, scolding.

"Get away from that puddle!"

"You'll ruin your shoes!"

"What's the matter with you? Are you deaf? I said, GET OUT OF THAT PUDDLE!"

And so it continued. The children were being pulled away from the puddles and hurried along. All except for one . . . the little green-booted boy.

He and his mother were not rushing anywhere. The boy was happily splashing away in the largest puddle in the parking lot, oblivious to the rain and to the people coming and going. His wispy hair was plastered to his head and a huge smile was

plastered on his face. And his mother? She put up her umbrella, adjusted her packages and waited. Not scolding, not rushing. Just watching.

As she fished her car keys out of her purse, the boy, hearing the familiar jingling, paused in mid-splash and looked up.

Just a few more minutes? Please, Mommy?" he begged.

She hesitated, and then she smiled at him.
"Okay!" she responded and adjusted her packages again.

By the time I got to my car, loaded my packages and was ready to ease out of my parking space, the green-booted boy and his mother were walking toward their car, smiling and talking.

How many times had my own children begged for "just a few more minutes"? Had I smiled and waited like the mother of the green-booted boy? Or had I scolded?

Just a few more minutes of giggling and splashing in the

bathtub. So what if bedtime got pushed back a little?

Just a few more minutes of rocking a sleepy toddler. So what if toys were strewn around the room, littering the floor?

Just a few more minutes of life with them before they were grown and gone. So what if my career goals didn't fit my

original timeline?

Just a few more minutes. Everything I have read about time management for working mothers can be summed up in one picture. The picture of that young mother standing under her umbrella, arms full of packages, smiling at a wet, green-booted boy who had asked her the universal time-management

question for working mothers everywhere, "Just a few more

minutes?"

Psalms 127:3-5 Children are gifts from God, let us as parents enjoy every moment of their development. For in the twinkling of an eye, they will be grown and we will long for just a few more minutes with them.

LIFE IS A DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECT
21 May 06

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.

He would miss the paycheck, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. If we build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built.
If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Yet, there are others who knows what is coming yet stubbornly refused to heed the advice. Like the saying goes: "You made your bed, now lie in it." This means that you put yourself into a situation purposely, now you must live with the consequences. Sometimes this is stated to individuals who are complaining about what they are undergoing in life. These individuals insisted on doing something even when others had warned them of the consequences. Now that the consequences have come, they want to complain, gripe and whine.

In Isaiah 28, Isaiah tells of the coming punishment of the Northern Kingdom and of Judah. In verse 20, we read, "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." This is Isaiah's way of saying, "You made your bed, now lie in it."

Israel and Judah had been warned by God numerous times. God had spoken through Judges and Prophets. The people had been told by Moses long ago that they must live for God or reap the consequences. But, the people of God had refused to listen. They even attempted to make covenants with evil rulers to save themselves from destruction.

God, through Isaiah, tells them that their discipline is coming. He will make both kingdoms go into slavery. Many will be killed. Many will die in a foreign land. Only a few will return to the promised land. Do not be like the Northern Kingdom

Israel and the Southern Kingdom, Judah. Do not ignore the word of God. The Lord has promised that He has gone to build mansions for His children.

(John 14:1-3) Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. He has also warned that the ungodly will face a fiery death (2 Peter 3:7-11) “ But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,"

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely.

It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only

one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and in obedience to our Lord.

Proverbs 24:12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES
28 May 06

Don’t leave home without it!” Your trusty plastic charge card is indispensable, to hear the company tell it. You can do anything from taking your wife to lunch to vacationing in a foreign country. If you lose your card and/or cash, you can get a new card and a cash advance right away—your vacation won’t be interrupted, and you won’t be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, membership has its privileges! 

Membership in the Lord’s church has infinitely greater privileges than those offered by the credit card company. The church is God’s family, and members have the privilege of calling upon Him in prayer as their Father.

(Matthew 6:9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

They have the privilege of worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.

(John 4:23-24) But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  

Wherever they go in the world, they carry the assurance of salvation with them.

(Hebrews 10:22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

And should they commit sin, they can confess their sins to God with a repentant heart, confident that He will lovingly

forgive them and restore them to His favour.

(1 John 1:6-10) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive

ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  

Does this sound inviting to you? Here’s how you apply: Learn the Bible, which is the Word of God, until you develop a

sincere, confident trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God; that’s faith.

(Romans 10:17 ). So then faith cometh by hearing, and

hearing by the word of God.

(John 8:24) I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. 

Then let that faith motivate you to determine in your heart to turn away from sin; that’s repentance

(Acts 3:19) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 

Next, state your belief that Jesus is the Son of God; that’s

Confession.

(Romans 10:9-10) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Finally, be immersed in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; that’s baptism.

(Acts 2:38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be

baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

If you meet these conditions, you will not be turned down! The Lord will add you to His church.

(Acts 2:47) Praising God, and having favour with all the

people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. 

By the way, no one will run a credit check on you, and you will not receive a monthly bill. All who apply for membership are hopelessly in debt. That’s why they want membership—

because Jesus paid the penalty for them when He died on

Calvary. Through Him, their debt of sin can be forgiven!

If you aren’t a member of Jesus’ church, become one today! “Membership has its privileges!”