Dear Daily Message Readers,
READ: Hebrews 4:1-13
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Many years ago in a Moscow theater, matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a play entitled Christ in a Tuxedo. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, "Give me my tuxedo and top hat!"
But as he read the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," he began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors. Finally, recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian Orthodox church, he cried, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" (Luke 23:42). Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior (Christianglobe.com).
What a remarkable book the Bible is! Read by a prideful young man, this amazing Book was used by the Holy Spirit show him his need for salvation. And he willingly heeded the Spirit's call to make that reality in his life.
We live in a world that needs what the Bible offers within its pages. People need to study, examine, and read its words of comfort, hope, cleansing, and joy. But most importantly, they need to discover in its pages the good news of salvation in Christ.
Yet not everyone who reads God's Word turns to Christ for salvation alone. Jesus made this fact very clear in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:1-15). He also explained that we are to be sowers of God's Word, but we don't decide who will receive it. Our job is to scatter the seed, for only God can make it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Perhaps you have tried long and hard to witness to your family, friends, and co-workers to no avail. Have you given them the Word of God? Do they have a copy of their own? If not, why not give a Bible to then? Then watch what happens. They can be changed by His Book because it is "sharper than any double-edged sword, [and] it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Faith Lesson: The Bible is the outright authority for any decision or witnessing opportunity.
In Christ,
Darin Smith
READ: Hebrews 4:1-13
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Many years ago in a Moscow theater, matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a play entitled Christ in a Tuxedo. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, "Give me my tuxedo and top hat!"
But as he read the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," he began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors. Finally, recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian Orthodox church, he cried, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!" (Luke 23:42). Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior (Christianglobe.com).
What a remarkable book the Bible is! Read by a prideful young man, this amazing Book was used by the Holy Spirit show him his need for salvation. And he willingly heeded the Spirit's call to make that reality in his life.
We live in a world that needs what the Bible offers within its pages. People need to study, examine, and read its words of comfort, hope, cleansing, and joy. But most importantly, they need to discover in its pages the good news of salvation in Christ.
Yet not everyone who reads God's Word turns to Christ for salvation alone. Jesus made this fact very clear in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:1-15). He also explained that we are to be sowers of God's Word, but we don't decide who will receive it. Our job is to scatter the seed, for only God can make it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Perhaps you have tried long and hard to witness to your family, friends, and co-workers to no avail. Have you given them the Word of God? Do they have a copy of their own? If not, why not give a Bible to then? Then watch what happens. They can be changed by His Book because it is "sharper than any double-edged sword, [and] it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Faith Lesson: The Bible is the outright authority for any decision or witnessing opportunity.
In Christ,
Darin Smith
