Three Friends . . . Which One Will You Choose?

By Robert H. Schuller

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." – Luke 16:13

There was a man who had three friends; two he treasured highly; one he didn't care much about; and one he was just too busy to think about. One day, this man received a notice from the king that he was being called into court. Fearfully, he called on his best friend to help. But the best friend told him, "I'm sorry. I can't go with you." He went to the friend he treasured second best and told him of the king's order. "I'm sorry," this friend replied, "I'll go with you to the palace gate, but that's as far as I'll go." The man then went to his third friend, the one he'd ignored and neglected for a long time. This friend said, "I will go with you. I think I can help you." That friend not only went with him, but he also went into the courtroom and stood up and pleaded his friend's case before the king. And the man was relieved of his charges! That king is God. The man is every man. The call to come to court is death. The first friend is money. When you're dying, that friend cannot go with you. So you call on your next most treasured friend. That friend is your family. They will go with you to the palace gate but no further. The third friend is named Faith. That friend says, "Yes, I will go with you." And He walks with you through the gate right up to the King where your "debts" are forgiven and you are received into God's kingdom. Claim the friend of Faith today. Invite Jesus Christ to be your Friend forever. You'll never be sorry!
No "friendship" this world has to offer compares to having Jesus Christ as your forever Friend.
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It's easy to think, O God, that money, family, or a myriad of others things will give me what I'm looking for in life. I know that's not true. Today I choose You. In faith I'm inviting You to come into my life and be my Friend forever.
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Every Day Is Recess

By Robert A. Schuller

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall." – 2 Peter 1:10
When kids burst out the doors at a typical grammar school and head for the playground at recess, what do they do? Whatever they want . . . as long as they stay within the bounds of the playground and play according to school rules. Without telling them what to do, some run for the swings, some for the jungle gym, some for the slide, and some for the merry-go-round. Others jump rope, play jacks on the sidewalk, or throw a Frisbee. Still others race for the ball fields to play softball or kickball. Some shoot hoops. Why do they make the choices they do? Because it's what brings them joy at recess and they know they're free to choose how to spend their precious thirty minutes of freedom. Okay, peer pressure and friendships may steer some of the kids one direction or the other, but let's assume they are fulfilling their longings by the activity they choose at recess. I believe this is the way God wants us to think of life. School children have a designated area in which to play and general guidelines of courtesy and safety to follow. Within these two limitations they can do whatever they want. Our playground is planet Earth and our guidelines are God's moral stipulations that are for our own good. Within these boundaries, we are free to do whatever we want! That doesn't negate the idea of God's purpose or calling for our lives. Just as a teacher might come alongside and influence a student to adjust his or her activity, God is perfectly capable of working within our choices to cause us to fulfill the purpose He knows will suit us best. Our challenge is to look at life as our playground and every day as recess – to take off the blinders and dream bigger and farther than we've ever dreamed before.
God loves to creatively work within our "fun" to accomplish His purposes.

The Effectual Prayer of a Church

“Peter therefore was kept in. prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him”. (Acts 12 : 5 )

Why was Peter in prison? Her­od wanted to kill him. Herod kill­ed James. This pleased the Jews very much. He wanted to please the Jews more by killing Peter. The Jews were always carrying evil reports about the Herodian family to Caesar. So Herod want­ed to please the Jews. The Jews felt their religion was in jeopardy because of the disciples of Jesus.
Herod stretched forth his hand to vex the church. His end was near. When a man's end is near, he becomes more active than us­ual against the Kingdom of God . This is one of the signs that that man's end is near.
Peter was not troubled about his condition. The next day was the day of his death, but he was sleeping soundly. Peter wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus told him that he could not follow Him then, but a time would come when he would be able to follow Him even to death. Peter's desire was now being fulfilled. That night, in his mind, he must have willingly died. His faith had grown so strong. Those who continue in the Word, will find their heart's deepest de­sires fulfilled. God is greater than our desires. In fulfilling our desi­res He will far exceed them. Pe­ter had desired this death-daring faith.
Prayer was being made in the church without ceasing. We won­der at the acts of the apostles. But we must know that they took place because the church was pr­aying. The church was one. There was not one person with another mind among them. If there was one man there with a contrary mind, he would have been as a wire that is earthed which disch­arged the circuit. They will be earth-wires. This was a live church and it was praying for the impossible­ for Peter in the Roman prison.
Peter was chained to two soldiers on either hand. There were other soldiers on guard and a fi­nal gate outside. The prayer of the church will release those in prison. Many are bound by evil spirits and evil desires and vani­ty. No one can release them. Some families are bound, they cannot understand the gospel. Fa­ther, mother and children are all in darkness. Every kind of sin will be there and they will be in great misery. How to release th­em? The church has to pray for them.
There are two chains that bind people - sins of commission and sins of omission. Some are releas­ed from one chain, but still bou­nd by the other. Who will save them? The church can save them. Where faithful men gather and where Christ is, that is the chur­ch.
Prayer was being made without ceasing. This was a real church. An angel came and the chains on either side snapped. There may be big churches which cannot break chains. They are not churches.
Peter was asked to put on his sandals. A man who is freed, puts on the sandals of the gospel of peace. Peter crossed the first ward and the second ward. After conversion we have still two wards to cross. We have to be planted together with Him in the likeness of His death and then we have to rise into the newness of the resurrection life. When the church is praying these deliverances will be experienced.
There was still the iron gate to cross. “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). We cross over into the holy life. There is holiness there.
“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:9). We have to join the saints in glory. If we are praying great things will happen.
-Late Mr. N. Daniel

Growth Requires Patience

By Robert A. Schuller

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." – Psalm 119:105
Learning and growth take time. Insights come here and there, one at a time. "Full perfection" doesn’t come all at once. But how impatient we get. When it comes to getting direction and counsel for our journey, we want the whole loaf every time we sit down at the table instead of drawing our nourishment from the daily bread God provides.

Think of what Psalm 119:105 tells us, "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." This verse is almost a cliché in Christian circles today, but it is the truth nonetheless. In the time this verse was written a tiny oil lamp would illuminate only a few feet ahead at best.. The writer had no concept of seeing all the way down the path at once.

But in our day we’re not content with just a few feet; we want to see the starting line and the finish line at the same time. I have a friend who is sixty years old and has been a believer since the age of twenty. During those forty years he has chronicled five specific "Eureka!" periods in his life, all of which led to years of reflection and application before the next one began.

Each "Eureka!" experience in life has been vitally important to him and has shaped his understanding of himself and his relationship with God. But look how slowly they came – on average, one every eight years. And he is convinced there will be more of these experiences as he continues to follow the path God is laying out before him.

Anyone searching for God's path for his or her life must be willing to walk in the light God gives today, confident there will be more when it is needed.
Truth over time is God's way of bringing us to spiritual maturity.
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Lord, give me insight as I read Your Word. Remind me when I get impatient with the process that learning and growth take time. Help me to walk in the light You give me today, and to hold onto the confidence there will be more light when it is needed.
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