Dear Rangers,
I came across this little gem and thought that sometimes we look at things from
different
perspectives.
How Poor are You?
One day a father of a rich family took his son on a trip to the country with
the firm purpose of showing him how poor people can be. They spent a
day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back
from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?". "Very good,
Dad!"."Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Yeah!".
"And what did you learn?" The son answered, "I saw that we have one
dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the
middle of the garden. They have a creek that has no end. We have
imported lamps in the garden. They have the stars. Our patio reaches to
the front yard, they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was
finishing, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for
showing me how poor we are!"
The rich man thought he had it all, but his son could see the illusion of wealth. He
could see
how God had provided more for the farmer than him. The loser will do anything so that
we take
our eyes off the road the we are call journey on. Jesus said "Enter through the narrow
gate. For
wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But
small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it."Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious
wolves."
(Matthew 7:13-15).
You see we have the choice to travel on one of two roads, the first is wide, but leads
to our
destruction. The second is narrow, it leads to life. The wide road is just an illusion
of the loser.
He would have us believe that everything on that road is good. How can it be when it
ends with
our destruction? He tries to fool us into thinking that we must have the best of
everything, the
latest and the greatest electronic device just released. Anything to take our eyes off
Jesus.
Verse 15 contains a warning for us to be on our guard at ALL times.
In Ephesians 6:13 we read "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the
day of evil
comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to
stand."
We are told to "stand firm". Paul was using the allergy of a Roman Soldier, for them
to "stand
firm' was to take a battle stance, ready to fight. So it should be with us. We are to
stand firm,
ready to fight the loser when he tries to attack. A soldier must look ahead to the
direction from
which the enemy will come.
A soldier can not fight his enemy if he is constantly looking inwardly at himself. The
trap for us
Christians is to "navel gaze" while the battle is raging around us. That is, we only
look at what is
happening to ourselves and not those around us. How many of us have bothered to write
to
encourage our Brothers in need? How many of us have sent an encouraging letter to
someone
who sent in a good article? Have we become a bunch of navel grazers? Ask yourself this
question "Why am I on Rangernet?" Is it to have fellowship, to learn, to rejoice in
the victories
won, to encourage a brother who is going through a hard time? Or are you there so you
can
push your our ideas or what you are doing in order to be noticed. If it is the later
then you have
been fooled by the loser. If it the first then you are living by the ideals of our
Christian life in
Christ. Does it not say in Romans 12:14-18 "Share with God's people who are in need.
Practice
hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those
who
rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be
proud, but
be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceit. Do not repay
anyone evil
for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible,
as far as it
depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Where are you at? Are you living by
these
words?
There is a story of this beggar who was begging for food one day and Priest walked by
and said
"I'll pray that you have enough food to eat. Later a poor man walked with a loaf of
bread for his
family. He gave the beggar some of the bread. Who acted out their faith? Which one are
you?
Are you the Priest or the poor man? Jesus said in Matthew 25:34-39 "Then the King
will say to
those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me
something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and
you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you
hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a
stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in
prison and go
to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one
of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Will Jesus say this to you?
My dear brothers, I urge you to look at the path you are on, are you being fooled by
the loser?
Or are you traveling the narrow road that leads to life? The choice is yours to make.
Choice
wisely.
P.S. I know this will offend some people, for that I make no apology. If it has
offended you then
is the Lord is trying to tell you something.?
There's a storm coming, our Storm.
PROCLAIMING GOD'S LOVE TO A DYING WORLD
Say to the captives, 'come out,' and those in darkness, 'Be free!'
Isaiah 49:9
I looked to the heavens to where God dwells
I looked into my life to see he lives there as well.
Love in Jesus
Adrian Bonham aka Morning Light
Outpost 49
Hawkesbury Royal Rangers
Windsor, N.S.W.
Australia
F.C.F. 94
http://www.summit.net.au/~founder1/
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