Make it Count

By Greg Laurie

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1Corinthians 10:31

I remember when, as a young Christian, I would sit in the pews at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and listen to Senior Pastor Chuck Smith speak. I would think to myself, I wonder if God would ever use me? I wonder if the Lord would ever speak through me? Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that God would allow me to be a pastor and someone who has the privilege of proclaiming the gospel. It was beyond my own dreams, beyond my own aspirations, even.

If you are planning your future right now, if you are thinking about what course you want to follow in life, ask God for His direction. Say, "Lord, I want to be the person that You want me to be. I want to marry the person You want me to marry. I want to be in the center of Your will. I don't want to go out there and blow it. Help me to do Your will." God's plans for you are better than anything you have ever planned for yourself.

God has given each of us certain abilities, talents, and resources. The question is, what are you doing with them? Are you seeking to use them for His glory? Are you offering your resources and future to Him?

I'm not saying that you have to be a pastor. But whatever you do, whether you are a doctor, an architect, a secretary, a computer programmer, a builder, a musician, or something else, you should want to serve the Lord and do it for the glory of God. That is what matters. Your life can be a testimony and a witness for Jesus.

The Nut Has Gone

By Greg Laurie

 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:20

A minister who was conducting a funeral service wanted to speak of some of the wonderful things about the deceased. But this poor guy said the wrong thing. He boldly proclaimed, "What we have here is only the shell," gesturing toward the coffin. Then he added, "But the nut has gone." He didn't want it to come out that way. But that is a pretty accurate statement of what happens when we die.

God will give us new bodies one day — resurrection bodies. And we will need these new bodies because we will be in a new place called heaven. Of course, we wouldn't think of sending astronauts into space dressed like they are going to the beach. They must have special suits that are designed to allow them to breathe and function in their new environment. Our earthly bodies suit us fine for life on earth. But in heaven, we will need new bodies.

We will need new bodies for our new environment because, to begin with, if we were to see God in the bodies were are living in right now, we would disintegrate on the spot. Why? Because we aren't perfect people. Our bodies are limited by the effects of sin. The very fact that we age, can get sick, and will one day die (if the Lord does come back for us first) means that we have bodies that are tainted by sin. We need new bodies, made into the image of Jesus.

You will leave the shell, but the "nut," the real you, will go into the presence of the Lord.

Sudanese woman sentenced to die for Christian faith to be freed, report says

The Sudanese woman sentenced to death earlier this month after refusing to renounce her Christian faith will reportedly be freed in the next few days.

A foreign ministry official told the BBC that Meriam Ibrahim, 27, is guaranteed religious freedom in the country, despite a judge's earlier ruling that she should be hanged for apostasy.
Ibrahim gave birth to a girl early Tuesday at a prison clinic in Omdurman, near Khartoum.

The court had earlier annulled her Christian marriage and sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery because the union was not considered valid under Islamic law.

International outrage against Ibrahim’s sentence has grown significantly in recent weeks, as more than a million people signed online petitions protesting the sentence. One such effort on Change.org has garnered more than 630,000 signatures as of Friday, and Amnesty International officials have characterized the punishment doled out by a judge to be a “flagrant breach” of international human rights law. It’s also a violation of Sudan’s own Constitution, according to the State Department.

Click for more from the BBC

YOU ARE GOD’S TEMPLE

May God's peace be with you all through this month.

“'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former…And in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:9).

This year, the Lord told me: “I will manifest My glory; I will send spiritual glory into the nation. By this, I will bring plenty of blessings to the nation because of which righteousness will be established in it.” In the above verse, whom does the Lord refer to as ‘the temple?’

The Bible says in following verses, “You yourselves are God's temple” (I Corinthians 3:16). “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God (I Corinthians 6:19).

The Lord has changed you, who were until now languishing in distress, despair, affliction, agony, darkness, losses, sighing and sorrow, into His temple and has renewed you and formed you. He is going to send His glory into you, His temple.

Let us meditate about what blessings you would receive when God’s glory comes into you, His temple:

“’In this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty” (Haggai 2:9). When the Lord transforms you into His temple, your whole life will be filled with His peace. He promises, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3).

"’As for me, this is My covenant with them…My Spirit, who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 59:21). According to His promise, the Lord has poured down His Holy Spirit upon us and our descendants and has made us all to enjoy a divinely peaceful life, descendants after descendants.

Dear one, the same God wants to rule over your life, transform you into His temple, dwell in you and establish His divine peace in you. The Bible says, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). The peace that comes from God is real peace. This peace comes from trusting God and casting all your cares on Him. Then your mind will be free from all worries.

RISE AND SHINE!

By Paul Dhinakaran

Dearly beloved,

Now is the time for us to be awakened in our thoughts, stand up and arise for God. Apostle Paul says, “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

In this world, we have an ever-increasing responsibility to win souls. Every day, lakhs of babies are born. The population keeps on increasing. The devil is roaming here and there looking for whom he can devour. He is working overtime to see that the doors now open to evangelization are closed. At this hour, we must pray for others’ salvation and arise and shine for God.

Recently, I read a story about a dog. Its master ran a shop. Every day, the dog would accompany its master to the shop and return home with him. One night, the shop caught fire and was burnt down. The next morning, the shopkeeper found that all the goods had been burnt, and along with them, his dog also had been burnt to death. The dog had been fast asleep when the shop was closed and so was trapped inside. It was burnt to death by the flames.

We read in Hebrews 6:11,12: “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” The Bible says in Proverbs 11:30, “He who wins souls is wise.” A wise man makes use of every opportunity to wins souls for God. God shall surely honor him and reward him.