THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

The Most Important Thing in this Life A true mountain top experience is what I had last week. Right there in the Andes Mountains, I realized once again what the most important thing in this life is. God reminded me that the things of this world will one day pass away but the Word of God remains. As I look back on my experience last week and review what God showed me, I am overwhelmed. The people in Cachora and the surrounding areas are some of the nicest people I have ever met while at the same time they are some of the poorest people I have met. When I came in contact with a believer in Peru, I realized that they truly understood what was important in this life. They had nothing but Jesus and that was enough. I was convicted by this and got to thinking about all the “stuff” we think we need to make us happy. I am not saying that the “stuff” we have is bad but I am saying that when we base our happiness on “stuff”, then we are way off-base. We in the USA are blessed beyond measure with possessions and conveniences while at the same time we are the most selfish and ungrateful nation. We have forgotten that our joy is based on those things that are not of this world. Our joy should be based on Jesus and His love for us. I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Matthew 19:24 I was astounded by the reception we received when we went to hand out tracts. When the people of Peru received the tracts from us, they actually took the time to read it and not simply throw it down on the ground to be trampled and destroyed. They saw the value in what we were handing out. We in this country have become so hardened to the things of God that we do not see value in the Word of God, but we see value in earthly things. So how do we change this mentality? Repent! Pray! Repent! Pray! Repent! Pray! We need to repent from our wordly view of value and pray that the Lord will once again restore in us the joy of our salvation. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 Jesus is true. Jesus is noble. Jesus is right. Jesus is pure. Jesus is lovely. Jesus is admirable. Jesus is excellent. Jesus is praiseworthy. Think on Jesus! Aaron Hodges

HE'S UP

He’s Up! This morning, as I was delivering my oldest son to school, I received a text message from a friend of mine. He was asking for prayer because he was facing two interviews today at work in order to keep his job. He had been up most of the night praying and was not feeling very settled. I shot him back a message including the passage in Philippians 4:7 which says, "May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." My friend was having a hard time finding peace in his situation. When I arrived at work today, I opened up my email and found an email entitled “GIVE YOUR TROUBLES TO GOD; HE WILL BE UP ALL NIGHT ANYWAY.” What a timely message. So many times we have difficulty simply laying our concerns at the feet of the Savior. We try so hard to solve our issues by ourselves and forget that there is One who desires more than anything to take our cares on Himself. Cast all your anxiety on him, because He cares for you.I Peter 5:7 Did we hear that? Cast ALL your anxiety on Jesus, because He cares for you. But Peter reminds us that there is one thing we need to do even before we cast our cares on Jesus. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. I Peter 5:6 Humility is defined as the state or quality of being humble, or the absence of pride. Humility in reference to God is the act of laying aside our desires and wants in exchange for what God wants and desires. Our goal should be that God’s desires become our desires. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 What a promise! I think that these two passages fit together like hand in glove. Look at it this way: If we humble ourselves before God and delight in Him, then He will lift us up in due time and give us the desires of our heart. God loves us so much that He does not want us to be burdened by all the problems in life. He wants us living an abundant life, a life that includes all the desires of our heart. The next time we go to bed with our concerns weighing on our hearts, remember to humble ourselves before the Lord and give those concerns over to the One that created the Heavens and Earth. He, not we, is the only one who can solve our problems. We need to pray for one another every day that we will not let Satan continue to beat us down with discouragement and that God’s peace will flood our lives. Aaron Hodges