One of the most difficult situations a Christian physician can face is being sued. The prosecution does its best to put a negative slant on everything you have ever don, attempting to destroy your reputation.
Imagine yourself in that courtroom, just having had your name dragged through the mud. At the end of deliberations, the judge declares, "Not only is this one not guilty of what has been charged, but we have discovered that he is probably the most noble, dedicated, excellent doctor we have ever encountered!" That is a picture of what Paul declares of God's children in Romans 5:1. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." You may have heard the word "justified" described as "just as if I had never sinned." But it is so much more! It also conveys the idea of being fully vindicated -- the accused, guilty one has now been not only declared "not guilty" but also declared as being fully good and upright in every way! Is this because that is the truth about any of us? I wish! This righteousness is the total goodness that only the man, Jesus Christ, displayed on earth. The miracle of the cross is that for those who have put their trust in Him, not only are their sins borne by Christ, but He also gives them His righteousness standing before the Father. Enjoy that peace today!!! In Grace, Jan Parks Dear Fellow Laborers,
People must worship...it's our nature. It's built in. if we don't worship the one true God...the heart will invent its own god! excessive love for anything is a mockery of God's first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods...before Me." "See now...that I am He and...there is no god beside me. It is I who put to death and give life, I have wounded and it is I who heal and there is no one who can deliver from my hand." Deuteronomy 32:9 God has a sovereign sway over all events. Every situation is known to Him. Sickness...financial setbacks...family misunderstandings...life's darkest hours...all these happen within the framework of His purposes. No matter what the predicament...God ...is still God! Any object which produces passionate devotion is an imposter leading to idolatry. We laugh at those in the Old Testament who would take a tree, carve it to make an idol and then bow down before it. But if we love success... ambition... prominence... possessions... we have enthroned an idol in our heart. How do you define idolatry? When we long for what we dare not do, ...hunger after what we must not have, ...and lust for what we should not love - this is the start of idolatry. Our attitude toward our circumstances determines our victory or defeat. The same wind that carries one ship into the port will dash another upon the rocks. "Happy is he whose circumstances suit his temper; but he is more excellent who can suit his temper to any circumstance." Hume Circumstances are the refining pot. Through trials and temptations, the object of our worship is revealed. Job learned first hand (and so must we) that before the butterfly there is a struggle in the cocoon. There is no feast without a sacrifice. Job's character was matured by trials. He was strengthened by discipline. He was enriched by disappointments. How do we worship God? Isn't worship a love offering from the depths of our inner-most being...expressing an intense sense of the worth-ship of a Holy Awesome God? It is presenting back to God the love that he "shed abroad" in our hearts. WORSHIP...WAITING...WORK...They were always together in the life of Jesus. He 'worshiped' the Father. He 'waited' for His direction. He 'worked the works of Him who sent him. Men must worship something. It is our nature. "What you bend your knee to is what you worship." Where your treasure is there your heart is also. Where is your treasure? What do you worship? Is it the one true God or is it a substitute? The good is the enemy of the best. Your servant for Jesus, Earle Carpenter Dear Fellow-Laborers,
WORRY... I am worried that I have worries! Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word? The devil? No, the cares of this world. It is the 'little' worries. I will not trust where I can not see, that is where infidelity begins. The cure is a faith response to the revealed Spirit. "He will guard him in perfect and constant peace whose inclination and character is stayed on Thee, without one ripple of anxiety, the mind of the one leaning hard upon me." Isaiah 26:3 Doesn't this promise sound so idealistic as to be impossible? Especially with changes in medicine causing unrest...uncertainty of circumstances...burdens of anxiety...pessimism about the future. To find relief, millions of intense people have given themselves to gulping "happy pills". Peace pills! Across the heart - door of your tired, nervous, fearful and fretting patients is hanging the card, 'Do Not Disturb!' These drugs are called ataraxics (Greek term meaning "not disturbed") have a way of screening out feelings of worry, fear and anxiety. It is wonderful they work...for a while. "Permanent Peace...can never be purchased Worry is...spiritual irritability with Jesus." - Oswald Chambers Christian peace ultimately is not found in a pill...not in prosperity...nor in some place...rather in the person and presence of God Himself. He will guard...what you have Him. Give. Can the child of God ever think of anything the Heavenly Father will forget? When we realize that we could never think of anything He will forget...WORRY becomes impossible. A woman kept a "worry box" in her kitchen. Every time something troubled her she would write it down and put it in the box. She resolved she would give these problems no thought as long as they were in the box. Often she opened it, took out the slips of paper to review the concerns. She found her relaxed frame of mind enabled her to find solutions. She discovered to her delight, most of the troubles she worried about no longer existed! Most of us are blown about by winds of circumstances, directed by gusts of passion, like a ship at sea with nobody at the helm. If your life is to be steady, there must be not only a strong hand at the helm but a fixed star for you to aim to...a harbor of rest. When we put our cares in God's hands, He puts His peace in our hearts. Oh, if I trust Jesus, I will...worry...I don't have worries! "Never a test that He is not here, never a burden He does not bear. Never a sorrow He does not share, moment by moment... I am under His care." - Whittle Your Servant for Jesus, Earle Carpenter Founder, CMMA Dear Fellow Laborers,
Can't live without it...how can you live with it? Individuals ruin their health...shipwreck their homes...sacrifice their lives...and forfeit their integrity...for money. "God has given to some people very great wealth and honor so they can have everything they want...but though a man lives a thousand years twice over but doesn't find contentment...well, what is the use?" (Ephesians 6:2,6) Some people worship money...some make it an idol. Some beg, some borrow, some steal it. a few inherit money, others marry it. The majority of us work for it. We all want more of it. Could you agree? The love of money...is the root of all evil. If you agree, you are agreeing with scripture. Jesus who was so gentle and compassionate was hard hitting on the proposition of "you can not serve God and money." What is the problem? Money promises what it can never produce. Get wealth, you will have prosperity and peace. It just is not true! What can money do for you? Its roads are full of mirages...enticing gleams of water...which vanish as soon as we draw near. Depressingly, the alluring pools turn out to be hot, glowing sand piles which lead you to only intensify your thirst. God gives to some the honor of having riches...but He would give to all His loved ones the wealth of a "contented" life. This is wealth without a limit. The subject of 1 Timothy 6 says, everybody lives in two tents; either "content or discontent". Look deeper in verse 17: "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant not to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." Enjoy? Amazing! God who has richly supplied you expects you to even enjoy them! He doesn't stop there but he says for those who are rich to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so they may take hold of that which is life indeed. Be known by the things you love! Anything can be...a tool or...an idol. What you bend your knee to is what you worship. the issue is not what you have, not what you own, but what owns you. You can't take it with you but you can send it ahead...by giving out of the Grace you have been given. Do the right thing for the right reason! The dial on the thermometer tells you how hot something is...money can be God's thermometer. How hot are you? Your Servant for Jesus, C. Earle Carpenter, Founder of CMMA |
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