Benefits

 

When I was in college, I bought a whole life insurance policy from New York Life and Casualty Company (thank you, Brother Briggs King).  I held it for about ten years, finally cashing it in to pay the hospital bill for my second daughter.  A good decision, I must say.  So, my wife and I were looking at the policy to decide what to do and we discovered an unusual clause.  There were all of these accidents that would pay the full policy value or half the policy value.  If I lost one leg or one arm in an accident, I could receive half of the value of the policy.  If I lost both eyes, I could receive the full policy value.  And then the wording went on, one eye, one leg, one arm in various combinations - the complete benefits of the policy was all spelled out in perfectly gory detail.  I was tempted, but only a little.  Hey, David said in Psalm 103:2, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”  Then David went on to list various benefits of God’s goodness.  When I accepted Jesus as my Savior as a six-year-old boy, I didn’t realize all of the benefits that I was getting.  What a bargain I made back in 1956!  Hey, have you accepted Jesus as your Savior?  He has countless benefits - much more than New York Life ever dreamed of.  Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is well worth the decision.  The best bargain that you’ll ever make!

Saved or Lost?

 

The Titanic went down April 14, 1912 in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage.  There were hundreds of casualties and communication was poor in those days, so the White Star Line posted two white boards outside of its office in Liverpool.  One board read in large letters, "Known to be lost" and the other read, "Known to be saved".  Anxious folk would try to find the names of their loved ones on one of the two boards.  Hey, spiritually speaking, which list are you on? Are you on the “Known to be lost” list or are you on the “Known to be saved” list?  And did you know that your name can be moved from the “Known to be lost” board to the “Known to be saved” board?  To get your name moved is a simple, but profound transaction that you must make with God.  If you put your faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, He will take away your sins and in return give you His eternal life.  Your name can be moved from “Lost” side to the “Saved” side by trusting in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.  The apostle John said in I John 5:12, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”  You see, it’s all about Jesus.  It always has been; it always will be.

A Secret

 

“An Old Man in Military Costume” was painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1630 and is obviously a portrait of an old man in his uniform.  Some say it could have been a portrait of his father.  But this painting by Rembrandt has a secret that has only recently been revealed.  During a routine cleaning in 1978, a ghost image was detected by technicians.  Using X-ray and atomic spectrograph, they discovered an underlying portrait of a young man!  Evidently, Rembrandt had painted a portrait of a young man, but later repurposed the canvas, painting a portrait of an old man over top of the young man.  After 350 years (and modern technology), the secret came to light!  The canvas held not one but two paintings by the Dutch master.  Hey, your sinful heart holds secrets as well.  But God can regenerate your sinful heart, remove those skeletons, and restore the pure heart that God Himself had originally made.  Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  The old sinful self has hidden God’s inner self that has been covered up for years.  Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the new creature that is in Christ Jesus.  Hey, let Jesus make your old portrait into a brand-new picture!  Jesus can give you a beautiful, new life … a new life in Him!