Only One Life by C.T. Studd

Two little lines I heard one day, Travelling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judge's seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years, Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfil, living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore, When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way, Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep, In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife, Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn, And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone, Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ‘twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Perserverance...- James M. Corbett

Fight one more round.
When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the centre of the ring, fight one more round.
When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round.
When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round.
Remember that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.

If - Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Michael Jackson On Em - Parabols

Gluttony

(The following is an edited excerpt from the (free) The Lord's Table course I have been involved to help me overcome gluttony in my life!)

One of the problems among Christians today is that very few are willing to say that the act of overeating is sin. It is socially acceptable to overeat and so most would rather say that overeating is a "weakness," or a dietary problem that may be corrected by changing foods, a glandular problem, or that we simply "have a big appetite"...etc.

Overeating is a sin for the following reasons:

• Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we are to do to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). God is not glorified when I evidence a lack of self control in my eating habits.

• My body is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:17, 6:19). The temple of God is not to be destroyed or defiled. Overeating or other sinful eating habits defiles the temple and if continued in can lead to its early destruction.

• Sinning leads to slavery (John 8:34). Overeating, like any sin, becomes addictive and may be extremely hard to overcome.

• Jesus told us to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23) and Paul told us to crucify the desires of the flesh (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5). To overeat is to gratify the cravings of the flesh, rather than to crucify them. This is sin. However, we are not at all saying that it is sin to eat when hungry. What we are talking about here, gluttony, is the habit of overeating and indulging our flesh, not the necessary requirement to receive daily nourishment for our bodies when we feel hungry. Food is not evil. Eating is not a sin.

• There are many passages of Scripture which speak of the sin of "gluttony" and instruct us to avoid the path of the glutton (Proverbs 23:20-21) and to "put a knife to our throat" if we are given to gluttony (Proverbs 23:2). (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines gluttony as "excess eating.")

In Acts 3:16-18, we see that repentance opens the flood house of God's blessing as it brings not only glorious refreshment from the Lord, but Jesus Christ Himself.

You see, if we fail to call overeating sin, we miss out on the blessings of repentance. Why not call overeating by the biblical term of "gluttony," so that we will see the need to repent? And, as we repent, we will experience such sweet refreshment from the Lord, such satisfaction from the Lord, such enjoyment in the Lord, that we will wonder why we weren't ever told this truth before.

Repentance is that which causes me to do a full turn away from overeating or any sinful eating habit and a full turn towards the Lord. In practical terms, it means that I have been looking to food to supply something that has been lacking, and now I turn away from overeating food and, instead, look to the Lord to meet that need. We mourn that we have hurt the heart of God by sinning with food and we may even weep over our willful and stubborn pursuit of satisfaction in food. Our sins not only pierced the heart of Jesus on the cross but, when God grants repentance to us, they also pierce our hearts, and our hearts become torn over our rebellion. But oh, what joy comes when God enables us, by His grace, to turn from overeating to seek the Lord. We experience the refreshment of God’s grace, the renewal of His love, the joy of His fellowship. Oh dear ones, I pray you will see the amazing value of repentance.

At The Lord's Table, we are not into a 60-day diet plan, pills that guarantee weight loss, programs that focus on food, or methods that require us to count calories, fat grams, carbohydrates or sugar. We are about calling ourselves to repentance from habits of overeating, about setting forth Christ as our soul's satisfaction and about developing habits of eating in a disciplined manner. If satisfaction in Christ and self-control would become the habit of our lives, we would see the blessings of God being poured out on us. In Christ there is joy and heart satisfaction, spiritual refreshment and renewal, and we "eat in plenty and are satisfied." Yes, repentance brings refreshment!

www.settingcaptivesfree.com/lords_table