If we are coming to church only as consumers, to get our own needs met, then we have missed the point of the church. We are not merely intended to get our needs met. We are intended to be part of God’s plan for drawing other people to Himself, for encouraging and building up those who are already His children. Each member is not simply intended to be a consumer. We are all intended to be providers. We are colaborers with God Himself in the work of the Gospel (1 Cor. 3:9)! Some of us may well be introverted or less talkative. But none of us are designed merely to be ministered to, as if the whole church revolved around our own felt needs and desires. We are all called to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Heb. 10:24; Gal. 6:2) (Mark Dever and Paul Alexander).
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BBD 03.23.04 When You Fail

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#1 · March 23, 2004, 1:14 pm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 12,000 subscribers in 75 countries)

03.23.04

When You Fail

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether
there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will
vanish away. - 1 Corinthians 13:8.

It was not until I was in my thirties that my Dad told me about one of his
failures that had happened when he was a little boy. He failed the first
grade when he was a boy and had to repeat the grade. However, he passed the
first grade successfully the second time. When telling me the story my Dad
gave to me a toy hatchet that his first grade teacher had given to him as a
reward for successfully completing his first grade studies. That little
hatchet has become a symbol for me that you can come back from failure and
that is what I think of whenever I see the little hatchet or think of the
story.

As we talked about previously Peter failed Jesus in denying Him (Matthew 26)
but he was not the only one. All of the disciples turned away at the
prospect of their experiencing crucifixion as Jesus did. However, their
failure was not the end of the story. We know that all of the disciples
except for Judas came back and served their Lord in mighty ways. Peter
became the powerful preacher on the day of Pentecost confronting the Jews
with the truth about Jesus. All of the remaining disciples except for John
experienced martyrdom for their faith according to tradition. John
experienced his own form of martyrdom through his difficult exile on the
Isle of Patmos.

The fact is that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and we have all turned our
own way (Isaiah 53:6) which means we have failed and in our own way denied
the will of God in our lives. Although we too have failed that does not have
to be the end of the story. The disciples found out that God’s love never
ends and that His love can overwhelm and change failure into success.
Instead of turning away from God when you fail this is the time when you
need Him most and this is the time when He can surround you with His arms of
love and restore you just as He did the disciples.

When you fail remember that you have an advocate at the right hand of the
Father (1 John 2:1) who is interceding for you. Jesus Himself is knocking at
the door of your heart (Revelation 3:20) when you fail and He wants to come
in and through His eternal love restore you to Himself. Ask Him to come in,
confess your sins (1 John 1:9) and receive His forgiveness and cleansing.
Remember even though we may fail Him - His love will never fail us.

Copyright © 2004. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
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