Rev. Ray and Pat Amos

Psalm 119:11

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, September 7, 2019

“Jewels of Faith”

There is a part of our faith that is like a treasure that is hidden in the field of our heart, and is reserved for challenging times. These jewels of faith have been collected over a lifetime of walking with the Lord. Like many precious things in our homes that have been given to us by family and friends, so it is with the treasures that we hold in our heart.

The Bible is one of those priceless treasures.
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11) How much of it have you stored away for those rainy days when we need comfort, encouragement, direction and hope?

I listened to a man who was a POW (Vietnam) for seven years. He had been delinquent in faith, but when his plane was shot down, and he rode the parachute to ground, he suddenly found himself quoting Scripture that he had not thought about since a child. God’s Word sustained him through a manmade hell; and the Bible will safely guide us through anything that we must face.

Prayer is another treasure we cling to. Who first taught you to fold your hands and bow the head while on bended knee? The man stood at the back of a mission to get out of the freezing Chicago rain. That was when he fell under the spell of the Gospel. Could Jesus love a wasted sinner like him? He went forward to pray as though he was led by an invisible hand. Not knowing how to pray, he suddenly remembered his happier childhood days, and a prayer that his Mother taught him. Then he prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord my soul to keep.” He got up with the happiness of a new childhood: He knew that he was a child of God.

The hymns of the church are great treasure. Don’t fret if you sing some of them repeatedly. It is another way of insuring that the words cannot be robbed from our mind. When we have our monthly communion service at the nursing home there is great singing because our friends have songs in their hearts from years gone by. Someone wrote, “A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” How many of us sing ourselves through our troubles?

When all the earthly things that we worked for and worried about have lost their value; those who love the Lord will still be wealthy with true treasure. The little jewels that have been place in this living time capsule of our heart will sparkle and glisten with newness of everlasting life.

Grace and Peace, Rev Ray

Jesus Keeps Me Singing