“Make meaningful connections, listen more …”, is the first of the five strategies suggested by researchers that will help us not to let winter get us down.

The second mentioned is, “Give of your time, and do something nice for a friend or a stranger.” (The Northland Age, Tuesday, May 21, 2019)

We are encouraged to find new ways to connect at home.

We are encouraged to find new ways to connect at work.

We are encouraged to find new ways to connect at school.

We are encouraged to find new ways to connect in our community.

Let me add one more connection.

This connection is not only meaningful, but essential. That is the connection with our creator and in order to connect with God we don’t need to find new ways, we find the way in the Bible. Listen to what we read in the Bible and get connected to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Why? Because our connection was interrupted in the Garden of Eden.

J. I. Packer says: “While we must always remember that it is our responsibility to proclaim salvation, we must never forget that it is God who saves.”

We are reading in the following Bible verses “that it is God who saves.”

Please notice in Matthew 16:17 that the Father in heaven reveals, in Acts 16:14 that the Lord is opening the heart of Lydia, in Acts 13:48 that those believed who were appointed for eternal life, and in Matthew 15:13 that the heavenly Father plants the plants.

• Matthew 16:17: “Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.'”
• Acts 16:14: “One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to to respond to Paul’s message.”
• Acts 13:48: “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”
• Matthew 15:13: “He replied, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.'”

Let us remember all this, when we are praying for people.

A SPIRITUAL HEALTH CHECK CONSISTS OF:

A. YOUR PRAYER LIFE: ………………………………………………………………………………….

B. YOUR BIBLE READING: ………………………………………………………………………………….

C. YOUR GIVING: ………………………………………………………………………………….

D. YOUR TESTIMONY: ………………………………………………………………………………….

E. YOUR CHURCH RELATIONSHIP: ………………………………………………………………………………….

F. YOUR HABITS: ………………………………………………………………………………….

On an upper garment it says,”Loyalty is everything,” and I am really beginning to think.

A dictionary tells me that a loyal person shows allegiance. Allegiance is loyalty, as of a subject to his sovereign. Loyal means being faithful to one’s country, being faithful to one’s government.

The opposite of being faithful is being unfaithful.

In the Bible we are told about a person who was unfaithful. The name of that person was Saul. In the Bible it says about Saul in 1 Chronicle 10:13-14:

“SAUL DIED

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

Introduction:

because he was unfaithful to the LORD;

1. he did not keep the word of the LORD and
2. even consulted a medium for guidance, and
3. did not inquire of the LORD.

End:

So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, son of Jesse.”

I say, “Loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Sovereign, is everything.”

Three times on the last page of a mission publication I am reading how to give money, bequests are mentioned, we are told how to make cheque donations, and we are also told that donations can be made online.

Recently it has been pointed out to me that the Lord Jesus Christ taught more about money than anything else. I have never thought too much about it, and I am quite surprised.

And here is what the Lord Jesus Christ says about wealth and possessions.

• Matthew 6:19-21:
• Matthew 6:24:
• Matthew 6: 30-34:
• Matthew 16:24-27:
• Matthew 19:17-21:
• Matthew 19:23-26:

• Mark 4:18-19:
• Mark 10:18-21:
• Mark 10:23-27:
• Mark 12:16-17:

• Luke 6:24-25:
• Luke 9:23-26:
• Luke 12:13-21:
• Luke 16:9-12:
• Luke 16:13:
• Luke 16:15:
• Luke 18:19-27

• Revelation 3:15-18:

Billy Graham says:

“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.”

It has also been pointed out to me that the Lord Jesus Christ, so far as we know, never even asked for an offering,

“Die Hand unseres Gottes ist so stark, dass sie die ganze Welt halten kann, sie ist aber auch so sanft, dass sie unsere Traenen abwischen kann.” – Unbekannt