Daily Word from Pastor Jack Graham

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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

I heard about a Christian man who lost everything he had during the
Great Depression. He had been a very wealthy man, and in the years
preceding his great loss, he’d given away hundreds of thousands of
dollars to his church and to Christian causes.

So someone asked that man after he’d lost everything, “Aren’t you
sorry that you gave away all of your money before you lost
everything?”

He responded, “Not at all! The only thing that I really kept was what
I gave away.”

It’s been said that our treasures can’t follow us to heaven, but they
can precede us there. That’s why the Lord tells us to “lay up”
treasures in heaven. It’s the most secure investment we could ever
make!

When it comes to your treasures, where are they? Are they here on
earth? Or are they making an eternal impact for God’s Kingdom? I don’t
necessarily mean you have to give away every penny, but are you
honoring God with everything you have?

Glorify God with your money and store up your treasures in heaven by
honoring God with all you spend and all you give. That’s the only
investment that’s guaranteed to reap tremendous rewards!

STORE UP YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN BY GLORIFYING GOD WITH EVERY PENNY
YOU GIVE OR SPEND!

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“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Mark 12:30

The other day, for some reason, I just decided I was going to think
back on the days of my childhood. So I began to think as far back as I
could. I asked myself, “What’s the first thing I remember?” And I was
amazed at what’s still in my mind from my childhood—things that
weren’t in my conscious mind, but I was able to pull up as I thought.

Isn’t it interesting when we think like that how the other senses get
into the action? I could almost smell the chalk line on my little
league ball field and the snow cones at the concession stand. And as I
closed my eyes, I could picture in my mind how things looked. And my
ears remember how things sounded.

Many times there are things in our mind that we don’t even realize are
there. And because the mind is so powerful, we must not separate God
and His Word from that powerful tool.

God doesn’t just want your heart, your soul, or your strength. He
wants all of you, including your mind. So worship God with your mind
by reading His Word and meditating on His wonderful works!

GOD WANTS YOU TO LOVE HIM WITH YOUR ENTIRE BEING, INCLUDING YOUR MIND.
SO WORSHIP HIM BY GROWING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WORD!

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Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal
through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20

If you look back over the history of the United States, whenever the
U.S. was in a tense situation with another country, the President
would almost always send an ambassador to try and make peace with the
other country. Sometimes it would be a close advisor or the Secretary
of State, but someone had to go and represent the interests of the
country.

Now, it is absolutely imperative if the President is going to send
representatives to Iraq or any other nation of the world, especially
when there is a great amount of tension, that he choose the right
ambassador. That ambassador must best represent our nation’s interests
when it comes to bringing reconciliation between the U.S. and its
enemy.

When the Bible speaks in today’s passage about you and I being
ambassadors, it means we carry the authority of God when we seek to
bring reconciliation in the world. We are God’s representatives living
in enemy-occupied territory. So Jesus gives you and me the privilege
of helping make peace with the world on God’s behalf by sharing the
news of what Christ did on the cross.

We have a tremendous responsibility to represent our President (God)
to the world. So as you live your life, remember who you represent and
your mission to bring His peace to those who are far from Him.

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT IN CHRIST, YOU REPRESENT GOD ON EARTH AS HIS
AMBASSADOR. SO AS YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE, REMEMBER WHO YOU REPRESENT AND
THE WORK YOU SHOULD BE ABOUT!

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“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

I used to go to the aerobics center with a man named John. And
everybody at that fitness club knew John. If they didn’t, they met him
within about five minutes! I remember watching John and how encouraged
I was by his engaging witness for Christ. He just loved people!

And you know, there were so many people at that gym who didn’t know
Christ. They weren’t interested in church if they’d even ever been to
church at all! So it took someone like John who could go in with the
joy of Jesus in his heart to share the Lord with those people.

I realize that not all of us have a personality like John’s. But each
of us can be engaging in our own way by simply being real with others.
We can be thoughtful, kind, and authentic with our lives. In fact, one
of my favorite things to do with nonbelievers is shatter their
stereotype of what a Christian is just by being a genuine person.

Being an engaging witness means that you just flow from the inside out
with an authentic witness of Christ in your life. It means that in
everything you do, God is glorified. And in every situation you
experience, you put others before you. If you live that way, your life
will be a powerful witness for Christ!

LIVE AN AUTHENTIC LIFE WITH GOD AS THE CENTER AND YOU’LL BE A POWERFUL
WITNESS FOR JESUS CHRIST!

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Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who
has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

I’m always interested to see what kinds of books Christians are
reading today. I wonder if I asked some of them to list the last five
books they’ve read, how many would be able to name one that has helped
them know God better?

As a Christian, you ought to be building a personal library of books
and other resources that help you understand the Bible and will help
you answer questions from unbelievers. And today, with so much
information right at your fingertips, there’s no excuse to not use
those resources!

As a believer, you need to be able to communicate your faith
effectively and consistently because if you’re living the Christian
life, there will be somebody who’s going to say to you, “Tell me
what’s different about you. Why do you act the way you act?”

So if you don’t have any books that are helping you grow as a believer
in Christ, do some homework this week and write down at least five
spiritually-edifying books you can read and go get them. Allow God to
sharpen your mind so you can know Him better and share Him with others
more effectively!

ALLOW GOD TO SHARPEN YOUR MIND BY READING RESOURCES THAT WILL HELP YOU
BETTER KNOW AND EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE GOD’S WORD!