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|
 Be
The Salt Of The Earth
By
Rev.
Michael Packard -
Click
Here To
Watch the Video |
"You
are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how
can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except
to be thrown out and trampled by men. - It is fit neither for the
soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears
to hear, let him hear."
- Matthew 5:13, Luke 14:35 (NIV)
Over the
last few weeks I've challenged you to make a paradigm shift, to
change your perspective toward your relationship with God and the
people around you. I've challenged you to be the love of God to
everyone you meet and to be the light of the world, letting your love
and your life be a witness and a testimony of God's faithfulness to
you and sharing the Good News with the people around you. Today, I'm
going to talk about ministry. Today I challenge you to get out of
your comfort zone and actively seek to be useful, encouraging, and
edifying to everybody to meet - to always be ready to lend a hand to
help carry a burden or a shoulder for someone to lean on or an ear to
listen or a mouth to let someone know that they are loved and that
they matter to you and to God. I challenge you to strive to meet
every need you can and to pray for every need you can't meet. |
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Today
I Challenge You To Be The Salt Of the Earth. |
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Heavenly
Father, Thank you for your mercy and your love. Thank you Lord for
giving us the commission and the opportunity to be the means you use
to bless people to encourage people and to help people in need get
through the tough times. Thank you Lord for the message we are about
to receive. Lord I ask that you lift from our hearts and our minds
anything that would get in the way of us receiving the message you
have for us today, and to, by your Holy Spirit and by your word,
teach us what we need to learn. Help us, Lord to let your word
transform our hearts and renew our minds so that we can be useful to
you and the people around us. We give you this time and this place,
work your will in our lives. In Jesus' name, for Your honor and
glory. Amen |
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The
World is Filled With People Who Need Help |
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There are
the people that immediately come to mind, the orphans, the sick, the
elderly, the homeless, victims of abuse and neglect, drug addicts and
alcoholics. There are also countless others that don't come to mind.
Your neighbor who doesn't get out much, the waitress that doesn't get
your order right, the person grumbling behind you in line at the
bank, your boss that always seems angry about something, even the
person sitting next to you at church. Everybody has needs; everybody
hurts sometimes; everybody gets lonely sometimes. Everybody needs to
be encouraged, to be assisted, to be shown in a tangible way that
they are loved and that they are important to God, and have a place
in His kingdom.
It's the
Christian's job to assist, to encourage, and to be a tangible
expression of God's love to EVERYONE they encounter.
God
has uniquely equipped each of us to certain works and each of us is
useful and necessary in His kingdom. All that happens in our lives
and through our lives is His active hand upon the circumstances,
teaching us to trust Him to do the impossible. Every test He carries
us through becomes a testimony of His faithfulness that we can share
with others.
In
Ephesians 2:10, Paul says
For we
are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
God has
equipped you, empowered you and commissioned you to go out into the
world and be useful to people who are going through the same kinds of
trials He carried you through. To help them through their
tribulations, to share His promises with them, and to testify of His
faithfulness to you in your times of need. To share the message with
them that God is faithful, and will do what He promised, in His time,
every time. |
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The
Only Way We Can See The Work God Is Doing Is For Him To Reveal That
Work To Us. |
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His
revelation is our invitation to help in the work.
In the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said
"You
are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how
can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except
to be thrown out and trampled by men. - It is fit neither for the
soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears
to hear, let him hear." - Matthew 5:13, Luke 14:35 (NIV)
What is He
talking about here? He's talking about us meeting people right where
they are and making their life better because we're there. He's
talking about putting our faith in God and our love for people in
action. He's talking about pledging our lives to one another and to
the Lord. That whatever it takes, wherever the Lord leads us, that we
will lift each other up, shoulder each other's burdens, speak the
truth in love, pray for each other's needs without ceasing, to never
leave and never forsake each other. If one of us falls the rest will
seek to restore and encourage him in the race we run. |
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Why Salt? |
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Salt is
used throughout the Bible as a symbol of loyalty and friendship, of
hospitality and faithfulness. It also has antiseptic and cleansing properties.
Salt is a
necessary ingredient in our food - it makes it more palatable. It's
easier to get through a big plate of food that is seasoned and has
some flavor than one that's bland. Or maybe its very different than
what you're used to, like Thai food is for me - it's outside my
normal range of culinary experience - I eat it and don't know if I
like it. Maybe it tastes weird and it's a struggle to eat it, but if
you add some salt to it, it makes it easier to eat because the taste
of salt is something you know.
In Job 6:5,
the Living Bible puts it this way:
a man
complains when there is no salt in his food. And how tasteless is the
uncooked white of an egg-- my appetite is gone when I look at it; I
gag at the thought of eating it! (TLB)
In the same
way when we are available to lend a hand or a heart to someone going
through a tough time, it's easier for them to get through it. Salt is
necessary for life, and when we don't get enough of it in our diets
our body systems are out of balance and we crave salt. In the same
way when people are going through a tough time they crave someone who
can help - not someone who spouts scripture in cookie-cutter
Christianese answers, but someone who loves them and God enough to be
there with them through the fire and the flood, and to share with
them the answers God has given them as they earnestly sought Him in
similar situations.
In Romans
12:9-16, Paul said:
Love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted
to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the
Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those
who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one
another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of
low position. Do not be conceited. (NIV) |
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Salt
Is An Antiseptic And A Preservative. |
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Salt kills
germs and bacteria won't grow in salt. That's why you salt meat to
cure it. From ancient times people in the middle east rubbed their
newborn babies in salt to prevent infection and to toughen their
skin. This practice was mentioned in Ezekiel 6:4, God speaking
metaphorically of the humble beginnings of the city of Jerusalem:
On the
day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with
water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in
cloths. - Ezekiel 6:4 (NIV)
If we are
salt, our saltiness can rub off on people and help protect them
preserve them . By the testimony of our lifestyle and our willingness
to be there for them, to be His love and His light and His hands, we
can help them get rid of the junk of the world and lead them to
Jesus, who will preserve them from the corruption of the world. |
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Salt
In Scripture Is Symbolic Of Cleansing |
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In II Kings
2:19-22, we read of one of the miracles of Elisha, where God heals
the water and farmland around Jericho by having Elisha throw out salt
into the spring:
The men
of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well
situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is
unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said,
"and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. Then he
went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This
is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it
cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has
remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had
spoken. - II Kings 2:19-22 (NIV) |
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Salt
is Symbolic of Loyalty And Friendship |
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Even
today it is still common in the Middle East for people to pledge
friendship or confirm a covenant by eating food containing salt. When
men ate together they became friends. The Arabic expressions, "There
is salt between us" and "He has eaten of my salt,"
mean a partaking of hospitality which cemented friendship. Once an
Arab has received in his tent even his worst enemy and has eaten salt
(food) with him, he is bound to protect his guest as long as he remains.
Covenants
were generally confirmed by sacrificial meals and salt was always
present. Since salt is a preservative, it has become symbolic of an
enduring covenant. When God instituted the sacrificial system in
Leviticus, He commanded that the grain offering be salted, signifying
a "salt covenant" with the Israelites. And when God gave
the kingship to David, He confirmed it with salt.
In
Leviticus 2:13, the Lord says,
Season
all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the
covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all
your offerings. (NIV)
And in
Numbers 18:19, God tells the priests,
Whatever
is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the
LORD I give to you and your sons and daughters as your regular share.
It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD for both you
and your offspring." (NIV)
And of
David's kingdom in 2 Chronicles13:5 he says,
Don't
you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of
Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?(NIV) |
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Being
the Salt of the Earth Means Taking our Relationships With Our
Neighbors Seriously. |
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It means
to make their lives easier to get through, to love them where
they're at and do whatever it takes to help them get to where God
wants them. It means to enter into a covenant with them to care for
them and protect them physically and spiritually - meet their right
now needs as best as we can, and show them the Lord in all that we
do. If that if they do not know Him they will meet Him in our life
and in our testimony. St. Francis of Assissi said "Preach
Christ always, use words if necessary." We give them God's
love and live the light of the Gospel as we do what we can to help
them get where they're going. |
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Our
Christianity Must be More Than The Words We Profess |
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If our
actions do not match up with our preaching, we are just noise. James
puts it this way in James 2:12-18:
Speak
and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives
freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who
has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! What good is it,
my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and
daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well;
keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical
needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is
not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You
have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and
I will show you my faith by what I do." - James 2:12-18 (NIV) |
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We
Need To Make Sure We Salt People's Lives Enough |
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Bland food
is pretty bad. We need to actively seek to love and encourage and
edify each other, to always have salt to bring to every encounter. We
need to always have the joy of the Lord in us, always to have the
hope of salvation in us, always to have His words in us, always to
have His promises in us, all of them ready to share at a moments notice.
If we do
not keep those things ready, if we let the issues of our lives crowd
out our joy and our hope and His salvation and His promises and His
faithfulness in our hearts we lose our saltiness. In the words of Jesus:
But
if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It
is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled
by men. - It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it
is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
- Matthew 5:13, Luke 14:35 (NIV)
We become
bad salt. We're not useful to the kingdom of God, and we're not
useful to the people around us. We become Eyeore Christians -
Remember Eyeore? He's that depressed stuffed donkey from Winnie the
Pooh. Eyeore Christians sound like this:
"<Sigh>
Praise the Lord, Brother...God is teaching me through my troubles..."
We say the
words but the meaning of them is not in us. Here's one I hate:
"<Sigh>
Thank
you Lord for getting me through the week..."
What?!
If the joy of the Lord is in you, you should be excited about
whatever the week has brought you. God is doing a mighty work in your
life and in your circumstances. When they say it like that
"<sigh>
Thank you Lord for getting me through the week..."
It sounds
like that person is forgetting the Lord through the week. Yeah, I
know, I'm guilty too. We are all like that sometimes and it should
not be. |
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We
Need A Paradigm Shift! |
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Do we
believe what the Lord said to us? If we do then we'd let His peace
come over us, and we'd let His joy fill us, even through the rough times.
The Apostle
Paul believed the message. He went through horrific trials, but he
never forgot where His joy came from, and because of that he was an
effective minister of the Gospel. Here's his testimony:
In 2
Corinthians 11:24-28, he says,
Five
times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three
times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was
shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been
constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger
from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from
Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger
at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled
and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and
have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides
everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the
churches. (NIV)
And later,
in 12:7-10
To keep me
from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of
Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it
away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power
may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NIV)
In
1Thessalonians 2:8-12, Paul reminds them
We loved
you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the
gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear
to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we
worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we
preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God,
of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with
his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live
lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (NIV)
In 2
Corinthians 4:1-2, he says,
Therefore,
since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose
heart. (NIV) |
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Too
Little Salt is Bland, But Too Much is Bitter. |
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You want
some salt in your food, but too much and you can't eat it. A little
salt in the soil is necessary for plants to grow, but too much salt
and the land becomes barren. Similarly, if someone is lost and in the
dark you don't want to shine a bright light in their face and blind
them. Remember what we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks?
If someone is lost in the dark, beating them over the head with a
flashlight and condemning them for being lost won't make them run to
the light. We can't force people into the light, all we can do is be
the light and the love and the helping hand of God and let Him do the leading.
We need to
speak the truth in love, and never compromise the truth to be
socially acceptable, but we need to let the Spirit lead us
Sometimes
it means we bite our tongues and let the Lord do the work in His
timing. Sometimes it means we bring the light to them gradually by
our actions and once our actions have spoken we bring them light with
our words. Too many times we want to in our own strength evangelize
everybody and tell them that they need to repent because they are
sinners and we beg and plead with them to turn to God.
While all
of it is true, too often people turn away from the message and become
defensive and defiant. We've made our message too salty and they
can't partake of it. We need to season a little more gradually -
evangelism is an ongoing process. They see that we live
what
we profess and we are happy people and they want what makes us happy. |
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So
How Do We "Be" the Salt Of The Earth? |
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We need to
live His love and His light and be available to do what His love and
His light and His Spirit directs us. If we're suited up and ready to
play, He'll put us into the game.
Remember
that we must first fill our hearts with love, because if we don't
really love the people we minister to, it's not ministry.
In 1
Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul puts it like this:
If I
speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am
only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I
have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to
the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (NIV)
Then we
need to clothe ourselves with His light. We need to know His word and
His promises and His life. If you have His love and you have His
truth, you can speak His truth in love, and His truth can set someone
free. But you can't speak until they will listen, and they won't
listen until they know how much you love them, and they won't know
how much you love them until you show them.
In
Colossians 3:12-17, Paul says
Therefore,
as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear
with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against
one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these
virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with
all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with
gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word
or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through him. (NIV)
In I John
3:16-19 John says,
This is
how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And
we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has
material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on
him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not
love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is
how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at
rest in his presence. (NIV)
Colossians
4:6 Paul says,
Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you
may know how to answer everyone. (NIV)
And later
in James 1:26-27 James adds,
If anyone
considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his
tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world. (NIV)
In Jude
1:20-23 Jude adds
But you,
dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in
the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be
merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save
them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-- hating even the
clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (NIV)
Paul, in
Galatians
6:1-2, 9-10 gives,
Brothers,
if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore
him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry
each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of
Christ. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who
belong to the family of believers. (NIV) |
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Being
The Salt of The Earth Isn't Just A Good Idea, It's the Commandment of God. |
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Helping and
encouraging and loving people into the kingdom of God is our purpose
and our responsibility before God as Christians, and we need to
joyfully go for it.
In Luke
6:35-38, Jesus promises a blessing to us on this Earth if we are good
to people. He says:
But
love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without
expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and
you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the
ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
"Do
not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it
will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure
you use, it will be measured to you." (NIV)
There is
also an eternal blessing for putting His words into action in our
lives, and an Eternal penalty for not obeying what He commanded us to do.
Matthew 25:31-46
"When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the
sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then
the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I
was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you
clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and
you came to visit me.'
"Then
the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see
you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The
King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then
he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite
me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in
prison and you did not look after me.'
"They
also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help
you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did
not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous
to eternal life." (NIV)
We're not
saved BY our good works, but if we are not led by the Spirit to do
good works, to share His love and His light with others, to put our
faith in practice, we do not have the faith that can save us. He is
not our Lord if we do not do what He says. |
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"Love"
is More Than Just A Word Or a Feeling |
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Love is our
commitment to one another and to the Lord that whatever it takes,
wherever the Lord leads us, that we will lift each other up, shoulder
each other's burdens, speak the truth in love, pray for each other's
needs without ceasing, never leave, and never forsake each other. If
one of us falls, the rest will seek to restore and encourage him in
the race we run.
"Whatever
it takes" is a good start.
Let's pray
Father in
heaven, thank you, for your word and for Your love. Thank you for the
message today, and for the opportunity and responsibility You've
given us to be Your hands and Your heart and your word to the people
in our lives. Lord, we've fallen short of Your goal for us, so many
times. So many opportunities show Your joy and testify of Your
faithfulness we've let slip by. So many times we've said "be
warm and be fed" and have not done what we could to help those
in need around us. So many times we've let the needy people all
around us go by without our even thinking that they are loved and
have needs we can fulfill in their lives. Lord change our hearts!
Give us Your eyes to see and Your ears to hear and Your heart to
love, and Your compassion to help. God mold us into a useful people,
ready to be the salt of the Earth whenever you need us. We give you
our lives. In Jesus' name, for Your honor and Glory. And everybody
listening to this message on tape and over the Internet said...Amen!
Be the salt
of the Earth this week. |
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Rev.Michael
Packard
Copyright
1999 Practically Righteous Ministries - All Rights Reserved |
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