Solomon wrote to his son saying, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (Prov. 23:26) In these inspired words there is a real sense in which God speaks to every person of every age, and throughout every age saying to us all—“give me your heart”. Why, because, “for in Him we live and move and have our being…For we are also His offspring” In our hearts we need to rise up to seek the “Divine Nature” of God our Father (Acts 17:28-29), for it is the Father who desires and calls for the hearts of each and every one of us…

Many in our time have adopted a custom of having only the person’s name and dates of birth and death on the graveyard markers. But, looking at many of the older graveyard markers clearly in previous years it was quite common for a cemetery stone to include an epitaph, or short statement summarizing the person’s life. We know—it is, “…appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” – (Heb. 9:27). I am guessing that, apart from those who choose to be cremated and have their ashes spread out over land or sea, a tombstone will be cut with at least the name, date of birth, and date of death. Of course, if someone did not die, there would be no need for a tombstone. But that can only happen in one of two ways: Jesus returns Before We Die: Wouldn’t that be nice! – (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Or we are taken up like Enoch or Elijah. As for the later, don’t hold your breath…

We who have trusted and obeyed Christ Jesus—we have been given such a great gift. As Paul put it—we have been literally arrived at a place spiritually—where we can walk by the same rule—be of the same mind But is this possible? Are we able to walk together—having the same faith? How is it that we’re not divided like the majority of the “Christian World”. The answer is simple—that great gift is Jesus the word—that great gift is the guidance of the Holy Spirit of truth through the word—that great gift is the word of God that reveals—that mind of Christ—1 Cor. 2:16. We have the prophetic word to be the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path – Psa. 119:105 As Paul put in verse 16, “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained [arrived], let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”

It’s not a secret that many in our world today are deeply divided over issues of politics and of faith. Parties have formed: Democrats and Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives, Socialist and Capitalist. It seems that on every front page, on every news channel, it is inescapable—people are divided in so many ways. But not everybody. Many in the church who are in this world but not of this world, are in unity about many things, especially the faith that we have through the word of God. In the Lord’s body, the church are people who “cannot be shaken” King David said, “I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.” (Acts 2:25) Hebrews 12:28 As Christians we are “…receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken,” now because of that gift of grace, our salvation in Christ, we “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Truth is the church had all things in common “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and [a]sold their possessions and goods, and divided[b] them among all, as anyone had need” (Acts 2:44-45)

In the scripture from Romans 15 I’d like to place our focus on verse 20 where Paul said, “And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation”
From this we’ll consider just two points:
1. The Aim of Every Saint
2. Aim of Every Parent

The cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz sand a song which at the end asked, “What do they got that I ain’t got? Courage!” Every non-believer should be asking this question of obedient Christians. What to they got, that I ain’t got, eternal life! Jesus is our “Source of Assurance” giving us what the rest of the world, “ain’t got”: absolute hope, and faith that we truly shall be saved, one day raised up to Heaven to see the face of God our Father.

No matter how bad things get, on our side, we have the God of our salvation. We and can, and should, rejoice in His strength to carry us through.
But we must go to God, resisting the devil… James said, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:7-8; 10).

Every time you hear a lesson, read your Bibles, attend a Bible study: You’re being given a brick. On the screen you’ll see 25 bricks with 25 of the 50 commandments of Christ I’ve compiled. It is your duty, to add that brick to the foundation. Your responsibility to as Peter put it—“add to your faith” (2 Peter 1:5). What that means is that you’re a work in progress, and as long as you have breath you need to be growing in the Lord, you need to be growing in your faith… (2 Peter 1:5-11) (Each Brick is a lesson, a command, Something to add to your spiritual walk)

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable” Psalm 145:3

As for tears they are a gift from God, and powerful in that they often move God to act on our behalf. Consider by way of remembrance the relationship between tears and the hand of God. Remember the slaves in Egypt God said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” (Exo. 3:7). It was king Hezekiah’s tears that God saw that brought about his healing and added 15 years to his life. Remember God said, “I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.” (2 Kings 20:5). Solomon wrote, “For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper” (Psalm 72:12)…