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Listen while you read: "Praise The Saviour Ye Who Know Him"1 (Lyrics) |
James 1:22-24 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Belief is action. This is not a passive word. It is not a willingness to conform to a set of statements, nor is it simply an acceptance of a creed.
Many people are what I term "fat-goose" Christians. They are without vibrancy or vitality. They desire more Bible Study. They want to be fed more. They want to be taught all the details of the Bible. They are even willing to be taught about prayer.
All of this feeding leaves them fat and flabby. They do not really believe. They want to study about believing instead of maintaining a lifestyle of believing.
The goose is put in a small pen. It is then fed constantly. The idea is to fatten the goose for market. The goose will exert no positive influence in life, but will live a dull overfed life until its death.
It is my prayer that you will seek to live out the teaching of the Word. The life of believing is what the Lord desires. Exercise your faith for great things today, and don't remain flabby spiritually. You do not need a dull, overfed spiritual life. You deserve to be alive in the Spirit.
Prayer: Father, may I be a channel through which will flow the water of life to myself and others. Amen.
(From The Ministry of the Master ©1986 by Donald Bartow. Used by permission.)
Hip replacement on April 17th - please pray for me: "Update April 24, 2025: I am grateful to you all for your prayers. They supported me through my hip..." 
Neighbour: "Aril 24, 2025: Our neighbour Tom just passed away. Pray for the family. In Jesus name. Amen."
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I really liked this picture of the Christian doing nothing like the goose in the pen!!! What a shame this describes so many in our churches around the world !
This is something I began to notice many years ago when I first became a Christian. At the time, I understood nothing – I had no Bible knowledge and only very few people who seemed to take it as seriously as I did. It seemed as if they were mostly interested in getting together and talking about everything but the Bible. It took years for me to realize that I was not alone in my observations; that there was/is a definite difference between believers who are busy both DOING and BEING ‘the new man’, and those who were seemingly just enjoying the benefits. What a journey it’s been these 50 years – learning to assess and love people in all stages of their faith. I have benefited greatly from all of the reflections I’ve read and am so grateful to all the writers and to John Stuart and his Presbyterian church for this ministry. I hope it isn’t on its last legs . Thank you for the fat goose analogy – it’s a GOOD one. God bless.