The great missionary and pastor, Lester Sumrall, once wrote: “Little things can kill.
Mr. James Kruch was aboard the S. S. Titanic when it struck an iceberg in April, 1912. He was miraculously rescued from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
James Kruch was also aboard the S. S. Lusitania May 7, 1915 on the same vast Atlantic Ocean when a German sub torpedoed the vessel. Again he was rescued and survived a sea tragedy.
Later, crossing a shallow stream of water, he collapsed and drowned in less than one foot of water.
Little things can kill.
Mr. Berkeley was a famous mountain climber and explorer. He had shot lions and tigers in the wild, but he died not from a man-eating tiger, but from the scratch of a barnyard cat. He took blood poisoning and it killed him.
Little things can kill.
The famous Blondin made the world gasp as he walked across the turbulent Niagara Falls on a tightrope. But Blondin died from an accident, of tripping over a doormat outside his home.
Little things can bring death.”
Let’s be sure we never let little things come between us and God.
Tags: death, little, small
In John 6 we read a story of Jesus being far from any town teaching about 5,000 people. It was long after mealtime and Jesus asked Philip where they could purchase food for the crowd. He replied that they didn’t have nearly enough money to buy food for all these. Then Andrew spoke up (verse 9) and said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
This is one of my favorite stories because it shows us what can happen when we give Jesus something to work with, resulting in a miracle. Its an obvious spiritual principle. Jesus needs us to give Him something to work with.
One of the exciting things about Christianity is watching people take their little bit and give it God, and then watch God do a miracle and multiply it. It’s the most convincing argument that seed-faith giving works. As a matter of fact, this principle doesn’t work if you give a lot, but when you give a little bit, and watch what God will do. Then graduate to something bigger.
Oral Roberts used to say, “Receiving follows giving…the harvest follows seed sown.”
Tags: giving, seed, small, stewardship
Sixteen years ago Anita and I built a new house in a bean field. I remember after the first day of construction we drove back to look at it. The first step of construction was to excavate the side of the hill where the walk-out basement was to stand. Young Adam walked back the bulldozer track and stepped out into the mud, sinking to his knee. After the first day our future house was not very impressive.
When Zurubbabel was called by God to rebuild God’s Temple, one of the first things he did was lay a foundation. Then he built on top of the foundation, one stone on top of another. Many shortsighted citizens balked at those basic efforts and “despised the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10).
Don’t despise small beginnings. Every great project has a beginning. Only those with a clear vision can see the end result when its just beginning.
Tags: beginnings, foundation, small