How Much?

Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done but by how much I could have done. In God's sight my giving is measured not by how much I have given but by how much I could have given and how much I had left after I made my gift. The needs of the world and my total ability to minister to those needs decide the worth of my service.

Not by its size is my gift judged, but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice....

In the work of the church the amount one man must do to accomplish a given task is determined by how much or how little the rest of the company is willing to do. It is a rare church whose members all put their shoulder to the wheel. The typical church is composed of the few whose shoulders are bruised by their faithful labors and the many who are unwilling to raise a blister in the service of God and their fellow men. There may be a bit of wry humor in all this, but it is quite certain that there will be no laughter when each of us gives account to God of the deeds done in the body.
"Help me to give of myself completely today, Lord. I hold nothing back, even if at the end of the day I'm the only one with a bruised shoulder. Amen."

And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
--2 Corinthians 8:5

A.W. Tozer

San Antonio and Graham Texas

We just left San Antonio upon the completion of the annual Life Action Vision Gathering retreat. The purpose of Vision Gathering has five components. Spiritual Enrichment, Relationship Building, Vision Casting, Partnership Development, and Ministry Update.

These five elements are woven together in a Thursday evening through Sunday noon retreat atmosphere. Invariably, the highlight is what the Lord does spiritually in our hearts as we seek Him for personal renewal. Again, this year, we saw the Lord touch hearts as the message of revival always produces HOPE! Hope for our nation. Hope for the church. Hope for the home. All beginning with hope in our hearts.

A panel of four business leaders, who ran companies ranging from 120 employees to 18,000 employees, participated in a discussion on “Integrity in the Marketplace.” Wow! What insight!

We arrived in Graham Texas a couple of days ago and are just beginning an 8 day summit here at Oak Street Baptist Church. This church for over two years has been praying day and night for God to do something incredible here in this community. Is now the time?

As the moral and spiritual crisis in our nation mounts, the odds escalate. But I am reminded that the seed for a great miracle lies not in difficulty but in impossibility. Our goal this week and every week is the impossible. But so was the resurrection. And so was each of the Great Awakenings . . . including the next one!