A Noticable Difference In Our Homes

“Jesus Is Enough”

“Therefore There Should Be A ND In Our Homes”

“I have been crucified with Christ...

And I no longer live,

But Christ lives in me.

The life I live in the body,

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me

and gave himself for me.” - Gal 3:20

“Then He said to them all

If anyone would come after me,

He must deny himself

And take up his cross daily

And follow me.” - Luke 9:23

“When I do things,

I can’t let selfishness or pride be my guide.

Instead, I must be humble

And give more honor to others,

than to myself...

In my life

I must think and act like Jesus...” - Phil 2:3,5 (ncv)

“Every detail in my life -

words, actions, whatever -

must be done

in the name of Jesus,

thanking God the Father

every step of the way.” - Col 3:17 (msg)

A beggar lived near the king’s palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was invited to the party.

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble. Would he dare?

He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. “Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king....”

“Wait here,” The guard replied.

In a few minutes he was back. “His majesty will see you,” he said, and led the beggar in.

“You wish to see me?” asked the king.

“Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too may come to the banquet?”

The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the king face.

“You have been wise in coming to me,” the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. “Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes.”

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he never dared hope for.

“You are now eligible to attend the king’s banquet tomorrow night,” said the prince. “But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last forever.

The beggar dropped to his knees. “Oh, thank you,” he cried. But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old clothes again? Quickly he gathered them up.

The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he should. He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.

Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed, people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They only saw the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags.

One day as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the sad look on the kings’s face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince’s words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his folly and the king wept with him.

Listen - the Christian life - is about taking off the rags of the old life - AND putting on the royal garments of Jesus Christ.

BUT tragically, like the beggar in our story (a good word by the way to describe you & I BC - “Before Christ” - beggar) - tragically many Christians, because they also carry a small bundle of old rags with them - miss out and never get to experience, a lifetime of true royalty...They never ‘really’ get to enjoy themselves, as they should and they miss out, on some of the greatest delicacies of the Christian life....

Understand that our God weeps bitterly over such lives, AND those who live such lives - when & if they ever realize what they have chosen, and what they have given up, will weep too.