Lessons that I’ve learned from a pencil about being a Christian.
1. A brand new pencil in an attractive wrapper is not
working.
Christians
all dressed up, but not sharing the good news, are not working.
2. A pencil has 3 layers: paint, wood, and graphite
People have
3 layers: body, soul (self), and spirit (God part).
3. It is a number two pencil.
I am not
number one.
4. Before it can be used, a pencil must be sharpened.
Before a
Christian can be used they must be sharpened.
5. sharpening grinds away the paint and wood to expose the
graphite.
Becoming a
Christian grinds away your thoughts of body and soul (self) to expose the
spirit which is the God part
of them.
6. Even the best pencil needs to be re-sharpened now and
again.
Even the
best Christian needs to be re-sharpened now and again.
7. The pencil is not the message.
The
Christian is not the message.
8. The purpose of a pencil is to write messages.
The purpose of a Christian is to
reveal God’s message.
9. A pencil may write many messages in many ways.
A Christian
my share their story about God in many ways.
10. There are lots of different writing instruments with
different uses.
There are
many kinds of Christians, each with their own type of service.
All Bible verses quoted are from the New International Version unless
otherwise noted.
Being Boastful:
2 Corinthians 11:22-23a Saint Paul
And from Philippians
3:4-6 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to
put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth
day, of the people of Israel , of
the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a
Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for
righteousness based on the law, faultless.
About being refreshed:
Psalms 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Jeremiah 31:25 The Lord speaks through the prophet: I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.
Proverbs 11:25 A generous person will
prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Biblical characters with
influence that have a short story:
John 4:25-30 The woman (Samaritan woman at the well) said, “I
know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will
explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking
to you—I am he.” Just then his disciples
returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one
asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman
went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told
me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came
out of the town and made their way toward him.
Luke 2:17 When they
(the shepherds at Christ’s birth) had seen him, they spread the word concerning
what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed and
what the shepherd said to them.
A variety of ways to
serve:
Romans 12:4-5 For as in one body we
have many members, and the members
do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in
Christ, and individually members one of
another.
The hardships and the reward
2 Corinthians 11:23b-12:10 NIV Saint Paul
I have worked much harder, been in prison more
frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death
again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty
lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once
I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a
night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my
fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in
danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false
believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone
without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without
food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I
face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is
weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not
inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show
my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be
praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had
the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was
lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
I must go on boasting. Although there
is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen
years ago was caught up to the third
heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the
body I do not know—God knows. And I know that
this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God
knows— was caught upto paradise and heard
inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I
will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a
fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But
I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or
say, or because of these surpassingly great
revelations. Therefore, in
order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a
messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to
take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for
my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why,
for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Philippians
3:7-11 Saint Paul
But whatever were gains to me I now
consider loss for the sake of
Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss
because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I
may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ—the
righteousness that comes from
God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to
know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like
him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the
resurrection from the dead.
A
Christian’s purpose:
Luke 21:15 For
I will give you words and wisdom
Amos 7:14-15 Then Amos
answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and
a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from
following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go,
prophesy to my people Israel.’ NRSV translation
Eccles 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been
heard. Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Luke 10:2 (Jesus) answered, “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. … Love yur
neighbor as yourself.
John 14:15 If you love me keep my commandments.
Mark 16:15 He
(Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
About
the eraser:
Matthew
6:14-15 (Christ’s words)
For
if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their
sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Luke
6:37b Forgive, and
you will be forgiven.
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors.
And,
of course, Ti’s teaching that there is one eraser, after which all other are
modeled, which can erase all mistakes.
John
3:17 For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but
to save the world through him.
Luke
23:34 Father, forgive
them for they do not know what they do.
And in the letter to the Hebrews it is written:
Hebrews 9:28 Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he
will appear a second time, not to
bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Retirement::
John 14:3 (Christ’s words )And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to
be with me that you also
may be where I am.
Our true nature:
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God
formed the man of dust from the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the
man became a living creature.
Genesis1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our
image.”
Psalm 23 which
explains it all.
King James Version (KJV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me. Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over. Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord for ever.
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