Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

In 1942, Dr. Charles Weigel was in a revival meeting in California. He spent the afternoon between services visiting a large rose garden. He said that when he got to church that evening, people remarked on the smell of the roses that he carried with him when he left the garden.

He had not gone to the rose garden for that purpose, but spending time there had an effect on his life and then, by extension, on others as well. Weigel wrote his song, “A Garden of Roses Is Jesus” after that experience.

The world today is in desperate need of seeing Christians who bear the mark of having been with Christ. Just as those roses left their mark on Dr. Weigel, so time spent in the presence of Christ leaves a lingering effect so that the entire world can see Christ in us.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Though she lost her eyesight as an infant, Fanny Crosby used the gifts and abilities she had rather than spending her life wishing for what she lacked. She wrote her first poem at the age of eight:

O what a happy soul am I

Although I cannot see,

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be;

How many blessings I enjoy

That other people don’t!

To weep and sigh because I’m blind,

I cannot, and I won’t!

Fanny went on to write the words to more than eight thousand hymns and devoted her life to helping and encouraging others.

The secret of contentment is not found in our possessions or position, but in our attitude. Contentment only comes from within. As we trust in the God that never fails, He supplies a contented heart.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

David Brainerd often endured great hardship in his efforts to take the gospel to the American Indians. In his diary, he recounted one mission trip during which an intense storm forced him to seek shelter inside the hollowed out remains of a large tree.

As the storm raged outside, Brainerd sat inside praying for the lost. After a while, he began to be hungry, but it was too dangerous to go out to look for something to eat.

Soon a squirrel came and deposited several nuts near where Brainerd sat. Brainerd wrote that as he ate the nuts, he realized that God had sent the squirrel just as He sent the ravens to feed Elijah.

God has repeatedly told us that He loves us and has promised to provide for us. If we truly believe the promises of God, it will change the way we approach every part of our lives.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

In 1792, churches in England united together and formed the Particular Baptist Society with the stated purpose of “Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen” and appointed Carey and John Thomas to go to India as their first missionaries.

In a tearful prayer service as they prepared to leave, those who remained behind promised to pray. Andrew Fuller later described their parting with the analogy of miners going deep underground secured by those on the surface holding fast to strong ropes. Fuller said, “Before [Carey] went, we engaged that while he lived we should never let go the rope.”

There are many good and necessary things that are part of reaching the lost, but the thing Jesus said should come first is our prayers. We need to be more faithful than ever to pray that God will provide the workers to bring in the harvest.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Though he was saved as a teenager, Charles Studd did little for the Lord until he went to hear D.L. Moody preach. The evangelists’s fervor for the lost stirred something within his heart and he became a fervent soul winner. After surrendering to go to the mission field, Studd gave away his massive inheritance, much of it to George Muller’s orphanage, and spent the rest of his life as a missionary in China, India, and Africa.

One of C.T. Studd’s most remembered quotes is, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

There is no way we can fully comprehend the sacrifices Jesus Christ made for our salvation. How, then, could we possibly think any demand he makes of us is too great? When he calls us to action, our heart should be one of total surrender and eagerness to obey our Lord.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

One of the only twelve men to walk on the moon, was Colonel James Irwin. Colonel Irwin was a committed Christian. When he retired from NASA, he traveled the world telling people about Jesus.

He said, “As I was returning to earth I realized I was a servant, not a celebrity. So I’m here as God’s servant on Planet Earth to share what I’ve experienced that others might know the glory of God.”

The Christian life requires commitment. Just as Colonel Irwin was committed to use his experiences to share Christ, so we too should use what God has given us to accomplish great things for him.

But, if we are going to accomplish anything of value for God, we must be committed to follow it through to the end.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

An English pastor of the 1700s, James Hervey, recounted a conversation that he had with a faithful layman in his church that gave him a new appreciation for the dangers of pride to the Christian life.

They were talking about the things that hinder spiritual growth, and at one point Hervey said, “I believe the difficulty is our reluctance to renounce our sinful self.” The old farmer looked at him for a few moments and then replied, “No, I believe the greatest difficulty is to renounce our righteous self.”

We easily give into the temptation of pride because it is such a comforting sin. But God is not interested in our high opinion of ourselves, for He knows us as we really are. If we insist on our honor and glory, we forfeit our access to His grace and He holds us at arm’s length. The only way to receive God’s grace is to acknowledge that we are not deserving it.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

James Hamilton told a story from the days before electric refrigerators. In those days, icehouses furnished the means of cooling food in the summer months. Thick blocks of ice were cut from ponds and lakes and stored in buildings with thick walls, and covered with layers of sawdust to slow the melting process.

Hamilton wrote: “One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. … A small boy who heard about the …search slipped into the icehouse… and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. [He said,] “I closed the door, …lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.”

God’s still, small voice can easily be drowned out by the world. Listen intently for Him, then follow his leading.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

When John Paton, the missionary to the New Hebrides islands was working to translate the Word of God into the language of the people he served, he wanted to be sure he conveyed the meaning of the word “Faith” accurately.

As he was trying to come up with just the right word, one of the native workers came into the house after a long day of labor. Collapsing into a chair, he propped his feet up and declared how good it felt to sit down. When Paton heard him use his word that meant “lean your whole weight on,” he realized he found the best translation possible for faith.

Faith is leaning completely upon the promises and Word of God. When we do not trust in the Lord, we rob ourselves of power and blessing and the answers to prayer that we need. God has never broken a promise. We can “Lean our whole weight on” every word of promise God has ever given.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, a distraught father brought his demon possessed son to the other disciples, but they couldn’t help. They just didn’t have the power to overcome.

Vance Havner said, “Too many of us today are shaky about what we believe but not shaken by what we believe. Too many people assemble at God’s house who don’t really believe in the power of God. … As the hymn puts it, ‘All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.’”

The challenges of the world that we face are too great for our own strength, that is why God calls us to tap into His strength and find all the resources we need to live victoriously in the Christian life. Rest Assured, God is able!