04/19/19

Wow! Time has certainly been tumbling down on us like water over a waterfall. It is Easter weekend and the end of the semester is upon us. 

Again, I say "Wow!"

Some of you are dealing with a lot of pressure. Be careful what you do with it. Pressure can break you, that is for sure, but it can also lead you to do greater things than you thought you could do. 

Let me share some things, off the top of my head, that can help.

• You may say, " I don't have time to have a quiet time with the Lord, and I certainly don't have time to go to church."
  I would say the opposite is true. You don't have time not to. This probably isn't the time to read the Book of Isaiah for one day's devotions, but taking a few minutes to read a portion of Scripture and call out to God for HIs aid are very important. Those people at your church are on your side.
• Focus! List out what you have to do and when it is due. Look at the time you have to get it done. Prioritize. Make a schedule. Get it done.
• Don't let the fact that you can't get everything done keep you from getting somethings done. I once had a student who passed a class by getting a 20 out of 100 on a paper. If he had just done anything on that paper, he would have gotten a 0 and failed the class. To flunk a class with a 59 is far better than to receive a zero.
• Say  "NO!"
  No to video games and TV Dramas.
  No to late-night talk sessions. (Calling it "fellowship" doesn't help.)
  Alcohol will only help you fail more spectacularly.
  You don't need to go shopping.
  Going Live on Facebook won't get it done. Go study.
• Don't do this alone. Find someone to pray with, one of your teachers, your pastor, me. We care.
• Say no to laziness. Hard work won't kill you. I think my wife and I are pretty good illustrations of that. Actually, it will help keep you young.

If I can help you, let me know. Let's finish strong.

Mama Kat and I just got back from the Good Friday Service at our church. Pastor Tom reminded us of the great price our Lord paid to make us His children. He didn't say "If you will ______, I will love you." He loved us when were His enemies. We don't deserve His love. We never can. Yet, He loves us with the John 3:16, Good Friday love.

Pastor Tom asked us to be quiet at the end of the service, to think about what we had heard. I did. I found within me a great love welling up.

“We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NASB95) 

It wasn't a have to love. It is a want to love. 

I pray that you'll find that kind of love this Easter weekend. I pray that it will motivate you to do "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Co 10:31). 

Have a blessed Easter,

hm

Howard Merrell
President, Pacific Islands University

Missionary with LMUSA

671 734 1812, ext.15 / hmerrell@piu.edu