God embodies the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer whose presence and power are revealed in creation, providence, and salvation (Genesis 1:1; John 3:16). Christian preaching portrays God as both transcendent and immanent, using images of the heavens, the architect's plan, and faithful parenthood to illustrate His sovereignty, faithfulness, and loving provision.
In The Banner an Allan Dykstra tell us what happened to him during a hospital stay. My doctor ordered a certain diet for me, but the head nurse decided that a particular exercise program would be better. The assistant assigned to me felt that the exercise program was useless and suggested that I request medication instead. I really wanted the diet, so I went back to the doctor and asked him the question: "Who's in charge here, anyway?"
My friend Cici recently shared a little "parable in real life." When her son was quite small, he had a small stuffed gorilla that he dragged around with him everywhere -- and I do mean EVERYWHERE -- he went. She could sometimes sneak it away for a quick laundering during nap time, but Heaven help her if her son awoke before his friend "Rilla" was out of the dryer! As such '"loveys" will do, Rilla's seams gradually began to weaken and his stuffing began to leak. As she tells it, "Poor old Rilla was in desperate need of some corrective surgery, not to mention a stuffing transplant. One day, John waddled up to me and held up his battered, beloved Rilla and said, 'Mommy, Rilla's broked.' I explained that I would be happy to fix Rilla up -- a little new stuffing, some seam reinforcement, and he would be 'all better' again. John held Rilla out toward me, and said 'Fizzit, Mommy!' But, when I reached down to take the little gorilla in my hands, I found that it had a two-year- old firmly attached to it. As all parents know, a tug-of-war with a two- year-old is frequently a losing proposition, and is frequently accompanied by loud cries and copious tears. Finally, in exasperation, I said, 'I can't fix it until you let go of it!' And just at that moment, the Spirit of God tapped me on the shoulder, as it were -- and I realized that God was waiting for me to let go of several things, too." This is one thing that I suspect will always be a struggle for many of us. It's so hard for us to get out of his way and let our Creator "fizzit" in His own good time, because we're living in the present moment and He is living in eternity. Waiting on the Lord, whether it is for an answer to prayer, for understanding, or a much needed job, is not an easy task. But, it is essential for us to be as patient with Him as He is with us. That's expecting a lot from a human being. Then again, God gives us a lot and we expect a lot from Him at times. "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as Eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." -- Isaiah 40:41
In Executive Edge newsletter, management-consultant Ken Blanchard retells the story of a little girl named Schia (which first appeared in a book titled "Chicken Soup for the Soul"). When Schia was 4 years old, her baby brother was born. "Little Schia began to ask her parents to leave her alone with the new baby. They worried that, like most 4-year-olds, she might want to hit or shake him, so they said no." Over time, though, since Schia wasn't showing signs of jealousy, they changed their minds and decided to let Schia have her private conference with the baby. "Elated, Schia went into the baby's room and shut the door, but it opened a crack -- enough for her curious parents to peek in and listen. They saw little Schia walk quietly up to her baby brother, put her face close to his, and say, 'Baby, tell me what God feels like. I'm starting to forget.'" Have you grown older and forgotten God? It's not too late to return to the one who created you. Jesus taught that to enter the kingdom of God, we must simply receive it like a little child (\reference{Mark 10:15}{Mark 10:15}).
We ridicule the pagans who tried to fashion gods out of wood and
stone. But often we make pictures of God in our minds that make God
rediculously small. A God that is too small may not be bellievable.
A young man once went to a minister saying he did not believe in any
god. The minister said, "Describe to me the god you do not believe
in." He listened carefully until the boy finished and said, "Neither
do I believe in that god. Now let's talk together about a God that we
can believe in." That is what I want to do today. How big is your
God?
The story is told of a Welsh woman who lived in a remote
valley in Wales. She went to a great deal of trouble to have
electrical power installed in her home. They noticed she didn't
use very much electricity at all. In fact, her usage was minuscule.
They sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The man came to
the door and said, "We've looked at the amount. Don't you use
electricity?" "Oh yes" she said. "We turn it on every night to see
how to light our lamps and then we switch it off again." This sounds
like the way many Christians apply the power of God in their lives.
After one of the first Russian cosmonauts returned from space, he
said, "I didn't see God up there." An American pastor responded in a
Sunday sermon by saying, "All he needs to do is to leave the space
capsule and take off his space suit. He'll see God!"
My Bible professor, Dr. Dewey Roach, told this story about his
little daughter. One night after the family had turned out the lights
and had gone to bed. Dr. Roach's little daughter was a bit frightened
and began to cry. Mrs. Roach tried to soothe the child's fears and
said, "Don't worry, God is with us even in the dark." Her little
daughter replied, "But I can't see God in the dark."
Isn't that our problem? We can't see God because of the darkness
of sin, the shadows of worry and anxiety, the shades of suffering and
death, and the ghastly problems of war, disease, death, crime, and
natural disasters that beset our world.
We need to remember that Jesus came to give light to those who sit
in the shadows of death and who walk in the darkness. (\reference{Luke
1:79}{Luke 1:79}).
- Bill Citwood, {Proclaim, }July-Sept. 1995, p. 16
Time is often represented by a straight line drawn on a page. We
call this a time line. To get a grasp of what the eternality of God
means, when you have drawn your time line you must picture God as the
whole page on which the line is drawn.
One of the greatest books written on the nature of God was by
Stephen Charnock. In it he observed that "the fountain of . . . evil
practices [is] a denial or doubting of some of the rights of His
nature." And ". . . when men deny the God of purity, they must needs
be polluted in soul and body" [Stephen Charnock, {The
Attributes of God, }I, p. 14].
It is for this reason that all believers ought to have a deep and
thorough knowledge of God's attributes.
Art Linkletter saww a small boy drawing a picture. He inquired,
"What are you drawing?" The small boy replied, "A picture of God."
Linkletter told the lad that no one knows what God looks like, to
which the boy confidently repsonded, "They will when I get through."
A soldier who served in Desert Storm related an amazing story of
what happened just before the land offensive began. The wind suddenly
changed directions, blowing away sand and revealing a field laden with
land mines. Untold numbers of casualities were avoided because the
coalition forces know where the explosives were hidden.
- Robert L. Moeller, {Proclaim}
/
/
November 29, 1992. An on-field collision occurs. A life is changed. And an incredible story begins . . .
By his fourth NFL season, Dennis Byrd had established himself as one of the game's leading defensive linemen. He had also gained a reputation as one of the New York Jets' most popular players - happy-go-lucky and full of pranks, but at the same time, deep-thinking and devout.
As the son of an ordained minister on the Oklahoma prairie, Dennis had learned an abiding faith in God - a faith that would soon be severely tested.
As Dennis Byrd rocketed around the opposing offensive line, he collided with a 280-pound teammate, and his neck was shattered. It was that abiding faith that Dennis would cling to as he was transported out of the stadium on a motorized cart. And his faith would brace him as the results of more than seven hours of surgery yielded the news that he may never walk again. But the underestimated Dennis Byrd - and his God.
- From a review of "Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story"
Cure yourself of the inclination to bother about how you look to
other people. Be concerned only with the idea God has for you.
- Miguel De Unamuno, {Pulpit Helps, }March 1996, p. 25
God is more interested in making us what we ought to be than in
giving us what we think we ought to have.
- {Fountain}
On one episode of {Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, }the Reverend
had become blinded and was soaking in his self-pity. He felt that he
could no longer be a minister of God's Word when he himself could not
even see to read it.
Dr. Quinn trying to get him back to reality said to him, "God does
not punish us, He just shows us another path. When one path closes
God opens up a new path for us to follow."
C.S. Lewis in {God in the Dock }[Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans, 1970] writes: "In 'Hamlet' a branch breaks and Ophelia is
drowned. Did she die because the branch broke or because Shakespheare
wanted her to die at that point in the play? Either - both -
whichever you prefer. The alternative suggested by the question is
not a real alternative at all - once you have grasped that Shakespeare
is making the whole play."
One night Abraham Lincoln suggested to a young man that they take a
walk along a country road. Lincoln lifted his eyes to the heavens
full of stars and said, "I never behold them that I don't feel I am
looking into the face of God. A man might look down upon the earth
and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look into the
heavens and say there is no God."
Jim N. Griffith, {The Christian Index} February 8, 1996, p.
10.
I recently completed a wonderful biography by David McCasland entitled, {Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God.} He describes an exchange between Oswald Chambers and his wife Biddy after they had visited their friend Gertrude Ballinger, who was near death from typhoid fever. Chambers' response to his wife's question concisely captures the concept of looking up and anticipating God's “then.”
Biddy said, “I wonder what God is going to do.”
Oswald replied, “I don't care what God does. It's what God is that I care about.”
Biddy managed a smile. She knew the heart of love and concern from which her husband had spoken what might seem a callous remark. He cared deeply what happened to Miss Ballinger, but he knew that God's actions could be very confusing, while the Lord Himself never was.
__________
Art Athens, “When Will Your Then Be?,” Pulpit Helps, March 1997, p. 6
A child was sitting at a table in her room feverishly working on a
project. Her mother came in and asked, "Honey, what are you doing?"
"I'm drawing a picture of God," she said.
"But nobody knows what God looks like," the mother replied.
"They will when I get through," said the child.
- Cecil Clegg, "Portraits of Christ," {Proclaim, }(Nashville:
Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 31
My Source:
POWER, Volume 8, #6, 6/99
Author: Mike McDaniel
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WHY WOULD A LOVING GOD SEND
PEOPLE TO HELL?
by Mike McDaniel
Many fail to appreciate fully the nature of God. God is a God of love (1 John 4:8). God is a God of mercy (Psalms 86:15). However, God is also a God of holiness (Isaiah 48:17). God is a God of justice. He is "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). God is a God of wrath (Ezra 5:12).
We need to see both sides of the nature of God. Romans 11:22 says, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." God originally prepared hell for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but He will also consign to that terrible place all those who die in their sins.
God does not send people to hell of His own arbitrary will. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Men send themselves there because of the sinful lives they live. God has no choice but to remain true to His holiness and justice and therefore, punish in hell all that oppose Him. It is not a question of God being unmerciful. It is a question of His justice and holiness. It should reveal to us how heinous and horrible sin really is!
The love of God has provided the means of escape from the penalty of sin. Men are doomed without it. The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God's grace is only extended to those who have faith in Jesus as the Son of God (John 8:24), repent of their sins (Luke 13:3), confess faith in Christ (Acts 8:37), and are baptized for the forgiveness of their sins by the blood of Christ (Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5). Thanks be unto God for His plan of redemption so that we might be saved from an eternity in hell.
Step by Step
He does not lead me year by year
Not even day by day But step by step my path unfolds;
My Lord directs my way. Tomorrows plans I do not know,
I only know this minute; But He will say, "This is the way;
By faith now walk ye in it." And I am glad that it is so,
Todays enough to bear; And when tomorrow comes,
His grace shall far exceed its care. What need to worry then or fret?
The God who gave His Son Holds all my moments in His Hand
And gives them one by one.
.... Trust in the Lord Proverbs 3:5-7
submitted by: Dr. Tom Hall
Memo: To Do Today
From: God
To: Christian
Today, I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD (something for Jesus to do ) box. It will be addressed in My time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do NOT hold on to it or remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a situation that you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution.
Because I do not sleep nor do I slumber, there is no need for you to loose any sleep. Rest my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.
GOD
Two young men, one a Christian and the other a skeptic, traveling through Switzerland, walked along the brow of a steep cliff, conversing of the providence of God. "I should not be willing to live another day," said the Christian earnestly, "if I could not believe that the Almighty directed my steps. I have no anxiety; for I trust his unerring guidance. No circumstance is too trifling for his control.
The other replied, "I can control myself. See here!" And he paused to roll a stone down the precipice. "Did the Lord direct that pebble? See this lonely tree standing so near the edge! Do you suppose God ordained it should grow just in that spot? Some traveler threw the seed. Did the Almighty declare just where it should fall, and take root?" He threw one arm around a limb of the tree, and leaned against the trunk for his companion to reply. The soil began to crumble; and, before he could move, that part of the bank had fallen upon the rocks below. Only his arm around the tree, and one foot upon the stone, where it partly rested, saved his life. For an instant, both travelers stood motionless.
Then the Christian fell on his knees in prayer. The skeptic came, and reverently knelt beside him. Silently they arose, and resumed their journey. God himself had spoken to the soul of the skeptic. He became a humble Christian, and a minister of the gospel.
-- Tweksbury
See: Psalms 65:5-8; Isaiah 40:18-31
David Livingstone had spent sixteen years in Africa but had not faced such peril. The white man was surrounded by hostile, angry natives in the heart of Africa. He was in danger of losing his life and contemplated fleeing in the night. But something happened that changed his mind and gave him peace in his perilous situation. He recorded it in his diary that January 14, 1856:
Felt much turmoil of spirit in prospect of having all my plans for the welfare of this great region and this teeming population knocked on the head by savages tomorrow. But I read that Jesus said: “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” It is the word of a gentleman of the most strict and sacred honor, so there’s an end to it! I will not cross furtively tonight as I intended. Should such a man as I flee? Nay, verily, I shall take observations for latitude and longitude tonight, though they may be the last. I feel quite calm now, thank God!
Pastor William E. Sangster told of an experience in his youth when he went on a vacation with some friends. When he had spent all the funds given him for the trip, he wrote home for more. His father, thinking he should teach his son the value of money, did not respond to the request. Sangster's companions wondered why he had been turned down, but William said to them, “I'll wait till I get home, and he'll tell me himself.”
We should have that kind of attitude toward our heavenly Father. Life holds many unanswered questions. But we know that God is sovereign and that He is working out everything according to His plan (Ephesians 1:11). The Lord has said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9). That's why we cannot comprehend all that He is doing in our lives.
I will not doubt though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I will believe the Hand which never fails
From seeming evil worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,
"I trust in Thee!"
I will not doubt though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive;
I will believe the heights for which I strive
Are only reached by anguish and by pain,
And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses,
I yet shall see, through my severest losses,
The greater gain.
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
He writes in characters too grand
For our short sight to understand;
We catch but broken strokes, and try
To fathom all the mystery
Of withered hopes, of death, of life,
The endless war, the useless strife --
But there, with larger, clearer sight,
We shall see this -- His way was right.
When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.
She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."
I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee." This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.
Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."
Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?"
He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."
I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"
The Father seems to tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."
An old Chinese, a very old man named Sai, had only one son and one horse. Once the horse ran away and Sai was very worried. Only one horse and lost! some one said, "Don't suffer, wait a little." The horse came back. Not long after this, the only son learned to ride the horse and went out to the field. Returning home he fell from the horse and broke his leg. What a sorrow had poor Sai then! He could not eat; he could not sleep; he could not even attend well to the wants of his son. Only one son and crippled! But someone said, "More patience, Sai!" Soon after the accident a war broke out. All the young men went to the war; none of them returned. Only Sai's son, the cripple stayed at home and remained alive long to his father's joy.
When President McKinley took the oath of office as President of the United States, he placed his lips on these words: “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, that is so great.” Though advanced to the highest honor possible, yet he was deeply conscious of his responsibility; and also felt his need of divine assistance.
Just after the inauguration, Rev. W. V. Morrison of New England, who had been one of Mr. McKinley’s teachers when a boy, called upon the President. When leaving, Mr. Morrison said, “You have a great responsibility devolving upon you, but the love and confidence of the American people are behind you.” The president replied: “I hope I shall have the sympathy and prayers of yourself and all good people.”
—Current Anecdotes
We often agonize over what is God's will for my life. In a discussion of this one author said that we don't know enough about the future to agonize too much. But we do know that we have a responsibility today. A friend told him that he should just get up and go to work and do his best to give glory to God and then go home and fulfill his responsibility as a husband and fother. The author reacted. Here are his exact words:
"He (the friend who advised him as above) was stating the patently obvious, what in my anxiety I had been overlooking. My uncertainty was inadvertently crippling my ability to do God's known will. Someone once said that in this life, we should not look much past lunch, because that's about as far out as we can know for certain.
My point is simply this: When in doubt about your next step, refocus on what you know for certain."
-- Dave Goetz, guest columnist and editor of the ChurchLeadership.Net newsletter.
I saw recently on a news broadcast where a woman had gotten out of her car and had left it running and in gear. When she stepped out the wheels lock and the car began to travel in a circle around the parking lot. Out of control and with no one to stop it the police came and tried several unsuccessful attempts to stop the car. Finally, one brave officer jumped onto the car's hood, then to the roof and managed to climb in the driver's side door and apply the brake.
How like this is to the believer's life when they abandon the help and control of God. All that power, out of control and hopelessly going no where fast. How hard it is also for the believer to take control of a life run amuck without God.
--Shelton Cole
submitted by: Miguel
There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer, and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry so he offered her a Twinkie.
She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"
He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."
Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!
Gladys Talbot tells the story of three little trees who wanted to be something in life. The first tree wanted to be a pretty cradle when it grew up. One day some people came to the forest and cut the tree down. The tree was hewn into rough pieces and carelessly put together to form a manger in a stable in Bethlehem. The little tree was disappointed because it was shoved into a dark cave with no one to see it but some cattle. One day however, God laid there His own Babe -- the Son of God. the manger quivered with delight. "Oh, this is wonderful! In all my dreams I never thought to hold a Baby like this. This is better than all my planning. Why, I am part of a miracle!"
Years passed by, and men came to the forest to cut down the second tree. This tree aspired to be a great ship when it grew up. But the little tree did not do great things. It was not made into a great vessel, but instead it became a tiny fishing boat, owned by a simple Galilean fisherman named Peter. The little boat was most unhappy. One day it stood by the shores of the Sea of Galilee dejected and disappointed. A crowd had gathered by the shore and because of the multitude, a Man, called Jesus, stepped into the little boat and taught the people from it. "This is wonderful!" it whispered. "In all my dreams and planning I never thought I would be used as part of a miracle."
After some months, men came to the forest to cut down the third tree. This tree just wanted to remain on the hillside and point to God. But men did not leave the little tree alone. They tore away its branches; they cut into its bark, and deeper, into its very heart. They hewed it apart and put it together again, in the form of a crude cross. The little tree quivered through all its being.
"This is terrible!" it whispered. "They are going to hang someone. Oh, I never wanted this to happen to me -- I only wanted to point to God! This is awful!"
One day, outside of Jerusalem, a great crowd gathered. In the midst of the crowd was Jesus and beside Him was the cross. After nailing Him to the cross, the little tree heard words of forgiveness and peace that were offered to the whole world. Then Christ completed His work of redemption and "gave up the ghost."
And the cross began to understand! "This is wonderful!" it whispered. "In all my dreams I never thought to point to God in this way. I am part of a miracle. This is better than all my planning."
-- Talbot, G.M., Stories I Love to Tell, (Chicago: Moody Press).
A boy in Decatur, Illinois, was deeply interested in photography. He answered an ad in a magazine, ordering a book on photography. The publisher made a mistake and sent him instead a book about magic and ventriloquism, and he began practicing the art of throwing his voice. He created a wooden dummy to whom, at one time, millions of people listened on Sunday evenings -- Charlie McCarthy. Edgar Bergen had turned a mistake into a fabulous career. James Whistler, the renowned artist, wanted more than anything to be a soldier. He even entered West Point as a cadet. But he failed in a chemistry examination. Later he joked about the one wrong answer that had meant the difference between passing and failing. He said, "if silicon had been a gas, I would have been a major general instead of an artist."
Commenting on these 2 examples, Eric Butterworth noted, "in your own frustrating experience you can and should take a good look at a bad break. There may well be in your frustration the means of making it fruitful!
See: Romans 8:28-32; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 1:12-14
One winter’s day in 1850 a teenager who was deeply troubled about spiritual things found it impossible to go to the church where it was his custom to attend. Let him tell the story.
“It snowed so much, I could not go to the place where I had determined to go, and I was obliged to stop on the road, and it was a blessed stop to me -- I found rather an obscure street, and turned down a court, and there was a little chapel. I wanted to go somewhere, but I did not know this place. It was the Primitive Methodists’ chapel. I had heard of these people from many, and how they sang so loudly that they make people’s heads ache; but that did not matter. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they made my head ache ever so much I did not care.
So sitting down, the service went on, but no minister came. At last a very thin looking man came into the pulpit and opened his Bible and read these words: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.”
Just setting his eyes upon me, as if he knew me all by heart, he said: “Young man, you are in trouble.” Well, I was, sure enough. Says he, “You will never get out of it unless you look to Christ.”
And then, lifting up his hands, he cried out, as only I think, a Primitive Methodist could do, “Look, look, look. It’s only look!” said he. I saw at once the way of salvation. Oh, how I did leap for joy at that moment! I know not what else he said: I did not take much notice of it -- I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, they only looked and were healed. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard this word, “Look!” what a charming word it seemed to me. Oh, I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away.”
The teenager? Charles Spurgeon! What if the thin looking man, whose name we do not know, had said to himself: “Well, it is too cold to go out today. It’s snowing. No one will expect me to go to church today”? Supposing that he had said something like that -- what would have happened to young Spurgeon? Would he have found the solution to his problem, the answer to his quest? See in God’s providential ordering of things what led to Spurgeon’s salvation: the snowstorm, the change in Spurgeon’s plans, the absence of the usual minister, the presence of the thin looking man, his choice of text and his bold confrontation of the teenager. All of that contributed to Spurgeon’s conversion.
Submitted by: Rev Clayton W Smith
Email address: cws@valise.com
We are surrounded each day my man's efforts to circumvent the natural discourse of the creator and the created.
I Chronicles 16:10-12 "Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth..."
Seeking the founder and maker of all that exists seems irrelevant to modern day men. In fact their efforts have resulted in their denying the existence of their maker altogether.
Psalms 14:1 ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, none doth well."
It is this that has so angered God.
Psalms 14:4 "Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD."
The intent of man is to live wickedly and deny the presence and power of God in the affairs of men. Yet God preservers with courage unseen in anyone else. He bravely defies human logic and offers up a sacrifice to make peace between himself and his creation.
Isaiah 53:10-11 "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt makes his soul an offering for sin, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in his hand. He will see of the travail of his soul, and will be satisfied: by his knowledge will my righteous servants justify many; for him will bear their iniquities."
Yet man still rejects the voice of the Lord. Time passes and sorrow increases. Nevertheless, it is as if there is no God, no deity to commune with, to listen to and to lean on. The people cry, "where is God, " and he softly answers I have always been there.
Revelations 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Often this love goes unrequited and God goes away angry and sadden. He understands the human heart and the natural disdain man has for him yet he must eventually punish them. The day of the Lord is at hand, the world must call upon him while have time.
Joel 1:15 "Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
The day of the Lord will come and all who have denied God shall perish but all those who believe can trust in the faithful words of St. John.
Revelation 3:3-7 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."
Tis so sweet to trust in God, our maker, savior and friend. God bless all those who have understood these words. Remember, our Lord is faithful to the end.
In The Sacred Journey, Frederick Buechner writes:
[One] winter I sat in Army fatigues somewhere near Anniston, Alabama, eating my supper out of a mess kit. The infantry training battalion that I had been assigned to was on bivouac. There was a cold drizzle, and everything was mud. The sun had gone down.
I was still hungry when I finished and noticed that a man nearby had something left over that he was not going to eat. It was a turnip, and when I asked him if I could have it, he tossed it over to me. I missed the catch, the turnip fell to the ground, but I wanted it so badly that I picked it up and started eating it anyway, mud and all.
And then, as I ate it, time deepened and slowed down again. With a lurch of the heart that is real to me still, I saw suddenly, almost as if from beyond time altogether, that not only was the turnip good, but the mud was good too, even the drizzle and cold were good, even the Army that I had dreaded for months.
Sitting there in the Alabama winter with my mouth full of cold turnip and mud, I could see at least for a moment how if you ever took truly to heart the ultimate goodness and joy of things, even at their bleakest, the need to praise someone or something for it would be so great that you might even have to go out and speak of it to the birds of the air.
In the center of main street in Enterprise, Alabama, stands one of the strangest monuments in the world. It's a memorial to an insect! Handsomely carved in stone is the likeness of a boll weevil. Many believe that divine providence was involved in the circumstances that led to the erection of this unusual statue. In early plantation days almost everyone in the community raised cotton. But as the years rolled on, a serious pestilence infested the area in the form of a small beetle that punctured the boll of the plant. As a result, it became almost impossible to bring a season's growth to maturity. George Washington Carver, along with several other scientists, became deeply concerned about the situation and began intensive studies to see if any substitute crop could be grown in that part of the country. Raising peanuts was the answer, for they could be planted and harvested with very little loss. In time, cotton gins were forgotten in that region, and it became known as an outstanding peanut center of the world. Soon the farmers' profits far exceeded what they had earned from their best cotton yield. In the end, they realized that the destructive insect they had feared had actually triggered the research that brought them prosperity.
The Lord often allows trials to unsettle our lives for a blessed purpose. Perhaps we are trying to “grow cotton” when we should be “raising peanuts.” If so, the delays and disappointments we experience are just the gracious “boll weevils” sent to redirect us so that we will plant the crop of God's choosing!
Change or God
Dr. Richard Swenson said, "For millenia upon millenia change was slow, controlled, assessable; now it convulses at warp speed. Change is the name of the game for all of us. In 1978 in the average grocery store you had 11,767 items to choose from, today that number is 24,531. A single edition of the NY Times carries more information than the average 17th century British citizen would encounter in a lifetime. At times the change and choices can be overwhelming. When American astronaut Alan Shepherd was getting ready to head into space for the very first time, a reporter asked him "What are you depending on in this flight?" He answered, "I'm depending on the fact that God's laws will not change."
TS--Shepherd is right that God will not change, his laws do not change, his word does not change, his love does not change. In the changing times we have a God who can be trusted to keep his promises. In the present, I am confident about the future, because of what God has done in the past. (Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, forever.)
God is not a power or principle or law, but he is a living, creating, communicating person -- a mind who thinks, a heart who feels, a will who acts, whose best name is Father.
... Robert Hamill
Title: GOD: A Board of One!
Subject: Apostasy; Church health; Evangelism; Nominality; Sheep
Reference: Ezekiel 8:12; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 10:2a
Illustration: Our Home Owners Association (HOA) has a professional gardener who sends a crew around twice a week to tend the grass, shrubs, and trees. At a general HOA meeting the other night, a resident complained about the conditions of the grounds and about the high monthly fee. The board representative asked the resident to be specific; could she "cite an example"?
The resident, not with a little heat in her voice, answered, "Well, for crying out loud, there’s a dead bush across from my living room window they’ve been trimming for two years"!
The roar of laughter drowned out the board member’s whispered, "We’ll look into it."
Application: Needless to say, the garden of God’s temple on earth is littered with dead "bushes" which are trimmed each and every week, whether they need it or not. Like the association’s dead bush, there are churches which have had no signs of life for years ... and yet they are dutifully maintained, as if no one notices.
I know what will soon happen to the bush where I live, the board was so embarrassed it will be gone before I can take a picture of it. But I’m not as certain what will happen with the churches I’m referring to ... but the people who occupy them, like Israel, sincerely believe the Lord doesn’t care or at least can’t see that they’re dead.
Source/Attribution: John Gillmartin
"Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty." Isaiah 2:10
People love to put God in a box. To satisfy their own thinking or to support their side of an argument, they build a box, label it, put God in it, and shrinkwrap it.
One popular box is the "love" box. It's the one people use when they want to think of God as a benevolent grandpa-type character who loves everybody so much He couldn't possibly punish them. No matter what the sin they get involved in, these individuals suggest that God just smiles a big sunshiny smile and looks the other way. "My God loves people too much to punish them," folks say as they close the box.
There is no box big enough to put God in. His characteristics are so wide-ranging that we cannot begin to fathom the totality of His being. Sure, He is a God of love, but as Isaiah 2 points out, He is also a God of terror: "The day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, . . . and it shall be brought low" (v.12). That's not the action of a tolerant, anything-goes God.
Our job as God-followers is to know Him as completely as we can. We need to investigate His seemingly opposite characteristics and bow before Him -- our glorious, almighty, and complex Lord. --JDB
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
God is holy (Ex. 3:3-6), yet merciful (Ps. 108:4);
just (Acts 17:30-31), yet loving (Jn. 3:16-17);
unsearchable (Ps. 145:3), yet knowable (Jn. 14:6-9).
To strengthen your faith in God,
seek the face of God.
The Lord Is Looking
Read: Luke 12:1-5
There is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. --Luke 12:2
Looking through his telescope, an astronomer was making observations of the setting sun. As he was adjusting his lens, he noticed the top of a hill several miles away.
On the hill were two boys stealing apples from an orchard. One was shaking down the fruit and the other was standing watch. They thought no one was watching them, but the astronomer saw their every move.
How much more does the all-seeing eye of God behold everything we do--whether in the open or in private. This is a disturbing thought that could lead us to despair. But God not only sees and remembers, He also forgives and forgets if we come to Him in repentance and confession. The Lord promises to do these things with our sins:
Forgive them all (1 Jn. 1:9).
Cast them into the sea (Mic. 7:19).
Take them away (Isa. 6:7).
Cover them up (Ps. 32:1).
Blot them out (Acts 3:19).
Put them away (Heb. 9:26).
Remember them no more (Heb. 8:12).
We can't hide our sins from God. So let's confess them and accept His gracious forgiveness. --M. R. De Haan, M.D.
O God, I have been guilty, I confess,
Thy Spirit has at last my sins made known;
Forgive me, Lord, and I will evermore
Devote myself to Thee and Thee alone. --Smith
God has an all-seeing eye--and an all-forgiving heart.
God or Greed or Dishonesty
As students entered the lunch line at Asbury Theological Seminary in
Wilmore, Ky., a sign greeted them over a bowl of apples that read: "Take only
one apple. God is watching you." At the other end of the line there was a large
pan of cookies with a hastily written sign reading: "Take as many cookies as you
want. God is back watching the apples." (Reader's Digest-Contributed to "Campus
Comedy" by Gary P. Uber)
TS--How often do we leave church on Sunday and leave God there "to watch the
apples" and think that He's not watching those "cookies" that we are faced with
on Monday... By Michael Rains
This was written by an 8-year-old, Danny Dutton of Chula Vista, California, for his third grade homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God.
EXPLANATION OF GOD
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."
"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off."
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your Mom and Dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K."
"His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important."
"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time."
"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church or do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway."
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."
"But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases. And...that's why I believe in God."
*
A little boy asked, "Why is it that when I open a marigold it dies, but if God does it, it's so beautiful?" Before anyone could answer him, he said, "I know! It's because God always works from the inside."
That's God's wise way of working with men-from the inside.
A Christian businessman who had suffered heavy losses was tempted to doubt the goodness of God. "Why did He allow these reverses to come to me?" he questioned. One night as he sat dejected and discouraged before the fireplace, his six-year-old son came and sat in his lap.
Over the mantle hung a motto that read, "God's works are perfect."
"Daddy, what does perfect mean?" asked the boy. Before the father could reply he continued, "Does it mean that God never makes a mistake?" The thought was just what the father needed. Hugging his son to him he said, "Yes, Johnny, that's just what it means!"
Dr. Robert E. Speer tells the story of an old sculptor who was cutting a figure that was to stand in a niche in the wall so that its back would never be seen, yet he was working with the same painstaking care on the back as on the front. Someone asked, "Why are you working on the back of that figure? No one will see it." "Ah," replied the sculptor, "God will always be looking upon it." "I am not sure," continues Dr. Speer, "that it is not on the obscurities of our lives that God looks, far more than on what we regard as our real life, upon which men look. What He looks at, after all, is what is back of the life." That is the heart.
Siamese Bettas are called "fighting fish" because the males will fight each other to the death. Usually, if only one of the species is kept in a fish tank, it gets along well with the other fish. Yet in reproduction, it is the male that makes the nest. Using its saliva and air, the male builds a nest of tiny bubbles, each smaller than a BB-shot. When the nest is about the diameter of a coffee cup, the male mates with the female and the eggs fall. The male gathers the eggs and places each one in an air bubble.
After mating and during the gestation period, the male remains under the bubble nest, not eating. He carefully catches each developing egg when a bubble breaks and places it in a new bubble. He continues this effort around the clock under a forced fast for about two weeks. When the young hatch out, they usually are too small to be seen by the naked eye, but the male fighting fish cares for them until they begin to leave the nest and adhere to the sides of the breeding tank looking like little shards of broken glass.
Suddenly the time of parenting is over. It is as though an alarm goes off inside the fish, as it turns from minister to marauder. If the breeder is not alert, he may lose all the young to the hungry father, who then eats up the very ones he so diligently cared for.
How fortunate is man that God has designed parents so that though the young may become independent and venture in life on their own, unlike these fish, ours are not short-term parents, but lifetime parents, even as God is our eternal parent.
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