TODAY'S QUOTE

“That brings out this point: If your eye

is simple, if you’re sincere, if you are not

too profound, if you don’t know too many

arguments, if you can’t quote all the

theologians, then you have a much better

chance to reach God.  I am sorry to say it,

but experience over many years has

convinced me of that.  Theology normally

does not help people’s faith.”

- Derek Prince -

Jesus said;

"I tell you the truth, unless you

turn from your sins and become

like little children, you will never

get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

So anyone who becomes as humble

as this little child is the greatest

in the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Matthew 18:3,4 NLT)

 

GOD'S PEACE

"Then you will experience God's peace,

which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds

as you live in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:7 NLT)

I have what is a new experience to me.

I have believed the above verse "all my 

life."  But the last few days has driven it

home to me in a new way.

On the internet I met a man that in all

appearances is likely a Christian brother.

I do not particularly question that.  As you

can imagine he has a problem and wants 

help.  NO, not money.  But for me to write

and lend my help or influence to change his

circumstances.

As a Christian I want to help people.  So,

I began to write [email] for him.  But I noticed

that I was not real comfortable with the situation.

And even worse I was loosing my peace 

[relationship] to the Lord.

So I told him I would have to quit.  When I

did the peace returned.

Then he began to bag and plead with me to 

help.  I was the only one he trusted and was

able to help him etc.

Again I went to the Lord in prayer.  [A lot of prayer.]

Was I miss understanding.  The man needed help. 

So, I begin to prepare to help him.

And, again I lost the peace of God that passes

understanding.

That of course took a final NO.

I do not know if the Lord was protecting 

me and keeping me out of trouble.  Or

perhaps even wanting the man's problem

solved in a another manner or by some 

one else.

Either way, I thank God for Guiding me

with the presence and/or the absence of 

his peace.

THANK GOD.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"So prepare your minds for action

and exercise self-control.  Put all

your hope in the gracious salvation

that will come to you when Jesus

Christ is revealed to the world."

(1 Peter 1:13 NLT)

 

LEARNING.

 

"Such things were written in the

Scriptures long ago to teach us.

And the Scriptures give us hope

and encouragement as we wait

patiently for God's promised to

be fulfilled."

(Romans 15:4 NLT)

Reading in the Old Testament books of

Chronicles can be, well, real boring.

However for my self the book of 

2 Chronicles is exciting.  It has plenty

of boring stuff in it as it gives all the

genealogies. 

But,  there is something that stands out,

over and over and over again that is 

instructive to me.

Every time a King trusted God,

God performed outstanding miracles

for them. Also he prospered them.

For example;

"Hezekiah sought his God 

wholeheartedly.  As a result,

he was very successful."

(2 Chronicles 31:21 NLT)

Another word of warning though.

At least three of these kings that God

helped in such outstanding ways

messed up bad.  They either began to

trust them selves thinking they could

handle it;  and they begin trusting in 

outside help rather than God.  Or,

they became proud because of the 

blessings God had given them.

Then they ended up in a "royal mess".

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do, and he will 

show you which path to take."

(Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

"We have no desire to build a single church

building anywhere!  This allows the gospel

to be spread rapidly, is harder for the authorities

to detect, and allows us to channel all our

resources directly into gospel ministry."

-Brother Run in 

The Heavenly Man.

 

HELP

I am confronted with a problem that is

to big for me.  There are things involved

that I have no control over.

I of course have been praying about it.

This morning in my devotional time just

as a matter of course the Lord brought 

these two kings to my attention.

King Abijah

A war broke out between King Abijah

with 400,000 soldiers and King Jeroboam

with 800,000 soldiers.  When King Abijah

and the soldiers of Judah realized that 

they were trapped;

"When Judah realized that they

were being attacked from the front

and rear, they cried out to the LORD

for help."

(2 Chronicles 13:14 NLT)

I don't even need to tell you, GOD

helped Abijah and Judah win.

Then there is King Asa when Judah

was confronted with a Ethiopian 

million man army .

"Then Asa cried out to the LORD

his God, 'O lord, no one but you 

can help the powerless against the

mighty!  Help us, O LORD our God,

for we trust in you alone.  It is in 

your name that we have com against

this vast horde." 

(2 Chronicles 14:11 NLT)

Yes, you guessed it again,

God helped King Asa and Judah win.

SAD, but somewhere along the line King

Asa began to look to mankind for help

instead of God.

Asa relied on King Benhadad by buying

his help rather than relying on God when

he had another war situation.

THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

Later;

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign,

Asa developed a serious foot disease. 

Yet even with the severity of his disease,

he did not seek the LORD'S help but

turned only to his physicians."

(2 Chronicles 16:12 NLT)

Asa had a glorious reign when he relied

on God for help.

But,

we could almost say he died a fool's death

by turning to man for help.

"My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!"

(Psalms 121:2 NLT)

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

"Then he said to the crowd, ' If

any of you wants to be my follower,

you must give up your own way,

take up your cross daily and follow

me.  If you try to hang on to your

life, you will lose it.  But if you give

up your life for my sake, you will

save it."   

(Luke 9:23,24 NLT)

WHAT IS YOUR TITLE.

Yes, I could legitimately hang a title on

my name.  The certificates or proof of 

it are in my office buried in an old

scrap book -WHERE THEY BELONG.

When you have lived as long as I have,

you get tired of seeing the pride of man-

kind in or out of the church.  See if a 

fancy title matches the thinking of Jesus.

"Everything they do is for show.

On their arms they wear extra wide

prayer boxes with Scripture verses

inside, and they wear robes with ex-

tra long tassels.  And they love to 

sit at the head table at banquets and

in the seats of honor in the syna-

rogues.  They love to receive re-

spectul greetings as they walk in

the marketplaces, and to be called

'Rabbi.'

"Don't let anyone call you 'Rab-

bi,' for you have only one teacher,

and all of you are equal as brothers

and sisters.  And don't address

anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for

only God in heaven is your Father.

And don't let anyone call you

'Teacher,' for you have only one

teacher, the Messiah.  The greatest

among you must be a servant.  But

those who exalt themselves will be

humbled, and those who humble

themselves will be exalted."

(Matthew 23:5 - 12 NLT)

That makes me want to avoid even the 

title of "Mr.".  I am happy just being 

called "Brother".  I confess, I am learning

to like the title "grandpa".  Forgive me

Lord.

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

"We have no desire to build a single

church building anywhere!  This

allows the gospel to spread rapidly,

is harder for the authorities to detect,

and allows us to channel all our resources

directly into gospel ministry."

-Brother Yun in

The Heavenly Man._

 

THEORETICAL CHRISTIANS

                                                               It was A.W. Tozer who said;

"We have today theological saints who can (and

must) be proved to be saints by an appeal to

the Greek original.  We need saints whose lives

proclaim their sainthood,  and who need not run

to the concordance for authentication."

Our Churches today are full of theoretical, theological

or fake Christians.  They may look good, but they are

not the real thing.

I KNOW!

Who made me the judge.

I am not the judge.  Jesus is.

All we have to do is look at the fruit.

"You can identify them by their fruit,

that is, by the way they act.  Can

you pick grapes from thorn bushes,

or figs from thistles?"

(Matthew 7:16 NLT)

"Yes, just as you can identify a 

tree by its fruit, so you can 

identify people by their actions."

(Matthew 7:20 NLT)

Those of us who have raised sheep and goats

know the difference of the "baa" of a sheep as

vs. the bleating of a goat just as you know the 

difference between the meow of a cat as vs.

the bark of a dog.

Christians, that is the true children or family

of God, have characteristics that differ from 

the characteristics of the world.  We are given

them when we are born into the family of God.

How do we get into the family of God?

Just like a family here on earth.  You are

born into it, or married into it, or adopted

into it.  All good Biblical expressions used

in the Scriptures for Children of God - i.e.

Christians.

Joining a church will not do it.  The beliefs

or doctrines you hold will not do it.  Your

opinions will not do it. etc. etc. etc.

There must be a definite transaction with

God almighty.

There must be a repenting, i.e. as change of

mind and turning to God, an asking for his 

forgiveness for failure and sin and then a 

submitting to Jesus Christ to become LORD

and the Savior over your life.

WE HAVE TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP 

WITH JESUS CHRIST.

or else.

"Not everyone who calls out to me,

'Lord! Lord! will enter the Kingdom

of Heaven.  Only those who actually 

do the will of my Father in heaven

will enter.  On judgment day many

will say to me, 'Lord! Lord!  We

prophesied in your name and cast

out demons in your name and per-

formed many miracles in your 

name.'  But I will reply, 'I never

knew you.  Get away from me, you

who break God's laws.'".

(Matthew 7:21 - 23 NLT)

Do you only profess Jesus Christ,

or possess Christ?

TODAY'S PROMISE

"For even the Son of Man came

not to be served but to serve

others and to give his life as

a ransom for many." 

(Mark 10:45 NLT)

 

FAIR WEATHER CHRISTIANS

I live in an area that is extremely popular

with "motorcyclist".  They just love to ride

our hills with all their curvy roads.  That is,

if the weather is nice.

About 15 miles from where I live we have 

about the 6th. largest motorcycle rally in the 

nation.  But in all of this I have learned something.

There are what we call "Fair weather riders."

If the sun is shining and the day is nice, they

will put on their biker costume and go for a 

ride.  Especially if the neighbors are out to 

watch them ride by.  [That is in contrast to 

those of us who rode year around.]

In other words, their whole heart is not into

riding all the time.  Just when it is fun.

Many years ago in Israel there was a king

named Jehu.  He was a God chosen man.

Anointed by God's prophet and he accomplished

what God told him to do.

"But Jehu did not obey the Law of 

the LORD, the God of Israel with all

his heart."

(2 Kings 10:31 NLT)

Jehu obeyed only what he wanted to, when

he wanted to, to accomplish what he wanted

to.  I do not need to tell you that when Jehu's

life was finished - his standing with God was

not favorable.

How about those of us who claim to be Christians.

Are we "Christian" when it is convenient and makes

a good impression on other people?  But the rest of

our life is spent the way we want to spend it?

I need to remember;

"You must love the LORD your God

with all your heart, all your soul, and

all you mind.  This is the first and 

greatest commandment."

(Matthew 22:37, 38 NLT)

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

“Throughout his long life as a best-selling

author and speaker, Wesley, had he lived

today, would have been a millionaire many

times over.  Yet he diligently operated his

affairs so that he never had more than a few

dollars in his pocket.  He conducted a world-

wide ministry, yet he always said he handled

his financial affairs with such simplicity that

there would be no need of a will or executor

for his estate.

“And he was true to his word.  By the time

God called him home, friends and family 

were to find Wesley had indeed quietly and

systematically give it all away to the Lord’s

work.  Nothing was left but the loose change

in his pockets.”

                       -K.P. Yohannan in

                     The Road To Reality 

APPEARANCE

You guessed it.  I have already taken this 

character's photo out of my computer.

I guess I am throwing it out to you. I 

don't want the clutter in my computer.

You see, I am an old, old, old man and

I have some ideals that do not match 

with this age.  But, it makes me confess

that I look too much on the outward

appearance.

An example.  There was an evangelist

very active in evangelism when I was

younger.  He has since passed away.

But this brother's appearance was a 

turn off to me, so I more or less discounted

him, or ignored him and his ministry.

Why, he had enough hair on him as

a man that he would have needed a

beautician instead of a barber.  And

on top of that he had a funny looking 

little goatee.  How can some one looking

like that be a man of God?

But the last few years when I am reading

more broadly about the workings of God

in this present age, would you believe it?

God used this man to save thousands of 

people around the world and was used to

heal thousands of people also.

Maybe God does not look at people 

like I do.

"But the LORD said to Samuel,

'Don't judge by his appearance or 

height, for I have rejected him.  The

LORD doesn't see things the way you

see them.  People judge by outward

appearance, but the LORD looks at

the heart."

(1Samuel 16:7 NLT)

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Remain in me, and I will remain in

you.  For a branch cannot produce

fruit if it is severed from the vine,

and you cannot be fruitful unless

you remain in me."

(John 15:4 NLT)

 

THEORETICAL CHRISTIAN

 

“We have today theological saints 

who can (and must) be proved to be 

saints by an appeal to the Greek 

original.  We need saints whose lives

proclaim their sainthood, and who 

need not run to the concordance for 

authentication.”

- A.W. Tozer -

Here I am back on a kick I've been on for some time now.

I have preacher friends who like to throw out big fancy

theological terms that regular people do not know.   Lets 

face it, they want to show how smart they are.  [As a 

young man I was there, I know.]  And, now I see all the 

churches today without the power of God, but a lot of 

knowledge about God.

Now here is a true theologian.

Remember;

"Jesus called a little child to him

and put the child among them.

Then he said, 'I tell you the truth,

unless you turn from your sins and

become like little children, you will 

never get Tinto the kingdom of 

Heaven."

(Matthew 18:3 NLT)

Personally I want to forget all the fancy

talk and theology books, then get back

to the simplicity of the Apostles and the 

power of God working in my life, not

just my head.

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Great faith is the product of great 

fights.  Great testimonies are the 

outcome of great tests.  Great 

triumphs can only come out

of great trials.”

- Smith Wigglesworth -