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)