We Love By His Life
by Jon Walker
“I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NLT)
When Jesus commands us to do something, he knows we cannot do it unless we are empowered by him – and so he joins his life with the Holy Spirit within us. Thus, “Christ lives in me.”
This new life within will take us where thoughts or feelings never will; it will enable us more than information or willpower ever can. We receive the love and life of Jesus, and he says, “Go and do the same.” As awesome and costly and everlasting as the Gospel is, it’s also this simple: We are transformed by the life of Christ released within us, and now we’re to show and tell others how Christ can live in them.
And isn’t it true that for a while this seems to be the easiest and most natural thing we’ve ever done? We get love from Jesus, and then we turn around and give it away to others.
But then, after a while, we find it more and more difficult. Old habits return. Memories come back, and the emotions attached to them emerge in ways that cause us to stumble or feel defeated.
No matter how hard we try, some days sheer willpower isn’t enough to be the new creation that God says we are. And so we try harder, and things just get worse.
But God is relentless in his command to “love each other in the same way that I have loved you” – personal and up-close, meeting needs of undeserving others, not attacking their faults. This is God driving us away from the self-generated, “try harder” love into his love that is freely given. This is where the Spirit of Love - himself - is able to teach us, “Not I, but Christ.”
We begin to see it is no longer “just I” doing the loving – that would be life under the Law. Success would bring self-commendation; failure would produce self-condemnation.
We learn to say in faith: “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NLT)
What now?
· Personal love – Since God’s love is personal, it must be personalized as us. God’s love becomes personal and meaningful to others when we allow God to touch them through us.
· See the need; don’t criticize it – Oswald Chambers said in My Utmost for His Highest, “God never allows us to see another person at fault so we may criticize them, but only that we might intercede.” Intercessors do not ignore or deny fault or sin; they address the needs behind the faults and the sins. We love one another as God loves us when we come to others not to just take swings, but with prayerful, godly solutions.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Situational Ethics
Situational Ethics
by Os Hillman, September 26, 2007
Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart. - Psalm 15:1-2
"I cannot believe they are not going to honor my bonus agreement," said the executive who was about to take another position in a new city. Her understanding of her present work agreement called for a bonus at the end of the year. Management saw the situation differently. "It's not right. I am entitled to that bonus," she complained.
It was time to leave. The company had given her a laptop to use. However, when she left, she decided that because the company was not going to pay her the bonus she was entitled to, she would simply keep the laptop as compensation due her. "And they would never miss it," she reasoned. She was now in the employment of the new company. As each day passed, she grew uneasier about her decision. She could not get it off her mind. Finally, she concluded that the Holy Spirit was telling her this decision was wrong and that she needed to call her former boss to confess her action. She called him and confessed what she had done and why she had done it. Her boss accepted her confession and forgave her. Strangely enough, he allowed her to keep the laptop computer.
Truth never changes. It is absolute. When we make decisions based on other actions that are taken, we move into making decisions based on the situation, not truth and righteousness. The executive may indeed have been wronged, but she had to address the wrong in the appropriate way. Trying to compensate for the wrong by doing something that violates another scriptural principle is called situational ethics. If the employer had never wronged the executive, do you think she would have felt justified in taking the computer? Probably not. When you isolate the two situations, you see that one action was taken in response to the other action.
Have you had any experiences in which you have used situational ethics? The Lord desires His people to have a higher standard, even at the cost of being wronged. Ask the Lord to reveal any business practices that may indicate situational ethics. You might be surprised what will happen when you do the right thing.
by Os Hillman, September 26, 2007
Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart. - Psalm 15:1-2
"I cannot believe they are not going to honor my bonus agreement," said the executive who was about to take another position in a new city. Her understanding of her present work agreement called for a bonus at the end of the year. Management saw the situation differently. "It's not right. I am entitled to that bonus," she complained.
It was time to leave. The company had given her a laptop to use. However, when she left, she decided that because the company was not going to pay her the bonus she was entitled to, she would simply keep the laptop as compensation due her. "And they would never miss it," she reasoned. She was now in the employment of the new company. As each day passed, she grew uneasier about her decision. She could not get it off her mind. Finally, she concluded that the Holy Spirit was telling her this decision was wrong and that she needed to call her former boss to confess her action. She called him and confessed what she had done and why she had done it. Her boss accepted her confession and forgave her. Strangely enough, he allowed her to keep the laptop computer.
Truth never changes. It is absolute. When we make decisions based on other actions that are taken, we move into making decisions based on the situation, not truth and righteousness. The executive may indeed have been wronged, but she had to address the wrong in the appropriate way. Trying to compensate for the wrong by doing something that violates another scriptural principle is called situational ethics. If the employer had never wronged the executive, do you think she would have felt justified in taking the computer? Probably not. When you isolate the two situations, you see that one action was taken in response to the other action.
Have you had any experiences in which you have used situational ethics? The Lord desires His people to have a higher standard, even at the cost of being wronged. Ask the Lord to reveal any business practices that may indicate situational ethics. You might be surprised what will happen when you do the right thing.
A forgetful faith
A Forgetful Faith
by Jon Walker
“I plan to keep on reminding you of these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12 NLT)
About nine months ago, my sense was that God wanted to deepen my faith, and so I stopped receiving a regular paycheck and started living, as we sometimes say, “on faith” – as if all of life isn’t lived on some sort of faith, even if misguided. (For example, I may think I’m guaranteed a paycheck from my employer over the next ten years, but who has promised me that?)
But I digress, which is, in a way, what this devotional is about. I soon found myself believing, with an absolute certainty, that God would provide. It was a rock-solid conviction, a certainty that it would happen – far different from the tentative “I hope it will happen” belief I have at other times mistaken for biblical faith.
I had no doubt God would provide, and so I started looking for his provision – even keeping a log of everything God gave us, and the list was impressive.
Yet within a few months I was staggered with doubt. I’d lost focus, or at least my focus on God, and I started scrambling for ways to generate income. I started believing, again, that it was my responsibility to “make things happen,” and that God may or may not come through.
You, my faithful friend, may be much further along than I am in learning to trust God; then again, you may have experienced exactly what I’m describing.
Could it be that I forgot what I believed? C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says you will never talk a man out of his faith, never debate him out of his beliefs – but what can happen is that he’ll slowly, imperceptibly at first, forget what he believes.
And then he’ll begin to act upon that lack of belief.
It may be that the Apostle Peter understood this tendency toward a forgetful faith. He told the early Church, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12, NLT)
Even though they already were standing on the truth, Peter saw it as necessary to remind them of their beliefs, that “on Christ the solid rock” they stood.
Long ago and far away, I took similar step of faith in order to study at seminary. I hadn’t been on campus two days when I backed into a post and wrecked my car. I was very angry at myself for such a careless mistake, knowing I had little in the bank.
Yet God used that as a “faith breakthrough” for me, as I came to realize that God, not my bank account, provided for me. And God knew I would make mistakes, so his provision could even cover my carelessness.
As it was – and it’s far too complex to fully explain in this setting – I got my car fixed with the insurance company paying the full amount (i.e., not charging me the deductible), and thanks to a newly enacted state law, my insurance payments remained the same. On top of that, as I left the body shop with my car, the man handed me $20 and said, “The insurance company said to give the difference to you.”
Wow! Now, you may want to know who my insurance company was (ha!) But the one who deserves the credit isn’t the insurance company but the God of the Universe, who spoke the world into existence, hung the moon and the stars, and owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
I told my story in class at seminary, and other students started sharing their own stories of how God had provided, again and again. Our professor said that’s how we’d all make it through our faith journey – just keep telling each other your stories of how God works in your life, remind yourselves and each other of what God has done in your midst.
What’s next?
· God’s provision list – Think over the past few years and make a list of all the ways God has provided for you. Praise God for his provision, and then share your list with others.
· Ask about God’s provision – Ask others to tell you how God has provided for them. Listen expectantly to how our awesome God works within our lives and encourage your friends to remember their own God-stories.
· Log answered prayers – Several years ago, a survey suggested that one of the reason high school students did not believe in prayer is because they never saw any prayers answered. Create a simple log of your prayer requests, then go back over it frequently to note how God answered the prayers. Often our prayers are answered, but we don’t notice because we’ve moved on to other concerns.
· Provision anniversary – Think about the most significant provisions God has made in your life. Select one and start an anniversary celebration to commemorate the provision each year. Essentially, that’s why holidays such as “Passover” are celebrated every year. It allows for an annual re-telling of God’s work in our lives.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved
by Jon Walker
“I plan to keep on reminding you of these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12 NLT)
About nine months ago, my sense was that God wanted to deepen my faith, and so I stopped receiving a regular paycheck and started living, as we sometimes say, “on faith” – as if all of life isn’t lived on some sort of faith, even if misguided. (For example, I may think I’m guaranteed a paycheck from my employer over the next ten years, but who has promised me that?)
But I digress, which is, in a way, what this devotional is about. I soon found myself believing, with an absolute certainty, that God would provide. It was a rock-solid conviction, a certainty that it would happen – far different from the tentative “I hope it will happen” belief I have at other times mistaken for biblical faith.
I had no doubt God would provide, and so I started looking for his provision – even keeping a log of everything God gave us, and the list was impressive.
Yet within a few months I was staggered with doubt. I’d lost focus, or at least my focus on God, and I started scrambling for ways to generate income. I started believing, again, that it was my responsibility to “make things happen,” and that God may or may not come through.
You, my faithful friend, may be much further along than I am in learning to trust God; then again, you may have experienced exactly what I’m describing.
Could it be that I forgot what I believed? C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says you will never talk a man out of his faith, never debate him out of his beliefs – but what can happen is that he’ll slowly, imperceptibly at first, forget what he believes.
And then he’ll begin to act upon that lack of belief.
It may be that the Apostle Peter understood this tendency toward a forgetful faith. He told the early Church, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12, NLT)
Even though they already were standing on the truth, Peter saw it as necessary to remind them of their beliefs, that “on Christ the solid rock” they stood.
Long ago and far away, I took similar step of faith in order to study at seminary. I hadn’t been on campus two days when I backed into a post and wrecked my car. I was very angry at myself for such a careless mistake, knowing I had little in the bank.
Yet God used that as a “faith breakthrough” for me, as I came to realize that God, not my bank account, provided for me. And God knew I would make mistakes, so his provision could even cover my carelessness.
As it was – and it’s far too complex to fully explain in this setting – I got my car fixed with the insurance company paying the full amount (i.e., not charging me the deductible), and thanks to a newly enacted state law, my insurance payments remained the same. On top of that, as I left the body shop with my car, the man handed me $20 and said, “The insurance company said to give the difference to you.”
Wow! Now, you may want to know who my insurance company was (ha!) But the one who deserves the credit isn’t the insurance company but the God of the Universe, who spoke the world into existence, hung the moon and the stars, and owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
I told my story in class at seminary, and other students started sharing their own stories of how God had provided, again and again. Our professor said that’s how we’d all make it through our faith journey – just keep telling each other your stories of how God works in your life, remind yourselves and each other of what God has done in your midst.
What’s next?
· God’s provision list – Think over the past few years and make a list of all the ways God has provided for you. Praise God for his provision, and then share your list with others.
· Ask about God’s provision – Ask others to tell you how God has provided for them. Listen expectantly to how our awesome God works within our lives and encourage your friends to remember their own God-stories.
· Log answered prayers – Several years ago, a survey suggested that one of the reason high school students did not believe in prayer is because they never saw any prayers answered. Create a simple log of your prayer requests, then go back over it frequently to note how God answered the prayers. Often our prayers are answered, but we don’t notice because we’ve moved on to other concerns.
· Provision anniversary – Think about the most significant provisions God has made in your life. Select one and start an anniversary celebration to commemorate the provision each year. Essentially, that’s why holidays such as “Passover” are celebrated every year. It allows for an annual re-telling of God’s work in our lives.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved
Conflicts by Charles R Swindoll
September 26, 2007
CONFLICTS
by Charles R. Swindoll
Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6
Paul found himself between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to be in heaven but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, I share the same frustration. “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and watch the Super Bowl . . . yet to remain in the pulpit is more necessary for your sake” (Phil. 1:23-24, Swindoll paraphrase).
Now don’t get me wrong. I love to preach. It’s one of the few things I’d rather do than eat—as my wife can testify. But I also love football. With only minor adjustments, both of these “loves” can be maintained without much difficulty . . . except for one Sunday a year. Super Bowl Sunday. On that particular day I freely admit, I have a conflict.
I’ve thought of all sorts of alternative plans:
Place a tiny TV on the pulpit shelf and bow in silent prayer several times (to check the score).
Put a Walkman in my suit coat and wear an earphone.
Ask an usher to signal the score periodically.
Conflicts are common. Unfortunately, they are seldom as lighthearted as this one. Some are, in fact, desperately serious.
What is a conflict? A conflict is an emotional collision. It is stress caused by incompatible desires or demands. It is what occurs when we have two or more impulses in competition with one another. The stronger the impulse, the greater the tension. The greater the tension, the louder the collision.
Conflicts come in many packages, such as when a mother wants to walk with God, raise her children to love the Lord and honor His name. But her husband is turned off to spiritual things. That woman has a conflict between her “mother impulses” and her “wife impulses.” She lives with an emotional collision.
I have no quick, easy solutions to complex conflicts. But I know this much: Our Lord cares for His own. Knowing our limitations, He urges us to “cast all our anxieties on Him” (1 Pet. 5:7) and to replace worry with active, specific prayer (Phil. 4:6). Prayer may not stop the collision, but, like seat belts, it sure can protect us from serious damage.
Subtract the power of Christ, the wisdom of His Word, the calming presence of the Holy Spirit, and you have unbearable collisions that lead to unbelievable tragedies.
Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
CONFLICTS
by Charles R. Swindoll
Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6
Paul found himself between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to be in heaven but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, I share the same frustration. “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and watch the Super Bowl . . . yet to remain in the pulpit is more necessary for your sake” (Phil. 1:23-24, Swindoll paraphrase).
Now don’t get me wrong. I love to preach. It’s one of the few things I’d rather do than eat—as my wife can testify. But I also love football. With only minor adjustments, both of these “loves” can be maintained without much difficulty . . . except for one Sunday a year. Super Bowl Sunday. On that particular day I freely admit, I have a conflict.
I’ve thought of all sorts of alternative plans:
Place a tiny TV on the pulpit shelf and bow in silent prayer several times (to check the score).
Put a Walkman in my suit coat and wear an earphone.
Ask an usher to signal the score periodically.
Conflicts are common. Unfortunately, they are seldom as lighthearted as this one. Some are, in fact, desperately serious.
What is a conflict? A conflict is an emotional collision. It is stress caused by incompatible desires or demands. It is what occurs when we have two or more impulses in competition with one another. The stronger the impulse, the greater the tension. The greater the tension, the louder the collision.
Conflicts come in many packages, such as when a mother wants to walk with God, raise her children to love the Lord and honor His name. But her husband is turned off to spiritual things. That woman has a conflict between her “mother impulses” and her “wife impulses.” She lives with an emotional collision.
I have no quick, easy solutions to complex conflicts. But I know this much: Our Lord cares for His own. Knowing our limitations, He urges us to “cast all our anxieties on Him” (1 Pet. 5:7) and to replace worry with active, specific prayer (Phil. 4:6). Prayer may not stop the collision, but, like seat belts, it sure can protect us from serious damage.
Subtract the power of Christ, the wisdom of His Word, the calming presence of the Holy Spirit, and you have unbearable collisions that lead to unbelievable tragedies.
Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord. He's the light that never ends!
27 September 2007
Julie A. Smith:
"NOTHING CAN ESCAPE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD. HE'S THE LIGHT THAT NEVER ENDS!"
Intro from Steve Shultz:
Julie has been editor of what we send out each day (as far as prophetic words) for quite some time now.
We had her before, and then after a brief hiatus, we were able to woo her back.
Though her experience has been in editing for years, that title is almost a "less than" title. You see, she is also a "prophetic seer" and I rely on her and several others to help me discern words that come our way. (No pressure there!)
So when she wrote this, I wanted to see it published and asked her if we could.
Fall (or autumn) is upon us. This is a great word from the Lord through Julie Smith about this upcoming season.
Be encouraged as you read it. That's what God does through this ministry--encourage the many, not just the few.
And don't forget to pass it along to your friends. You have our permission.
Blessings,
Steve Shultz
Founder, ElijahList and ElijahRain magazine
Email: www.elijahlist.net
This is a time for the maturity of many of God's miraculous plans to be birthed and to come forth.
Before the start of this new season, I was taken into a couple of visions revealing the upcoming autumn days filled with the goodness of the Lord. For me, autumn is a season to reflect on the goodness of the Lord as we watch the natural transformation into the fall colors of the great outdoors. Although it's a transition from the hot, long days of summer to the cool, crisp, shorter days of fall, the brilliant colors of autumn make up for the shorter days. And this is especially true living in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, where I live. The word autumn means: a time of full maturity and the season of the year when leaves change color, fall and fruits ripen, and a time when wine grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard.
The Goodness of the Lord
Last week, I had a vision of a huge tornado coming. This tornado was the Lord, Himself, and it was a tornado filled with the goodness of the Lord. I saw this tornado do many, many things as nothing could escape its path. It uprooted and replanted. It moved people from where they were to where they needed to be. It was moving so fast and furious, it was hard for me to comprehend all that it was doing. It was completely changing and rearranging people, places, situations and circumstances. It was moving EVERYTHING! Then I heard these words, "Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord."
The next day, I had a vision of a Tsunami. This was a Tsunami of the miraculous. As this huge wave came roaring into the shoreline, I saw it completely cover everything. It first of course roared into the beach line, then it went into the city and it completely covered the tallest buildings in the city. Everything was underwater. God told me that it was the miraculous coming in so strong and again, it would overtake everything in its path.
As I saw the deep waters rushing in, I heard the Lord say, "It's the miraculous coming in; nothing will be able to escape the miraculous. A Tsunami of the miraculous is rushing in." My understanding of it was that we are going to be hit hard and suddenly with many, many miracles. And again, I heard these words, "Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord."
As I said, I can't begin to comprehend this extraordinary and profound movement of God that is about to happen. It was too profound for my eyes to see and my mind to take in. Both the tornado and the tsunami were filled with the goodness of the Lord and the miraculous breakthroughs we've all been waiting for. This is a time for the maturity of many of God's miraculous plans to be birthed and to come forth.
Some of us are in situations and circumstances that look absolutely impossible to move. And many of us have been waiting for the promises of the Lord that only He can cause to happen. In fact, He's shown us incomprehensible hopes and dreams that have no way of happening, except that the miraculous of God hit us like a spiritual tornado and a tsunami. We were never even supposed to do anything to make these promises happen, because God WANTS to do it. He's the One who wants to come in where there could be no humanly way possible.
The Light that Never Ends
The morning after the Tsunami vision, I was in a half awake/sleep dream state and found myself in a place called "Disney Land." It looked like a gigantic romper room that had two colors--orange and yellow that covered every square inch of the room from floor to ceiling. The colors were intertwined with each other, crossing over each other and appeared like rays of sunlight. Then I noticed on one end of the room was a playground. I saw the play equipment with the pool of balls you can swim in (the ball pit) and I was running towards it with the biggest smile on my face. Then God said these words as I woke up, "I'm the Light that never ends."
Orange is known as a "harvest" color or one of autumn. It is also defined as the color of fire and indicates that one is tried and proven and signifies boldness, intimacy and companionship with God. The color yellow signifies enlightenment, golden, revelation and spiritual insight gained; and my favorite meaning of yellow is--celebration and joy; renewal and hope.
I was full of celebration and joy that morning I awoke from Disney Land! Much is heading our way in this miraculous autumn season! It is going to be a season of much restoration and hope as only the miraculous hand of God can come in and completely change and renew our lives, bringing new hope and joy to our spirits, while taking us to deeper places of companionship with Him. It's a time to play and it's a time for our harvest!
After these encounters, I keep singing this song over and over again, and it still won't stop playing in my head:
Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord.
He's the Light that never ends.
He's the Light that never ends.
Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord.
He's the Light that never ends.
He's the Light that never ends!
As we watch the great transformation of autumn colors, let us remember that neither we nor the changing seasons can escape the goodness of the Lord. And it doesn't matter how dark or impossible a situation may be, because He's the Light that never ends!
The time of hard labor in past seasons is over, it's time for the maturity and harvest of the ripened fall fruit, changing colors and new wine! Be encouraged for the miraculous overtaking you this autumn with the Goodness of the Lord!!!!
Julie A. Smith
The ElijahList
Email: info@elijahlist.net
New email to submit prophetic words:
submitaword@elijahlist.net
Julie's Bio:
Julie edits and then publishes the daily prophetic words that we, as a team, select for the ElijahList, which is sent out to all the subscribers. Her background includes over 15 years of business and management experience and several years of newspaper publishing as a newspaper editor and writer. Julie started three business ministries/non-profits and was director and founder of two. She recently started a writing and editing business called SmiteyPublications, LLC, and is currently writing her first book that will be a book for everyone of all ages. Julie lives in Salem, Oregon, and volunteers her professional skills, consulting others starting businesses/non-profits and enjoys volunteering with local outreach ministries.
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Julie A. Smith:
"NOTHING CAN ESCAPE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD. HE'S THE LIGHT THAT NEVER ENDS!"
Intro from Steve Shultz:
Julie has been editor of what we send out each day (as far as prophetic words) for quite some time now.
We had her before, and then after a brief hiatus, we were able to woo her back.
Though her experience has been in editing for years, that title is almost a "less than" title. You see, she is also a "prophetic seer" and I rely on her and several others to help me discern words that come our way. (No pressure there!)
So when she wrote this, I wanted to see it published and asked her if we could.
Fall (or autumn) is upon us. This is a great word from the Lord through Julie Smith about this upcoming season.
Be encouraged as you read it. That's what God does through this ministry--encourage the many, not just the few.
And don't forget to pass it along to your friends. You have our permission.
Blessings,
Steve Shultz
Founder, ElijahList and ElijahRain magazine
Email: www.elijahlist.net
This is a time for the maturity of many of God's miraculous plans to be birthed and to come forth.
Before the start of this new season, I was taken into a couple of visions revealing the upcoming autumn days filled with the goodness of the Lord. For me, autumn is a season to reflect on the goodness of the Lord as we watch the natural transformation into the fall colors of the great outdoors. Although it's a transition from the hot, long days of summer to the cool, crisp, shorter days of fall, the brilliant colors of autumn make up for the shorter days. And this is especially true living in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, where I live. The word autumn means: a time of full maturity and the season of the year when leaves change color, fall and fruits ripen, and a time when wine grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard.
The Goodness of the Lord
Last week, I had a vision of a huge tornado coming. This tornado was the Lord, Himself, and it was a tornado filled with the goodness of the Lord. I saw this tornado do many, many things as nothing could escape its path. It uprooted and replanted. It moved people from where they were to where they needed to be. It was moving so fast and furious, it was hard for me to comprehend all that it was doing. It was completely changing and rearranging people, places, situations and circumstances. It was moving EVERYTHING! Then I heard these words, "Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord."
The next day, I had a vision of a Tsunami. This was a Tsunami of the miraculous. As this huge wave came roaring into the shoreline, I saw it completely cover everything. It first of course roared into the beach line, then it went into the city and it completely covered the tallest buildings in the city. Everything was underwater. God told me that it was the miraculous coming in so strong and again, it would overtake everything in its path.
As I saw the deep waters rushing in, I heard the Lord say, "It's the miraculous coming in; nothing will be able to escape the miraculous. A Tsunami of the miraculous is rushing in." My understanding of it was that we are going to be hit hard and suddenly with many, many miracles. And again, I heard these words, "Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord."
As I said, I can't begin to comprehend this extraordinary and profound movement of God that is about to happen. It was too profound for my eyes to see and my mind to take in. Both the tornado and the tsunami were filled with the goodness of the Lord and the miraculous breakthroughs we've all been waiting for. This is a time for the maturity of many of God's miraculous plans to be birthed and to come forth.
Some of us are in situations and circumstances that look absolutely impossible to move. And many of us have been waiting for the promises of the Lord that only He can cause to happen. In fact, He's shown us incomprehensible hopes and dreams that have no way of happening, except that the miraculous of God hit us like a spiritual tornado and a tsunami. We were never even supposed to do anything to make these promises happen, because God WANTS to do it. He's the One who wants to come in where there could be no humanly way possible.
The Light that Never Ends
The morning after the Tsunami vision, I was in a half awake/sleep dream state and found myself in a place called "Disney Land." It looked like a gigantic romper room that had two colors--orange and yellow that covered every square inch of the room from floor to ceiling. The colors were intertwined with each other, crossing over each other and appeared like rays of sunlight. Then I noticed on one end of the room was a playground. I saw the play equipment with the pool of balls you can swim in (the ball pit) and I was running towards it with the biggest smile on my face. Then God said these words as I woke up, "I'm the Light that never ends."
Orange is known as a "harvest" color or one of autumn. It is also defined as the color of fire and indicates that one is tried and proven and signifies boldness, intimacy and companionship with God. The color yellow signifies enlightenment, golden, revelation and spiritual insight gained; and my favorite meaning of yellow is--celebration and joy; renewal and hope.
I was full of celebration and joy that morning I awoke from Disney Land! Much is heading our way in this miraculous autumn season! It is going to be a season of much restoration and hope as only the miraculous hand of God can come in and completely change and renew our lives, bringing new hope and joy to our spirits, while taking us to deeper places of companionship with Him. It's a time to play and it's a time for our harvest!
After these encounters, I keep singing this song over and over again, and it still won't stop playing in my head:
Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord.
He's the Light that never ends.
He's the Light that never ends.
Nothing can escape the goodness of the Lord.
He's the Light that never ends.
He's the Light that never ends!
As we watch the great transformation of autumn colors, let us remember that neither we nor the changing seasons can escape the goodness of the Lord. And it doesn't matter how dark or impossible a situation may be, because He's the Light that never ends!
The time of hard labor in past seasons is over, it's time for the maturity and harvest of the ripened fall fruit, changing colors and new wine! Be encouraged for the miraculous overtaking you this autumn with the Goodness of the Lord!!!!
Julie A. Smith
The ElijahList
Email: info@elijahlist.net
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Julie edits and then publishes the daily prophetic words that we, as a team, select for the ElijahList, which is sent out to all the subscribers. Her background includes over 15 years of business and management experience and several years of newspaper publishing as a newspaper editor and writer. Julie started three business ministries/non-profits and was director and founder of two. She recently started a writing and editing business called SmiteyPublications, LLC, and is currently writing her first book that will be a book for everyone of all ages. Julie lives in Salem, Oregon, and volunteers her professional skills, consulting others starting businesses/non-profits and enjoys volunteering with local outreach ministries.
Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep ElijahList website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.
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Standing Firm
STANDING FIRM
by Charles R. Swindoll
1 Corinthians 15-16
I heard a statistic the other day that blew my mind. Anna Sklar, the author of a book called Runaway Wives, was a guest on a local talk show. In the course of the discussion, she cited that ten years ago, for every wife or mother who walked away from her home and responsibilities, six hundred husbands and fathers walked out. Today for each man who walks away, two women do.
Pause and let that sink in.
Understand, I’m not advocating either, nor am I taking sides. I’m just amazed at the unbelievably rapid rise in the number of women who choose escape as the favorite method of coping.
Contrary to our great American heritage, many of today’s citizens would rather quit than stick. That which was once not even an option is now standard operating procedure. Now, it’s “if you start to sink, jump, don’t bail” . . . or “if it’s hard, quit, don’t bother.”
Every achievement worth remembering is stained with the blood of diligence and scarred by the wounds of disappointment. To quit, to run, to escape, to hide—none of these options solve anything. They only postpone the acceptance of, and reckoning with, reality.
Churchill put it well: “Wars are not won by evacuations.”
No, battles are won in the trenches . . . in the grit and grime of courageous determination . . . in the arena of life, day in and day out, amidst the smell of sweat and the cry of anguish.
The apostle Paul, the man who bore on his body “the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17), was a living example of his own counsel: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. . . . Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 15:58; 16:13).
Giving thought to giving up?
Considering the possibility of quitting?
Looking for an easy way out?
Entertaining the idea of running away . . . stopping before it’s finished . . . escaping from reality?
Don’t! The Lord never promised you a Disneyland. In fact, the only time He ever used the word “easy” was when He referred to a yoke.
Every journey is accomplished one step at a time. Don’t stop now.
Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
by Charles R. Swindoll
1 Corinthians 15-16
I heard a statistic the other day that blew my mind. Anna Sklar, the author of a book called Runaway Wives, was a guest on a local talk show. In the course of the discussion, she cited that ten years ago, for every wife or mother who walked away from her home and responsibilities, six hundred husbands and fathers walked out. Today for each man who walks away, two women do.
Pause and let that sink in.
Understand, I’m not advocating either, nor am I taking sides. I’m just amazed at the unbelievably rapid rise in the number of women who choose escape as the favorite method of coping.
Contrary to our great American heritage, many of today’s citizens would rather quit than stick. That which was once not even an option is now standard operating procedure. Now, it’s “if you start to sink, jump, don’t bail” . . . or “if it’s hard, quit, don’t bother.”
Every achievement worth remembering is stained with the blood of diligence and scarred by the wounds of disappointment. To quit, to run, to escape, to hide—none of these options solve anything. They only postpone the acceptance of, and reckoning with, reality.
Churchill put it well: “Wars are not won by evacuations.”
No, battles are won in the trenches . . . in the grit and grime of courageous determination . . . in the arena of life, day in and day out, amidst the smell of sweat and the cry of anguish.
The apostle Paul, the man who bore on his body “the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17), was a living example of his own counsel: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. . . . Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 15:58; 16:13).
Giving thought to giving up?
Considering the possibility of quitting?
Looking for an easy way out?
Entertaining the idea of running away . . . stopping before it’s finished . . . escaping from reality?
Don’t! The Lord never promised you a Disneyland. In fact, the only time He ever used the word “easy” was when He referred to a yoke.
Every journey is accomplished one step at a time. Don’t stop now.
Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Purpose of the Bible
In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 27, 2007 -- The Purpose of the Bible -- 2 Samuel 23:1-2
As I said yesterday, the Bible is the most powerful book in all of history. Divinely inspired, God's Word helps us successfully navigate the Christian life. But how is the Bible beneficial? Second Timothy 3:16 explains that "all Scripture is profitable for..."
1. Teaching. When we read God's Word, we learn more about Him. The Bible teaches how His grace and His justice intersect, and also how He placed His Son Jesus on this earth as a sacrifice.
2. Reproof. The more we read Scripture, the better we will understand it. The Holy Spirit may then bring to mind areas of our lives that cloud our relationship with God.
3. Correction. God's Spirit wants to do more than simply convict us; He desires to correct sinful areas in our lives.
4. Training in righteousness. Every time we read the Scriptures, God can reveal new truths to us. As we read, pray, and meditate on His Word, we slowly absorb the wisdom and knowledge of God.
What's more, the Bible makes us adequate (v. 17). No matter what circumstance, trial, or tribulation arises, the truth in Scripture will help us face it effectively. And the same verse says that the Word equips us for good work. The Lord doesn't save us simply to fill a pew in church; His desire is that we spread His truth to others. Digging into God's Word enables us to proclaim the gospel of Christ with confidence.
As you read Scripture today, consider which of these ways God is working in you.
by Dr. Charles Stanley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 27, 2007 -- The Purpose of the Bible -- 2 Samuel 23:1-2
As I said yesterday, the Bible is the most powerful book in all of history. Divinely inspired, God's Word helps us successfully navigate the Christian life. But how is the Bible beneficial? Second Timothy 3:16 explains that "all Scripture is profitable for..."
1. Teaching. When we read God's Word, we learn more about Him. The Bible teaches how His grace and His justice intersect, and also how He placed His Son Jesus on this earth as a sacrifice.
2. Reproof. The more we read Scripture, the better we will understand it. The Holy Spirit may then bring to mind areas of our lives that cloud our relationship with God.
3. Correction. God's Spirit wants to do more than simply convict us; He desires to correct sinful areas in our lives.
4. Training in righteousness. Every time we read the Scriptures, God can reveal new truths to us. As we read, pray, and meditate on His Word, we slowly absorb the wisdom and knowledge of God.
What's more, the Bible makes us adequate (v. 17). No matter what circumstance, trial, or tribulation arises, the truth in Scripture will help us face it effectively. And the same verse says that the Word equips us for good work. The Lord doesn't save us simply to fill a pew in church; His desire is that we spread His truth to others. Digging into God's Word enables us to proclaim the gospel of Christ with confidence.
As you read Scripture today, consider which of these ways God is working in you.
Faithful in the Little things
Faithful In The Little Things
By Renee Swope
John 14:31, “But the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (NIV)
Devotion:
Are you ever hesitant to say "yes" to one thing, not knowing if another good opportunity may present itself next week? Do you wish you could hear God's direction for your future? Me, too! In yesterday’s devotion, I shared how God called me to live in the hear and now. Here’s what happened next…
I had been pretty well behaved when it came to listening to God in the big things - the ones everyone could see. It was when God called me to obedience behind the scenes - in my home, in my car, in my attitude and even in my closet - that I was challenged.
A few weeks after my commitment to live in the hear and now, I noticed my husband's side of the closet was disheveled. God reminded me that J.J. enjoys things being orderly, although it's not his natural inclination. I remembered how frazzled he seemed the day before. Then I heard God's voice in my thoughts, "One way you could really love J.J. and bring peace to his world would be to reorganize his side of the closet.”
My response: "He's a grown man; he can organize his own side of the closet. I have two kids, two dogs and myself to keep up with.”
God's Spirit nudged me: "Did you hear me? Are you going to obey me now?"
I had recently read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, and realized my attitude was like that of the third servant. He hadn't been entrusted with much so he buried his talent in the ground. Maybe he thought, “I wasn’t given much so why even worry about being faithful with it? I’ll just take it easy on this assignment. The master probably won’t notice.”
Sometimes I saw my role as a wife and mother as "average" responsibilities - one-talent kind of assignments. Plenty of people have the same assignments, I thought. Without realizing it, I thought it wouldn't matter much if I were a little selfish, inconsiderate or impatient here and there. But God wanted my willingness in every area of my life - here and now.
Why does God want obedience? Because He wants us to trust Him. Obedience means actively exchanging our will for His. God also knows that when we are faithful with the little things, He can "put us in charge of many things" and give us a deeper joy than we have ever known. (Matthew 25:21) Author Beth Moore reminds us that "the answers God gives us in our tomorrows often flow from our faithful todays."
God has been so patient as I learn to trust Him in the big and little things in life. It’s in my relationship with Him that I have found the purpose and meaning I long for. Now my calling and my calendar reflect my love for Him, not my need for fulfillment or the desire to be important in anyone's eyes but His.
By the way, I reorganized J.J.'s side of the closet. I am almost sure I heard God chuckle and felt the warmth of His smile. May He smile on you today as you commit to live in the here and now - acting on what you hear and living it out now.
Lord, when You look at the assignments You have given me, do You find me faithful? Am I living and listening the way You want me to? Sometimes I fall into the trap of waiting for a better tomorrow or an easier assignment so that I can be faithful. Help me trust You. I want to have Your heart and be Your hands today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
The Journey of My Heart with Renee Swope
Searching for God in Everyday Life Women’s Retreat 4-CD Set by Renee Swope
What Happens When Women Say Yes To God by Lysa TerKeurst
Do You Know Him?
Application Steps:
List the assignments God has given you as a woman. Are you being faithful in the little things? Are you willing to listen and obey Him in every thing, believing you will discover God’s plans for tomorrow through your faithfulness today?”
Ask God for a special assignment today - one that allows you to be Jesus with skin on in your home, at your office or for a friend in need.
Reflections:
Is there an area where God is calling you to be obedient? Is He asking you to trust Him with your finances instead of working more hours? Do you hear Him calling you to forgive someone who has hurt you, or restore a relationship that is strained? Does He want you to submit to your husband when you'd prefer to lead? I'm praying for you to trust Him and experience His peace and joy today.
Power Verses:
John 10:4, “His sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (NIV)
John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (NIV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
By Renee Swope
John 14:31, “But the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (NIV)
Devotion:
Are you ever hesitant to say "yes" to one thing, not knowing if another good opportunity may present itself next week? Do you wish you could hear God's direction for your future? Me, too! In yesterday’s devotion, I shared how God called me to live in the hear and now. Here’s what happened next…
I had been pretty well behaved when it came to listening to God in the big things - the ones everyone could see. It was when God called me to obedience behind the scenes - in my home, in my car, in my attitude and even in my closet - that I was challenged.
A few weeks after my commitment to live in the hear and now, I noticed my husband's side of the closet was disheveled. God reminded me that J.J. enjoys things being orderly, although it's not his natural inclination. I remembered how frazzled he seemed the day before. Then I heard God's voice in my thoughts, "One way you could really love J.J. and bring peace to his world would be to reorganize his side of the closet.”
My response: "He's a grown man; he can organize his own side of the closet. I have two kids, two dogs and myself to keep up with.”
God's Spirit nudged me: "Did you hear me? Are you going to obey me now?"
I had recently read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, and realized my attitude was like that of the third servant. He hadn't been entrusted with much so he buried his talent in the ground. Maybe he thought, “I wasn’t given much so why even worry about being faithful with it? I’ll just take it easy on this assignment. The master probably won’t notice.”
Sometimes I saw my role as a wife and mother as "average" responsibilities - one-talent kind of assignments. Plenty of people have the same assignments, I thought. Without realizing it, I thought it wouldn't matter much if I were a little selfish, inconsiderate or impatient here and there. But God wanted my willingness in every area of my life - here and now.
Why does God want obedience? Because He wants us to trust Him. Obedience means actively exchanging our will for His. God also knows that when we are faithful with the little things, He can "put us in charge of many things" and give us a deeper joy than we have ever known. (Matthew 25:21) Author Beth Moore reminds us that "the answers God gives us in our tomorrows often flow from our faithful todays."
God has been so patient as I learn to trust Him in the big and little things in life. It’s in my relationship with Him that I have found the purpose and meaning I long for. Now my calling and my calendar reflect my love for Him, not my need for fulfillment or the desire to be important in anyone's eyes but His.
By the way, I reorganized J.J.'s side of the closet. I am almost sure I heard God chuckle and felt the warmth of His smile. May He smile on you today as you commit to live in the here and now - acting on what you hear and living it out now.
Lord, when You look at the assignments You have given me, do You find me faithful? Am I living and listening the way You want me to? Sometimes I fall into the trap of waiting for a better tomorrow or an easier assignment so that I can be faithful. Help me trust You. I want to have Your heart and be Your hands today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
The Journey of My Heart with Renee Swope
Searching for God in Everyday Life Women’s Retreat 4-CD Set by Renee Swope
What Happens When Women Say Yes To God by Lysa TerKeurst
Do You Know Him?
Application Steps:
List the assignments God has given you as a woman. Are you being faithful in the little things? Are you willing to listen and obey Him in every thing, believing you will discover God’s plans for tomorrow through your faithfulness today?”
Ask God for a special assignment today - one that allows you to be Jesus with skin on in your home, at your office or for a friend in need.
Reflections:
Is there an area where God is calling you to be obedient? Is He asking you to trust Him with your finances instead of working more hours? Do you hear Him calling you to forgive someone who has hurt you, or restore a relationship that is strained? Does He want you to submit to your husband when you'd prefer to lead? I'm praying for you to trust Him and experience His peace and joy today.
Power Verses:
John 10:4, “His sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (NIV)
John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (NIV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
A Joseph Story
A Joseph Story
by Os Hillman, September 27, 2007
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
"I'd like you to help us develop our marketing program beginning in January," said the CEO of a sports product company. The consultant was delighted to have the opportunity. It was the first new business opportunity he'd had in some time. He had just come out of some very difficult business and personal circumstances in the last few years. A few months into the relationship, the CEO asked the consultant to manage the entire marketing department, placing him over the current marketing staff. It appeared that God was blessing his efforts with several successful initiatives. The consultant began to build a relationship with a few of the executives. One day, the sales manager came into his office and asked for help on a personal crisis. One thing led to another, and two months later, the consultant found himself leading the sales manager in the sinner's prayer in the sales manager's office.
God prepares His servants in many ways to accomplish His purpose. The story of Joseph is repeated every workday in the lives of His people. The circumstances may be different, but the results are the same. God trains His servant through sometimes difficult "boot camps." When that training is complete, He places them in strategic places to be a provider-both physically and spiritually.
Is God preparing you to be a provider in the workplace? Do not fret at the difficult training ground you may be required to endure. He has a plan. If you'll allow Him to carry out His plan, you'll be privileged to be used by the Master's hand. I know because I am that consultant
by Os Hillman, September 27, 2007
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
"I'd like you to help us develop our marketing program beginning in January," said the CEO of a sports product company. The consultant was delighted to have the opportunity. It was the first new business opportunity he'd had in some time. He had just come out of some very difficult business and personal circumstances in the last few years. A few months into the relationship, the CEO asked the consultant to manage the entire marketing department, placing him over the current marketing staff. It appeared that God was blessing his efforts with several successful initiatives. The consultant began to build a relationship with a few of the executives. One day, the sales manager came into his office and asked for help on a personal crisis. One thing led to another, and two months later, the consultant found himself leading the sales manager in the sinner's prayer in the sales manager's office.
God prepares His servants in many ways to accomplish His purpose. The story of Joseph is repeated every workday in the lives of His people. The circumstances may be different, but the results are the same. God trains His servant through sometimes difficult "boot camps." When that training is complete, He places them in strategic places to be a provider-both physically and spiritually.
Is God preparing you to be a provider in the workplace? Do not fret at the difficult training ground you may be required to endure. He has a plan. If you'll allow Him to carry out His plan, you'll be privileged to be used by the Master's hand. I know because I am that consultant
Sufferring Visits
Dear Friend,
It is important in life that we are kind and compassionate towards others because we might never know of the sufferings that they are going through in secret. We are to love others with the love of the Lord and esteem them higher than we esteem ourselves. It is easy for anyone to be selfish and self involved and not care about the problems of others, but the Bible tells us to bear one another's burdens. We read in Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We are to be Christ minded and do unto others, as we would have them do unto us. Be encouraged and know that your kindness will not go unseen because the Lord who sees all things will return to you the blessings that you brought to those who were in need. (Philippians 2:3) (Luke 6:30-36) (Matthew 25:33-40)
I hope you are challenged and inspired by today's message.
When Suffering Visits
By Steve Goodier
One of England's most famous physicians was Dr. William Osler. Many stories are told of Dr. Osler, but one of the most revealing comes from World War I.
Friends recalled the day when he was working in one of Britain's military hospitals during the war. He was called out of the wards during his daily rounds to be given an important message; his own son had been killed on the fields of France.
Stunned by the news, he still came back to pick up his rounds. For a long period afterward he was noticeably different. And those who knew him best said that he changed as a physician that day. The cheerful note was gone from his voice and never again did friends hear the tune which he so often whistled as he went from ward to ward.
Though these things never returned, something eventually came to take their place. Everyone noticed a new compassion in his care of the soldiers who each day streamed in from the battlefield. Before, he had the professional concern of the physician, so important to the practice of medicine; now there was an added discernable note of a personal compassion, like that of a father for his son...
Osler was understandably hurt and, like most people who have experienced such losses, he likely became angry. In time, after working through pain and anger, he found a way to integrate the loss into his life. Though he was never the same, he chose not to let his son's death turn him into a bitter and resentful man. Instead, he channeled it into positive energy and love for others, caring for them as he would care for his own.
Helen Keller wisely said, “The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
Osler teaches us something about overcoming suffering. It can leave us bitter, or quite surprisingly, it can often leave us better. More patient. More sensitive. More compassionate. And a little more like how God must surely be.
<><><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><> <><><> <><> <> <><> <><><> <><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><><>
Holy God, I pray for those today who are in the middle of life's earthquakes. You know those for whom I am concerned. You know I care about their struggles which are too big for me to mitigate and too painful for me to truly bring comfort. I ask You now to bless them, be with them, and please deliver them quickly. You are our only true hope and Jesus is our only sure Redeemer. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen and Amen
It is important in life that we are kind and compassionate towards others because we might never know of the sufferings that they are going through in secret. We are to love others with the love of the Lord and esteem them higher than we esteem ourselves. It is easy for anyone to be selfish and self involved and not care about the problems of others, but the Bible tells us to bear one another's burdens. We read in Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We are to be Christ minded and do unto others, as we would have them do unto us. Be encouraged and know that your kindness will not go unseen because the Lord who sees all things will return to you the blessings that you brought to those who were in need. (Philippians 2:3) (Luke 6:30-36) (Matthew 25:33-40)
I hope you are challenged and inspired by today's message.
When Suffering Visits
By Steve Goodier
One of England's most famous physicians was Dr. William Osler. Many stories are told of Dr. Osler, but one of the most revealing comes from World War I.
Friends recalled the day when he was working in one of Britain's military hospitals during the war. He was called out of the wards during his daily rounds to be given an important message; his own son had been killed on the fields of France.
Stunned by the news, he still came back to pick up his rounds. For a long period afterward he was noticeably different. And those who knew him best said that he changed as a physician that day. The cheerful note was gone from his voice and never again did friends hear the tune which he so often whistled as he went from ward to ward.
Though these things never returned, something eventually came to take their place. Everyone noticed a new compassion in his care of the soldiers who each day streamed in from the battlefield. Before, he had the professional concern of the physician, so important to the practice of medicine; now there was an added discernable note of a personal compassion, like that of a father for his son...
Osler was understandably hurt and, like most people who have experienced such losses, he likely became angry. In time, after working through pain and anger, he found a way to integrate the loss into his life. Though he was never the same, he chose not to let his son's death turn him into a bitter and resentful man. Instead, he channeled it into positive energy and love for others, caring for them as he would care for his own.
Helen Keller wisely said, “The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
Osler teaches us something about overcoming suffering. It can leave us bitter, or quite surprisingly, it can often leave us better. More patient. More sensitive. More compassionate. And a little more like how God must surely be.
<><><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><> <><><> <><> <> <><> <><><> <><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><><>
Holy God, I pray for those today who are in the middle of life's earthquakes. You know those for whom I am concerned. You know I care about their struggles which are too big for me to mitigate and too painful for me to truly bring comfort. I ask You now to bless them, be with them, and please deliver them quickly. You are our only true hope and Jesus is our only sure Redeemer. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen and Amen
A picture of Courage
A Picture of Courage
By Greg Laurie
"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Matthew 5:11--12
God not only gives us the right words to say in a given situation, but He also gives us the power to stand up for our faith, even it means harassment or hardship or persecution. This is what happened to Stephen, the first martyr of the faith, as he boldly proclaimed the gospel to the Sanhedrin.
The apostle Peter wrote, "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you . . . " (1 Peter 4:14). God will give us the strength that we need, just as he strengthened Stephen.
You may think you couldn't cope if people made fun of you. You don't know if you could handle it if your life was actually threatened for the sake of the gospel. But if God allowed you to be put into such a situation, He would give you the strength to face it. He would give you the necessary boldness and courage.
Throughout history, God has given special grace and courage to millions of Christians who were persecuted for the faith. Many were tortured. Some even lost their lives. But they were unwilling to renounce Christ, unwilling to deny the Lord who had so radically changed their lives.
Certainly this is what Stephen was--a picture of complete courage and faith as he stood up for the Lord. Even while he was on his knees dying, Stephen stood tall. He had lived like Christ. He had spoken like Christ. And he would die like Christ.
By Greg Laurie
"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Matthew 5:11--12
God not only gives us the right words to say in a given situation, but He also gives us the power to stand up for our faith, even it means harassment or hardship or persecution. This is what happened to Stephen, the first martyr of the faith, as he boldly proclaimed the gospel to the Sanhedrin.
The apostle Peter wrote, "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you . . . " (1 Peter 4:14). God will give us the strength that we need, just as he strengthened Stephen.
You may think you couldn't cope if people made fun of you. You don't know if you could handle it if your life was actually threatened for the sake of the gospel. But if God allowed you to be put into such a situation, He would give you the strength to face it. He would give you the necessary boldness and courage.
Throughout history, God has given special grace and courage to millions of Christians who were persecuted for the faith. Many were tortured. Some even lost their lives. But they were unwilling to renounce Christ, unwilling to deny the Lord who had so radically changed their lives.
Certainly this is what Stephen was--a picture of complete courage and faith as he stood up for the Lord. Even while he was on his knees dying, Stephen stood tall. He had lived like Christ. He had spoken like Christ. And he would die like Christ.
Revelation 1-2 (NIV)
Revelation 1-2 (New International Version)
Revelation 1
Prologue
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Greetings and doxology
4John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
One like a Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[c] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Revelation 2
To the church in Ephesus
1"To the angel[d] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
To the Church in Smyrna
8"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To the Church in Pergamum
12"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. 14Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
To the Church in Thyatira
18"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
27'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery'[e]— just as I have received authority from my Father. 28I will also give him the morning star. 29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 1:5 Or the sevenfold Spirit
Revelation 1:13 Daniel 7:13
Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
Revelation 2:1 Or messenger; also in verses 8, 12 and 18
Revelation 2:27 Psalm 2:9
Revelation 1
Prologue
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Greetings and doxology
4John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
One like a Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[c] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Revelation 2
To the church in Ephesus
1"To the angel[d] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
To the Church in Smyrna
8"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To the Church in Pergamum
12"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. 14Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
To the Church in Thyatira
18"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. 20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
27'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery'[e]— just as I have received authority from my Father. 28I will also give him the morning star. 29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 1:5 Or the sevenfold Spirit
Revelation 1:13 Daniel 7:13
Revelation 1:20 Or messengers
Revelation 2:1 Or messenger; also in verses 8, 12 and 18
Revelation 2:27 Psalm 2:9
Read 3 John 1-2 (NIV)
3 John 1-2 (New International Version)
3 John 1
1The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
3 John 1
1The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
Reading for 2 John 1 (NIV)
2 John 1 (New International Version)
2 John 1
1The elder,
To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth - 2because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
12I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
2 John 1
1The elder,
To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth - 2because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
12I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Daily Reading of 1 John 1-5
1 John 1-5 (New International Version)
1 John 1
The Word of Life
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Walking in the light
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
1 John 2
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[c] the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[d] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him[e] to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
12I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
14I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Warning Against Antichrists
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[f] 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.
26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Children of God
28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[g]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Love one another
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 4
Test the Spirits
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[h] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
God's Love and Ours
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[i] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[j] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 5
Faith in the Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the[k] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Remarks
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Footnotes:
1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
1 John 1:7 Or every
1 John 2:2 Or He is the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but also
1 John 2:5 Or word, love for God
1 John 2:10 Or it
1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things
1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
1 John 4:6 Or spirit
1 John 4:9 Or his only begotten Son
1 John 4:10 Or as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away
1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century)
1 John 1
The Word of Life
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Walking in the light
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
1 John 2
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[c] the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[d] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him[e] to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
12I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
14I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Warning Against Antichrists
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[f] 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.
26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Children of God
28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[g]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Love one another
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 4
Test the Spirits
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[h] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
God's Love and Ours
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[i] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[j] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 5
Faith in the Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the[k] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Remarks
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Footnotes:
1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
1 John 1:7 Or every
1 John 2:2 Or He is the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but also
1 John 2:5 Or word, love for God
1 John 2:10 Or it
1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things
1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
1 John 4:6 Or spirit
1 John 4:9 Or his only begotten Son
1 John 4:10 Or as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away
1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century)
Let this be written by Glynnis Whitwer
“Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD …” Psalm 102:18 (NIV)
Devotion:
Some people say writers are born to be writers … that you can tell them apart at an early age because they are always writing. Some writers tell about scribbling their thoughts late into the night in a little journal, or keeping a diary. They say they need to write or they will surely fade away. I guess that’s true for some, but certainly not the case for every writer.
Take me for example. I love to write now, but when I was young I was too busy to sit and write. I was organizing clubs (with me as president), starting group games (like hide and seek), or directing neighborhood plays. No diary for me. Plus, my self-preservation was intact at an early age. Even as a child I worried, what if someone found my diary?
Once in school, however, I discovered I loved the writing assignments, like research papers or book reports. In college I majored in journalism and public relations. I wrote newspaper articles, brochure copy and put together many newsletters. What I discovered about myself is I care more about conveying a message, than the act of writing. So if I listened to those who said a writer feels they must “write or die,” I would have disqualified myself as an author years ago. And I wonder how many men and women have disqualified themselves as writers because of what someone else has said to them? How many stories haven’t been passed on to future generations because of this?
Writing is important. Writing clarifies our thoughts, conveys a message and creates something lasting. Today we treasure the records we have from earlier generations. We learn things from history that can positively affect our future. Writing teaches us and can provide insight into deep truths. For a Christian, however, writing takes on an additional significance. Writing becomes a way to glorify God.
King David of the Old Testament knew this well. The book of Psalms is a magnificent testimony to God’s power and righteousness, and we have David to thank for writing much of it down. David was an honest writer who poured out his pain and fear through His writing, yet He also records much about the character and actions of God. We know God better through David’s writing. I think David wasn’t just writing for himself. I think David’s heart was to attempt to capture the awesome nature of His God in words so that others would love and obey Him as well. Psalm 102:18 is our clue to David’s heart: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD …”
What an amazing purpose of writing … that sometime in the future, some man or woman not yet born would read our writing and praise God because of it. What an encouragement to start writing down stories of God’s faithfulness to our family, of how He answered prayers, and of the daily miracles of life. Today, we have many avenues to capture stories of God’s work. We can start a blog, scrapbook, or even self-publish a book. It doesn’t matter how we record our experience with God, just that we do it.
Years ago a wise woman told a group of writers and speakers, “It’s not your story; it’s God’s story.” Yes, my story is important. But as a Christian, it’s my deepest hope that it always points others to God. Start writing and keep writing … so that “a people not yet created may praise the Lord.”
Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your goodness and righteousness. I thank You that through Your Holy Spirit, You inspired the writing of the Scriptures. Through this writing, I am learning to know You and trust You in greater ways. Help me to write more about who You are and what You are doing in my life, so that my children, grandchildren and beyond, will love You and praise You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
For the Write Reason, Editor Marybeth Whalen
The Little Style Guide to Great Christian Writing and Publishing by Leonard and Carolyn Goss
She Speaks conference
Application Steps:
If you don’t already have a journal, make or purchase one. Commit for 30 days to write something in it every day about God. This could be something you thank God for or how you have seen Him revealed in your life or the lives of others that day.
Reflections:
Name one way the writing of another person has changed your life?
What is one of characteristic of God you have learned from reading the Bible?
If you were going to write a story about one thing God has done in your life, what would it be?
Power Verses:
Exodus 34:27-28, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel .’ Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (NIV)
Jeremiah 30: 1-2, “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.’” (NIV)
Isaiah 49:16a, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands …” (NIV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD …” Psalm 102:18 (NIV)
Devotion:
Some people say writers are born to be writers … that you can tell them apart at an early age because they are always writing. Some writers tell about scribbling their thoughts late into the night in a little journal, or keeping a diary. They say they need to write or they will surely fade away. I guess that’s true for some, but certainly not the case for every writer.
Take me for example. I love to write now, but when I was young I was too busy to sit and write. I was organizing clubs (with me as president), starting group games (like hide and seek), or directing neighborhood plays. No diary for me. Plus, my self-preservation was intact at an early age. Even as a child I worried, what if someone found my diary?
Once in school, however, I discovered I loved the writing assignments, like research papers or book reports. In college I majored in journalism and public relations. I wrote newspaper articles, brochure copy and put together many newsletters. What I discovered about myself is I care more about conveying a message, than the act of writing. So if I listened to those who said a writer feels they must “write or die,” I would have disqualified myself as an author years ago. And I wonder how many men and women have disqualified themselves as writers because of what someone else has said to them? How many stories haven’t been passed on to future generations because of this?
Writing is important. Writing clarifies our thoughts, conveys a message and creates something lasting. Today we treasure the records we have from earlier generations. We learn things from history that can positively affect our future. Writing teaches us and can provide insight into deep truths. For a Christian, however, writing takes on an additional significance. Writing becomes a way to glorify God.
King David of the Old Testament knew this well. The book of Psalms is a magnificent testimony to God’s power and righteousness, and we have David to thank for writing much of it down. David was an honest writer who poured out his pain and fear through His writing, yet He also records much about the character and actions of God. We know God better through David’s writing. I think David wasn’t just writing for himself. I think David’s heart was to attempt to capture the awesome nature of His God in words so that others would love and obey Him as well. Psalm 102:18 is our clue to David’s heart: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD …”
What an amazing purpose of writing … that sometime in the future, some man or woman not yet born would read our writing and praise God because of it. What an encouragement to start writing down stories of God’s faithfulness to our family, of how He answered prayers, and of the daily miracles of life. Today, we have many avenues to capture stories of God’s work. We can start a blog, scrapbook, or even self-publish a book. It doesn’t matter how we record our experience with God, just that we do it.
Years ago a wise woman told a group of writers and speakers, “It’s not your story; it’s God’s story.” Yes, my story is important. But as a Christian, it’s my deepest hope that it always points others to God. Start writing and keep writing … so that “a people not yet created may praise the Lord.”
Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your goodness and righteousness. I thank You that through Your Holy Spirit, You inspired the writing of the Scriptures. Through this writing, I am learning to know You and trust You in greater ways. Help me to write more about who You are and what You are doing in my life, so that my children, grandchildren and beyond, will love You and praise You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
For the Write Reason, Editor Marybeth Whalen
The Little Style Guide to Great Christian Writing and Publishing by Leonard and Carolyn Goss
She Speaks conference
Application Steps:
If you don’t already have a journal, make or purchase one. Commit for 30 days to write something in it every day about God. This could be something you thank God for or how you have seen Him revealed in your life or the lives of others that day.
Reflections:
Name one way the writing of another person has changed your life?
What is one of characteristic of God you have learned from reading the Bible?
If you were going to write a story about one thing God has done in your life, what would it be?
Power Verses:
Exodus 34:27-28, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel .’ Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (NIV)
Jeremiah 30: 1-2, “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.’” (NIV)
Isaiah 49:16a, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands …” (NIV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G, Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
Discovering the source of problems
After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land. - 2 Samuel 21:14b
During the reign of David, there was a famine in the land for three successive years. So David sought the Lord regarding this famine, "Why is there famine on this land?" The Lord answered David, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death" (2 Samuel 21:1b).
Years earlier, Joshua made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites. This, too, was an act of disobedience. When God called Israel to come into the Promised Land, they were to destroy all the enemies of God. Joshua failed to see through the ruse of deception when the Gibeonites portrayed themselves as travelers. The Israelites signed a peace treaty only to discover who the Gibeonites were after the fact. Now, they had to honor the treaty. However, this led to intermarriages and much sorrow for Israel. Years later, Saul made a decision to kill the Gibeonites.
The nation was now receiving the punishment for their sin of disobedience through a famine. David knew that famines could have a spiritual source, so he inquired of God and God answered. The source was Saul's murder of the Gibeonites. Once David knew the source of the problem, he took action. He repented on behalf of the nation and made restitution. The famine was then lifted.
Do you have a problem that seems to be a continually unresolved issue? Have you asked God to tell you the reason for the problem? It may have a spiritual root that is still unresolved with God. He may be allowing this pressure to bring attention to an issue He wants you to take care of. Ask the Lord today to give you revelation on your problem. As a loving Father, He desires to make known anything that stands in the way of fellowship between you and Him. However, His righteousness must always be upheld.
During the reign of David, there was a famine in the land for three successive years. So David sought the Lord regarding this famine, "Why is there famine on this land?" The Lord answered David, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death" (2 Samuel 21:1b).
Years earlier, Joshua made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites. This, too, was an act of disobedience. When God called Israel to come into the Promised Land, they were to destroy all the enemies of God. Joshua failed to see through the ruse of deception when the Gibeonites portrayed themselves as travelers. The Israelites signed a peace treaty only to discover who the Gibeonites were after the fact. Now, they had to honor the treaty. However, this led to intermarriages and much sorrow for Israel. Years later, Saul made a decision to kill the Gibeonites.
The nation was now receiving the punishment for their sin of disobedience through a famine. David knew that famines could have a spiritual source, so he inquired of God and God answered. The source was Saul's murder of the Gibeonites. Once David knew the source of the problem, he took action. He repented on behalf of the nation and made restitution. The famine was then lifted.
Do you have a problem that seems to be a continually unresolved issue? Have you asked God to tell you the reason for the problem? It may have a spiritual root that is still unresolved with God. He may be allowing this pressure to bring attention to an issue He wants you to take care of. Ask the Lord today to give you revelation on your problem. As a loving Father, He desires to make known anything that stands in the way of fellowship between you and Him. However, His righteousness must always be upheld.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Gently Leading
So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir. - Genesis 33:14
Business often determines that we move at a pace that can put incredible stresses upon people and relationships. Jacob was a man who learned to manipulate and control outcomes. He even stole the birthright of his brother, Esau, through trickery. The Bible speaks of Jacob as a man who strived with God. He knew how to force situations to his advantage. It took years for God to break down all the rough edges of Jacob so that he could be worthy of becoming the patriarch of the 12 tribes of Israel. God saw something in Jacob that He could use.
Most men go through a "warrior stage" of life. In this stage of manhood, the man is known by what he does, what he accomplishes, and he is totally defined by his performance. It can be a tumultuous time for the man and those close to him. It is often signified by broken relationships because the goal is often more important than the way the goal is accomplished. When I meet with a man, I can easily determine what stage of life he is in by hearing him talk.
Jacob had successfully passed through his warrior stage based on the verse above. It takes someone mature to be able to "move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children." Leaders who never come to understand this may be successful materially but fail at the most important aspect of leadership-leading at a pace that his followers can maintain. The roads are full of wives, children, and workers who cannot keep up with the pace of leaders and are left behind with broken dreams, broken hearts, and unfulfilled promises.
Are you a person who is more concerned with outcome than how you achieve the outcome? Can the people around you describe you as someone who leads at a pace that ensures respect and admiration? Ask the Lord for the ability to be a godly leader who understands the condition of his flock and the pace in which you can lead witho
Business often determines that we move at a pace that can put incredible stresses upon people and relationships. Jacob was a man who learned to manipulate and control outcomes. He even stole the birthright of his brother, Esau, through trickery. The Bible speaks of Jacob as a man who strived with God. He knew how to force situations to his advantage. It took years for God to break down all the rough edges of Jacob so that he could be worthy of becoming the patriarch of the 12 tribes of Israel. God saw something in Jacob that He could use.
Most men go through a "warrior stage" of life. In this stage of manhood, the man is known by what he does, what he accomplishes, and he is totally defined by his performance. It can be a tumultuous time for the man and those close to him. It is often signified by broken relationships because the goal is often more important than the way the goal is accomplished. When I meet with a man, I can easily determine what stage of life he is in by hearing him talk.
Jacob had successfully passed through his warrior stage based on the verse above. It takes someone mature to be able to "move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children." Leaders who never come to understand this may be successful materially but fail at the most important aspect of leadership-leading at a pace that his followers can maintain. The roads are full of wives, children, and workers who cannot keep up with the pace of leaders and are left behind with broken dreams, broken hearts, and unfulfilled promises.
Are you a person who is more concerned with outcome than how you achieve the outcome? Can the people around you describe you as someone who leads at a pace that ensures respect and admiration? Ask the Lord for the ability to be a godly leader who understands the condition of his flock and the pace in which you can lead witho
You can know the future Part 4 on 23 September 2007
You can know the future Part 4 on 23 September 2007
The antichrist signs peace treaty with many nations. Antichrist is able to persuade hostile countries to agree for settlement.
Ezekiel 38 There is going to be a collision for Rosh (which stands for Russia), some Arab nations and African nations.
Weapon of oil and terrorism is lethal weapon.
Ezekiel 38 : 7-9, 10-12, 14-16
7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
Desolate nation refers to Israel.
Ezekiel the prophet saw the collision of nations covering the land.
Ezekiel 38:10-12 (New International Version)
10 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the centre of the land."
The antichrist false peace have been brought to the people.
Israel have come out of ruins. Russia and collision of nations will strike.
Ezekiel 38 : 14-16
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
Russia is in the far north of Israel.
All events have been shifting to what God have prophesy.
The world empire will be represented by 10 toes.
Toes symbolises nations which refers to the Roman empire.
The heart of the problem lies in the religion.
** Pray for the peaceful Muslims
** Pray for the terrorists
Israel is the centre of all the hateful and hostile countries.
Israel is the nation filled with milk and honey.
2 consistent biblical truth about Israel
1) There were always be those who destroy Israel utterly completely.
2) They will always strive against all odds.
Revelation 6:5-6 (New International Version)
5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart[a] of wheat for a day's wages,[b] and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,[c] and do not damage the oil and the wine
The 3rd seal – reveals the consequences of war.
It is unsafe to travel by air, land and sea. Food will become scarce. The manpower will be greatly curtail due to the war. Water pipes will be total severed. There will not be any produce. Electricity will be cut off.
3rd horsemen – speaks of famine and starvation
Dark days of scarcity ahead.
Balance – food rationing is necessary.
There is no shortage of oil and wine because people cannot afford to buy. The wine and oil(always have stock house) comes from vines and trees(have deeper roots).
They last longer than crops. Wheat and barley will soon run out.
When we draw to Christ, we no need to be afraid lah!
Causes of famine
1) Political instability – eg. Politicians jostling for power.
2) Mismanagement of food supplies.
3) Over population
4) Poor infrastructure
5) Abusive practices of food production
6) Natural disasters – good government can find solution to ease the situation.
7) Corrupt and incompetent governments – everything goes down the drain quickly.
Character and competent is a difficult find in a government as well as leaders.
** Pray for the government everyday.
All diabolical government are only the previews of the coming. When antichrist comes along, there is final persecution on earth.
Begin to set our affections on things above, we will be raptured when Christ comes.
The antichrist signs peace treaty with many nations. Antichrist is able to persuade hostile countries to agree for settlement.
Ezekiel 38 There is going to be a collision for Rosh (which stands for Russia), some Arab nations and African nations.
Weapon of oil and terrorism is lethal weapon.
Ezekiel 38 : 7-9, 10-12, 14-16
7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
Desolate nation refers to Israel.
Ezekiel the prophet saw the collision of nations covering the land.
Ezekiel 38:10-12 (New International Version)
10 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the centre of the land."
The antichrist false peace have been brought to the people.
Israel have come out of ruins. Russia and collision of nations will strike.
Ezekiel 38 : 14-16
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
Russia is in the far north of Israel.
All events have been shifting to what God have prophesy.
The world empire will be represented by 10 toes.
Toes symbolises nations which refers to the Roman empire.
The heart of the problem lies in the religion.
** Pray for the peaceful Muslims
** Pray for the terrorists
Israel is the centre of all the hateful and hostile countries.
Israel is the nation filled with milk and honey.
2 consistent biblical truth about Israel
1) There were always be those who destroy Israel utterly completely.
2) They will always strive against all odds.
Revelation 6:5-6 (New International Version)
5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart[a] of wheat for a day's wages,[b] and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,[c] and do not damage the oil and the wine
The 3rd seal – reveals the consequences of war.
It is unsafe to travel by air, land and sea. Food will become scarce. The manpower will be greatly curtail due to the war. Water pipes will be total severed. There will not be any produce. Electricity will be cut off.
3rd horsemen – speaks of famine and starvation
Dark days of scarcity ahead.
Balance – food rationing is necessary.
There is no shortage of oil and wine because people cannot afford to buy. The wine and oil(always have stock house) comes from vines and trees(have deeper roots).
They last longer than crops. Wheat and barley will soon run out.
When we draw to Christ, we no need to be afraid lah!
Causes of famine
1) Political instability – eg. Politicians jostling for power.
2) Mismanagement of food supplies.
3) Over population
4) Poor infrastructure
5) Abusive practices of food production
6) Natural disasters – good government can find solution to ease the situation.
7) Corrupt and incompetent governments – everything goes down the drain quickly.
Character and competent is a difficult find in a government as well as leaders.
** Pray for the government everyday.
All diabolical government are only the previews of the coming. When antichrist comes along, there is final persecution on earth.
Begin to set our affections on things above, we will be raptured when Christ comes.
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