The story of Dr. Schweitzer provokes the question within each believer, "What am I sacrificing, what am I doing, to further the Kingdom of Christ and to lift up the Name that is above all names in the hearts and minds of men who know Him not?"
We may not be called upon to leave our home, our culture, our treasure behind to serve His purposes in a far-off land, but we each must determine what it is that He has called us to do.
February 7
Albert Schweitzer - Nobel Missionary to Africa by Bill Federer
Albert Schweitzer was born JANUARY 14, 1875, in a village in Alsace, Germany. The son of a Lutheran-Evangelical pastor, he won acclaim at playing the organ. He earned doctorates in philosophy and theology and served as pastor of St. Nicholai's Church, principal of St. Thomas College and was a professor at University of Strasbourg.
Then, at age 30, his life changed. He read a Paris Missionary Society article of the desperate need for physicians in Africa. To everyone's dismay, he enrolled in medical school and became a medical missionary.
He married in 1912, and the next year he and his wife founded a hospital in the jungle village of Lambarene, Gabon, west central Africa. After first using a chicken hut, they built their first hospital building of corrugated iron in 1913. When World War I started, the Schweitzers, were put under French military supervision, then interned in France.
After the war, he saved money and returned to Gabon in 1924. Staying in Africa throughout World War II, Albert Schweitzer later spoke in Europe and in 1949 visited the United States.
Albert Schweitzer joined Albert Einstein in warning the world of the dangers in developing nuclear weapons. In 1952, Dr. Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and used the prize money to build a leper colony.
He embraced a philosophy of reverence for life, explaining: "For months on end, I lived in a continual state of mental agitation. Without the least success I concentrated - even during my daily work at the hospital - on the real nature of the affirmation of life and of ethics...I was wandering about in a thicket where no path was to be found. I was pushing against an iron door that would not yield.
In that mental state, I had to take a long journey up the river... Lost in thought, I sat on deck of the barge, struggling to find the elementary and universal concept of the ethical that I had not discovered in any philosophy. I covered sheet after sheet with disconnected sentences merely to concentrate on the problem.
Two days passed.
Late on the third day, at the very moment when, at sunset, we were making our way through a herd of hippopotamuses, there flashed upon my mind, unforeseen and unsought, the phrase: 'Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben' ('Reverence for Life'). The iron door had yielded. The path in the thicket had become visible."
Albert Schweitzer's words stand in contrast to cultures engaging in abortion, euthanasia, organ harvesting and honor-killings. He stated: "Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life.
Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote in Indian Thought and Its Development (1935): "The laying down of the commandment to not kill and to not damage is one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote in his autobiography Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography (1931): "The world-view based on reverence for life is, through the religious character of its ethic of active love and through its fervor, essentially akin to that of Christianity...What Christianity needs is to be filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ, to become living, intense, a religion of love which it was meant to be. Since I myself am deeply devoted to Christianity, I seek to serve it with fidelity and truth. I hope that the thought which has resulted in this simple, ethical-religious idea - reverence for life - may help to bring Christianity and thought closer to each other."
The Voice of the Martyrs documents crimes committed against Christian minorities in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, Palestine, Uzbekistan, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Indonesia, and Nigeria. After reading these reports, one is challenged by a sermon of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, January 6, 1905:
"Our Christianity - yours and mine - has become a falsehood and a disgrace, if the crimes are not atoned for in the very place where they were instigated...For every person who committed an atrocity...someone must step in to help in Jesus' name; for every person who robbed, someone must bring a replacement; for everyone who cursed, someone must bless...
When you speak about missions, let this be your message: We must make atonement for all the terrible crimes we read of in the newspapers. We must make atonement for the still worse ones, which we do not read about in the papers, crimes that are shrouded in the silence of the jungle night."
After his wife died, Dr. Albert Schweitzer continued to work in Africa till he died at the age of 90. Overcoming innumerable difficulties, he once wrote: "One day, in my despair, I threw myself into a chair in the consulting room and groaned out:'What a blockhead I was to come out here to doctor savages like these!'...
Whereupon his native assistant quietly remarked: 'Yes, Doctor, here on earth you are a great blockhead, but not in heaven.'"
Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote: "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
The World Is Our Parish
February 6
What In The World Are We Doing? By Dr. D. James Kennedy
…‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.’ —Acts 17:6
Do you ever sit back and wonder about your purpose in life? Do you wish to know at the end of your life that you didn’t live in vain? Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. I think it behooves us from time to time to ask, “What in the world am I doing? What is my life really amounting to?”
I believe we should “be about our Father’s business”—advancing the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. What could be more important—and more meaningful?
In the book of Acts, we read that the early Christians were “turning the world upside down.” The world had been turned upon its head in the fall and rebellion of humankind, and it desperately needed to be turned right side up. Though the early Christians faithfully pursued this goal, our world still needs to be turned right side up so that individuals might see God as He really is.
Men and women need to turn their eyes from the material mud flats beneath—even if those “flats” are breathtaking mansions on waterfront property—and lift their eyes to the stars and know that God has created humanity for eternal life with Him.
My friends, our world still needs a spiritual revolution that turns the world upside down! But I am afraid that many Christians are like Edith. Edith is described in a certain novel as a small country bounded on the north, the south, the east, and the west by Edith itself. So many of us seem like that country, self-absorbed in our little circumscribed worlds. We don’t pay attention to anything outside our spheres of concern.
Are you a world revolutionary? Have you determined in your heart to change the world, to turn it upside down for Christ? Have you hitched your life to this grand cause? Or are you meandering around in some small eddy out of the main current of human events? If you haven’t already, join in the grand plan to win as many people for Christ as you can. Determine today to touch one life with Christ’s love. This is “what in the world” we should be doing.
I look upon the world as my parish. —JOHN WESLEY
Although Dr. Kennedy witnessed many disheartening events during his lifetime, he did not live to see the rise of isis abroad or the falling away of the faithful or the abrogation of a meaningful world leadership role on the part of the country to which he ministered in love.
“Those of us who are alive and remain…” I Thessalonians 4:16 anticipate Christ’s return with fervent expectation but are aware that so did the early Church. We know His coming could be at any moment, but we also know that centuries have gone by since the promise was given to the throng that watched Him arise to Heaven.
The words of the angels, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into Heaven? This same Jesus who is taken from you shall return in like manner as you have seen Him go,” Acts 1:11, are as true today as when they were first spoken, but many in our generation care nothing for the truth that Jesus will return to redeem the faithful to Himself.
So, what should we do? How should people of faith comport themselves in this day of apostasy and indifference? It seems the only viable conclusion for us to reach is that we, like First Century believers, must be among those who “turn the world upside down,” Acts 17:6, in an effort to bring all humankind to a saving knowledge of the One whom to know is life (see John 17:3). Like John Wesley, we must see the world as our parish.
What In The World Are We Doing? By Dr. D. James Kennedy
…‘These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.’ —Acts 17:6
Do you ever sit back and wonder about your purpose in life? Do you wish to know at the end of your life that you didn’t live in vain? Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. I think it behooves us from time to time to ask, “What in the world am I doing? What is my life really amounting to?”
I believe we should “be about our Father’s business”—advancing the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. What could be more important—and more meaningful?
In the book of Acts, we read that the early Christians were “turning the world upside down.” The world had been turned upon its head in the fall and rebellion of humankind, and it desperately needed to be turned right side up. Though the early Christians faithfully pursued this goal, our world still needs to be turned right side up so that individuals might see God as He really is.
Men and women need to turn their eyes from the material mud flats beneath—even if those “flats” are breathtaking mansions on waterfront property—and lift their eyes to the stars and know that God has created humanity for eternal life with Him.
My friends, our world still needs a spiritual revolution that turns the world upside down! But I am afraid that many Christians are like Edith. Edith is described in a certain novel as a small country bounded on the north, the south, the east, and the west by Edith itself. So many of us seem like that country, self-absorbed in our little circumscribed worlds. We don’t pay attention to anything outside our spheres of concern.
Are you a world revolutionary? Have you determined in your heart to change the world, to turn it upside down for Christ? Have you hitched your life to this grand cause? Or are you meandering around in some small eddy out of the main current of human events? If you haven’t already, join in the grand plan to win as many people for Christ as you can. Determine today to touch one life with Christ’s love. This is “what in the world” we should be doing.
I look upon the world as my parish. —JOHN WESLEY
Although Dr. Kennedy witnessed many disheartening events during his lifetime, he did not live to see the rise of isis abroad or the falling away of the faithful or the abrogation of a meaningful world leadership role on the part of the country to which he ministered in love.
“Those of us who are alive and remain…” I Thessalonians 4:16 anticipate Christ’s return with fervent expectation but are aware that so did the early Church. We know His coming could be at any moment, but we also know that centuries have gone by since the promise was given to the throng that watched Him arise to Heaven.
The words of the angels, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into Heaven? This same Jesus who is taken from you shall return in like manner as you have seen Him go,” Acts 1:11, are as true today as when they were first spoken, but many in our generation care nothing for the truth that Jesus will return to redeem the faithful to Himself.
So, what should we do? How should people of faith comport themselves in this day of apostasy and indifference? It seems the only viable conclusion for us to reach is that we, like First Century believers, must be among those who “turn the world upside down,” Acts 17:6, in an effort to bring all humankind to a saving knowledge of the One whom to know is life (see John 17:3). Like John Wesley, we must see the world as our parish.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
The Realm of the Spirit--Believe and Receive
February 5
What is the place for supernatural visitations in our lives? Are they for everyone—or just a few special people? From Charisma Magazine
A "visitation" is an experience that lifts us out of the realm of the natural into the very atmosphere of God—the realm of the Spirit. It is a "God-touch"—an encounter in which the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us in a supernatural way.
We learn many things from others and from the Bible—great truths about God, Jesus, heaven, redemption and so on. But much of this input goes through the mind. It takes on a totally different dimension when we learn it by the Spirit. Reading about heaven, and even having an understanding of it in the heart, cannot compare to actually visiting it ourselves.
Although we are commanded to "walk by faith, not by sight," 2 Corinthians 5:7, God sometimes chooses to bring revelation by allowing the Holy Spirit to show us things, thereby making them more real. Jesus told us He would do this. He said, speaking of the Holy Spirit, "He will glorify Me, for He will receive from Me and will declare it to you," John 16:14.
The Holy Spirit often manifests the power, presence and truth of God in special visitations. These visitations are for every child of God.
Jesus died that we might be delivered from sin and death, but His death and resurrection also opened the way for us to walk in the supernatural realm of the Spirit, which includes divine visitations. "You have granted me life and loyal love, and Your care has preserved [kept, quickened, strengthened] my spirit," Job declared in Job 10:12.
You may be wondering something many believers find disconcerting, that being, if visitations are available to all believers, why don't all believers experience them? Jesus said, "According to your faith, let it be done for you" (see Matthew 9:29).
We do not receive because we do not ask, and sometimes when we do ask, we do not ask in faith. There are many things God has made available to us, but often our unbelief prevents us from being in the flow of the Spirit. When we do believe, our faith gives the Holy Spirit a vehicle to flow through and bring the manifestation that we need in our lives. When we do not, the Holy Spirit cannot work. It is contrary to His nature to work through unbelief, for He is a Spirit of faith and truth.
When I was first filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, I eagerly learned about miracles, healing, the gifts of the Spirit and supernatural manifestations of the presence of God. But I had a hard time believing they were for me personally.
I had been a good evangelical Christian for 12 years, and somehow I had gotten the impression that for these kinds of "favors," you must be qualified—meaning you had to have a special ministry, be a great saint, or live as a missionary in the jungle. But God showed me that I could walk in the Spirit just as Jesus did (see Galatians 5:25). I began to see that this was my inheritance as a Christian.
Not long after I made the decision in my heart to believe that the realm of the Spirit—angels, heaven and supernatural manifestations—were my inheritance, I began to experience them. I began to see the things I had only read about before.
The first time I was lifted out of the natural into the Spirit I saw the heavenly Jerusalem. Several years later I had another visitation and was lifted into heaven every day for seven days. Another time I was taken into heaven daily for three and a half weeks. These experiences were awesome and changed my life.
Am I some kind of special person to be blessed with such experiences? No! I have no particular qualifications, talent or anointing. But I did decide to believe that all the things of God are for ME.
They are for YOU too. Simply believe and receive.
What is the place for supernatural visitations in our lives? Are they for everyone—or just a few special people? From Charisma Magazine
A "visitation" is an experience that lifts us out of the realm of the natural into the very atmosphere of God—the realm of the Spirit. It is a "God-touch"—an encounter in which the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us in a supernatural way.
We learn many things from others and from the Bible—great truths about God, Jesus, heaven, redemption and so on. But much of this input goes through the mind. It takes on a totally different dimension when we learn it by the Spirit. Reading about heaven, and even having an understanding of it in the heart, cannot compare to actually visiting it ourselves.
Although we are commanded to "walk by faith, not by sight," 2 Corinthians 5:7, God sometimes chooses to bring revelation by allowing the Holy Spirit to show us things, thereby making them more real. Jesus told us He would do this. He said, speaking of the Holy Spirit, "He will glorify Me, for He will receive from Me and will declare it to you," John 16:14.
The Holy Spirit often manifests the power, presence and truth of God in special visitations. These visitations are for every child of God.
Jesus died that we might be delivered from sin and death, but His death and resurrection also opened the way for us to walk in the supernatural realm of the Spirit, which includes divine visitations. "You have granted me life and loyal love, and Your care has preserved [kept, quickened, strengthened] my spirit," Job declared in Job 10:12.
You may be wondering something many believers find disconcerting, that being, if visitations are available to all believers, why don't all believers experience them? Jesus said, "According to your faith, let it be done for you" (see Matthew 9:29).
We do not receive because we do not ask, and sometimes when we do ask, we do not ask in faith. There are many things God has made available to us, but often our unbelief prevents us from being in the flow of the Spirit. When we do believe, our faith gives the Holy Spirit a vehicle to flow through and bring the manifestation that we need in our lives. When we do not, the Holy Spirit cannot work. It is contrary to His nature to work through unbelief, for He is a Spirit of faith and truth.
When I was first filled with the Holy Spirit many years ago, I eagerly learned about miracles, healing, the gifts of the Spirit and supernatural manifestations of the presence of God. But I had a hard time believing they were for me personally.
I had been a good evangelical Christian for 12 years, and somehow I had gotten the impression that for these kinds of "favors," you must be qualified—meaning you had to have a special ministry, be a great saint, or live as a missionary in the jungle. But God showed me that I could walk in the Spirit just as Jesus did (see Galatians 5:25). I began to see that this was my inheritance as a Christian.
Not long after I made the decision in my heart to believe that the realm of the Spirit—angels, heaven and supernatural manifestations—were my inheritance, I began to experience them. I began to see the things I had only read about before.
The first time I was lifted out of the natural into the Spirit I saw the heavenly Jerusalem. Several years later I had another visitation and was lifted into heaven every day for seven days. Another time I was taken into heaven daily for three and a half weeks. These experiences were awesome and changed my life.
Am I some kind of special person to be blessed with such experiences? No! I have no particular qualifications, talent or anointing. But I did decide to believe that all the things of God are for ME.
They are for YOU too. Simply believe and receive.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Rejoin
February 4
“…for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” II Timothy 4:10.
Mark and Demas were both colleagues of the apostle Paul and they clearly illustrate the startling contrast between faithful and faithless soldiers in God’s army. In the beginning, Demas seemed a better soldier for Christ than Mark for he had served as Paul’s right-hand man. Demas traveled with Paul on each of his missionary journeys. Along with Paul, Demas had experienced shipwreck, beatings and trial of every sort that Paul endured.
Mark, on the other hand, had abandoned Paul on his first trip. Mark had gone home, and when he felt ready to resume serving, Paul refused to allow Mark to rejoin his team. At this point, Mark joined Barnabas and traveled as a missionary partner with him. During this time when Mark was being mentored by the seasoned missionary, he grew into a faithful man of God who served the Kingdom of Christ with all his strength.
While in his prison cell awaiting death, Paul realized which man was the true servant of Christ; which one was the faithful soldier in His army. Demas had now forsaken him, “having loved this present world,” II Timothy 4:10, and Paul eagerly awaited Mark’s arrival. By this time, Paul considered him to be “profitable in the ministry,” II Timothy 4:11. In fact, in addition to traversing the known world to propagate the knowledge of the Living Savior, Mark also authored the Gospel of Mark. Indeed, he was not the unprofitable servant that Paul originally thought him to be.
Have you failed the Lord? Have you fallen short of your own expectation of how faithfully and committedly you would serve the Kingdom of Christ? Have you sinned after your initial conversion to Jesus and now consider yourself to be damaged goods that are unfit to be part of the Body of Christ?
If so, it is obvious that you are in good company. If you have disappointed everyone, including yourself, follow Mark’s example and place yourself under a godly mentor by whose nurture and example you will be able to flourish into the person of faith that the Holy One has ordained that you be.
Then rejoin the Army of Faithful soldiers in its striving to share the truth of Jesus with all men; then, fight the good fight to the end!
“…for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” II Timothy 4:10.
Mark and Demas were both colleagues of the apostle Paul and they clearly illustrate the startling contrast between faithful and faithless soldiers in God’s army. In the beginning, Demas seemed a better soldier for Christ than Mark for he had served as Paul’s right-hand man. Demas traveled with Paul on each of his missionary journeys. Along with Paul, Demas had experienced shipwreck, beatings and trial of every sort that Paul endured.
Mark, on the other hand, had abandoned Paul on his first trip. Mark had gone home, and when he felt ready to resume serving, Paul refused to allow Mark to rejoin his team. At this point, Mark joined Barnabas and traveled as a missionary partner with him. During this time when Mark was being mentored by the seasoned missionary, he grew into a faithful man of God who served the Kingdom of Christ with all his strength.
While in his prison cell awaiting death, Paul realized which man was the true servant of Christ; which one was the faithful soldier in His army. Demas had now forsaken him, “having loved this present world,” II Timothy 4:10, and Paul eagerly awaited Mark’s arrival. By this time, Paul considered him to be “profitable in the ministry,” II Timothy 4:11. In fact, in addition to traversing the known world to propagate the knowledge of the Living Savior, Mark also authored the Gospel of Mark. Indeed, he was not the unprofitable servant that Paul originally thought him to be.
Have you failed the Lord? Have you fallen short of your own expectation of how faithfully and committedly you would serve the Kingdom of Christ? Have you sinned after your initial conversion to Jesus and now consider yourself to be damaged goods that are unfit to be part of the Body of Christ?
If so, it is obvious that you are in good company. If you have disappointed everyone, including yourself, follow Mark’s example and place yourself under a godly mentor by whose nurture and example you will be able to flourish into the person of faith that the Holy One has ordained that you be.
Then rejoin the Army of Faithful soldiers in its striving to share the truth of Jesus with all men; then, fight the good fight to the end!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
I Am
February 3
“But He said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid'” John 6:20.
The three words, "It is I," are in Greek only two words (ego eimi), and they are much more powerful and significant than most Bible readers realize. Jesus says not, "It is I" but "I am," which is a direct assertion of His deity.
Moses had asked God:
"Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you,'" Exodus 3:13-14.
Jesus is here declaring that He is Yahweh, the living and true God of Old Testament. This assertion is made throughout the New Testament for there are a number of significant amplifications of this: Christ is the "I AM" that is the bread of life; the light of the world; the good shepherd; the resurrection; the way, the truth, and the life; and the Alpha and Omega, among other things ( See John 6:35; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; Revelation 1:8).
In the incident where the disciples were terrified by the treacherous sea in which they found themselves, they showed that they were growing in faith. In the earlier miracle of Christ stilling the storm on the sea, they had asked, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Matthew 8:27), but now they have advanced in their knowledge to recognizing Jesus as God, as the term "Son of God" indicates, and worshiping Him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion, the term "I AM" was used again and was unmistakable in its implication. When soldiers came to arrest Jesus, He went forward and said to them, "Who are you seeking?"
They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus said to them, "I am He" ("He" has been inserted by the translators) And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground,” John 18:4-6.
Recognizing that Jesus is God is imperative to true worship. The words Jesus said to the woman at the well, "You worship what you do not know," John 4:22, are as true today as they were when He spoke them to her, for it is unfortunate that millions of people today, including many professing believers, sadly do not know who He truly is.
We must devote ourselves to gaining a true knowledge of who Jesus is so we can offer acceptable worship to Him; so we can fully understand at whose feet we have placed our lives for time and eternity.
“But He said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid'” John 6:20.
The three words, "It is I," are in Greek only two words (ego eimi), and they are much more powerful and significant than most Bible readers realize. Jesus says not, "It is I" but "I am," which is a direct assertion of His deity.
Moses had asked God:
"Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you,'" Exodus 3:13-14.
Jesus is here declaring that He is Yahweh, the living and true God of Old Testament. This assertion is made throughout the New Testament for there are a number of significant amplifications of this: Christ is the "I AM" that is the bread of life; the light of the world; the good shepherd; the resurrection; the way, the truth, and the life; and the Alpha and Omega, among other things ( See John 6:35; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; Revelation 1:8).
In the incident where the disciples were terrified by the treacherous sea in which they found themselves, they showed that they were growing in faith. In the earlier miracle of Christ stilling the storm on the sea, they had asked, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Matthew 8:27), but now they have advanced in their knowledge to recognizing Jesus as God, as the term "Son of God" indicates, and worshiping Him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion, the term "I AM" was used again and was unmistakable in its implication. When soldiers came to arrest Jesus, He went forward and said to them, "Who are you seeking?"
They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth."
Jesus said to them, "I am He" ("He" has been inserted by the translators) And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground,” John 18:4-6.
Recognizing that Jesus is God is imperative to true worship. The words Jesus said to the woman at the well, "You worship what you do not know," John 4:22, are as true today as they were when He spoke them to her, for it is unfortunate that millions of people today, including many professing believers, sadly do not know who He truly is.
We must devote ourselves to gaining a true knowledge of who Jesus is so we can offer acceptable worship to Him; so we can fully understand at whose feet we have placed our lives for time and eternity.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Trust the Lord
February 2
Trust the Lord by Dr. D. James Kennedy
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths,” Proverbs 3:5–6.
Proverbs 3:5–6 offers us direction and guidance as we stand at the threshold of each new beginning of our lives. Whether we are embarking upon a new career or a new relationship or simply a new day, we are in need of the direction only the Lord can give to us.
Mankind desperately needs God’s direction for life, for apart from Him, when we don’t have His mind in a matter we subject ourselves to the threat of abysmal failure in whatever we try to accomplish on our own, to achieve apart from Him.
How do we receive His guidance: How can we know His will? Although there is latitude for Him to speak by various and sundry methods to His children, there are some basic tenets we can apply in our pursuit of His guidance for our lives.
We know that by trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts and not leaning on our own understanding we can attain a lofty level of faith that will supply much direction as we follow our daily walk with Him. The Holy One doesn’t ask us to stop using our reason, our common sense, our desires regarding the pursuits before us, but He does want us to avoid relying on our own self-confidence.
The world affirms to us that we are to cultivate that trait. From our earliest childhood, we are admonished to assume responsibility for ourselves, and indeed we should, but if we rely upon ourselves apart from the spiritual admonition to rely on the Lord as we are directed in Proverbs 3:5, 6, we rob ourselves of the blessing, of the joy of following fast after Jesus.
Often what the world affirms, the Lord abhors, including our own self-reliance. It is not that the hand that fashioned us wants us to be little children all our lives who cannot function independently, but God wants us to rely on Him and Him alone for the ultimate decision as to what avenue we shall pursue.
As you choose your goals and the avenues you will use to pursue them, trust God to guide you. Don’t use your own reasoning to back up your plans; ask God to guide you, then listen for His answer.
Dr. Kennedy has written: Proverbs 3:5, 6 promises us that if we acknowledge God, He’ll direct our paths. So how do we acknowledge God? We acknowledge our Lord by seeing Him in every aspect of our lives, by having a vision of Him and His providential workings in and through us. We acknowledge Him by seeking Him first in all we do and by obeying His commandments.
What has God done in your life recently? And how can you remain obedient to His call on your life?
As you acknowledge God’s rightful place in your life, He’ll direct you along the pathways of your life. He does this in three main ways.
First, God directs through His Word. As long as believers follow Scripture, they can be certain they’re traveling the right path.
Second, God directs His people through circumstances in their lives. Sometimes He guides them by opening doors, sometimes by closing them. Sometimes He makes their paths smooth; sometimes He allows them to stumble and fall flat on their faces. Sometimes He removes obstacles; sometimes He throws them in their way.
Third, God guides people of faith through His Holy Spirit. Sometimes the Spirit’s “still small voice” pulls them back from a venture they’ve planned, and only much later they discover that He has spared them from disaster!
Although it may not always be easy to see God’s hand immediately, He does guide when believers trust Him. Often His guidance is seen most clearly in retrospect. But those who come to Him can rely on His promise to provide direction if they trust Him in every aspect of their lives—in their home lives, at work, at school, as they drive their cars, as they eat their meals, as they conduct business.
As you ponder your goals, invite God to guide you. As you acknowledge Him, He’ll direct you down the right path for your life.
As Edward Hooper stated so well, may we who profess faith say today, “Jesus, Savior, pilot me, over life’s tempestuous sea.”
Trust the Lord by Dr. D. James Kennedy
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths,” Proverbs 3:5–6.
Proverbs 3:5–6 offers us direction and guidance as we stand at the threshold of each new beginning of our lives. Whether we are embarking upon a new career or a new relationship or simply a new day, we are in need of the direction only the Lord can give to us.
Mankind desperately needs God’s direction for life, for apart from Him, when we don’t have His mind in a matter we subject ourselves to the threat of abysmal failure in whatever we try to accomplish on our own, to achieve apart from Him.
How do we receive His guidance: How can we know His will? Although there is latitude for Him to speak by various and sundry methods to His children, there are some basic tenets we can apply in our pursuit of His guidance for our lives.
We know that by trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts and not leaning on our own understanding we can attain a lofty level of faith that will supply much direction as we follow our daily walk with Him. The Holy One doesn’t ask us to stop using our reason, our common sense, our desires regarding the pursuits before us, but He does want us to avoid relying on our own self-confidence.
The world affirms to us that we are to cultivate that trait. From our earliest childhood, we are admonished to assume responsibility for ourselves, and indeed we should, but if we rely upon ourselves apart from the spiritual admonition to rely on the Lord as we are directed in Proverbs 3:5, 6, we rob ourselves of the blessing, of the joy of following fast after Jesus.
Often what the world affirms, the Lord abhors, including our own self-reliance. It is not that the hand that fashioned us wants us to be little children all our lives who cannot function independently, but God wants us to rely on Him and Him alone for the ultimate decision as to what avenue we shall pursue.
As you choose your goals and the avenues you will use to pursue them, trust God to guide you. Don’t use your own reasoning to back up your plans; ask God to guide you, then listen for His answer.
Dr. Kennedy has written: Proverbs 3:5, 6 promises us that if we acknowledge God, He’ll direct our paths. So how do we acknowledge God? We acknowledge our Lord by seeing Him in every aspect of our lives, by having a vision of Him and His providential workings in and through us. We acknowledge Him by seeking Him first in all we do and by obeying His commandments.
What has God done in your life recently? And how can you remain obedient to His call on your life?
As you acknowledge God’s rightful place in your life, He’ll direct you along the pathways of your life. He does this in three main ways.
First, God directs through His Word. As long as believers follow Scripture, they can be certain they’re traveling the right path.
Second, God directs His people through circumstances in their lives. Sometimes He guides them by opening doors, sometimes by closing them. Sometimes He makes their paths smooth; sometimes He allows them to stumble and fall flat on their faces. Sometimes He removes obstacles; sometimes He throws them in their way.
Third, God guides people of faith through His Holy Spirit. Sometimes the Spirit’s “still small voice” pulls them back from a venture they’ve planned, and only much later they discover that He has spared them from disaster!
Although it may not always be easy to see God’s hand immediately, He does guide when believers trust Him. Often His guidance is seen most clearly in retrospect. But those who come to Him can rely on His promise to provide direction if they trust Him in every aspect of their lives—in their home lives, at work, at school, as they drive their cars, as they eat their meals, as they conduct business.
As you ponder your goals, invite God to guide you. As you acknowledge Him, He’ll direct you down the right path for your life.
As Edward Hooper stated so well, may we who profess faith say today, “Jesus, Savior, pilot me, over life’s tempestuous sea.”
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Yes, We Should
February 1
“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14: 25-31.
Have you ever walked on water? Me either. Yet in this passage of scripture, Jesus remonstrates Peter for his lack of faith in doing so. Why? Why would the One present at creation, the One “without whom nothing was made that was made,” John 1:3, the One who “knows our frame,” Psalm 103:14, because He made us as we are, tell Peter that he lacked faith because he could not do something he had not been designed to do?
For three reasons: 1. Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk to Him on the water, 2. Jesus said, “Come,” 3. The incident is an example to us.
Peter requested that the Lord allow him to walk to Him on the water. Peter asked for something extraordinary that required great faith to even contemplate. Most of Jesus’ followers wouldn’t have extended such a request to the Holy One…it would not have crossed their minds to ask for something so beyond human capability.
But when Peter evidenced the faith to request the impossible, Jesus complied; He assented to Peter’s outlandish request—and for a brief moment in time, until Peter’s faith collapsed under the burden of his concept of reality—a man did the impossible. It is entirely possible that had Peter’s faith not failed him, he might have walked all the way to the shore!
This is an amazing example to believers today because sooner or later all of us will call upon the Lord to do something extraordinary in our lives or in the lives of those for whom we pray. We will ask for some great thing. We will ask Jesus to supply the finances for a burdensome debt that we cannot pay with our own resources. We will ask the Lord to heal someone of a dreaded disease for which medicine has exhausted its resources and there is no cure. We will supplicate in the behalf of a nation’s redemption from the moral and spiritual abyss into which it’s plummeted.
And we have His Word that assures His willingness to meet every need, to answer every prayer: “God is able to supply all you need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19. According to John 14:12, we shall, “…do greater works than I have done because I go to the Father.” II Chronicles 9:14 promises, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.”
In all these supplications that are on the lips of so many believers, Jesus has said to us as He spoke to Peter, “Come.” But we waver in our faith. We fall back into doubt. We see the formidable circumstances and we lack the holy boldness to persist in prayer until the work is done!
Should we not learn from Peter’s error and not repeat it? Should we not lay hold of the precious promises and claim them until He performs them? Yes, we should!
“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14: 25-31.
Have you ever walked on water? Me either. Yet in this passage of scripture, Jesus remonstrates Peter for his lack of faith in doing so. Why? Why would the One present at creation, the One “without whom nothing was made that was made,” John 1:3, the One who “knows our frame,” Psalm 103:14, because He made us as we are, tell Peter that he lacked faith because he could not do something he had not been designed to do?
For three reasons: 1. Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk to Him on the water, 2. Jesus said, “Come,” 3. The incident is an example to us.
Peter requested that the Lord allow him to walk to Him on the water. Peter asked for something extraordinary that required great faith to even contemplate. Most of Jesus’ followers wouldn’t have extended such a request to the Holy One…it would not have crossed their minds to ask for something so beyond human capability.
But when Peter evidenced the faith to request the impossible, Jesus complied; He assented to Peter’s outlandish request—and for a brief moment in time, until Peter’s faith collapsed under the burden of his concept of reality—a man did the impossible. It is entirely possible that had Peter’s faith not failed him, he might have walked all the way to the shore!
This is an amazing example to believers today because sooner or later all of us will call upon the Lord to do something extraordinary in our lives or in the lives of those for whom we pray. We will ask for some great thing. We will ask Jesus to supply the finances for a burdensome debt that we cannot pay with our own resources. We will ask the Lord to heal someone of a dreaded disease for which medicine has exhausted its resources and there is no cure. We will supplicate in the behalf of a nation’s redemption from the moral and spiritual abyss into which it’s plummeted.
And we have His Word that assures His willingness to meet every need, to answer every prayer: “God is able to supply all you need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19. According to John 14:12, we shall, “…do greater works than I have done because I go to the Father.” II Chronicles 9:14 promises, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, then will I hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.”
In all these supplications that are on the lips of so many believers, Jesus has said to us as He spoke to Peter, “Come.” But we waver in our faith. We fall back into doubt. We see the formidable circumstances and we lack the holy boldness to persist in prayer until the work is done!
Should we not learn from Peter’s error and not repeat it? Should we not lay hold of the precious promises and claim them until He performs them? Yes, we should!
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