Monthly Archives: November 2007

Overcoming Jealousy

Leave a comment

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.”1 “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”2

A Daily Encounter reader asks, “For some unknown reason I have many times felt jealousy over other people receiving things. I always ask Satan to get behind me when this happens but he always returns. I have prayed numerous times for deliverance and forgiveness. How can I overcome this sense of being jealous?”

Hello June (name changed), jealousy is almost always the symptom of a deeper problem; that is, “the fruit of a deeper root.” It is almost always the result of our own sense of insecurity and/or feelings of inferiority. As a general rule, the more secure we feel within ourselves, the less likely we are to have a problem with jealousy.

In other words, to overcome jealousy we need to overcome our feelings of insecurity. To help you do this I suggest your read the article, “Developing a Healthy Self-Image” at: http://tinyurl.com/af5hf.

Second, as I often say, it is important to learn how to pray the right prayer. That is, admit to God that you have a problem with jealousy and instead of asking him to simply deliver you from your jealousy, ask him to help you see the real cause of your jealousy and help you to find the help you need to overcome this problem. For further help read, “How to Pray Effectively” at: http://tinyurl.com/kb62w.

Third, realize that while Satan always wants to defeat us, he doesn’t cause our jealousy. That’s our problem and responsibility. However, keep in mind as the Apostle pointed out in Ephesians, when we fail to resolve our anger, we give Satan a foothold. The same is true with jealousy (and other problems). When you resolve the cause of your jealousy, Satan loses his foothold and as such you take away his power to tempt and defeat you in this area.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, with all my problems help me to see the real cause/s behind these, and find the help I need to overcome them so I will take away any and all footholds in my life that leave me open for Satan to tempt me in these areas. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 2:1 (NLT).
2. Ephesians 4:26-27 (NLT).

<:))))><

How to Be Sure You Are Going to Heaven

Leave a comment

“As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”1

The question has often been asked, “If you knew today was the last day of your life, what would you do?”

Do you have any impaired relationships you would want to resolve before you pass on? Have you left a will so your loved ones will benefit from your life’s work? Most important of all, when you come to the end of life’s journey and you stand before a holy God at the entrance to Heaven, if God asked you, “Why should I allow you to enter Heaven,” what would you say? In other words, if you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would spend eternity in Heaven with God?

If not, I urge you to make that preparation today. Eternity is forever. As I did in younger days, many people think that if they do enough good deeds to outnumber or outweigh the wrongs (sins) they have committed, this will qualify them to enter God’s heaven. Wrong.

God’s Word makes it very clear that nobody enters heaven because of their good works. It is only by God’s grace (unmerited favor) that we are given God’s gift of forgiveness and saved for all eternity. His Word says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”2

God’s Word also says, “For the wages [consequences] of sin is death [spiritual death which is eternal separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”3

Because God is a God of infinite holiness no sinner can ever survive in his presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. Furthermore, because God is also a God of infinite justice, all sin must be judged according to God’s standard of holiness and perfection, and his justice calls for death; that is, spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell.

Fortunately however, God is also a God of infinite love. This is why he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cruel Roman cross 2,000 years ago in your place and mine to meet the demands of God’s justice so we can be forgiven of all our sins and receive God’s gift of eternal life. This is the expression of his perfect love.

All you need to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins, and to ask God for his forgiveness and accept his gift of eternal life. The following prayer will help you to do this.

Prayer: “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs/sins I have committed. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.”

NOTE: If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please be sure to Click HERE (https://learning.actsweb.org/decision.php) to let us know you prayed this prayer, and we will send you the URL (web site address) of the free “Ten Steps to Christian Growth” which will help you to grow in your new spiritual life. (Change URL for the Spanish DE)

1. Hebrews 9:27, (NKJV).
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV).
3. Romans 6:23 (NIV).

<:))))><

He Fooled Himself

Leave a comment

“Be sure your sins will find you out.”1

The story is told of a young actor who was trying to impress an important movie director. The actor wanted to send an expensive gift, but he didn’t have the money, but he had an idea. If he could find a valuable vase which was already broken and get it at a very small cost, then he could mail it to the director. He would think it had gotten broken in the mail and would be impressed anyway.

So this actor went to an exclusive store and found a vase that had been broken into many pieces. It was just going to be thrown out, so he was able to get it at a very small cost. He told them to wrap it up and send it and gave them the address. He waited to hear from the director, but heard nothing for several days. Finally he sent a telegram: “Did vase arrive?” Shortly he received this response: “Vase arrived. But why was each piece wrapped separately?”2

As Abraham Lincoln said, “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

But with God we can never fool him any of the time. “Be sure your sins will find you out”—mine too!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, deliver me from the sin of denial and trying to fool myself into justifying whatever wrong I want and choose to do—let alone trying to fool you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Numbers 32:23 (KJV).
2. From Alan Smith’s Thought for the Day, http://www.tftd-online.com.

<:))))><

Modern Day Miracle

Leave a comment

“I [God] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”1

According to an article in The Recorder, “A 19-year-old girl by the name of Khun Paot, escaped the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia after an arduous journey with 100 others through miles of jungle, canals, mountains, and rivers. Standing between them and freedom were communist soldiers, the elements, and a stretch of jungle ground covered with thorns. Most of the escapees were barefoot or wore flimsy thongs.

“A midnight-like darkness hampered the struggling group as it crossed a valley between two high mountain ranges. ‘We could see absolutely nothing,’ Paot later told a missionary, Maxine Stewart. ‘We didn’t even know where to step.’ Suddenly hundreds of fireflies swarmed into view. Their glow made enough light for the people to see the path. The refugees reached the next mountain by firefly light, said Mrs. Stewart.

“After Paot was transferred to Kham Put refugee camp, she was invited to a Christian meeting. ‘I know that old man,’ she exclaimed at a picture on the wall of the chapel. ‘He is the one who led us and showed us the way to Thailand and freedom.’ She was pointing to a picture of Jesus.”2

Ever since my youth, every morning I have committed and trusted my life and way to God, trusting him to guide me all through my life knowing that he could make a much better job of my life than I ever could. Now, as I look back over the years, I can genuinely say in the words of the hymn writer, “Jesus led me all the way.”

God will do the same for you, too, should you genuinely commit and trust your life to him every day for the rest of your life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I commit and trust my life to you, you will teach me in the way that I should go and will guide me with your eye. And that’s what I do today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 32:8, NKJV).
2. The Recorder, September 1979, p. 25. Source: www.esermons.com.

<:))))><

Political Correctness Oxymoron

Leave a comment

“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (emphasis mine).1

If there were ever a day when people and churches need to take a stand for moral living it is today. If abortionists and homosexuals have their way it may, in the not too distant future, be a crime for anyone, including the church, to quote the Bible regarding these issues and argue for God’s position. Just writing on this topic is bound to get me criticized—it pretty much always does.

According to Chuck Colson: “Particularly some younger evangelicals are suggesting that we stay away from divisive issues like abortion and homosexuality altogether and just go back and be like the first-century Church—stay out of politics, tend to our spiritual knitting.

“I wonder what early Church they are talking about. Take just the issue of abortion. The early Church was outspokenly pro-life right from the beginning just as the Jews had been. In the second chapter of the Didache, one of the first discipleship books for young Christians written in the first century, was this stern injunction: ‘Thou shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born.’ Justin Martyr wrote about this in his first apology. And in the second century, Athenagoras wrote a plea to Emperor Marcus Aurelius: ‘We say that women that use drugs to bring abortion commit murder and will have to give an account to God for the abortion.’”2

Churches and Christians who refuse or fail to take a stand for that which is morally right according to God’s Word are not like the early Christians. They are being controlled by political correctness which, in reality (much of it) is political incorrectness and will, if we continue to allow it, eventually weaken and make the church ineffective as it has become in much of Europe. While Jesus always loved sinners, he never approved of sinful behaviors in any form—nor was he ever concerned about being politically correct.

Had he been, we would not have a Savior or the gift of salvation and God’s forgiveness. We would be eternally lost.

Today, Christian churches and we who call ourselves Christians need to stand up and be counted; that is, as the Apostle Paul commissioned Timothy: Flee all sinful immoral behavior … Follow after righteousness … and Fight the good fight for truth and that which is morally correct rather than that which is politically correct.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God please give me a love for your Word and a clear understanding of it so I will know in my heart and mind that which is morally correct according to your standards. And give me the courage to make a stand always for that which is right in your sight; to flee all sinful behaviors; to follow after righteousness; and to fight your good fight. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. The Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 6:11-12, KJV).
2. Chuck Colson, BreakPoint, August 1, 2006 www.breakpoint.org.

<:))))><

Appreciating Life

Leave a comment

“Prepare to meet your God.”1

“The popular actress Mary Tyler Moore is admired not only for her professional accomplishments, but also for the way she has coped with a series of personal tragedies. Her sister died in 1978. A year later she lost her only son, Richard, at age twenty-four. Then her brother succumbed to kidney cancer. This was followed by the death of her mother.

“As if these traumatic experiences were not enough to defeat anyone, Mary Tyler Moore has battled diabetes since she was in her twenties. This courageous survivor says, ‘The pain is just as intense as it is for someone who gives up and gives in.’

“Her suffering has made her more sensitive and responsive; more grateful for life. ‘I appreciate,’ she continues, ‘much more now. I don’t take tomorrow for granted, because it simply may not be there.’”2

Gutsy lady. Wise woman. It is well known that most people who develop a depth of character and inner strength have gone through oftentimes intense suffering, but I can’t help but wonder how few don’t (especially in the Western world) take life for granted.

The reality is that none of us has any guarantee of tomorrow. Earlier this month on the I-5 freeway close to our home the traffic was slowed to a standstill. All the vehicles ahead had stopped when a semi-trailer slammed into the car in front of it instantly killing all four young children who were in the car! A similar thing happened to me a couple of years ago although nowhere near as drastic. I, along with several other cars, had stopped at a red light when suddenly we were ploughed into from behind by a heavy pickup truck causing a five-car pile up. I thanked God that I wasn’t killed or seriously hurt. My vehicle was a mess.

Life is fragile. It is not only important that we don’t take life for granted, but also that we prepare today for tomorrow’s life after life. Eternity is forever. Whatever you do make absolute sure you have your “passport for heaven” without which you will not be able to gain entry into God’s heaven any more than you could gain entry into Australia, England, Germany, the U.S.A or numerous other countries without a valid passport. To obtain your passport to Heaven go to: “Passport for Heaven” at: http://tinyurl.com/dm472.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to realize that this life is fragile and that there are no guarantees for tomorrow and that I need to be prepared for life after life. Please help me to obtain my ‘Passport’ for entry into your heaven. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Amos 4:12 (NIV).
2. G. Curtis Jones and Paul H. Hones, 500 Illustrations Stories from Life for Preaching and Teaching, Abingdon Press. Cited in Encounter magazine (ACTS Int. Australia, April-May, 2007.

<:))))><

Give Me a Thankful Heart

Leave a comment

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! / For His mercy endures forever. / Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! / For His mercy endures forever. / Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! / For His mercy endures forever.”1

In The Chicago Daily News Harold Ruoff wrote, “I read about a postal worker who opened and read the mail which came to the Dead Letter Office in Washington addressed to Santa Claus. In the three months before Christmas, there were thousands of letters asking for something. In the months after Christmas, there was only one card addressed to Santa Claus thanking him. How quick we are to ask and receive. How slow we are to speak the magic word—thanks!”

I’m not suggesting that we give thanks to Santa Claus, but one of my constant prayers is that God will give me a thankful heart for every blessing that he has so freely given to me—and for the innumerable blessing he gives to us that I am not even aware of.

This one thing I know, when I think of my background, if it weren’t for the grace of God, I don’t know where I would be today. I know I wouldn’t be where I am with the wonderful privilege of being able to share the Christian message and gospel with so many people around the world via email and the Internet.

Furthermore, even though I came from a very dysfunctional family background, there is one thing that I will be eternally grateful for, and that is that my parents took me to church and Sunday school where I heard the gospel message and there found Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.

So today, while it is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A., wherever you and I are, let us make it a day of thanksgiving in our hearts especially for God’s great love gift to the world—the gift of his Son, Jesus, who gave his life on the cross so that you and I could have our sins forgiven and receive a full and free pardon and the gift of eternal life in Heaven to be with God forever.

“Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your everlasting love—that you love me no matter what I have ever done or have failed to do—and that your mercy endures forever. In appreciation for your dying for me help me always to live for you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Psalm 136:1-3 (NKJV).

P.S. Be sure to say thank you to God and to someone every day!
P.P.S. Wishing all Americans a very Happy Thanksgiving Day

<:))))><

Walking Where Paul Walked, Part II

Leave a comment

“While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”1

Yesterday we talked about visiting Athens, Corinth and Ephesus, and other ancient historical places, and ending in Istanbul, a city largely populated by M’slims.

Istanbul was certainly a fascinating ancient city but hearing the M’slim call to prayer was just another reminder that radical M’slims throughout the world are on the march and while many M’slims want to live in peace, the increasing number of radicals believe the only peace is when Jews, Christians and Westerners either convert to I’lam or are dead. And they have no qualms about killing us.

Frighteningly, far too many leaders in the West are wanting appeasement with these I’lamic fanatical fundamentalists when, in reality, there is no such thing.

Mathias Dapfner, CEO of the large German publisher, Axel Springer, blasted Europe for its weakness in confronting I’lamic fanaticism. He talked how appeasement with Hitler cost millions of Jews and Gentiles their lives … how appeasement contributed to the stabilizing of the Communist Soviet Union and the former East Germany, and “crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo…. And in the end it is also appeasement at its most grotesque when Germany reacts to the escalating violence of I’lamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by proposing a national M’slim holiday.”2

And here in America, while most M’slims want to live in peace, a recent poll by the Pew Research Center reported that: “One out of four young U.S. M’slims believe homicide bombings against civilians are OK to ‘defend I’lam,’”3 at least under certain circumstances.

I’lam claims to be a religion of peace but peace is highly unlikely between Jews and Palestinians or between radical M’slims and the Western world until Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, returns to earth to finally put an end to all wars and bring in lasting peace. In fact, as the Word of God reminds us, “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.1

The reality is that throughout the world there is an urgent need for a great spiritual awaking—an awakening to the reality of today’s volatile world and our urgent need for God and the need to live in harmony with his will. Without God there is no hope for any lasting peace and any end to a world filled with hatred and violence.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding to see the reality of today’s volatile world situation and our world-wide need for a great spiritual awakening. And please start your work in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. The Apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:3, NIV).
2. Mathias Dapfner, CEO of the large German publisher, Axel Springer. Editorial: “Europe, Thy Name is Cowardice,” published in the German periodical Die Welt, November 20, 2004. http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/dapfner.asp
3. Poll: 1 in 4 U.S. Young M’slims OK With Homicide Bombings Against Civilians, Fox News. May 23, 2007. http://tinyurl.com/ywmyoz

<:))))><

Walking Where Paul Walked, Part I

Leave a comment

“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, ‘Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.’”1

“I walked today where the Apostle Paul walked.”

I wrote those words several months ago when Joy and I had the opportunity to stand at the top of Mars Hill overlooking the city of Athens in Greece. On this hill, or close to it, almost 2000 years ago in the shadow of the infamous historical Parthenon, the Apostle Paul explained the gospel to Athenians.

The next day we walked on a section of a road built by the Romans in the ancient city of Corinth—a road on which Paul would have walked—at the end of which he stood while he was being accused by the city magistrates for causing a disturbance by preaching about Jesus.

The following day we sailed on the waters on which Paul sailed on his missionary journeys. A few days later we were in Ephesus and visited the amazing outdoor amphitheater where Paul would have undoubtedly been. Visiting these and other amazing ancient historical cities certainly made Paul’s missionary journeys and his writings (especially to the Corinthians and Ephesians) come alive as never before.

Our last day before returning home was spent in Istanbul—the city where east meets west. Besides visiting fascinating places and magnificent ancient buildings, it was a weird sensation to hear the extremely loud Muslim call to prayer starting at 5:40 AM sunrise! The chanting sound gave me cold chills especially in light of atrocities committed by radical Muslims in recent times. Could you imagine the outcry if Christians had the same kind of extremely loud calls to prayer five times a day in America? The anti-God and politically correct crowds would howl us into silence!

To be continued ….

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the historical evidence authenticating your Word, the Bible, as found in the ‘cradle of Christianity’ where your early disciples taught and preached the gospel message. Help me to grasp in my heart and mind the reality of your Word and the impact on the world that the gospel has made over the past two millenniums. May it truly impact my heart and life as well. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 17:22

<:))))><

No One to Speak for Me

Leave a comment

“And He [Jesus] said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race].”1

I vividly recall how, when visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC—a profoundly sobering experience—how deeply I was moved when reading the words credited by some (but disputed by others) to Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

The plan to kill Jews today may be even more destructive than in the Holocaust. I say this because President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has expressed doubt that the Holocaust ever happened.2 He has also declared openly that he wants Israel wiped off the map, and it appears that in the not too distant future he will have nuclear weapons—a frightening thought as an ever increasing number of extremist Muslims are determined to kill not only Jews, but Christians, Americans and other Westerners, and pretty much all who refuse to convert to their evil form of radical religion. Their barbaric philosophy is “convert or have your head cut off.”

We Christians know that the only hope of the world is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, but what will we Christians do about it? Will we again remain silent as so many did for so long during Hitler’s reign of terror? I was also horrified to learn that we Western countries refused to allow Jews to immigrate to our countries even when we knew what Hitler was doing. Consequently, six million Jews were sent to the death chambers.

According to a recent survey of Christians in America by the highly respected Barna Group, only 29% of Christians see the need to explain their faith with non-believers—which is down from 39% a year ago.3

Perhaps more than ever we need to take seriously Christ’s last commission to his disciples to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone everywhere.” Never before has this been as possible as it is today.

May every one of us ask God daily to use us to be an effective witness for Jesus.

Also, please go to www.actsweb.org/announce.php for a very simple and non-threatening way to share God’s love and message of salvation with family, friends, and contacts. And please support in prayer and finances organizations that are actively involved in reaching people with the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available. Please use me to be an effective witness for you and do all that I can to help spread the gospel around the world. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jesus (Mark 16:15, AMP).
2. Reuters, Friday, December 9, 2005; Page A18. http://tinyurl.com/3x72lb
3. The Barna Update, http://tinyurl.com/27csc5

<:))))><