Monthly Archives: July 2010

Fear Not

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“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”1

“It is reported that the [former] newspaper counselor, Ann Landers, received an average of 10,000 letters each month, and nearly all of them from people burdened with problems. She was asked if there was any one problem that predominates throughout the letters she receives, and her reply was the one problem above all others seems to be fear.”2

Fear, to one degree or another, is common to all mankind. People are afraid of innumerable things: grasshoppers, bugs of all kind, snakes, spiders, mice, the dark, closeness, intimacy, losing their health, wealth, happiness, friendships, the unknown, ad infinitum. Some people are even afraid of success and unconsciously set themselves up to fail. Others are so afraid of failure, they won’t step out or even attempt to fulfill their life’s ambition and goals.

The ancient king of Israel, King Saul was so jealous of David that he set out to kill him. David had a right to be afraid and undoubtedly was. But because of his enduring trust in God, he was able to say with confidence, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man [King Saul] to do me?” When our trust is in God, we can confidently say the same. I like the words of the unknown poet who said:

I would rather stumble a thousand times

Attempting to reach a goal

Than to sit in a crowd

In my weather-proof shroud

A shriveled and self-satisfied soul.

I would rather be doing and daring

All of my error-filled days

Than watching, and waiting, and dying

Smug in my perfect ways.

I would rather wonder and blunder

Stumbling blindly ahead

Than for safety’s sake

Lest I make a mistake

Be sure, be safe, be dead.

God has a specific goal and purpose for your life. It’s okay to be afraid, just don’t allow fear to control you. Commit and trust your life to God every day and he will be with you. Step out in faith to do what you know and/or believe God wants you to do with your life. Don’t waste your life—make it an investment in eternity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I commit and trust my life and way to you, your Spirit is with me to guide and direct me in all that I am and do. Help me to discover my God-given life purpose, and give me the courage to step out in faith to become all that you planned for me to be, and to do all that you plan for me to do. And even when I am afraid, I choose to put my trust in you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 118:6 (NIV).

2. The Bible Friend. Cited in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan., Rockland, Maryland. © 1979.

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Will God Take Me Back?

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“When he [the Prodigal Son] came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I was once a Christian with a great love for the knowledge of the Bible. I have, unfortunately, turned away from God in the last several years. Will God take me back? Will he return His Spirit to me? Please respond.”

Dear Frieda (name changed), Will God take you back? Will the sun stop shining? Will the world stop turning? Will God reject you? Never, never, never will God reject you.2 He loves you with an everlasting love … not because of what you have ever done or have failed to do, but just because you are you, and because you are one of God’s children. Not one of us is worthy to come to God in our own right, but because Jesus, God’s Son, died to save us from our sins; through him even the worst of sinners can come to God. All we need to do is come to him, confess our sins and failures, and ask for his forgiveness … and THANK him for it. Don’t depend on your feelings. Depend on God’s Word which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”3

Confess your sins and failures to God today … and accept his forgiveness. And be sure to forgive yourself. Remember, if there is one prayer God loves to hear it is, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Pour out your heart to God today. Tell him exactly how you feel. Ask for his help in every area of your life. Every day commit and trust your life and way to God. I have done this daily for many years because I know that God can make a much better job of my life than I ever could.

Also, read again “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian and be sure to read the last part about having assurance of your salvation and eternal destiny.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you are a friend of sinners—including me. Thank you for your everlasting love and for giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in my place to save me from my sins. Thank you that when I confess my sins to you, you forgive me fully and freely. Thank you for your forgiveness and for the gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 15:17-20 (NIV).

2. see Hebrews 13:5.

3. 1 John 1:9 (NIV).

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God’s Methods

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“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”1

Down through the ages since the beginning of time whenever God has a job to do, he has always chosen and started with a single individual. Think of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Mary, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul for example.

Robert C. Stone shared how, “In 1872, Dwight L. Moody attended an early morning meeting in a hay mow (the place they store hay) in Ireland. At the meeting he heard a man quietly say, ‘The world has yet to see what God can do with, and for, and through, and in, the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to God’s will.’

“Years later, Moody was seated high up in Charles Spurgeon’s tabernacle in London, and Spurgeon used those same words in his message. Moody bowed his head and prayed, ‘By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be that man.’”

Moody was greatly used of God to win multiplied thousands to Christ and founded the world-famous Moody Bible Institute (MBI) in Chicago, a school that has trained many thousands for Christian service around the world. (By way of interest, I am a graduate of MBI.)

E M. Bounds said, “Men are looking for better methods. God is looking for better men [and women].” God will use every single person who makes him/herself available for Him to use, and he is still looking for dedicated people to stand in the gap today. Will you, too, in the words of D. L. Moody, say, “By the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be that man/woman?”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that your methods are people. By and through your power I want you to use me to stand in the gap to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Please use me to be a shining light in a dark world so that people, seeing Jesus in me, will want you for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For God to use you to help reach others with the gospel please consider becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus partner and help in an attractive, non-threatening way to share the love of Jesus and the message of God’s salvation with friends, family and contacts. For more information go to: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power02.php.

1. Ezekiel 22:30 (ASV).

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Effective Leadership

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The Apostle Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”1

I have read how “H. Gordon Selfridge built up one of the world’s largest department stores in London. He achieved success by being a leader, not a boss. Here is his comparison of the two types of executives:

The boss drives his men; the leader coaches them.

The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will.

The boss inspires fear; the leader enthusiasm.

The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’

The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.

The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.

The boss says ‘Go’; the leader says ‘Let’s go!’”2

The greatest way to lead is by example. This principle also applies to parenting, for unless we model what we say and teach, our words may do more to drive our children away from, rather than draw them to the good we desire for them to learn and put into practice. Children catch on pretty quickly when we are being hypocritical.

And above all, when it comes to modeling authentic Christianity, it is imperative that we lead and teach by example. While the right words at the right time are very important, it’s what we do much more than what we say that counts. As the old saying goes, “To win some we need to be winsome.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be genuine and authentic in all that I am, do and say so that my life will model what it means to be a true Christian and follower of Jesus Christ, first for my family, and then for every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV).

2. Gordon Selfridge. Cited in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, by Paul Lee Tan, Page 719. Assurance Publishers, Rockville, Maryland. © 1979.

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Walking on Water

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“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”1

Don’t you just love the title of the book by John Ortberg: If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. It’s one of those titles that I wish I had thought of myself.

I suppose most of us like to stay close to the shore in shallow waters, safely within our comfort zone. However, if we are going to invest our life and our God-given talents in a worthy and noble cause, and grow to reach our full potential, at some point we are going to need to launch out into the deep of the unknown—out of our comfort zone—or as John Ortberg put it, get out of the boat and walk on the water. He’s talking about exercising faith, of course, and stretching beyond our comfort zone and known limits.

Sure it’s scary, but unless we are willing to risk failure, we will never learn how to walk on water.

New Horizons
Unless you are willing
to launch out far from
sight of the shore
into the deep beyond
your present comfort zone,
you will never know
what you are capable
of doing or becoming,
nor will you ever discover
the new horizons
and greater dreams
your heart
is yearning for.

– Dick Innes

© Copyright 2000

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the vision to see what my God-given life purpose is, and the faith and courage to launch out into the deep to become all that you have envisioned for me to be, and to do what you plan for me to do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Hebrews 11:8 (NIV).

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Many Are Cold and a Few Are Frozen

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“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power….”1

I read about a vessel discovered over a century ago among the icebergs of the Arctic ocean. In it was the captain, frozen as he was making his last entry in the log-book. The crew were also discovered—some in their hammocks and some in the cabin—all frozen to death. The last date in the log-book showed that for thirteen years that vessel had been moving among the icebergs, “a drifting sepulcher manned by a frozen crew.”

Someone suggested that there are some churches in a similar condition. Today’s Scripture talks about people who have a form of godliness but without its power. Certainly there are some churches and religions like that too. They have an outward form of godliness but are frozen in that, while they have the outward trappings of religion, they are out of touch with God and reality.

Jesus said: “For many are called, but few are chosen.”2 That is, many are called by God but few prove themselves to be chosen ones, That is, only a small percentage of confessing Christians do anything tangible about God’s call to follow and serve him. Someone jokingly “translated” this verse to say, “Many are cold and a few are frozen.”

While millions of people around the world desperately need the gospel, most of us who call ourselves Christian give little for or do anything much about it. Nor do we give much to help in that less than three percent of Christians tithe of their income for God’s work. And even then the average church spends 95 percent of its income on itself. As the late Vance Havner said, “Our doctrine is sound—sound asleep.”

In the last few years we have seen a great increase in some of the worst kind of violence and terrorism worldwide committed by radical Muslims, all in the name of Allah. Let us not kid ourselves, their relentless goal is to kill infidels, namely: Christians, Jews, Americans and other Westerners, and also to rule the world with their religious-political ideology.

At the same time, at least in North America, we are seeing an ever-increasing amount of “Christian bashing.” Would-be opponents of the Christian faith are doing all in their power to destroy the very principles upon which western civilization has been built.

The only answer to combat evil is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and unless we the church, and we Christians (and even our governments) wake up and “smell the gunpowder,” I am afraid we will be witnessing an ever-increasing amount of violence and terrorism around the world.

Let us remember the words of Edmund Burke spoken over two centuries ago: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

More importantly, let us heed God’s Word that says, “‘Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please use me to be a shining light in the world’s darkness and do what I can to help spread your gospel message around the world. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: Please consider becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus partner and help in an attractive, non-threatening way to share the love of Jesus and the message of God’s salvation with friends, family and contacts. For more information go to: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power02.php.

1. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV).

2. Matthew 22:14 (KJV).

3. Ephesians 5:14-16 (NIV).

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Living With an Alcoholic

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“For each one shall bear his own load.”1

A Daily Encounter reader wrote, “I read your Daily Encounter on ‘Overcoming Addictions,’ and it hit home. I too am desperate and have prayed for years and looked for help but nothing has happened. I am the wife of an alcoholic. We are now separated…. After years of promises and disappointments, it is hard to believe that he can change, but I do keep praying for him and working on strengthening my faith…. I hope you can help me.”

Dear Shirley (name changed), I’m sorry to hear of your struggle. Unfortunately, there are far too many people living with an alcoholic and their pain is excruciating. I believe you did the right thing in physically separating from your alcoholic husband for as long as he refuses to get help to overcome his addiction. Tough love is the most loving thing to do in your situation. As stated in today’s Scripture there are some problems that we each need to accept responsibility for.

Not to be unkind, but it is very likely that you may be codependent, and while physically distancing yourself from your alcoholic husband is a step of growth for you, you will need help to overcome your “addiction.” That is, codependents, more often than not, are addicted to the addict. In other words, their need is to feel needed in order to feel loved. However, this is isn’t love at all. It’s need. That’s why it is never fulfilling nor can it be. It ends up leaving one lonely, frustrated, hurt and angry.

It is good that you recognize your need for help. You will need counseling for yourself because rarely can we resolve these problems alone. Ask your minister or doctor if he/she can recommend a qualified Christian counselor in your area.

Getting help for yourself is the most loving thing you can do for you, for your husband, and for your children. Unless you get the help you need for you, you won’t be able to help the rest of your family.

Also, be sure to pray for truth. Ask God to reveal to you the truth about you and to show you how you may have contributed in any way to the situation you are in. There are always reasons within ourselves why we are attracted to the person we marry. Once we know the truth about our self, we know what the right thing is for us to do. Remember, too, we can’t change anybody but our self. And the healthier and stronger we become, the better able we are to deal with our situation.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, no matter what problem I find myself facing, help me always to see what I am contributing to the situation, and please help me make the changes I need to make before ever expecting anyone else to change. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Galatians 6:5 (NKJV).

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Almost Persuaded

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“‘King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe’ Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian.’”1

Brett Blair writes how “on January 23, 1909, a small invention played a crucial role in the lives of 1500 people. The New York-bound ocean liner the Florida rammed into the Republic. Jack Binns, the Republic’s new wireless radio man, reassembled his contraption which had been destroyed in the collision. He sent out distress calls for the next 12 hours until the crew and passengers were rescued in the dawn light of Sunday morning. Only a few died.

“Jack Binns became a national hero. He was given a ticker tape parade. Songs were written about him. He even testified before congress on the importance of regulating wireless technology on all ships. Congress listened politely but ignored his message. Binn gave up his quest, accepted no profit from his celebrity, and went back home to England to await reassignment. Three years later he received an assignment aboard a ship that he turned down. He had fallen in love and was soon to marry. The turned down assignment? The Titanic.

“It is now felt that Binn’s message was ignored because so few lives were lost on the Republic. It took tragedy on the scale of the Titanic for the importance of wireless to be understood.”2

King Agrippa was an almost-persuaded too—but lost. Be certain not to wait until it is too late to take heed of God’s warnings in the Bible. Be sure you have accepted God’s plan of salvation from a lost eternity. Whatever you do, don’t be an almost-persuaded.

For help be sure to read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the many warnings in your Word, the Bible, telling me that I need to prepare for eternity and how to be saved from a lost eternity. Help me to be certain that I am prepared for life after death. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 26:27-28 (NKJV).

2. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, December, 2000

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No Pain, No Gain

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“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”1

I live at the top of a mile-long very steep hill and for exercise I like to ride my mountain bike down and up our hill at least three times a week. It’s great fun riding down but riding up is another story … and it never seems to get easier. “Do you enjoy riding?” someone asks. My answer? “I love having ridden.”

True, I don’t enjoy riding up our hill. It’s hard work, but I love having ridden because of the benefits gained. There is an immediate benefit in that it’s a great stress reliever, offsetting some of the adverse affects of stress. It also produces endorphins in the brain that helps me feel much better emotionally than when I don’t exercise regularly. Plus it helps keep my body in shape; is great for the circulatory system, and helps to keep fit physically. Furthermore, as Paul suggests, discipline of the body helps to maintain discipline in other areas of life.

Self-discipline in every area of life is a never-ending challenge but the dividends of living a disciplined life are well worth every effort put forth. Discipline never happens by chance. It is a choice—a fresh choice every day!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to realize the importance, not only of physical discipline, but discipline in every area of life. And give me the courage to face and confront every barrier in my life that fights against self-discipline. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NKJV).

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Never, Never, Never … Give Up

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“It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others] and so we never give up.”1

It was during World War II when Great Britain’s back was against the wall defending herself against seemingly overwhelming odds with the unrelenting onslaught of Hitler’s military might, and the unyielding bombing by the German Luftwaffe.

Winston Churchill was asked to address the students at Harrow School, the school I believe that Churchill himself had attended as a student. The following is the speech that he gave that day:

“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”2

When it came to never giving up Churchill certainly practiced what he preached. His determined leadership helped win the war against Germany. And when it comes to God’s work, let us all be like the Apostle Paul who said about his work for God: “It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others] and so we never give up.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for the wonderful calling and privilege to be one of your witnesses during my lifetime. Help me to be an effective witness and never give up praying for lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors, and never give up letting my light shine for you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: Please consider becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus partner and help in an attractive, non-threatening way to share the love of Jesus and the message of God’s salvation with friends, family and contacts. For more information go to: https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power02.php.

1. 2 Corinthians 4:1 (TLB)(NLT).

2. Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School.

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