All posts by 5Q

Opportunity Disguised

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“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”1

A young man, accepted for the African missionary field, reported at New York for “passage,” but found on further examination that his wife could not stand the climate in Africa. He was heartbroken, but he prayerfully returned to his home and determined to make all the money he could to be used on spreading the Kingdom of God over the world. His father, a dentist, had started to make, on the side, an unfermented wine for the [church] communion service. The young man took the business over and developed it until it assumed vast proportions—his name was “Welch,” whose family still manufactures “grape juice.”2

As the old saying goes, “When God closes one door, he opens another.” True, it can be a challenging time “waiting in the hallway” for the next door to open, but as long as we commit and trust our life and way to God every day, in good time the next door will open. Of this we can be sure—during the waiting time there is always a lesson of some kind that God is seeking to teach us and wanting us to learn.

Sometimes it takes a crushing disappointment to make us effective and fruitful and ready for the next door to open.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see in every disappointment and setback what you are seeking to teach me. Help me to learn that lesson so that I will be ready and prepared for any new door or opportunity you may open for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Gal. 6:10 (NIV).

2. The Presbyterian Advance, cited in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan, p. 479.

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God of the Ordinary

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“Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”1

“Down the streets of Portsmouth [more than two] hundred years ago,” said Lt. General Ira C. Eaker in a speech he was making, “walked a sailor with one arm, one eye, a persistent state of nerves, and unable to tread a ship’s deck without being seasick. Indeed he would probably have been in a home for the incurable were not his name Admiral Lord Nelson. The man’s spirit drove the flesh. The point is, when weighing the characteristics of a leader, remember a stout spirit can drive a weak body a long way.”

I believe this same principle applies to all who seek to live in harmony with God’s will and serve him; that is to people with the right attitude and a determined spirit.

When God says that not many of those he uses to do his work are wise or influential by the world’s standard, I don’t believe he is saying that we shouldn’t be prepared or well qualified. What he is saying is that he uses ordinary people who are available, who use the gifts they have and have stick-ability, a stout spirit, and hang in and hang on when the going gets tough, but don’t hang up! These are those who trust in God, who believe in a noble cause—God’s cause—and dedicate their lives to help fulfill it; and who know at the end they will be welcomed into Heaven by Jesus himself with his words, “Well done good and faithful servant . . . enter into the joy of your Lord!”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you choose and use ordinary people to do extra-ordinary as well as ordinary tasks for your Kingdom. I am available and pray that you will use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. No matter how small or large my calling may be, help me to be faithful, and give me a stout, determined spirit so that I will never give up. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV).

2. Matthew 25:23.

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Where My Dad Goes I Go

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“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”1

Bill Snell was a very successful businessman, the president of a civic club, and a member of the local school board. He was also a devoted family man, and was especially close to his son, Jerry. Whenever possible, Jerry loved to go with his father wherever he went, and would often go to work with him at his furniture store. He became known as Mr. Jerry by many of the customers.

However, one place Bill would never go with his wife and Jerry was to Church and Sunday school claiming that he was too busy. This greatly disappointed Jerry who loved church and Sunday school.

One Sunday Jerry’s Sunday school teacher asked him, “When you get to heaven, what are you going to do first?” Without hesitation, Jerry replied, “I’m not going to heaven! I’m going with my dad. We go everywhere together.”

Soon after this Jerry’s Sunday school teacher told Bill what his son had said when he asked him about Heaven. “That’s just like him,” Bill said, “he always wants to be with me.”

“And where are you going Bill,” Jerry’s teacher gently asked him. “Where are you taking Jerry?” Bill knew exactly what she meant but felt too ashamed to answer.

The question plagued Bill. The thought, “Where am I taking my son,” kept playing over and over in his mind. Fortunately, soon after, Bill accepted Jesus as his Savior and knew then that he and Jerry would both be going to Heaven and be together forever.2

A timely question for all parents is, “Where are you taking your children?”1

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to so live that my children, my loved ones, my friends, and my contacts will know that I am a true follower of Jesus and that they too will want to go where I’m going knowing that their sins are also forgiven, and that they have been given the gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus as their Savior. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: For help in knowing where you are going, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Christian.”

1. Ephesians 6:4 (NASB).

2. Adapted from KneEmail #670. http://www.oakhillcoc.org.

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Scary Leap of Faith

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“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”1

Brennan Manning, in his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, tells about a child caught on the second floor of his house when it was on fire. The family members were all running out of the house when the smallest boy panicked and ran back upstairs.

Terrified, he screamed from a smoke-filled window. Below his father could see him and cried out, “Jump, Son, jump! I’ll catch you.”

“But I can’t see you,” the boy cried.

“I know,” the father called, “but I can see you.”

Many a time when we are in difficult situations and panic on the inside, if not on the outside, we long for God to help us. Not being able to see him or sense his presence, we don’t know what to do. However, let us always remember that God is there regardless of our sight or our feelings, and he can see and hear us. When we call on him for help and choose to put our trust in him, he hears our prayer no matter how feeble it is, and will help us. Underneath are his everlasting arms and he “is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”2

And that may be all we need to know.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to trust you when darkness surrounds me and I am lost and do not know the way. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Deuteronomy 33:27 (NIV).

2. Psalm 46:1 (KJV).

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Still the Best Policy

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“Have you ever ordered the morning to begin, or shown the dawn where its place was?. . . . Can you bring out the stars on time?. . . . Can you shout an order to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Can you send lightning bolts on their way?. . . . Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength or puts a flowing mane on its neck?”1

A store manager overheard a clerk saying to a customer, “No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for some weeks now, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.”

Alarmed by what was being said, the manager rushed over to the customer who was walking out the door and said, “That isn’t true, ma’am. Of course, we’ll have some soon. In fact, we placed an order for it a couple of weeks ago.”

Then the manager drew the clerk aside and growled, “Never, never, never, never say we don’t have something. If we don’t have it, say we ordered it and it’s on its way. Now, what was it she wanted?”

The clerk smiled and said, “Rain.”2

Job, in the midst of all his sufferings, understandably questioned God and, like most of the rest of us, had to learn the hard way that there are many things we can’t order, change, fix, or do. Job began to get on top of his painful circumstances only as he accepted his situation and chose to trust God. “Though He [God] slay me,” Job said, “yet will I trust Him.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to know what I can do, but also be aware of my human limitations while all the while appreciating more and more your unfathomable greatness, goodness, mercy and love. And please help me to remember that honesty is still and always will be the best policy. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Job 38:12, 32, 34-35; 39:19 (NIV).

2. Alan Smith, White House, Tennessee. www.TFTD-online.com.

3. Job 13:15 (NKJV).

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Freedom of Religion Vs Freedom of Worship

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“We [the High Priest] gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!”1

In his weekly American News Commentary Jerry Beavan wrote, “We pointed out that since November, 2009, Mr. Xxxxx and his people have been using the term “Freedom of Worship,” instead of the traditional “Freedom of Religion” as provided in the United States Constitution. In 2009, two clergymen, Dr. Gary Dull and Rev. David Kistler, announced in Washington the formation of The Faith and Freedom Institute (TFFI), to stress the Christian principles which have made America great. . . . TFFI points out that “Freedom of Worship” would force people to practice their faith behind closed doors.”2

“Freedom of Worship” can be extremely deceptive in that it can totally eliminate “Freedom of Religion.” Freedom of worship means we would be free to worship as we please in the privacy of our own home but not necessarily anywhere else. Furthermore, without freedom of religion preaching against certain behaviors that God’s Word condemns and calls sin, could be labeled as hate crimes and, as such, be punishable by law that could include a prison term. Freedom of worship could, in time, prohibit the preaching of the Gospel and Word of God in churches and in any public place or arena throughout the country.

Be not deceived, politicians can be extremely gifted in the use of words to deny reality and deceive the masses. The thin end of the wedge for controlling what churches can or cannot preach in the years ahead is already being forged.

Recently I received an email message from a young man in a Muslim country where there is no freedom of religion. This fellow wanted to know how he could pray to Jesus, telling me that if he got caught, he would get his throat slit. For Muslims, praying means praying out loud and often in public. So I told him that he could safely pray to Jesus in the privacy of his own dwelling if he were alone, or just in the quiet of his mind and heart.

With the ever increasing anti-Christian attitude by so many here in North America wanting to get rid of God and every vestige of Christianity from the public arena, if/when we are forbidden to speak out against and/or preach the full council of God’s Word, will we, like the disciples of Jesus also say, “We must obey God rather than men” and be willing to pay the consequences?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, no matter what the future holds, please give me the courage to stay true to you and your Word no matter what the cost may be. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Acts 5:28-29 (NIV).

2. The American News Commentary, July 28, 2010. To subscribe (no subscription charge), click on: american_news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Persistence Pays

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“And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up.”1

Jacob Riis wrote, “I’d look at one of my stone-cutters hammering away at a rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred and first blow, it would split in two, and I knew it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”2

Like the Apostle Paul, if we are to live a meaningful life that will reap eternal rewards, we too, need to have a worthwhile purpose for which to live. When we know that our purpose is in harmony with God’s will, it is imperative that we never give up working to fulfill that purpose. In time, we will reap if we don’t faint. Certainly we will have setbacks, disappointments, and failures, but remember the only real failure is not to get back up one more time than we’ve fallen or been knocked down.

Like Michelangelo who said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free,” we need to see in our mind’s eye our God-given life purpose and keep “carving and hammering away” until it is achieved.

As God’s Word also says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see clearly your purpose for my life and keep ‘hammering away’ until that purpose, with your help, is fulfilled in my life. And grant that my life will thus help others and bring glory to you so that I will never feel that I have lived my life in vain. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 4:1 (NLT).

2. Jacob A. Riis. Cited on: Inspire, http://www.inspirelist.com/

3. Galatians 6:9 (NIV).

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Where is God? Part III

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word [Jesus Christ] was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” 4

Besides revealing himself through creation, God has also shown himself through the human soul. As well as being a physical, rational, and emotional being, man is a spiritual being with a living soul in which is implanted a consciousness of God. This consciousness is made up of a “religious and moral instinct” which acknowledges a supreme being upon whom man is dependent and to whom he is responsible.5

Anselm, the famous Italian theologian who lived in the eleventh century, stated that the idea of God in the mind is proof that God exists. Pascal, the French physicist and philosopher who lived in the seventeenth century, spoke about the “God-shaped vacuum in every life that only God can fill.”

Furthermore, if God didn’t exist in the mind of the atheist, why would he feel compelled to disprove God’s existence?

God has also revealed himself to us through his Word, the Bible. The Bible doesn’t seek to prove God’s existence. It accepts it as fact and simply says, “In the beginning God. . . .”6

In the Bible God speaks with authority, stating that it is his Word and that he is the one and only God.7 It is God’s written message to mankind. Fulfillment of scores of prophecies in accurate detail, some of which were written hundreds of years ahead of their fulfillment, is sufficient evidence to confirm the validity of the Bible.

God can be seen in creation, in the human soul, and in the Bible, but his final and clearest revelation of himself to us is in his Son, Jesus Christ.8 Not only is Jesus the Son of God, but also God the Son. Referring to Jesus, John the disciple wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . . The Word became flesh and lived among us.”9

When Philip, a disciple of Jesus, asked to see God, Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father [God].”10

In life we all see and believe basically what we want to see and believe. If we want to see and believe in God, we can. If we don’t want to see him, we won’t. Most people do believe in God but it is an entirely different experience to find and relate to him personally. The only way to do this is through Jesus Christ.

As Jesus himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and life; no man comes to the Father [God] except through me.”11

It is our sin that has separated us from God and prevented us from finding him. But because God loved us, he gave his Son, Jesus, to die for us and thereby pay the penalty for our sins, which is death.

To find and know God is very simple. You can do this right where you are. Simply pray and confess your sinfulness to God, tell him that you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the just penalty for all your sins, ask God to forgive you for all your sins, and invite Jesus to come into your heart and life as your personal Lord and Savior. When you do this, God forgives you for all your sins, cancels your guilt and gives you the gift of eternal life. His invitation is to all who will come.12

For help to find and know God, read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian . . . without having to be religious” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for all the revelations of yourself given to mankind, but most of all I thank you for revealing yourself through Jesus, the Christ, and how he gave his life on the cross as a ransom to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me for all my sins. I do believe and accept you, Jesus, as my Savior and my Lord. Please help me to live for you always in all ways. Thank you for your forgiveness and the gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please let us know at www.actsweb.org/decision.php and we will send you practical articles to help you in your Christian life—all without charge.

4. John 1:1-3, 14 (NIV).

5. See Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:22-28 and Romans 2:14-15.

6. Genesis 1:1.

7. See 2 Timothy 3:16 and Mark 12:29.

8. Hebrews 1:1-2.

9. John 1:1,14.

10. John 14:9.

11. John 14:6.

12. Revelation 22:17.

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Where Is God? Part II

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“From one man he [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”3

As we noted yesterday, one doesn’t need to be a scientist to see and feel the greatness of creation all around us. Vacationing on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, I marveled at the wonders of nature—the grandeur of rolling hills, the brilliance of spring flowers, the majesty of cliffs rising from the sea with the waves crashing rhythmically against them and pounding lonely, deserted beaches.

I watched a sea gull, beautiful and agile, swooping over the waves, tipping its beak into the water to pluck a tasty meal from the sea. I marveled at the grace of a huge pelican, stretching his wings to a span of eight to ten feet as he soared effortlessly above me.

So many marvels to see: a playful porpoise dodging beneath the bow of our boat, gliding with ease through the crystal clear water; a curious fur seal, popping out of the sea in answer to a child’s call; a kangaroo bounding across a distant field; and a koala high in a eucalyptus tree. Later, a million stars shone above to dance in chorus with a brilliant full moon and mirror their beauty in a now calm sea.

I have stood breathless at the sight of millions of gallons of water plunging over the Niagara Falls, and speechless at the splendor of the Grand Canyon. I have walked in amazement in the Yosemite Valley where mountains of granite seem to reach up out of nowhere to stab the sky in unparalleled artistic beauty.

“Did all this happen by chance?” I ask myself. For me it would take more faith to believe that than to believe that our world and universe were created by a Master Designer whose power and greatness are beyond human understanding.

Besides revealing himself through creation, God has also shown himself through the human soul. (To see how be sure to read tomorrow’s Daily Encounter.)

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have revealed yourself to mankind in varied ways. Open the eyes of my blindness so that I can see with my spirit all that you are and have done for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

For help to find and know God, read, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian . . . without having to be religious” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

3. Acts 17:26-28 (NIV).

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Where Is God Part I

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“The heavens declare the glory of God.”1

Splashed with bright white paint right across the side of the garbage truck in large, bold letters, a baffled university student had written, “Where is God?”

Most people wonder about this same question at some time or other. If there is a God, how can we know that he exists and how can we find him?

In some ways God is like an atom. You can’t see him with the naked eye but you can see evidence of his presence and power everywhere you look.

For instance, God shows himself to us through creation. As David the psalmist said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.”2

In My Search for the Ultimate, research scientist Lambert Dolphin Jr. writes, “Confronted every day with the mysteries of space and the atom, I continue to be amazed at the complexity and order of our universe. From the sub-microscopic realm of the atom to the expanding reaches of the galaxies, our universe runs like intricate and well-oiled clockwork according to great physical laws which never change or falter.

“Our sun, which is the nearest star, a hundred earth diameters across, is 93 million miles into space. Each day the sun supplies our solar system with heat, power and light at the rate of a million billion, billion horsepower! Yet it is only an average star.

“Our island universe of stars which we call the Milky Way is 100,000 light years across. If we could travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), it would take us 100,000 years to traverse the Milky Way! Yet this is only one of a billion or more such island universes stretched out in every direction from our earth to distances measured in billions of light years.”

However, one doesn’t need to be a scientist to see and feel the greatness of creation all around us. (To see how, be sure to read tomorrow’s Daily Encounter.)

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have revealed yourself through creation and that the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the vastness of the universe all declare your glory and show that all have come into existence through Intelligent Design and that you are the Master Designer. Thank you for this great revelation of yourself. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:1 (NIV).

2. Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV).

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