All posts by 5Q

Out of the Shadows

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“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”1

The year 1741 was a very depressing one for George Frideric Handel. His latest opera failed. His Italian opera company in London was disbanded. That same year Queen Caroline passed away and the commissions Handel had received for composing music for royal occasions all but dried up. A stroke experienced several years prior not only affected him physically, but affected his music. It seemed as if he had lost the genius that made his music so popular.

Late that year Charles Jennens, a poet known by few, sent Handel a manuscript with a request that Handel set it to music. When Handel read the copy, the words gripped him. Suddenly he came alive. Immediately he began to put the words to music. He labored all through that night and much of the following day. In fact, he worked day and night for 22 more days barely stopping to eat or sleep.

When his composition was finished he sensed that it would be a true masterpiece. His Messiah was performed the following year and was an immediate success.

The words that Jennens wrote that inspired Handel and lifted him out of the pit of despair were about the Savior: “He was despised and rejected of men. He looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man. He trusted in God. God did not leave his soul in hell. I know that my Redeemer lives. Rejoice. Hallelujah!”

I would dare to suggest that it was the period of disappointment and despair that prepared Handel in heart and mind to write this masterpiece of musical genius. How grateful we are that he invested his pain wisely.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for putting the gift of music in the heart and mind of mankind. And thank You for using George Frideric Handel to give us the awe-inspiring Messiah.’ Help me to find music in my sorrows and so bless others through my pain. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Job 19:25 (NIV).

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Who Are You Working For?

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“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”1

No matter whose employ we are in every one of us is working for him or herself. We delude ourselves if we think otherwise.

I have read that when former astronaut Frank Borman became head of Eastern Airlines, he was determined to make the service of his company the best in the industry. On one occasion he noticed an employee sitting with his feet perched on a desk ignoring the telephone which was ringing relentlessly.

“Aren’t you going to answer the phone,” Borman asked. “This isn’t my department,” the employee answered without any hint of concern. “I work in maintenance.”

“Not anymore you don’t,” Borman barked.

It’s the person who is faithful in the little things who gets entrusted with bigger and better responsibilities.

That is true in both man’s economy and God’s. As Christians in the hereafter we won’t be judged for our sins as Christ took that judgment on himself at Calvary. But we will be rewarded according to our faithfulness in serving the Lord here on earth.

It pays to be faithful and dependable in all our responsibilities. As another has said, “The greatest ability is dependability.” Of equal importance is response-ability!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me today and always to be ever ready to serve and glorify You in everything I am and do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. King Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 9:10, (NIV).

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A Powerful Prayer

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“Oh that you would bless me wonderfully.”1

One very effective prayer I was taught in my youth was: “Dear God, today I commit and trust my life and way to You as I do that of my family (stating their names).” I have prayed that prayer daily ever since.

To that prayer I have added another powerful prayer based on a prayer from an almost unknown character, Jabez, whose name, as far as I know, is mentioned in only one chapter in the Bible.

He prayed to the God of Israel: ‘Oh, that You would bless me wonderfully. Please be with me in everything I do. Greatly expand my borders and keep me from all evil and disaster.’”

The result? “God granted him his request!”

I can’t always see how God is leading and blessing me especially at those times when I feel my prayers don’t go any higher than the ceiling. However, as I look back over my life I can see how God has blessed me wonderfully and greatly “expanded my borders” more than I ever dreamed possible.

In a nutshell: ACTS gospel literature outreach has expanded to be used around the world by several thousand churches, missionaries, other organizations, business and professional people, individuals, and military, hospital and prison chaplains. And now through E-mail and the Internet we are receiving salvation responses daily from around the world. God has used ACTS ministries to help introduce many thousands to the Savior. You can see how God has and is answering this powerful prayer in our latest report at: www.actsweb.org/acts_in_action.php.

I encourage you also to commit and trust your life and the lives of your loved ones to God and pray the prayer Jabez prayed—every day. I’ve done this for many years and plan to continue doing so every day for as long as I live. Do this and God will grant you your request too.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, O that You would bless me and my family wonderfully again today. Please be with us in everything we do. Greatly expand our (Christian) borders and keep us from all evil and disaster. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Chronicles 4:10.

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Part Truth: The Most Deceptive Lie

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“And he [Satan] said to the woman [Eve], ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.””1

When God placed the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, he gave them a free will to choose whether or not they would follow God’s ways or go their own way. He did this because he didn’t create mankind to be puppets on a string. God gave Adam and Eve total freedom with one exception. That was they could eat of every tree in the garden but not of just one tree—the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil.”

Then came Satan (the father of all lies, deception and evil) disguised in the form of a serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. He said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”2

True, if they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would know the difference between good and evil, but what Satan didn’t tell them was that if they ate of this tree, they would be forever confirmed in a state of evil and that they would die spiritually and be forever separated from God. Tragically, Adam and Eve took the bait and ate of the forbidden fruit. Mankind has paid the price ever since. They were deceived by a part truth—the most deceptive form of lying—and chose to believe Satan rather than God.

Satan has been deceiving people the same way ever since. Every false religion has an element of truth. This makes their teachings believable to those who don’t know and believe what God says in his Word, the Bible.

Satan also makes temptation sound very appealing by luring us with part truths. But he never reveals the tragic consequences of all sin—the ultimate end of which is spiritual death and eternal separation from a holy and just God.

The good news is that God, because he loves us with an eternal love, gave his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins and defeat Satan’s evil purposes for mankind. Be assured, according to God’s Word Jesus is the only way to God and only he has the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Whatever you do, believe and trust God—never trust or believe Satan and/or man-made religions that claim there is any other way to God other than through accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.3

To believe and follow what God says leads to eternal life. To believe and follow Satan’s lies leads to eternal death which is eternal separation from God in the place God’s Word calls hell. Whatever you do, read and accept God’s only plan of salvation at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a hunger to study and know what Your Word teaches so I will never be deceived by Satan’s lies. And help me to understand and accept Your only plan of salvation so that I can have the assurance that all my sins are forgiven and that I have received Your gift of eternal life. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Genesis 3:1-3 (NIV).
2. Genesis 3:4-5 (NIV).
3. See John 14:6 and John 3:16 in the Bible.

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Mr. Eternity

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“Therefore He [Jesus] is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him.”1

Perhaps you have heard of Arthur Malcolm Stace, who became affectionately known as Mr. Eternity and lived in Australia. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who, before reaching middle age, was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner preacher.

Shortly after becoming a Christian, he heard a sermon entitled “Echoes of Eternity.” He was so captivated by the importance of the word “eternity” that he began using his free time to spread the one-word message across Sydney. “Eternity went ringing through my brain. Even though I could scarcely write my own name, I felt the divine urge to write this word.”

Fifty times a day for over thirty years, Arthur Stace wrote Eternity on the sidewalks of Sydney, usually in the early morning, with white chalk and with faultless script. When he passed away, the Sydney morning newspaper carried a story of this unusual man who had chalked Eternity on the city streets over half a million times in that metropolis of significant population. The thought of eternity impresses upon us the seriousness with which we must regard our soul.2

Multiplied thousands of Aussies saw this message on Sydney sidewalks. Plus on the eve of the new millennium celebrations more than a million people, gathered around the Sydney Harbor Bridge, saw it emblazoned in neon lights across the bridge. It was also beamed around the world to more than two billion TV viewers and shown again at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games later in the year.

Eternity. It is a powerful word with eternal consequences. In his own simple but profound way, Arthur Stace was posing the question, “Where will you spend eternity?”

Eternity! Where will you spend it?

If you should die tonight are you 100% absolutely certain you would spend eternity in heaven with God? If not, be sure to read the article: “How to Be Sure You’re a real Christian Without Having to Be Religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that You have provided the way through the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus, so that all who believe in and accept Him as their Savior have Your promise and guarantee of spending eternity with You in heaven forever. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Hebrews 7:25 (Amplified Bible).
2. Echoes of Eternity, Dennis Kastens, CSS Publishing Co.

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Freedom and Gratitude

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“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”1

Today is a day of celebration for U.S. citizens—the day when each year they celebrate their independence as a nation. For those who live in the U.S.A. let us not forget that our independence was bought with a price—the price of blood on the battlefields. Thousands of men, supported by wives, mothers and sisters, fathers and brothers, fought for our freedom, multiplied thousands of whom gave their lives in the process.

No nation in world history has experienced more freedoms, privileges, and opportunities. This nation was founded and built on a solid foundation of liberty and justice for all with a firm belief and trust in God.

Today, however, too many of us are taking our freedom for granted and have forgotten that the “price of freedom is still eternal vigilance;”2 not only militarily, but perhaps even more important, morally. Too many are confusing liberty with license and are wanting personal freedom without personal responsibility and accountability—not realizing that they are being enslaved by their own passions and selfish desires which will erode the very foundation upon which this nation was built quicker than anything else.

For all of who live in a free country may we ever be thankful to those who gave their lives to give us our freedom and independence and may we guard these freedoms with our lives. And may we also be ever thankful to God for the gift of his Son who died so we could be eternally free and for the wonderful privilege that we can serve him with our lives. And may we never ever forget that “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, for those of us who live in a free country we give You our never-ending thanks. May we never take our freedom for granted but guard it zealously. And we pray for those people who are enslaved by despot leaders, who are imprisoned and tortured for their Christian faith, and for all who know nothing of freedom—and we especially pray that the gospel will go forth in spite of their situation. And grant that those who belong to You will have peace in the midst of their circumstances and be kept from all harm and danger. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 15:13 (NIV).

2. Thomas Jefferson.

3. Psalm 33:12.

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Independence

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“So if the Son [Jesus, the Son of God] sets you free, you will be free indeed.”1

Tomorrow in the U.S.A. is Independence Day, the day Americans celebrate the birthday of the United States of America. Founded July 4th, 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, America is celebrating its 233rd birthday this year (2009).

“The American Revolution ended a couple of centuries of British rule over most of the North American colonies and laid the foundation of the present United States of America. After the Revolution, the constitution of the United States of America was drafted and ratified. On the anniversary of that day, the new nation declared its citizens rights to ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’”2

Sad to say, however, so many people worldwide don’t enjoy the freedoms that many of us do, not only in the U.S.A., but also in other free lands around the world.

Today, let those of us who live in free lands especially remember our brothers and sisters who live in lands where there is no freedom and great persecution—especially for Christians and those who reject the religion of their state.

I am also reminded today of the words written on the wall of a Nazi prison during the Holocaust.

I believe in the sun even when it isn’t shining.
I believe in love even when I am alone.
I believe in God even when he is silent.

And let us thank God that, no matter where we live, while men may be able to control our external reality, they have no power to control our inner reality—our faith, our beliefs, nor the destiny of our soul. That alone is our choice. However, may we who have chosen to trust in God through Jesus Christ our Savior do all in our power to share God’s great news of salvation to all people—everywhere. And let us pray that every person in the world will hear or read the gospel that, via the electronic media, can reach into many places where preaching the gospel and message of Jesus Christ is forbidden.

And in hearing the gospel, may God grant that every person in the world will at least have the opportunity to celebrate independence in their heart.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, today I especially pray for my brothers and sisters in lands that are not free, where they are being persecuted for their faith—or their lack of faith in the coerced religion of their land. Grant that they will know independence in their heart and the greatest freedom of all in knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And thank You forever for the fact that somebody shared the gospel with me and that I thus had the opportunity to place my trust in You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 8:36 (NIV).

2. www.123independenceday.com

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When Life Is a Relational Mess

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“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — Jesus Christ.1

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I am desperate for help. I recently found out that my wife was sleeping with another man. She refuses to stop seeing him, claiming that they are only friends. I am told on an almost daily basis that everything I do is not good enough, and unless I do more, we will be divorced. I don’t know how to do anything more. I cook, I clean, I do the laundry, and I spend evenings helping our two oldest children with school work and problems that they have faced through the day. I teach our youngest son (he is too young for school); I am in the military reserves, manage an apartment building, and am trying to run a business….”

“Dear Keith,” [not his real name] I replied, “thank you for sharing your heart with me. Your life right now is certainly a struggle and I can certainly feel for you, but it is very important to realize that the only person you can ever change is yourself. If you try to change your wife, you will end up making things worse. However, as you change, she will be forced to change one way or the other, and there is no guarantee in which way that will be.

“Keith needs to work on Keith. First of all I strongly encourage you to pray and ask God to confront you with the truth about yourself and reveal to you what you are contributing to the relational disaster you are in. This is the starting point of all recovery. Speaking personally, I was in a very painful situation for many years. After years of therapy and things only getting worse, I literally begged God to confront me with the truth of what I was still contributing to the mess I was in. Almost overnight it became glaringly obvious just how totally co-dependent that I was in this situation. I kept protecting this person from the consequences of their destructive behavior. Once I saw the truth about myself, I knew exactly what I had to do. As Jesus said, ‘You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’

“After you see the truth of what you are contributing to your situation, I suggest that you lovingly tell your wife that you see what you have been contributing to your marriage, and that you are not going to do this any longer. I then suggest that you go together to a highly qualified Christian counselor for therapy. If your wife refuses to do this, you need to let her lovingly know that unless she does, then you will need to distance yourself from her. Inform her that you will no longer allow her to treat you the way that she has been doing. This is tough love and in situations like yours, it is a vital need.

“If your wife refuses to go to counseling with you, then you need to get counseling to take care of yourself. This is imperative. Yes, it is expensive, but you can’t afford not to do it. For several years I worked two jobs at the same time to pay for the counseling I needed to recover from my relational sickness.

“Also, pray and ask God to help you to find the counseling help you need so you can change. If you live in North America, for the name of a fine Christian counselor call the Narramore Christian Foundation at 1-800-477-5893 and press ’1′ for Dianne. She should be able to help you with the name of a Christian counselor or two in your area.

“By the way, once you change, your wife will be forced to change in her way of treating you. She may not want you to change so will quite possibly, at least for a start, treat you even worse. That’s par for the course whenever we change our relationship patterns.

“Keep praying for the truth and once you see the truth about you and do what you need to do to recover, then you can pray to see the truth about your wife. Only following the truth will ever set you free. Once you see the overall truth, you will know what you need to do.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, my life is in chaos. Please confront me with the truth of exactly what I am doing to contribute to the mess I am in. Help me to change so that I will become the person You want me to be. And please help me to be ‘as Jesus’ to my spouse (or friend), and do what I need to do in order to resolve our situation. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. John 8:32 (NIV).

NOTE: For help you may want to read my book, You Can’t Fly With a Broken Wing. You can check it out online at: http://tinyurl.com/broken-wing-book.

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Opportunity Lost

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“Almost you persuade me to be a Christian.”1

When Mahatma Gandhi was attending university in London, he became almost convinced of the validity of Christianity, seeing it as possibly the one true supernatural religion.

After graduation, he continued to seek evidence that would persuade him to become a committed Christian. When he accepted employment in East Africa, and lived with a family who were members of an evangelical Christian church, he believed this would be his greatest source of evidence for the Christian faith.

Gandhi lived with this family for seven months, but after seeing their causal attitude towards God, hearing them complain about making sacrifices for Christ, and becoming acutely aware of their religious apathy, he became disillusioned.

“No,” he concluded, “Christianity is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. A good religion, but just one more of the many religions in the world.”

While the circumstances were vastly different between King Agrippa who heard Paul’s testimony and rejected it, Gandhi, too, was almost persuaded to become a Christian, but didn’t become one because of a Christian’s very poor testimony.

May God grant that that may never be true of me. Every day I seek to pray the following prayer: (Can I challenge you to do the same?)

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available today. Please make me usable and help me to be an effective witness and be ‘as Jesus’ in some way to every life I touch today. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

NOTE: If you are not sure you are a real Christian, please don’t be like King Agrippa or Gandhi and miss the opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness for all your sins and his gift of eternal life. For help click on: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

1. Acts 26:28.

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Another Serenity Prayer

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Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”1

Truth: Perhaps the most powerful principle in the world. Without access to the truth there is no freedom, no recovery, no intimacy in relationships, often no healing, and no eternal life.

On the other hand, denial is perhaps the most destructive sins we can commit. For instance, to the degree that I have not found freedom in any area of my life I am still in denial. There is some truth I am avoiding facing. Furthermore, to be dishonest with myself is just as deceptive and sinful as being dishonest to anyone else.

M. Scott Peck said, “Emotional sickness is avoiding reality [truth] at any cost. Emotional health is facing reality at any cost.”

That’s just a reframing or rephrasing of what Jesus said: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The following prayer by Billy Joe Vaughn sums it up very well:

“God grant me the ability
to reject the things about me
that are not true,
the humility to accept
the things that are,
and the discernment
to know the difference.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of denial and help me always to be genuine, honest, authentic and real. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name. Amen.”

1. John 8:32.

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