Ron Clarke from Tasmania wrote about a legend that sounds as if it may have come or been adapted from C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters.

As the legend goes, the devil held a passing-out parade at the evil spiritual academy one year. During the day he questioned three of his evil spirits. To the first he said, “When you get out into the world, what are you going to say to the people?”

“Oh,” the evil spirit replied, “I shall tell them that there is no God.”

“That’s no use,” said the devil, “Creation tells people that there is a God. Not many will believe you.”

Then he said to the second evil spirit, “And what are you going to tell people?”

“I shall say that there is not going to be a judgment” was the reply.

“That’s not much use,” answered the devil, “Conscience tells them about judgment. Not many will believe you.”

Turning to the third evil spirit, he asked, “What about you?”

“I shall tell people that there is a God and a judgment to come,” answered the third evil spirit, “But I shall add that there is no hurry.”

“Excellent!” said the devil. “Many will believe that!”

This reminds me of the words of William Shakespeare who said:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our venture.”

If you are not absolutely sure that you are ready to meet God, I encourage you not to delay this decision another day. Whatever you do, don’t put it off until tomorrow for none of us have any guarantee of tomorrow. For help be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a real Christian—without having to be religious” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

As God’s Word says, “NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have the gift of salvation and eternal life for all who will come to you and accept it. Help me to be sure that I am a real Christian and am ready to meet you face to face, for that day will surely come. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV).

In a tribe of Indians, or so the story goes, someone was stealing chickens. The Chief declared that, if caught, the offender would receive 10 lashes.

When the stealing continued, he raised it to 20 lashes. Still the chickens methodically disappeared. In anger the Chief raised the sentence to 100 lashes.

The thief was finally caught, but the Chief faced a terrible dilemma. The thief was his mother! When the day of penalty came, the whole tribe gathered. Would the Chief’s love override his justice? The crowd gasped when he ordered his mother to be tied to the whipping post.

The Chief removed his shirt, revealing his powerful stature, and took the whip in hand. But instead of raising it to strike the first blow, he handed it to a strong, young brave standing at his side. Slowly the Chief walked over to his mother and wrapped his massive arms around her in an engulfing embrace. Then he ordered the brave to give him the 100 lashes.

That’s what JESUS did for you and me when he came to earth clothed in an external garment of human flesh some 2000 years ago, which is commemorated as “Christmas.” In love he became our substitute and died in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins. He overcame our inability to save ourselves by paying the price for our sins. His death bridged the gulf between God and man and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God and to be restored to fellowship with him through faith in Christ and in his atoning death for us.²

Suggested prayer: “Dear Jesus/God, how I thank you for loving me so much that you gave your life to die on the cross at Calvary to pay the penalty for every sin I have ever committed, for your full and free pardon, and for the gift of eternal life for all who accept you as their personal Savior. For this I will be eternally grateful. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: To help you to be sure you have accepted God’s forgiveness and his gift of eternal life, click on “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/christian.

1. John 3:16 (NASB).
2. Contributed by Alexandra Perros from Holland.

In his early days as a pilot, Australia’s Outback Patrol pilot and bush padre, Les Nixon, was flying an old 1933 De Havilland Dragon bi-plane from Bourke to Longreach in the outback of far western Queensland. The twin engines were purring happily when suddenly a frantic call came over the radio from a lost pilot!

“Mayday … Mayday … Any Station … Any Station … Request urgent assistance,” came his first call. After half an hour of fruitless calling, he began to panic.

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! He had become disoriented on his first cross-country solo exercise. Lost and low on fuel, he needed urgent help.

He was a hundred miles from Les so there was little he could do but pray for him, and hope someone was close enough to help.

“I’m almost out of fuel—someone help me.” Any other pilots listening could do little but offer suggestions and wish him the best.

Miraculously, through the static of the radio—out of the blue, came a quiet, stoic voice of a helper from above. A mysterious presence from nowhere assessed the situation, found an answer, and directed the frantic pilot what to do. “Yes, son, I have you in sight,” droned the pilot of an old commercial airline who happened to be flying overhead, and had heard his call for help.

“Now, listen … simply do what I say. Turn to your right-north-yes, that’s it. You’re doing just fine. Line up on that paddock (field) over the fence and you’ll find you can easily land on the open field, stay with your plane, and I’ll get someone there to get you.”

The older, experienced pilot had been watching from above—even as the frantic young pilot had been unable to work it out for himself—followed him for a few minutes, and found the answer to his problem. Then he quietly directed the inexperienced pilot through each maneuver until he placed him safely on an outback paddock (field).

One can only imagine the terror this young pilot must have experienced and then the incredible relief when the miraculous rescue “from above” guided him to safety.²

One of life’s greatest tragedies is that so many people are lost and they don’t even know it … some don’t even want to know it. That is, they are lost spiritually and heading towards a lost eternity without God and without hope. And that’s why Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth 2000 years ago. He came to die on the cross to pay the penalty for all our sins, to find us, to give us the gift of forgiveness, and to rescue us from a lost eternity in hell. All we need to do is to admit that because of our sin we are lost, and come to Christ for his forgiveness. He’s waiting from above to rescue us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have seen my plight, and my need of your rescue and salvation. Thank you that you are waiting to save me and to direct my way throughout my life. Today I surrender my heart and life to you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

To find God be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

1. Luke 19:10 (NIV).
2. Les Nixon http://www.outbackpatrol.com.au/.

God certainly does move in mysterious ways … and I am convinced that he also has a great sense of humor.

I had been single for a number of years and, at the time I am about to write about, besides my work with ACTS, I was also on the staff at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Some of you will be aware of the Cathedral’s Christmas program, “The Glory of Christmas” which, if you ever have a chance to see it, will find it to be spectacular and inspiring.

A decade or so ago it was the last night of “The Glory of Christmas” between the two presentations for the evening. There were some 2500+ people leaving via the side exits and another 2500+ people slowly entering via the front entrance. There were people everywhere—hundreds of them—as I crossed the plaza area on my way to teach a class in another building. All were moving forward except for one lady who was standing waiting. All I could see was her back. She could have been the wife of King Farouk for all I knew—or cared. Being in one of my fun moods, I walked up to the side of this lady and, extending my forearm, said, “Excuse me, lady, sorry to keep you waiting, but I’m your escort for the evening. Shall we go?”

She turned around and laughed hilariously. We visited for a while. I told her I was on the staff at the Cathedral … she told me she was from Napa in northern California and was a widow. We kind of hit it off and ended up exchanging phone numbers. I said to her, “You are brave giving a strange man your phone number.” She replied, “What makes you think it’s my phone number?” I asked her if she would like to do coffee after the program (and I hate coffee). She couldn’t because she was waiting for her date for the evening. She also said if I was ever in Napa to get in touch. I said, “I think I’m coming there real soon.” To let you in on a secret, I’d never heard of Napa and had no idea that it was 500 miles away!

Three years later we were married. Her name is Joy … and she certainly is. She has been and is a true God-send in my life. She is now an equal partner doing all the ACTS office work and is a vital part of the gospel outreach of ACTS International.

Joy and I have lots of hilarious laughter in our life. For me life has never been better nor has it been more fulfilling. I often kid to Joy that she “being in the way, the Lord led me.”

Now my question is: “Was this strange coincidence or was it divine guidance?”

I’ll let you be the judge … but as for me I certainly thank God for that very strange, funny, and most unusual meeting. And like I said, I do think God has a sense of humor.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I daily commit and trust my life and way to you, I have the assurance that through the good times and the bad, you lead me all the way. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Genesis 24:27 (KJV).

The copy for today’s Daily Encounter has been attributed to Paul Harvey who is reported as having said:

If I were the devil:

I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;

I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man’s effort, instead of God’s blessings;

I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around;

I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;

I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership;

I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;

I would make it socially acceptable to take one’s own life, and invent machines to make it convenient;

I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals are valued more that human beings;

I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;

I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;

I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda;

I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation.

I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation;

I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art;

I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct;

I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, and the Bible is for the naive;

I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;

I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are.*

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a spirit of discernment so I will recognize the ‘wiles and ways of the devil’ and not be taken in by him. And please deliver me from obsessing about the devil and giving him more attention than he merits. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV).
2. 1 Timothy 4:1 (NIV).

* Cited on Outback Patrol http://www.outbackpatrol.com.au/

Yesterday we discussed several of the steps we need to take to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Desire and faith, commitment, confession of sins, openness, and personal honesty. Today we want to discuss four more steps.

Sixth, removing barriers. Another barrier that blocks God’s Spirit can be a spirit of unforgiveness, which usually has its roots in an impaired relationship or a hurtful experience from the past. To be filled with the Holy Spirit it is essential that, wherever humanly possible, impaired relationships be resolved, hurt and angry feelings dealt with, and forgiveness extended to those who may have hurt us. If it isn’t possible to reconcile the relationship (which takes both parties), we need to at least deal with our side of the conflict, resolve our negative feelings, and forgive the one who hurt us.

Seventh, obedience. Another requirement for the filling of the Holy Spirit is living in harmony with, and obedience to, the will of God. As Peter said, the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God.²

Eighth, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”³

Finally, abiding. As Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.”⁴

Christ’s allegory is a good illustration of how to have a fruitful life. As we, the branches, abide in Christ, the vine, by spending time with him (learning what his Word teaches, praying regularly, and living in obedience to him by practicing what his Word teaches), so the life, the Holy Spirit, flows from Christ through us, the branches. Fruit is the natural outcome.

The good news is that we don’t have to struggle to produce God’s fruit. We can’t anyhow; and if we try to, the fruit is stunted and useless. That’s what Christ meant when he said that without him, we can do nothing. Only his Spirit within can produce his fruit without.

As we commit our lives in full surrender to Jesus Christ, abide in him, and resolve the barriers in us, the Holy Spirit fills us and the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering—are produced automatically like the grapes on a healthy vine. The vinedresser doesn’t put the grapes on the vine from without. The fruit comes from within.

In conclusion, let me add that the evidence of the filling of God’s Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit—not the gifts of the Spirit as many claim and are thus confused. “By their fruit you will know them,” Jesus said, not “by their gifts.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again today I surrender the control of my heart and life to you. Help me to live according to the principles as found in your Word, and as I do, please fill me to overflowing with your Holy Spirit so that the fruit of the Spirit will be so evident in my life that others seeing Jesus in me, will want Jesus for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 11:13 (NIV).
2. Acts 5:32 (NIV).
3. Luke 11:13 (NIV).
4. John 15:5 (NKJV).