All posts by 5Q

The Gift of Encouragement

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“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”1

As a boy he worked long hours in a factory in Naples. He longed to be a singer, and when he was only ten years old, he had his first voice lesson. “You can’t sing. You haven’t any voice at all. Your voice sounds like the wind in the shutters,” his teacher said.

The boy’s mother, however, disagreed. She believed that he had a talent to sing. Though very poor, putting her arms around him, she said, “My boy, I am going to make every sacrifice to pay for your voice lessons.”

Her confidence in him and constant encouragement paid off. That boy became one of the world’s greatest singers—Enrico Caruso!

We all need encouragement! We all—including, and especially our children—need someone to believe in us.

As the Bible also teaches, “Encourage one another daily.”2 Note that it says daily! So let’s be sure to encourage someone today—and every day for the rest of our lives.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for all the people who, over the years, believed in and encouraged me to achieve something worthwhile with my life. Help me also to be an encourager to all the people you bring into my life—and especially to my loved ones. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV).

2. Hebrews 3:13 (NIV).

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Making Your Life Count

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

You may have read about the thirty-eight-year-old scrubwoman who would go to the movies and sigh, “If only I had her looks.” She would listen to a singer and moan, “If only I had her voice.”

Then one day someone gave her a copy of the book, The Magic of Believing. She stopped comparing herself with actresses and singers. She stopped crying about what she didn’t have and started concentrating on what she did have. She took inventory of herself and remembered that in high school she had a reputation for being the funniest girl around. She began to turn her liabilities into assets. When she was at the top of her career, Phyllis Diller made over $1 million a year. She wasn’t good-looking and she had a scratchy voice, but she could make people laugh.2

Everybody is good at something … even the person who said he was a good example of what not to do!

Seriously, what is it you like to do best? Even if it is only one talent, start putting it to good use today—right now. And then get the training you need to sharpen that talent and ask God how you can use it to serve him and help others so you can make your life count for something worthwhile.

Don’t wait for opportunities to fall into your lap—they may or may not come. Make your own opportunities. If you find a need, meet it. If you find a hurt, heal it.

With God’s help you, too, can make your life count for something truly worthwhile for time and eternity.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again today I commit and trust my life and way to you. What can I do for you today? I’m available; please use me to help a wounded soul along the way, to bring a smile to a saddened heart, to give comfort to a lonely child, encouragement to a struggling teen, a sandwich to a hungry man. Whatever it is, please use me today to be ‘as Christ’ to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV).
2. Rick Warren, Making Your Life Count for Eternity.

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Self-Belief

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Jesus said, “‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’”1

Today I want to talk about having a healthy (not conceited) belief in yourself and in God’s purpose for you.

Dr. Joyce Brothers, well-known author and psychologist says, “An individual’s self-concept [what he believes about himself] is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change, the choice of friends, mates and careers. It’s no exaggeration to say that a strong positive self-image [self-belief] is the best possible preparation for success in life.”

A healthy self-belief is not an egotistic “I’m the greatest” attitude. Such an attitude is self-deception and a cover for deep insecurity and self-unbelief. Believing in yourself includes knowing and accepting your weaknesses as well as your strengths and believing with God’s help that you can overcome your weaknesses and develop and use your strengths.

One very successful woman, a well-known entertainer, didn’t have much going for her. She would never have won a beauty contest and at age 38 was living on welfare. After reading Claude Briston’s, The Magic of Believing, and beginning to believe in herself, Phyllis Diller’s life took a dramatic turn. One gift she had was the ability to make people laugh. Once she believed this, she didn’t allow what she didn’t have to stop her using what she did have.

Jimmie Durante was another entertainer who wouldn’t have made a fortune with his looks. But he capitalized on his weakness and turned it into one of his greatest strengths. He didn’t focus on his physical attributes—what he didn’t have—but on his strengths—what he did have—and put these to good use because he believed he could.

You and I can do the same.

For an even stronger and healthier sense of self-belief know that no matter what you have ever done or have failed to do, God loves you totally and unconditionally, wants to forgive your every sin and wrongdoing, and has a God-given purpose for your life that he wants you to fulfill! All I ask is that you believe in yourself exactly the same as God believes in you.2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have a wonderful purpose for my life. Thank you, too, that you believe in me in that you never expect me to do more or less than what you have planned for me to do. Like the father in today’s Scripture text, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.’ Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 9:23-24 (NIV).

2. Adapted from “The Power of Belief” by Dick Innes at

www.actsweb.org/articles

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Is That You, God?

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“I [God] have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”1

I have two sons who are now grown. When they were little, every night I would hold them and rock them in my favorite rocking chair, tuck them into bed, and say their prayers with them. And then I would say positive affirmations to them such as, “I am so glad that God sent you to be a part of our family,” “I am so proud of you,” “I love you devotedly,” “You are very important to me,” and so on.

I would often whisper these positive affirmations in their ear while they were sleeping. I didn’t know if this ever had any influence on them or did any good, but I knew it wouldn’t hurt them.

I love to tell how, early one morning about 5AM, I slipped quietly into my youngest son’s bedroom through his open door. I was certain he was asleep—as he looked like an angel—so I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “O beloved of the Lord.” As quick as a flash he spun his head around and, looking upward, said in all sincerity, “Is that you, God!?”

I was totally taken aback, but when I regained my composure, I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “No, it’s not God, but he sent me to tell you that.”

On another occasion this same son was very upset with me and blurted out, “Why did you have me anyhow?”

As quick as a flash I replied, “Because you are a part of God’s eternal plan.”

And he is. And so are you. And so am I. And that’s why we are here on earth.

And as God wanted my son to know that he is loved by God, he wants you to know the same truth. No matter what you have ever done or have failed to do, God loves you totally, absolutely, and unconditionally. If you haven’t already done so, I trust and pray that you will realize this today!

For help to accept God’s love and forgiveness click on: www.actsweb.org/articles for the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see and remove any blocks in my life that may be stopping or hindering my being fully open to your love. Help me to accept your love and, in turn, communicate it to every life I touch. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV).

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The Devil’s Nephew

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“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”1

In the book The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis, a devil briefs his demon nephew, Wormwood, in the subtleties and techniques of tempting people. Through the letters the devil says that the objective is not to make people wicked but to make them indifferent. Satan cautions Wormwood that he must keep the patient comfortable at all costs. If he should start thinking about anything of importance, encourage him to think about his luncheon plans and not to worry so much because it could cause indigestion.

And then the devil gives this instruction to his nephew: “I, the devil, will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my dear Wormwood, is to provide me with people who do not care.”2

And perhaps, just perhaps, Wormwood is having profound success among far too many Christians in the West today, for only a small percentage give of their time, their talents, and their tithe to God for his work on earth—and even fewer give or do anything for world missions and for reaching the lost around the world with the saving gospel message of Jesus Christ.

And so the devil is still delighted with the work of Wormwood.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please forgive me for and deliver me from the sin of indifference and that of not caring for the needs of the destitute and the homeless, the persecuted church in other lands, and my lost neighbors across the street and around the world. Please help me to love you and to love others as you loved and gave yourself for me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV).

2. From Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com.

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Antidote to Worry

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“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”1

Dale Carnegie writes, “If only the people who worry about their liabilities would think about the riches they possess, they would stop worrying. Would you sell both your eyes for a million dollars … or your two legs … or your hands … or your hearing? Add up what you do have, and you’ll find that you won’t sell them for all the gold in the world. The best things in life are yours if you can appreciate yourself.”

Years ago when I was a student in Chicago and driving a CTA passenger bus in the summer, I was greeted by a very refined elderly woman passenger who tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Young man, you’re a millionaire!” That was news to me because I was working three jobs at once to put myself through college. However, after a pause, the lady continued, “You have your health!”

She had a good point. Counting our blessings, as Carnegie suggests, is not going to take away our problems but it certainly can help us handle them much better—especially if we daily give God thanks in (not for) every circumstance—good or bad.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to daily count my blessings and give me a thankful heart for all of these—especially when, instead of keeping my eyes on you, I look at my problems and start worrying about what I am going to do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

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Code Red

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“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”1

Bruce D. Weaver of Newcomerstown, Ohio, shared the following experience: One summer evening, my wife and I drove to pick up our son from Vacation Bible School. The sky was growing dark and there was a storm watch in effect, but no rain was falling yet.

However, by the time we arrived home with our son, the wind was blowing fiercely and lightning bolts were coming down all around us. We hurried inside the house and began to shut windows. Within a few moments we were without electrical power. We tucked our son into bed, trying not to betray our concern regarding the severe weather conditions outside.

I stood beside a window on the west side of the house and looked at the sky, watching intently for a funnel cloud. Suddenly the telephone rang. It was our neighbor informing us that a “code red” had been issued for our area. He confirmed that that meant a tornado funnel cloud had been sighted close by. I asked him why the siren in our small town was not sounding. He informed me it was because of power outage. He further explained that he had heard on his police scanner instructions for everyone who could hear the scanner to call their neighbors to inform them of the “code red.” I was thankful for his concern and I was thankful that the funnel cloud sighted damaged neither my family nor anyone else in our area.

Later that evening, I thought about my neighbor’s concern for me and I reflected upon my concern, or lack thereof, for my neighbors. Certainly it is important to inform neighbors that a “code red” has been issued by the police, because a funnel cloud has been sighted in the area. But it is all the more important to inform neighbors that a “code red” has been issued by God, because in due time Jesus Christ will return.

God does not want anyone to be destroyed, so God has sounded a “code red,” but not everyone knows it has been sounded. Those of us who have been informed need to share the news with our neighbors that God’s judgment is certain and that, without accepting his full and free pardon, they will be doomed forever.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for those who told me about your “code red” gospel message—how Jesus, your Son, died for my sins. Please use me to share your “code red” message to others and to join forces with those who are communicating your “code red” gospel message to people across the street and around the world. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: To help spread God’s “code red” message around the world, please join with us as a People Power for Jesus partner. See https://learning.actsweb.org/people_power.php for more information and to sign in.

1. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV).

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People vs. Program Centered

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“Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us’… Jesus stopped and called them [the two blind men]. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.”1

I recall having read how, in the 1940s, 80 percent of all watches sold were made in Switzerland. In the late 1950s the digital watch was presented to them, but they rejected it because they already had the best watches and the best watchmakers. The man who developed it subsequently sold his idea to Seiko—and the rest is history!

In 1940 Swiss watch companies employed 80,000 people. Today, they employ 18,000. In 1940 they made 80 percent of all watches sold. Today, they make 20 percent—and the majority are digital! This story demonstrates what happens when an organization or an individual chooses to die or fade away rather than change.

While in the church our message of God’s love and his great gift of salvation never changes, our methods of ministry and communicating this message need to change with the changing times and the changing needs of people. What worked yesteryear may no longer work today. And if our methods no longer work, we need to discard them. Becoming product, method, or program oriented instead of being people oriented spells death to any ministry, organization, or business.

When Jesus came, he cut right across the grain of man-made religious dogma, programs, and traditions that were not relevant to the needs of the people of his day.

In his ministry he was always sensitive to the felt or perceived needs of his listeners and targeted his ministry to address those needs. As illustrated in his encounter with the two blind men his question was, “What do you want me to do for you?” To which they replied, “That we may receive our sight.” Before meeting people’s spiritual need, Jesus always ministered to an individual’s personal and felt need. For us to do less is being less than Christ-like.2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always to be sensitive to the felt needs of people and help me to be as Christ to them and meet them at their point of need. In so doing grant that they will be drawn to and accept you as their Savior and Lord. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 20:30, 32 (NIV).

2. Adapted from the book, I Hate Witnessing, a Handbook for Effective Christian Communications by Dick Innes. Available from www.actscom.com/store/.

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Reigns of Evil

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“The LORD said through his servants the prophets: ‘Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.’”1

According to Old Testament Bible commentators, Manasseh’s reign as King of Judah over 2,600 years ago was one of the darkest periods in Judah’s history. His was a reign of evil and his nation paid the terrible price because they allowed and followed his leadership.

Are things much different in present times? According to Ravi Zacharias, “German theologian Emil Brunner made the curious suggestion that Adolf Hitler should be posthumously given an honorary doctor of theology degree. Why? Because he awakened Europe to her Christian heritage by showing her what the world would be like without Christianity.” At least it should have awakened Europe.

How true it is that history repeats itself. Look again at the reign of Hitler and of Stalin—godless leaders who slaughtered millions. And look at countries and nations today where God is forgotten, where Christianity is despised, and where Christians and others are being slaughtered if they refuse to denounce their faith and join a different religion, and where religious zealots are committing heinous acts of mass murder in the name of a god who is not the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and to whom Jesus Christ is not the Son of God nor Savior of the world—and to whom followers of Jesus are the infidels who need to be destroyed.

And let those of us in the West who, in our complacency, think we are safe and secure look at how we too, as nations, are drifting farther and farther away from our Judeo/ Christian roots and heritage, and rapidly forgetting God and all that he has done for us. Do we think we will be protected from evil when we turn from God?

No we won’t. In time we, too, unless we turn back to God, will go the way of all nations who forget God and thereby allowed a reign of evil to rule the land. When we reject God, we automatically divorce ourselves from his protection.

People opposed to the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and anything to do with God and the Christian faith; leaders without morals; and business leaders without character and ethics have already done great harm to U.S. society and its economy. I first wrote this message about five or six years ago and look at the mess we are in today as we have drifted farther and farther away from God and continued our moral decline. Surely Satan has blinded the mind of the Godless.

What we desperately need today is a revival of the Spirit; not the revival of a costless, saccharine spiritualism that is gaining popularity today, but a revival of God’s Spirit, where we turn from our sins and come back to God through the Lord Jesus Christ—and be committed to truth, justice, integrity and the Jesus way!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how desperately today’s world needs you and how desperately my country needs you. I beg of you to send a great Spiritual awakening to our land and a great revival of the Spirit—and let your work begin in me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Kings 21:10-12 (NIV).

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A Voice in the Night

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“Sit up!” the voice in the night said, “and take a deep breath.”

“It was a stormy night,” a personal friend shared, “and we were awakened by an extremely loud clap of thunder. After the initial fright, checking the kids and the house, we went back to bed and to sleep.

“Then came the voice: I was certain I heard someone speaking. ‘Sit up and take in a deep breath,’ it said.

“I only half-awoke and thought I must have been dreaming, so rolled over and went back to sleep.

“The voice spoke again with more insistence, ‘Sit up and take in a deep breath.’

“This is weird,” I thought so again rolled over and went back to sleep.

“‘SIT UP! Take in a deep breath!’ the voice spoke again with great urgency.

“So I sat up and took in a deep breath … and smelled smoke!” I was fully awake in an instant … woke up my husband … rushed to wake up the children … we had the oldest one phone 911 (for emergency) … my husband took over the phone … the operator asked if the lights were working … my husband said they were going out one room at a time.

“GET OUT of the house immediately,” declared the operator. Your house has been struck by lightning.”

As quick as a flash the family rushed outside only moments before the house exploded and burst into flames. It took firemen six hours to put the fire out. The house was totally destroyed, but the entire family was saved. Talk about a wake-up call!

Surely this was a God-thing. Fortunately the family members were committed followers of Jesus Christ and even though they lost their house, their lives were saved. God doesn’t usually speak to most of us in an audible voice. He doesn’t have to because his “wake-up call” is spoken to us repeatedly in his Word, the Bible.

“Wake up!” God says to every one of us, “Flee from the wrath to come”1 (God’s judgment of sin and evil for the world that has turned from God will be judged and purified by fire). Wake up, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.”2 Wake up, “I will come again,”3 Jesus promised “to take all who believe in me to be with me in heaven forever.”

“Wake up,” Jesus is coming again … it may be today. Are you ready? Again Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in….”4

Whatever you do don’t miss God’s wake-up call. Have you opened the door of your life and invited Jesus, the Son of God, to come into your heart and life as your God and your Savior? If not, may I urge you to do that today … right now … by praying a simple prayer such as the following:

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I hear your wake-up call, as faint though it may be. I confess that I am a sinner and ask for your forgiveness. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for all my sins. I invite you to come into my heart and life as my God and my Savior. With your help I repent of and turn from my sinful ways. Thank you for hearing my prayer, for forgiving me of my sins, and for coming into my heart and life as my Savior. Help me to live for you always in all ways. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: If you prayed this prayer, please let us know by clicking on http://tinyurl.com/pgntm and we will send you articles (without charge) to help you in your Christian life. (Be assured that we will never give any information about you to any other person, organization, or business.)

For more help, Click on http://tinyurl.com/8glq9 for the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious.”

1. Matthew 3:7.
2. Hebrews 9:27.
3. John 14:3.
4. Revelation 3:20.

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