All posts by 5Q

Peace, Peace

Leave a comment

Hear the Word of God: “For you know very well that the day of the Lord [Christ’s second coming to earth] will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”1

The Personnel Journal reported this incredible statistic: since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time! In its study, the periodical discovered that of 3530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. Moreover, in excess of 8000 peace treaties were made—and broken.2

I have read that one of the fastest growing religions today is the I’lamic faith. M’slims would have us believe that theirs is a religion of peace and all the while their radicals are on a slaughter rampage throughout various parts of the world. While it is not politically correct to say so, but the reality is that the world today is not in a clash of cultures between I’lam and the West but in a religious war whose attackers don’t wear a uniform, hide behind innocent civilians including children, and use our freedoms to expand and ultimately either kill or subdue us into their strict control of their legalist religious laws—and in so doing take away our freedom! That is, they are using our freedom to take away our freedom.

I recall an old pastor friend saying that all of the signs that Jesus and the Bible predicted that would precede Christ’s second coming to earth have actually been happening since he was here on earth—but today they are all standing up at once!

Jesus is coming again. That is just as certain as was his first coming some 2000 years ago. What if it were today? Would you be ready? Or would you be left behind? For help to be sure you are ready to meet Jesus face to face click on the “Know God” button or link below or on http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have promised in your Word, the Bible, that Jesus is coming again to take to Heaven all his true followers. Please help me to be sure that I am ready for his possible soon return. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 (NIV).
2. Today In The Word, June, 1988, p.33.
Moody Bible Institute.

<:))))><

In the Stands or on the Field

Leave a comment

“So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect [mature] in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”1

Joseph Stowell, former president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, said, “I love going to Chicago’s Wrigley Field for a baseball game—sitting in the stands, downing a great hot dog, and cheering the Cubs on to victory!

“Unfortunately, Christianity has become a lot like professional sports. As a friend of mine has observed, there are nine guys on the baseball field doing all the work and thousands in the stands just watching. And as you probably know, that’s not God’s game plan for His people. He wants us to climb out of the stands, get out on the field, and join the team.

“If you are wondering what good you can do on the field, wonder no more. What about your financial resources? Jesus can take your ’silver and gold’ and use it to accomplish great things for His glory.

“But more than just getting out your checkbook, you have gifts you can contribute. God has given each of us gifts that can help advance His kingdom. Whether it’s teaching, encouraging, serving, showing hospitality, or extending mercy, the productive use of each gift can yield great dividends. Let’s follow the example of Paul who tirelessly served on God’s field for the joy of being used by Him.”2

I still remember well one of my grade school teachers who constantly emphasized the importance of being an active participant in life—not just a watcher. Great teaching. As Joe Stowell said, “Believe me, it’s far more rewarding to be on the field than to sit in the stands.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you use ordinary people to accomplish your work on earth. I am available. Please use me to be a part of your plans and what you are doing in the world today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Colossians 1:28-29 (NLT).
2. Cited on KneEmail.
kneemail-subscribe@welovegod.org

<:))))><

True Success

Leave a comment

God’s instructions to Joshua: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”1

“A hundred years ago, Ralph Waldo Emerson noted three qualities he deemed marks of true success: the ability to discern and appreciate beauty, the ability to see the best in others, and a commitment to leaving the world a better place.”2

Emerson didn’t say that success is in becoming a powerful politician, a wealthy business man or woman, a popular movie star, sportsman/woman, an outstanding speaker—or even the pastor or leader of a mega church. Nor did he say it had anything to do with physical beauty or material possessions. This is not to say that there is anything wrong, in and of themselves, with any or all of the above, but if this is our definition or measure of success, it has fallen far short of success in the eyes of God.

God’s measure of success is, first of all, in studying and meditating on his Word, the Bible, so we know what it teaches, and second, in obeying all of God’s laws and living in harmony with his will. As God promised Joshua and the people of ancient Israel, if they did this they would become prosperous and successful. Keep in mind, too, being a prosperous person has little if anything to do with material prosperity, but rather it has to do with knowing and obeying God’s Word and living in harmony with his will. Also, having the qualities Emerson described above would also make one very prosperous.

And as another has said, “Judge your success not only by what you’ve become, but by what others have become because of you.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please open the eyes of my understanding so that I will fully grasp the meaning and impact of all your laws and principles for successful and prosperous living and the good sense to obey and live in harmony with all of these. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Joshua 1:7-8 (NIV).
2. R. Robert Cueni, Sermons on the Gospel
Readings, Series I, Cycle C, CSS Publishing
Company.

<:))))><

What Christianity Did for Women

Leave a comment

“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ … [Later] his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman….”1

Alvin Schmidt, in an article on an Assisted News Service report, asks, “What would be the status of women be in the Western world today had God not entered the world in the flesh of his Son Jesus Christ? One way to answer this question is to look at the low status women still have in I’lamic countries. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, women are not even permitted to drive automobiles, and in the Koran a man is commanded to beat his wives physically if they are disobedient (Sura 4:34).

“When one looks back in history before and at the time of Christ, women, similar to I’lamic countries today, also had very little freedom and dignity. They were seen as evil, inferior, unclean, unequal, and kept silent. Numerous statements in ancient literature attest to this biased cultural perception….

“Reflecting Greek culture,” Homer (eighth century B.C.) wrote, “One cannot trust women” (The Odyssey). The Greek playwright Euripides (d. 406 B.C.) said, “Women were the best devisers of evil” (Medea). Tacitus the first-century Roman pictured women as dominating and cruel (Annals). Among the Hebrews, Jesus son of Sirach (second century B.C.) stated, “From a woman sin had its beginning and because of her we all die” (Ecclesiastus).2

“Women were seen as inferior, unclean, unequal, but it was Jesus and the early Christians, in opposition to the accepted norms of the day and those of ancient tradition, who accepted women as equal and gave them dignity. Jesus ministered to women; he asked a despised Samaritan woman—of all people—to give him a drink of water; he taught women theological truths; and among his closest friends (in equal standing with his men friends) were women. Furthermore, he solidly rebuked the religious Pharisees who attempted to get Jesus to condemn the woman caught in adultery by saying that the man who had never sinned could be the one to cast the first stone at her. And Jesus appeared to women first following his resurrection.

“As apostolic Christianity spread, it gave women freedom and dignity unknown to the ancient world. It did this not only by baptizing and admitting women to the Lord’s Supper—equal to men—but it also gave them leadership roles. St. Paul notes that Apphia ‘our sister’ was a leader in a house church in Colossae (Philemon 2). In Laodicea there was Nympha who had ‘a church in her house’ (Colossians 4:15), and in Ephesus, Priscilla was one of Paul’s fellow workers (Romans 16:3). Phoebe was a key female leader in the church in Cenchreae, where she was a deacon (not deaconess) and a leading officer (Romans 16:1-2). Paul also said Euodia and Syntyche labored with him in the gospel … and the rest of my fellow workers’ (Philippians 4:2-3).

“Christ’s influence had numerous other effects that benefited women. Unlike the pagan Greco-Romans, the early Christians valued baby girls as much as boys. St. Paul commanded husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25).”3

How sad that our secular world fails to see this profound truth as well as numerous other blessings that especially the Western world has gained because of the impact of Jesus and Christianity.4

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you for the incredible blessings that have been granted, especially to those of us fortunate enough to have been born in the Western world, that have come as a result of sending your Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world, and because of the profound impact Christianity has had on the world. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1 John 4: 6-10; 27 (NIV).
2. © Alvin J. Schmidt, Ph.D., “Christianity Gave Women Freedom and Dignity, Assist News Service (ANS), www.assistnews.net. Get the full story at: www.assistnews.net/stories/2007/s07080019.htm.
3. Ibid.
4.See Alvin Schmidt’s book The Great Divide: the Failure of I’lam and the Triumph of the West (Regina Orthodox Press, 2004).

<:))))><

Faith of Fathers

Leave a comment

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”1

As reported by Chuck Colson in BreakPoint, “Loren Marks, who teaches at the School for Human Ecology at Louisiana State University said, ‘An interview with the Australian magazine, Mercatornet, listed some of the reasons why religious beliefs and practices make such a difference for many men.

‘First, married couples who are actively involved in the same faith tend to have stronger, happier marriages and this impacts father-child relationships in a positive way.

‘Second, religious fathers are far less likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs than non-religious fathers, and an estimated 80 percent of child abuse is alcohol related.

‘The third factor is the belief that fathers will be personally accountable to God for their good (or bad) fathering. This [creates] a sacred motivation to be a better father. It’s this factor which sets religious life apart as a maker of better fathers.’”2

As H. Jackson Brown, Jr. said, “Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.” And Robert Fulghum, “Don’t worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they’re always watching you.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, as a father (and/or mother) please help me always to be ‘as Jesus’ to my children and family members—and everybody else—and so live that they, seeing Jesus in me, will want Jesus for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 6:4 (NIV).
2. Chuck Colson, Faith and Fathers,
BreakPoint, July 27, 2007, www.breakpoint.org

<:))))><

Finding What You Look for

Leave a comment

”Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”1

You may have read about the teenage boy who lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found. Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the eyepiece in her hand.

“How did you manage to find it, Mom?” the teenager asked.

“We weren’t looking for the same thing,” she replied. “You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150.”2

What we look for and see in life is largely determined by our values. More often than not when kids inherit a small fortune which cost them nothing and for which they did nothing to earn it, they pretty much blow it within two years. Also, if suffering people don’t have any value to us, we will largely ignore them and not do anything to help them. Furthermore, if I don’t see people the way God sees them—lost sinners in need of a Savior and of such infinite value to God that he gave his Son, Jesus, to come to earth and die on a cruel Roman cross to pay the penalty for all our sins—I won’t do anything to seek to influence them for Jesus nor do anything to help win them to him.

What we value is what we seek after and find.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to set priorities for what I value most in life and give of my best to seek, find and fulfill what these values imply—and help me to ensure that these values are in direct harmony with your eternal values. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV).
2. Alan Smith, TFTD (Thought for the Day)
http://www.tftd-online.com

<:))))><

Happy New Year—Begin With the End in Mind

Leave a comment

It was Steven Covey, author of the popular book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, who coined the phrase, “Begin with the end in mind.”

Most of us know that New Year Resolutions we make at the beginning of each New Year usually last until the next setback or challenge we face.

However, if we print a copy of “Steven Covey’s Seven Habits” and tape them to the fridge or other prominent place and read them often, we have a much greater chance of finishing this New Year with a sense of achievement:

Steven Covey’s Seven Habits:

  1. Be proactive. Don’t stand still. Take the initiative and be responsible.
  2. Begin with the end in mind. Start any activity, a meeting, run, day, or life, with an end in mind. Work to that end and make sure your values are aligned with your goals.
  3. Put first things first. Prioritize your life so you’re working on the important stuff.
  4. Think win/win. This is pretty obvious. You get what you put in.
  5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listen to emphasize, obtain information, and understand the other person’s point of view.
  6. Synergize. Work to create outcomes that are greater than the individual parts.
  7. Sharpen the saw. Cultivate the essential elements of your character: physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual.1

And as Pastor Tod Bolsinger put it, “We need to live every day with the end in mind–and most important of all, live with Jesus’ end in mind.”

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me every day this year to live, not only with the end of this year in mind but with the end of my life in mind so that, when I stand before you to give an account of my life, I will hear your welcome words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’ So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Steven, Covey, http://tinyurl.com/39v3r5.
2. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV).

<:))))><

Overcoming Jealousy

Leave a comment

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.”1 “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”2

A Daily Encounter reader asks, “For some unknown reason I have many times felt jealousy over other people receiving things. I always ask Satan to get behind me when this happens but he always returns. I have prayed numerous times for deliverance and forgiveness. How can I overcome this sense of being jealous?”

Hello June (name changed), jealousy is almost always the symptom of a deeper problem; that is, “the fruit of a deeper root.” It is almost always the result of our own sense of insecurity and/or feelings of inferiority. As a general rule, the more secure we feel within ourselves, the less likely we are to have a problem with jealousy.

In other words, to overcome jealousy we need to overcome our feelings of insecurity. To help you do this I suggest your read the article, “Developing a Healthy Self-Image” at: http://tinyurl.com/af5hf.

Second, as I often say, it is important to learn how to pray the right prayer. That is, admit to God that you have a problem with jealousy and instead of asking him to simply deliver you from your jealousy, ask him to help you see the real cause of your jealousy and help you to find the help you need to overcome this problem. For further help read, “How to Pray Effectively” at: http://tinyurl.com/kb62w.

Third, realize that while Satan always wants to defeat us, he doesn’t cause our jealousy. That’s our problem and responsibility. However, keep in mind as the Apostle pointed out in Ephesians, when we fail to resolve our anger, we give Satan a foothold. The same is true with jealousy (and other problems). When you resolve the cause of your jealousy, Satan loses his foothold and as such you take away his power to tempt and defeat you in this area.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, with all my problems help me to see the real cause/s behind these, and find the help I need to overcome them so I will take away any and all footholds in my life that leave me open for Satan to tempt me in these areas. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 2:1 (NLT).
2. Ephesians 4:26-27 (NLT).

<:))))><

How to Be Sure You Are Going to Heaven

Leave a comment

“As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”1

The question has often been asked, “If you knew today was the last day of your life, what would you do?”

Do you have any impaired relationships you would want to resolve before you pass on? Have you left a will so your loved ones will benefit from your life’s work? Most important of all, when you come to the end of life’s journey and you stand before a holy God at the entrance to Heaven, if God asked you, “Why should I allow you to enter Heaven,” what would you say? In other words, if you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would spend eternity in Heaven with God?

If not, I urge you to make that preparation today. Eternity is forever. As I did in younger days, many people think that if they do enough good deeds to outnumber or outweigh the wrongs (sins) they have committed, this will qualify them to enter God’s heaven. Wrong.

God’s Word makes it very clear that nobody enters heaven because of their good works. It is only by God’s grace (unmerited favor) that we are given God’s gift of forgiveness and saved for all eternity. His Word says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”2

God’s Word also says, “For the wages [consequences] of sin is death [spiritual death which is eternal separation from God], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”3

Because God is a God of infinite holiness no sinner can ever survive in his presence any more than a moth can survive in a flame. Furthermore, because God is also a God of infinite justice, all sin must be judged according to God’s standard of holiness and perfection, and his justice calls for death; that is, spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in the place the Bible calls hell.

Fortunately however, God is also a God of infinite love. This is why he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cruel Roman cross 2,000 years ago in your place and mine to meet the demands of God’s justice so we can be forgiven of all our sins and receive God’s gift of eternal life. This is the expression of his perfect love.

All you need to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins, and to ask God for his forgiveness and accept his gift of eternal life. The following prayer will help you to do this.

Prayer: “Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs/sins I have committed. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.”

NOTE: If you prayed this prayer and truly meant it, please be sure to Click HERE (https://learning.actsweb.org/decision.php) to let us know you prayed this prayer, and we will send you the URL (web site address) of the free “Ten Steps to Christian Growth” which will help you to grow in your new spiritual life. (Change URL for the Spanish DE)

1. Hebrews 9:27, (NKJV).
2. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV).
3. Romans 6:23 (NIV).

<:))))><

He Fooled Himself

Leave a comment

“Be sure your sins will find you out.”1

The story is told of a young actor who was trying to impress an important movie director. The actor wanted to send an expensive gift, but he didn’t have the money, but he had an idea. If he could find a valuable vase which was already broken and get it at a very small cost, then he could mail it to the director. He would think it had gotten broken in the mail and would be impressed anyway.

So this actor went to an exclusive store and found a vase that had been broken into many pieces. It was just going to be thrown out, so he was able to get it at a very small cost. He told them to wrap it up and send it and gave them the address. He waited to hear from the director, but heard nothing for several days. Finally he sent a telegram: “Did vase arrive?” Shortly he received this response: “Vase arrived. But why was each piece wrapped separately?”2

As Abraham Lincoln said, “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

But with God we can never fool him any of the time. “Be sure your sins will find you out”—mine too!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, deliver me from the sin of denial and trying to fool myself into justifying whatever wrong I want and choose to do—let alone trying to fool you. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Numbers 32:23 (KJV).
2. From Alan Smith’s Thought for the Day, http://www.tftd-online.com.

<:))))><