I don’t know why God required Moses to keep his hands raised when the ancient Israelites were in battle against the Amalekites—unless it was to acknowledge Israel’s total dependence on God. Whatever the reason, it was a smart move to get a helping hand from Aaron and Hur, as Moses never could have made it by himself. It is also a good lesson for all of us because none of us can get through life without a helping hand from others.

I believe it was Paul Harvey who made the following comment: “We have always tended to revere the airplane pilot who did it alone and the country doctor who never left the bedside…. Such a spirit of independence served us well and caused us all to grow tall. But we’d never have made it to the moon without a spirit of interdependence. And we’d never have eradicated typhoid and smallpox and polio without cooperative effort. We’ve found that no person alone can fetch oil from beneath the ocean. We’ve found that we are becoming increasingly interdependent—not only in our country, but also all around the world.… On the steep slope ahead, holding hands is necessary.”²

And in the quiet of our home and among friends holding hands is also necessary.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me never to be slow to offer a helping hand to a friend in need, and never too proud to ask for help when I need a helping hand. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Exodus 17:11-12 (NIV).

2. Paul Harvey, Cited on Kneemail, www.oakhillcoc.org/

In Vancouver, British Columbia (reported Reuters), when a family of ducklings fell down a Vancouver sewer grate, their mother did what any parent would do. She got help from a passing police officer.

Vancouver police officer Ray Peterson admitted he was not sure what to make of the duck that grabbed him by the pant leg while he was on foot patrol on a Wednesday evening in a neighborhood near the city’s downtown.

“I thought it was a bit goofy, so I shoved it away,” Peterson told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

The mother duck persisted, grabbing Peterson’s leg again when he tried to leave, and then waddling to a nearby sewer grate where she sat down and waited for him to follow and investigate.

“I went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below,” he said.

Police said they removed the heavy metal grate with the help of a tow truck and used a vegetable strainer to lift the ducklings to safety. Mother and offspring then departed for a nearby pond.²

When the Canaanite woman came to Jesus for help, the disciples tried to get Jesus to send her away, but she refused to go. She was desperate for help for her child. Jesus certainly tested her by telling her that his ministry was for the “lost sheep of Israel,” and that it wasn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” In her determination she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

And Jesus replied, “‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”³

God will also test us to see if we are determined and desperate enough to turn to him for help. The half-hearted never make it.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I am serious about turning to you for help, you always hear and answer the prayer that comes from my heart. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 15:22-23 (NIV).

2. http://tinyurl.com/bxygm.

3. See Matthew 15:22-28 (NIV).

Some sins are easy to see—such as stealing, cursing, violence, drunkenness, abuse, adultery, lying, cheating, and so on. These are all obvious.

These are sins of commission. But there are also sins of omission. As James pointed out, if we know to do good and don’t do it, that’s sinning too.

There are also subtle sins, sins that are often hidden. These could be called sins of the spirit such as greed, jealousy, envy, pride, self-righteousness, lust, bitterness, resentment, hostility, manipulative and/or impure motives, and the desire to control others, and so on.

Even more subtle, and perhaps the most common sin of all and practiced by so many, is the sin of denial. It is lying to one’s self—which is as big a sin as lying to anyone else. Denial is being out of touch with reality. It can be a silent killer. It is being emotionally and spiritually asleep, and we don’t become aware of it unless we wake up. It usually takes a crisis of some kind to wake us from this dangerous sleep. We deny our true feelings, we deny our motives, we deny many of our sins, we rationalize our behavior and end up believing the lies we tell ourselves. In other words, we hide from the truth. And the more in denial we are (that is, dishonest with ourselves), the more we will distort all other truth, including God’s truth, to make it match our misguided perception of reality.

It is a dangerous and self-destructive way to live.

Sin is a cancer of the soul. The reason God is so opposed to it is because it hurts and ultimately destroys those whom God loves—us! Unconfessed and unforgiven it will separate us for all eternity from a holy and loving God.

But thank God there is a remedy. It is found in the saving gospel message of Jesus Christ. You can read all about it in No. 2 below.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to be real with myself, with you, and with at least one or two safe, non-judgmental friends. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 4:17 (NIV).

2. “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian.

You may have read about the young couple who moved into a new neighborhood and, the next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging washed clothes on the clothesline. “That laundry is not very clean,” she said, “she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent. However, every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About a month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice, clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her how.”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life: what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. The reality is that we see things not the way they are, but the way we are. Furthermore, to the degree that we are in denial, we will see only what we want to see; will hear only what we want to hear; will expose ourselves only to what we want to be exposed to, and will twist what we see to make it match our distorted perception of reality. Only the truth—brutal self-honesty—will set us free from this self-deception.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please confront me with the truth about me so that I will see myself exactly the way you see me. Please reveal to me any log in my eye that causes me to have distorted vision. Help me to become like Jesus—real and authentic. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Matthew 7:3-4 (NLT).

John Newton, the converted slave trader wrote the following poem, the title of which is, “I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow.”

I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith, and love, and every grace;

Might more of His salvation know,

And seek, more earnestly, His face.

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,

And He, I trust, has answered prayer!

But it has been in such a way,

As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,

At once He’d answer my request;

And by His love’s constraining pow’r,

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart;

And let the angry pow’rs of hell

Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed

Intent to aggravate my woe;

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,

Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,

Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?

“‘Tis in this way, the Lord replied,

I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,

From self, and pride, to set thee free;

And break thy schemes of earthly joy,

That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”²

As God’s Word also says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in every trial and difficult time I experience, please use it to help me grow and become the person you envision for me to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:2-4 (NIV).

2. John Newton.

3. Psalm 34:19 (NKJV).

In a takeoff regarding certain political adherents CINOs are Christians in Name Only. They are people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, but, like Jannes and Jambres in the time of Moses, they had a counterfeit faith.

Wayne Blank wrote about Jannes and Jambres saying that they “are mentioned only once in the Bible by the apostle Paul…. Although they are not identified by name in the Old Testament, Rabbinic tradition holds that Jannes and Jambres were, or were among, the magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron at the time of the [Israelites'] Exodus [out of Egypt]…. Jannes and Jambres obviously had ‘miraculous’ powers, but unlike Moses and Aaron who were empowered by God, the Pharaoh’s magicians were fraudulent and/or Satanic.”²

In today’s world there is never a shortage of counterfeit Christians, and counterfeit so-called “Christian” leaders who may have magnetic personalities, great oratory skills, and who are able to attract many followers, and in so doing deceive masses of people. Sad to say, this kind of person is found in every aspect of life be it in religion, in pseudo-science, in education circles, in business, and in politics.

As Christians we need to be like the people of Berea who are recommended by the Bible: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”³ Even though the Apostle Paul was the great leader of the early church, the Berean believers wanted to make sure that everything Paul taught was in harmony with the Word of God, the Bible. I suggest you do the same regarding all of my writings too.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be an authentic follower of Jesus and grant that my life and words will always be in harmony with your Word. And please give me a spirit of discernment so that I will always recognize false teaching. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 3:8-9 (NLT).

2. www.keyway.ca/htm2000/20001210.htm.

3. Acts 17:11 (NIV).

On one occasion when I was leading a seminar, I asked the group in attendance the following question: “What do you think the Christian’s number one sin or problem is?” One jokester called out from the back of the room, “Apathy! But who cares?”

Funny, yes, but tragically, as the old saying goes: “Many a true word is spoken in jest.”

Look at today’s world, for example: Our government is spending, spending, spending and borrowing trillions of dollars to do just about anything it wants to do without considering the ultimate consequences, but who cares? Political correctness (which is anything but correct) is destroying us, but who cares? Our country is on an accelerating moral decline, but who cares? Opposition to Christianity is growing more intense, but who cares? Giving in to the demands of Islam and their relentless push to have their Sharia law accepted, and for them to gain more and more power and control in our Western nations, is also steadily but surely increasing, but who cares?

Surely, Satan has blinded the minds of the masses. But what about us; that is, we who call ourselves Christians, what are we doing to make an impact on today’s society? In younger days we used to sing with great enthusiasm, “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before….” It’s been many years since I have heard this grand old hymn sung anywhere, or similar call to action hymns such as: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross….” Perhaps there is a lot of truth in another jokester’s words who said, “Like a mighty tortoise moves the church of God, brothers we are treading where we’ve always trod.”

As Edmond Burke so simply yet powerfully stated: “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men [and women] to do nothing!” And might I add, “and to remain silent.”

Note, too, what Chuck Colson said: “German sociologist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the phrase “the Spiral of Silence” after witnessing Hitler and his ilk intimidate citizens until they were afraid to speak out against the most horrible evils imaginable: the mass slaughter of human beings.”²

So, apathy just may be our greatest sin, our greatest danger, and our greatest enemy.

So what can you and I actually do? For one thing we can pray earnestly for a great spiritual awakening throughout our countries. And in this day of incredible electronic communications, everyone with an email address can become involved in helping to spread the message of Jesus Christ—the only hope of our sin-sick world. To help you do this I encourage you to stand with ACTS International in our Global Media Outreach and learn how to be a missionary right from your own home—and therein have a vital part in worldwide gospel outreach by becoming an ACTS People Power for Jesus Partner. Click HERE or on www.actsweb.org/people_power/. There is no charge. Furthermore, there is no greater opportunity and privilege than to share the message of Jesus Christ so please consider joining with us today so you can be a missionary right from your own home.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of apathy—of doing nothing and remaining silent when there is an urgent need to help share the message of Jesus Christ with people across the street and around the world. I am available; please use me to have an active part in what you are doing in the world today by helping to introduce others to Jesus. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 16:15 (TLB) (NLT).

2. The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Feb 29, 2012.

“I came home from work last evening,” said David E. Leininger a while ago, “greeted the family, changed clothes, and began reading the mail. The Newsweek magazine was there, so I began flipping through it. Early on I came to this rather striking ad: it said, ‘… You’re DEAD. What do you do now? Just for a minute, think the unthinkable. Think about when suddenly you’re not there.’² And then the ad goes on to try to sell life insurance. Years ago, a friend of mine who was an insurance agent would approach potential clients on the street and say, ‘I had a dream about you last night … I dreamt you died … and you didn’t have insurance!’ The amazing thing to me is that his approach actually worked—he made a fine living.”³

I find it interesting that the first thing many people read in the daily newspaper is the obituary notices. I don’t know why except it is an admission of sorts that death is a fact of life.

Other people avoid reading the obituary notices altogether as they don’t want to even begin to think of death. This is sad because sooner or later it happens to us all, for nobody gets out of this place alive. In younger days death seemed a lifetime away—and it was. The years passed, then my father died, then my mother, then my oldest sister … and now, along with my younger sisters, I’m next in line. Dying doesn’t bother me, but the process can be frightening if one should lose his or her health and, especially, his or her mind. Over that we have little or no control.

However, what we do have control over is life after death. Should you have a dream tonight that you died, what would happen to you? Where would you spend eternity if this were a reality and not a dream? Better still, where will you spend eternity when it is a reality?

God has an insurance plan exactly for this purpose and it is totally without charge to you. You can read about it by clicking on: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian and read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—Without Having to Be Religious.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for letting me know in your Word that I need to be prepared to meet you at the end of my life here on earth. And thank you for showing me the way you have provided for such preparation by accepting your Son, Jesus, as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Amos 4:12 (NIV).

2. Ad for the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, Newsweek, 2/26/96.

3. In a sermon by the Rev. Dr. David E. Leininger, “Thinking About the Unthinkable.” (Unfortunately, the web site is no longer available.)

You’ve probably read about the man who quit attending church and was visited by his pastor.

According to the story, “It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

“Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.”

“As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, ‘Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.’”²

Note: Be sure to read, “Benefits of a Good Church” at: http://tinyurl.com/bs9jf

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to realize the need to be involved in a good church where the people believe in your Word and live in harmony with the principles found therein. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

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

2. Author unknown.

You’ve no doubt read the old fable about the scorpion and the frog. It illustrates how man’s nature is much more devious and controlling than is his logic.

The fable says how, “One day a scorpion arrived at the bank of a river he wanted to cross, but there was no bridge. He asked a frog that was sitting nearby if he would take him across the river on his back. The frog refused and said, ‘I will not, because you will sting me.’

“The scorpion replied, ‘It would be foolish for me to sting you because then we would both drown.’

“The frog saw the logic in the scorpion’s words, and agreed to carry the scorpion across. But when they were halfway across the river the scorpion stung the frog. The stunned frog asked, ‘Why did you sting me? Now we will both die!’

“The scorpion replied, ‘Because I’m a scorpion … and that’s what scorpions do.’”

Have you ever noticed that God is not concerned about being “politically correct?” Sad to say some people today are more concerned about being “politically correct” than they are about being “biblically correct.” They change the name of sins to justify people’s sinful behavior. They do this because they are more concerned about the approval of man than they are about the approval of God. To God, sin—all sin—is sin by whatever name we call it, and all sin is ultimately self-destructive regardless of how we seek to justify it.

Furthermore, God’s Word reminds us that no matter how good, how noble, how educated, how refined, or how sophisticated we may be, we are all sinners.² Like the leopard that cannot change its spots neither can we change our nature. We are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners. That’s our nature and that’s why we need God’s salvation to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin—which is eternal separation from God for all eternity in the place the Bible calls hell.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for providing a way of escape from the eternal consequences of my sinful nature in that you gave your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in my place to pay the punishment for all my sins. Help me to be certain that I am a true Christian, and that I have received your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. And dear Jesus, because you died for me, please help me to live for you always in all ways. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

For help be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian without having to be religious” online at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. Jeremiah 13:23 (NIV).

2. See Romans 3:23.