The Uncertainties of Life

“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” Prov.27:1….“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.” Ja.4:13-16

The old worn out cliche, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” just ain’t so. I may not die, the Lord could come; and I don’t pay taxes, my income is too small. Apart from God’s Word, we can say with certainty, nothing is certain in this life. Thus, as to our plans for tomorrow, don’t bet on it. Nothing is nailed down! This is not being pessimistic, but realistic. Live today and let God take care of your tomorrows. As the saying goes, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.” The gospel song says it best, I think...

I don't know about tomorrow;

I just live from day to day.

I don't borrow from it's sunshine

For it's skies may turn to grey.

I don't worry o'er the future,

For I know what Jesus said.

And today I'll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow;

It may bring me poverty.

But the one who feeds the sparrow,

Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that be my portion

May be through the flame or flood;

But His presence goes before me

And I'm covered with His blood.

Every step is getting brighter

As the golden stairs I climb;

Every burden's getting lighter,

Every cloud is silver-lined.

There the sun is always shining,

There no tear will dim the eye;

At the ending of the rainbow

Where the mountains touch the sky.

AMEN and AMEN!

Faith Without Frills

“...and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Heb.11:36-40)

TWO TYPES OF FAITH IN SCRIPTURES

In Hebrew eleven you find two types of faith: the kind that received (verses 32-35a), and the kind that received not (verses 35b-40). Many years ago, in devotions, God impressed me with those two little words, found twice in our text, “And Others.” Thus was born a sermon God has mightily used throughout these many years, “What About the Others?”

TWO TYPES OF BELIEVERS IN CHURCH HISTORY

We have such saints as George Muller and Hudson Taylor, who received mighty things from God. Then again we have Christian martyrs, such as Bishops Ridley and Latimer, burned at the stake for their faith. The latter of the two never saw the fruition of their faith, in this life. But did from glory! It could be said of this kind, “Having not seen...yet believing.”

A FAITH THAT DOESN’T FLINCH

There is a faith that doesn’t “draw back,” in adversity. I call it by such names as: faith without frills, raw faith, naked faith, unpretentious faith, a faith without cosmetics. It is a faith that limps along through life, always with an eye set on the goal, in spite of any and all hardships. It is a faith that cries out in the blackness of night, with all its pain and suffering, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”

Jesus saith...because thou hast seen...thou hast believed...blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

A Fragment of the Whole

“[Jesus] asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that [Jesus] put [his] hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

Our Lord would have us see men and women as they actually are. We are prone to be overly impressed with only a fragment or portion of an individual’s life; thereby thinking more highly of them than we ought, and less of ourselves. A part of anything does not necessarily represent the whole.

It is important to realize, when seeing one fulfilling their office in life or when on display before the public, that it is only a small portion of the sum total of his or her life. Few there are who do not put their best foot forward when before others.

It is well to remember that our “iconic” models are of “like passions as we are.” Heroes who can call fire down from heaven can also be given to deep depression. And women of great devotion can question Christ’s goodness. Think about it, maybe you’re not as bad as you thought.

If we knew what others have to contend with in their lives, we would be more content with our own.

If It's Not Cemented Down

Most things in life can be changed around, they’re not cemented down. True it may take some effort, but they can be positioned to your advantage with a bit of ingenuity. It’s amazing what a little inspiration, with some perspiration, can accomplish. On life’s pathway, one need not stumble at the same stone habitually; it can be placed to the side.

There are people who spend their whole lives living under the circumstances, rather than above them. It’s possible to turn the tables, so to speak. You can make many unpleasantries work for you, if you so desire. Stumbling stones can be made stepping stones. Someone may have defrauded you by selling you a piece of property that was all rocks, but you can build your house with them.

Handicaps need not hinder; they can be made to help. The oyster makes its disease into a pearl. If you’re shipwrecked and can’t swim, you can get safe to shore by using a broken piece of the boat (Acts 27). Zacchaeus didn’t let his small stature stop him from seeing Jesus in that towering crowd, he climbed a tree.

Your outlook determines the outcome. You can major on the problem, or see the potential. Some only see the obstacle, others the opportunity. Out of the twelve who went in to spy out Canaan, ten saw giants, Joshua and Caleb saw God.

God will do for you what you can’t, He’ll not do what you yourself can! (rds)

Don't Catch That Ball

Several years ago, my older son, Andrew, presented me with a small paperback book entitled, Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff. It is packed full of a variety of thoughts intended to help folk in their daily life. Although it is not Christian, it has many Biblical principles. One chapter, in particular, that has helped me tremendously is entitled, “If Someone Throws You The Ball, You Don’t Have To Catch It.”

One does not have to be a sports enthusiast to understand this quaint little saying, for whom among us, from youth to the aged, does not realize that once you catch the ball, you’re responsible to do something with it; and all eyes are upon you, whether they be participants in the same game, or those observing from the stands, to see what you will do with the ball.

How easy it is to be dragged into other people’s problems. I have a little saying, “When someone else’s problem becomes mine, then there are two with the same problem.” I have found in my own life, to my deep sorrow and regret, that getting involved in situations that do not concern me has taken the joy out of life. What an inward peace of soul I have experienced these last few years, when I’ve been tempted to be drawn into business not belonging to me, to say to myself, “I ain’t catchin that ball.” O, dear friend, let us learn not to catch that ball, if we’re not prepared to take the responsibility that goes with catching it!

You may be thinking, the above sounds good, but it came from a worldly philosophy. True, but I remind you of our Lord’s words, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

A Suggestion for Preachers

Many years ago I was in a meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. The church was packed, and the people were wall to wall. They were even sitting on the platform stairs. There was a trucker there, who, whenever I hit on a good point, would shout out, “Park her there, preacher, and preach awhile!” And believe me, I did! Nevertheless, I think now one of the marks of a really great preacher is seen in him not having to finish his sermon.

The Bible knows nothing of sermons anyway; it is a message God’s man is to deliver. If a preacher is sensitive to the Holy Ghost, he will allow for Divine Intervention. As Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household we are told, “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

An associate was asked about what he thought his greatly blessed and used pastor’s secret was in his preaching. His simple answer was, “He can close it out on his first or second point, he doesn’t have to finish.” I have seen preachers (including myself) take God’s people into the heavenlies, only to bring them back down to earth by their stubborn insistence in finishing their sermon. My advice to preachers, for what it is worth, is when you have God’s people in His presence, close it out and leave them there! Yes, even if it is only fifteen minutes into your message.

“God’s people do not enjoy hearing us half as much as we enjoy hearing ourselves.”

(Warren W. Wiersbe)

Inspecting "The Lamb"

In Old Testament times, when an Israelite brought his sacrifice to the High Priest for inspection, the priest did not examine the offerer, but the offered. He checked the Lamb to see if it had any spots or blemishes, not the one who presented it. This, no doubt, is what Paul is referring to in Ephesians, where he pens, “He hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Do you remember when Jacob was about to meet his brother Esau, who had promised wrath upon this one who had wronged him years previous? How Jacob, knowing he would soon face his elder brother, sent a gift ahead of him, hoping to satisfy Esau. For, said Jacob, “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.” The book of Hebrews tells us, Jesus is our “forerunner,” that is, He went on ahead to present Himself to God on our behalf. Therefore, we never have to fear facing God’s.

In the New Testament, when the High Priest inspected Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, before He was placed upon the altar of sacrifice, the High Priest, unknowingly, but officially, declared Him approved for sacrifice. Or as Pilate said of this unblemished Lamb, “I find in Him no fault  at all .” And no one else has or ever will, in time or eternity.

GLORY! GLORY! GLORY!

Blinded Believers

“And when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand...And he was three days without sight..." (Acts 9:8-9).

Why would God allow a new convert, a babe in Christ, to be blind at his spiritual birth? It was not a punitive blindness, as Samson’s. What then, was the purpose? It was instructional. It was not permanent, as in Samson’s case, but temporary. God evidently wanted Paul to learn some important lessons early in his Christian life. Here is a short list of reasons, I believe, for his brief time of blindness:

He would lose sight of this world and the things in it. It no longer could impress him.

He now must walk by faith. No longer could he walk by sight.

He lost his independent spirit from others. He could no longer say, “I have no need of thee.”

His hearing would become more sensitive. He heard and understood the voice of Jesus, while those around him didn’t understand.

His handicap did not keep him from prayer: “Behold he prayeth.”

He could no longer judge people by the seeing of the eye. He must now judge, as His Lord, with equity (Isa.11:13-14)

He got a clear picture of Jesus. “Last of all, he was seen of me.”

May God in His mercy grant that each of us pass through this school of blindness, if we have not already. This school’s graduates are the ones who leave God’s mark on this world permanently. Paul’s has lasted over 2000 years now.

Raw Materials

“Ye judge after the flesh...my judgment is true.” When we judge one’s progress in the Lord, we invariably judge how far they have come by comparing them to the front runner. But comparing ourselves among ourselves is not wise, says the apostle. When God considers how far we have advanced in our Christian lives, He does it from the perspective of how far we have come from where we started. For example, it would be unfair to judge Peter’s progress using Paul as a standard. For Paul started way ahead of Simon. C.S. Lewis says, “You can’t judge simply by comparing the product in two people; you would need to know what kind of raw material Christ was working with in both cases.”

Many of us make the mistake Joshua made concerning the Gibeonites. Because he judged after the flesh, he thought they had come a long way, “From a far country.” Yet, in reality, they had not come far at all but were “neighbors,” who had actually come a very short distance. I wonder, when comparing the less fortunate believer with that one that never experienced his or her painful past, if they would even do as well as the wretched one? Pet patterns may not fair in the end as well as the pitiful.        

You who think you’re lagging behind, take heart. If you do your best, and those in the lead do not, you may find yourself out front in the end. For, “…many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” You need not catch up to the rest, only do your best. You know, like the tortoise.  

“It is wise for that man or woman who walks in “holy” shoes not to be too tough on those who have “holes” in theirs. At least, till you’ve walked in them awhile yourself!” (rds)

On Being Human

Jesus Christ was not only “The Son Son of God,” but “The Son of Man.” He was not only “God manifest in the flesh,” He was “the Man Christ Jesus.” The necessity for both is obvious. Had He not been God He could not have saved us; had He not been man He could not have sympathized with us. For this reason, we must not divorce His humanity from His Deity. His manhood links Him with the whole human race.

He was like us in every respect, but without sin. Paul puts it this way; He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” By the virgin birth He bypassed the sinful nature, but not human nature. Being born of a woman, He had a body of flesh and bone, and a human ancestry. He possessed all of our frailties in the flesh (except sin). He got tired, hungry, thirsty, and needed sleep. He did not renounce His divine powers, but neither did He His human limitations. For example, while on earth He did not know the time of His second coming.  

Our blessed Lord was born into humanity and was not ashamed of it. Some, consciously or unconsciously, try to deny theirs, by pretending to have a superior spirituality, thus being a notch above us other poor human beings. To deny a fact doesn’t delete it! Paul taught that because of our humanness we cannot always do that which we would like. This is not an excuse; it is a fact. Both Peter and Paul acknowledged their humanity, telling others that they were just men like they, still capable of losing their temper and using a slang word at times.

O child of God, you do not have to convince Him of what you would do, if you could do it, but for the weakness of your flesh. “He knoweth our frame.” Like the gospel song says, “I’m only human, I’m just a man.” Yes, be ashamed of your sins, but never apologize for being human.

“How thankful I am that when God became man, He did not choose to become   a man of iron nerves; that would not have helped weaklings like you and me nearly so much.” - C.S. Lewis

A Claustrophobic Christian

I tend to be claustrophobic, that is, I have a fear of being confined in an enclosed area. But not only do I have trouble in the psychological and physical realm, but also in the Spiritual sphere. One would be correct in saying that I suffer from acute Spiritual claustrophobia. I panic when I am restricted to one small cramped area of Christianity. I need elbow room; I need space to breathe. And I can’t do these within the bounds of legalism, denominationalism, and a restricted elitism. The body of Christ is bigger than these.

There was a very popular song in the 40’s entitled, “Don’t Fence Me In.” In the closing verse it says, “I can’t look at hovels and I can’t stand fences/Don’t fence me in.” That is my sentiment exactly! As the old-time evangelist, Gypsy Smith used to say, “I was born in a field; don’t try to put me in a flowerpot.” Well, I was born into the vast expanse of the Kingdom of God, don’t try and keep me within four walls. Israel was “boxed in” on all four sides, but God opened a way out. And he will for anyone who is willing to go it alone by faith.

“The only time I am not claustrophobic in confinement is when I am shut in with Jesus.” (rds)

All Your Ducks in a Row

The Bible speaks of, “…line upon line.” Repetition is necessary to learn truth. Therefore I repeat certain crucial truths from time to time. Things we need to be reminded of if we are to get through this life with any semblance of being sane.

One area that can lead a person to lose his or her marbles is when they attempt to get all their ducks in a row, so to speak. I have tried to achieve this impossible feat most of my life. Is it any wonder then that I spent much of my waking hours in frustration?

A thought came to me some years ago that has been a tremendous help to my persnickety personality. It goes like this, “There is nothing perfect; there is nothing lasting; and I will never get it altogether”. I like things just right. I want them to last. And I like all the loose ends tied up.

But that is not true to life. It’s a fantasy I created in my own mind. I’m to always work toward perfection, but realize it’s not attainable in this life. Everything is ultimately headed for the junk yard; I can’t keep it indefinitely. And there will always be a loose end I haven’t tied up.

Because of this we need to take everything in its stride, if not, we’ll always be out of step with life.

A Big Mistake

“And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them...And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up....And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein.” (Judges 16:26,29,30)

One of the greatest mistakes one can make about a man is in equating his weakness with being a weakling. There is a vast difference between the two. The former has to do with some infirmity of the flesh, the latter with those void of any and all character. Samson was a weak man, but not a weakling. Ask those few thousand Philistines, men and women,  who made light of him.

Hebrews eleven tells of Samson’s faith. It is here we find the blessed truth that though a man has a weak flesh he can possess a great faith. The entire list of men and women in this hall of faith chapter had his or her weaknesses, but none were weaklings. Everyone in this world has their own weaknesses, but not everyone of them are weaklings.

It is a wise individual that admits their weaknesses and majors on God’s strength. This type of person does what they can do; they do not attempt to do what they know they can’t do. When the weak man, Paul,  said, “I can do all things through Christ,” he didn’t mean he could remove mountains. But this man, with little or no strength of his own, did what God enabled him to do.

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me...for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

A Blessed Article

I thought my readers would enjoy this stimulating brief article from F.W. Boreham's book, "The Luggage of Life." 

THE TIRELESS TRUDGE

WHILST the fire crackled cheerily between them two
friends of mine discussed a knotty point. The ques-
tion under debate was, briefly, this: Which is the
most trying part of a long journey? One argued
for the initial steps on setting out. The weary road,
he said, stretches out interminably before you.
Every stick and stone seems to be shouting at you to
turn back and to take your ease. His friend, on
the other side of the hearth, thought quite differ-
ently. He contended stoutly for the final stage of
the pilgrimage. He vividly pictured the exhausted
pedestrian at the end of his journey, scarcely able
to drag one blistered and bleeding foot in front of
the other. It is certainly rather a fine point; but,
after all, it was really not worth discussing, for
nothing is more absolutely clear than that they were
both wrong. Which, of course, is the usual fate of
controversialists.

Now the worst part of a journey is neither at its
beginning nor at its close. There is a certain in-
describable exhilaration arising from the making of
the effort which imparts elasticity to the muscles and
courage to the mind, at starting. The road seems
to dare and challenge the pilgrim, and he swings off
along the taunting trail with a keen relish and a
buoyant stride. And, at the other end, the twinkling
lights of the city that he seeks help him to forget
that he is footsore and choked with the dust of the
road. His blood tingles with the triumph of his
achievement and the delight of nearing his goal.
But there is another stage concerning which neither
of my friends had a word to say. What of the
intermediate stage? What of the long and lonely
tramp? What of the hours through which no
applauding voices from behind can encourage and
no familiar fingers from before can beckon? This,
surely, is the worst part of the way! There is no
intellectual stimulant so intoxicating as the forma-
tion of a noble purpose, the conception of a sudden
resolve, the making of a great decision. And, in the
luxurious revelry of that stimulus the prodigal finds
it easy to rise from the degradations of the far coun-
try and to fling himself with a will along the great
Phoenician road. And at the other end! Surely
the most overpowering of all human instincts and
emotions is that which holds captive every nerve at
the dear sight of home! No; neither the first nor the
last steps of that familiar journey were very
hard to take. But between the one and the other !
What questionings and forebodings ! What haltings
and backward glances! What doubts and fears!
Yes, there can be no doubt about it, both my friends
were wrong.

It is the intermediate stage that tests the mettle of
the man. It is the long, fatiguing trudge out of
sight of both starting-point and destination that
puts the heaviest strain on heart and brain. That
is precisely what Isaiah meant in the best known and
most quoted of all his prophecies. He promises
that, on the return from Babylon to Jerusalem,
'they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ;
they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint/ Israel is to be released at last
from her long captivity. Imagine the departure
from Babylon its fond anticipations, its rapturous
ecstasies, its delirious transports ! Those first steps
of the journey were not trying; they were more
like flying. The delighted people walked with
winged feet. And the last steps with Jerusalem
actually in sight, the pilgrims actually climbing the
mountains that surrounded the holy and beautiful
city what rush of noble and tender emotions would
expel and banish all thought of weariness! But
Isaiah is thinking of the long, long tramp between
the drag across the desert, and the march all void
of music. It is with this terrible test in mind that
he utters his heartening promise: 'They shall walk
and not faint.' They would fly, as on wings of
eagles, out of Babylon at the beginning; they would
run, forgetful of fatigue, into Jerusalem at the
end; but they should walk and not faint. That is
life's crowning comfort. The very climax of divine
grace is the grace that nerves us for the least
romantic stage of the journey. Farewells and wel-
comes, departures and arrivals, have adjusting com-
pensations peculiar to themselves ; but it is the glory
of the gospel that it has something to say to the
lonely traveller on the dusty tract. Religion draws
nearer when romance deserts. Grace holds on when
the gilt wears off.

Two cases come to mind. I know a man whose
whole delight was in his boy a little fellow of six
or so. Then, suddenly, like lamps blown out by a
sudden gust, the lad's eyes failed him, and he was
blind. The father was the recipient of scores of
touchingly sympathetic letters. All sorts of people
called. Kindly references were made in press and
pulpit. The man had no idea until that moment that
he had so many friends. All the world seemed to
be paying homage to his sorrow. That was the be
ginning. After many years the boy had been taught
to interpret the world again by means of his remain-
ing senses. There was nothing he could not do. He
earned his own living, and his sightlessness seemed
no real hindrance to him. That was the end. But
the father told me that the strain of it all came
between these two. There came a time when the
postman brought no cheering letters. Friends
uttered no heartening words. The world had trans-
ferred his boy's blindness into the realm of the nor-
mal and the commonplace. Nobody noticed. But
in the home the little fellow staggered about, and
his parents' hearts ached for him. What was to
become of him? It was during those intervening
years lying between the first crushing blow and the
final relief that the real strain came. That was by
far the worst stretch of the road.

I knew a woman. Without a moment's warning
she was plunged into widowhood, and left to battle
for her five little children and herself. There was
an extraordinary outburst of affectionate sympathy
on the part of all who knew her. Then came the
funeral. After that the world went on its way again
as though nothing had happened. That was the
beginning. After the years, the battle had been
well fought and well won. The children had been
clothed, educated, and placed in positions of useful-
ness and honour. That was the end. But my
widowed friend told me that she did not forget
when the world forgot. Every morning her grief
woke up with her. And every night it followed her
to her rest. Every day, as she struggled for her
little ones, the haunting question tortured her:
What would become of them if sickness or death
seized upon her? That was the killing time. That
intermediate stretch was the worst part of the
desolate way.

As it is with individuals, so it is with great causes.
A crusade is launched amidst vituperation, derision,
and execration. And there is enough fight in most
of us to lend a certain enjoyment to the very bitter-
ness of antagonism. And at last the self -same
movement is crowned with triumph. But the real
inwardness of the struggle lies midway. William
Wilber force used to say that he was less dismayed
by the storm that broke upon him when first he
pleaded the cause of the slave than by the 'long lull'
that followed when the country accepted his prin-
ciples, but did nothing to hasten their realization.
In America the same thing happened. The war
against slavery was undertaken with a light heart.
Young men sprang to the front in thousands with
the refrain of 'J^lm Brown's body' on their lips.
But the real struggle was not then, nor towards the
close, when victory and emancipation were in sight.
But who can forget the long agony of disaster that
intervened between those two? It was when the
nation was trudging tearfully along that blood-
marked track that the real suffering took place.
The same experience repeats itself in the history of
every great reform. Some one has said that every
movement has its bow-wow stage, its pooh-pooh
stage, and its hear-hear stage. Of those three
phases the central one is infinitely the most diffi-
cult to negotiate. Between the howl of execration
that greets the suggestion of a reform and the shout
of applause that announces its final triumph there
is a long and tiresome stretch of steep and stony
road that is very hard to tread. They are God's
heroes who set a stout heart to that stiff brae, and
walk and not faint.

In his Autobiography Mark Rutherford tells of
his fierce struggle with the drink fiend. On one
never-to-be-forgotten night he resolutely put the
glass from him and went to bed having drunk noth-
ing but water. 'But,' he continues, 'the struggle
was not felt just then. It came later, when the first
enthusiasm of a new purpose had faded away.'
And, in his Deliverance he applies the same prin-
ciple in a more general way. He is telling of the
stress of his life as a whole. 'Neither the first
nor the last/ he says, 'has been the difficult step with
me, but rather what lies between. The first is
usually helped by the excitement and promise of
new beginnings, and the last by the prospect of
triumph. But the intermediate path is unassisted
by enthusiasm, and it is here we are so likely to
faint.' I cannot close more fittingly than by setting
those two striking sentences over against each other :
'It is here we are so likely to faint/ says Mark
Rutherford, speaking of the long and tiresome inter-
mediate phase. 'They shall walk and not faint/
says the prophet in reference to precisely the same
circumstances and conditions. Wherefore let all
those who are feeling the toilsome drudgery of the
long and unromantic trail pay good heed to such
comfortable words. 

What Happened?

Whatever happened to our churches? Within them we not only have professing Christians who tolerate the world's lifestyle, but find pleasure in doing the same things themselves.

I am sure each godly thinking saint has his or her own opinion. I know I have mine, and it is set in cement. Paul tells each of us to be fully persuaded in our own minds. And I, for one, am.

I believe, from Biblical history, that whether it be the Jews of old or the New Testament church, depravity moves in when God’s people cease to take Him seriously. It is then God moves out.

Texts such as: “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart”; “Fervent in prayer”; “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me”; show He is not a nonchalant God!

I have a saying, “When you mean business with God, God will mean business with you.”Let  us emulate the boy who thought God didn’t hear his prayer, “God, I ain't kiddin’; I mean business.”

Welcome to the Family

“And Ananias...entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul…” Acts 9:17

Can you imagine Paul’s inward emotion upon hearing these first words, “Brother Saul,” as a Believer? This previous blasphemer, hater of Christ, and accessory in the killing of the first Christian martyr, Stephen? As well as one who tore young women from their homes and mothers from their childrens’ arms, committing them to prison?

How tender a term in welcoming Paul into the Family of God. In the spiritual sense, they were now true Blood Brothers. Forever to be closer than any physical brothers. Our souls knit together forever as a Jonathan and David. But what is even more precious than this is Jesus’ statement in the gospels. “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother…”

As a small boy I remember wishing I had an older brother to look up to, and one who would take care of me in tough and fearful times. Well, I now have such a Brother, and He is more than anyone could ever hope for in a brother. He is my all, and in all. I’ve spent some sixty years telling people about my WONDERFUL BROTHER!