What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
All the great religious leaders of history have one thing in common: they are dead. Only one man has risen from a grave never again to taste death. Jesus Christ died, was buried, remained in the grave for 3 days, then was raised to life again.
Jesus is unique. He is the only one proven to be the Son of God because God validated His Kingship and accepted His payment for our sins all with one incredible stroke: He raised Jesus from the dead!
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this evidence about who Jesus is:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
Because Jesus Christ is very much alive, five things are true right now that wouldn’t be true if He were just another dead religious leader like Confucius, Mohammed or Buddha.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive…Prayers are answered, We can talk to Jesus 24/7
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It is the wedding supper of the Lamb. The enemies of God have been overthrown, and the gospel has triumphed. In a victory celebration, all heaven renders praise, a song of thanksgiving uttered by all holy beings united.
Reasons for this outpouring of praise are God’s victory over His enemies (Revelation 19:1–3), His sovereignty (verses 4–6), and His eternal communion with His people (verse 7).
The sound of the outpouring of praise and worship, John describes.. ”And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Halleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”Revelation19:6
So great is the rejoicing by God’s people at the wedding feast of the Bridegroom (Christ) and the bride (the church) that Hallelujah is the only word grand enough to express it.
Handel’s version of the great chorus in heaven, as glorious as that music is, its only a feeble foreshadowing of the magnificence that will be expressed by the inhabitants of heaven.
If you do fear you’ve committed some “unforgivable sin,” or even that your heart has already reached such a state of hardness, God does offer you hope. If you worry about unforgivable sin, then most likely you are not there. Not yet. Hearts with settled hardness against Jesus and his Spirit don’t go around worrying about it.
It’s easy to get worked up over this enigmatic “unforgivable sin” in the Gospels and miss the remarkable gospel expression of Jesus’s open arms that comes immediately before the warning: “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter” (Mark 3:28). All sins. Whatever blasphemies uttered. Through faith in Jesus. This is where the Gospel accounts all lead: to the cross. This Son of Man, as he progressively demonstrates in the Gospels, is God himself and Lord of the universe. And he became one of us, and died for our sins, and rose to offer full and entire forgiveness for all who repent and embrace him as Lord, Savior, and Treasure.
If your worries about “unforgivable sin” relate to a pattern of sin and unrepentance in your life, your very concerns may be God’s Spirit working to keep you from continuing to harden your heart beyond his softening. Don’t despair. And don’t treat it lightly. As the Holy Spirit encourages his hearers on the edge of such danger, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7–8; Hebrews 3:7–8). You are not guaranteed tomorrow. But you do have today. It’s not too late if you still have it in you to repent.
However, we should be careful that the enigma and controversy over “unforgivable sin” doesn’t keep us from missing the main reality underneath this episode in Mark 3 and Matthew 12. Jesus’s main point isn’t that there is such a sin as “blasphemy against the Spirit,” but that there is such a person as the Holy Spirit! How remarkable that God has not left us to ourselves in the ups and downs of this life. As he did with his own Son in his full humanity, he makes available to us supernatural power by his Spirit.
How did Jesus, as man, perform his miracles? By the power of the Spirit. “It is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons” (Matthew 12:28). When Jesus hears the scribes say, “By the prince of demons he casts out the demons,” he hears an outrageous attack, not on himself, but on the Spirit. The last word in the story explains it all: “for they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:30).
How amazing that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus in his earthly life, and on the path to his sacrificial death, has been given to us today. We “have the Spirit” (Romans 8:9, 15, 23; 1 Corinthians 6:19). What a gift we’ve received (Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 5:5; 1 John 3:24). How much do we underappreciate what power is available to us (and through us) by the Spirit?
You would have been another secret reader if I had no restrictions on my profile.
I honestly did not know that I had them and will remove them soon..........
Jon Bloom (@Bloom_Jon) serves as teacher and cofounder of Desiring God. He is the author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heart. He and his wife have five children and make their home in the Twin Cities..........
Where we may work the fields of new mown hay
We thank Thee for the sunshine and the air that we breathe
Oh Lord, we thank Thee
Thank Thee for the rivers that run all day
Thank Thee for the little birds that sing along the way
Thank Thee for the trees and the deep blue sea
Oh Lord, we thank Thee
Oh yes, we thank Thee, Lord, for every flower that blooms
Birds that sing, fish that swim and the light of the moon
We thank Thee every day as we kneel and pray
That we were born with eyes to see these things
Thank Thee for the fields where the clover is grown
Thank Thee for the pastures where cattle may roam
Thank Thee for Thy love so pure and free
Oh Lord, we thank Thee
Oh yes, we thank Thee, Lord, for every flower that blooms
Birds that sing, fish that swim and the light of the moon
We thank Thee every day as we kneel and pray
That we were born with eyes to see these things
Oh Lord, we thank Thee............
Jim Reeves .......................
A Christian guy named Bill saw an ad online for a Christian horse, so he went to check it out. The horse’s owner said, “It’s easy to ride him.
Just say ‘Praise the Lord!’ to make him go and ‘Amen!’ to make him stop.”
Bill got on the horse and said, “Praise the Lord!” Sure enough, the horse started to walk.
“Praise the Lord!” he said again, and the horse began to trot. “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” he yelled, and the horse broke into a gallop.
Bill was enjoying his ride so much that he almost didn’t notice the cliff he and the horse were about to go over.
Bill shouted “AMEN!” at the top of his lungs, and the horse stopped right at the edge of the cliff. Relieved, Bill said, “Phew! Praise the Lord!” —
The team's pilot, Nate Saint, had served in the military during World War II, receiving flight training as a member of the Army Air Corps. After being discharged in 1946, he too studied at Wheaton College, but quit after a year and joined the Mission Aviation Fellowship in 1948. He and his wife Marj traveled to Ecuador by the end of the year, and they settled at MAF headquarters in Shell. Shortly after his arrival, Saint began transporting supplies and equipment to missionaries spread throughout the jungle. This work ultimately led to his meeting the other four missionaries, whom he joined in Operation Auca.
Also on the team was Roger Youderian, a 33-year-old missionary who had been working in Ecuador since 1953. Under the mission board Gospel Missionary Union, he and his wife Barbara and daughter Beth settled in Macuma, a mission station in the southern jungle of Ecuador. There, he and his wife ministered to the Shuar people, learning their language and transcribing it. After working with them for about a year, Youderian and his family began ministering to a tribe related to the Shuar, the Achuar people. He worked with Nate Saint to provide important medical supplies; but after a period of attempting to build relationships with them, he failed to see any positive effect and, growing depressed, considered returning to the United States. However, during this time Saint approached him about joining their team to meet the Huaorani, and he assented.
The first stage of Operation Auca began in September 1955. Saint, McCully, Elliot, and fellow missionary Johnny Keenan decided to initiate contact with the Huaorani and began periodically searching for them by air. By the end of the month, they had identified several clearings in the jungle. Meanwhile, Elliot learned several phrases in the language of the Huaorani from Dayuma, a young Huaorani woman who had left her society and become friends with Rachel Saint, a missionary and the sister of Nate Saint. The missionaries hoped that by regularly giving gifts to the Huaorani and attempting to communicate with them in their language, they would be able to win them over as friends.
Because of the difficulty and risk of meeting the Huaorani on the ground, the missionaries chose to drop gifts to the Huaorani by fixed-wing aircraft. Their drop technique, developed by Nate Saint, involved flying around the drop location in tight circles while lowering the gift from the plane on a rope. This kept the bundle in roughly the same position as it approached the ground. On October 6, 1955, Saint made the first drop, releasing a small kettle containing buttons and rock salt. The gift-giving continued during the following weeks, with the missionaries dropping machetes, ribbons, clothing, pots, and various trinkets.
After several visits to the Auca village, which the missionaries called "Terminal City", they observed that the Huaorani seemed excited to receive their gifts. Encouraged, they began using a loudspeaker to shout simple Huaorani phrases as they circled. After several more drops, in November the Huaorani began tying gifts for the missionaries to the line after removing the gifts the missionaries gave them. The men took this as a gesture of friendliness and developed plans for meeting the Huaorani on the ground. Saint soon identified a 200-yard (200 m) sandbar along the Curaray River about 4.5 miles (7 km) from Terminal City that could serve as a runway and camp site, and dubbed it "Palm Beach".
On January 8 the missionaries waited, expecting a larger group of Huaorani to arrive sometime that afternoon if only to get plane rides. Saint made several trips over Huaorani settlements, and on the following morning, he noted a group of Huaorani men traveling toward Palm Beach. He excitedly relayed this information to his wife over the radio at 12:30 p.m., promising to make contact again at 5:30 p.m.
The Huaorani arrived at Palm Beach around 3:00 p.m., and in order to divide the foreigners before attacking them, they sent three women to the other side of the river. One, Dawa, remained hidden in the jungle, but the other two showed themselves. Two of the missionaries waded into the water to greet them but were attacked from behind by Nampa. Apparently attempting to scare him, Elliot, the first missionary to be speared, drew his pistol and began firing. One of these shots mildly injured Dawa, still hidden, and another grazed the missionary's attacker after he was grabbed from behind by one of the women. Accounts differ on the effect of that bullet. Missionaries interpreted the testimonies of Dawa and Dayuma to mean that Nampa was killed months later while hunting, but others, including missionary anthropologist James Yost, came to believe that his death was a result of a bullet wound. Rachel Saint did not accept this, holding that eyewitnesses supported her position, but researcher Laura Rival, a critic of the expedition, suggests that it is now commonly believed among Huaorani that Nampa died of the wound. The other missionary in the river, Fleming, before being speared, desperately reiterated friendly overtures and asked the Huaorani why they were killing them. Meanwhile, the other Huaorani warriors, led by Gikita, attacked the three missionaries still on the beach, spearing Saint first, then McCully as he rushed to stop them. Youderian ran to the airplane to get to the radio, but he was speared as he picked up the microphone to report the attack. The Huaorani then threw the men's bodies and their belongings in the river and ripped the fabric from their aircraft. They then returned to their village and, anticipating retribution, burned it to the ground and fled into the jungle.
Jaime Saint's (left) grandfather was murdered by Mincaye (right) during a missionary operation. Mincaye would later call the missionary's orphaned children his own. The grandchildren all referred to him as the grandfather. (Jessica Shea Saint/Facebook)
A former tribal warrior who became a living testimony of the transformative work of Jesus after he killed two missionaries in 1956 has died.
Mincaye Enquedi was a member of the Huoni people of Ecuador. Five missionaries, Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian, were killed by members of the tribe when the missionaries attempted to make contact. Mincaye is believed to have speared Saint and McCully.
After the deaths of the missionaries, others continued to reach out to the tribe. Peaceful contact was made in 1958, and missionaries began to live with the people, learning their language and teaching them about the Bible. Mincaye quickly came to faith in Christ.
Missionaries that lived with the tribe included Nate Saint's brother, and Nate's son, Steve. Mincaye saw himself responsible for Nate's son, and adopted Steve Saint as his tribal son. Steve would grow to call Mincaye dad, and Steve's children referred to Mincaye as Grandfather.
Mincaye would become known for his preaching to other tribes and was a much-respected elder in the Ecuadorian Church.
"This sweet, silly, always smiling, always teasing, constantly giggling, grandfather to many walked to the end of his trail today into the arms of His Savior," says Jessica Shea Saint in an online post announcing Mincaye's passing. Jessica is the wife of Jaime, who is Nate's grandson.
"What an impact he had on this world. God wrote an amazing story of love and forgiveness through his life. He was a willing vessel. I am forever thankful God intertwined our stories. Mincaye, you are loved by so many and I can’t imagine how big your smile must be now," Jessica says.
Mincaye was believed to be around 90-years-old.
It may take ten years to learn the people's language well enough so that the N. T. can be given to them.
Hardships suffered? For sure! Just think of the food and all the new customs they have to adapt to.
A missionary came from Africa to California in the hope of finding some workers to take back with him.
He told that for so many years he or his wife could leave but they never could go together.
The pastor in that church had a young daughter who had just recently been married.
She and her husband signed up to go with the missionary to Africa ...........
I watched the movie Hawaii with July Andrews.
It was about becoming missionaries in Hawii, a great film, would love to see it again...
His desires over ours, his will over ours? It's not a frivolous idea, but it is one that we are completely unable to live out on our own. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. 1 John 3:20 says, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” Our inability to succeed in giving over our heart’s desires to God is not a surprise to him. He knows. He cares. But in his love, he also knows better than us. And while I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject, I do know that a heart truly submitted to God desires his heart first and trusts that his love will fulfill all other unmet desires.
I don't know how much longer I will be single, but after trying to take things into my own hands, I now truly believe that whatever he’s got in store is worth fighting for.
I left California in '78 moving back to Canada.
In '84 I met a man, and we were married for 21 years and 20 days when he died.
In 2011 I met the man I am still married to today............................jenny.....................
Quite an accomplishment, isn't it? Maybe there indeed is something special/unique about the guy.
He answers prayer and saved my life once in a roundabout way.
One time saved me by giving me a clear warning saving my leg from being damaged for good had I not listened.
Those stories are here on this blog but don't have a clue where they now are if you want me to I be glad to repeat them for you Joseph.
Have questions? If I don't have the answer, I promise to do my best to find it for you.
Just recently someone wanted to know the last names of Jozef and Maria and even though I personally did not really care, found the answers easily on Google.
Other times it may be personal, not a problem either..................jenny...............
When a fortune-teller tells you for instance that you are going to make a trip overseas, you can't pack your suitcase, you have to wait, to see for it to come to pass. Well, then you know!
You then know it for yourself and you don't need a fortune-teller to tell you. So since you can't count on what you have been told anyway, the whole thing is a waste, right?
I am now able to see this, for now, my eyes have been opened.
I personally never paid for having the tarot cards read, but I know of people who did and paid plenty. These people don't have a gift from God. If they did, they would have to be right, one hundred percent, and they never are.
Making them, the bible says, false prophets. Jeremiah; 14-14
A friend of mine used to buy every month three-horoscope books.
She would always ask me to "translate,” to put it into words she could understand. I would ask Melba, which of these three books she wanted to believe in, for all three books told something completely different.
You will find that you will keep reading horoscopes until you find one that says what you like to hear, it "fits you perfectly," the author hit it right on the nose, and from that point on you are hooked.
A man told me; "Oh I don't believe that nonsense you read in your horoscope, I just read it for fun." I said; "If that is true, then why do you read it first, before anything else?"
He looked at me surprised and said; "You don't know me, so how can you know this?" How indeed!
There are numerous scriptures warning us about the occult. I will give you several so you can read them for yourselves.
Deuteronomy; 18 (10-13)
Leviticus; 19 (26) 19 (31), 20 (6), 20 (27)
Isaiah: 47 (12-14), 47 (9), (8-19), 44 (24-25)
You see that the Lord means it, and He has good reasons to tell you, not to get into these practices. It is easy to get under demonic control this way.
Any attempt to try and look into the future is forbidden and dangerous. It is a hindrance to your spiritual growth..........................
These words are clearly addressed to those who have passed beyond the stage in which they might normally expect to be married. Perhaps they have gone beyond their early twenties into their thirties and have already begun their life's work. This is evident in the context here. In the early adult years, it is never wrong for individuals to seek marriage if they are thus inclined. This is the normal thing, as we have seen in previous messages. But if the normal processes of meeting a partner have passed you by, then the counsel of both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul is: "Accept this, do not fight it, put out of your mind this constant desire to be married, but give yourself to that which God has marked out for you for the present." This is very impressive advice coming from such an impressive source. The word of the Holy Spirit to those who are single is to stop any frenzied activity to correct what seems to be an abnormal situation, and simply accept it. This is God's will for you.
Paul lists certain reasons for this advice in Verse 35:
I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:35 RSV)
I am not interested, he says, is simply putting you under a vow of celibacy; I am not trying to make monks or nuns out of you; I am not interested in founding monasteries, but I am saying this for your own benefit. It will be to your advantage if you follow this counsel -- that you do not seek marriage, that you do not make this the end and all of life, and there are two very good reasons why this is true:
First of all, to promote good order. What does he mean? He seeks to prevent the distress caused by this pathetic panting after marriage on the part of those who are single. It is unquestionably true that much social wreckage has been caused by the predatory female or the housekeeper-hunting male. There are some individuals, unfortunately, who seem to devote their whole lives to seeking marriage. As a result, they cause endless confusion, not only in their lives but in the lives of others. It is pathetic to see how desperately eager they are for marriage.
I heard of a spinster maiden who answered the phone one day and a male voice said, "Will you marry me?" and she said, "Yes! Who is this?"
The danger in this is not that they will not find a partner, but that they will. They are so set upon getting married at all costs that they ignore the danger signs that would indicate that the marriage would be most unwise. This is why so many who marry later in life make such poor marriages. They have not heeded the advice of the apostle, and have sought so desperately for marriage that they have lost perspective and are no longer able to judge the character of those they meet.
The second reason Paul gives for this counsel is, that he says, "in order that I might secure your undivided devotion to the Lord." Now let me make one thing immediately clear. When he speaks of devotion to the Lord, he does not mean a call to the ministry. These words are not designed for ministers and missionaries only, but they are for everyone who is single, no matter what his work may be. Paul is simply recognizing what the New Testament recognizes everywhere, that all life callings are to be fulfilled as unto the Lord. We do our tasks before God, whatever work may be involved.
What fate is drawing near?
Touch my heart
And guide my lips in prayer.
Through the grace of God alone
I'll cast aside these fears I've known
And lift myself from
The depths of deep dispair.
Lead me through the darkness
And through each gloomy day.
Take my hand, oh, precious Lord
And help me on my way.
Give me strength that I might find
Abiding faith and peace of mind
And I won't ask
Where do I go from here?
Please, Lead me through the darkness
And through each gloomy day.
Take my hand, oh, precious Lord
And help me on my way.
Give me strength that I might find
Abiding faith and peace of mind
And I won't ask
Where do I go from here?
Jim Reeves
And help me on my way.
Give me strength that I might find
Abiding faith and peace of mind
And I won't ask
Where do I go from here?
Who of us that is married will deny this? But, he says, there is a special privilege single persons have in which they can find an even higher fulfillment in their work before the Lord. They can be wholly for him in whatever they do, as no married person can. They can give to their work before God an intensity of concentration that no married person can give.
The other night my family and I went up to San Francisco to attend a concert by Van Cliburn, the young Christian pianist. It was thrilling to listen to his music. Here is a young man, thirty-one years of age, who, as far as I know, is not married. He has devoted his whole life to his work unto God as a Christian. He has spent hours and hours of practice perfecting his art to an agreement impossible had he been married. On the program, it said he does his practicing from midnight to three or four o'clock in the morning. What wife would put up with that? But here is a living example of what Paul is setting before us -- the fact that in God's program of human achievement there are forms of work and aspects of labor in every field of human endeavor which he especially wants single people to do. They can fulfill them as no married person can.
What the world owes to the dedication of single men and women before God is impossible for us to assess. There is Paul himself. His own marvelous ministry would never have been possible had he been married. I think of Henrietta Mears, that remarkable woman in Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Through the years she picked out young men whom she felt the Spirit of God was calling to the ministry and worked with them, taught them, and encouraged them, and has sent out scores of young men trained for an effective, powerful ministry. What a blessing she has been to thousands in this way. There is David Brainerd, that hot-hearted young missionary in the early days of our country, praying in the woods of New England, dedicating himself to reaching the Indians of America and becoming the instrument of God by which a tremendous revival broke out among the Indian tribes. Robert Murray McCheyne in Scotland; Florence Nightingale's great work of healing the sick; Tom Dooley in our own day -- these men and women have given themselves with an intensity of concentration impossible to those who are married.
These all confirm the fact that single life need not be lonely, boring, unrewarding, if it is committed fully and unreservedly to Jesus Christ. It can be a daily adventure of dedication and achievement that surpasses anything possible to those who are married. Thank God for those among us whom God has called to this ministry.
There is one further word that the apostle gives. It is apparent through all his discourse to the unmarried, both implicitly and explicitly, that, in the will and purpose of God, this pattern of single life can be changed. Celibacy is never necessarily permanent. No lifelong vows for a celibate life are ever recognized in the Scriptures. Perhaps certain men or women intending to remain single and desiring to do so start out life on this basis, but they may find, the apostle says, that their passions are too strong.
If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry -- it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.
Jim Reeves has such a warm loving voice too.
We started to turn the TV off and listen more to our tapes these days............
Even though my mother had a Christian upbringing as a child, and my dad became a Catholic when he was still single, religion was not encouraged nor talked about in our home.
Mom told me that she had been forced to go to Sunday school and had to memorize scriptures.
All her brothers and sisters, eleven of them, would be severely punished by their father, if they had not memorized them correctly.
My dad became a Catholic before he was married, he was working in Limburg, in the South of Holland, where most people, including his family, were all Catholics.
I believe that dad felt he had to join and not because he wanted to. I personally never saw him going to church, not to any church for that matter.
So the Lord did not live in our home. My dad would tell us to find our own way.
Thanks, dad!
When a fortune-teller tells you for instance that you are going to make a trip overseas, you can't pack your suitcase, you have to wait, to see for it to come to pass. Well, then you know!
You then know it for yourself and you don't need a fortune-teller to tell you. So since you can't count on what you have been told anyway, the whole thing is a waste, right?
I am now able to see this, for now, my eyes have been opened.
I personally never paid for having the tarot cards read, but I know of people who did and paid plenty. These people don't have a gift from God. If they did, they would have to be right, one hundred percent, and they never are.
You will find that you will keep reading horoscopes until you find one that says what you like to hear, it "fits you perfectly," the author hit it right on the nose, and from that point on you are hooked.
I happen to stumble across this and I entirely agree with you.
Not just Fortune tellers, Clairvoyants, etc...
They tell you what You want to hear and can do cold readings.
Also, they DO tell you a bit of truth... amongst many lies...and for a lot of money!
And, as you say, people can get hooked on them as they can't live their life without knowing what's in store for them.
Those messages do not come from a pure source...whatever name you want to call it?
I was popular some years ago.
I came back to me as this is how I received some answers as I said in a most unusual way trying to answer Joseph.
There are a lot of scriptures that warn us to stay away from all attempts to find out about the future.
Can't remember where right now it is in the Bible but a woman had foretold the future and was 100 % right but was sorely punished........(death?)
Some things we are just not able to explain, but it is a surprise when it happens like the story you told
Just now.
Thank you for spelling the name Ouija right as spell checker did not know it........
My friend did not charge money, people took her out for lunch bought her something for the house etc.
I felt she was superstitious about making money.
She had rich and famous people asking her to lay the cards.
I watched her so often that is why when she told my friend he must have been confused as she could not read the cards that day I later realize that this strange behavior was because I had prayed.
That was an amazing experience you had with your fortune teller that resulted in saving your life.
All I will say to you is that there are not many of those around.
Other things were also pointed out to me which actually helped me emotionally too.Truly a gifted person.
Having lived in the US for about 14 years, I decided to go back to Canada.
I thought about those leather purses but there was no time to go back to Mexico.
My car was loaden up and I was ready to leave...............
So I thought to have a look at a Thrift store.
The moment that I entered the store I heard a voice saying; "Look at the shoes"
I argued; I" hate looking at old shoes I came to look for Mexican purses"
"Look at the shoes"
It would not let me go until I finally said; "Okay, okay, I look at those old shoes"
I wanted to shut that voice up so went to the shoes and saw two pairs of made in Itali leather shoes.
The very best leather you can buy In my size 6, a difficult size to buy for.
A pair black and another pair in brown,
I had never before had a similar experience. ....................
Prayer for our Country
Heavenly Father,
You are the real foundation of nations,
raising them up to serve and care
for the people dwelling in their boundaries.
I thank You for making me a citizen of this land
of freedom and unlimited opportunity ---
these United States.
Send forth your Spirit to this country
and make it a source of wisdom and strength,
order and integrity throughout the world.
A Prayer for Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace!
Where there is hatred...let me sow love.
Where there is injury....pardon.
Where there is doubt....faith.
Where there is darkness...light.
Where there is sadness....joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled...as to console.
To be understood...as to understand.
To be loved...as to love.
for It is in giving...that we receive.
It is in pardoning...that we are pardoned.
It is in dying...that we are born to eternal life.
Your position is not, “Well, I am a Christian because I have faith.” No, it is the gift of God. The eyes that saw the glory of Christ were opened by God. The ears that heard His voice were opened by the Holy Spirit. Behind your decision to trust Jesus, lies a massive and amazing work of God, in which He gave you life, and raised you up.
This truth that faith is the gift of God gives confidence and assurance to a Christian. If faith was simply my decision to trust and follow Jesus, then how do I know I can keep it up? What if I turn back? When the going got tough, I might easily make another decision.
True faith is the gift of God. It is a living seed that grows and bears fruit until the day when it has fulfilled its function and is no longer needed because faith is turned to sight in the presence of Jesus forever. Do you see how that gives stability, encouragement, and assurance?
What Happened When You Became a Christian…
God prepared work for you
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
“We are God’s workmanship.” You are God’s workmanship if you’re a Christian today. Every Christian is crafted by the hand of God, and there are no mass productions.
The word translated as “workmanship” is the word “poeima” from which we get our word “poem.” You are God’s work of art. There is something beautiful in every redeemed life. If you are in Christ, something of His beauty, something of His character will be seen in you. It will be heard in what you say, seen in how you respond—it will be visible in what you do.
I’m going to quote the Scottish national poet, Robert Burns. If I read this in Scotland, everyone would immediately know who it was…
…Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place…
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.
It’s fairly meaningless actually, but it's Robert Burns addressing a haggis, which is a kind of food. You might think that is very strange, but I’ll tell you, anyone hearing those words with that inflection, who knows anything at all about this culture, would immediately say, “That’s Burns!” Because no one else writes like that…
Being made alive in Jesus Christ and given the power to live in a new way, the world is able to look at the Christian believer and say, “That’s Jesus,” not even, “That’s like Jesus,” because there is an extension of the life of Jesus that is being lived out in that person—it’s quite unmistakable.
That’s why our Lord said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give praise to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). This may show itself in a thousand different ways in a thousand different places, but this is the work that God has you here for.
What happened when you became a Christian? God gave life to you. God imparted power to you. God secured heaven for you. God showered grace on you. God saved you. God gave faith to you. God prepared work for you. These are the amazing miracles of God’s grace in the life of every believer.
Are you savoring the joys of God’s love?
“Because of His great love for us…” Ephesians 2:4
Look at what God’s love has done! My prayer is that God would bring many to a place, not only of seeing the extent of our own sin, our deadness towards God, our captivity to the sinful nature, and the fearful prospect of the righteous judgment of God; but also that we would see the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ and say with bated breath, “Lord Jesus, I knew that you loved me, but I never knew that you loved me like this!”
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav'ling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.
Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we'll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav'ling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.
Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we'll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!........................
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Traditional Music / Traditional Hymn:
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you,
and may God give to you his peace
in your going out
and in your coming in,
in your lying down
and in your rising up,
in your labor and in your leisure,
in your laughter and in your tears,
until you come to stand before Jesus
in that day in which there is no
sunset and no dawning" only life
everlasting in the presence of God and
arms of our savior. Amen.
Biography;
Van der Bijl was born in Sint Pancras, the Netherlands, on 11 May 1928, the fourth of six children of a poor blacksmith and an invalid mother. In the 1940s he enlisted in the colonial army of the Dutch East Indies during the Indonesian National Revolution. After being involved in a massacre of Indonesian villagers while he was serving as a soldier, he endured a period of severe emotional stress and later was wounded in the ankle during the fighting. During his rehabilitation, he began reading a Bible given to him by his mother, eventually converting to Christianity. In 1953, Van der Bijl studied at the WEC Missionary Training College in Glasgow, Scotland
Ministry
In July 1955, van der Bijl visited Communist Poland to attend the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students in Warsaw, where a Christian bookstore owner told him about a lack of Bibles in the Soviet Union.
He signed up on a government-controlled Communist tour to Czechoslovakia, the only legal way to be in the country, during which he left the tour to meet with local Christian groups. Later that year, van der Bijl founded Open Doors, a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians. "Open Doors" was involved in smuggling Bibles and Christian literature, offering training for Christian leaders, and providing financial and other support for persecuted Christians.
In 1957, van der Bijl traveled to the Soviet Union's capital, Moscow, in a Volkswagen Beetle, which later became the symbol of Open Doors. An older couple, the Whetstras, had given him their new car because they had prayed about it and believed that van der Bijl would need the car. A man who lived in Amersfoort, Karl de Graaf, claimed that God told him to teach van der Bijl to drive. Later, when van der Bijl was in a refugee camp in West Germany, Philip Whetstra called van der Bijl to come to the Whetstras' new house in Amsterdam.
Although van der Bijl was violating the laws of all of the countries that he visited by bringing religious literature, he often placed the material in view when he was stopped at police checkpoints, as a gesture of his trust in what he believed to be God's protection.
At that time, several Christian organizations, such as the American Bible Society and the Southern Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission Board, did not support the practice of Bible smuggling, calling it dangerous and ineffective, and noting that Bibles were "freely on sale" in many Iron Curtain countries. KGB informers ultimately infiltrated Open Doors, and the KGB tracked van der Bijl's activities.
( It was true some stores had Bibles for sale you only could not buy them)
God's Smuggler
In 1967, van der Bijl published the first edition of God's Smuggler, written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. An autobiography, God's Smuggler tells the story of his early childhood, conversion to Christianity, and adventures as a Bible-smuggler behind the Iron Curtain. Due to the press exposure following the book, van der Bijl stopped personally smuggling Bibles and Christian literature to other countries and shifted to evangelism and fundraising campaigns in North America and Europe to support Open Doors. By 2022, it had sold over 10 million copies and was published in thirty-five languages. A comic book adaptation of God's Smuggler was published in 1972 by Spire Christian Comics.
Your daily missionary adventures—slipping past border guards with Bibles hidden in his blue Volkswagen Beetle—were published in 1967. God’s Smuggler was written with evangelical journalists John and Elizabeth Sherrill and published under his code name “Brother Andrew.” It sold more than 10 million copies
The book inspired numerous other missionary smugglers, provided funding to van der Bilj’s ministry Open Doors, and drew evangelical attention to the plight of believers in countries where Christian belief and practice were illegal. Van der Bijl protested that people missed the point, however, when they held him up as heroic and extraordinary.
“I am not an evangelical stuntman,” he said. “I am just an ordinary guy. What I did, anyone can do.”
No one knows how many Bibles van der Bijl took into Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Bulgaria, and other Soviet-bloc countries in the decade before the success of God’s Smuggler forced him into the role of figurehead and fundraiser for Open Doors. Estimates have ranged into the millions. A Dutch joke popular in the late 1960s said, “What will the Russians find if they arrive first at the moon? Brother Andrew with a load of Bibles.”
Van der Bijl, for his part, did not keep track and did not think the exact number was important.
“I don't care about statistics,” he said in a 2005 interview. “We don’t count. … But God is the perfect bookkeeper. He knows.”
God’s Smuggler Confesses
Brother Andrew wonders if American Christians are willing to die for anything, even their faith.
The true story of God’s smuggler, the organization he founded, the Bible he loves—and how you can carry on his mission every day
We often describe Brother Andrew as the founder of Open Doors. But referring to him as “the founder” could lead people to picture him as a suit-wearing executive who delivers presentations in a boardroom.
That image, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. In actuality, Brother Andrew is our chief adventurer and lead risk taker. He’s best known, in fact, for courageously putting his life on the line to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War.
An introductory story
One of the most loved Brother Andrew stories recounts a risky incident from early in his ministry. On this occasion, Brother Andrew approached the Romanian border in his car—which was packed with illegal Bibles.
He could only hope the border guards were moving swiftly and not paying much attention, which might allow him to pass through undetected.
But just as he was hoping this, Brother Andrew saw the guards stop the car at the front of the line. He watched, in anticipation, as the vehicle’s owners were forced to take out all of the car’s contents and spread them on the ground for inspection.
Each car that followed received the same treatment, with the fourth car’s inspection lasting the longest. The guard took a full hour to sift through it, including removing hubcaps, taking the engine apart, and even removing the seats.
“Dear Lord,” Brother Andrew remembers praying, “What am I going to do?”
The story of Open Doors
As he prayed, a bold idea came to Brother Andrew. “I know that no amount of cleverness on my part can get me through this border search. Dare I ask for a miracle? Let me take some of the Bibles out and leave them in the open where they will be seen.”
Putting the Bibles out in the open would truly be depending on God, rather than his own intelligence, he thought. So when the guards ushered Andrew forward, he did just this. “I handed him my papers and started to get out. But his knee was against the door, holding it closed.”
And then, the almost unbelievable happened.
The guard looked at Brother Andrew’s passport and abruptly waved him on. “Surely thirty seconds had not passed,” he remembers.
Brother Andrew started the engine and began pulling away, all the while wondering if he was supposed to pull over so the car could be taken apart and examined. “I coasted forward, my foot poised above the brake. Nothing happened. I looked out the rear mirror. The guard was waving the next car to a stop, indicating to the driver that he had to get out.”
God had cleared the way for Brother Andrew to smuggle the Bible to Christians who had no access to God’s Word.
Brother Andrew with Bibles from around the world.
Worldwide impact
Brother Andrew’s work went on to span many decades and geographic locations.
“Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to your children. When you were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.”
Stories from Brother Andrew’s dangerous global exploits earned him the nickname God’s Smuggler—a handle that would also become the title of a best-selling book about his ministry. God’s Smuggler, one of many great Brother Andrew books, would go on to sell over 10 million copies and be translated into thirty-five languages.
A relatable hero
But beyond daring border crossings and renowned books, what makes Brother Andrew inspiring to many, however, is not just the extraordinary parts of his story. Many, rather, are moved by just the opposite.
We are drawn to Brother Andrew because we relate to him. His relatable nature is, in fact, why we know him as “Brother Andrew” in the first place. In his lifetime of travel around the world, he became “everyone’s brother” because he lived as a brother to all who follow Christ.
As a result, we see bits of Brother Andrew’s life—bravery and vision, risk and worry—in our stories as well. And in reading about him, we are delighted to see how God used an ordinary man like Brother Andrew. Because his story suggests God might also use ordinary people like us in extraordinary ways.
If Brother Andrew talked with each of us, he would likely encourage us along these exact lines. He would tell us as he has told many others, “The Bible is full of ordinary people who went to impossible places and did wondrous things simply because they decided to follow Jesus.”
“The real calling,” he has said, “is not a certain place or career but to everyday obedience. And that call is extended to every Christian, not just a select few.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, many ordinary people have been inspired by Brother Andrew to find ways they can support persecuted Christians. Thanks, in part, to their contributions, Open Doors has expanded many times over.
Today, Open Doors has bases and staff all over the world who work to support persecuted believers in more than 60 countries. These people, along with our supporters, still smuggle Bibles into regions that are hostile to the faith. But beyond that, they carry Brother Andrew’s legacy—his faith—forward into the years and decades to come.
Open Doors is the movement that Brother Andrew inspired. And those of us who are a part of it, like Andrew, welcome anyone who follows Christ to come alongside us and join our work. We hope today you will choose to join us in being the Brother Andrews of this generation.
Hope with a gentle persuasion whispers a comforting word
Wait till the darkness is over wait till the tempest is done
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the darkness is gone
Whispering hope oh how welcome Thy voice making my heart any sorrow rejoice
If in the dusk of the twilight dimmed be the region afar
Will not the deepening darkness writin' the glittering star
Then when the night is upon us why should the heart sink away
When the dark midnight is over watch for the breaking of day
Whispering hope oh how welcome Thy voice making my heart any sorrow rejoiceSoft as the voice of an angel breathing a lesson unheard
Hope with a gentle persuasion whispers a comforting word
Wait till the darkness is over wait till the tempest is done
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the darkness is gone
Whispering hope oh how welcome Thy voice making my heart any sorrow rejoice
If in the dusk of the twilight dimmed be the region afar
There are many ways to share the gospel with her. Your own life is one of the best ways. You are “an example of the believers” in how you act, dress, speak, and treat others (see 1 Timothy 4:12). Keep in mind the following ideas:
How you share the gospel with her depends on why she doesn’t believe in God. Some people have had a non-religious upbringing. Others are open to believing, and they will develop faith as they learn how to pray and study the scriptures. And others may have believed in God at one time but then had trials in their lives that made it difficult for them to believe. Try to understand where your friend is coming from. Pray to know how to help her.
You can get a sense of her beliefs by talking about what inspires her and what really matters to her. Build on common ground. For instance, if she believes service is a good idea, you could invite her to a ward service project.
Even though your friend does not believe right now, she is still a good person. As long as she is a good influence on you, continue to be her friend. As you follow the Spirit, continue to invite her to church and to learn more about why God is important in your life because one day she will be open to believing.
Keep praying for your friend....................