GIVING AND LOVING

By Shirley Wiggins

Walking wearily through this world of woe, painfully as onward and upward I go;

Today I am reminded of the wonder of You, Lord, as You watch with love-filled Eyes, my ascent:  home to You in my heavenly haven – my safe harbor where all is rest and peace and joy without end.

No deadlines, no more long and winding pathways of pain and disappointment; no more tears and no more sorrow.

I feel so unworthy of the trust You’ve placed in me – my adoption into Your Royal family!  My appearance is that of a waif:  ragged, torn, stained clothing, with bare and dusty feet, my eyes tear-filled at my shabby appearance.

I can hardly imagine being presented faultless before You,  before Your majestic throne surrounded by sparkling pure jewels and splendor.  And, before a royally robed crowd of onlookers who sing and worship You,  yet they also may see my pitiful progress as onward and upward I climb….

Slowly, haltingly and weakly I walk, feeling so tired and weary and worn-out.

Yesterday  I happened upon a sister traveler who plainly said she was just trying to stay out of the way of others.   First my heart, and then my lips unbidden, acknowledged that I, too, have often felt the same.  The more I tried to stay out of the way, the more I seemed to always be in someone’s way.

Yet, I hastened to say that You, Jesus, never see us as in the way;  You’re always glad to see us!

Oh, that this truth we might always remember:  No matter how the world ‘sees’ us, You look at us through eyes of love; and, through the lens of Jesus’ atoning blood, we look just like You!

You encourage us daily not to look down, but to look up – to gaze at You and see how far we’ve come because of Your sacrifice.  You gave Your very life for us, that we might gain entry into Your kingdom of glory and good.

You place Your people all along the way as guideposts and mile-markers.  They offer encouragement and opportunities for gaining jewels along the way.  The jewels which will adorn the crowns of righteousness reserved in heaven for us, part of Your legacy:  our inheritance.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!”  Romans 11:33 (NIV).

How great You are to send what I need and all that I have need of just as I need it – even before I am able to recognize and receive it, You abundantly give it!

For where sin did abound, grace did much more abound!  You give and You guide me until  I see it and receive it with grateful heart.  Like one dying from hunger and thirst, I fall at Your feet and feast upon the riches of Your Word.   I drink deeply from the well of Your Holy Spirit until I am nourished and refreshed and able to walk another mile.

All along the way, Your outposts provide for me until I am able to say with the Apostle Paul:

I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved {Your} appearing.”              2 Timothy 4: 7-8.

I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”  2 Timothy 1:12b.

“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”  1 Thessalonians 5:24.

“God is faithful” 1 Cor. 10:13.

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”  Romans 5:20.

“And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”   1 Timothy 1:14.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15.

Paul, the apostle, said he was the chief among sinners, but it was for this reason he obtained mercy, that in him first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who were going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  See 1 Timothy 1:16.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17.

“Wage the good warfare” 1 Timothy 1:18.

For there is One God and One Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all,”  1 Timothy 2:5-6.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:10-14.

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael.

God loved and God gave…. See John 3:16 - 18.

Jesus gave His life and Jesus gave to people the right to become children of God – See John 1:12.

God, in Jesus, commands us to love, and asks us to give – to yield our lives to Him that we might gain eternal life.  We give what we cannot keep, in order to keep what we cannot lose.

The life given in full and voluntary and willing surrender to God in and through Jesus Christ is preserved in God in and through Jesus Christ forever.  See John 15:7-17.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20.

Action Step: You will need three envelopes of varying sizes.  In the smallest one, write on an index card cut to fit inside the smallest envelope:  “Jesus.”  On the outside of that smallest envelope, write your full name, then insert the index card into it.   Take the next size larger envelope and on the outside of it, write:  JESUS.  Insert the small envelope with your name on it, and the index card inside it with Jesus’ name on it, into the medium envelope.  Take the largest envelope and write on it:  GOD, and place the medium envelope inside it.

We are safely hidden inside LOVE:  “…you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”  John 14:19-20. 

Keep this visual reminder where you can see it every day.  We are truly loved by LOVE.  We are safe forever.  Because Love loved and Love gave, we give ourselves to Him, and He lives through us and in us.   See 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:7-10, 15-16, 19.

THE GREATEST LIE

By Shirley Wiggins

“…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:17b.

What do you believe about lies?  Do you believe lies?  Have you ever told a lie?  In your opinion, would the greatest lie ever told be the lie that is most often repeated by the most people?

In my opinion, the most repeated lie ever told, and believed, by the most people is probably this:  “I just don’t have enough time!”

When you think about all the things you don’t get done, do you ever consider why they aren’t accomplished and finished? 

Or, do you, like me, just list all those things you would do if you just had more time and end up grumbling, whining, and complaining (with a good bit of self-pity) over the difficulties of your life?

The thought came to me as I pondered yet another list of the things I don’t have time for, that since God created  life and the universe and time in the first place, that surely for any one of us to say we don’t have enough time is just not true.  “Selah.  Pause and calmly think about that.”

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.  …God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.  God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.  And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”  Genesis 1:1-5 (NASB). 

God created absolutely everything in the space of six days and then He rested.  Over everything that He created, He declared that it was good.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule … over the earth.’  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Genesis 1:26-27

What a great idea God came up with!  I am thrilled and absolutely delighted with it because that made it possible for me to be me.  And, it made it possible for you to be you!

God was apparently delighted with it, too:   “God blessed them; and … said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and … rule …over every living thing that moves on the earth.’   … God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

God created everything and it was very good;  and there was, and still is, plenty of time to do the things that are needful and necessary with time left over for rest.

“… By the seventh day God completed His work ….  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”  Genesis 2:1-3.

The Amplified Bible defines the day of rest as one  to be … “withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God.”

Even with taking the seventh day to rest, there seems to be enough time to do all our work. So, why do we say that we don’t have enough time?”

If we are honest, it probably  means that we are not spending our time wisely but are casually letting it spend itself, just slipping away from us.  

 “Spending” reminds me of a financial budget which shows me how much money I have to spend and how it should be spent.  There is a limited amount of money and time, and it is possible to use either or both of them up and be left with none.

Our time on earth is limited.  It will be used up one day.  One of the most important things we can do is to learn to number our days and be good stewards of the time we have left.  We cannot be good stewards of our lives if we do not know the truth about life and the God who designed it and gives it.

Just as Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, was sent to earth with a mission to be fulfilled in a limited amount of time – 33 years – God also has a plan for our lives.   God frequently sends me reminders to number my days and to seek His guidance.  He faithfully gives me grace and wise instruction.  Do I listen to it?  Do I take that most important follow-up step and do what He says?

Oh, yes – the greatest lie?  In my opinion, the lie I tell myself about my time is not the greatest lie ever told, even though it seriously damages my life. 

The greatest lie ever told, in my opinion,  is the first lie recorded in the Bible,  told by the father of lies, with this implication:  that God is a liar and that what He says cannot be believed, that He isn’t good, nor is He loving to the people He made to inhabit and to rule over the earth.

This lie is too often believed and passed down from generation to generation – whether deliberately stated or deceitfully implied.

Read Genesis 3 and look closely at the conversation between the deceiver and the first woman as he engaged her in some question and answer time.  As a woman, it causes me great concern that the Enemy of our souls came to the woman to introduce the first lie.

Outrageous lies are born from the outrageous Liar and they continue to be perpetrated today from the “devil”… the father of lies, in whom there is no truth, and from whom there will never come truth, for he can only speak lies.  See John 8, especially verse 44.

All of God’s Wisdom for us is hidden in Jesus Christ, not in a “tree” desired to make one wise!  Contrast Genesis 3:6 with First Corinthians 1: 17-31. 

Let’s challenge ourselves about some of the things we’ve heard and believed that we are deceiving ourselves about in our day-to-day lives.

The world offers millions of distractions and entertainments and something to fill our minds with every moment.  But we don’t take time to know the God who made us in His own image.

Will you make a nakedly honest inventory of how you are spending your time?  Look around your home, your car, your office and note the devices that you devote precious time to each and every day.

Number those items, such as the iPad,  iPhone/Smart Phone,  MP3, laptop computer, radio, television, etc. Then make an honest assessment of how much time they subtract from your day and from your family.  How many ‘social media’ accounts are you maintaining and managing every day?

 As you carefully look at the words, the lyrics, and the images that are being poured into your mind through your eyes and your ears, and which will eventually fill your heart, ask yourself how you feel about God seeing and hearing these things, too.

Are they healthy and wholesome, adding days to your life and life to your days?  Or, are they garbage and filth, fit only for the trash, as they subtract the days from your life and turn your soul into a stone-cold, dead thing within you?

Are they deceiving words which fill your mind with lies of the enemy and the world?  Deceptions always harm and they never turn out for good.

Or, are they words of truth and beauty, filling your mind with truth?   God’s Holy Bible is Truth. 

How much time are you investing in reading and studying the Bible, God’s Holy Word?

NOTHING WASTED

By Shirley Wiggins

“When they were filled, He (Jesus) said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.’”… “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:13, 39.)

“Wherever He leads, I’ll go!  Wherever He leads, I’ll go…”

The words to this refrain ran repeatedly through my mind as I went about the duties of my day. 

I remembered as a young wife and mother standing with the congregation in the little hometown church on Sunday mornings and evenings singing so confidently the words of this hymn.

With the most sincere of hearts and strongest of beliefs in my mind, I affirmed to the Lord that I would always go with confidence wherever He might lead me in the coming days of my life.

Oh, what a naïve young woman I was!  I had absolutely no idea the winding paths my life would take as I followed my young husband, with our three small children in tow, from state to state with his jobs.  We settled in and enrolled the children in schools and sought out the church homes for our growing family in each new city and state with great anticipation that this would be “home” for a long, long time.

It never was for more than a few years at the time, but God blessed us with good friends in each and every town and our roots grew as deeply as they could in the time allotted in each new place.

Even though we missed parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, we had each other and our family was intact.

I had no idea then that one of the “places” I would have to live for years would be in the heartbreak of a splintered family.

The years of holiday gatherings with more than one Christmas and Thanksgiving celebration held each year on separate days was truly a difficult time.

Tough times in life do eventually pass, and when they do, they can leave us with such potential for greater strength for facing the next difficult challenge.

 Women, I think, endure life’s disappointments differently from men, even their own husbands.  Each one suffers, but in ways that the other cannot quite understand.

The heartbreak of a seemingly voluntary separation on the part of a loved one seems particularly hard to endure – not a separation in miles but in life’s moments shared together.

The hurt of being excluded from a particular gathering, whether intentional or just through a careless neglect, weighs heavy on the heart, doesn’t it?

One of the most vivid remembrances I have from a speakers’ and writers’ conference is a picture of a woman crying buckets of tears above the caption:  “Journal until you can control yourself.” 

It spoke volumes to me then, and still does.  It helps me so much to use the pages of my journal to write what’s in my heart— private thoughts, dreams, hurts, whatever I am feeling— until I am able to express myself sensibly and succinctly, without wasted words.

I read a quote some time ago that echoed my own thoughts:

“I’ve sensed God say, ‘It’s time to let go.’  But I don’t want to.  Relationships define me.  And if they are out of whack or different, that rocks my foundation.” – Author unknown.

Relationships do so define a woman’s life and emotions, don’t you think?  I, too, have sensed God giving me that same five-word directive about some expectations I’ve tried to hold onto long after they should have been released.

My first family fracture left me with the strong conviction that my response through it all should have been one of firmer faith  in God’s timely intervention of the circumstances, trusting Him to do just the right thing, at just the right time.

I believe that none of my life’s experiences will have been wasted. Pain from the past and pain in the present will be used of God to enhance my future.   Pain always has a purpose, and whether it is physical or emotional pain, God will make it turn out for good to those who love Him. 

My prayers continue to be that my future responses to life’s painful and disappointing experiences will be biblical, as God’s Word instructs:

·       Count it all joy because I have fallen into this tribulation; James 1:2.

·      Remember that God will use it all for good benefit to me; Romans 8:28.

·      Know that all of this has happened that I might learn to rely on God and not on myself;            2 Corinthians 1:8-11.

·      Be mindful that God, the God of all comfort, will comfort me in this experience so that I may comfort another woman going through any kind of painful heartbreak;                                    2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

·      Trust God, Talk to God, Tell God Everything, Tell others the praises:  “Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest.” (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman; Streams in the Desert, page 351.)

Jesus never allows anything to go to waste, so I am excited to see what He is going to do with all of my life’s experiences!  

Future encounters with painful situations do not need to defeat us, nor make us fearful.  They only need to cause us to look to the Lord our God, for we are each one uniquely defined by our relationship with Him:

“I lift up my eyes to You,  to You whose throne is in heaven.  As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He shows us mercy.”  Psalm 123:1-2.

“Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.  I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them---the Lord who remains faithful forever.  He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.  The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.  The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.  The Lord reigns forever, Your God, O Zion, for all generations.  Praise the Lord.”  Psalm 146:1-10

In everything that you and I are privileged to experience, we may know that God is gathering it all up and will make each life event work out for good at just the right and proper time.  With nothing wasted…. Amen. 

Thought for Today

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out."   Romans 11:33 (NIV)

You have been abundantly good to me all the days of my life, Father! You created me with a plan and purpose and protect me when I veer off course. You meant from the beginning to sacrifice Your only Son for the redemption of my soul. You continue to call my name and draw me into Your presence. You are the Great Shepherd and I know Your voice! Praise You for who You are -- more Sovereign than I can know!

FAMINE!

By Shirley Wiggins

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but [a famine] for hearing the words of the Lord.”     Amos 8:11 (Amplified Bible.)

Famine:  “an extreme scarcity of food.”   What would you do if you knew a famine was coming into your life? 

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” ¹

“God has always warned the world of coming judgments in order that it may not bring them upon itself.   He warned

·       Noah of the coming flood (Genesis 6:13ff.);¹

·        Abraham and Lot of the future destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18:17; 19:14);

·       Joseph of the seven-year famine (Gen. 41:30);

·       Moses of the ten plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7:1ff.);

·       Jonah of the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:4);

·       Amos of the downfall of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1 and 2).

Various prophets were told in detail about the final events in connection with the captivities of the chosen people, and in every case the warnings were startlingly executed.

Jonah announced the destruction of Nineveh, but judgment was postponed following repentance.  When later generations of Ninevites backslid and reverted to extreme wickedness, the warning of Nahum was carried out completely against them. 

Christ’s coming was foretold throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi.  Equally plain and inevitable of fulfillment are the warnings of Jesus and the prophets concerning the future that each day comes nearer to every nation on earth.”¹

The written Word of God is preserved today in millions and millions of copies.  Yet, in some parts of the world, there is an ongoing famine of hearing the word of the Lord.  Bibles are banned and churches are being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ.

In America in this present day, as in many nations around the world, the Bible is still available, but many people do not avail themselves of it.  Remember:  “God has always warned the world of coming judgments in order that it may not bring them upon itself.”

The Bible is the Word of God.  Jesus Christ, the Word of God, came in the flesh to live upon the earth for a time.  His Holy Spirit is in the world today, still revealing the words of God. ²

What are we being warned about in our present generation?  Do we know what the warnings of God are for us in our own generation?  Does anyone have time for the Word of God?

“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  Hebrews 4:12-13.

God reveals the truth to people that we may know and follow His will.³   God desires that all people be rescued from the inescapable wages of sin.  Sin has invaded the earth and all people are sinners until they come to know and believe in His only Son, Jesus Christ.⁴ 

Jesus told about the events surrounding His second coming in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.   Peter asks a most important question in 2 Peter 3:11, to remind readers of every generation of what kind of people we ought to be since  the day of the Lord’s final return will come, and there will be devastating destruction.

But, when will He come back?  The Bible teaches that no one knows the date except God Himself. See Matthew 24:36.  “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:13.

How will we know the day is approaching since we won’t know when to expect it?

Throughout the Bible we find many references to what the end times will be like and things we can watch for to know that the time is growing near.⁵ 

Paul writes in many of his Epistles of “The Day of the Lord .”⁶    Second Timothy 3 describes “terrible times in the last days,” and talks about the characteristics of the people who will be living on the earth in those days and times.

Jesus told about these same things and described what His day of return would be like.⁷    He told the disciples that first, He would suffer many things and be rejected by His generation.  Not only would He be hated and His words of love and warning be repudiated, that generation would seek to murder Him.  They would mock Him and treat Him shamefully, and spit upon Him.  “And after beating Him, they would hang Him on a cross of shame until He died.⁸  

Jesus promised them, that on the third day, He would rise from the dead.  And, He did.

He declared to them that He would return again to the earth and gather His people to Him because where He is, He wants His people to be there with Him also.  See John 14:1-6; John  17.

Jesus describes His return to earth one day as being highly visible:  “like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.”   

Jesus said that the days on earth at the time of His final return when the Son of Man is revealed, will be just as they were in the days of Noah and as in the days of Lot.

 “People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage…buying and selling, planting and building...”   However,  on “the day Noah entered the ark… the flood came and destroyed them all; ”  and that “the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from the heaven and destroyed them all.⁹

Days of busy business!  Not to mention rampant wickedness.   In the days of Noah:  “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.”  Genesis 6:5-6.

Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it?  People busy living life day to day, consumed with the demands of life, and so many who believe the lie that they are just too busy to have time to read the Bible, attend church, or devote time to their spiritual lives.

 For so many people today, every ounce of time and energy is being given to keeping up with what is believed to be the most important requirements of life:  physical life only.

And, yet we know that physical life can be suddenly snuffed out:  poof!  Like the blowing out of a candle, or turning off a light.  Suddenly, the physical life can go dark.

All of those busy, busy people in the days of Noah and Lot  were destroyed – suddenly and irrevocably.   Jesus gave a strong warning:  “Remember Lot’s wife!” Luke 17:32.

When we consider the story of Lot’s wife, I believe we would be wise to take the point to heart that her heart’s desire sealed her eternity.  Genesis 19:26.

Her husband, Lot, was Abraham’s nephew, and when the two had to separate their living arrangements, Lot chose to take his family and live near Sodom where “the people were very wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.”  You may read the story of Lot and his wife, and the very unwise choices they made to live in the midst of wicked people in Genesis chapters 13, 18-19.

The Lord made provision for salvation, warned Noah and Noah and all his family were saved; Lot’s family came to a tragic end, in spite of the warnings of the Lord.  God provided the way out for both men and their families, but individual choices affected their final destiny.

Jesus Christ is our Ark of Salvation.   Remember that God still warns us today that we need not bring down judgment on ourselves, our families, and our descendants.  Hebrews 2:1-4 warns us specifically to pay attention so that we do not drift away from God’s salvation and lose our eternal lives because of our inattention to the things of God.

For suddenly the day of the Lord will come and the soul’s eternity will be sealed forever, either to live forever in the bliss of heaven as God’s dear children, His own rescued people,  or in the eternal torment of hell as only His creation, those who rejected Him as Lord and Father.

Those who today reject God and His only means of salvation – Jesus Christ – His Son are as much without excuse as those who’ve rejected Him down through the ages.¹⁰

God has promised and provided rescue from sin, but we must choose to hear His warnings and to obey His word.  Remember:   “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar;  the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and  everything done in it will be laid bare.”  2 Peter 3:9-10 (ESV.)

Do not needlessly and tragically endure a famine of God’s word.  Instead, choose the feast of His continual presence, peace, protection, and provision!

¹ Footnote  “l”, page 8 related to Genesis 6:13; and  Footnote “a, ”page 1019, related to Amos 3:7, in the Amplified Bible®. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987, by The Lockman Foundation.

² John 15:26-16:16; Revelation 22:20. 

³ Deuteronomy 29:29. 

⁴John 3:16-21, and 14:1-6; Romans 3:21-31 and 6:23.

⁵Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:5-36 describe some “Signs of the End Times.”

⁶ 1 Thessalonians 5, and 2 Thessalonians 2.

⁷ Luke 17:20-37.

⁸ Luke 18:31-33 (ESV Bible).

⁹Luke 17:24-30

¹⁰ See the Book of Jude; and  2 Peter 2:1- 3: 18.

FAITH LIKE GEORGIE

By Shirley Wiggins

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”                (Hebrews 11:1 NIV 1984.)

How would you define “faith?”  How would you describe your faith?

Consider Georgie, a ten year old who lived in Chicago and wanted a stamp album for Christmas.  His grandma who lived elsewhere had promised to send him one.

Christmas came and went, but no stamp album arrived.   Each time Georgie was asked about his Christmas gifts, he always listed the stamp album from his grandma as one of his gifts.

Finally his mother asked why he continued to name the album when he had not received it.  His answer taught his mother “a rich spiritual truth,” as Georgie assured his mother that grandma had not forgotten and he was absolutely certain that the stamp album would be coming to him.

After a month went by, and his mother mentioned again that perhaps grandma had just forgotten, Georgie mailed a thank-you letter to his grandma.  In just a short time, her reply came back explaining that she had ordered his album from New York and it did not get to her until after Christmas. It was not the one Georgie had asked for so she had to return it.  Since the other one had still not arrived, she enclosed money in her letter so that Georgie could purchase the album he wanted in Chicago.

             “As he read the letter, his face was the face of a victor.  ‘Now, mamma, didn’t I tell you?’ came from the depths of a heart that never doubted that, ‘against hope, believed in hope’ that the stamp album would come.  While he was trusting, grandma was working, and in due season faith became sight.”

             “It is so human to want sight when we step out on the promises of God, but our Savior said to Thomas, and to the long roll of doubters who have ever since followed him: ‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.’”  --- Mrs. Rounds.¹

I have to confess that too many times my sin of disbelief and doubt in the face of a long-awaited hope has been more evident than my firm, faith-filled belief that the promises of God would absolutely be fulfilled.

“Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be.”  Mark 11:24.

Consider Abraham:  “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.  This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’  The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in Him{God} who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He {Jesus} was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”  Romans 4:18-25 (NIV 1984).

 “True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees.  Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God’s Word.  He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us.  We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God’s Word.

The Psalmist … believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living (Psalm 27:13).  He did not see as yet the Lord’s answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting. 

If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged.  … we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty.  It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.

Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten?  Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you.  --- Life of Praise.”²

Hope, based on a wish, an earnest desire, is not faith because it is not based in belief, but only on a hope.  Hope must see before it believes.

Faith, the hope based in belief because it counts on God, believes before it sees.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. … And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:1 ,6.

 We walk by faith and not by sight because “thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.”   2 Corinthians 2:14.

“for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”  1 John 5:4-5 (NIV 2011).

Is there some problem in your life to solve,

Some passage seeming full of mystery?

God knows, who brings the hidden things to light.

He keeps the key.

Is there some door closed by the Father’s hand

Which widely opened you had hoped to see?

Trust God and wait—for when He shuts the door

He keeps the key.

Is there some earnest prayer unanswered yet,

Or answered NOT as you had thought ‘twould be?

God will make clear His purpose by-and-by.

He keeps the key.

Have patience with your God, your patient God,

All wise, all knowing, no long tarrier He,

And of the door of all thy future life

He keeps the key.

Unfailing comfort, sweet and blessed rest,

To know of EVERY door He keeps the key.

That He at last when just HE sees ‘tis best,

Will give it THEE.”      ---Anonymous.³

What have you asked God for that is founded on His holy Word but that everything around you seems to be contradicting that holy Word?  Then believe to see it!  It’s on its way! 

¹Streams in the Desert Compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman; ©1965 Cowman Publications, Inc.; page 55.

² Streams in the Desert Compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman; ©1965 Cowman Publications, Inc.; page 54.

³ Streams in the Desert Compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman; ©1965 Cowman Publications, Inc.; page 11.