What God Hath Promised!
God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing kindness,
Undying love.
—Annie Johnson Flint
SHARING
How To Be Busy Without Going Crazy!
—From Pulpit Helps
Almost everybody agrees that one must be busy to be healthy and happy. But many Christians become frustrated and frantic because they are too busy. I don’t know how many times people have said to me, “I have so much to do I don’t know where to begin. The pressure is driving me crazy!” The answer is sometimes found in cutting back on responsibilities, but this isn’t always possible. Nor is it always necessary. Many people would accomplish more, with less strain, if they would make some mental and spiritual adjustments.
1. Take time for God–Take time for private devotions. If it means getting up 15 minutes earlier in the morning, do it. As a Christian, you belong to the Lord, and so does your day. So commit yourself and your time to Him.
2. Determine your priorities–Sit down and take a look at what you have to do. Ask yourself, “What should come first?” You’ll be more efficient than you ever imagined.
3. Plan and trust–Set up a schedule for tackling work duties and consciously trust God’s provision. It will be wise to look well ahead, to set up a timetable, and to work systematically. Don’t worry about tomorrow’s demands. Concentrate upon what you must do today, and leave the future in God’s hands. As you trust Him and as He enables you to fulfill today’s responsibilities, you will gain assurance that He will also be with you tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. A combination of planning and trust will produce amazing results.
4. Do little things immediately–Get right at those small details that need attention–like making an appointment with the doctor, sending someone a card, or dropping clothes off at the cleaners. If you don’t, you’ll find an uneasiness lurking just above your subconscious, and this will tend to sap your energy. I know this from personal experience. When you get the little things behind you, you’ll work better and more efficiently.
The trouble with most of us is not that we have too much to do, but that we aren’t going about our duties the right way. Once we put God first, establish a good set of priorities, plan and trust, and quit procrastinating, we’ll begin to get more done. And we won’t drive ourselves or our loved ones crazy in the process!
SHARINGRead It And Believe It
“If ye then have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.” 1 Corinthians 6:4
There is much to be said in favor of a “layman’s understanding” of the Bible. Once a person has been born again, they enjoy the privileges of spiritual discernment: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:12. From then on, it is a matter of desiring the sincere milk of the Word that one may grow thereby–reading the Bible, hearing the Word, and trusting it for what it says.
I was saved September 1954, have been in a Bible teaching New Testament Church ever since, and full-time in the ministry since 1968, teaching and preaching God’s Word. Yet I find many articles written about the Bible that contain expositions that I have to say, “Where did that come from–I never saw that in the reading of the scriptures.”
I have always found the truth of God’s Word to be self-evident in the way the Bible reads. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” 2 Peter 1:19-20. We all depend on light to reveal what is, and then we act upon what we see. If you turned your garage light on and there sat a new car, you would not have to call a mechanical engineer to explain to you what you are looking at. So, when you read your Bible, accept and believe what it says. Beware of anyone who discourages you from doing this, and rather leads you to believe that you need someone of “higher understanding” to interpret the scriptures unto you.
Rather than turn to what men have to say about the Bible, we need to look into the Bible to see what it says about what men are saying: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. Faith only exists where God’s Word is being accepted as God delivered it–“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
SHARINGAll It Takes Is One Hole
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
Visualize a giant ship with all its strong structure, engineered for efficiency, safety and comfort; with state of the art equipment and extremely sea worthy. It can have the best crew and the most able captain, whose knowledge is unsurpassed. This ship meets or exceeds all maritime regulations. But all it takes is one hole to sink it!
A gigantic tank, that is built to withstand storms and earthquakes; that is constructed out of materials that will last for decades, and is theft proof, all it takes is one hole for it to lose all its contents. Just one hole in a dam can lead to the collapse of the entire dam.
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” Song of Solomon 2:15
James 2:10 challenges Christians to be sober and vigilant in, and about all things. We can have strong convictions on many things, and we can take confidence that we are strong on many things. We can tout our stand and challenge others with our strong position on many things. But all it takes is negligence in one thing to become the leak that will sink our spiritual ship and drain our tank of spiritual integrity. “A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9 “Do not err my beloved brethren.” James 1:16
Whatever it is that we are doing faithfully, will not answer for the things we leave undone. A farmer can build the best fence, but if he fails to shut every gate, the livestock will still escape, the same as if there was no fence at all. It is the thing(s) we leave undone that will be that hole that can sink our spiritual ship. “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23
“Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Galatians 3:10 All it takes is one sin to condemn the soul, the same as all it takes is one hole to sink the ship! Thus, a person’s good will not outweigh or redeem them from their bad, any more than the good things of the ship will prevent water from entering into the hole. To be saved, one must have an account for their soul that has no sin whatsoever, and only the righteousness of God. This is impossible for man to achieve. That is why God foreordained the substitutionary offering of Christ to be the account by which the believer’s soul is made acceptable to God.
SHARINGWarring A Good Warfare
“This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare.” 1 Timothy 1:18
The battle with Satan and sin in not over! Satan is cranking up the “mystery of iniquity” to neutralize God’s people from fighting a true spiritual warfare, and at the same time to energize the forces of anti-christism.
We must not confuse the spiritual warfare with a political or social warfare. Each have their own battleground. Jesus is our example. He never took up a political warfare in His society. He rather waged His warfare by proclaiming the Word of God, which exposed error on all levels, including the social and political.
The church’s mission is to preach the Word of God without compromise. God’s Word is what does the work of God. Thus, we are to hold it forth to the best of our ability. To deny responsibility to God’s laws is to forfeit the power and benefits of God’s authority in our behalf.
The Apostle Paul’s final instructions for spiritual warfare to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:27-31, was that they would encounter the enemies to the cause of Christ on two major fronts: 1) infiltrators, who would creep in unawares, v29, and 2) home grown problems, v30. The charge was to combat any and all of Satan’s work by taking heed to feed the church of God with the whole counsel of God.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. Just as God’s Word manifests itself in a believer’s obedient response, it will also root out and manifest those whose hearts are not right with God — “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Titus 1:15
When the disciples questioned the “negative” impact that Christ’s preaching had on the Pharisees, “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matthew 15:13. Anything that God’s Word roots out, is God rooting it out, and necessarily so. So be it! God’s Word feeds, sustains and satisfies believers, but it upsets the apple cart of those who are not building on the foundation (Christ) by faith.
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions…” Isaiah 58:1. This should be seen as that which uprights God’s people, but also that which uproots that which seeks to devour us. Preach the Word! It is our hope and our defense!
SHARING
