Saturday 17 March 2018

Fear and Faith.


Photo by: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Karemin1094&action=edit&redlink=1

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." 

"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;  though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." 
Psalm 46:1-3

 Psalm 46 brings comfort to me. There are beautiful, as well as fearful thoughts here. Verses 1-3 remind me of what Jesus said to the disciples in the midst of a terrible storm, when they were in danger of capsizing and drowning. He asks them, “Why are you afraid? Where is your faith?”

Jesus was explaining to them that no matter how frightening a situation is, we must have faith (trust) in God. If God allows us to drown, that is fine. If God decides to save us from drowning, that is fine. This is total trust in God’s wisdom and power. The disciples had not learned this kind of trust yet.

In these three verses, the Psalm describes the world in convulsions. Some commentators say these represent the anger of the nations. Some say they represent actual physical events. Some say they represent the storms of life. Some say they represent all three.

Because of the later verses in this chapter, I believe they represent the physical condition of the earth right before Jesus returns. Verses 6-9 say this:

"Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
"Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire."

About the last plague to come upon mankind, the Book of Revelation says this:

"Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed." And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
  
"And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake."

"The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.   And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."
Revelation 16:15-20

What is so beautiful in this Psalm are the verses that give us hope, peace and courage:

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day."

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
As these days draw near, let us pray for God's courage, faith and peace.





Sunday 11 March 2018

Miracles and Dreams.

Photo by Joe Mabel
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmabel 


Announcement:

I have cataracts on both eyes. They are growing. It is hard to read on my laptop and tablet. My eyes feel strained and tired. Therefore, I’ve had to cut down or even eliminate reading your blogs, my friends and followers. Terribly sorry, but that is the way it is for now. I’ll be getting surgery sometime this spring or summer. I’m hoping to return and start reading again.

I love to read your blogs. They usually inspire me. I love hearing how God is working in people’s lives. So, I will come back when my eyesight is normal. I will also still be posting once a week if I feel God wants me to.  So on to my post for today.

Dreams and Miracles

I wanted to share with you some of the miracles that have taken place for a group called GLOW – Giving Light to Our World. It is part of the ministry for my church, Seventh-Day-Adventist. I don’t go to church any longer because of many reasons, one being I am not mentally well and find it hard to be around people. I rarely leave my apartment, but I’m very happy here with my family.

Anyway, my mom gets a magazine from the church and they had an article about what has happened with GLOW this year. I want to share this exciting news with two stories:

“In the U.S. Liz was working at home when she heard a knock on the door. When she opened it, David, who was handing out GLOW pamphlets, was already walking away. Liz called out to let him know she was home. Back on her porch, David handed Liz a GLOW paper.

“I have chills right now!” Liz said. “Not too long ago I had a dream. In the dream I saw two ministers of the gospel coming to my house sharing literature.” David was thrilled to hear about her dream, but he was the only person there.

Just then, Taylor, his ministry partner, arrived. He had run out of tracts and had come looking for David to get more. Now there were two ministers of the gospel at her door.

Liz looked at David and Taylor, “I believe this is from God. In my dream I saw two ministers at my door bringing me hope. I heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is your last chance. I am coming back soon!” Please pray for me. I need Jesus in my life.

This story came from the Philippines:

A church member was walking through several neighborhoods handing out GLOW tracts. In his city, it was customary for trash to be swept into small piles near the street and burned. Someone lit a pile of trash near where the missionary was handing out pamphlets. 

A man walked by and noticed one piece of paper that would not burn. He picked it up and tried to light it, but it wouldn’t catch fire. He called some people over to see this strange happening. Speechless, the crowd watched his failed attempts to burn this pamphlet.

Across the street, the church member noticed the crowd and went to see what was happening. Stunned, he told them he was the person handing out the leaflets. He invited them all to an evangelistic meeting at his church that evening. Some came just for the one meeting, others continued to come until the series ended. Several of the eyewitnesses of the tract that wouldn’t burn were baptized.

From Adventist World, October 2017.



Sunday 4 March 2018

From Robbing Banks into God's Arms.


Photo by:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AgnosticPreachersKid

One of my followers has asked me to write about my family and how God worked in their lives. For many in my family, it has been a slow growth from child to adult, always believing in God. However, there is one family member who met God while he was in prison.

He doesn’t want me to share his name so I’ll call him Stephen. Stephen was raised in a home of physical abuse and neglect. His father beat him and his siblings, later his step-father did the same. Both fathers were alcoholics. They also beat Stephen’s mother.

Stephen started getting into trouble with the law and went to prison for the first time for robbing a postal office. He got a year hard labor for that. He never went back home to live. He moved from city to city, getting arrested and sentenced for assault. He was in lots of fights. He sold drugs.

When he was 24, he lived in a large city. He met a man who came from a small prairie town. This man knew when the town bank received it’s money. The nearest police were many miles away. It looked like a sure thing to rob this bank and get away. Stephen said he was in.

Another man joined them. They bought rifles and duffel bags for the money. They drove to the town. They got out of the car with the rifles and went through the first door. But Stephen said, “Something’s wrong.”  He said later, he just felt something strange. He told his friends to follow him and leave. As they walked back through the front door they were surrounded by police and arrested. It turned out the third man had ratted on them to get a lesser sentence on a previous crime. The police had been waiting for them.

At the trial, Stephen expected to get 8 years. He was surprised to get only 2 years. Apparently, if they had walked through the second door, their sentence would have been much harsher. 

Stephen was used to going to jail, but he hated it there. You had to be tough and fearless and make the other inmates afraid of you. He did that in every jail. He was an expert fighter and would have killed someone if he had to.

The warden of this large prison was a Christian. There was a punishment room called, “The Hole,” that you were sent to if you caused trouble. Stephen was sent there for fighting in the cafeteria. The warden had a Bible put in each of these cells. That is all that was in the room besides a cot and toilet.

Stephen started reading the Bible and finished reading it the month of his detention. One night, while he was sleeping, he heard God call out his name, “Stephen, Stephen.”

The next day, he was back in population, but had been sent to a part of the prison that had a lot of Christians in it. A Christian said something to him and Stephen came towards him to hit him. He heard the same voice say to him, “Stephen, if you hit him, I will come down on you like a ton of bricks.”  (This is what Stephen would say to people.) Stephen stopped walking towards the man. He was stunned. He turned around and went to his cell and cried, “like a baby,” he said. He was amazed God would speak with him. He gave himself to God that moment.

So, that is the story of a man in our family. He got out of that prison and 40 years later is still a Christian. He had strong faith in God right away. He brought other inmates to Christ. Three of them were baptized when they got out.

Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.   Isaiah 45:22

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the LORD, have spoken!"      Isaiah 1:18-20