This is from the book Voice of the Faithful by Beth Moore
In the land of Namibia, we traveled to remote villages, where most practice ancestor worship and traditional tribal religion. We visited homes and presented the gospel when permitted.
At one street ,we again sought the Lord’s guidance. From behind a wire fence, two men called to us. They were prisoners at a jail and asked if we would come in to talk. We knew that dealing with police officers and paperwork would take a long time. So, regretting that we couldn’t visit at that point, we prayerfully handed the men some tracts in their language.
Before we could leave, a man outside the fence stopped us. Dressed in plain clothes, he told us that he was a police officer. The translator openly explained what we were giving to the prisoners. To our surprise, the officer said, “You must come to my home and tell me about Jesus”. He led us to his home behind the jail.
In the yard, the man listened intently to the gospel through the translator. I silently prayed for him the whole time. To our joy, he asked Jesus to be his Lord! But what he said next brought tears to our eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for someone to tell me about Jesus,” said the officer.
The prisoners we met now have someone on the “inside” to explain the tracts and tell them about Jesus. What “prisoners” do you know who need to be set free? Will you share the key to life today?
-M.M. Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa
So shall my word be that goes from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
This is from the book Men of Faith: Jonathan Edwards by David J. Vaughan
Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and a sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule….
Don’t forget this today. Do not allow others to make your tongue loose. Remember we are all God’s children. We are all called to love everyone. I mean everyone!
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Prodigal: It’s harder than pushin’ a boiled noodle through a keyhole.
Me: I’m sure after practice it will get better.
Prodigal: I hope so.
This comes from the book How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit by A.W. Tozer
Instead of looking at the mighty resurrection power of the Lord Jesus, people go back to looking at themselves–and that’s why they lose hope and give in so easily to defeat and discouragement.
We are actually dealing here with Christ’s supernatural power–not with just our human hope and resolutions!
The world encourages us to look at ourselves. They think this is wisdom. But wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord. That means we are obedient in the way God calls us. That means we are not able to see what God is really doing by having us take this step but we do it anyway. Looking to ourselves, we will end up in a dead end, always.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Prodigal: Fear can come to your mind in middle of day sometimes.
Me: The Lord is with us though.
This is from the book Finding Peace for Your Heart by Stormie Omartian
Don’t let the word deliverance frighten you or put you off. It’s not scary or strange. Explained as simply as possible, deliverance is the severing of anything that holds you other than God. It could be a spirit of fear, of anger, or lying, or depression, or of lust. It could be a behavior you’ve acquired for self-defense, like compulsive overeating or a habitual withdrawal from people. Being born again delivers us from death, but we need to be delivered from dead places in our lives as well.
God does not want you to fear. That is what He is telling you at this time.
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.
This is from the book Men of Faith: Jonathan Edwards by David J. Vaughan
Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
Can we know if it is the last hour of our death. I think most of us would have to answer no. Because even it is was the last hour, we would hope that maybe we would last another by God’s grace. I think though if we lived hour by hour with the focus of this resolve it would change a lot of things that we would do.
Be sober, vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Me: I wonder what God sees to the ends of the earth.
This is from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens—they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them–they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live–they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis—their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.
“And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry,” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” This is how it will be with anyone who store up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21) also Hebrews 11.