Thank you Ravi Zacharias

    “His lord said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV)

   Recently the world lost one of its best and brightest minds. We also lost an awesome man of God who was faithful to accomplish great things for God’s kingdom here on this planet. Born in India, his family immigrated to Canada, and later he made his home in Atlanta, GA. He was born into a church going Christian family in India, but did not accept Christ as his Savior until he was recovering from a suicide attempt as a teenager. From that moment on as he heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a Bible in the hospital room, he was on fire to serve his Lord until the day he went home to Jesus.

   Although I can’t claim to know him personally, I consider him a mentor of mine who made a great impact on my spiritual life and has assisted me to be more sold out for Jesus with each encounter, whether in person as a speaker, in his many books, or his thousands of radio programs. He was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer recently and is now in heaven, where I am confident was met by Jesus by the words written above in Matthew 25. 

  Here is one of the last messages he left with us, for Easter 2020, before he departed to glory:

    “I am writing this from a cancer hospital in Texas. Two months ago I was startled after back surgery to learn I had sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, for which I am undergoing treatment. I have had a healthy life blessed by God, so this came as a shock. 

   I have always believed in the power of the message of Easter, but I believe it even more so now. It is the ultimate message of hope beyond all hopes; in fact, it is the ultimate grounding of hope. 

   I’ve been lying in my bed thinking how much the physical world reflects spiritual truths. Cancer is literally one rogue cell that begins to replicate itself, bringing death closer each day and overtaking a genuine life-giving cell. It’s amazing how this reflects the story of the fall in Genesis, when the Enemy of our souls caused Adam and Eve to question God; ‘Has God really spoken?’ Instead of choosing the life-giving breath of God, they allowed the rogue cell of disobedience and self-determination to overtake and metastasize in all of humanity.

   Now, as we collectively spend billions of dollars battling this rogue cell, we have mainly two options before us: radiation, which zeroes in on the troublesome cells, or chemotherapy, a confluence of approaches including a litany of medications—like shooting buckshot in the dark, killing not only the bad cells but also the good ones. And so, in the end, the victory may be pyrrhic, perhaps costing the victor more than the vanquished.

   When we rebelled against God, there remained in God’s economy the need for a savior, a perfect savior. That perfect savior was provided by God himself, in his Son. That gives an idea of how much God values every individual life. As the prophets foretold, the redeemer would come. He would be crucified  and buried—the normal destiny of a spiritual cancer. But in an amazing prophecy, Jesus rose from the dead in three days, the victor truly victorious. God’s life-giving breath was restored to us.

   And so with the apostle we can raise the question. ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ (1st Corinthians 15:55). Sin is the rogue cancer cell within us, but the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus turned the tide in favor of God’s created order. So let us celebrate this Easter with gladness of heart and let us not look for life among death, because the grave is not victorious. It is the ultimate reversal of the fall, the ultimate cure.

    As Nicholas Wolderstorff of Yale said when he lost his son in a climbing accident, ‘When we have overcome absence with phone calls, winglessness with airplanes, summer heat with air-conditioning—when we have overcome all these and much more besides, then there will abide two things with which we must cope: the evil in our hearts and death.’

  The answer lies in the radiating Son of God who deals with the death cell of disobedience and restores the living cell. How sublime a truth! What a message of hope!

  May we be moved to wonder and worship this week as we contemplate the cross and celebrate our risen Lord. Our cities smell of death. We need the aroma of life—his name is Jesus Christ.” (From the Gospel Coalition by Ravi Zacharias, April 9, 2020)

   Thank you Ravi, we miss you but we are so thankful that our Lord allowed you to walk among us these many years. You have been a “true and faithful servant” of our Lord Jesus Christ and although we will miss you, you life lives on in the lives you have touched and continue to touch in your books, radio programs, and podcasts. 

   Jesus told us in Matthew, chapter 7: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few that find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14)

   Ravi Zacharias is a man who took the narrow road of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and made a big impact for the Kingdom with his time on earth. May we be more obedient and faithful also so that we may enter that narrow gate also when we leave this earth. 

PRAY

1.    Thank You Lord for giving us your saint Ravi Zacharias and for the example he gave us to live our lives completely for You.

2.    Thank You Jesus, for allowing us to hear from You, through your faithful servant Ravi, and we ask you to help us to live more for you today.

3.    Fill us with Your Holy Spirit today and use us to make a difference for You in our families, communities, and for our nation.

Lord help our nation to turn to You during these difficult times of viruses and riots, and injustice everywhere. Give our nations leaders wisdom that comes from You, and not our fallen world

God is with you always!

   “After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land I am giving to them---the children of Israel….. ‘No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:1-2,5)

   Are you going through a rough patch in your life right now? If you are, there are many opportunities to forget that, if you belong to Jesus, He is with you every step of the way. If you are in pain emotionally, physically, spiritually, or financially you can be assured that our Savior is walking at your side. Paul David Trip, in his excellent book “Suffering” does a great job of reminding us just how faithful our Lord is when we lean on Him, and not our own strength, to get us through the trial we are facing. 

    “’I will not leave you or forsake you.’ This promise found in Joshua 1:5 is given numerous times in Scripture. Every time one of God’s children, or the whole community of God’s children faced something hard, new, difficult, or overwhelming, God greeted them with this promise. He never called them to task, sent them to a destination, or led them into difficulty and then abandoned them. No matter how hard the situation or inadequate their response, God was with them and for them. The declaration that he would never leave them is a significant reminder and protection for everyone who suffers. 

   First, these words are a humbling reminder that God remains faithful to us no matter what, not because of what is in us, but because of what is in Him. If the consistency of my prayer or the faithfulness of my worship of the constancy of my of my obedience were what bought me His continued presence, He would have forsaken me a long time ago. I know that is true of me, and I’m sure it’s true of you, that in moments of travail, I often fall way below God’s standard. Sometimes confusion interrupts my prayer, or wonderment about what God is doing gets in the way of heartfelt worship. Sometimes I listen too much to the lies of the Enemy or feel too weak to do what God has commanded. Sometimes my heart is filled with more envy than gratitude, and my mouth speaks more complaint then praise. Sometimes I would rather have relief from pain than the sweetness of His presence. Sometimes I’m just mad that God has let such a hard thing enter my door. There are moments when I don’t want to read His Word or hear songs of His goodness. Sometimes in my travail, I avoid the fellowship of His people. Sometimes I take my pain out on those around me.

  ……Suffering brings you and me to the end of ourselves. It exposes and confronts us. It makes it harder and harder to hold on to the delusion of our righteousness. This is why it is so important to remember that God is faithful to us, not because we are righteous, but because He is. He continues to love us, not because we perfectly love Him, but because His love for us remains perfect. He remains near, not  because we’ve never though of running away, but because He would never turn His back on the promises He has made to us. You didn’t earn His faithful presence by your obedience, and your disobedience won’t take it away. The central message of Scripture is that God is with us forever because of one thing: HIS GRACE! 

    In your suffering, with so many things to worry about, you don’t have to waste your spiritual and emotional energy on the fear that you will be forsaken by the One who has the power to do for you what no one else can. He is in you, He is with you, He is for you, and He will never leave…..

    But in all the emotional and spiritual ups and downs, on the good days and the bad days, when you fight or succumb, one thing is sure. Your Lord is with you, and there is no struggle without or war within that will ever drive Him away. And His presence guarantees that in your suffering, you will have everything you need.”

  (Paul David Tripp, “Suffering,” Pages154-157) 

   You are not alone. If you are a child of God, if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, then there is nothing you can do to lose the love of God, or to cause Him to abandon you in your time of need and suffering. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

   PRAY

1.    Lord thank you for being the Faithful One, even when I am not; the Strong One when I am not; and the Loving One when I am not.

2.    Fill me with You Spirit today that I might remember just how faithful and dependable You have shown Yourself to be in my past and that You will be the same in the future.

3.    Help me to live this day with Your strength, Your power, and with Your love, so that I can handle another day of this suffering that You are walking through with me. 

Revival in the Congo

   “How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7)

   Doctor Helen Roseveare was a British doctor who spent over 20 years as a missionary in the Belgian Congo/Zaire in the 1950’s and 60’s. She was an awesome woman of God, who not only worked tirelessly for her Savior for many years, she also suffered greatly during a period when she was held captive for several months by rebel soldiers during a civil war. She has written numerous books about her experiences in the Congo and they are all excellent reading. Recently my wife and I read her book entitled “Living Sacrifice, willing to be whittled as an arrow.” One of the stories she tells is of a mighty revival that happened in her local church. Here is how she described what happened: 

   “The Holy Spirit was poured out on the local church. For years, senior missionaries, church pastors, and faithful African women had been praying earnestly for such a visitation. They had started with one night a week each month given up to prayer. Then as prayer became more importunate, they added one day each month set aside for prayer. As the sense of urgency grew, a daily midday prayer meeting was held. May spent hours in prayer and fasting on their own as well. God heard.”

   “For ten days, a strange stirring had begun among the local workmen, and the Holy Spirit began a work of conviction in many hearts. Different ones confessed to thefts and returned stolen property. Others confessed to bitterness against white employers, and to jealousies regarding possessions, and they sought forgiveness. Others spoke of idleness, wasting their employer’s time, discontent with working conditions: and they began working harder with a better spirit.”

   “Then suddenly, on the Friday evening, at the weekly fellowship meeting, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon one hundred folk gathered at the Bible school hall. It was indeed a mighty, unforgettable awakening. Initially, there was a repercussion of shock and fear, as all over the hall, people were being shaken by the power of the Spirit, under the grip of the conviction of sin, or else a surge of irrepressible joy and release. Was this truly of God, or had some other spirit come among us?”

   “As we heard the confessions of sin of those deeply convicted by the Spirit, and then how they claimed the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for cleansing and forgiveness; as we saw their faces change and light up with great inner joy, we knew the movement was truly of God. No other spirit would glorify the Lord Jesus, or convict men of sin, and lead them to the cross for forgiveness. Men and women were under a deep constraint to see sin as very sinful, no longer making excuses for their ‘weaknesses and failures.’ Coldness of heart, petty jealousies, loss of temper, lack of desire for the things of God, impatience, irritability, all were called sin and confessed in order to be cleansed and forgiven.”

    

  “Each individual entered into a new relationship with God. They became filled with joy. They sang. The singing was out of this world, filled with the joy of revival. Days and nights merged. Everything else was laid aside throughout that first weekend and the following week. God cleansed and revived His church. The joy was infectious, the singing vital and pulsating with life. There was a sense of abandonment in love for God….”

   “Prayer became the central pivot of the work of the revival. Initially directed towards the needs of those of our own number who remained resistant and obdurate, slowly the burden changed, and a deep hunger grew for the salvation of the thousands around us. Witness teams began combing the surrounding villages, telling forth the Good News of salvation. As they told others what God had done for them, and as their faces radiated their newfound joy and peace, hundreds came under conviction of sin, and were won to the Savior. Hardened skeptics and amused scoffers alike were smitten down under the convicting power of the Spirit, unable to resist His compulsion. Many broke down in tears and wept their way to the cross.’’ (Living Sacrifice, by Helen Roseveare pp. 41-43)

   Doesn’t that sound like something you would love to see in our church and our community? Who are those who will get together and pray for revival to begin with us, so that we can take it to those around us? Are you ready? Are we ready to get serious about our church being a “house of prayer?”

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)

PRAY

1.    Dear precious Lord, please help me to have a desire to spend time in prayer for my family, my church, my community, and my nation.

2.    Help me to find others who are willing to cry out to You for revival among those of us who call you our Lord and Savior.

3.    Fill us with Your Spirit today and show us our sins that we need to confess to one another so that we can be part of what You desire to do for our church and for our neighborhoods.

    

    

"Rabboni!"

    

  “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb…… But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb……. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know it was Jesus…..Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). (John 20:1, 11, 14, 16, NKJV)

    On this glorious Easter morning Jesus rose from the dead and showed everyone for all time that He has power over death! He had gone through a horrible and painful ordeal on Thursday and Friday that had culminated in his death, on the cross, on Good Friday afternoon. He had died, just as the prophets had claimed that he would in the Old Testament, (Isaiah 53) and had been the perfect sacrifice for our sins, as all the sins of the world, past, present, and future were paid for by his death. 

    Now, He was showing that He did have power over death, and that He could rise from the dead, and demonstrating that we too will live again after we die! He proved that He is who He claimed to be: the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer, our Savior, and our King! Are you rejoicing today because you know Him as your personal Lord and Savior? Are you living for Him and His kingdom by being obedient to His commands and the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit who lives with in you? If not, what better day than today, to accept Him as your Savior and to begin living for Him! If you have been a Christian for a while, are you living for Him daily or are you more interested in the world and the things that you want in this life? Again, why not focus on what is really important for this short time we have on earth? Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to live through us, and bring glory to our Father in heaven.

    “God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

   We have the very words of Jesus written down for us in the New Testament and the words of the Apostles who were witnesses to what He said and did during His short time on this earth. But, as the author of Hebrews states, Jesus is God’s Son, and God has spoken to us through His Son! 

   Not only did Jesus come and teach us by His words and actions, He told us that He is coming back! He gave these words to His disciples as recorded by Mark: 

   “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. (Mark 13:26-27)

   Personally, I am looking forward to the day that He returns, but while I wait, I am working hard to make sure that everyone in my family and everyone God puts in my path, knows about Jesus and His power to save. I pray that that is your desire also, and if you don’t know Jesus as Lord, then today can be the day that you surrender to Him! You won’t regret it. Surrender today!

PRAY

1.    Lord, thank you for dying on that cruel cross for me and all who will surrender their lives to You. You are the Christ, the Son of God, and You have the power to forgive sin, and resurrect us from the dead!

2.    Lord, help me to order my steps aright, and to spend time today in prayer and in reading Your Scriptures so that I might know You better.

3.    Fill me with Your Spirit today, and help me to live this day for you and every day this week, and for as long as I live, or until You return to take me home.

Love the LORD

   “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, NKJV)

   If you are like me, you tend to forget that the book of Deuteronomy is an awesome book in the Bible that is full of great advice for the people of Israel and for us today. The verse above appears right after chapter five where the Ten Commandments are given, and that magnificent chapter begins with Moses telling the people: “Hear, O Israel, the statues and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.” (Deut. 5:1) He tells the people that they need to learn all the statues and judgments, and then after they have learned them, to be careful to obey them! 

   Then after Moses has given the people the Ten Commandments, he again admonishes them: “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or the left, You shall walk in all the ways in which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land you shall possess.” (Deut. 5:32-33)

    If you have read farther in the Bible you know that the people of Israel did not do so well in following these instructions. They were pretty good at turning to the right or the left from time to time and sometimes even completely getting off the straight path and starting their own path that obeyed some things and disobeyed many others. Sadly we have some of the same problems today. We each think that we can make the decisions about which of God’s laws we want to obey and which we chose to disregard.

   But in spite of their unfaithfulness, God was always faithful! He disciplined them from time to time, but always took them back when they repented of their sins and returned to Him. He showed His supreme attribute of faithfulness when He sent His Son to earth to be the ultimate sacrifice for their sins, and our sins for all time. 

    So what is the key to living for God that has not changed ever since God gave Moses the words to write in Deuteronomy 6:4? We need only go to the New Testament and see what Jesus tells us, when He was questioned by a lawyer of the Pharisees saying: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36)

  “Jesus said to him, “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

 In the gospels of Mark and Luke the story is told also, but Luke follows up with the story of the Good Samaritan when the Pharisee asks, ‘who is my neighbor?’ So there it is in its’ simplest form, for people like you and I. We are to love the LORD our God with everything we have! Our hearts, souls, and minds! With everything that we have? How do we do that? I am sure there are many people much wiser than I that can give you a better explanation, but simply put, I am to put God first in everything I do and say. He is my heavenly Father, and I will do all I can to obey what He has taught me through His Son and the writings of the His prophets and apostles in the Bible. 

    I am going to show how much I love Him by loving all the people He has put in my life because everyone I come in contact with in this life is my neighbor. Yes, even those that are not very likable, or those who are downright mean, or hateful to me. Jesus even tells me that I am to love my enemies! 

   “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

   Wait a minute! Jesus has given me an impossible mission! You are correct, if you are trying to do it on your own strength and power. You and I can do it only if we are filled with the Holy Spirit and we have a genuine desire to love our God with all our heart, soul, and strength. So how are you doing in this loving our God thing? I’ll confess, its hard, no, it is impossible unless I totally surrender my life to Him and ask Him each morning to fill me with His Spirit and work through me to advance His kingdom.

   As we remember what He did on the cross for our sins, and how He has been the faithful One, even when we have not always been so faithful, let us strive to let Him take control of our lives, that we can love him more passionately and the people He has put in our lives today.

PRAY

1.    Dear precious Lord, fill me with Your Spirit right now that I may be used by You to love my spouse, my children, my next door neighbor the way You love me.

2.    Bring to my mind anyone that has been cruel or unjust to me and help me to forgive them and love them just as you did, just before You died on the cross,  and said: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

3.    Help me to be obedient to all that You have instructed me to do in your word, so that I can demonstrate to You and, to those around me, my love for You.