Please come!

    In 1998 a friend of mine, Richard Johnson, asked me if I would join him in taking a year-long course for missions pastors that was given by First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia. He said that it would require two weekends there and the rest would be home study and reading and then culminating by taking a mission team from my church to one of the countries in the 10-40 window. (Countries 10 degrees north and 40 degrees south of the equator.) Mainly the countries of northern Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia, countries where there are very few Christians.

    I spoke to my pastor, Larry Harmon, and he agreed to support me and allow me to form a mission team to take to one of these countries. After the first weekend training session I came back and talked to pastor about the experience and we both agreed to pray that God would lead us to the country He wanted us to go. The next weekend he told me that there was a visiting pastor from India, Balasingh Pandian, that one of the Sunday School classes supported would be visiting our church that Sunday and would I like to meet him? We met in the pastor’s office and pastor told Pastor Balisingh that we were going to send a team overseas the next summer and that India was one of the countries we were considering. Pastor Balisingh’s countenance changed dramatically as he looked into our pastor’s eyes and said. “Please come!” He repeated that phrase several times during the short time we met.

   A week or so later pastor asked me if I had had any guidance from the Lord about where to take the team. I told him that every time I prayed all I could see was Pastor Balisingh saying: “Please come!” He said that he had the same experience! “I guess the Lord is telling us to go to India!” We both agreed.

   That conversation got the ball rolling and we contacted Pastor Balisingh who had returned to India at that time and told him we would bring a advance team in December and the main team in June the following year and asked him what type of things would he like our team to do for him. He responded that he would like teaching for the pastors in 50 house churches he supervised and that we would have 4 days of out door evangelistic meetings in his hometown of Paramacudi and in two other towns nearby.

  The first team we took in June 1999 consisted of 10 people including myself and Pastor Harmon. Since then, trips have continued almost annually (with two exceptions) for 17 years. Our next team leaves this week with 13 people and will be preaching to pastors, their wives, and provide a VBS type program for children.

   God has opened the way for this partnership and has sustained it thus far by His grace and His mercy and we are thankful that God has allowed our church to be a part of this ministry in India. We will always remember His call to us through Pastor Balasingh: “Please come!”  To Him be all the glory and honor.

Pray:

1.     God help me to be receptive when you bring opportunities to me to help others or to present the gospel to those who do not know you.

2.     Open the eyes of my heart to see people as You see them and to love them with Your love.

3.     Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of Your plans to make sure Your name is known among the nations.

The Book of Life

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life: but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear; let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:5-6)

   When Miriam and I were in the Philippines we were able to meet the parents of one of my students who worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They were from Australia and were very gifted in translating Christian literature from English into Tagalog, the native Philippine language of Luzon and some other islands of the country. (Mindanao and some other islands have different languages.) Among other literature, they translated My Daily Bread into Tagalog every month.

   The father told me a story of a time when one of the radio broadcasts that his ministry was involved in was broadcasting in Thailand and the lesson being taught was about the necessity of being saved and having your name written in the Book of Life. The message was broadcast over a large area and included many areas where people have never heard the gospel message or even the name of Jesus spoken in their lifetime.

     Several months after the broadcast, there arrived at the mission headquarters in Manila a large box from a small village in Thailand. In the box were several ledgers with the names of everyone in the village and the surrounding countryside. The letter that accompanied the ledgers said that they had heard the radio program about the Book of Life and asked if the mission organization would please add the names of these villagers to the Book!

   At first the Wycliffe people were amused at the misunderstanding of the message but then realized what it was that God was telling them: these people are ready to receive someone to tell them the gospel!  They must dispatch missionaries to this village as soon as possible, and they did! Over the next few years hundreds of people in that region of Thailand heard the gospel and gave their lives to Jesus!

    The day that you accepted Christ your name was written in the Lambs Book of Life! It is written in permanent ink and can never be erased! It is something you can rejoice in everyday!  Remember that each beat of your heart and each breath you take is a gift from God and He loves you with a love that is beyond comprehension. Spend this day in service to the One who “will never leave you nor forsake you”  (Hebrews 13:5) and has “inscribed you on the palms of My hand.” (Isaiah 49:16)

   “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” (Philippians 4:3)

PRAY:

1.     Lord, thank you for saving me and writing my name on the palm of Your hand and in the Lambs Book of Life.

2.     Help me today to pray for those of my family and friends who do not know You and need to have their names written in Your book also.

Help me to find ways to talk to them about You and to demonstrate with my life what a great  and loving God You are!!

A loyal soldier

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

    This verse has always meant a lot to me. Probably, since I spent 25 years on active duty as a soldier it struck a sensitive cord in my heart. It is easy to envision myself as a soldier who has enlisted in the Lord’s Army and to understand the significance of that enlistment. However, I know that it is hard for someone who has never served in the military to understand the importance of discipline, loyalty, and obedience. But I do believe that it should be easy to understand that it is a war that you have signed up for when you gave your life to Christ and not a Sunday stroll in the park.

   Oswald Chambers, was not a soldier, (although he served  as a member of the YMCA with the British Army in Egypt during World War I), but he can explain the importance of serving as a soldier for the Lord better than anyone I have ever read. Here is what he has to say about Paul’s advice to Timothy:

   “The first requirement of the worker is discipline voluntarily entered into. It is easy to be passionate, easy to be thrilled by spiritual influences, but it takes a heart in love with Jesus Christ to put the feet in His footprints, and to square the life to a steady ‘going up to Jerusalem’ with Him. Discipline is the one thing the modern Christian knows nothing of; we won’t stand discipline nowadays. God has given me an experience of His life and grace; therefore, I am a law unto myself.

    The discipline of a worker is not in order to develop his own life, but for the purposes of his Commander. The reason there is so much failure is because we forget we are here for one thing, loyalty to Jesus Christ; otherwise we have no business to have taken the vows of God upon us. If a soldier is not prepared to be killed, he has no business to have enlisted as a soldier. The only way to keep true to God is by a steady persistent refusal to be interested in Christian work and to be interested alone in Jesus Christ. …..

    Our Lord Himself is the example of a disciplined life. He lived a holy life by sacrificing Himself to His Father; His words and His thinking were holy because He submitted His intelligence to His Father’s word, and He worked the works of God because He steadily submitted His will to His Father’s will; and as is the Master, so is the disciple.” (My Utmost Devotional Bible, reading 302 by Oswald Chambers.)

Pray:

1.     Lord, thank you for allowing me to enlist as a soldier in Your army. You are my Commander and my desire is to be obedient to Your commands.

2.     Help me to always to keep my eyes focused on You and Your word and to not get sidetracked with things that look good but are not directed by You.

3.     Fill me with Your Spirit today so that I will be receptive to Your leading and help me to be quick to obey whenever You direct my way.

       

My refuge and fortress

  

  “I will say unto the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him will I trust.’” (Psalms 91:2)

    When my sons Daniel and Adam were In Iraq in 2003 and 2005 they were infantry platoon leaders and had to deal with many difficult and dangerous situations. Their platoons were well trained and armed to accomplish every mission given to them but there was always danger, and the fear of the unknown that was present in every mission they took on. They were able to handle the everyday stress of combat and operations in strange territory because they had faith in God and whenever they had some down time they could be strengthened by the Scriptures and their time alone with God.

    On Christmas Eve 2003, Dan was able to attend a worship service provided by the battalion chaplain and as he was waiting for the service to begin, he was approached by the Battalion Command Sergeant Major (CSM). “You know lieutenant,” began the  CSM, “I really do like ‘Palms’ 91!” Daniel replied, without correcting the CSM on his pronunciation of the book of Psalms: “That is a good one Sergeant Major, I like it also.”

   

   Yes it is a good one for us in the daily battles that we may encounter also! My son Adam said that he read the promises of Psalms 91 every time he left the safety of his operating base to conduct a mission in Iraq! The psalmist tells us:

   “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day. Nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.” (verses 5-7)

The psalmist continues:

      “Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High your dwelling place, No evil will befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways, In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.” (verses 9-12)

Finally the author tells us God’s response:

    “Because he has set His love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” (verses14-16)

   Wow! He will deliver me from my enemies! God will answer me when I call upon Him. He will be with me in my troubles! How great is my God to those who honor Him and serve Him in this life! That is the God we serve. That is the one who saves us and adopts us as His sons and daughters. Praise His Name!

Pray:

1.     Lord, You are my shield and strong tower. I come to You to protect me from the evil and danger in this world. You are my refuge!

2.     Lord, help me to always depend on you to guide my paths by staying in Your Word and spending time with you daily.

3.     Lord, help me to look around me and see those who don’t know what an awesome God you are and help me to point them to You.

       

Somali Christian

    “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6: 14-15, NKJV)

      Azzam (Not his real name) is the son of a Somali Warlord and has served his father as a pirate. Some time ago Jesus appeared to him in a dream and on another occasion spoke to him and he saw a vision of a bloody cross on his bed. He took his mother to see the cross but she only told him that he must leave home immediately because his father would kill him. He fled to another village and was taken in by friends. A few days later a package was delivered to the house he was staying at. The deliveryman said that it was from his father. He opened the package to find the remains of his mother and a photo of his two brothers threateningly holding knives over her. The next day he took his mother’s remains and buried her at sea so that they would not be dug up and fed to the dogs by his father.

    Azzam became a Christian and started a house church in a village even father away. The first group of followers saw six of the new converts taken out of their houses and executed for being Christians. But Azzam remained their leader and they continued to grow into a group of twelve. Azzam knew that they needed Bibles and that there were people in Kenya, south of Somalia, who could provide used ones. The only problem was how to get them into the country. He came up with a plan. He would hide under the body of a dead person in a coffin being transported by truck to Kenya and then return the same way under another corpse with Bibles also.

    No Muslim would open a coffin to see what was in it although it was a long trip and sometimes two corpses would be in the coffin when it reached its destination. Assam was successful on his trip and when he met again with his house church with a Bible for each member, this is what he said: “The Bibles are well-worn. Our Kenyan brothers and sisters have read them for years. You should have seen their joy as they gave them to me. They send them with their love.” (Killing Christians by Tom Doyle, p10)

     There is more to Azzam’s story! At a later date he confronted his brothers who had murdered his mother on the street of their hometown. He told them that he had come to forgive them! He said: “ You need to know that I love you and have prayed for both of you ever since I saw your picture with my mother. Jesus filled my heart  with compassion for you. You need Him—just like I did. He can forgive murderers. His love is greater than anything you’ve done.” (ibid, p12)

    Imagine the surprise when he brought his two brothers to the next house church meeting and presented them as two new believers!

    Azzam is still living and telling people about Jesus in Somalia. It is a dangerous place still, but he knows that is what God has called him to do. He says,

   “The Horn of Africa is an evil place. Satan has a stronghold on families, government, education, and of course, Islam. The devil fights at every turn, but God has the upper hand in the way He uses any harm thrown at us by demonic powers. Patience is a spiritual fruit I have learned with difficulty but value deeply…..Through trials, God has taught me patience. Trials line up to test us. Just as we are finished with one, another is waiting for us. Remember us here in Somalia in your prayers. We send our love in Christ. (Ibid, pp15-16)

  “Therefore you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

PRAY:

1.     Lord please strengthen the persecuted Christians in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, North Korea, and Africa.

2.     Lord, help me to be faithful to tell others about You, even if I am rejected or made fun of. You are the only one I need to please.
3.Lord lead me this day to know you better, and to be more obedient to the things You are teaching me by Your Spirit and through Your Holy Scriptures.

Jeremiah, God's prophet

   “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying” ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then said I: ‘Ah Lord God! Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’ But the LORD said to me: ‘Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you.’ Says the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:1-8)

    Jeremiah was a prophet of God to the people of Judah for 40 years. He was obedient to the difficult mission that our Lord gave him; to preach to a people who would not listen to him. God gave him 52 chapters to write in the book of Jeremiah  and also 5 more in the book of Lamentations. His name, in Hebrew, means Yahweh Appoints or Sends and he was sent to preach to a nation under the judgment of God.

   He has been called the weeping prophet because what he prophesied for the nation of Judah was total destruction and captivity for a nation that had turned away from God and refused to repent and return to their Maker and Lord. The words he preaches in chapter 31 are especially moving and powerful, words that have the same need to be preached today:

    “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all you heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

      “’Behold, the days are coming says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,’ says the LORD.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people……For I will  forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

   

     If you are a born again believer these words apply to you just as they did to the righteous remnant of Judah, thousands of years ago! Put your trust in Him and not your own wisdom or intelligence. He is our Creator, our Savior, our Master, and our King. Let’s now look at what God then tells Jeremiah and us through His prophet in the next verses.

      “Thus says the LORD who made it , the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:2-3)


    God has pardoned us of our sins if we have repented and accepted Jesus as our Lord. He tell us that “their sin I will remember no more,’ and “Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things.” Call to Him today! Thank Him for taking your sin away and remembering it no more.

"If we are in God's order the thing will go forward ; if we are not in His order, it won't." (Oswald Chambers, Conformed)

PRAY:

1.     Lord, thank you for reminding me that no matter what the difficult task, You are with me to carry me through the fiery trial or problem.

2.     Help me today to spend time with You in prayer and the study of Your Scriptures so that I may be prepared for the day ahead.
3. Lord, be with our nation as we struggle with all the problems we have brought upon ourselves by our disobedience to Your Commandments."

Prayer of Esther

   “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16, NKJV)

     I’m sure that almost everyone reading this knows the story of Esther. She was a Jewess living in Persia and had been brought up by her uncle Mordecai after her father and mother had died. When King Ahasuerus of Persia had put away his wife because she had disobeyed his command to come before his guests at a party, Esther had been selected by the King to be his new queen.  Uncle Mordecai had angered Haman, one of the important princes of the kingdom, and Haman had talked the king into killing, not only Mordecai, but all the Jews in the kingdom on a predetermined date.

      Mordecai then went to Esther and told her that perhaps she had been selected to be the queen for “such a time as this,’ and she had devised a plan to tell the king about this evil plot that Haman had devised. She was very clever in setting up a banquet for both the king and Haman and when the king was in a good mood she told the king that she was a Jewess and that the evil Haman wanted her and all the Jews killed. He wanted revenge upon Mordecai and the entire Jewish nation so he could get all their wealth.

    The king had Haman and his family hanged on the gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai and the Jews throughout the kingdom were given the right to defend themselves against those who came to destroy them. They were ready and scored a great victory over those who tried to kill them. Mordecai was elevated to a position of great power and authority and the Jewish people celebrate this miracle of salvation today in the Feast of Purim.

  

   Each of us has his or her own story. We are not queens or kings but God has placed us in a job, a family, a school, a church, or town. He has placed us there for a reason and He has prepared us, and is still preparing us, for something that is part of His plan.  In the coming days He has called us to be salt and light wherever we live and work. He has prepared us for “such a time as this’ and we need to fulfill the role He has assigned to us. This week let us lift up prayer those in roles of leadership of our churches, communities, cities, states, and nation.

Pray:

1.     Let us be faithful to lift up the leaders of our country prayer daily as they seek to guide our country down the paths it should go both domestically and internationally.

2.     That Your name will be lifted up and glorified by everything we do.