FROM VALUELESS TO VALIANCE

A Poetic Narration of some Hebrew History

Hunger seemed unending

Harsh Midianite thrashings

Poor Israelites threshing

Sparse harvests in hiding

THE GREAT "I AM"

In my own relationship with God, it seems that He always answers my life’s most desperate questions - at first - as though they were “Who…?” questions.

If my hearts cry is, “What are we going to do?”  

His response seems to be “I AM!”

If I ask, “How am I going to make ends meet?”  

He seems to reply, “I AM!”

“Where can I go for an answer to our dilemma?”  

I feel He is saying, “I AM!”

“Why is this happening?”  

I think He says, “I AM!  So trust Me.”

By initially responding with “I AM!” to our requests, I think that God points us to Himself which may be His way of saying, “Trust Me and let Me guide you to each of the answers for your important questions – in My timing - because what you really need is a real and living relationship with Myself.  So don’t run off and become independent with any knowledge, revelation or provision that you receive from Me.” 

Maybe it's just me (Not!) but my desire to be self sufficient often clouds my pursuit of knowing God for Who He really is; which - if we will truly realize it - is our life's greatest opportunity.

Look below at a list of human needs and the I AM statements made by Jesus Christ that apply to them.

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REFRAIN

The Lamb Himself was for us sinners slain

Giving up for all His glorious fame
Taking on the human race's blame

Carrying fully off our guilt and shame

I'll never be the same

Guidelines for Participants in Corporate Prayer Meetings by Eddie Smith

I think the following should be considered when participating in corporate prayer meetings, so that everyone in attendance can be effectively involved.

Guidelines for Participants in Corporate Intercession

by Eddie Smith

·       Come prepared to pray by stirring up your faith.

·       Sit together.

·       Speak up while praying because others cannot agree with what they cannot hear.

·       Pray simply and conversationally, while avoiding "preachy" praying and ministerial tones.

·       Keep prayers concise, clear and to the point.

·       Don't read long passages of Scripture.

·       Don't pray as you would in your private devotionals or pray through your personal prayer list.

·       Ask God; don't explain things to Him.

RESPECT: Wisdom From The Jungle

“Do not fish here!” the villagers angrily told us.  “This is where our ancestors live.”

Puzzled by these words, it was explained to me that these people believed their deceased relatives had come back from the dead to live as catfish in that part of the stream.  Not to be deterred, my African friends tried fishing again a short distance downstream.  To my amazement, we were left alone to enjoy our afternoon pastime even though we were sure that those same “protected catfish” could swim to where we might be able to catch them.

As a 9 year old, I learned from these older youths that rather than mocking, disrespecting and arguing with adults we thought were silly and superstitious, we simply made their requested adjustment and still got to fish a short distance away.

CALVINISM VS. ARMENIANISM

    Many Christian postures today reflect two theologies that some call Calvinism or Armenianism.  According to Wikipedia, Calvinism is named after John Calvin, a French Reformation era theologian and pastor who emphasized the sovereignty of God; who some would accuse of minimizing the importance of man; while Armenianism is named after a Dutch pastor, Jacobus Arminius  from that same time period, who emphasized human responsibility and has been accused of minimizing the importance of God’s sovereignty.

     Debates have gone on for centuries as to which of these two men were - or are - right and many have polarized into opposing camps and denominations.  I do not think we shall ever settle the matter in our lifetime.

     However, I believe we should try to embrace the truth from both of these theological perspectives – and others - whenever we can.  I know it seems contradictory but the Biblical view of God and His ways is that of paradoxes and opposites; e. g. He is one God and yet three…

     Look at some of Jesus’ teachings, like “those who humble themselves shall be exalted” and those who lose will gain and those who gain will lose, or that we must die to live, etcetera, etc. 

What spiritual paradoxes He proclaimed!  “In the world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer…….”  We could go on quoting Him some more but I will not belabor the point. 

     On the natural side, we know that God created electricity which involves polar opposites, being both positive and negative at the same time.  To be balanced in our thinking we must keep things like this in mind.

     I live with this kind of reality every single day, having been married to my polar opposite since the end of ’77. It seems that for two to become one in marriage requires that both parties must die to self.  This is a paradox that can purify the selfish. (With me, this process is ongoing).  Perhaps God’s purpose of opposing realities - like electricity and marriage - is to shock the impurities out of our life as we learn to embrace them all wholeheartedly even when we do not understand them very well.                                   The bottom line of my purpose here is to appeal for balanced thinking so that we do not minimize important things that may be equally true just to satisfy our western mindsets.                                                      
    Water can be soft and yet it can also be hard. Recognizing this fact can prevent us pain while using it can bring us pleasure. Iced tea anyone?                       
    A story  is told of two men, one a hyper-Armenian and the other a hyper-Calvinist.  They both walk across the same field – at different times - and they both step on the upturned teeth of a rake which flipped up and hit them in the nose.                                                    

     The Armenian yelled,  “Man I am an idiot, why couldn’t  I see that?  I am never going to do that again.”  Punishing himself is a norm because everything is his fault unless he can find someone else to blame.  Often this kind of thinking can rob us of the joy of fully trusting God because it can place too much responsibility on our shoulders and even lock us into shame.                                                   

     Later the Calvinist walked across the same field and stepped on the upturned teeth of the same rake and it flipped up and hit him in the  nose, he picked up the rake and said “Man I am sure glad that part of my life is over!”

EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE

Dear Friend,

I want to share an amazing international on-line outreach opportunity with you!

With 90 websites in 11 languages, Campus Crusade For Christ presents the good news of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, millions of times every year. (2 million people conduct spiritual searches on the Internet everyday).

In 2008, over 3 million indicated that they wanted to become a Christian and 669,000+ signed up for on-line discipleship. (I know that being discipled face to face is the ideal situation but in many place around the globe this may not always be possible).

This opportunity before us today continues to exist because their current 3,000 or so volunteers are not enough to communicate - one on one - with all those who are waiting for discipleship.

After being screened and trained - on-line - those who volunteer to help can begin with their first person to disciple almost immediately and they can add more persons - if they wish to do so - at their own pace. The utmost care is taken to protect everyone’s personal information.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Many did not accept Jesus invitation when He said, “Follow Me.” 
Some simply because they were distracted by life, 
e. g. a purchase they were making, 
A loved one who was aging, 
A future spouse they were dating, 
A cake they were baking, 
A deal they were making, 
etcetera, etcetera, etc. 
They missed the opportunity of a lifetime 
All because of good things. 

What am I missing today because of good things?

TROUBLEMAKER BLUES

If Trouble could talk, what would it say?

Hello, my name is Trouble

I've got troubles of my own

These believers are making me grumble

their endurance is making me groan

The holy people of the Holy Bible

believe all things work out for their good

My threats of death, they call great gain

things just ain't working out like they should