The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth

The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth

Here is another great hymn of praise from Our Own Hymn-Book – A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public, Social and Private Worship. It was compiled by the great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and used at his church, The Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England:

The Lord is King; lift up thy voice,
   O earth, and all ye heaven rejoice;
From world to world the joy shall ring,
   The Lord Omnipotent is King.

The Lord is King: who then shall dare
   Resist His will, distrust His care,
Or murmur at His wise decrees,
   Or doubt His royal promises?

The Lord is King: child of the dust,
   The Judge of all the earth is just;
Holy and true are all His ways,
   Let every creature speak His praise.

He reigns! Ye saints, exalt your strains:
   Your God is King, Your Father reigns;
And He is at the Father’s side,
   The Man of love, the Crucified!

Come, make you wants, your burdens known;
   He will present them at the throne;
And angel-bands are waiting there,
   His messages of love to bear.

Oh! When His wisdom can mistake,
   His might decay, His love forsake,
Then may His children cease to sing,
The Lord Omnipotent is King! – Josiah Conder 1824

Aren’t you thankful this morning that the The Lord Omnipotent is King? Take some time to reflect on this truth as you worship Him today – your AUDIENCE OF ONE! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Jeremiah 14:17; Psalm 27; Proverbs 31

Compass Pointers: What is impossible to God? Not that which is difficult to His power, but that which is contrary to His nature. Ambrose

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 31:30; Level 2: Proverbs 31:28-31

Anchored to the Rock: Men of God are always men of prayer. Henry T. Mahen

Superlatives

Superlatives

Think about this today:

The most destructive habit: WORRY
The greatest joy: GIVING
The greatest loss: SELF-RESPECT
The most satisfying work: HELPING OTHERS
The ugliest personality trait: SELFISHNESS
The most endangered species: DEDICATED LEADERS
The greatest natural resources: OUR YOUTH
The greatest problem to overcome: FEAR
The greatest “shot in the arm”: ENCOURAGEMENT
The most effective sleeping pill: PEACE OF MIND
The most crippling disease: EXCUSES
The most powerful force in life: LOVE
The most dangerous enemy: A GOSSIP
The most incredible computer: THE BRAIN
The worst thing to be without: HOPE
The deadliest weapon: THE TONGUE
The two most power-filled words: I CAN
The greatest asset: FAITH
The most worthless emotion: SELF-PITY
The most beautiful attire: A SMILE
The most prized possession: INTEGRITY
The most powerful channel of communication: PRAYER
The most contagious spirit: ENTHUSIASM

The cool part of all the above? YOU CHOOSE! Think about it. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Jeremiah 10-13; Psalm 26; Proverbs 30

Compass Pointers: Behavior is a mirror in which everyone displays his own image. Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Went from a Son to a Father

Went From a Son to a Father 

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:1-3 (ESV) 

This morning I am going do something that I really haven’t done before and that is comment on one of Bill Welte’s Freedom Fighters. I mean who does this guy think he is? Just because, every once in a while, Oswald Chambers hit’s him in right between the eyes with something doesn’t mean he gets to do to me. All kidding aside Bill really touched my heart with an F.F. on a recent Saturday morning. It had been a rough week for me as I just started my new job, ran our Church’s soundboard during our Vacation Bible School at night and had to deal with my son’s knuckleheadedness from a distance. 

My son serves on the summer staff at America’s Keswick and he is well liked by those around him. But every so often he does something…just because and I can’t figure out why. My son committed an act of knuckleheadedness recently that lead to him receiving the appropriate disciplining. Now of course he did not notify his parental units that he was going to commit this act of said knuckleheadedness and that this appropriate discipline was going to create a bit of a stir in our home. So as he was home recently, sleeping off his mother’s home cooking in the wee early morning hours, I sat at my computer and checked my e-mails, opened the one I get from Keswick and then I read Bill Welte’s F.F. titled, “The Prayer of a Father.” POW!!! Right between the eyes!! 

It was ten days after his eighth birthday when Kevin watched me enter the Colony and I was ashamed of myself because of what I had become to him…a broken father. And even though during my stay at the Colony he managed to keep his young self together, I still felt my failure to him. My own father had his short comings as well. He was heavy drinker, smoker, somewhat distant to me and I swore I was never going to be like him. In that I had succeeded I wasn’t like him…I had become far worse than he ever could have imagined. After my time at the Colony I was able to go back to my father and share what happened to me but in time I lost him to the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease and then he passed away during an operation that he needed. 

In Bill’s F.F. he listed all those things that I pray my own son will take to heart. To be strong enough to know when he weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid. Proud and unbending in defeat, humble and gentle in victory and that to know himself is the foundation of all true knowledge. To be reared not in the paths of ease or comfort but under the stress of challenges and the spur of difficulties. To master himself before he thinks he can master other men. To stand up during the storms and have compassion for those who fail. To reach into the future and not forget the past. To quote Bill here directly, “And after all these are his, add, I pray, enough sense of humor so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself seriously – a touch of humility, so that he will always remember the simplicity of true greatness – the open mind of wisdom, the meekness of true strength.” 

I will never know if this was a prayer of my own father as he wasn’t exactly the church going type but I do know that he wanted me to better myself. I could see that as he enjoyed being with his grandson after I came home from the Colony…on my daughters sixth birthday (she is my “chip off the ole’ block”, just so you know). So I guess in the long run I will have to come to terms with the fact that there will be times where Kevin is going to be a knucklehead. It will be his learning curve but I am still going to love him in it. After all, he is not only my son, he is stewardship from my Heavenly Father and that in itself is AWESOME! 

Oh by the way, the part of Bill’s F.F. that brought it all home to my heart is the following…”Then, I his father, will dare in the sacred recesses of my own heart to whisper – “I have not lived in vain.” Santo!! – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular Freedom Fighter contributor 

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Jeremiah 7-9; Psalm 25; Proverbs 29

Compass Pointers: Love is seen in what it does. Gladys Aylward

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: To pray well is the better half of study. Martin Luther

His Nature and Our Motives

His Nature and Our Motives

“ … unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:20

Oswald Chambers had a good grasp on the Keswick Message – a life of sustained victory when we allow Christ to live HIS live through us …

The characteristics of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his MOTIVES, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God.

The ONLY thing that exceeds right-doing is RIGHT-BEING. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see NOTHING to rebuke.

Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke? Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and simple as a child. The purity that God demands is IMPOSSIBLE unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through HIS redemption.

NO ONE can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations – He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by HIS nature which HE places within us.

The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that HE changes our heredity. He does not change human nature – HE changes its source, and thereby its motives as well. – My Utmost for His Highest – July 24 reading

Today, my brother, allow HIM to live HIS life THROUGH you!. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Jeremiah 4-6; Psalm 24; Proverbs 28

Compass Pointers: The one misery of man is self-will, the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills. To yield them up to God is rest and peace. What disturbs us in this world is not "trouble," but our opposition to trouble. The true source of all that frets and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but in the existence of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things.  

Alexander MacLaren

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon. Martin Luther

OUR VICTORY MARCH  

“Now thanks be unto God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”  (2 Corinthians 2:14)

            Apparently the Apostle Paul had been a spectator at one or more of the parades marking the victory of Roman armies over barbarian attacks.  These were quite impressive to him, and he used the memory of them to provide an illustration of the victorious Christian life.

            He expresses his thanks to the Lord, using a word for thanks which embraces the idea of grace.  This indicates that the victory he describes is a gift and not something to be earned or merited.

            As he develops the picture of a victory march, he declares that the spiritual march differs from the military in that it is to be continuous.  He pictures the conquering general either riding in a chariot or marching at the head of his troops.  He is preceded by people carrying incense pots.  Behind the general would be a line of prisoners, probably chained to one another.  These would be followed by the army.

            In the illustration, Jesus Christ is the conqueror who leads His people in a victory march into their home city.  It is possible to consider believers either as conquered captives constrained by his love (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Romans 6:16-17) or members of His army (see 2 Timothy 2:3).

            Whether prisoner or soldier, we shall bear the fragrance of victory like the marchers whose clothing retained the odor of the incense.  As believer take the position of following in close association with the victorious Christ, the aroma of the knowledge of Him will be diffused from their lives wherever they go. Pastor William A. Raws is the grandson on our founder, and served for 51 years at America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Jeremiah 1-3; Psalm 23; Proverbs 27

Compass Pointers: The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past - we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude - I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you - we are in charge of our attitudes. Charles (Chuck) Swindoll

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: I have to hurry all day to get time to pray. Martin Luther

SPAM in Parenthesis (Part Two)

SPAM in Parenthesis  (Part Two) 

^“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matt 6:31-34 (ESV) 

What do I know about selling insurance? The answer is an easy one for me. I know absolutely nothing about it and I couldn’t figure out why I was getting job offers to become an insurance agent. I did look up one of those companies and they didn’t sound like they were too sound with their reputation judging by the harsh words written in the review column. So what was I going to do about my job search? My wife would encourage me to keep my head up but I had some folks that thought their “Pull yourself up by your boot straps Mister and walk” was the battle cry I needed. Well it wasn’t and I moved from discouragement into anger and frustration. 

But I kept looking anyway. I have teenage children that needed me not to give up on this and I wasn’t going to let them watch me just quit. So I tried a different approach…I went back to the New Jersey One-stop and asked for their help. And this was a handy ace in the hole…having a wife that just happens to works there. She was able to connect me with the kind of folks that stay in the know on how to find a job, some of them are Christians. I was given an interview opportunity with a program that, unfortunately, had been cut out of the State budget right after my interview. But I kept at it. 

I had put a resume online on the CareerBuilder website and applied for something that said “Production Supervisor.” In the meantime I set up an appointment to rewrite my resume with the One-Stop. The day before that appointment I had been looking through my e-mails when I was prompted to open my SPAM folder. I usually just hit delete button because it is full of stuff I don’t want to read. So I clicked on it and I saw an e-mail titled “Interview” and was once again prompted to open it. It was a simple message with two phone numbers and if I was interested to call. So I did…long story, short, I got a job. But God doesn’t just end it there, oh no!! 

The day after my last interview with my new employer I received a text from my wife. She is telling me that as she is doing her Bible study from Max Lucado’s new book “Fearless” she has run into her life verse. She gives me the address and it is from the Matthew, chapter six, at verses 31-34 and then tells me that during our dark times, before I went into the Colony of Mercy, she would lean heavy on these verses. Well I texted back to her that this is conformation on what has just happened to me that had started back when Pastor Tony Cuellar told me that, “The Lord has given you a parenthesis.” Then I went back in my Freedom Fighter files to see what I had written when this journey first began. It sure sounded like I was able to take it on the chin at first but as time went on I didn’t do too good, BUT HE DID NOT FAIL ME!! 

I guess I had my moments where it seemed as if I wasn’t doing the right things but as my wife told me I kept doing what God wanted me to do. I am not too sure how this job will go but I am quite certain that is of God and not of anything I could have done on my own. I had to surrender my efforts over to the people that God put in my path and deal with some things that I just don’t normally do. The lesson I have learned out of this whole experience is that God’s promises work better when you have surrendered yourself over to His will no matter where you are along your path. I wonder how many of us would open our SPAM folder if the Holy Spirit prompted us to so? If you have done so then AMEN but if you haven’t and you are in a parenthesis moment in your life why not try the SPAM folder…it’s just not for dinner anymore. – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular contributor to Freedom Fighter 

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Zephaniah 1-3; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 26

Compass Pointers: God is not an elusive dream or a phantom to chase, but a divine person to know. He does not avoid us, but seeks us. When we seek Him, the contact is instantaneous. Neva Coyle

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: God expects us to be orderly. He expects us to manage our time, to discipline ourselves, to prepare well-planned programs, but if we could learn to pray first and plan afterward, how different would be our homes, our churches, our Bible studies, whatever we are doing for Christ. Evelyn Christenson

SPAM in Parenthesis Part One

SPAM in Parenthesis Part One

^“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”   Matt 6:31-34 (ESV)

 “The Lord has given you a parenthesis” Pastor Tony Cuellar had said to me as we made our way to lunch. Tony knows this place in Vineland N. J. that serves a killer Hispanic lunch (for the record…I love Hispanic cuisine) and I had just got done telling him that I had lost my job. As I drove home from that lunch I was comfortable with knowing that, at times, our heavenly Father puts us in a set of parenthesis to give us rest. For those who keep up with Freedom Fighters, you might remember that I had written about losing my job back in December and how a message appeared on my smartphone letting me know that God was in control. It is an awesome promise of God that we find in Luke 12:29-31.

Well at the beginning of the parenthesis things just clicked. Christmas was provided for and it seemed as if the New Year was going to start off with blessings. But all these little mole hills started to appear on my nice, pristine narrow path and I would trip over them once in a while. The first one was when I found out that a brother-in-Christ was hired to replace me. Wasn’t his fault, we talked it over, praised God for His wisdom but it didn’t sit well with me. I got over it as time went by and then came the letters from the N.J. Department of Labor telling me I needed to go to these gatherings at the New Jersey One-Stop.

They were not easy to sit through I can assure you of that. If you want to hear how much the secular world can complain about so little…go to the One-Stop. I would rather poke myself in the eye with a broken plastic fork than to go back and re-hash my experience there, so enough said on that subject. I will say that during this time period I was blessed with the privilege of serving in Housekeeping at America’s Keswick and by the fellowship with the men of the Colony as well as the Keswick staff. But it was time to get to work on looking for work and that’s when the mountains formed from the mole hills. I wasn’t as braced for the kind of impact that was going to not happen…actually finding a job.

Don’t get me wrong, there were offers but they all seemed to take me out of the ministry work that God had placed me in. Dear brothers tried to assure me that by taking one of these jobs it would only be for a season but it just didn’t sit well with me. Then it flat lined and I was slowly sinking into discouragement with the wonderful world of job searching. The classified section was like reading the comic’s and I would look on these new online employment websites, place my resume and then receive offers to sell insurance. They would tell me how I had all the requirements for the position but I just couldn’t do the math on how a guy with a manufacturing background could sell insurance.

Well that’s all I can cover for this Freedom Fighter today. But what needs to be conveyed here is that the promise God made was the God promised kept. During this time period God still provided. Sometimes it came at the eleventh hour but it still came. And no matter what was put on the table or how close some of the bills came due…God provided. I will finish this tomorrow but I want you all to know that out of that provision our family was still able to tithe. Who was I to hold back, but I will admit this to you all…it was a hard thing to do. Until tomorrow then? – Bill Welte is the President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Chronicles 34-35; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 25

Compass Pointers: “What is the promise for? A promise is given to me so that I may know intelligently what God has planned for me, what God will give me and so what to claim. Those are the promises and they are intelligent directions. They rest upon the character and ability of the One who made them.”  The Tozer Pulpit Set                                                                                                                       Volume 1, Book 3

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: It’s so easy to promise to pray for people, or just plan to pray for people, and forget. So many afflictions, so many tragedies or desperate hopes that cry out for intercession. Only an instant of my time, only a few works, a thought – and who knows? It may be the only word of prayer that person will get. – Marjorie Holmes

Confession of Faith

Confession of Faith

I came across this “Confession of Faith” in the back of the “Praise” hymnal published by Zondervan.

I believe, O Lord, in You.
Father, Word, Spirit, One God;
that by your Fatherly love and power
all things were created;
that by Your goodness and love to man
all things have been gathered into one
in Your Word.
Who, for us men and for our salvation,
become flesh,
was conceived, was born,
suffered, was crucified,
died, was buried,
descended, rose again,
ascended, sat down,
will return, will repay;
that by the forth-shining and operation of Your Holy Spirit
has been called out of the whole world a peculiar people,
into a commonwealth of faith in the truth
and holiness of life,
in which we are partakers of the communion of saints
and forgiveness of sins in this world,
and in which we look for the resurrection of the flesh
and the life everlasting
in the world to come.
This most holy faith once delivered to the saints
I believe, O Lord;
help my unbelief,
increase my little faith!

You are reading this on Sunday morning. I am writing this on Tuesday morning. As I was typing this, the words were jumping off the page because I am in the midst of a very discouraging morning and I needed these words! Thank You, Lord.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day. I appreciate you, my brothers. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

 GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Kings 22-23; Psalm 21; Proverbs 24

Compass Pointers: Don't pray to escape trouble. Don't pray to be comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth praying for. Samuel M. Shoemaker

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 30:5-6 ; Level 2: Proverbs 30:5-9

Anchored to the Rock: Until we believe that prayer is indeed a real and highly significant activity, that it does in fact reach beyond space and time to the God who is actually there, we will never acquire the habits of worship and intercession. In order to gain these habits, we must make a conscious effort to overcome the part of us that thinks that praying is not a natural part of life. Gordon MacDonald

Join us this afternoon for a concert featuring Brother in Grace, a southern gospel quartet. 2:30 PM is the hymnsing followed by the concert at 3:00 PM.  Tonight is the beginning of Victory Week #2 -- Pastor Bob Alderman will be sharing God's Word at 7:00 PM.

The Prayer of a Father

The Prayer of a Father

Build me a son, O Lord, who be strong enough to know when he is weak,
and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid.
One who will be proud and unbending in defeat but humble and gentle in victory.

A son who will know that to know himself is the foundation stone of all true knowledge.

Rear him, I pray, not in the paths of easy and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenges. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm … here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men. Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high. One who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep. One who will reach into future, and yet not forget the past.

And after all these are his, add, I pray, enough sense of humor so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself seriously – a touch of humility, so that he will always remember the simplicity of true greatness – the open mind of wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then, I his father, will dare in the sacred recesses of my own heart to whisper – “I have not lived in vain.”

Great prayer for our sons, men! I am so thankful for my four sons – Josh, Zach, Jon and Garrett! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Nahum 1-3; Psalm 20; Proverbs 23

Compass Pointers: It is idleness that creates impossibilities; and where people don't care to do anything, they shelter themselves under a permission that it cannot be done. Robert Smith

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:5; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: Ultimately there is no better index of one’s spiritual state and condition than one’s prayers. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Investing in What Will Endure

Investing in What Will Endure

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:4

This is a great teaching on how we view our relationship to the world. I really appreciated the insights that Dr. Glyn Evans shares in his daily devotional, Daily with the King:

The disciple of Christ must eventually come to terms with the world. By “coming to terms” I do not mean compromise; I mean a way of dealing with it.

First I must recognize what the world is; and then I must learn how to conquer it. What the worlds IS can best be described by defining what is NOT, it is “not from the Father” (1 John 2:16). The world’s basic motives, instincts, and attitudes do not originate from God. The world’s BEHAVIOR, therefore, cannot be of God. If I have been born again into the family of God, I should not be surprised to find that this world is “no friend to grace.”

As to conquering the world I must remember that “the world and its desires pass away (1 John 2:17). That non-durability is a characteristic of the world. Many aspects of the world are sinful and temporary, but many other aspects are good and temporary. The only way I can conquer the world is to invest myself in something that will endure.

The “eternal life” of the Bible is more than endless existence; it is qualitative existence as well. To have eternal life is to “know … God” (John 17:3). But to know God in the Bible sense is to be personally acquainted with His qualities such as love, mercy, and righteousness. Those are qualities that have NO limit, not ends. 

To say that I own three houses means that one day I shall have to leave them; but to say I am filled with the love of God means that I have something that will last forever.

The Bible urges me on to possess that which I cannot leave or lose. The biblical “fool” is always the man who sacrifices the “far off” for the near at hand. Wow! The opposite is shining victory. “To him who overcomes [the world], I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of Paradise.” Revelation 2:7

Wow – I don’t want to be a “biblical fool” that is willing to sacrifice the “far off” for the near at hand. That is certainly something to think about today. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Chronicles 32-33; Psalm 19:7-14; Proverbs 22

Compass Pointers: Some Christians seem to think that all the requirements of a holy life are met when they are very active in successful Christian work. And because they do so much for the Lord in public they feel a liberty to be cross and ugly and un-Christ like in private. This is not the sort of Christian life I am depicting. If we are to walk as Christ walked, we must be in private as well as in public, at home, as well as abroad. It must be every hour, all day long, and not as stated points or certain fixed occasions.

Hannah Whitall Smith

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: EVERYTHING we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Not Good Unless Endorsed

NOT GOOD UNLESS ENDORSED

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God –and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”  (1 Corinthians 1:30

            In the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Proverbs, the term wisdom is often used to refer to the character of God.  In the New Testament, there is further clarification of it in terms of its being invested in the person of Jesus Christ.  “For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) all the fullness should dwell.” (Colossians 2:3).  Our theme verse indicates that this wisdom invested in Jesus Christ is for us.

            It is possible to paraphrase the verse to say in effect that Christ Jesus was made over to us and for our benefit.  This One in whom the very wisdom of God is deposited is now delivered over to us who are in Him.  In terms of a banking transaction, this would be a divine deposit made payable to us in the person of Christ (“In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”).  From the divine standpoint the deposit has already been made and the benefit is available to all who are in Christ.  However, before the benefit of this can be realized, we must endorse it by faith.  A check may be donated based on a sound deposit, but if it is not endorsed by the recipient, it is of no benefit.

            How can the benefits of the wisdom of God be described?  There are three elements listed:  righteousness – the status of being right with God, sanctification – the status of being set apart to God, and redemption – the ultimate release and deliverance awaiting us on the basis of the price paid at Calvary.

            Have you endorsed by faith the deposited riches that God made payable to you in Christ? Today’s devotional was written by the late Pastor Bill Raws, grandson of the founder of America’s Keswick. Yesterday was the third anniversary of Pastor Bill’s graduating to heaven. I miss you, Dad!

GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Kings 20-21; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 21

Compass Pointers: However many and however great and burdensome your sins may be, with God there is greater mercy. Just as His majesty is, so likewise is His mercy.

Tikhon

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: I have many times been driven to my knees by the utter conviction that I had nowhere else to go. Abraham Lincoln

The Nature of Discipline

The Nature of Discipline

“I beat my body and make it a slave to that … I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27

We don’t really like the word discipline, do we? There are two concepts of discipline in the Christian life: the loving discipline we receive from the Lord that brings correction and a return to living life HIS way, and then there is the area of discipline – the training our minds and bodies to live life HIS way.

I recently read this quote: The world is full of naturally brilliant people who never rise above mediocrity because they will not make the sacrifice which superiority requires. Without discipline we are not disciples, even though we profess His name and pass for a follower of the lowly Nazarene. In an undisciplined age when liberty and licenses have replaced law and loyalty, there is greater need than ever before that we be disciplined to be His disciples.

In his book, The Man Who Makes a Difference –10 Keys to a Life of Impact (Harvest House), Dr. Jim George shares 10 principles about the nature of discipline:

1. Discipline is a spiritual issue – EVERYTHING doe to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
2. Discipline has no shortcuts – no quick results.
3. Discipline has no reserve – self-control must be reinstituted tomorrow.
4. Discipline begins with little things – like picking up your dirty socks!
5. Discipline tackles the difficult thing – easy requires little.
6. Discipline starts with the mind – “I will.”
7. Discipline proceeds with a mandate – “I must.”
8. Discipline never gets distracted – “This one thing I do.”
9. Discipline never takes a vacation – it’s for life!
10. Discipline is ever-changing – growth requires new disciplines to meet life’s next and latest challenges.

At 57 I find that there are areas that still need work – discipline! Wow! I know the areas I MUST work on. How about you? – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Isaiah 64-66; Psalm 18:25-50; Proverbs 20

Compass Pointers: Paint Jesus Christ upon your canvas, and then hold Him up to the people; but hold Him up so that not even your little finger can be seen. Edward Payson

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1:Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: You can more than pray, after you have prayed, but you can never do more than pray until you have prayed. A. J. Gordon

Right Thinking

Right Thinking

Join us today as Dr. George Murray (9:30 AM) and Dr. Charles Zimmerman (7:00 PM) share God’s Word. Watch live: www.americaskeswick.org

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Do not always turn what the Scriptures say around. It nowhere tells us to think “Lowly” of ourselves. What causes most of our problems in the Christian life is the way we think and what we think.

Have you ever wondered why you find it hard to forgive another person when you have been forgiven for so much by God? It is easy for God to forgive us, we think, because our sins are not so bad. When we line ourselves up with others we are not too bad.

            If we stand next to Christ we will see how really bad we are!

As much as we need forgiveness, we need to forgive another. We do not need for them to seek forgiveness from us (although we need to ask forgiveness from God) it is in forgiving that we can feel forgiven. It is hard to feel God’s forgiveness when we are so unforgiving. 

    

Notice that we are talking about a feeling. When we begin to forgive someone we may not necessarily have the feeling that should accompany the act.

We may have to forgive many times because we keep on hurting. Each time we forgive we may feel good until the memory of the act afflicts us again. Then we will need to forgive again. But constantly forgiving should bring peace which is what we seek. Peace is what God promised. Joy is often a gift that accompanies peace but not always. It is a fruit of the Spirit.

When we know how we stand in God’s sight and how God has made us His child we can be humble enough to forgive without feeling less.

I may not like the hand that God has dealt me
            I may seem like a losing hand
Until I turn the last card over
            And suddenly I can stand.
For God had dealt me what I need    
           To the purposes of life it blend

For the ACE that God has dealt me
            Is His Faith that will keep me to the end.

Pastor Van is a Christian Counselor and is serving as our summer campus Pastor at America’s Keswick 

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Isaiah 59-63; Psalms 18:1-24; Proverbs 19

Compass Pointers: If I slip into the place that can be filled by Christ alone, making myself the first necessity to a soul instead of leading it to fasten upon Him, then I know nothing of Calvary love. Amy Carmichael

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: It is staggering to even begin to realize that the whole process by which God’s will is done on earth depends on an interceding church. Jack Hayford

His Radical Purpose

Join us today as Dr. George Murray and Dr. Charles Zimmerman share God’s Word at America’s Keswick. Morning sessions at 9:30 AM and evenings at 7:00 PM. Can’t join us live? Live-streaming available: www.americaskeswick.org.

His Radical Purpose 

 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18 (ESV) 

I wouldn’t say I’m addicted to reading books but when I find one that captives me it can get a hold onto me for a while. I also have been known to juggle through as many as three books at one time. But for the summer season I have scaled that back to just one. I have been prayerfully reading A.W. Tozer’s book titled, “The Radical Cross.” And I must tell you that from what I have read in there, it is just as right now as it was during Tozer’s lifetime. It really hit me right between the eyes when I got to chapter ten aptly titled, “Christ Came for All People.”  

We seem to cling on to the idea that the geographical term “world” encompasses what we wake up to every morning. You know, the sun shining, the grass growing; the birds singing and the like. But, as Tozer suggests, Jesus Christ didn’t just come into that natural world only, He came into the world of the human race. And not just the human race that had been living in the distant land of what is now called the Middle East, No! He came to live among us, a race of people that, because of Adam’s sin in the garden, need to be reconciled with The Creator. Because just as God’s Word simply puts it, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” 

When you look at John 3:17 you don’t see any expectations either. For me this would mean it doesn’t matter who you are. Once you understand that Jesus came to all human beings, those lines that separate state from state and nation from nation have no real use anymore. It will not matter if you are blind, crippled or in the best of health. It will not matter if you struggled in school or your I.Q. was at the top of your class. Jesus will not ask you how smart you are, how rich aren’t or how many times you got caught breaking and entering. He just wants you to believe and trust in Him and it doesn’t even need to be in a religious sense. Think of Nicodemus… 

When Nicodemus, a man of the Pharisees, made his trek through the night to meet up with Jesus we can only guess that either he was afraid or ashamed to be seen with Him. But whatever the case may have been, The Savior welcomed him anyway and Nicodemus was part of just one of the many redeeming teachings of Jesus. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God…we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.” Even Jesus knew that His baptism (Matthew 3: 14-16), an outward sign of inner change, had to be done to please ABBA, Father, “and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

We shouldn’t ask why God would send His only begotten Son to this stew pot of a human race. We were made in His image and He has not forgotten about it. We, on the other hand, have had our momentary lapses of reason and think that there is a palatable theory that will give us all a warm, fuzzy feeling. We ain’t doing too good in that area are we? Tozer begins closing this chapter by writing, “Like a prodigal son in that most moving of all stories, each one of us must come to grips with our own personal need and to decide and act as He did: “I am hungry. I will perish here. But I will get up. I will go to my father. I remember his house and his provision” (Luke 15:17-20) He said, “I will go”---so He got up and went to His Father.” Yep…Jesus has a radical purpose, doesn’t He? – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular Freedom Fighter Contributor

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Isaiah 54-58; Psalm 17; Proverbs 18

Compass Pointers: “We humans do have a tendency to use generic terms and general terms and pretty soon we become just scientific in our outlook. Let us cast that outlook aside and confess that God loved each of us in a special kind of way so that His Son came into and unto the people of the world---and He even became one of those people!” The Radical Cross  A.W.Tozer

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: God shapes the world by prayer. E. M. Bounds

All Glory to Jesus

All Glory to Jesus

God can do anything you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within is. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! Ephesians 3:20-21 (The Message)

Ephesians 3:20-21 is one of my favorite verses! I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrased the verse in The Message. All glory goes to Jesus! That thought reminded me of a great hymn of praise written by John W. Peterson. It is a shame that this hymn has been lost and not included in new hymnals:

All glory to Jesus, begotten of God,
The great “I AM” is He;
Creator, Sustainer – but wonder of all,
They Lamb of Calvary.

To think that the Guardian of planets in space,
The Shepherd of the stars,
Is tenderly leading the church of His love,
By hands with crimson scars!

The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords,
He reigns in glory now!
Some day He is coming earth’s kingdom to claim,
And every knee shall bow!
And every knee shall bow!

Today is the Lord’s Day! Worship Him! Give all glory and praise to Jesus! – Bill Welte is President and CEO

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Isaiah 49-53; Psalm 16; Proverbs 17

Compass Pointers: The Father wants us to be filled only with His Christ. Will you let Him deal so thoroughly in His love, until you are consumed with Him, having to continually depend upon Him, instead of anything of yourself? For God to take you deeper into Himself, He must expose all in you that is not of Himself. I hope that, as He shines in you, you will take Him as Grace, to deal completely, so He may possess you wholly, and bring you into His fullness in your lifetime. Dr Yu. (Chinese Martyr - 1956)

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 29:25; Level 2: Proverbs 29:22-27

Anchored to the Rock: Prayer is an all-sufficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky obscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings. Chrysostom

Never Separated from His Grace

NEVER SEPARATED FROM HIS GRACE

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,…shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38, 39)

            At age nine, I accepted Jesus as my Savior when an evangelist, Jack Murray, was at our church.  He used John 3:16 to make things plain to me.  I soon knew that verse by heart.

            At age sixteen, I joined church and our pastor chose for me the above verses, Romans 8:38, 39.  He always prayed before selecting a life verse for new members.  That didn’t seem to fit into my happy lifestyle.  The “things present” were very acceptable and life was good.

            By seventeen I started working and also attended evening Bible school.  Later, I married and had three sons and was in full-time ministry with my husband at the church where I accepted the Lord and became a member.  Proverbs 3:5, 6 says, “He will direct your path,” and He did!

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            By age thirty-three, the “things to come” began to happen!  Two of our children went through surgery, and we had a near-death experience of our 9-month-old son – choking.  I thought these things caused weakness for me, but God had plans to use me through a muscle illness, myasthenia gravis.  May I insert here: the ministry of “helps,” given to us by so many people, are never forgotten!  God needs us all in helping each other; we do it unto the Lord!  However, one requested I ask: don’t say to someone who is ill, “If you just had faith, you could be healed!”  I was concerned about my faith, but not considering it was His will.  I did see God use this illness, the trials, the heartaches.  I still see it today as I have had this disease for 37 years.  I am serving the Lord at America's KESWICK with my husband.  Nothing has been able to separate me from the love of God; in fact, I’ve grown even closer!

            Jeremiah 29:11 is another verse I have claimed.  He does not have plans to harm me, but to give a future and a hope.  He says, “I know the plans I have for you.”  I do want His plans, not mine!  His way is not just for good, but for a purpose!  -- For 18 years Dottie Noel served at the Colony of Mercy with her husband, Chaplain Jack Noel. Dottie went home to be with Jesus on May 21 of this year.

GPS – God’s Positioning System: 2 Kings 18:9-37; Psalm 15; Proverbs 16

Compass Pointers: “The cross of Christ is a revelation of the love of God, for it reveals what that love is prepared to suffer for the one loved.  I believe that the presentation of the death of Christ as substitution exhibits the love of the cross more richly, fully, gloriously and glowingly than does any other presentation.  It gets nearer to the heart of that love than any of the other pictures that the New Testament contains.” J I Packer

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 28:9; Level 2: Proverbs 28:6-10

Anchored to the Rock: Just as the business of tailor is to make clothes, and that of the shoemaker to mend shoes, so the business of the Christian is to pray. Martin Luther