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Your Guide to Living a Victorious Life Your Guide to Living a Victorious Life
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Our Unlimited God
God is different. God doesn’t require a certain atmosphere in order to exist. He doesn’t depend on physical laws to provide Him with an environment He can live in. He doesn’t age; He doesn’t get sick or weak. God depends on nothing. As (Psalm 102:25-27) so beautifully phrases it, “Of old, You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” When God described Himself to His servant Moses, He revealed two of His names: “I AM WHO I AM” and “the Lord God” (Exodus 3:14-15). The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language, and in Hebrew both those names are heavily rooted in the
word hayah—a word that simply means “to be.” In other words, God is the God who is. He exists without the aid of anything or anyone. The universe itself can come and go, but God remains, unchanging, self-existing and eternal. That’s good news for us. As fragile, temporary beings with limited life spans, it’s encouraging to know that our Maker has none of those limitations. We might be constrained by things like height and depth and width and time, but God isn’t. The God who rules the universe exists apart from the universe. That’s good news for us. That’s not an easy thing to wrap our minds around. As human beings, we look at the world in terms of boundaries and limits. A thing is this and not that; it begins here and ends there. But God can’t be stuffed into a box. He is limitless; He is unbounded in time and space, existing “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). We’re told that the human race was made in His image (Genesis 1:26)—but it’s an unlimited spiritual form we can’t fully compre-
From the Editor hend with our limited human minds. God can be anywhere, at any time, without restriction or qualification. And that’s not all. The early disciples referred to God as “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all” (Acts 1:24), and God confirms it: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind” (Jeremiah 17:10). There is nowhere God cannot be, nothing past or present He cannot know and, just as important, nothing He is powerless to do. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh,” He tells us. “Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). Jesus provides the answer: “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We serve an unlimited God We can’t fit God into a box. He exists outside of time and space. He has no beginning; He will have no end. There is no corner of the universe He cannot reach; no action He is not powerful enough to perform. He is aware of everything at all times—from the number of hairs on your head to the most secret
thoughts of your heart. There are, however, certain boundaries God refuses to cross because of His perfect, righteous character. The Bible tells us that, among other things, God will not lie (Titus 1:2). But when it comes to us and the challenges we face, the simple fact remains: the God of the universe cannot be limited—not by anyone and not by anything. Why is it so easy to forget that? We tell ourselves all the reasons God can’t help us, can’t see us, can’t get to us in time, can’t make it work, and can’t fix it. Sometimes those reasons are born of desperation. Sometimes they’re born of doubt. Sometimes they’re nothing more than half-baked excuses for doing what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. But those reasons are wrong. When an angry mob moved in to See UNLIMITED GOD on Page
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ror by night Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of 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. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; (Psalm 91:1-10, NKJV) Publishers of Changing Times for 20 Years!>
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UNLIMITED GOD Continued from Page 3 seize Jesus, one of His disciples decided to take action. The disciple believed Jesus was the Son of God, but he also seemed to think the Son of God needed his help. He sprang forward, swinging his sword—only to earn a swift rebuke from Jesus. “Put your sword in its place. … Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-53). God doesn’t need our help. We need His. God is the One with the perspective and wisdom and power to do what we cannot. There is no scenario where God is powerless to act. There are, however, times God chooses not to act. Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers in the time frame or in the manner we’d like—but that doesn’t mean He isn’t listening. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. And it certainly doesn’t mean He isn’t capable. There are a lot of reasons why God might not answer a prayer the way we’d like Him to. He might, for instance, be in the process of working out something better for us—something we can’t see from our current perspective. We might
be asking for something that’s ultimately bad for us, even if we can’t quite see that’s the case. Or it could be that our own life choices have distanced us from the God we’re praying to. As Isaiah writes, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). In other words, when it comes to understanding when and why God chooses to act, the answers aren’t always going to be as clear-cut as we might like. In the end, it comes down to faith. Oftentimes, we have faith, but we also doubt. We trust, but we look on with skepticism. We’re locked in an internal struggle between what we believe in our hearts and what we see with our eyes, and there’s nothing wrong with asking God for clarity. Today, stop and ask God to reveal to you what He wants you to know so that He can act freely in your life and when you get these divine directions, you will be able to experience God’s unlimited being! Save The Nations Ministries>
Table of Contents From the Editor Men Women Teens Children Seniors Marriage Education Health Financial Feature Article The Christian Journey Guiding Light The Cross Victorious Living Christian Living Heroes of Faith Born Again From The Pulpit Book Review Recipes 4 SPRING 2022
3 5 8 12 14 17 21 24 26 28 31 32 33 34 35 38 40 42 44 45 46
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The Key To Living Victoriously It is worth a great deal to an earnest soul to learn the secret of victorious living. It is not only trust in God — we have much to do ourselves. At every step there is a wrong as well as a right way, and we must make our choice. God will never do this for us, however simply we may trust in Him. We will never be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease. Divine help is always ready — but there is a human part which must be accepted and entered upon with energy, to get the strength from God, which we need if we would be victorious. If we would have the devil flee from us — then we must resist him. The Lord will bruise Satan — but the bruising must be under our own feet. We need to remember also that the feeling in us which would lead us to sin is not to be crushed and slain — but rather turned into God's service. When we are tempted to do something wrong, instead of fighting the desire, the true way is to lead it into something beautiful and good. Paul gives us the whole secret when he says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." If we follow Christ closely — then the world's temptations will have no power over us. If we keep busy in God's service — then we shall not be troubled by solicitations to do the work of the evil one. If our heart is kept full of glowing love for Christ — then we shall not have room for the love of the world. But we must never forget that
without Christ we cannot live victoriously. It is "in Him who loved us" that we can be "more than conquerors." No motive is sufficient to carry us through all the opposition and antagonism of sin — but the love of Christ in us. With this mighty motive, also comes the help of Christ. He empowers everyone who truly follows Him. His strength enters our weakness and makes it unconquerable! Some people are very reckless in rushing into temptation, not fearing the power and deceitfulness of sin. Then they are surprised if they fall, as if God ought to have kept them by force, even despite their own folly, almost against their own will. But this is not God's way of delivering us from evil. The prayer is, "Lead us not into temptation." Wherever God leads us in the way of duty, we need not fear to go, for He will keep us when we are with Him, doing His will. But if we venture away from God, or we’re led into temptation — then we have no promise of divine help and can only fail. This lesson is especially for those who have been living wrong and are trying to start anew. They need to be most careful if they would continue faithful. Such a person should treat himself as a man who has been very ill and dare not do anything. Let him consider himself as a convalescent for a few weeks and take care where he goes, what he reads, what he looks at, and what people he speaks to. He is not strong enough for the outer air. When he first begins the new life, he is young and tender. Therefore, let him beware of the first few days. "If you are care-
Men ful not to catch cold for the first few Another secret of victory is the weeks after you begin to lead a new help of a friend. If one has been all life, you will succeed; but if you do See KEY TO LIVING tomorrow what you did today, you on Page 6 will go wrong, because you are not strong enough to resist. You will have to build up this new body cell by cell, just as the old body of temptation has been built up." The illustration is very suggestive. One, for example, who has MATT 7:16 allowed the habit of drinking to Home Of Zeroing fasten upon him, and then deterOut Your Wheels! mines to be a man again and live Auto • Trucks • Gas & Diesel purely, nobly, worthily — must Semi-trucks • RVs indeed, for a time at least, treat Buses • Trailers himself as a sick man just recoverOver 40 Years of ing. He cannot walk in the old ways High-Quality Service! where the fatal temptation awaits him. He must seek safe paths, in the 504-367-1199 sweet, balmy air. He must watch all craneandtemplet.com his pleasures, his recreations, and 1913 Peters Road • Harvey his companionships.
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God of Our Monsters By David Wilkerson God said to Job, “Behold now behemoth [the hippopotamus], which I made with thee” (Job 40:15). “Can’t thou draw out leviathan [the crocodile] with a hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou let down?” Why would God begin His revelation by having Job consider these two massive monsters? Why would God have Job look into the faces of a hippopotamus and a crocodile? First, the Lord posed this problem to His servant: “Look, Job, here
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broken up morally and spiritually, and desires to build up a new and worthy life, he needs nothing more than he needs a true, strong friend. It may be said that if he has Christ — then he requires no human friend. But Christ gives us His help largely, far more largely than we are accustomed to think, through human hearts and hands. The divine usually comes to us through the human. That was one reason for the Incarnation — God came to men by taking upon Him the form of a man, that he might speak to them in human words and love them through a human heart and heal and bless them through the
comes the hippopotamus after you. What are you going to do? Can you wrestle him down in your physical strength? No? Maybe you can try to sweet-talk him. “Now, behold the crocodile that’s threatening. How will you handle him? This creature has a heart of stone. He has no concept of mercy.” This was more than a simple lecture about the animal kingdom. Rather, God was telling Job something about life’s “monsters.” He was showing His servant that these two awesome, ferocious, overpowering creatures represented the monstrous problems raging in Job’s life. “Consider the hippo. He tramples down everything in sight. He’s simply too big a problem for you to handle, Job. You are no match for him whatsoever. Nothing you can do will tame him. Only I, the Lord, know how to stop such a monstrous creature. “And what about the crocodile, Job? No human can do battle with such a creature. And nobody in his own strength can strip the crocodile of his thick armor. The same is true of
your spiritual enemy, the devil. Only I can win the battle with him.” Do you hear what God is saying in this speech? He’s speaking not just to Job but to all believers. And He’s declaring, “Face the truth about the monsters in your life. You can’t handle them. I’m the only one who can.” Job answered, “My God is allpowerful. He can do all things. And no purpose of His can ever be thwarted. I know I can’t stand up against the hippo or the crocodile. But that doesn’t matter. I know God can. My part is simply to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (see Job 42:1-2). Copyright © 2022 by World Challenge, Inc., P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771.> David Wilkerson
touch of a human hand. Now Christ has returned to glory, out of our sight — but He reaches men still through the lives of His earthly followers. If you cry to Him for help, for strength — then He will almost certainly send you a friend, one to represent Him, to speak for Him, to bring you His sympathy and love and strength in human ways. We all need companionship, even at our strongest — but we need it much more at our weakest. If you are striving to be true and Christ like despite old habits and tendencies, seek a friend, one who has been tried and has learned the secret of victory. Tell him all about your weakness and your new desires and
ask him to help you. Such a friendship will be like Christ himself coming in one of His followers. We need to remember, too, that merely to live victoriously, without yielding to sin, is not enough. We are delivered from evil — that we may do good. If we would overcome sin, we must grow up into Christ, building into our character whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, and whatever things are lovely. Not committing sin is but one side of Christian life; doing the will of God is the great and central thing. Save the Nations Ministries >
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What is Needed D.L. Moody
Nine-tenths, at least, of the church members never think of speaking for Christ. If they see a man, perhaps a near relative, just going right down to ruin, going rapidly, they never think of speaking to him about his sinful course and of seeking to win him to Christ. Now certainly there must be something wrong. And yet when you talk with them you find they have faith, and you can not say they are not children of God; but they have not the power, they have not the liberty, they have not the love that real Disciples of Christ should have. A great many people are thinking that we need new measures,
that we need new churches, that we need new organs, and that we need new choirs, and all these new things. That is not what the Church of God needs today. It is the old power that the Apostles had; that is what we want, and if we have that in our churches, there will be new life. Then we will have new ministers - the same old ministers renewed with power; filled with the Spirit. I remember when in Chicago many were toiling in the work, and it seemed as though the car of salvation didn’t move on, when a minister began to cry out from the very depths of his heart, "Oh, God, put new ministers in every pulpit." On next Monday I heard two or three men stand up and say, "We had a new minister last Sunday - the same old minister, but he had got new power." and I firmly believe that is what we want today all over America. We want new ministers in the pulpit and new people in the pews.
We want people quickened by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit coming down and taking possession of the children of God and giving them power. Then a man filled with the Spirit will know how to use "the sword of the Spirit." If a man is not filled with the Spirit, he will never know how to use the Book. We are told that this is the sword of the Spirit; and what is an army good for that does not know how to uses its weapons? Suppose a battle is going on, and I were a general and had a hundred thousand men, great, able-bodied men, full of life, but they could not one of them handle a sword, and not one of them knew how to use his rifle, what would that army be good for? Why, one thousand well drilled men, with good weapons, would rout the whole of them. The reason why the Church can not overcome the enemy is, because she doesn’t know how
to use the sword of the Spirit. People will get up and try to fight the devil with their experiences, but he doesn’t care for that, he will overcome them every time. People are trying to fight the devil with theories and pet ideas, but he will get the victory over them likewise. What we want is to draw the sword of the Spirit. It is that which cuts deeper than anything else. Turn in your Bibles to (Ephesians 6:14): "Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all (or over all), taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. www.sermonindex.net >
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Are We Living The Wise Life? Part 2 By Angie Lewis
Attitudes of the Heart The Pharisees were a perfect example of faith without works. They did many good works, especially when they knew people were watching, but the problem was they did not have the “works” (faith) to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. They certainly knew who Jesus was, but they did not believe that God sent His Son to forgive them their sins. Consequently, they were unable to put their trust in Christ. You can’t trust something you do not believe in. In a nutshell, everything the Pharisees did was for appearances
sake and self-promotion and gratification. They did not put their trust in Jesus Christ, rather they trusted in themselves and institutions, which was very unfortunate for them since the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. Some people confuse what the words “deeds” or “works” meant that Christ was talking about. Many believe it involves doing good works for others, but as we see it is not the case at all. God values and cherishes the attitudes of our hearts above what we do. Faith must be put to work in our lives through our attitudes and how we live as Christians. Having trust in Christ is a personal aspect of our relationship with God, rather than something that involves doing something for others. Can we have faith for someone else? Can we put
our trust in Jesus for someone else? Can we live someone else’s lifestyle? The “works” and “deeds” that Christ is talking about is for ourselves and what we “do” with our personal lives! Trusting in God with our Attitude About Money and Riches Even if we are monetarily poor and have no possessions, we can still allow desire and greed to control our lives. Believers have a difficult time trusting in God in this area of their life and that’s because everyone has certain standards they want to live by and they continually pursue that standard of living, even if it takes them away from trusting in God. God doesn’t want us to quit our jobs and become beggars because that would be foolish but he does want us to get our priorities right with him. Why do you think Jesus says, “Money is the root of all evil”? It is because striving for money and riches and even desiring these things keeps us from putting our faith in God. If our main priority in life is striving for more and more money, status, and luxuries of life, where does God fit in? “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
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have pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) Sometimes we have to lose our houses to foreclosure, our jobs to layoff, and our cars to seizure before we realize that none of these things matter in the first place! What really matters is putting our hope, faith, and trust with God and working in this life to gain spiritual treasures that we can take with us to heaven! A man went up to Jesus and asked, “How can I receive eternal life”? Jesus said to the young man, “sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” (Matthew 19:21) Sometimes it takes a wealthy person to lose all they have to humble their lives to Jesus Christ and begin to depend on him and make him more important than money and riches. Even the desire for wealth and the continual striving to have what we do not need can keep us from trusting in God. Does this mean that Christians must get rid of all of their possessions to receive eternal life? No, God simply does not want our desire for See THE WISE LIFE on Page 48
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WOMEN
Efficient Work, Sufficient Rest By Dawn Wilson
God gives us work (Gen. 1:26), and it is important, dignified, good, and holy. From the beginning, God created a cycle of work and rest for our good. When Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator’s will (Gen. 3), the joyful work and rest pattern was distorted. The ground was cursed—not work—but work became more difficult, and rest became even more necessary than before. God’s Priorities As we serve the Lord, it’s important to remember that whatever controls our time, controls our life. We all face different time challenges, but if we want to be efficient servants of the Lord, we need to learn wisdom and practice good time management as we consider God’s priorities for our lives. God wants us to love Him, seek
Him, and become like Him (Matt. 6:33, 22:37; 1 John 3:1–3). As we make His kingdom a priority, He will help us care for other things on our schedule. We need to plan time to listen to Him. God also wants us to care for those He put in our charge, first our families and then those we lead. A man who doesn’t care for his family is “worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8), and a woman of God should look to the needs of her household (Prov. 31:27). We need to plan time for our families and chores to wisely steward our homes. God created us to work in unity with the Body of Christ, leaning on their support and practicing accountability. We need to plan time for friends and co-laborers. We need to plan time for our work, health (proper sleep, diet, and exercise), mental stimulation, and rest. Face it: You can’t do everything! There’s just not enough time. But you can plan to do everything God calls you to do—everything that is truly important.
How Do We Work Efficiently? To plan means to use our heads to access tasks and then use Godfocused motivation to persist toward priorities and goals. Life is short and precious, and there are many distractions. God wants us to redeem the time with diligence (Eph. 5:15–16). How do we maximize our time and become more efficient? 1. We need to know what we want—better yet, what God wants. The world says “work for selffulfillment” and store up wealth, but our work is meant to glorify God as we pursue eternal treasures and do the works He has prepared for us (Col. 3:23; Matt. 6:19–20; Eph. 2:10). Productivity matters to God. Jesus requires a wise return (Matt. 25:14–30), and we must not be slothful (Prov. 6:6–8). With firm priorities and goals, we can say “no” to lesser tasks and projects and say “yes” to worthwhile, productive activities. Ask yourself, “Are these activities moving me toward my priori-
ties and goals? How can I keep these priorities and goals clearly in the front of my mind today?” Pray for a renewed mind to understand God’s will for your work (Rom. 12:2). 2. We need to do what we do better and more creatively. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise” (Eph. 5:15). Identify what is critical, long-term and short-term. Design small “milestone” goals for encouragement along the way. Who is on your support team, coming alongside to help? Who is the person you can trust and delegate some tasks to? Is there anything you can outsource? 3. We need to take care of home issues so they don’t bleed over into ministry. Create fresh strategies for the stressors at home—not the people but “issues.” What activities or tasks can you streamline, change, or even elimiSee EFFICIENT on Page 10
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EFFICIENT Continued from Page 9 nate to make home life run smoothly? Are there gentle conversations that need to take place for greater understanding about responsibilities? Have you clearly stated your needs, giving expectations to the Lord but requesting help? 4. We need to actually take our vacation time. The harder we work, the more we need down time. In 2014, unused vacation days in the United States were at a forty-year high. That’s foolish. We all need time to unwind before we explode.
Plan your vacation time, whether it’s a day trip, a week away, or a long cruise. Put it on the calendar and commit to taking this “re” time— refreshing, refueling, renewing. How Can We Rest? God set the pattern for us, working six days and then taking time to rest from His labor (Gen. 2:2–3). We are encouraged to rest (Heb. 9–11), because we live in a broken world and need to refuel regularly to survive. More than recuperating, it’s an affirmation of the special relationship we have with our generous God. He wants us to delight in the refreshment and
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renewal He provides, creating opportunities within the unique pattern of our lives. Balance between work and rest is never a 50/50 proposition. Sometimes work requires more time; sometimes personal life and recuperation are crucial now! Why is rest so hard for us? What can we do to get sufficient rest? 1.We can unplug from technology once in awhile! With current technology, people can work constantly and anywhere. In 2014, The Economist reported that sixty percent of people who use smartphones are connected to their offices thirteenand-a-half or more hours a day. Add social media, and it can feel like we’re always connected to something electronic. We need connection to the Lord to rest our souls, and we need face-to-face contact with people. A lack of intimacy will eventually deplete us. 2. We can evaluate our work level and make adjustments. Some people are workaholics; they don’t know how to stop. Maybe they feel guilty when not working, that they might lose their job, or that people will think they’re lazy. There’s nothing wrong with hard work, even for long hours if that is what God has called us to do. But overworking can be a spiritual problem. Other people lack motivation to work, have no habits for effective work, or don’t know how to engage productively. They may not feel valued or appreciated, making it difficult to “own” their tasks. We have to ask whether our pattern of work and rest reflects God’s plans and priorities as well as His generosity and provision for us. There is a time for everything (Eccl. 3:1–8), including times for work and rest, and we need to pause and pray to determine the best “time” for each. 3. We can make sure we’re taking a Sabbath rest. Christians aren’t under Jewish Sabbath laws; they are free to choose when and how to rest (Rom. 14:5–6). But it is still wise to commit to a regular time to pause, worship, praise, and thank God. Jesus took time to rest alone in God’s presence, but He also engaged in Jewish communal worship (Matt. 14:13; Luke 4:16–21). At times, He called His disciples to reduce their workload (Mark 6:31), and He encourages us to release our
burdens and stresses and come to Him for rest, too (Matt. 11:28–30). Lack of rest can lead to cascading consequences. We might see physical consequences, like insomnia or a weakened immune system or illness, compromising the quality of our work. Exhaustion can lead to mental fuzziness and emotional stress, anxiety, or anger. Relationships become strained when we are tired, and we’re more likely to misread social signals. And when we lack rest, our connection to God can suffer most. Firsthand Experience I experienced firsthand the foolishness of insufficient rest and how it hindered my work. Long hours and an “I can do it all” mentality added up to a subtraction of ministry. Overworked, I lost my health, and as a result, I had to stop ministering in some outreaches I loved. I had to learn to embrace the words of Christ: “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), as well as the wisdom about priorities and rest in Scripture. I learned to schedule breaks, get sufficient rest, and plan personal retreats to refuel. God restored my health and ability to serve as He changed my perspective on work and rest. God wants us to balance our lives with efficient work and sufficient rest, and He will give us wisdom for this balance if we will ask (James 1:5). Then it’s simply a matter of trust and obedience. Father God, I know You don’t want me to miss out on Your best because of inefficient work or insufficient rest. I ask for Your wisdom today and for the strength and courage to obey what You are speaking to my heart. Amen. What’s your biggest struggle today—efficiency as you work and minister to others or difficulty with creating opportunities to rest? What can you do to make some adjustments? Dawn Wilson, © 2001–2022 Revive Our Hearts, an outreach of Life Action Ministries.>
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My Toddler Taught Me This By Paul Tripp
Our son was nine months old when he started walking. Upright and mobile, a new world of danger awaited him. I walked him over to the electrical outlet and told him never to touch it or put anything in it. To us, he seemed too young to walk, let alone comprehend instruction and warning. But the very next afternoon, my son peeked his head around the corner, not knowing that I could see him from where I was sitting. Thinking I was otherwise distracted, he dashed for the outlet. Then he did something that shocked me. He glanced back once more to see if I was watching, right before attempting to touch it! This comical family memory was also a sad and instructive moment for me. Still an infant, my son had already bought into the deepest and darkest of all human delusions—that we can ignore boundaries and not face the consequences. Adam and Eve were the first to buy into this lie (see Genesis 3), and we have been doing the same ever since. Perhaps you have experienced one of these consequences: • Blew off studying and received a negative grade. • Ate far too much, far too often and gained weight. • Spent more than you earned and found yourself in debt. • Flirted with adulterous thoughts or actions and lost the trust of your spouse. • Cheated on your taxes or slacked off at work and faced the penalties when discovered. • Treated your child harshly and experienced a cold and distant relationship later in life. • Neglected the spiritual disciplines and found yourself ensnared in a dangerous sin. No matter how large or small, ignoring boundaries and denying consequences is rooted in something more profound—a
rejection of the divine purpose for which each of us was created. We were not created to find our way, define our needs, and discover our joy. We were made for God, to live for his glory, and to experience the fullest expression of our purpose in a loving, worshipful community with him. Every sin we commit is adulterous because we are unfaithful to the love relationship we were designed to have with God and instead run into the arms of other lovers. (Take time today to read the graphic adultery imagery the Lord uses to describe the sin of Israel in Ezekiel 16.) Or examine the Ten Commandments. The first few commands all have to do with loving and worshiping God. The rest then detail all the areas in which we are tempted to replace God with something else or do harm to someone who dares get in the way of what we want or have defined as a need. The practical theology is simple: when we break our relationship with God, we inevitably will break his rules. And when we trespass his wise, loving boundaries, there are inescapable and painful consequences, both in this world and in the one to come. Remind yourself today that
you are God’s image-bearer. You were made for a relationship with him. He sets boundaries because he knows precisely what you need and what you do not. Find your life of freedom and joy inside that wisdom. Living as if you are an independent being, free to write your narrative and outline your rules, will never work. God bless, Paul David Tripp
in? What are the consequences, and are they causing others to suffer in addition to you? 4. How can you practically strengthen your intimate relationship with the Lord? How will falling deeper in love with your Savior cause you to flee from sinful passions? (2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Corinthians 6:18) 5. In what way might you be treating the world (and people) like an endless buffet of delights for your consumption? Identify one REFLECTION QUESTIONS specific area this week that you can 1. Consider a recent occasion surrender to the Lord and, instead, when you warned someone you live out his design for your life loved about the negative conse- instead of pursuing your desires. quences of their decision. What Paul Tripp Ministries, Inc. happened when they ignored your 7214 Frankford Avenue, Philawisdom and overstepped the bound- delphia, PA 19135, 215-338-4000 ary? info@paultripp.com 2. Did the boundary and consequence seem obvious to you? What potentially caused the other person to be blind to it, or the perceived pleasure on the other side worth more than the danger? 3. What boundary have you overstepped recently? What sin are you currently flirting with or trapped
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Teens Learning Contentment By J R Miller
Not many people are contented. Not many seem to think that discontentment is a sin. Not many appear to understand that contentment is a grace which should shine in every Christian character. Yet no grace adds more to the beauty and the comfort of a life, than contentment. It is also enjoined in the Scriptures as a duty. The time to get this spirit into our life is in youth. If one has allowed thirty or forty years to pass in discontent and fretfulness, the habit is so firmly rooted, that it is almost impossible to change it. But if one
begins in childhood to learn to keep sweet in all conditions and circumstances, by the time one has reached maturity — the habit has become so much a part of one's very life, that it is easy to maintain it. Contentment does not mean satisfaction with one's attainments. This is a condition which is always unreached, unless it be in some indolent person, one without noble aspirations and longings. The end of longing, is the end of growing. The great sculptor wept when he found that he had reached his ideal. He saw that that was the end of his progress as an artist. Contentment, however, is the spirit of restfulness and peace in whatever circumstances one may be placed. Paul tells us what it meant in his life, when he says, "I have learned, in whatever state I am, therein to be content." The word content means satisfaction —
and implies that he had in his own heart the secret of satisfaction, and was not dependent for it on any outside circumstances. On a dark and stormy night, a happy family gathers in the livingroom of their home. On the table the lamp burns brightly. About the room the members of the household are grouped. There is gladness, conversation, song, cheer. The household is independent of the outside weather. Beat as the storm may upon the windows, it disturbs not their zest and gladness. This illustrates the secret of contentment. A true family has it in their own home, in themselves. Paul carried in his heart the secret of peace and of joy, and was not dependent upon circumstances. He wrote this insightful verse in a prison; but the prison atmosphere, hardship, and restraint did not affect his inner life of contentment. Every Christian should have in himself the same secret. We are God's children, and the strong Son of God is our Savior and Friend. Our life is hid with Christ in God. Our faith should lift us above the hard experiences of life. We may be in sorrow — but the sorrow should not break the inner divine peace.
We may have suffering — but the suffering should not destroy the comfort we have in resting in God. It is not our part to keep ourselves in peace — God's part is the keeping; our part is the staying ourselves upon God. We are to let ourselves rest down upon God's omnipotence, nestling in the bosom of his everlasting love. We are to stay in the strong, warm refuge, not restlessly tossing ourselves out of it. If we stay in God's love — God will keep us in perfect peace. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." We should learn, therefore, to be contented. That is, not to be affected by the things around us; to keep sweet in the most trying experiences, amid trials and annoyances of whatever kind. Living in the midst of cares, we should keep the care out of our heart, having there only the peace of Christ. It may be of special comfort to young Christians, to note that Paul says he had learned this lesson of contentment. He was quite an old man when he wrote the verse, and we may suppose that he was a good many years learning it. Probably it was not an easy lesson for him, and See CONTENTMENT on Page 15
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Your Little Brother By J R Miller
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Many young people have younger brothers, little brothers sometimes, in their home. In every such case, there is a responsibility which is not always recognized. If older brothers and sisters knew the influence they have over their little brothers, it would make them very thoughtful. It is no doubt true, that older brothers and sisters are divinely appointed guardians for younger children. The story of Miriam and little Moses is one of the most charming stories of the Bible. While the baby lay in the ark among the bulrushes, by the water's edge, the young girl with quick ear and keen eye stood not far away — near enough to see all that went on, and to be of instant help in case of danger. In many a home, older sisters have played the role of Miriam to perfection. Many a man today occupying an important position in the world, owes the opportunities by which he was enabled to rise to his position — to an older sister, who kept sacred watch over his infancy and early years. There are many men today in the professions and occupying high places in the world, who came from homes amid straitened circumstances, and who owe all they are to the sister who forgot herself, practiced self-denials, and toiled early and late — that the brother she loved might go to school and to college, and thus have a chance to rise to the honor which she in her loving heart had dreamed for him. Then sometimes alas! When the man is out in the world — he forgets the weary woman, living somewhere in obscurity, perhaps in poverty, to whom he owes all his distinction and greatness! It may be worthwhile to call the attention of older brothers and sisters — to the little brother at home, who needs guidance, encouragement, and stimulus. Far more than you know, he watches you, and is influenced by your every move-
ment. He will be impressed much more also, by what you do and what you are — than by any teaching he may receive from you. It is important that you know just how to make the most of your influence over him. You cannot do it by perpetually nagging at him; nagging is one of the most mischievous vices of the home-life. It is all the worse, because it is practiced in the name of piety and virtue. The best you can do for him is first of all to be good yourself. When the young Princess Victoria discovered one day that she was near the throne, she said, "I must be good." The thought of the great responsibility which some day might be hers, impressed her most wholesomely. When you think of the influence you are to exercise over your little brother, you should settle it once for all, that you will be good. Another thing you can do will be to form a close friendship with him. Take him into your confidence. Let him talk to you freely and familiarly. Teach him to trust you, and never betray his confidence. Be a loyal friend to him. Treat even his most childish behaviors with respect. Never laugh at him. Do not hurry his development: it is like trying to hasten the opening of a flower; only harm can be done by such a process. You can answer his questions, and you ought to do it very patiently. Remember it is a new world in which he is living. Every day brings him into a new world of wonders. He ought to ask questions. He would not be a wholesome child if he did not. You can help him by trying to answer these questions. You can guide his reading. You can quietly influence him in the choosing of his friends. This is very important. He does not know the good from the evil, and you can withdraw him from the company of those with whom it were better he should not associate. You can set before him visions of beauty which will become influences to draw him toward the best things. If your own heart is right, and if you keep yourself in the spirit of childhood, you will be able to lead him in safe ways. The world is full
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Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands in prayer. – 2 Chronicles 6:12
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Changing Times
Animal Adventures In The Bible Naga The Snake
Dear kids, I’m Naga the snake. Thanks a lot for choosing to read my story. I’m sure you will enjoy my adventurous story. You can read Genesis Chapters 1-3 to know the relevant story in the Bible. Happy reading!
Naga - The Evil thought It was a beautiful garden with many fruits and flowers of different colors. There were a lot of animals running around the bushes and playing. I too loved playing. So, I glided on the trees and swung around. God who created us was always in the garden and His presence made us tremble. I noticed that He was busy making something with mud. After He had made a figure out of mud, He blew inside, and Walla… the mud figure became a man. It looked like magic when the next day He made the man to sleep and took out a bone from the man and made a woman. They were called Adam and Eve. I started wondering how God was able to do all this! I too wanted to do something like that. But how?
I was overcome by this feeling of doing something more than I was supposed to do. I saw God taking Adam and Eve to a tree in the middle of the garden and tell them, “Do not eat this fruit.” At that time, I felt a dark power get into me and the power made me glide to the tree. The fruit was very good to see. Then my thought of doing something different grew more and more. I struck upon an idea. “Why can’t we make Adam and Eve eat the same fruit? But how? What if Adam harms me when I try to convince him? What if he tells God?” So, I chose to play my game on Eve. I was waiting for her to be alone. As I turned back and saw the tree, the fruits looked like glittering weapons of victory to me. The next day, she woke up early and was wandering around. I thought that that would be the right time. So, I glided towards her and danced on the trees. She saw me and was amazed by my beauty. We started to play. When we had become friends after sometime, I took her to the shade of the tree to rest. I asked, “Hey Eve, have you eaten this fruit?” She said, “No, God has asked us
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not to eat this fruit.” Then I said, “Oh no, this is the tastiest fruit of all. Just eat one. God will not know.” To make her desire for the fruit, I pretended to eat one. She was too tired to think about the consequences. So, she plucked one and ate. She liked it a lot. She said, “Oh, how sweet this is! I will ask Adam also to eat.” Saying so she plucked another fruit and took it to Adam and he also ate. I felt very proud of myself. God made man to rule over the animals and now I have made him obey me! I felt like a king! But in the evening when God came, I was scared if he would find out what I had done. So, I went into a hole of a tree and hid myself. But when God learned what had happened, He called me. My body was shivering when I bowed before Him. He cursed me saying, “The son of Eve will stamp you and you will bite his heel.” Even today I’m scared of people. I try to run away and hide if I see one. If they come near me, I try to bite them and kill them before they could kill me. ©2022 FaithWriters.com. All Rights Reserved >
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LITTLE BROTHER Continued from Page 13 of dangers. Your little brother hears on the streets many things he ought not to hear. You can quietly lead him so that he will instinctively repel all temptations to anything low or base or impure. You can turn his mind toward the possibilities of beauty within his reach. You can continually keep before him noble things in disposition, in conduct, in character, thus quietly inspiring in him the desire to fill his own life with such worthy things. There is a great responsibility in having a little brother. He is always around, and you cannot get out of his sight. He has keen eyes too, and sees all that you do. You dare not live carelessly in his presence, for you may become his stumblingblock. There should be nothing in your example, which you would be sorry to see again in him. This little brother of yours loves you and wants to trust you. Your influence over him will be almost unbounded; you must see to it that
Restaurant this influence is pure and wholesome in every way. The older brother must answer for his little brother; he is his keeper. He must make himself worthy of his sacred trust. If his own heart is not clean, if his own mind is not wholesome, if his own hands are stained — then he is not fit to be a boy's older brother. The thing for the older brother to do in such a case, is not to thrust the boy away from his natural place of confidence and affection — but to bring up his own life to the true standard of purity, sweetness, and beauty, where he shall be worthy to be a friend of Christ's little ones. GRACE GEMS! A Treasury of Ageless Sovereign Grace Devotional Writings Our Purpose To humble the pride of man, to exalt the grace of God in salvation and to promote real holiness in heart and life. ©GraceGems.org 2022 >
CONTENTMENT Continued from Page 12 we may suppose that he got it only through long discipline and careful training. At least we are quite sure that contentment does not come naturally to anyone. We have to learn to be contented, and usually it will take us a good while to learn it. This may seem, therefore, not to be a young person's problem — to be a lesson which the young can scarcely expect to learn. No doubt it should be better learned by the time a Christian reaches mid-life — yet it is not impossible for the young to attain this grace. Contentment is not discontent worn-out and exhausted; fretfulness tired into quiet sleep. Contentment is the peace of God in the heart, diffusing its restful calm through all the life, hushing all its disturbances. The lesson is set for the young, therefore, for it is in youth that it must be learned. To grow into midlife or old age discontented is to remain to the end discontented. If young people realized how lovely the spirit of contentment is, and how unlovely discontent is, they would all strive to learn the lesson, whatever it may cost them. Discontent mars the beauty m the face, makes people old before their time, makes them petulant, disagreeable, and uncomfortable companions. On the other hand, contentment gives peace, quietness, and simplicity. It
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makes the face sweet, and puts into the eyes a calm and holy light. It makes one a comfort to others too — a blessing. We all know how much discomfort a fretful person produces in a home or in any association, and how a. contented person diffuses cheer and pleasure everywhere. One secret of being lovable is a sweet spirit, restful, at peace, quiet, and undisturbed in any circumstances. We all admire such a person. Shall we not set this lesson for ourselves in the bright days of youth when we are learning to live? Let us trust God and do our duty, committing all the tangles and frets to him. He will take care of us. Though we must walk through dark ways, we shall always find light; for he who is the Light of the world will walk with us. It is a great thing to have in one's heart a fountain which will supply all one's needs. Then one can be independent of circumstances and of experiences, and be everywhere and always the same sweet, quiet, rejoicing Christian. GRACE GEMS! A Treasury of Ageless Sovereign Grace Devotional Writings Our Purpose To humble the pride of man, to exalt the grace of God in salvation and to promote real holiness in heart and life. ©GraceGems.org 2022 >
And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people. – 2 Chronicles 30:20
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Animal Adventures In The Bible Wallace The Whale
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Dear kids, I’m Wallace the whale. Thanks a lot for choosing to read my story. I’m sure you will enjoy my adventurous story. You can read Jonah Chapters 1-4 to know the relevant story in the Bible. Happy reading! Wallace – Food Poison The sea was starting to get rough. I hadn’t had anything for more than two days. And when the sea is rough, it’s quite difficult to find my weed food. I was scared that I would starve to death. So, I started propelling my huge body against the current with difficulty. It was then that I heard this weird sound. Whee…e..o..o.. m.! It did sound like another whale. And something inside told me to go in that direction, where the weather above our world was getting even worse. The water current itself swept me towards the sound. As I was very weak, I couldn’t swim against it. When I was swept forcefully, I saw blinding light flashing through the water now and then. I was so scared and wonderstruck! The strange sound seemed to increase more and more and there was no whale in the vicinity as I had guessed. In a flash of light, I saw a big beautiful weed swaying so…. elegantly. For a second, I thought it was all a dream. But it was true! As I got closer, I could see the enormous weed still swaying. But I also saw something else caught in the weed. It looked something like a sea turtle without a head. I told to myself, “If I miss this chance, I may not get food for another two days.” So, I opened my mouth as wide as I could with a desire to swallow the whole weed. Blurp! Within seconds, I had done the job
precisely and had traveled at least a kilometer with the current! Then the sea calmed down and I started feeling funny inside my tummy. I thought this was due to my sumptuous meal after a two day’s starvation. But after a while, I felt something sprawling and wriggling inside me. It started to ache. I couldn’t bear it. Then I remembered the turtle like thing which I had swallowed with the weed. “Oh my! Is it a poisonous creature, which would kill me? What if it is a worm that could pierce my stomach?” I was scared to death with these thoughts nagging my mind. I started to swim very fast searching for ways to make this creature pass out of my body. I was so tensed that I didn’t know where I was going. Then again I heard the same weird sound, Whee…e..o..o..m..! This time, it was from behind. I decided not to look back and swam as fast as I could away from this sound. I started praying for the first time in my life, “O God, please take away this creature and pain from me.” I swam for three days and was still praying without having any food. On the third day, I felt like puking. And for heaven’s sake, I was drained totally and felt like a dead rat. In a short while, I could feel the sea bed rubbing against my tender belly. That was quite soothening. I did not know that I was nearing a shore. I swam more and more towards the shore. With more rubbing, at last I threw up. That was once in a life time feeling! I could see the creature thrown out of my mouth to dry land. And, Oh boy! The creature stood upright! It was a man! My pain stopped. I cried and thanked God for getting rid of this man from my belly. I returned back to my home to tell this story to my kith and kin, and praise God. Whee…e..o..o..m..! If you hear a whale making this sound, remember my story, and hey, that’s praising God in our language! Whee…e..o..o..m..! PRAISE GOD!! ©2022 FaithWriters.com. All Rights Reserved >
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The Value of Meditation/ Pondering By DSB self by that truth with the goal of making whatever changes are necessary to live according to that truth. But meditation goes further, for as you continue pondering a specific truth and assessing your life according to it, you see ever more clearly and deeply two things. First, you continue to discover previously unseen ways in which you fall short of that truth. Second, you continue seeing additional ways in which the truth can and must be applied to your life. And as you deal honestly with these two things, you gain greater faith, a more holy life, a purer heart, greater love for God and neighbor, and a more deeply personal intimacy with God. Meditation not only educates and transforms you; it makes you increasingly sensitive to the things you need to be sensitive to in relation to the topic or scripture pondered. It puts truth on the tip of your mind, as it were, so that it is ready for use at any time. It increases your awareness of anything that impedes or blocks the way of your God-ward progress, and feeds vigilance against them. It brings you into a deeper, increasingly applicable understanding of God, His will, and His word. It nurtures awe and love for God, as well as an increased sensitivity to loving your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, this sensitivity greatly helps in resisting the devil, putting fleshly desires to death, putting on more and more Christ-likeness, and drawing ever nearer to God. There are many and varied methods of meditation. What works for one may not work for you. Do not be deterred by this, for a method is only a means for making progress in your quest. The important thing is to advance, with the help of the Holy Spirit, along the path of meditation, a path that will take you to deeper convictions, stronger faith, a purer heart, a growing longing to please God, a hunger to commune with God, and the immeasurable joy that comes from knowing and walking with God. One final thought: there is one constant for all who meditate – it requires time, devoted time, protected time, undistracted time. http://www.internt.net >
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Helping people in New Meditation is above all a quest. It Orleans Metro Area solve their mobility challenges is using your mind to seek an ever growing understanding of God, the • Service Repair character and ways of God, the • Rentals word of God, and the why and how • Sales of the Christian life in order to • Batteries respond in the most deeply personal • & More and practical ways possible to what the Lord is saying to you and askWe Care for your Quality of Life ing of you. When practiced for a prolonged period of time on specific topics and scriptures, the result of meditation is like going from kindergarten Introducing to college graduate, or from Junior Uptown’s Newest High cross country runner to Boston Marathon winner. Senior Living However, the discipline and Community attentiveness required for prolonged focused pondering is difficult to sustain, especially when you first begin practicing this form of spiritual development. Therefore, Christians have sought and found help keeping focused by using such things as selected portions of Sacred Enjoy The Good Life at Every Stage of Life at The Laurel Scripture – either recently read or Engaging Independent Living for Active Seniors, Robust Assisted Living memorized, good books – includand New Orleans’ Only All-Female Memory Care ing early church literature, listening • Locally owned & operated to spiritually profitable teaching MEMORY CARE OPENING JUNE 2022 • 3-story atrium with lush gardens and then meditating on it, reading • Restaurant-style dining with 3 meals a day NOW ACCEPTING or singing hymns, and making com• 24-hour licensed nursing care PRIORITY RESERVATIONS muning with God an integrated part • Safe & secure community Be a Member of the of meditation. • Complimentary housekeeping & laundry Founder’s Circle with a When you meditate on any truth, Lifetime Rate Lock • Full-time Activities Director it helps your understanding of that *Rate lock applies to the first • Customized wellness & fitness programs 15 Memory Care deposits. • Scheduled transportation truth grow from simpler, less defined first thoughts to a much deeper, broader, more practical and Call Today! applicable understanding. MeditaKelly Martin Executive Director tion helps you make truth your own, for as your understanding of a (504) 350-2244 truth grows, and as you commune with God about your increased 1101 Aline at Magazine Street – blocks from Touro Infirmary understanding, you will be moti(504) 350-2244 or LaurelNOLA.com vated to confront and judge yourSo we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would SPRING 2022 17 take care of us, and He heard our prayer. – Ezra 8:23
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The Only Worthwhile Purpose By Dr Tony Evans In His Presence: The thief comes for you, but for God. only to steal and kill and destroy; I You will have stability. You can came that they may have life and get off the roller coaster of emohave it abundantly (John 10:10). tions that comes when you live according to your circumstances. Even when things are bad, you are good because God is good. When Jesus was asleep on the boat in the middle of the storm, His disciples asked, "How can He sleep at a time like this?" Jesus could sleep peacefully because He knew where He was going—He was going to the other side. One of the great blessings of living in purpose is that you can rest. You can rest because you know all things will be used for God's purpose, and you can rest because you know you are going toward God. You will be provided for. God always supplies that which He has ordained. If you are outside of His Have you been duped when it purpose, you must take care of comes to purpose? The only puryourself. But if you are walking in pose worth living for is God's purHis purpose, He will meet all your pose. Paul said: "I press on toward needs. the goal for the prize of the upward One Minute Please call of God in Christ Jesus" (PhilipFollowing God's purpose may pians 3:14). If you live with this not change your place in life, but it goal in mind, God will change the will change the way you live your way you live. You will stop just life. being alive and you will start to Copyright © 2022 Tony Evans. really live. You will live the abunAll Rights Reserved. > dant life through God's grace because you aren't just living for yourself anymore. You are not here
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A New Heart Makes a New World! By J R Miller he is born again, born from above, are happy-hearted — discover there is no gratitude anywhere, that born of the Spirit. It is the same, in happy hearts everywhere. Those all men are selfish and ungrateful a sense, as if a heavenly habitant with beauty in their soul — see and that everybody lives for himself. Others speak with glowing had come down to live in this beauty in everything. Some people say this is a cold world. He has begun to breathe the world. Others say it is full of the atmosphere of Heaven. See A NEW HEART A story tells of a fisherman's hut warmth of love. Some tell you that on Page 20 which was changed to silver, walls and floors and windows and doors and furniture, by a mysterious little silver lamp that was brought into it. Such a change is it that Humana Gold Plus H1951‑047 & H1951-028 takes place in a worldly (HMO) earned 5 out of 5 stars for 2022—the person — when the lamp highest quality rating—from CMS* of God's love begins to burn in his heart. Not only is the life itself made new — with new motives, new principles, The CMS Five‑Star Quality Rating System is designed to make it easier for new dispositions, new consumers to choose a Medicare plan, by comparing plans side by side and affections — but all giving them a quality rating from 1 to 5 stars. things outside become new also. There is no 5‑star plans have demonstrated a high level of member satisfaction, change in the world preventive care and chronic condition support, and outstanding customer itself. They are the same service. You can expect: hills, the same valleys, the same gardens, the • Low premiums • Access to a network of quality doctors same trees and flowers, • Coverage for virtual visits and in‑home visits that we look upon — but Dental, vision and hearing benefits • Go365® rewards program • new eyes now see them SilverSneakers® fitness program • And more • and they appear in new If you are enrolled in a plan rated less than 5 stars, you may switch to a beauty and glory. Humana 5‑star plan even after the Annual Election Period ends. The 5‑Star The truth suggested Special Enrollment Period runs from Dec. 8, 2021 through Nov. 30, 2022. here has very wide application. Our heart makes Your local, licensed Humana sales agent is ready to talk with you about your our world. If the bird of healthcare needs and goals, walk you through Humana 5‑star plans available peace sings within us — in your area, and help you understand what a 5‑star plan can do for you. then all the forests and all the skies are full of Call a licensed Humana sales agent song. Wherever we go we find light because the light shines out through our own windows and brightens everything before our eyes. Nidia Martinez Chris Harris Mattie Craig There is a fable which 504-544-0320 504-544-0529 504-544-0314 tells that a burning torch mreynolds@humana.com charris6@humana.com nmartinez@humana.com and a piece of black En español? Llame al charcoal were sent out to 504-544-0320 A more human way see what they could find to healthcare™ in the great world. They *The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Humana is a Medicare Advantage went everywhere, and HMO, PPO and PFFS organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in any when at length they Humana plan depends on contract renewal. Applicable to Humana Gold Plus returned, the torch H1951‑047 & H1951-028 (HMO) At Humana, it is important you are treated reported that it had found fairly. Humana Inc. and its subsidiaries comply with applicable Federal Civil Rights brightness wherever it laws and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, had gone. The dark disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ancestry, marital status ember told a mournful or religion. English: ATTENTION: If you do not speak English, language assistance story of its tour — that services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711). wherever it went it found Español (Spanish): ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios nothing but gloom and gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-877-320-1235 (TTY: 711).繁體中文 shadow. Each found just (Chinese): 注意：如果您使用繁體中文 ，您可以免費獲得語言援助服務 。請致電1-877-320-1235 what it was prepared to (TTY :711) 。 find. It is just so with men and women. Those who Y0040_GHHLFLREN_22_Ad_M
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C. Campbell Morgan introduces his little book, "All Things New," with a pleasing incident. A young man who had recently become a Christian was walking in a garden with a friend. Stooping, he plucked a leaf from a nasturtium plant, and laying it in his friend's hand, he said, "Isn't that beautiful? I never knew how beautiful every leaf was until the Lord saved me." The world had all become new to him, because he had a new joy in his heart. He saw everything new in the light of the new sentiment which now pervaded and dominated his life. We get a secret here which is well worth remembering. When the heart is aglow with love for Christ — the glow touches everything with its own radiance! We look upon the world then as belonging to Christ. He made it. The beauty we see everywhere — his hands fashioned. Jesus himself told us that our Father clothes the lilies. When we look upon the exquisite loveliness of the flowers which bloom everywhere in summer days and remember that God gave them their wondrous adornment and put the tints into the petals with His own fingers — cold is the heart that is not warmed by the sentiment. It adds a new charm and often times inestimable value to a little picture or a piece of embroidery, to remember that a beloved mother's hands made it. And if we could always remember of the things we see in nature, that God's hands made them, we would find loveliness in even a weed. But it was not only, nor primarily, the thought that Christ had made the nasturtium leaf that gave it such beauty to the young man; it was the new gladness that the peace of God had started in his own heart. Paul says, in one of his epistles, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new!" A Christian is a new man —
The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. – Psalm 6:9
SPRING 2022 19
Changing Times
How Can I Have God’s Peace? By Charles Stanley
(Isaiah 26:3) The key element in true, lasting peace is the presence of God. Isaiah says to God, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You” (26:3). Christ is our peace—His presence is the presence of peace within us (Eph. 2:14). And so Jesus declares, “In Me you may have peace” (John 16:33). What is this peace? It is an inner sense of contentment and quietness, regardless of life’s circumstances. It is steadfast confidence in our ever-faithful, immutable heavenly Father. It is the presence of joy in the midst of unhappiness. True peace does not merely dull our pain. A person who has genuine, godly peace can endure an avalanche of hardship and difficulty and still enjoy an inner peace that surpasses all human understanding. Why? Because it does not come from pleasant circumstances, nice events, or good things others may do for us. Instead, it is based on the fact that the Spirit of our holy, omnipotent, and never- changing God lives within us. Does enjoying God’s perfect
peace mean that you’ll never feel the effects of the storms raging around you? Hardly. But His peace is complete, adequate, and sufficient for anything you face. Keep in mind three keys to experiencing sustained peace: • Focus on God. Perfect peace comes when you fix your mind on God. You must discipline yourself to meditate on God’s presence and work. When you spend time concentrating on a problem, does it not seem to grow bigger? In the same way, you will have a greater sense of God’s presence and provision as you fix your mind on Him. • Trust Him. You never have to worry about God acting too late or providing insufficient help. His timing and purposes are perfect; in fact, He uses your tribulations to reveal more of Himself to you. His Word is full of rock- solid promises, many of which involve granting you peace. Know that He will always honor them! • Meditate on His Word. (Psalm 119:165) emphasizes that those who love God’s Word have great peace. Your most precious material possession is your Bible. Every believer should love God’s Word and feast on it daily. If you love it, you’re going to believe what it says— and then it will guide and anchor your life. ©2022 oChristian.com. All Rights Reserved >
A NEW HEART Continued from Page 19 interest and enthusiasm of the kindness, the thoughtfulness, the unselfishness; they meet in their interactions with others. These different aspects, in which different people see the world, are largely due to the eyes that look. We need to be very careful in our comments upon the things about us, for we are unconsciously revealing more of what is in ourselves, than of what there is in the things we describe! This teaching suggests also how the love of Christ in the heart changes the aspect of all the experiences of life for a Christian. The young man had never seen any particular beauty in a nasturtium leaf — until the joy of Christ flooded his life. Now all things were made new, and the most commonplace 20 SPRING 2022
objects became lovely. The same effect is produced in life's circumstances and experiences. What seemed hard yesterday appears easy today, for now we have Christ. If the heart is glowing with love for the Master — then sorrow loses its bitterness. We are ready to endure anything for him. Paul could sing in a dungeon, his feet crushed in iron clamps. He had learned to find blessing and good everywhere. GRACE GEMS! A Treasury of Ageless Sovereign Grace Devotional Writings Our Purpose To humble the pride of man, to exalt the grace of God in salvation and to promote real holiness in heart and life. ©GraceGems.org 2022 >
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Seven Words That Can Build A Marriage
Marriage
By Dr. Adrian Rogers
Love and marriage are wonderful. Actually, they are miracles. But the great miracle is not love at first sight. The great miracle is love after a long, long look. So, how do you keep the "honey" in the honeymoon? How do you keep the excitement, the thrill, there? How do you have the kind of home that God wants you to have? May I give you seven simple words based on (1 Peter 3:1-10)? Faith – Verse five of the text mentioned above discusses the need to trust in God: "For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God . . . " (Ecclesiastes 4:12) puts it this way: "A threefold cord is not quickly broken." The man, the woman, and God make up the threefold cord that binds our homes together. You'll never have a successful home apart from God, and you'll never know God as you ought without faith. Acceptance– Verse one lays out God's plan for the home: "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands." The devil has tried to obliterate the differences between the sexes. Under the guise of making men and women equal, he's tried to make them the same. Men and women are equal before God, but equality of worth is not the sameness of function. Each of us must accept our God-given roles. Then, you will experience blessings when you follow God's plan for your home. Contentment – Verse three reminds us not to get caught up in outward appearances: "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel." The secret of contentment is to learn that you can get along without almost anything except God and one another. If you have that, you have all you need to be content.
Forgiveness – In verse nine, Peter says, "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." Tornados are terrible and earthquakes are horrible, but termites destroy more homes than anything else. Likewise, it's that little spirit of bitterness, that unwillingness to forgive, or that spirit that carries a grudge that will get your home. Sometimes the wife has to practice it and sometimes the husband, but learn to forgive. Communication – Verse ten says, "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." In (Proverbs 18:21) we also read, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." You need to learn to communicate. Just as important, you need to plan to communicate. Make time for it. Everyone ought to plan four dates. • Plan a date with God. - Have a quiet time with Him every day. • Plan a date with your kids. Spend time with each child or grandchild personally. • Plan a date with yourself. - Get alone, pray, or just meditate. • Plan a date with your spouse. Get out of the house and just love one another. Romance– In verse seven dwell means to "live together" or "share," and it speaks of romance. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the
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weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life" Never let the physical part of your marriage grow cold. Your spouse is someone precious. You need to honor the person that you're married to. One way to give honor is a sincere compliment. You give honor not only privately, but publicly. Keep the romance, the joy, and the excitement in your relationship. Prayer– Finally, verse seven: "that your prayers be not hindered." Pray through your marriage. (Psalm 127:1) says, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain." It's more than a trite expression that the family that prays together, stays together. It is vital that you learn to pray together. Now you say, "That's a very strange thing because you have given us seven words about having a successful home, but you never mentioned love." Friend, all of these
are facets of love. As these seven words are lived out and become actions, they will speak love and will build up your marriage. © 2022 Love Worth Finding Ministries. All Rights Reserved >
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MARRIAGE
Changing Times
How To Build Spiritual Intimacy In Your Marriage Today By Chip Ingram
Many couples find it difficult to develop intimacy. Not just physical and emotional intimacy, but something even more foundational to the marriage: spiritual intimacy — an experience of moving closer to God as you grow closer to one another. In this article, I reveal 4 ways to cultivate spiritual intimacy in marriage for a thriving relationship. If you want to jump to the 4 points, use the links below. 1. Believe Whose you are. 2. Believe that you are holy. 3. Believe that Christ’s role in your marriage is key. 4. Believe that God uses mar-
22 SPRING 2022
riage to refine us. As married couples, a lot of us are exhausted and out of ideas to create spiritual intimacy in our relationship. It might feel too vulnerable to seek God together, or you might be in a season where you aren’t interested in any kind of intimacy. Also, many of us have gotten to the point where we’ve resigned ourselves to going through the motions. It’s easier that way. Things are fine. And fine is okay, right? But that’s now how God designed marriage! He is a sovereign Creator and He created marriage to be the picture of Jesus and His bride. Is that how you’d describe your union? Are you thriving? Or could you improve in this area? WHY SPIRITUAL INTIMACY IS HARD The underlying difficulty behind loving anyone is reconciling how you see yourself and how you feel God sees you. Because if you don’t understand and accept that you are truly loved as you are — not for how you seem, not for how you perform, not for what you have done, not for what you have accomplished — you will strive to validate yourself in every connection. You can’t give away something you don’t have. People who have successful marriages do not strive to persuade their partners to make their lives work. They under-
stand: I am already chosen, I am holy, I am deeply, unconditionally loved. And out of that, out of His love for me, I love my mate. It is possible to believe that truth and for it to impact your relationship. I’ve seen it and I’ve lived it! Below, we’ll uncover the lessons that can get you there, all from Colossians 3. Building this foundation will inject incredible freedom and grace into your marriage relationship. A major source of marital problems is not grasping God's love for YOU. If you don't understand and accept that you are truly loved as you are, you will strive to validate yourself in every connection. SEASONS OF MARRIAGE Different seasons of life bring new challenges to the marriage relationship. Of course, sometimes it’s simply harder to keep love alive than others. Are you tired of trying to find new ways to help your partner be a better person? Are you out of ideas for getting her more interested in physical intimacy? Do you feel exhausted considering ways to improve communication? Just because you’re in a hard season does not mean there’s something wrong with you, your spouse, or your marriage. Relationships are hard, and yet we exist in a world that says it should be easy and fun and make us happy all the time. Thankfully, God uses these seasons to strengthen us, our relationships, and our intimacy with Him. To be honest, in my decades in ministry and counseling couples, many — if not most — struggling couples have lost spiritual intimacy, which is the path that moves you up towards God and in towards each other. Thankfully, the Author of marriage gave us the manual on how to make that destination a reality. 4 Ways To Cultivate Spiritual Intimacy In Marriage Cultivate spiritual intimacy in your marriage with 4 Biblical beliefs. There are valuable les-
sons to be learned about building spiritual intimacy in marriage from (Colossians 3:12-17): Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. This is a beautiful picture of a spiritually intimate relationship. I want you to thrive in your marriage, and I believe God has given us exactly what we need to make that happen. Here are the four ways. 1. Believe Whose you are. You’re His. You can’t get Him to See INTIMACY on Page 23
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INTIMACY Continued from Page 22 love you more. In this very moment, there is nothing you could ever do to get God to love you more than He loves you right now. And it gets even more amazing. There is absolutely nothing you could do that could get Him to love you less. Yes, you could make some choices that could cause some uncomfortable consequences. That’s the loving thing for Him to allow. But He doesn’t love you any more when you read the Bible, pray, or do good things. Of course, these things are good, but they don’t impact His love for you. On the same note, He’s not shocked when you sin, or fall back into a sin pattern. Do you understand that He loves you? He chose you. He’s for you. He delights in you. The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17) Identity struggles? 10 Powerful Bible Verses That Reveal Your True Identity In Christ 2. Believe that you are holy. It’s a very humbling concept, but as a believer, God looks at you through the lens of the blood of His Son. You are precious. You are loved. You are forgiven and clean. Grasping that truth is the first step toward embracing the triangle that is marriage: you, your spouse, and God. Experiencing this forgiveness should humble us in our marriage! Here’s an illustration: I didn’t grow up as a Christian and I did lots of things that were not good. But as a believer, when I messed up, I found that I didn’t want to talk to God and seek forgiveness. I thought I was going to get the hammer. How much of that seeped into my marriage relationship and my hesitancy to seek forgiveness? As many of you know, stubbornness can become the ultimate standoff! But knowing I am precious and seen as holy gives me the strength to say: I’m going to choose to be the one that says I’m sorry even though I think it was eighty percent her fault and twenty percent mine. I don’t want to, but I know it’s nothing compared to how You’ve forgiven me.
MARRIAGE And, in case you’ve forgotten, this also means that He sees your spouse as holy. Are you treating him or her as holy and precious? Seek forgiveness: 3 Healing Steps To Forgive Those Who Have Hurt and Betrayed You 3. Believe that Christ’s role in your marriage is key. The major point of marriage is not happiness or fulfillment, though we should celebrate those moments! Marriage is a metaphor of the relationship between Jesus and the Church. Your marriage Your love Your forgiveness Your fortitude Your cherishing Your respecting These things are a picture of Christ and His bride. And the loudest, clearest, greatest picture the world will ever see of Christians is this: marriages where the spouses love one another. I’m sure a lot of us would prefer an easier picture to paint, but He uses marriage because He is good, He loves us, and His goal is to make us more like His Son. Your marriage, your love, your forgiveness, your working through problems, your caring and loving and cherishing and respecting each other is to be the picture of Jesus and His bride. 4. Believe that God uses marriage to refine us. His agenda is not to make us happy. He doesn’t work all things together for your good, to those that are called, to those that love Him, so that we’ll be self-fulfilled and happy. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… (Romans 8:29) Imagine sandpaper against sandpaper. This is a picture of marriage, and the beautiful plan of God to refine us and make us more patient, kind, humble, loving, and compassionate as a result of simply “doing life” with another person. We pray for patience, but then we miss the chance to work it out in our lives. Look around: there are plenty of opportunities to develop the fruit needed to strengthen every relationship in our lives, including marriage. Be fruitful: What Exactly Does Bible Say About Not Bearing Fruit? 3 TANGIBLE WAYS TO BUILD SPIRITUAL INTIMACY Cultivate spiritual intimacy in your marriage with 4 Biblical beliefs. Finally, I’d like to suggest a cou-
ple of tangible ways to build spiri- were the windows of opportunity for tual intimacy in your everyday life. God to gain my attention. And Pray together. It might be silently instead of merely having a good praying while you hold hands, or marriage, getting along, or being talking to God together out loud. compatible, some truly supernatural, There are many “right” ways to pray deep things occurred, and spiritual together, but the idea is to make time intimacy was cultivated. I want that for this discipline as a couple. for you, too. Worship together. Listen to Copyright © Living on the Edge. teachings together and discuss what All rights reserved > God was saying to you. Share what you’re learning. Talk about what God is teaching you in your personal study, or read the Bible together and discuss the application for your life. The loudest, clearest, greatest picture the world will ever see of Christians is this: marriages where the spouses love one another. H a r d times in marriage are a guarantee, and it’s my hope that you’ll learn these skills that will build your spiritual intimacy so you’re ready for the next challenge. It’s a sweet moment to celebrate having survived the hardest times. W h e n Louisiana Alarm Watch (504) 780-8775 www.laalarmwatch.com things were SECURITY • FIRE • MEDICAL ALERT • CAMERAS • ACCESS CONTROL the most difficult, those LAW_full Size_2019_print.pdf
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SPRING 2022 23
Changing Times
Education 3 Skills Bible Teachers Must Teach By Leslie Bennett
Extensive research reveals the trend of evangelical Christian's knowledge of Scripture is decreasing every year. A seminary professor made this sobering statement in a course designed to prepare the next generation of Bible teachers. As an older student sitting among mostly young
men and women, I already suspected it was true. I'd been teaching for over fifteen years. But upon learning this verifiable fact, I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. With a trembling voice, I questioned the professor, "How can we hear this and not fall facedown weeping?" Shameless Truth-Tellers At Revive '15: Women Teaching Women, Jen Wilkin exhorted women's leaders from (2 Timothy 2:15 ) to become shameless truth-tellers. After making the ironclad case that we've become a nation of Bible illiterates, she pulled the fire alarm
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by saying, "The modern church cannot afford for its women to be biblically illiterate. As we go into the dawn of post-Christian America, we must treasure and teach our sacred text as recent generations have not." Three Skills Necessary for Bible Students If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God. Jen advocates that the methods teachers use matter to rightly handle the Word of God. Our methods need to cultivate a deep and enduring adoration of God. A woman who loses interest in her Bible study has not been equipped to love it as she should because the God of the Bible is too lovely to abandon for lesser pursuits. If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God. This means we must ask the women whom we teach to be more than just consumers. We must ask them to be students in the true sense of the word, not passive but active, in the way they approach the Scriptures. 1. Teach your students how to think (love God with their minds). In Scripture we're commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Is that a verse for men only? Is it God's intention that women love Him with their emotions and men with their intellect? No. Often women in the church aren't challenged to have a thinking faith. We agree we want to be changed, so what is the path of transformation? (Romans 12:2) answers, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind." The path to the renewing of our feelings is through our thinking. Right thinking should inform right feeling. (Case in point: Jen's deep-seated love for cheese puffs died a slow death after reading the nutrition label.) The heart cannot love what the mind does not know. It's a simple formula: Know God, and you will love God. We must teach women to think rightly about God, and that right thinking will beget right feeling. The heart cannot love what the mind does not know. 2. Teach your students how to learn. Don't just give students good information; give them good tools. Teachers must push them to seek firsthand knowledge of Scripture. The reason is that the false teacher and secular humanist rely on us not
knowing what the Bible says. But so often women have adopted a way of thinking that resembles the telephone game. Women read a book about the Bible without reading the Bible. Instead of being able to quote the Word, we spout off what someone else said about what someone else said about the Scriptures. God help us if we become content to be curators of other people's opinions about a book that we cannot be troubled to read. Use those books as a supplement to—but not a substitute for—spending time in the Word of God firsthand. You are commanded to love God with your mind, not the mind of Nancy Leigh DeMoss or John Piper. 3. Teach your students how to work. Let's change the paradigm in the church that just showing up for Bible study is sufficient. Disciples are called to be disciplined. Do you see how the two words are so closely related? If you happen to be good at playing an instrument, you became that way through practice. First attempts at anything worth learning is hard! It's tempting to quit, but students must be trained to learn a skill by doing it. We must make students do the work. Try not to do anything for them that they can do for themselves. Set a clear expectation that sanctification is hard, but that as the teacher, you'll be doing the same hard work as the students. In (1 Peter 2), the apostle says we should crave the pure milk of the Word. Just as breastfeeding is a natural and necessary thing, it isn't something we automatically know how to do well. Give students permission to fail at first, speculate sober-mindedly, wonder, and wait for answers to come. Women must get over the desire to have "the right answer." The job of the student is not to please the teacher but to expand her thinking to love God with her mind. Teachers, you don't have to convince someone to work hard at something they love. Our job is to help them love Bible study. Leslie Bennett © 2001–2022 Revive Our Hearts, an outreach of Life Action Ministries>
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EDUCATION
How to Start Your Relationship With Jesus By Adrian Rogers
Every person has two great longings. The first is to be loved and the second is to love. But when pressures and heartaches come into our lives, many give up any hope of ever finding love. (John 3:16), perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible, reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Simply stated, this verse tells us four things: God loved. God gave. We believe. We live. God loved. God’s creation was perfect until Adam and Eve disobeyed God and introduced sin into the world.
Their sin resulted in their immediate separation from God. And because we are all descended from Adam, we each inherit his sin nature when we are born. This means we also are separated from God. Even though we did not choose this condition, it exists nonetheless—just like everything else we inherit from our parents. But in spite of our sin nature, God still loves each of us and wants to remove that separation. (John 3:16) tells us both the depth of God’s love and His provision for our sin God gave. The penalty for sin is death. (Romans 6:23) reads, "The wages of sin is death [eternal separation from the love and mercy of God]." That is why there were so many sacrifices required in the Old Testament of the Bible. But God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, as the ultimate sacrifice to pay the penalty of sin, once for all, on our behalf. Jesus’ death on the cross was the payment for the sin debt we each owe. We all need to understand that
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we cannot do good works as a way to earn God’s love and make it to heaven. If we could save ourselves, Jesus' death on the cross would have been unnecessary! The Bible says it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His [God's] mercy, He saved us" (Titus 3:5) Salvation is by God's grace (a gift), not through our works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We believe. What is our response? We can ignore God’s love or we can believe it. We can reject God’s gift or we can receive it. If we choose to believe Jesus is the Son of the living God who died on our behalf and was raised again, and if we surrender our lives to Him, according to (John 3:16), we can live. What we could not do for ourselves, Jesus has done for us! "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). This is the story of Jesus. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for us, was buried, and then was raised from the dead on
the third day to prove that His payment was acceptable to God (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) Jesus then ascended into Heaven and He is alive today to have a relationship with you! All that remains is our acceptance of God’s payment and forgiveness. He will not force it on us. And this is a decision each person needs to make personally: No one else can do it for you. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31) Want more information? Read the Gospel of Luke or even both Matthew and Luke. Each book tells the story of Jesus, His death and resurrection. We live. When we make our decision to trust God, His Holy Spirit immediately starts to live in our lives. Our sin nature is replaced with a new nature. The Holy Spirit provides strength, peace, and guidance in our daily lives. And we receive God’s promise of life forever in Heaven after we die. This is called Salvation in the Bible.
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SPRING 2022 25
Changing Times
Health 3 Tricks To Improve Digestion Today By Dr Don Colbert
Are you in the majority? Believe it or not, the majority of Americans want to improve digestion since they experience digestive issues on a monthly (or more frequent) basis. In fact, according to the National Institutes for Health, 60-70 million Americans are affected by all digestive illnesses. Surveys also suggest that over 70% of adults suffer from diarrhea, indigestion, nausea, constipation, and more at least monthly. Is it really that surprising? Our digestive tracts have a really
big job, every day. They never get a break. They are one of the only organs bombarded daily with external substances. In fact, they are in the initial filter by which most of our body interacts with outside substances. Like the lungs, they come in direct contact with both healthy and unhealthy substances from our environment. Think about the filters in your home or vehicles. They get dirty, beat up, and torn down. The same can happen to your digestive tract if not properly cared for. The digestive tract is also really large. It includes about 7 digestion organs (the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine (aka colon), rectum, and anus) and 4 digestion accessory organs (the salivary glands, pan-
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creas, gallbladder, and liver)). The tract itself covers a surface area of about 400-500 square feet. Interestingly, this number has been reduced from an estimate of 2500-3000 square feet to 400-500 in just the last 10 years after new evidence emerged that it is smaller than previously thought. In other words, there’s a lot to this system of organs, it does a lot of work every day, and a lot can go wrong.
How can you improve digestion today? Here are 3 tricks to get started.
TRICK #1 TO IMPROVE DIGESTION: USE YOUR BRAIN Amazingly, there is a strong brain-gut connection. In fact, as digestive health falters or becomes inflamed, the brain experiences inflammation. This may look like brain fog, memory loss, fatigue, and even invite neurodegenerative issues. In fact, a recent study published in Scientific Reports showed a link between gut bacteria and dementia. On the flip side, as brain health falters, the digestive tract is affected and often impaired. Stress, for example, can ignite a series of digestive issues from ulcers to diarrhea to nausea. Why do we “feel things in our guts?” It’s the braingut connection. To improve digestion, then, do everything you can to support brain health. Try to: • Reduce stress as much as possible through activity reduction, journaling, praying, etc. • Incorporate laughter into your everyday schedule • Get 7-10 hours of goodquality sleep every night • Eat brain-healthy, antiinflammatory foods like omega-3s from seafood, spices, and supplements each day • Hydrate well • Incorporate fasting into your diet TRICK #2: ELIMINATE AND FORTIFY WITH NUTRITION Simply put, some foods and nutrients damage your gut. Some fortify it. The more we damage our guts, the more digestive issues arise, and more and more foods become intolerable to it. In some cases, food simply does not “set well” in our guts. In other cases, the food or nutrient actually hurt. This can lead to inflammation
and a cascade of digestive issues. On the other hand, there are many foods that fortify both the healthy bacteria and cells in our guts. Most of these foods contain soluble fibers (prebiotics) and healthy bacteria (probiotics). To improve digestion, eliminate or reduce: • Inflammatory carbohydrates such as sugars and white flours (consider the Keto Zone Diet) • Sugary drinks • Gluten, if not tolerated (in some people, gluten actually harms and flattens the tissues in the digestive tract responsible for nutrient absorption) • Processed foods, especially those with inflammatory fats like soybean oil • Alcohol • Foods and medications with antibiotics (when not indicated) To improve digestion incorporate: • Fermented foods such as plain yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, tempeh, fermented vegetable powders like Greens Supremefoods©, and living foods like Living Chia with Probiotics • Vegetables and plant foods that provide prebiotics and polyphenols and living vitamins • Plant-based protein powders such as Divine Health Vegan Protein Supremefood© • Nuts like walnuts, which support healthy gut bacteria, every day (5) • A daily probiotic supplement such as Beyond Biotics Ultra Blend Probiotics IMPROVE DIGESTION TRICK #3: SLOW DOWN AND LOOK UP Are you a victim of the rush, rush, rush mentality? Are you overscheduled and burnt out? Do you have little time to cook at home and focus on foods that improve digestion? If so, your busy lifestyle is likely hurting your digestion. If you can find ways to slow down, you’ll have time to really utilize tricks #1 and #2 to improve digestion and brain health. It’s challenging to slow down in the midst of many demands, but it’s incredibly important. What can you do to simplify your life and leave the hustle and bustle of the modern stressed-out schedule? How can you make more See DIGESTION on Page 47
HEALTH
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How To Eat to Lose Weight By Angie Lewis
Why do we gain weight? We gain weight because we are eating more calories than we burn. There really is a simpler way to lose weight rather than dieting. Dieting is no fun! Why deprive yourself of food or feel guilty for eating when you’re hungry? That’s not right! Reduced calorie diets don’t work! Reducing diets do not work because they were never meant to work in the first place. Only when we eat foods that are not natural do we gain weight. With the everevolving food processing that humans so much love to do comes weigh gain, there's no way around it. However, when we stop eating these processed packaged foods and go all natural, weight seems to
stay regulated. Sadly, the meat in the USA is full of fattening hormones. These chemicals not only fatten the cow but fatten the person eating the meat! HORMONES IN THE FOOD MAKES US FAT! It is a vicious cycle. What can you do? You could buy only organic (grass fed, non-caged, free of anti-biotic) meats and be 100% healthier. Unfortunately, the price tag on organic in North America is out of this world and only the real wealthy can afford to eat organic. It's sad. Eat Only Whole Foods and You Will Lose Weight It’s very important to feed our body well. By “well” I mean to feed it real, whole foods. This is what the body craves. The body craves natural, wholesome food. And here is what’s so neat about it. When your body realizes it is being given what it needs, it runs much more efficiently, giving us more energy—energy to burn off the food we eat so we lose weight! What else happens to our body when it is fed natural, whole foods? Let’s take a look. * All the organs function quite
efficiently, working together to give YOU, the person inside your body a good physical, mental, and spiritual outlook. * Natural (organic) foods burn more efficiently than denatured foods do. * Whole foods keep your body in
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FINANCIAL
The Pitfalls of DIY Investing By George Kamel
DIY investing is one of the hottest trends out there. You’ve probably heard about apps focused on micro-investing, robo-investing, and DIY investing such as Robinhood, M1 Finance, Stash, Betterment and Acorns. Now, if you’re not hip to the lingo, DIY stands for “do it yourself.” You no longer need a middleman to jump into the stock market. You don’t even need a computer. Heck, you don’t even need a bunch of money. All you need is a smartphone and a lot of risk tolerance. In 2021, anyone and their mom can get in on the stock market for as little as $1 and make trades for free. And with that low barrier to entry comes a whole slew of people wanting to ride the gravy train to wealthy town. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, I’m going to go against Smash Mouth and say all that glitters may not, in fact, be gold. DIY Means Do It Yourself You see, when you’re doing it yourself, that means just that— you’re doing it all by yourself. All the responsibility is on your shoulders. And the offerings you’re limited to on these apps are usually single stocks, options and cryptocurrency—which are all super volatile, high-risk investments.
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I don’t recommend you invest in anything you don’t fully understand—and most DIY investors don’t understand the ins and outs of options trading or the unregulated, virtual Wild West of crypto. And with all the confusion and hype can come some poor investing decisions. Watch Out for the Pitfalls Let’s be real. People flock to these investing apps because they seem like a fast track to get rich. They want to become millionaires, and they fall into the trap of believing this is a shortcut to make their financial dreams come true. It’s easy to see why they think this works. However, one of the biggest myths about millionaires is that they take big risks with their money to build their wealth. In fact, Ramsey Solutions talked to over 10,000 millionaires, and we found out that exactly zero said that single stocks were one of the top three factors that contributed to their wealth. That’s right. Zero. Now, more than ever, we have access to so much information. But just because you have access to the information doesn’t necessarily mean you know what to do with it, does it? Here are a handful of pitfalls with DIY investing: • Not understanding risk and reward • Not recognizing your level of risk tolerance • Improperly planning for future financial objectives • Unnecessary trading (too much or too little) • Having little portfolio diversification • Panic selling that can derail your long-term plans • Dealing with market uncertainty Don’t Do It Alone
We hire doctors, lawyers and tax professionals to help us with things we know we can’t do ourselves, or things we don’t completely understand. Sure, I can learn pretty much anything on YouTube—but that doesn’t mean I feel comfortable changing the brakes on my wife’s car. I’ve learned to trust professionals. Investing can be confusing and intimidating, which is why it’s always good to consult with a financial advisor. One who’s committed to educating and empowering you to make decisions about your financial future and providing you with the investing information you need. Working with an investment professional can help you grow your portfolio effectively and with your goals in mind. They can help minimize your risk and protect your wealth from wild swings in the market. And that’s a win in my financial book!
*George Kamel is a personal finance expert with a countercultural approach to money. He’s the host of The Fine Print podcast and The EntreLeadership Podcast on the Ramsey Network. Since 2013, George has served at Ramsey Solutions, where his goal is to help people spend less, save more, and avoid consumer traps so they can make the most of their money. Follow George on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or find out more about him online at ramseysolutions.com/personalities.>
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Changing Times
FINANCIAL
A 4-Day Work Week? Don’t Hold Your Breath
There’s a lot of talk right now about a 4-day work week, both globally and here in the United States. In Iceland, over 80% of the workforce now has the 4-day work week as an option, and the concept is catching on. Spain, New Zealand and Japan are giving it a shot, and a
California congressman recently introduced legislation to make the 4-day work week happen here at home. Could America be next? Not so fast, folks. What Exactly is the 4-Day Work Week? A 4-day work week means people are working 32- to 36-hour weeks (maybe even less)—not full 40-hour weeks. That makes this concept different from shift work, where people work fewer days but still fit 40 hours into the work week. With a 4-day work week, you’re guaranteed a three-day weekend every week. And did I mention that the pay doesn’t
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decrease? That’s right, you still get the same salary or hourly pay as if you’re working a full five days. You might be saying, “You had me at three-day weekend!” Or maybe you’re wondering how productive people can be if they’re only working four days. Apparently, a 4-day work week can make some people more productive. At least, that’s what studies showed in Iceland, where a number of workers say they feel less stressed and burned out. The study lasted from 2015 to 2019, and cut back on workers’ hours without cutting down on their income. Those employees said having shorter hours actually improved the quality of their work, and they had the energy to do other things away from their jobs. They reported better overall attitudes, because they were coming to work fully present instead of running on empty. Some of the Pros The more rest you can get, the more likely you’ll be able to avoid feeling overworked. The benefits from this are huge for your mental health and the quality of your work. The less workplace burnout you feel, the more likely you are to stay
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invested in your job and produce quality results. If you know you only have four days to get stuff done, you might be more careful about how you schedule your days, too. You might try harder to stay focused and have fewer interruptions. If you’ve been taking it easy and phoning it in on Fridays, a 4-day work week might be the kick in the pants you need. Some of the Cons Sure, having a longer weekend might be great. But the truth is a 4-day work week gives you less time to get your work done. That’s the harsh reality. If you’re only working four days a week, the pressure is on to jam-pack all you can into those four days. If you’re pressed to cram as much work and as many meetings as possible into only four days’ time, your stress levels could be higher than when you were working a 5-day week. Let’s take a moment to think about customers, too. This is a big issue. After all, 5-day work weeks are the norm for most people, so it makes sense that the people you serve would expect it from you and your business. Suddenly having to deal with an extra day where you and your company aren’t available could lead to lots of unsatisfied customers. Will a 4-day work week happen in America? Don’t hold your breath. Traditional work situations may have morphed some since the pandemic, but it would take a lot to convince most businesses to go for this change. * Ken Coleman is the nationally syndicated radio host of The Ken Coleman Show and #1 national best-selling author. He has been featured in Forbes, appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, and the Rachel Ray Show. Since 2014, he has served at Ramsey Solutions, where he offers expert advice to help thousands of people every day discover what they were meant to do and how to land their dream job. Ken’s newest book, From Paycheck to Purpose, was published on November 9, 2021.>
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A Day Each Week For Spiritual Renewal
It is important that we understand the meaning of the Sabbath in relation to our individual spiritual life. We are apt to look at the day and its observance chiefly from the side of duty. We should remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We learn from the Bible that the day was set apart by peculiar sanctions. But the devotional value of the Sabbath is not so often considered. To the individual Christian, however, this is a most important phase of the subject. What is the purpose of the day as a "means of grace"? What help is it intended to be to us in our spiritual life? No doubt it is meant to be a day of
rest from the ordinary labors and tasks which occupy us during the week. For six days we are to work diligently, and then on the seventh day we are to rest. The more completely we can get away from our weekday occupations the better. There is a blessing in Sabbath rest. We cannot go on forever without rest. We must pause now and then to take our breath and renew our strength. But rest is not the only purpose of the Sabbath. It is to be a day also for spiritual renewing. The tendency of our life in the world, with its entertainment, its cares, its grinding, and pinching, is to make us forget God and the things of the spiritual life. The Sabbath not only calls us away to rest for a day from this wearying toil but invites us also for a season to thoughts and occupations which will lift heart and mind out of the entanglement of earthly and material things into a range of thought and feeling altogether different. For one day, we can go up out of the valley, with its little space and dreary outlook, and stand on a mountain top to get a vision of glory and beauty which will give us new thoughts of life.
This purpose of the Sabbath suggests also how the day should be spent. If we make it a day of merely worldly pleasure, we only substitute one class of secularities for another, and this will give us no spiritual uplift. To get from the Holy Day what it is meant to give to us, we should occupy heart and thought with things that are spiritual. It should be a day for thinking of God and of the things that are eternal, of our own relation to God and to our fellowmen, of our duties, obligations, and responsibilities. A tourist among the Alps tells of climbing one of the mountains in a dense and dripping mist until he had passed through the clouds and stood on a lofty peak in the clear sunlight. Beneath him lay the fog, like a wave- less sea of white vapor. He could hear the faint sounds coming up from the vales below. But there he stood on the tall platform, far above all the vexed, troubled, broken life of the vales, with only Heaven's deep blue above his head and the glorious mountain peaks round him. Something like can be felt when you give God center-stage in your mind on this Holy Day of rest. Through the weekdays, we dwell in the low valleys, among the mists. Life in this world is full of struggles, of failures, of disappointments, of burden-bearing. Then the Sabbath comes, and we climb up out of the low places of care, toil
and tears, and spend the day in the sweet, pure air of God's love and peace. We get near to the heart of Christ. We come into the good fellowship of Christian people and get fresh inspiration from our contact with them. We have wider views. We see life from the Heaven side. We see God's face and hear His voice. Such an hour on the Sabbath changes all life for us for the whole week before us. We see everything in a new light. We have a new perspective after that, in which all things appear in their true relations. The world is far more beautiful, for we see it now as our Father's world. The Sabbath songs sing in our heart all the week and make the way easier and the burdens lighter. It is when we thus make the Sabbath, a day to get into God's presence and to hold converse with the things of the spiritual world that we find the blessing it has for us. Then it sends us into the week braver and stronger, with new inspiration for gentle living, for kindly ministry, for heroic struggle. Our heart gets out of tune, its strings become rattled and jarring, in the difficult life of the weekdays — but the Sabbath sets us right again and prepares us for living sweetly, to please God and to be a blessing in the world. Resting in His peace, Save the Nations Ministries>
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Changing Times
The Christian Journey Choosing Honor By Pastor Doug Gilford
Have you ever received bad treatment from someone on the phone? Or rude treatment? Worse, from a customer service rep that you give money to!? Our mortgage company had to be involved in the rebuilding of our damaged home from Hurricane Ida. First, we could not get anyone on
the phone, second, they would not reply to our emails. A large check was being sent to them that they needed to endorse and send back so we could begin the rebuilding of our home. Time was of the essence. My wife and I tried for weeks and months to reach them and now, finally, we have someone on the phone…and to my despair, they were short, inattentive, and lacking empathy and urgency. I felt disrespected and embarrassed. They must have heard the frustration in my voice as we were forwarded from one department to another over and over until I wanted to scream. Something in me held me back
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from giving them a piece of my mind, although I struggled with it at first. It is one of the things our culture is sorely lacking, and honestly, I felt they were too. What held me back was an honor for God. I am reminded of the story of David before he was a king. He was merely working in King Saul’s army and had prospered quickly. David’s career rose fast. He defeated the giant Goliath. The king added him to his ranks of soldiers. David excelled in war-fighting. People began singing chants about Davids’s ability and as a result the king became jealous. The king’s jealousy was so fierce that he set out to kill David. Obviously, David and his loyal men had to leave and run for their lives. They hid in caves and stayed out of the limelight as they planned their next move. It was during this timeframe that something dramatic happened. David and his men were living out of a cave as Saul in his caravan of three-thousand troops are seeking for David to kill him and then they finally cross paths. This story is found in (1 Samuel 24) and I encourage you to read it for yourself. David and his men are in the back of a cave when Saul unknowingly goes into the same cave to “relieve himself” according to verse three. David’s men look at their leader and begin to celebrate because they know David could kill the king any second. What David does next is something of an enigma. He creeps up next to the king, and instead of cutting his throat, David cuts a piece of the corner of his robe and then exits. Why did David not simply kill the king? He could have and many people then thought he should have. Some today would say that was David’s opportunity to free himself of needing to run for his life constantly. Some
today might even say, “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy” the slogan for the Cobra Kai karate dojo. What was on David’s mind at that one moment? David honored the king because the king was chosen by God. David honored the king because of his position of king and I believe David honored God so much not to violate his honor. David had every right to kill Saul. But in David’s mind, rights or privileges are secondary to honor. So, when we have an opportunity to metaphorically kill someone with our words, or our actions, what should we do? Remember this: First, we honor people not because they are honorable, but because we are. When our lives are surrendered to Jesus, that means He is involved in them. The good times and the stressful ones. Our lives are directed by God and when we are tempted to shout, curse or hurt someone, we should remember that God knew this day would arise before we did. As a result, the hand of God is on this moment, therefore I can choose to honor when I could easily dishonor someone. Second, the way we honor others is a direct reflection of how we honor God. David’s fear and respect for God were stronger than his fear of Saul and his troops. The truth is if you continue to read this story you see that David gets upset at himself for simply cutting off the corner of the king’s robe. (1 Samuel 24:5) says, “David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” What a story of how we should treat one another!
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The Secret To Being A Good Christian… God’s Word, The Bible
In the Bible, we have His law, revealed by His own Spirit. It teaches us how to live. It is a perfect law; not only perfect in that it is without flaw—but also in that it is complete as a revelation, containing all we need to know to be saved—and to reach the full stature of Christian men and women. We may turn to the Word of the Lord with every question of duty—and we shall always find the right answer! The ministry of the Word which we have revives the soul. Every human soul needs to be revived. It is ruined by sin; its beauty is tarnished; its grandeur is destroyed. The Word of God can build it up, to transform it, to revive the lost splendor, to bring back again the defaced image of God. We know the power the Word of God has over human lives. It first shows men that they are condemned and lost—as it holds up before them the requirements of the divine law. Next, it shows them the cross with its salvation for the guilty. Then it declares to them the will of God by which they are to learn to fashion their lives. As they begin to obey this holy will, it leads them on higher and higher, until they enter heaven's gates and wear the likeness of Christ! Thus, The Word revives the soul, transforming it into the likeness of God, which sin had defaced. "The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart." Many people think that a godly life is gloomy. They suppose that Christians have no joy. They must deny themselves many pleasures. They cannot have the 'good times' worldly people have. They must live strictly. They must follow conscience in all things. It must be very hard. Life must be dreary and joyless to them. So, the people talk, who boast of being free from the restraints of God's Word, and who imagine that they themselves have the happiest times possible. But, as a matter of
fact, the happiest people in this world—are those who are keeping God's commandments. Who ever heard of sin giving true joy to the heart? Disobedience never made anyone happy; but obedience always gives peace. "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes." There are fresh-water springs in the sea, which always pour out sweet water beneath the brackish tides. So, in the obedient heart, under all self-denials, there is a spring of joy ever flowing. The Christian has sorrows—but he has comforts which turn his sorrows into joy. He practices self-denials, and lives under the restraints of holiness—but he has rewards which far more than compensate for the cost of his service to Christ. "Moreover, by them is your servant warned." The Bible flames with 'red lights'. Every point of danger is marked. Every perilous path has its lamp hung up, warning us not to enter it. We are warned against the Devil and his helpers. We are warned against bad companions, against false teachers, against all wrong courses. "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults." There are different kinds of hidden faults. There are those which we try
Guiding Light to hide ourselves, which are done in secret. Then there are those which have not been wrought out in act— sins of thought or imagination, which from lack of opportunity, have never been committed. But the reference here is to faults or sins which are hidden from ourselves, of which we are not conscious. We all have faults of which we ourselves are not aware. Per-
haps other people see them, although we do not. Certainly, God sees them. We may be sure at least that there are faults enough in the best of us. Our aim in Christian life should be so high that we shall desire to be cleansed even from all these hidden faults and sins. No See SECRET on Page 49
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Changing Times
"Finding Forgiveness Freedom from Remorse"
A recent visitor commented: "I know that to be forgiven, we must come to God with a humble and sorrowful heart. But my problem is that I cannot sense when I am sorrowful enough to receive forgiveness from God." That message obviously comes from a humble and contrite heart, and that is a marvelous Christian trait! However, if it were to be as suggested, that our sins can be forgiven based only upon how remorseful
we are, then perhaps we should ask: How much sorrow and regret does God require before extending forgiveness?! What is this unidentified level? When Christians sin and then come to terms with what they have done they usually do so with a sense of guilt. Sorrow and Remorse I certainly believe that sorrow and remorse for sin should prompt Christians to seek forgiveness. But I am not aware of scripture that designates a level of (pain and guilt) that must be experienced before mercy is extended. If we go by feelings to decide when our sins are forgiven, how do we know when we reach an acceptable level of true repentance and spiritual sorrow? Christians doing bodily harm to themselves, causing pain to their
bodies and emotions is abhorrent to God. So how far are we to carry our remorse? Punishing our soul through selfinduced guilt and torment to receive forgiveness is a waste of time, and even sinful. Punishing ourselves is not the way we receive forgiveness. Receiving God's forgiveness does not depend on how much emotional pain we can cause ourselves to feel. Because emotion will not bring forgiveness and peace; that will come from our request to God for forgiveness, rested upon our faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Receiving God's Forgiveness Guidelines From Scripture You Must be Born Again: • "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:7-8) Jesus Our Advocate: • "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2) Repent: • Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19) Confess: • "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Forgive Others: • "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11:25) Ask God for forgiveness: "God knows all about your sins, and yet loves you immeasurably." He dotes on you, and according to (Psalm 139), He knows your thoughts and the next words before they are spoken. According to Jesus, He knows the number of hairs on your head, and all your needs even before you ask, (Luke 12:7), (Matt 6:8). He knows all your strengths and See FORGIVENESS on Page 47
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Victorious Living
7 Laws Of The Race By Jim Elliff
The motif of the Olympic race was dear to the Apostle Paul. Did he sit in the stands in Athens or Corinth? Perhaps so. Regardless, parallels between “the games” and the believer’s race in life were often on his mind. He (along with the author of Hebrews) gives us seven laws for running the race. 1. Run to win “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) 2. Observe strict discipline “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training . . . I beat my body and make it my slave
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so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9: 25-27) 3. Don’t look back “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) 4. Get constant encouragement “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, [see chapter 11 for a list of encouragers] let us . . . run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) 5. Throw off restraints ” . . . let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so eas-
ily entangles, and let us run with longed for his appearing.” (2 Timoperseverance the race marked out thy 4:6-8) for us.” (Hebrews 12:1) Copyright Jim Elliff 2022 6. Discount pain © 2022 CCW – Christian Com“And now, compelled by the municators Worldwide > Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:22-24) 7. Don’t let up until you cross the line “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have
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Changing Times
VICTORIOUS LIVING an unceasing fountain of His love. If God is love, and if He pours out His love on every believer, then it should come as no surprise to us that the first description of the fruit of the Spirit in (Galatians 5:22) is love. Love is not so much a trait or a characteristic as it is the inner By Alistair Begg Countless pages of the Bible disposition out of which the Chrisrecount the outpouring of God’s love tian life flows—including the for the least deserving. The contours remaining eight facets of the fruit of Scripture’s story line help us to of the Spirit. know and feel that God Himself is God’s Wonderfully Strange Love love (1 John 4:8, 16). He is more The love God so graciously gives than love, of course, but never less. to us and the love He expects from us When God draws us to Himself differ from the popular notions of and into His drama, He not only love with which most of us are familshows us His love (Rom. 5:8) but iar. If we are honest with ourselves, also pours it out on us, lavishly. our expressions of love are too often (Romans 5:5), captures the essence directly correlated to the attractiveof God’s generosity: “God’s love ness or the worthiness of the object of has been poured into our hearts our affection. We show love because through the Holy Spirit who has we have an affinity with another perbeen given to us.” His love isn’t son or believe that they are somehow eked out just enough for undeserv- or another worthy. ing sinners to get by. To the conStrangely and wonderfully, this trary, through the Spirit’s power, is not what God’s love is like. In God places us under an unceasing (Deuteronomy 7), Moses describes fountain of His love. Yahweh’s love to Israel like this: God’s love isn’t eked out just It was not because you were enough for undeserving sinners to more in number than any other get by. To the contrary, through the people that the LORD set his love Spirit’s power, God places us under on you and chose you, for you were
36 SPRING 2022
the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers. In essence, Moses tells the people of God, The Lord loves you because He loves you. God’s love sure is peculiar when we compare it to the “love” we hear about today, because His love has no regard for our merit. He loves you because He loves you. God’s love sure is peculiar when we compare it to the “love” we hear about today, because His love has no regard for our merit. He loves you because He loves you.
people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Wonderful as it sounds, though, this command to love others makes life all the more complex! We can convince ourselves that we are very interested in loving God and other people while we’re just driving in our cars by ourselves, listening to Christian radio or silently praying on our commute. But when we actually have a real person to love (or when someone cuts us off!), then all of a sudden, love becomes much tougher to hand out. Yet this is one of the ways that we demonstrate our love for God: by loving others, even when they don’t Tough Love Such extraordinary love cannot make it easy. stay hidden. Just as God overflows Five Facets of Christian Love to us and lavishly pours out His The way we treat others is no love, so He expects that we, too, small challenge. The apostle John having come under this fountain, would remind us: will flow back to Him and others. If anyone says, “I love God,” and This Godward and man ward love hates his brother, he is a liar; for he is summed up well in (Mark 12:30): who does not love his brother whom “You shall love the Lord your God he has seen cannot love God whom with all your heart and with all your he has not seen. And this commandsoul and with all your mind and ment we have from him: whoever with all your strength.” loves God must also love his brothIn the Christian life, our love for neighbor validates our love for God. See FRUIT As Jesus reminds us, “By this all on Page 37
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FRUIT Continued from Page 36 er. (1 John 4:20–21) What might this sort of love look like in life’s everyday moments? 1. Love Takes Initiative The love of God is an initiativetaking love. We see this plainly in a verse we referenced above, (Romans 5:8): “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t pour out His love on us because we deserved it. No, He took the initiative to come to us even while we remained hostile to Him. To take the initiative in love is not easy. When someone wrongs us—when a spouse or a friend is clearly upset with us— the last thing on our minds is love. But the way of Jesus Christ is to bear with one another (Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:13) and to be tenderhearted in the same way that our Lord always is for us (Eph. 4:32). 2. Love Meets Real Needs Secondly, the love of God in us and through us cannot ignore the needs of a brother or sister. The apostle John asks us, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). John speaks here of material need, and certainly we must do what we can to provide for others in the physical realm. Sometimes, all people around us really need is our time, a listening ear, or an encouraging word. Whatever the requirement, though, love meets real needs. 3. Love Forgives Love also forgives—with or without apologies for the wrong done. Often, we qualify our forgiveness: “Well, I’m prepared to forgive if…” What we usually have in mind is the offer of an apology or restitution. Now, to offer an apology and to restore what is broken in a relationship are good things, and we ought to aim to do just that whenever we wrong someone. But we also ought to forgive even when, on the other side, there is no apology present. The love that God has for us is a forgiving love that is not based on any merit in us. He came and sought us out when we weren’t looking for Him. If I’ve been overwhelmed by this love, how could I hold an offense against my brother or sister? 4. Love Acts The love of God in our hearts
VICTORIOUS LIVING will inevitably shape our emotions and our affections, but we must always bear in mind that love should be a servant of our wills and not a casualty of our emotions. In (Colossians 3:14), Paul instructs us, above all else, to “put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” That command stands whether we feel it or not. The call to love moves beyond simply what our emotions might dictate and always into the realm of action—sometimes despite what we feel like doing. The call to love moves beyond simply what our emotions might dictate and always into the realm of WE ARE OPEN • YOU action—sometimes despite what we feel like doing. 5. Love Is Ultimate The last thing to say about genuine Christian love is that while it is the first word listed as part of the fruit of the Spirit, love is the final and ultimate priority of the Christian life. It’s worth considering how Paul talks about love at the opening of (1 Corinthians 13): If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I (985) 809-1889 am a noisy gong or a clanging cymCossichFamilyDentistry.com bal. And if I have prophetic powers, (985) 809-1889 and understand all mysteries and all CossichFamilyDentistry.com knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. We can say a lot of things and do a lot of things, but if love doesn’t undergird it all, then it is all utterly worthless. Even faith without love is proven worthless; whatever other wonders it has produced. Expressing back to God and to others the love that He has so mercifully poured out on us is our singular priority. Love is ultimate. Love is final. Without love—both for God and for neighbor—we are left with absolutely nothing. But with love, we have the power to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things, because “love never ends” (1 Cor. 13:7–8). © 1994 - 2022 Truth For Life. All Rights Reserved>
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Changing Times
about Jesus. That’s our message. It’s Jesus. Jesus crucified, Jesus risen and Jesus standing at the door of the person’s life and knocking. Paul the apostle says, in effect, I don’t want to know anything else among you except Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Here’s the problem: sometimes our attempt to cross over, we don’t By Greg Laurie bring the cross over. The power of power in the Word of God! God the gospel is in the simple message says in Isaiah, “So shall My word of Christ dying on the cross in our be that goes forth from My mouth; place and rising again from the It shall not return to Me void, But it dead. shall accomplish what I please, And That’s why Paul said, “For I am it shall prosper in the thing for not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11 for it is the power of God to salvaNKJV). tion for everyone who believes . . .” It’s not a mistake that the Bible (Romans 1:16 NKJV). calls the Word of God a sword. So, no matter how you start that Sometimes sharing your faith It’s the “sword of the spirit” conversation, make sure you get to as a believer can be daunting, but (Ephesians 6:17). The sword is the message of Jesus crucified and I have a few tips that can help you primarily an offensive, not defenrisen again. be more effective when striking sive, weapon. 3. Remember that Conversion up conversations with nonbelievYes, you could deflect blows Is God’s Work ers. If you’ve ever wanted to share with the sword, but mainly it’s PROOF SHEET Remember that conversion is the your faith but don’t know where offensive. And so, use the Word of work of God, not you. to start, see below for three things God when you share your faith. My job, your job, our job, is to to remember. Imagine someone saying, “Well, I proclaim the gospel; the Holy Spirthe don’t believeissue thatof EDGE swordof the you’re Attached1.is Use a proof of Bible your ad that will run in the October/November Lake magazine. This ad will run as is unless we it’s job is to convict or convince a Number one: use the Bible when holding is sharp.” receive changes by Wednesday (09.14.2018) at 5:00 PM. Please make any changes or approve via email. person of his or her need for Jesus you share your faith. When I say Really? Well, stab him with it. Christ. “use the Bible,” I don’t mean that Now I don’t mean that literally, of I think sometimes one of the reayou have to carry a large Bible course, but figuratively. I’m saying, sons we don’t share our faith is around with you or wave it in a per- quote the Scripture because there’s because we’re afraid of failure. But son’s face. power in the Word of God. maybe another reason we don’t Hide the Word of God in your Memorize the Bible, know the share our faith is we’re afraid of heart. It’s good to carry a Bible in Bible, and quote the Bible when success. Like, oh, what do I do if your purse or your backpack, but you share your faith. the person accepts Christ? the best place to hide God’s Word is 2. Talk about Jesus I remember years ago, I was in in your heart. Why is it important to Here’s another big one. This is Alaska with my friend, Franklin quote Scripture? Because, there’s probably the biggest of all: talk
3 Tips On Effectively Sharing Your Faith
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Graham, and Franklin is a real outdoorsman. He hunts, and he fishes, and he does all these great things. Well, I’m from California. I don’t do any of that. So, he said, “Do you want to go fishing for salmon?” I said, “Sure.” We’re out fishing. And I got one—I got a good -sized salmon. And I said, “Hey, what do I do now? Will you clean it for me?” And he says, “No, clean it yourself.” I’m saying, “OK, where’s the soap and water?” “No, you got to gut it and clean it.” “Uh, will you show me how to do it?” “I’ll show you how to do it,” he said, “But you’ve got to do it.” So, I cleaned my first fish, and I think sometimes—and this analogy breaks down really quickly because when we’re leading someone to Christ, we’re obviously not gutting them, but—the thing is, What do I do when someone accepts Christ? We’re a little overwhelmed. The answer is: now you follow up on them. Now you help them get established in the faith. Now you help them get grounded. It’s very exciting to listen to the questions of a new believer because it helps you rediscover things that you’ve forgotten—or maybe things you’ve taken for granted. So, this is the Great Commission, to go and “make disciples of all the nations . . . teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you,” says our Lord (Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV). So, this is the job we’re called to do. Let God do the converting; you do the sharing. All Rights Reserved Harvest Ministries 2022>
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CHRISTIAN LIVING
A Simple Identity By Dr. David Jeremiah
(Zechariah 3) says, we are simply Church in El Cajon, California. brands plucked from the fire. And For more information about the world will know we are Chris- Turning Point, go to www. DavidJeremiah.org.> tians by our love. son Avenue; and it’s so important Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah that without it, nothing else rings Dr. Jeremiah is the founder of true in our lives. Christians aren’t Turning Point for God, and known to the world by what we serves as Senior Pastor of wear—we are known by our love. Shadow Mountain Community That’s our simple identity. Recalling our Lord’s words in (John 13), the apostle John restated them in his first epistle, saying: We appreciate your support! “We know that we have passed ~ Ace Indovina from death to life, because we love the brethren …by this we know 504-828-4233 love, because He laid down His life www.fortknoxalarm.com for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:14, 16). John explained in the next verse, “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth” (verses 17-18). During the Vietnam War, two men were shot down over North 810 N. Columbia Street • Suite C • Covington, LA 70433 Vietnam in separate incidents at about the same time. One was Porwww.dicristinas.com ter Halyburton, a white southern 985.875.0160 Fax 985.809.2179 boy, and the other was Fred Cherry, the first black officer captured by the North Vietnamese. The men were thrown into the same cell, and it didn’t appear Fred Cherry would survive. He’d been injured, and Porter soon discovered that he had to care for Fred in very personal ways in order for him to survive. When Fred appeared to be near death, burning with fever, Porter hovered over him day and night, tending his loathsome wounds, exhorting him to hold on. After the men were liberated, Fred Cherry said he wouldn’t have survived without Porter Halyburton. Porter said the reverse was also true. Caring for Fred gave him a sense of purpose, it enabled him to serve someone else, and it taught him to love a brother in need. And he said, that’s why he survived the Hanoi Hilton. To lay down our lives for someone doesn’t always mean that we’re going to die for them, though that’s exactly what Christ did for us. But it means we die to ourselves and live to meet the needs of others in Christ’s name. That’s our identity. That’s the 228-265-8576 • 337-936-7200 core of our Christ-likeness. As EqualStepsVeteransHome@outlook.com
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Look down at your shirt for a moment—is there a little emblem on the pocket? If you’re drinking coffee while reading this article, is there a green circle with a woman on the cup? This is called “branding”—a marketing strategy by which products are given their distinctive identities. A brand is a collection of images and ideas that symbolize a particular product or company. What comes to mind, for instance, when you think of an apple with a bite missing? Without a doubt, most people will think of the products available through Apple—Macs, iPhones, iPads, iPods—the image represents the brand. Today, companies are no longer interested in creating a product— they want to establish a brand—an instantly recognizable identity that strikes positive chords in the consumer. Branding attempts to sell a “feeling” as much as a product; and companies spend millions of dollars on just the right symbols, slogans, color schemes, and package designs necessary for branding a product, an author, a company, or a concept. What is your brand? What’s distinctive about you? What makes you different? What “feeling” do you produce in others when they think of you? Long before Starbucks or Apple, Jesus Christ understood the importance of branding, and He designed a particular “look” for all His disciples. He wanted to give them a simple identity, which He explained in (John 13:34-35): “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” That’s a brand more powerful than any ever concocted by Madi-
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HEROES OF FAITH
6 Ways We See Jesus In Joshua By Jonathan J. Routley
The book of Joshua, with its epic account of Israel’s nearly flawless conquest of Canaan, is a favorite for many. Accounts of larger-thanlife miracles make the book powerful and memorable: the miracles of crossing the Jordan River, the collapse of Jericho’s walls, the halting of the sun and moon in the sky. Joshua is a great and godly (albeit imperfect) example of how to live a life of faith in obedience to the Lord.
Embedded in the historical narratives are some aspects of Joshua’s experience that hint at the person and work of Jesus, the Joshua par excellence. Here are six. 1. Leader Who Follows the Lord’s Law Throughout the book, God tells Joshua to dedicate himself to the law of the Lord, not departing from it to the right or to the left, meditating on it, and practicing its precepts (Josh. 1:6–8). He is promised military success if he obeys the law of the Lord. In a greater way, Jesus perfectly kept the law, delighting to live out the Lord’s law. It was his bread, his food, his very purpose and mission. If Joshua led well by following the Lord and his word, how much more did Jesus, who perfectly obeyed the will of his Father? 2. Deliverer Who Rescues Sinners It would have been natural for Real ID’s & DRIveR's lIcense Renewals
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Joshua to forget about or overlook the promise of protection made to Rahab during the battle for Jericho. But Joshua keeps this promise by having the spies whom Rahab saved become her saviors (Josh. 6:22– 23). Her promiscuous work does not prevent Joshua from “saving alive” Rahab, her father’s household, and all who belong to her (Josh. 6:25). After the destruction of Jericho and Ai, the shifty people of Gibeon—who had deceived Israel—cry out to Joshua for deliverance (Josh 10:6). The people of Israel had been bamboozled by their neighbors only a short time earlier, and many in Israel wanted to execute the Gibeonites for their duplicity (Josh. 9:18–21). Despite this, Joshua remains faithful to his word and delivers them from the coalition of kings in southern Canaan. Both Rahab and the Gibeonites were undeserving of God’s mercy, yet both were delivered by Joshua. Jesus also offers salvation to the undeserving. Paul wrote in (Romans 5:6–8) of Christ’s mercy toward us: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Like Joshua, Jesus brings salvation to those whose lives and actions neither earned nor deserved such deliverance. 3. Warrior Who Conquers His Enemies Joshua is often remembered as a warrior, a conqueror who destroyed the Canaanite armies. At the battle
of Ai, he is credited with burning the city and executing its king (Josh. 8:28–29). He executed the kings of the southern Canaanite coalition (Josh. 10:26) and had the city of Hazor burned in the north (Josh. 11:11). God’s promise to Joshua that no one would stand against him all the days of his life (Josh. 1:5) was proven true throughout the conquest. Jesus is also presented as a conquering warrior at times in the New Testament, especially regarding the spiritual realm: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). At the cross, God the Father “disarmed the rulers and authorities” of the angelic world “and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). Jesus defeated death through his death and resurrection so that we can say, with the apostle Paul: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). And just as Joshua put his foot on the necks of his enemies (Josh 10:24), so in the future Christ will, at his coming, put all rule and authority under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25). 4. Prophet Who Speaks the Lord’s Words Joshua functions as prophet for Israel at several points in the conquest narratives. He speaks to the people on God’s behalf, communicating divine revelation to the nation (Josh. 3:7–8, 9–13). He promises a curse by the word of the Lord upon the one who would rebuild the city of Jericho (Josh. See 6 WAYS on Page 41
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6 WAYS Continued from Page 40 6:26), enacted centuries later upon Hiel of Bethel (1 Kings 16:34). Most dramatically, Joshua commands the sun and moon to stand still in the sky while the Israelites chase down their enemies (Josh. 10:12–14). Jesus functions as prophet to Israel in strikingly similar ways. He speaks to the nation on behalf of God, but also as God, and therefore as the one who perfectly reveals God’s true character and nature (John 1:18). Jesus’s ministry is sprinkled with predictive prophecy (John 2:19; Matt. 20:18–19; 24:2). His calming the sea and raising the dead firmly place Jesus within the tradition of the prophets of Israel, of which Joshua was a prototype. 5. Victor Who Shares the Inheritance with His People Joshua’s division of the land of Canaan as inheritance for Israel may seem an anticlimactic sequel to the conquest narratives. Yet for ancient Israelites, this was the happily ever after they had sought since before their slavery in Egypt. For the first time in over 400 years, the people of Israel were coming
HEROES OF FAITH back into the land God had promised them as an eternal possession (Gen. 15:18; 17:8). And after Joshua gives the people victory over their enemies, he stands alongside Eleazar the priest as the Lord reveals which Canaanite cities and regions would be given to the different tribes. Israel’s promised inheritance had now been realized (Josh. 21:43–45). Jesus, after conquering death, brings his people into a great inheritance. Some are available to believers. We have forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God the Father, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us, and the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have been adopted as God’s children, becoming heirs of the covenantal promises to Israel (Gal. 3:29). There is also an eschatological aspect to our inheritance that will be fully revealed when Christ returns and the dead are raised. As Joshua gives his people rest in the land of promise, so Christ promises us an eternal home with him in a glorious new creation (John 14:1– 2; Rev. 21–22). 6. Servant Who Faithfully Enacts the Lord’s Will
A key question in the book of Joshua is whether the successor of Moses would live up to his reputation and legacy. Although Joshua has his moments of failure, the final analysis of his life demonstrates he lived for the glory of God: “After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died” (Josh. 24:29). Joshua’s epitaph recounts none of his victories or successes; it highlights his faithful service to the Lord. In this we have a powerful picture of Jesus, who said of himself that he came as a servant to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Jesus is the ultimate servant of the Lord who perfectly kept the law and perfectly lives for the glory of his Father. Jonathan J. Routley Copyright © 2022 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved >
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Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. – Romans 10:1
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BORN AGAIN
Jesus Is More Than Your Savior By David Mathis
“I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ . . .” If those are the first words out of an athlete’s mouth after a big win, we’re pretty sure we have an evangelical on our hands. As unnatural as those moments feel at times, many of us appreciate the heart behind it. Even if we cringe, we want to simultaneously celebrate that good instinct for a Christian to acknowledge Jesus not only as res-
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cuer but also master. “Lord and Savior” became a kind of evangelical calling card in the last generation, and for good reason. The phrase comes out of the 1980s battles on “lordship salvation” (even with its roots planted firmly in 2 Peter 1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18). Could a truly born-again person receive Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord? Can you pray a prayer, walk an aisle, sign a card, and receive Jesus’s saving, but not His lordship? The most compelling voices in the controversy stood with their feet steadied on the rock of God’s own words and argued that to receive Jesus savingly is to receive him as all that he is — “Jesus is Lord.” You cannot reject His lordship and still have Him as your getout-of-hell-free Savior. No one knows all that His lordship means when we first believe, but as we learn more about the real Christ, we receive Him as all that He is. Is ‘Lord and Savior’ Enough? I’m thankful for those who fought for Christ’s Lordship a generation ago and continue to proclaim it today. And in the days and context in which I pastor, I’m finding “Lord and Savior” to be both essential and inadequate. More needs to be said about who Jesus is for us. When we stand over the Lord’s Table at our church each Sunday morning, and as we teach our children at home and in Sunday School, we don’t stop at identifying Jesus as “Lord and Savior.” We’re finding it’s all the more helpful to add a third title to this well-worn evangelical phrase — to help clarify what kind of Lord, and what kind of Savior, we embrace Jesus to be. What Kind of Lord? What kind of Lord is Jesus? The kind who not only deserves our obedience but wins our admiration. He is the kind of King we not only acknowledge with our
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taxes and military service, but with our adoration and delight. He is not a selfish lord, but a selfsacrificing lord. He’s not a mean lord, but a kind one. He is not the insecure, cowardly Prince John who opposed Robin Hood, but the winsome, magnanimous King Richard, a king for whose return his subjects longed. He is not a lord like Scar, but like Mufasa. Not Denethor, but Aragorn. Not the White Witch, but Aslan. “He is not a selfish lord but a self-sacrificing lord.” He is the kind of Lord who is also our greatest treasure — a lord so good that we would sell all that we have to be His glad servants giving ourselves to the treasure He is (Matthew 13:44). He is our Pearl of Greatest Price (Matthew 13:45–46). Not only have we seen that He is powerful, but we “have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:3). He is not a lord we disdain, but one we admire. He is a giving lord, not an exacting lord (Matthew 18:27). He is “the Lord Jesus Christ himself . . . who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16). He is not just “Lord,” but also “Treasure.” He is the kind of lord in whom we delight. What Kind of Savior? And what kind of Savior is Jesus? The kind who not only deserves our gratitude but wins our love. He is the kind of rescuer who plucks us from fire, and who is Himself the waters of life. He is not like a lifeguard who saves us from the undertow to hand us off to our family, but like our own father who rescues us from the riptide for Himself to give us the longest, sweetest, and most memorable hug we ever had. His rescue is not like that of a paramedic, fireman, police officer, or soldier honorably “just doing my job,” but in His rescue, He demonstrates His personal, covenantal, eternal love for us. Our salvation doesn’t show
His commitment to His work as much as His commitment to His child. He is not just “Savior,” but also “Treasure.” He is the kind of Savior who is also “a treasure in the heavens that does not fail” (Luke 12:33). What Kind of Treasure? And just as Jesus being our “Treasure” flavors what it means to receive Him as Lord and Savior, so also His lordship and His deliverance inform and enrich the enjoyment of our Pearl of Great Price. What kind of treasure is He? Not a thing we buy and hide and rule over, but a person we gladly obey and to whom we happily give our allegiance. This is the kind of LordTreasure He is. “Our salvation doesn’t show God’s commitment to His work as much as His commitment to His child.” And Jesus not only stands above us and receives our worship, but He is the one who stooped so low for us and got beneath us to serve us. He is the kind of Treasure who did not regard equality with God to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking our form and being born in our likeness. And as human, He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6–8). This is the kind of SaviorTreasure He is. This is the kind of Savior for whom we would “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9–11). He is the kind of Treasure who gladly saves us and whom we gladly call our Lord. Jesus is our “Lord, Savior, and Treasure.” ©2021 Desiring God Foundation. Website: www.desiringGod. org. Email: mail@desiringGod. org. Toll Free: 888-346-4700 >
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BORN AGAIN
People Who Committed Their Lives To Christ By Billy Sunday
Best Wishes from your growth depends upon yourself. companions. It is impossible for you to become 5. JOIN SOME CHURCH: Be a useful Christian unless you are faithful in your attendance at the willing to do the things which are Sabbath and mid-week services. INTERIORS, LTD. essential to your spiritual growth. "Not forsaking the assembling of To this end the following sugges- ourselves together, as the manner of Specializing in tions will be found to be of vital some is." - (Heb. 10:25.) Commercial & Church Flooring Sales • Installation • Maintenance importance: Co-operate with your pastor. God References Available Dear Friend: 1. STUDY THE BIBLE: Set has appointed the pastor to be a You have by this act of coming aside at least fifteen minutes a day shepherd over the church and you Carl Franzella forward publicly acknowledged for Bible Study. Let God talk to you should give him due reverence and 504-833-8104 www.suninteriors.com your faith in Jesus Christ as your fifteen minutes a day through His seek to assist him in his plans for personal Savior. No one could pos- Word. Talk to God fifteen minutes a the welfare of the church. sibly be more rejoiced that you day in prayer. Talk for God fifteen 6. GIVE TO THE SUPPORT OF nels and the hottest fire, and yet have done this, or be more anxious minutes a day. THE LORD'S WORK: Give as the their lives were enriched by their for you to succeed and get the most "As new-born babes desire the Lord hath prospered you. - (I Cor. experiences, and the world made joy out of the Christian life, than I. sincere milk of the Word, that ye 16:2.) better because of their having lived Therefore, I ask you to carefully may grow thereby." - (I Peter 2:2). "Give not grudgingly or of neces- in it. read this little tract. Paste it in your The word of God is food for the sity, for God loves a cheerful giver." Often read the following passagbible and read it frequently. soul. - (I Cor. 9:7.) es of Scripture: (Romans 8:18; What it means to be a Christian Commit to memory one verse of 7. DO NOT BECOME DIS- James 1:12; I Corinthians 10:13). "A Christian is any man, woman Scripture each day. Join a Bible COURAGED: Expect temptations, © 2022 oChristian.com. All or child who comes to God as a lost class. (Psa. 119:11) discouragement, and persecution; Rights Reserved > sinner, accepts the Lord Jesus Christ 2. PRAY MUCH: Praying is the Christian life as their personal Savior, surrenders talking to God. Talk to Him about is warfare. to Him as their Lord and Master, everything -- your perplexities, "Yea and all confesses Him as such before the joys, sorrows, sins, mistakes, who will live world, and strives to please Him in friends, enemies. godly in Christ everything day by day." "Be careful about nothing, but in Jesus shall suffer Have you come to God realizing everything by prayer and supplication persecution." that you are a lost sinner? Have you with thanksgiving let your requests be (II Tim. 3:12.) accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as made known unto God." (Phil 4:6.) The eternal your personal Savior; that is, do 3. WIN SOMEONE FOR God is thy refyou believe with all your heart that CHRIST: For spiritual growth you uge. We have the God laid all your iniquity on Him? need not only food (Bible study) promises that all (Isa. 53.5-6) and that He bore the but exercise. Work for Christ. The things, even penalty of your sins (I Peter 2:24), only work Christ ever set for Chris- strange and hard and that your sins are forgiven tians is to win others. unaccountable because Jesus died in your stead? "Go ye into all the world and obstacles, work Have you surrendered to Him as preach the Gospel to every crea- together for our your Lord and Master? That is, are ture." (Mark 16:15.) good. Many of you willing to do His will even "When I say unto the wicked, God's brightest when it conflicts with your desire? thou shalt surely die; and thou give saints were once Have you confessed to Him as him not warning, nor speaks to as weak as you your Savior and Master before the warn the wicked from his wicked are, passed world? way, to save his life; the same through dark tunIs it your purpose to strive to wicked man shall die in his iniquiplease Him in everything day by ty; but his blood will I require at day? thine hand." - (Ezek. 3:18.) The Wong Family Invites you to If you can sincerely answer 4. SHUN EVIL COMPAN"YES" to the foregoing questions, IONS: Avoid bad people, bad books, Trey Yuen Mandeville – Opened 1980 then you may know on the authority bad thoughts. Read the First Psalm. of God's Word that you are NOW a "Be ye not unequally yoked Quality, Consistency and Value child of God (John 1:12), that you together with unbelievers: for what have NOW eternal life (John 3:36); fellowship hath righteousness with that is to say, if you have done your unrighteousness, and what commupart (i.e., believe that Christ died in nion hath light with darkness - what 600 N. Causeway your place, and receive Him as your part hath he that believeth with an Savior and Master) God has done infidel - wherefore come out from Mandeville, LA 70448 HIS part and imparted to you His among them and be ye separate, own nature (II Peter 1:4). saith the Lord." - (II Corinthians (985) 626-4476 How to Make a Success of the 6:14-17). Christian Life Try to win the wicked for God, Now that you are a child of God but do not choose them for your Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and SPRING 2022 43 your love for God’s people everywhere – Ephesians 1:15
SUN
Changing Times
FROM THE PULPIT
Baptism’s Deeper Meaning By Andrew Strom
A number of people replied to my last article saying that I am “overemphasizing” baptism. Some even think that we are preaching “baptismal regeneration”! These people really need to read that email again. Listen – I have just spent the last 14 years of my life largely speaking on Repentance and Holiness. And I still preach on those things. But baptism and the filling of the Holy Spirit are important too. In fact, in the Bible they were all “one package”. There is no “Ask Jesus into your heart” in the Bible. There is no ‘Pray this little prayer to get saved’. It doesn’t exist. (Proof of this is below). In 1996 we published an article called, “Ask Jesus Into Your Heart??” The church was going around the world telling people to
do something for “salvation” that the apostles never preached. “Just pray this little prayer after me.” Very ‘convenient’ but also very unbiblical. In the book of Acts we see literally thousands of people getting converted. But never once were they told to do anything like that. So, what did the apostles actually preach? When I teach on this topic these days I always start with the “Six Foundations” of (Hebrews 6:1-2). If you look at this passage it actually describes the six things that are “foundational” in the life of a new believer. Please note that ‘Asking Jesus into your heart’ is not one of them. So, what are these six things according to this passage? (1) Repentance, (2) Faith, (3) Baptisms, (4) Laying on of Hands, (5) Resurrection of the Dead, (6) Eternal Judgment. Those are the six foundations. Then I take people over to the book of Acts to see what the apostles did when they got people con-
verted. In (Acts chapter 2), we find the very first occasion where a group of people is getting saved. And what did the apostle Peter tell them? “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38). Can you see what Peter is doing here? He is using the “foundations”! They asked him what they should do, and he replied by telling them three of the initial foundations: (1) Repent, (2) Be Baptized, (3) Receive the Holy Spirit. And we see this pattern over and over again. PREACH THE FOUNDATIONS! When we go right through the book of Acts and look at every conversion in the whole book, we find again and again that what the apostles were doing was LAYING THESE FOUNDATIONS in the conversion of people. Repent, Believe, get Baptized, get Filled with the Holy Spirit. Foundations 1, 2, 3 and 4. Over and over. The Samaritans, the Gentiles, the
Changing
Ephesians, everyone. Friends, we are supposed to use these FOUNDATIONS when we are getting people converted! And all of this was expected to happen on the FIRST DAY! There were no delays. This was “day one” Christianity for every convert. Read it and see for yourself. So why are we so different today? Why have we gone around the world getting people “converted” in a way that is utterly different from the Bible? I can understand why people get upset about this because it is so different to what we have been taught all our lives. But the fact is, no matter what people say, I am going to keep using these ‘foundations’ when getting people converted. If you want to stop me doing that, you are going to have to prove those ‘foundations’ wrong – or prove to me that the apostles did not use them when getting people saved. I am not really a “baptism” preacher. And I am not just a ‘repentance’ preacher either. What I want to be is a “whole foundation” preacher. And that is what I believe God is calling us all to be. God bless you all. Andrew Strom. >
>
imes
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I Hate Mac N Cheese By Peter Basirico
What you as a reader will experience if you choose to finish this article is a glimpse into another account concerning the amazing redemptive and transformative power of Jesus the Messiah. This review covers the sad narrative of a little boy living a life of physical and other forms of abuse from the age of four years to fifteen years. The tale is heart-wrenching as told by the victim, but even more-so as one realizes the probable frequencies that this type of household exists today! Perhaps one of the values contained in the reading of a
Life Lessons
PEACE World peace is what we all hope for…especially when we’re reminded of the message of Christmas proclaimed by the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” There have been periods of peace, like the “Pax Romana” during the Roman Empire. Peace enables the arts to flourish and brings order and creative thought. But we can’t depend on governments to bring national peace, and certainly not personal peace. Rulers promise, “Peace, peace, when there is no peace.” Wars have increased on this earth. We can only wonder how history will treat our generation! Mankind’s priority must first be peace with God. Most people don’t realize that they are at war, and the world is their battleground. The believer fights against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. The world is the Devil’s playground. As the prince and power of this world, he is “hellbent” on destroying the human race, which was created in the image of God. The Devil uses our natural inclinations, the flesh, to overrule
book like ‘I Hate Mac N Cheese’ the pointers Pastor Doug gives at the end of his story for discovering if a child in the reader’s circle is similarly being victimized. This autobiographical journal tells of a re-marriage which results in a stepdad entering the life of a small boy. This said man is six feet and 280 pounds and a seeming fine and normal ‘country gentleman! Little Doug finds out quickly he is dealing with a fiendish monster! He turns on the small child unexpectedly and viciously and regularly with vicious fury. The child takes to praying fervently for deliverance from this horrible reality that has become his life. But rescue is slow in coming. Little Doug and his abusive stepdad share a secret that cannot be revealed due to the threat that the horror may only increase! This offended child is trapped in a nightmare. At the age of fifteen young Doug has had enough and takes to keeping a shotgun behind his bedroom door. He has threatened to kill his stepdad and like a typical bully, when confronted stepdad backs off and never touches Doug again. At some point in Douglas’ years in High School while playing music with a band, a ‘mystery man’ enters
God’s will for us, if we let him. But God is the Prince of Peace, with the promise of victory. What is your warfare against? We all worry and experience fear, despair, and other self-defeating emotions. As believers, even our own family can be a source of problems. (Matthew 10:36) says, “As a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” But (2 Corinthians 10:3 & 4) is our answer: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” What soldier fights without armor? (Ephesians 6:1117) urges us to put on the whole armor of God, “so that ye may be able to stand against the wile of the Devil.” Once we have peace with God by having our sins forgiven, we can have peace from God: “a peace that passes all understanding shall keep our hearts and minds.” (Philippians 4:7) In fact, it is a perfect peace “whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” (Isaiah 26:3)
Book Review the life of these teens and our young man is confronted with the reality of God through the message of the gospel of Jesus. In Doug’s own words, God…changed me from the insideout in a single instant…a miracle! The abused, throw-away child is to become a valuable citizen to his community. Doug marries, fathers five children, imperfectly but lovingly. But, although healing has been experienced, scars remain. In his life going forward, Pastor Doug tells of ‘Flashbacks’ from his terrorized past resurfacing and causing renewed pain. He has fought through forgiving his stepdad, even allowing for God to teach him to love this former abuser. Pastor devotes a chapter to chronicling how he led his stepfather to Christ and how he ministered to this man even to his death. A high-lite chapter in “I Hate’… is entitled ‘Supernatural Surgery’. Doug relates being at a pastor’s conference in Louisiana. He is worshipping along with other pastors when he begins to have ‘flashbacks’ of some of his worst experiences of abuse. Usually these recalls Pastor uses to ‘dump’ these awful memories. But this time is different. As though the lens of a camera were recording the scene, the lens panned over and there Doug saw Jesus standing with His arms extended! Fearful scene after
scene is replayed, but Jesus is there present in every instance. Douglas comes to the realization that his seemingly unanswered prayers as a helpless, tortured child had been heard and attended to by his future Savior Jesus! Because the Scripture tells us that ‘All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose’ we can understand that Doug’s life was always purposeful. They were not ‘good things’ that our young child experience, by for, but they ‘worked together’ to give Doug Gilford an eminently meaningful existence. God does and can do for anyone who believes and fully trusts in Him to perform the same miraculous redemption and transformation that Pastor Doug, I’m sure, felt compelled to share with anyone who will listen. By Peter Basirico >
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SPRING 2022 45
Changing Times
Keto Zone Baked Avocado Eggs optional INSTRUCTIONS • Preheat oven to 450°F.
Keto Zone Blueberry Chia Coconut Yogurt • 1 scoop Hydrolyzed Collagen
Powder
INSTRUCTIONS
• Combine chia seeds and yogurt
Are you looking for a quick and easy keto meal that can be eaten any time of day? Then this delicious Keto Zone Blueberry Chia Coconut Yogurt recipe is for you. This recipe can be made in just a few minutes with no cooking required. Just mix the ingredients together and serve! Not only is this recipe super easy, but it is also loaded with nutrition. With healthy fats from MCT oil, probiotics from yogurt, protein from collagen, fiber from chia seeds, and antioxidants from blueberries, this recipe is a healthy and balanced keto meal. INGREDIENTS • 1 cup fresh organic blueberries • 1 cup full fat low-carb organic/
grass-fed yogurt (no sugar added)
and stir until well combined. • Add in coconut flakes, MCT Oil Powder, and collagen. • Continue to mix until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. • Add in blueberries and gently stir. • Divide into 4 servings. • Top with extra blueberries if desired. • Serve and enjoy! NUTRITION FACTS Servings: 4 Per Serving: Calories: 250 calories Fat: 21 grams Total Carbohydrates: 12 grams Fiber: 6 grams Net Carbs: 6 grams Protein: 25 grams © All rights reserved 2022 - Dr. Don Colbert.>
• Cut the avocados in half. • Remove the pit and discard. • Use a spoon to scrape out
Looking for a quick and easy keto breakfast option? If so, these delicious baked avocado eggs are sure to do the trick! We all have busy lives. Who can afford to spend all morning making breakfast? This low-carb recipe looks and tastes like a gourmet meal but it can be ready with little effort in less than 20 minutes! Avocados are loaded with hearthealthy monounsaturated fat as well as fiber and minerals like potassium. Eggs are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet with protein, healthy fats, fat-soluble vitamins, and minerals. These baked avocado eggs are sure to keep you full and satiated without any carbs so you can keep burning fat in the Keto Zone all day! INGREDIENTS • 2 large organic avocados
enough room in the avocado to house an egg. (excess avocado flesh may be eaten)
• Add a squeeze of lime juice
over each avocado and then top with salt and pepper.
• On baking sheet, place each
seasoned avocado half.
• Carefully break one whole egg
into the center of each avocado half.
• It is okay if egg white spills
over the side, just keep the yolk from breaking.
• Place avocados in the oven and
bake for about 10 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still runny.
• Remove from oven and garnish
with cilantro, more salt and pepper, and cheese, if desired.
• Serve warm and enjoy!
© All rights reserved 2022 - Dr. Don Colbert.>
• 4 pasture-raised/organic eggs • 1 limes • 2 tablespoons organic cilantro,
chopped
• 3 tablespoons ground chia seeds
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• Black pepper, to taste
flakes
• 4 tablespoons grass-fed cheese,
• 1 scoop Coconut MCT Oil Pow-
der
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DIGESTION Continued from Page 26 foods at home (even simple foods such as grilled chicken or an easy slow cooker meal)? Can you clear your schedule and allow for more downtime? Non-activity time? Time outside in nature or in a garden? How can you incorporate daily gratitude, optimism, and prayer within your family? Even if you can only think of one thing you can do to slow down and look up within nutrition and pace of life, you can improve digestion and brain health! Take a few moments to jot down ways you can do so today. GET THE BEST PLAN TO IMPROVE DIGESTION If you are ready to really improve digestion and overall health, it’s time to get Dr. Colbert’s Healthy Gut Zone book or the Healthy Gut Zone Starter Kit (includes the Healthy Gut Zone book, Fiber Zone supplement, and the Beyond Biotics digestive supplement) today. You’ll find a clear plan that supports digestion, improved overall health, and additional protection for your brain.
What’s more, Dr. Colbert’s fiber and probiotic supplements utilize the best fibers and bacteria strains that support optimal gut health. BOTTOM LINE The digestive tract is amazing. It takes substances outside our bodies and breaks them down for energy, fuel, and nutrients within our entire bodies. It is strongly linked to our brains, and every other system depends on it. You can support digestion and overall health, starting today, with these 3 tricks. What’s more, a great digestion health plan is only a click away! Get your Dr. Colbert’s Healthy Gut Zone book or the Healthy Gut Zone Starter Kit. Learn how to support digestive health in every area of your life, from stress to lifestyle to sleep to nutrition. The entirety of your health depends on your gut. Get started today! © All rights reserved 2022 - Dr. Don Colbert.>
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FORGIVENESS Continued from Page 34 weaknesses and will not expect more than you can deliver; He will be with you and never place more on you than you can bear. (2 Cor 12:9) God loves Sinners more than He hates their sins. He also knows that regardless of how hard they try, they will still sin. Jesus endured all the temptations to sin, yet is the only one who ever lived a sinless life. • "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Heb 4:15, NKJV) God, knowing that mankind could not be sinless, loves us so that He sent Jesus, the "Lamb of God," to die in our place. • "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, NKJV) • "For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness, And I will remember their sins no more." (Heb 8:12, AMP) Christians may have rightfully suffered guilt and remorse for their
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sins, but to do so after receiving forgiveness is not helpful. Confidence in receiving forgiveness comes by faith and trust in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross. • "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father loves his children, So, the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. For He knows our [mortal] frame; He remembers that we are [merely] dust." (Psalm 103:13-14, AMP) Samuel Mills © Copyright 2006-2022 Trusting-in-Jesus.com. All Rights Reserved.>
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EDUCATION
Changing Times
RELATIONSHIP Continued from Page 25
HONOR Continued from Page 32
THE WISE LIFE Continued from Page 8
Salvation is God's gift to you, and you receive this gift through faith in Jesus. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). This very moment, you can receive Christ's gift of salvation and start your new life with Jesus by sincerely praying a simple prayer like this from your heart: "Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that You love me and want to save me. Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, who died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe God raised You from the dead. I now turn from my sin and, by faith, receive You into my life as my personal Lord and Savior. Come into my heart, forgive my sins, and save me, Lord Jesus. In Your name, I pray, Amen." © 2022 Love Worth Finding Ministries. All Rights Reserved >
In my opinion, people who have no respect for religion, or God do not have a basis for their honor towards others. David had a basis that he relied on and formed his next action step. This is why some people dishonor and mistreat their fellow man. There is no reason to form a basis for their honor. Christ-followers honor others because they first honor God. What if instead of hurting, cursing, and killing one another with our words, we treat people as a specially anointed, loved one of God? It will add peace to our lives and value to theirs. By the way, we have a new mortgage company. Doug Gilford, Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church -23051 Hwy 1088, Mandeville, La 70448. 985624-8652, www.cornerstonenola. com>
riches and our attitude about money to steer us away from putting our hope and trust in him. We have responsibilities in this life to care for our families and to care for those who are less fortunate than us. God doesn’t want us to be a burden on others; we still have to make a living. But some things such as creating debt in our lives, stockpiling our money rather than using it to help others, and relying on doctors to be responsible for our overall physical health can be disastrous. Look at all the pain and suffering that these things are doing to God’s people? And we put our trust in these things! Our attitude about money should be that of the willingness to give up everything we have for Him, if it ever came to that. God doesn’t want our eagerness for riches to come between him and us. We are to use what we have in ways that pleases him, to serve others in whatever capacity he has gifted us with, and to help those who are in need. Using our money and possessions to please
God shows that we have our priorities about money right with God. Don’t let money take the place of God in your heart. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot both serve God and money.” (Luke 16:13) When we believe and trust in God that he will fulfill his promises for us, even though we cannot see those promises materialize yet, that is when we have given God our faith and trust. (Hebrews 11:6) This is what we ought to be striving for—this should be our first priority in life. We should put our faith in God first and then God will guide us properly in this world and give us wisdom to know the difference between right and wrong. Is it wise to trust in God given what we know about him? It’s the only way! © 2002-2022 Heaven Ministries. All Rights Reserved. www.heavenministries.org >
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GUIDING LIGHT
LOSE WEIGHT Continued from Page 27
SECRET Continued from Page 33
* Your body loses fat because of all the above! * Skin quality improves greatly because your body is less toxic, plus cells are receiving valuable nutrition. What Happens When We Eat Denatured Food? * The body becomes confused and doesn’t know what to do with the substances added to denatured food. * Toxins build up because the body is swamped with substances it can’t metabolize through digestion * Fibreless, denatured foods cause constipation, boils, rashes, allergies, acne, potbelly, obesity, sugar spikes, IBS, hemorrhoids, gluten intolerance, emotional issues, and more. * Organs begin to stop functioning normally, causing bladder infections, liver disease, pancreas issues, IBS, clogged arteries, colon cancer, and more. Pesticides, herbicides, additives, colorings, dyes, fake sugars, preservatives, and chemicals overtime all leave a trail of toxins in your body in the form of weight gain, sleep disturbances, sugar spikes, aches and pains, and digestive disorders that become disease and cancer if something is not done to cleanse the system and change the diet. God did not build our body to tolerate food that was not invented yet. We had already been given all the food we would need for perfect health. He knew that man would build factories and destroy the food through denaturing. But God gave us a mind that can think and reason, for this purpose, so we can choose to lead a healthy eating lifestyle. No one is standing over us at gunpoint making us eat boxed, packaged, canned, frozen denatured food products. We can choose to buy only whole, natural ingredients and cook! Did you know that fatness is enabled in this country through the denaturing of foods! I’m telling you, if you want to lose weight and feel good, with no guilt trips, then go all-natural! Give your body the food it was meant to receive, and your body will reward you with physical and mental well-being. If you cannot afford to buy organic meat, then go vegetarian, however, be a smart vegetarian and eat lots of protein rich foods like beans and quinoa. You can truly eat great and lose weight, but you'll have to go all natural! Isn't that the way we were meant to eat anyway? © 2002-2022 Heaven Ministries. All Rights Reserved. www. heavenministries.org >
fault is as small as to be a trifle, or not to be a blemish in our character. Small faults grow. We have a beautiful prayer at the close of (Psalm 19): "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." There could be no higher standard of life, than is set for us in this prayer. The conduct may be blameless— while the thoughts are stained with sin. It is easier to keep our acts without fault—than our feelings, our desires, and our affections pure. We may do no outward act of cruelty or unkindness; while our hearts may be full of jealousies, envies, and all selfishness. We are to seek that our thoughts be so white and clean—that they will be acceptable in God's sight. That prayer covers our words, our thoughts, and our meditations, each a closer test than the one before. It is a great thing to be faultless in speech. But perfect grammar is not enough. Our words may be beautiful and graceful—and yet our thoughts may be full of hypocrisy, of deceit, of all evil! The prayer here is that our thoughts may please God. This is a higher spiritual attainment, than merely faultless words. Then, a still higher test of life— is our meditation. Meditations are our deepest thoughts, the quiet ponderings of our hearts. Meditation is almost an obsolete word in these times of hustle and bustle. The word belongs rather to the days when men had much time to think— and think deeply. We meditate when we are alone when we are shut away from others. Our minds then follow the drift of our own desires, dispositions, and imaginations. If our hearts are clean and good—our meditations are pure and holy. But if our hearts are evil and unclean— our meditations are of the same moral quality. Thus, our meditations are an infallible test of our real self. "As a man thinks in his heart—so is he." (Proverbs 23:6) My prayer is, therefore, for a life of the highest character—one acceptable to God, not only in words and thoughts—but also in meditations. This is the life; we Christians should seek to live! Save the Nations Ministries >
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SPRING 2022 49
Changing Times
THE STUNNING BEAUTY AND POSITIVE ENERGY leave audiences uplifted and inspired. The message of truth and hope resonates with audiences everywhere. See for yourself why Shen Yun performance is leaving millions around the world in awe.
“Shen Yun is a transformative experience for body, soul, heart, and mind. This is the wisdom of all the ancient lineages.” —Douglas Beechwood, media producer
“It makes you dream of a heavenly world. It’s really a balsam, a salve for the soul. It’s something that really restores you, regenerates you.”
“This is the best I have ever seen. It was so uplifting. It spoke to everything that is good in this world.”
—Filippa Giordano, famous Italian-Mexican Singer
—Glen Duncan, Grammy Award-winning musician
“I am so blessed to watch it. I felt a very strong, beautiful energy.” —Paige McNamara, dancer
“I feel elevated, I feel like I’m in a better mood. You can be immersed in love and compassion here, so come see it.” —Taiya Himebauch, therapist
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HEN YUN’S unique artistic vision expands theatrical experience into a multi-dimensional, deeply moving journey. Featuring one of the world’s most ancient and richest dance systems— classical Chinese dance—along with dynamic animated backdrops and alloriginal orchestral works, Shen Yun opens a portal to a civilization of enchanting beauty and enlightening wisdom.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization based in New York. Its mission is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. Traditional Chinese culture—with its deep spiritual roots and profoundly optimistic worldview—was displaced by communism in China. While Shen Yun cannot perform in China today, it is sharing this precious heritage with the world.
April 9 • Baton Rouge River Center Theatre ShenYun.com/Baton-Rouge 877-663-7469
SPRING 2022 51
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