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For
Those Seeking The Truth & Dynamic Living Christ is Victor |
January/February
2004 Volume
17, Number 1
“He Grew and Waxed Strong in Spirit”
“And
the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day
of his shewing unto
When we talk of
somebody growing, we like to know how tall the person has grown, how muscular
he is and so on. But here the Bible speaks of waxing strong in the spirit. I
have been seeing very carefully how when people wax strong in their purses or
wallets, they become weak in the spirit. The father of faith Abraham was not
like that. God blessed him materially but it did not mean that there was any
neglect on his part of his spiritual life.
I see a very great
danger to us here. When a man is converted, he says, “How I have wasted
so much money on smoking and drinking and other such things. Now God has given
me a new heart, I will be careful with my money.” He is careful not only
with his money, but with his time too. He gives one tenth of his income to God,
and that brings more blessings. There will not be room enough to receive the
blessings. Handling the blessings of God needs a deep training. Seeing our
indebtedness to God, we ought to say, “God has given me so much, I am all
the more indebted to God.”
In the case of John
the Baptist, we are not told of any worldly blessings at all. From the earthly
stand point, he was a poor man. His food was very simple, so was his clothing.
All his youth, till almost thirty years he lived in the desert. He did not seem
to have any special earthly privileges, but the Bible says that he “waxed
strong in the spirit.” Sometimes our prayers do not appear to be
answered. We wonder, “Where is my prayer going?” When your prayer
seems to be stopping at the roof, you must say, “God has promised,
‘Call on Me and I will answer you and I will
show you great and mighty things, which thou knowest
not.’ I will not walk by my feelings or even by fast answers to my
prayers. I will walk by the promises of God.” But this calls for great
spiritual strength. Otherwise we tend to get discouraged and depressed. But
when you walk by the promises of God, your spirit gets stronger.
When John the Baptist
became strong in the spirit, he did not care for the things of this world. He
did not say, “I must live in a city.” He never grumbled saying,
“I do not have this, I do not have that.”
No, he had a message for every class of people. Now that to me is a wonder.
Sometimes I feel I do not have the right message for a certain class of people.
Some people are so full of the world, so full of the flesh, with no thought
about God. I say, “I do not seem to have the right message for these people.” that means my
spirit is not really strong. I had a great chance in this Fellowship to grow
strong in the spirit. There were men and women of faith around me and the Word
of God was given to me again and again. I ought to have been full of God’s
word for all kinds of people.
John the Baptist had a
message even for King Herod. He did not bother about the consequences. That is
one of the marks of those that are strong in the spirit. If we are strong in the
spirit we will not be afraid of consequences of taking stand for righteousness.
When God blesses us materially, we are tempted to buy this and that and be a
little more comfortable. Every such accumulation of material things will on1y make your spirit weaker. I do not know how many people are
going to tell the Lord, "Lord, because of the TV I lost my prayer and thus
my spirit became weak." Everywhere people have become weak because of
these material acquisitions. As far as I am concerned, I am prepared to
lose everything. It will not bother me at all. Everywhere people are becoming weak
in spirit. Their houses are full of things and new things. But the spirit is
weak. What did John the Baptist have of things? Nothing.
He had the word of God. Sometimes I feel very sad that many are slipping. By
this time there should have been people in our midst who have walked in the
streets of heaven and come back to their bodies like Sundar
Singh, people who knew the deep things of God. Somehow when responsibilities
increase our spiritual strength seems to decrease. When responsibilities
increase, our prayer life and thus our spiritual strength should also increase.
But unspiritual and soulish people whose Christianity
is just their own effort – they are the people who, when responsibilities
increase find their spiritual strength and faith decreasing. With soul power we
cannot do spiritual work. When a Christian work becomes large, some develop the
strength of good habits and good discipline. Their souls become stronger. But
they are not necessarily spirit-led people. They can preach good sermons or may
enjoy nice messages but they have no real strength in the spirit. What is the
use of being like that? John the Baptist grew and waxed strong in the spirit.
The same thing is said
of our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke
Today, thousands of people
listen to the Word of God. Unless we travail in prayer for these multitudes, we
cannot really achieve much for God. Our prayers will affect the nations if we
are a self-effacing people with a heart-cry for revival. Are we strong in the
spirit? May God help us in this New Year and guide us in every step of our way!
-Joshua Daniel
“Reality Check”
“For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till
all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18
“The Measure of Faith”
“Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear
before the Lord God, the God of Israel.” Exodus
34:23
God knowing human psychology, gives His people instructions, so that gratitude
may grow in them. Many of us suffer because of the lack of gratitude. The
measure of your faith is the measure of your gratitude. God wants you to
remember the day of your salvation, the manner in which that blessing came upon
you, the way He delivered you from sin and the world’s companionship and
to know that which He gives you now is the highest. You miss something if you
don’t recognize and thank God for it. Some saints woke up in the night
and thanked God. You must take some time to thank God.
The Jews were asked to
go to
Even today God has
these instructions for us. We have
a great responsibility in following God.
I always ask God whether I am fit.
How often we can indulge in thoughts and aspirations which are just
against Him! The process of
Christian growth is your thoughts reaching the level of God’s
thoughts. Gradually your thoughts
leave you and God’s thoughts become more established in you. The responsibility of being a Christian
in this heathen society is great.
We must realize our unfitness and ask God to make us worthy. In college did you show that you were a
Christian? When your thoughts are
subordinated to Christ, then it is a great triumph. The soul begins to trust in God with
naked faith. For some time man
trusts in God through voices, visions and miracles, but one must reach the
level to trust in God with naked faith.
Madam Guyon says visions are gifts of the soul
of a lower value, and one who depends on them ultimately doesn’t become
perfect. The Word of God must work
in us and bring out of us such faith that clings to Him. As you begin to value God’s Word
and obey it, the devil will begin to tremble. The powers of darkness will fear and be
on their guard. You march on and on
until you find your life full of success.
Not ten but a thousand are won for Christ.
God asks the
Israelites to come three times a year.
It would be expensive, it would take time. God said, ‘The firstborn is
mine.’ All this gives us more confidence in God. Your spiritual faculties can be developed
greatly. Your thoughts can become prophetic, your words can be prophetic. The people who contact you must feel you
are a live wire. The prophets were
like that. Why do we gather on
Saturdays for prayer? That our
faith may grow. In course of time
you will certainly be different from others. All your life, your one object should be
to glorify Christ and bring souls to Him.
You will reach a height of faith from which you will not fall.
Our faith will run
through correct channels and flow deeper and wider until it inundates
society. In John Wesley’s
group they prayed, watched and obeyed.
When they went from place to place, they spiritually inundated each
place. One day, God will use us
like that. To keep the house of God
worthy of His name is not easy.
This belongs to the Saviour. ‘No one will desire the
land.’ (Verse 24) It is a
great promise. The sooner you get
into God’s will and your will is destroyed, you will see the fullness of
the blessing. God and you will
rejoice. Your joy of salvation will
be full. It is not the paddle that
will take you forward, but the very current will carry you. When you see the rudder you will see you
are marching into greater success and victory. Today, we have a profit-motivated
religion. So the heathen
don’t have respect for our religion.
The Lord is with you. God
says, I have given you my commandment. Don’t allow your children to make
a covenant with the heathen.
Don’t make promises to others unless it is permitted by God. If you have promised, break it and
confess it to God. Not I, but
Christ shall have the right of way with me.
Moses went into
God’s presence, and came back with a face shining. He was a human being like you, but how
different! Who gave him this honour? God!
Our very walk, look and manner of life should be a testimony. This is the great privilege of being a
Christian. Oh, the years that are
wasted! Young man, this opportunity
is given to you now. Grow in
grace. Rejoice in the Lord. God says, “You are my people and I
have revealed heaven’s truths, eternal truths, to you. Remember when you read the Bible, you
get eternal truths. The moment you
get into that current of truth nobody can shake you. God will take you to depths of love and
grace which the world has not yet seen.
- N. Daniel
“Another
Year Is Dawning”
Hymnist Frances Ridley
Havergal took New Year’s Day very seriously,
always using it as a time of reflection and often composing a poem to send to
friends expressing her feelings about the new day and year. The one she wrote in 1874 has become
immortal. She was thirty-six at the
time, and she dashed off this poem and had it printed on a specially designed
greeting card to be sent to friends.
The card was captioned: “A Happy New Year! Ever such may it
be!” The inside said:
Another Year is
dawning:
Dear
Father, let it be,
In
working or in waiting,
Another
year with Thee;
Another
Year of progress,
Another
Year of praise,
Another
Year of proving
Thy presence all the days.
“The
Key to Living the New Life”
A little baby has been
born. A new life has come. You care for it. You wash it and dress it. You feed it and keep it warm. Day after day you attend to its
needs. You know that it cannot take
care of itself.
You have been born
into the
Well now, how are you going to take care of that new life? You are a babe in Christ. What then are the needs of the new life? The needs of the new life are as same as the needs of a baby.
A baby must be fed, and fed daily. So must you. That new life that God has given you
requires food. The food for a baby
is milk. The food of a spiritual
babe is the milk of the Word. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk
of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.”
I was converted in
1906. From that day to this I have
read God’s Word every day of my life, three hundred and sixty-five days
of the year. I cannot remember a
single day when I have neglected the Book of books. The bible has been my meat and my drink
all down the years, and the more I study it the more precious it becomes. There is no book like it. When Satan’s attacks have been
unusually severe, God’s Word has been my comfort and my stay. Time after time it has been in very deed
His Word to me. Trials that might
have terminated my ministry have been frustrated by the promises of God’s
Word. When sorrow has overwhelmed
my soul and tragedy engulfed me, God has spoken to me from the Scriptures. In the midst of my bitterest
disappointment, I have heard His voice: “Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.”
And when my heart was filled with fear, I heard Him say, “Why art
thou cast down, O my soul? And why
art thou disquieted in me? Hope
thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him.” And I found Him true.
A baby needs
fellowship. It must be able to
express itself and make known its needs.
When it is hungry or in pain, it cries. And the mother immediately answers. You, too, needs
fellowship. And if you are rightly
born there will be a cry in your heart.
We call that cry prayer. And I would urge you to get alone with
God every day of your life and pray. Tell Him all. Hide nothing. Talk to Him as you would talk to a
friend. When you read the Bible God
talks to you, when you pray you talk to Him, and thus you have fellowship. You become acquainted with God exactly
as you become acquainted with a friend.
You speak and He speaks. And
as you talk you get to know each other.
Oh then, talk much to God. Pray.
That little baby needs
exercise. It shoves out its little
legs and arms in order to exercise them.
You, too, need
exercise if you are to grow strong.
And so you must bear witness to Christ, for that is the way you
exercise. Tell others. Do personal work. Confess Christ publicly. Witness. If you don’t, you will
backslide. If you do, you will
become strong. Get busy and do
something for Christ. You will if
you appreciate what He has done for you, you will not hesitate to say so.
You should at least be
as proud of your Lord and Saviour as you are of your
king and country. You would not be
ashamed to show your colours
on the batt
Nothing can strengthen
the believer like open confession.
If you want to grow spiritually confess Christ publicly. Satan doesn’t mind silent
Christians, but he objects most strenuously to those who openly declare their
allegiance to Christ. Yet the very
act of confession renders powerless his attacks.
You can talk about the
one you love. At least, most people can.
And if you really and truly love the Lord Jesus Christ you will want to
talk about Him.
And testimony, my
friend, is the best antidote there is to worldly companionship. You will never have to give them up,
those worldly friends of yours, never.
Just tell them about Jesus.
Ask them to kneel down while you pray with them. Hand them a gospel tract, and invite
them to an evangelistic service.
Try it. Do you know what
will happen? They will drop you
like a hot coal. You will not
longer be wanted. And then you will
find new friends and associates, Christians, who will love what you love, and
want what you want. And their
friendship will be yours through all Eternity. Even death cannot sever such a
relationship.
Oh, then, let us be
true to God. Let us testify of
Christ. Let us confess Him publicly
before men, and the joy and approbation of the Lord will be our reward.
-selected
“Eagle’s
Wings”
In Isaiah 40, we are
told that by waiting on the Lord, we will mount on wings like eagles. Eagles are majestic birds with
remarkable vision. Scientists
believe their vision may be eight times sharper than that of humans. They have powerful feet with talons that
can grip like a vise. Their beaks
are butcher-like, designed to cut and crush and tear their food.
But most of all,
eagles are built for flying. They
have incredible speed, able to fly at sixty and eighty and one hundred miles an
hour. Their wingspan extends to
nearly eight feet.
But eagles do not fly
like sparrows or robins. Most birds
fly through the air by flapping their wings, but eagles cannot flap very
long. They’re built for
soaring, and thus they can go much further on little energy.
God created our planet
with invisible columns of hot air called thermals rising up here and there from
the surface of the earth. Eagles
find these thermals, fly into the invisible currents, stretch out their wings, and
are lifted higher and higher into the sky as though ascending on an elevator.
They may rise as high
as fourteen thousand feet, so high in the heavens they cannot be seen with the
naked eye from earth.
When they reach those
heights, they emerge from the updraft, wings still spread, and they soar this way and that way, downwards and sidewards, traveling for miles with very little exertion of
strength.
Isaiah seems to be
telling us that God is invisible, but like the invisible uplifting thermal
currents of this planet, he is present for his people. When we search him out, claim his
promises and trust in him, spreading out the wings of faith, we are caught up
to a higher plane. We mount up with
wings like eagles. We can run and
not grow weary. We can walk and not faint.
The strength we need
for holy, effective, victorious living comes not from frantically flapping our
wings like sparrows in distress, but from trusting in God and resting in Jesus
Christ.
- Selected
“The
Bandits and the Bible”
The peddler walked along wearily.
It was sunset. He had
peddled his goods all day in the Sicilian town that now lay ten miles behind
him and still he had a long way to go for a night’s lodging.
The sound of a galloping horse reached him. Turning, he saw the rider, a
fierce-looking man with a black beard, wearing a wide hat and a big black
cloak.
As the man reined in
the horse suddenly the peddler said in Italian, “Good Evening,
Sir.” Knowing it best to be polite to men who looked as
fierce as this one.
The horseman leaped to
the ground.
“What have you
in that bag?”
“Books,
sir.”
“At last I have
found you! You sell these books to corrupt the morals of simple folk. I will first burn your books and then
shoot you. Put your bag down and go
and gather sticks for a fire.”
He shook the peddler, realizing that he was facing a brigand, did as he
was told. By the time the fire was
lighted, night had come.
“Sir, before you
burn my books and shoot, allow me to read from them.”
“That’s
fair.” Said the brigand, sitting down by the fire.
The peddler
selected a passage from Luke’s Gospel. “A certain man went down from
That was a bold move,
but the bandit listened while the story of the Good Samaritan was read to
him. “I
like that story,” said the brigand.
“We won’t burn that book.”
Drawing out
Matthew’s Gospel, the peddler read from the Sermon on the Mount.
“There is
nothing bad about that book: we won’t burn that one!”
This time the peddler
opened a New Testament and read about Christian love from Paul’s letter
to
“What beauty and truth!
We must keep that book. Read
another.”
As the peddler read
one book after another, it was added to the pile that was not to be burned.
“I have no more,
sir.”
“Nonsense! Where are the evil books?”
“I have
none, sir.”
Mystified, the bandit
galloped off.
Toiling on to the next
village inn, the peddler gave thanks to God for another escape!
In the market place
the next morning, the peddler approached a group of men standing round a donkey.
“May I read to you
about the Lord Jesus Christ?”
“With
pleasure,” was the reply.
Then the colporteur
read how Jesus sent two disciples to fetch a donkey.
“How much is
that book?” cried one of them.
“One
half-penny,” said the peddler.
“Beware! The books are evil…” A loud
voice created a tumult and soon the square was filled with a maddened throng.
“Stone the
heretic!”
“Death
to the blasphemer!”
When things looked at
their worst, a horseman rode madly into the square- a fierce-looking man with a
black beard.
“Leave the man
alone,” he cried.
Everyone knew the
bandit and feared.
“But sir,”
cried one voice, “ he sells evil books. He deserves to be punished.”
The bandit sat quietly
on his horse and told the story of the night before.
“The books
are good,” he finished.
Years passed and one
day the colporteur received a letter from
- Selected
This newsletter is produced six times per year by the
Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International. It is printed and distributed
in the
This Fellowship
is an inter-denominational missionary and prayer group working for revival in
churches and amongst students in several countries. We invite every layperson
to become God’s ally in changing his or her corner of the world. We train
people in evangelistic work and to be self-supporting missionaries.
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or Wisdom Hall, 37 Persiaran Shahbandar, Taman Tambahan Krian VI, 34200 Parit Bundar, Perak, Phone – (05)
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