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For Those Seeking The Truth
& Dynamic Living Christ is Victor |
March/April 2008
Volume 21, Number 2
“Where is Thy God?”
“As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while
they said daily unto me, where is thy God?” Psalm 42:10
It is the lot of many people in our work-a-day world to be misunderstood, slighted and slandered. Good men are set aside when there is a selection made for key jobs. Many people appear to be totally without any defenses when they meet with such situations. They either become deeply resentful, spiteful, or cynical. We see such people all the time and they can make it miserable for others too.
No one was so unfairly slandered cried, “Crucify him, crucify him” must and set at naught as the Lord Jesus. The meanness of the multitudes that have stabbed Him to the heart but the Lord Jesus Christ knew how to overcome malice and ill-will, with the positive reactions of forbearance, long-suffering and love.
Men called Him a glutton, a drunkard and a mad man. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ took all these scurrilous attacks on Him in His stride. He did not allow His peace in any sense to be disturbed.
Some reproaches can be very cutting, biting, and painful. The Psalmist found the reproach of his enemies as a sword in his bones. So deep was the hurt which was given him.
Probably righteousness and right-living was never laughed out of courts in the manner in which it is in our age and generation. The fellow who can hold immense quantity of alcohol and does not seem the worse for it is looked upon as a hero. The one who cleverly hides his tracks and makes his money by dubious means is admired. When commodities and essential building materials like cement, happen to be in short supply, officials posted with the specific purpose of regulating supplies begin to accept huge amounts as illegal gratification, the public appears to say, “Well, he is a clever man”. In short, the wicked are admired and the righteous are reproached.
Men who live clean and conscientious lives and give of their best as public servants, are slandered as fools who do not know how to mint money when the going is good. They are even bypassed when they are for promotion. It is very humiliating to the just man to see the flatterers and drunkards who scarcely know their jobs, preferred before them. Trusting in the unfailing faithfulness of Jesus under these trying circumstances, builds your spiritual muscles as nothing does.
The Bible talks here of the deep hurt occasioned by the sneer, “Where is their God?” When the righteous suffer adversity and appear to fail, men are quick to say, “Where is their God?” I even heard an ignorant man say, “Look, what a miserable death Jesus died. He even cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The poor man did not know that when Jesus put Himself in the sinners' place, the normal penalty and the estrangement from God which is the sinners’ due, fell to the lot of Jesus. Jesus said, he could have summoned thousands of angels from heaven to rescue him from death but such was not his purpose. He had come into this world to die for sinners and thus open the door of heaven to the vilest offenders who truly turn to him in faith. This man who sneered in this fashion was a poor idolater who only thought of God as an awesome power and not as a Redeemer who must redeem man from sin by making the supreme sacrifice of Himself for sinners.
Yes, men talk heedlessly and thoughtlessly even of the Perfect One - the Saviour of the world.
There will however be seasons and situations in which God apparently maintains strict silence. This could give great occasion for the enemies of Jesus to reproach but when God's answer does come, as it certainly will, the enemies of the Gospel and the scoffers will be confounded and scattered.
We should however
be extremely careful to see that the apparent silence of God is not caused
by some hidden sin of ours. God could not go with His people when Achan hid his sin cleverly in the camp of
The Lord Jesus bore the reproach of not only the religious leaders but the pain of being betrayed by His own disciple Judas. The Bible says, “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;” (Psalm 55: 12) Yes, it was one of His own that betrayed Him.
Many young people at our Universities are being deliberately taught that they must leave God out of their whole spectrum of investigation in their several scientific disciplines. They are being encouraged to ignore God completely and to think of themselves as being gods unto themselves. Hence they break every moral law and live in great sexual promiscuity. Such a pattern of youthful irresponsibility and arrogance is looked upon as quite a norm for the educated young of today. Many of these self-styled gods and goddesses from the world of show-business, look for release from their inhibition-free Utopias with an overdose of sleeping pills or some such thing.
This is a very challenging hour. Where is our God? It is time we prove Him. It is time we pray as Elijah prayed. It is high time we prevail as Elijah prevailed in his day, over sin, immorality, and idolatry. Dear reader, be not dismayed if you are cut to the bone by the scorn of colleagues or reproaches of the enemies of truth and holiness. Our God will lift us up and deliver us-- our living Christ will look in mercy upon us and save us from the cross-fire of vicious tongues.
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“God Wants You!”
“And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat there on; as it is
written.” -John 12:14
A young ass!
Jesus sat upon it. It was a very fortunate ass. A mule is a royal animal in
You have a spirit. Before you go to a meeting, prepare your spirit and go. Suddenly your spirit is awakened and you cry, ‘I have missed the way. I have followed the way of pride.’ You have been a critic. You always find fault with the speaker. It is because you have no humility. Even if the preacher is faulty, God can give you a message through him if you go prepared.
Jesus was riding
an ass and going to the holy city. The Holy Spirit wants to ride on your spirit
and lead you to
This young ass
bore Jesus on its back humbly. It was also honoured.
If Jesus walked on the ground and they spread their clothes for Him to walk upon,
it would be different. But now the ass is walking on the clothes. Its feet were
not getting dusty. When you bear Jesus on your soul and spirit, your feet will
not get dirty. You will be honoured though you do not
seek honour. You must never seek honour.
If honour comes to you, let it come from God.
“How can ye believe, which receive honour
one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh
from God only?” (John 5:44). “And he said unto them, ye are they which
justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed
among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15). I know some
who were greatly honoured for their devotion in their
youth. But later, they did not march to
“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his
master's crib: but
This event was prophesied 400 years ago. In God's presence there is a prophecy for you. When the Spirit of God comes upon you, the plan of God that He has made for you will be fulfilled. If you lose these blessings, you will weep one day. Look not at the world. But look at your Creator. God once used an ass to preach to a prophet. Young as you are, you may have to prophesy to prophets.
-Late Mr. N. Daniel
“Reality Check”
“But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5
“Guaranteed by Resurrection”
Robert Flockart was a well-known character in the city of
“An aunt
of mine died and left me a large sum of money in her will, but the will was
contested by relatives, and I received nothing. On another occasion, an
“But now, dear friends, I want to tell you a far greater story. The best Friend I ever had, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for me on the Cross of Calvary, and willed to me eternal life. And, praise the Lord, on the third day He rose again to make sure I got it!”
Yes, the death of Christ was the payment for our sins, while the resurrection was the guarantee for our Salvation.
-Selected
“Candy or Heathen?”
“I remember once, when I was but a little boy, someone gave me five cents. I never had so much money before. I felt rich. I thought, “Why, these five cents will buy six sticks of candy!” I raced into the house to ask my mother if I might not go to the store at once and buy that candy. My mother said, “No, you may not go for it is Saturday evening and the sun will soon be setting. You must wait until Monday.” I never felt so impatient about Sunday before. It came between me and the candy. Just then something seemed to say to me, “Well, little boy, do you not think that you ought to give your five cents to the heathen?” At that time I didn't know who put that thought into my heart, but I had heard about a collection for missions announced to be taken on the morrow and I know now that God's Spirit spoke to me then. He wanted to make me a missionary but I was not willing, The heathen were far away. I did not know much about them and did not care. But I knew all about candy and it was only two miles away at the store. I was very fond of it and decided I must have it. But that didn't end the struggle. It was candy and the heathen and the heathen and candy contending for that five cents. Finally I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. Usually as soon as my head touched the pillow I was off to sleep, but that night I couldn't get to sleep because of the war going on between the heathen and candy, or between love and selfishness. At last the heathen got the better of it and I decided to go up to Sunday school next day and put my five cents into the collection. I felt very happy then and in a moment was asleep. But when I woke the sun had arisen and my selfishness had returned. I wanted the candy and the fight went on but before Sunday school time, love had gained a final victory and I went to Sunday school and when the plate was passed around for the mission collection, I dropped my five cents in. And would you believe me, I felt more happy than if I had got a whole store full of candy! And so will any boy or girl who acts unselfishly for Jesus’ sake.”
-Selected from ‘Goforth of
“Bread, Sir!”
He couldn't have
been over six years old: Dirty face, bare footed, torn T-shirt, matted
hair. He wasn't too different from the other hundred thousand or so street
orphans that roam
I was walking to get a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe when he came up behind me. With my thoughts somewhere between the task I had just finished and the class I was about to teach, I scarcely felt the tap, tap, tap on my hand. I stopped and turned. Seeing no one, I continued on my way. I'd only taken a few steps, however, when I felt another insistent tap, tap, tap. This time I stopped and looked downward. There he stood. His eyes were whiter because of his grubby cheeks and coal-black hair.
“Pao, senhor?” (Bread, sir?)
Living in
The cafe consisted of a long bar: one end for pastries and the other for coffee. As the boy was making his choice, I went to the other end of the bar and began drinking my coffee. Just as I was getting my derailed train of thought back on track, I saw him again. He was standing in the cafe entrance, on tiptoe, bread in hand, looking in at the people. “What's he doing?” I thought.
Then he saw me and scurried in my direction. He came and stood in front of me about eye-level with my belt buckle. The little Brazilian orphan looked up at the big American missionary, smiled a smile that would have stolen your heart and said, “Obrigado.” (Thank you.) Then, nervously scratching the back of his ankle with his big toe, he added, “Muito obrigado.” (Thank you very much.)
All of a sudden, I had a crazy craving to buy him the whole restaurant. But before I could say anything, he turned and scampered out the door.
As I write this, I'm still standing at the coffee bar, my coffee is cold, and I'm late for my class. But I still
feel the sensation that I felt half an hour ago. And I'm pondering this question: If I am so moved by a street orphan who says thank you for a piece of bread, how much more is God moved when I pause to thank Him - really to thank Him - for saving my soul?
-Selected from Max Lucado's ‘No Wonder They Call Him the Saviour’
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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Krian VI, 34200 Parit
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