The "Secret Blessings of God"

This morning, I received an Email from my Sister in Indiana, and I'd like to share with you what she said:

"we are always thankful for our health but more than that, the secret blessings God gives always come in our greatest times of trial. So when we need, you know as well as I, that our greatest gifts come from God."

This got me thinking!

 

"The Secret Blessings God Gives"!  Have you ever been aware of the secret blessings from God in your time of need? 

For instance:  My Nephew and his wife have two small children.  He has worked in a trucking company as the Administrative Office Manager, keeping track of all the traffic coming in and out of the company; he has worked on the Loading Docks and on heavy equipment as well as in the office as Dispatcher.  He's done this for the past 10 years and now, right before Christmas, he was called into the office by the higher-ups and told he was being let-go for financial reasons.  The company is hurting right now and they have to trim the payroll.  So they trimmed his payroll!

In a situation like this, with two small children at home, one would have a tendency to get down and depressed and wonder "WHY GOD?" 

Not my Nephew and his wife!  They are Christians and trust God!  They know that He has never let them down in the past and won't let them down now.  They just went to church as usual on Sunday and in their Sunday School Class, shared a prayer request, asking for prayer for him to be able to find another job quickly. Without them knowing anything about it, this group of Christians did more than pray! 

They put their faith into action as James talks about in the Bible: 

 James 2:17-20  "Even so faith if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  Yea, if a man say, "Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils believe, and tremble.  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

So we see that just 'having faith' is not enough!  It's what we do with that faith that matters!  We can't sit in our church week after week, like a sponge, just soaking it all up and not giving anything back in return.  Do you know what happens to a sponge if it just keeps soaking up water? Before long, it is water-logged and just oozes out.  We as Christians were meant to soak up God's blessings and then 'squeeze them out' over others in return.  Not trying to keep it all to ourselves.

This small family, found themselves the recipients of "the secret blessings of God" in their time of need!  This Sunday School class got together, unbeknownst to my Nephew and his family, and collected boxes and boxes of food to carry them through this time!  They not only gave food, but a GIFT CARD so that the would be able to take care of their children's Christmas gifts!  Their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit caused them to think what would be the greatest hurt for a parent at this time of year without money.  Children don't understand the worries that their parents have; they just know that Christmas is coming and they've always gotten gifts in the past.  This would hurt a parent more than anything; to not be able to give gifts to their children.  God made us that way because HE is a GIVING GOD and loves bestowing "gifts" on His children!  This group of Christians were sensitive to that and wanted to alleviate this concern for one of their group. God will bless them abundantly because you 'can't out-give God'!  He sees each kind act that we do and because He loves us, He will not let that go unrewarded.  These giving people will experience a joy that others will not, this Christmas. Giving truly is better than receiving!

One would think that coming on 'hard times' in this world, would be a bad thing!  But instead, it opens up an opportunity for our wonderful LORD to show us how HE can take care of us and bestow those wonderful "secret blessings" in our time of need! This builds our faith!  Each time we place our trust in God in times of great need, our faith is strengthened to continue walking with Him and doing even greater things in the future.

It's wonderful to walk with the Lord day by day and see Him work in our lives!

Malachi 3:10  "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

And again in James 4:8  "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you."

When we walk in obedience day by day with the LORD, and seek His face, we can be in no greater place and in no better hands!  We will be daily recipients of the "secret blessings of God", whether they be actual physical blessings or spiritual.  Either way, there's no better place to be!

Psalm 5:12 "For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield."

Psalm 37:39 "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble."

Psalm 46:1  "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble."

I wish for you that you will walk with the Lord this Christmas and into the New Year; holding His hand and following in His steps!

For myself, I plan to read, study and meditate on His Word more; trust Him more; and try to be a blessing to others, sharing His secret blessings on my life and letting them spill over onto others!

From our Home to Yours,

Merry Christmas!

How Can I Be Saved?

 

http://www.billygraham.org/SH_HowtobecomeaChristian.asp

The link posted above explains with crystal clarity:   

HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN

If you are not sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are saved and will one day spend eternity in Heaven, please go to the link above.  It's the best explanation I've seen and anyone can understand it.

Don't speculate and count on the fact that you will have plenty of time to make that decision.  None of us know how many days we have on this earth, and then it will be too late to decide.

The Beauty of Death

Romans 6:23 says: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord."

Just look around you in the fall.  What is it about autumn that everyone loves so much?  It's the beauty in the colors, the smells, the cooler weather.  The beauty that we see all around us is caused by "death".  The leaves are dying and falling off of the trees and even in doing so, they are beautiful.

This is what "death" is like for the Christian, the person that has been "born again", through placing their faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that those who believe in Him will not see death!  Death is only the separation of our spirit from this body of flesh.   (John 8:51,52)  Just as the leaves die and fall from the tree in a splash of glory, so shall it be when we leave this "body of death" and open our eyes in the presence of our Lord and Savior.

There is "Beauty in death".   

Tell the American Christians.....

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. There have been a few reasons actually: we just finished up one of our leadership training conferences in Alabama. We had almost 700 people in attendance! We were expecting about 600. Mostly, it was a lot of work getting ready for it, which took up almost all of my time for the past week. It was such a blessing though, to see all of those leaders come out to hone their skills and be the best that they can be to serve God in the ministry that He has called them to.

The other reason, and probably the most important one, is that our keynote speaker said something in his message that I haven't been able to get out of my head! It just keeps bouncing around in there, echoing over and over again. He told the story of a pastor in eastern Europe in a country that still has religious oppression, where Christians still aren't allowed to worship freely or openly read a Bible or pray. He said that this pastor told him to "Please tell the American Christians that I pray for them every day!" When asked why he would do that, his reply was this: "Oh Brother David! Because it must be VERY DIFFICULT to be a Christian in America!"

Can you imagine? That hit me like a rock right between the eyes! I found myself tearing up and almost losing it. I couldn't believe someone that has to live each day in fear for their life and well-being of their family, risking all they have to simply worship God and own a Bible would say such a thing about us "rich Americans" that have SO MUCH and are so complacent about our worship and God's Word, would say such a thing! The more I thought about it though, the more I realize how right he was!

Yes, we have so much in comparison to other countries! How many churches are in each city across this country? How many Christian book stores are there? How many Bibles do each of us have in our homes and yet rarely pick up to read or bother to carry to churches with us? And what about when we go to church on Sunday? To many, it is a "social gathering" instead of a place to really pour out our hearts to God in worship and thanksgiving for all He has done for each one of us.

Yes, we have SO MUCH here! So much that it blinds us to spiritual need in our own lives and keeps us so busy and focused on everything BUT God that we are weak and ineffective in our Christianity. I recently read on the back of a book I was looking at as I browsed through a Christian book store today, a statement that said something like this: a Muslim asked the question, "what makes your belief of any value? If it is all you say it is, why is it so ineffective in the lives of Christians?" That's not the exact quote because I'm so bad at remembering these things correctly if I don't write them down! But you get the idea. If our faith is all we say it is, why doesn't it make more of a difference in the world around us and in our own lives? Good question.

At this same conference we had a lady there representing a ministry that I won't name here. She had many books with her and as I looked over her display table and we talked, we began to talk about the "underground church"; and the "persecuted church" in other countries that do not have religious freedom. Some countries tell the outside world that they do allow freedom to worship, but they don't. For instance, just recently a Muslim man cut out his own daughter's tongue and then burned her alive for converting to Christianity! Yes, this is really happening around the world in this day and age we live in! it's not something that's a story from a long time ago!

Here's the link and you can read the story yourself:

http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2008/08/christians-in-muslim-countries-saudi-girl-burned-alive-for-being-christian/

Then there is a story that I read online about a ministry that was bringing some Bibles in to China during the Olympics, because China said that they allow religious freedom now. Guess what? The Bibles were confiscated at the security check point and taken away! When asked about this and their statement to allow religious freedom, they were told they could each bring ONE personal Bible in with them and that was all. The rest would have to be left there. The Bibles were being brought to pastors that did not own a Bible! I think their definition of "religious freedom" and ours would be very different!

These past few days, God has been dealing with me about all of these things in a very intense way. I've been searching online and reading about the persecuted Christians in other countries and it breaks my heart that we take our Christian faith so lightly, when all over this world, people are risking EVERYTHING they have, their families, their homes, simply because someone told them that Jesus loved them so much He died for them and they simply want to worship and thank Him and tell others what God has done for them so they too can know the joy and peace that this knowledge brings!

Since hearing that statement that was made by our speaker, when he told us what that pastor had asked him to relay to us "American Christians", I've been spending much time just wishing I could get away for about a week and just read and pray and study! I feel I need a radical overhaul of my outlook and actions. I've already asked forgiveness for my complacency and "easy Christianity". Yes, we have so much in our beloved country that it has become a hindrance to true, radical Christianity. The kind they had in Acts right after Jesus had risen from the grave and went on to Heaven to prepare a place for us. We have so many things to take up our time and our interests and to give ourselves to, that we have no time or place for the real purpose for which God has allowed us to take up space on this earth for! What is the chief purpose of being here?

Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14 sums it all up for us:

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

What we each do with our own 24 hour day is up to us individually. Some risk everything; some go through each day like we're here just to gather "toys",enjoy ourselves and have a good time.

The choice is ours.

Someone said that "Hebrews 11 is still being written!" and if you do a little surfing on the Internet it won't take you long to see how true this is. All over this world, more and more each day, believers are still paying the ultimate price for placing their faith in Jesus Christ; being thrown into dungeons and prisons that are really death traps; watching their families suffer and be persecuted and tormented, watching their homes be burned, and yes, being tortured because they won't "deny the One who paid the ultimate price to save them"!

I don't know about you, but I don't understand how we can hide our eyes and close our ears to their plight and still go about our silly little days frivolously involving all of our mind, strength and time in such trivial endeavors as we do. There's nothing wrong with relaxation and enjoying our time and this beautiful and free country that God has allowed us each to be born into! Where the shame comes in, is that we take so lightly what God has done for us and we live each day without a truly thankful spirit. We hide the light He has shown in our hearts and the truth He has revealed to us, under the proverbial bushel. We're in a battle for the MIND in this country. We don't have to fear (at least not yet) being tortured and thrown into prison and having our homes and families taken from us for worshiping God but we should fear what the "enemy" is doing to capture and imprison our minds and the minds of our children!

May God help us and forgive our complacent attitudes.