Your Link to 3000+ Missionaries 11/29/98
II Kings 7:1-9
Page 559 Come Alive Bible
Matthew 28:18-20
Page 1460 Come Alive Bible
JESUS CHRIST is the Bread of Life sufficient to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the world. Jesus Christ is the Water of Life adequate to quench the spiritual thirst of anyone. Evidences abound indicating our society is a spiritually hungry and thirsty culture eating and drinking at all the wrong places.
The growth of the New Age movement reveals a spiritual appetite. The aggression of Secular Humanism indicates spiritual starvation. The mushrooming of the occult and cults shows a thirst for the spiritual meaning of life.
While the world drinks from these and other salty fountains, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be willing to sit at ease in Zion. Contentment should never be confused as being complacency. While cult and occult members evangelize America, the church sits on its apathy. By that I mean we individual Christians aren’t doing a very good job of obeying Christ by going into all the world to make disciples.
We laugh at Moonies standing on street corners in the rain selling flowers. Let me ask you, when was the last time you stood in the rain to tell somebody about Jesus? Satanists stand outside theaters showing occult films to recruit prospects as they come out. When was the last time you approached somebody for Christ or His beloved bride, the church?
One cultic group requires its members to spend a minimum of ten hours a month sharing with others, five hours a week attending meetings, and several hours in study. Their religion isn’t mere formality. They go door-to-door witnessing.
A child came into the room and said, “Mom, you know that vase in the living room that has been handed down from generation to generation in our family? Well this generation just dropped it.” That speaks of the lineage of the Christian faith.
There is a historical account in the Old Testament which illustrates the position and condition of the church today.
This isn’t a sermon in the traditional sense; it is a narrative designed to dramatize the church in modern America and what can be done to reverse conditions. It is your story.
In II Kings 6 and 7, the story is told of the invasion of Samaria by the massive Syrian army of King Ben-hadad. His well-equipped army brought bountiful supplies. They were prepared to live comfortably and eat well for months. All Samaria didn’t have, they did have. The siege of Samaria resulted in such a famine that the people even resorted to eating dove’s dung. Formerly strong persons walked the streets as shadows of their former selves. Famine had made of them virtual walking skeletons peering through gaunt eyes, crying out for food through parched lips.
Enter Elisha the prophet at a moment when conditions were bleakest and conditions most impossible. Let’s pick up the story at II Kings 7: 1 and let it speak to and exhort us to action.
Verse 1, conditions were deplorable and deteriorating fast. God’s prophet, Elisha, said, “Tomorrow” grain will be so abundant in this town that it will sell cheap.
Verse 2, one of the elite officers mocked and used sarcasm to deplore the prophecy as impossible unless God opened the windows of heaven and poured it out. He represents those within any church who say the Christian community can’t do what Christ has mandated.
Elisha said, it is going to happen, but you aren’t going to be around to see it happen and enjoy the feast.
Any church that doesn’t take the Lord at His word and seek to share Christ with the community isn’t going to be around for long. Every believer – children, youth, and adults – can impact their sphere of friends for Christ. We are each accountable.
Verse 3 describes four poor lepers sitting at the gate of Samaria. They decided they would –
I. DARE TO TRY VERSE 4
Verse 4, they mused over the fact that if they sat there they would starve. If they went into the camp of the Syrians, they might well be killed. However, if they venture, there might be a chance the Syrians would have pity on them and give them food. Either way they might well die. They determined that if they were to die, they would die trying, not crying “Poor little ole me.”
Verse 5, they ventured to go at sundown. IT’S WORTH THE RISK!
Verse 6, God intervened. By some means of nature at His disposal, perhaps a rumbling earthquake or roaring wind, He confused the Syrians. They thought the Samarians had hired other armies to join them in an attempt to repel them. The Syrians, thinking themselves to be outnumbered, panicked and fled in the night.
Verse 7, they left everything just as it was; food, clothing, arms, animals, and valuables. They even dropped items as they fled for their lives.
Verse 8, when the lepers came they were astonished. Just these four starving lepers had the wealth of Syria to themselves. Now what? They ate and drank until they could eat and drink no more. They took valuable possessions and hid them.
Then reason struck. They realized they should —
II. CARE FOR OTHERS Vs. 9a
“We are not doing what is right” We are called to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium.
Eighty-five persons are added to the world’s population every minute.
5,000 an hour, 130,000 every day, 4,000,000 a month.
If the gospel were preached in 8 villages a day where the gospel is unknown it would take 250 to reach all of them at the present rate.
3,000 were saved on the Day of Pentecost. If a Pentecost occurred every day in China it would take 640 years at the present rate to reach every one.
Do we care?
One of the major reasons God has blessed America is the country has been a loyal base for helping evangelize the world. With our decreasing faithfulness to the task our blessings have diminished. God is raising up others to help evangelize the world. Even France has 200 missionaries in 30 countries. South Korea now has over 5,500 missionaries in 100 countries.
The lepers resolved to —
III. SHARE TOGETHER IN HELPING OTHERS Vs. 9b
“Let us…”
William Carey is regarded as the father of modern missions. As a youth he had a veracious appetite for reading. Science, history, and travel were his special interests. He was a cobbler by trade. After his conversion he would say, “My work is to preach the gospel. I cobble shoes to pay expenses.” His attention to missions was first sparked by reading “The Last Voyage of Captain Cook.”
He attended a ministers meeting in North Hampton. After the evening session a group of young ministers were sitting around talking. Dr. Ryland, an imminent older minister entered the room. To engage the younger ministers in conversation he asked that they suggest a topic for conversation. After a pause, Carey rose with some hesitation, and suggested they discuss, “whether the command given the Apostles to teach all nations was obligatory on all succeeding minsters to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent.”
Dr. Ryland dismissed the thought as being absurd saying, “Young man, when God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.”
Carey wasn’t discouraged. On October 2, 1792, in Keetering, England, the Baptist Mission Society was established. India was envisioned as the first foreign mission field. Andrew Fuller said, “we saw that there was a great gold mine in India, but it seemed almost as deep as the center of the earth. Now, who will venture to explore it?”
Carey responded, “I am willing to go down into the deep shaft, but you my brethren, must hold the ropes.” Carey believed it was WORTH THE RISK.
Carey went. The responsibility of the “rope holders” was two fold:
a. support him with prayer and
b. to provide the financial means to do the job.
Rope holders are needed today for the 3000+ missionaries we have in foreign lands.
The tenuous position of the one on the rope being held is one of dependence. In their faithfulness they are dependent upon the rope holders. Simply put, our missionaries are dependent upon us for spiritual and financial support. Faithfulness is found on their end of the rope. They await our response. Will we be found faithful?
The dedication of those who go down in the shaft is inspiring. I had a friend, Marion Sanders, who wrote the following inscription in her Bible on January 6, 1945, the day she committed her life to serve our Lord as a missionary.
“Lord, I give up my own purposes and plans, all my own desires, hopes and ambitions, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. I hand over to Thy keeping all my friendships. All the people I love are to take second place in my heart. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever. ‘To me to live is Christ.’” Marion Sanders.
We who are rope holders need the same dedication.
IV. BARE GOOD NEWS Vs. 9c “go and tell”
Too many of us Christians are like an Arctic River, frozen at the mouth.
There are people only you can reach for Christ. Always use tact. A newly saved barber could hardly wait to share his new faith. His first customer wanted a shave. As he stood by the chair sharpening his straight razor on the leather strap, he could think of no better way to begin than by asking. “Are you ready to die?” Remember, “If you don’t use tact, you may lose contact.”
The lepers decided they would wait no longer to tell others the good news. In the Orient, new Christian converts are expected to begin at once sharing their faith. A pastor asked a convert how many persons he had shared with during the three months of his salvation. The convert answered, “I am a learner.” The pastor asked, “When does a candle begin to shine? Is it when it is half burned up?” Came the reply, “No, as soon as it is lit.” The pastor said, “That is right, so let your light shine right away.”
The lepers came back to tell the starving city the good news. Cautiously at first and then with great glee the city responded. They rushed out to enjoy the bounty left by the retreating Syrians.
The next day grain was so abundant in the city it was selling cheap. The cynic who scoffed at the idea wasn’t around to eat any of it. Notice what happened to him as he tried to keep the people from rushing out in response to the good news —
Vss. 19 and 20; “…the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.” Prophecy fulfilled.
V. COMPARE
Consider the options. What is the church to do? Dare we sit on our apathy while the world around perishes? Dare we extend ourselves in a loving effort to feed the spiritually hungry?
The person who feels his need the most is the most likely to act. They had no option but to look for grace. Inaction is often as bad as positive wrong-doing; “We sit here and die.” Salvation comes only through definite action; “Let us go.” A feast awaits. IT’S WORTH THE RISK!
VI. WILL YOU BECOME AN HEIR
Will you become an heir?
That which we offer to the world we profess here and now.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2: 8, 9).
This results in you becoming an heir of all earthly benefits and the treasures of Heaven because we become “…heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Rom 8:17)
IT’S RISK FREE!
Comments That Count – Part Twelve
As new Olympic athletes of faith emerge and inspire awe, it is a good time to reflect on the faith of some previous outstanding champions.
Consider one of renown whose life was depicted in the film Chariots of Fire. His life as an athlete was a great expression of faith. “I believe God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast,” Eric Liddell wrote in a letter to his sister Jenny.
However, an even greater expression of faith lived out during World War II. Liddell was taken prisoner by Japanese forces and devoted the last two years of his life to ministering to his fellow inmates at the Weixian Internment Camp in Shandong Province. He died just a few months short of the camp’s liberation by American forces.
Gail Devers, the only woman to compete in five Olympics commented, “I always said a prayer before I ran, and my prayer was to win. My prayer was that God would allow me to run my best on that day, or better than my best. So whatever the outcome is, I have to be satisfied with it if I know I gave it my best effort.”
“I have learned that track doesn’t define me. My faith defines me. I’m running because I have been blessed with a gift.”
Allyson Felix found pleasure in doing whatever she did her best for the glory of God. “My faith is the reason I run – it calms my heart and makes everything feel like a lift. My speed is definitely a gift from Him, and I run for His glory. Whatever I do, He allows me to do it.”
Florence Griffith Joyner ran so fast she was accused of using drugs, but never proven to do so, had a simple outlook. “I pray hard, work hard, and leave the rest to God.” That is a basic attitude toward life worthy of us all.
Usain Bolt is a name no lover of human speed will ever forget. His accomplishments were based on a personal faith. He“I want to thank God for everything He has done for me cause without Him none of this would have been possible”
Skater Aexa Scimeca Knierim, summed up the influence in her life this way, “When you’ve got God you’ve got it all.”
Mary Lou Retton found a sure foundation in her faith. “Faith is a gateway to happiness that remains permanently accessible to each of us, wherever we are, no matter our circumstances.”
As she has said, the gateway is open to each of us. Don’t miss that gateway and all it leads to.
Friendship at a Cost – Part Eleven
“Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (I Corinthians 9: 24 – 27)
In 1936 Adolf Hitler had the perfect stage to show the world the superiority of the Aryan Race, the Berlin Olympics.
In those days of competition American Jesse Owens, the son of an Alabama sharecropper, won four gold medals. A climatic moment came when Luz Long, the German record holder in the long jump and Owens faced off. Owens’ first jump was disallowed. On his second jump he scratched. He was unsettled with only one jump remaining. He needed a jump of 23-and-a half-feet to qualify. In a great gesture of friendship Long came to Owens and suggested he change his mark and take off one foot before the foul mark to avoid fouling and being disqualified. Owens did and jumped 25 feet for a new Olympic record to defeat Long and win the Olympic Gold. Long, who finished second, was the first to congratulate Owens.
Hitler and the predominantly German crowd were amazed when Long and Owens walked around the tract arm in arm. Their friendship was a lasting one, proving friendship can be forged enabling people to be friends across gender, race and nationalities, even in the toughest circumstances.
Owens said in light of the hostile environment, “It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me.”
Long stated, “That hour in Berlin when I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, I knew that you were in prayer.”
Long continued, “This is what I have to tell you, Jesse, I think I might believe in God and I pray to him….”
Long, like all German youths, was forced into the army in World War II. He was killed in the Battle of St. Pietro. Shortly before his death, which he perceived was at hand, Long wrote Owens an affectionate letter stating, “My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is something very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war is done, someday find my Karl, and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we were not separated by war. I am saying – tell him how things can be between men on this earth.
Long signed the letter, “Your brother, Luz.” That is how things can be between people on earth.
When people can in faith pray, “Our Father which is in heaven,” there can be a bond that transcends differences. The long sought after brotherhood of man is only possible under the Fatherhood of God.
“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.” (Colossians 3: 12 – 14)
Let’s Keep Christmas 12/27/98
Matthew 2:1-11
Page 1410 Come Alive Bible
JESUS CHRIST, the God\man, is Immanuel, God with us. In Bethlehem He was with us and today He is still with us. The mystery of His dual nature might have resulted in an interview like this:
What is your name, young man?
On my mother’s side my name is Jesus.
On my Father’s side my name is Immanuel.
How old are you?
On my mother’s side I am twelve.
On my Father’s side I am the Ancient of Days.
Where did you come from?
On my mother’s side I came from Bethlehem.
On my Father’s side I came from everlasting to everlasting.
Well, you seem so smart, what are your future plans?
On my mother’s side I plan to go to Calvary and die for the sin of the world.
On my Father’s side I plan to be resurrected the third day and ascend into Heaven.
The birth of Immanuel has once again been celebrated. Excitement has built over a period of weeks. Persons have been more expressive of love, joy, good will, and peace than at any time of the year. But that was yesterday.
Once more Christmas has come and gone. Nothing is as over as Christmas, when it is over.
Before Christmas, up goes expectations and the day after down come the decorations. My wife permits me the pleasure in participating in re-decorating the house. I get to go around packing up the many nativities we put out for the celebration. There goes Mary and Joseph followed by sheep and wise men. The last figure in each creche to be put away is Jesus. The moment inevitably comes when its time: “Back in the box Jesus.” He too is packed and put away.
Somehow that seems symbolical of what really happens. As soon as Christmas day is passed we put away Jesus and return to our daily wars.
There is a Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy says to Charlie Brown. “‘Tis the season of peace on earth good will toward men. I suppose we ought to be a little kinder to each other.”
The ever hopeful Charlie responds, “It’s a shame we can’t make it last all year.” To which Lucy retorts, “What are you, some kind of religious fanatic?”
Henry Van Dyke made an appeal for keeping alive the spirit of Christmas at all times.
“Are you willing to …. stoop down and consider the desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
….to bear in mind the things others have to bear in their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
….to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so your shadow will fall behind you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your good thoughts, with the gate open —- are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Are you willing to believe love is the strongest thing in the world —- stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death —- and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas!
And if you keep it for a day, why not always? But you can never keep it alone!
Soon after Christ was born wise men from the East came seeking Him to worship Him. They ventured to
Jerusalem and inquired of Herod, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2: 2). The question prevails today. Where is He? Even those not asking the question need the answer. Today’s question is: “Where can I find happiness?” Seeking happiness without Christ is like trying to grow a garden without the light. Consider these aspects of the first Christmas.
I. THE DIRECTIONS
The Lord gave them guidance to find the Christ child. Incidentally, their coming may well have been as much as three years after His birth. There is a Greek word for “baby” or “infant,” BREPHOS and one for “young child OR “toddler,” PAIDION. The latter is used here. Notice how it is translated in verse 9: “…where the young Child was.”
The fact Herod, soon, thereafter, had all children under three years of age killed indicates He could have been almost three by the time the wise men arrived.
Matthew notes three things used to guide the wise men.
A. The Supernatural Vss. 2 & 9 “We have seen His star”
Wise men ever since have been trying to figure out what “His star” was.
I have no trouble accepting the fact the Father might well have simply hung out a special celestial body for that moment in time to identify the spot. He who initially said, “Let there be light” could well have done so.
He who set the clock of the universe ticking initially might have scheduled from the dawning of time a solar event timed to have occurred at that precise moment. Consider one such possibility.
Time is recorded B.C. and A.D. in relation to the birth of Christ. However, this method of dating didn’t occur until 525 A.D. when a Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus devised our current calendar. It is now apparent that in making the calendar change he was off a bit. In reality Christ was born two to four years earlier than our calendar indicates.
In both 3 B.C. and 2 B.C. a unique astronomical thing happened. JUPITER, the planet which represents the birth of kings and kingship had a series of conjunctions.
In Hebrew, JUPITER is known as SEDEQ or “righteousness,” a term for Messiah.
In June of 3 B.C. JUPITER came into conjunction with REGULUS, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. It is known as the star of kingship.
LEO was the constellation of kings and was associated with the Lion of Judah.
At that time the royal planet approached the royal star in the royal constellation representing Israel.
Notice Matthew 2: 9 says the star “stood over where the young Child was.” Stood?
Here is where a natural phenomenon might well have been timed by our Lord to participate in the announcement. Planets normally move eastward through the sky but regularly perform a “retrograde loop.” That is, as it approaches the opposite point in the sky from the sun, it appears to slow down, come to a full stop, and move backwards (westward). It reverses the course when nearest the sun and again appears to stop.
The Father may well have set the celestial clock on the day of creation to go off at this precise moment.
It is known that in 2 B.C. Jupiter performed a retrograde loop. The day, December 25, 2 B.C.
The writer of Hebrews (1:10) said of Jesus: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish but you will remain…”
Sir John Echols, a Nobel laureate in neurophysiology, said in Chicago in January, 1968, that for the right circumstances to have just evolved to produce life on planet earth the odds would have had to be 400 thousand, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion to one.
The existence of this solar system is no evolutionary accident it evidences divine order. The God who ordered it ordered one celestial body to guide the wise men. Likewise He has provided His Holy Spirit to guide us daily.
God’s timing is always right. It is in the events of our lives we need to let this event be a contemporary stimulus to our confidence in God’s time keeping.
B. The Scripture Vs. 5
Nearly 700 years earlier the Lord had inspired the prophet Micah (5:2) to identify the inconspicuous, insipid, innocuous village of Bethlehem to be the place of Christ’s birth.
The books of the Old Testament were written by 40 plus authors over 1500 years
Fulfilled prophecy is one thing our Lord uses to confirm the Bible as being Divinely inspired.
C. The Situation Luke 2: 1 “A decree from Caesar …”
God often uses unknowing and unwilling individuals to help guide us.
The 750th year of the founding of Rome coincided with the 25th anniversary of the rule of Caesar Augustus. In 2 B.C. Caesar Augustus ordered a census and enrollment throughout the empire. The Lord used this pagan to help fulfill the prophecy regarding where Jesus would be born, Bethlehem.
Where is He? Look for Him in the situations of life for they all can be used of the Lord to draw you to Himself.
II. THE DILEMMA VS.3 “HE WAS TROUBLED”
Finding Jesus still poses a dilemma for the secular mind.
III. THE DESIGNATION VS. 6 “A RULER, WHO WILL SHEPHERD”
He is to rule and shepherd in our lives. Dare we put Him back in the box and not allow Him these two offices in our lives?
This required the miracle of the virgin birth. Being born of woman assured Him of a human nature. Being conceived of the Holy Spirit assured Him of a divine nature. He was Immanuel, God with us.
Once there was a kind and decent person who just couldn’t believe in the miracle of the Incarnation. It didn’t make sense to him and he couldn’t pretend it did.
On Christmas Eve his wife and family went to church. It began to snow and he thought, “If we must have Christmas it’s nice to have snow.”
As he sat by the fire and read he heard thudding sounds against a window. It proved to be birds caught in the snow storm that were looking for shelter. He watched as they huddled in the snow knowing it would be their death bed. He thought, “How can I help them?”
Then he thought of his large warm barn. He dressed for the weather, trudged out to open the large doors of the barn, and turn on a light in the barn.
The birds wouldn’t respond. He then considered food, and sprinkled a trail into the barn. They just continued to flop around in the snow.
Next he tried shooing them into the barn. He only scattered them. He thought, “They consider me a strange and frightening creature. I can’t think of any way to make them trust me. If only I could be a bird myself and talk bird talk, I could guide them to safety.”
Then it dawned on him, “That is exactly why Jesus became a man. He became one with us that we might be one with Him.”
IV. THE DEDICATION VS. 11 “THEY PRESENTED GIFTS TO HIM, GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH”
We have enjoyed giving and receiving gifts this Christmas. Now that the season is over dare we quit giving. Are we going to put Jesus back in the box or let Him be the object of our worship to Whom we give ourselves?
A. Gold – is the gift for a king.
We must not lose sight of the fact Jesus is our King. We do not approach Him as equals, but as subjects.
It is said that British Admiral Lord Nelson earned the reputation for treating his vanquished opponents with the greatest of kindness and courtesy.
After a victorious naval battle the defeated admiral was brought on board. The defeated admiral, knowing Nelson’s reputation, approached him with hand outstretched as if to shake hands as an equal. Nelson’s hand remained at his side and he said: “Your sword first and then your hand.”
That is how we must come to our king. When we come in full surrender He becomes our friend.
B. Frankincense – the gift for a priest.
The Latin word for “priest” is PONTIFEX which means “bridge builder.” That is what Jesus is, our Great High Priest. He is the One who has built the bridge to the Father.
C. Myrrh – the gift for one who is to die.
What gift have you for Him. He asks for but one. In return for it He promises you everything worth having.
Affect Comes Before Effect – Part Ten
Alice Coachman was born in Albany, Georgia. As an aspiring athlete she faced two barriers in training to become an athlete: she was black and she was a woman. She ran shoeless on dirt roads and used makeshift equipment to work on her high jumping.
Her developmental years involved joining the high school track team before moving on to Tuskegee College. She also competed in the Amateur Athletic Union, and by 1946 she was the national champion in the 50- and 100-meter dashes, 400-meter relay and high jump. She also enrolled at Albany State College in 1946 after graduating from Tuskegee.
After World War II wiped out the 1940 and 1944 Olympics, Coachman finally got her chance to compete in 1948, high jumping an Olympic-record 5 feet, 6 1/8 inches to win her first gold in London and receive her medal in Wembley Stadium. She is in nine Halls of Fame, including the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Coachman became the first black woman with an endorsement deal when the Coca-Cola Company signed her as a spokesperson in 1952.
Alice worked for years preparing herself physically, culturally, and spiritually while awaiting her moment. What a shame it would have been for her hour to have come only to find her not prepared. She said, “I’ve had that strong will, that oneness of purpose, all my life. … I just called upon myself and the Lord to let the best come through.”
W. A. Criswell was a diligent seminary student. After chapel there was a daily break. Most students went to the coffee shop, he went to the library. In response to appeals by fellow students to join them in the coffee shop he would often lightheartedly say, one of these days George Truett is going to retire at First Baptist Church in Dallas and I want to be ready. Little did he realize that day would actually come. It did, and it found Criswell ready.
There is an appeal with a promise in Isaiah 40: 31: “…those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength….”
It takes God time to get us ready for what He has in store for us. Give God time to be God.
In the interim there is promised a special provision for those who patiently wait on Him: “They shall mount up with wings like eagles.” This is a metaphor speaking of overcoming.
There is a plus, “They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” This speaks of endurance.
Do you have a dream, that is, an objective, a goal in mind?” We who do are always eager to obtain it. Prepare yourself that if an occasion arises making it ready for you, you will be ready for it.
“Wait on the Lord, run not before Him, and He shall direct your path.”
Affect always comes before effect.