Notes From the Field - Sovereign Man

By Simon Black
October 21, 2014
Santiago, Chile

I walked in the door this morning to my apartment in Santiago, happy to be back in Chile after a week away.

(One of the things that I really love about this place is the weather. The weather forecast in the entire central region of Chile is typically just a string of yellow circles. Yet it's not so hot that you need air conditioning. I love it.)

But my mood was quickly spoiled when my maid handed me an envelope.

"It looks official," she said, staring at me to gauge my reaction. She was right. The sender was the United States Department of Treasury.

Clearly my first thought was wondering why the US government was sending me anything, especially to my apartment in Santiago. My second thought was utter astonishment that the US Postal Service had managed to get it here!

I ripped it open and found... a check. Made out to me. It was my tax refund.

As an aside, I'll tell you that living overseas has a lot of huge benefits. One of them is that your taxes are almost always going to be lower.

If you're American, you can earn up to $99,200 in foreign income, tax free. This amount goes up every year (not that there's any inflation).

If you're married, you and your spouse can BOTH claim the foreign earned income exclusion, meaning you can earn nearly $200,000 as a couple, tax free.

And when you include the additional deduction you can receive on foreign housing, your total tax benefit living overseas can easily be upwards of $250,000 or more.

Just imagine being able to put an additional $250,000 in your pocket each year, instead of giving that money to a bankrupt government to finance drones, bombs, and body scanners. (More on this in another letter...)

In my case, I have income from other sources, including certain investment income that still gets taxed. And just to be on the safe side, I ALWAYS overpay my taxes, so our friends at the IRS send me a refund each year.

This is the first year in ages that I remember receiving a physical check; I must have forgotten to fill out the direct deposit section of the 1040.

And while checks seem like vestigial relics of a financial era long gone, it's not a big problem to deal with down here. Chileans really like checks, and it turns out that a number of Chilean banks we deal with are more than happy to immediately clear foreign checks from the US.

Then I glanced back at the envelope. It said, "Forgery or endorsements on Treasury checks is a Federal crime. Maximum penalty is a $10,000 fine and ten years in imprisonment."

Wow. In the Land of the Free, you can't even deposit a tax refund check without being threatened with fines and imprisonment. It's unreal.

We've talked about this before. Even the most basic, innocuous tasks now involve threats and intimidation.

If you apply for a passport on form DS-11, the government threatens you with "fine and/or imprisonment under U.S. law including the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1001, 18 U.S. C. 1542, and/or 18 U.S.C. 162."

Applying for a social security replacement card threatens you with "penalty of perjury".

Applying for a driver's license in my home state of Texas threatens me with "five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine."

And of course, the instruction book for IRS form 1040 includes an entire section threatening anyone about to file his/her taxes with civil, criminal, and administrative penalties.

There's very little you can do in the Land of the Free that doesn't involve the threat of fines and imprisonment anymore, including simply depositing a check.

They've criminalized almost every aspect of existence. EVERYTHING—how your children are educated, the purchasing power of your savings, the privacy of your email, what you can/cannot put in your body-- is regulated by the state.

Any deviation from the standards that they establish is criminalized. And they shove these threats in our faces at every opportunity.

The idea of a government for the people, by the people, of the people... has long been lost. They don't even pretend to serve the people anymore... it's just threats and intimidation.

This is not how a free society is supposed to operate. And as we explored inyesterday's podcast, it's a sign of the top.

We have reached peak government. Like any bubble, this one is about to burst.

Until tomorrow,

Simon Black
Senior Editor, SovereignMan.com

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À Sua imagem

Uma compilação

Quanto a mim, feita a justiça, verei a tua face; quando despertar ficarei satisfeito ao ver a tua semelhança. — Salmo 17:15

Amados, agora somos filhos de Deus, e ainda não se manifestou o que havemos de ser, mas sabemos que, quando ele se manifestar, seremos semelhantes a ele, pois o veremos como ele é. — 1 João 3:2

Somos a Sua Imagem

O plano de Deus desde o início foi nos tornar como Seu Filho Jesus. Esse é o nosso destino. … Deus anunciou Sua intenção à Criação:

Então disse Deus: "Façamos o homem à nossa imagem, conforme a nossa semelhança.”

Apenas os seres humanos são feitos “à imagem de Deus”, um grande privilégio que nos confere dignidade. Não entendemos o sentido completo dessa frase, mas, em parte, significa que somos seres espirituais. Nosso espírito é imortal e continuará depois que nosso corpo físico se for. Somos seres intelectuais. Podemos pensar, raciocinar e resolver problemas. Como Deus, somos relacionais. Podemos dar e receber amor. E temosconsciência moral, somos capazes de discernir o certo do errado, o que nos torna imputáveis perante Deus.

A Bíblia diz que todas as pessoas, não apenas os crentes, são feitos à imagem de Deus. Mas a imagem ficou incompleta, danificada e distorcida pelo pecado. Por isso, Deus enviou Jesus em uma missão para restaurar a imagem total que perdemos.

Como será a “imagem e semelhança” de Deus? Como Jesus Cristo! A Bíblia diz que Jesus é “a expressão exata do seu ser”, “a imagem do Deus invisível” e “a expressão exata do seu ser”. — Rick Warren[1]

À Sua semelhança

O primeiro capítulo, no primeiro livro da Bíblia diz: "Deus criou o homem à sua imagem. A imagem de Deus o criou"[2]. Em outras palavras, Deus nos fez muito parecidos com Ele em muitos aspectos, à Sua imagem e semelhança. Somos como Deus! Temos a honra de escolher, podemos fazer o bem ou o mal e parecemos com Deus no nosso entendimento, nas nossas emoções e na nossa personalidade.

O homem foi criado e posto aqui para escolher entre o bem e o mal, para fazer o que está certo ou o que está errado, para servir a Deus ou a si próprio. Dessa forma é possível conhecer os benefícios de servir a Deus: colher a alegria, a felicidade e a satisfação de seguir as amorosas regras de Deus para o seu próprio bem, adorá-lO e Lhe agradecer por tudo, como um filho agradecido do Pai celestial, que nEle crê, tem fé, confia nEle, na Sua Palavra e obedece a ela para o seu próprio benefício e para a glória de Deus.

Quando a pessoa escolhe se rebelar contra Deus e seguir seu próprio caminho, sofre as consequências da rebeldia às leis de Amor de Deus, o que resulta em miséria, sofrimento, desumanidade do homem para com seu semelhante, crueldade, atrocidades, guerras, males econômicos, angústia, e morte.

Deus está interessado nas nossas decisões. Importa‑Lhe ver que, se nos for concedida a grande honra de escolher, vamos fazer as escolhas acertadas. Claro que Ele fica triste quando escolhemos mal. Foi por isso que Ele nos pôs aqui e temos de aprender a tomar as decisões certas. Por isso, Ele nos deu a oportunidade de fazer como bem entendemos, com o livre arbítrio, para Ele ver nossas escolhas. — D. Brandt Berg

Moldados à Sua imagem

Estamos sendo moldados à imagem dEle. Graças a Deus, mesmo que às vezes seja doloroso, Deus sempre estraçalha as imagens que criamos de nós mesmos e dEle. A Encarnação é o maior exemplo. Ele não foi o Messias que aqueles que o esperavam imaginavam que Ele deveria ter sido. Tampouco é o Messias que esperávamos. Não é, absolutamente, o que imaginávamos que ele nos pediria. No entanto, Aquele que chorou a morte de Lázaro ao lado da sepultura e suou sangue no Getsêmani, pede para refletirmos em tudo isso. Ao vir como um bebê, Jesus nos ensina um significado do que é um ser humano maior que conseguimos entender. A Sua vinda como Deus silencia nossos questionamentos em relação a Deus, — com um rosto, uma mão e uma Cruz. Não podemos nos moldar na forma de ícones eternos, assim como não é possível criarmos, a partir de um punhado de barro, um deus que fala. Mas podemos ser moldados à imagem do Deus que vive quando somos moldados pelas mãos do Deus que enviou Jesus. — Jill Carattini

Deus é Pessoal

Possuímos os atributos de pessoas por sermos feitos à imagem de Deus. O que difere os seres humanos das demais criaturas na Terra é que fomos criados à Sua imagem e elas não. Como William Lane Craig explica: O homem é uma pessoa porque Deus é pessoal, e isso nos permite nos identificarmos com Deus.[3] O fato de Deus ser pessoal e possuir os atributos de pessoa não significa que seja humano, mas que nós, humanos, partilhamos dos atributos da pessoa de Deus.

Deus interage pessoalmente com a humanidade, como pode ser visto em toda a Bíblia. Ele Se relaciona com as pessoas. Fez acordos ou parcerias com elas — as chamadas “alianças”. Em toda a Bíblia vemos que Deus fala com as pessoas. São ações pessoais.

Em todo o Antigo Testamento fica claro que Deus estava pessoal e ativamente envolvido com Seu povo.[4] O Livro de Gênesis mostra Deus interagindo de forma pessoal com Suas criaturas em muitas situações, tais como na criação do mundo, em Suas ações e conversas com Adão e Eva, nos acordos pessoais que fez com Noé, Abraão, Isaque e Jacó. Ele continuou Se manifestando em Seus entendimentos pessoais com Moisés e com os filhos de Israel.

A Palavra de Deus atribui emoções a Deus: amor, ódio, ira, arrependimento, tristeza, compaixão, indignação, repugnância, paciência, longanimidade, alegria e outros sentimentos. Essas emoções são atributos da pessoa.[5]

Quando Moisés perguntou, Deus falou Seu nome: — Javé, EU SOU. Ter um nome e comunicá-lo a outrem é um ato pessoal. Ele também possui títulos que O caracterizam como pessoa, tais como: Pai, Juiz, Pastor ou Marido.[6]

Nada mostrou que Deus é pessoal tão claramente quanto Ele Se revelar em Jesus. Jesus era Deus em forma humana e pessoal em todas as formas e em todos os Seus atos, a ponto de, pessoalmente, morrer para que pudéssemos receber a salvação.

Os nosso Deus não é um ser distante e desinteressado. Ele é um Deus pessoal, que tem um relacionamento com Sua criação. Manifestou-Se a nós pela Sua Palavra. Revelou parte de Sua essência. Tem interesse pessoal em nós e, pela salvação, criou uma forma para vivermos com Ele para sempre. Ao acreditarmos em Jesus, Deus Filho, tornamo-nos filhos de Deus, o que nos permite tocá-lO pessoalmente, nos comunicarmos com Ele, ouvir Sua voz e com Ele compartilharmos nossos corações. Ele comunga conosco, vive conosco e nos ama. Comungamos com Ele, vivemos com Ele e O amamos. Temos um relacionamento pessoal com o Deus Pessoal. E isso é incrivelmente maravilhoso! — Peter Amsterdam

Footnotes:
[1] The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).
[2] Gênesis 1:27.
[3] William Lane Craig, The Doctrine of God, Part 4. “Defenders” Lecture Series.
[4] Ver Salmos 78, 105, 106, 136.
[5] The Oberlin Evangelist. 9 de outubro de 1839. Professor Finney’s Lectures. Lecture XVIII, Affections and Emotions of God.
[6] Pai: Eu serei para vós Pai, e vós sereis para mim filhos e filhas, diz o Senhor Todo-poderoso. (2 Coríntios 6:18). Juiz: O Senhor é o nosso juiz, o Senhor é o nosso legislador, o Senhor é o nosso rei; é ele quem nos salva (Isaías 33:22). Pastor: O Senhor é o meu pastor; nada me faltará (Salmo 23:1).Marido: O teu Criador é o teu marido — o Senhor dos Exércitos é o seu nome — o Santo de Israel é o teu Redentor; ele será chamado o Deus de toda a terra (Isaías 54:5).

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The Wider Life: Chapter 12 - Being a Comfort to Others

By J.R. Miller
Just after the death of Queen Victoria, this beautiful story was told: She was visiting the wounded soldiers who had been brought back from South Africa. She was specially distressed by the suffering of one man who had been terribly hurt. "Is there nothing that I can do for you?" asked the Queen. The soldier replied, "Nothing, your Majesty, unless you would thank my nurse for her great kindness to me."

The Queen turned to the nurse, and said, with tears in her eyes, "I do thank you with all my heart, for your kindness to this poor wounded son of mine."

There was something exquisitely beautiful in the soldier's unselfish thought of the nurse who had been such a comfort to him in his sufferings. His gratitude was so great, that he sought even the Queen's honoring for her--rather than for himself.

There is a beautiful charm in such self-forgetfulness as this, such entire elimination of one's self, in thinking of others. There are those who reach this rare beauty of spirit. There are mothers who live for their children so utterly--that they seek only their good, their happiness, never asking anything for themselves, never sparing themselves any cost or sacrifice--to serve them. There is in many a home an unmarried sister who devotes herself to the comfort and good of the other members of her household with complete unselfishness, ministering to them in countless ways, with never a thought of rest, ease, or advantage for herself. Then, outside the circle of home, where we seem to have no right to expect service of love, there are those who live to do good, to give cheer, to be a comfort to others.

There really is no higher attainment in life--than that of being a blessing to others in one's own place. Every noble-spirited young person is ambitious to live well and helpfully, to do something worth while. But not all the really heroic things bring fame in this world. One may be a hero in God's sight--and yet never hear a hurrah from any human lips.

When the country needed defenders, one boy entered the service, fought bravely, rose to honor, and returned, when the war was over, with high rank. He was greeted as a hero. His younger brother had stayed at home caring for his widowed mother and the little children--only a common farmer, without fame. But with God he was no less a hero than the other.

Then, it is not only what we DO--but even more what we ARE, that makes our lives count in their helpfulness and their capacity for giving pleasure to others. Some people are full of activity, even of eager helpfulness, and yet they are not always a comfort to their fellows. They have faults which mar the charm and the influence of their personality; they have 'dead flies in their ointment' which send forth a foul odor. They are not sweet, they lack humility, they are not really unselfish. People do not go to them with their perplexities and sorrows--there is in them something which hinders the outflow of confidence. One said, speaking of another, "He is one of the best men in the world, and is always offering his help--but somehow I could never go to him with my questions or with a sorrow." There is something in certain people's religion, which mars its beauty. If we would be a comfort to others, our lives must be rich in lovingness. A mother said of her daughter, "She makes a beautiful climate for me!" That is what we should make for the people who live near to us.

In one of his epistles, Paul speaks of certain of his friends as "men that have been a comfort unto me." He was in prison, and in his loneliness these men had cheered and strengthened him. They had been kind to him, and their kindness had comforted him.

He mentions by name three men who had specially helped him in this way. The first was Aristarchus, whom he calls "my fellow-prisoner." Perhaps he voluntarily stayed with the old minister in prison. No doubt he showed his love in many ways. Someone has defined a friend as "the person who comes in--when all the world has gone out." That is what Aristarchus had been to Paul.

Another who had been a comfort to him was Mark. We are glad to have Paul write this, for many years before Mark had failed him, and the apostle would not trust him again. It is pleasant to know that Mark lived long enough and well enough--to win again his old friend's confidence and affection.

There is another name in this list of honor, "Jesus who is called Justus." Not a hint is given of the way he had been a comfort to the apostle. Perhaps he had just been kind to him, doing nothing that could be written down--and yet no doubt his life was full of little gentle ministries that helped Paul more bravely and cheerfully to endure his chains. At least this man had been his friend, and just being a friend when one needs friends--is something gloriously worth while. Someone has said, "The greatest thing that a man can do for his Heavenly Father--is to be kind to some of the Father's other children."

The friends that Paul names were a comfort to him, because they sympathized with him with a sympathy that was not obtrusive, not officious, not always reminding him of his chain and prison--but that manifested itself in quiet, unostentatious, inspiring ways. The word comfort is from a root-word which means to strengthen. It is like our noun cordial, in its old sense, something that invigorates, exhilarates; something that stimulates the circulation, making the pulses quicker, the life fuller. Paul's friends were a cordial to him, not lessening his sufferings nor lightening his burdens--but making him braver and stronger for endurance. They were a comfort to him.

Paul himself was a wonderful example of a man who was a comfort to others. What his life, with its rich fullness and its genius for friendship, must have been to those who came into personal companionship with him! What a privilege it was to his fellow-craftsmen to have him working with them at their tent-making! His presence must have made the work seem lighter and the atmosphere of the shop brighter. We do not begin to realize what it means to us--to live with certain people, to have them for friends, to drink from the fullness of their life.

One wrote of Phillips Brooks, after his death: "We did not know how much of God was walking with us!" Just so, men did not know how much of God was walking with them--when they had Paul for their companion, friend, teacher. The more closely we study his life and his words--the more do we find in him and in his teachings of love, of the delicate refinements of love, of all gentleness and kindness. The thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is as matchless as a picture. It is like a dream in its beauty. But it was a dream which was realized in the writer's own life. "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged." Some people praise this wonderful picture of love--but do not think of living it. What a comfort we would be to each other--if we really lived in all our common days, the teaching of this great chapter!

Some people have love in their hearts, while in disposition, in speech, in expression, they lack lovingness. Paul teaches us not only to have a kindly heart--but a gracious manner. In his epistles he exhorts to the rarest delicacy of courtesy. Perhaps we do not give sufficient emphasis to this phase of Christian culture. We condemn lying, as well we may--but we forget that rudeness is a sin, too--as are also thoughtlessness, discourtesy, censoriousness, sharpness in speech or tone. Paul names "whatever things are lovely" among the ideal qualities of Christian character. Our religion should be beautiful, winning. We are to please others for their good, to edification.

Those who live thus gently, thoughtfully, beautifully--will always be a comfort to others with whom they live. A pastor was commending religion to a boy, expressing the hope that he would give his heart to God in his youth. "Religion is a continual joy," he said. "Look at your sister, Sarah. How much that dear girl enjoys her religion!" "Yes," drawled the boy, with frank candor, "She may enjoy her religion--but nobody else in the house enjoys it!" The boy's judgment may have been harsh and unjust--but there are professing Christians of whom it is true--that their families do not enjoy their religion! It is not sweet. It is not a comfort to people. It is critical, irritating, censorious, exacting. It was a serious condemnation of this girl's religion--that her family did not enjoy it.

A close observer has said that "Many a sister spoils her testimony in the church--by her tongue in the kitchen!" Another has said, "There are people who lead us heavenward--but stick pins in us all the way!" In a conversation overheard on a railway train, one reports catching this fragment of talk: "Yes, I suppose she's good--I know she is. But she isn't pleasant to live with." A goodness that isn't pleasant to live with--is not the kind that is most needed in this world. We may do all our duties faithfully, conscientiously, bearing our share of the burdens and cares--and yet if we are not pleasant to live with, we fail in the most essential quality of love. An unlovely spirit, frowns and chilling looks, sharp, impatient words--outweigh the eager, painstaking service that does so much to help in practical ways. What the person IS--mars the value of what he DOES.

After all, "being pleasant to live with" is one of the final tests of Christlikeness in life. You are careful never to fail to do all the little things of duty. Your friends can never say that you are inattentive to them, that you leave undone the kindly deeds of neighborliness or even brotherliness. But if, meanwhile, you are not pleasant to live with--is there not something lacking? The ideal pious life--is one that is a comfort to others--as well as a help. It is gracious and winning in its spirit. It is a blessing to all it touches. It makes one a comfort, not only in his own home, where even his dog has a more pleasant life, because the master is a "Jesus Christian," but also in his church, among his neighbors, in the office or shop where he works. Then, withal, it makes him pleasant to live with.

This word of Paul's, really tests the Christian life of everyone of us. Are we a comfort to people? Are the boys and girls a comfort to their mothers and fathers? or do they vex them, fret them, keep them awake at night with anxiety? Are husbands and wives, a real comfort to each other? Are we a comfort to our neighbors, kindly, thoughtful, obliging, ready always to be helpful and gracious?

It has been named as the mark of a gentleman--that he never gives pain to another. An English poet called Jesus "the truest gentleman who ever breathed." He never gave pain to anyone. Love characterized him in all circumstances and experiences. Even when he was being betrayed, he was still the refined gentleman. When he was being nailed to the cross--he prayed for his executioners. Love never failed in him. He was always a comfort to others.

We as Christ's followers should be so full of his spirit, have our lives so permeated with his grace, love, and meekness, that we shall be a comfort to all men, and, above all, shall be a comfort to God!

Back to J.R. Miller index. SAVE ON 'J.R. MILLER' BOOKS

See Also:
Chapter 1 - The Wider Life
Chapter 2 - Visions and Dreams
Chapter 3 - Loyalty to Christ
Chapter 4 - God in our Common Life
Chapter 5 - The Things That Are above
Chapter 6 - The Inner and the Outer Life
Chapter 7 - The Print of the Nails
Chapter 8 - Influence
Chapter 9 - Is God Always Kind?
Chapter 10 - Peril in Life's Changes
Chapter 11 - Helping by Prayer
Chapter 12 - Being a Comfort to Others
Chapter 13 - Nevertheless Afterward
Chapter 14 - The School of Life
Chapter 15 - Words of Life
Chapter 16 - Presenting Men Perfect
Chapter 17 - As I Have Loved You
Chapter 18 - The Beauty of Christ
Chapter 19 - The Law of Sacrifice
Chapter 20 - Learning to Pray

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Mountain Men

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/mountain-men/
Introduction by Peter Amsterdam

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In the symbolic language of spending time on the mountain, David presents four principles which apply to our spiritual life, but can, in many ways, be applied to our practical life as well.

1. The principle of being alone with God, in prayer and meditation, getting quiet and allowing Him to communicate with you. The symbolism of being able to see the light much longer on the mountain than when dwelling in the valley. The personal cost to taking that time, the effort necessary, symbolized by the cold and wind on the mountain, but also the payoff, the things you hear and see during your mountain times with God which thrill you.

2. The principle of retreat from the hustle and bustle of life, as symbolized by the valley. The importance of not becoming overly encumbered by life’s activities, to where you forget your mountain time, your time with God, your time of refreshment and reinvigoration in the spirit.

3. The principle of perseverance in following your dream, or your calling, or anything you feel that God has shown you is worth doing.—Realizing the cost of scaling the mountain of your dreams, the sacrifices one must often make in reaching those goals, the personal cost, but also the rewards of fighting through to accomplish them.

4. The principle of the pioneer. Having a vision to do something new, faith to believe it can be done, initiative to go ahead and try it, and the courage, the stamina, and commitment in order to bring it to fruition.

Throughout history, important things have happened on physical mountains. Important things can happen in your history if you learn the principles of spending time on the mountain in spirit. Be a mountain man!

*
Mountain Men
By D. Brandt Berg

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Mountain peaks are never crowded. I climbed many mountains and I was almost always alone. Why?
It’s hard work.
Not many people desire to climb mountains.
It’s lonesome.
You have to forsake all to do it.
It’s apt to cost your life.
Lots of scratches and bumps.

Long after the valley was in darkness, I could still see the sun. There is more light on the mountain. The valley is full of people and things, but usually in darkness. The mountain is windy and cold, but thrilling.

You have to have the feeling that it’s really worth dying for! Any mountain—the mountain of this life, the mountain of accomplishments, the mountain of obstacles, of difficulty—if you’re going to climb them, they have to be worth dying for, to brave the wind and cold and storm, symbolic of adversities.

But on the mount alone, you feel so close to the Lord. The voice of His Spirit there is so loud, it’s almost like it’s thundering! The voice of the multitude is so loud in the valley, you can’t hear the voice of God. The silence on the mountain peak is deafening! You get a real “high” on top of a mountain! It’s a thrill! It’s almost terrifying!

Only pioneers climb mountains—people who want to do something that no one ever did before, people who want to get above the multitude, beyond what has already been done and accomplished. Pioneers must have vision—to see what no one else can see; faith—to believe things that no one else believes; initiative—to be the first one to try it; courage—the guts to see it through!

On the mountain, you’re the first to see the sun rise and the last to see it set. You see the full circle of God’s glorious creation. You see the world in its proper perspective with range after range to be conquered and a world beyond the horizon of normal men. You see distant peaks yet to be climbed. You see distant valleys yet to be crossed. You see things that the men in the valleys can never see—can’t even comprehend, because they can’t see it! You can see the 360-degree circumference of the total horizon. It’s like seeing all of life from its beginning to its end, and understanding. You feel like you’re living in eternity.

The valley land is man’s country; the highlands are God’s country. Man dominates the valley. Only God dominates the mountain, and the men living on the mountains know this. Those on the mountains live so close to God and the things which are frightening and terrible and dangerous that they have to live close to God.

There aren’t many places to live on the mountain—little rugged shelters and lean-tos. There’s not much to eat, it’s cold and windy, but it’s a thrill even to die there. It’s better to die on the mountain than to live in the valley. Whoever read in the newspaper about the man who slipped and fell on the city street? But the man who dies on the mountain, even in far-off Switzerland, you’ll read about it, because at least he dared to try.

Beaten paths are for beaten men, but mountain peaks are for the mighty. Mountain peaks are for the mighty pioneers.

You never hear about the people who wait to see if it can be done. You only hear about the people who either made it or died trying. You never hear about those fancy tourists down on the ski slope somewhere. You just hear about the people who either made it or tried. But when you make it, the mouth of God will be opened unto you. He’ll speak to you face to face and will teach and reveal to you the greatest of His secrets.

The greatest laws ever given to man, whereby most of the civilized world is still ruled, were given to one man alone on a mountain.1 The greatest sermon ever preached was given to a handful of mountain men by the greatest mountaineer of all, who finally climbed His last mountain—mount Calvary, Golgotha—and died alone for the sins of the world.2 That was a mountain that only He could climb for you and me, but He made it!

So what do you hear on the mountain? You hear things that are going to echo around the world. What do you hear in the stillness? Whispers that are going to change the course of history.

Eight people came down from one mountain—Noah and his family from the Ark on Mount Ararat—and they were never the same, and the world was never the same.3 One man, Moses, came down from a mountain and a whole nation was never the same, and they changed the world. And Jesus and His disciples came down from this mountain and changed the world! They were never the same.

Are you a mountain man?

Originally published December 1969. Excerpted and republished November 2010.
Read by Peter Amsterdam.

Footnotes:
1 Exodus 24:12.
2 Matthew chapters 5–7, 27:33–35.
3 Genesis 8:1–17.

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Accident or Planned? CEO Dies!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-plane-crash-snowplow-driver-drunk-070813506--finance.html

MOSCOW (AP) — Christophe de Margerie, the charismatic CEO of Total SA who dedicated his career to the multinational oil company, was killed at a Moscow airport when his private jet collided with a snowplow whose driver was drunk, Russian investigators said Tuesday.


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[$] Russia Opens Probe Into Total CEO's Death The Wall Street Journal
French Oil Chief Dies After Executive Jet Hits Snowplow on Moscow Runway Bloomberg
Total CEO de Margerie killed in Moscow business jet accident Reuters
Total oil company CEO dies in Moscow plane crash Associated Press
Total CEO de Margerie killed in Moscow as jet hits snow plough Reuters

Three French crew members also died when the French-made Dassault Falcon 50 burst into flames after it hit the snowplow during takeoff from Vnukovo airport at 11:57 p.m. Monday local time.

Tatyana Morozova, an official with the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency, said investigators are questioning the snowplow driver, who was not hurt, as well as air traffic controllers and witnesses.

"At the current time, it has been established that the driver of the snowplow was in a state of alcoholic intoxication," Morozova said.

NTV television showed the charred plane lying on a grassy field. Though it had snowed earlier Monday in Moscow, it was unclear how much snow remained at the airport at the time of the crash.

Vnukovo is the airport used by Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and visiting foreign leaders. It also handles commercial flights from a separate terminal.
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FILE - This Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, file photo shows French energy giant Total CEO, Christophe de …

De Margerie, 63, was a regular fixture at international economic gatherings and one of the French business community's most outspoken and recognizable figures. His trademark silver handlebar earned him the nickname "Big Mustache."

A critic of sanctions against Russia, he argued that isolating Russia was bad for the global economy. He traveled regularly to Russia and recently dined in Paris with a Putin ally who is facing EU sanctions over Russia's involvement in the crisis in Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, Putin sent a telegram to his French counterpart Francois Hollande, lauding de Margerie for being at the "origins of the many major joint projects that have laid the basis for the fruitful cooperation between Russia and France in the energy sphere for many years."

Hollande expressed his "stupor and sadness" at the news. In a statement, he praised de Margerie for defending French industry on the global stage, and for his "independent character and original personality."

De Margerie started working for Total in 1974 after receiving his degree because it was close to home. It was a difficult time to join the firm as the oil embargo, which led to a fourfold increase in prices, was coming to an end.
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FILE - In this March 2, 2011 file photo, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Fr …

"I was told 'You have made the absolute worst choice. Total will disappear in a few months,'" he said in a 2007 interview with Le Monde newspaper.

De Margerie rose through the ranks, serving in several positions in the finance department and the exploration and production division before becoming president of Total's Middle East operations in 1995. He became a member of Total's policy-making executive committee in 1999, CEO in 2007, before adding the post of chairman in 2010.

He was a central figure in Total's role in the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq in the 1990s. Total paid a fine in the U.S., though de Margerie was acquitted in France of corruption charges.

Under his leadership, Paris-based Total claims it became the fifth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company in the world, with exploration and production operations in more than 50 countries.

On Monday, de Margerie took part in a meeting of Russia's Foreign Investment Advisory Council with members of the Russian government and other international business executives.

Jean-Jacques Guilbaud, Total's secretary general, said the group would continue on its current path and that the board would meet in coming days to discuss who will succeed de Margerie. Total planned a minute of silence in its offices worldwide at 2 p.m. Paris time.

After dipping slightly early Tuesday, Total's share price was trading 2 percent higher, in line with the broader rally in French stocks.

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Case Dismissed! Texas Ends 15-Year Fight Against Cancer Doctor Burzynski

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/19/cancer-doctor-burzynski.aspx
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By Dr. Mercola

After a grueling 15-year long battle, the Texas Medical Board has officially ended its crusade to revoke Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski's medical license in an effort to end his use of Antineoplastons, as well as his combination gene-targeted therapy for cancer.

The Texas Medical Board’s case against him was dismissed1 on November 19, 2012, just in time for Thanksgiving. According to Dr. Burzynski’s attorney, Richard A. Jaffe, Esq:2

“Early on, two medical board informal settlement panels found that the use of these combination drugs on the advanced cancer patients involved was within the standard of care.

However, the Texas Medical Board refused to drop the case and instead filed a formal complaint3 against Dr. Burzynski alleging the same standard of care violations previously rejected by the board settlement panels.

After two years of intense litigation, the case was set for trial in April 2012. However, a week before trial, the administrative law judges dismissed most of the charges against Dr. Burzynski which forced the Board to seek to adjourn the case to do some reevaluation.

After the judges denied the Board’s attempt to reverse the previous partial dismissal of the case, the Board did more reevaluation and moved to dismiss the entire case.”

In 2010, Texas Medical Board staff charged4 Dr. Burzynski with prescribing and administering drugs not yet approved by the FDA for the treatment of cancer in two patients. They also claimed he had overcharged for the drugs, and, in one case, that he had failed to inform the patient that the treatment was having an insignificant impact on her cancer, delaying her ability to make an informed decision about whether to continue her treatment.

On both counts, the Board determined that the treatments did not violate the standard of care, and that patients had been appropriately billed. They did however agree he failed to inform the patient that the treatment was ineffective, and in the other case, they determined he had failed to maintain adequate medical records.

Dr. Burzynski to Make History Yet Again

Dr. Burzynski received much-needed publicity two years ago with the release of Burzynski — The Movie, a documentary about Dr. Burzynski’s remarkable cancer discovery, and how he won the largest and possibly the most convoluted and intriguing legal battle against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in American history.

This year, a second film detailing his continued struggles, and victories, is scheduled to be released. As announced in the trailer (see above), Dr. Burzynski is now doing the unthinkable... He is “the first and only scientist in United States history to enter the federal drug approval process for a proprietary cancer therapy without any financial support from the American government, the pharmaceutical industry, or the cancer establishment.”

After it was revealed that the FDA had pressured the Texas medical board to revoke Dr. Burzynski's medical license — despite the fact that no laws were broken, and his treatment was proven safe and effective — the obvious question was “why?” In 1982, Dr. Richard Crout, Director of the FDA Bureau of Drugs, wrote:

"I never have and never will approve a new drug to an individual, but only to a large pharmaceutical firm with unlimited finances."

The answer to this has to do with money. Lots and lots of money... See, Dr. Burzynski owns the patent for this treatment, and should it actually gain FDA approval, not only would it threaten conventional chemotherapy and radiation, it would also result in billions of dollars of cancer research funds being funneled over to the one single scientist who has exclusive patent rights — Dr. Burzynski.

When Medical Harassment Becomes Standard Practice

As Burzynski — The Movie revealed, it became clear that ever since 1977, when Dr. Burzynski first tried to get antineoplastons approved, the FDA had begun scheming to eliminate the threat he and his discovery posed to the cancer industry. With that in mind, the mistreatment dished out by the Texas Medical Board (TMB) against Dr. Burzynski becomes easier to understand.

The situation becomes even more enlightening once you take into account the fact that, for years, the TMB has cultivated intimidation and harassment of doctors to the point that the entire Board was sued by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) in 2007, citing an “institutional culture of retaliation and intimidation.” The suit specifically pointed out misconduct by then Board president, Roberta Kalafut, who was accused of enlisting her husband to file anonymous complaints against targeted doctors, including her own competitors, who then faced losing their license and other punitive disciplinary actions based on fraudulent charges. (She resigned from her post in December 2008.)5

The situation was so bad that legislation was drafted in 2009 in an effort to clamp down on the abuses by the TMB.6 Unfortunately, the bill, HB3816, failed to get a House vote and didn’t make it into law. The bill would have prevented anonymous, unsworn complaints from ruining the careers of doctors, and given physicians a right to jury trial before license revocation, among other things. It seems not much has changed in the years since. In an AAPS blog dated September 22, 2011, Jane M. Orient, MD, Executive Director of AAPS stated:7

“Complaints from our members have identified the TMB as probably the worst in the country. It’s bad for patients when their doctors are afraid that doing the right thing could result in licensure action.”

Summary of Dr. Burzynski's Cancer Treatment

Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, a Polish immigrant, was trained as both a biochemist and a physician. He's spent the last 35 years developing and successfully treating cancer patients suffering with some of the most lethal forms of cancer at his clinic in Houston, Texas. The treatment he developed involves a gene-targeted approach using non-toxic peptides and amino acids, known as antineoplastons. I personally interviewed Dr. Burzynski about his treatment in the summer of 2011.

His strategy includes studying the patient's entire cancerous genome; analyzing some 24,000 genes in each cancer patient, in order to identify the abnormal genes. Once they've determined which genes are involved in the cancer, drugs and supplements are identified to target those genes. Antineoplastons work on approximately 100 cancer-causing genes, but traditional oncology agents (including chemotherapy) may also be used, typically in combination with antineoplastons.

Antineoplastons are peptides and derivatives of amino acids that act as molecular switches. However, as genome research blossomed and science progressed, Dr. Burzynski discovered that antineoplastons also work as genetic switches. They turn off the oncogenes that cause cancer, and turn on or activate tumor suppressor genes — genes that fight cancer. The antineoplastons were initially obtained from blood. For a time they were then extracted from urine, but they've now been using synthetic antineoplastons since 1980.

Burzynski — The Movie features several case stories of people who were successfully cured of cancer, and reveals for example clinical trial data of conventional therapies versus antineoplastons in Phase II FDA-sanctioned clinical trials for a type of brain cancer called Anaplastic Astrocytoma, Grade III. When stacked against each other, the benefits of antineoplastons become quite obvious:
Radiation or Chemotherapy Only Antineoplastons Only
5 of 54 patients (9 percent)                                                   5 of 20 (25 percent)
were cancer free at the end of treatment                            were cancer free at the end of treatment
Toxic side effects                                                                  No toxic side effects

Gene Targeted Cancer Therapy is the Future

In recent years, the focus for cancer therapy has increasingly shifted toward individualized gene-targeted cancer treatment — such as that provided by Dr. Burzynski for the past 10 years. A description of how the patient’s individualized treatment plan is devised is given in the second video above, starting three minutes into the video. So, is it any wonder the industry wants to get rid of him in order to protect their own profits and access to research funds?

As an example, in January 2011, the Khalifa Foundation gave a $150 million grant to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center8 “to support genetic-analysis based research, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.” In short, personalized cancer treatment is the future of oncology, and the US government has spared no expense rying to make eliminate Dr. Burzynski from the race — including patent theft...

In October 1991, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) conducted a site visit to Dr. Burzynski's clinic and verified that "anti-tumor activity was documented by the use of antineoplastons."9 Seventeen days after this visit, the United States of America as represented by "The Department of Health and Human Services," filed a patent for antineoplastons AS2-1 — one of the two antineoplastons Dr. Burzynski had already patented. The inventor listed on the copycat patent was Dr. Dvorit Samid, a former research consultant of Dr. Burzynski’s. The patent states:

"The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the government, for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalties thereon."

In November of 1995, the US Patent office approved the first US Government patent for antineoplastons. Between 1995 and 2000, the US Patent office approved 11 copycat patents on antineoplastons AS2-1. Incredibly, In August of 2012, America's National Cancer Institute has begun to finally acknowledge and cite some of Burzynski's peer-reviewed Antineoplaston studies, as well as Japan's studies who have been independently reproducing Antineoplaston clinical trials studies since the 1980's. One of the most remarkable admissions by The National Cancer Institute is where they quote10:

"A Phase II study also conducted by the developer and his associates at his clinic reported on 12 patients with recurrent diffuse intrinsic brainstem glioma. Of the ten patients who were evaluable, two achieved complete tumor response, three had partial tumor response, three had stable disease, and two had progressive disease."

A brainstem glioma has simply never been cured before in the history of medicine — Antineoplastons hold the first cures ever. Kudos to the National cancer Institute for finally giving credit where credit is due!
Is the Cancer Industry Really Interested in Finding Cancer Cures?

To summarize Dr. Burzynski’s story: He developed a cancer treatment that surpassed all other treatments on the market, and the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry knew it. They also knew he was the sole owner of the patents for this therapy, and these two facts combined, threatened the entire paradigm of the cancer industry.

So they decided to steal his invention. The problem is, they cannot actually use the stolen patents as long as Dr. Burzynski walks free and has the ability to defend his rights to them.

So, for the past 15 years, they’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him in an effort to tuck him away in jail for the remainder of his life, or at the very least, make sure he doesn’t have a license with which to practice any kind of medicine. Without a profitable career, making and raising the needed cash for patent defense would be tricky. Sadly, you and I have all been paying for the brutal opposition to his cancer treatment this whole time. The US government spent $60 million on legal fees for just one of his trials alone...

Still, Dr. Burzynski has prevailed against enormous forces so many times it’s enough to make one believe in a higher power. Certainly, many of his patients would call him a God-send. Now, with the TMB finally dismissing their case against him, let’s hope that’s the end of the absurd witch hunt against Dr. Burzynski.

Part 2 of the documentary will be released sometime this year. Until then, you can show support for Eric Merola and his film by purchasing the first one, Burzynski: The Movie.

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Dr. Burzynski: Part 2 Q&A | Apr. 27, 2013 Cancer Is Serious Business

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Dr. Burzynski: Part I - Cancer Is Serious Business: Documentary

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Saudi Arabia's Oil Price 'Manipulation' Could Sink The Russian Economy

http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-saudi-arabia-and-oil-prices-2014-10

TOMAS HIRST

OCT. 13, 2014, 6:13 AM

EIABrent crude oil spot price.

The vice-president of Russia's state-owned oil behemoth Rosneft has accused Saudi Arabia of manipulating the oil price for political reasons. Mikhail Leontyev was quoted in Russian media as saying:

Prices can be manipulative. First of all, Saudi Arabia has begun making big discounts on oil. This is political manipulation, and Saudi Arabia is being manipulated, which could end badly.

The news comes as Reuters reports Saudi officials have been privately admitting to oil market participants that they are comfortable with lower oil prices. According to the news service, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is willing to accept prices as low as $80 a barrel for as much as the next two years.

Falling prices are of particular concern to Russia. Russia needs high oil prices to buoy its economy. The country has seen its economic performance slow under the weight of sanctions over Ukraine and weakening domestic demand. The Russian Central Bank forecasts growth over 2014 to be a meager 0.4%, improving marginally to between 0.9%-1.1% in 2015.

The problem is that Russia's latest budget requires oil prices to average at least $100 a barrel in order to cover the government's spending promises. The government already needs to borrow around $7 billion from foreign investors next year and as much as 1.1 trillion rubles ($27.2 billion) from domestic investors. Given the country's sanctions-imposed isolation from international bond markets, any additional borrowing would be a big concern for policymakers in Moscow.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has already acknowledged that the budget forecasts for both Russian GDP growth and oil prices are "optimistic." During the Reuters Russia Investment Summit in September he was quoted as saying:

There are risks to economic growth rates. It is a rather optimistic forecast; there are risks to the oil price. Without a doubt, this and the next year we will have to try very hard to ensure the planned growth rates.

If the forecast growth fails to materialize and the oil price continues its slide it could force the Russian government into an embarrassing retreat on spending commitments and increase the country's economic woes.

SEE ALSO: Russia Has Burned $55 Billion To Prop Up The Ruble ... And It's Still Losing

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-saudi-arabia-and-oil-prices-2014-10#ixzz3Gm7wZCL5

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Voltando a Confiar Totalmente

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/voltando-confiar-totalmente/
Lenka

Em abril minha cirurgia aparentemente simples não correu tão bem como eu esperava. Foi tudo diferente e eu me vi lutando pela minha vida. Foi então que percebi que, nestes últimos anos, eu andava colocando as coisas na minha vida nas minhas próprias mãos. Neste caso, eu depositei minha confiança nos médicos e no sistema de saúde em vez de colocar nas mãos dAquele que realmente sabe a melhor maneira de cuidar de mim. Agora, em retrospectiva, eu não mudaria a situação em nada. Passaria por tudo novamente se fosse me ajudar a reconectar com Jesus, como aconteceu, graças à misericórdia de Deus.

Quando chegou a hora da minha segunda cirurgia corretiva três meses depois, eu era uma pessoa diferente. (Não mereço nenhuma glória, pois eu era a cabeça dura.) A princípio estava preocupada. Fui atacada com um monte de pensamentos horríveis de que não ia sobreviver à cirurgia, etc.—qualquer coisa que o Inimigo conseguia me fazer engolir—até eu perceber que não tenho que dar ouvidos a ele. Eu podia escolher dar um basta nesses pensamentos e concentrar no positivo. Mas em vez disso, comecei a planejar as coisas que eu gostaria de fazer depois da cirurgia, como se a cirurgia fosse correr bem. Só aceitei pensar que a cirurgia seria bem sucedida e orei para Deus assumir o controle completo da minha vida.

Quando chegou a hora de ir para o hospital eu tinha perfeita paz, e tive um sentimento muito específico de que Abigail—a jovem do vídeo do YouTube que estava morrendo de câncer mas tinha plena paz no coração—seria o meu espírito ajudante naquele momento. Senti sua presença reconfortante mais de uma vez. Além disse, a caminho do hospital, no Metro, depois de ter clamado a proteção de Deus, eu “vi” um grande anjo branco atrás de mim, forte, poderoso, e com muita autoridade.

Antes da segunda cirurgia, orei por semanas e fiz o melhor que pude para entregar a minha vida totalmente nas mãos de Deus, fazendo orações do tipo “o que for preciso” e “faça o que Você quiser”, e estava se tornando uma realidade. Quando chegamos à entrada da sala de operação, senti como os três jovens hebreus em frente da fornalha ardente. “Meu Deus é capaz de me livrar... mas se não o fizer, ainda assim confiarei nEle.” Eu estava tão feliz! Simplesmente sabia que Deus tinha tudo sob controle e fosse qual fosse o resultado, seria bom.

Antes da cirurgia não me deram nenhum calmante, como costumam fazer. Entrei no bloco cirúrgico desperta e em paz. Antes da anestesia eu até comentei como a sala era bonita, com grandes janelas de vidro, e bati papo com a equipe de apoio. Eu também disse que a cirurgia teria que ser bem sucedida porque tinha gente na metade do mundo orando por mim. Isso foi algo incomum de se dizer em um país que é provavelmente o menos religioso do mundo.

A cirurgia foi um sucesso, apesar das dificuldades. Meu médico disse que foi um milagre tudo ter dado certo. Na UTI tive que lutar contra alguns reveses e fazer duas transfusões de sangue porque perdi muito sangue. Minha pressão arterial estava baixa e era difícil respirar. Mas acredito que Deus me ajudou r minha recuperação foi rápida e milagrosa. Em vez de ficar dez dias internada, como esperado originalmente caso tivesse complicações, fui para casa no oitavo dia, andando e me movimentando sem dor.

Durante a internação, fiz amizade com minha companheira de quarto e com a senhora do quarto ao lado. Ambos tinham 60 anos e haviam sido diagnosticadas com câncer, e passado por uma cirurgia recentemente. Esperavam os resultados da operação e, é claro, estavam bastante nervosas. Tivemos várias conversas lindas sobre Deus e Seu amor e cuidado. Foi muito gratificante poder consolá-las e ajudá-las. Lembrou-me de como Jesus foi até aos doentes, e que a luz brilha muito mais forte na escuridão. Dei folhetos a ambas, e um forte testemunho e explicação sobre a oração da salvação. Uma delas também ganhou um Novo Testamento.

Quando orei por elas na minha última noite lá, o Senhor me disse que ambas ficariam bem. Senti que devia lhes dizer, e elas ficaram muito felizes. Foi preciso muita fé da minha parte para fazer isto, crer que eu havia recebido a mensagem certa. Agora, quase um mês depois, uma delas me ligou para dizer que estava completamente livre do câncer, e que não vai precisar fazer quimioterapia ou tratamento.

Sou grata pelas centenas de amigos ao redor do mundo que oraram por mim. Eu não teria conseguido sem vocês. Um grande OBRIGADA!

Também estou muito empolgada com o futuro. Depois de alguns anos sentindo uma secura espiritual, que na verdade era culpa minha, a vida por Jesus tem se tornado novamente emocionante. Não quero mais ditar o que acho ser o melhor para mim. Não me importo mesmo mais com o que me acontece. Sei que será bom porque quero apenas o que Deus quer para mim. Só quero voltar a confiar totalmente no Senhor. É tão libertador e tão emocionante! Mal posso esperar para ver aonde isto vai nos levar como Família e o que Ele fará por nós e através de nós. Sou eternamente grata, e meu maior desejo é continuar assim.

Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.R.Flandoli.

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Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/seeing-through-eyes-jesus/
A compilation

Audio length: 12:56

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God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.—1 Samuel 16:71

*

Pulling my car into the drive-thru line at Starbucks … I saw the woman. She sat across the parking lot, leaving just enough room for a thoroughfare, as she too was waiting in the Starbucks line. I smiled, and gestured to her. It went something like this: “Are you next, or am I?” Really, I was fine either way.

She was not. Thinking I was trying to snag her spot of next up, she gunned her Suburban, rolled down the window, and let out a string of expletives that made me blush.

“Go ahead, please,” I said. “I wasn’t sure who was first.”

She didn’t buy it. She continued with the name calling without taking a breath. …

Then something really strange happened. Instead of getting mad or yelling back at her, a sense of empathy invaded me. I looked at her again, and this time I saw someone different, someone who wrenched my heart. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was pulled back in a natty ponytail. She held her phone in her palm, glancing down at it every few seconds. And she was driving that big ol’ gas hog of a Suburban, my own car of choice when I had three kids at home and a carpool.

Dear God. I was looking at myself ten years ago. Same car, same ponytail. Same frustration. We’ve all been there. Dog vomits on the sofa. Both kids have strep throat. The garbage disposal chooses today to break, when you are trying to disintegrate moldy fridge leftovers. Husband is mad because you forgot to pick up the dry cleaning and he’s going on a business trip. Sound familiar? …

She gunned forward, just to show me that she could.

I left her a wide berth, smiled at her splotchy face. She shot me a sideways scowl. …

Pulling up to the loudspeaker behind her, I said “I want to pay for whatever the woman in front of me has ordered. And please tell her I hope she has a better day.” I meant every word.

The woman idled in front of me for a good four minutes, talking to the barista who had leaned out the window. She shook her head and handed over a bill. She drove around the side of the building slowly, this time no gunning. Hmmm.

“No takers, huh?” I said to the barista as I pulled forward.

“Nope. She said she couldn’t believe you wanted to pay for her drink after all the names she called you. She said she couldn’t allow it, and said to tell you she was sorry. She felt really bad.”

“Did you tell her I hoped she had a better day?”

“Yep. She said thanks—that she already was.”

“Good to hear.” I smiled and handed her a dollar to put in the tip jar.

As I drove away, I began to cry. Not because I had been called so many terrible names, but because God had answered my very recent prayer—which was that He would allow me to see people as He sees them, not as I see them. That I might be able to see the hurting inside, instead of just the hurtful outside. And maybe a few tears were of gratitude and amazement that He always shows up with an answer when I sincerely ask.—Susan Basham2

*

The scripture makes it abundantly clear: “God saved you by his grace… [Why? Because] We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:8–10). Paul makes it clear that it was a gift from God, not something you did for yourself. God did this because He still sees that work of art He created us to be.

So why do we struggle to treat people like the immensely valuable, one-of-a-kind masterpiece God created with His own hand? As I study the life and interactions of Jesus with very sin-stained, muddied people, it becomes evident that Jesus could see something worth dying for in all people He encountered. Jesus could see past the mud of sin to the masterpiece God wanted to restore.

What do you see most when you encounter sin-stained people? What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see the mud? Or do you see the masterpiece God wants to restore? What you focus on determines who you become and the impact you have on people around you! …

Jesus demonstrated a spiritual vision that He wants to impart to us—to see the masterpiece He sees in us, and to renovate us to become people whose hearts reflect what God sees, even in the muddiest, sin-stained life. Jesus saw God’s masterpiece, waiting to be revealed by His grace, and as a result, many people actually became what He envisioned. What do you envision, even for the muddiest human you encounter?—John Burke3

*

God asks that we value every individual, that we see humankind through His eyes of love, which means that we will look at others without bias, prejudice, or preconceived negative opinions. By embracing God’s perspective and seeing others as He does, we will avoid stereotyping people, or thinking of ourselves as better than others.

Understanding that God unconditionally loves all human beings and that His love knows no boundaries of race, creed, or status, guides our attitudes about others, especially those who are different from us in some ways.

Our commission as disciples, as those who walk in the Master’s footsteps, is to show the same love to others that Jesus showed.

We are meant to value and show respect to every person. Each person on earth is God’s creation just as we are, and God loves them just as He loves us. If we are following in Jesus’ footsteps, we won’t think other people are “below” us or inferior to us, no matter what their circumstances are. We are all equal in God’s eyes.—Peter Amsterdam

*

Reframing. I like that word. … It’s a terrific concept in the way it suggests that a situation, an event, a problem or a challenge can be viewed and understood in a variety of ways. When faced with a dilemma, we often see it in only one way, with only traditional options, none of which may be satisfactory.

Reframing is the creative and very helpful process of looking at something in a different light, from a very different perspective. And with that change in perspective come different solutions.

Reframing is a private, individual task: it is based on a creative alteration of one’s understanding of a situation, not modification of somebody else’s behavior or feelings. Reframing is something we do in the quiet holiness of our own hearts. It requires a thirst for insight. It insists on an openness to very new ideas. It mandates willingness to change.

And reframing often requires some real courage. It’s easy to try to change others. It’s much more difficult to try to change the way we perceive the world. But what a healthy, helpful exercise! One in which the world won’t change at all. But we will.—Robert A. Alper4

*

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”5

“Seeing the people…” This word “seeing” means to notice something with perception. He noticed the reality of what was happening around him. … It is very difficult for us to do that. We get so busy and caught up in what we’re doing that life happens around us and we don’t even notice. But Jesus paid attention to what was going on. And perceiving what was going on with the people, he was moved with compassion. Compassion is a great word that comes from the same root as our word intestines.6 Down in his gut he had this incredible compassionate feeling about what he saw.

What was it that Jesus saw? First of all, he saw hurting people. His compassion was poured out to them “because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”7 … [W]hen Jesus looked around, he saw past the surface issues of life, even beyond the physical needs, deep into the hearts of people. He saw people who were broken down and hurting, not able to answer questions about what life was all about, and feeling like they were in it all alone. That sounds like a picture of our world, doesn’t it?

But that’s not all Jesus saw. He also saw a plentiful harvest. … [H]e understood that what these people needed was hope, a sense that there was something they could have faith in, something that could meet the deepest needs of their heart. That was the gospel of the kingdom. So there was hope to be given to hurting, downcast, distressed people, and the hope was in who he was—the Messiah, who had come to set people free from the bondage of sin.

Jesus saw people. He noticed. He paid attention. And out of that a heart of compassion sprang into action to minister. He called his disciples to pray and be involved that way, and that’s what he is calling us to do. He is calling us to be men and women who can see the world we live in, perceive the needs, pray for God to raise up people to meet the needs, and then ourselves become part of the answer by being engaged in the wonderful harvest that’s out there.—Danny Hall8

Published on Anchor October 2014. Read by Debra Lee.

Footnotes:
1 NASB.

2 http://stdominicgrace.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/she-yelled-and-called-me-names.

3 http://www.johnburkeonline.com/seeing-through-the-eyes-of-jesus.

4 Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas (Liguori Publications, 1996).

5 Matthew 9:35–38 NASB.

6 See https://bible.org/illustration/god%E2%80%99s-compassion.

7 Matthew 9:36 NASB.

8 http://www.pbc.org/system/message_files/14668/14667_4853.html.

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How Christians Treating Ebola Patients is History Repeating Itself

By Eric Metaxas, BreakPoint, Oct. 15, 2014

Between 250 and 270 A.D. a terrible plague, believed to be measles or smallpox, devastated the Roman Empire. At the height of what came to be known as the Plague of Cyprian, after the bishop St. Cyprian who chronicled what was happening, 5,000 people died every day in Rome alone.

The plague coincided with the first empire-wide persecution of Christians under the emperor Decius. Not surprisingly, Decius and other enemies of the Church blamed Christians for the plague. That claim was, however, undermined by two inconvenient facts: Christians died from the plague like everybody else and, unlike everybody else, they cared for the victims of the plague, including their pagan neighbors.

This wasn’t new—Christians had done the same thing during the Antonine Plague a century earlier. As Rodney Stark wrote in “The Rise of Christianity,” Christians stayed in the afflicted cities when pagan leaders, including physicians, fled.

Candida Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame, notes that an “epidemic that seemed like the end of the world actually promoted the spread of Christianity.” By their actions in the face of possible death, Christians showed their neighbors that “Christianity is worth dying for.”

This witness came to mind after listening to a recent story on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” Host Robert Siegel interviewed Stephen Rowden, who volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Monrovia, Liberia.

Rowden’s grim task was to manage the teams that collected the bodies of Ebola victims. Rowden and his team retrieved 10 to 25 bodies a day. Since close contact with the victims is the chief means by which the usually-deadly virus is spread, Rowden and his team members lived with the risk of becoming victims themselves.

What’s more, living in the midst of this death and suffering took its toll. Rowden recalled entering a house and finding the body of a four-year-old victim who had been abandoned by her family. With the typical English understatement, he told Siegal, “I found that a very sad case.”

Rowden’s experience prompted Siegel to ask him if he was a religious man, to which Rowden replied, “I am. Yes, I’m a practicing Christian.” When Siegel then asked whether what he saw tested his faith, Rowden said that “No, I got great strength from my faith and the support of my family.”

Nearly eighteen centuries after the Plague of Cyprian, Christianity still prompts people to run towards the plague when virtually everyone else is running away.

Now as then, this power confounds and confuses Christianity’s critics. A recent article in Slate acknowledged that many of the people fighting the Ebola epidemic in West Africa were missionaries. The writer, Brian Palmer, admitted that he “[didn’t] feel good about missionary medicine, even though [he couldn’t] fully articulate why.” He knew that he shouldn’t feel this way but he did.

Ross Douthat of the New York Times suspects that Palmer’s misgivings have something to do with the fact that the selflessness of the missionaries “unsettles” his “secular and scientistic worldview.” In that worldview, “helping people is what governments and secular groups are supposed to do.”

But that’s not how it works. Palmer, like the emperor Julian the Apostate in the late fourth century, is seeing that “the impious Galilaeans support not only their own poor but ours as well.”

It’s enough to unsettle anyone’s worldview.

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Continue Acreditando

D. Brandt Berg

Tive um lindíssimo sonho sobre fé. Eu e Maria íamos caminhando de mãos dadas, sozinhos, mas, por estranho que pareça, íamos por uma rodovia que atravessava uma região semidesértica, despovoada e descampada.

Parecíamos estar um pouco perdidos e procurando algo, procurando o lugar para onde íamos, ou pelo menos algum sinal de civilização, e estávamos quase um pouco inquietos, preocupados, receosos e apreensivos porque parecia estarmos tão longe, no meio do nada e não chegando a lugar nenhum. Íamos caminhando, esperando ver algum sinal de vida e carros, mas não havia nada.

Foi então que, de repente, chegamos a uma pequena estrada branca, como se fosse de concreto branco, e estreita. Parecia mais uma estradinha particular, indo para a esquerda e descendo um pequeno declive. E a uns cem metros ou algo assim havia uma espécie de lindo pórtico ornamental, que só por si era um edifício. Parecia um portal de castelo, com o castelo construído em volta e o portão passando por ele como um túnel.

E vi imediatamente que era a casa de um clube, uma espécie de clube de campo. Tínhamos encontrado, por acaso, um maravilhoso clube de campo com um lindo campo de golfe, que parecia se estender quase até o horizonte. Por isso, ficamos muito felizes por ter encontrado algum sinal de civilização, e fomos pela estradinha pavimentada de branco em direção ao portal aberto, sem encontrar ainda nenhum sinal de vida, ninguém por ali.

Quando atravessamos o estacionamento e chegamos ao lindo gramado, vimos uma longa fila de árvores ao longo de uma estrada ladeada de árvores altas alinhadas de ambos os lados que conduzia a uma linda cidadezinha de campo ao longe, a qual parecia ficar a apenas uns dois quilômetros de distância.

Mas, nesta altura, eu já estava muito, muito cansado, porque, pelo visto, tínhamos caminhado muito. Mesmo um par de quilômetros que fosse, ou uma milha ou duas, parecia um longo caminho. Então, olhei anelante para a linda cidadezinha rural à distância e depois para a Maria de uma forma um tanto interrogativa, como se perguntasse: "Como ainda vamos andar tudo isso para chegar lá?”

Então, por alguma razão, ocorreu-me que, num lugar assim civilizado e com um clube de campo, deveria haver algum transporte público. E, como que levado por essa orientação ou fé, olhei em volta, na direção do clube. E, como não podia deixar de ser, exatamente quando me virei e olhei para trás, vinha chegando um ônibus, como um ônibus de cidade ou de interior, talvez um ônibus rural ou interurbano, vindo da mesma rodovia por onde nós viéramos, e descendo a linda estradinha pavimentada de branco que levava até o arco do clube. Aí parou para descerem e subirem passageiros.

Nossos corações pularam de alegria quando pensamos: "Graças a Deus, um ônibus! Assim não vamos ter que ir a pé para a cidade, podemos pegar o ônibus!" Começamos a andar rápido em direção à estrada pela qual ele seguiria para a cidadezinha. Mas, pelo visto, não tínhamos agido rápido o suficiente! Tínhamos ficado ali parados, olhando para o ônibus tempo demais, olhando para ver o que dizia o letreiro na frente dele, para ver para onde ia, etc. Tínhamos ficado ali estudando a situação tempo demais e ele estava ganhando velocidade mais rapidamente do que esperáramos.

Começamos a correr, mas justo quando nos aproximávamos da linda estradinha que levava à cidade, de repente, o ônibus sumiu de vista, seguindo por uma pequena descida por detrás de uma pequena colina do campo de golfe. Ficamos muito desanimados porque vimos que não tínhamos agido tão rápido como deveríamos e ele estava se afastando.

Pensamos em gritar para que parasse, mas era praticamente tarde demais quando chegamos à estrada e o ônibus já tinha passado. Olhamos para a estrada e o vimos aparecer outra vez lá ao longe, descendo a linda estrada ladeada de árvores, por entre as árvores, e desaparecendo na distância, em direção à cidadezinha.

De repente, uma voz pareceu dizer: "Não tiveram fé suficiente."—Exatamente da mesma maneira como o Senhor fala em nosso coração, mas por vezes tão claramente que até parece que as palavras são realmente proferidas em voz alta. "Deveriam ter tido mais fé." Deveríamos ter gritado para o ônibus parar, deveríamos ter feito sinal para ele parar, reagido com mais rapidez e tido mais fé de que era um ônibus que podíamos pegar e que ia para a cidadezinha.

Quando finalmente decidimos que o ônibus ia passar por onde estávamos e descer a estradinha em direção à linda cidadezinha de interior, era tarde demais. Não tínhamos nos decidido rápido o bastante, não tínhamos corrido suficientemente rápido nem tínhamos chamado alto o bastante para o pegarmos. Por isso, foi embora e desapareceu pela pequena estrada, em direção à cidadezinha, e nós ficamos muito desanimados.

Havíamos perdido uma oportunidade de ouro, de finalmente pegar um transporte e não termos que andar mais, quando estávamos tão cansados e praticamente exaustos. Fiquei tão desapontado por ter perdido o ônibus que estava pronto para cair na grama e chorar. Estava tão triste, frustrado e desanimado.

Mas, de repente, escutei umas vozes que pareciam exatamente as de meu pai e minha mãe, exatamente como eles costumavam cantar juntos estes dois lindos coros:

Siga acreditando no Senhor,
Ele responde à oração.
Dores e males já vão passar,
Não tema nada Jesus perto está.

A tempestade já vai passar,
O arco-íris já vai brilhar.
Creia em tudo que Ele prometeu;
Acreditando e louvando a Deus.[1]

E o outro estribilhozinho que começa exatamente com as mesmas palavras:

Continue acreditando, Jesus está aqui!
Continue acreditando, não há nada a temer!
Continue acreditando, este é o caminho,
Sempre seguro, de dia ou de noite.[2]

Olha, se não fossem aquelas duas canções, acho que quase teria desistido! Mas senti-me encorajado a não desistir nem ficar desanimado por que o Senhor ainda estava conosco e ia ajudar-nos, apesar de termos sido fracos na fé e não termos tido fé suficiente para agirmos com rapidez e aproveitado a nossa oportunidade e a provisão de Deus. Deus ainda assim iria cuidar de nós. Lembro-me de meus pais cantarem juntos essas canções muitas vezes durante a minha infância para levantar-nos o ânimo e nos encorajar.

E comecei a pensar como a vida é tão parecida com aquele sonho e quantos de nós passamos por experiências tão desoladoras, errando pelos ermos deste mundo seco, escarpado, rochoso, áspero, totalmente perdidos, vagueando pelas colinas em busca de algo, algo que não sabíamos o que era, mas sentindo-nos perdidos, sabendo que precisávamos encontrar algum lugar, ir a algum lugar, e parar de vaguear por esse deserto de uma vida solitária, longe de amigos e entes queridos, da humanidade, quase parecendo separados do próprio Deus.—Quando, de repente, apareceu na nossa frente uma linda estradinha branca que, para mim, simboliza o caminho da salvação.

Nós entramos por acaso no caminho certo e pelo portão certo, pela porta — que, claro, é só Jesus. Ficamos muito salvos, num certo sentido, e muito aliviados e felizes por termos encontrado o caminho para aquele maravilhoso novo mundo da deslumbrante e quase divina estradinha que seguia por entre as árvores, em direção à linda cidadezinha rural lá ao longe. Esta, na ocasião, no sonho, quase nos pareceu o céu, e talvez representasse mesmo o céu.

Mas nós estávamos exaustos, muito cansados, e buscando o caminho certo por onde seguir, esperando pegar alguma carona ou transporte, e ali chegou ele! Demoramos demais para acreditar. Às vezes, podemos ver a vontade de Deus e a Sua mão pronta para ajudar-nos e, contudo, não a pegamos rápido o suficiente, não estamos orando o suficiente, não temos fé suficiente, e foi o que nos disse a voz quando perdemos o ônibus:

"Vocês não tiveram fé suficiente! Deviam ter tido mais fé." Devíamos ter gritado para que parasse, acenado para que parasse. No momento em que vimos aquele ônibus, devíamos ter corrido para pegá-lo e chamado em alta voz para que esperasse por nós, porque algumas oportunidades só acontecem uma vez e depois desaparecem.

De certa forma, parece que o ônibus representava a vontade de Deus para nós, o meio mais rápido de chegarmos ao nosso destino, a maneira mais fácil no poder do Seu Espírito e não na energia da nossa carne.—Levados pelo potente motor daquele ônibus, a vontade de Deus, em vez de termos que nos arrastar com as nossas pobres pernas cansadas, na força fraquinha da nossa carne.

Se tivéssemos tido mais fé teríamos corrido e gritado para que nos ajudassem e entrado no ônibus da vontade de Deus, seguindo na direção em que Ele queria que nós fôssemos. Poderíamos ter pegado o ônibus da vontade de Deus que teria nos levado com facilidade e potência para o nosso destino celestial naquela cidadezinha lá à distância. Parecia as colinas e campos gramados do próprio céu, e aquela aldeia do interior lá ao longe, uma linda cidadezinha que representava um lugar de destino celestial

Portanto, este sonho teve certamente uma lição para ensinar: que apesar de terem deixado os ermos desérticos do pecado, sua vida passada e entrado pelo lindo portão aberto da salvação, caminhado pelo caminho branco e estreito do Senhor para a salvação e passado por aquele portão — a porta aberta de Jesus — para o mundo celestial totalmente novo das nossas vidas n’Ele, ainda podem perder as oportunidades de ouro de serviço, enviadas por Deus, por não terem a fé que deveriam para agir rapidamente quando surge uma oportunidade e correr para pegar a oportunidade de ouro das portas abertas que Ele lhes deu. Mas esperam demais, hesitam até perderem a coisa, ficam ali debatendo se é realmente o que devem fazer, se essa é a direção certa e se devem agir e correr para aproveitar a oportunidade, entrar e ir naquela direção

Se tiverem falhado, de alguma forma, a vontade de Deus e a Sua suprema e melhor vontade; se parecer que todas as oportunidades de ouro que Ele lhes ofereceu se foram e sumiram na distância, deixando-os sós e solitários, tristes, desanimados, desencorajados, derrotados e quase desesperados e nas últimas, não desistam! Prestem atenção às vozes celestiais que estão cantando para encorajá-los e dizer-lhes que a esperança não acabou. Ainda há esperança. Ainda há uma oportunidade. Talvez o Senhor vá mandar outroônibus e até possam pegar um que venha um pouco mais tarde.

Talvez tenham perdido o primeiro e não tenham chegado ao seu destino tão depressa como deveriam, mas talvez não tenham perdido o último, graças a Deus. O Senhor ainda vai ser misericordioso com vocês e enviar outro para que possam seguir a Sua direção, que os levará ao serviço do Senhor, levados pelo poder, o amor e a vontade de Deus até onde Ele quer que vão, com a facilidade do poder do Seu Espírito. O seu Salvador é o vencedor e os ajudará a vencer e a triunfar sobre a sepultura e sobre tudo. Talvez precisem muito simplesmente se enterrar mais na Palavra de Deus para encorajar a sua fé. "A fé vem pelo ouvir, e o ouvir pela Palavra de Deus.”[3]

Então, sigam acreditando, nunca desistam. Sigam acreditando, não fiquem desanimados. Sigam acreditando, não desistam. Sigam sempre em frente. Continuem agarrando-se às promessas de Deus. Continuem firmando-se nas promessas e façam o que fizerem, continuem seguindo sempre por Jesus. Nunca parem, nunca desistam, nunca fiquem desencorajados. Não percam a fé só porque acham que perderam o último ônibus. Continuem esperando no Senhor um pouco mais e Ele lhes enviará outro ônibus, outra oportunidade, outra chance.

Se estiverem verdadeiramente arrependidos e quiserem mesmo achar a vontade de Deus, tenho certeza que Ele enviará outro ônibus de oportunidade de ouro para pegá-los e levantá-los, levantar os seus espíritos, encorajá-los, inspirá-los, fortalecê-los, curá-los e levá-los no poder do Seu Espírito para a gloriosa vitória de seu destino celestial. Continuem acreditando! Rápido! Tenham fé! Peguem o ônibus!

Publicado originalmente em setembro de 1982. Adaptado e republicado em junho de 2013. Tradução Denise Oliveira.


[1] De "Keep On Believing,"[Siga Acreditando] de Frank C. Huston (1871–1959), em tradução livre.

[2] Adaptação de "Keep On Believing," por Lucy Milward Booth e Mildred Duff, 1901, em tradução livre.

[3] Romanos 10:17.

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Christ in Us: Our Hope of Glory

By D. Brandt Berg

Audio length: 10:09
Download Audio (9.2MB)

You cannot hide a happy, useful, helpful, shining spirit; it radiates on everybody the same light, the same joy. People see it and say, “You have such a light on your face; you seem so happy, you just shine. You’re always smiling!” It just radiates.

Happiness is what you make it. It’s a law of God just like gravity that you don’t get happy by trying to make yourself happy or trying to get somebody else to make you happy, but you get happiness by trying to give it to other people. You don’t find happiness by chasing it. You go around trying to make others happy, then happiness will find you; it will chase you and catch up with you and make you happy.

There is a little saying that love isn’t love till you give it away. What does it mean? Love isn’t real love until you are spending your time trying to give love to others.—Not trying to get love. That’s not love; that’s selfishness and wanting selfish satisfaction.

When you’re down in the dumps and you’re tearful and you’re a sad sack, you want everybody to be miserable with you; you want everybody else to sympathize with you and be sad with you. “How dare they be happy when I’m so sad? How can you be cheerful when I’m down in the dumps? Come on down here in the dumps with me! Don’t you dare be happy when I’m sad!” It’s pitiful. It’s human nature. But it’s godly nature, it’s spiritual nature, it’s the nature of Jesus to try to lift others up and encourage them and cheer them up even when you don’t feel like it.

The trouble is, I've found many people blame all their troubles on somebody else. They go around all their lives looking for somebody to make them happy instead of trying to find somebody they can make happy. It’s a common reaction to try to blame your problem on everybody else. “Why me, Lord? I didn’t do it; they did it to me! It wasn’t my fault. It’s his fault, her fault! They’re the ones to blame! They’re the ones that made me feel like this.” Because you’re sad and you’re unhappy, you may not even realize it, but you’re trying to bring everybody down with you.

My, how we love sympathy when we’re down, when sometimes that’s the last thing in the world we need. Somebody needs to come along to wake us up out of our lethargy and our stupor of self-pity and self-sympathy so we can get our minds on the Lord and His work and others and forget our stinking self! You’ll never get the victory by looking at yourself. There’s nobody that drags me down worse than me and myself, my own foul spirit.

Different denominations have different doctrines about getting the victory. Some believe that everybody’s got a good self and a bad self, and the only way to get the victory is to get the good self on top of the bad self and hold him down. They call it the doctrine of suppression, that you’ll always have that good and bad self, and the only thing to do is to just hold the bad self down.

The Holiness people believe in the doctrine of eradication: “Yes, you’ve got a good and a bad self, and the only way to get the victory is to get rid of the bad self. Go through the process of entire sanctification. Have the bad self cut out and throw it away like a cancer so there’s nothing but good self left. This is the good me. This is my self, the real self, the good self. There’s no evil thing left in me now; I’m all good, just the good me.”

The true doctrine of the Holy Spirit is neither one. You don’t get the victory by holding down that bad self, that temptation, that weakness, by just trying to hold it down by your own strength and by your good self sitting on it. You’ll never get the victory that way. And you'll never get the victory by thinking that you can have God cut out the bad self and just leave the good self.

I want to tell you right now, there is no such thing as good self at all. Your self cannot be good, not any part of it! There’s no good thing in you. The apostle Paul said, “No good thing dwelleth in me.”1 The true victory is not yourself, but His Self, Himself, so that “it is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.”2 The doctrine of habitation, cohabiting with the Lord.

“There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”3 You’re no better than me and I’m no better than you. There’s nobody any better than us except Jesus. He’s the only one who can be good, and without Him we’re nothing! We can’t be good without Jesus, we can’t be righteous; we can’t get the victory, we can’t overcome our weaknesses. Don’t try to chase out the darkness; let the light in. Let Jesus in and He’ll take care of the whole problem. Get your mind off self and let Jesus come in and let the life of Christ shine in you.

Let go and let God! Quit trying to be something you aren’t and can never be, and that’s righteous. Only Jesus can make you righteous. Just let Jesus in. As that old song says, “Lift your heart to heaven and His glory will come in. Let Jesus have possession, He’ll save you from your sin. Lift your heart to heaven and His glory will come in.”

“Let go and let God have His wonderful way, let go and let God have His way! He’ll fill with His Spirit and turn night to day, let go and let God have His way.”

None of us are good enough. Only Jesus is good enough, but He’s good enough for us all. So let the light in and the darkness will flee. What is the glory? It’s the Spirit of the Lord. It’s His Spirit, His glory, His Self.

In our school we used to have people complaining about evil spirits and demons and devils. “Oh, the Devil did this and the Devil did that, and he caused me this trouble, and he was the one that delayed me, and I have so much trouble with the Devil.” I’d say, “Your problem isn’t the Devil! It’s our own spirit that we have the most trouble with, not evil spirits.”

Don’t blame it on everybody else and evil spirits and even the Devil. You can be your own worst enemy! You may have conquered all the rest, but your own spirit is the most difficult to conquer, and the only way you’re ever going to conquer it is not to conquer it, but to let Jesus conquer it. He’s your best friend.

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, do not watch the waves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, 'tis faith in Him that saves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, His promises avail. Keep your eyes on Jesus, praise God, He cannot fail.”

So why not quit trying to succeed yourself. Quit trying to have the victory. Just let Jesus come in and let Him win it. Get your mind on the Lord. Get your mind on your job. Get your mind on helping others. Seek their happiness before your own. Have real, genuine, sacrificial, unselfish love. That’s love, not trying to make yourself happy or trying to get others to make you happy. Get your mind on Jesus. Ask Him to help you love Him so much you’ll love others so much you’ll forget yourself, and live for Him, live for others.

Why not get busy and work hard for Jesus, work hard for others, work hard to help other people? You’ll get so busy and so filled with His Spirit and so filled with His joy and His happiness that He gives you as a result of trying to make other people happy, that you’ll forget that self of yours and your own worst enemy and you’ll find that your best friend, Jesus, can do it all if you’ll just let Him.

“Christ in me, the hope of glory. So that the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the grace of God. It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.”4

Originally published June 1985. Adapted and republished February 2014.
Read by Bryan Clark.


1 Romans 7:18.

2 Galatians 2:20.

3 Romans 3:10,23.

4 Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20.

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