Pastor Anderson & the Pre-Tribulation Doctrine
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Bible Reading Tips
Reading the Bible can initially seem daunting. “Where do I start?” may be the first question you ask yourself.
I remember in my youth, I sat down to read the Bible. But I soon lost interest when I got to Leviticus, a book full with ancient Jewish religious laws. Another problem I had was with the footnotes. I read them meticulously, but they only undermined my faith. They rationalize the miracles or miraculous events or explained how science or archaeology had given us a better understanding. I ended up with less faith in the Bible from my footnote knowledge.
Actually, it was not until I received Jesus in my heart some years later, that I was able to begin to understand what I was reading. My eyes had been opened by faith. Paul tells us: “But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”[1] So that first step of receiving Jesus in your heart is the first step in being able to read the Bible with understanding. Once you personally know the author of the book, it becomes a lot more interesting reading.
You can find various Bible reading programs on-line. I myself tend to read the Psalms through quite frequently. Psalms are actually prayers that were sung. The Psalm prayers are often similar to my own anguish and despair, so I will often find myself reading the comforting words of the Psalms. A Psalm may start out in anguish and despair, but it usually ends in praise and thanksgiving to God. Psalms, therefore, are good positive input and can help us to verbalize our own heartfelt prayers. The one hundred and fifty Psalms can be divided into reading five a day. If it is the 10th day of the month, I’ll read Psalm 10, and then I will add thirty and read Psalm 40. I will continue adding thirty until I have read Psalm 70, Psalm 100 and Psalm 130. That means I have read five Psalms and that can be a good feeding. The next day, the 11th, I'll do the same thing again. I'd read Psalm 11, 41, 71, 101, and 131. If I use this pattern every day, during the course of the month, I will read all the Psalms.
I might also read one Proverb a day as there are thirty-one Proverbs, so one chapter a day goes down well with the day of the month. The Proverbs are full of a collection of good positive antidotes that are good reminders and full of wisdom.
The Gospels are always a joy to read and can be read a few chapters a day. I read them a few times throughout the year as the words of Jesus are so convicting and inspiring. Reading the Gospels helps me to stay close to Jesus and helps keep my life in check. He speaks to me through His recorded words and that often helps me to listen to Him in that still small voice in my heart or through prophecy. Reading three chapters of the Gospels each day, will not do you wrong.
When I was a young Christian, the Bible was about the only book I read for many years. I absorbed it day and night and whenever I had a spare minute. I remember being laughed at and mocked at one of my first jobs because I read the Bible during break time and lunch. But to me it did not matter. I was in love with Jesus and that was all that was important.
In the Old Testament, I tend to read more from Genesis through Job than in the Major or Minor Prophets. In the Major Prophets I will read more from Isaiah and Daniel than from any others. But if you read a few chapters a day you will soon get through the whole Old Testament.
The Epistles make some good study time. Someone has told me that James is the best book for a new Christian to read first. It is certainly a good book. Others say the Gospel of John is the best place to start as John had a very profound understand of Jesus’ message.
Being interested in Bible prophecy, I tend to read sections of the New Testament that have prophecy more than other parts, as I am often sharing those parts in my personal witnessing. The book of Revelation has even a special blessing for those who read, hear and keep the words of its prophecy. So do not neglect it, even if you do not understand all that it means.
Where to read and when to read may be another problem you may face. I find that if I keep my Bible with me or at least a small New Testament, I can use those moments when I am not doing anything to read. I can read while waiting in the car, during lunch break or waiting for an appointment or for my turn at the bank. I like to read for some minutes in the morning, but for me I enjoy reading more at the end of the day before going to bed. I use a highlighter to highlight those verses that I find more important. I use a fine-point pen to mark cross references or write notes in the columns. Some people do not like highlighters because they may go through the page, so some suggest using a yellow grease pencil.
In closing, I would say, you never go wrong reading the Bible. It is food for your soul and will give you strength for the battle. I try to stay away from Bible commentaries and footnotes unless I know I can trust them. Since footnotes are often not trust worthy, it might be best to read a Bible without footnotes. I prefer the 1611 King James’ Version. However, you might choose a more modern version like the New King James’ Version.
When I read, I ask God to help me understand, what He wants me to understand. I often claim the verse, “Open thou my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."[2] What I do not understand, I put on the shelf of faith and leave for another time. Otherwise, I ask someone I trust and respect, who has more knowledge than I do, to help me understand what I am reading. Delight yourself in God’s Word and it will give you power and light and life and love; all that you need to be victorious in a world full of gloom and doom. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”[3] God bless you as you read and study His Word.
Footnotes:
[1] 1Corinthians 2:14
[2] Psalm 119:18
[3] Romans 10:17
Lingering doubts over Syria gas attack evidence
By Zeina Karam and Kimberly Dozier, AP, Sep 8, 2013
BEIRUT (AP)—The U.S. government insists it has the intelligence to prove it, but the American public has yet to see a single piece of concrete evidence—no satellite imagery, no transcripts of Syrian military communications—connecting the government of President Bashar Assad to the alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds of people.
In the absence of such evidence, Damascus and its ally Russia have aggressively pushed another scenario: that rebels carried out the Aug. 21 chemical attack. Neither has produced evidence for that case, either. That’s left more questions than answers as the U.S. threatens a possible military strike.
The early morning assault in a rebel-held Damascus suburb known as Ghouta was said to be the deadliest chemical weapons attack in Syria’s 2 1/2-year civil war. Survivors’ accounts, photographs of many of the dead wrapped peacefully in white sheets and dozens of videos showing victims in spasms and gasping for breath shocked the world and moved President Barack Obama to call for action because the use of chemical weapons crossed the red line he had drawn a year earlier.
Yet one week after Secretary of State John Kerry outlined the case against Assad, Americans—at least those without access to classified reports—haven’t seen a shred of his proof.
There is open-source evidence that provides clues about the attack, including videos of the rockets that analysts believe were likely used. U.S. officials on Saturday released a compilation of videos showing victims, including children, exhibiting what appear to be symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. Some experts think the size of the strike, and the amount of toxic chemicals that appear to have been delivered, make it doubtful that the rebels could have carried it out.
What’s missing from the public record is direct proof, rather than circumstantial evidence, tying this to the regime.
The Obama administration, searching for support from a divided Congress and skeptical world leaders, says its own assessment is based mainly on satellite and signal intelligence, including indications in the three days prior to the attack that the regime was preparing to use poisonous gas.
But multiple requests to view that satellite imagery have been denied, though the administration produced copious amounts of satellite imagery earlier in the war to show the results of the Syrian regime’s military onslaught. When asked Friday whether such imagery would be made available showing the Aug. 21 incident, a spokesman referred The Associated Press to a map produced by the White House last week that shows what officials say are the unconfirmed areas that were attacked.
The Obama administration maintains it intercepted communications from a senior Syrian official on the use of chemical weapons, but requests to see that transcript have been denied. So has a request by the AP to see a transcript of communications allegedly ordering Syrian military personnel to prepare for a chemical weapons attack by readying gas masks.
The U.S. administration says its evidence is classified and is only sharing details in closed-door briefings with members of Congress and key allies.
The assessment, also based on accounts by Syrian activists and hundreds of YouTube videos of the attack’s aftermath, has confounded many experts who cannot fathom what might have motivated Assad to unleash weapons of mass destruction on his own people—especially while U.N. experts were nearby and at a time when his troops had the upper hand on the ground.
"We can’t get our heads around this—why would any commander agree to rocketing a suburb of Damascus with chemical weapons for only a very short-term tactical gain for what is a long-term disaster," said Charles Heyman, a former British military officer who edits The Armed Forces of the U.K., an authoritative bi-annual review of British forces.
Inconsistencies over the death toll and other details related to the attack also have fueled doubts among skeptics.
The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in 12 locations mostly east of the capital, an estimate close to the one put out by the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition. When asked for victims’ names, however, the group provided a list of 395. On that list, some of the victims were identified by a first name only or said to be members of a certain family. There was no explanation for the hundreds of missing names.
In Ghouta, Majed Abu Ali, a spokesman for 17 clinics and field hospitals near Damascus, produced the same list.
Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it only counts victims identified by name, and that its current total stands at 502. It has questioned the U.S. number and urged the Obama administration to release the information its figure is based on. The AP also has repeatedly asked for clarification on those numbers.
The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders says it has not been able to update its initial Aug. 24 estimate of 355 killed because communication with those on the ground around Damascus is difficult. That estimate was based on reports from three hospitals in the area supported by the group.
Moreover, the group, whose initial report was cited in U.S. and British intelligence assessments, has rejected the use of it “as a justification for military action,” adding in a disclaimer published on its website that the group does not have the capacity to identify the cause of the neurotoxic symptoms of patients nor the ability to determine responsibility for the attack.
French and Israeli intelligence assessments back the U.S., as does reportedly Germany’s spy agency, on its conclusion the Syrian regime was responsible. However, none have backed those claims with publicly presented evidence.
Still, there was very little pushback from members of Congress on the government’s conclusion that the Syrian regime was responsible.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the intelligence was “very compelling” and that senators have had more access to classified information on Syria than they’ve had on anything in her two decades in the Senate.
Asked if that was enough to merit a U.S. military reaction, she said: “Yes, it’s enough for me. I think the prohibition on chemical weapons is well-founded.”
Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general who closely follows Syria’s war, said it would be “political suicide” for the regime to commit such an act given Obama’s warning. He also questioned U.S. assertions that the Syrian rebel fighters could not have launched sophisticated chemical weapons. He said that some among the estimated 70,000 defectors from the Syrian military, many of them now fighting for the opposition, could have been trained to use them.
"It is conceivable that one or more know how to fit a rocket or artillery shell with a chemical agent," said Jaber, who also heads the Beirut-based Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research. He claimed Syrian insurgents have acquired chemical weapons, bought from tribes in Libya after the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, through Saudi interlocutors. Other weapons from Libya have been used in the conflict, though Jaber did not offer evidence to support his chemical weapon claim.
In the U.S., the case for military action has evoked comparisons to false data used by the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Multiple U.S. officials have told AP that the intelligence pictures on the Aug. 21 attack was “not a slam dunk”—a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet’s insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction—intelligence that turned out to be wrong. They cite the lack of a direct link between Assad and the chemical assault—a question the administration discounts by arguing Assad’s responsibility as Syria’s commander in chief. A second issue is that U.S. intelligence has lost track of some chemical weaponry, leaving a slim possibility that rebels acquired some of the deadly substances.
Russian President Vladimir Putin—a staunch ally of Assad—said if there is evidence that chemical weapons have been used, specifically by the regular army, it should be submitted to the U.N. Security Council.
"And it ought to be convincing. It shouldn’t be based on some rumors and information obtained by intelligence agencies through some kind of eavesdropping, some conversations and things like that," he told The Associated Press in an interview late Tuesday.
BEIRUT (AP)—The U.S. government insists it has the intelligence to prove it, but the American public has yet to see a single piece of concrete evidence—no satellite imagery, no transcripts of Syrian military communications—connecting the government of President Bashar Assad to the alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds of people.
In the absence of such evidence, Damascus and its ally Russia have aggressively pushed another scenario: that rebels carried out the Aug. 21 chemical attack. Neither has produced evidence for that case, either. That’s left more questions than answers as the U.S. threatens a possible military strike.
The early morning assault in a rebel-held Damascus suburb known as Ghouta was said to be the deadliest chemical weapons attack in Syria’s 2 1/2-year civil war. Survivors’ accounts, photographs of many of the dead wrapped peacefully in white sheets and dozens of videos showing victims in spasms and gasping for breath shocked the world and moved President Barack Obama to call for action because the use of chemical weapons crossed the red line he had drawn a year earlier.
Yet one week after Secretary of State John Kerry outlined the case against Assad, Americans—at least those without access to classified reports—haven’t seen a shred of his proof.
There is open-source evidence that provides clues about the attack, including videos of the rockets that analysts believe were likely used. U.S. officials on Saturday released a compilation of videos showing victims, including children, exhibiting what appear to be symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. Some experts think the size of the strike, and the amount of toxic chemicals that appear to have been delivered, make it doubtful that the rebels could have carried it out.
What’s missing from the public record is direct proof, rather than circumstantial evidence, tying this to the regime.
The Obama administration, searching for support from a divided Congress and skeptical world leaders, says its own assessment is based mainly on satellite and signal intelligence, including indications in the three days prior to the attack that the regime was preparing to use poisonous gas.
But multiple requests to view that satellite imagery have been denied, though the administration produced copious amounts of satellite imagery earlier in the war to show the results of the Syrian regime’s military onslaught. When asked Friday whether such imagery would be made available showing the Aug. 21 incident, a spokesman referred The Associated Press to a map produced by the White House last week that shows what officials say are the unconfirmed areas that were attacked.
The Obama administration maintains it intercepted communications from a senior Syrian official on the use of chemical weapons, but requests to see that transcript have been denied. So has a request by the AP to see a transcript of communications allegedly ordering Syrian military personnel to prepare for a chemical weapons attack by readying gas masks.
The U.S. administration says its evidence is classified and is only sharing details in closed-door briefings with members of Congress and key allies.
The assessment, also based on accounts by Syrian activists and hundreds of YouTube videos of the attack’s aftermath, has confounded many experts who cannot fathom what might have motivated Assad to unleash weapons of mass destruction on his own people—especially while U.N. experts were nearby and at a time when his troops had the upper hand on the ground.
"We can’t get our heads around this—why would any commander agree to rocketing a suburb of Damascus with chemical weapons for only a very short-term tactical gain for what is a long-term disaster," said Charles Heyman, a former British military officer who edits The Armed Forces of the U.K., an authoritative bi-annual review of British forces.
Inconsistencies over the death toll and other details related to the attack also have fueled doubts among skeptics.
The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in 12 locations mostly east of the capital, an estimate close to the one put out by the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition. When asked for victims’ names, however, the group provided a list of 395. On that list, some of the victims were identified by a first name only or said to be members of a certain family. There was no explanation for the hundreds of missing names.
In Ghouta, Majed Abu Ali, a spokesman for 17 clinics and field hospitals near Damascus, produced the same list.
Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it only counts victims identified by name, and that its current total stands at 502. It has questioned the U.S. number and urged the Obama administration to release the information its figure is based on. The AP also has repeatedly asked for clarification on those numbers.
The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders says it has not been able to update its initial Aug. 24 estimate of 355 killed because communication with those on the ground around Damascus is difficult. That estimate was based on reports from three hospitals in the area supported by the group.
Moreover, the group, whose initial report was cited in U.S. and British intelligence assessments, has rejected the use of it “as a justification for military action,” adding in a disclaimer published on its website that the group does not have the capacity to identify the cause of the neurotoxic symptoms of patients nor the ability to determine responsibility for the attack.
French and Israeli intelligence assessments back the U.S., as does reportedly Germany’s spy agency, on its conclusion the Syrian regime was responsible. However, none have backed those claims with publicly presented evidence.
Still, there was very little pushback from members of Congress on the government’s conclusion that the Syrian regime was responsible.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the intelligence was “very compelling” and that senators have had more access to classified information on Syria than they’ve had on anything in her two decades in the Senate.
Asked if that was enough to merit a U.S. military reaction, she said: “Yes, it’s enough for me. I think the prohibition on chemical weapons is well-founded.”
Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general who closely follows Syria’s war, said it would be “political suicide” for the regime to commit such an act given Obama’s warning. He also questioned U.S. assertions that the Syrian rebel fighters could not have launched sophisticated chemical weapons. He said that some among the estimated 70,000 defectors from the Syrian military, many of them now fighting for the opposition, could have been trained to use them.
"It is conceivable that one or more know how to fit a rocket or artillery shell with a chemical agent," said Jaber, who also heads the Beirut-based Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research. He claimed Syrian insurgents have acquired chemical weapons, bought from tribes in Libya after the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, through Saudi interlocutors. Other weapons from Libya have been used in the conflict, though Jaber did not offer evidence to support his chemical weapon claim.
In the U.S., the case for military action has evoked comparisons to false data used by the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Multiple U.S. officials have told AP that the intelligence pictures on the Aug. 21 attack was “not a slam dunk”—a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet’s insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction—intelligence that turned out to be wrong. They cite the lack of a direct link between Assad and the chemical assault—a question the administration discounts by arguing Assad’s responsibility as Syria’s commander in chief. A second issue is that U.S. intelligence has lost track of some chemical weaponry, leaving a slim possibility that rebels acquired some of the deadly substances.
Russian President Vladimir Putin—a staunch ally of Assad—said if there is evidence that chemical weapons have been used, specifically by the regular army, it should be submitted to the U.N. Security Council.
"And it ought to be convincing. It shouldn’t be based on some rumors and information obtained by intelligence agencies through some kind of eavesdropping, some conversations and things like that," he told The Associated Press in an interview late Tuesday.
Take Heart…
A compilation
Audio length: 7:13
Download Audio (6.6MB)
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.—Psalm 31:241
*
Keep your eyes on heaven. Keep your eyes on the goal, and the victory in your soul. … When the Devil tempts you to get down and discouraged, fight! Don’t even listen to him, much less surrender. Start doing something positive. Start saying something cheerful and encouraging.
When you feel oppressed or under condemnation, don’t just stand there, do something! Sing, shout, praise the Lord, quote scriptures! Hit the Devil back! Rebuke him with the Word! That’s what Jesus did when the Devil tempted and lied to Him in the wilderness. He just quoted the scriptures: “It is written.”2 The Devil is a liar and the father of it,3 and he can’t take the Word. “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”4 He will turn tail and run.
Put on the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, use the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the Evil One; gird yourself with the truth; be shod with the Gospel of peace, and take up that white-hot sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and cut the Devil to the heart.5 Drive him away! Tell him that you have no part in him, and he has no part in you!
Then get busy working. Tell others about Jesus and salvation. Get positive. Help somebody else. Get so busy with someone else’s troubles that you can’t think about your own self. Get so busy trying to make somebody else happy that you can’t help but be happy yourself.
Talk about Jesus. Talk about the Word of God. Talk about the needs of others. Talk about the good things. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”6 “Speak evil of no one”—not even yourself.7
Keep the faith. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Get busy helping somebody that needs help, and forget your own self. Of course you’re a big mess. We all are. When we start looking at ourselves, we really get down.
Let’s get going with God! He’s the only one who can make it, and He’ll pull you through if you just give Him a chance. Hang on to His Word, and let Him hang on to you. Let go and let God! There’s an old song that says, “He will hold me fast!” I can’t hold myself. I can’t help myself. Only God can help me. He’s my only hope.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise,” commit your way, your life, your mind, your thoughts, your time.8 “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”9 Only He can do it. Just give Him a chance. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Let’s talk about Jesus! Let’s talk about love—His love.—David Brandt Berg10
*
Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud, and when you have found it, continue to look at it rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.
Do not yield to discouragement, no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.
Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine." If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.
The very instant you wholeheartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul. … Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, Godward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!
All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ and in simple, childlike trust yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance.—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman11
*
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.—Isaiah 54:1012
*
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40:28–3113
*
The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
—Psalm 37:23–2414
Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Jon Marc.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
1 NIV.
2 Matthew 4:3–10.
3 John 8:44.
4 James 4:7.
5 Ephesians 6:10–17.
6 Philippians 4:8.
7 Titus 3:2.
8 Jude 24–25.
9 2 Timothy 1:12.
10 Greater Victories (Aurora Production, 2002).
11 Streams in the Desert, Volume 1 (Zondervan, 1965).
12 NIV.
13 NIV.
14 NIV.
Audio length: 7:13
Download Audio (6.6MB)
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.—Psalm 31:241
*
Keep your eyes on heaven. Keep your eyes on the goal, and the victory in your soul. … When the Devil tempts you to get down and discouraged, fight! Don’t even listen to him, much less surrender. Start doing something positive. Start saying something cheerful and encouraging.
When you feel oppressed or under condemnation, don’t just stand there, do something! Sing, shout, praise the Lord, quote scriptures! Hit the Devil back! Rebuke him with the Word! That’s what Jesus did when the Devil tempted and lied to Him in the wilderness. He just quoted the scriptures: “It is written.”2 The Devil is a liar and the father of it,3 and he can’t take the Word. “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”4 He will turn tail and run.
Put on the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, use the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the Evil One; gird yourself with the truth; be shod with the Gospel of peace, and take up that white-hot sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and cut the Devil to the heart.5 Drive him away! Tell him that you have no part in him, and he has no part in you!
Then get busy working. Tell others about Jesus and salvation. Get positive. Help somebody else. Get so busy with someone else’s troubles that you can’t think about your own self. Get so busy trying to make somebody else happy that you can’t help but be happy yourself.
Talk about Jesus. Talk about the Word of God. Talk about the needs of others. Talk about the good things. “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”6 “Speak evil of no one”—not even yourself.7
Keep the faith. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Get busy helping somebody that needs help, and forget your own self. Of course you’re a big mess. We all are. When we start looking at ourselves, we really get down.
Let’s get going with God! He’s the only one who can make it, and He’ll pull you through if you just give Him a chance. Hang on to His Word, and let Him hang on to you. Let go and let God! There’s an old song that says, “He will hold me fast!” I can’t hold myself. I can’t help myself. Only God can help me. He’s my only hope.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise,” commit your way, your life, your mind, your thoughts, your time.8 “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”9 Only He can do it. Just give Him a chance. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Let’s talk about Jesus! Let’s talk about love—His love.—David Brandt Berg10
*
Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud, and when you have found it, continue to look at it rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.
Do not yield to discouragement, no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.
Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine." If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.
The very instant you wholeheartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul. … Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, Godward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!
All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ and in simple, childlike trust yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance.—Mrs. Charles E. Cowman11
*
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.—Isaiah 54:1012
*
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40:28–3113
*
The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
—Psalm 37:23–2414
Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Jon Marc.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
1 NIV.
2 Matthew 4:3–10.
3 John 8:44.
4 James 4:7.
5 Ephesians 6:10–17.
6 Philippians 4:8.
7 Titus 3:2.
8 Jude 24–25.
9 2 Timothy 1:12.
10 Greater Victories (Aurora Production, 2002).
11 Streams in the Desert, Volume 1 (Zondervan, 1965).
12 NIV.
13 NIV.
14 NIV.
Ministering to the Saharawi
Paloma, David, and Cristina, Spain
One of the projects of Haciendo un Mundo Mejor (Making a Better World) focuses on aiding the different camps of refugees located in the Sahara Desert, near central Africa. For the last nine years we have organized groups of 10–15 volunteers that have visited and assisted these war-torn people known as Saharawi.
Our volunteers bring food, clothing, school supplies, medicine, and toys for the children. We live as the Saharawi do, staying in haimas (desert tents) or mud houses during our three-week stay.
About the Saharawi
The people who are now known as Saharawi settled down as a Bedouin tribe in Western Sahara near the ocean. Eventually it became a Spanish colony for over a hundred years. Because of disputes with the Moroccan government, the Spanish left the people there to their own fate. A subsequent war with the Moroccan government forced a great part of the Saharawi population into the desert, and many families were separated as a result. As of today about 200,000 Saharawi are living in extreme conditions in the Sahara Desert.
In addition to the aid and materials we bring, we also conduct various programs, such as seminars, educational and cultural activities, theater, and clown shows. We perform in different centers and school facilities which are spread out across the desert.
Our goal is to share God’s love with as many as possible through our music, skits, and performances. We also spend time talking with people and listening to their heart cries. Since the majority of people in this region are Muslims, we distribute Motivated, which is well accepted.
With the help of many sponsors, and the TFI Mission Grant Fund, a team of 11 people between the ages of 15–57 embarked on a three-week trip in September–October 2012.
There is a lot that goes into the preparation for these trips, considering that the location is over 5,000 km from where we live, and located in the Sahara Desert.
We started working out the logistics for this trip months in advance, beginning with a detailed report of what we wanted to achieve in the camps, as our plans and itinerary had to be approved by the proper authorities. Once we got the appropriate clearance, we began arranging the visas and airline tickets. We also had to hire drivers and vehicles that could take us through the desert and arrange lodging, along with many other details. In the meantime, we worked on the shows we planned to perform in the many schools and centers we would visit.
Here are some of the accomplishments of our trip:
• We performed in 15 schools in three different camps. Approximately 3,000 children attended the programs in total.
• We were invited to perform in a cultural program along with many other national groups. Since this took place over the Easter holiday, there were a lot of Spanish and foreign people present.
Young girl with her new doll.
• We brought a variety of presents, clothes, shoes, and toys, which were donated to the many needy children and families we visited.
• We did an interview with a national radio station and talked about the programs we were doing in the area.
• We were invited to participate in a national television show where we recorded six songs. These songs are going to be broadcast by satellite to all the camps in Argel, and also played throughout the year on an international Saharawi news channel.
• We donated educational material for children at various centers and institutions. We also distributed hundreds of Motivated mags. These magazines formed the basis of the different seminars we conducted during our time there.
We received some very positive reactions from the teachers and headmasters of the schools we performed at. Here are excerpts of a couple of letters:
“On behalf of the headmistress and group of teachers of the Longrono school, we want to thank you for sharing such a beautiful day with all our boys and girls which offered them the opportunity to enjoy all these things: dances, songs, and to have such a happy day. It has also enabled them to see things that they know nothing about nor have ever seen before, and that they could never have imagined. All our children have enjoyed a moment of happiness and joy. Thank you. We hope to see you again soon.”
“On behalf of the group of teachers and of the students of the secondary school of Said Esgaller, we want to extend our appreciation and thanks for all the educational and recreational work you carried out which has left a positive impression on the hearts and minds of the students. We hope that this valuable work will continue in the following years.”
All in all, our entire trip was a great success, with each piece of the puzzle falling into place exactly at the right time.
Here are reactions from a couple of our young volunteers after their visit to the Saharawi:
This was my fifth trip to visit the Saharawi, and every year it gets better. It’s so amazing! It makes you look forward to your next trip with excitement, knowing you will encounter many wonderful opportunities and new experiences.
The Sahara is a magical place, and its people are even more so. I admire each and every one of them for their love, spirit of giving, endurance, positiveness, faith, sacrifice, and so much more. The Saharawi are an incredible sample to all who visit them. I think it is because they come in contact with something that you cannot find too easily: their pure way of doing things, their love. These people are blessed by God. You can feel it. Their spirit, the way they live and interact with one another—sometimes you feel like you just can’t get enough—they carry so much peace. It is wonderful to be around them.
I feel very blessed to have met the Saharawi people and to go on these trips. Even though I would love to stay longer, I am very thankful for the time that I spent there.
I really enjoy doing clown shows for the children. Seeing them happy and laughing is a wonderful experience. All the schools we went to really enjoyed our performance and asked us to come back before next year.
Singing at the cultural program that took place in the refugee camp was something unexpected but exciting at the same time. We performed with a Saharawi singing group, which made me feel closer to them.—Anita (17)
I still can’t believe how fast time passed on this trip. It was amazing…. It’s so hard to describe…. I have seen so many things and have lived through so many emotions that I cannot imagine not going to the Sahara again. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I went there to give my all and came back with so much more. The Saharawi taught me how to be a better and kinder person. They have so little but they are so happy with the little they have. They showed me the treasures of life. They don’t have a lot of material things that the world offers, but they do have a lot of love and they have each other, and this helps them to face life and its difficulties. I wish to be like them—loving, caring, and sharing. I just love them and hope this is not the last time I get to see these wonderful people.—Vicky (15)
Monday, September 9, 2013
On Staying the Course
A compilation
Audio length: 9:40
Download Audio (8.8MB)
God is my strong fortress, and he makes my way perfect.—2 Samuel 22:331
*
In all of nature, I don’t know of a more determined creature than the North Pacific salmon when it is returning to its place of birth.
Born in fresh water, these particular salmon migrate to the ocean and return to their birthplace three or four years later to reproduce. That may sound simple enough, but in fact the journey, which can be as long as 2,000 miles (about 3,200 kilometers), is unfathomably difficult.
No one knows for sure how the salmon know how to get where they’re going. Some researchers believe they are guided by a magnetic field, while others believe it is the salmon’s keen sense of smell or an imprint in their brain of the chemical makeup of the water at their birthplace. However they find their way to the exact spot where they were born, their Creator has equipped them for the task.
When they reach the mouth of the river where they entered the ocean years before, their journey becomes even more difficult and perilous. It’s all against the current now. As the river narrows to a tributary and then to a stream, at times the salmon must force their way over rocks and through raging rapids.
Then there are the bears that line up along the shallow, narrow, rock-filled streams to grab and eat as many salmon as they can, one after another. And bears aren’t the only predators. There is also a gauntlet of humans with nets and hooks. But the salmon will not be deterred as they struggle to clear every obstacle between them and their goal.
I greatly admire the salmon’s do-or-die spirit, and I remember them when my own energy wanes or some goal seems to be slipping away. I remind myself that I too have been equipped by my Creator to take on life’s challenges.
I too am destined to return to the birthplace of my spirit, heaven, and my Creator has given me an inborn homing device to help get me there. It’s not like the salmon’s auto-pilot-like system in that I have to choose to switch it on, but my link with Him through prayer is just as sure and His guidance is just as clear and specific. He promises in the Bible, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know,” and, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”2
I also have to do my part. I have to keep swimming and fight the current, even when it would be so much easier to turn around and float downstream. But as I keep going in the right direction, that voice gets stronger. “Don’t stop! You’re almost there. You’re going to make it. You’re doing great!” As long as I listen to and obey that voice, my inspiration and strength are renewed. Like the determined salmon, I’m going to keep going until I reach my destination!—Martin McTeg
*
There’s a navigation technique [which sailors use] that … has also pointed me generally in the right direction in life. The concept in sailing is known as “dead reckoning.” The idea is a simple one, so it’s right in my wheelhouse. It involves using your compass to take a bearing off a couple of fixed points and then drawing a line from each one to you in order to determine where you are.
When I don’t know the answer to where I am or what God wants me to be doing, which is often, I try to get a bearing on at least a couple of fixed points that I can trust. One is Jesus. I know it sounds like a canned Sunday school answer, and I tend not to like those, but it’s true. I take a bearing off what I know about Jesus. But it’s a Jesus who isn’t encumbered by religion, denomination, and cultural overlays. I look at what He had to say about where I am and then I draw a line from Jesus to me.
The other fixed point I use is a group of people I feel God has dropped into my life, kind of like a cabinet. These people have their particular areas of wisdom and experience, and I use them to bounce ideas off of and get their input. In turn, I’m on the cabinets of many of my friends and family members too.
From these points, dead reckoning is actually pretty easy. I’ve made refinements and countless midcourse corrections in my life. There have been more than a couple of times when I’ve navigated potentially disastrous issues and needed more exact and specific direction. And when I did, I had the resources I needed to figure it out. But most of the time, even though … some religious people would squirm, just pointing in the right general direction has been good enough. I think that’s probably because I see myself floating in a massive sea of God’s love. The circle of His grace and forgiveness is big enough and the line leading to Him is long enough that I don’t need to always be measuring latitude and longitude to find myself. It’s a pretty easy calculation each day actually. I’ll tell you how I do it. I find Jesus, keep pointing toward Him, and stay somewhere in that circle. That’s it.—Bob Goff3
*
It has all got to be a work of the grace of God. Your work for the Lord, your daily tasks for the Lord, your thoughts and your love for Him and for others and unselfishness and sacrifice and a life of service, all of it is by the grace of God! What is the verse? “Faith which worketh by love.”4 It’s God’s work! You have to have the faith that God is going to do it through you.
For years, I was convinced that I was nothing and nobody and could never do anything. I didn’t read the Bible enough and I didn’t pray enough. I was devoting my full time to the Lord’s work, but I wasn’t the kind of saint that was always on his knees and always reading the Bible and always praying, totally separated from this world and totally saintly and good. How could I ever do anything for God?
I wanted to be something for the Lord and do something great for the Lord. But it was easy for me to think, “I’m too sinful; I make too many mistakes. I’m nobody. Look, I’m not doing anything to speak of, just peddling tracts and getting kicked in and out of church after church!”
Be honest, that’s the way you feel sometimes too. But “It is not I that live, but Christ that lives in me! And the life I now live, I live by the grace of God!”5
Isn’t it wonderful that you can just trust the Lord and not worry? You worrywarts, quit worrying. Trust the Lord, He’s going to do it. Of course you can’t do it, but the Lord will help you do it. Don’t worry about it. I’ve had to tell almost everybody I work with that at some time or other: “Stop it, quit worrying about it! Of course you can’t do it. The Lord is going to do it through you!”
You can in Christ! With the help of Jesus you can be anything, do anything, and go anywhere God wants you to !—David Brandt Berg6
Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Bryan Clark.
Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NLT.
2 Jeremiah 33:3; Isaiah 30:21.
3 Love Does (Thomas Nelson, 2012).
4 Galatians 5:6 KJV.
5 Galatians 2:20.
6 Originally published June 1985.
Audio length: 9:40
Download Audio (8.8MB)
God is my strong fortress, and he makes my way perfect.—2 Samuel 22:331
*
In all of nature, I don’t know of a more determined creature than the North Pacific salmon when it is returning to its place of birth.
Born in fresh water, these particular salmon migrate to the ocean and return to their birthplace three or four years later to reproduce. That may sound simple enough, but in fact the journey, which can be as long as 2,000 miles (about 3,200 kilometers), is unfathomably difficult.
No one knows for sure how the salmon know how to get where they’re going. Some researchers believe they are guided by a magnetic field, while others believe it is the salmon’s keen sense of smell or an imprint in their brain of the chemical makeup of the water at their birthplace. However they find their way to the exact spot where they were born, their Creator has equipped them for the task.
When they reach the mouth of the river where they entered the ocean years before, their journey becomes even more difficult and perilous. It’s all against the current now. As the river narrows to a tributary and then to a stream, at times the salmon must force their way over rocks and through raging rapids.
Then there are the bears that line up along the shallow, narrow, rock-filled streams to grab and eat as many salmon as they can, one after another. And bears aren’t the only predators. There is also a gauntlet of humans with nets and hooks. But the salmon will not be deterred as they struggle to clear every obstacle between them and their goal.
I greatly admire the salmon’s do-or-die spirit, and I remember them when my own energy wanes or some goal seems to be slipping away. I remind myself that I too have been equipped by my Creator to take on life’s challenges.
I too am destined to return to the birthplace of my spirit, heaven, and my Creator has given me an inborn homing device to help get me there. It’s not like the salmon’s auto-pilot-like system in that I have to choose to switch it on, but my link with Him through prayer is just as sure and His guidance is just as clear and specific. He promises in the Bible, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know,” and, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”2
I also have to do my part. I have to keep swimming and fight the current, even when it would be so much easier to turn around and float downstream. But as I keep going in the right direction, that voice gets stronger. “Don’t stop! You’re almost there. You’re going to make it. You’re doing great!” As long as I listen to and obey that voice, my inspiration and strength are renewed. Like the determined salmon, I’m going to keep going until I reach my destination!—Martin McTeg
*
There’s a navigation technique [which sailors use] that … has also pointed me generally in the right direction in life. The concept in sailing is known as “dead reckoning.” The idea is a simple one, so it’s right in my wheelhouse. It involves using your compass to take a bearing off a couple of fixed points and then drawing a line from each one to you in order to determine where you are.
When I don’t know the answer to where I am or what God wants me to be doing, which is often, I try to get a bearing on at least a couple of fixed points that I can trust. One is Jesus. I know it sounds like a canned Sunday school answer, and I tend not to like those, but it’s true. I take a bearing off what I know about Jesus. But it’s a Jesus who isn’t encumbered by religion, denomination, and cultural overlays. I look at what He had to say about where I am and then I draw a line from Jesus to me.
The other fixed point I use is a group of people I feel God has dropped into my life, kind of like a cabinet. These people have their particular areas of wisdom and experience, and I use them to bounce ideas off of and get their input. In turn, I’m on the cabinets of many of my friends and family members too.
From these points, dead reckoning is actually pretty easy. I’ve made refinements and countless midcourse corrections in my life. There have been more than a couple of times when I’ve navigated potentially disastrous issues and needed more exact and specific direction. And when I did, I had the resources I needed to figure it out. But most of the time, even though … some religious people would squirm, just pointing in the right general direction has been good enough. I think that’s probably because I see myself floating in a massive sea of God’s love. The circle of His grace and forgiveness is big enough and the line leading to Him is long enough that I don’t need to always be measuring latitude and longitude to find myself. It’s a pretty easy calculation each day actually. I’ll tell you how I do it. I find Jesus, keep pointing toward Him, and stay somewhere in that circle. That’s it.—Bob Goff3
*
It has all got to be a work of the grace of God. Your work for the Lord, your daily tasks for the Lord, your thoughts and your love for Him and for others and unselfishness and sacrifice and a life of service, all of it is by the grace of God! What is the verse? “Faith which worketh by love.”4 It’s God’s work! You have to have the faith that God is going to do it through you.
For years, I was convinced that I was nothing and nobody and could never do anything. I didn’t read the Bible enough and I didn’t pray enough. I was devoting my full time to the Lord’s work, but I wasn’t the kind of saint that was always on his knees and always reading the Bible and always praying, totally separated from this world and totally saintly and good. How could I ever do anything for God?
I wanted to be something for the Lord and do something great for the Lord. But it was easy for me to think, “I’m too sinful; I make too many mistakes. I’m nobody. Look, I’m not doing anything to speak of, just peddling tracts and getting kicked in and out of church after church!”
Be honest, that’s the way you feel sometimes too. But “It is not I that live, but Christ that lives in me! And the life I now live, I live by the grace of God!”5
Isn’t it wonderful that you can just trust the Lord and not worry? You worrywarts, quit worrying. Trust the Lord, He’s going to do it. Of course you can’t do it, but the Lord will help you do it. Don’t worry about it. I’ve had to tell almost everybody I work with that at some time or other: “Stop it, quit worrying about it! Of course you can’t do it. The Lord is going to do it through you!”
You can in Christ! With the help of Jesus you can be anything, do anything, and go anywhere God wants you to !—David Brandt Berg6
Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Bryan Clark.
Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NLT.
2 Jeremiah 33:3; Isaiah 30:21.
3 Love Does (Thomas Nelson, 2012).
4 Galatians 5:6 KJV.
5 Galatians 2:20.
6 Originally published June 1985.
The Tremendous Value of Your Spiritual Riches
By Jesus, speaking in prophecy
Audio length: 7:28
Download Audio (6.8MB)
There is nothing too horrible that you could face which I have not already overcome. Remember, I already overcame the world.1 I rose above all the evils of earth. I conquered every sin. I triumphed over the world. I am the victor. And when you are faced with grave difficulties, heart-wrenching situations, or intense spiritual battles, it is through putting your hand in Mine, depending on Me, doing My will and availing yourself of My power that you too will overcome.
I am overcoming power. My power is the same yesterday, today, and forever.2
At some point, try as you might, the victory or overcoming will seem to elude you. You’ll feel that you are fighting, you are holding on, you are trusting, and yet for some reason you cannot obtain victory. You may be tempted to feel that perhaps victory is beyond you, to figure that maybe you just don’t have the strength or the power to win that victory, or you become discouraged, wondering what the secret is.
The beauty of any battle, difficulty, or trying circumstance you face is that they bring you to the point of learning what I am trying to teach you right now. Through allowing whatever is happening in your life, I am providing opportunity for you to learn the foundation of your strength.
You see, there is no power so great that it could defeat Me. There is no foe so fierce that I would shy away from facing it. There is no battle so intense that it could weaken Me. There is no spiritual evil so dark that it could engulf Me.
I am still, just as I have always been, the path to victory. In Me you can overcome all things and be the victor every time, if not in the eyes of this world, certainly in the one to come. Through Me you can stand the heat of the hottest battlefield and rise to victory.
What happens, though, is that you have so much wealth spiritually that you often lose sight of its immense value. Satan’s power is great upon earth, but it is still far less than the power I’ve released to all who believe in Me. While his power might seem to be more evident or more widespread than before, it is not any more capable of withstanding My power. It is still the same weak, puny power of the netherworld when compared to Me and My creative, regenerative power.
Consider Me and the fact that I have redeemed you, that I am your Savior. Look through your Bible to remind yourself of every promise given regarding My power, My presence, and My ability. Remind yourself how great I am, how strong I am, how powerful I am. Hold on to Me, claim My promises in faith, and let Me do battle for you.
Learn to put full stock and faith in the spiritual power you have been given through the Holy Spirit. I want you to gain greater awareness of your wealth and matchless power through Me and My Spirit. I want you to see your spiritual power as heaps of gold and treasure, and whatever is opposing you as a speck of dust in comparison. I want you to realize that you can be victorious in spirit over anything with My power, regardless of earthly circumstances. You can defeat evil with My power. You can conquer any foe through My name. That’s how powerful I am. That’s how much treasure you have through My Spirit because you are My child!
I wish for you to be solid in the belief that no matter how circumstances may appear, you can overcome all things in spirit, because I overcame the world and I am in you, and through Me you can do all things.
If God be for you, who can be against you?
*
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—John 16:333
*
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.—Ephesians 6:10–114
*
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.—1 John 4:45
*
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?—1 John 5:4–56
*
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.—James 4:77
*
My God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.—2 Samuel 22:38
*
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.—Hebrews 13:89
*
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.—2 Timothy 4:1810
Originally published June 2007. Updated and republished September 2013.
Read by Bryan Clark.
1 John 16:33.
2 Hebrews 13:8.
3 NIV.
4 NIV.
5 NKJV.
6 NKJV.
7 NIV.
8 NLT.
9 NIV.
10 KJV.
Audio length: 7:28
Download Audio (6.8MB)
There is nothing too horrible that you could face which I have not already overcome. Remember, I already overcame the world.1 I rose above all the evils of earth. I conquered every sin. I triumphed over the world. I am the victor. And when you are faced with grave difficulties, heart-wrenching situations, or intense spiritual battles, it is through putting your hand in Mine, depending on Me, doing My will and availing yourself of My power that you too will overcome.
I am overcoming power. My power is the same yesterday, today, and forever.2
At some point, try as you might, the victory or overcoming will seem to elude you. You’ll feel that you are fighting, you are holding on, you are trusting, and yet for some reason you cannot obtain victory. You may be tempted to feel that perhaps victory is beyond you, to figure that maybe you just don’t have the strength or the power to win that victory, or you become discouraged, wondering what the secret is.
The beauty of any battle, difficulty, or trying circumstance you face is that they bring you to the point of learning what I am trying to teach you right now. Through allowing whatever is happening in your life, I am providing opportunity for you to learn the foundation of your strength.
You see, there is no power so great that it could defeat Me. There is no foe so fierce that I would shy away from facing it. There is no battle so intense that it could weaken Me. There is no spiritual evil so dark that it could engulf Me.
I am still, just as I have always been, the path to victory. In Me you can overcome all things and be the victor every time, if not in the eyes of this world, certainly in the one to come. Through Me you can stand the heat of the hottest battlefield and rise to victory.
What happens, though, is that you have so much wealth spiritually that you often lose sight of its immense value. Satan’s power is great upon earth, but it is still far less than the power I’ve released to all who believe in Me. While his power might seem to be more evident or more widespread than before, it is not any more capable of withstanding My power. It is still the same weak, puny power of the netherworld when compared to Me and My creative, regenerative power.
Consider Me and the fact that I have redeemed you, that I am your Savior. Look through your Bible to remind yourself of every promise given regarding My power, My presence, and My ability. Remind yourself how great I am, how strong I am, how powerful I am. Hold on to Me, claim My promises in faith, and let Me do battle for you.
Learn to put full stock and faith in the spiritual power you have been given through the Holy Spirit. I want you to gain greater awareness of your wealth and matchless power through Me and My Spirit. I want you to see your spiritual power as heaps of gold and treasure, and whatever is opposing you as a speck of dust in comparison. I want you to realize that you can be victorious in spirit over anything with My power, regardless of earthly circumstances. You can defeat evil with My power. You can conquer any foe through My name. That’s how powerful I am. That’s how much treasure you have through My Spirit because you are My child!
I wish for you to be solid in the belief that no matter how circumstances may appear, you can overcome all things in spirit, because I overcame the world and I am in you, and through Me you can do all things.
If God be for you, who can be against you?
*
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—John 16:333
*
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.—Ephesians 6:10–114
*
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.—1 John 4:45
*
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?—1 John 5:4–56
*
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.—James 4:77
*
My God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.—2 Samuel 22:38
*
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.—Hebrews 13:89
*
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.—2 Timothy 4:1810
Originally published June 2007. Updated and republished September 2013.
Read by Bryan Clark.
1 John 16:33.
2 Hebrews 13:8.
3 NIV.
4 NIV.
5 NKJV.
6 NKJV.
7 NIV.
8 NLT.
9 NIV.
10 KJV.
