I’ve Won in the Lotto

By John W. Schmidt

A close friend of my wife told her about a dream she’d had in which I’d won in the lotto—the full, big prize. When I heard about the dream I thought, It’s true! I did win in the lotto.

When we adopted our little Congolese girl who was found on the streets of Kinshasa, in the rain and just a day old, and we took her home as our own daughter, one of our local friends said, “She won in the lotto!” He knew what a big difference this had made in her life. Instead of growing up in horrible poverty in an orphanage, with not much chance to learn and develop, the Lord turned her life around and gave her all that one would want to give a child in this world.

Besides her winning in the lotto through this turn of events in her life, my wife and I feel that we also won in the lotto by taking Anissa into our lives. It’s all in the perspective, isn’t it? We can look at the many problems we face, which never seem to stop coming our way, or we can look on the bright side of life—at all the answers to prayer and miracles that get these problems solved. We can see that we have so many more positive things in life, which we can enjoy, instead of focusing on the bad things.

After I had lost the faith in God and Jesus that I’d had as a child, I wandered around in darkness for ten years, looking for meaning in life and not finding it, literally going through hell, a bottomless pit with no way out. I had no hope for this sad world full of injustice. I saw no possible change or bright future for all the needy people in the world, or for me or my friends. I tried to find meaning and purpose in life, but nobody could tell me a way out. I became a communist for some time, thinking that could bring a change, but it didn’t. I read books from all kinds of philosophers, but I couldn’t find solutions and answers to my questions.

When I finally found Jesus, I won the lotto—big time! I received more than all the money in the world could buy. Then I started to live for Jesus and tell others how they can also get that big prize. There is no greater joy than to help someone else win that prize, to get them hooked up to His love, which makes life worth living. Since that time I haven’t just enjoyed a beautiful life because of God’s love in my heart, and because I could pass it on to countless others, but Jesus has given me so many things in life which no money in the world could buy—like loved ones to share my life with, health, happiness, a purpose in life, a way of changing the world spiritually and physically, even if it’s only a small part of it, by helping others who are more needy than me.

Sometimes we feel as if we need more money, or we wish we would win in the lotto. But I would never want to exchange that for what God gave me since the day He turned my life around. And I’m not even talking about the bright future ahead of us in the next life! Just in looking at this life, God has given us so much. We are billionaires! With Jesus in the center of our lives, we have all won in the lotto!




The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.—Psalm 19:9–10



Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.—Philippians 3:8



I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 3:14

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Trials Equal Good

A compilation


Audio length: 11:28
Download Audio (10.5MB)

Because “many are the afflictions of the righteous,”1 it's certainly comforting to know that “all these things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are called according to His purpose.”2 In fact, in order to come through our many trials, difficulties, battles, and temptations victoriously, it is imperative that we make this promise in Romans 8:28 a vital part of our life.

If we don’t send the events of our daily lives through the filter of Romans 8:28, if we don’t constantly view our disappointments, hurts, tests, illnesses, opposition, battles, etc., through the perspective that Romans 8:28 gives us, we will sadly miss many valuable lessons the Lord is trying to teach us. And we will rob ourselves of the peace that comes from absolute trust in this precious promise and principle.

If we learn the simple equation, “Trials equal good,” our lives will be richer, our lessons greater, and our minds more tranquil, and we will more easily recognize the Lord's hand in the events of our lives. It makes all the difference in the world whether we look at a flood of problems, trials, battles and tribulations just waiting to see the worst happen, or if we look at them with the excitement and challenge that comes from waiting to discover all the good we know the Lord will bring out of them.—Maria Fontaine

*

God often does his best work in the darkness. God does not throw trials at us haphazardly … He does not accidentally let trials slip into our lives... Every trial we experience has been handcrafted by God for our good. Trials are God’s kiln. We are the clay, he is the master potter.

What good does God accomplish in the darkness? Here are just a few of the thousands of things God accomplishes.



He forces us to rely on Him.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.—2 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

Trials remind us of what is already true: we are desperately dependent on God. We cannot function apart from God. We cannot make it to heaven apart from the sustaining grace of the God who raises dead men. God takes us through trials to decrease our self-confidence and increase our confidence in him.



He produces steadfastness in us.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.—James 1:2–3 ESV

Without steadfastness … we will be like seed that springs up quickly but has no root. We will have the life choked out of us by the cares of this world. God wants us to have a steadfast, steady faith, which is not easily rocked by trial and hardship. Trials cause our faith to mature and become steadfast.



He prepares us to comfort others.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.—2 Corinthians ­­­1:3–4 ESV

When we experience trials, we also experience God’s comfort in a unique way. As God’s comfort flows into our lives, we are then divinely prepared to comfort others who are enduring trials. We could not adequately comfort others if we didn’t first receive God’s comfort. Trials ready us to comfort others.—Stephen Altrogge3

*

None of us can come to the highest maturity without enduring the summer heat of trials. As the sycamore fig never ripens if it be not bruised, as the corn does not leave the husk without threshing, and as wheat makes no fine flour till it be ground, so are we of little use till we are afflicted. Why should we be so eager to escape such benefits? We shall have to wait with patience, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.” He waited to give grace to us; let us wait to give glory to him.—Charles Spurgeon

*

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken mast and sails;
I shall believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil worketh good to me;
And, though I weep because those sails are battered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,
“I trust in Thee.”

I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive;
I shall believe the heights for which I strive,
Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And, though I groan and tremble with my crosses,
I yet shall see, through my severest losses,
The greater gain.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

*

No physician ever weighed out medicine to his patient with half so much care and exactness as God weighs out to us every trial. Not one grain too much does He ever permit to be placed on the scale.—Henry Ward Beecher

*

Difficulties, tests, trials, heartbreaks, suffering and disappointments come from many causes and for many reasons, but regardless of why they have come or what the reason, you can rest assured that all things work together for good to them that love Me. Because you love Me, I can take even these trials and turn them into blessings.

If you could see as I can see—beyond today, beyond this moment, beyond the pain which you are feeling—then you would better be able to understand why trials equal blessings. You would better be able to understand why this loss, this ache in your heart, this time when you are being sorely tempted and tested, can with time become a blessing to you.

The secret to understanding, the key to understanding, is in the phrase "with time." As you believe by faith that My hand is on your life and that all things work together for good, with time, that which you believe by faith you will understand and see, and it will become a reality in your life.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

*

I have a life preserver, which is my most valued possession.

While sailing on the sea of life, so many times I have looked out to see a storm brewing on the horizon. I grab my life preserver and tie it on securely, then brace myself for the unforgiving blast that approaches.

When the storm hits, my little craft is tossed by the angry waves. They threaten to swamp and drown me, but with my life preserver, I know I will survive. No—more than survive. I will rise again, bruised and beaten perhaps, but victorious.

Sometimes the storms creep up on me from behind. Caught unawares in the raging fury, my boat capsizes, throwing me into the icy waters. I choke, sputter, and gasp for air, but find myself caught in a whirlpool. The more I struggle, the tighter the water holds me in its grip.

Alone, helpless, and defeated, I wait for the end, hope flickering like a melted candle. As I sink under the waters for the last time, a Voice comes over the sound of the storm. “Grab the life preserver! It is your only hope.”

Straining to see in the darkness, I catch sight of something floating on the water. It is my life preserver—always there when I need it most. I tie it on and immediately begin to float.

The darkness still envelops me. The sea still churns and foams and its angry waves threaten to pull me under. The rain continues to sting my cheeks. But I am buoyant once again. With complete trust, secure in my life preserver, I am content to wait out the storm.

What is the secret of my life preserver? It is so simple that you may dismiss it. It is the verse from the Bible: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.”4

ALL things—storms, rain, and winds included—are for our GOOD.

Someday, somehow, we will understand.—Stellaris Jade



Published on Anchor October 2013. Read by Jon Marc.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.


1 Psalm 34:19.

2 Romans 8:28.

3 Excerpted from http://blogs.christianpost.com/guest-views/god-often-does-his-best-work-in-the-darkness-15992.

4 Romans 8:28 NKJV.

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When God Closes a Door.- Dr. Charles Swindoll

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Prayer Dimensions

By Johann Christoph Arnold

Audio length: 11:23
Download Audio (10.4MB)

More than ever before, people are alone. If not physically separated from others, they are certainly more isolated emotionally. This is one of the great curses of our time: people are lonely and disconnected, depression is rampant, more marriages than ever are dysfunctional, and a pervasive sense of aimlessness marks many lives. Why are we here on earth? I believe that the answer to this question can only be discovered when we begin to find each other—and, more than that, to find God.

Each of us needs to find God, since our “vertical” relationship with him is always a strong determinant of our “horizontal” human relationships. But what does it mean to find God?

Sometimes it seems that the word “prayer” carries too much religious baggage with it; it is worn out from too much handling by too many people. It has become a duty that people feel they must fulfill, and therefore even a burden to rebel against. Personally, I do not see prayer as a duty, but an opportunity to come before God and tell him my worries, my needs, my happiness, or my gratitude. In this sense, prayer is simply conversing with God—something anyone can do.

Prayer may be a rite that involves a written verse, a prayer book, a certain place and time of day, or even a specific position of the body. Or it may have no form at all, but simply be a posture of the heart.

For most of us, silence and solitude are the most natural starting points for finding God and communicating with him, since both entail laying aside external distractions and emptying our minds and hearts of trivial concerns. It is as if God has come into the room to talk with us, and we must first look up from whatever we are doing to acknowledge him before the conversation can begin. For others of us, the act of becoming silent before God is not only a preparation for prayer, it is prayer. Such conversation is like the unspoken dialogue between a couple, or any other two people who know each other so well that they can communicate without words.

Naturally a true conversation has both sound and silence, give and take, talking and listening. Yet it is clear that God does not desire self-centered prattling: he knows what we need even before we ask. And if we do not become inwardly quiet, how will we ever be able to hear anything but our own voice? Nor does he require long, wordy petitions. If our hearts are truly turned to him, a glance upward or a heartfelt sigh, a moment of silence or a joyous song, a tearful plea or anguished weeping will do just as well. Each of these can be just as much a prayer as any number of carefully chosen words. Indeed, they may be more.

There are many ways to pray. One woman I know told me that she envisioned herself in prayer “like a baby bird in a nest with my head stretched way up and my oversized mouth open and hungry to receive whatever my father would drop into it. Not questioning, not doubting, not worrying, just receiving and totally appreciative.”

Vemkatechwaram Thyaharaj, a friend from India, says:

I pray silently. All the same, though brought up as a Hindu Brahmin, I do not pray to an abstract being, but to the biblical Creator of the universe and of man—to God the Father. He is not distant from his creation, for Christ brought him down, close to man. It is to him I pray… Very often I resort to lonely places for prayer. In such times I experience the divine, unseen touch that imparts power and life to my body and soul. True, it is always an effort to get out of bed early, before dawn. But this has been my practice, to sit during the early morning in the presence of God when I meditate and pray. During such times my heart is filled with peace and unexplainable joy.

Vemkatechwaram touches on an important aspect of genuine prayer: insofar as it is a conversation, it is not a vague state of being, but something that moves or takes place between two or more people, even if without words.

According to the early church father Tertullian, praying is also more than directing emotions or feelings toward God. It means experiencing his reality as a power.

Prayer has power to transform the weak, to restore the sick, to free the demon-possessed, to open prison doors, and to untie the bonds that bind the innocent. Furthermore, it washes away faults and repels temptations. It extinguishes persecutions. It consoles the low in spirit, and cheers those in good spirits. It escorts travelers, calms waves, and makes robbers stand aghast. It feeds the poor and governs the rich. It raises those who have fallen, stops others from falling, and strengthens those who are standing.

Tertullian also refers to prayer as the “fortress of faith” and the “shield and weapon against the foe.” And Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians, admonishes his fellow Christians to put on the “whole armor of God” and thereby enlist the aid of the Creator himself in times of trial.1

Valid as these metaphors may be, it is good to remember that even if God’s power can protect, shield, and comfort us, it is also a power before which we must sometimes quake. Especially after we have failed or done wrong, the act of coming to God in prayer and bringing our weaknesses to him means placing ourselves under his clear light, and seeing the wretchedness of our true state.

Our God is a consuming fire, and my filth crackles as he seizes hold of me; he is all light and my darkness shrivels under his blaze. It is this naked blaze of God that makes prayer so terrible. For most of the time, we can persuade ourselves we are good enough, as good as the next man, perhaps even better, who knows? Then we come to prayer—real prayer, unprotected prayer—and there is nothing left in us, no ground on which to stand.—Sr. Wendy Beckett

Given Sister Wendy’s recognition of the contrast between the Almighty and a puny human being, one might fairly ask, “Does God really answer me, or does my praying just get me used to the discomfort of my situation?” Indeed, there are skeptics who feel that prayer is simply a forum for working through our feelings, and those who say, “All I want is God’s will, and he can give that without my prayers.”

I have no simple answers to these riddles, but that doesn’t mean there are no answers. As I see it, it is a matter of relationships. If I claim God as my father, I need to be able to talk to him when I am in trouble. And before that, I need to be actively involved in my relationship with him—at least enough to know where I can find him.

Having given us free will, God does not force himself on any of us. He needs us to ask him to work in our lives before he intervenes. We must want his presence, be desperate for the inner food he can provide. Like the figures found on the walls of Roman catacombs, we must lift our eyes and arms to God, not merely waiting for him, but reaching upward to find him and to receive whatever he will give us.

In this sense, praying is much more than talking with God. Prayer gives us the opportunity to discern God’s will by coming into direct contact with him. It enables us to ask God for whatever we need, including judgment, mercy, and the grace to change our lives. It is even, as Henri Nouwen has written, “a revolutionary matter, because once you begin, you put your entire life in the balance.”

The one overwhelming message that stands at the center of the New Testament is love in action. And we have examples among his followers who, despite human failings, spread the gospel of love. The apostle Paul, who had earlier persecuted the Christians, became one of Christianity’s most powerful figures. In his prayers he rarely asks God for those things we most often pray for: safety, physical healing, material blessings. He is more concerned with strength of character, wisdom and discernment, love and sacrifice, personal knowledge of God and spiritual power, courage in spreading the gospel, endurance, and salvation. And unlike many modern Christians, his prayers are not selfish wishes uttered merely on behalf of himself or those dear to him. They are said for the whole earth.

Thousands of pages have been written about the Lord’s Prayer. I believe much of its power lies in its brevity and simplicity. When we have acted in haste or offended the Spirit of love, we need to ask for forgiveness. In hours of temptation, we need to ask to be led safely, and we need to be provided for and protected day by day. Above and beyond that, we need the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and change us from our very foundations. For this to happen we must ask, “Thy will be done.” And we must mean it.

Johann Christoph Arnold is a noted speaker and writer on the topics of marriage and family, education and conflict resolution. He is a senior pastor at the Bruderhof Communities and also serves as chaplain for the local sheriff's department. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. © Copyright 2011 by The Plough Publishing House. Used with permission.

Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Jon Marc.


1 Ephesians 6:11.

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The Secret to Making Daily Progress

A compilation


Audio length: 7:36
Download Audio (6.9MB)

The best way to ensure that you’re making progress is to make an effort each day to take a step forward. Take a step in the right direction in some area you're working on. Refuse to vegetate or settle down. Stay stirred up by launching out into some new venture. Try something new, learn something new, do something new.

Every day can be filled with excitement and challenges; all you have to do is seek them out. And you seek them out by not being satisfied with the way things used to be. Find a new and better way to do something. Be aggressive in your spiritual life. If you find yourself getting bored or stagnant or feeling as if you're in a rut, then it's time to break out. Look around you: Is there someone you haven't talked to in a long time? Is there something new I’d like to show you in My Word? There’s always something you can do to step up and grow.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

*

The signs of life are principally manifested by motion, action: There must be change, movement. Just so, to stay alive spiritually, we must have movement. …

It is said that Alexander the Great died weeping that there were no more worlds to conquer. The irony was that he had hardly begun to take over the world! He wasn’t even aware that more than half of the world was out there! He had only conquered a little bit of the world—from Greece to India. But because he had conquered the entire world that was known to him, or at least the parts he considered valuable, he believed there was no more to conquer.

The minute you think you have something and sit down to enjoy it, that’s when you’re apt to lose it. That’s why many a great civilization, empire, nation, religious movement, or business has vanished from the face of the earth. They stopped advancing, progressing, and moving. They had all they wanted and thought they had arrived, so they sat down to enjoy it, and whoosh! God blew upon it and it came to naught.

When you stop moving, you die. Try it. Go to bed and never get up again. How long do you think you will live if you lie there and never eat or drink or move or get rid of waste matter? You might last a few days. Some people have lasted a couple of weeks. But if you stop drinking, eating, cleansing, and moving, you’re soon dead! And that is what is spiritually wrong with some people. They have stopped drinking the water of life; they have stopped eating their spiritual food, the Word of God; they have stopped eliminating their daily besetting sins, and therefore they have died on the vine!

There is no in-between! We cannot stop! It’s like breathing: We don’t dare stop or we’re dead. We have to keep doing more every day and progressing. We need to sit down at the end of the day and keep books with our soul. We need to weigh up the accounts and say, “Now what did I do today that I won’t have to do tomorrow? What progress, what accomplishment, what more have I done than the usual things I always have to do each day?”

There is a saying, “All things change, but Jesus never.” God Himself never changes, but He does change some of His tactics and messages and methods, depending on what suits His purpose and the situation. Paul said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”1 If we as Christians are not going to constantly keep changing our tactics and methods and modes of operation, just as God does, according to what He knows will work and what won’t with each new day and new situation and new people, then we’re going to become has-beens. If we’re not flexible, pliable, able to stretch or shrink or bulge or bend to accommodate the Lord’s new wine—whatever new thing He has for us—then we’re going to burst and lose even what we’ve got, and He won’t be able to give us any more.2

But as long as we love Jesus and lost souls, as long as we seek Him and desire to do His will, as long as we go to His Word daily for fresh vision and inspiration, we have nothing to worry about. He will continually renew us in body, mind, and spirit,3 and we’ll do more than stay alive. We’ll really go places and accomplish a lot for the Lord!—David Brandt Berg4

*

If you tend to switch into a mode of monotony when you're dealing with an aspect of your life, it could indicate that you’re getting in a rut. It could be your work, the way you handle your e-mail, your relationship with Me, the way you spend your time with your children, how you say good night to your husband or wife, or how you spend your time off.

It’s fine to have certain activities that you do often, or to have a certain routine of how you do things, whether in your work or with your family. But the danger is when you become resistant to changing those things or doing things differently because you've "always done it this way," or because changing takes time and effort and it's much easier to go on without that.

Maybe some things that you do fairly often are fine to continue to do as you have been; maybe I've shown you that those things should still be done as you've been doing them. But you can also ask Me if there is anything else you should be doing, or if there are any alterations you can make to improve that task or ensure that it's getting done more efficiently or better. Be open to doing things differently and changing even simple things if it will keep you progressing and moving forward.

Maybe the time you spend with your family is fun and inspiring, and you feel that you connect with your children and your spouse in a good and positive spirit. But have you asked Me lately if I have any other counsel or fun ideas to give you for that time?

It can be challenging to be on the lookout for better ways of operating. It takes effort—not just physical effort but spiritual effort—to seek Me for counsel, to put aside your plans and opinions and be open to My will. It takes effort. But that's the point. Ruts don't require effort; My way does.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

Published on Anchor September 2013. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.


1 1 Corinthians 9:22.

2 Luke 5:37–38.

3 Romans 12:1–2.

4 Greater Victories (Aurora Production, 2002).

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Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

 Paperback
by Dalton Trumbo (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Got-His-Dalton-Trumbo/dp/0806528478/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380142230&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+got+his+gun+dalton+trumbo

Amazon editor say:
This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered—not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives…. This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless, and gruesome...but so is war.Johnny Got His Gun holds a place as one of the classic antiwar novels. First published in 1939, Dalton Trumbo's story of a young American soldier terribly maimed in World War I—he "survives" armless, legless, and faceless, but with his mind intact—was an immediate bestseller. This fiercely moving novel was a rallying point for many Americans who came of age during World War II, and it became perhaps the most popular novel of protest during the Vietnam era.

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