History of Science
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Faith—A Gift from Me
By Jesus, speaking in prophecy
Faith is a gift from Me. I want to give you increased faith—not because you deserve it, not because you keep every jot and tittle of the law, and not because you work so hard, but because I love you.
I know you think this is too easy. You feel there are already scores of reasons why you aren’t really fit to receive greater faith because you failed in this and that and you haven’t done this and that and you aren’t good at this and that, and on it goes. But looking at your own goodness instead of Mine, and allowing that to keep you from being close to Me and having the faith I want to give you, that’s self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is works. Faith is a gift. Self-righteousness is of man. Faith is from God.
*
When everything is a “works trip” of trying to be good enough, that results in so much pressure, so much comparing, so much introspection. All that is not only a waste of time, but it creates the negative waste of sadness, loss of power, and a kind of spiritual impotence, because you don’t really understand that it’s all about Me, not you. It’s about My goodness, not yours. Don’t let My promises become part of a works trip that you try to attain to. Realize that you’ll never attain. Do the best you can, and be humble and accept that you’ll fall short, and that’s all right.
*
You’re usually much harder on yourself than I am on you. You look at your lacks and allow condemnation and discouragement to steal away your faith. Yes, I set conditions and I tell you what to do to inherit the promises. But in general, I really take you where you’re at. If I see that you’re doing your best—even if that involves making mistakes, falling short, and getting up and trying again—you can bet that I’ll put all the power of heaven to work fulfilling My end of the bargain. What is sad is when I see you sitting there like a child who wants to buy something from the store, counting your change and figuring you’ll never be able to afford it, when I’ve already given you a blank check and asked you to come in and fill your cart!
If you make a mistake, ask My forgiveness (and the forgiveness of others, if appropriate), and then proceed in faith. Don’t listen to the Devil for even a second. Of course he’ll tell you that you “deserve” to suffer through a hard battle or face difficulties, and all you can do is endure them because you deserve the suffering. But he’s not your friend, and he doesn’t tell you the truth. Realize that I’m not measuring your faults with a measuring stick. I love you, and I’ve made so many promises to you, that if you’ll only start claiming them in faith, you’ll be amazed at how much better your life can become. Stop living in spiritual poverty and start acting like the privileged child of the King that you are.
*
You will come across some tremendous challenges and spiritual attacks and battles, that I promise you.1 But I also promise you that if you have faith, if you grab ahold of My promises and truly believe that “this is mine, it’s for me,” and you tell the Devil, “You can’t take this away from me,” then there’s nothing he can do to hurt you. He’ll try. He’ll attack, and he’ll huff and puff and try to blow your house down, but you’ll stand in the end, with those promises protecting you.
Don’t let the Devil tiptoe into your life and silently steal My promises right out of your arms through his lies that they’re not really for you, that you’re not really good enough, that you don’t really deserve that kind of power and victory and deliverance. Of course you don’t; that’s a given. But that’s not the point here. Your goodness and worth and success is not what merits the gift of My promises.
I gave those promises to you as a gift when I died for you, just you. I custom-made those promises just for you, knowing that you would be imperfect, knowing that you were human and could never “attain” to some state of perfection. And yet I gave them to you as if you were the only one. So don’t keep trying to be worthy. You’re already worthy because I made you worthy. I gave you My worthiness when I died for you. It’s a done deal. Your part is to believe and strengthen your faith, and I will do miracles for you.
Please, My darling, don’t be sad or suffer or agonize when you can be strong and victorious and glorious. There’s so much more awaiting you. There are obstacles on the horizon, but these can be translated into awesome victories. There is power, strength, anointing and miracles yet to be discovered. Let Me rekindle your faith, and then the fun will really begin!
Originally published June 2007. Updated and republished October 2013.
1 John 16:33.
Faith is a gift from Me. I want to give you increased faith—not because you deserve it, not because you keep every jot and tittle of the law, and not because you work so hard, but because I love you.
I know you think this is too easy. You feel there are already scores of reasons why you aren’t really fit to receive greater faith because you failed in this and that and you haven’t done this and that and you aren’t good at this and that, and on it goes. But looking at your own goodness instead of Mine, and allowing that to keep you from being close to Me and having the faith I want to give you, that’s self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is works. Faith is a gift. Self-righteousness is of man. Faith is from God.
*
When everything is a “works trip” of trying to be good enough, that results in so much pressure, so much comparing, so much introspection. All that is not only a waste of time, but it creates the negative waste of sadness, loss of power, and a kind of spiritual impotence, because you don’t really understand that it’s all about Me, not you. It’s about My goodness, not yours. Don’t let My promises become part of a works trip that you try to attain to. Realize that you’ll never attain. Do the best you can, and be humble and accept that you’ll fall short, and that’s all right.
*
You’re usually much harder on yourself than I am on you. You look at your lacks and allow condemnation and discouragement to steal away your faith. Yes, I set conditions and I tell you what to do to inherit the promises. But in general, I really take you where you’re at. If I see that you’re doing your best—even if that involves making mistakes, falling short, and getting up and trying again—you can bet that I’ll put all the power of heaven to work fulfilling My end of the bargain. What is sad is when I see you sitting there like a child who wants to buy something from the store, counting your change and figuring you’ll never be able to afford it, when I’ve already given you a blank check and asked you to come in and fill your cart!
If you make a mistake, ask My forgiveness (and the forgiveness of others, if appropriate), and then proceed in faith. Don’t listen to the Devil for even a second. Of course he’ll tell you that you “deserve” to suffer through a hard battle or face difficulties, and all you can do is endure them because you deserve the suffering. But he’s not your friend, and he doesn’t tell you the truth. Realize that I’m not measuring your faults with a measuring stick. I love you, and I’ve made so many promises to you, that if you’ll only start claiming them in faith, you’ll be amazed at how much better your life can become. Stop living in spiritual poverty and start acting like the privileged child of the King that you are.
*
You will come across some tremendous challenges and spiritual attacks and battles, that I promise you.1 But I also promise you that if you have faith, if you grab ahold of My promises and truly believe that “this is mine, it’s for me,” and you tell the Devil, “You can’t take this away from me,” then there’s nothing he can do to hurt you. He’ll try. He’ll attack, and he’ll huff and puff and try to blow your house down, but you’ll stand in the end, with those promises protecting you.
Don’t let the Devil tiptoe into your life and silently steal My promises right out of your arms through his lies that they’re not really for you, that you’re not really good enough, that you don’t really deserve that kind of power and victory and deliverance. Of course you don’t; that’s a given. But that’s not the point here. Your goodness and worth and success is not what merits the gift of My promises.
I gave those promises to you as a gift when I died for you, just you. I custom-made those promises just for you, knowing that you would be imperfect, knowing that you were human and could never “attain” to some state of perfection. And yet I gave them to you as if you were the only one. So don’t keep trying to be worthy. You’re already worthy because I made you worthy. I gave you My worthiness when I died for you. It’s a done deal. Your part is to believe and strengthen your faith, and I will do miracles for you.
Please, My darling, don’t be sad or suffer or agonize when you can be strong and victorious and glorious. There’s so much more awaiting you. There are obstacles on the horizon, but these can be translated into awesome victories. There is power, strength, anointing and miracles yet to be discovered. Let Me rekindle your faith, and then the fun will really begin!
Originally published June 2007. Updated and republished October 2013.
1 John 16:33.
The War Profiteers
By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, October 13, 2013
The Founders were wary of establishing a standing army: they feared not only that it would become an instrument of domestic tyranny, as in Europe, but also that it would lead to … what we have today: a militarist caste that glories in—and profits from—war. As James Madison, the father of the Constitution, put it:
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people…. [There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and … degeneracy of manners and of morals…. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
Those last phrases—“inequality of fortunes,” “opportunities of fraud,” and “degeneracy of manners and of morals”—ought to ring like alarm bells going off, especially in the context of recent history. For the last decade or so, we’ve been at war constantly, and this is due in large part to the dominance in American politics—and most particularly in our media—of those who stand to profit from war, materially and otherwise. Whenever a “crisis” is ginned up by the US and its allies—take recent events in Syria as an example—the talking heads start ululating for war, or at least some form of US intervention, and this sets the terms for what is usually a very one-sided “debate.”
I always knew, on some level, that these “experts” had some kind of monetary as well as nonmaterial interest in promoting interventionist policies, but even I was shocked to read a report from the Public Accountability Initiative detailing the extent of it. And while the PAI study deals only with the recent national discourse over whether to intervene in Syria, many if not most of the commentators profiled therein played similar roles in the run up to the invasion of Iraq and our ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Africa.
PAI profiled 22 commentators with strong financial ties to the military-industrial complex who, in the course of 111 media appearances (either televised or print), made the case for intervention in Syria in the vast majority of those occasions. Particularly egregious: Stephen Hadley, former Bush administration official, whose membership on the board of Raytheon, a major military contractor, was never disclosed—although his other credentials as a “defense expert” were touted by his hosts on CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg TV. An op-ed for the Washington Post somehow neglected to note this little detail. As PAI documents, Hadley makes a pretty penny from his expertise at ginning up wars:
"Hadley earns $128,500 in annual cash compensation from the company and chairs its public affairs committee. He also owns 11,477 shares of Raytheon stock, which traded at all-time highs during the Syria debate ($77.65 on August 23, making Hadley’s share’s worth $891,189). Despite this financial stake, Hadley was presented to his audience as an experienced, independent national security expert."
Raytheon stock rose during the debate over Syria on the prospect that President Obama would soon be lobbing Tomahawk missiles—made by Raytheon—at Bashar al-Assad. Each missile costs $1.41 million: we launched half a billion dollars worth during the Libya adventure. Hadley was for that one, too. In an interview with Obama cultist Andrea Mitchell, Hadley is introduced as a former national security advisor “and is currently with the United States Institute of Peace.” What Mitchell doesn’t tell her viewers, who may think USIP is a real thinktank, is that the “Institute” is a US government agency devoted to rationalizing American foreign policy.
In these circles, however, the distinction between the public and the private is vague-to-nonexistent. If you take a good look at the PAI report, it charts commentators’ ties to various “consulting groups,” the biggest of which involve former US government officials as principals and/or founders. This is the central nexus of the War Party, a crucial network of interlocking elites who perpetuate our interventionist foreign policy and short-circuit—in most cases—opposition outside the Washington beltway.
Take, for example, the Albright Stonebridge Group, founded by Madeleine “Indispensable Nation” Albright, an interventionist nest that sits high up in the tree now that a Democrat is in the White House. Albright’s hyper-interventionist views—she once complained to Colin Powell “what’s the use of having this superb military if we don’t use it?”—are now being parlayed into some nice profits.
The ideology behind the profiteering is crony capitalism, or oligarchical capitalism, as I prefer to call it, in which the coin of the realm is political connections rather than entrepreneurial savvy or technical innovativeness. What the novelist Ayn Rand called the “aristocracy of pull” is now clearly dominant in the US, where the wealthiest counties in the country are those surrounding Washington, D.C., and the amount of corporate welfare being ladled out in the federal budget has reached an all-time high.
This is the way it has always worked in the foreign policy realm: rich backers think up a profit-making enterprise which requires the support of the US government in order to turn a profit—often involving turning the US military into a company’s private police force. Their friends in Washington cook up a “national security” rationale for US intervention in the targeted area, and—bingo! We have the Panama Canal!
Some enterprising libertarian scholar really should do a taxonomy of the American political class: such a weighty subject is far beyond my humble capabilities, but I would venture to say that, if such a study were done, one of the findings would be the discovery of a certain subset that lives at the intersection of corporate and ideological interests in the foreign policy field. The influence of this small but powerful group of self-interested former and present government officials, and their corporate cronies, extends far beyond Washington: indeed, its tentacles encircle the globe, reaching into every parliament, every newsroom, and virtually every political party on earth.
Oh, but this is just a “conspiracy theory,” avers the political class and its apologists: there is nothing there, they claim, and even if there were it’s pure coincidence, you understand, that the very people pushing our foreign policy of perpetual war just happen to personally profit from US meddling around the world.
It’s impossible to know what motivates people to believe or act in a certain way: oftentimes they don’t even have a clear idea themselves. Yet we can infer motives not only by their actions but by the consequences of those actions, and if the same people saying the same old thing keep getting richer saying it, then it is fair to draw certain conclusions—and if that’s “conspiracism,” well then so be it.
In the age of empire, when “the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war” are manifold and “degeneracy of manners and of morals” is the rule in Washington rather than the exception, a political class mired in the last stages of corruption isn’t bashful about the great “inequality of fortunes”—but is none too eager to reveal the sources of both their wealth and the policies that made that wealth possible.
The Founders were wary of establishing a standing army: they feared not only that it would become an instrument of domestic tyranny, as in Europe, but also that it would lead to … what we have today: a militarist caste that glories in—and profits from—war. As James Madison, the father of the Constitution, put it:
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people…. [There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and … degeneracy of manners and of morals…. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
Those last phrases—“inequality of fortunes,” “opportunities of fraud,” and “degeneracy of manners and of morals”—ought to ring like alarm bells going off, especially in the context of recent history. For the last decade or so, we’ve been at war constantly, and this is due in large part to the dominance in American politics—and most particularly in our media—of those who stand to profit from war, materially and otherwise. Whenever a “crisis” is ginned up by the US and its allies—take recent events in Syria as an example—the talking heads start ululating for war, or at least some form of US intervention, and this sets the terms for what is usually a very one-sided “debate.”
I always knew, on some level, that these “experts” had some kind of monetary as well as nonmaterial interest in promoting interventionist policies, but even I was shocked to read a report from the Public Accountability Initiative detailing the extent of it. And while the PAI study deals only with the recent national discourse over whether to intervene in Syria, many if not most of the commentators profiled therein played similar roles in the run up to the invasion of Iraq and our ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Africa.
PAI profiled 22 commentators with strong financial ties to the military-industrial complex who, in the course of 111 media appearances (either televised or print), made the case for intervention in Syria in the vast majority of those occasions. Particularly egregious: Stephen Hadley, former Bush administration official, whose membership on the board of Raytheon, a major military contractor, was never disclosed—although his other credentials as a “defense expert” were touted by his hosts on CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg TV. An op-ed for the Washington Post somehow neglected to note this little detail. As PAI documents, Hadley makes a pretty penny from his expertise at ginning up wars:
"Hadley earns $128,500 in annual cash compensation from the company and chairs its public affairs committee. He also owns 11,477 shares of Raytheon stock, which traded at all-time highs during the Syria debate ($77.65 on August 23, making Hadley’s share’s worth $891,189). Despite this financial stake, Hadley was presented to his audience as an experienced, independent national security expert."
Raytheon stock rose during the debate over Syria on the prospect that President Obama would soon be lobbing Tomahawk missiles—made by Raytheon—at Bashar al-Assad. Each missile costs $1.41 million: we launched half a billion dollars worth during the Libya adventure. Hadley was for that one, too. In an interview with Obama cultist Andrea Mitchell, Hadley is introduced as a former national security advisor “and is currently with the United States Institute of Peace.” What Mitchell doesn’t tell her viewers, who may think USIP is a real thinktank, is that the “Institute” is a US government agency devoted to rationalizing American foreign policy.
In these circles, however, the distinction between the public and the private is vague-to-nonexistent. If you take a good look at the PAI report, it charts commentators’ ties to various “consulting groups,” the biggest of which involve former US government officials as principals and/or founders. This is the central nexus of the War Party, a crucial network of interlocking elites who perpetuate our interventionist foreign policy and short-circuit—in most cases—opposition outside the Washington beltway.
Take, for example, the Albright Stonebridge Group, founded by Madeleine “Indispensable Nation” Albright, an interventionist nest that sits high up in the tree now that a Democrat is in the White House. Albright’s hyper-interventionist views—she once complained to Colin Powell “what’s the use of having this superb military if we don’t use it?”—are now being parlayed into some nice profits.
The ideology behind the profiteering is crony capitalism, or oligarchical capitalism, as I prefer to call it, in which the coin of the realm is political connections rather than entrepreneurial savvy or technical innovativeness. What the novelist Ayn Rand called the “aristocracy of pull” is now clearly dominant in the US, where the wealthiest counties in the country are those surrounding Washington, D.C., and the amount of corporate welfare being ladled out in the federal budget has reached an all-time high.
This is the way it has always worked in the foreign policy realm: rich backers think up a profit-making enterprise which requires the support of the US government in order to turn a profit—often involving turning the US military into a company’s private police force. Their friends in Washington cook up a “national security” rationale for US intervention in the targeted area, and—bingo! We have the Panama Canal!
Some enterprising libertarian scholar really should do a taxonomy of the American political class: such a weighty subject is far beyond my humble capabilities, but I would venture to say that, if such a study were done, one of the findings would be the discovery of a certain subset that lives at the intersection of corporate and ideological interests in the foreign policy field. The influence of this small but powerful group of self-interested former and present government officials, and their corporate cronies, extends far beyond Washington: indeed, its tentacles encircle the globe, reaching into every parliament, every newsroom, and virtually every political party on earth.
Oh, but this is just a “conspiracy theory,” avers the political class and its apologists: there is nothing there, they claim, and even if there were it’s pure coincidence, you understand, that the very people pushing our foreign policy of perpetual war just happen to personally profit from US meddling around the world.
It’s impossible to know what motivates people to believe or act in a certain way: oftentimes they don’t even have a clear idea themselves. Yet we can infer motives not only by their actions but by the consequences of those actions, and if the same people saying the same old thing keep getting richer saying it, then it is fair to draw certain conclusions—and if that’s “conspiracism,” well then so be it.
In the age of empire, when “the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war” are manifold and “degeneracy of manners and of morals” is the rule in Washington rather than the exception, a political class mired in the last stages of corruption isn’t bashful about the great “inequality of fortunes”—but is none too eager to reveal the sources of both their wealth and the policies that made that wealth possible.
To Ousted Boss, Arms Watchdog Was Seen as an Obstacle in Iraq
By Marlise Simons, NY Times, October 13, 2013
PARIS—More than a decade before the international agency that monitors chemical weapons won the Nobel Peace Prize, John R. Bolton marched into the office of its boss to inform him that he would be fired.
"He told me I had 24 hours to resign," said José Bustani, who was director general of the agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. "And if I didn’t I would have to face the consequences."
Mr. Bolton, then an under secretary of state and later the American ambassador to the United Nations, told Mr. Bustani that the Bush administration was unhappy with his management style.
But Mr. Bustani, 68, who had been re-elected unanimously just 11 months earlier, refused, and weeks later, on April 22, 2002, he was ousted in a special session of the 145-nation chemical weapons watchdog.
The story behind his ouster has been the subject of interpretation and speculation for years, and Mr. Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat, has kept a low profile since then. But with the agency thrust into the spotlight with news of the Nobel Prize last week, Mr. Bustani agreed to discuss what he said was the real reason: the Bush administration’s fear that chemical weapons inspections in Iraq would conflict with Washington’s rationale for invading it. Several officials involved in the events, some speaking publicly about them for the first time, confirmed his account.
Mr. Bolton insists that Mr. Bustani was ousted for incompetence. In a telephone interview on Friday, he confirmed that he had confronted Mr. Bustani. “I told him if he left voluntarily we would give him a gracious and dignified exit,” he said.
As Mr. Bustani tells the story, the campaign against him began in late 2001, after Iraq and Libya had indicated that they wanted to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, the international treaty that the watchdog agency oversees. To join, countries have to provide a list of stockpiles and agree to the inspection and destruction of weapons, as Syria did last month after applying. Inspectors from the agency were making plans to visit Iraq in late January 2002, he said.
"We had a lot of discussions because we knew it would be difficult," Mr. Bustani, who is now Brazil’s ambassador to France, said Friday in his embassy office in Paris. The plans, which he had conveyed to a number of countries, "caused an uproar in Washington," he said. Soon, he was receiving warnings from American and other diplomats.
"By the end of December 2001, it became evident that the Americans were serious about getting rid of me," he said. "People were telling me, ‘They want your head.’ "
Mr. Bolton called on Mr. Bustani a second time. “I tried to persuade him not to put the organization through the vote,” Mr. Bolton said.
But still Mr. Bustani refused, and his fate was sealed. The United States had marshaled its allies, and at an extraordinary session, Mr. Bustani was ousted by a vote of 48 to 7, with 43 abstentions. He was reportedly the first head of an international organization to be pushed out of office this way, and some diplomats said the pressure campaign had made them uneasy.
Mr. Bolton’s office had also circulated a document that accused Mr. Bustani of abrasive conduct and taking “ill-considered initiatives” without consulting with the United States and other member nations, diplomats said.
But Mr. Bustani and some senior officials, both in Brazil and the United States, say Washington acted because it believed that the organization under Mr. Bustani threatened to become an obstacle to the administration’s plans to invade Iraq. As justification, Washington was claiming that Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, possessed chemical weapons, but Mr. Bustani said his own experts had told him that those weapons were destroyed in the 1990s, after the Persian Gulf war.
"Everybody knew there weren’t any," he said. "An inspection would make it obvious there were no weapons to destroy. This would completely nullify the decision to invade."
Mr. Bolton disputed that account. “He made that argument after we invaded,” he said. Twice during the interview, Mr. Bolton said, “The kind of person who believes that argument is the kind who puts tin foil on his ears to ward off cosmic waves.”
But diplomats in The Hague said officials in Washington had circulated a document saying that the chemical weapons watchdog under Mr. Bustani was seeking an “inappropriate role in Iraq,” which was really a matter for the United Nations Security Council.
Speaking from São Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday, Celso Lafer, the former Brazilian foreign minister, said that in early 2002, he was asked to meet privately with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who a year earlier had praised Mr. Bustani’s leadership in a letter.
Mr. Lafer said Mr. Powell told him, ” ‘I have people in the administration who don’t want Bustani to stay, and my role is to inform you of this.’ “
"It was a complicated process," Mr. Lafer recalled, "with the United States and particularly John Bolton and Donald Rumsfeld wanting the head of Bustani."
"My view," he continued, "is that the neocons wanted the freedom to act without multilateral constraints and, with Bustani wanting to act with more independence, this would limit their freedom of action."
Getting Mr. Bustani fired took some doing. Washington failed to obtain a no-confidence motion from the chemical weapons watchdog’s executive council. Then the United States, which was responsible for 22 percent of the agency’s budget at the time, threatened to cut off its financing and warned that several other countries, including Japan, would follow suit, diplomats have said.
Mr. Bustani recalled that the ambassador from Britain, one of the agency’s most committed member nations, told him that London had sent instructions to vote with Washington. With the United States and Japan covering almost half the budget, the organization ran the risk of collapsing, Mr. Bustani said.
On Friday, while fielding a flow of messages in his office, Mr. Bustani said he felt gratified about the Nobel Prize news and did not regret his days at the agency.
He reflected on the contrast between Iraq and Syria. Inspectors from the agency are there now, cataloging the government’s stockpiles of chemical weapons as a step forward in Syria’s civil war, now in its third year.
"In 2002, the U.S. was determined to oppose Iraq joining the convention against the weapons, which it did not even have," he said. "This time, joining the convention and having the inspectors present is part of the Syrian peace plan. It is such a fundamental shift."
PARIS—More than a decade before the international agency that monitors chemical weapons won the Nobel Peace Prize, John R. Bolton marched into the office of its boss to inform him that he would be fired.
"He told me I had 24 hours to resign," said José Bustani, who was director general of the agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. "And if I didn’t I would have to face the consequences."
Mr. Bolton, then an under secretary of state and later the American ambassador to the United Nations, told Mr. Bustani that the Bush administration was unhappy with his management style.
But Mr. Bustani, 68, who had been re-elected unanimously just 11 months earlier, refused, and weeks later, on April 22, 2002, he was ousted in a special session of the 145-nation chemical weapons watchdog.
The story behind his ouster has been the subject of interpretation and speculation for years, and Mr. Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat, has kept a low profile since then. But with the agency thrust into the spotlight with news of the Nobel Prize last week, Mr. Bustani agreed to discuss what he said was the real reason: the Bush administration’s fear that chemical weapons inspections in Iraq would conflict with Washington’s rationale for invading it. Several officials involved in the events, some speaking publicly about them for the first time, confirmed his account.
Mr. Bolton insists that Mr. Bustani was ousted for incompetence. In a telephone interview on Friday, he confirmed that he had confronted Mr. Bustani. “I told him if he left voluntarily we would give him a gracious and dignified exit,” he said.
As Mr. Bustani tells the story, the campaign against him began in late 2001, after Iraq and Libya had indicated that they wanted to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, the international treaty that the watchdog agency oversees. To join, countries have to provide a list of stockpiles and agree to the inspection and destruction of weapons, as Syria did last month after applying. Inspectors from the agency were making plans to visit Iraq in late January 2002, he said.
"We had a lot of discussions because we knew it would be difficult," Mr. Bustani, who is now Brazil’s ambassador to France, said Friday in his embassy office in Paris. The plans, which he had conveyed to a number of countries, "caused an uproar in Washington," he said. Soon, he was receiving warnings from American and other diplomats.
"By the end of December 2001, it became evident that the Americans were serious about getting rid of me," he said. "People were telling me, ‘They want your head.’ "
Mr. Bolton called on Mr. Bustani a second time. “I tried to persuade him not to put the organization through the vote,” Mr. Bolton said.
But still Mr. Bustani refused, and his fate was sealed. The United States had marshaled its allies, and at an extraordinary session, Mr. Bustani was ousted by a vote of 48 to 7, with 43 abstentions. He was reportedly the first head of an international organization to be pushed out of office this way, and some diplomats said the pressure campaign had made them uneasy.
Mr. Bolton’s office had also circulated a document that accused Mr. Bustani of abrasive conduct and taking “ill-considered initiatives” without consulting with the United States and other member nations, diplomats said.
But Mr. Bustani and some senior officials, both in Brazil and the United States, say Washington acted because it believed that the organization under Mr. Bustani threatened to become an obstacle to the administration’s plans to invade Iraq. As justification, Washington was claiming that Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, possessed chemical weapons, but Mr. Bustani said his own experts had told him that those weapons were destroyed in the 1990s, after the Persian Gulf war.
"Everybody knew there weren’t any," he said. "An inspection would make it obvious there were no weapons to destroy. This would completely nullify the decision to invade."
Mr. Bolton disputed that account. “He made that argument after we invaded,” he said. Twice during the interview, Mr. Bolton said, “The kind of person who believes that argument is the kind who puts tin foil on his ears to ward off cosmic waves.”
But diplomats in The Hague said officials in Washington had circulated a document saying that the chemical weapons watchdog under Mr. Bustani was seeking an “inappropriate role in Iraq,” which was really a matter for the United Nations Security Council.
Speaking from São Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday, Celso Lafer, the former Brazilian foreign minister, said that in early 2002, he was asked to meet privately with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who a year earlier had praised Mr. Bustani’s leadership in a letter.
Mr. Lafer said Mr. Powell told him, ” ‘I have people in the administration who don’t want Bustani to stay, and my role is to inform you of this.’ “
"It was a complicated process," Mr. Lafer recalled, "with the United States and particularly John Bolton and Donald Rumsfeld wanting the head of Bustani."
"My view," he continued, "is that the neocons wanted the freedom to act without multilateral constraints and, with Bustani wanting to act with more independence, this would limit their freedom of action."
Getting Mr. Bustani fired took some doing. Washington failed to obtain a no-confidence motion from the chemical weapons watchdog’s executive council. Then the United States, which was responsible for 22 percent of the agency’s budget at the time, threatened to cut off its financing and warned that several other countries, including Japan, would follow suit, diplomats have said.
Mr. Bustani recalled that the ambassador from Britain, one of the agency’s most committed member nations, told him that London had sent instructions to vote with Washington. With the United States and Japan covering almost half the budget, the organization ran the risk of collapsing, Mr. Bustani said.
On Friday, while fielding a flow of messages in his office, Mr. Bustani said he felt gratified about the Nobel Prize news and did not regret his days at the agency.
He reflected on the contrast between Iraq and Syria. Inspectors from the agency are there now, cataloging the government’s stockpiles of chemical weapons as a step forward in Syria’s civil war, now in its third year.
"In 2002, the U.S. was determined to oppose Iraq joining the convention against the weapons, which it did not even have," he said. "This time, joining the convention and having the inspectors present is part of the Syrian peace plan. It is such a fundamental shift."
Alabama Homeschooling Family Sends Six of Ten Children to College By Age Twelve
By Heather Clark, Christian News , Oct. 13, 2013
MONTGOMERY—A homeschooling family from Montgomery, Alabama is wowing many across the nation as six of their ten children have enrolled in college by the age of twelve, and the four remaining hope to do the same.
Kip and Mona Lisa Harding state that they are simply raising the “average family,” but credit their children’s success to homeschooling and encouraging their children to pursue their passions at a young age.
"We just felt like it was our responsibility," mother Mona Lisa told reporters about the decision to homeschool. "That’s a big choice, and [we] wanted to be totally in control and make sure they had the right upbringing, and they accelerated because of it."
When asked what she is doing that her friends are not, 10-year-old Katrinnah replied, “I guess I’m staying home instead of going to school, and I’m doing it faster.”
She hopes to take her college entrance exams next year.
Her 12-year-old brother, Seth, attends Faulkner University and is studying the Middle Ages.
"He’s got the highest average in the class," assistant professor Grover Plunkett told NBC reporter Bob Dotson.
Seth’s brother, Keith, 14, is a senior at Faulkner University and is a music major.
The four oldest Harding children have all graduated from college and are pursuing lucrative careers.
Heath Harding, now 17, was the youngest student ever to graduate from Huntingdon College. He graduated at 15 went on to obtain a master’s degree in computer science.
His sister Serennah, 22, is the youngest female physician in the U.S., and is pursuing a career as a Navy doctor.
Rosannah, 20, has been working as an architect since she was 18. She credits homeschooling and studying on her own for her success.
"We just [studied] at our own pace," she told reporters. "Rather than a class of 30, we were a class of three. So, we each did it at our own pace and we just accelerated."
His sister Hannah, 25, is now designing spacecraft as a mechanical engineer and holds masters degrees in math and computer science.
While some may assume that the Harding family is all work and no play, the parents beg to differ. They state that outside of their accelerated learning, their children have normal social lives.
"All our children would have to tells us is, ‘You know, this isn’t fun anymore,’" Mona Lisa stated, "and we’d do something about that."
Her husband Kip agrees. He said that all children can succeed in life.
"It’s not genes," he said. "All children are a national treasure, and all parents can do this."
The family is now creating software to help other parents learn how to help their children excel in their studies. But Kip says that there is more to successful parenting than just encouraging one’s children in their thirst for knowledge.
"Love those kids," he said. "Be around them as much as you can. Be that influence for your kids. … People just really need to take charge of their kids and love them to death."
MONTGOMERY—A homeschooling family from Montgomery, Alabama is wowing many across the nation as six of their ten children have enrolled in college by the age of twelve, and the four remaining hope to do the same.
Kip and Mona Lisa Harding state that they are simply raising the “average family,” but credit their children’s success to homeschooling and encouraging their children to pursue their passions at a young age.
"We just felt like it was our responsibility," mother Mona Lisa told reporters about the decision to homeschool. "That’s a big choice, and [we] wanted to be totally in control and make sure they had the right upbringing, and they accelerated because of it."
When asked what she is doing that her friends are not, 10-year-old Katrinnah replied, “I guess I’m staying home instead of going to school, and I’m doing it faster.”
She hopes to take her college entrance exams next year.
Her 12-year-old brother, Seth, attends Faulkner University and is studying the Middle Ages.
"He’s got the highest average in the class," assistant professor Grover Plunkett told NBC reporter Bob Dotson.
Seth’s brother, Keith, 14, is a senior at Faulkner University and is a music major.
The four oldest Harding children have all graduated from college and are pursuing lucrative careers.
Heath Harding, now 17, was the youngest student ever to graduate from Huntingdon College. He graduated at 15 went on to obtain a master’s degree in computer science.
His sister Serennah, 22, is the youngest female physician in the U.S., and is pursuing a career as a Navy doctor.
Rosannah, 20, has been working as an architect since she was 18. She credits homeschooling and studying on her own for her success.
"We just [studied] at our own pace," she told reporters. "Rather than a class of 30, we were a class of three. So, we each did it at our own pace and we just accelerated."
His sister Hannah, 25, is now designing spacecraft as a mechanical engineer and holds masters degrees in math and computer science.
While some may assume that the Harding family is all work and no play, the parents beg to differ. They state that outside of their accelerated learning, their children have normal social lives.
"All our children would have to tells us is, ‘You know, this isn’t fun anymore,’" Mona Lisa stated, "and we’d do something about that."
Her husband Kip agrees. He said that all children can succeed in life.
"It’s not genes," he said. "All children are a national treasure, and all parents can do this."
The family is now creating software to help other parents learn how to help their children excel in their studies. But Kip says that there is more to successful parenting than just encouraging one’s children in their thirst for knowledge.
"Love those kids," he said. "Be around them as much as you can. Be that influence for your kids. … People just really need to take charge of their kids and love them to death."
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Values, Life Lessons, and Truths
Laying a strong foundation for your children
A compilation
Ten Bible verses I want my children to know
I look into [my children’s] faces and hear their melodious laughter and … I want more than the world for them. I want the eternal world for them. [Then] I jolt back to my own experiences and reality. The hurts… The pain from a divorce. The consequences of bad choices that are always forgiven but can still haunt me on the days I forget who I am in Him. I realize at this moment when the innocent and authentic collide that I can’t keep [my children] in a bubble. They’re going to be hurt... They will make bad choices.
Much will change as they grow older, and unfortunately, it’s inevitable that the innocence will begin to chip away. But what won’t change? His truths. He was and is and is to come. He’s the same. Always.The comfort this brings me is overwhelming. So while I believe ALL of scripture is sacred and God-breathed, there are some verses I want my kids to have memorized before they leave my nest.
1. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”—Hebrews 13:5
2. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.—Psalm 139:13–14
3. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.—Hebrews 11:1
4. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.—Joshua 1:9
5. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.—Jeremiah 31:3
6. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.—Proverbs 15:1
7. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.—Matthew 5:23–24
8. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!—2 Corinthians 5:17
9. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28
10. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.—Galatians 5:22–231
—Natalie Snapp2
*
From father to child: valuable life lessons
Seven essential life lessons that every dad should share, no matter what his children's ages:
Be curious. Kids are innately curious—but in our rush to get wherever we're going, we fathers are always urging them to move along. Nothing will better unite you with your children—and better prepare them for life—than sharing mutual wonder and the urge to explore. Maybe there is an interesting insect or a beautiful flower in your backyard. Get down on your knees and examine it closely; look it up in the encyclopedia or on the Internet. Try to figure out how any type of machine works.
Be generous. Not just with money—but with time, possessions, and love. The spirit of generosity will teach your children empathy, helping them feel concern for those around them.
Admit when you're wrong. If you don't act as though you're perfect, your children will know that they don't have to be perfect either.
Be willing to fail. The kite crashes; a repair doesn't work; the puzzle pieces won't fit together. So what? You've shown your kids that it's important to try new things, regardless of how they turn out.
Be spontaneous. While it is fine to be organized, it also creates pressure to do things in certain ways. This takes some joy out of life. Teach your kids that it's okay to abandon plans when something else comes along.
Embrace spirituality. Encourage your children to cultivate their sense of awe and wonder—not once a week, but all the time. Spirituality is like a muscle—you have to use it frequently to make it stronger.
Respect your body. Good health is important. Lead by example. Let your kids see you exercising (encourage them to join in), eating a healthful diet, and generally living a clean life.—Joe Kita3
*
Family values
[We] asked: What are our values as a family? What do we really believe? What is important to us? We came up with four words: gratitude, generosity, humility, and courage. We determined that we want those four values to define who we are as a family, and for Parker [my oldest son] and I, who we are as men.
So, I am always conscious of how do we cultivate gratitude. How do we model generosity? How do we stay humble and keep learning and stay hungry for more of God? And how do we live courageously? You cannot obey the will of God and not be courageous. That’s why God said to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous,” because if you are going to experience and stake claim to the promises of God, you are going to have to be courageous.
Those four words are words that begin to define us as a family. They are things I want to impress upon my children.—Mark Batterson4
*
If you haven’t done this already, it’s a good idea to give some thought to what your personal or family core values are—to determine the ideals that fundamentally guide your personal choices, that represent the Christ-life and integrity that you want to demonstrate, and that you feel will lead to your having a full and purposeful life.
There are any number of ways to express your personal values and priorities. Some people do it in list form, keeping the points brief. Others write a personal mission statement. Some express what they feel identifies them as a person, the aspects of their life and goals that are most important to them.
Even if you haven’t previously given this serious thought, everybody has values or principles that fundamentally play into their decisions and thought processes, even subconsciously, and that are part of making them who they are, that form the fiber of their character. If you give this some thought and prayer, you’ll probably be able to recognize certain threads in your actions and thinking, points that you continually factor in to your decisions or base your decisions on, and this can help you to identify what values are core to you.
You might also recognize some points that you haven’t given the proper priority to, or factors that need more consideration, and you can adjust accordingly. If you haven’t done this before, then your list of values might be a work in progress; you might redefine it as time passes.
If we follow the thinking that the values in Matthew 22:37–40 are at the center of all we say, do, and believe, the basis for our choices … then any values springing from those two commandments will be in harmony with each other.—Peter Amsterdam5
*
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”—Matthew 22:37–406
*
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.—Deuteronomy 6:6–77
Published on Anchor October 2013. Read by Debra Lee.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
1 The scriptures in this article are from the New International Version (NIV).
2 Excerpted from http://mommyonfire.com/2012/08/14/10-bible-verses-i-want-my-children-to-know.
3 The Bottom Line, June 15, 2001.
4 "Parenting 101," a talk given at the National Community Church, February 27, 2011.
5 Originally published May 2010.
6 NKJ.
7 ESV.
A compilation
Ten Bible verses I want my children to know
I look into [my children’s] faces and hear their melodious laughter and … I want more than the world for them. I want the eternal world for them. [Then] I jolt back to my own experiences and reality. The hurts… The pain from a divorce. The consequences of bad choices that are always forgiven but can still haunt me on the days I forget who I am in Him. I realize at this moment when the innocent and authentic collide that I can’t keep [my children] in a bubble. They’re going to be hurt... They will make bad choices.
Much will change as they grow older, and unfortunately, it’s inevitable that the innocence will begin to chip away. But what won’t change? His truths. He was and is and is to come. He’s the same. Always.The comfort this brings me is overwhelming. So while I believe ALL of scripture is sacred and God-breathed, there are some verses I want my kids to have memorized before they leave my nest.
1. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”—Hebrews 13:5
2. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.—Psalm 139:13–14
3. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.—Hebrews 11:1
4. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.—Joshua 1:9
5. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.—Jeremiah 31:3
6. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.—Proverbs 15:1
7. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.—Matthew 5:23–24
8. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!—2 Corinthians 5:17
9. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28
10. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.—Galatians 5:22–231
—Natalie Snapp2
*
From father to child: valuable life lessons
Seven essential life lessons that every dad should share, no matter what his children's ages:
Be curious. Kids are innately curious—but in our rush to get wherever we're going, we fathers are always urging them to move along. Nothing will better unite you with your children—and better prepare them for life—than sharing mutual wonder and the urge to explore. Maybe there is an interesting insect or a beautiful flower in your backyard. Get down on your knees and examine it closely; look it up in the encyclopedia or on the Internet. Try to figure out how any type of machine works.
Be generous. Not just with money—but with time, possessions, and love. The spirit of generosity will teach your children empathy, helping them feel concern for those around them.
Admit when you're wrong. If you don't act as though you're perfect, your children will know that they don't have to be perfect either.
Be willing to fail. The kite crashes; a repair doesn't work; the puzzle pieces won't fit together. So what? You've shown your kids that it's important to try new things, regardless of how they turn out.
Be spontaneous. While it is fine to be organized, it also creates pressure to do things in certain ways. This takes some joy out of life. Teach your kids that it's okay to abandon plans when something else comes along.
Embrace spirituality. Encourage your children to cultivate their sense of awe and wonder—not once a week, but all the time. Spirituality is like a muscle—you have to use it frequently to make it stronger.
Respect your body. Good health is important. Lead by example. Let your kids see you exercising (encourage them to join in), eating a healthful diet, and generally living a clean life.—Joe Kita3
*
Family values
[We] asked: What are our values as a family? What do we really believe? What is important to us? We came up with four words: gratitude, generosity, humility, and courage. We determined that we want those four values to define who we are as a family, and for Parker [my oldest son] and I, who we are as men.
So, I am always conscious of how do we cultivate gratitude. How do we model generosity? How do we stay humble and keep learning and stay hungry for more of God? And how do we live courageously? You cannot obey the will of God and not be courageous. That’s why God said to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous,” because if you are going to experience and stake claim to the promises of God, you are going to have to be courageous.
Those four words are words that begin to define us as a family. They are things I want to impress upon my children.—Mark Batterson4
*
If you haven’t done this already, it’s a good idea to give some thought to what your personal or family core values are—to determine the ideals that fundamentally guide your personal choices, that represent the Christ-life and integrity that you want to demonstrate, and that you feel will lead to your having a full and purposeful life.
There are any number of ways to express your personal values and priorities. Some people do it in list form, keeping the points brief. Others write a personal mission statement. Some express what they feel identifies them as a person, the aspects of their life and goals that are most important to them.
Even if you haven’t previously given this serious thought, everybody has values or principles that fundamentally play into their decisions and thought processes, even subconsciously, and that are part of making them who they are, that form the fiber of their character. If you give this some thought and prayer, you’ll probably be able to recognize certain threads in your actions and thinking, points that you continually factor in to your decisions or base your decisions on, and this can help you to identify what values are core to you.
You might also recognize some points that you haven’t given the proper priority to, or factors that need more consideration, and you can adjust accordingly. If you haven’t done this before, then your list of values might be a work in progress; you might redefine it as time passes.
If we follow the thinking that the values in Matthew 22:37–40 are at the center of all we say, do, and believe, the basis for our choices … then any values springing from those two commandments will be in harmony with each other.—Peter Amsterdam5
*
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”—Matthew 22:37–406
*
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.—Deuteronomy 6:6–77
Published on Anchor October 2013. Read by Debra Lee.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
1 The scriptures in this article are from the New International Version (NIV).
2 Excerpted from http://mommyonfire.com/2012/08/14/10-bible-verses-i-want-my-children-to-know.
3 The Bottom Line, June 15, 2001.
4 "Parenting 101," a talk given at the National Community Church, February 27, 2011.
5 Originally published May 2010.
6 NKJ.
7 ESV.
Letter to a Laborer
By D.Brandt Berg
Dear One,
Greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Thank you so much for your life story.
We’re sorry about all the troubles you’ve had, but are very thankful that you love the Lord and are trying your best to serve Him. We’re sure you’ve been a real blessing in the many ways in which you’ve helped others and are now helping the ministry there.
We want to thank you for being a faithful messenger and good steward of the Lord’s business, and we hope you can continue to be so as long as the Lord so leads, and that you’ll be happy in His service.
We love you and are praying for you that you’ll find your place where you can be content and feel fulfilled and satisfied with your tasks, however humble they may be. You are a great help and much neededwhere you are.
Remember that not all voices are of God, and you must “try the spirits”1 to make sure that what you’re hearing is of the Lord. If it is not according to His Word or causes you to be discontent, bitter, dissatisfied, unhappy, or critical of others—these things are not of the Lord, and you must rebuke the Enemy in Jesus’ name when he tempts you with these negative thoughts.
One of your best protections is to keep busy for God and obedient to Him, and also to fill your mind and heart with positive, encouraging, strengthening and faith-building thoughts from His Word, remembering, memorizing, and continually quoting to yourself and even to the Enemy when he attacks you, claiming such promises of God constantly as you cling to His Word.
Some scriptures which have been a great blessing to me in times of distress, mental anguish, doubts and fears and battles with the Enemy have been those like: “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”2 “There is nofear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear.”3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee.”4
“For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”5 “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”6 “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”7
The Twenty-third Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer have always been a great comfort to me in time of need, to know that the Lord would never leave nor forsake me nor leave me comfortless.8 And I am always convicted by that part: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,”9 and where Jesus said we know that “If we forgivenot others their trespasses, neither will our Father in heaven forgive us.”10
So we must ask Him in all humility to help us have mercy on others, knowing that we ourselves must also be forgiven for many sins. Remembering continually what sinners weare and how many mistakes we’ve made helps greatly to keep us humble and to avoid that spirit of self-righteous pride which causes us to criticize and condemn others.
It helps to always remember we’re all sinners and that we all make mistakes and that we must “forgive one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us.”11 “For it is no longer you that live but Christ that lives in you, for you are now dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.”12
You don’t have to offer God your life, for He has already taken it. When you yielded on His altar of sacrifice and asked Him to take it, He did, and He’s been trying to use it for His glory ever since, as much as you will let Him!
So keep it that way; it’s in His hands. You are His and He loves you and is doing His best for you in trying to make you useful and happy in His service for others, so that you might bring them life and happiness as you have found it in Jesus.
Stay close to Him and He’ll never fail you. He’ll never forsake you. He’ll never let you down. Even though He may not always answer just the way we’d like, keep trusting Him and He’ll never fail.
Keep loving others and they will love you. Keep serving Jesus and He’ll serve you—well! “When the Enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”13 “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”14
Also remember: “One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight,”15 and it helps greatly to have someone else pray with you when you feel oppressed or distressed or attacked by the Enemy. “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”16 And, “If any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”17
So there is great power in united prayer together. Never be ashamed to ask for help or prayer when you need it. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”18
Meanwhile, despise not the day of small things19 or whatever humble tasks the Lord may call you to perform. The less responsibility you have, the less you will be held responsible for; but if you are faithful in the small things, the Lord will commit greater things to your care when you have proven that you can be trusted with them. Remember that “It is better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”20
In the meantime, “In everything give thanks.” Be thankful for all things,21 and “in whatsoever state you’re in,” whether “abounding or abased,”22 be thankful for your many blessings and that Jesus loves you and your loved one loves you. We are praying for you that you’ll make it by continuing to be faithful—full of faith and love in Jesus.
God bless and keep you and make you a blessing.
Originally published January 1975. Updated and republished October 2013.
Read by Simon Peterson.
1 1 John 4:1.
2 2 Timothy 1:7.
3 1 John 4:18.
4 Isaiah 26:3.
5 Hebrews 12:3.
6 Romans 12:1.
7 Romans 12:2.
8 Hebrews 13:5; John 14:18.
9 Matthew 6:12.
10 Matthew 6:15.
11 Ephesians 4:32.
12 Colossians 3:3.
13 Isaiah 59:19.
14 James 4:7.
15 Deuteronomy 32:30.
16 Matthew 18:20.
17 Matthew 18:19.
18 James 5:16.
19 Zechariah 4:10.
20 Psalm 84:10.
21 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
22 Philippians 4:11–12.
Dear One,
Greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Thank you so much for your life story.
We’re sorry about all the troubles you’ve had, but are very thankful that you love the Lord and are trying your best to serve Him. We’re sure you’ve been a real blessing in the many ways in which you’ve helped others and are now helping the ministry there.
We want to thank you for being a faithful messenger and good steward of the Lord’s business, and we hope you can continue to be so as long as the Lord so leads, and that you’ll be happy in His service.
We love you and are praying for you that you’ll find your place where you can be content and feel fulfilled and satisfied with your tasks, however humble they may be. You are a great help and much neededwhere you are.
Remember that not all voices are of God, and you must “try the spirits”1 to make sure that what you’re hearing is of the Lord. If it is not according to His Word or causes you to be discontent, bitter, dissatisfied, unhappy, or critical of others—these things are not of the Lord, and you must rebuke the Enemy in Jesus’ name when he tempts you with these negative thoughts.
One of your best protections is to keep busy for God and obedient to Him, and also to fill your mind and heart with positive, encouraging, strengthening and faith-building thoughts from His Word, remembering, memorizing, and continually quoting to yourself and even to the Enemy when he attacks you, claiming such promises of God constantly as you cling to His Word.
Some scriptures which have been a great blessing to me in times of distress, mental anguish, doubts and fears and battles with the Enemy have been those like: “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”2 “There is nofear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear.”3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee.”4
“For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”5 “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”6 “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”7
The Twenty-third Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer have always been a great comfort to me in time of need, to know that the Lord would never leave nor forsake me nor leave me comfortless.8 And I am always convicted by that part: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,”9 and where Jesus said we know that “If we forgivenot others their trespasses, neither will our Father in heaven forgive us.”10
So we must ask Him in all humility to help us have mercy on others, knowing that we ourselves must also be forgiven for many sins. Remembering continually what sinners weare and how many mistakes we’ve made helps greatly to keep us humble and to avoid that spirit of self-righteous pride which causes us to criticize and condemn others.
It helps to always remember we’re all sinners and that we all make mistakes and that we must “forgive one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us.”11 “For it is no longer you that live but Christ that lives in you, for you are now dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.”12
You don’t have to offer God your life, for He has already taken it. When you yielded on His altar of sacrifice and asked Him to take it, He did, and He’s been trying to use it for His glory ever since, as much as you will let Him!
So keep it that way; it’s in His hands. You are His and He loves you and is doing His best for you in trying to make you useful and happy in His service for others, so that you might bring them life and happiness as you have found it in Jesus.
Stay close to Him and He’ll never fail you. He’ll never forsake you. He’ll never let you down. Even though He may not always answer just the way we’d like, keep trusting Him and He’ll never fail.
Keep loving others and they will love you. Keep serving Jesus and He’ll serve you—well! “When the Enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”13 “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”14
Also remember: “One can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight,”15 and it helps greatly to have someone else pray with you when you feel oppressed or distressed or attacked by the Enemy. “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”16 And, “If any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”17
So there is great power in united prayer together. Never be ashamed to ask for help or prayer when you need it. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”18
Meanwhile, despise not the day of small things19 or whatever humble tasks the Lord may call you to perform. The less responsibility you have, the less you will be held responsible for; but if you are faithful in the small things, the Lord will commit greater things to your care when you have proven that you can be trusted with them. Remember that “It is better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”20
In the meantime, “In everything give thanks.” Be thankful for all things,21 and “in whatsoever state you’re in,” whether “abounding or abased,”22 be thankful for your many blessings and that Jesus loves you and your loved one loves you. We are praying for you that you’ll make it by continuing to be faithful—full of faith and love in Jesus.
God bless and keep you and make you a blessing.
Originally published January 1975. Updated and republished October 2013.
Read by Simon Peterson.
1 1 John 4:1.
2 2 Timothy 1:7.
3 1 John 4:18.
4 Isaiah 26:3.
5 Hebrews 12:3.
6 Romans 12:1.
7 Romans 12:2.
8 Hebrews 13:5; John 14:18.
9 Matthew 6:12.
10 Matthew 6:15.
11 Ephesians 4:32.
12 Colossians 3:3.
13 Isaiah 59:19.
14 James 4:7.
15 Deuteronomy 32:30.
16 Matthew 18:20.
17 Matthew 18:19.
18 James 5:16.
19 Zechariah 4:10.
20 Psalm 84:10.
21 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
22 Philippians 4:11–12.
