Neurosurgeon Stuns Nation!!! Dr. Benjamin Carson
Friday, February 7, 2014
We Have a Lot to Learn
By D Berg
It’s good to make mistakes; it keeps you humble. I make lots of them. If we did not make some mistakes, we’d probably get really proud of our sanctimonious holiness. But it seems that the Lord allows us to make mistakes to keep us humble.
Even the apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, which he said he figured was to keep him humble.1 He was a pretty proud guy to begin with, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a rabbi. After his tremendous conversion, which helped to humble him, even being blind for a while, then he became a Christian and a powerhouse for the Lord and such an evangelist and a missionary. He even had revelations. He might have gotten pretty proud about being such an outstanding Christian, undoubtedly the greatest of the apostles.
The Catholic Church tries to make Peter the greatest, and he was wonderful. He was always bold, but he was also brash, impulsive, and impetuous. Peter always reminded me of King David—they made mistakes, but that’s one thing the Lord uses to help keep you humble. That always gave me a lot of hope for myself.
Paul said he figured that’s why he had that thorn in the flesh. We’re not exactly told what it was, but we assume from other scriptures about, “Behold with what large characters I write unto you” and “Some of you would have given me your own eyes,” that he had very poor eyesight, and that could have been a part of his thorn in the flesh.2
Paul had to admit he was being plagued by a demon, “buffeted about by a messenger of Satan.” Here he was, the greatest leader of the Christian faith, greatest missionary, evangelist, teacher, and rabbi; it seemed like he had it all. He’d had all kinds of revelations, he was a lawyer of the Word, he was brilliant, he had everything! And yet he had this thorn in the flesh. The Bible says he was buffeted by a messenger of Satan. A messenger of Satan, an evil spirit plagued Paul.3 He was pestered by it; it just kept bothering him.
Christ has promised He will never leave nor forsake us. He will never allow us to fall; we will always be His. All kinds of promises guarantee that you belong to Jesus and that the Devil cannot have you. But he sure as hell can pester you, tempt you, and test you, just as he did Job.
Look at all the trouble he caused poor old Job! He destroyed his home, he destroyed his cattle, all his wealth, he killed all his children, and then he made him so sick his wife wished he’d curse God and die.4 But it finally humbled him. He thought he was pretty good up until that time; he thought he was pretty righteous, and he goes on arguing with his so-called “comforters.” They weren’t very comforting; they were constantly accusing him of some kind of sin. “You must have done something wrong or you wouldn’t be in this shape.”
Even God was bragging about Job, how good he was! But the Devil, he’s the prosecutor; he’s the Accuser of the Saints. He’s the detective, he is a snoop, and he noses around and finds what your weakness is and what your problem is, and he does his best to aggravate it. And what was dear Job’s problem? Self-righteousness.
One of his accusers really hit the nail on the head when he said, “Job, can a man be found to be righteous with God?”5 Job was contending and arguing that he was righteous and saying, “How come? Why me, Lord? Why did You do this to me when I’m so good?” He had been thinking he was pretty good, pretty righteous, and that in itself was a sin. Job seemed to be thinking: “God, if I were You, I wouldn’t do this to me. How come You’renot as righteous as I am? How come You’re doing these things to me when I’m so good?”
I’ve had people say, “Why don’t you just pray and ask the Lord to heal your eyes? He could give you perfect vision! Why don’t you just pray the Lord will give you perfect health and heal you so you’ll never get sick?” There are Christians who believe that you should never be poor, you should never be sick, you should never have any troubles, you should always be on top of everything. They preach abundance and affluence—they practice it too—perfect health and perfect wealth. I used to kind of annoy some of those preachers a little bit because I was always asking questions.
I said, “If poverty is a sin and sickness is a sign of sin, how come it says about Jesus that ‘though he was rich, yet he became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich’?6 You mean Jesus was a sinful, wicked man to become poor and take on poverty so we could be rich? And suffered in all these things as we do?”
Just think, the Lord of heaven, King of kings, Master of the universe, had to come down to earth and put on this ridiculous flesh, human flesh, subject to temptations in all points like as we are.7 It was like a king putting on a clown's suit! I like the way they portrayed that in that movie, “The Parable.” It was like the great King had come down and put on a clown's suit; ridiculous, to put on human flesh. And they made fun of Him, called Him all kinds of names, even jeered at Him when He was on the cross, while they were killing Him.
Being a human being is pretty humbling! You’re pretty dependent. I haven’t found one yet that didn’t have to have food. I never found any human being yet that didn’t have to eat and sleep to stay alive. Some people pride themselves on how long they can fast. There was quite a craze going in the United States for a while. Atomic Power with God Through Fasting and Prayer was the name of the book. You were supposed to earn gifts of the Spirit and power with God by how long you fasted. If you fasted five days you got this, and ten days you got that, and 30 days you got so-and-so, and after 40 days you became a prophet of God!
I never found a human being yet who could go without air. You’re dependent every minute on breathing. The New Testament uses the word “pneuma,” which we use for air. When you talk about pneumatic tires, pneumatic pumps, you’re saying air tires, air pumps. The Greek word is pneuma, and that’s the word the New Testament uses for spirit. Just as you can’t last very long without air, you wouldn’t last very long without your spirit either, and as a Christian, you’re not going to last very long without the Holy Spirit. You need air, you need your spirit, and you need the Holy Spirit. Some people have been known to have their spirits leave their bodies temporarily; the body was only dead for a little while and then they came back to life. But let me tell you, if the spirit hadn’t come back, the body would have stayed dead.
How do we know we’re not righteous? “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”8 “There is none righteous, no, not one.”9 Poor old Job had to finally confess that he wasn’t righteous. And he finally confessed that he had to just trust the Lord, not his own righteousness. When his wife told him to curse God and die, he said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”10 In other words, he was attesting to the righteousness of God. “Even if God kills me, I will trust that He knew best and that He was righteous in so doing.”
We’re all a mess! We’re all sinners! We’re all evil in our hearts except for the Lord. “The heart of man is desperately wicked; who can know it?”11 God’s Word says you’re even born in sin. It says, “And in sin did my mother conceive me.”12
If we didn’t have human frailty, human weaknesses to make wrong decisions and to fail, then there would not be the freedom of choice, the majesty of free will that God implanted in every heart, including, apparently, in the hearts of the angels, to make a choice, to voluntarily love and serve Him.
Jesus said, “I have not called you servants, but friends. For the Master doesn’t tell everything to His servants, His slaves.”13 He wanted us as friends. He wanted us as His beloved; not only friends, but His Bride.
Life is a learning process. And you don’t learn it by snapping your fingers or suddenly getting an injection. Or like you’ve seen in some of these science fiction movies where they put a skull cap on one guy and drain his brain and put all of his knowledge in someone else’s head. Wouldn’t that be nice? It would be so easy! But look what you would miss—this trial-and-error process, this trying-and-learning process.
Don’t you think God enjoys watching you learn things? Even by mistakes, trial and error? Don’t you learn things better that way? Isn’t experience really the best teacher? The learning process is a marvelous thing. That’s what we’re here for. Actually the Christian life is a constant learning process. I don’t mean you learn to be saved; you’re saved the minute you believe and Jesus comes into your heart. When you believe the Word and you receive Christ, you’re saved then and there! That’s a gift; you had nothing to do with learning it or earning it!
It’s a miracle of God. He does it all for you, He’s already done it, and it’s finished. But that is just the beginning of learning how to be a Christian and live a Christian life, to love others, and even how to love God and how to be faithful and how to be loyal, how to be diligent.
And oh my, then you have to die, and you’ve got a thousand years and all eternity to learn all the things you didn’t learn while you were a flesh-and-blood human being. I think God has an awful lot of things to teach us, all the things we didn’t learn in this life.
Not only life, but the Millennium and eternity are a constant learning process, another grade, another step. How could we possibly think we could just somehow get a shot in the head the minute we die and go to heaven and suddenly know it all? If it were that way we’d be God Himself. He’s the only one who is omniscient; that means He knows it all.He’s the only one that’s omnipresent; that means everywhere. He’s the only one that’somnipotent; that means all-powerful!
There are a lot of things there aren’t going to be any more of: pain, death, sickness and sorrow.14 He doesn’t say there’s not going to be any more tears, but He says He’s going towipe away our tears. Thank God, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for; there are going to be a lot of things done and finished that we’ll never have to worry about again. We’ll have so many new things to do and new things to learn that we can’t be weighed down with all those things we used to have.
So be thankful for the past, that it’s behind you. Be thankful for the present, that you’re learning, even if you’re not always successful. And thank God for the future, when you can finish the job, we hope, or at least keep on with the job and do even better.
Lord, thank You for the past, the present, and the future. Thank You for all Your blessings. Thank You for both the good and the bad, the bad that taught us things in the past, and all the good things, and for the present, Lord, the better things, and for the future, the best things.
Originally published June 1985. Adapted and republished February 2014 by TFI.
1 2 Corinthians 12:7.
2 Galatians 6:11; 4:15.
3 2 Corinthians 12:7.
4 Job 2:9.
5 Job 4:17.
6 2 Corinthians 8:9.
7 Hebrews 4:15.
8 Romans 3:23.
9 Romans 3:10.
10 Job 13:15.
11 Jeremiah 17:9.
12 Psalm 51:5.
13 John 15:15.
14 Revelation 21:4.
It’s good to make mistakes; it keeps you humble. I make lots of them. If we did not make some mistakes, we’d probably get really proud of our sanctimonious holiness. But it seems that the Lord allows us to make mistakes to keep us humble.
Even the apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, which he said he figured was to keep him humble.1 He was a pretty proud guy to begin with, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a rabbi. After his tremendous conversion, which helped to humble him, even being blind for a while, then he became a Christian and a powerhouse for the Lord and such an evangelist and a missionary. He even had revelations. He might have gotten pretty proud about being such an outstanding Christian, undoubtedly the greatest of the apostles.
The Catholic Church tries to make Peter the greatest, and he was wonderful. He was always bold, but he was also brash, impulsive, and impetuous. Peter always reminded me of King David—they made mistakes, but that’s one thing the Lord uses to help keep you humble. That always gave me a lot of hope for myself.
Paul said he figured that’s why he had that thorn in the flesh. We’re not exactly told what it was, but we assume from other scriptures about, “Behold with what large characters I write unto you” and “Some of you would have given me your own eyes,” that he had very poor eyesight, and that could have been a part of his thorn in the flesh.2
Paul had to admit he was being plagued by a demon, “buffeted about by a messenger of Satan.” Here he was, the greatest leader of the Christian faith, greatest missionary, evangelist, teacher, and rabbi; it seemed like he had it all. He’d had all kinds of revelations, he was a lawyer of the Word, he was brilliant, he had everything! And yet he had this thorn in the flesh. The Bible says he was buffeted by a messenger of Satan. A messenger of Satan, an evil spirit plagued Paul.3 He was pestered by it; it just kept bothering him.
Christ has promised He will never leave nor forsake us. He will never allow us to fall; we will always be His. All kinds of promises guarantee that you belong to Jesus and that the Devil cannot have you. But he sure as hell can pester you, tempt you, and test you, just as he did Job.
Look at all the trouble he caused poor old Job! He destroyed his home, he destroyed his cattle, all his wealth, he killed all his children, and then he made him so sick his wife wished he’d curse God and die.4 But it finally humbled him. He thought he was pretty good up until that time; he thought he was pretty righteous, and he goes on arguing with his so-called “comforters.” They weren’t very comforting; they were constantly accusing him of some kind of sin. “You must have done something wrong or you wouldn’t be in this shape.”
Even God was bragging about Job, how good he was! But the Devil, he’s the prosecutor; he’s the Accuser of the Saints. He’s the detective, he is a snoop, and he noses around and finds what your weakness is and what your problem is, and he does his best to aggravate it. And what was dear Job’s problem? Self-righteousness.
One of his accusers really hit the nail on the head when he said, “Job, can a man be found to be righteous with God?”5 Job was contending and arguing that he was righteous and saying, “How come? Why me, Lord? Why did You do this to me when I’m so good?” He had been thinking he was pretty good, pretty righteous, and that in itself was a sin. Job seemed to be thinking: “God, if I were You, I wouldn’t do this to me. How come You’renot as righteous as I am? How come You’re doing these things to me when I’m so good?”
I’ve had people say, “Why don’t you just pray and ask the Lord to heal your eyes? He could give you perfect vision! Why don’t you just pray the Lord will give you perfect health and heal you so you’ll never get sick?” There are Christians who believe that you should never be poor, you should never be sick, you should never have any troubles, you should always be on top of everything. They preach abundance and affluence—they practice it too—perfect health and perfect wealth. I used to kind of annoy some of those preachers a little bit because I was always asking questions.
I said, “If poverty is a sin and sickness is a sign of sin, how come it says about Jesus that ‘though he was rich, yet he became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich’?6 You mean Jesus was a sinful, wicked man to become poor and take on poverty so we could be rich? And suffered in all these things as we do?”
Just think, the Lord of heaven, King of kings, Master of the universe, had to come down to earth and put on this ridiculous flesh, human flesh, subject to temptations in all points like as we are.7 It was like a king putting on a clown's suit! I like the way they portrayed that in that movie, “The Parable.” It was like the great King had come down and put on a clown's suit; ridiculous, to put on human flesh. And they made fun of Him, called Him all kinds of names, even jeered at Him when He was on the cross, while they were killing Him.
Being a human being is pretty humbling! You’re pretty dependent. I haven’t found one yet that didn’t have to have food. I never found any human being yet that didn’t have to eat and sleep to stay alive. Some people pride themselves on how long they can fast. There was quite a craze going in the United States for a while. Atomic Power with God Through Fasting and Prayer was the name of the book. You were supposed to earn gifts of the Spirit and power with God by how long you fasted. If you fasted five days you got this, and ten days you got that, and 30 days you got so-and-so, and after 40 days you became a prophet of God!
I never found a human being yet who could go without air. You’re dependent every minute on breathing. The New Testament uses the word “pneuma,” which we use for air. When you talk about pneumatic tires, pneumatic pumps, you’re saying air tires, air pumps. The Greek word is pneuma, and that’s the word the New Testament uses for spirit. Just as you can’t last very long without air, you wouldn’t last very long without your spirit either, and as a Christian, you’re not going to last very long without the Holy Spirit. You need air, you need your spirit, and you need the Holy Spirit. Some people have been known to have their spirits leave their bodies temporarily; the body was only dead for a little while and then they came back to life. But let me tell you, if the spirit hadn’t come back, the body would have stayed dead.
How do we know we’re not righteous? “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”8 “There is none righteous, no, not one.”9 Poor old Job had to finally confess that he wasn’t righteous. And he finally confessed that he had to just trust the Lord, not his own righteousness. When his wife told him to curse God and die, he said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”10 In other words, he was attesting to the righteousness of God. “Even if God kills me, I will trust that He knew best and that He was righteous in so doing.”
We’re all a mess! We’re all sinners! We’re all evil in our hearts except for the Lord. “The heart of man is desperately wicked; who can know it?”11 God’s Word says you’re even born in sin. It says, “And in sin did my mother conceive me.”12
If we didn’t have human frailty, human weaknesses to make wrong decisions and to fail, then there would not be the freedom of choice, the majesty of free will that God implanted in every heart, including, apparently, in the hearts of the angels, to make a choice, to voluntarily love and serve Him.
Jesus said, “I have not called you servants, but friends. For the Master doesn’t tell everything to His servants, His slaves.”13 He wanted us as friends. He wanted us as His beloved; not only friends, but His Bride.
Life is a learning process. And you don’t learn it by snapping your fingers or suddenly getting an injection. Or like you’ve seen in some of these science fiction movies where they put a skull cap on one guy and drain his brain and put all of his knowledge in someone else’s head. Wouldn’t that be nice? It would be so easy! But look what you would miss—this trial-and-error process, this trying-and-learning process.
Don’t you think God enjoys watching you learn things? Even by mistakes, trial and error? Don’t you learn things better that way? Isn’t experience really the best teacher? The learning process is a marvelous thing. That’s what we’re here for. Actually the Christian life is a constant learning process. I don’t mean you learn to be saved; you’re saved the minute you believe and Jesus comes into your heart. When you believe the Word and you receive Christ, you’re saved then and there! That’s a gift; you had nothing to do with learning it or earning it!
It’s a miracle of God. He does it all for you, He’s already done it, and it’s finished. But that is just the beginning of learning how to be a Christian and live a Christian life, to love others, and even how to love God and how to be faithful and how to be loyal, how to be diligent.
And oh my, then you have to die, and you’ve got a thousand years and all eternity to learn all the things you didn’t learn while you were a flesh-and-blood human being. I think God has an awful lot of things to teach us, all the things we didn’t learn in this life.
Not only life, but the Millennium and eternity are a constant learning process, another grade, another step. How could we possibly think we could just somehow get a shot in the head the minute we die and go to heaven and suddenly know it all? If it were that way we’d be God Himself. He’s the only one who is omniscient; that means He knows it all.He’s the only one that’s omnipresent; that means everywhere. He’s the only one that’somnipotent; that means all-powerful!
There are a lot of things there aren’t going to be any more of: pain, death, sickness and sorrow.14 He doesn’t say there’s not going to be any more tears, but He says He’s going towipe away our tears. Thank God, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for; there are going to be a lot of things done and finished that we’ll never have to worry about again. We’ll have so many new things to do and new things to learn that we can’t be weighed down with all those things we used to have.
So be thankful for the past, that it’s behind you. Be thankful for the present, that you’re learning, even if you’re not always successful. And thank God for the future, when you can finish the job, we hope, or at least keep on with the job and do even better.
Lord, thank You for the past, the present, and the future. Thank You for all Your blessings. Thank You for both the good and the bad, the bad that taught us things in the past, and all the good things, and for the present, Lord, the better things, and for the future, the best things.
Originally published June 1985. Adapted and republished February 2014 by TFI.
1 2 Corinthians 12:7.
2 Galatians 6:11; 4:15.
3 2 Corinthians 12:7.
4 Job 2:9.
5 Job 4:17.
6 2 Corinthians 8:9.
7 Hebrews 4:15.
8 Romans 3:23.
9 Romans 3:10.
10 Job 13:15.
11 Jeremiah 17:9.
12 Psalm 51:5.
13 John 15:15.
14 Revelation 21:4.
Thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees coming to Christ
By Mark Ellis, Godreports, January 31, 2014
One result of the Syrian Civil War is that 2.1 million refugees have fled the violence and taken refuge in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, often living in miserable conditions. But Christian groups ministering to the exiles report thousands responding to the Good News about Jesus Christ.
“The people are very open to the Gospel,” says Steve Van Valkenburg, Middle East director for Christian Aid Mission. He has seen God moving among the refugees himself, and is also receiving reports from many of the indigenous church planting ministries supported by Christian Aid. “They are doing a great job of showing Christ’s love and compassion to the refugees,” he notes.
Many of the sojourners bear physical and emotional wounds and need someone with whom they can share their stories. If they go to a U.N. feeding center or large NGO and receive food, their deeper needs may not be met.
“The Christian emphasis is to hear them out, to listen and pray. Five years ago that wouldn’t happen. But now they are open and attracted by someone who cares. A lot of emotional and spiritual needs are being met by the Christian ministries that can’t be met by large NGOs or government agencies,” Van Valkenburg says.
In Iraq, 2,000 to 2,500 Syrian refugees have converted to Christ, according to reports received by Christian Aid. Ministries in Turkey and Lebanon are reporting hundreds of new converts. In 2013, there were 1,200 baptisms in Lebanon alone.
Some of the estimates go even higher. Another report Christian Aid received from Iraq estimates that 10,000 Muslim families have converted both in Syria and in countries around Syria. The typical family numbers four people.
“When they find God’s Word being preached and the Gospel shared, the authority of Jesus’ words touches their hearts. They don’t see a loving God in Islam. But now they see a God who cares for them and how they become His children.”
“Ideas like forgiveness that seem commonplace to us who have grown up with Christianity are revolutionary ideas to them,” Van Valkenburg adds.
Van Valkenburg doesn’t see an easy solution to the refugee problem on the near horizon. “Most Syrians are not going anyplace and may be around another five to 10 years,” he believes. “Some want to go back, but their houses are destroyed—it’s not realistic. Some of the areas will be uninhabitable for a long time.”
“As Christians, we don’t relish people suffering, but God is using this,” Van Valkenburg notes. “That’s true of disasters all over the world. God has a way of salvaging the worst situations and bringing some good out of it.”
One result of the Syrian Civil War is that 2.1 million refugees have fled the violence and taken refuge in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, often living in miserable conditions. But Christian groups ministering to the exiles report thousands responding to the Good News about Jesus Christ.
“The people are very open to the Gospel,” says Steve Van Valkenburg, Middle East director for Christian Aid Mission. He has seen God moving among the refugees himself, and is also receiving reports from many of the indigenous church planting ministries supported by Christian Aid. “They are doing a great job of showing Christ’s love and compassion to the refugees,” he notes.
Many of the sojourners bear physical and emotional wounds and need someone with whom they can share their stories. If they go to a U.N. feeding center or large NGO and receive food, their deeper needs may not be met.
“The Christian emphasis is to hear them out, to listen and pray. Five years ago that wouldn’t happen. But now they are open and attracted by someone who cares. A lot of emotional and spiritual needs are being met by the Christian ministries that can’t be met by large NGOs or government agencies,” Van Valkenburg says.
In Iraq, 2,000 to 2,500 Syrian refugees have converted to Christ, according to reports received by Christian Aid. Ministries in Turkey and Lebanon are reporting hundreds of new converts. In 2013, there were 1,200 baptisms in Lebanon alone.
Some of the estimates go even higher. Another report Christian Aid received from Iraq estimates that 10,000 Muslim families have converted both in Syria and in countries around Syria. The typical family numbers four people.
“When they find God’s Word being preached and the Gospel shared, the authority of Jesus’ words touches their hearts. They don’t see a loving God in Islam. But now they see a God who cares for them and how they become His children.”
“Ideas like forgiveness that seem commonplace to us who have grown up with Christianity are revolutionary ideas to them,” Van Valkenburg adds.
Van Valkenburg doesn’t see an easy solution to the refugee problem on the near horizon. “Most Syrians are not going anyplace and may be around another five to 10 years,” he believes. “Some want to go back, but their houses are destroyed—it’s not realistic. Some of the areas will be uninhabitable for a long time.”
“As Christians, we don’t relish people suffering, but God is using this,” Van Valkenburg notes. “That’s true of disasters all over the world. God has a way of salvaging the worst situations and bringing some good out of it.”
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Renewed Mercies
Words from Jesus
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.—Lamentations 3:22–261
*
My dear, how I love you! How I would hold you close to My bosom. You are like a little rose whose lovely fragrance rises to Me. I welcome this sweet aroma as a beloved gift. Though it comes as a result of pain and is garnished with tears like dewdrops, in every dewdrop sparkles the glory of the rainbow.
Every dewdrop will melt and become part of the rose, to enhance its beauty. And that rose will sparkle like a diamond. Those dewdrops of pain, suffering and loneliness will glow as costly gems of great price that set this rose apart from the ordinary.
You would not have Me dry your dewdrops, would you? I could wipe away those tears in an instant, but the diamonds would be lost. So I ask that you cherish those dewdrops. Every twinge of pain, every heartbreak or lonely moment is but another diamond being formed to enhance your beauty, My rose.
The morning will come for you when all your dewdrops will have melted away, and the sun will shine upon you! Wait for the morning and watch for the sunrise, as it creeps over the mountains. For when it seems it will not come, all of a sudden it is there. Your morning will dawn, glorious and bright, when all the tears of night will be gone—gone, yet cherished as a priceless collection of diamonds which are the reward of those lonely times when you sought Me and found Me, and when our special bond was formed.
*
When life doesn’t go the way you expect, or the way you want, or the way that you had foreseen, then look to Me. I am an anchor that keeps you stable in the rough waters of this life. If you’re not anchored to Me, then you drift, tossed to and fro.
Look to Me and I will pour upon you the peace, contentment, and love that you need and desire.
These things that you’re experiencing humble you, but if you’ll use them to draw closer to Me, if you’ll let them humble you and break you and cause you to cry out to Me for My help, if you’ll turn to Me in your time of trouble and in your time of need, if you’ll seek the answers in My Word and seek to be strengthened in Me, you’ll see all the good that will come from even these seemingly bad circumstances.
You see these things as failures, but I see them as stepping stones that bring you closer to Me. But let them cause you to come to Me, lest they be in vain. Learn from these things, but above all, learn to come to Me and to find rest and peace and answers within My Word. Connect with Me and you will find the strength to stand, the strength to have conviction, the strength to undergo hardship, which comes from Me, through My Word.
There’s no person, place, or thing that can replace My Word in your life. Through My Word you will find Me in a new and even greater way. So in your times of testing, your times of turmoil, your times of questioning, seek Me in My Word. Let My Word dwell in you richly. Let it fill you. Let it answer your questions. Let it allay your doubts. Let it soothe your fears. Please let all of your experiences, all of the frustrations, all of the fears, all of the failures be washed clean in the reservoir of My cleansing, strengthening, refreshing Word.
Come unto Me, ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; I will give you peace, I will give you understanding through My words. They will be the voice of your Father speaking to you, leading you, guiding you, and strengthening you. Do not neglect them, for they are food for your soul.
It is there in the reservoir of My Word that you will find the answers you seek, the cleansing and the refreshing that you desire, the love that you search for, and the strength of spirit and character that you desire. For the reservoir of My Word is the reservoir of peace and contentment, of refreshing, of wisdom, and of love, and it is all there for you.
As you open your heart, your life, and your mind to My love and to My Word, the cool, refreshing waters of My Word will flow through you and cleanse you and fill you and inspire you.
*
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
—Habakkuk 3:17–192
You are feeling weighed down by a plethora of problems, both big and small. They seem to require more and more of your attention, but you must not give in to those demands. When the difficulties in your life feel like they’re closing in on you, break free by spending quality time with Me. You need to remember who I AM in all My power and glory. Then humbly bring Me your prayers and petitions. Your problems will pale when you view them in the light of My presence. You can learn to be joyful in Me, your Savior, even in the midst of adverse circumstances. Rely on Me, your strength. I make your feet like the feet of a deer, enabling you to go on the heights.3
*
I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears, I have felt your longings, your desires and your burdens. My right hand is ever beneath your head to hold you up, to strengthen you, to comfort you, to draw you close to My bosom, that you might find solace, rest, renewing, refilling and comfort.
I love you, dear one. You are near to My heart. I see and I know all that you go through and have gone through. I love your willingness and your thankfulness in spite of the times when things have seemed almost too much for you to bear. Yet I have always brought you through, and I will continue to always bring you through.
Originally published in 1997, unless otherwise indicated. Adapted and republished February 2014. Read by Simon Peterson. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 ESV.
2 NLT.
3 Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.—Lamentations 3:22–261
*
My dear, how I love you! How I would hold you close to My bosom. You are like a little rose whose lovely fragrance rises to Me. I welcome this sweet aroma as a beloved gift. Though it comes as a result of pain and is garnished with tears like dewdrops, in every dewdrop sparkles the glory of the rainbow.
Every dewdrop will melt and become part of the rose, to enhance its beauty. And that rose will sparkle like a diamond. Those dewdrops of pain, suffering and loneliness will glow as costly gems of great price that set this rose apart from the ordinary.
You would not have Me dry your dewdrops, would you? I could wipe away those tears in an instant, but the diamonds would be lost. So I ask that you cherish those dewdrops. Every twinge of pain, every heartbreak or lonely moment is but another diamond being formed to enhance your beauty, My rose.
The morning will come for you when all your dewdrops will have melted away, and the sun will shine upon you! Wait for the morning and watch for the sunrise, as it creeps over the mountains. For when it seems it will not come, all of a sudden it is there. Your morning will dawn, glorious and bright, when all the tears of night will be gone—gone, yet cherished as a priceless collection of diamonds which are the reward of those lonely times when you sought Me and found Me, and when our special bond was formed.
*
When life doesn’t go the way you expect, or the way you want, or the way that you had foreseen, then look to Me. I am an anchor that keeps you stable in the rough waters of this life. If you’re not anchored to Me, then you drift, tossed to and fro.
Look to Me and I will pour upon you the peace, contentment, and love that you need and desire.
These things that you’re experiencing humble you, but if you’ll use them to draw closer to Me, if you’ll let them humble you and break you and cause you to cry out to Me for My help, if you’ll turn to Me in your time of trouble and in your time of need, if you’ll seek the answers in My Word and seek to be strengthened in Me, you’ll see all the good that will come from even these seemingly bad circumstances.
You see these things as failures, but I see them as stepping stones that bring you closer to Me. But let them cause you to come to Me, lest they be in vain. Learn from these things, but above all, learn to come to Me and to find rest and peace and answers within My Word. Connect with Me and you will find the strength to stand, the strength to have conviction, the strength to undergo hardship, which comes from Me, through My Word.
There’s no person, place, or thing that can replace My Word in your life. Through My Word you will find Me in a new and even greater way. So in your times of testing, your times of turmoil, your times of questioning, seek Me in My Word. Let My Word dwell in you richly. Let it fill you. Let it answer your questions. Let it allay your doubts. Let it soothe your fears. Please let all of your experiences, all of the frustrations, all of the fears, all of the failures be washed clean in the reservoir of My cleansing, strengthening, refreshing Word.
Come unto Me, ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; I will give you peace, I will give you understanding through My words. They will be the voice of your Father speaking to you, leading you, guiding you, and strengthening you. Do not neglect them, for they are food for your soul.
It is there in the reservoir of My Word that you will find the answers you seek, the cleansing and the refreshing that you desire, the love that you search for, and the strength of spirit and character that you desire. For the reservoir of My Word is the reservoir of peace and contentment, of refreshing, of wisdom, and of love, and it is all there for you.
As you open your heart, your life, and your mind to My love and to My Word, the cool, refreshing waters of My Word will flow through you and cleanse you and fill you and inspire you.
*
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
—Habakkuk 3:17–192
You are feeling weighed down by a plethora of problems, both big and small. They seem to require more and more of your attention, but you must not give in to those demands. When the difficulties in your life feel like they’re closing in on you, break free by spending quality time with Me. You need to remember who I AM in all My power and glory. Then humbly bring Me your prayers and petitions. Your problems will pale when you view them in the light of My presence. You can learn to be joyful in Me, your Savior, even in the midst of adverse circumstances. Rely on Me, your strength. I make your feet like the feet of a deer, enabling you to go on the heights.3
*
I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears, I have felt your longings, your desires and your burdens. My right hand is ever beneath your head to hold you up, to strengthen you, to comfort you, to draw you close to My bosom, that you might find solace, rest, renewing, refilling and comfort.
I love you, dear one. You are near to My heart. I see and I know all that you go through and have gone through. I love your willingness and your thankfulness in spite of the times when things have seemed almost too much for you to bear. Yet I have always brought you through, and I will continue to always bring you through.
Originally published in 1997, unless otherwise indicated. Adapted and republished February 2014. Read by Simon Peterson. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 ESV.
2 NLT.
3 Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
A central banker’s ‘license to lie’
By Anatole Kaletsky, Reuters, Jan. 30, 2014
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who retires this week as the world’s most powerful central banker, cannot be trusted.
Neither can Janet Yellen, who will succeed him this weekend at the Federal Reserve.
And neither can Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England; Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, or any of their counterparts at the central banks of Turkey, Argentina, Ukraine and so on.
I am not trying to aim a valedictory insult at Bernanke or his central banking colleagues. On the contrary, I am drawing attention to the skill and determination required by central bankers to perform one of the world’s most demanding and important jobs. For just as James Bond has a “License to Kill” in the Ian Fleming books, so central bankers possess a “License to Lie”—or, putting it more diplomatically and politely, to make promises about the future that cannot be honored and often turn out to be false.
Nobody ever blamed a central banker for promising to support the currency and then suddenly allowing a massive devaluation—as happened in Argentina last week and may soon happen in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and many other emerging markets.
To mislead investors is actually a key skill required by a central banker’s job description. Revealing the true state of national finances at a time when a devaluation or comparable financial crisis is looming might be to guarantee the loss of the central bank’s entire reserves.
In the days when developed economies managed their exchange rates, it was taken for granted that whenever a central banker appeared on television categorically to rule out devaluation, support for that currency was about to be withdrawn.
When managed currencies collapse in emerging markets, the popular anger and accusations of dishonesty are always directed at political leaders, such as Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. In developed economies, too, when central bankers commit themselves to inflation targets or assure their nations that they can avert financial crises, or revive economic growth, nobody blames them when these promises turn out to be false. In Cyprus, for example, the one public official who survived the banking debacle was Panicos Demetriades, the governor of the central bank.
Yet despite this historic record of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments, central bankers enjoy more respect and trust than any other public official. They are particularly trusted by the people they most frequently deceive—financial market investors.
Which brings us to the state of the world economy today. This week’s financial headlines have been dominated by the currency chaos in Turkey and Argentina, but the deeper problem has been a new bout of uncertainty about global economic prospects—and especially about the commitment of the Fed and other major central banks to continue stimulating economic growth.
The question is whether the Fed can restore the market belief that easy money is here to stay—at least until the United States returns to sustained economic growth and full employment, which cannot possibly happen until 2015 or beyond.
History suggests that such promises from central bankers can never be fully trusted. Yet despite this historic record, Yellen will probably succeed in restoring faith in the Fed’s commitment to continuing economic stimulus and easy money. And not just because of her personal credibility, which is strong but not any stronger than Bernanke’s. The reason for confidence is the fact that continuing stimulus and easy money are the only economic policies that will serve the Fed’s institutional interests—and the U.S. national interest—between now and 2016.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who retires this week as the world’s most powerful central banker, cannot be trusted.
Neither can Janet Yellen, who will succeed him this weekend at the Federal Reserve.
And neither can Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England; Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, or any of their counterparts at the central banks of Turkey, Argentina, Ukraine and so on.
I am not trying to aim a valedictory insult at Bernanke or his central banking colleagues. On the contrary, I am drawing attention to the skill and determination required by central bankers to perform one of the world’s most demanding and important jobs. For just as James Bond has a “License to Kill” in the Ian Fleming books, so central bankers possess a “License to Lie”—or, putting it more diplomatically and politely, to make promises about the future that cannot be honored and often turn out to be false.
Nobody ever blamed a central banker for promising to support the currency and then suddenly allowing a massive devaluation—as happened in Argentina last week and may soon happen in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and many other emerging markets.
To mislead investors is actually a key skill required by a central banker’s job description. Revealing the true state of national finances at a time when a devaluation or comparable financial crisis is looming might be to guarantee the loss of the central bank’s entire reserves.
In the days when developed economies managed their exchange rates, it was taken for granted that whenever a central banker appeared on television categorically to rule out devaluation, support for that currency was about to be withdrawn.
When managed currencies collapse in emerging markets, the popular anger and accusations of dishonesty are always directed at political leaders, such as Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. In developed economies, too, when central bankers commit themselves to inflation targets or assure their nations that they can avert financial crises, or revive economic growth, nobody blames them when these promises turn out to be false. In Cyprus, for example, the one public official who survived the banking debacle was Panicos Demetriades, the governor of the central bank.
Yet despite this historic record of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments, central bankers enjoy more respect and trust than any other public official. They are particularly trusted by the people they most frequently deceive—financial market investors.
Which brings us to the state of the world economy today. This week’s financial headlines have been dominated by the currency chaos in Turkey and Argentina, but the deeper problem has been a new bout of uncertainty about global economic prospects—and especially about the commitment of the Fed and other major central banks to continue stimulating economic growth.
The question is whether the Fed can restore the market belief that easy money is here to stay—at least until the United States returns to sustained economic growth and full employment, which cannot possibly happen until 2015 or beyond.
History suggests that such promises from central bankers can never be fully trusted. Yet despite this historic record, Yellen will probably succeed in restoring faith in the Fed’s commitment to continuing economic stimulus and easy money. And not just because of her personal credibility, which is strong but not any stronger than Bernanke’s. The reason for confidence is the fact that continuing stimulus and easy money are the only economic policies that will serve the Fed’s institutional interests—and the U.S. national interest—between now and 2016.
