L is For Lois: A Grandmother’s Influence

Lois: A Grandmother’s Influence

Do you know the most influential position in the world?

It’s not the president of the United States. 

It’s a Grandma.

Are you surprised?

Lois is the exemplary grandma of the Bible.

She was the mother of Eunice and grandmother of Timothy. 

Name: “Better” or “More Desirable”.

Date: 1^st Century AD.

Identification: Devout Jewess, mother of Eunice, grandmother of 

                   Timothy.

Story Line: Lois provided instruction to Timothy when he was a child

Read it in the Bible: 2 Timothy 1:3-7; 3: 10-16.

Likely she came to Christ during Paul’s first missionary journey to Lystra, where she lived with her family.  Beyond that, we know very little about her, except this: Lois’ daughter married a Greek, not Jew.  He was not a believer in Jesus the Messiah.  He could not perform the task of a father, teaching his children about God and the Law, or about virtue and why it is important.  He didn’t know God; he didn't care about the Law; and he had no system of belief that imbibed virtue.

Not to worry. Enter Grandma Lois.  Along with Eunice, she took it upon herself to raise Timothy in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  She taught Timothy the Law while he was still a boy.  Even Paul commented that from childhood Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures.  That was Gramma’s doing.

So grandmother, don’t think life has passed you by.   If you are looking for an opportunity to extend your influence far beyond your years, nurture your grandchildren.  When you sit with them in your rocking chair, sing songs of Jesus to them.  When they want a story, tell them one of those fantastic God stories from the Bible.  You, grandma, are the most influential person in raising children.  Don’t let computer games or television steal your privilege.  Be someone special. Be a godly grandmother and user your influence to shape godly lives. 

                            —by Dr. Woodrow Kroll

K is for Keturah (Second String)

Keturah

Second String

Picture Credit: www.ngabo.org 

Runner-up.  Second chair.  Also ran.  Never mind that you were ahead of all but one, nobody like to be second.

Keturah learned how to play second fiddle, and she did it very well.  Abraham loved his beautiful wife, Sarah.  But the great patriarch also had another wife.

Name: “Fragrance” or “Incense”

Date: 22 Century B C

Identification:  Abraham’s second wife, she bore six sons to the Patriarch.

Story Line: Keturah brought love and companionship to Abraham’s old age.

Read in the Bible: Genesis 25: 1-11

No, not Hagar, the mother of Ishmael.  This was a later wife, a concubine, named Keturah.  She was only a secondary wife until Sarah died, but in Abraham’s old age, Keturah brought his companionship, not to mention six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Nobody likes to be second, but that doesn't have to get us down.  George Gershwin was the second-born son, but composed the incomparably beautiful “Rhapsody in Blue.”  John F. Kennedy was the second-born son, but became a popular American president. Most of the time when we are second we can’t help it.  We don’t control everything, but we can control whether we allow being second fiddle to ruin our happiness, or whether we go ahead and play our hearts out.

Keturah’s son did not receive an inheritance from Abraham.  Instead, he gave them gifts and sent them away.  Did that stop them?  Not at all.  They founded six powerful tribes stretching form the Arabian Desert to the northern Euphrates.  Their descendants were involved in international trade (Isaiah 60:6) as merchants (Genesis 37) and shepherds (Exodus 2:16).  One of them, the queen of Sheba, came to visit King Solomon on an important trade mission (1 Kings 19:2).  So whether it’s second born, a second career or just second place, give it your best shot.  Playing second fiddle is much better than not being in the orchestra.

                         —by Dr. Woodrow Kroll

J is for Jael

J is for Jael

Action First, Applause Later

Jessica Lynch was virtually unknown outside of her home town of Palestine.  West Virginia, until the Iraq War.  But when this 19 year old soldier was caught in an ambush, endured broken bones, gunshot and stab wounds, and then was rescued by U.S. soldiers, this country girl became a national hero.

Name: “Mountain Goat”

Date: 13^th Century B C

Identification: Wife of Heber, Jael demonstrated her loyalty to Israel.

Story Line: Jael drove a tent peg through the temple of Sisera

Read it in the Bible: Judges 4:1-24

The Bible has its share of Jessica Lynch stories.  It’s filled with gripping accounts of obscure people who rose to meet challenges when they needed to.  One of those obscure people is Jael, a homemaker in Israel.

Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law.  Historically the Kenite tribe had been long—standing allies of Israel.  However, Jael’s husband, for whatever reason, chose to side with the Canaanite king, Jabin, in his struggle against Israel.  But Jael demonstrated her loyalty to Jehovah in one of those unique history-making events.  She invited Sisera; Jabin’s general, into her tent where she gave him milk to drink instead of water.  That made him sleepy.  While Sisera snoozed, Jael drove a tent peg through his temple into the ground.  God subdued the Canaanites using a single act of bravery by an obscure housewife.

Do you feel too obscure, too distant from the podium, too far from the spotlight to be used by God?  If so, learn from Jael.  She didn't leave the spotlight to perform an act of bravery; she acted and then stepped into the spotlight.  It’s action first, applause later.  Do whatever it is God has for you to do, and He’ll take care of the applause.

                                                  by Dr. Woodrow Kroll

I is for I Am" "Why I Am A Non-charismatic Christian?"

Speaking a more satisfying Christian life, a woman spent a time in what is known today as the charismatic movement.  Did she get satisfied?  She give her answer, and explains how and why she arrived at it.

Recently a letter came to our church addressed “The Pastor and Christians of the Evangelical Free Church.”  It was from a  former member who gave a sincere testimony concerning his becoming a “charismatic” Christian.  The purpose of the letter, he said, was to help clear up any “misunderstanding” on the subject of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Since I am one of the members of the church, I felt that this letter concerned me.  Although I appreciated his effort to enlighten us, his letter gave me a strong desire to reply.

You see, I am a no charismatic Christian by choice—not by “misunderstanding” or ignorance of the subject.  This choice was made neither easily not lightly.  In fact, it took me almost two years of searching before I made this decision, and I spent many hours in the Word of God and in prayer over this issue.

While I have enjoyed warm fellowship with many of my charismatic friends, I have become a little weary of the suggestion that if I do not have this “baptism in the Holy Spirit” accompanied by speaking in tongues, then I posses only “half” of the gospel.  At the moment I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I receive a “full” gospel—not half!  The Bible says that “In Him [Christ] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him”  (Col. 2:9,10).  God became my Father, Christ became my Saviour, and the Holy Spirit became my Paraclete,  All in one package, for He is One God.

Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross,  I received everything that God has for me at the moment I believed.  It was all in Christ.  To say that I must have Christ plus something else to make it complete, is to preach another gospel than the one Paul preached.  Paul did not take this matter of “adding” to Christ lightly, for he wrote to the Galatians, who were seeking to add the works of the law to their salvation to make them better Christians,  “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,  let him be accursed”  (Gal. 1:8).  If Paul regarded such teaching as heresy, how should believers today regard it?  This then was my first decision: I decided to stand on the gospel of Jesus Christ alone.

My second decision was to stand on the Bible rather than on “experiences.” Changes are constantly taking place in today’s world, and experiences of many kinds abound.  I attended a charismatic church during the two years that I was searching for answers, and I was definitely leaning toward this experience.  I saw and heard many “experiences in the Spirit which were very convincing.  Although it took me a long time to learn not to look at appearances but rather at the Word of God,  I came out of my search with a sure knowledge that the Bible is the tester of all experiences.  I believe that the only valid test of a spiritual experience is Bible doctrine.  To take a Scripture passage out of context in order to prove that an experience is valid is not good enough for me.  The cults do that also.  I decided to let the Bible speak for itself—from beginning to end—and to test all “experiences” by the truth in its pages.

My third decision was to stand on sound doctrine.  In the past few years there has often been an emphasis on the words “Love” and “unity” at the expense of truth and sound doctrine.  But love without truth is as worthless as faith without works.

I became so confused by what appeared to me to be two conflicting doctrines on the Holy Spirit that I could not choose which was right.  Both seemed to be based entirely on Bible passages.  Yet, because there were two teaching which opposed each other, I could not sit on the fence, but found that I had to choose one or the other.  So I prayed, asking the Lord to show me plainly what to do, and to lead me out of my confusion.  A verse in II Timothy 1:13 stood out to me shortly after I prayed:  “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”  Paul was telling Timothy to hold firmly to the pattern of sound teaching which Paul had given him.  As I looked to the Lord, I also felt the strong conviction that He was telling me to hold fast to sound doctrine—Paul’s doctrine.  I found that when the Biblicist and the charismatic views on the Holy Spirit were put to the test of sound biblical exegesis, the Biblicist view point is the correct interpretation of the Bible passages on the Holy Spirit.

My fourth decision had to do with the warnings which Paul clearly gave Timothy:  “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing sprits, and doctrines of devils”  (1 Tim. 4:1).  Satan cannot keep believers out of heaven, so his next goal is to get them off the track into error.  In II Corinthians 11:3, Paul feared for the church lest “the serpent [which] beguiled Eve through his subtitle… should [corrupt their minds] from the simplicity that is in Christ.”  There are many a new cults and doctrines these days and many of them use the truths of the Bible so diligently  that it is difficult to distinguish truth from error.  The Apostle Paul said, “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully (II Cor. 11:4, NASB).  Paul was speaking to Christians here.  It is possible for a believer, in a counterfeit spiritual experience, to lend his human spirit to another spirit—other than the Holy Spirit, whom the believer has already received at salvation.  Because many of the charismatic evidences I witnessed while attending their meetings were” supernatural” in appearance, I accepted them as from God, forgetting that the Bible is full of warnings that Satan comes as an angel of light to deceive believers, and that he also can produce supernatural evidences if this will  serve to lead a believer into error.  Once again, I believe that these experiences should be put to the test of the Scriptures, especially speaking in tongues, since it is so prevalent.

The gift of speaking in tongues in the Bible was a gift of speaking in another language.  But tongues speaking today in the modern charismatic movement is not languages but gibberish or ecstatic utterances.  Some of today’s leading linguists have listened to more than a thousand tapes of tongues-speaking, and not one has proved to be a language or to even be a form of language!  Further, this gift of speaking in tongues was given as a sign to unbelieving Jews.  It was a sign of judgment upon them, clearly predicted in the Book of Isaiah, as Paul states in I Corinthians 14:21, 22).  Are the “tongues” of today being used for this purpose as outlined in the Bible?  Clearly they are not.

All the gifts of the Spirit were given for the building up of the Church, not for private use, or for the building up of the individual.  The gift of tongues was to be used to help others, not for oneself.  Again, where a spiritual experiences cannot stand up to the test of scripture,  I must conclude that it is a counterfeit experience which springs from an unsound interpretation of the Bible.

Finally, my question concerning the charismatic movement was answered by my own personal experience of the Spirit-filled life.  I went into the charismatic movement in the first place because I felt a lack in my own spiritual life. 

At the moment I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I received a “full’ gospel-not half!

I believed that the baptism is the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues was the answer.  I believe now that I went looking in wrong place.  When there is a lack in my relationship with Christ,  it is not because I need “more of God”!  He has already given all He can give me in the gift of His Son.  To receive Jesus Christ, is to also receive the Holy Spirit—not “part” of Him,  but all—for  the Trinity cannot be divided.  If I am not enjoying the growth, blessing and filling of the Spirit in my Christian experience, it is because there is something blocking His ministry in my life.  This was the case with me.

There came a day when the Lord, by His Spirit, strove with me and showed me my true colors.  I saw that there was sin n my life—bitterness, a haughty attitude and an un yielded heart.  As I came to the Lord, confessing these things and making a total commitment to Him, I knew the filling of His Spirit as I had never known it before,  God desires His children to have all of His blessing and to be Spirit-filled.  But if they are lacking this experience, it is because they are resisting or grieving Him in some way and thereby are quenching the flow of His Spirit.  I knew that what the Lord poured out to me was according to the pattern of the Scriptures—repentance, than blessing.  What I received was not different from anything I had known thus far in fellowship with the Lord, but love, joy, peace and consistent, overflowing witness.

I praise the Lord that He kept me from what I now believe was a counterfeit experience of the Spirit-filled life.  I came very close to missing His best for my life.  The proof of my experience is not the “sign” of tongues, but a cleansed and rejoicing heart and an abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! END

By C Myers

How Good a Soldier Are You?

                                                                                                                                           

You are in the army of God.  Are you ready for battle?   Are you following His orders?

Hay, General your battle plan really stinks!  No way am I going to follow it.  I’ll do it my way!”

Rank insubordination?  Disobedience to authority?  You’d better believe it!  In wartime that soldier would be a prime candidate for the guardhouse and probably worse.

Our “war machine” would grind to a halt if our soldiers decided to do “their own thing.”

They must follow the orders of their leaders.

An army has leaders who plan out the best strategy possible to defeat the enemy.  The then issue orders to carry out those plans.  They have information—sometimes even secret documents—about the enemy’s plans and movements that the soldiers know nothing about.  This “inside” information helps them make much wiser decisions than the uninformed soldier.  This is how victories are won.

As Christians we are engaged in a spiritual warfare.  This is the most serious battle of all, more serious than any battle nations can wage.  The army of God is warring with the hosts of satan.  Ephesians 6:12 states:  “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against, principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  We are in the battle for men’s souls.  Their eternal destiny is at stake.  Winning souls and defeating satan should be the desire of every true believer.

Have you ever tried to defeat satan in your own power?  Did you?  Could it be that satan outfoxed you because you misjudged his plan and power?  Satan is crafty and full of tricks that we have never heard or thought of.   After all, he’s been around a lot longer than we have.  Ezekiel 28: 14,15 tell us something about satan’s life before he fell.  “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee  so:  thou was upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till iniquity was found in the.” 

Our enemy is powerful.  In fact his hunger for more power was his downfall.  (Isaiah 14: 12-14 tells the story.  “How art thou fallen from heaven.  O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How art thou cut doen to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:  I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”  From our standpoint he is much more powerful than we.  Only through the power of Christ can we hope to defeat him.  First John 4:4 states:  “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

Just as no soldier would think of going into battle unarmed,  Christians should not face satan without being armed with our spiritual weapons.  Yet, day after day, we go into battle without our weapons or armor.  To be sure, these are not physical swords and shields, they are spiritual weapons.  It would be a lot easier to know we were properly prepared for battle if we could  see them,  however; they are more powerful than any physical weapon.  David did not have nay real physical weapons (unless you call a sling and stone weapons against a giant), but  he had his spiritual armor on.  As you recall, Saul tried to give him physical armor, but David refused it.  He was out there in the power of God, and he wanted to be sure everyone knew it was God’s victory.  Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 6:11-17 to put on the whole armor of God.  We must have our armor on  and God’s power to defeat satan.

Also , we have a leader who can supply us with a winning “battle plan.”  He is omnipotent and omniscient God who knows everything before it ever happens.  He knows where satan is going to strike next and can give us the means to defeat him.  However, He expects us to ask, and then He expects us to follow what He tells us.  If we don’t ask for His help, we will be hopelessly outclassed by the enemy.

Let God make the battle plan.  He know satan’s plans and can give us strategy to win in victory.

Just as the human army cannot function if every soldier decides to do his own thing, neither can God’s army function when born-again believers go their own way and  don’t  seek  God’s  leading and guidance.

As God surveys His army, I can’t help but think He is saddened to see so few out fighting the enemy.  The rest seem to be on permanent R & R (rest and reaction) or fighting among themselves over petty differences.  God will not force us to defeat satan.  The choice is ours.

If God’s army would start following His orders, we would see a revival like there has not been in many years.

By L G Davies

G is for GIVING: Money and Sense

GIVING:  Money and Sense

You may not be pulling in mega bucks, but you probably have some sort of cash flow you can call your own, whether it’s from an allowance, or from a part-time job or a permanent job.

Regardless of your source of income—or how much moolah you make—it’s smart to start practicing basic money management principles now to help you prepare for the future.  While God doesn’t place a whole lot of stock in material wealth, He is concerned about how we use the resource (i.e. currency notes) He provides for us.

Here are some tips on how to be sensible with your money.

* Give Back to God.  Really, all the money and stuff you get comes from Him, so it’s a pretty smart move to give a portion of what you earn. Back to the One who’s in control of your income—no matter how meager it may seem.  A good rule of thumb:  chop ten percent off your earnings before you go blow your whole wad of cash, and give it to your local church or another ministry God might lead you to invest in.

Get into the habit of giving now, no matter how little money you earn.  It’s  not the amount you give that matters to God, it’s your attitude.

 “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”  (II Cor. 9:7).

I am praying for the ministry

One other thing: God honors sacrifice.  Guess jeans are great—but so are other, less expensive brands.  Maybe the next time you’ve got  Rs.1000 to blow on a pair of jeans, you could opt for a Rs. 500 pair and give the rest of your money to an organization that helps homeless families or needy kid.  Just some food for thought.

Remember this:  “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (II Cor. 9:6).

• Save, save, save.  I know, it’s tough to save when you’ve got friends who spend money like it’s water, but saving a part of your income is smart especially if you have plans for college in the next few years.  Even if Mom and Dad have offered to foot the bill for your college offered to foot the bill for your college education, you may want to consider  saving some bucks to help lighten the load for them.  There’s no hard and fast rule for how much you should save, but if you stash ten percent of your income into a savings account with a fair interest rate—and leave it alone for a few years—you could be much better prepared for college than your “spendthrift” friends.

Now, if you’re like I am, spending money comes a lot easier than saving it, so you might want to ask someone like Mom or Dad to keep tabs on how much you’re depositing into your “untouchable” account.  Accountability is a key when it comes to saving money.

• Plan ahead.   It’s easy to spend money as it comes in on whatever you “need” at the time.  But that approach to money management may leave you short of cash just when you need it most.

So here’s a crazy idea:  Put yourself on a budget.  No, I’m not kidding.  Determine now how much you will spend next month on clothes, food, entertainment, music, gas for your car, gifts, or whatever you regularly spend money on.  For major stuff, like stereos, bikes, cars or the Air tickets Mom and Dad won’t buy you, save a little each moth until you have enough for the big purchase.  You might even want to have Dad keep this money for you temporarily so it won’t be readily available for you to go blow on burgers, fries and video games.

• Avoid the credit trap.  This tip may be a bit premature because you probably don’t have tons of credit card companies mailing you stuff about preapproved credit limits and no annual fees—yet.  But understanding the dangers of unnecessary debt is important.  A couple of good rules to follow: 1) Before you plop down plastic or buy something on credit, ask yourself, Would I purchase this if I was paying cash for it?  If the answer’s “no,” then evaluate whether or not you really need it; and 2) If and when you use a credit card to make a purchase, pay your balance off in 30 days to avoid interest charges.  And don’t charge up to your limit; you’ll get head over heels in debt faster than you can imagine.

Like I said, this advice may be a little premature, but just remember: In our society, people don’t spend according to their income; they spend according to their credit limits.  There’s a big difference between the two and it’s gotten a lot of people in major financial trouble.  If you can just remember these three little words—“Don’t abuse credit”—you’ll be off on a great start.

• Lighten up.  This isn’t so much of a money management tip as it is a warning:  Watch your work schedule.  Don’t get so caught up in earning money that you lose sight of other priorities, like spending time with friends, family, and most importatanly, Jesus, Yeah, it might be pretty cool to pump up your Reeboks out on the football field or jam in front of JVC speakers with surround-sound quality but believe it or not, most of the time the non-tangibles in life are a lot more valuable than the tangibles.  Working more hours to make more money to by more stuff that you really don’t need is a futile process.

Excuse me for getting preachy, but I’ve been involved in that futile process, and the benefits of acquiring more stuff that you don’t need are very limited.

The bottom line in money management is, think before you spend.  Don’t get impulsive.  Remember who’s giving you every dime you shove into your pocket—and it’s not the tooth fairy.

Money is a tool that God gives us to use for our benefit and the benefit of other, and He’s serious about our responsibility to manage our money wisely. That’s a pretty good indication that we should be too. CL

                                                                                            By Lisa T

Source: 

Confident Living Magazine

A to Z Blog Challenge Day 6 Letter F is for "Felix Dealing with Delays"

Felix 

Dealing with Delays

by Dr Woodrow Kroll

Do you enjoy delays?

When you look at the departure board in the airport and see your flight is delayed, do you go ballistic?  Is there a better way for a Christian to respond to delay?  Paul’s years with Felix show us there is.

Name: Happy
Date: 1st Century A D
Identification: Roman Governor of Judea before whom Paul appeared
Story Line:  Felix was moved by Paul's testimony but did not convert
Read it in the Bible:  Acts 24: 1-27 

Felix was the unscrupulous Roman governor of Judea, capable of committing any crime imaginable.  Paul was sent to Felix in Caesarea when he was arrested in Jerusalem for disturbing the peace, His accusers, however, delayed five days before they arrived, an orator named Tertullus proceeded to accuse Paul, but the apostle refuted each charge.  Paul should have been freed then, but Felix postponed his judgment until he could hear from Lysias, the tribune.  Served days later,  Paul was brought before Felix a second time when he gave his testimony as a Christian,  Felix admitted being moved,  but he dismissed Paul again, indicating they would talk on a more convenient day.  Felix sent for Paul on several occasion, but kept him in prison for two years.  Paul finally was taken to Rome to appeal before Caesar.

During these unjustified delays, did you notice what Paul did?  You read what he said?  Nothing.  He never lost his cool. He never complained about wrongful imprisonment.  He simply maintained a positive witness before the contemptible Felix.

When you are faced with annoying delays, ask yourself whether it’s more important for you rush to the next thing or to maintain a Christian testimony to those who delay you.  Remember, we have all eternity to enjoy the rewards of godly living, but only a few hours before sunset to win them.  Don’t let delays defeat you.

Source:
Confident Living Magazine
Dr. Woodrow Kroll