NOTE: Lord willing, we will be moving this month (June). It may be a while before I have a chance to update this page regularly again. Please bear with me at this time. Thank you. :-)
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June 12, 2008
A Timely Video On Polygamy
Here is a link to a very informative video on the subject of polygamy in the Mormon church. You can view it free online, or you can order it on DVD for the very low price of $4.00 per DVD. This is a generous price from people who are obviously more interested in getting the gospel out than in filling their pockets. Buy an extra copy or two to give to someone you know who needs this information, or to donate to the ministry of a church or missionary. It would be especially appropriate for anyone you know who lives in the western regions of the U.S. or Canada or in areas that are target areas for Mormon "missionary" trips (Australia, Europe, etc.)
June 8, 2008
Strength Only God Can Give
Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
Not long ago, while going through a time when I was feeling quite strained in some ways, the Lord brought this verse to my attention. I "happened" to be reading Colossians 1 starting into a week when I really needed this verse. Isn't it amazing, even a luxurious comfort, to see how the Lord does this kind of thing for us? He truly is a kind and careful father. (Psalm 103:13-14)
The thing that particularly impressed me is that strengthening with all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness can only come from the Lord. There are people who are what we would call naturally strong or patient or longsuffering. But this goes beyond that. It is all patience. Wow, how tough is that? Humanly, it's impossible. And, it's all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness! This kind of strengthening can only come from God's glorious power! Human power has too many limits to produce such amazing results.
True, this is hard to live by. I don't know anyone who has this mastered completely, and some of us struggle with it much more than others. But, through our relationship to God in Christ Jesus, this kind of strength is available, and Paul was bold to request it on behalf of the Colossians. What a great thing to pray for our fellow believers, especially when they are going through a hard time. What a great thing to pray for ourselves! But, most of all, what a great and wonderful Father we have who can and will provide such miraculous ability to His own children!
1Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
CA
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Because God Said It
We have been reading in the book of Luke during our family Bible reading lately. A while back we read the following passage, and as my family and I are facing some changes and uncertain experiences soon - some hopeful and some "normal" - the Lord brought this passage home to me more directly than usual.
Luke 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
When the Lord Jesus told Peter to launch out into the deep and let his nets down He didn't seem to be making a great demand. Although it was work, it was not something huge or foreign to Peter. The difficulty was that Peter "knew" there was nothing there to catch. He had tried. They had toiled all night and caught nothing.
But, despite his lack of faith and even being sure it would do no good, "nevertheless at thy word" he let down the net. He obeyed despite his apparent knowledge to the contrary, and despite his doubt. He obeyed the command more as a favor to Him Who had given it than anything else. He did it because he respected and regarded the source.
Interestingly enough, we see in verses 6-7 that God blessed Peter's obedience anyway! Though he had no faith in the possible results, he obeyed and was richly blessed.
Obedience to God's word is the key. So you don't think it will do much, if any, good? Obey out of respect for the Lord and He will take care of the results. At some point or another you will be richly blessed for respectfully obeying. In fact, these men were overwhelmed with blessing! There was so much, they couldn't handle it alone and had to call others to help them sustain it.
Peter immediately felt guilty for his lack of faith. He realized he was in the presence of the power of God, of the Lord Himself. Suddenly his attitude condemned him and he felt unworthy.
But, Jesus did not leave him at his request. He didn't even rebuke him. Instead He began to prepare Peter for greater spiritual work for God. Had Peter's response been self-righteous, this perhaps would not have been the case. Peter's humility was good, and led to greater responsibility. We see his understanding of this when he later wrote, 1Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
But, the thing that remains in my mind is that if we obey the Lord when He directs us to "launch forth into the deep let our nets down" we can trust Him to give the blessing and supply the results - results that we can't even anticipate or imagine because of our very limited knowledge! Even things we think we know are not a limitation to God. This is a wonderful comfort when heading into unknown situations as well as known ones. The main thing is to do what God says.
Zechariah 6:15 ...And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
CA
