SPRINGING FROM EXPERIENCE

A minister colleague of mine preached a sermon recently where he told of how a young man came up to him, after church, and asked my colleague to pray, "that I might be anointed to preach like you." Now, this colleague has had a rough several years. He has been involved in some pretty serious personal scandals that have rocked his church and his family. He has been near the bottom. But through forgiveness, prayer, and a lot of healing, he and his family and his church are all being restored.

The point being that this colleague now preaches the way he does because of the suffering he's had to do. And so, the colleague told this young man, "You don't know what you're really asking for."

But the young man was insistent that he wanted my colleague to pray for him, so that he might preach like my colleague. So, finally, they went back to the front of the church, and the minister began to pray for the young man, "Lord, take this young man down to the depths. Tear apart all of his comfort and his security. Take away all he trusts and believes in..."

At that point, the young man jumped up and said, "Hey, that's not what I wanted you to pray!!!" To which my colleague replied, "Well, if you want to preach like me, you're going to have to experience those things for yourself."

-- Copyright Eric Folkerth 2000. All Rights Reserved. (Used with Permission)


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SUMMONING GOD'S GRACE

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed fervently for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me?” he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.
It is easy to get discouraged when things are going badly. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground; it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

-- Source Unknown


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A BRILLIANCE OF LIGHT

If the mercy of God is so great that He can instruct us, to our salvation, even when He hides Himself, what a brilliance of light we must expect when He reveals Himself!

--  Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) in Pensees


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EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…" (Ephesians 3:20 WEB)

Is there such a thing as an "impossible dream"?  One small-minded man living in the nineteenth century believed so.  When asked if he thought it would be possible for men to fly in the air like birds, he responded skeptically, "Flight is strictly reserved for the angels, and I beg you not to repeat your suggestion lest you be guilty of blasphemy!"  Ironically, the man was Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur -- two men who dreamed big dreams.  Only thirty years later near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they made their first flight in a heavier-than-air machine, the prototype for modern airplanes.  They proved that impossible dreams can come true.

The apostle Paul wanted Christians to believe that the impossible is possible with God.  He wanted them to understand that impossible prayers can come true through the ability of a God who can do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think.  Go ahead, dream big dreams, then pray impossible prayers.  God can make them soar!

-- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians


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A BETTER PLACE

One of the things Randy Alcorn accomplishes in his chapter on heaven in Game Plan for Life is to quiet our misconception that life after death for the Christian is going to be boring. A never-ending church service. All Christmas carols and choir books.

Actually, the Bible says heaven will be a total experience of newness that touches everything about us and everything we do. Not just better singing and sermons. Not just better food options at church potlucks. Better everything. The very best of everything. Renewed, remade, reborn.

God has promised, "I will create new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17), meaning that while we're going to live in a place we've never been before, it will contain perfected elements of things we've always known. But instead of fatigue and physical limitations, we'll have total freedom of enjoyment. Instead of sin's empty promises, we'll know constant satisfaction. Instead of having to lock our doors and watch our backs, we'll learn what it really means to live without fear. Of anything.

Don't go worrying that God is baiting you with free gift offers that are going to end up being a time-share presentation. These new heavens and new earth are His gift of undying, undiluted life to you. It's definitely something you don't want to miss.

-- Joe Gibbs in his blog Game Plan for Life: Two-Minute Drills


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