URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:
CHURCHES THREATENED WITH ATTACKS ON EASTER - (DAR ES SALAM, Tanzania) -- by Gary Lane, CBN Senior International Reporter, March 28; http://blogs.cbn.com/globallane/archive/2013/03/28/easter-threat-against-east-africa-churches.aspx]"Christians and their churches here in Tanzania and Kenya are on alert this Easter weekend in anticipation of potential attacks against them. Many have armed police guarding their buildings.A militant Islamic group known as Muslim Renewal has threatened to burn 'homes and churches.' They say they 'are not finished, at Easter, prepare for disaster.' The Al Shabaab-linked group is believed responsible for the murder in Zanzibar last month of Catholic priest, Father Evarest Mushi. It may also have been involved in the killing of Pastor Abdi Welli in Garissa, Kenya. Militant Muslims have killed church leaders and they've attacked more than 30 churches in Tanzania and Kenya in the past year. PRAY for Christians and their leaders who are under a new wave of persecution in East Africa. PRAY that God will intervene to protect them this Easter season.
Same -Sex "Marriage"- PLEASE PRAY WITH ME (every day untill the decision is revealed around mid-June) THAT THE SUPREME COURT WILL VOTE TO UPHOLD THE 2 LAWS REVIEWED SUPPORTING A TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE.. PRAY that the Court will resist any pressure to MAKE new law based on "cultural trends." PRAY as though the very future of the institution of the family is at stake because it is. PRAY! - for the sake of possibly millions of such children, and for our country if it is to continue to be shown any more favor by our Heavenly Father, who I promise you will be very displeased if homosexual marriage is legalized; "GOD IS NOT [TO BE] MOCKED..." - (Gal. 6:7) - Stan [Be sure to check out my brief essay in yesterday's post #478.]
CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches in Iran) [See 3/25 update below!] - "As Iran continues to abuse imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini, its goal is now clear -- force Pastor Saeed to deny Christ.
As the Lord leads, please pray:
- For Pastor Abedini as he endures one of Iran’s most deadly prisons, potentially beaten and abused regularly, simply because of his Christian faith.
- For the pastor’s wife and family and the Holy Spirit’s comfort upon them.
- For the continuing meetings at the UN meetings in Geneva about Pastor Saeed.
- For the U.S. State Department to get involved in a significant way to obtain the pastor’s release.
PLEASE Continue to PRAY: "Libya Arrests Suspected Christian Missionaries ," February 16, 2013; "Four foreigners were arrested in Libya on suspicion of distributing books about Christianity and proselytizing, a Libyan police spokesman said on Saturday. Spreading Christianity is a crime in the predominantly Muslim North African county. The four were arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday and are under investigation for printing and distributing books that proselytize Christianity. Police said they found 45,000 books in their possession and that another 25,000 have already been distributed. The suspects are from South Africa, Egypt, South Korea, and one holds both Swedish and U.S. Nationality. The U.S. Embassy in Libya has declined comment. "(Sources: CBS News, USA Today, Associated Press) [So much for the so-called "Arab Spring." - Stan]As the Lord leads, PLEASE PRAY: * For the timely release of the arrested missionaries. * For God to use them while in jail to be witnesses of the gospel * For all who share God’s loving salvation in Muslim countries.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear friend,
Have you ever found yourself reading a book, and for the most part nothing spoke to you but you felt the urge to keep reading, and then suddenly...?
Well, recently I was reading a book I came across in the public library entitled, "Make Me Like Jesus," by Michael Phillips, a book and an author I had never heard of before. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was lying on by bed reading the book when I suddenly came to a portion [p. 80 ff.] that forced me to pause and say repeatedly, "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."
The question was posed as to what was the greatest agony that Jesus endured when He hung on the cross. The obvious answer would seem to be the agony of the crucifixion,which was truly a horrible way to die. His divinity didn't reduce the pain He endured but it's quite possible that, as other men had, He could have endured THAT agony. No, the greatest agony was what happened in the last moments before He finally died. "Until the cross, there remained one element of the human condition that Jesus had not yet experienced - he had not felt what it was not to know if God was there. He had never been filled with that universal human perplexity of looking up and feeling the heavens empty above him." "...the Father ..had to withdraw his prsence during his Son's desolate hours on the cross, so that Jesus might drinnk the cup of his humanity to the full. And to the sense of the perfect Son, who had never been without the Father,the horror of aloneness must have been truly terrible." [p. 80]
So how did Jesus respond to that aloneness? Some would point to His words recorded in Matthew 27:46 - "About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice ...:My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" as indicating that at the end, Jesus declared that God had abandoned Him. Yes, that's what it sounds like, but is that really the case? Before He died, did Jesus actually do what Job would not do - to "curse God and die!" as his wife implored? (Job's reply was "...Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said." (Job. 2:9-10) Did Jesus, then, in effect, sin against God with his dying breath? Of course not!
Author Michael Phillips points out that what Jesus actually did was "shout out against Satan's lie." For even in that moment of unimaginable desolation and aloneness, "...even then he cried out to God!" "His God was still his [emph. mine] God. Even in forsaking him, he was no less his [emph. mine]God. Jesus would still to him and cry out to him.[What Jesus said in effect was:] "Away from me, Satan! Even though he forsake me, yet wil I trust my Father!" So even when He experienced (seeming) abandonment by God when He took on our sins, when He lacked feelings or any rational reason for it, Jesus responded in FAITH, in trust in His Heavenly Father. If we combine His last words as recorded in Mark 15:34 and Luke 23:46, He in effect said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Yet into your hands and none other I commit my spirit" [emphasis mine]
And what of us? Even in the midst of the most difficult circumstance, we somehow find a way to praise God and pray for strength with the hope and trust we have in Him. But what is God doing when Heaven is silent and we are left with depression, discouragement, and despair so deep we can almost feel the blackness of the world? We are told that in those times He only seeks to make our faith stronger but how? - by giving us an opportunity to express our faith willfully and not because of any evidence for it or emotions that we feel. "Not because we are led to do so.but simply because he is our Father. Not for he blessings he will bestow on us ... butsimply because he is our Father. Not [...]because of this experience or that experience...but simply because God is our Father]. Not rejoicing in the wonders of the Christian life and answers to prayer...but, in darkness and aloneness, turning to God simply because he is our Father."[emph. mine]
"Late in his life, Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, commented that as the years went by he seemed to feel God's presence less--and that more was required of him in pure faith and obedience. obedience.".."When feeling forsakes us, when answers to prayer forsake us, when God's voice forsakes us, when stirrings to worship forsake us, when hunger for God's Word forsakes us, when blessings forsake us, when the desire after Christlikeness forsakes us, when prayer forsakes us, whe gratefulness to God forsakes us, even when our own will seems to forsake us and we are consumed by the low, mean, paltry self of our old man...even then to cry out, "My God!" and go to him simply because he is our Father." [emph. mine]
Reading these words brought to mind when I was in Japan serving with an English teaching ministry. Newly arrived, I was asked to separate myself from my colleagues and immerse myself in my language studies (around 4 hours of classroom instruction and 8 hours of homework a day). While I was staying with a university professor and his wife who both understood some English, we were never able to carry on a real convesation. One night, sitting in my room with my schoolbooks in front of me, I was overwhelmed with a sense of lonliness like I had never experienced. I suddenly became so despondent that I didn't even have the words nor the motivation to pray nor to read my Bible. I remember sitting in the dark cross legged on the floor, rocking back and forth, with my eyes closed. All I was able to say at that point, over and over was "God is good. God IS good. God is GOOD. GOD is good." I really don't remember how long I was doing this before I just collapsed to the floor and fell asleep. The next thing I remember was waking in the morning and feeling an indescrible peace.
I thankfully never had another evening like that. But I will never forget that experience of feeling so all alone that all I could do was cling to the one truth I knew for sure: God is good. Many today errorneous believve that if they just obey God as best we can, do all the "Christian" things expected of us, God is somehow obligated to bless us, to keep us happy. But the reality is that there will always be times when the blessings will not be there, when any feelings of happiness will be absent. Those are the times we really live our faith, when we realize that we have to choose - to will - to believe in God when it seems He has forsaken us. Those are the times when we see our Heavenly Father doing the work of making us like Jesus, who, even in His darkest moment, ie. on the Cross, chose to trust in, to completely yield Himself to His God and His Heavenly Father.
As we celebrate Good Friday, may each of us remember that ours is not a religion, but a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father; that we need never fear He will forsake us [Heb. 13:5]; that no matter what the lack of evidence or affirming feelings, He is always there and He is always working things together for our good (Rom. 8:28) because He is always good.. Because of that, let us recommit ourselves to being yielded to His will in every circumstance, no matter how silent Heaven is and how absent are any perceived blessings or pleasant feelings. In doing so, we can be assured that He is making us like Jesus. - Stan
This is an excellent reminder, Stan. I'm passing it on to a struggling friend.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work and good perspective!
Enjoyed Stan, thank you. He is always good! Amen!
ReplyDelete