Monday's Message: I Need Thee Every Hour

I Need Thee Every Hour

(Source)

       A great man once said that his greatest moment of joy was on a crowded street of a big city, when a little child looked up into his face, put her hands into his big hand, and said: “Take me across the street to the other side.”

       It was an honor to take that trusting child to the other side! Are there streets in life ahead for you to cross? Is there some difficulty you must meet and need a stronger arm to take you across? Put your hand in the hand of Christ. To simply trust Him is to bring delight to both you and Christ.

 

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I Need Thee Every Hour

      

(1) I need thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford.

 

CHORUS:

I need thee, O need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee!

O bless me now, my Savior-

I come to Thee.

      

(2) I need Thee every hour,

Stay Thou near by;

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

      

(3) I need thee every hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly, and abide,

Or life is vain.

      

(4) I need thee every hour,

Teach me Thy will,

And Thy rich promises

In me fulfill.

Family Friday: How Big Is God?

How Big Is God?

            Have you ever heard the song “My God Is So Big”?  I sing that often with my Sunday School class, and we make big hand motions with it.  It’s a fun song that gets the children moving with positive energy instead of misbehaving.  How often, though, do we sing the song automatically and not really think about what it means?  I want my children to realize at an early age that God is awesome!  His attributes are countless, and they are eternal!  My children will not learn by accident how wonderful God is; I must bring it to their attention each and every time I notice God in circumstances around us.  Get in the habit of praising Him in front of your children.  Praise and worship can be private, but it should also be public sometimes for others to learn from you.  Tell them when God answers specific prayers.  Be the magnifier in their lives and show them that God is so big!

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do!
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do!

The mountains are His, the rivers are His
The stars are His handiwork, too.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do!

We Pray Wednesday: Ask, Seek & Knock - Part 4

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7

We have looked at “Ask”, “Seek” and “Knock”.  

As I said at the outset, God opens doors to produce growth in the lives of His children. I want to point out four areas where we can see immediate growth as a result of those prison doors being opened by the Father.

1.    Faith

Not only did the faith of Silas and Paul grow that night, the faith of the other prisoners and jailer grew also. In fact, the jailer and his entire family trusted the Lord for salvation that very night. Imprisonment was part of the journey that led to the door God would open for them. Pain and punishment was on that same path. Those two men of God were stripped and beaten in the town square before they were imprisoned, and yet there is no mention of doubt in this entire passage. Their faith grew.

2.    Patience

Because they had to be willing to sacrifice to self to see that door open, they also had to be willing to wait for God's perfect time. As I said earlier, they had no guarantee of God opening those doors that night. We are commanded in the Scriptures to “Wait patiently for him.” In my opinion, this is one of the hardest commands in the Bible. At times, God is going to bring us to a closed door, and He will find out just how much we want to go His way. We must be at the right place while knocking on the right door, waiting patiently for God to answer in his time. As the saying goes, “When God closes a door, praise Him in the hallway.” Another saying goes, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” You know, that may not be God opening the window. The window, that is often an escape rather than an entrance to God’s path. After a storm on the Sea of Galilee, God gave this message to the Apostles when they questioned Him, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” He rebuked the winds, saying “Peace, be still”, then He turned and said, “How is it that you have no faith?” They had prayed for escape rather than praying for the power of God to guide them through the storm. God is not planning to rescue us from our circumstances. God wants to guide us through our circumstances. When God closes the door, praise Him while you patiently wait in the hallway or praise Him in the dungeon.

3.    Knowledge

They gained a better grasp of how God works. God allowed them to establish a church where the Jewish customs would not impede its growth or confuse its doctrine. Paul did not have to correct doctrine that had been contaminated by what the Jews believed in the Old Testament time period. God was doing something great! God was doing something powerful! They were able to learn a little bit about how God works because they were willing to ask. They were willing to seek. They were willing to knock until God opened the door. Paul and his group received some experience. God showed Himself powerful through the earthquake. None of the prisoners dared to move. God put Paul and Silas right in the middle of the people with whom the magistrate had a problem. There was camaraderie there. They grew in understanding; realizing, God always has a plan. You and I benefit from the Epistle written to this church. Think of all the wonderful truths that are recorded for you and me today in the book of Philippians.

4.    Desire

Ask yourself this question, “Do you want to see God work and bring glory to His name, or do you just want to have God's blessing on whatever it is you do?” He is not going to open doors for those He cannot trust with what is on the other side of their doors. If you're going to get to the other side of that door and bring glory to yourself and gratify your flesh, mark it down, that door will remain closed. Does it seem that the Apostle Paul was trying to establish a church at Philippi so everyone would say, “Wow! What amazing job Paul did.”? If that had been his desire, this might have been the last we ever heard of him. He would have died a prisoner in Philippi. God saw his desire was pure. and allowed him to be used in a great way. Our true intentions to go beyond the door and our level of desire for God’s glory are revealed by how hard, how often, and how long we're willing to knock. I believe, Silas and Paul's desire for God grew that day.  

God is never going to open a door you don't knock on. You can't knock on doors you can't reach. You must be willing to go where those doors are and be willing to let God open the door. Ask Him! Seek Him! Knock until He answers! Paul did not begin to develop a prayer life when tragedy struck. Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Those are definite terms and absolute promises given by Almighty God.

 

Monday's Message: Heaven Came Down

Heaven Came Down

(source)

       The Montrose Bible Conference Grounds in Montrose, Pennsylvania, has been the sight of many wonderful Christian experiences, but seemingly none quite so far-reaching as in the summer of 1961.

       John W. Peterson says:

       “During one of the sessions an opportunity for a time of personal testimonies was given the audience, and Old Jim rose to his feet and told of his conversion experience. In describing that night when he met Christ, he used the phrase ‘It seemed like Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.’

       “Right away I sensed that it would be a fine title for a song, so I wrote it down and later in the week completed the song. It became a favorite almost immediately.”

       The song born that day in 1961 has blessed the hearts of people all over America as well as on the mission fields worldwide.

       John W. Peterson has written more than one thousand songs and fifteen cantatas that have sold more than three million copies. But this song is one of the most beloved among Christians.

       Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul

      

(1) O what a wonderful, wonderful day-

Day I will never forget;

After I'd wandered in darkness away,

Jesus my Savior I met.

O what a tender, compassionate friend-

He met the need of my heart;

Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling,

He made all the darkness depart!

      

CHORUS: Heaven came down

and glory filled my soul,

When at the cross

the Savior made me whole;

My sins were washed away

And my night was turned to day-

Heaven came down

and glory filled my soul!

      

(2) Born of the Spirit with life from above

Into God's family divine,

Justified fully through Calvary's love,

O what a standing is mine!

And the transaction so quickly was made

When as a sinner I came,

Took of the offer Of grace He did proffer-

He saved me, O praise His dear name!

      

(3) Now I've a hope that will surely endure

After the passing of time;

I have a future in heaven for sure.

There in those mansions sublime.

And its because of that wonderful day

What at the cross I believed;

Riches eternal And blessings supernal

From His precious hand I received.

Thoughtful Thursday: The Path of Your Trial

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed that the cause of the accident was human stubbornness.  Each captain was aware of the other ships presence. Both could have steered clear, but neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.

God has a path He wants us to meet to take in every trial, but sometimes human nature gets in the way and makes us not want to surrender or give in. However, God can only work in our lives as we surrender to Him.

We must first surrender our past (Philippians 3:13). The devil attempts to use past failures or sin to distract us from seeing God's purpose for our trials. He tries to convince us that God is punishing us or that He is upset with us and cannot use us. If you have asked God for forgiveness for those things in your past, then He doesn't remember them anymore! Don't let the devil distract you from seeing God's plan for you.

We must also surrender our present--each day we must surrender ourselves to Christ. As we do so, we can see God's purpose in our trials and draw closer to him.

Last, we must surrender our future. We must trust that God has a plan for us, that He is leaving us, and that He has a purpose for what He allows in our lives.

Have you surrendered your past, present and future to God?  He has a plan for your life, and He desires to use you. Ask God to help you be fully submitted to Him and to draw you closer to Him today. 

Used with permission from "a daily WORD" by Paul Chappell.