Work Out From the Bible

I was speaking with a family member today. An ongoing struggle with health has invaded the household. It has at times been life threatening. I, for one, do not take health issues lightly. Satan is a formidable foe, defeated to be sure, but certainly formidable. I thought I might share at-large what I said to this family member.

Remember to work out from the Bible. Jesus said, "It is finished." (John 19:30) And Peter says in his epistle, "By His stripes we were healed." (1 Pet. 2:24) Paul tells the Romans, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. 12:2) Combining all these thoughts into one, I said, "Work out from the Bible." Too often we try to work into the Bible, and we find it quite hard to reconcile what we feel, how we hurt, to what the Bible says. That is not transforming ourselves, but trying to transform God and his Word to how we feel now.

We can't say, "I believe I will be healed." Or some such. That puts the issue into the future, and the future never comes. It is always today, never tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes. But if we reach back to what has been said, what has been done, then we can move forward from that position. God says I am healed, then I am healed. Good starting position for transformation.

The Bible says, "By his stripes we were healed." If I was, then I am. If God's word is stronger than anything else, then we are proceeding from the strong, making the weak to bow down. My body may take awhile transforming to God's word, but the promise is that it will eventually.

Psychiatry believes this. It tell us we are a result of our past experiences. For instance, you constantly hear, "You'll never amount to anything." Eventually, you start believing it, and you suffer from that past designation. Well, a past experience is that Jesus bore our sins and sicknesses on the cross, and we are healed (see Isaiah 53). OK, then we begin to say what we have heard, we act out what we have heard. Guess what? Slowly, but surely, it begins to happen.

Now, you may not believe this. That is fine. But before you say it isn't true, you need to know that twice I have been healed from a life situation that the doctors insisted would result in my death. To their surprise, I have now lived more than 20 years longer from their diagnosis of the first disease, more than 15 years longer than their second diagnosis.

If you are willing to do it God's way, it will work. Don't grow weary in well-doing! God is always true to his Word.

"Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus!" (2 Cor. 2:14)

A great, thriller of a book: Rare Earth

Here's another new book by my favorite author Davis Bunn. Rare Earth is a great book. Read my review below, then answer one of the questions that follows for a chance to win your own copy of the book. Answer both questions for two chances to win.


And NOW my review:

Davis Bunn is a master storyteller. But the story is not the same every time. He manages to create new plots and new progressive story lines with every book. That is why I keep coming back to his novels. It is folly to think you know how a book will go just because it is a Davis Bunn book. On the contrary, he delights in change and newness. Refreshing! Rare Earth will not disappoint the reader. The second book in his Marc Royce Series, Rare Earth is a stand-alone book. Only the main character, Marc Royce, is the same. Everything else changes­—everything! Drop all pre-conceived ideas and notions about this book, and prepare for a fast-paced, hair-raising, all-consuming novel.

Once again, on short notice, Marc Royce is thrown into an impossible situation that will affect whole people groups, nations and individual lives. Kenya is about to be changed from an idyllic, peace-loving country with unimaginably beautiful vistas to polluted water supplies and money-grabbing fortune seekers. Marc enters the country not knowing his enemies from his friends, and his enemies are the deadliest foes one can imagine. He has to make his friends one by one. In less than five days, he totally changes a starving, dying refugee camp into an orderly operation full of hope. But in the process, he accrues great wrath and uncovers a sinister plot to destroy all of Kenya in the name of wealth. Marc is a man of quick understanding, powerful ideas, and great physical, mental, and spiritual strength; and he needs it all to survive and to stop a heinous crime from taking place. Of course, he succeeds. But not anything like you would imagine. More twists and turns than a mountain road, this book will hold you spellbound till the very last word. Enjoy Rare Earth!

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Now answer one question for a chance to win your own copy of the book, answer two for two chances. (Be sure to include your email address to be notified, if you win):

1.  If you could serve as a missionary in another country, where would you go?

2.  If you were a secret agent, what two things would you keep on your person at all times?

To view a book trailer of Rare Earth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_WbtTeaubI

To read the first three chapters free: http://www.scribd.com/doc/92010687/Rare-Earth-by-Davis-Bunn-Sample-Chapters-1-3

Little Cat Feet

Carl Sandburg, in his poem The Fog wrote, "The fog comes on little cat feet." I have discovered that God often comes the same way in our lives. We all look forward to the big jolts of supernatural awareness, some great thing that God has done that is unmistakeable, majestic, and mind-blowing. But all in all, those times are few and far between for our stimulation needs.

In reality, the God Who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5), does more day-by-day in our lives that, when taken together, far outweigh the jolting moments of supernatural awareness. It seems to me that God much prefers and greatly enjoys the quiet, unseen movements in our lives. I think God enjoys our wake-up realizations that "He was there all the time," as the song goes.

In fact, He has said to me, "I am at work in the quiet places, and the corners, and the edges of your life. Places where you maybe haven’t thought to look for me." And I realize that that knowledge makes me very comfortable and peaceful. He does say, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (Col. 3:15).

I am glad that God comes on little cat feet, in the every day, hum-drum times of life - because there are so many more of those than the WOW times.

Confidence

I am convinced that the devil and his bunch don't draw back from God and His power. Rather they draw back when they see God's children standing in confidence. I mean, really, they were with God in heaven, and they rebelled. I don't think they think enough of God to be worried about Him. And they surely believe that they are winning.

Anyway, David says a lot about confidence in Psalm 27:1-3. Verse one, the foundation of confidence; verse two, the need for confidence, and verse 3, the exercise of confidence. Verse 2 clearly says that our enemies stumble and fall when they see our confidence in God. And verse 3 says, when they do come against us, we are not afraid. The Hebrew says, "In spite of this, I will be confident."

Me, too. Confidence is a wonderful thing, and we have a wonderful foundation for being confident. "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" The Lord is the strength of my life, in whom shall I be afraid." Sounds like Paul in Romans, "What shall separate us?"

Hebrews 10:38, "if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Well, let's not draw back, but move forward in confidence. Come on, you can do it. I will stand with you and you stand with me!

Think big, ask big!

This is what the Lord has been saying to me for the last few days.

He has been reminding me that He is the One Who is able to do exceedingly above what I ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). He reminds me almost daily that I keep Him small in my life by thinking small and asking small. He reminds me that Jairus thought big to go find Jesus and ask Him to come to his house to heal his dying daughter. And he asked big of Jesus to come. But guess what, Jesus said, "I will come." Or we might say, "Let's roll!"

So I have been thinking big and asking big this whole week. The devil doesn't attack, he just gnaws around the edges of my thoughts. Asking big and thinking big is almost like inviting him to gnaw at the edges of my faith. But then again, it is proof that I am on the right track. Sure enough, when Jairus and Jesus were returning to his house, people came to say it was too late, his daughter was dead. Jesus immediately spoke up and said, "Fear not, only believe." So after asking and thinking, when the gnawer (new word) comes, don't get into fear, just keep believing.

Looking closely at Ephesians 3:20, we begin to see that the size of God in our life is directly proportional to how big we think and how big we ask. His "exceedingly above" is hampered by our littleness. Hmmm... Exactly what could He do...?

I Am What I Am

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain... (I Corinthians 15:10)."

Do you know someone who really doesn't like you? Do you know someone who does? We all have those who do and don't like us. But the determining factor of our emotional makeup should be that Jesus loves us most. We are too easily moved by the people and opinions of this world. Paul said, "Some people don't like me, some do." But he realized that what he was in his Christian walk was because of the grace of God to him. God could have easily assigned him to the pits of hell for his treatment of Christians. Instead he saved him and commissioned him to be His chosen minister. And though we sometimes think of Paul as perfect, in reality he was just like us. He did good things and bad things. He had good thoughts and bad thoughts. He had good plans and bad plans. Maybe some people thought he shouldn't be an apostle, or at least, should be better. But his conclusion was, "By God's grace, I am what I am."

And his further determination was not to misuse that grace. "God didn't waste His time when He bestowed His grace on me...I make sure I serve Him faithfully", he said.

There may be others who are better than you in some areas. But if you realize that God's grace in your life has made you who you are, and if you determine that His grace bestowed on you was not in vain, then you have a good balanced emotional makeup. By God's grace, I am what I am.

So think well of yourself. Did you know that the Bible says that you, as a Christian, are a sweet smelling savor to God? Just endeavor daily to be all you can for God, and let His grace carry you through. Oh, and let Him deal with those who don't like them...and those who do.

Bible Learning Lab

Judy's long awaited website is finally up and online. Wow! It is fantastic. Here is her description of this website: "Learn the basics of this amazing book! When you understand what is inside, you will soar higher than you can imagine!"

She has worked diligently on it for about 10 months. And in the months to come she will be adding new features to it. But for now, it is up and running with wonderful things to discover.

Check it out! Bible Learning Lab! (There is also a link to her site at the right of this page.)