God's Compelling Purpose

He...said to them, "Behold, we 
are going to Jerusalem..." 
Luke 18:31

Seeking to do "the will of the Father" was the one domin-
ating concern throughout our Lord's life. And Whatever He 
encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success 
or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. 
Oswald Chambers

Reader, we in the west have a skewed understanding of God's
will. We are so used to entertainment, free time, full bellies,
uninterrupted sleep, that anything to the contrary cannot pos-
sibly be God's will. The Christians in China have to take
Prison Theology 101 as part of their journey. We heard one
testimony recently where a man spent two months in prison
and in that time all 5,000 prisoners heard the Gospel. He did
this by singing during exercise time and was joined by his sec-
tion. The music carried to the next section where the song was
learned and also sung and so it went. The guards were not able
to silence him completely. At the end of the
Cultural Revolution it was estimated that there were 800,000
Christians in China. Now there are one hundred million. Not
only that but since the Tianamen Square incident where thou-
sands of protesting students were killed, the college students
are coming to Christ in droves. They realize that there is no
hope in changing the political system, that there must be
something more, something outside of themselves to die for.  

Anxiety, Worry, Doubt, Fear

And which of you by being anxious can add a single 
cubit to his life's span. Matt 6:27

Anxiety, worry, doubt, and fear! The worry list presented 
by most is nearly endless and usually includes relation-
ships, personal responsibilities, children, finance, the 
future, job security, health. These are indeed things for 
which you are responsible; it is your job to see them 
through. Now imagine you can step back, and examine 
the worried, anxious you sitting in a chair. How would 
you describe yourself at your worst moments? Very likely 
you feel stupid, worthless, weak, angry, condemning and 
like a failure and a liar. As you contemplate your weakness 
and all that you must do, how do you feel? If with all your 
responsibilities  you are full of such weakness, how can 
you be filled with joyful expectation? You must perform,
but you know your limitations and so you worry over the 
outcome.

Now imagine that sitting in the chair next to you is another 
person, Jesus. How would you describe Him? His eyes are 
filled with compassion. The warmth of His countenance, 
accompanied by His strength and confidence, is stirring. 
His empty hands are held open; of course there is nothing 
in them, for you have given Him nothing. Your powerful 
Lord sits there inactive, resting, waiting, doing nothing.

The weak you seated in the chair is exhausted, because in 
all your frailty you had attempted to push uphill a wheel-
barrow filled with all your cares. Within just a few short 
feet you had given up, angry that those you trust had not 
come to your aid.

The point is that the source of your anxiety and fear is trust-
ing a weak self. Do you see why you need Jesus? You were 
not created to carry all the concerns of life; you were crea-
ted to be dependent. You cannot fly, and neither can you 
carry anxiety. The only One Who can--Jesus--must carry 
the anxiety of every person. But how can He carry what He 
has not been given? Ps 46:10 is clear: "Cease striving and 
know that I am God," or literally, get your hands off. Why 
do you keep your hands on? There is only one reason: un-
belief. You cling to belief in your own ability to do a better 
job than He would. Ps 46:10 goes on to say, "I will be 
exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

"Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 
'What will we drink?' or 'with what shall we clothe our-
selves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; 
for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these 
things." Matt 6:31,32
Anxiety does not suit the disciple
Michael Wells from My Weakness for His Strength Vol 2

Reader, many of you have experienced anxiety this past
weekend over the many signs that seemed to portend His
coming. Then you realize that all the problems you hoped 
would disappear--are still with you! The verse below is
one I need to ponder in these difficult days.

Cease striving and know that I am God...

Below is the website of Abiding Life Ministry and if
you scroll down you will find a brief biography of the
author. His wife Betty is now running the ministry but
only by His strength! There are some great books to
purchase and I would recommend, Sidetracked in the 
Wilderness and My Weakness for His Strength, vol 1 & 2. 



https://www.abidinglife.com/about-abiding-life/

The Revelation 12 Sign

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars.  Revelation 12:1

Reader, I don't know what you have seen and heard re-
garding this sign that appears in Revelation 12 about
mid point in the tribulation, but it has caught my atten-
sion. I have found all sorts of information as to its
meaning, from the rapture to terrible things coming
upon the earth. The 'sign' will appear on September 23
of this year.

Today I found an article by Danny Faulkner, a PHD
who is the lead Astronomer at Answers in Genesis. He
has spent most of his life watching the stars and he has
answered my questions as to what is true and what is
not true about this sign on September 23, 2017.

I have posted two articles on this subject below. In the
first one there is an 8 minute video.

https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/stars/what-will-happen-september-23-2017/

The second article is more recent and goes into more
detail based on the questions that have come in.

https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/stars/are-stars-lining-september-23-lords-return/

Jesus says that 'no man can no the day or the hour' 
but there will be signs that his coming is near. Matt 24
So, we have to be ready at all times!

Adversity

In this world you will have tribulation; but be of 
good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

God does not give us overcoming life--He gives us
life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds
our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no
strength. God never gives us strength for tomorrow,
or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the
moment. A saint can "be of good cheer" even when
seemingly defeated by adversaries, because victory
is absurdly impossible to everyone, except God.
Oswald Chambers

Reader, as we wait for His coming, God wants us
to lean on Him and receive His strength moment
by moment. We are to exchange 'our weakness for
His strength.' God does not 'help those who help
themselves,' but instead is delighted when we lean
on Him. I love this verse, "Who is coming up from
the wilderness leaning on her beloved?' SS 8:5.
Surely we often walk in dry places and, for me, I
cannot make it on my own...
. 

High Watch Time

Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will 
sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and 
we shall be changed.   I Corinthians 15:51-52

It appears that Paul had only two months, or eight weeks
to establish the Thessalonian Church. He gave them the
Gospel but he also gave them something else. He talked
about the coming of the Lord. Paul sent Timothy to them
because their afflictions were so great he wanted to make
sure that their faith held. Timothy returned to Paul with
a good report--they were strong in faith--and with many
questions, of which the coming of the Lord to take them
home, was high on the list and begins in 1 Thes 4:13. The
last two chapters of this book are filled with information
concerning a catching away of the saints and how Paul
believed that it could happen anytime. At the end of chap-
ter 4 he says this to a very young first century church,
'For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a 
cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and 
with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead 
will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will 
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet 
the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the 
Lord. 
Therefore, COMFORT one another with these words.'
(I want to comfort you, especially those who are suffering.)

Reader, the next couple of days we have the Feast of Trum-
pets on the 21st and the Revelation 12 sign on the 23rd,
The rapture which has always been considered 'imminent'
meaning that nothing has to take place before this event,
does not have to happen on a Feast Day or any other special
day. However, God may attach it to this fall feast. Jesus ful-
filled all three of the Spring Feasts and then sent His
Holy Spirit to fill the new believers on the Day of Pentecost,
another Jewish Feast. While all of those feasts have been
fulfilled, none of the fall Feasts have as yet been fulfilled.
It is something to consider.

There are many ideas out there about the end times. I have
studied them all, and for me, the only one that makes sense
from a Biblical perspective is that the Lord will take out his
church before the Father sends his wrath upon the world.
We are not appointed unto wrath...1 Thes 5:9.
I think this is the biggest thing for me because what loving
father would pour out wrath on his son's future bride? ( I am
not talking about 'tribulation' that has been promised to all
who believe, but God's wrath.)

I am adding a talk by Mark Hitchcock given in 2013 on the
various points of view and why he believes that the church
will be removed before the tribulation. Again, it is something
to study because it is important that we are looking for Him.
It helps one avoid sin if he knows that Jesus can come any
day! (I look up every day.) By the way, everything is now set
up for a one world government and the rule of the Anti-Christ.
I did some blogs in the past on this topic. I believe His com-
ing is very soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32o8s8PaiM8

Entirely His

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:4

Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every
detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring
us back in countless ways to the same point over and
over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to
that one point until we learn the lesson, because His
purpose is to produce a finished product.
Oswald Chambers

Reader, I can remember going around the same hill
over and over and over. Eventually, I  discovered
what it was all about, but had suffered longer than
I really needed to.

The Receipt

...God made alive together with him, having forgiven our
trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood
against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nail-
ing it to the cross. Col 2:13,14

He said, 'It is finished' 
The word for finished in the Greek means:  COMPLETE,
THE DEBT DISCHARGED, ACCOMPLISHED, PAID
IN FULL

Reader, He is risen and all those who confess Jesus as Lord
and Savior are on the other side of the grave! But, how can
we know that Jesus rose from the dead? Tell me, when you
pay off a debt what do you receive to show that the debt is
paid? You receive a paper saying that you have paid what
you owe. In the scripture above it states that He canceled the
debt, our debt, by nailing it to the cross. So, did He leave a
receipt? Yes, I believe that he left a physical receipt that even
lists all that He did for us when He died on the Cross. Are
you curious enough to listen to a 28 minute discussion of the
Shroud of Turin? Frankly, I was blown away by the testi-
mony of a man who has studied the Shroud many years, and
who has talked to those who were able to handle it in 1978
when it was open to study for five days. Russ Breault has
produced five DVD's on this subject on different levels of
investigation, and come to the conclusion that it is the cloth
that wrapped Jesus when He was placed in the grave. Even
in the short time given for the interview I heard things I had
not heard before and I believe that God has preserved the
testimony of the resurrection of His Son on this cloth for
such a time as this for we have the technology to prove that
it is a forgery! Not only does the cloth speak of the past but
also the future as we wait for the day of His appearing.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall 
also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:49

There is an image of a man on the cloth. Whose image is it
and how was it made? The implications of what has been
found should encourage every one of you! I believe that this
is one of the most important blogs I have put out in the last
five years!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxrdTgcx3Ek

Sing With Thanksgiving

Sing... to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the
Father for everything. Eph 5:19-20

In everything give thanks for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thes 5:18

No matter the source of the evil confronting you, if you 
are in Christ and thereby completely surrounded by 
Him, you must realize that it has first passed through 
Him before coming to you. Because of this, you can 
thank Him for everything that comes your way. This 
does not mean thanking Him for the sin that 
accompanies evil, but offering thanks for what He will 
bring out of it and through it. May God make our life 
one of continual thanksgiving and praise, so He will 
then make everything a blessing. CHP

Many people owe the grandeur of their lives to their
tremendous difficulties. Charles H Spurgeon

Reader, when you look into the stories of the great men
and women in former centuries, you will find immense
issues that kept them trusting in God. Blindness, chronic
illness, loss of family members, old age, did not prevent
the hymns, sermons, books from being written. In fact I
feel that their tremendous difficulties only deepened the
message.

Father, I know the truth of this message, that nothing can
enter our lives without first coming through You. May I
pause and thank you in every situation this day.

The Lord Waits

Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious
unto you...blessed are all they that wait for him.  
Is 30:18

We should not only understand the importance of our
waiting on God but also realize something even more
wonderful--the Lord waits on us. And the very thought
of His waiting on us will give us renewed motivation
and inspiration 'to wait for Him.' It will also provide
inexpressible confidence that our waiting will never be
in vain. Therefore, in the spirit of waiting on God, let
us seek to discover exactly what it means right now.

The Lord has an inconceivably glorious purpose for 
each of His children. 'If this is true, ' you ask, 'why is 
it that He continues to wait longer and longer to offer
His grace and to provide the help I seek, even after I
have come and waited on Him?' He does so because
He is a wise gardener who 'waits for the land to yield
its valuable crop' and is 'patient... for the coming of
the autumn and spring rains.' James 5:7  God knows
He cannot gather the fruit until it is ripe, and He knows
precisely when we are spiritually ready to receive bles-
sings for our gain and His glory. And waiting in the
sunshine of His love is what will ripen our soul for
His blessings. Also, waiting under the clouds of trials
is as important, for they will ultimately produce show-
ers of blessings.

Rest assured that if God waits longer than we desire,
it is simply to make the blessings doubly precious.
Remember, He waited four thousand years, 'but when
the time had fully come, God sent his Son.' Gal 4:4.
Our time is in His hands, and he will quickly avenge
those He has chosen, swiftly coming to our support 
without ever delaying even one hour too long.
Andrew Murray

Reader, yesterday I took my advice and listed the things
that have caused me pain and found that in each case God
was working His perfect will and brought blessings of
greater intimacy. Yes, 'the Lord waits,' but it is meant for
our good!

Suffering

Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? 
John 18:11

In order to have sympathetic God, we must have a 
suffering Savior, for true sympathy comes from under-
standing another person's hurt by suffering the same
affliction. Therefore we cannot help others who suffer
without having known a great cost within ourselves.

The most comforting of David's psalms were squeezed
from his life by suffering, and if Paul had not been given
'a thorn in his flesh,' we would have missed much of the
heartbeat of tenderness that resonates through so many
of his letters. 

If you have surrendered yourself to Christ, your present
circumstanced that seem to press you to the ground, are
forming you into His image and also giving you a mes-
sage that will bring comfort to many. LB Cowman

Reader, I would also add that God the Father is making
us into a fit Bride for His Son. As we share in a small
part of His sufferings we are not only able to understand
a little more His terrible suffering for us on the cross, the
love that put Him there, but we are also being molded into
His image. We will not be unequally yoked with Him as
His Bride through all of eternity. Does that not put suf-
fering into a different light?

Take time to go back into your life and list the sorrows
and sufferings that you have experienced. Is there a
pattern that emerges? Then list what came out of the
valleys you walked through. For me it has been a much
deeper relationship with the One my heart loves best.

Fully Committed

The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to 
strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed
to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

God is looking for men and women whose hearts are fully 
fixed on Him and who will continually trust Him for all 
He desires to do with their lives. God is ready and eager 
to work more powerfully than ever through His people, 
and the clock of the centuries is almost at midnight. 

The world is watching and waiting to see what God can do
through a life committed to Him. And not only is the world
waiting but God Himself awaits to see who will be the most
completely devoted person who has ever lived: willing to be
nothing so Christ may be everything; fully accepting God's
purposes as his own; receiving Christ's humility, faith, love
and power yet never hindering God's plan but always allow-
ing Hin to continue His miraculous work. CHP

Reade, there is no limit to what God can do through you,
provided you do not seek your own glory.  

Silence

I called to Him but he did not answer.  SS 5:6

Once the Lord has given great faith, He has been known
to test it with long delays. He has allowed His servants'
voice to echo in their ears, as if their preyers were re-
bounding from a contemptuous sky. Believers have 
knocked at the heavenly gate, but it has remain immov-
able, as though its hinges had rusted. And like Jeremiah,
they have cried, 
'You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no 
prayer can get through.'  Lam 3:44

True saints of God have endured lengthy times of patient
waiting with no reply, not because their prayers were 
prayed without intensity, nor because God did not accept
their pleas. They were required to wait because it pleased
Him who is sovereign and who gives 'according to his 
good purpose' Phil 2:13. And if it pleases Him to cause
our patience to be exercised, should He not do as He 
desires with His own?

No prayer is ever lost, or any prayer ever breathed in vain. 
There is no such thing as a prayer unanswered or unnoticed
by God, and some things we see as refusals or denials are
simply delays. Horatius Bonar

Reader, do you have prayers whose answers seem lost and
perhaps the prayers forgotten. When I get discouraged I
think of Eve who lost her first and second born and never
saw the promise of the Savior. I think of Job who did not
understand what was behind his suffering. How about
Abraham who waited 25 years for the fulfillment of the
promised one. Surely he cried to God in the night!

So, you see, we are not alone in this walk of faith!

Wingless Birds

They will soar on wings like eagles.  Isaiah 40:31

There is a fable about the way birds got their wings. The 
story goes that initially they were made without them. 
Then God made the wings, set them down before the 
wingless birds, and said to them, "Take up these burdens 
and carry them."

The birds had sweet voices for singing, and lovely
feathers, that glistened in the sunshine, but they could 
not soar. When asked to pick up the burdens that lay 
at their feet, they hesitated at first. Yet soon they obeyed, 
picked up the wings with their beaks, and set them on 
their shoulders to carry them.

For a short time the load seemed heavy and difficult to 
bear, but soon, as they continued to carry the burden and 
to fold the wings over their hearts, the wings grew 
attached to their little bodies. They quickly discovered
how to use them and were lifted by the wings high into
the air. The weights became wings. 

This is a parable for us. We are the wingless birds, and 
our duties and tasks are the wings God uses to lift us up 
and cary us heavenward. We look at our burdens and
heavy loads, and try to run from them, but if we will 
carry them and tie them to our hearts, they will become
wings God uses to lift us up and carry us heavenward.
We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and try to run
from them, but if we will carry them and tie them to our
hearts, they will become wings. And on them can we
rise and soar toward our God.

There is no burden so heavy that when lifted cheerfully
with love in our hearts will not become a blessing to us.
God intends for our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to 
bend our shoulders to carry a load is to miss a new
opportunity for growth.  JR Miller.

No matter how overwhelming, any burden God has love-
tingly placed with His own hands on our shoulders is a
blessing.  Frederick Faber

Reader, God is using the blog to encourage me into a
greater understanding of how the trials in my life are
a doorway to His abundant life. I hope that you too,
find today's blog, liberating

The Furnace of Affliction

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  
Isaiah 48:10

Doesn't God's Word come to us like a soft rain shower,
dispelling the fury of the flames? Isn't it like fireproof
armor, against which the heat is powerless? Then let
afflictions come, for God has chosen me. Poverty, you
may walk through my door, but god is already in my
house, and He has chosen me. Sickness, you may in-
trude into my my life, but I have a cure standing ready--
God has chosen me. Whatever occurs in the valley of
tears, I know He has chosen me.

Dear Christian, do not be afraid, for Jesus walks with
you. Through all your fiery trials, His presence is both
your comfort and safety. He will never forsake those 
He has chosen for His own. 'Do not be afraid, for I am
with you,' (Gen 26:24) is His unfailing word of promise
to his chosen ones who are experiencing 'the furnace 
of affliction.' Charles H Spurgeon

Reader, many in this country are finding life hanging by
a thread. Whether it is Houston and Florida getting
deluged by wind and water, or the west which seems to
be burning up with fire and drought in so many states,
people are in danger of losing everything. God will never
forsake His own for we belong to Him. This is the bottom
line of the present and of our future.

Even in Old Age

You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves 
in season. Job 5:26

A man who once wrote about the salvaging of old ships
stated that it was not the age of the wood from the
vessel alone that improved its quality. The straining
and twisting of the ship by the sea, the chemical reac-
sion produced by the bilge water, and the differing
cargoes also had an effect.

Several years ago some boards and veneers cut from an
oak beam from an eighty year old ship were exhibited
at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway in NYC.
They attracted attention, because of their elegant color-
ing and beautiful grain. Equally striking were some
mahogany beams taken from a ship that sailed the seas
sixty years ago. The years of travel had constricted the
pores of the wood and deepened its colors, so that they
were magnificent and bright as those of an antique
Chinese vase. The wood has since been used to make
a cabinet that sits in a place of honor in the living room
of a wealthy New York family.

There is also a great difference between the quality of
elderly people who have lived listless, self-indulgent,
and useless lives and the quality if those who have
sailed through rough seas, carrying cargo and burdens
as servants of God, and as helpers of others. In the
latter group, not only has the stress and strain of life
seeped into their lives but the aroma of sweetness of
their cargo has also been absorbed into the very pores
of each fiber of their character.  Louis Albert Banks

Reader, as we celebrate our 47th anniversary today, this
piece is so encouraging. God means for us to be fruitful
and beautiful even into old age. I think one of the biggest
 'youth tonics' is to give Him thanks in all things. Try it.
You will come to like it. And your face will reflect His
goodness to you even in the hard times.

God's Faitfulness

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack nullify
God's faithfulness.  Romans 3:3

I suspect that the source of every bit of sorrow in my life
can be traced to simple unbelief. If I truly believe the 
past is totally forgiven, the present is supplied with power,
and the future is bright with hope, how could I be any-
thing but completely happy?

Yes, the future is bright, because of God's faithfulness.
His abiding truth does not change with my mood, and
He never wavers when I stumble and fall over a promise
of His through my unbelief. His faithfulness stands firm
and as prominent as mountain peaks of pearl splitting 
the clouds of eternity. And each base of His hills is rooted 
at an unfathomable depth on the rock of God.
Samuel Hart

Reader, God is faithful even in our unfaithfulness. His
mercies are new every morning.