Explanation of God

'One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.' 'God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.' 'God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.' 'Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.' 'Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His father, and He told His father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.' 'His dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road any more. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.' 'You can pray any time you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.' 'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God! Don' t skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.' 'If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.' 'But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back any time He pleases. And..that's why I believe in God.' This was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.' I wonder if any of us could have done as well?

How Paul Preached.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Corinthian 2:4-5) And my speech, and my preaching As he determined, so he acted. The subject matter of his ministry was not any of the liberal arts and sciences, or the philosophy and dry morality of the Gentiles, but salvation by a crucified Christ. His style, his diction, his language followed this in his preaching, ...was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; with technical words, words of art, contrived by human wisdom to captivate the affections. Nor did Paul come with bare probable arguments only, a show of reason to persuade the mind to an assent, when nothing solid and substantial is advanced, only a run of words artfully put together, without any strength of argument in them. This is a method used by the false teachers, and which the apostle here strikes at and tacitly condemns. ....but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; partly by making use of solid proofs out of the writings of the Old Testament, indited by the Spirit of God, and which amounted to a demonstration of the truths he delivered. He also conveyed this partly by signs, and wonders, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, those extraordinary instances of divine power, which greatly confirmed the doctrines he preached. Besides all these, the Spirit of God wonderfully assisted him in his work, both as to words and matter; directing him, what to say, and in what form, in words, not which human wisdom taught, but which the Holy Ghost taught. The Holy Spirit accompanied his ministry with his power, to the conversion, comfort, edification, and salvation of many. That your faith should not stand "Or be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God". The Spirit of God directed Paul, and he under the Spirit's influence chose, and by his assistance pursued this way of preaching. He pursued it with this view, and for this reason, that faith in Christ and in the doctrines of his Gospel, which comes by hearing, might not be attributed to the force of human eloquence and oratory. Thus faith would not stand upon so sandy a foundation that it might be puffed away by a superior flow and force of words. Rather that it might be ascribed, as it ought to be, to almighty power, stand in it, be supported by it, and at last be finished and fulfilled with it. (Adapted from john gill's exposition of the bible, 1 corinthians 2:4.)

Barbers Don't Exist (Anonymous)

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine loving a God who would allow all of these things." The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!" "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside." "Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is, people do not come to me." "Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens is, people don't go to Him."

Resting in the Arms of Our Savior by Rob Chaffart

The Sabbath had been given to the Israelites as an opportunity to experience what resting in the Lord truly means. It's true, though, that for some reason, we humans have a hard time learning how to rest in the Lord. Thus, when human laws and regulations were added to it in order to keep its sanctity, the Sabbath day became a burden rather than a rest. Now that Jesus has clearly shown us the way, we are encouraged to experience His rest--not only one day a week, but every day (See Heb 4:6-8)! What does it mean to rest in Jesus' arms? "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." (Heb 4:8-11, NIV2) The rest that we receive by giving all of our burdens to Jesus goes beyond anyone's imagination. It is a rest that needs to be daily renewed, by focusing solely on Jesus. Depending on our own resources will always result in our falling short of this genuine rest. Depending on Jesus will cause any worries to evaporate. We can be at work and still experience rest amidst our tribulations. We have nothing to fear. Jesus' appeal to, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28, NIV2) is really true, but we have to be willing to come to Him and leave all of our worries at His feet. Truly, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matt 6:27, NIV2). Instead, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34, NIV2) But what does such rest look like? I will give you two personal experiences as examples of that rest. One today, the other one in our next devotional. If you have read what happened to me last year at Christmas time (See Terror in the Night. Flying Like an Eagle, Intro), you will remember that I was in a tough situation. It is hard to shake off the effects of two anxiety attacks, and no matter what I did, I proceeded to go through life always experiencing varying amounts of anxiety. Sadly, at first I looked for human advice. I went to my doctor, and she advised that I see a psychologist. My visit to the psychologist turned out to be quite different than I imagined. It turned out to be an opportunity to witness, even though I had not yet fully learned how to rest in Jesus' arms. The psychologist told me nothing was wrong with me and that she truly couldn't help me. She encouraged me to continue with my own efforts, warning me as she did that anxiety would always be part of my life from now on. I also discovered online something called "the tapping method," which is supposed to relieve anxiety. Unfortunately it didn't work as well as I had hoped, and I changed this by beginning to focus on Jesus through prayer instead. That's when I began to experience exceptional situational relief. Anxiety continued to linger in my life, however, and after two months, I turned to God and asked Him where it was coming from. Why hadn't I done this at the beginning? God made me aware that the anxiety was rooted in the sleep medicine that had been prescribed to me 5 years earlier, Zoplicone. Some of you are more familiar with its other name Lunesta, which is actually the same medicine. Supposedly Zoplicone wasn't addictive, and I had experienced that it had become less and less effective over time. Thinking back, I realized that on Christmas day I had decided not to take the medicine. I had never connected the dots until then, but I realized that this was the trigger for my anxiety attacks. Encouraged, I researched this topic online. I discovered that several doctors clearly documented the addictiveness of the medication. They warned that if you suddenly stopped taking Zoplicone, it could create havoc in numerous ways, one of which was the onset of anxiety attacks. I would need to gradually tamper off the medicine, and this is what I immediately began to do. Within 4 ½ months, I was free of its effects, and more importantly, free from anxiety as well. Oh, and I also sleep like a baby at night, now! Never in my life would I have thought to look this up on the Internet. However that prompting from God's Holy Spirit led me to deliverance. You may wonder why God did not heal me on the spot. Good question. Still, had I been healed right away, I would not have experienced how to depend solely on my God during that time. God became so real to me that now I try to run only into His arms. True, at times I do err, but my experience during that time makes me hunger for God more than ever. Even at work, I rely solely on God. Strangely enough, I am now completely relaxed while at work. How could it be otherwise? Jesus promises me utter rest when I come to Him. You too can experience that rest. You can stop worrying. Come to Jesus instead and learn from Him how to enjoy life fully. Will you join me and experience Jesus fully? (Rob Chaffart is the Director, Answer2prayer Ministries)

Without Compromise (By Steve Troxel, God's Daily Word Ministries, http://www.gdwm.com)

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon desired to unite his kingdom by instituting a centralized form of worship. He built a statue of gold about 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide and ordered that everyone must fall down and worship the statue whenever the royal music began to play. A report was delivered to the King that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were refusing to worship the golden image. The King summoned these three young Jewish men and gave them one more chance to conform to his rules for worship: "If you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" (Daniel 3:15) These three followers of Almighty God were faced with an ultimatum; "Compromise your beliefs, or die!" They could have found a way to rationalize this false worship. They could have found a variety of excuses for compromise. But rather than fall to the pressures of their surrounding environment, the three decided to live a life of unwavering faith and unashamed devotion to the One True God. Daniel 3:17-18 "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Very few will ever face a "Compromise or die!" ultimatum. But almost everyone will be tempted to push aside convictions and bow to such "golden images" as financial gain, physical pleasure, personal recognition, or the fear of conflict. We are also constantly tempted to "bow down" with the "entertainment" we watch, listen to, or read. Standing firm requires a determined effort to remain solidly on God's path. Hearing God's direction for our life can sometimes be difficult; but one truth remains - God never asks us to compromise His standard in order to follow His path...NEVER! We can therefore be assured that ANY compromise represents a deviation from His plan. Let's strengthen the convictions God has already placed on our heart. We need not be ashamed of, nor fear, what we know is true; and we need never doubt the perfection of His path. Let's live a life of consistent belief and trust such that what we believe is directly reflected in the way we live. Let's take a stand and live a God-honoring life...without compromise.

Recognizing Your Blessings (Author Unknown)

Two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?" The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That's a lot of money." "But you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you've been blessed...." "You don't understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week... nothing!" That's the trouble with receiving something on a regular basis. Even if it is a gift, we eventually come to expect it. Someone recently suggested to me a way to test someone's character. Give him (or her) $5 a day for a month. Then stop, and see what his reaction is. The natural tendency is that if we receive a gift long enough, we come to view it as an entitlement. We feel hurt, even angry, if we don't receive it any longer. It's the same way with the Blessings God gives us every day. I don't deserve the comfortable home I live in, the beautiful mountains around me, the clean water that I drink. But after receiving these gifts (and a multitude of others) for years, I sometimes fail to be grateful. I've come to expect these good things. And when one of them is removed for a short while (like the water being cut off), I get upset. Make an effort today to recognize the blessings you've come to take for granted. Focus on what you have rather than on what you don't have, and see if it doesn't improve your attitude. "Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His Goodness, and for His Wonderful Works to the children of men!" (Psalm 107:8).

Spiritual Grwth

Our spiritual growth, just like our natural growth, is a process. It does not all happen at once, but as we continue in God’s Word. Jesus said: “If you abide (continue) in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth (you know) shall make you free (grow up)” (John 8:31,32). There are no shortcuts in our spiritual growth. Christians often chase after fads thinking they are quick fixes, but after spending their time on that they will discover they have just become more self-oriented and have not grown spiritually. They have just wasted their time. True growth comes through knowing the Word of God, and Jesus guarantees to us that we will surely grow strong, if we diligently continue in His Word.