ARE YOU EXPECTING TOO MUCH? (Russ Lawson)

I've come to the conclusion over the years that some people drop out of religion because they expect the wrong things. Some people come to a church because they are looking for something they haven't been able to find or something missing in their lives. They become a Christian or become involved with a local church and expect their lives to suddenly be perfect, no more problems to face. No more attacks by Satan, suddenly their whole life should become easier with no more hassles. When that doesn't happen they just quit and give up on God.

People like this are kind of like a lady who was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family and was trying to get to the ones in the bottom of the freezer. A stock boy happened by and she asked, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

The stock boy thought she was asking for something unrealistic and far too often we do too. One of the things people fail to realize is that the peace we find in Christ is of a spiritual nature, which allows us to eventually find peace in our physical world. There are some people who can make that transition in understanding, growth if you will very quickly. Probably most people like this have already been striving to have a relationship with God. They can find a new peace that passes the understanding of most of the world, but most of us are not that way. We need time to mature in Christ from a new beginning and grow into what God intends. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:2, "Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers’ breasts, so that you may go on to salvation."

When we do that then we will find that peace in God for which we are looking. But the key is that God does expect us to grow, not just set in a church pew like a new born child laying in its mothers arms, never growing, never maturing. Paul writes about this in Hebrews 5:11-14 where he says, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

The bottom line is this; if you want to find peace in this world don't expect to find it quickly or easily. It comes to us when we give the Word of God time to grow and mature in our lives by putting to practice the things we find in it. We become as Paul said, "the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

(Messages From The Heart)

The Ant and the Grasshopper (Author Unknown)

A mother of a 9 year old boy, Mark, received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son's school.

"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son's third grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately."

Mothers seldom want to hear from their child's teacher in the middle of the day. The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a beginning to a phone call. "What now?" the mother wondered.

The teacher continued, "I have been teaching for many years and nothing like this has happened until now. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work.

Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he hops to the ants house and begins to beg. 'Please Mr. Ant, you have much food please let me eat, too.' Now boys and girls your job is to write the ending to the story.

Your son, Mark, raised his hand. "Teacher, may I draw a picture?" "Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story."

The papers came in. As in all the years past, most of the students said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. As always, a few children said, 'The ant said, "No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer and not played. Now, I have just enough food for myself." So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.

But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, "So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died."

And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses. "He gave everything to us so that we might live; but Jesus died."

Praise God for Jesus's sacrifice on our behalf!

Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah

Seeing Only One Side

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Psalm 13:1

Recommended Reading John 12:27-28

Directors of dramatic films often use a camera sequence that heightens the tension in a scene. Two enemies will be within feet of each other -- on opposite sides of a wall or on parallel streets in a city without knowing it. An aerial shot or split screen gives us, the viewers, the advantage of seeing both parties. But the actors are portraying extreme tension, not knowing where the other person is. 

That tension is what we feel sometimes when we can only see our side of the split screen without seeing God's side. We're in a situation of some sort -- trouble or danger is approaching -- and we cry out to God for His help and intervention. And either we don't hear immediately from God or we get an answer that is not what we wanted or expected. The problem is, we can only see our part of the drama. God is above it all and sees what we cannot. Consider the time the Israelites were delayed in reaching the Promised Land (Exodus 13:17-18), or the time the answer to Daniel's prayer was delayed for three weeks (Daniel 10:1-14) -- both delays were for good reasons.

If you are asking God for something and the answer is slow in coming, remember that you are seeing only one part of the equation. 

Hope is the foundation of patience. 
John Calvin 

Giving towards the work of God

Dr. Manoj Kumar Khatore cautions us..........

A word of caution for those who donate their money for God's work : Don't live in a delusion that God or His servants are dependant on your money for their sustenance. Even if you do not donate God knows how to protect, feed and lead His servants. And, if you are given a chance to contribute then do so with utmost humilty, honesty and godly fear lest He be angry and curse your material wealth to bring down your ego and pride.

Acts 5:1-11 NIV: Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Let us learn from the examples given in the Bible and revere God with utmost purity of heart. To those who protect the poor and honor the work of the Lord with pure motives He is always a refuge in times of trouble, a shield and an exeedingly great reward. May the Lord God meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus as you honor His work in the best possible way you can.

Have an awesome day in Christ!

Prayer

Stormie Omartian wrote, "Praising and worshiping God doesn’t guarantee that our prayers will be answered exactly the way we pray them. That doesn't happen to anyone all the time ... prayer is not telling God what to do. It's sharing our heart and making our requests known to Him. He then answers in accordance with His will."
(Stormie Omartian, The Prayer That Changes Everything)

On Rocky Ground (by Ron Nichol)

There it was, just ahead of me on the sidewalk: a familiar, bright yellow dandelion, the harbinger of spring, growing out of a narrow crack in the concrete pavement. Somehow, a lone seed from the previous year had landed in the crack and found enough fertile soil to take root and bloom. It brought to mind a recent sermon on the parable of the sower and the seeds.

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." (Luke 8:5-8 NIV 2011)

For me, the most pertinent point of the sermon was that even some of the seeds that landed on rocky ground could eventually come into bloom. I lived for many years on skid row as an alcoholic, and the soil of my soul had become very rocky ground. It was hardened, poisoned, and covered by the rocks of despair from the starkness of my daily grind for survival. I was emotionally and spiritually dead, detached from life, from self, and, most importantly, from God. Although many of God's servants sowed the seeds of salvation, I was totally incapable of responding. Some people even turned away from me in frustration, feeling that their best efforts were being wasted on me. I felt that I had been abandoned to the dismal fate of an alcoholic death.

I now firmly believe that it was the Spirit of almighty God that came to me one night as I sat behind a green dumpster, drinking a bottle of rum. I had an insight, a voice as clear as a bell, a gentle voice from within me that said, "You were not born to live this way. You were not meant to die this way." That luminous moment of insight was the beginning of my journey towards Jesus, towards the light of life.

The living seed of God, sown by the servants of God years before, began to blossom in the dry soil of my soul. The Lord Jesus gently led me to the foot of His cross, where I eventually knelt, confessed my sinfulness, and admitted my need of His all-saving grace. All honour and glory be to God, for without His saving grace, I would still be counted amongst the lost souls. I will also be eternally grateful for all of God's people who, with patience and persistence, continued to sow the seeds of salvation. Today, through the eternal message of the gospel, I am able to love without fear, to embrace life with all of its vagaries, and to live life to its fullest.

The important point is that as Christians, we ought never to turn away from people in desperate and disparate circumstances, no matter whether we feel that our best efforts to sow the seeds of our Lord are landing on deaf ears. We never know when or where those seeds will take root and flourish in even the most broken of souls. By the great commission left by Jesus, we, His friends and servants, are to be the sowers of the seeds, the fishers of souls. It is to be left to God alone, through His will and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to furnish the nourishment of His grace, so that some of the seeds that we sow may someday thrive, even in the most rock-strewn and desolate of human hearts.

Prayer: Dear Lord, with Your help and grace, may we become sowers of the seeds of Your Word, and may Your seeds return to you a hundredfold. May we always in word and deed give witness to the redeeming love and grace of Your Son, our dear Lord Jesus. Amen.

Ron Nichol
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

Tony Campolo

The story is told of a church that secured a new preacher, and the word spread around town about how well he preached.  The church members were abuzz about what an improvement he was over their former preacher, and how much more attention they gave to his sermons.  When the town cynic asked what made this new preacher so much better than his predecessor, he was told, “The old preacher told us that we’re all sinners, and that if we didn’t repent, we’d burn in hell forever!”  This cynic then asked, “And what does this new one say?”  The answer was, “That we’re all sinners, and that if we don’t repent, we’ll burn in hell forever!”  When the cynic responded that he didn’t see any difference between the two of them, he was told, “This new preacher says it with tears in his eyes.”

Is there evidence that God answers prayer

I may have dwelt on this issue previously, but a similar question posed to our online ministry Answer2 prayer (www.answers2prayer.org) has prompted me to look at it again.

Countless stories could be cited of diseases cured, exams passed, children begotten, repentance and forgiveness granted, relationships restored, hungry children fed, bills paid, lives and souls saved through the efficacy of prayer. So, yes, there is plenty of evidence that God through the name of Jesus answers prayer. Most of the evidence is anecdotal and personal, however, and that bothers many who think of “evidence” only as that which is observable, measureable, and reproducible.

Scripture clearly teaches that prayers are answered. James 5:16 states that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Jesus taught His disciples that “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). First John 3:22 echoes this truth, saying that we “receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”

Scripture, moreover, is replete with stories of answered prayer. Elijah’s prayer for fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:12), Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance (2 Kings 19:19), and the apostles’ prayer for boldness (Acts 4:29) are just three examples. Since these accounts were written by eyewitnesses to the events, they constitute clear evidence of answered prayer. One might, of course, counter that Scripture does not present observable evidence in the “scientific” sense. However, no statement of Scripture has ever been conclusively disproved, so there is no reason to doubt its testimony. In fact, labeling some kinds of evidence as “scientific” and other kinds as “non-scientific” is a fuzzy and artificial distinction at best. The choice to evaluate the efficacy of prayer only in light of observable evidence is not a choice motivated by the data but by prior philosophical commitments. When this arbitrary restriction is relaxed, the biblical data speaks clearly for itself.

Occasionally, a group of researchers will conduct a scientific study on the efficacy of prayer. Their findings are usually that prayer has no effect (or possibly even a negative effect) on, for instance, the average recovery time of people in medical care. How are we to understand the results of studies such as these? Are there any biblical reasons for unanswered prayer?

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (NASB). Likewise, 1 John 5:15 qualifies our receiving “anything we ask” with our obedience to God’s commands. James notes that “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (4:3). So, a couple reasons for unanswered prayer are un-confessed sin and wrong motivations.

“When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7). Hebrews 11:6 also identifies faith as a necessary condition for a relationship with God, something always mediated by prayer in the name of Christ: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Faith, then, is necessary for answered prayer.

SOME CRITICS OF CHRISTIANITY MAKE THE CASE THAT, SINCE JESUS INSTRUCTS HIS DISCIPLES TO “ASK WHATEVER YOU WISH,” ALL PRAYERS SHOULD BE ANSWERED. HOWEVER, SUCH CRITICISMS COMPLETELY IGNORE THE CONDITIONS TO THE PROMISE IN THE FIRST PART OF THE VERSE: “IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND MY WORDS REMAIN IN YOU.” This is clearly a prescription for praying within the will of God; in other words, genuine prayer which God always answers is, in fact, that sort which requests, explicitly or implicitly, that GOD'S WILL WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. The will of the petitioner is secondary. Jesus Himself prayed this way in Gethsemane  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (Luke 22:42). The humble prayer of faith allows that the prayer may be answered with a “no”; anyone not offering such a prayer—anyone who demands to be answered—has no right to expect an answer.

Another reason why so many report the inefficacy of prayer is that it is impossible to eliminate the variables associated with the spiritual condition of those praying (is the petitioner even a believer?), the motivation for which they offer the prayer (is it to provide evidence or because the Holy Spirit has moved them to pray?), the way in which they offer their prayer (are they praying a formulaic expression or intentionally bringing requests to God?), and so on.

Even if all such lurking variables could be eliminated, one overarching problem would remain: if prayer could be tested empirically and forced to yield conclusive results, it would obviate the need for faith. We cannot “discover” God through empirical observations; we come to Him by faith. God is not so clumsy that He should reveal Himself in ways He did not intend. “He who comes to God must believe that He is” (that is, that He exists). Faith is the prerequisite and the priority.

Does God answer prayer? Ask any believer, and you will know the answer. Every changed life of every believer is proof positive that God answers prayer.

The answer is sometimes immediate. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, and as he began to sink, he prayed, “Lord, save me!” The answer was immediate (Matthew 14:22-31)
The answer is sometimes delayed. The delay is according to His will (Romans 8:28). The resurrection of Lazarus is a good example of delayed answer to prayer. Lazarus was sick. Mary and Martha sent for Jesus to come and heal him. But Jesus delayed coming until Lazarus was dead and in the tomb for four days. Then He came and raised Lazarus for the dead. The answer was delayed – but not denied (John 11:1-44).
The answer is sometimes “no.” When God answers with a “no,” He always accompanies the answer with peace (Philippians 4:6, 7) and grace (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). My grace is sufficient for thee.

The answer is sometimes different from what you expect. You pray for perseverance and God sends tribulation because “tribulation produces perseverance” (Romans 5:3).

 God answers all our prayers – not according to our wishes, but according to His perfect will.

The Picnic (By Bob Benson)

Do you remember ever being invited to a picnic, a social gathering, like by a church group or maybe a family reunion? Maybe you were told something like, "You bring what you want to eat and we'll furnish the tea."

But you came home and, at the last minute, got ready to pack your lunch, but all you could find was one dried up piece of bologna and just enough mustard in the jar so that you got it all over your knuckles when you tried to get it out . . . and just two stale pieces of bread. Soooooooo, you made a bologna sandwich and wrapped it in a brown bag and went to the picnic.

When it came time to eat, you sat at the end of the table and spread out your sandwich. But the folks right next to you - the lady was a good cook and had worked all day - had fried chicken and baked beans and potato salad and home made rolls and sliced tomatoes and pickles and olives and celery, and, to top it off, two great big homemade chocolate pies. They spread it all out beside you and there you were . . . with your bologna sandwich.

But they smiled warmly and said to you "Why don't we put it all together?" You may have stammered a bit, embarrassed, and made excuses, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. "Aww come on, there's plenty of chicken, plenty of pie, plenty of everything. And we just love bologna sandwiches. Let's just put it all together." So you did . . . and there you sat, eating like a king, when you came like a pauper.

So I'm thinking . . . thinking of me sharing in the very being of God. When I think of how little I bring and how much He brings and that He invites me to share. . . I know I should be shouting to the housetops, but I'm so filled with awe and wonder that I can hardly be heard. I know I don't have enough love. . . or faith . . . or grace. . . or mercy. . . or wisdom. But He has. He has ALL those things in abundance, and He says, "Let's just put it all together. Everything that I possess is available to you, and everything that I am and can be to a person I will be to you."

And when I think about it like that, it really amuses me - to see somebody running around through life, hanging on to their dumb bag, with their stale bologna sandwich saying, "Well, God's not gonna get my sandwich! No sirree, not mine!" Did you ever see anybody like that - just so needy? Just about half starved to death, hanging on for dear life to their bologna sandwich?

You see, it's not that He needs your bologna sandwich. Fact is, you need His everything.

Mother Teresa Tells Us.....

What I do, you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do.  The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things.  But we can all do small things, with great love and together we can do something wonderful.