Whose arms are you holding up?

11/17/201711/15/2017Leave a comment

“But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” (Exodus 17:12)

The Amalek were at war with God and the people of Israel. The freedom God promised Israel wasn’t without its challenges, but He was with them and He went before them. Moses had the element of success; as he held his staff high, the Israelites were experiencing victory.

Left by himself, Moses reached his limit physically and mentally and could not proceed. At that point, his fellow sojourners were there to assist him.

This is an important principle as we are being comforted by disagreements in various matters. The enemy, the flesh, and the cunningness of the world is at war with our God and we are caught in the middle.

Whose arms can you be holding up? Who is holding your arms up? It could be the pastor needing his flock to support him in the work of the ministry, a husband looking for affirmation that he is doing what’s right for his family, a wife in need of prayer, a child struggling with a bully. We don’t know the impact of this type of unity or the solid foundation it creates, until we reach out and hold each other’s arms in the fight.

The results, “And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.” (Exodus 17:13)

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Zecheriah 1-7| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “Let us therefore not deceive ourselves. In walking according to the spirit we shall hear the direction of conscience. Do not try to escape any inward reproach; rather, be attentive to its voice.” – Watchman Nee

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

It’s a Family Affair

11/16/201711/14/20171 Comment

“Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, According to the good pleasure of His will.” — Ephesians 1:5

Recently I visited the old neighborhood and I was reminiscing and missing the “old days.” I even ran into an old friend who I haven’t seen in over 30 years. As we chatted, I realized a lot has happened in that 30 year period, but as I told my story I got his attention when I said I was adopted about 25 years ago. He looked at me strangely because for one thing he knew my family, and the other question was “who gets adopted when they’re 30 years old?”

This opened up my opportunity to share my conversion unto Christ. I bragged about how great my new family was and how my new Dad was the best Dad of all. How He always knows what to say and has never steered me wrong. Inside I was getting goose bumps as I was reliving my life in Christ, I said “In Him” I have been redeemed and totally forgiven, I am no longer rejected and having made known to me the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. Then I told him about my security and inheritance, In Him I also trusted, after I heard the word of truth, the gospel of my salvation; in whom also, having believed, I was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of my inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

So basically I gave him the Ephesians chapter 1 portion of the “Family Affairs.” I started to get a little preachy I guess, because after a while he said “well, it was really good catching up, but I gotta go.” At first I thought to myself “that was a waste” but then realized I just renewed my identity and refreshed my walk with Jesus, not to mention planting a seed. That incident gave me a reminder of who I am in Christ and how thankful I am for the new family I have, and my future and hope.

I moved from longing for the old days to looking forward to what God has in store for me. I began to pray for my old friends and family who still haven’t trusted in Jesus and, although their current earthly family is loving and accepting, it fails in comparison to my Heavenly Father and the family of God.

So, are you familiar with the “Family Affairs?” Maybe a trip down Ephesians will be a good reminder of what we have as believers in Christ. Oh, and don’t forget about our upcoming Banquet…Amen!

Written by Rob Russomano: Rob Russomano is married to Terri, he is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full time staff member. He is also available as a speaker of the grace of God with a message of Hope for church events. You can contact him at rrussomano@americaskeswick.org.

The Daily Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 7-8| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “The Spiritual Life is the gift of the Living Spirit. The spiritual man is no mere development of the Natural man. He is a New Creation born from Above.”

– Henry Drummond

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

Breaking Through to The Real You

11/15/201711/06/2017Leave a comment

While the impostor draws his identity from past achievements and the adulation of others, the true self claims identity in its belovedness. We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences but in our simple presence in life.
~ Brennan Manning

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the universe, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
~paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Philippians 2

Oh beloved, it is true.

There is this moment, for each of us who have, where we come to trust Him. And this moment is really something that sets everything else in motion. But, without the abiding and restful motion of His work in our lives – and our cooperation with it – we are still doomed to failure in so many ways.

Our lives can drumbeat on in repetitious failure and fear and anger. We’ve trusted Him for salvation, but it feels like that salvation is somewhere well into the future.

And beyond the inner rhythms of failure, come the waves that beat through into our lives. As we begin to grow, we find that others who have not – or who never will – call out to us, and try to distract us. They scream their hatred and anger towards us.

If we are not careful, we can believe the lie the distraction is trying to present. All lies do this. Lies are not so much total falsehoods, as they are a downgrading of the truth. And, in doing what they do, they try to drag us away from who we really are.

Beyond these things, so many things call for our attention. But, should we be listening?

Can we see it?

There does come a moment where we can.

In us, has begun to grow SomeOne Who is already full beyond time and measure and space and even eternity. The Same One is Love Himself. And, while He has finally captured our heart, the astounding thing is that we have already captured His.

Read those last two sentences again, beloved. The real us is something completely other than what we expected our Christianity to be when it began. We looked forward to some sort of Heaven, and this was great.

What we never expected is that we would begin to taste both its pleasure – and its power – right now. And, we never, ever really expected the Package in which both these things would come. They have come from The very Love of G_d.

So, are you feeling like you want your faith to go to the next level? Maybe you are trying to climb a mountain that is not even there. Maybe you need some really powerful motivation. Have you ever considered that you may be missing the point of this whole thing?

You, and this fool of a writer, are amazingly Loved. His Word is Life. He has set us free from darkness already, and made us shine like stars.

Tonight is your night, beloved. Time to believe you are beloved.

Written by Makala Doulos: Makala Doulos is a child of G_d, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, G_d’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 128-130| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. ~Brennan Manning

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

Always Hope

11/14/201711/06/2017Leave a comment

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” ~ A. A. Milne

It is easy to lose sight of what is of ‘first importance’ when all the circumstances and desires of life crowd into our thinking. It’s happened to me while sitting here writing this message… ‘Who will even care anyway, most will ignore and delete before even considering the words’… While that may be true, if I were to dwell there, all that is ‘of first importance’ would become as a memory, as if I read it in some fictional work.

What shakes me loose from that miry trap is ‘hope.’ Christ is alive and is about the Fathers work of saving lives … of which I get to participate. Each and every day, there is hope that someone I speak to will turn from their selfish desires and appetites and grasp hold of Jesus’ hand with hope!

Growing up, Aunt Jane would read to me from a set of two red books by A A Milne. They were about the great theologian Winnie the Pooh. There is a line in that story that she always emphasized, it was “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” The quote goes on to say, “But the most important thing is, even if we are apart… I will always be with you.” During my childhood, Aunt Jane filled that role, but as I grew older, she pushed me to understand ‘of first importance’ that it was Jesus who “was always with me, never leaving or forsaking me.” That truth is the objective reference point to hope. Yes, His deadly sacrifice made it possible for me to be forgiven, but His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God’s throne put the seal on that promise.

You are braver than believe; because He is with you… you are not alone!

You are stronger than you seem; because His Spirit lives within you and He makes you strong!

You are smarter than you think; because through Him, all the wisdom of eternity flows through you like a spring of living water, bubbling up like a cup overflowing.

Don’t give up… Don’t ever give in! There is Hope! And it is anchored in your Savior, Jesus Christ who stands at the door of your heart and knocks. Let Him flow through your life today, sweeping out all lingering doubt and fears, and filling you with Joy and Peace that are everlasting.

Choose wisely….

“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing…. So, dear Child if God, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.

Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

(Zephaniah 3:17; 2 Peter 1:10-11)

Praying 4 U

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, and grandfather with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is a member of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church.

The Daily Bible Reading: Ezra 33-35| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

Psalm 111 – A ‘We Get To’ Psalm (Part 5)

11/13/201711/06/2017Leave a comment

We have been digging into Psalm 111, and today I want to look at verses 4-6.

“He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord! He gives food to those who fear Him. He always remembers His covenant. He has shown His great power to His people by giving them the lands of other nations.”

My point today is this: WE GET TO REMEMBER ALL HE HAS DONE! Part of the Jewish tradition and narrative is to retell the story over and over again at how God worked in their lives. It took place as they celebrated the feasts and festivals, including Passover. It took place as fathers and mothers shared the story with their kids.

Think about the many different remembrance touchpoints:

Abraham built altars, and he went back to some of those altars as a reminder.

Joshua had the leaders of the Tribes place memorial stones in the river so that there was that continual reminder of God’s care and provision for the children of Israel.

Even the very celebration of the Lord’s Supper, whatever your tradition, is a way for us to be reminded of what took place on the cross for us.

Maybe, just maybe, we need these physical reminders because of our spiritual amnesia. For some of us – it’s not just chronic amnesia – it’s terminal.

How quickly we forget. God does something extraordinary in answer to our prayers, and five minutes later we are grumbling and complaining. I often say we forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget.

When was the last time you remembered how gracious and merciful (vs.4) he has been in your life? Not just once – but how many times? Dr. Warren Wiersbe says that “God in His mercy doesn’t give us what we DO deserve while God in His grace gives us what we DON’T deserve.” Ouch!

When was the last time you sat down and thought through the mercy and grace of God in your life?

Verse 5 reminds us that He ALWAYS remembers His covenant! Not sometimes. Not most times. ALWAYS!!! There have been times in my life where I made a promise to do something – with my wife – my kids – my staff. My intentions were good. I did mean it at the time. But then I forgot. Oh, how painful it is to be reminded that you blew it yet again.

But our God ALWAYS remembers His covenant. Every time you see a rainbow in the sky, it is a reminder of the covenant that God made with Noah that would never destroy the world again with a flood. HIS PROMISES ARE FOR SURE, FOR CERTAIN!!!

So what do you need to remember today? Might be good to write it down in your journal. Maybe it would be cool to share it with your kids and grandkids. And I would love to hear from you: bwelte@americaskeswick.org.

Next week we will unpack Psalm 111:7-9. Until then,

Rejoice! Pray! Give thanks!

Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick

Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 11 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 16-19| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Think About This: A private relationship with God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. — Oswald Chambers

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

Mangia Bene (mon-ga ben-a)

11/10/201711/08/20171 Comment

“That He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; But man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” — Deuteronomy 8:3b

“Eat well” is the translation of Mangia Bene. We have all been given a natural desire to satisfy our bodily hunger, but what is your desire?

I once worked for client for a number of months building an addition on their house. There seemed to be a routine every day, this Italian wife and her mother would spend all day in the kitchen preparing a meal for their family. The aroma of the meal would often be too much to deal with as we tried to focus on work. I can remember being around the kitchen area and watching as they carefully prepared a fresh home cooked feast and thinking, “that’s a lot of work.” I recall over hearing when the kids came home from school and were hungry, they were presented a “Mangia Bene” their response was, “Eww, what is it? I’m not eating that.” They would then open up the cupboard and fix themselves macaroni and cheese from a box. I glanced over to their mom and in broken English she said “they don’t appreciate a healthy prepared meal”.

Sometimes I think I’m guilty of the same thing when I walk into Church, I take for granted the preparation and careful study the Pastor took to prepare the message. I can sometimes be found desiring junk food from the pantry rather than the heathy alternative.

Our souls have a natural appetite and desire to be filled, but are we willing to recognize the value of a home cooked meal? In Deuteronomy 8 we see Moses switch gears in presenting the law by showing the love of God through the provision of manna. The true example of the love of God is His word to us, “That man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” The word of life that is served up for each one of us is useful for many things, but the result shown in the wilderness was preservation, 40 years their clothes and sandals lasted without wear and tear. How do we make it through the week? Are we feasting on God’s word and do we recognize a well prepared meal or do we run to the cupboard and pull out a box with ingredients we can’t even pronounce?

When we consider the amount preparation through prayer and study that goes into the establishments that present God’s word, we would realize the spiritual nutrition that comes with it.

So the next time you’re hungry, “Mangia Bene” on God’s word, Amen!

The Daily Bible Reading: Nahum| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “Don’t settle for fast food when you can feast at God’s banquet.” – Woodrow Kroll

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Maintain The Temple

11/09/201711/08/2017Leave a comment

“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadek, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the LORD.” — Haggai 1:12 (NASB)

Sometimes it’s those short books in the Bible that bang you right between the eyes, and I’m gonna say that Haggai is one those short books. At a whole two chapters long, it starts with a swift rebuke right YHVH’s people. First thing Haggai says is, “This people says, ‘The time has not come, even for the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt” then he asks, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” Then I can almost imagine him staring them people down when he utters, “Consider your ways!” Kinda like those old time Baptist preachers, fist to the pulpit, finger pointing right at you, that should brought be back into churches, (Oops, went there didn’t I? Sorry).

Don’t take that too seriously, Haggai wasn’t a scolding kinda prophet, on the contrary, YHVH sent him to encourage His people to get back to work on what was important. Here’s the backdrop…Israel had just returned to Jerusalem, from their Babylonian exile and they immediately began rebuilding YHVH’s temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians and they had just celebrated the laying of its foundation. But the work didn’t last long because King Artaxerxes ordered God’s people to cease the work. To quote Artaxerxes, “So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that the city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me” (Ezra 4:21) and I guess outta fear of persecution, YHVH’s people just stopped building YHVH’s Temple.

So, here we are, some sixteen years later, and Haggai has been sent to rebuke YHVH’s people because they have just gotten lackadaisical about getting back to rebuilding YHVH’s Temple (oh and by the way, that Artaxerxes guy isn’t king anymore). They have only taken care of what little they had and that wasn’t going well for them either (see Haggai 1:6). These folks may have come back from their physical exile but that was about it. They had forgotten YHVH and what was done for them as a people by Him. Haggai reminds them of those times and then stirs them up so they can get to work (see Haggai 2:3-5).

Fast forward to a church in Corinth. We got this guy named Paul and here he is rebuking the Corinthian church because they didn’t quite get what God’s will was for them. He basically comes out and says, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1Cor 3:16) He too, has to remind people to take care of God’s Temple and about the foundation that was laid for them in Christ Jesus. He too, tells them that a lackadaisical attitude towards maintaining the Temple will not stand up to God’s standards. It was like the church in Corinth was still in their spiritual exile, thinking that logic and philosophy could have its place amongst the teachings of Jesus. “If any man among thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise.” (1 Cor 3:18)

Amen for us that we can go back and look at these things in the Bible and examine ourselves through them, because when we neglect to follow God’s will in our lives, we can find ourselves becoming like those folks in Haggai’s time or the ones at Corinth—ignoring outta fear or logic, what He wants to do, and leaving the Temple in a state of disrepair. Praise God for those that He sends into our lives who encourage us that God wants us to see beyond the fear and continue on with following His will, despite the possible cost and be free to come into His presence to commune with Him.

If we were to take a moment and let it soak in into our very existence that the Creator of everything that we are surrounded by wants to be within us as well, maybe we would be better at maintaining the temple. After all, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8) Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008

The Daily Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 5-6| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “Contrary to what professing Christians like to think, many of God’s people are not willing to walk in perfect agreement with Him, and this may explain why so many believers do not have the power of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit and many of the other qualities, gifts and benefits which the Spirit of God brings.” — A.W. Tozer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Turn on the Light

11/08/201711/06/2017Leave a comment

“The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.” (Isaiah 60:19)

In the natural, dark doesn’t mean much of anything but the absence of light, and dark thinking is the absence of understanding. A few ways dark is translated in the Bible are obscurity, mourning, perplexity, confusion, ignorance, evil, sin, or absence of God.

On the other hand, light illuminates and has value for the natural as well as spiritual implications. Light exposes dark and it provides direction in many ways. Light is a provider of energy; food is produced by that energy. Light is a source of vitamin D; it enhances vision, colors, and maintains our temperature. We haven’t even explore the implication of solar panel energy. Light is essential!

The Israelites didn’t have the understanding or the technology of modern culture and the Sun and the Moon were the standard of radiant glory among other daily necessities. But God is introducing the true everlasting light. The light that would help them expose evil and direct them to a right relationship with their Creator.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Light for the believer is a Person. And out of our relationship with Christ we are to radiate love, grace, truth, mercy, morality, and the like…

“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:23)

Are you being a light?

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 125-127| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “We are indeed the light of the world–but only if our switch is turned on.” – John Hagee

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

The Feat of Christ

11/07/201711/06/2017Leave a comment

Our faith in Christ is not some great achievement on our part, but is the relenting of our own desire for autonomy, crucifying our selfish will with Christ, and humbly submitting to what was always ‘true’ and ‘good’ at the start.

Obedience to God’s Word has been ‘The Way’ we should live from the first moment of life. Disobedience to God’s Word is what has brought us pain, heartache, frustration, and despair. Obedience puts us in-line with the truth, removing resistance and freeing us to live the way we were designed to enjoy life.

Because God is Love, He gives you over to the desire of your heart to obey Him (an expression of your love for Him) or to pursue your selfish will (an expression of your self-love and a desire to be free from God). Choosing Christ and His way of Salvation frees us from the bondage of sin, enabling us to know wisdom, power, grace, and love all present in God. Disbelieving God and His Word, and rejecting the truth for a lie, enslaves us to the power of sin (corruption) and death (corruptions end result)… like what rust does to metal.

God desires you enjoy His presence for all eternity and has gone to great lengths to get you there… even “to not sparing His own Son, but delivering Him over for us all… how will He not also with Jesus freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32-32) Choosing to disbelieve and by doing so, rejecting The Truth, puts the responsibility of all consequences of that choice squarely at your feet. Your sin, your addiction, your frustration, your despair, your eternal life in Hell is of your own doing and against God’s desire and Love.

Choosing to place your faith and trust in God’s redemptive plan, completed in Jesus His Son, is not some great feat on your part, but a relenting of your willfulness and an entering into the fantastically wonderful life that God intended for you all along.

Choose wisely….

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

(Ephesians 2:8-10)

Praying you Choose Christ

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, and grandfather with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is a member of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church.

The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 33-36| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.” – C.S. Lewis

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Psalm 111 – We Get To (Part 4)

11/06/201711/03/2017Leave a comment

Men’s Fellowship Night is THIS Thursday, November 9th at 6:15PM. Join us!

But as for me, I would seek God, And I would place my cause before God; Who does great and unsearchable things, Wonders without number. He gives rain on the earth, And sends water on the fields. Job 5:8-10

Last week we looked at Psalm 111:3-4 and talked about pondering God’s power and might. Here is an amazing illustration from Dr. John Piper, Desiring God, on rain. It blew me away:

Is rain a great and unsearchable wonder wrought by God? Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream. A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water. But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come on the fields from another source. From where?

Well, the sky. The sky? Water will come out of the clear blue sky? Well, not exactly. Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, over several hundred miles and then be poured out from the sky onto the fields. Carried? How much does it weigh? Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 27,878,400 cubic feet of water, which is 206,300,160 gallons, which is 1,650,501,280 pounds of water.

That’s heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it’s so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. Really? That’s a nice word. What’s it mean? It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. I see. Then how does it get down? Well, condensation happens. What’s that? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide. That’s small.

What about the salt? Salt? Yes, the Mediterranean Sea is salt water. That would kill the crops. What about the salt? Well, the salt has to be taken out. Oh. So the sky picks up a billion pounds of water from the sea and takes out the salt and then carries it for three hundred miles and then dumps it on the farm?

Well it doesn’t dump it. If it dumped a billion pounds of water on the farm, the wheat would be crushed. So the sky dribbles the billion pounds water down in little drops. And they have to be big enough to fall for one mile or so without evaporating, and small enough to keep from crushing the wheat stalks.

How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh a billion pounds get heavy enough to fall (if that’s the way to ask the question)? Well, it’s called coalescence. What’s that? It means the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger. And when they are big enough, they fall. Just like that? Well, not exactly, because they would just bounce off each other instead of joining up, if there were no electric field present. What? Never mind. Take my word for it.

I think, instead, I will just take Job’s word for it. I still don’t see why drops ever get to the ground, because if they start falling as soon as they are heavier than air, they would be too small not to evaporate on the way down, but if they wait to come down, what holds them up till they are big enough not to evaporate? Yes, I am sure there is a name for that too. But I am satisfied now that, by any name, this is a great and unsearchable thing that God has done. I think I should be thankful – lots more thankful than I am.

I don’t know about you, but this really blew me away!!! Next week we will look at Psalm 111:4-9

Rejoice! Pray! Give thanks!

Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick

The Daily Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 10-12| You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Think About This: What are the heavens, the earth, the sea, but a sheet of riyal paper, written all over with the wisdom and the power of God? Thomas Brooks

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Freedom Fighters

A Daily Email Encouragement for Men!

Category: Uncategorized

Whose arms are you holding up?

It’s a Family Affair

Breaking Through to The Real You

Always Hope

Psalm 111 – A ‘We Get To’ Psalm (Part 5)

Mangia Bene (mon-ga ben-a)

Maintain The Temple

Turn on the Light

The Feat of Christ

Psalm 111 – We Get To (Part 4)