More Lessons From the Recent Storms

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

Welcome to a new week, brothers. And what a week that we just came through! Wednesday night was one of the most difficult nights in my life in a long time.

We hunkered down for the Nor’easter that was supposed to give us just a few inches of snow. Few inches? We ended up with over a foot!!!

Normally I am a glass half-full guy – but for some reason I was weak in body, mind and emotion and as the trees were crashing down all around our house, and the loss of power once again – I was really struggling. Struggling to the point that if someone had offered me a way out of my position as President/CEO,  I might have taken that lifeline.

Normally I can’t get our local Christian radio station, WYRS FM in the house (I can get it in the car). With the power being out we decided to see if we could get the news on our battery operated player.

The ONLY station that came in crystal clear? You guessed it – WYRS! I was curled up on the sofa and I was feeling totally overwhelmed. Just then this song came on:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater.
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

Refrain
His love has no limit – His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
©1941, ren.1969 Lillenas Publishing Company. Admin. The Copyright Company.

I really wasn’t even humored by the fact that this was a heart-delivered message from the Lord from His lips to my ears. I went to bed and felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I woke up late (7:00 AM for me is like getting up at 9:00 AM) and had my wife scared. I never sleep in. But I was done!

I walked in to work and the devastation all around me just weighed my heart down. It was then that the words of the song heard the night before just worked their weight into my heart. It was like a soothing balm to my soul – maybe what David was talking about when he penned that he was surrounded with “songs of deliverance.”

Instead of being focused on all of the devastation and the lack of power, I experienced His mercy, His strength, His peace. I felt the cloud of despair lifting realizing that I was no long in control and that the “Father’s full giving” was about to begin.

More tomorrow! Thanks for listening to my vulnerable heart. – Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Jeremiah 51-52; Proverbs 12; Hebrews 9

Motivations: Christian faith-the faith that counts – is that which depends on God – no matter what circumstances are like. This is faith in God, Himself – faith in God’s character – faith in God’s integrity. Richard C. Halverson

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:9-10; Level 2: James 3:7-12

Powered Up:  The whole meaning of prayer is that we may know God. – Oswald Chambers

A Prayer About Heart-Guarding

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21 NIV)

We close this week of Freedom Fighter blogs with another gospel-centered prayer. All of us need to focus on guarding our hearts. Take some time to reflect through this powerful prayer:

Gracious Father, how I long for the day when I will no longer be temptable, deceivable, or capable of worshiping any other god but you. I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention, and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one redeems us like you. No one loves us like you do. No one cares for us like you. No one understands us like you. There is no God but you. In Jesus, you’ve already given us a new heart and have placed your Spirit inside us.

In Jesus, you’ve already turned our heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:25–27). In Jesus, you’ve already given us a heart to know and love you (Jer. 24:7). In Jesus, you’ve already written your law upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33).

Indeed, Father, you’ve already given me a perfectly forgiven heart—yet it is far from being a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart’s worship continues, daily and relentlessly. This conflict will persist until the day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus the warning to keep myself from idols is not going away.

Father, there are some idols I run from like the plague, but others I don’t even recognize as idols. It’s easier to see the idols outside of me, but help me to discern the “idols of the heart” (see Ezek. 14:4). Help me to know when I’ve made a good thing an ultimate thing. When I don’t think you are “enough,” where do I take the trust and worship you deserve—where do I go for life, deliverance, and salvation?

I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of your “beloved children.” You cannot love me more than you already do, and you will never love me less. Surely the gospel, this gospel, will win the day, my heart, and the entire cosmos. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Smith, Scotty (2011-09-01). Everyday Prayers for a Transformed Life: 365 Days to Gospel-Centered Faith (Kindle Location 7693). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

Team YOU: Jeremiah 46-47; Proverbs 9; Hebrews 6

Motivations: It is exceedingly easy to twist or mould the Word of God to make it conform to one’s preconceived notions. Lewis Sperry Chafer

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:6; Level 2: James 3:1-6

Powered Up:  He who has prayed well has studied well. Martin Luther

 

It’s Better To Point TWO

 

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” John 1:47-49 (ESV)

 

So Philip bumps into Nathaniel after Jesus selected him to “Follow Me” and pretty much encourages Nathaniel to “Come and see.”  Now it is safe to say that Nathaniel was a man versed in the law, and the prophets, and he would at once known to whom Philip meant: for Moses, in the Pentateuch, the five books written by him, frequently speaks of the Messiah, but a guy claiming to be “Messiah” from Nazareth…again? Yeah there is room for doubt as explained in my last Freedom Fighter. So what convinces Nathaniel that Jesus is who He says He is?

 

I like what Matthew Henry says about examining this, “The best way to remove false notions of religion is to make trial of it.” Now how does that fit here you ask…”Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Now in other translations the word deceit is guile and that word basically means fish bait. So, like Nathaniel, I would wonder how a total stranger knew me well enough to make such a compliment. I think Nathaniel was just getting himself poised to question this “Messiah” when Jesus shares how He saw him under a fig tree.

 

You know at this time period (maybe still is today) to be recognized as a true Israelite without any deceit, disguise or slight hint of stripper bait was the highest compliment a Jew could get. Plus Nathaniel is seen by the Savior under a fig tree. A place of security (Micah 4:4), a place of meditation where the leaves of the fig tree would provide shade and a place of most intimate fellowship with God. Once Jesus tells Nathaniel he was seen under the fig tree, Nathaniel has to make his confession of the divinity of Christ as well as His authority in his life.

 

So what about you? Has a Philip come up to you and said “Come and see” pointed to the signpost that points to Jesus Christ? Do you recognize what that signpost even is?

 

Do you know the old rugged Cross? Through it all Christ knows what men are. Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be like Nathaniel, in whom there was no guile; truly Christian approved of Christ himself. There are some things that are weak, imperfect, and sinful found in all, but hypocrisy should not be part of a believer’s character.

 

 

To quote Matthew Henry’s observation on this…”Jesus witnessed what passed when Nathanael was under the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking direction as to the Hope and Consolation of Israel, where no human eye observed him. This showed him that our Lord knew the secrets of his heart. Through Christ we commune with, and benefit by the holy angels; and things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled and united together.” This morning, I am praising Him that He put many pointers on my path. That through the ministry of reconciliation I too can say to a dark, lost generation “Come and see” and point to the sign post that is the Cross of Jesus Christ. I hope you are sharing this praise with me today…Amen? – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular Freedom Fighter blogger

 

Team YOU: Jeremiah 43-45; Proverbs 8; Hebrews 5

 

Motivations: “God knows our weakness’s and adjusts to them”—John Calvin

 

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:6; Level 2: James 3:1-6

 

Powered Up:  Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. A. W. Tozer

 

 

 

It’s Better To Point Part ONE

“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:45-46 (ESV)

We can be face first and knee deep into the study of Christian apologetics and still miss the purpose of it. See the real apologetic of true Christianity is to follow Jesus; devote ourselves to Him, and to be walking in His footsteps. This means that your continuing, everyday testimony of a transformed life through the salvation call of Jesus Christ just may be all the apologetic you need. Isn’t it a cool thought to have knowing that we are the evidence of a changed life?

It was a recent Wednesday night’s Bible study that really brought all this into light. We are into Ravi Zacharias’ “Apologetics” DVD study series and are up to the topic of the existence of God.  During Alister McGarth’s lecture on this subject he made this really simple statement and it bit into me. “Sometimes we have to point rather than to prove” when it comes to showing the unbelieving who Jesus Christ is. Let’s turn to the story of Philip and Nathanael.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Observe the objection Nathanael made. At this time period in its history Nazareth is considered “the city of garbage.” They got this because the people of this city had this custom where they would throw the garbage out into the streets so that the Roman Army could get the killer privilege of marching through it all. (Rumor has it that there was an “Occupy Nazareth” going at that the time as well.) Nazareth also had the reputation of being an immoral town where several Galilean messiahs failed at being…well…messiahs. (Acts 5:36-37) So I guess with this in mind the only thing Philip could do was to invite Nathaniel to “Come and see.”

I think it’s time to bring up the word doubt. Unlike Nathaniel’s doubt, which only question’s Jesus as Messiah, we occasionally get confronted by a world’s doubt concerning Jesus Christ. They are okay when we mention a “higher power” but the moment it is stated that the “higher power” is Father, Son and Holy Spirit you might as well claim that the Philadelphia Eagles have won the Super Bowl. Your just not gonna be believed and yes there is a certain amount of atheism in the world of football.

Well time has run out from me with today’s Freedom Fighter but ponder this if you will. Every worldly-view of God has room for doubt. Atheism can’t answer the question of why so many people believe in God if there is no God to believe in. And the kicker in all of it is even the atheists have doubts. So either we are deluded or there is something wrong with atheism. Hope you can join me for my next Freedom Fighter, there’s more to “Come and see.” – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular Freedom Fighter blogger

Team YOU: Jeremiah 40-42; Proverbs 7; Hebrews 4

Motivations: One cannot save and then pitchfork souls into heaven…Souls are more or less securely fastened to bodies…and as you cannot get the souls out and deal with them separately, you have to take them both together. Amy Carmichael

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:6; Level 2: James 3:1-6

Powered Up:  Failing to pray for and with one’s child day by day may be as culpable neglect as failing to give it material substance. – H. C. Trumbell

On-Going Lessons from Sandy

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. —Psalm 42: 5 NASB Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. —Micah 7: 7 NKJV

I have to admit that the Lord has wired me with a disposition that usually looks at the glass half-full rather than half-empty. Please note the emphasis on “usually.”

As a ministry we have been blessed beyond measure through the “storm” of the century. There is so much devastation around us. Many hurting people.

I spoke Saturday with an associate pastor who is in his 80’s who lives in Ocean City. Their home was flooded out and they lost all of their possessions.

We sat in the prayer room prior to the service and I ached as this servant of the Lord humbly talked to the Lord about wanting to be thankful for this trial in his life, but confessing with brutal honesty through his tears that he was having a hard time being thankful.

I have a ministry friend who is not only the CEO of a major Christian conference center  but is also greatly involved in oversight of the two he lives in. Their ministry has faced some major devastation – not some much structural damage, but because of the island not having natural gas – they could face a major shut down of their ministry.

All that being said – how do people face this kind of difficulty without the Lord? When we are tempted to be filled with despair, we have the privilege of crying out to God for His help. I believe that He loves to get us to the place where we will totally depend on Him. Just maybe that is the fulfillment of the quote you’ve heard me share – “you’ll never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have – when Jesus is all you have – you’ll know Jesus is all you need!

And today we get to vote! J Just thought I’d throw that into the mix. Are you filled with despair today? Is your soul downcast? Then trust Him today – He’s big enough for you, me and all the hurting people who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy! – Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Jeremiah 37-39; Proverbs 6; Hebrews 3

Motivations: Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; heaven so real that we must have men there; Christ so real that our supreme motive and aim shall be to make the Man of Sorrows the Man of Joy by the conversion to him of many. Hudson Taylor

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:6; Level 2: James 3:1-6

Powered Up:  If we could take account of our losses in spiritual things as we can in our financial, we would be startled at what losses we are suffering – traceable to our lack of prayer. Henrietta Mears

 What a Difference a Week Makes 

Check out this month’s Discovering Victory Podcast with Dr. Leslie Vernick.

What were you doing this time last week, my brother? I can tell you what we were doing … we were watching the news to see what Hurricane Sandy might do.

Little did we know what was in store for the Jersey Shore. Mid-afternoon on Monday I walked into the office of my COO, Jim Kennedy. The winds had been blowing for hours and we were amazed that we still had power.

Seconds later there was a huge gust of wind and we watched a pole go down and the rest is history. Our main building, guest accommodations and staff housing were totally powerless.

Thankfully we have a portable generator that fired up the main building and our Activity Center which allowed is to be somewhat “operational.”

Hundreds of trees fell on our property but no people or buildings were damaged. On Saturday we had dedicated the new playground and on Monday a tree fell which could have taken out the new playground fence and swing set. But as my grandkids said, “God moved the tree, Pop!”

All of our groups for this weekend cancelled = a $38,000 loss of revenue on a week that we need to do payroll.

But it could have been so much worse. So many of our friends and partners have lost everything. God protected our staff and the men of the Colony of Mercy in amazing ways.

In the midst of a very discouraging day, the Lord reminded me of a passage from Habakkuk 3:17-19: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines; though the yield of the olive tree fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I WILL EXULT IN THE LORD, I WILL REJOICE IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION. The Lord God IS my strength, and HE has made my feet like hind’s feet, and makes me walk in high places.”

This is where the rubber meets the road, brothers. It will be exciting to see how God continues to work in this situation for HIS glory and our good. I will share more tomorrow. Thanks for praying for the ministry of America’s Keswick. – Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Jeremiah 34-36; Proverbs 5; Hebrews 2

Motivations: Failures for the believer are always temporary. God loves you and me so much that he will allow almost any failure if the end result is that we become more like Jesus. George Verwer

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 3:6; Level 2: James 3:1-6

Powered Up:  If you have ever prayed in the dawn you will ask yourself why you were so foolish as to not to do it always; it is difficult to get into communion with God in the midst of the hurly-burley of the day. – Oswald Chambers

A Prayer about a Gospel Tattoo

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7 NIV)

We’ve finished another week on our journey. Thank you for being a part of my life, brothers.

We close out the week with a powerful prayer written by Pastor Scotty Smith that might surprise you:

Heavenly Father, if I were into tattoos and this Scripture weren’t so long, I might consider having it inked onto my body. I need to have this amazing summary of the gospel ever before my eyes. I just too easily forget. Much better than getting a tattoo, however, is knowing you’ve already written this truth on my heart with indelible ink.

You’re such an outrageously generous God. Your kindness and love appeared to me out of nowhere, like a giant full moon on the horizon of a very dreary night. I wasn’t seeking you, Father, but you were seeking me—running to me, running after me, not to harm me but to rescue me from both paralyzing guilt and foolish pride. I praise you for your multiplied mercies. And what a “bath” in the gospel you gave me—washing me, once and for all, through the new birth.

Now you continue to renew, revive, and refresh me through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, poured forth like a healing waterfall. All of these blessings come so freely because you’ve given Jesus so fully. Now that you’ve justified me by your grace, the rest of my life is defined by heirship and hope.

Though I sometimes feel and act like a fatherless, futureless orphan, nothing could be further from the truth. The saints in heaven are happier but no more secure than I am. You will bring to completion the good work you’ve begun in us and in the entire universe. I pray in Jesus’ glorious name. Amen.

Smith, Scotty (2011-09-01). Everyday Prayers for a Transformed Life: 365 Days to Gospel-Centered Faith (Kindle Locations 7582-7600). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

Have a great weekend, brothers. – Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Jeremiah 27-29; Proverbs 2; Titus 3

Motivations: If you have sinned, do not go to sleep without repentance; for the lack of repentance after one has sinned makes the heart yet harder and harder. John Bunyan

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 2:23; Level 2: James 2:14-26

Powered Up: The Bible knows nothing about a gift of prayer, the only prayer the Bible talks about is the prayer that is able to bring down something from God to men. – Oswald Chambers

Freedom After The Dark Night

“The dark night of the soul” is not something bad or destructive. On the contrary it is an experience to be welcomed as a sick person might welcome a surgery that promises health and well-being. The purpose of the darkness is not to punish or afflict us. It is to set us free.
~ Richard J. Foster (1942- )

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;  they do not know over what they stumble.~ Proverbs 4:18-19

So many of us have been in this place (Are you still there?).  A dark, lonely and wretched place.  We met Him, and somehow missed the point that He not only came to save us from our sins – He came to save us from ourselves.

We might have been set free from the penalty of our sins, but somehow we missed (or have chosen not to take) the opportunity to be freed from the power of sin, right now, in this life. We held onto some little straw of disobedience, some root of bitterness…

And it almost killed (or is killing) us.

This writer lived in this place for 35 years, and by the end of it, had nothing more than a pulse. He was laying in a hospital bed, bleeding to death in all ways spiritual, mental, and physical.

And His mercies are new every morning.

Oh what a wreck he made.  And all the way through it, the ever new mercies of an awesomely merciful G_d made it possible for the man to come through a dark night of the soul that lasted decades.

I knew G_d was there. I just couldn’t feel Him.  i could rarely hear Him, even when i chanced to crack open the dusty Bible on my table.  Everything was hard.  Everything was dark.  i ended up alone – really alone – in an apartment, in a neighborhood where nobody knew me.  Everything was broken.  The cupboards were getting bare.  The only sound was from the fire alarm chirping every 90 seconds because the battery was going dead.  The only taste was that of a burning clear liquid that brought some horrible unconsciousness in between hours of boredom and terror alone in that room.  The only smell was that which was on the outside of me, that should have been on the inside of me…

And He will do whatever it takes to bring us into a right relationship with Himself.

Jail followed, then wretched hotel rooms, hospital, homeless shelter, homeless, then one last hotel room… until the blue van showed up to get me to an airport to get me to some family that cared and might could help – if I would be willing to be helped.

Still stumbling, still hurting, still bleeding out and dying, still waiting to get into a place where I might get the help that i really needed to get free from the sin that had fully dominated my life…  He called out to me, and said the most unexpected thing:

Give up.

And I did.

I looked down at that dusty Bible on a coffee table from my bed, and said.  “G_d, just do whatever you gotta do.”  And i meant it.

And so He did.

He took me on down through and into some deeper darkness over the next couple days.  My body was screaming for the chemicals that were no longer going into my body.  Desperation was really close as I arrived on the grounds of the place where Iwould finally find freedom from the dreaded “I” that is in all of our existence.  And at that colony of His mercy, I died.  So much so, that actually, I no longer live – but Christ now Lives in and through the flesh of the one who had been in the dark night for so long.

And somehow, 35 years of darkness began to transition into an ever brighter dawn within about three weeks.  I can’t explain what happened.  But this I know, this One who heals did a doozy on one guy.  He tore me out of my old self, alive in Him, clothed only in His righteousness – and simply bursting with Hope and running free within the very near Presence of this One Himself who had been so far away, such a short time ago.

Oh yeah, sometimes the shadows have flickered on the edge of the landscape like from trees around a clearing, but the day itself has yet to get anything other than brighter.  The colors have gained a new depth and richness as His Son rises in the sky of this new man.

And while the aforementioned dusty Bible has been replaced (it was starting to get a little too fragile for the intense use it received), the same words in the new copy of His Word tell me that it will never be dark like it was again.  Not ever.

“Beyond awestruckingly thankful,” falls pitifully short here, but thankful i am.  And happy, and joyous and free and full and alive in Him.

Are you in a dark night, beloved reader?

Go deeper into the dark.  Go to the end of yourself.  HE is there.  HE will bring you through to the dawn.  HE promises this to be true.

And, for what it’s worth, so do I.

FYI…

Contact us at America’s Keswick if you need to talk to anyone.  We will find someone in your area to help your trip into the dawn. – Makala Doulos is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Team YOU: Jeremiah 24-26; Proverbs 1; Titus 2

Motivations: Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world;
first a dawning, then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness.
~Thomas Adams (1612-1653)

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 2:23; Level 2: James 2:14-26

Powered Up:  It is a vital necessity for Christians to think along the lines on which they pray. The philosophy of prayer is that prayer is THE work. – Oswald Chambers

Are We There Yet?

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Philippians 3:12 We all can relate to one of the world’s most quoted verses, “Are we there yet?” My question to you is, where is there? As we travel this journey called “Life”, when was the last time you checked the route your taking? Sometimes I think we are just traveling and not enjoying the ride. One of my favorite movie quotes is “getting there is half the fun”. You may be waking up this morning and realizing you’re not enjoying your ride. Especially if the route you’re on has taken a turn that wasn’t on your itinerary. Those unexpected circumstances that interrupt your plans. This is where Phil. 3:12 comes in; Paul is telling us to “Lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of”. Now for each of us that could mean something different but I know what it’s not, Paul previously states that even though his qualifications are more than most, he would rather take the path that God has for him instead of “leaning on his own understanding”. He continues to say that it’s not just press on but “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. (That you could relate to listening to your wife when she suggests you ask for directions.) Here are some suggestions to consider: Is it time to stop just existing and start living with purpose? Too many times I’ve found myself missing the things God has for me. Is it time to exit the route that the world told you to take or the one that’s most familiar? Turn around and make things right before continuing. God calls that repentance. Or maybe just take a rest stop at the next area called “Thankful and Grateful”. The most important step is to make sure your road map is God’s word and that you make many stops to fellowship with his people. So to answer the questions “Are we there yet”? The answer is no, but remember “getting there is half the fun”. Rob Russomano is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and serves on the full-time staff at America’s Keswick

 Team YOU: Jeremiah 22-23; Proverbs 31; Titus 1

Motivations: Many people begin “The good fight of faith” but forget to add patience, persistence, and endurance to their enthusiasm. Anonymous

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 2:23; Level 2: James 2:14-26

Powered Up:  Learn to be vicarious in public prayer. Allow two rivers to come through you: the river of God, and the river of human interests. Beware of the danger of preaching in prayer, of being doctrinal. – Oswald Chambers

Preach the Word

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

If you are following the daily Scripture readings at the bottom of each Freedom Fighter blog, you read 2 Timothy 3 yesterday. The chapter concludes with two very powerful verses about the power of the Word of God.

Today’s chapter (4) contains an exhortation by Paul to Timothy that is very profound:
“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2

I love to read and often encourage you to check out some of the excellent books I have read. But please hear me – there is NO book that has the POWER that God’s Word has in transforming our lives.

Too many preachers/teachers are preaching through the lastest and greatest Christian books rather than preaching from THE BOOK – the Word of God. It the only book that comes with a money back guarantee – it will never return void – “so shall my word which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matters for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11-12

I believe that because we have drifted away from preaching God’s Word – we are seeing the fulfillment of what Paul predicted when he warned Timothy of the importance of preaching the Word:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the TRUTH, and will turn aside to myths! – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

If that doesn’t describe where we are today. Don’t be deceived, brothers. The writings of your favorite author/speaker are not inspired and won’t transform your life. The WORD OF GOD is what has the power to bring about REAL life transformation. Books are good resources – but don’t let them take the place of YOUR digging into the WORD OF GOD.

Can I stick my neck out on a limb? If you are sitting under teaching that is more about stories, entertainment and getting you to laugh – then you need to look for a church where the pastor is teaching God’s Word. You will find yourself growing in your walk with the Lord and your life being transformed. – Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: Jeremiah 20-21; Proverbs 30; 2 Timothy 4

Motivations: Let us not cease to do the utmost, that we may incessantly go forward in the way of the Lord; and let us not despair of the smallness of our accomplishments. John Calvin

Practice to Remember: Level 1:James 2:23; Level 2: James 2:14-26

Powered Up:  When you put God first you will get your times of prayer easily because God can entrust them to your soul who won’t use them in an irrational way and give an occasion to the enemy to enter in. Oswald Chambers