“A WOMAN OF GRACE . . .”

This is an email for men! Don’t panic. Everyone of us has had at least
one woman in our life or we wouldn’t be on the planet. If you didn’t —
I’d sure like to know how you got here.

On Thursday, my associate and I went to visit the granddaughter of the
founder of America’s KESWICK, Sister Ruth Raws. I believe that Solomon’s
words describe this precious woman: “A woman of gentle grace gets
respect” (Proverbs 11:16 The Message).

I have had the privilege of watching this lady’s life for the past 9+
years. She is 87 years old and has lived a full life having served in
the Armed Forces and on the mission field. She has been an incredible
prayer warrior and a woman whose who life has been spent in serving
others. Her gentle spirit has been a testimony to countless thousands
through the years.

She is also a wonderful prayer warrior who often puts her own needs and
problems behind her so that she can be praying for others and helping
them in their time of need.

Sister Ruth has been diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer that is
spreading. We left her room today amazed at God’s grace in her life
despite the face that she is facing some difficult days in the next
several weeks, and ultimately her going home to glory. Despite her
situation, the topics of her conversation centered around her concern
for others: nurses, friends at the retirement community where she lives,
family, and our staff at America’s KESWICK.

Thank you, Sister Ruth, for modeling a life of gentle grace — is it any
wonder that your family and friends love and respect you? May God grant
you His perfect peace in the midst of your storm. We love you.

If you would like to send a card to Sister Ruth Raws, you can send it
to:
America’s KESWICK

601 Route 530

Whiting, NJ 08759

Be sure to let her know that you are a member of the Freedom Fighter
family.

DO YOUR WORDS MATTER

I really don’t ever want to use this tool as a means to push a
particular political agenda. I must confess that I was very disappointed
in the remarks that were made at Coretta Scott King’s memorial service
by former President Jimmy Carter.

My Grandmother taught me that the President of the United States was to
be respected no matter which party he was involved with. She believed
that God was in control of all things, and if her choice for President
lost a race, she would still get behind the new President with her
prayers and encouragement.

Proverbs 11:12 says, “Mean-spirited slander is heartless; quiet
discretion accompanies good sense.” I believe that our President
exercised great self-control and dignity by not lashing out at those who
used a memorial service for a great patriot to defend his agenda or
criticize the opposition. President Bush’s words were carefully selected
and demonstrated “quiet discretion.”

As brothers in Christ, we need to be mindful of our words. They are
powerful. They destroy or bring life. As Chuck Swindoll says, “Our words
reveal what is in our hearts — they are the dictionary of our heart.”
How does your dictionary read?

Do you have trouble saying the right things? To your kids? Your spouse?
Your employees?
Then pray what David prayed: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep
watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

PRAISE AND BELIEF GO HAND IN HAND

“I promise to value praise more than before. Praise is the natural
outgrowth of trust. The one who truly believes will automatically praise
God. Before, I thought praise should come AFTER the act was done. I
asked, God answered, so I praised. This is weak, sickly praise. Jesus
thanked His Father BEFORE He raised Lazarus. I should look at problems,
difficulties, impossibilities, and then praise God AHEAD OF TIME for the
opportunity of glorifying His name. If Romans 8:28 is still in the
Bible, and believable, then praise should characterize my life.

Difficulties, to the Christian, are only miracles that have not yet
happened. Faith cannot tell time very well. To say we should praise only
after the miracle has occurred makes no sense to faith. Faith means God
WILL just as us as God HAS. So if I am to always believe, then I should
always praise, since perfect trust eliminates worry and anxiety and
fills me with good feelings.

To live a life of praise, I must thank God FOR evil circumstances as
well as to thank Him WHEN I am in evil circumstances. The difference is
whether or I am going to endure evil or make it a vehicle of blessing.
The Bible tells me that God is not complacent about evil, but He uses it
for a greater good.

When God surrounds me with harassments, He is preparing me for a
breakthrough TO victory and growth that He could not accomplish in any
other way. So, in a sense, evil circumstances are my FRIENDS and I
should welcome them as much a David welcomed the lion and the bear,
which made him ready for Goliath. If I welcome them, I will praise; and
if I praise, they are not longer my enemies but my conquests. Therefore
as James advises, I will ‘rejoice and jump for joy’ when surrounded by
impossibilities.” (James 1:2)

Good words for you to ponder today. I am thankful that God knows WHAT I
need precisely WHEN I need to hear it. Today’s devotional is from DAILY
WITH THE KING by Dr. Evans and is available from the KESWICK ONLINE
BOOKSTORE (www.americaskeswick.org)

Have a blessed day, my friend.

FAULT FINDING

From the pen of Fenelon in his classic work, THE SEEKING HEART
(available from the KESWICK ONLINE Bookstore — http://www.americaskeswick.org)

“It seems that you need a larger heart when dealing with others’
shortcomings. Why are you so impatient if people don’t correct their
faults immediately? Everyone has faults. I know that you cannot help
seeing them, nor can you prevent yourself from forming opinions about
the motives of those around you. If you were perfect, you could deal
with the imperfections of others without letting them bother you.

Don’t be surprised at the defects in good people. God leaves weakness in
all of us. In those who are advanced, the weakness is our of proportion
to their otherwise mature life. In a field, a workman may leave a pillar
of earth to measure the amount of material removed. God leaves similar
pillars within those He is perfecting.

A person with visible shortcomings can be more spiritually advanced than
someone who is free from such defects. ‘Perfect’ people often want to
find fault with others for not being perfect. Fault-finding, even within
yourself, is just soulish enthusiasm. God’s way is entirely different.
He sometimes allows people to remain deeply flawed in order to keep them
from being too satisfied with themselves. It would be easier for them to
be corrected of their failings than to feel conquered by their weakness.

People must learn to bear their own weakness as well as the weakness of
others. Why are you so upset by your neighbors’ faults when your own are
still uncorrected? Your motives are not entirely pure in wanting to see
people perfected for God’s glory. PEOPLE’S FAULTS BOTHER YOU BECAUSE
YOU ARE TOO FUSSY AND HARD TO PLEASE.

You can help others more by correcting your own faults than theirs.
Remember — and you should, because of your own experience — that
allowing God to correct your faults is not easy. Be patient with people!
Wait for God to work with them as HE wills. You need to be more
tender-hearted and compassionate toward the faults of others. Let
everything that bothers you flow like water under a bridge. Live in the
presence of God.”

Wow — not that is way too convicting? Pray through this as you think
about your relationship with your spouse, kids, co-workers and others
that the Holy Spirit might bring to mind today.

OUR AWESOME GOD . . .

“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the
salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the
Egyptians you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

My nature is fix things. And sometimes there are things that are just
not fixable. I am a slow learner — but I am learning that rather than
my trying to fix things and messing them up, I need to keep silent and
allow the Lord to do HIS work.

A number of years ago when we lived in Maryland, we received a notice
from the State that we owed a significant amount of money for taxes
because of an error that we were unaware of on our income tax return.
Our accountant who had prepared our forms had inadvertently missed a
major detail on our form and now we were being asked to pay a
significant amount of money.

The problem was that our accountant was no longer in business and so
another accountant friend said he would take care of getting the
situation resolved. There were a series of letters written, and we
thought that everything was fine. Several years later we were attempting
to open a credit card account and were denied. After checking, we found
out that we were denied because of our back taxes. Not only did we owe
the taxes, we were also being assessed a penalty which now had mounted
up to a very large amount.

We didn’t have the funds to make the payment and were quite distressed
about the situation. It was at that time that I was reading through the
Bible and came to these verses in Exodus. I had been trying to figure
out how to FIX this on my own, but knew that the Lord wanted me to allow
HIM to take care of the situation. But how? Didn’t he need my help?

I committed the matter to prayer and purposed to “stand still” and “keep
silent.” Several weeks went by and nothing happened. As I was praying
one morning, the Lord spoke to my heart and directed me to check out the
State’s website. I thought that was odd, but decided to act on His
prompting. When I opened the site, the headline was that the State was
providing tax amnesty for the next three weeks which would enable people
to pay their back taxes without the penalties being assessed.

I called the office so that we could set up a payment plan and God led
me to just the right person. As I laid out my case, she said, just a
moment. The error on our form was because half of the year we had lived
in PA, and the other half in Maryland. We were renting in Maryland, but
still had our home in PA and were commuting. What we needed was proof
that we still maintained residency in PA. She told me that if we could
provide copies of our telephone, electric and gas bills, they would
waive the ENTIRE amount.

Within 24 hours, we went from this huge debt, to having our account
wiped clean! When we shared this with several of our accountant friends,
they said — this is absolutely amazing! God is awesome.

Are you facing an obstacle in your life? An impossible situation? One
YOU can’t fix? GIVE IT TO GOD — then stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord! Good words for your consideration this morning.

PLAY THE TAPE TO THE END . . .

I have a good friend who shared a message that bears repeating over and
over . . . He was talking about temptation and playing with sin. In his
message he makes this statement . . . “Play the tape to the end . . . “

We need to remind ourselves often that we cannot play with temptation
and sin and not expect to be burned. Martin Luther said that when we do,
it is like placing our hands in the fire and expecting not to be burned.

We cannot play with sin. We must continue to see it from God’s
perspective — He hates it! He has never changed His position on it. One
of the saddest things we see occurring in the church is a dumbing down
of the truth. We see many Christians dabbling in areas where they have
no business going — and then sooner or later they find out the reality
of bad choices — sin has one MO — your destruction! As I have share
with you many times — sin will always take you further than you want to
go; it will always cost you more than you are willing to pay; it will
always keep you longer than you want to stay.

In reading Proverbs this morning, there is a great reminder of PLAYING
THE TAPE TO THE END . . . Listen to these words . . . and as you do —
replace the “adulteress woman” with that area of your life that has
become your besetting sin — the idol of your heart . . .

“You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton
woman may well eat you alive. Can you build a fire in your lap and not
burn your pants? Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get
blisters? It’s the same when you have sex with your neighbor’s wife:
touch her and you will pay for it — no excuses! Hunger is no excuse for
a thief to steal; When he is caught he has to pay it back, even if he
has to put his whole house in hock. Adultery is a brainless act —
soul-destroying, self-destructive; Expect a bloody nose, a black eye,
and a reputation ruined for good. For jealousy detonates rage in a
cheated husband; wild for revenge, he won’t make allowances. Nothing you
say or pay will make it all right; neither bribes nor reason will
satisfy him.” — Proverbs 6 from THE MESSAGE

Are you playing with sin this, my friend? Watching porn? Involved in a
relationship that you KNOW is wrong? Whatever it is — don’t play with
it! It WILL destroy you! PLAY THE TAPE TO THE END!!!

If you need help, email us. We would love to share with you how you can
be SET FREE from bondage to live VICTORIOUSLY in the ever-crazy,
changing world.

BE STILL

“Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has wrought desolations in
the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the
bow, and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire! ‘Be still
and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in
the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
refuge.” (Psalm 46:8-11)

One of the challenges, especially for those of us who are Type A
personalities is to BE STILL. Some of us our so wrapped up in the DOING
of the Christian life, that we neglect BEING all that God wants us to
be. Most men are afraid to BE STILL. We avoid it at all costs. But God
wants us to learn this wonderful truth.

Mrs. Cowman in her classic devotional work, STREAMS IN THE DESERT, wrote
these words: “I do not believe we have even begun to understand the
wonderful power there is in being still. We are in such a hurry, always
doing, that we are in danger of not allowing God the opportunity to
work. You may be sure that God will never say to us, ‘Stand still,’ ‘Sit
still,’ or ‘Be still’ unless HE is going to do something. This is our
problem regarding the Christian life: we want to do something to be
Christians, instead of allowing HIM to work in us.

Think of how still you stand when your picture is being taken, as the
photographer captures your likeness on film. God has one eternal purpose
for us: that we should be ‘conformed to the likeness of His Son’ (Romans
8:29). But in order for that to happen, we must stand still. We hear so
much today about being active, but maybe we need to learn what it means
to be quiet.”

Be still, my soul! the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! thy best, thy Heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul! thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul! the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul! when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Katharina Amalia von Schlegel

Good words to ponder as we worship the Lord today — on HIS day!

THE LOVE OF GOD

“For the love of Christ compels us . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:14

From the pen of Oswald Chambers (MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST — available
at the KESWICK ONLINE BOOKSTORE . . . http://www.americaskeswick.org)

“Paul said that the was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by
‘the love of Christ.’ Very few of us know what it means to be held in
the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by
our own experience. The one thing that gripped Paul, to the exclusion of
everything else, was the love of God. When you hear that coming from the
life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know the Spirit of
God is completely unhindered in that persons life . . .

When this happens . . . we will accept EVERYTHING that happens as it
were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution
or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not
totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that
matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we realize.

Paul said that he was GRIPPED by the love of God and that why he acted
as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane — he did not care.
There was only one thing he lived for — to persuade people of the
coming judgment of God and to tell them of ‘the love of Christ.’ This
total surrender to ‘the love of Christ’ is the only thing that will bear
fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness
and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.”

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me,
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love;
Leading onward, leading homeward
To my glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep, love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore.
How he loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore.
How He watches o’re His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the blest;
‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
‘Tis a haven sweet of rest,
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
‘Tis a heav’n of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee. Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925)

Good words for us today!

WHO PREACHED THE MESSAGE FIRST . . .

As you prepare for the Lord’s Day, here are some thoughts for your
consideration . . .

“The first sermon preached each Sunday is not by the minister, but by
YOU! You preach a message of good cheer when you say ‘good morning’ to
those who you meet as you are parking, in the hallway, and classrooms.

You preach a message of welcome! — ‘We have room for you’ when you
slide over in the pew instead of forcing others to squeeze in front of
you. You peach a message of hope and joy when you enthusiastically sing
and worship.

You preach a message about the power of prayer when you fervently enter
into out time of prayer together. You preach a message about respect
when you listen attentively while the special music is presented.

You preach a message of love with your smile, say hello, and introduce
yourself to visitors. You preach a message of faith why you give your
tithes and offerings. You preach a message about the importance of
Scripture when you open your Bible to the day’s text.

Many messages are preached BEFORE the Pastor stands up to bring HIS
message. If your message is positive and consistent, then the message
given from the pulpit will be much better received. Go Sunday morning
prepared to preach YOUR best sermon.” from Pulpit Helps

Good words to consider as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Day.

GOOD REMINDERS

One of the disciplines of life that I encourage men (and women) to do is
to journal. I have shared with you before that I journal my morning
prayers. Yes, I write out my prayers. It has helped me to stay focused
on what I am praying rather than have my wandering mind go all over the
place.

I also put dates and notations in my Bible and devotional books of
things that are taking place in my life. If you were to look at them,
there would not really be any significance to you, but for me, it is a
historical record of the things that the Lord is doing in my life. I
have noted by doing this, cycles of ups and downs in my spiritual
journey that help me understand how God has wired me. I find that some
of my staff go through cycles in their lives. It has been a good
exercise and one I commend to you.

Yesterday was one of those reminders of God’s faithfulness in a very
difficult situation. Several years ago we were facing a monumental
financial struggle at America’s KESWICK. Our employee health insurance
bill was due and we needed $25,000 to pay the bill. The bottom line was
that we did not have the money. Our staff gathered to worship and pray.
We knew we couldn’t borrow the money — so there was only ONE who could
provide it.

And the Lord did so in a dramatic way. A friend of the ministry loaned
us $25,000 as a short-term loan but said, “the real deal will be here on
Friday.” Friday came. Friday went. No money. On Saturday morning before
our Board meeting, I met with God in the morning and from the devotional
STREAMS IN THE DESERT, here were the words from the WORD:
“This is my doing.” (1 Kings 12:24)

As I read the message for the day, God reminded me that He was in
control and knew all about our situation. These words jumped off the
page, “Are you having problems with money, finding it hard to make ends
meet? “This is my doing,” for I am the One who keeps your finances, and
I want you to learn to depend on Me. My supply is limitless and I “will
meet all your needs.” (Philippians 4:19) I want to prove MY PROMISES so
no one may say, “You did not trust in the Lord your God.” (Deut. 1:32)

An hour later, God proved HIS faithfulness. A Board member shared with
me that a friend had wired money into his account for America’s KESWICK
on Thursday. On Friday when he went to the bank to transfer the money to
his checking account — the amount? $25,000!!! The real deal WAS there
on Friday. And the amazing thing is the person who gave the money lives
in France! How did she know? OUR GOD IS AWESOME! HE KNEW OUR NEED.

Facing a challenge in your life? Financial? Health? Kids? Talk to Him
about it. Trust Him! He wants to WOW you with HIS goodness. And when He
does it — take time to write it down. It will be a great reminder to
you and to your children and your children’s children of God’s
faithfulness and amazing work in your life.