FOR SOME REASON THIS DID NOT GO OUT YESTERDAY . . . SO I AM USING IT FOR
TODAY’S FREEDOM FIGHTER . . .

INFLUENCE

Have you ever stopped to think that YOU influence the lives of the
people you meet? On Thursday night I had the privilege of being a part
of a memorial service for a dear friend who greatly influenced my life.
She was 91 when she slipped into eternity last Saturday at 6:30 AM.

If I had to make a list of the people who influenced my life as a child,
this lady would be on the top three. She loved kids and had an
incredible ministry called Kids Korner that met on Friday nights at our
home church. As a young teenager, she pulled me aside and encouraged me
to be a “helper” on Friday nights — setting up chairs, helping with
memory verses, learning to run a movie projector, and all other kinds of
fun jobs. She got us involved in helping with Vacation Bible School and
eventually had us teaching a class.

During my later teen years and while dating, she would send me notes of
encouragement always reminding me how important it was to serve the
Lord. She loved God and when you touched her she bled JESUS and HIS
WORD. After we were married and were in “full-time” Christian service,
she would invite me to sing and preach at the Sunday B Ladies Auxiliary
meeting. Her smile, her encouraging words, her notes reminding me of her
prayers influenced me in ways that she never could imagine.

Shortly after coming to America’s KESWICK, we established a number of
off-campus prayer groups. One meets in Philly at a retirement community.
Much to my surprise, this grand lady was a resident and began attending
our prayer times. What I quickly discovered is that her love for Jesus
had only intensified even more! I loved to hear her pray and talk with
her Savior.

As I reflected this week on her life, I realized that had it not been
for Gertie Shoemaker, I may not be in ministry today. I am thankful to
the Lord that He brought her into my life. She has had a profound impact
on my life, family and ministry. It helped me to realize again that I
too can have an influence on the lives of others. That is an awesome
responsibility and privilege. May I never take that for granted. Thank
you, Gertie Shoemaker for influencing my life for Christ.

Pr 4:13 – Always remember what you have been taught, and don’t let go of
it. Keep all that you have learned; it is the most important thing in
life.
1Co 2:13 – We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We
didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it
from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re
passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
Php 4:9 – Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or
seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

2Ti 1:13 – Hold on to the pattern of right teaching you learned from me.
And remember to live in the faith and love that you have in Christ
Jesus.
2Ti 3:14 – But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have
become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.

THE JOY OF CHRIST

Growing up we sang a lot of praise choruses that had motions to them.
One of the songs was “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy — down in my
heart” . . . to which was the echo — “where?” — “down in my heart to
stay!” One of the attributes of the Christian should be a life that is
filled with joy. A joy that is in the heart, bubbles up from the heart
and expresses itself on the face, which is then obvious to everyone
around them that there is something different about them.

Henry Blackaby, writes in his daily devotional EXPERIENCING GOD DAY BY
DAY: “If there is anything that ought to characterize the life of a
Christian, it is joy! Jesus spoke many times to His disciples about His
joy being complete and full in them. His disciples were filled with joy
as they realized who they were: children of God and joint heirs with
Christ (Romans 8:16-17). They had been dead in their sins but were now
made alive in Christ (Romans 6:4). They had once been helpless victims
of death, but now death had no hold over them (1 Corinthians 15:55-58).
With such a marvelous salvation experience with Christ, how could the
disciples be anything less than joyful?

Don’t deny yourself that which is your birthright as a child of God.
Don’t be satisfied with a joyless life. There ought to be in every
Christian a deep, settled fullness of the joy of Christ that no
circumstance of life can dispel. This comes as you allow the Holy Spirit
to express Himself in your life. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy
(Galatians 5:22). This joy is unlike any happiness that is produced by
the world. It fills you and permeates everything you do.

Jesus did not pray that your would merely be happy or even that you
would escape grief. He prayed that you would have the same joy that the
Father had given Him: a divine joy, a joy that comes from a deep and
unwavering relationship with the Father. It is a joy that is grounded so
firmly in a relationship with God that no change in circumstances could
ever shake it. This is the kind of joy that Christ is praying will be in
you.”

How about you this morning? Is your life characterized by the joy of
Christ? Good thought to ponder today.

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

“If my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and
seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from
heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles
7:14

Today people will gather all across our nation to pray. God hears our
prayers. This is a day to pray for our President and those who serve
with him. It is a day to pray for our nation. The 2006 theme is
“America, Honor God.” God called Israel to humble themselves and pray
and to turn from their wicked ways. I want to encourage you today to
spend some time before the Father and examine YOUR heart.

I share with you one of the prayers of the Puritans that deal with sin
in our lives. The words of powerful:

Merciful Lord,
Pardon all my sins of this day, week, year, all the sins of my life,
sins of early, middle, and advanced years,
of omission and commission,
of morose, peevish and angry tempers,
of lip, life and walk,
of hard-heartedness, unbelief, presumption, pride,
of unfaithfulness to the souls of men,
of want of bold decision in the cause of Christ,
of bringing dishonor upon Your great name,
of deception, injustice, untruthfulness,
in my dealings with others,
of impurity in thought, word and deed,
of covetousness, which is idolatry,
of substance unduly hoarded, improvident ally squandered,
not consecrated to the glory of thee,
the great Giver;
sins in private and in the family,
in study and recreation, in the busy haunts of men,
in the study of Your Word and in the neglect of it,
in prayer irreverently offered and coldly withheld,
in time misspent,
in yielding to Satan’s wiles,
in opening my heart to his temptations,
in being unwatchful when I know him nigh,
in quenching the Holy Spirit;
sins against light and knowledge, against conscience and the restraints
of thy Spirit,
against the law of eternal love.
Pardon all my sins, known and unknown,
felt and unfelt,
confessed and not confessed,
remembered or forgotten,
Good Lord, hear; and hearing, forgive. Amen!

“Oh Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in ME.
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead!”

DYING TO SELF

I recently spoke to a lady who is in her 90’s. She has become a dear
friend to our ministry and I love her because she is really wanting to
see God work in her life. She recently shared with me that one of her
friends loved her enough to confront her about her attitude. She told me
that this friend told her she was a spoiled brat and needed to be put
over their knee and get paddled! Not that is bold words to tell someone
in their 90’s!

But she asked the Lord to examine her heart and concluded that she was
self-centered and spoiled rotten. She was so wrapped up in herself and
her on little world, that she was actually miserable. Her prayer has now
been that she will “die to self” and allow Christ to live through her.

Louie Giglio shares that when we refuse to die to self we become more
interested in “the story of us.” We try to become the I AM rather than
the “i am not!” Here are the signs that that he gives to demonstrate
that we have slipped back into the “story of us”:

1. When I live like I am privileged, I have lost the plot. In other
words, when I start acting like I deserve a certain outcome or a higher
standard of life, I have failed to strike the fatal blow to self and am
living like I actually have rights in this world apart from God.

2. When I am demanding, I have lost the plot, insisting that God and
others meet my needs on the timetable that I see fit.

3. When I act pompous, I have lost the plot, thinking I am somebody
while only proving that I haven’t had a good look at God today.

4. When I crumble under pressure, I have lost the plot, declaring the
outcome of life rests squarely on my shoulders, not his.

5. When I start protecting, I have lost the plot, marking turf as though
it were actually mine and forgetting that everything I have comes first
from above.

6. When I crave the spotlight for myself, I have lost the plot, losing
sight of the story line and the one true Star!

7. When I fail to celebrate the successes of others who are living for
HIS fame, I have lost the plot, thinking that possibly we are on
different teams when we actually share the same supporting roles in the
same story.

8. When I dwell on feelings of being unloved, unnoticed, or
insignificant, I have lost the plot, abandoning the miracle of knowing
God on a first-name basis.

“All of these privileged, demanding, arrogant, frazzled,
turf-protecting, glory-stealing, self-loathing moments are nothing more
that a clarion call alerting us to the fact that it’s time to die again,
reminders that the life of smallness requires a vigilant watch and a
constant willingness to strike the fatal blow in the heart of me. To die
to self is to gain an unfathomable scale — a daily funeral that is
nothing more than the doorway to a life filled with the matchless WONDER
OF ALL THAT HE IS!” — Adapted from “i am not but i know I AM” by Louie
Giglio, published by Multnomah.

So how are you doing today? Good thoughts to ponder.

THE WORD

This morning I want to share with you the Psalm that I read in my quiet
time. It speaks volumes. Someone needs to hear these powerful words from
THE WORD this morning . . .

Psalm 103:1-18

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless HIS holy
name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget NONE of His benefits;
Who pardons ALL your iniquities;
Who heals ALL your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is
renewed like the eagle.

The Lord performs righteous deeds, and judgments are for all who are
oppressed.
He made known His way to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, SLOW to anger and ABOUNDING in
lovingkindness.
He will not always strive with us; nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His
lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has
compassion on those who fear Him.
For He HIMSELF knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.

As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he
flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; and its place
acknowledges it no longer.
BUT THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF THE LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on
those who fear Him,
And HIS righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His
covenant, and who remember His precepts to do them.”

May God’s Word speak to YOUR heart today and transform YOUR life. Bless
the Lord with ALL your soul this morning and throughout the day.

It’s not too late to sign up your wife for our Spring Ladies Day with
our good friend Annie Chapman.
http://www.americaskeswick.org/conf/evspladday.shtml Bless your wife for
Mother’s Day. It will be a great gift! Call today and make her
reservation.

FAITH — NOT EMOTION . . .

This morning was one of those “whack-on-the-side-of-the-head” mornings.
Everything I read had the same message for my soul today. I love when
God does that — it is something that only HE can orchestrate. These are
“WOW” moments in helping build my faith. Oswald Chambers drove the final
nail in what I needed to hear this morning . . .

“We walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

“For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when
God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and
talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is
trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the
spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it.
Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of
us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and
with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God
dealing with us all the time.

A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for
daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature
angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are
to do it an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because
we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of
inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming
obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we
are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to
‘walk by faith.’ How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say,
‘I cannot do anything else until God appears to me’? He will never do
it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and
without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find
ourselves exclaiming, ‘Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew
it!’

Never live for those exceptional moments — they are surprises. God will
give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in
danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of
inspiration as the standard way of life — our work is our standard.”

Powerful words for my life, and hopefully they will bless yours today as
well.

This week on KESWICK TODAY radio, Dr. Les Ayars and Robert Hayes share
what will be happening at America’s KESWICK Memorial Day Weekend as we
count down the days to the official start of our summer season. Visit
our home page for details and listen to this weeks broadcasts.
http://www.americaskeswick.org/

I AM . . . i am not . . .

Several weeks ago I shared with you some thoughts from Louie Giglio’s
message on Moses’. I was so blessed by the message that I tracked down
his book . . . i am not but I know I AM — Welcome to the Story of God,
published by our good friends at Multnomah.

As we prepare to worship this morning, I remind you that we are
worshipping the great I AM — worship is not about you and me — it is
about HIM. When God called Moses from the burning bush, Moses asked who
he was talking to, to which God responded ‘I AM!” Listen to what Louie
says about this great I AM . . .

“In English, the name I AM translates into the very TO BE. Or simply BE.
Therefore, God’s name is BE. I AM = I BE. Not great grammar, but
powerful theology. God knew it was imperative for Moses to know who He
was — that He was I AM. I AM is present tense, active form of the verb
TO BE. As God’s name, it declares that He is unchanging, constant,
unending, always present, always God.

God was telling Moses:
I AM the center of everything.
I AM running the show.
I AM the same every day, forever.
I AM the owner of everything.
I AM the Lord.
I AM the Creator and Sustainer of Life.
I AM the Savior.
I AM more than enough.
I AM inexhaustible and immeasurable.
I AM God.

In a heartbeat, Moses knew God’s name — and something more. He finally
knew his. For if God’s name is I AM, Moses’ name must be i am not.

I am not the center of everything.
I am not in control.
I am not the solution.
I am not all-powerful.
I am not calling the shots.
I am not the owner of everything.
I am not the Lord.

And that’s your name and mine name too . . .

I am not running anything.
I am not the ahead of anything.
I am not in charge of anything.
I am not the maker.
I am not the savior.
I am not holding it all together.
I am not all-knowing.
I am not God.

And God’s name is still I AM.”

“We will glorify the KING OF KINGS.
We will glorify the Lamb.
We will glorify the Lord of Lords,
HE IS the great I AM!”

Rejoice in HIM this morning, and for all your days.

HOW BIG IS GOD?

As you prepare your hearts for worship tomorrow, I share some thoughts
of the bigness of our awesome God from Louie Giglio’s powerful book, “i
am not but I know I AM — Welcome to the Story of God” published by
Multnomah.

Ponder these thoughts with me . . .

“And God said, ‘Let there be light!’ . . .

“The warmth you feel on your face when you walk outside one a sunny
afternoon is light that left the surface of the sun eight minutes ago.
If you wanted to repeat the 93-million-mile-journey and return to the
sun (not a good idea given that the temperature at the sun’s surface is
ten thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and it would vaporize you long before
your arrival), the trip would take you seventeen years flying nonstop,
twenty-four hours a day, in our fastest jet.

I don’t know about you, but a beam of light covering 93 million miles in
eight minutes is pretty hard for me to comprehend. Much less the news
that a team of astrophysicists recently discovered what is believed to
be the farthest object from earth, a tiny galaxy that is 13 billion
light years away.

If you want to put that distance in perspective, consider that a light
year (how far light travels in 365 days) is equal to 5.88 trillion
miles. If it helps, that number again is 5,880,000,000,000 miles. That’s
a lot of zeros, and frankly, a number too large to really mean anything
of significance to most of us . . .

The folks at the California Institute of Technology are fairly certain
their newly discovered galaxy is 13,000,000,000 times 5,880,000,000,000
miles away. That qualifies us as the oldest visible light in all
Creation, and the farthest thing from earth our eyes have ever seen.
Actually, since a light year is more about TIME than distance, when we
gaze at this most-distant-yet galaxy, we’re looking at light that left
there 13 billion years ago. That means we’re actually looking back
across time, deep into the past.

But let’s bring things closer to home — our galactic neighborhood, the
Milky Way. Our cozy little corner of space, the Milky Way Galaxy, is
somewhere between 100,000 and 130,000 light years across. So to get from
one end of our neighborhood to the other, all you have to do is zoom at
186,000 miles per SECOND for 100,000 plus years. Our galaxy is home to
hundred of billions of stars, only one of which is our sun. Our solar
system — whose star is the sun — is located about twenty-five thousand
light years from the center of the Milky Way. And just as the planets in
our solar system orbit the sun, so our sun and all the other hundreds of
billions of other stars in the Milky Way orbit around its center — a
galactic revolution that takes our sun 250 million earth years to
complete.

We have no idea just how big the universe is, but it’s so big we have to
use a ruler that’s 5.88 trillion miles long to measure stuff. The ruler
is called a light year. The farthest thing we have measured so far with
the help of a mighty telescope is 13 billion light years away. Somewhere
in the midst of it all is a spiral galaxy call the Milky Way, which is
made up of hundreds of billions of stars.

One of those stars is our sun, rotating around the center of the Milky
Way every 250 million years. One of the planets circling our sun is
Planet Earth. And two of the more than six billion people on this planet
are you and me . . . Along with you and me, there are six billion other
human beings dotting this minute ball we call earth, which is orbiting
an average star in a tiny solar system that’s hovering on the outskirts
of the Milky Way, one of billions of galaxies in the known universe, the
size of which exponentially expands out latest measurements every time
we manage to build a more powerful telescope . . . “

And the God who created this universe — created YOU and me, and died
for YOU and ME! As I contemplated Louie’s words, I was reminded of one
of the worship songs that Robert and Joyce Hayes have been teaching us:

How Great Is Our God
——Chris Tomlin

The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God (x2)

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God (x3)

Sorry for the length of today’s Freedom Fighter. I thought it was worth
the “time and space!” God bless you.

HE SPEAKS . . . DO I LISTEN?

I have been reading through the Old Testament this year from the ONE
YEAR BIBLE and have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing stories that I learned
as a kid. One of the things that has stood out is how many time the Lord
spoke to His people and their leaders. I don’t know about you, but
sometimes I have found myself saying, “If only I could hear the voice of
the Lord directly on this or that . . . “

For many of us prayer is a one-side proposition. Think about it . . . we
pray and we expect HIM to listen. Sometimes, well maybe more often than
I want to admit, I don’t even take the time to fellowship and praise Him
— I barge right into the throne room with my list of things I expect
Him to do without taking the time to enjoy Him. There are hundreds of
verses in the Psalms that confirm that HE HEARS our prayers: “I love the
Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has
inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I
live. (Psalm 116:1-2)

All through elementary school, I had the same comments written on the
back of my report cards . . . those words have been written on the
hard-drive of my mind . . . “Billy (I hated that name) would be such a
good student if he would just stop talking . . . ” Yikes! God wants to
speak to us but often we are too busy to hear Him. Some of my friends
are strong enough to say that God doesn’t speak in an audible voice any
more like He did in days gone by. Well don’t shoot me — but that is
probably true. But I do know this — if He wanted to, He could and
would. I am not about to limit how God desires to deliver what He wants
to say.

For me, He speaks to me through His Word. There have been times during
my prayer times that I have cried out to the Lord. I have the confidence
that HE HEARS me because He tells me that in His Word. And He listens
with BOTH ears! Sometimes when we are finished praying, He wants us to
be still and listen for His voice. Try it sometime — after you are done
praying, sit still and listen! My dear friend, Marilyn Heavilin has
written a wonderful book entitled, “I’M LISTENING, LORD” that is a good
resource on this subject.

Sometimes during the night when I cannot sleep, I rehearse in my mind
Scriptures that I have memorized. When I do that, often I fall back to
sleep. But every so often, this is the time HE speaks to my heart. The
other night was one of those times when I was wrestling out something in
my soul. I was searching for an answer and praying for instruction. I
did not hear an AUDIBLE voice, but I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to my
heart and clearly gave me the answer I needed! It was cool! He gave me
exactly what I needed to do in a tough situation.

Read through the Psalms and read how God did this for David. In Psalm
16:7 David wrote: “I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed my
mind instructs me in the night.” Maybe He chooses to speak to me during
the night because that is when He has MY undivided attention. He wants
to speak to our hearts — are we ready to listen?

“And He walks with me, and He talks with me; and He tells me I am His
own. And the joy we share as we tarry there — none other has ever
known.”

THOT: “God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to
Him.” Proverbs 28:9 (The Message)

PRIDE VS. HUMILITY

One of the greatest hindrances in all of our relationships is pride.
Gary and Betsy Ricucci call it — “self-confident, self-exalting,
self-protecting pride. It is the most deceptive, pervasive and
multifaceted for form of sin, and it plays a central role in virtually
all sin.”

Listen to their description of pride vs.. humility:

Pride loves to talk, reveling in every self-exalting form of
self-expression.
Pride is quite content with what it already knows.
Pride assumes I already understand everything I need to.
Pride assumes I don’t need help.
Pride simply judges others by assuming they will respond negatively or
unhelpfully if I am open.
Pride uses conversation as broadcast time.
Pride denies what the gospel reveals about our seriously sinful
condition. (Proverbs 10:19; Galatians 5:17)

Humility yearns to learn, because it recognizes its deficiencies
(Proverbs 12:15).
Humility asks questions and loves dialogue.
Humility has never found someone it couldn’t learn something from.
Humility assumes there is always more to learn about everything.
Humility assumes I need others.
Humility would rather be open and vulnerable than closed and
independent.
Humility uses conversations to explore new worlds.
Humility puts energy and effort into listening.
Humility treats a spouse as a fellow traveler on the road to biblical
wisdom.
Humility that leads to intimacy takes an interest in one’s spouse as a
gift from God.
Humility believes what the gospel says about our desperate need for God
and his grace — AFTER we’re saved as well as before.”

Good thoughts for your consideration from LOVE THAT LASTS . . . WHEN
MARRIAGE MEETS GRACE published by Crossway.