Enjoy a Peaceful Smoky Mountain Retreat
If you are contemplating a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains, please consider visiting our lovely three-bedroom rental cottage, Rocky Top, located in the Hidden Mountain Resort in Sevierville, Tennessee.
God’s Phone Number
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33: 3).
God’s best provisions often come to His people when they are in the worst of conditions. The assurance of God’s attention to his needs came to Jeremiah while he was unjustly imprisoned. If most of us would engage in introspection we would see this principle is true in our lives.
These provisions cascade down upon the faithful every time God is honored by the one praying. It is as though the “Lord of the Manner” opens the door to his treasure and welcomes the loyalist.
Not only does the devout heart yearn for God, God longs for the devout heart to call on Him.
You may not get the blessings for which you ask. Perhaps from God’s perspective He knows it would not really be blessings. We are not always good at translating our needs into words, and it is a mercy that God understands what we do want a great deal better than we do ourselves. Whether the specific petition is answered or not will matter comparatively little. In some instances the petitions are denied, but the purposes are fulfilled.
God does not always give the thing we ask. Lord Bolingbroke, a prominent British statesman, said to the Countess of Huntingdon, “I cannot understand, your ladyship, how you can make out earnest prayer to be consistent with submission to the Divine will.” “My lord,” she said, ‘That is a matter of no difficulty. If I were a courtier of some generous king, and he gave me permission to ask any favor I pleased of him, I should be sure to put it thus: ‘Will your majesty be graciously pleased to grant me such and such a favor; but at the same time, though I much desire it, if it would in any way detract from your majesty’s honor, or if in your majesty’s judgment it should seem better that I did not have this favour, I shall be quite as content to go without it as to receive it.’ So you see I might earnestly offer a petition, and yet might submissively leave it with the king.”
Such is the nature of the prayer offered with the spirit of “Thy will be done.” No prayer should be offered as an attempt to impose God’s will.
We realize what we consider a need and think we know what it would take to meet it may not find it fulfilling. God acknowledges the need, but often knows that what is requested won’t meet the need. Therefore, He often says “no” to our specific request, but wisely fulfills the need in a different more fulfilling way.
It has been suggested that Jeremiah 33:3 is God’s phone number. If so, call it now. He has invited you to do so. Don’t deny His appeal. He wants to hear from you. You will be amazed at what great and mighty things He can and will show you.
Ageless Axioms
The death of Pope Francis and the election of a new Pope has focused the world’s attention on Catholicism. History’s pages are replete with remarks by some more renowned followers of the faith considered worthy of all ages. These ageless axioms are worthy of universal acceptance not only because of their literary worth, but because of their lifestyle merit. Age has not diminished the truth
they encapsulate. Consider these and how they relate to you. Are you a living embodiment of any of them?
Augustine of Hippo (though technically late antiquity, his influence dominated the medieval church):
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
Thomas Aquinas (13th century, Dominican friar and theologian):
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century, Cistercian abbot and mystic):
“What we love we shall grow to resemble.”
Anselm of Canterbury (11th century, monk, philosopher, theologian):
“I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.”
Meister Eckhart (13th-14th century, German Dominican friar and mystic):
“The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.”
Francis of Assisi (13th century, founder of the Franciscan Order):
“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”
St. Bede the Venerable (7th-8th century, English monk and historian):
“Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will.”
Bonaventure (13th century, Franciscan theologian, called the “Seraphic Doctor”):
“In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within.
Peter Abelard (12th century, philosopher, theologian, and priest):
“By doubting, we are led to question; by questioning, we arrive at truth.”
Catherine of Siena (14th century, Dominican tertiary and Doctor of the Church — again, not a priest but hugely influential):
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
Hildegard of Bingen (12th century, Benedictine abbess, mystic, and composer):
“The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions.”
Thomas à Kempis (15th century, priest and author of “The Imitation of Christ):
“Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living.”
Hopefully readers will find those good axioms by which to live.
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Five
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
One Christian described the difference in his life as being as simple as the letter “l.” Worry, he said, happens when I am in the world and peace is mine when I am in the Word.
For spiritual victory and in order to win over worry we must get in the Word and get the word in us.
“The care (pressures) of this world…choke the word,” said Jesus. Program your mind with such Bible facts as:
“My God shall supply all thy need…” Phil. 4:19.
READ: Phil. 4: 6-7.
Yet another appeal to let your mind marinate in God’s word is found in verse 8 = READ.
You cannot apply Bible truth to life and worry. Each is excluding the other. Which prevails depends upon your will.
Peace and courage dispel anxiety and worry.
We with Jesus are like two mountain climbers at a perilous point before the summit. Jesus is ascending first. He has reached the summit and from that lofty vantage point of safety shouts, “I made it. You can make it too. I will help you.” Our victory is sure in Jesus. He has won the war.
The battle of New Orleans pitted the rag tag forces of Andrew Jackson coupled with the pirates of Jean Lafitte against the mighty British army that had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Both forces fought valiantly. However, what happened on the Chalmette Battlefield that day would not have changed the course of the war. The war ended before the battle was fought. Word of the British surrender had not reached the battlefield. Victory was assured by the American forces because they had won the war. They fought valiantly because to them their battle was of importance.
Jesus has won the victory for us. We can engage in our mopping up action one battle at the time with confidence. Don’t worry about it.
He, the ultimate overcomer, is the overseer of the overcomers.
He is the enabler of the unable.
The outlook is good because the outcome is assured.
Faith in Jesus and compliance with His encouragement can prevent worry and empower any person of faith to find peace that passes understanding.
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Four
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
Worry finds its origin in the painful events of the past,
Its occasion in some physical weakness or need in the present.
And its opportunity in some fear of an unknown future.
Thus, the web of worry is seen to consist of three strands. It consists of past events we long to live over or try to live down. The second strand is the uncertain future regarding which we have no confidence. The third strand is the present which is paralyzed by absorption with our past and apprehension related to our future.
It has been estimated that people worry about the following:
Things that never happen = 40%
Things that can’t be changed = 30%
Needless health cares = 12%
Petty miscellaneous worries = 10%
Legitimate concerns = 8%
Mark Twain once observed, “I am an old man and I have seen a lot of troubles, but most of them never happened.”
Our Lord said, “I will never leave you, nor” (Heb. 13:5). Worry responds, “I know you haven’t yet, but you might this time.”
Regarding the future, come what will — Jesus will come with it.
The expression “good cheer” means to have “courage.”
Jesus said we should observe the birds and look at the lilies. The God who is taking care of them will take care of you.
God spends more on bird food each year than the total U. S. Federal budget. The world’s bird population is estimated to be over 100 billion and God feeds them all day long every day. He is not going to overlook you. God is going to take good care of the birds because He knows His insect world would consume the human population in less than a day were it not for them.
“Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
I would really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.’
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
‘Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father.”
Such as cares for you and me.” Elizabeth Cheney
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Three
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
In athletics it is said that the best way to get injured is to try to take it easy, to reserve yourself, and not go all out. The same is true of the Christian. The Christians who live an O & O life, that is out-and-out life for Jesus’ will be admired even by his or her critics. The one the world laughs at is the one who tries to compromise with it.
If we are going to have tribulation, pressure, there must be something good about it. What?
An experiment conducted by the National Institutes of Mental Health may help our understanding. They constructed a large comfortable cage that could contain 4,000 mice easily with an abundance of food and water. They adjusted the temperature to “mouse comfort.” They put in four adult couples and sat back to take notes over a period of time.
Predictably there was a mouse house explosion. In two years there were 2,000 mice. Unpredictably, after that it was all downhill. In four and a half years, this mouse colony living in an ideal environment had died out. Why?
The last 1,000 mice born were large and beautiful, but passive, withdrawn, and lacked initiative. They never even left their nests and refused to relate to each other, even sexually. In mouse utopia they dealt with their boredom by turning off. Without a challenge they lost their drive and ambition.
The world’s pressure can be a stimulus to our spiritual growth if we allow it. It can be a matchless motivation. The challenges enable us to struggle and grow.
To cope creatively the Christian must realize he or she is “in Christ” and “in this world,” and use the world’s pressure in a positive way. That is, as a stimulus to spiritual growth.
Don’t be surprised by pressure, you are going to have it. The world is going to get you going and coming. It seems we are like the parachute jumper whose chute wouldn’t open. On his way down he passed a fellow going up and shouted, “Do you know anything about parachutes?” He shouted back, “No, do you know anything about gas stoves?”
If you are going to have pressure you might as well use it to your advantage. Let it bring you resourcefully to Jesus.
Don’t just acknowledge your inability to handle some issues, also acknowledge the capacity of Jesus to help you handle every issue.