Forever FAITH

12/02/2024

HEED !

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10/06/2022

The Baron Soul

In the Chilean village of Chungungo water is nearly as valuable as precious metal. The region is arid and parched, forcing the village to truck in fresh water over dirt roads from miles away. Until recently the average person could afford a mere four gallons a day (compare that to the average American who uses ninety gallons a day), and buying even that meager amount soaked up 10 percent of household incomes. In Chungungo bathing was a luxury.

But then scientists experimented with an ingenious new system for obtaining water. The 330 residents of Chungungo now drink water - the freshest they have ever tasted - from high above, atop nearby El Tofo mountain. Under the direction of Dr. Robert Schemenauer, a Canadian cloud physicist, workers hung on eucalyptus poles a "wall" of finely woven propylene nets, each the size of eight queen-sized bed sheets sown together. Seventy-five such nets sift the clouds that sweep in incessantly from the Pacific Ocean.

A close look at the plastic nets reveals propylene fibers meshed in tiny triangles. Like dew collects on grass, infinitesimally small water particles from fog collect on these fibers. Ten thousand such water particles must coalesce to produce one drop of water the size of a tear. Still, each water net collects forty gallons of water a day. The seventy-five nets on El Tofo sift a total of three thousand gallons daily from the drifting clouds and fog.

Sometimes our lives feel as dry and parched as the rocky soil around Chungungo, where only shrubs and cactus grow.

What is it that brings refreshment to your soul?

There are many things in life that say they can satisfy or bring contentment, but I can think of only One who does that.

What we need to remember are the spiritual water nets that we all have available when we are parched in spiritual thirst.

They are prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other Christians for starters.

Few things will flood the reservoirs of our soul like catching all the refreshment given from the Lord.

09/27/2022

GOD OFFERS US POWER BEYOND ANY HUMAN MEASURE

Jesus said, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4 (NIV)

The clock in my office at home is battery powered. I was unaware that its battery was running down, and one evening, I found that I was still working on my computer although my wife had turned on one of our favorite TV shows 20 minutes before.

I realized then what had happened.... the clock's battery was providing less and less power to turn the hands.

I saw that because a battery-powered clock runs on its self-contained energy source, it will eventually become exhausted. But a clock that is plugged into a wall outlet can run indefinitely, without strain or tension, because it draws not on its own finite energy but on an external source of greater power.

With a battery-powered clock, I have to keep asking my wife where the batteries are. With an electric one, I could just sit it on my desk and let it hum away.

Isn't that just like our lives? When I try to confront a challenge or an obstacle using my own power, I quickly become exhausted and discouraged. Like the battery-powered clock, I wear down. If instead I ask Christ to take over, He provides direction, hope, and the energy to persevere.

When we are plugged into God, our eternal source, we have power that makes everything possible.

How about you?

Are you plugged into God or are you trying to run on your own strength and power?

My advice; before you get too run down and exhausted, plug into God's power.

09/24/2022

September 23, 2022
Morning
"Accepted in the beloved." — Eph 1:6
What a state of privilege! It includes our justification before God, but the term "acceptance" in the Greek means more than that. It signifies that we are the objects of divine complacence, nay, even of divine delight. How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it is only "in the beloved." Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively, and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father's sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour!

REV. DON ROSEY

09/08/2022

Worry
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” -- Corrie ten Boom--
During World War II, Corrie ten Boom and her family were instrumental in hiding Jewish refugees from N**i soldiers. From their unassuming Dutch home, they were able to provide for, and shelter, many that were hiding from the N**i occupation. In 1944, however, their home was raided, and all members of the ten Boom family were arrested and separated. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, were transported to a concentration camp in Germany from the Netherlands.
For approximately ten months, Corrie survived in the camp, unsure whether life or death was in her future.
Living through such a tumultuous time, alone and with every excuse to fear and worry, Corrie held onto the above quote as she held onto hope.
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”
It’s a perspective that helped Corrie survive and eventually find her freedom.
What do you worry about?
As the quote reminds us, worry doesn’t help our todays, nor does it help our tomorrows.
This week, let’s lay down worry and pick up Corrie’s confident perspective.
All will unfold as it should.

08/07/2022

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

Melanie and her husband, who are from the Netherlands, were on a trip to visit places mentioned in the Bible.

One of the places they stopped was the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey.

As they explored the ancient area with a fellow traveler, they came upon the temple site of the goddess Artemis. They took their seats in the old theater.

Melanie writes that it was their habit to take turns reading from their different guidebooks to compare notes on history. Her husband read from their travel book, and their friend read from his. Then it was her turn.

She read a story about a man named Paul who visited Ephesus nearly 2,000 years ago.

The silversmiths there, who made their living by selling idols of Artemis, were furious with Paul because he was preaching that "man-made gods are no gods at all" (Acts 19:26). If the Ephesians turned away from Artemis, the silversmiths could lose their livelihood. In their anger, they nearly started a riot in the very theater where Melanie and her husband and her friend now sat.

When she was done with the story, their fellow traveler said, "That was really interesting. What guidebook was that from?"

Melanie replied, "The very best one," and she handed him her Bible.

Just like a travel guidebook, the Bible gives us direction and helps us avoid many pitfalls. And better than any other guidebook, God's Word is worthy of our full trust and confidence for it is a lamp unto our feet and a light for our path.

So, did you read your guidebook today?

Are you reading the right one?

07/30/2022

CHARACTER THAT MATCHES THE ASSIGNMENT

All through my years, being in the Navy, whenever I was about to start a new Job, Duty Station or get Promoted, the Navy would see fit to send me to more schools or training. Whether it was for more Advanced or Special Communications training, learning to prepare for special assignments like Shipboard Tactics, Flying Aircrew, or how to Lead Sailors, the instructors would always state, that was "Outstanding Navy Training," so many College Credits/Hours would be applied (but it was never the same College), and, it would build my character. Judging that, nearly One-Quarter of my Navy career was spent in some type of school. I should, “Be a Real Character”.

But, all that character building training, reminded me of when God called Abram. He said, "I will make your name great" (Genesis 12:2). This means "I will develop your character to match your assignment". How long did God take to build Abram into a man of character? It was a long time.

But immediately, Abram began adjusting his life to God's ways. He could not wait until Isaac was born and then try to become the kind of father required to raise a patriarch of God's people.

How long was it, after God (through Samuel) anointed David as king, before David mounted the throne? It was maybe 10 or 12 years. What was God doing in the meantime? He was building David's relationship with Himself. You cannot bypass character. Many of us don't want to give attention to the development of our character. We just want God to give us a big assignment.

Suppose a doctor is waiting for a big hospital to call him to be their Chief of a Department. But then a small clinic calls and asks, "Will you come and serve bi-vocationally to help us here on the west side of Wyoming”?

"Well, no”, the prospective doctor responds. Because he thinks, I am waiting for God to give me a significant assignment. I have done so much training, I can't waste my life by working a secular job when I want to serve in a hospital full-time. I think I deserve something much more substantial than that.

How would you classify that response? Is that, God-centered or Self-Centered?

Do you see how Self-centered that viewpoint is? Human reasoning will not give you God's perspective. If you can't be faithful in a little assignment, God will not give you a larger assignment. God may want to adjust your life and character in smaller assignments first to prepare you for the larger ones, just like all the cumulative training the Navy gave me. That is where and how God starts to work.

Suppose you had planned to go fishing, watch a football game, or go to the mall. Then God confronts you with an opportunity to join in something He wants to do. What would you do? Would you:
1. Finish your plans, and then, fit God's plans into the next available time in your schedule.
2. Assume that, because God already knew my plans, this new assignment must not be from God.
3. Try to find a way to do both, what I want and God's will.
4. Adjust my plans to join God in what God was about to do.

I have known people who wouldn't interrupt a fishing trip or a football game for anything. In their minds, they say, they want to serve God, but they eliminate all from their lives, anything that would interfere with their plans. They are so Self-centered they do not recognize the times when God comes to them with a divine invitation. On the other hand, if you are God-centered, you will adjust your life to what God wants to do.

God has a right to interrupt your life anytime God wants to! He is the Lord. When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him the right to help Himself to your life. In Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, suppose that 5 times out of 10 when the master had something for the servant to do, the servant said, "I'm sorry! That is not on my schedule”. What do you suppose the master would do? He would discipline the servant. If the servant did not respond to discipline, sooner or later the master would no longer assign the servant any tasks.

You may wish you could experience God working through you the way He works through someone else. But, every time God goes to that person, he or she adjusts their life to God and obeys. When one has been faithful in little assignments, God has given that one person a more important assignment.

If you and I are not willing to be faithful in a little task, God will not give you a larger task. God uses the smaller tasks to develop ones character. God always builds ones character to match His assignments. If God has a great task for you, God will expand your character to match the assignment.

Let us all try to be more God-centered and let God build our character! Put your Trust in God!

07/28/2022

God's boxes

I have in my hands two boxes which God gave me to hold.
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black,
And all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes,
Both my joys and sorrows I stored.
But though the gold became heavier each day
The black was as light as before.

With curiosity, I opened the black.
I wanted to find out why.
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole,
Which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me."
"My child, they're all here with me."

I asked, "God, why give me the boxes,
Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
The black is for you to let go."

Is your black box empty?

07/16/2022

The Lord says, “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.” - Psalm 91:14-15

One time several years ago I was fascinated by a scene happening on a lake.

A large pontoon boat circled slowly around a small sailboat that was bobbing on the waters of the lake.

The larger boat slowly danced over the waves yet stayed within a short distance of the small boat that held two children. The little sailboat turned and changed course with the wind, while the larger boat remained a safe distance away yet close enough to rescue the young boaters if it became necessary.

After considerable circling and maneuvering on the water, both craft headed for the dock in front of a nearby dock. A smiling youth expertly steered the little sailboat toward shore. He and his sister jumped confidently toward the grassy bank as the larger boat chugged to a stop close by.

I had witnessed a lesson in boating and also a lesson in living.

God watches over us just as the parents in that boat watched over their children. God stays close by as we change course – always there, watching and waiting to come to us if the waters become too choppy, the winds too strong.

When we put our trust in God’s presence and acknowledge the saving grace of God’s direction, we too can smile as we steer safely toward home..

07/15/2022

"The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." — Lev 6:13
Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital and experimental religion.
Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much.

Written by Rev. Don Rosie

07/14/2022

"Listen as the Good Shepherd Speaks!"

John 10:27 says, "My sheep listen to My voice."

A young boy who had been blind from birth underwent surgery which the doctors were confident would give him vision for the first time in his life. You can imagine the excitement of his mother as she waited for the bandages to be removed. How would her son react the first time he saw her? The bandages came off, and the boy could indeed see. But when he looked at the woman at the side of his bed, there was no smile, no sign of recognition. It was only when his mother spoke that he smiled, and the tears of joy flowed.

You see, he had never seen his mother. But he had learned to love and trust her voice. That's the way it is with Jesus and His sheep. We have not seen, but we believe. We live by faith, not by sight. We, too, love and trust the voice of our Good Shepherd.

"My sheep listen to My voice," Jesus says. And we know that's a voice we can trust. The voice that says, "Come to Me" and "Believe in Me" does not hold out an empty promise. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not His Word. What He says is based on what He did on the cross and at the empty tomb.

As His sheep, let us hear and follow that voice. It will never fail us.