VIDEO In Good Hands

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. John 10:28

 

The grip of fear reaches out for each of us. We’re living in a dangerous world, filled with medical emergencies, family crises, global instability, and threatening situations. Unless Jesus comes again, we’ll face a moment of death. All this causes us feelings that range from unease to terror.

The grip of grace also reaches out for each of us, and we find safety in the protecting, guiding, providing hands of Jesus, still scarred from the wounding nails. Psalm 18:35 says, “Your right hand has held me up.” Isaiah said, “In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me” (Isaiah 49:2). Even Jesus, in a moment of incredible pain, prayed, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).

When you face times of fear, remember you’re in the hands of Him who stilled the storms. God will give you the strength to be courageous and persevere. And though you may sometimes fall, you will not “be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds [you] with His [powerful] hand” (Psalm 37:24).

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water. Put your hand in the hand of the Man who calmed the sea. Gene MacLellan

---

John 10:28 – Eternal Life || Charles Spurgeon

Game of Change

Love your enemies. Luke 6:27

The handshake spoke volumes. On a March night in 1963, two college basketball players—one Black, one White—defied the hate of segregationists and shook hands, marking the first time in Mississippi State’s history that its all-White men’s team played against an integrated team. To compete in the “game of change” against Loyola University Chicago in a national tournament, the Mississippi State squad avoided an injunction to stop them by using decoy players to leave their state. Loyola’s Black players, meantime, had endured racial slurs all season, getting pelted with popcorn and ice, and faced closed doors while traveling.

Yet the young men played. The Loyola Ramblers beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs 61–51, and Loyola eventually went on to win the NCAA national championship. But what really won that night? A move from hate toward love. As Jesus taught, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27).

God’s instruction was a life-changing concept. To love our enemies as Christ taught, we must obey His revolutionary mandate to change. As Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But how does His new way in us defeat the old? With love. Then, in each other, we can finally see Him.

By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

In your life, what leads you to see others as enemies? What changes can you make to confront hate with Jesus’ love?

Help me, loving God, to see others not as enemies, but as Your precious people to love like Jesus does.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

God doesn’t expect us to figure life out on our own; He equips and guides those He has called 2 Corinthians 3:1-6

God has a plan for every believer’s life, and He’s provided talents, abilities, and circumstances to fit with these individualized goals (Eph. 2:10). But God’s purposes for us can be fulfilled only as we depend on the Holy Spirit. Too often we try to tackle life by ourselves. For a while, we may succeed, but in the long run, self-reliance fails. 

We cannot accomplish God’s plan our way and in our own power. It simply won’t work. In fact, being adequate in ourselves actually hinders us from doing what the Lord desires and stifles our spiritual growth. If we persist in arrogant self-reliance, we may have to experience failure so we’ll realize how weak we truly are. God lovingly breaks our pride by showing us that we’re inadequate without Him. Only by His strength and direction are we able to succeed.

Have you surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s control by acknowledging your weakness and recognizing His power, omniscience, and wisdom? The Lord doesn’t call you to live the Christian life in your own strength, which is a human impossibility. Rather, He wants you to yield control and let Him live His life through you.

Made in Christ

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

The Greek word ginomai, translated “is made” in this verse, is most fascinating. It is rendered many different ways—“become,” etc., as well as “be made.” Most often it is simply translated “be.” It basically means “begin to be,” or “be caused to be.” It is even applied to the work of Christ in calling the universe into being. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). “Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).

It is frequently used also to denote the marvelous work of Christ in and on the believing Christian. As our text says, He becomes wisdom to us who lack wisdom; He is made our righteousness, although we were sinners; we who are unholy receive our sanctification in Him; and when we were lost, He became our redemption. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become [same word, ginomai] the sons of God” (John 1:12). All that Christ is, we are made through His great sacrifice for us.

Note some of the other things we are made in Christ, by His grace. We are “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). We are “made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7). “We are made partakers of Christ” and also “made partakers of the Holy Ghost” (Hebrews 3:14; 6:4).

In fact, when we receive Christ, old things pass away and “all things are become [same word] new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). These wonderful attributes are given to us and appropriated right now by faith and will be accomplished in full perfection when Christ returns and “we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). HMM

“Nothing to Set Before Him”

Luke 10:38-42

LUKE records our Lord’s visit in the home of Martha and Mary (10:38-42), where Mary sat at His feet while Martha was unduly worried and taken up with His entertainment. He did not reprove her for working, but for worrying. He uses two terms, “Thou art careful and troubled,” and we read that she was “cumbered about”—distracted with—much serving. Jesus preferred attention to His teachings to so much fuss and fret about something to eat. Do we not today, in our church activities, spend too much time with secondary busyness and not enough at His feet in prayer and worshipful waiting on the Lord?

We read further in this Gospel (11:1-13) that His disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Not just how to pray but “to pray,” which is far better. Some have the theory, but still they do not pray! Our Lord gave them what we call the Lord’s Prayer—which is His only in the sense that He gave it to us. He never needed to pray it, for He had no sins to be forgiven.

It begins with worship and adoration to our Father in Heaven. Then it moves to temporal needs, “our daily bread,” and ends with spiritual need, forgiveness and deliverance from evil.

He then tells the parable of the three friends: the friend who had a friend call upon him at midnight for bread because his friend had come to see him, and he had “nothing to set before him.” That is the predicament of every one of us in a wider sense. Parents, who are your children but “friends” who have come to you in their journey—and you have nothing to set before them; you cannot feed their souls unless you borrow loaves from God. Your class at Sunday school, the minister’s congregation, your customers in business—all who come to you are your “friends,” dropping by on their journey, and you need spiritual bread to set before them. Blessed is the man who knows the way to the Father’s house where there is bread to spare. Prayer brings down blessing to pass on. We must come to Him and commune if we are to have anything to communicate.

Jesus here teaches the value of importunate prayer. The request for bread is granted not because the seeker is a friend but because he keeps on asking. So prayer that keeps on never fails. “Ask”—that is our Lord’s key to spiritual supplies. A for “ask” and S for “seek” and K for “knock.” He goes on to say that if earthly fathers give good gifts to their children, how much more will God! I think we often pray as though God were more or less disinterested and we had to coax and persuade Him into helping us. But He is far more anxious to help us than we to be helped! Here Jesus says the Father will give the Spirit to those who ask Him. That is far better than to give us things, for what we need most is not more things but more of His Spirit by which we can do all things. His strength, which is made perfect in weakness, thereby becomes ours.

“I have surely seen the affliction of My people.”

Exodus 3:1-8, 10-20

Exodus 3:1

Though a man of deep learning he did not disdain the shepherd’s calling. There is no disgrace in work, but great shame in idleness,

Exodus 3:2-3

This is a standing emblem of the church, and often both friend and foe, like Moses, are puzzled to understand the marvel. It is wonderful that so poor and powerless a thing as a bush should survive the fires which try it so severely.

Exodus 3:6

Kike his ancestor Jacob, he felt “how dreadful is this place.” Fear rather than joy prevailed.

Exodus 3:11

The more fit a man is for God’s work the lower is his esteem of himself.

Exodus 3:12

What an answer to all fears is that sweet word “Certainly I will be with thee.”

Exodus 3:14

By these two names the immutability and self-existence of God are set forth. Our God for ever exists and is for ever the same.

Exodus 3:15-17

Sooner or later the Lord will bless his people and deliver them. He may for awhile leave them under severe trial, but he is mindful of his covenant and will visit them at the set time.

Love’s presence keeps the bush alive,

Grace ‘mid the flames can make us thrive;

Nor need th’ afflicted saint despair,

Though in the fire, the Lord is there.

Men Will Not Praise You for Genuine Spirituality

But as we are allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men but God…. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

What we do for God must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit and we know and accept the fact that we may have little praise from men.

But what we do accomplish for Him as true spiritual work done with eternity in view will have His praise written across it!

Most of us have never heard, or do not remember, the name of the humble sixteen-year-old girl whose singing ministry brought such spiritual results in the Welsh revivals with Evan Roberts.

This quiet, humble girl would sing the gospel songs and much has been said about her spiritual gift—the Spirit-given ability to glorify Jesus Christ as Saviour when she sang. Not too much has ever been said about her voice, but the record is clear that she was a gifted soul—that the Holy Spirit seemed to be singing and moving through her yielded expression.

Evan Roberts would then rise to preach and there was little left for him to do. He said that he would quote from the Scriptures and add an exhortation and the people were ready to come to Christ. She had melted them with the warmth and the power of the Spirit!

Oh, what we would be tempted to do with her ministry in this day! We would put her on the coast-to-coast network and show off her talent—and spoil her! Thank God that they knew better than to start writing her life story.

She was a beautiful example of the humble use of our spiritual gifts for the glory of Jesus Christ—a simple Welsh girl willingly controlled by the Holy Spirit of God!