Marching Forth!

When searching D.L. Moody's book Arrows and Anecdotes for a quote, I came across this interaction recorded by the evangelist: " One night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me, as if she were drinking in every word.  It is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor.  I got interested in her, and after I had done talking I went and spoke to her.  "Are you a Christian?"  "No; I wish I was; I have been seeking Jesus for three years."  I said, "There must be some mistake."  She looked strangely at me, and said, "Don't you believe me?"  "Well, no doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don't take an anxious sinner three years to meet a willing Saviour."  "What am I to do then?"  "The matter is, you are trying to do something; you must just believe on the Lord Jesus C...

People are complex creatures, and we only see a fraction of what is really going on with anyone.  We cannot know someone's past by observing them today, nor can we fully appreciate what challenges people are facing in the present.  They may not even realise what they are going through.  When we encounter people who are troubled or struggling, we can find ourselves facing struggles we never knew existed that the situation suddenly brought to light inside of us.  Being married, having children, working with others, being a deeply flawed person and seeking to follow Jesus combines to profoundly impact our daily lives. The word of God and personal experiences have exposed the ugliness of my own self-righteousness, pride and hypocrisy, and praise the LORD for this.  By His grace He convicts us of sin that works to ruin us and destroys fellowship with Him and others.  He has revealed the folly of a self-centred worldview that viewed the behaviour of my children a...

The apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker to cover his expenses so he could offer the Gospel to the Gentiles free of charge.  He remained dependent on God to provide for all his needs, whether it was through labouring with his own hands or receiving gifts from others.  He wrote in  Philippians 4:15 , " Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only ."  Paul and the church in Philippi shared and engaged in both giving and receiving.  Because we have received all we need through Jesus Christ who is our life, giving is prioritised before receiving.  Yet both giving and receiving have their place in the church and in lives of every believer. Everything we have is a gift from God as Paul explained to the church in  1 Corinthians 4:7 :  " For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if y...

" Here is what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.  19  As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor--this is the gift of God ." Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 King Solomon understood work and the ability to enjoy the good that comes from it is a gift of God.  There is great diversity in what we commonly call work, whether it be the motion of a body or machine, paid employment, mixing, manufacturing, raising children, fabricating, lifting stock, operating equipment, cleaning or managing a business--and the list goes on.  We are resigned to do what we consider to be necessary work, but if something is "extra" work we can look upon it with disdain.  In my generation many people aspired to earn university degre...

During the long season in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, God taught His people that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  At His command living water flowed from the rock, bread from heaven appeared on the ground, and quail flew in on the breeze.  Though God gave His people His Law, revealed Himself in power and sent prophets to speak to His people, at times they forsook Him for false gods.  When God's people in the northern kingdom of Israel refused to hear and obey His word, He sent a famine of hearing the word of the LORD. Amos 8:11-12 reads, " Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD , "that I will send a famine on the land,  n ot a famine of bread,  n or a thirst for water,  b ut of hearing the words of the LORD .  12  They shall wander from sea to sea, a nd from north to east;  t hey shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD ,  b ut shall not find ...

Just as it is important to eat good food regularly to promote our physical health, feeding on the word of God spiritually is indispensable for spiritual health.  So much of what happens inside our bodies after our food is chosen, chewed and swallowed is done automatically without a thought.  Digestion of food, the absorption and allocation of nutrients, and repair of our bodies is really out of our control.  When it comes to reading and considering God's word, however, this is a conscious mental, spiritual and physical exercise.  We must discipline ourselves to study, apply and put into personal practice what we learn.  We must learn to humble ourselves before our LORD who speaks to our hearts and meditate on what He has spoken to us. One verse, sentence and single word of God is very powerful to deliver truth we need to hear and understand.  You have eaten many meals before today, but it is what you choose to eat today that will provide a positive benefit ...

Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is the first step of many as we progress in sanctification.  After being born again by the Holy Spirit and we are exposed to the truth of God's word, we begin to see our need to change--not just in avoiding obvious sins, but in how we process and express ourselves through our thoughts, feelings and actions.  As the light of scripture illuminates our sins and need for repentance, we are also provided directives in how we ought to live.  Over time an embrace of a life by faith in God changes our perspective and we are given the capacity to see everything in a new light. Knowing God makes all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose, our outlook dramatically changes.  Something we only saw as bad before now carries with it good redemptive purposes in the hands of our loving, gracious Saviour.  We observe the transformation in the disciples of Jesus so profound they rejoiced to su...