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HELLO EVERYONE
What terrible things we see and hear on our radios and TVs every
day? Wars, threats of wars, violence, calamities,
troubles of every kind and many other dreadful things.
Sad to say, many of us have become quite used to these
reports and accept these things as normal in the world.
But what about our faith in God and in His word? Should all these things cause us to lose and
forsake our trust in the Lord?
We sometimes hear people saying, “If God allows all
these things, then we cannot believe in Him.”
True Christians look at these
events in a different light. These are
the very things that the Bible tells us will come. Think of a few verses of Scripture. “In the last days perilous
times will come.” “Evil men and
seducers will wax (grow) worse and worse.” 2 Timothy 3:1&13. “There shall
be...distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and
looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” Luke 21:25-6 and many more.
Rather than destroying our confidence in God’s word,
these things were foretold, so we should have greater confidence in God’s word.
What did the Lord Jesus tell us to do in troubled
times? He said, “when these things
begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption
draws nigh.” Luke 21:28.
We should leave the future to God, and seek to make sure
that we are saved and have repented of our sins, then we shall know that
whatever happens in the history of this evil world, we will go to be with the
Lord when we die or when He returns.
An English lady, who used to live in Spain, had a deep
desire to serve the Lord and to use the money she had to spread His word.
After praying about this matter for a time, she decided
that she would buy some Bibles and give them out to anyone who would read them.
One day she left her home with some Bibles in her bag
and walked along several streets. She
prayed that the Lord would lead her to some person who would accept a
Bible. She saw a mason who was building
a stone wall; she spoke to him and asked him if he had a Bible. He told her that he did not have a Bible,
nor had he ever owned one. In a kind way the lady offered him a Bible which he
agreed to accept. He told her his name,
which she wrote on the front page of the Bible.
When the lady had walked away, this man changed his
mind, he muttered angrily, “I will never read this book and I will make sure no
one else does.” He placed the Bible in the wall and laid the stones above it.
He was sure the Bible would never be seen or found.
Several years later, there was a strong earthquake in
that town, and a number of buildings were cracked and damaged. An inspector was appointed to examine the
various buildings to see which ones needed repair and even to be demolished.
During
his inspection he looked at the stone wall and found that it had a large crack. When he examined it, he saw a book inside
the wall. Carefully he loosened a stone
and grasped the Bible. He opened the
Bible and saw some of the headings and decided to take it home and read
it. He was deeply impressed by the
things he read, and more and more his desire was increased to read more.
After a time the inspector began to realize as he read
the Bible, that he was a lost sinner and that the Lord Jesus Christ died for sinners.
He learned also
of the way of salvation through Christ alone.
Soon the Holy Spirit led him to call upon the name of the Lord in prayer
and he was saved.
The inspector soon felt a desire in his heart to spread
the message of Christ. Soon a Bible
Society employed him as a travelling bookseller
to distribute Bibles to small towns and villages in Spain.
One
day he met a mason building a wall and offered him a Bible at a very low
price. The mason told him that once he did
own a Bible, but he had hidden it where no one would ever find it. “Listen” said the Bible seller, “I think
that I know your name, and here is your Bible.” He took out the Bible with the man’s name in the front, and
handed it to the astonished mason. He
then told him how he found it and had come to know the Lord.
The mason was now eager to have the Bible and also to
read it for himself. After some time,
he too was saved by the Lord’s grace.
He was a completely changed man and was full of praise and love to the
Saviour. He gave up his
position as a mason, and after training he became a missionary to people in a
heathen land.
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The ancient city of Jericho was the first city that
Joshua and the people of Israel conquered in the land of Canaan in about 1400
BC. Between 1931 and 1935 this city was
carefully excavated by Professor Garstang.
This ancient city covered an area of about 10
acres. It was surrounded by a double
stone wall that stood 6 meters tall; the outer wall was 4
metres thick, while the inner wall was 2
metres thick. It had a tower at the city gate which stood 18
meters tall.
When this important city was excavated it was found that
what we read in the Bible is true in every detail. Let us note a few of these facts.
The city had only
one gate, Joshua 2:5. It had houses
built on the top of the wall. Joshua 2:15. The people could speak and
understand the language of the Israelites. Joshua 2:9. The two walls crumbled and fell in on
themselves, possibly from an earthquake. Joshua 6:20. One part of the wall was
less damaged than the rest. Joshua
6:22. The whole city had been burned by
fire and the pottery smashed. Joshua
6:24. No coins or gold was found in the
city. Joshua 6:24.
The Lord told Joshua that the city of Jericho was cursed
by God, and whoever rebuilt it, his eldest son would die when he began to
build, and as he was finishing it, his youngest son would die, which means that
he would lose all his children while building this city. This actually happened
when Hiel rebuilt it in the days of King Ahab, 1
Kings 16:34. Later this city was
completely destroyed by the Babylonians, and was never rebuilt. The present city of Jericho is located on a
different site.
All these facts, and many more, fully agree with what is
recorded in the Bible. For many years
people doubted whether the city was destroyed just as the Bible states, but in
every case the Bible was shown to be true.
Let us never doubt God’s word, but love it and hide it in our hearts.
All Bull: One hot Sunday
afternoon, a preacher was speaking to a group of people in a hall. Because the day was hot and the preacher
spoke for a long time, one after another of the people dozed off. Suddenly the preacher began to tell a story
of a man who visited a farm where a large bull rushed to the fence. Just then a large rooster flew over flapping
his wings. Soon everyone was wide-awake. “Ah!” said the preacher, “I thought if
I told you a cock and bull story, you would all wake up.”
Tall Story: Why are libraries always the tallest buildings in
town? Because they have the most
stories.
Good Advice: Before you criticise
anyone, you should walk a kilometre in
their shoes. That way, when you criticise
them, you are a kilometre
away -and you have their shoes.
v
Never squat down with your spurs on.
Hair Raising: “How much is that wig?” asked a customer. “It will
cost you $100 plus tax,” replied the shop assistant. “I’ll take the wig but I don’t want the tacks, I can use glue,”
replied the customer.
Wise Bird: A parrot in a pet shop
had a green string tied to one leg and a blue string to the other. “Why does the
parrot have strings on his legs?” asked a customer. “Well” replied the shopkeeper, “If you pull the blue string it
will speak French and if you pull the green string it will speak German.” “But what if you pull both strings at the
same time?” inquired the customer.
“I’ll fall off this
perch, you fool,” snapped the parrot.
True Wisdom: An expert is a person who
knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything
about nothing.
CONVERTED
THROUGH A GOAT
Rees Pritchard was born in 1575
in the Welsh village of Llandovery. He
was educated at the University of Oxford and then became the vicar (minister)
of his home village of Llandovery.
But Rees did not know the Lord
or His salvation. In fact he was an awful drunkard. The most evil people in the parish used to say, “Bad as we may
be, we are not half as bad as the parson.”
He used to spend a lot of time
at the local hotel and become so helplessly drunk that he could not walk
home. Someone would put him in a
wheelbarrow and take him home.
But God worked in a remarkable
way to convert Rees and deliver him from his evil life.
At the hotel was a large he-goat that
walked in and out of the place as it pleased.
One day Rees Pritchard called the goat to him and offered it a drink
from his mug of ale. The goat readily
drank of it and then began to stagger and fall over, much to the amusement of
Rees and his companions. Rees then
became helplessly drunk and was taken home as usual.
A few days later he went to the
hotel and ordered his pipe and mug of ale as usual. The goat came into the room and Rees held out his mug for the
goat to have a drink, but it quickly turned away its head in disgust and ran
out of the room and would not come near Rees again. This greatly surprised him.
He cried, “O Lord, is this poor dumb creature wiser than I am?” He thought along these lines for a while and
became disgusted with himself and convicted of his sin. “But, thank God I am still alive, and it is not
too late to mend. This goat has taught
me a lesson; I will become a new man.” He smashed his pipe on the floor, left
his mug full of ale on the counter, and hurried home. There he humbled himself before God and cried to Him for
forgiveness and grace.
Rees Pritchard now began a new
life and ministry. For the next thirty
years he became a great and faithful preacher of Christ and His grace. He wrote a number of verses and articles
that were collected and published after his death, called “The Welshman’s
Candle.” This book went through many editions and was widely accepted and loved
throughout Wales.
The memory of Rees Pritchard was
remembered and loved in Llandovery for over two hundred years as a godly
parson.
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A LITTLE GIRL’S FAITH
Children
may trust in the Lord Jesus and be saved at a very early age. When they are young, there are many things
that they do not know, and often they say things that may make older people
laugh. But the Lord Jesus knows what
they mean and hears their prayers.
A
group of children in a Sunday school became very troubled about their sins and
prayed to the Lord for salvation. One
little girl who was only seven or eight years old wept over her sins and prayed
to the Lord to save her.
Her mother was
one of the teachers and knelt beside her and prayed as well. Suddenly the little girl cried out, “O
mother, I do believe; Jesus does save me.”
Her mother thought that she was too young to know what believing meant,
so she asked her, “What does believing mean?” “O mother” replied the little
girl in a very definite voice, “believing is just seeing Jesus with your eyes
shut.”
Perhaps the
mother doubted whether the little girl knew enough and was really saved. But from that time, the little girl was a
changed person, she loved the Lord and loved and read the Bible. She grew up to be a faithful Christian and
continued to love and serve the Lord to the end of her life.
The
Lord Jesus warned us not to look down or think meanly of children. He said, “See that you despise not one of
these little ones." ”Matthew 18:10.
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UNHOLY
WAR
Sometimes Christians and churches are
engaged in a very unholy war. They criticize and condemn one another without
really knowing what the other one believes. Many Christians have been unjustly
treated because of someone else thinking that they had done or believed a
certain thing of which they were not guilty.
History records
that on one occasion two British war ships were sailing on a dark night. At that time England was at war with France.
Ships did not then have radios or means of communication in the dark.
The crews of both ships were sure that the other
was an enemy boat. All through the night a fierce battle raged. Cannons and
guns were fired from each side. There
were many casualties; many were killed and far more wounded. The ships were battered and scarred.
At last morning
came, and to the horror and amazement of both ships, they found out that they
were both British ships.
They pulled
along side each other. There were tears and embracing of the sailors and many
expressions of sympathy.
But it was too
late for many, they had lost their lives and others were injured and crippled
for life.
It is always
better to make sure that we are opposing the enemies of Christ and His word
before we openly attack any person or their opinion.
Christians are called upon to be ‘good
soldiers’ for Christ and to oppose evil and false doctrine. However let us be careful lest we be
opposing those who are on the Lord’s side and not on those who serve the devil.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one
another.” 1 John 4:11.
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