Malawi and Zambia Missions Updates

2010-05-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

Links to Malawi and Zambia updates:

Hope Builders International
www.hope-builders.org

Bibles for Believers
www.BiblesforBelievers.org

Looking Unto Jesus

2009-08-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,

so walk in Him,

rooted and built up in Him

and established in the faith,

as you have been taught,

abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy

and empty deceit,

according to the tradition of men,

according to the basic principles of the world,

and not according to Christ.

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

and you are complete in Him,

who is the head of all principality and power."

(Colossians 2:6-10)

No one should ever allow anyone or anything to get in the way of their wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ. Any sin should be rebuked and one should repent of it and ask God for forgiveness. Sins are never good.

Any such hindrances or weights (which can be “good” things, but not what is BEST for you) slow us down, make us inefficient or ineffective, and should be laid IMMEDIATELY aside. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. God will not share His glory with ANYONE. He has commanded us not to have any other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3).

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay aside every weight,

and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand

of the throne of God.

For consider Him who endured such hostility

from sinners against Himself,

lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

And you have forgotten the exhortation

which speaks to you as to sons:

‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,

Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

For whom the LORD loves He chastens,

And scourges every son whom He receives.’”

(Hebrews 12:1-6)

"For they indeed for a few days chastened us

as seemed best to them,

but He for our profit,

that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present,

but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields

the peaceable fruit of righteousness

to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down,

and the feeble knees,

and make straight paths for your feet,

so that what is lame may not be dislocated,

but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness,

without which no one will see the Lord…”

(Hebrews 12:10-14)

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Sometimes we can allow our worries to consume our minds. God does not want us to live like this. He wants us to trust Him, to trust that He is in control, has our best interests at heart, and will take care of any situation. Many times God’s resolution to a situation may not be what we expected or wanted, but God knows what we need and He will do what it takes to build our character to become more like His (for verses on trusting God see Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 4:6-7; these have proven EXTREMELY helpful for me).

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness

and all these things will be added to you as well.”

(Matthew 6:33)

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Look to Jesus Christ and have faith and trust in Him to save you from your sins, then seek His will and purpose for your life through reading His Word (the Bible) and you will be strengthened by His unquenchable power. And, if you wholeheartedly obey Him, you will accomplish things you never thought possible in your lifetime.

"If then you were raised with Christ,

seek those things which are above, where Christ is,

sitting at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above,

not on things on the earth.

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is our life appears,

then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth:

fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,

and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Because of these things the wrath of God is coming

upon the sons of disobedience,

in which you yourselves once walked

when you lived in them.

But now you yourselves are to put off all these:

anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,

filthy language out of your mouth."

(Colossians 3:1-8)

“You therefore must endure hardship

as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No one engaged in warfare entangles himself

with the affairs of this life,

that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

(2 Timothy 2:3-4)

“Consider what I say,

and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.”

(2 Timothy 2:7)

SUMMARY: Hindrances (weights) get in the way of what good God is trying to do in your life, so, they need to go. They should instead be replaced with an undivided focus on Jesus Christ and accomplishing His purposes for your life.

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I personally have enjoyed reading a book titled “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer. In chapter two: “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing” he writes:

“Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles. “For who makes thee to differ from another? And what has though that thou didst not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

The Christian who is alive enough to know himself even slightly will recognize the symptoms of this possession malady, and will grieve to find them in his own heart. If the longing after God is strong enough within him, he will want to do something about the matter. Now, what should he do?

First of all, he should put away all defense and make no attempt to excuse himself either in his own eyes or before the Lord. Whoever defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other. But let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God Himself. Let the inquiring Christian trample under foot every slippery trick of his deceitful heart and insist upon frank and open relations with the Lord.

Then he should remember this is holy business. No careless or casual dealings will suffice. Let him come to God fully determined to be heard. Let him insist that God accept his all, that He take things out of his heart and Himself reign there in power. It may be he will need to become specific, to name things and people by their names one by one. If he will become drastic enough, he can shorten the time of his travail from years to minutes and enter the good land long before his slower brethren who coddle their feelings and insist upon caution in their dealing with God.

Let us never forget that a truth such as this cannot be learned by rote as one would learn the facts of physical science. They must be experienced before we can really know them. We must, in our hearts, live through Abraham’s harsh and bitter experiences if we would know the blessedness which follows them. The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough old miser within us will not lie down and die in obedience to our command. He must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by violence, as Christ expelled the money changers from the temple. And we shall need to steel ourselves against his piteous begging, and to recognize it as springing out of self-pity, one of the most reprehensible sins of the human heart…

Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys.

I cannot part with them without inward bleeding,

and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting.

I come trembling, but I do come.

Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long

and which have become a very part of my living self,

so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival.

Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious.

Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it,

for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and the shall be no night there.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Afterthoughts...

By the grace of God, as a USA Track and Field Junior Olympics national champion in the metric mile (1500 meters) during my teenage years, I know what it takes to run a strong race. It takes strength, speed, stamina, and a mind continuously focused on the goal. A mind that is in tune with the body at every moment. A mind with a strategy and a back up plan to know what decisions to make and when, as each opponent attempts to take the lead.

When prepping for the race, most of the time it is good, even in hot weather, to keep your warm-ups on to keep your muscles in a state where they will be primed to run the race at the optimum potential. But, when it’s time to run, every millisecond counts.

Therefore, if you don’t take the warm-ups off, they will become a hindrance to you. They were good for a specific period of time, maybe even one of the best things for you for that set period of time. But, now you have to take them off and lay them to the side, so that you will not have any extra weight to keep you from winning your race. Of course sin is never good, so you always need to throw that AWAY.

To put it bluntly, sin would be like soiling your underpants and still deciding to run with it (WOW! Now, who would want to do that intentionally?! Yet, many Christians do, and their lives stink! It’s call running with baggage that is pretty much like running with a parachute, except with a sewage tank attached).

But, if there is a person or thing that is hindering you from having a relationship with Christ or a closer relationship with Christ, that person or thing will need to go and/or be laid aside, sacrificed, so-to-speak on the altar through prayer to God. That person or thing must be replaced with Christ. Christ MUST come first. Look unto Him, the perfecter of your faith. He will NEVER leave you wanting.

Dated: 8/10/09 Underlined emphasis added

Jesus Christ is Lord

Malawi and Zambia Missions Updates

Looking Unto Jesus