My mind has been preoccupied with persons who have rejected the truth and authority of God’s Word. This morning I read Psalm 63 for my devotions and was challenged with David’s words to God, “earnestly I seek you” (1). His pursuit of a relationship with God was not a casual attempt to know God but a calculated focus that determined the priorities of his life. It drove his appetite and hunger for closeness with the Lord. It determined how he used his time, and what he allowed his eyes to rest on.
Nothing less than the presence of God would satisfy this and the only place where he could properly express praise and worship. This pursuit was the only way his “soul would be satisfied” (5) and where David found help through sleepless nights (verse 6). He makes a very interesting expression in verse 8, “my soul clings to you” meaning that David would not allow anything to separate him from the Lord, but at the same time knowing that he was being upheld by His power. What a special pattern for me and anyone to follow! As I am, you may be going through a time of pressure and testing. Is your heart riveted on the circumstances or on the Lord? Cling to Him and His steadfast love. Remain in His presence until you have His peace.
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At least 35 years after that extraordinary event, Peter had a very clear memory of what he saw. In his description, it was as if it happened yesterday.
“We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”” (2 Peter 1:16–17). Two things come to mind as I read these verses again; to see the glory of Jesus does not require gimmicks and programs. It only requires being with Him! Secondly, God will exalt His Son to us personally if we desire to see it! We make this so complicated by following human ideas rather than a simple longing of the heart. Since I did not have anything from the field to report on, I asked the Holy Spirit to direct me to a passage of Scripture that speaks to a core value of NFI. That led me to these verses.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,” (2 Corinthians 2:14–15). There are three things in these two verse that demand my attention:
This should cause us to examine ourselves as Paul said to the Corinthians, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Over the last few years, we have seen exponential growth in training in a narrow S. E. Asian country. This picture is the 163rd GPHD graduation. We are so thankful for our partner who has faithfully taught God’s Word through GPHD, GPHC, and GPYD. He has a large vision for further expansion of God’s work and has made many sacrifices to see others develop a deeper love for faith in Christ, a closer walk with Him, and developing strong biblical leadership. His vision is a model for anywhere in the world! The second picture (at the bottom) of the blog is the actual writing and answers of students in Sankhamul Park, near Kathmandu, Nepal. You can tell that they are taking their studies seriously by the way they write their answers. It makes me ask whether we have a desire to know God’s Word better than we do. In learning from Scripture, the Spirit helps us know the author better as well. We are very thankful that Tom has made contact with several pastors in Uganda. The introduction of God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) is so different from anything they have ever experienced. Usually, any training is done through a “lecture” style which is mostly forgotten once the conference is over and persons return to their homes. Thankfully, we use a discussion method that gets the student deeply involved in their own learning. There were testimonies from pastors after the introduction, stating that it was very encouraging to study Scripture themselves and discover truth, they have all heard, but never known how to mine it out for themselves. Please pray for Tom as he finishes his time in Uganda, that the Spirit will take what they received and cause it to grow. For the past few months, I have been thinking about the responsibilities that a shepherd and pastor has in caring for the flock. In previous posts, we have looked at Peter’s exhortation to the shepherds and how they care for the flock (1 Peter 5:1-6). There must be an inherent sacrificial love that reflects Christ’s love for His Bride, the Church. Selfish considerations have no place in this role. I find this very challenging.
There is another side of this kind of care for the Church. Paul expresses well his deep love, concern, and passion for the spiritual welfare of the church at Corinth. “I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:1–3). If you have any role in the Church for the spiritual health of the flock, is this the degree of your care for them? Do you have “divine jealousy” such that you will die, if necessary, to protect them from carnal predators, intentional deceivers, and self-centered teachers? Whatever our role, we are charged with the shepherding of what belongs to Christ. Are we jealous for His sake? Randy is using God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) to introduce our biblical training to church leaders in Malawi over three days. He sent me a text today saying: “Rejoice! The Word of God is multiplying despite many challenges in the culture, the economy, and the translation work. Please pray for these precious leaders.”
As you can see from these pictures, they are diligently studying God’s Word so they can prepare themselves to disciple others. What if this same thing were to happen where you live? Would the impact be the same here as it is in these African nations? One of the most testing events in the life of a Christian is when a crisis tests our love for others. Paul often faced situations with churches that needed to hear the truth that addressed their specific situations. At times this hurt because of Paul’s words.
One of the most difficult places for Paul was Corinth. The issues were serious, and the severity of his words made it appear as if he did not love them in the end as he had at the beginning. Remember how warmly he addressed them in 1 Corinthians 1:4? “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.” That and many other references are evidence of His love for them. It was the basis of two letters packed with truth that exposed sin, but also powerful grace that restores. What happened? As Paul closes his second letter, he exposed how difficult it can be for genuine love. “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” (2 Corinthians 12:15). We who care for the flock, is this the kind of resilient love we have for each person? If not, we need to examine our hearts. After leaving a South Asian country (see yesterday’s blog), Randy flew to Zambia, Africa to visit a dear brother who leads missionary work in this part of the continent. About 30 students were working through God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD), but only 17 completed their studies and graduated in Kitwe! We praise God for these who were diligent in their commitment to study God’s Word! Now Randy will introduce God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC) so these graduates can prepare themselves for leadership. Just imagine what God will do through these faithful men and women as they take what they have learned from Scripture and pass it on to others. It takes being in places like this to understand what a tremendous accomplishment this is for these Christians. So often these believers are only exposed to ‘lecture’ style teaching which does not stay with the students because there is no self-discovery or personal application. This training has both components. Please join us in praying for their spiritual growth and for those they will mentor and disciple others with what they have learned. “I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened…has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12).
“It was such a privilege for “R” and “I’ to visit the brothers and sisters in a South Asian country. As we had heard reports coming in daily over the past month of intensifying persecution from the Muslims and the anti-blaspheme laws, we were anxious to hear of how the church was standing amid suffering and persecution. One of the largest attacks occurred on August 16th where an angry mob burnt church buildings, Bibles, and believer’s homes in a smaller city, due to an alleged desecration of the Quran. We heard personal testimonies of this church responding by gathering outside of the burnt building that next Sunday for worship, singing praises to God. This was their prayer for their persecutors; “they may burn our buildings and homes with physical fire, but we pray for the spiritual fire of the Holy Spirit to save them.” The church there is a beautiful picture of the early church and how they embraced, endured, identified, and rejoiced in suffering to display Jesus to others. Our meeting place was a Christian camp, up in the mountains outside the capital. This camp provides a retreat for the brothers and sisters to come and gather in a central location. We had 15 dear brothers and sisters that made the journey and were with us. All had completed the discipleship manual that attended from our previous training in June. We spent most of three days introducing God’s Plan for His Church (now in their language!) and comparing and contrasting the early church with our modern-day church. This sparked great discussion. Please continue to pray for the people of this country. We know that God is moving and that He desires none to perish but for all to come to the knowledge of Him (2 Pet 3:9). Let us share in suffering with our brothers and sisters. love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us.” |
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