“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2, NKJV).

In other words, pass it on! Are you doing this? I see several things in this verse that we as Christians should be doing.

We need to lead by example. Many people should be witnesses to our behavior and our words.

We need to pass on our behavior and our words to those we have confidence will receive our teachings and pass them on.

For a homely example: I have heard many frustrated people say, “My parent was an expert in that area, but he/she didn’t pass it on to me.”  My mother was known as a wonderful cook. While I inherited many of her recipes; she did not pass on her “secrets” to me. So while the food tastes “OK,” I feel my mom’s special touch is missing because she did not share her “secrets” with me.

Do we have special skills in the spiritual arena, but we haven’t passed them on? Why not?

I know I have a special skill to be concise and easy to follow when I speak. I learned from Florence Littauer who was willing to take the above verse to heart.

It was a great thrill to receive an e-mail that read, “I did what you said, and it worked! My husband noted the change in my speaking and wanted to know how I had changed; so I shared my newly-learned technique with him.”

When we discover spiritual truths, do we share them with people we know will pass our discoveries on to others?

Be faithful….pass it on.

Marilyn Willett Heavilin
 Is a wife and mother; author & International conference speaker
 Author of Roses In December,
December’s Song
Becoming A Woman of Honor,
Profound Common Sense
When Your Dreams Die,
Grief Is A Family Affair,
I’m Listening, Lord

I was recently preparing for a women’s retreat when I looked up Romans 15:5-6 in The Message. I was so struck by the beautiful picture of a community of believers. 

God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.  May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.  Then we’ll be a choir – not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! 

Isn’t that a glorious picture of Christ-centered, God-glorifying relationships?  “lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!”  Think about your church, your ladies Bible study, your family, your marriage.

How could the world NOT notice such a wonderful testimony of the Divine? 

It won’t happen until each one of us looks beyond ourselves, our wants, our plans, our preferences, our way of doing things, our opinions, beyond self to that which is far more glorious – the body of Christ.  Jesus dwelling in the hearts of mere mortals, each made in the image of God. 

Come ladies, let’s tune our voices and tweak our lives so we can sing in harmony in a stunning anthem to God. 

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the ministry team at America’s Keswick.  She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study.  Diane has been married to her husband, John, over 27 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights in reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.  

There is a subtle, yet significant, difference between the admission of wrong and true confession. And for years as a Christian, I think I didn’t really understand it. Let me give you an illustration.

Let’s just say – and of course, this would never happen! – In a moment of irritation, I speak unkindly to my wife. A friend overhears what I’ve said and confronts me. I’ve been caught. There’s no way of escaping it. So with him watching, I say to her, “Luella, please forgive me for my unkind words.”

I’ve admitted what I said was wrong, and that’s a good thing, but there are two potential flaws in this admission. First, it could be that the only reason I admitted to wrong was because I was caught red-handed. I may not have been grieved at all by what I said. I may have confessed simply because I was in trouble.

The second flaw could be that the admission was only a confession of behavior. This is still a good and necessary thing, but it may not be a true confession of the heart behind the behavior.

Here’s the point. It’s only when I’m grieved by my sin and acknowledge that this sin is heart-deep that my confession will be followed by the turning of repentance. You see, I speak unkindly to my wife, not because my schedule is busy or because she’s less than perfect, but because I think I’m king. There are things that I want, and when she gets in the way of these things, I’m immediately irritated.

Our struggle with sin runs much deeper than just behavior. We need to confess that we have a heart that’s run amuck.

I want to take this a bit further next week. We’ll look at one of the most beautiful confessions in Scripture. But for now, meditate over these reflection questions.

* What are some selfish motivations that spur your “confession”?
* Why is it easier to confess behavior than heart motivation?
* How can you be more grieved by personal sin?

God bless,
Stephanie

Stephanie Paul, wife and mother of two grown children. An “instrument of change” in the Redeemer’s Hand, in the lives of wounded and hurting women. Currently serving as a part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Woman of Character Program Director.

Paul David Tripp
“Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life”

Well, it’s November 7, 2012 and the election is finally over.  I don’t know if your candidate won or lost, but I know God’s candidate won.  Through this whole drawn-out election process there was not a single day that God slipped off His throne.  Today, the morning after the presidential election, He still reigns.  He still rules over the universe.  He is still on the Throne.  No one slipped into the office of the President of the United States without God’s permission.  The people of the United States voted yesterday but God put a man in office.  You may be cheering today or you may be disappointed but do not lose heart.   Regardless of where you are personally today we can stand firm on these biblical truths:

1.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The day before the election, the day of the election and the day after the election.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

2. God is sovereign over the nations.
Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Psalm 9:19-20.

3. God appoints our leaders.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Romans 13:1

I want to encourage us all to get on our knees and fight for our nation.  

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the ministry team at America’s Keswick.  She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study.  Diane has been married to her husband John over 27 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.  

Part II

NOTE: Yesterday I began sharing about a burden the Lord placed on my heart to go and pray in NYC at Ground Zero.  If you did not read Part I please go back and review that before moving on to Part II.

We left the site of the towers and moved on to St. Paul’s chapel.  The chapel was the only building that was left without evidence of the terrorist attack.  This chapel has stood on site since before our first President George Washington visited it on his inauguration day.  We went into the chapel and found the plaque with the prayer he prayed on it.  You could not read it.  Fortunately we had brought a copy.  And so together we repeated the prayer George Washington prayed for our nation:

Almighty God,
      We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy Holy protection; and Thou wilt incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field.
     And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–George Washington

From there we went to see a tree.  A sycamore tree was destroyed at the corner of the cemetery behind St. Paul’s chapel on 9/11.  A piece of steel must have flown through the air at least a block to destroy that tree.  In place of the sycamore tree a stronger, more highly valued tree was put in its place, a cedar tree.  Well-meaning people, it seems, decided that if things are stronger we would somehow be able to stand strong under a future attack.  But no, the tree is dying right where it is along with the hedge behind it.  No cedar tree is strong enough to protect our nation; there is only one who is able to guard our nation….His name is Jesus.  We repented for the sins of the bride of Christ, His church.  God forgive us for neglecting our first love, for tolerating immorality and idol worship, for tolerating the things of this world and keeping You out of our schools, our work places and our daily lives.  Forgive us for lukewarm churches more concerned with the temperature of the coffee than welcoming the Spirit of the Living God.   We invite you to refine us with Your fire, and Your truth.

Dear one, troubles will come into our lives.  BUT if God is for us who can stand against us?  In all these things we can be more than conquerors (not by some power or arrogance of our own making but) through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31, 37-39) 

What are the “giants” in your life?  Instead of trying to face them in your own strength or running from them may you, like my friend Anne, take those giants to the Lord.  He will defeat them and love you through the challenge by His grace.

Patricia L. Wenzel
WOC Graduate

In devotional above referenced The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn, Front Line, 2011.

Part I

Back in 2005 I heard two messages given by Jonathan Cahn titled “The Harbinger and The Chapel.”   This year I heard him deliver the same messages in Texas and I read his book titled The Harbinger.  Something began to stir in me and I knew I had to seek the Lord for how He would have me respond to the knowledge He had allowed me to hear not once, not twice but three times.  The Harbinger presents a very compelling message that points us to September 11, 2001 being, at the least, a warning from God to America.

September 11, 2001, was a day that changed our nation forever.  I will not be getting into the details of the book, as it would be best for you to read it for yourself.  However what I want to share is that God made a way for me to go to the site you know as Ground Zero in New York with a team of prayer warriors.  We went on a prayer tour of the site with a friend of mine who lost her husband on 9/11.  Bruce served as a NYC Fireman.  Since that day his wife, Anne, has held onto the hem of the garments of the Lord.  God has faithfully poured out His abundant grace upon her and her girls.   She has been used mightily on site as she shares her story to those who come on the tour.

There are nine harbingers in the book.  We went to pray and respond by faith to the harbingers under the leading of Holy Spirit.  Yes, I believe 9/11 was surely, at the least, a warning to America to wake up but so much more I believe it was a warning to the Church.  Apart from God and left to our own arrogance and selfish ambitions we will likely cease to exist.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.  (Ps. 33:12)

I want to share some of the blessings of our day with you.

Once we got through security, we entered the area of the former Twin Towers, truly hallowed ground.  At the reflection pools water spills down into a vast space.  The names of all who went down with the towers or in the plane or Pentagon that day are printed out on tablets all around.  At night a light shines under them illuminating the names.  Water is under the names that you can touch and then put water on the name of your loved one or friend.  It is quite sobering as you pass thousands of names.  But the names that caught our eyes were the names of women who had next to their name – “and her unborn child”.  Praise God, the smallest precious lives that were lost on 9/11 were honored and recognized.   May we as a nation finally recognize all unborn children and value their life.

We traveled to the site on the path train and found out that the day when buildings collapsed, windows of most building shattered, but the walls of the path train stood firm holding back the river.  What an amazing blessing.  So many more would have perished if the walls had collapsed. 

The planes hit as people were arriving for work.  If the first plane had hit even 15 minutes later thousands more would have likely died having arrived at their place of business.

The plane that crashed in PA, due the bravery of those on board who refused to let the terrorists fly that plane into a Federal Building, landed one mile from a school building.  One more mile and it may have killed children in school.

There was a stone titled “Freedom Stone” that was to be the cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower which is now called Tower One.  Leaders in NYC said it was a symbol of “that revolutionary spirit of defiance.”  But God apparently was thankfully not going to allow that spirit of defiance to be the cornerstone.  It had to go back from whence it came.  We were so thankful.  No, the new tower must rise up out of the ashes of a repentant people anxious to turn from our godless ways.

We gave thanks to the Lord for the blessings in the midst of tragedy.  We praised His name.  We sounded the shofar and we spoke the Word of the Lord, “Arise and shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.  And nations will come your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

Patricia L. Wenzel
WOC Graduate

The devotional above referenced The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn, Front Line, 2011.

The weather is turning cooler, the leaves are changing, and we are bringing our sweaters and coats out of storage…..you know what that means……..cold and flu season!  But seriously, I have seen lots of ads for cold and flu medications lately– both those to treat the symptoms and those that are preventative (hopefully).  There is one particular “sickness” that seems to be especially contagious and that I have been prone to catch (and unfortunately have passed on to others); the “sickness” of grumbling and complaining.

We can learn a lot about grumbling and complaining and its consequences from the Israelites.  They grumbled about the food, the water, the leadership, the journey — even after the Lord performed mighty works of provision, guidance, and deliverance before them again and again.  And the consequences were very serious.  “The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. ‘You have killed the Lord’s people,’ they said” (Numbers 16:41).  The footnote in my Bible for that verse says this:  “Just one day after Korah and his followers were executed for grumbling and complaining against God, the Israelites started all over with more muttering and complaining.  Their negative attitude only caused them to rebel even more and to bring about even greater trouble.  It eroded their faith in God and encouraged thoughts of giving up and turning back.  The path to open rebellion against God begins with dissatisfaction and skepticism, than moves to grumbling about both God and present circumstances.  Next comes bitterness and resentment, followed finally by rebellion and open hostility.  If you are often dissatisfied, skeptical, complaining, or bitter — beware!  These attitudes lead to rebellion and separation from God.  Any choice to side against God is a step in the direction of letting go of Him completely and making your own way through life.”¹

I can tend to be harsh in my judgment of those Israelites.  But in reality, how different am I?  The Lord has done mighty works in my life and that of my loved ones again and again.  And how often do I find myself complaining about discomforts and minor inconveniences?
Sometimes though, we do have legitimate problems in our lives.  Rather than grumbling about it to others, we should take it in prayer to the only One who can truly change the situation.  In Numbers 11 we see a time when the Israelites complained, and then Moses complained.  God responded negatively to the Israelites and positively to Moses.  Why?   Because the Israelites were complaining to one another (so nothing was accomplished), and Moses took his complaint directly to God (who can solve anything).²

Sisters, rather than succumbing to and passing along the sickness of grumbling and complaining, let us, by His grace, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thess. 5:16-18).  “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Phil. 2:14 & 15).

Stacey Poplawski
WOC Graduate

1 The Life Application Bible, New International Version Edition, Tyndale, Wheaton, IL 1991, p.244.
2 The Life Application Bible, New International Version Edition, Tyndale, Wheaton, IL 1991, p.231.

Road work is annoying.  It slows us down and takes more time for travel.  It is messy and makes our vehicles dirty.  But construction is necessary.

Route 530 has been under construction for a long time.  The word is that they are putting in sidewalks.   There seems to be no rhyme or reason about how they are going about it.
Traffic is slowed and rerouted as they work.  It would be a lot easier if they could completely close down and do the work and reopen after a few weeks.  But, traffic continues to be congested making travel hard for those driving and for the workers.  We just have to trust that there is an end to this madness and those in authority know what they are doing.

We are under construction.  God is at work in us making us more like Jesus.  There are times when the work gets messy.  We wish we could halt all activity while He works on us.  But life goes on and we drag ourselves through every activity of life aching on the inside.  We don’t know the end results.  We don’t know what God has planned and sometimes we get annoyed that His work is taking so long.  We need to trust that God knows what He is doing.

The word of God tells is in Hebrews 13:21 that God is working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight.  We are under construction.  We don’t get to see the project plans. We are not the ones doing the work.  We are being worked on.  Dr. Richard Allen Farmer says we are “God’s work to be displayed” based on Ephesians 2:10.    God’s work is not always convenient or easy but it is necessary. 

Don’t be discouraged when the work takes longer than you think it should.  I am sure of this, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6).

Joyce Hayes
Artist-in-residence at America’s Keswick

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord. (Psalm 107:43 ESV)

Webster defines steadfast as firm, fixed, unchanging, steady, loyal and unswerving.  It is an attitude which a party in a covenant ought to maintain towards each other.  So, when we say God is steadfast, we can certainly agree that He is fixed, unchanging, steady, loyal, etc.  However, the Bible has many different uses for the term steadfast. 

The word steadfast is the word “hesed” in the Old Testament.  It appears 250 times in the Old Testament and 150 of those are found in the Psalms.  There are 14 different words used to convey its meaning in the King James Version.  Just a few of the meanings are listed below:

Psalm 103:4 – lovingkindness
Psalm 103: 8 – mercy
Psalm 103:11 – everlasting mercy
Psalm 51:1 – abundant
Psalm 25: 10 – faithful
Isaiah 63:7 – repeated forgiveness
Psalm 57:3 – truth
Psalm 31:16 – rescuing love
Jeremiah 2:2 – kindness
Deut. 7:9 – covenant loyalty

The Bible is a story of God’s undeserved, gracious, and generous love.  The entire history of God’s relationship with Israel and Jesus’ message to the world can be summarized in terms of hesed.  Through Jesus, God has and is actively reaching into our mess, our sin, our pain and our confusion.  God is active and initiates the relationship with us.  And when we are grasped through His steadfast love, we are secure, not driven away or lost!

All that God does for us through His steadfast love is to lead us to consider and understand His love and in return worship Him in response.  I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, ‘steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness. (Psalm 89:1-2 ESV)

God lavishes on us His steadfast love; He in return asks us to worship Him and part of that worship is to pledge our steadfast love back.

 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6 ESV)

He has told you O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness (steadfastness), and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)

Do you know His steadfast love?  Do you love Him in return with that same kind of covenant love? 

Lynne Jahns
Christian Counselor

Romans 14:10, Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?  For we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…

If you think about it, judging another person is evaluating them by our standard or our interpretation of God’s standard.

In one sense it communicates our own belief that we have knowledge, authority to pass judgment on another, that we somehow are “superior” to the one we judge. 

Criticism is along the same vein.  When we criticize we compare another according to our standard and find them wanting. 

As kids, a common question we used to ask was, “Who died and left you boss?”  I think today’s Scripture is asking “Who died and left you judge?”

Romans 14:10, Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?  For we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…

There is a judge… “and it ain’t us”

Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. 1 Chronicles 16:33

…Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead… 2 Timothy 4:1

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:12

Blessings,
Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the ministry team at America’s Keswick.  She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study.  Diane has been married to her husband John over 27 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.