Author: Merlin Erb

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Go Now: From the INNERMOST PARTS OF THE HEART to the UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE WORLD

Plus FORTY STORIES OF FAITH

Chapter 04 Story from a Short-Term Bible Courier pg. 302

“Not again,” I sighed under my breath with my heart sinking. I was being pulled over for the third time in a row with a suitcase full of Bibles. I had never before known the border to be this tough, this tight, this merciless.

            The customs official asked, “Do you have any Bibles in your suitcase?”

            “Yes,” I replied as he told me to go stand in a very long line of other people who had been pulled over by the border guards for having something “bad” in their possession.

            I had been through this process before and was becoming quite familiar with it. I knew I would be there for a very long time. Another gentleman from Florida had also been caught. He obediently came over to the counter and stacked his Bibles up for the whole world to see. I did the same.

            The guards took his pile of Bibles and tied them up in the large white confiscation bag and threw it on the scales to be weighed. They took my passport, and thus began the wait. I waited and waited and waited… Finally the guard that initially asked me if I had Bibles came over to me and silently handed back my passport to me along with the other gentleman’s passport and urgently said, “Go! Go NOW!”

            My eyes questioned him, as this was not part of the normal routine. I knew I needed to get a receipt in order to pick up my Bibles from confiscation after paying my storage fee. Staring straight ahead without looking at me, he again said to me under his breath, “GO NOW!”

            The older gentleman grabbed his passport from out of my hand, grabbed his large, white confiscation bag still sitting on the scales, and walked out of Customs and across the border.

            I was still standing there stunned when a younger guard a bit further away looked at me. With a slight smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, he silently mouthed to me while motioning with his thumb, “It’s OK. Go, now.” I quickly took my Bibles off the counter, packed them back into my suitcase, and simply walked out of the Customs area as the tears fell down my face.

            I believe God’s agents are working the borders to help make sure His Word gets to the hungry people who are craving to know more of who He is.

            BOTTOM LINE:

I was greatly humbled to be reminded that I have five or six personal Bibles sitting on shelves at home in different translations, colors, and sizes that I can pick up and read at any time I choose. I don’t have to worry about being questioned or thrown in jail. I asked the Lord to forgive me for my complacency and thanked Him for a fresh perspective on the value of His Word, the value of my freedom, and, most importantly, the incredible value of knowing Him.

Take a few minutes now to reflect on our heritage that provided us the priceless value of His Word, our freedom to act for & obey Him, and our very own opportunity of knowing Him.

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STEWARDSHIP: A WAY OF LIVING

The Stewardship of OPPORTUNITY

By Darryl Derstine, who lives in Holmes County with his wife and seven children. He works at Christian Aid Ministries and CAM Books. He can be reached at bss@camoh.org. This portion of his article was taken from the June 2025 Plain Communities Business Exchange(PCBE) beginning pg. 100.  

I split this article so If you didn’t read Monday’s blog for Part I, you best scroll down and read it first before starting here….

Part II

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth. We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written Pilgrims Progress if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. We surely must realize that John & Mary Bunyan could have crumbled into self-pity, discouragement & true uselessness, much like Jeremiah was also likely tempted, but like the Bunyan’s, he too, arose to the occasion, obeyed God facing significant opposition, imprisonment, and personal struggles throughout his ministry of prophesy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian captivity due to Judah’s disobedience and idolatry.

(merlin writing now italicized) Frequently, God’s chosen don’t want to hear God’s prophecies. They wanted to hear some sweet story about how they’re going to be prosperous. Listen, they put Jeremiah in a pit in manure up to his neck. You think he wanted to go back to those people? God made his forehead just as hard as theirs, so that he would have the boldness, and he was willing because God gave him understanding. See, that’s what many people are missing today. We cannot say no to our Father and expect Him to give us understanding because we’re simply not ready for understanding, if we don’t know how to obey. Think about it. We can change that.

We’re built to obey the Lord and to benefit from that obedience. We’re not built to be one of the herd in the world. We are built for the body of Christ, that’s why we believe in Jesus. We’re put here to be saved and to be a contributor in the body of Christ.

The world is full of actors. They look in the mirror and they do what everybody else does. They start comparing themselves to everybody else. They fix their hair based on somebody else. They put on clothes based on somebody else. Nothing they do is unique; they’re always emulating somebody else.

Yes indeed, we grew up in this world so we’re thoroughly accustomed to its ways. And it’s that connection to the world that is the very thing that must be replaced by the Spirit’s empowerment. The world’s connection system to us is polarity opposite to our Spirit’s Operating System (SOS); totally incompatible!

Did you know Satan has made both fences and distractions to keep us from engaging meaningfully with God’s Word or His people.  That very point has been recorded and prophesied by prior civilizations when situations then did arise that distracted and ensnared people away from worshiping the one true God, which though interesting today, is not well known.

BOTTOM LINE:

So, according to the evidence left behind by people in prior civilizations on cave wall etchings & drawings, etc., or as recorded in scripture in Jeremiah’s day, or as written personally by John Bunyan; all expressed concern that the future generations, even civilizations would know and worship the One True God.

So, who are the truth-bearers in our midst today? Are you? Who have you “invitationally encouraged” today?  (Do notice I said “truth-bearers,” not merely “truth-tellers?”) Think of invitational actions such as fruits of the Spirit, etc….. Remember, our actions usually speak our “inner truth” more accurately & effectively than our tongue….

Part I

The man sat intent, his brow furrowed. On a small table nearby was a Bible and a volume of Acts and Monuments (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). A leaf of paper lay on the table before him, illuminated by the shaft of light from the single barred window. He was surrounded by thick stones walls. He glanced thoughtfully at the door, thick and cross-plated. It was heavily barred, from the outside. His eyes dropped again to the paper, glowing in the single shaft of light. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then with a firm hand, he dipped his quill into the inkwell and raised it. Lowering the tip to the paper, he wrote:

          As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where there was a den; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a dream.

The man paused and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the sentence. Then he nodded. Dipping his pen again, he shifted the paper to keep it in the beam of light and wrote again, with more confidence this time.

          I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a Book in his hand, and a great burden on his back.

He dipped his pen again, writing with haste now.

          I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein, and as he read, he wept and trembled: and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry; saying, what shall I do?

And so, in that prison cell, on that day was born one of the greatest books in the English language. This book was being written by a mender of household goods, a “hedge preacher.” He dubbed the book, The Pilgrim’s progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream where it is discovered the manner of setting out, his dangerous journey and safe arrival at the desired country.

Today we just call it Pilgrim’s Progress. It would go o to become one of the most famous books in the English language. But initially, the author didn’t even know if he should publish it. He asked his friends. Some said, “yes.” Many said, “no,” claiming it treated spiritual truths in too common a manner, which to them, seemed disrespectful. I’m sure to those raised in the church and cathedrals of the church of England, with robbed priests and their solemn, measured, and gilded worship forms, a book written in the common speech of the street worker did seem that way.

Finally, he decided because he couldn’t get a unified answer, he would go ahead with it. He published it 1678. Of course, it was rejected by the high and mighty and the intellectual elites of his day.

To be continued tomorrow…

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth.

We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written it if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , (much like Jeremiah in being placed up to his neck in manure ) with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. (end Part I)

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STEWARDSHIP: A WAY OF LIVING (Day II)

The Stewardship of OPPORTUNITY

By Darryl Derstine, who lives in Holmes County with his wife and seven children. He works at Christian Aid Ministries and CAM Books. He can be reached at bss@camoh.org. This portion of his article was taken from the June 2025 Plain Communities Business Exchange(PCBE) beginning pg. 100.  

I split this article so If you didn’t read Monday’s blog for Part I, you best scroll down and read it first before starting here….

Part II

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth. We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written Pilgrims Progress if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. We surely must realize that John & Mary Bunyan could have crumbled into self-pity, discouragement & true uselessness, much like Jeremiah was also likely tempted, but like the Bunyan’s, he too, arose to the occasion, obeyed God facing significant opposition, imprisonment, and personal struggles throughout his ministry of prophesy about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Babylonian captivity due to Judah’s disobedience and idolatry.

Frequently, God’s chosen don’t want to hear God’s prophecies. They wanted to hear some sweet story about how they’re going to be prosperous. Listen, they put Jeremiah in a pit in manure up to his neck. You think he wanted to go back to those people? God made his forehead just as hard as theirs, so that he would have the boldness, and he was willing because God gave him understanding. See, that’s what many people are missing today. We cannot say no to our Father and expect Him to give us understanding because we’re simply not ready for understanding, if we don’t know how to obey. Think about it. We can change that.

We’re built to obey the Lord and to benefit from that obedience. We’re not built to be one of the herd in the world. We are built for the body of Christ, that’s why we believe in Jesus. We’re put here to be saved and to be a contributor in the body of Christ.

The world is full of actors. They look in the mirror and they do what everybody else does. They start comparing themselves to everybody else. They fix their hair based on somebody else. They put on clothes based on somebody else. Nothing they do is unique; they’re always emulating somebody else.

Yes indeed, we grew up in this world so we’re thoroughly accustomed to its ways. And it’s that connection to the world that is the very thing that must be replaced by the Spirit’s empowerment. The world’s connection system to us is polarity opposite to our Spirit’s Operating System (SOS); totally incompatible!

Did you know Satan has made both fences and distractions to keep us from engaging meaningfully with God’s Word or His people.  That very point has been recorded and prophesied by prior civilizations when situations then did arise that distracted and ensnared people away from worshiping the one true God, which though interesting today, is not well known.

BOTTOM LINE:

So, according to the evidence left behind by people in prior civilizations on cave wall etchings & drawings, etc., or as recorded in scripture in Jeremiah’s day, or as written personally by John Bunyan; all expressed concern that the future generations, even civilizations would know and worship the One True God.

So, who are the truth-bearers in our midst today? Are you? Who have you encouraged today?  (Do notice I said “truth-bearers,” not merely “truth-tellers?”) Think invitational actions such as fruits of the Spirit, etc…..

Part I

The man sat intent, his brow furrowed. On a small table nearby was a Bible and a volume of Acts and Monuments (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). A leaf of paper lay on the table before him, illuminated by the shaft of light from the single barred window. He was surrounded by thick stones walls. He glanced thoughtfully at the door, thick and cross-plated. It was heavily barred, from the outside. His eyes dropped again to the paper, glowing in the single shaft of light. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then with a firm hand, he dipped his quill into the inkwell and raised it. Lowering the tip to the paper, he wrote:

          As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where there was a den; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a dream.

The man paused and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the sentence. Then he nodded. Dipping his pen again, he shifted the paper to keep it in the beam of light and wrote again, with more confidence this time.

          I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a Book in his hand, and a great burden on his back.

He dipped his pen again, writing with haste now.

          I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein, and as he read, he wept and trembled: and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry; saying, what shall I do?

And so, in that prison cell, on that day was born one of the greatest books in the English language. This book was being written by a mender of household goods, a “hedge preacher.” He dubbed the book, The Pilgrim’s progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream where it is discovered the manner of setting out, his dangerous journey and safe arrival at the desired country.

Today we just call it Pilgrim’s Progress. It would go o to become one of the most famous books in the English language. But initially, the author didn’t even know if he should publish it. He asked his friends. Some said, “yes.” Many said, “no,” claiming it treated spiritual truths in too common a manner, which to them, seemed disrespectful. I’m sure to those raised in the church and cathedrals of the church of England, with robbed priests and their solemn, measured, and gilded worship forms, a book written in the common speech of the street worker did seem that way.

Finally, he decided because he couldn’t get a unified answer, he would go ahead with it. He published it 1678. Of course, it was rejected by the high and mighty and the intellectual elites of his day.

To be continued tomorrow…

It was printed on rough, poor quality paper and sold cheaply on the streets. It didn’t matter. It sold, sold, sold. It sold more than 100,000 copies in England of that day, outselling by a healthy margin any other book besides the Bible. The common people loved it.

It would continue to grow. The American colonies had an edition in 1681, only three years after it first appeared in England. It became very famous there and I’ve heard it said that if you went into a log cabin on the American frontier and they were privileged enough to own three books, those books would have been the Bible, Plutarch’s Lives (an ancient history book) and Pilgrim’s Progress.

It was published in Dutch in 1681. Twenty-two years later it was published in German and in Swedish 24 years later in 1727. That was only the beginning. It would go on to be translated into over 200 languages and has never been out of print since first published 347 years ago.

It has been called the first novel written in English. Its effect on other literature has been simply outstanding. Mark Twain, Charles Dicken, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Sir Walter Scott, and others have drawn inspiration from it.

While we can be amazed today at the reach and power of this old book, we have to remember that he wrote it in prison, leaving behind an impoverished wife and family, including a favorite daughter who was blind from birth.

We can be thankful that John Bunyan went to prison. I’m sure his wife and children were not.

But he might never have written it if he wasn’t confined. Outside he was busy “hedge preaching.” But forced to sit in a stone dungeon , (much like Jeremiah in being placed up to his neck in manure ) with nothing to do, he wrote, and the world was never the same. (end Part I)

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No Title Available….

Father’s Day morning dailylightdevotional.org got me into I Thessalonians Ch 5 and again, I just read the whole chapter for my encouragement. Yesterday after attending a HS graduation party at the Broken Rock Cafe off the Square in downtown Wooster during the demonstrations, I was reminded of the summer of ’68 when I was here building silos for Mast-Lepley while bunking with Henry & Mary Kaufman of Kaufman Plumbing & Heating while watching the Cleveland Hough riots on their TV.

Then seven years later, I ironically was employed as a health educator for two years at the Hough-Norwood Neighborhood Health Care Center at 8300 Hough Ave. Actually my job was to increase our utilization of services to keep our funding as most of our patients received services at no charge because we had a sliding fee scale based on income but even so, we ran nearly 50% no shows on appointments. A tough business environment!

FYI as an update eight months ago, after driving a friend to the Cleveland Clinic, I chose to drive by the 8300 facility that was new in 1972, and learned it has been closed since a fire in May 2021 awaiting $30 M for its restoration now on hold because of concerns about their financial viability.

As a prayer reality check, I as likely you, have heard by now the briefing detailing how Turkey and others are prepared to support Iran (Russia) going against Israel and ultimately the U.S., as being the little & big Satans.

Therefore, after a day of pondering our futures more so than our past, I offer you this chapter for your personal encouragement too, as we consider our tomorrows, regardless of who we are, where we’ve been, or where we’re going. Remember yesterday’s post? Jesus’ “COME’s” are always invitational regardless of our baggage, whether checked or carry-on! Don’t be be one of His “no shows!”

I Thessalonians 5:1-28 (MSG)

  1. I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen.
  2. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would.
  3. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—”We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
  4. But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this?
  5. You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand.
  6. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart.
  7. People sleep at night and get drunk at night.
  8. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
  9. God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ.
  10. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him!
  11. So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
  12. And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience.
  13. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love! Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part.
  14. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs.
  15. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
  16. Be cheerful no matter what;
  17. pray all the time;
  18. but thanking God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
  19. Don’t suppress the Spirit,
  20. and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master.
  21. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good.
  22. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
  23. May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
  24. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

BOTTOM LINE: Now is the time to STAY CLOSELY TETHERED TO HIM! Get thru gate – seated, belted, trays up and praying prepared for take-off is most desirable.

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Getting There ( Part 3) …Come, Follow Me. Luke 18:22  

      Inspired by the June 13th My Utmost For His Highest as I equate the dynamics of the following truth statement to the law of gravity: When our individual desire dies, our sanctified surrender lives.      

One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus.      

Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus, is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. And to think, we tend to have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God?      

Understand, you cannot dedicate what is not yours! There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”).      

If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed! The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life.      

Understand the Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up within us perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; therefore, there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. And try to remember, never make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.

BOTTOM LINE:      
If we abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through us. Therefore, we will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s invitational “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.      
Have I come to Him? Will I come now?

NEXT UP: No idea! I prefer each day be fresh…
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Good Morning Readers:

The charger arrived today so I’m back. Only two days and only $8.45. Dare not complain.

I read in today’s dailylightdevotional.org a verse from Colossians 3:3 (3rd verse under evening: “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”) so I quick turned to The Message for further understanding and enjoyed the encouragement so much I decided to share the whole chapter’s perspective with you. Frequently reading in The Message so thoroughly can just flood and rejuvenate my dried up hardened and burdened spirit with the anointing of His Love right into the very core of my soul. The world’s chaos is proliferating requiring me to approach the today’s media smorgasbord with His inspired caution as Satan is indeed a defeated foe as are all his minions.

I’m at Aultman Orrville wired for a sleep study and I was just told lights out and in bed in five so I’m done. God bless.  

Colossians 3:1-25 (MSG)

1. So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides.

2. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

3. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life.

4. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

6. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger.

7. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better.

8. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9. Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire.

10. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.

11. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

12. So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.

13. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.

14. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

16. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God!

17. Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

18. Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

19. Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.

20. Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.

21. Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.

22. Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best.

23. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God,

24. confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. 25. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being Christian doesn’t

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Humble Appointment

From Great Days with the Great Lives, by Chuck Swindoll, Pg. 109

Read I Samuel 16:12-17

         Here’s our first good look at David. He walks into the house, still smelling like like sheep, and all of a sudden an old man hobbles over and pours oil on his head . It drips down his hair and drops on his neck. Josephus, the historian, writes, “Samuel the aged whispered in his ear the meaning of the symbol, “You will be the next king.”

          What did David do? What do you do in a situation like that? I mean, it doesn’t come along every other day. God’s ways are so marvelous, aren’t they? At the most surprising moment, the most magnificent things happen. “You’re going to be the next king.” What did David do? Well, I’m happy to report, he did not go down to the nearest department store and try on new crowns. Neither did he order a new set of business cards, telling the printer, “Change it from shepherd to king-elect.” Or have a badge or a vest saying, “I’m the new man.” Or shine up a chariot and race through the streets of Jerusalem, yelling, “I’m God’s choice … you’re looking at Saul’s replacement.”

          So, what did he do?

          It made no difference that Samuel had anointed him with oil. He didn’t bronze that horn and hang it up in his tent. He didn’t expect special treatment from others. No, he simply went back to his sheep. And when the king said, “Come on over here and play music for me,” David went over and played a little. And when he got through, he thought, “Hey, I gotta get back to my sheep; that’s my job.

David was sensitive enough to hear the whisper of God’s voice, “You will be the next king.” But as soon as the big moment was over and they turned off the lights, he was humbly back with his sheep. People actually had to pull him from the sheep to get him to do anything that was elated to the limelight.

BOTTOM LINE: In fact, I think that’s one of the reasons he was a man after God’s heart. He was always approachable, always believable, always authentic … and always faithful in the little things.  

NEXT UP: I left my power cord in DC over the weekend, so I’m finished blogging until next week, or longer perhaps. God bless…

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Four Inner Qualities For Younger Timothy’s Being Discipled Today…

Read I Samuel 16:11, 17: 33-34

Think ahead with me to I Samuel 17. Here is David, standing by Saul, as a giant lumbers across the distant landscape.

Saul says, “Who are you?”

“I’m David.”

Saul says, “Where have you been?”

“With my father’s sheep.”

Then Saul says, “You can’t fight the giant. You’re just a kid.”

Though only a teenager, David responds without hesitation.

1 Samuel 17:34-35 NIV – But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

Where did David get such courage? He had learned it all alone before God. What kind of a man is this David? A man of reality. He’s a man who remained responsible when nobody was looking.

          Goliath was no big deal. Why? Because David had been killing lions and bears while nobody was around. He had been facing reality long before he squared off against Goliath. David may have lived centuries ago, but the things we can learn from him are as current as this morning’s sunrise. Two stand out in my mind.

          First, it’s in the little things and in the lonely places that we prove ourselves capable of the big things. If you want to be a person with a large vision, you must cultivate the habit of doing little things well. That’s when God puts iron in your bones, or rebar in your concrete.

          Second, when God develops our inner qualities, He’s never in a hurry. When God develops character, He works on it through a lifetime. He is not in a rush.

BOTTOM LINE:

          It is in the schoolroom of solitude and obscurity that we learn to become men and women of God. It is from the schoolmasters of monotony and reality that we learn to “king it.” That’s how we become – like David – men and women who thrive while seeking after God’s heart.

NEXT UP: David Humbly Thriving After A Divine Appointment

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CHOSEN INDEED!

Just who is this inspired writer we met in the last post? Checking on the internet, I quickly deducted the Wikipedia versions of Wendy Cunningham as the Lead Economist in World Bank’s Human Capital Project the past 20 years, OR of a Manhattan Construction Company were neither the Wendy I met through Plain Values. So, I searched Plain Values and WC, and we connected. The following 700 words are a five minute read offer worthy further understanding. All for our good & His glory!

“What a joy it’s been walking down memory lane with y’all. But don’t forget, these past two months account for years of my life. It’s easy to share my testimony with a pretty little bow on it, but I have to stress again before we continue that this season was all uphill. Evangelizing is tough business, and I’m wildly stubborn. It’s unlikely we’ll see Kingdom fruit from simple conversations. We must be willing to weather the storm and go the distance. After all, it’s souls we’re talking about. But be encouraged; it’s worth the fight.

I’m so grateful my husband never gave up. I pray you won’t either.

It’s strange to think back to a time when I wasn’t a believer. Now, every part of my life is informed by the One who sits at the center; the One who I once denied existed. And really, that’s what it came down to in the end. Denial. It’s not that I couldn’t believe in the possibility of a Creator. Surely, anyone can entertain the idea of God. It’s that I didn’t want to believe.

Believing changes things.

For some, the Good News is not entirely good. At least not at first. In my case, the existence of a God who required a move from me meant that I would have to swallow my pride—and after years of arguing against a deity, there was a lot to gulp down. It also meant I’d been wrong; my entire life was built on a lie. I’d have to go back and rethink everything I thought I knew for sure. That’s daunting.

Believing in God meant there was a line I’d have to cross—the line of salvation. Although it meant great things for my eternity, it might mean terrible things for those I loved who’d be left on the other side of the divide. How could I make them understand? Would they still accept me? Could I lose them in eternity and in the here and now? And what about those I loved who had already passed away? What did all this mean for them? It was a lot to consider.

Perhaps the hardest part was realizing how much would have to change if God was real. The way I dressed, the things I said, the movies I watched, and the friends I kept were all up for re-evaluation. If God existed, what would be required of me? Surely I’d be accountable. I’d have to look at everything through a new lens, one that seemed very foggy and intimidating.

Yes, believing would most certainly change everything. Denial was, and remained the way to go.

But you know what else changes everything? Two little pink lines on a pregnancy test!

A year after we started dating, Tom did what you’re absolutely not allowed to do if you’re a Christian. He married an atheist. As a parent, I have been very honest with my children in approaching this conversation. Of course, my desire aligns with God’s in that I pray my kids do not end up unequally yoked. But I have told them what I will tell you: Tom’s act of what you could view as “disobedience” was perhaps the single biggest blessing of my life.

He led me to Jesus!

Is any of this connecting with you and your spiritual journey?

Wendy Cunningham is wife to Tom and home school mom to three amazing gifts from God. In addition to that calling, she is an entrepreneur and author. Her book What If You’re Wrong?, blog, and devotionals can be found at gainingmyperspective.com. She is also host of the podcast Gaining My Perspective. Wendy loves Jesus and inspiring people to step into their calling—whatever that might look like in this season. When she’s not working, writing, traveling, or podcasting, she can be found homesteading and chasing kids and cows on her farm in Middle Tennessee.

NEXT UP: I’m still waiting…

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A Few Basic Facts We All Really Need To Comprehend When Considering Both Our Biological & Spiritual Family Trees…

Words by Wendy Cunningham and provided us by Marlin Miller June 6 of Plain Values of Winesburg OH. (1447 words – 8 minutes read time. Plan accordingly. Profoundly worthy wisdom. Required discipleship reading.

My dad died when my youngest child was eleven weeks old. They never got to meet. Although we’d been estranged off and on since I was young, at the time of his death, my dad and I hadn’t spoken for more than a year. I never wanted that to be our story, but addiction makes for complex twists and turns in a plot line.

My stepdad and I had a similarly complicated relationship. We had the opposite problem I had with my dad though; we over-communicated. At the top of our lungs. However, the day my mom and stepdad separated marked a complete and total severing of any connection I had with the man. There has been almost no communication in the nearly 15 years since that day.

I have a friend who adores her daddy. She loves him even more than she loves her mom, which is strange and adorable all at the same time. Although I trust her testimony is genuine, I can’t even imagine such a relationship. Similarly, I have a friend who is quite close with her stepdad. She calls him “Dad” and thinks of him as such. It blessed me so much to see them dance at her wedding, and yet it left me wondering…

What is it like for a daughter to be intimately close with her father?

Needless to say, as I was exploring Christianity on my road to salvation, a perfect Father in heaven was a hard concept for me to grasp. I had no earthly example. Heaped on top of my daddy-issues was a load of bad relationships, which was the perfect recipe for a colossal struggle with trust. Specifically trust in men. Christianity mandates that we put our full faith, hope, and trust in not just our Father in Heaven, but also His perfect and holy Son, Jesus. And people wonder why it took me a minute to get on board with all this.

When I started dating my husband, I was a mess. You can imagine the man-trusting thing quickly became a problem for us. I could not seem to divorce my past from my present. Everything I had struggled with, every hurt I had endured, found its way into the center of our relationship. It didn’t seem to matter that my husband was different, and he proved it with every passing day; I had no idea how to tear down the walls or rebuild the trust.

“What has happened to you is not who you are.” (Do not ever forget this line. It will serve you well!)

My husband would say this to me during my anxiety attacks, irrational accusations, and periods of confusion. It settled my heart quickly, but looking back now, I can see the authentic, unfailing love of the Holy Spirit through those words. Yes, that was my husband speaking, but it was Christ in him ministering to my brokenness.

Our experience is not our identity. (Another keeper for children of the King!)

A huge part of the deep wounding in my story comes from the lie I believed early on: I’m not chosen. My father didn’t choose me. My stepfather didn’t choose me. And then man after man after man found something to choose instead of me. But slowly, that lie was exposed. Yes, my husband chose me. But through him I began to realize there was another piece of the picture I’d never seen before.

Not only had I always been chosen, but God never stopped trying to show me that truth.

Long before the disappointments of my earthly fathers and men, the most perfect Father had adopted me. You see, adoption points to being chosen not assigned. I was assigned a father biologically, but that father was never obligated to choose me. A Father who adopts you is doing so consciously. It’s a choice, not a burden.

You’re not just a son or a daughter, you’re specifically chosen to be a part of His family.

Maybe you’ve seen the videos on social media where a foster parent reveals their intent to adopt the child in their care. Typically, the video is set up in a manner similar to a marriage proposal where there is a piece of jewelry and a confession of lasting love and commitment. These videos wreck me. There is such weight behind this proposition of adoption.

Because without choice, love can’t be real. Adoption is a beautiful confession of love.

“For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One” (Ephesians 1:4-6). He chose us before the foundation of the world. He predestined us to be adopted as sons (and daughters). And herein lies the truth behind your identity: There was never a moment in your whole life where you were not chosen.

Some of us (actually most of us at some time or another) are deceived into believing this is the lie.

But wait, there’s more!

“The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children…” (Romans 8:16). The Holy Spirit testifies that we are God’s adopted children! And we can’t even deny it because it says here that our spirit—the very essence of us—also testifies to it. Which means believing anything else is simply the deceptive work of the father of lies. You’ll note here that Jesus refers to Satan as a father also. Although I’d rather not associate with his offspring.

Oh, and there is this one last thing…

“…and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17). We’re not just chosen. Adopted. But we’re given true sonship. We’re not just the step kid. We’re coheirs with Christ. All the blessings bestowed upon Jesus are also ours to inherit. Can you even imagine that kind of love?

Well, if you’re anything like me then, yes, it is hard to conceive of all that being true. Because the reality is I still feel a little sometimes not at all chosen. Don’t you?

You know who else experienced rejection? Our big Brother.

And for that, we can’t miss the last part of Romans 8:17. We’ve got to suffer in the same ways Jesus suffered. We will feel dismissed, cast aside, unwanted, and broken. When I look through this lens, I understand my own daddy-issues more clearly, and it allows for more grace. If I had no idea what it felt like to be abused and neglected, I wouldn’t treasure so deeply the feeling of being rescued and restored. And without those dichotomies, God is robbed of the rightfully bestowed glory.

Our suffering, those moments of rejection, anchor us to our glorification with Christ.

The enemy would have us believe the lie that we’re nothing, unwanted. God would have us experience His redemptive and powerful love. A love that heals and renews. A love that holds our very identity.

One important fact I had to come to grips with while on my journey from atheism to Christianity is this: The truth is true whether I believe it or not. And the truth is this: We are adopted by God. We were adopted before the beginning of time. We are chosen, fought for, treasured, and deeply loved. Not because it’s an obligation, but because it’s God’s choice. We love Him because He first loved us.

That succinctly is just who you are in the eyes of God. Got it?

Are you a Fact Checker?

Proof One is if you live it.

Proof Two is whether those you invite, live by it also?

Parting Shot over the Bow: We began the unique week with Wendell & Daisy’s WAITING on God’s miraculous provision of healing. Have you thought further about securing a copy of Go Now and reading it quick before Thanksgiving so His Spirit can reveal to you who in your circle of influence would benefit from a copy with a personal note in it from you as a Christmas gift?

We now end the week with some of the heaviest spiritual identity questions I’ve recently encountered you can easily distribute as you’re compelled.

Every once in a while, I’m thinking this blog is due a new name. Today I’ve been toying with names like: Just in Time Truths for Today, Or, “It’s Never Too Late to Simply Obey Him!” You got any ideas? Think about it. Share with me. Thank you!

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