Miracle at Marble Falls TX

As told by James Robison on pages 12-19 in “Living Amazed: How Divine Encounters Can Change Your Life.”

When Betty and I had been married about seven years, we leased a hunting property with some friends about sixty miles northwest of Austin TX. We planned to use it as a retreat from the pace and pressures of my preaching ministry, which at the time had me on the road more than 275 days a year.

That summer we drove up to see the property and do some maintenance work. WE took our daughter Rhonda, who was five years old, and my former foster parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Hale. After a full day of work in the hot Texan sun, we still had a four-hour drive ahead of us to back home to the Ft. Worth area, and by then evening had fallen. As we drove through a little town called Marble Falls, I said to Betty, “I gotta have some chocolate milk.”

I was still sweaty from the work, I hadn’t shaved in a couple days, and I was dressed in coveralls and boots, and a big craving for chocolate milk, so we pulled into the first quick-stop market along the way.

As I got out of the car, I noticed thirty or forty high-school age kids hanging around in small groups in the parking lot. Some had their heads down, and I sensed they were troubled about something. Inside the store, I passed a couple of girls who were wiping tears from their eyes, on my way back to the dairy case. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying to me, James, you need to talk to these kids.

When I got to the check-out, I said, ”I’ve seen some folks who are crying. What’s going on here?”

“These kids are really, really  sad,” she said. “One of the most popular students, a football player, was in a car accident, and broke his neck. The kids have been here today praying that he would recover, be healed, but they just got word that he died.”

Again, I sensed the Holy Spirit say, Go talk to these boys and girls. They need to her how much Jesus loves them. The message was as clear as if it had been audible. Here’s a good example of how the enemy gets in and tries to distract us. No sooner had I heard the Lord speak than a second voice – my own voice – began to enumerate all the reasons why talking to these kids was not a good idea.

You need to look out for your family, James. You still have a four hour drive ahead of you. Betty’s tired, Rhonda’s tired, the Hales are tired. You’re wearing coveralls, and you haven’t showered or shaved. And besides, these kids are all over the place out there. How would you ever get them together to talk to them?

When the enemy goes to work on us, it’s not like Cupid shooting arrows of love. He fires suggestions, doubts, and distractions. But when God speaks, He speaks the truth.

James, these kids need to hear how much I love them.

I paid for my chocolate milk and walked toward the exit. As soon as I touched the door handle, I saw all the kids in the parking suddenly come together in a circle right out front.

Okay, Lord, that is just too obvious.

In my dirty coveralls, unshaven, and looking like a bum, I stepped into the middle of the circle, looked around at all the grieving faces, and said, “Excuse me, I was just passing through town, and the lady inside told me you just lost a friend. I’m so sorry to hear that. But I feel impressed to tell you that if your friend was a Christian, he’s in heaven right now, and he’s looking down at you and saying, ‘Whatever you do, don’t miss this! Don’t miss heaven.’ And he wants you to know that Jesus is the way to heaven.”

Now, if your friend was not a Christian, he’s saying, ‘I don’t want you to come where I am right now.’ And if you yourself are a Christian, he’s saying, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Jesus! Why didn’t you tell me so I didn’t end up here?’

“If you didn’t tell him about Jesus, you have to honestly ask yourself why? And if you know Jesus, you need to understand that your friends here could leave at any moment, like this boy did, and you need to be a witness.

“Those of you who don’t know Christ, your friend wants to make sure that you don’t miss heaven.”

I concluded by saying, “Whatever you might think about what I just said, remember this: on the day your friend died, a stranger who was just driving through town stopped long enough to point you to Jesus and recommend Jesus to you.

Then I walked back to the van, got in, and we resumed our drive home.

That sounds like the end of the story, right? I hadn’t told the kids my name, where I was from, or what I did. Nothing.

Several weeks later. We were doing an area-wide crusade in Austin. That was the crusade where eleven members of the 1969 national champion Texas Longhorn football team came to Christ, including quarterback James Street and receiver Randy Peschel, who would later connect on an amazing fourth-down pass to set up the winning touchdown against Arkansas that sealed the national championship.

After the service one night, several high school kids came up to me and said, “Sir, you’re him. You don’t look like him, but you’re him. You’re the one.”

“I’m the one who what?”

“The one who stopped in the parking lot and told us about Jesus. Sir, that changed our lives.” One of the girls started crying and said, “My dad was an alcoholic and I went home and led him to the Lord. He was  killed just a short time later, but he went to heaven because you stopped at that store.”

“That’s amazing!” I said.

But the story doesn’t stop there.

To be continued in Wednesday AM blog.  Blessings as YOU GO FORTH>>>>>merlin

PRAYER ROOMS EXPLAINED

Everything has life cycles. We humans, as do empires, nations, ideologies, political parties, businesses, economies, even churches, all ebb and flow, or rise and fall. Humans compared to the other examples I offered, are not organizations and differ in the fact they are created in the image of God, possess a soul, and are capable of experiencing eternity, thereby exempt from the typical life cycle demise.

Most unique and so disturbing to the evolution crowd not wanting to recognize the innate qualities and capabilities God has physically endowed into humans over their animal cousins, and what’s even worse for that crowd, is the fact when humans are in relationship vertically with the Trinity known as Christ Followers, they are empowered by the Spirit and are known to exhibit recognizable supernatural dimensions.

For some reason, while driving the scenic back country roads during my route days, I’d stop when time permitted, in the parking lots of either these evidently failing or already closed churches, and read the signs: you know, the grass not mowed, no gravel, either no sign of identity or welcome; or if so, gravely faded; weeds well rooted and in full bloom, etc. And that is just what I could see. Then my imagination kicks in, and I imagine this churches cycle of life; who were the persons and the events that drove its formation, who were all the individuals and families that came thru its doors for the churches dynamic good years, for weddings, baptisms, funerals, revivals, prayer meetings as they sent young men and women off to war, or during the Cuban missile crisis, or for celebrations such as the ending of wars…

And then I would imagine the leaner years, after the attendance dropped, members were no longer drawn to worshiping, or praising God; evident first in their homes likely because the TV became the family altar replacing Bible reading and prayer, and then as years passed and when the culture lost its morals, followed by the subsequent proliferation of additional addicting forms of entertainment, perhaps even professional sports, accentuated by loss of leadership, whether in the pulpit, or among the elders and deacons, but especially in the pews and the surrounding community.

And once the congregation lost standing, influence or respect throughout the community, whether slowly thru assimilation, or quick and decisive, by such as devastating moral failures, or perhaps discouraging times such as we are witnessing since covid, hospice appeared to be their only option. Their last valiant ditch effort from the three remaining members, all in their upper 80’s, was to donate their edifice to an upstart fellowship in need of their building, but alas, no such qualified individuals could be found anywhere capable and interested in continuing the building’s decaying legacy.

But my vivid imagination observed one of the three had found several of Dr. Terry Teykl’s five books in his home library that he had long forgotten, giving outstanding insight and guidelines into establishing successful prayer in the local church. Sharing these books with the other two remaining members, they decided it was best they tackle the book on establishing a prayer room first. Below are the words of Dr Teykl:

Making Prayer visible in our churches makes it more likely to happen and encourage more people to participate. We must do everything we can to make prayer appealing, from investing in first-class prayer materials to raising up comfortable, inviting places for people to seek God. Prayer does not need to be mercenary to be spiritual.

One of the simplest and yet most profound things a prayer room offers is a place to be alone and still before God. It promotes humility and a visible dependence on God. Prayer rooms also generate and facilitate other prayer ideas given by the Holy Spirit to affect the whole ministry of the church in the community.

Ten Reasons Your Church Needs  A Prayer Room

1. It allows us to schedule prayer in a systematic manner, making it likely to happen. Scheduled prayer is Biblical. If you read in the book of Acts, you will see that the disciples had scheduled times of prayer – 9:00 am in Acts 2:15; 3:00 pm in Acts 3; 12 noon in Acts 10: 9; and 3:00 pm in Acts 10:30. Also, scheduled prayer tends to be inspirational prayer because it is based on a conscious decision to seek God at a given time each week, not merely during a crisis or a feeling.

  2. A prayer room provides an excellent place to keep a record of all the deeds of God in the life of the church – a reminder to thank and praise Him for all He does.

3. Prayer rooms provide places where information can be gathered and prayed over, promoting agreement in prayer.

4. Prayer rooms provide ownership of the church vision and serves as tangible, visible reminders of our commitment to pray.

5. The compassion of Jesus is displayed to the community while we make a statement to them about the importance of prayer.  

6. A prayer room provides a place where prayer can be practiced and matured – a training center for both corporate and individual prayer.

7. An inclusive impact is made on the church because a prayer room brings everyone to one place to pray.

8. Prayer rooms minister the presence of God to those who come, providing a place where people can be quiet and hear the voice of God. Church staff and prayer counselors can use it when a quiet, private place is needed.

9. Prayer rooms encourage soaking prayer – prolonged periods of prayer – persevering prayer. Sometimes it takes persistent prayer to reach a spiritual breakthrough. It is sobering to realize how many prayers fell just short of the mark because we gave up too soon.

10. A prayer room provides a control center for strategic prayer evangelism, for warfare and other prayer ministries.

A prayer room needs to provide privacy and be closed off from outside distractions. It should be comfortable, with a pleasant atmosphere,  – an inviting place to enjoy the Lord’s presence. It’s important that it be safely accessible 24 hours a day, with a telephone and preferably a separate outside entrance that is well-lighted and has a combination lock. It should be inspirational and should have helpful information to guide people as they pray.

Blueprint for the House of Prayer, pp. 48-49

PS

From where I sit at my writing table, I can see Marcus A Yoder’s book, Cathedrals, Castles, and Caves on the shelf. I’ve not read it yet but I always want to inject barn haymows into the three C’s. Part of my anabaptist genealogy I guess, resists the ten point footwork and says that the shop, the summer kitchen, the backyard swing, the spring house, the garden bench, the apple tree crotch in the far corner of the orchard, and the multiple barns, all offer the needed seclusion for engaging times of prayer. But I must remember the most folks do not have access to such organic prayer sites as many of us rural folk do, and  neither do many worship facilities, and neither do too often our homes. Perhaps if we offer such in our corporate worship centers, our homes will follow the example of restoring the Family Altar for praise, prayer, Bible reading and especially, the art of conversation. No devices allowed!  

Living Amazed! How Divine Encounters Can (Will) Change Your Life!

By James Robison

My Call to Preach…

I was a support person on the platform at a Friday night revival when I heard the Lord say to me very clearly, “I’m going to use you to preach My Truth to the world.”

I’ve often said that when the Lord speaks to me, I hear Him louder than if He were speaking out loud. This was the first time I had ever heard Him speak to me like this, but His word to me was loud and clear: “I want you to be an evangelist.”

This was a mind-blowing prospect for an illegitimate child whose father had deserted him before he was ever born; whose mother had given him away by placing an ad in the newspaper; who had grown up feeling overlooked, unloved, totally rejected, and almost invisible. And now God was saying to me, “Son, I see you. I choose you. And I want to use you.”

“God, how?” I asked. “How would I ever make a living as an evangelist?”

“Where is your faith?” the Lord replied.

I said, “It’s all in you.” And I meant it. At that moment, I yielded my life into the Master Potter’s hand; I gave Him the whole lump of clay.

As I sat there on the platform, it truly was a Holy Spirit-infilling moment. It was as if the Spirit of God swept me up and began to shape something in me – I wouldn’t call it self-confidence but God – confidence –and the kind of boldness revealed in the book of Acts. I felt the power of that boldness and a legitimate compassion for others that just seemed to communicate and resonate with people. And it started instantly.  

Preaching At Petro – Tex

On the following Monday morning after my call, I went back to my summer job at the Petro-Tex chemical plant in Pasadena. I had been working as a painter’s helper in town, but when a job opened at Petro-Tex, I moved over there because of more money. I worked as a pipe fitter’s assistant on a construction site, helping the men who were assembling all the pipes for a big plant addition. I had been there about three weeks after my high school graduation prior to college when God had called me to preach.

The plant workers ate lunch out in the yard every day, where there were a number of large flatbed trucks parked and as many as a hundred men would gather on them to eat their lunches. To a shy kid, they were a huge crowd.

The conversations I heard during these lunchtimes were obscene and degrading. On top of all the cursing, the primary things these men talked about were all the bars and parties they were going to, all the women they were having sex with, and whatever else they were doing on the weekends. It was just awful, nothing but filth.

So there I was , having just received the call to preach, and I was surrounded by some of the vilest and most depraved talk you could ever hear – and it made me sick. I couldn’t eat my lunch. As I looked around at all these men laughing and talking about how “we went to this party . . . and everyone was getting drunk and carrying on. . . ,” I suddenly felt compelled to jump up onto one of the flatbeds and shout with the authority of a coach or a drill sergeant, “Listen! Listen to me!”

The men all turned and stared in my direction.

“Listen!” I said. “I’m just a boy trying to learn how to be a man, and all I’m hearing from you all is how to think filthy, talk filthy, and live filthy. Men, I wouldn’t talk about a dog the way most of you talk about your wives.”

The minute I said that, hot tears started cutting a course down my cheeks, which were covered in dust from the morning’s work. I reached into the back pocket of my Levi’s, where I had a little Soul Winner’s New Testament. I held it up, with those tears in my eyes, and said, “But God loves you so much. He gave Jesus to die for you and to give you life, to show you how to live and how to love your wife and your family. I just want you to know that if I can help you, I’m a helper. If you will just call me, I will tell you how you can know Jesus.”

With that, I jumped down off the trailer. Without question, within me was a zeal and a fire that only can be described as the work of the Holy Spirit. I knew I had been caught up in a powerful force unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Now, with that many hardened souls standing around, you can imagine the kind of feedback I might have received. But there was none of that – no catcalls, no shouting, and no mockery. Only dead silence and a yard full of men, their mouths crammed with entire halves of sandwiches, staring at me in disbelief.

For the next three weeks, before I left for college, I led men to Christ all over that plant.

I mean, it was nonstop, every day praying with those men. I don’t recall doing one lick of pipe fitting work. Instead, all day long, I would hear shouts of , “Helper! Helper!” and I would climb up onto the steel catwalks of the storage tanks they were working on, and the men would say, “You hit me, son. That’s me. You were right. I don’t love my wife like I should. I don’t even love my kids like I should.” And I would pray with them. I was seventeen years old, and I was catching my first glimpse. Of what it means to live amazed.

Years later, when we held crusades in the greater Houston area, men would come up to me after I had preached and say, ”Five years ago . . . eight years ago . . .  ten years ago, you led me to the Lord out there at the chemical plant. We were way up on a catwalk and we got down on our knees.” I met four who were then deacons in their church.

That’s the way my ministry started. And the amazing results never stopped.

I first met James Robison maybe six years ago having never seen or heard of him prior to reading this book, Living Amazed. Actually, I now consider this book as one of the most inspirational recently written books I’ve encountered and am encouraging Christ Followers (CF’s) regardless of age or spiritual maturity to consider reading it. Today I began listening to it again on Audible while exercising on my antique Dyne Aire . . . and am already into Chapter Eight wondering why I ever waited so long to revisit How Divine Encounters Really Will Change Your Life! (Rather, All our lives!)

I personally live by the belief “the ball” is always in our court! Not a popular assumption any longer!

Each morning when I awake, I only have 1 choice to make from 6 options as to how I’ll live out my day and they are 1.) being bad; 2.) being mediocre; 3.) being average; 4.) being good (there’s that word again); 5.) being world-class; and 6.) being Jesus – centered!  

Moreover, our culture today pushes us to be either Ego driven or Victim centered! If you’re struggling with either, inhale the freshness of the Proverbs. Read a chapter every day to enhance your personal clarity! Humbleness of heart is the option of choice for CF’s. Be vigilant in all things by being Jesus – centered. Blessing AS YOU GO FORTH>>>> merlin

Two Question Pop Quiz:

1.) Define good;

2.) Spiritually, are you more “form” or real “substance?”

Though the title was to get your attention, the questions have merit and I hope they clarify your evaluations of your current spiritual race. Perhaps it is best if we first define the word “good.” The Hebrew word for good is tob. A few of the definitions found in The complete Word Study Dictionary are: “to be happy, acceptable, to do well, right.” The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words takes it deeper by stating:

This simple word means “good” in the broadest sense. It includes the beautiful, the attractive, the useful, the profitable, the desirable, the morally right.

The concept that links all these uses of “Good” is evaluation. To determine the good, one must  compare things, qualities, and actions with other things, qualities, and actions.

The account of the Creation introduces tob biblically as God views each day’s work and pronounces it good. God too evaluates. It is in fact because God shared His image and likeness with mankind that human beings have the capacity to make value judgements. But Sin has distorted humanity’s perceptions. (there is that perception word again!) Because of this, only God is able to evaluate perfectly. The writers of the OT were convinced that not only was God the giver and the measure of good but also that He alone knows what is truly beneficial for us and what is morally right. Only because God has shared His evaluation of good in His Word are we who rely on Him able to affirm with confidence that a certain thing, quality, or course of action is beneficial.

I suggest the key word from the above is evaluation. Adam and Eve chose to evaluate good and acceptable apart from God’s counsel. They made an assessment according to a different set of standards: their own. This has been the root of man’s hostility with the Creator ever since. It has taken various shapes and forms, but it always comes down to this underlying motive: “I know what is right for my life and don’t need anyone to tell me otherwise.” Yet God declares: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”(Proverbs 16:25).

God certainly knows how easily the line between good and evil can be distorted. If it happened in the garden, how much more easily can it occur today? God warns there will be ways – behavioral patterns, thought processes, beliefs, customs, and yes, even traditions – that seem acceptable by our evaluation but will eventually prove faulty in the building of our lives, and will in time, extract its toll. The results may take months or years to appear or sometimes not even show up until the Day of Judgement. Paul says, “Remember, the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later” (I Timothy 5:24 NLT). I can’t speak for you, but the second part of that verse causes me to tremble. Not that I’m scared of God, but rather, I’m terrified to be away from Him, outside His loving presence.

The bottom line is simply this: do I truly believe God’s wisdom is perfect and trust Him for what’s best for my life? Every human being must solidify the answer to this question in their own heart. And this core conviction cannot vary from one matter to another. Either God’s wisdom is perfect in all cases in my life, or it’s flawed, and if the latter, we will consequently attempt to operate independent of Him.

So what is the standard of good we are to trust? What leads to the way of life? The apostle Paul tells us: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (II Tim. 3:16 NLT)

Perhaps this is an appropriate time to examine several key elements of Paul’s statement.

All Scripture. Notice, it does not say some. And definitely not just the ones we like or agree with. Or those that fit with our way of thinking or believing. Be honest. Do you view God’s wisdom as right in some areas but out of date or irrelevant in other cases?

Consider Eve. She knew God was Creator. She enjoyed the riches of His goodness along with the wonder of His presence. She lived in the ultimate Garden of Eden in peace, harmony, and abundance. Yet – and this is huge! Once convinced by the serpent an area of God’s wisdom wasn’t right, she fell directly into Sin and was removed as was Adam from the garden. So, if Eve could be swayed in a flawless environment of abundance, whatever will be our protection in the midst of the corruption in our culture? Only Scripture and the promised Comforter can and will suffice!

                Consider Scripture an absolute must to teach us what is true and right! Yes, it is so possible for something to have the appearance of good yet be just the opposite. You’ve all experienced concepts, assumptions, opinions, qualities, ways of reasoning and thought patterns that can seem so good and right; yet, not are all so endowed. For these hidden dangers, God has given us a complete play book (manual) so we do not unknowingly veer away from truth and be consumed with the seductive compelling bunny trails frequently leading to death. You know by now of course, the only viable playbook is the Bible. And unfortunately, as with instructions for the assembly of Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve, it is often ignored until it becomes a last resort life preserver event, requiring God’s exquisite gifts of grace and mercy. Perhaps even, again!

                It is pertinent for us to ask ourselves when free from deadline stress and such chaos, am I consistently reading my Bible? Answer honestly. Recall I’ve been giving numerous invites in recent blogs to join the 2022 For LIFE family in reading The One Year Bible! Next, do I actually study it? Do I spend time searching out God’s wisdom for the specifics of my life, my family, my peers? Or do I, like Eve, just presume I’m fluent in His Word, you know, I show up all decked out in my Sunday morning sometimes fake smile (my form) too often accompanied with little or no internal  “spiritual substance of merit?”

So in summary, perhaps the big question is just this: while living on this uniquely corrupted planet earth while also battling the ever conniving tempter Satan – do I really believe I am better than the historical Eve in her Garden of Eden, at understanding and obeying God’s truths, staying relationally aligned both vertically with the Trinity and horizontally with peers, community, and other Christ Followers?  May God have mercy on my soul as I struggle to stay in the race!

Good or God? Why Good Without God Isn’t Enough. John Bevere Pages 29-31. My apologies to John as I exercised considerable latitude and license in editing his text this time. Just seemed appropriate as I read tonight but you’ll never know the extent unless you have a copy.

I am fully aware much of my material of late is perhaps too elementary for many of you, so on this blog I attempted to reintroduce the basics with a different twist.  John Bevere has an amazing testimony and God has richly blessed him and his family as world class faith facilitators with their renown Ambassadors International organization. I do admit though I occasionally will swallow hard at times when reading some of his writings, and having read most of his books, I know that is rare and I’m deeply indebted to John and  owe him much gratitude for his teaching, wisdom, and encouragement that he has imparted to me over the years.    

Unforgettable Bombs

Too often of late I’ve heard the phrase “All we can do is pray.” That misguided statement reminds me of the amazing role played by some Czech citizens in World War II.

In Elmer Bendiner’s book, The Fall of Fortresses, he describes one bombing run over the German city of Kassel: “Our B-17 (the Tondelayo) was barraged by flack from Nazi anti-aircraft guns. That was not unusual, but on this particular occasion our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a twenty-millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple.

“On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck. The crew chief told Bohn that not just one but eleven had been found in the gas tanks – eleven un-exploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had been parted for us. Even after thirty-five years, so awesome an event leaves me shaken, especially after I heard the rest of the story from Bohn.

“He was told that the shells had been sent to the armorers to be defused. The armorers told him that intelligence had picked them up. They could not say why at the time, but Bohn eventually sought out the answer. Apparently, when the armorers opened each of these shells, they found no explosive charge. They were clean as a whistle and just as harmless. Empty? Not all of them.

“One contained  a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it was a scrawl in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually, they found one to decipher the note. It set us marveling. Translated, the note read: “This is all we can do for you now.”

All we can do?! The pilots on that B-17 certainly didn’t have a small opinion of what those Czechs had done. Nor did the wives, children, or grandchildren of those airmen. Not to mention the lives they saved in the future as they helped deliver the world from Adolph Hitler. “All we can do . . .!”

This is often what I think when I hear people bemoan their helplessness or lack of contribution as they pronounce, “All we can do is pray.” What better activity could a person possibly do? We can impact the world, secure destinies and affect eternity through prayer.

Watchman Prayer: How to Stand Guard and Protect Your Family, Home, and Community. Dutch Sheets Pages 108-110.

Simple Divine Discernment 101

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom…. All the things you desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are those who retain her. (Prov. 3:13-18)

Scripture shows that God’s wisdom to our lives results in fruitful living, productivity, success, a long life peace of mind, and honor. A tree is something others partake of. According to this scripture, if we follow the way of life (wisdom), we become a tree of life – a source of nourishment to those who partake of what we produce. Conversely, if live by the wisdom of man, we will become a detrimental tree, and those who partake of what we produce will gravitate toward toil, stress, insufficiency, sickness, selfishness, and other byproducts of spiritual death.

Returning to Proverbs 14:12. We read, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” When we examine the first part of this verse, we know it can easily apply to anyone, Christian and nonbeliever alike. There is a way that seems right – it seems good, wise, beneficial, strategic, acceptable, profitable, and so forth. Yet the warning is clear: what seems good may actually bee detrimental, harmful, and nonproductive – the way of death.

The author of Hebrews writes this sobering exhortation to believers: …We have much to say…. Since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food…. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb. 5:11-12, 14).

It is clear that discernment is a key factor in determining what is truly good and what is truly evil. In other words, what’s truly good is not always clear to our natural thinking, reasoning, or senses.

You may ask, “Didn’t the author of Hebrews say that our senses can be trained to tell the difference?” He did, but what senses was he referring to? You’ll notice at the beginning of these verses, the author said he was writing to these Christians whose hearing had grown dull. What hearing was he referring to? Did all the Hebrew believers need hearing aids? Hardly. He was referencing the ability to hear in our hearts. Jesus constantly taught, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt. 11:15). Virtually all those who received this teaching had physical ears, yet not all of them had a discerning heart to hear the Word of God, which was best for their lives.

One of Jesus’s main team member, Peter, spoke of protection and long life to Jesus. It seemed certain that he was giving his Boss good counsel. Yet Jesus reprimanded him sharply by stating his interests were clearly not God’s (see Matt. 16:21-23). This is only one of many scriptural examples I could give illustrating how good and evil are not openly evident.

Solomon prayed, “Give me an understanding heart so that I can … know the difference between right and wrong. (I Kings 3:9 NLT). It takes an enlightened heart, one that is trained, to identify what God calls good and evil. Eve was perfect in every way, and in the garden where she resided the presence of God was powerful and strong. However, what she discerned to be good, pleasant, and profitable was actually evil and detrimental for her life. She was deceived and suffered because of it.

And thus, we are brought to the purpose of this book: To illuminate, through the Scriptures and the help of the Holy Spirit, the difference between what is good for your life and what ultimately will be detrimental. If Eve, who was perfect and living in a flawless environment, could still be deceived, how much easier is it for those of us with imperfect minds and living in a corrupted world – a skewed society –  to be deceived into judging what is damaging to be good?

Good or God? Why Good Without God Isn’t Enough? John Bevere pages 10-12.

Is “good”. . . enough?

In these times the terms good and God are seemingly synonymous . We believe that what is generally accepted as good must be aligned with God’s will. Generosity, humility, and justice are good. Selfishness, arrogance and cruelty are evil. The distinction seems pretty forward. But is that all there is to it? If good is so obvious, why does Hebrews 5:14 teach that we must have discernment to recognize it?

The apostle Paul writes, “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Roman12:2). We cannot discern what is truly good for our lives without first having our minds renewed. Without the transformation that comes through the renewing of our minds, we miss out on the amazing, God – infused life available to us in Christ.

Before the foundation of the world, God designed a plan for your life, one that is overflowing with fulfilled purpose, immense joy, and great satisfaction. His will and plan for you are perfectly and completely good. But there is a counterfeit good that can keep you from embracing God’s best.

Sadly, many of us have settled for the knockoff. We’ve unknowingly (and at times knowingly) rejected God in pursuit of what’s apparently good.

The early church leaders repeatedly warned us about this deception. To be so deceived is to believe we’re aligned with the truth, when in actuality, we’re not. (OUCH, Careful now!) Jesus Himself warned that deception would be so cleverly concealed in our time the elect could fall prey to it. Can we treat these warnings lightly? Can we brush them off, assuming we are above deception and instinctively discern good from evil?    

The good news is that God is not trying to hide His best from us. He’s not in the business of pulling the shades over our eyes. He promises that those who seek will find. If we commit to the journey of seeking truth, we will not be duped by its counterfeit. The question is, will we look to the Source of truth, or will we settle for a superficial knowledge of God and His good will? My hope is that in reading this book, we will solidify our resolve never to settle for less than God’s best.

May we pray before we begin:

Father, in Jesus’s name, open my eyes, ears, and heart to see, hear, and perceive You will for my life. Holy Spirit, teach me, deeply and profoundly, the ways of Jesus Christ as I read this message. I look to You as my Teacher. May You speak to me from every sentence of this book. May my life be changed forever. Amen.

John Bevere, author of “Good or God? Why Good Without God Isn’t Enough!”                                                 

Armed with Prayer!

Prayer Changes Everything… Two True Accounts Offering Eternal Perspectives….

When George McCluskey married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer, because he wanted his kids to follow Christ. After a time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Every day between 11:00 AM and noon, he prayed for the next three generations.

As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who went into full time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy. Each of the girls married a minister, and the boy became a pastor.

The first two children born to this generation were both boys. Upon graduation from high school, the two cousins chose the same college and became roommates. During their sophomore year, one boy decided to go into the ministry. The other didn’t. He undoubtedly felt some pressure to continue the family legacy, but he chose instead to pursue his interest in psychology.

He earned his doctorate and eventually wrote books for parents that became bestsellers. He started a radio program heard on more than a thousand stations each day. The man’s name – James Dobson.

Talk about the power of prayer! The next time you’re blessed by Focus on the Family or one of Dobson’s books, thank God for a generational watchman, George McCluskey.

Many kids are not as blessed with praying fathers.

At a 1994 Promise Keepers’ Conference in Denton Texas, Pastor James Ryle told his story:

When he was two years old, his father was sent to prison. When he was seven, authorities placed him in an orphanage. At 19, he had a car wreck that killed a friend. He sold drugs to raise money for his legal fee, and the law caught up to him. He was arrested, charged with a felony and sent to prison.

While in prison James accepted Christ, and after he served his time, he eventually went into the ministry. Years later he sought out his father to reconcile with him. When they got together, the conversation turned to prison life.

James’s father asked, “Which prison were you in?”

James told him, and his father was taken back. “I helped build that prison,” he said. He had been a welder who went from place to place building penitentiaries.

Pastor Ryle concluded, “I was in the prison my father built.”

Indeed! In more ways than one. These are amazing stories, powerfully contrasting two possibilities. We can either build prisons for our children or through prayer build fruitful lives that bless others.

Watchman Prayer: How to Stand Guard and Protect Your Family, Home and Community by Dutch Sheets, pages 105-107.

In Him We Have. . . the Forgiveness of Sins. . Eph. 1:7

Utmost For His Highest November 20

Perhaps we need to be to be reminded in our lethargy just how perverse our culture’s lackadaisical view of the fatherhood of God has become: That God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. Perhaps this notion is similar to the erroneous concept developed in a recent post, The Legend of the Social Justice Jesus.

The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other grounds is unconscious blasphemy.  The only foundation on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way. Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony of Calvary. Although we must take the forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit by simple faith, we must never forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive. He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross, possible only in the supernatural realm.

Compared with the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is actually, quite small, being simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the transcending realization that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being, is that God has forgiven all our Sin. Apostle Paul never escaped from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise as was Paul, both constrained and empowered, by the love of God!

No doubt by now since I have rapidly highlighted three Utmost devotionals centering on aspects of forgiveness, some of my readers may well be questioning my theology. I simply did so because my decades of misunderstanding and under appreciating both the simplicity and complexities of forgiveness have cost me and my family dearly. I have faith that if I at least point you in the right direction, that God in his love, grace & mercy, will provide you the needed wisdom from his vast storehouses to spare you the years of wandering in wildernesses as did I. Have you ever used a vise on a work bench to secure an object? How about a simple Vise-Grip? If so, you can better comprehend Paul’s “being gripped.”

Paul said that he was so gripped by the love of God that people could perceive him as mad or sane – he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for – to persuade people of the coming judgement of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power on the messages’ recipients, drawing minimal attention to the messenger’s personal holiness. “…. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” II Cor. 5:15

Perhaps it was no accident that my business card highlights the verse from I Peter 2:9 “That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I am simply telling my story as we Christ Follower’s are encouraged to do. Blessings as you GO FORTH Today in HIS LIGHT even though the world calls it Black Friday! Again, it is all a matter of His PERSPECTIVE! >>>>>merlin

When He Has Come, He Will Convict the World of Sin…John 16:8

Utmost For His Highest November 19

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know better only the experience of being disturbed by our sin, because we do know we have done some really bad things. But the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit uniquely blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one – “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of their sin to this magnitude, they know with every bit of their conscience that God does forgive all sin, and that it cost Him the breaking of His heart with grief to witness the death of Jesus Christ ultimately enabling Him to complete his mission, total and complete forgiveness!

The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ that enables the divine nature to forgive and remain true to its itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary – nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and am made ready for heaven. No one would accept forgiveness on that level, such as possessing the necessary ticket. Rather, forgiveness means that I am also empowered and transformed into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the very nature of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps this is a good time to give you some personal history. I was introduced the first time to Oswald Chambers classic devotional Utmost For His Highest by Dr. Jim Miller in early ’97 during our congregation’s LIFE (Living In Faithful Evangelism) process as he gave each member a copy. Next to our Bibles, it has been our daily inspiration for Loretta and I more than any other one book. Frequently during the events of our days, we refer to that morning’s reading amazed at the appropriateness of its comments, or even after being through it repeatedly over the years, the wonder and the freshness of that day’s reading. And even when a reading is recognized, and the supporting events for its processing recalled from prior years, I find a freshness and even a new interpretation forthcoming to add yet another dimension in our Utmost legacy arsenal.

I invite you to consider reading Utmost during 2022 whether from a printed copy or subscribe online. Enhance your legacy arsenal! Blessings as you go forth on this 2021 Thanksgiving Day>>>>> merlin