January 14, 2019

Don't Quit by Gary Rose



Don’t Quit! Be faithful! Regardless of the obstacles,DO NOT GIVE UP! When I think about this, I naturally consider the topic of faithfulness. But where to begin? With Jesus of course!

Consider Jesus

Hebrews 3 World English Bible)
 1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus;  2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house. (emphasis added)     3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.  4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.  5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,  6 but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end(emphasis added)

Jesus was faithful, so we should be as well! The house of God (the church) should be as well. This means to hold fast to the end. Period.


Don’t Waiver

2 Corinthians 1 (WEB)
17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” 18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.” (emphasis added)   19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”  20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.   (emphasis added)

God made promises and has kept them. Paul followed in God’s footsteps and there was no “yes” and “No” in his preaching. If we follow God, we also should not waiver!

God will Help

1 Corinthians 10 (WEB)
  13  No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (emphasis added)

This is one of the very first things I learned about God. It is true: God will help you to be faithful, because GOD is FAITHFUL.

More than just a concept

Revelation 2 (WEB)
 8  To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: 
The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:   9  I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.   10  Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.   (emphasis added)

Being faithful is more than just a concept; it is a way of life, a commitment, a real life decision. The brethren at Smyrna were about to undergo suffering and God reassured them that they would receive a reward in heaven for their faithfulness.

So will we, IF, WE DON’T QUIT!!!

Bible Reading January 14, 15 by Gary Rose


Bible Reading  January 14, 15

World  English  Bible


Jan. 14
Genesis 14

Gen 14:1 It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,
Gen 14:2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).
Gen 14:3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).
Gen 14:4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.
Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
Gen 14:6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
Gen 14:7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.
Gen 14:8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;
Gen 14:9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.
Gen 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.
Gen 14:11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.
Gen 14:12 They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Gen 14:13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.
Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.
Gen 14:15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
Gen 14:16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
Gen 14:17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
Gen 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.
Gen 14:19 He blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.
Gen 14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."
Gen 14:22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,
Gen 14:23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'
Gen 14:24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

Jan. 15
Genesis 15

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
Gen 15:2 Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
Gen 15:3 Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir."
Gen 15:4 Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
Gen 15:5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be."
Gen 15:6 He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
Gen 15:7 He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."
Gen 15:8 He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?"
Gen 15:9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
Gen 15:10 He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds.
Gen 15:11 The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Gen 15:12 When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
Gen 15:13 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years.
Gen 15:14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth,
Gen 15:15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age.
Gen 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
Gen 15:17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
Gen 15:18 In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
Gen 15:19 the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
Gen 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
Gen 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Jan. 14

Matthew 7

Mat 7:1 "Don't judge, so that you won't be judged.
Mat 7:2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
Mat 7:3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.
Mat 7:6 "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Mat 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Mat 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Mat 7:13 "Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.
Mat 7:14 How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.
Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree can't produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that doesn't grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.
Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?'
Mat 7:23 Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'
Mat 7:24 "Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.
Mat 7:25 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Mat 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.
Mat 7:27 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell-and great was its fall."
Mat 7:28 It happened, when Jesus had finished saying these things, that the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
Mat 7:29 for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.

Jan. 15
Matthew 8

Mat 8:1 When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
Mat 8:2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."
Mat 8:3 Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be made clean." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Mat 8:4 Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
Mat 8:5 When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him,
Mat 8:6 and saying, "Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented."
Mat 8:7 Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered, "Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come,' and he comes; and tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, "Most certainly I tell you, I haven't found so great a faith, not even in Israel.
Mat 8:11 I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,
Mat 8:12 but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Mat 8:13 Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed." His servant was healed in that hour.
Mat 8:14 When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.
Mat 8:15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and served him.
Mat 8:16 When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick;
Mat 8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases."
Mat 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.
Mat 8:19 A scribe came, and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Mat 8:20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
Mat 8:21 Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
Mat 8:23 When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Mat 8:24 Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.
Mat 8:25 They came to him, and woke him up, saying, "Save us, Lord! We are dying!"
Mat 8:26 He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Mat 8:27 The men marveled, saying, "What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Mat 8:28 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
Mat 8:29 Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"
Mat 8:30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.
Mat 8:31 The demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs."
Mat 8:32 He said to them, "Go!" They came out, and went into the herd of pigs: and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.
Mat 8:33 Those who fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons.
Mat 8:34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.

CALVINISM by CA Feenstra

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Feenstra/C/A/1931/ch02.html

Chapter 2

CALVINISM
    Man's words
    "The chief doctrines that are the most closely associated with Calvinism are the famous five points. These may easily be remembered by the memory-crutch "tulip". For, each letter of the word "tulip" is the first letter of one of the five points. Thus the "t" of tulip stands for "total depravity"; the "u" of tulip stands for "unconditional election"; the "l" represents "limited atonement"; "i" equals "irresistible grace"; and the "p" indicates the "perseverance of the saints". It must be remembered, however, that this is not the heart of Calvinism. The heart of Calvinism is to be found in the sovereignty of God. One expression of this is the five points of Calvinism, which brings the sovereignty of God to the fore as does no other doctrine. But Calvinism must never be equated with these five points, for Calvinism is too rich to be restricted to that narrow field. It also embraces such other uniquely Reformed doctrines as the covenant of grace and the sovereignty of the spheres. This is the glorious faith which has come down to us from St. Augustine, Calvin, and the Reformed churches."
    "All of these five points (of Calvinism) really hang together or fall together. If one is true, then the others are true. If one is false, then the others are false, too."
    The Five Points of Calvinism, Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Pages 11-12, 35
    * * *
    "It remained for them (the 1618 Synod of Dordt) to set forth the true Calvinistic teaching in relationship to those matters which had been called into question. This they proceeded to do, embodying the Calvinistic position in five chapters which have ever since been known as 'the five points of Calvinism'".
    Calvinism, B. A. Warburton, page 61
    * * *
    "In these Canons the Synod (of Dordt) set forth the Reformed doctrine on these points, namely, unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irrestible grace, and perseverance of the saints."
    Introduction to the Canons of Dordt, Psalter Hymnal, page 44
    * * *
    "By that transgression of Adam which had thus perverted the human race, the freedom of the human will was entirely lost. In that state wherein he was born, man was incapable of willing in a spiritual manner, the bent of his natural will lying only in the direction of that which is evil. Should man in this life will and do good, it must spring merely from the effects of Divine grace, that grace being an inward, secret and wonderful operation of God upon man. By preceeding grace, man comes into knowledge of his true condition before God, receives the gift of faith, is brought to knowledge of salvation, and is endowed with a capacity to seek and do good. He needs co-operating grace for the right performance of every individual good act, and as man can do nothing of a spiritual character apart from grace, so he can do nothing against it. That grace in operation is the irresistible power of God. And, seeing that man by nature possesses no merit at all in his standing before God, no respect can be had to any moral disposition existing in man as the ground of the imparting of grace, but God acts in accordance with His own free and sovereign will. This action on the part of God is in agreement with God's free and unconditional purposes to save out from the mass of mankind an election of grace. To those whom He thus predestinated unto salvation, God gives all the requisite means which shall ensure their salvation. The rest of mankind is left under the merited ruin of their own sin. As regards the work of salvation wrought out by Christ in His sufferings and death, that death was for the elect only.
    This briefly summarizes Augustine's theology in those aspects which chiefly concern us at the present time. That we have in these principles enunciated by Augustine, the full embodiment of that teaching which men have chosen to call Calvinism, there can be no question."
    Calvinism, B. A. Warburton, pages 38-39
    * * *
    "The name CALVINISM was derived from the great French reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564), who had done so much in expounding and defending these views."
    The Five Points of Calvinism, Steele and Thomas, page 15

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Size, awe and God by Jim McGuiggan

https://web.archive.org/web/20160426085225/http://jimmcguiggan.com/nonbelievers2.asp?id=33

Size, awe and God

Years ago when my Ethel could walk we were driving (yes!) west to California. On the way we wanted to see the Grand Canyon but when we got into the general area we didn’t know exactly where to go to get a look at it. After driving around for a while we pulled the car over to a lay-by, got out and walked to the wall close by and before we were prepared for it—there it was! It took our breath away. Ethel spoke first. After a stunned silence she murmured, "How could anyone see that and say there’s no God?" (I didn’t bother to tell her that a non-believer would say that the huge "ditch" was a geological accident and that you can’t argue from that to some God or other. I thought I might mention the name Lessing and his "ugly ditch" to her but that would have been lost on her since she’d never met the man (he died in 1781). In any case, if she had met him my Ethel would have known how to deal with highfalutin arguments like that. (She has a Samuel Johnston way with her.) Then there was this, I was too filled with awe and a sense of my finitude and knew exactly how she was feeling and why she said what she said. Truth is, she just got the words out before I did.
Size will do that to us but—C.S. Lewis was right—only if the measurements are immense. A man or woman six feet three doesn’t boggle our minds but when you’re five feet seven and meet a basketball player who’s seven feet two, something happens. I’ve seen a lot of ditches in my life and a number of ravines but there’s only one Grand Canyon.
W.H. Fitchett chided non-believers for claiming that the size of the universe makes us so infinitesimal that we should know better than to claim to be special in the eyes of God, even if there was one. He said that they should try telling the parents of a child two feet tall that Mount Everest makes their child a trivial thing. That two feet tall person means more to those parents than the whole of the spiral nebula from top to toe. Size isn’t the same as significance and immensity isn’t the same as value. We’re not to compare things in that way.
Some non-believers are in an anxious froth to discover signs of life on some other planet (they’re sure that’ll disprove the Bible, don’t you see, and the whole "God thing" will get swallowed up in a black hole). If the universe is teeming with life then we’re dumb for thinking we’re special. On the other hand, if we’re alone then we’re sure to have got here by sheer accident. Heads we win and tails God loses. G.K. Chesterton noticed that approach and said fat people will think us thin and thin people will think us fat but maybe that’s because we’re "just right".
But back to the Grand Canyon experience. What Ethel and I felt was awe. Awe at the size and grandeur of what lay before us. We got the sense of something bigger than ourselves, something more lasting that our transient little lives in this phase of human life. A sense of utter dependence and of insufficiency flooded us. And because of our Christian faith we made the internal move toward God and the Grand Canyon became a kind of a sign pointing us higher. It was another reminder that the world and life has a whole different look when you come to faith in God because it is different. Kant was right; the only world we know is a perceived world but the world we perceive is shaped by our faith. So the Grand Canyon and we met and "spoke" to each other and we came away more emotionally committed and satisfied than ever. We find this happening in all kinds of situations, don’t you think? Once in a while we look at a child or hear a baby laughing or see two young lovers hanging on to each other as they go down the street or see those huge cumulus clouds build vast castles in the sky or catch an elderly parent on his or her knees in prayer and...

This may sound patronizing but I’ll risk it—I mean no harm—but I feel sad for those for whom the world and life is merely what we can empirically sense. I wish it were a kind of sacrament for everyone, pointing higher and lifting us higher. For that to be, of course, we need the transforming faith in Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is for Everyone by Alfred Shannon Jr.

https://biblicalproof.wordpress.com/2011/07/page/2/

The Gospel is for Everyone

The gospel of Christ doesn’t require much of mankind. We don’t need eyes to see it, ears to hear it, hands to touch it, or feet to get to it. The gospel only requires us to have a heart to believe it, and the willingness to obey it. It doesn’t get any easier than that. The gospel is for everyone.
1 Cor 15:1-4; Rom 10:17; Rom 10:10-17; Acts 2:38; Rev 2:10

Living With the Arrows By Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1395

Living With the Arrows    By Ben Fronczek

This past week I read an article about a man who holds the Guinness World Record for living the longest with a bullet in his head. He recently passed away in Central California at age 103.  William Pace lived for nearly 95 years with a bullet lodged in his skull after a shooting accident. In 1917, his older brother accidently shot him in the head playing ‘stick em up’. Neither brother knew that the rifle was loaded.
The injury damaged one of his eyes and facial nerves, but did not prevent Mr Pace from working as a cemetery custodian, but he still had to learn to live with how that bullet affected him the rest of his life. Despite his infirmity, his obituarysaid Mr. Pace was known for his kindness and sense of humor.  He was married to his wife Onetia for more than 70 years before she died in 2004.
As I thought about Mr. Pace and what he had to live with for 95 years, and how he maintained a good attitude, I thought about each of us and the wounds that we have to live with that the devil has inflicted us; spmetimes secret things.
As most Bible students know, the Apostle Paul reminds Christians that we are in a spiritual battle with the devil and his demons. Paul reminds us of our need to be ready when attacked however subtle or powerful those attacks may be. Using the imagery of a soldier suiting up for battle, he encourages every Christian to take up the spiritual armor that we have at our disposal so we can take a stand against those evil forces and their attacks.
He wrote about putting on the belt of truth, and the breastplate of  righteousness, fitting your feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. He tells us to put on the helmet of salvation and take up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.  In addition he tells us to take up the shield of faith which can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
As I thought about this armor, and the shield of faith, I could not help but think about all those flaming arrows of the evil one which pierced us before we put on this armor or even knew about it. That is before we even became a Christian. Or even what about those arrows that have caught us off guard and struck us when as a Christian we fail to take up our armor?
Now what am I talking about? Some of us did not become a Christian until later in life… we did not even know about this supernatural armor.  Some of us even though we are Christians have left our self wide open to the devil’s attacks and temptations.
And so I wonder if we could see with spiritual eyes, I wonder how many of his arrows have been driven deep into us; how many are still there, arrows that are meant to hurt us deeply, tempt us, discourage us, cause us to fear, or cause us to degrade ourselves, causing guilt, or simply wounding us?
And sad to say, just like with Mr. William Pace who lived with a bullet in the brain for 95 years and had to suffer from some ill effects of that bullet, we likewise demonstrate some side effects of those dastardly arrows that the devil has already sunk into us.
I could not help but think of the poem written by Dr. Dorothy Nolte years ago called Children Learn what They Live. He is part of it:
If children lives with (or has been shot with the arrows of) criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrows of) hostility, they learn to fight.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrow of) fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrow of)  pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrows of) ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrows of) jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children lives with 
(or has been shot with the arrows of) shame, they learn to feel guilty.
Some of us have been pierced with all kinds of hurtful arrows that are still sticking deep within us leaving us with less than perfect personalities and ways of thinking. Maybe no one else knows, but some may have had:
–       Critical or abusive parents and that criticism or abuse struck deep at your heart and has affected your ability to love.
–       Maybe without anyone else knowing it maybe someone sexually abused you when you did not know better, and now that arrow pains you with guilt or maybe you have a problem with intimacy.
–       Maybe it was a health issue, or a physically cosmetic problem you had when you were young. When I was a teen I had a problem with acne.  It was like painful arrow plunged into my psyche of self esteem.
Whatever that hurtful arrow, it may still be affecting you today in how you think or how you act.  Speaking of today, those who let their guard down can still be wounded.    The devil is still aiming for our heart; using arrows that discourage, tempt, make us feel anxiety, fear or guilt.
That’s why Paul tells us we need to be ready to raise our shield of faith which can help extinguish the impact of those flaming arrows.
But the question I mulled over in my mind is, ‘What about those arrows or things that are already planted deep within us that still hurt, that still fester every now and then?’
Should we just ignore them now that we are Christians? Sad to say, sometimes we just can’t. Just like that bullet in William Pace’s brain, sometime we do just have to learn to live with them and do our best despite those old wounds.
 And today I’m here to tell you that whatever it is that has wounded you, God is here to help us.
What I find ironic is how God can take the very things that the devil is trying to destroy us with, and turns them around and uses them to help draw us closer to Him, empowering us to become even stronger.      
No matter what blows life has dealt you and no matter what effect it has had on you, one thing you have to remember is that your Father God loves us so very much. Just like we love our children when we see them hurt, God loves us the same way and more..
But because of who He is, I don’t believe our heavenly Father will allows you to experience anything beyond what you can handle with Him by your side… And I believe that is the key, having Him by your side. Like I said already, He can actually twist things around and turn what may seem bad into something good, or something that can draw us closer to Him and empower us.
As I looked for an answer as to how to put up with, or deal with the pain or ramifications of these arrows planted in us, the Lord reminded me of something that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 12:7 as he dealt with something painful in his life, he wrote,   … In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul had an amazing epiphany that he shared with all his readers; That his thorn (his arrow) had been left there in his life so that he would learn to lean on and depend more on God everyday for strength and help.
He learned and then wrote, “For when I am weak I am strong.”
He came to that conclusion because the Lord let him know that His Power is made perfect (or fulfilled completed, and show itselves most effective in our weakness.)
Paul recognized that God helped him see that thorn or arrow that was meant to hurt and discourage him could be the very things that made him stronger. Why? Because it humbled him and he had to depend on God just to get through each day.
That’s a lesson for us today! It isn’t when everything is hunky-dory, and all is well, and life is carefree we find ourselves clinging to our Lord and talking to Him a lot. But rather, many us have grown closer to Him in the most difficult times of our life; those times when we’ve been shot with arrows that are meant to hurt us, confuse us.
Like when someone close to us really hurts us, or when we get really sick or injured, or when someone close dies, or we have a financial loss.   God told Paul, “My Grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you)… My power is perfected (or is shown or comes through in your times of weakness.)

Some of those arrows and their effects on our life have dissipated and are long forgotten but others have are still implanted deep in us. And as I see it, we can either moan and groan, and complain, or lash out on others because of what has happened to us. We can turn in on our self and become introverts and hide our self from the world.
Or, we can turn to God, confess our weakness, and ask Him to help us with our pain, and even to help us grow from what we have experienced.  And maybe even help others along the way who may have be shot with the same arrows and had the same experiences.  It’s times like that when His power is perfected or comes through in our time of weakness.
And it is in this way that arrows of the evil one that we meant to hurt and destroy you can be turned around to help and serve others and glorify our great and awesome we God.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
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