Category: Featured Articles

For the next few months, Bro. John O’Malley will be sharing with us from his book, Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles. We know that everyone can use some encouragement to stay in the Word of God on a daily basis, and we hope these articles will be a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord.

The Obstacle of Time: I want to read the Bible, but I just do not have enough time in my day to have memorable or meaningful Devotions.

The more I speak to others about their time alone with God, the more I learn I am not alone. Many of us struggle with making time for God; we tell ourselves we do not have enough time. We make excuses. We justify why we have not done it. We give our time to the right things and necessary things; we surrender to our schedules and obligations. We often cannot find a way to fit God into our day. We hate it, but it is the reality of most days.

We cannot add time to our lives. We have what is the time allotted for this vapor of a life. We use phrases like, “I need to make the time. I wish I had the time; I did not spend my time on this; or time is not my friend today.” However, we know all of them are expressions spoken out of frustration.

When we say we do not have enough time in the day to have a Quiet Time with God, how much time should we reserve for Him? The often thought yet unspoken sentiments say, “How much time is ‘enough’ to say I did my Devotions? How long do I need to give Him? How much time should we plan on spending with God for a meaningful experience?” We will say to justify our heart’s emotion, “I have things I have to do. I do not have a lot of time just to sit still. I have kids, tasks, appointments, and obligations that are calling me.”

How is it that we willingly schedule appointments in our lives for everything that meets an emotional need in our lives? We schedule time for work because we trade our life’s hours for dollars. We schedule time for play because we sell our time for momentary happiness. We plan time for the academic institutions in our lives because we exchange time for academic credentials. We plan time for the church because we are willing to trade our time for fellowship and ministry.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 63, he sought God early in the day. He pointed to the human condition of hungering and thirsting to be with God. He speaks of how his vision, praise, and memories are affected when he spends time with God. He spoke of how his rest was directly related to his spending time with God.

When we do not spend time with God, we deplete ourselves. We deplete our peace, joy, and strength. When limiting our access to time with God, we tend to lean on our own understanding; we are filled with doubts, and we consult our own heart instead of the mind of God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When it comes to our personal time with God, we allow other things to intercept our time. We feel sorry for it, yet it happens. We want to do better with it, but we still let it happen. Why? I believe it is not about wishing, wanting, having, or making more time. It is about making a reservation in your day to meet God.

Making a reservation to meet God is about assigning a specific time to your day. It is about saying no to everything that cries out for your day. It is about saying God is the most important relationship in your life and treating Him as such. Scheduling time with God is not on His schedule. It is about your schedule. If you are going to have a meaningful time with God you must:

1. Determine your best time of day–a time when you are not distracted by the day. The Psalmist David said he sought the Lord early in the day. You know your schedule and your best time.
2. Make an appointment with God–a time not shared with anything or anyone else. Consider the appointment as exclusive access to the Creator of the universe.
3. Reserve time for reflection–a time where you process and assimilate what you read. It is not enough to accomplish a chapter reading or time spent reading without reflection. Reflection implies there is a certain glow or image that the Word of God casts on us. If I do not take time for reflection on my reading, I am just checking off a box on my things to do list.
4. Reserve time to listen–the Bible is God’s letter to us. Read to hear the voice of the Author. Learn to understand the tone of His voice. Learn to listen to the message of the words. Jesus said that His sheep know, hear, and follow His voice. Your time with the Lord is about listening. God’s Word is the answer to every human need. Read not to accomplish book or chapter count. Read and listen.
5. Reserve time to speak with Him–at the end of your reservation with Him, share with Him your heart’s difficulties and desires. He calls us to come to Him when we are weak; He urges us to pour out our hearts to Him.

Right now, look at tomorrow’s schedule. What is more important than meeting God? Now, make a reservation with yourself to have time alone with God. Yes, a reservation.

How much time will you need? Schedule ten minutes where you will shut the world out and sit with God and listen to Him. You may have to go outside. You may need to sit in your car. You may need to close a door. Do what it takes to make a reservation to meet Him.

1. Read one passage of Scripture. Start with a Psalm; look for His reflection in that passage.
2. As you read the verses, remember you may need to read it several times to hear His voice and get a sense of the message of His words.
3. Pause in prayerful reflection and say, “God, this is what I hear in your passage. Is there more you want me to see, learn, or know?”

Reserving ten minutes with God will change your day, your heart, and your outlook. Then in the following weeks, as you are comfortable doing so, increase the time you reserve with Him to fifteen minutes each day. There is not a Biblical standard for minutes spent with Him. I am suggesting a ten-minute reservation with God to get you started.

You will not want to miss what He has planned for you tomorrow in His Word. It will change your life.
Meet Him early. Meet Him often. Meet Him regularly. There is no substitute with your daily reservation with God.

If these thoughts have been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. O’Malley here to let him know. If you’d like to purchase the entire Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles book in PDF, Kindle, or iBooks format, click here.

For the next few months, Bro. John O’Malley will be sharing with us from his book, Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles. We know that everyone can use some encouragement to stay in the Word of God on a daily basis, and we hope these articles will be a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord.

The Obstacle of Comparison

I feel inadequate, overwhelmed, or guilty when I hear others speak of a beautiful time of Devotions and I compare my Devotions to theirs.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed, guilty, or inadequate about your devotional life? You know the feeling.

You look at these picture perfect people with a mystical aura about them. You see their Instagram accounts and wonder why your Devotions do not have their glamour. Their social media accounts have photos with the perfect compositions. They place their coffee cup just right, a pen is near their notebook and set at the perfect angle. Their Bible is open to the right passage and marked with the appropriate highlighter. They have a hashtag that is perfect. They choose the perfect photo filter to make it look spiritual.

You look up from your screen and glance around your home. You see the ever-growing-and-always-insurmountable Mount Laundry on the couch. You see a pile of dishes that are unwashed from yesterday’s lunch. You look at your child and realize he or she did not change their clothes from yesterday; then again, neither did you. You look again at your friend’s social media account and then look at your life. You feel guilty and overwhelmed. You feel like quitting because you can never match up to their picture-perfect devotional life.

Perhaps your life is similar to the one described above. Maybe you know it too well. You see the social media accounts of these picture-perfect people and wonder where do they live? Do they live in a spiritual bubble while you are stuck in a spiritual desert?

When it comes to your devotional life, you wonder…
…am I the only one who struggles with my devotional life?
…am I the only one who feels my entire prayer life is the time spent asking God to bless my bowl of Fruit Loops at breakfast?
…am I the only one who reads the inspirational quotes on Instagram and calls it devotions?

Here are some tips to help you overcome the obstacles of guilt, inadequacy, and feeling overwhelmed by the quality of your Devotions.

Tip #1: Release yourself.

You must not trap yourself when viewing devotional posts on social media, nor when hearing people speak of their spiritual lives in a way that makes you feel guilty. The posts you see, including the inspirational quotes, capture a planned moment, not a perfect life. The way you imagine the picture of someone else’s life from what they portray is unfair to you both. Life is messy–even for the believer.

The perfect people you see in a photo are not really perfect. Your fellow humans are as troubled as you are in your life. They have family problems mixed with financial problems. They have relationship issues and real struggles. We hurt ourselves when we compare ourselves to others without taking this into account.

Look at this passage:
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

There is a danger when we compare ourselves to each other. When you look at someone’s photos and quotes, you are setting the expectation and creating your guilt, inadequacy, and sense of being overwhelmed. These unrealistic expectations get us out of balance, and we end up binding ourselves to unrealistic standards.

Tip #2: Remind yourself.

When next you begin to evaluate and compare yourself to someone, remind yourself of your worth to God (1 Corinthians 6:20). Tell yourself He paid far too high a price for you to create your storm of inadequacy, which leaves you overwhelmed. Your worth to God is unparalleled and priceless. God valued your worth to Him at such a high price that the only equivalent value was the death of His Son, Jesus. He gave His Son so that you could have fellowship with Him (John 3:16).

Remind yourself of your worth to God in the roles you have in life. You have a role as a wife, husband, and/or child of your parents. No matter your role, your value to Him is unsurpassed. Your worth to God as a woman is far above rubies (Genesis 2:18; Proverbs 31:10). Your worth to God as a husband is so great that He entrusted you to guard and guide those within your care (Ephesians 5:23-25). Your worth as a teen (1 Samuel 16:11-12; Esther 2:7-11; 4:14) is not how you see yourself, or even as others see you; it is how He sees you.

Tip #3: Reset yourself.

When feeling the sense of inadequacy about yourself, when feeling guilt about your walk with God, when feeling overwhelmed because everyone but you seems to have a perfect life, stop it! Be realistic and reset your expectations from the Word of God.

We reset our phones, our computers, and our cars. We also need to do this with our lives, and at times with our relationships and responsibilities. We must do this often with our thinking.
The only way I know to reset myself is time spent in the Word of God. I have to get back to the Bible and read it to reset my expectations about my walk with God, my prayer time, and my daily reading.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42:5:
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

The Psalmist made it clear: there is no valid reason to have noisiness (disquiet) in our souls. When our minds manufacture the noisiness of guilt, inadequacy, and the feeling of being overwhelmed, we must reset our thoughts with this thought, “I must hope in God and His presence (countenance).” No one has ever accurately said God failed him or her, and you cannot say God has failed you. Noisiness in the soul is a choice of the mind. Hope is a choice you must make when disquiet invades you.

Reset the expectation of your walk with God.
What does your walk with God mean? It is your journey with the Creator of the Universe on the path of your life. Your stride, your view, and your memories will be different than someone else who reads the same passages you do. Like a parent individually teaches each child, the Holy Spirit impresses each reader in the way they need to hear and learn.

Why then would you compare your Bible journey to someone else’s Bible journey? You will have a different stride, a different view, and a different experience than someone else. You must reset your thinking about comparing your devotional life with anyone else. You must begin to ask, “God, am I meeting Your expectations in my walk with You?”

Reset the expectations about the time you pray.
Pressing the Spiritual Reset Button on prayer helps you determine what level of prayer life you should have. Resist comparison between another’s pride or pity. Neither emotion is an accurate metric to assess whether you pray enough or if you pray as long or just like someone else. Do you recall what occurred in the temple in Luke 18:9-14? The Pharisee and the Publican both prayed to God, but their hearts were different. What is your heart filled with when you pray?

When you choose to press the Spiritual Reset Button, your prayer life changes, ending the childish comparison with others. Prayer is talking to God about what is in your heart and listening to Him speak through His Word. Do not complicate prayer. Do not compare your prayer time with another. Doing so cheapens your intimate conversations with God and diminishes you.

Reset the expectations about your Bible reading.
What does life look like after you press the Spiritual Reset Button? Let your Bible reading be more about what you retain and live out versus how much you read and left out of your life. I recommend you start with quality over quantity. If you are using a devotional book, take the passage for the day and read it. Read it slowly and deliberately. Read it aloud, perhaps even listen to it being read with an audio Bible. Now, read the day’s reading of inspiration or instruction. Did the passage from the Bible or the day’s reading resonate with you? Is there an area of your life you need to make it apply?

If you are prone to comparing your Bible reading and devotional reading time with someone, stop it. It is not healthy for your spiritual life. It will leave you overwhelmed, guilty, and feeling less than adequate.

Tip #4: Fill out a 3×5 card and carry it with you.
Fill out this card as instructed below. Put it in your wallet, save it on your phone or tablet, put it in your purse so you can pull it out and review it when you feel the emotions of inadequacy, guilt, and being overwhelmed when you have reverted to comparisons.

1. Write this statement across the top of the card. Write this verse below it.
Statement: I will not compare myself to others in any area of my life. It is not wise.
Verse: “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12).

2. Turn the card over and write this statement across the top and this verse below it.
Statement: I will choose hope and praise over the noisiness of my emotions. Any other choice will frustrate me.
Verse: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance” (Psalm 42:5).

My goal is to give you a tool to overcome the Obstacle of Comparison. You know the feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and being overwhelmed when you compare yourself to the spirituality of others. When you get stuck, review these four tips.

If these thoughts have been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. O’Malley here to let him know. If you’d like to purchase the entire Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles book in PDF, Kindle, or iBooks format, click here.

Pastor Mike Renfrow (Trinity Baptist Church in Wilson, NC) shared this devotional in a recent weekly deputation meeting. We pray that it can encourage our entire missions family.

2 Corinthians. 4:1-18 “Therefore we have this ministry as we have received mercy.”

Paul said they weren’t going give up, let up, shut up, or slack off. The Bible has much to say about the matter of fainting.

Luke 18:1 “Men ought always to pray…”
Galatians 6:9 “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”

Paul suffered a lot of opposition, yet he stayed faithful to the task.

Five Things That Motivated Paul:

1. He was entrusted with a ministry and with a message. 2 Cor. 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers, not of the letter but of the Spirit.” Paul realized he had been entrusted with a great task. 2 Cor. 4:5 “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Paul realized his responsibility and accountability to God.
2. Truth needs to be expounded and error needs to be exposed. 2 Cor. 4:2 “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul realized the need for this. If we faint, truth won’t be expounded and error will prevail.
3. Every man is a sinner and needs a Savior. Every man needs to be evangelized. 2 Cor. 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” Paul said I’m not going to faint because sinners need to be evangelized.
4. He realized his enablement came from God and not from himself. 2 Cor. 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” His strength came only from God. Our enablement is not from ourselves. That is an encouragement.
5. His focus was not upon the material but upon the eternal. 2 Cor. 3:16-18 “For which cause we faint not…yet the inward man is…look not at the things which are seen…” Paul knew that this world was not his home. He was focused upon eternity.

Paul kept on keeping on for the Lord. We may have setbacks along the way, but we can stand up, speak up, and look up-keeping on for the Lord. As we keep these things in mind, we can be encouraged and motivated in the ministry.

Audio for this devotional can be found here.

For the next few months, Bro. John O’Malley will be sharing with us from his book, Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles. We know that everyone can use some encouragement to stay in the Word of God on a daily basis, and we hope these articles will be a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord.

The Obstacle of History–I seem to miss the meaning of the passage I read. I think it is because I do not understand the background or history of the Bible.

God did not hand us His Word and say, “Here, you figure it out.” God gave us better than a Google/Wikipedia mash-up for the Bible. God gave us a Guide, Teacher, Counselor, and Adviser to go along with His Word. He dwells within the heart of the child of God. You may say, “I know the Holy Spirit lives within me, but I want to ask questions and get answers, immediately.”

Having a Quiet Time with God should not leave you feeling dumb when you cannot get the sense of the passage because you do not know the history or background. The Bible is not intended to make you feel inadequate because you do not have a post-graduate degree in ancient culture, language, and history. It is possible to know the history or background of the Bible.

Consider this, the One who exhaled the Scriptures into those who held a pen for God also sent you the Holy Spirit to teach you. That means you can ask the Resident Guide who lives within you. Each time you read the Bible, you are stepping into a family event. You need someone to whisper in your ear about what has happened before this event and what is going on now in light of past events. If the One, who inspired the Word of God, lives within you, you will always have a Counselor.

Agreeing to the truth that the Holy Spirit lives within you, how do you get the answers from Him? For me, it begins with prayer. Let me tell you what I say. “God, I know there are things here I am not getting. I need your Holy Spirit to teach me this. Please guide me.”

Sometimes, my answer has come shortly after that as I continued to read the verses before it and after it. I have also had my answers come months later when I read the verse again. Other times, I will read a similar thought in another passage and realize that is what the passage I got stuck on meant.

Your premise, when you begin any study of a passage, should be that the Bible is God’s Word and is the answer to every human need; it is inerrant and infallible. Remember, the passage is about real people in a real place with real needs. You know as a fact that there is something in this passage God included for you to know. (The Bible is very personal that way.) God did not put random words in the passage to confuse me. He put it there to help me. I believe God has enabled believers in every generation to explain the sense of a text. (See Nehemiah 8:8).

What should you do to overcome the feeling that you do not understand the background and history of a passage?

1. Pray: “God, I know there are things here I am not understanding. I need your Holy Spirit to teach me this. Please guide me.”
2. Pick a resource: It can be online, digital eBook, or bound.
3. Ask your pastor or Sunday School teacher: “Is there something in the background of this passage that would help me understand this section?”
You can know the background and history of a passage. I refuse to let an obstacle get in the way of me understanding what God wants me to know.

Tip #1: Remember the culture.
Culture is the system of beliefs, values, and ideas of a people in a certain time period. When you read the Bible, there was a definite culture. It is not a Western culture; it is an Eastern culture. The values of Western culture see things from a right and wrong perspective. Eastern culture will often times see things through a prism of what brings shame and what restores honor. When you read the Old Testament, you have to understand that your way of thinking cannot be projected onto their way of thinking. Furthermore, the culture of Heaven and the mind of God far outstrips any of our understanding. God and His Word are transcultural. You will be able to understand what is happening when you enter the cultural mindset of the people about whom you are reading.

Tip #2: Remember the context.
Learn to read the Bible by paragraph not just the numbered verses. This is critical in understanding the verses you are reading. You will become frustrated quickly if you isolate a verse from its context and try to bend it to what you want it to say or not say. If you ignore the context, you will miss the meaning and teaching. Reading the Bible by paragraph helps correct this. Get a good Bible that marks the paragraphs clearly or is printed in paragraphs. I always encourage people to read it grammatically or like they would read a book. If the numbers are getting in the way, get a Bible that does not have them, so that when you read Paul’s letters, they read like real letters!

Tip #3: Remember the conflicts.
The sin nature of man is in conflict with the righteousness of God. You will find man’s will takes him beyond the will and righteousness of God. Many of the accounts in Scripture describe when man’s will dominates and God brings man to a place of correction and contrition. Contrition is a Bible word that gives the sense of being crushed or humbled. God values when our hearts and spirits are contrite. When you read a passage and the culture is so different and the context is not easily grasped, remember that man’s will and desire is selfish. God will correct those who are wrong. He will forgive and restore those who confess their sin. Remember, before you boast that you might be better than another, you are a sinner saved by grace like those in the passage you are studying. Stay close to Him. Keep your heart and spirit contrite.

Tip #4: Remember your Companion.
Just before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples that He would leave them, but He would not leave them comfortless. He would send them a Comforter (John 14:16). One of the Comforter’s tasks is to bring all things to our remembrance. He dwells within us and guides us to truth. When I am stuck on a verse or passage of Scripture, I pray. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to see or recall what I am not seeing. There have been times I have been stuck on a passage of Scripture for more than a year. Then one day I am reading in another section, and the Holy Spirit brings to mind what I was stuck on and shows me the connection. It is a wonderful thing to have the Holy Spirit turn the lights on in your mind.

My goal is to give you a tool to overcome the Obstacle of History, the feeling like you miss the meaning because you do not understand the background or history of the Bible. When you get stuck, review these four tips.

If these thoughts have been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. O’Malley here to let him know. If you’d like to purchase the entire Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles book in PDF, Kindle, or iBooks format, click here.

For the next few months, Bro. John O’Malley will be sharing with us from his book, Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles. We know that everyone can use some encouragement to stay in the Word of God on a daily basis, and we hope these articles will be a blessing to you in your walk with the Lord.

Our hearts and minds are bombarded with thousands of messages each day. These messages come from our technology, our work, our children, our academic institutions, our churches, our medical professionals, and our spouse. Those messages are just from the relationships in our lives.

Then we get to the advertisers who spend millions of dollars each year to get us to remember the name of their product when that particular need arises in our lives. We look at our televisions; then we listen to the radio and podcasts. Everyone has a message for us to recall.

The messages that find us each day are not always wrong. Sometimes the words we read bring good news, and other times messages we read do not bring good news. These inbound messages seem to assault us the moment we wake up in the morning until we are lying in bed in the glow of our phones. In a world filled with messages from technology, relationships, and society’s advertisers, what makes those slogans, jingles, and images stick in our mind?

Why is it we go to church and by the time we get to the meal after service, we cannot remember the sermon or even think of the Small Group, Bible Study, or Sunday School lesson? Why is it we can remember the jingle from a fast-food restaurant from two decades ago, but we cannot remember what the Lord showed us that day in His Word?

This devotional obstacle of distraction is common, real, and embarrassing. How do I have meaningful and memorable Devotions when I so easily lose interest or am so easily distracted?

Tip #1: Create an environment of solitude.
You need to create the environment where you can hear God’s Word and listen to His leading.

Tip #2: Choose one or two verses from that day’s Bible reading on which you will mediate.
When I need to work on keeping interest and focus, I settle on one or two verses. I then take advantage of the Bible study methods in the resource section and begin to work through that passage. Take a 3×5 card and write the verse on the card. Write it neatly and deliberately, and add the punctuation marks. Meditate as you write the words.

Tip #3: Write down three thoughts about the passage.

• Take the same 3×5 card and turn it over. Write down these three words: Inspires. Instructs. Includes.
• Look at the verse you wrote. What inspires you in this passage?
• What precept or principle is mentioned in this verse that teaches or is an instruction for you?
• Read the verse aloud and listen to how your name could be included in the place of the names or pronouns mentioned in the verse. Now, write one sentence beside the word Includes: You could start it with “This verse includes me because…” or “I am included in this verse because…”

If these thoughts have been an encouragement to you, you can email Bro. O’Malley here to let him know. If you’d like to purchase the entire Overcoming Your Devotional Obstacles book in PDF, Kindle, or iBooks format, click here.

“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)

Have you ever thought of what it would be like to take Stephen’s place and experience the last few hours of his life? For many of us that would be rather disturbing.

Stephen himself probably had little opportunity to ponder why this was happening to him. The events unfolded too rapidly. He was accosted by a group of hateful men with a pre-established agenda and was in up to his ears before he knew it.

On the negative side, here are a couple of the things we could mention. First, he experienced the pain of a violent death (although it almost seems like the grace of God so powerfully flooded his body that he was impervious to the beating). And second, he missed the spectacular expansion of the Gospel from Jerusalem on out into the world.

However, when we switch over to a different perspective, the scene doesn’t seem quite as ugly.

Even as he felt the rocks hit, he was seeing the One who gave it all meaning. Jesus, the Lord, the Origin of life itself, was making eye contact with him! Apparently, a few saints down through history have been granted a similar privilege.

But most are called to die by faith.

And then, as he slipped into the presence of the Holy One, he instantly gained a vantage point from which to watch the rest of the story from the first row of Heaven’s balcony. Wow!

Furthermore, even as the rocks go still and the martyr’s body stops breathing, the Holy Spirit turns our attention to a different man. This surprising shift of focus is designed to remind us all of a wonderful and comforting truth, one that is just as true today as it was in Acts 7.

God is always doing more than we think He is.

Again, He is ALWAYS doing more than we think He is!

And He loves to surprise.

Nobody was paying too much attention to the young man who watched the clothes. Surely Stephen hadn’t noticed him–he was looking up at the right hand of God. The eyes of the violent religious men were looking for stones and taking aim. If there were Christians nearby, they were focused on Stephen and praying for help. Saul himself was observing, with a smug sense of satisfaction, the permanent silencing of an extremely vocal and powerful opponent.

Little did anyone know, but a pair of heavenly eyes were looking down at the young zealot. There may even have been the hint of a divine smile.

Saul would soon be changing his name.

But back to Stephen…

Sometimes God takes away loved ones suddenly and without explanation. The shock and loss are excruciating and there is no avoiding the pain, or explaining it away. But God doesn’t ask us to do that. Instead, He addresses the perplexing topic in a subtle but undeniable way.

Notice how He strategically sprinkled throughout the Bible certain stories, each with their silent and anonymous sufferers. These all experienced the torture of tragic surprises, and they may not have immediately been given a measure of understanding.

Think of Abel’s mother, Eve. Think of Naboth’s wife. Think of Uriah’s siblings. Think of John the Baptist’s friends… and there are others.

Each of these deaths brought piercing pain to those closest to them. Undoubtedly, tears were shed, questions were asked, and hearts were stunned.

But what occurred to them happens all around us today. Indeed, they are part of the same family, the family of godly Christians who die or suffer in what appears to be random, meaningless, and painful ways. Surely as you read these words a name or names come to your mind.

The message from God, in the example of Stephen, seems to encourage us to remember a few things. First, every Christian life is a tiny part of a very large picture. The picture is not only huge, but it is eternal. Second, God is always doing more than we think. Stephen leaves the stage at exactly the right moment for Saul to make his entrance. At the time, neither one understood the significance of the other.

But the Lord did.

He is the Author of the grand story of grace, the story that spans every continent and every age. It is the story that links every believer and the details of his life directly to the Cross. No death is insignificant, no matter how short or unknown or unappreciated it was by other people.

This truth makes it all worth it and can give comfort when we or loved ones are hit with unexplainable hurt.

Dear Father, how important to keep in mind Your view, the real one, and to know You guide every single event towards Your glorious purpose. Please use these words to encourage someone who is hurting. Amen.

By Stephanie Germano

Matthew 9:36 says “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” In this verse we see the depth of Jesus’ love for us and His desire for “all to come to repentance.” Oh that we may see the lost through the eyes of the Lord.

On October 28th, 2015, we got on a plane and took a one way flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We were amazed how God provided every need! Within our first week, He had provided us with a car, a place to live, and many people who were so kind to help us get settled. Not long after we had moved in, I had noticed something that I had overlooked during all the busyness of the move. There were thick bars in every window for security. It seemed odd to me, and sadly it really took away from the beautiful view outside. As time went by, however, the initial excitement of being in a new place began to fade. Soon, reality began to set in. The new culture and its differences became more defined. The inability to communicate with others began to feel isolating. Keeping house and home has always been something I have enjoyed, but all of a sudden those bars in the windows began to feel confining. They began to represent something more, reminding me of the homesickness that was growing each day and the changes to which I was trying adapt. Every time, however, where there was discouragement, God would replace it with His sweet joy! We could feel Him helping all of us adapt in every way.

One morning toward the end of June, I woke up with what I thought to be bad case of pink eye. Later, we were told by the doctor that I had somehow contracted salmonella in my right eye. The infection left a thick scar over my cornea. Though it was a scary few months, God replaced fear with His sweet peace. I have felt the prayers of God’s people as I have had the privilege to literally watch the Lord heal my eye! Over just a few months’ time, the Lord has restored my sight close to what it was before the infection!

Not too long ago as I was watering the flowers, I looked out over our neighborhood. Now many of the faces we see each day have not just a name, but a story. At times you can see some of the students from the school around the corner crossing the street. Many of them do not know Jesus as their Savior and desperately need Him to change their lives. There is a lady across the street, who cooks at park to provide for her two precious daughters. Oh what the Lord could do in her life if she would just place her trust in Him. I watched the men who deliver the weekly water jug orders as they zoomed in and out of the cul-de-sac on their motorcycles. What an opportunity that the Lord has given us to be a witness to them each week! As I was taking everything in, something suddenly occurred to me. For the first time I was able to look out of the window and not even notice those metal bars. Furthermore, I realized that it was not just my physical sight that the Lord was improving. God had given grace where it was needed to help me look past myself and the changes in my life that seemed, at the time, so hard to ignore. There will always be a set of challenges that we have to look past. May we as Christians always depend on God’s strength to help us do this very thing, and only then can we look through the eyes of Jesus to see the faint and weary “sheep having no shepherd.”

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. . . . But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Isaiah 43:10, Acts 1:8)

How beautifully the Holy Spirit weaves His themes in and out of Scripture, causing them to emerge in different centuries of the sacred story, each time according to His wise purpose.

The wording of Isaiah’s verse is so close to that of Acts 1:8 that there can be little question about their being close spiritual cousins. The exact details are different but the living thrust of both passages is a divine mission for every true believer in God.

We are to be His witnesses. For the people listening to the prophet, the message was to boldly display the solid case for His eternal Being. They were to show off the perfect trail of prophecy. Since forming the nation, Jehovah had sent Israel a continuous stream of fulfilled prophecies, spanning everything from international politics to personal blessings. The evidence was irrefutable.

In comparison, the argument for any idol of any nation of the world was ludicrous. Various times throughout the book, Isaiah pokes fun at the whole idea of manmade images and the utter absurdity of them being able to foretell anything.

Centuries later Doctor Luke recorded the precise last words of Christ before His ascension. Surely he knew that anyone familiar with Isaiah’s writings would quickly make the connection. The charge was pretty much the same, only here in the New Testament the grace of Jesus and the goal of worldwide evangelism were more clearly seen.

All of the redeemed were now officially called to join the witness stand. The followers of Jesus were to share the overwhelming testimony of His life and identity as Savior of the world.

However, the courtroom was not a specific building or place. It was much larger than that. It was the entire earth! Christians were to scatter to every corner of the globe to witness of the greatest truth mankind could ever know.

As back in Isaiah’s time, these godly people had a thick dossier of proofs. Miracle after miracle, fulfillment after fulfillment, many visual confirmations of His resurrection . . . all stacked up to certify Him as the One and only Messiah.

Perhaps the astonishing question for all of us should be: Why does God even stoop to give us this honor? I really don’t think we could understand the full answer.

We have no inherent right to be such royal ambassadors. We are mere clay, completely unworthy of having the divine image imprinted on our souls or being selected to represent the invisible Lord before a lost world.

But in His amazing grace, the King has chosen us to tell each generation that He was, and is, and always will be. We are living monuments of His love, and are expected to share with any soul who will listen, that He is God.

Dear Father, very often I have been silent about You, both in actions and speech. For many around me, I may be the closest one in Your family they will ever meet. Please help me hold the banner high and boldly show them that You are the true God, and that You came to die for their redemption. Amen.

“What doest thou here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9

In the initial stages of Elijah’s trek south, the Lord does not give us much of a window into his mind. Like so many events in his life, this one begins abruptly and with little explanation. In short, he receives a threat from Jezebel and hightails it out of the northern valley of Megiddo.

By the time he had stopped running, he was on the other side of the country, though he did make a few stops along the way.

First, when he arrived at the southern city of Beersheba, he got rid of his servant. We don’t know any more about his thoughts until after he had walked alone for an entire day into the desert and sat down under a rough, broom-like tree. There, presumably exhausted, he voiced some of his frustration.

“I’ve been a miserable failure,” he said to God, “just like those who’ve gone before me!”

He then promptly fell asleep until woken up by an angel who gave him water and some kind of remarkable cake. With this nourishment he received strength to walk no less than 40 days, to Mount Horeb, wherever that was.

Again he went to sleep, this time in a cave. And when he woke up, he heard the question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

And then more of his thinking surfaces.

“I have served you faithfully and all for nothing. Not only that, but I am the last prophet, and our enemies are now trying to kill me too.”

At this point, anybody reading the story for the first time should be in some kind of shock.

What in the world had happened to Elijah?

Where was the great man of faith, so strong and bold? What had happened to the one who looked like he would charge the fiery gates of evil with a squirt gun? Never before had he shown such weakness, not at least on the pages of Scripture.

But alas, the truth was bound to come out sooner or later. He too had selfish, sinful passions, and a tendency to be governed by them, like every other human being.

By working back through the scenes of his life we can figure out some of the reasons for his sour attitude. And hopefully, by paying attention and applying what we learn, we can avoid this particular phase of his life.

It appears that Elijah had conjured up some pretty over-sized expectations that set him up for a nasty and painful spiritual fall. Notice a few of them, and how easily we could have come to the same conclusions, if we had been in his sandals.

He obviously thought the Mount Carmel victory would be a definitive spiritual turning point for Israel. He was wrong. He apparently expected the opposition to suddenly melt away. And again he was wrong. He also must have thought his ministry would be appreciated by his countrymen. He was again wrong. And then he panicked, thinking Jezabel would be able to kill him.

Wrong again.

But how easy it is to criticize him from our comfortable Bible reading chairs. It seems so clear to us, doesn’t it? He should have known better! He should have used simple logic. How on earth could he possibly doubt God’s protection and provision after the crows, the brook, the widow, the bin and jar, the altar, the firebomb, the tiny cloud, etc. etc. etc…

His depression just doesn’t seem to make sense.

And that’s exactly the point.

Many times depression doesn’t make sense, except to us. Inside our little thinking bubble we can come to many erroneous expectations that seem right. But they aren’t.

We may think life is going to be more pleasant than it turns out to be. But then our job, our health, our mate, our ministry, our friends, our position, one after another come in less than what our private chart predicted.

Then some painful surprise blows into our world, the entire castle of dreams comes crashing down, and our outlook takes a nosedive.

For some reason, and against all Biblical teaching, we let our expectations become unrealistic, and God lets a dose of reality jolt us back into what life often is like on a sin cursed earth.

The unbeliever, who does not know God, or understand His ways, or grasp why anything is like it is, at least has that as an excuse. But we who know the Lord should not fall into this kind of trap.

He has lovingly warned us in the Scriptures that we can expect life to be full of challenges, often very surprising and sometimes unpleasant.

Dear Father, help me walk realistically today. May I face the battles you send by faith, without worrying about tomorrow’s, for which You have not yet offered grace. Amen.

Executive Board Member, Dr. Gene Krachenfels, travelled to Lebanon to speak in the seminary. John O’Malley asked Brother Krachenfels to share with us his experiences and testimony of what God is doing in this region.

Bible Baptist Seminary, Lebanon
July 10-15, 2016

This year’s Pastors’ Conference in Beirut, Lebanon was a tremendous meeting. Pastors and church members alike from Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Germany were in attendance for this week of preaching and teaching. “Al-hamdu lillah” (The praise is God’s) was a commonly heard phrase throughout the conference as attendees were challenged to serve the Lord in a variety of ways. With nearly 150 in attendance, Pastor Milad Khaled and Brother Edgar Feghaly did a great job coordinating this event. Setting and adjusting the speaking schedule, transporting speakers and guests to and from the conference center, interpreting each of the lectures and services, distributing teaching materials, along with a wide variety of administrative details, all came together perfectly.

The meeting’s four speakers were assigned subjects intended to encourage and instruct those present. Edgar Feghaly taught about the fallacies of the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Dr. Jerry Scheidbach (Lighthouse Baptist Church, Santa Maria, CA) addressed the importance of Prayer and Fasting, Dr. Ray Shutt (Church of the Open Door, Westminster, MD) went through a Soul-Winning and Discipleship course, and I reviewed the history and errors of Reformed Theology and Calvinism. To complete each day’s lectures, Dr. Norris Belcher (pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Westminster, MD) preached uplifting and convicting messages that were greatly used of God.

This year’s meeting for the Bible Baptist Seminary was held at the Beit El Safa Conference Center in the mountains north of Beirut. Far removed from the city, its quiet setting allowed attendees to concentrate on studying God’s Word, fellowshipping with those of like precious faith, and having their spiritual batteries recharged.

Getting to know these pastors, hearing their testimonies, and learning about their ministries was both challenging and convicting. The difficulties and dangers these men face on a daily basis are very real, yet they continue to faithfully serve the Lord. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Any believer who is living for the Lord experiences trials, difficulties, and opposition along the way, but when resistance becomes more than verbal it takes on a whole new meaning. It was a privilege to meet and to be with these dear saints, most of which we will not see again this side of glory. But what a joy to know that one day we, with all of the saints of God, will gather from lands near and far at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and worship Him Who is worthy to receive all glory and honor and power.

God is working mightily through these men and others like them as they preach the Gospel of Christ to those who are diametrically opposed to this wonderful message of salvation. Please remember to pray for them as they tirelessly labor in the Middle East in the face of the daily threat of persecution. Also continue to pray for Brother Edgar Feghaly as he works to aid these brethren in their work and to provide them with sound Biblical training that they may commit to others that which they have received.