Patient Trust Will Reap Reward
December 21, 2012
Friends,
I’ve never liked taking our pets to the vet. I dislike it because it usually seems confusing and frightening for the animal, and so, of course, that’s upsetting for me. Today I had to take Tiger (our sweet, sweet kitty we’ve had for ten years) to the local vet because yesterday I’d noticed he had a tiny puncture wound between his ear and jaw that was draining some not-so-lovely yuk.
Tiger is such a good and very, very loving cat. But today he couldn’t understand why I called him in from his peaceful, warm nap beneath the shrubs. I wanted to check his wound and wash it again with warm salt water, but being I was afraid he might wander off to a spot where I’d not find him in time for the appointment, I didn’t let him go back out. That’s when his confusion began, as being he’s a cat, he didn’t understand my explanation.
Well, his confusion worsened when I put him in the cat carrier (which he’d not been in for many years) and I closed the lid. After putting the carrier in the car and starting down the long gravel driveway, I could hear him pushing hard against the top, trying to get out. I talked to him and prayed aloud for him. I repeatedly said phrases that he was familiar with, like, “I love this boy.” But, before we’d gone just a couple of miles, he’d already started crying.
He wasn’t crying frantically, but he was still crying. I kept saying, “Tiger-honey, I’m right here.” I knew he was glad for my voice, and of course he knew I was right there, but it seemed that this didn’t help too much with his confusion and distress. I mean, if I was right there, why was I not delivering him from the small prison he was having to endure, a dark scary confining place, with only little round holes to peek out of? And furthermore, why had his best friend put him in there herself?! It made me so sad to think of his probable feelings of having been betrayed by the one he trusted most. If only he would have rested patiently, and without all the fretting!
Everything went well at the vet –Tiger received a wound-washing and an antibiotic shot, and then back in the dreaded carrier he went. On the way home, he cried some more, but how could I explain to him that the ordeal was almost over and he would be much better off for having gone through it?
So, does this episode remind us of anything? It did me, and I thought of it the whole time. “Honey, I’m right here.” Who often says that when we’re afraid or confused? God, our Shepherd says it. And when we hear His voice, we might stop crying for a minute, but then, when He doesn’t give an explanation for the predicament we find ourselves in, we just start crying again. How it must pain God’s heart! For He knows what He’s doing, why He’s allowing us to go through a painful or perplexing trial, and He knows good and reward will come of it –for us and for others– and that His purposes and Kingdom are being furthered. But how strange the sequence of events seems to us, doesn’t it?
Sometimes, if we fervently seek God’s voice and pray and petition to better understand what’s going on, God may reveal to us some of what He’s doing. But just as a cat would find our explanations hard to comprehend, we are no more capable of understanding all God’s reasons and ways. Nor is it our business to understand all that He is doing, especially in the lives of others, even though He may be using us. We are God’s tools, to be used at His will, and we don’t need to understand, but only trust His judgement and goodness. Isn’t this what we want from our young children and our pets? Would a rebellious servant, a servant who demands answers and full knowledge, be a delight to his King? Would he really even be of any use? Yet how sad that many of God’s servants cannot obey Him immediately, eagerly, and in full and compliant trust.
Certainly some servants have learned to trust God fully, patiently, and continually, no matter what He brings or allows them to go through. May we be of this group, and thereby bring delight, not grief, to our Care-taker, He who is all-kind, and who knows all things.
Tonight, even though there’s a warm fire glowing in the fireplace by which he usually likes to lay as I type nearby, Tiger is choosing to remain outside. Thoughts of confinement are still fresh in his mind, I’m sure, so I’ll give him time to get over it. But, how like humans this is as well. For often, when God puts someone through a trial or test, so as to bring about ultimate good, the person, in anger and fear and distrust, turns his back on God, and refuses to come near to Him again. If only such people could understand how unwise and ignorant such attitudes and actions are. And that their lack of trust and patience is forfeiting for them the huge blessing and glorious inheritance which God has been trying to prepare them for.
How sad such things must be to God –He who died to save us, He who moves mountains on our behalf, and He whose heart is compassionate toward all He has made.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
Trust & Remain = Rest & Joy
December 20, 2012
Friends,
God’s Word continually tells us not to fear. Why should we? We belong to the Lord and He is therefore watching out for us, providing for and protecting us, because He cares for us. The reason people fear is because they are stepping out away from Him, and this they do because they are forgetting to stay clothed in their Great Shield, or because they are doubting His goodness, His promises, and His Word, or because they have latched their heart to an idol and prefer to fellowship with it instead of with the Lord.
However, for those who dwell in Christ (John 15:1-5) and His love (v. 9,10) –which comes through obedience to Him (same verse)– we dwell in complete joy (v. 11) and thus in rest. (Heb. 4:3a,9) We do so because we trust –meaning we have a faith that is made whole and complete by our obedience. (3:6-4:11 // James 2:14-26) And from that trust, we obey even when we don’t understand what He is doing, or why He is asking certain things of us. We look to Him in His Word, listening to His Spirit’s voice there, and then we get up and put into practice what we’ve been taught.
Sadly, most people, though they may choose to go to church, or to even study God’s Word, do so as if as a duty and so that they can say they are preforming these duties. But this is not what makes a person abide in Christ and remain in His love. Only eager obedience to that which one hears will keep a person dwelling in Christ and He in them. (John 15:10 // 1 John 3:24) Yet is this happening much in the hearts, minds, and lives of most “Christians”? We know very well that it’s not.
If someone cannot obey Christ, keeps falling back into sin, and keeps claiming that he “can’t help but sin”, then what is the problem? Obviously, he does not have the power of the Spirit of God who is All-powerful over everything, including sin. He is not “participating in the divine nature” (see 2 Peter 1:4) because he is not appropriating God’s “great and precious promises”. (Same verse) This means he is not living in Christ (1 John 3:6), nor is God’s holy nature active in him. (v. 9) This certainly does mean that this “sinning Christian” does not belong to Christ at all, but instead belongs to the devil. (v. 8,10 // Rom. 8:9) A “sinning Christian” is an oxymoron, and those who believe such a person exists need to wake up to the fact that they are holding to a false and damning theology.
Let none of us be deceived: The allowance of sin in our lives begins with the allowance of doubt in our minds. We begin to disbelieve what God has said, and just as the serpent deceived Eve, so are false teachers dishing out the same trick (2 Cor. 11:3,4,13-15) so as to “lead people’s minds astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (See v. 3) It is not the true Holy Spirit, but instead a counterfeit spirit (v. 4), who teaches falsehoods (1 John 2:26,27 & 4:1), such as that God is soft on sin (2 Peter 2:18 // Jude 1:4) or that to live out the exact Truth is not necessary. (1 Tim. 4:1,2,16 // 2 John 1:4,9-11)
To sin is the opposite of loving. (Gal. 5:6b,14 // 1 John 5:2,3) It is to reject giving true love toward God and man (1 John 4:7-21) which is the cause of remaining in the realm of spiritual death. (3:14) Without love ruling, we are ruled by the evil realm. One of the best tactics the evil realm uses to control people is to cause them to fear, and this, so that they cannot be perfected in love. (4:18) Thus all the alarm –dished out by the evil realm– over every type of thing, including (and in spite of what Jesus says in Acts 1:7) all the weird ideas about how and when the world is to end.
If anything causes us fear, except what God’s Word tells us to fear, which is to have a reverential fear of Him who is Judge (Luke 12:4,5), then we are not dwelling in trust toward God. Without trust, we will be restless, afraid, depressed, anxious, fretful, and even panic-striken. Our self-control will evaporate, and we will spiral down into more and more sin.
But what is the alternative? It is to trust God, remain in His love, and abide in rest and joy.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
The Search That Leads To Despair
December 19, 2012
Friends,
While witnessing at the bus stops two days ago, there was one man I met who, though he was a soft-spoken sort, even largely agreeable, was nevertheless trying to convince me that getting to know oneself is a pursuit we all should be undertaking. I asked him why we would want to bother with such a thing if Jesus commanded His followers to deny Self. (Luke 9:23) This guy looked a bit puzzled at that, so I next quoted Gal. 2:20 and then asked him why we’d pursue self-knowledge when the apostle Paul taught that we, as believers, have crucified Self, and that it is actually no longer Self that lives in us, but Christ instead.
It’s the world that teaches people to pursue knowing oneself. God’s Word, on the other hand, teaches us to pursue knowing God; and to do so through Christ Jesus, through the Word of God, through the Spirit, and through obedience to the Truth. (John 1:1,14,18 & 3:5 & 4:24 & 14:6,17 & 17:17 // 1 John 2:3)
However, people would much rather pursue knowing themselves than knowing God. For to pursue knowing oneself is to serve oneself, cater to oneself, adore oneself, give to oneself, protect oneself, and even worship oneself (and to learn the best ways to do all of the above). But to pursue God is to give attention, service, delight, adoration, and worship to Him instead. And if it’s done genuinely, then Self is knocked off the throne in the process –and is kept knocked off, never to be given authority again. It is, in fact, kept slain and gone, and never invited back. (Rom. 6:6 // 2 Cor. 5:17) This is reality for the true Christian.
We are to put on Christ Jesus and remain clothed in Him, and in Him. (Rom. 13:14 // Gal. 3:27) We are to keep our eyes on Him (Col. 3:1,2 // Heb. 12:2), on the pursuit of knowing Him (Phil. 3:7-11), and forget the past. (v. 13) We are to run the race God has marked out for us (v. 12,14 // Heb. 12:1), and we are to rejoice in hardships (1 Peter 4:12-14), knowing that any affliction here on earth is not worthy of being compared to our eternal and glorious rewards. (Rom. 8:18 // 2 Cor. 4:17) We are to continually offer up to God worshipful and grateful praises (Heb. 13:15), fully convinced of victory as we walk in His will and power (Luke 10:18,19 // 1 John 5:18), and refusing to fret about anything (Phil. 4:6), knowing that it leads to increasing evil. (Ps. 37:7,8)
But a Christian can’t do any of that if he is focused on gaining knowledge of himself –asking himself how he feels, what ails his soul, what confusion he’s undergoing, who is hurting him right now, what his “felt needs” are, what repressed memories are haunting him (and who he should blame for it), what sins he can’t let go of (and what other person he can blame for that), and what excuses he can give to not pray, intercede, spread the Gospel, or meditate on God’s Word.
But where does such a pursuit lead? It leads to sorrow. For trying to know oneself is not only a never-ending quest, but being it’s the road of selfishness, it leads only to the abode of despair.
Why would a “Christian” prioritize knowing Self above knowing God? Because he doesn’t really believe God, that’s why. He doesn’t really believe what God says in His Word. Such a person is not a true, genuine believer, for he believes only intellectually, as the demons do (Mark 1:23,24 // James 2:19), but not in faith and trust and obedience.
There is a lot of “Self-knowledge” being taught and promoted. But that is not what God tells us to seek to know. God tells us to seek Him, His ways, His Kingdom, His Truth. And He has already told us where to find this. It’s not in therapy, nor in some book or church or method written or erected or invented by men. The knowledge of God is found in His Word.
But there is where people trip, or choke, or get angry. For such an answer seems too simplistic for them. For them, God’s Word is not enough, not adequate. So, in going to the world, or to false Christians, for answers, they’re pointed to that which is the most popular god right now: The god of Self.
With such a pathetic god, no wonder so many people are popping anti-depressants. Let us, though, proclaim the Truth: That by being in Christ, we really have been forever set free from the god of Self. That is, if we truly believe God’s Word, and are genuinely pursuing the knowledge of Him.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
My Dad’s Email To President Aquino
December 18, 2012
Friends,
The issue with APECO trying to take over the Agta’s land is far from settled. Below is the email which my dad wrote and sent to President Aquino two days ago. For those who are concerned, it is extremely informative, and leaves no question as to who the land belongs to.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
P.S. I added the photos at the end, the captions under each.
~~~~~
How long have the Agta people lived on the San Ildefonso Peninsula
in northern Aurora, Philippines?
By Thomas N. Headland, December 15, 2012
To His Excellency Benigno Aquino III, Malacanang Palace, Manila, Philippines
Your Excellency,
My wife and I lived as invited guests in your beautiful nation for the past half century with the Agta people on the San Ildefonso Peninsula in Casiguran, in northern Aurora. We worked under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the Philippine Department of Education to bring bilingual education to the Agta people. Our three children were all born in the Philippines and grew up living with the Agta. I write in concern for the growing tension between the land needs of the Apeco Corporation and the ancestral land rights of the indigenous people in Casiguran.
I respect the hopes of Apeco to work to bring more jobs and industry to northern Aurora and specifically to the Casiguran municipal area; especially if this can improve the livelihood of everyone in this area of your Nation. However, there are presently on the San Ildefonso Peninsula 286 Agta, 2,345 non-Agta farmers and fisherfolk, and 262 people in mixed-blood households. I plead with the government of the Philippines, and with Apeco leaders, to conduct their industrial project only with the full free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of these 2,893 people. They or their grandparents have lived on the Peninsula since the early 20th century.
In the past two years, certain outsiders, wanting to take over the ancestral domain of the Agta have spread reports that the Agta are squatters in the area, and should be moved away to make way for an industrial seaport. I am writing this to explain the legal and historical reasons why the Agta have rights as legitimate Indigenous People (IP) to their ancestral domain; why the government should protect the Agta from any illegal takeover of their lands:
Four Documents Giving the Agta Legal Rights to Their Ancestral Lands:
(1a) Republic Act 8371, also called the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Acts (IPRA), passed by the Philippine government in 1997. This is also known as the Ancestral Domain Law. See my statement on IPRA at: www.sil.org/silewp/1999/004/silewp1999-004.html#Anthro_ref. This strict Philippine IPRA Law precludes any legal way for Apeco to take over the San Ildefonso Peninsula for their own proposed multinational industrial ecozone.
(2a) The United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This Declaration was passed by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007. It was signed by 143 nations, including the Philippines. This UN document proposes protections for the human rights of native peoples, for their land and resources! For example,
· Article 10 of the Declaration says, “Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation.”
· Article 32 (2) says, “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.”
(3a) Governor General Proclamation No. 723. This Proclamation was passed on August 21, 1934, and signed and sealed by Governor General Frank Murphy. It declared “for the exclusive use of the [Agta] non-Christians” the 1.53 square-kilometer Agta reservation at Calabgan, Casiguran, established in 1914, and then cleared and cultivated by the Agta for many years. It defines in detail the exact borders of that reservation, from which the Agta were twice displaced by outsiders in later years.
(4a) Presidential Proclamation No. 467. This Proclamation was passed in 1939, signed by President Manuel L. Quezon on October 9. It formally reserved an area of 62.69 hectares for the exclusive use of the non-Christian Agta, at Kasapsapan Bay on the northeast edge of the San Ildefonso Peninsula. Details of the conflict that forced the Agta’s displacement from both of this land and Calabgan (#3 above), both on their own ancestral domain, are described online in the article titled “Agta Human Rights Violations.”
Six Historical Reasons Why the Peninsula Is the Ancestral Domain of the Agta:
(1b) The Agta Dumagat Negritos are the aborigines of the Philippines, descendants of the earliest humans to have entered the Philippine islands at least 30,000 years ago. The first non-Negrito Malayo-Polynesian people—the ancestors of almost all Filipinos today—entered the Philippines only 4,500 years ago.
(2b) Scholars agree that the Agta have lived on the 109 km2Peninsula from time immemorial, since before the time of Christ. The geographical names of most of the rivers in the area are indigenous words in the Agta language. This is evidence that the Agta people were there long before the first non-Negrito Filipinos began settling in the Casiguran area.
(3b) The non-Agta people, mostly Tagalogs, settled in the Casiguran area only a few hundred years ago. The first town in northern Aurora, Casiguran, was founded in 1609. This town—which is not on the Peninsula—was composed of non-Agta Filipino farmers. By this time Agta family groups had been living on the Peninsula for thousands of years.
(4b) The first non-Agta settler to homestead on the upper Peninsula was Andres Corbadura in 1888; the second family was in 1895, followed by twelve more families in the 1910s. At the end of the Japanese occupation in 1946, there were 270 non-Agta farmers living on the Peninsula along with an equal number of Agta. There were no non-Agta people living on the lower half of the Peninsula until the 1940s. Although the Agta were there long before, the land rights of these non-Negrito people should also be honored.
(5b) There are three sets of photographs taken of Agta living on the Peninsula around a century ago, the first in 1872 by AB Meyer, and the two other photo-sets taken in the 1920s by Lt. G Goddard, and in 1936 by Fa. M. Vanoverbergh. These photos provide proof that the Agta today are not “squatters,” but were well established there over a hundred years ago. (See the attached appendix of data sources for references to these documents.)
(6b) During their years living with the Agta, the Headland family charted many maps of Agta village groups and Agta agricultural fields, some cultivated a hundred years ago on the Peninsula. These carefully measured maps showing their exact sizes and locations are published in Headland’s doctoral thesis, Why Foragers Do Not Become Farmers, with names of the Agta owners of each field. This book is available at the SIL library in Quezon City.
In this year of congressional debate over the land rights of the Agta, may I make a plea to you, Mr. President, on behalf of the Agta people? I probably know the history of northern Aurora better than any living person. I have reviewed above the legal and historical reasons why your government will want to protect the ancestral domain of your IP Negritos peoples in northern Aurora. I humbly submit my letter to you in the hopes that it may help both Apeco and your congress to grasp the impending crisis facing today the Agta and farmers and fisherfolk. This crisis will most surely occur for the poorest of the poor in Casiguran if this Apeco project is not conducted very carefully and with due respect for the local Agta IPs and the non-Agta farmers. May God bless and guide you, Sir, as you help the Filipino people to avoid making the same cruel mistakes that my white ancestors in America made in their mistreatment of American Indians in the nineteenth century.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas N. Headland, Ph.D.
Dallas, Texas, USA
WebPage: www.sil.org/~headlandt
Tom by Agta house, 2004.
Hiking home, my mom in front, me (Rachel) being carried by Kekek, 1966
Bonding and me (Rachel) on our porch, 1966
My mom washing dishes in a basin, 1962.
My parents, my brother, and me (Rachel) in an outrigger canoe, early 1967
Me (Rachel) with Agta in our house, Spring, 1967
Gahang holding Rachel, Tom holding Noler, 1964
My mom, with her best friend (Pompoek), my sister (Jenny), and Erminya, 1972
Pompoek and her grandson, and Rachel, 1984
Stop The Death Toll God’s Way
December 17, 2012
Friends,
My mom and I were at the downtown train and bus stops today having a wonderful time reminding people about God’s Great Message of Freedom. Almost everyone was so open to hearing us and receiving the reminders we were handing out. My mom had 244 Christmas treat bags she’d worked hard on, as she does every holiday, and I was giving out a short message I’d written, along with small calendars for 2013 that have verses on the back.
We always walk around separately while down there, but both of us had very good conversations with many people. We found that people seemed extra agreeable concerning the world’s need to repent and get into fellowships with the Lord, and we decided the agreeableness may be because of the “close-to-home” violence everyone is seeing on the news regarding the shooting of the Connecticut school children.
One guy I spoke with is a church youth leader, and he seemed to really love God’s Word and ways. He had some good insights and brought up the recent shootings, but was wondering why most people don’t act upset about the atrocities going on daily –all those that do not get in the news. I told him that I’ve been wondering the same thing. What about weeping for all the souls who are dying daily and stepping into eternity without having known the Truth? Do people really care about others, even children, if they are not going out to the highways and byways where Jesus commanded us to go and compelling them to repent, believe the Good News, turn their backs on sin, self, and the world, and follow Christ with a whole and committed heart? It seems that if people truly and selflessly cared about kids, they would, wherever and whenever they got the chance, tell parents to get right with God. Because if people genuinely and deeply cared about the suffering or fate of children, then they would actually put action to their words by being kind and caring and self-sacrificing, the world would thus become a better place, and we wouldn’t be raising so many maniacs.
There are multitudes of people on the streets in a bustling city. So, anyone who says they care should stand downtown in their city and take a good look around. There are often thousands of young parents down there –riding the bus to and from work, doing some kind of business (either legitimate or illegal), going shopping or to lunch, site-seeing, or whatever. If we really have love in our hearts for others, then we’re going to be out, somewhere in society, helping, helping, helping, being part of the solution, not being part of the problem. It does get wearisome having to listen to people opine about society’s problems and immorality and violence, and the various or probable reasons for it all, while they refuse to talk about the huge elephant in the room –that being, that S-I-N is the cause! And that submission to God is the answer! Therefore, because they can’t even discuss the obvious, all they’re really doing is chattering. Why listen to it?
Why don’t all these people who watch the news nightly, take that hour (or two or more), and read God’s Word, get on their knees and fervently intercede, fast some meals or other blessings and pleasures, and ask God what, specifically, He would have them to do? We may not be called to the streets, but we are ALL called to do something in extending the Gospel of Freedom and Hope to a frightened world –frightened because they’ve been listening to the world, rather than God’s powerful Word!
Well, today it was nice to see people being a little more sensitive concerning their need for God, but how long will the sensitivity last? Likely not long at all, as history has proven.
Let’s not allow ourselves to focus only on the tragedies the media is showing. Instead, let’s get involved with ways to teach and model God’s Love, Truth, Wisdom, Comfort, Righteousness, and Power, and every single day live our lives with intentional awareness that multitudes are going through tragedies, sorrows, pain. And let’s remember that we do have ways we can help if we’d just think less self-centeredly, and ask –and act upon– the question, “What would I want someone to do for me, if I were that person?”
Because, just as horrible as the shootings were, is the long and slow death, the painful and agonizing death, that many, many others, including children, are enduring even as they go about their daily routines. The death to hope, the death of feeling wanted or loved, the death, not of body, but of soul and spirit. Those are the deaths that are eternal. Unless… unless… someone comes and proclaims to them freedom, and by the Holy Spirit within, helps them to genuinely believe.
But, who will step out? Because, who really cares?
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
The Huge Heresies Of Joseph Prince
December 16, 2012
Friends,
Someone was telling me this morning about a message they’d just listened to on T.V. by Joseph Prince who was explaining the “correct” interpretation of Heb. 10:26. Within the first minute, I could tell where this was going –a totally twisted explanation of the verse, coming from a preacher who wants to keep sinning and be safe as he and his flock do so. Sigh. Will there never be an end to those who rise up amongst God’s people to insist that believers are once-for-all forgiven and headed for Heaven even as they sin willfully?
Here are two excellent and informative posts about the huge heresies Joseph Prince teaches:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/chace-gordon/exposing-a-heretic-joseph-prince/285347971502104
http://www.letusreason.org/Popteach56.htm
God’s people need to get themselves informed about Truth. And the only way we can discern Truth from error and stop wasting our time listening to junk and falsehoods, is to already know what the Word of God itself says.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
Turning Tragedies Into Thanksgiving
December 15, 2012
Friends,
“La, da, da, da, da! Yeah! The weekend! Yeah, it’s Christmas time and we have money in the bank! Skipity-skip. Things are going my way.” Then bang! Tragedy.
Or, “I’m such a poor thing. Times are tough, I’m overworked, and no one appreciates me.” Then bang! Tragedy.
Whichever our attitude, a tragedy can sure change our outlook, can’t it? And what it likely does is remind us of how fortunate we were before the tragedy… how thankful we should’ve been… how precious are those things, freedoms, or people we took for granted.
Let’s learn from tragedies, heartbreaks, trials, and even small problems, to be grateful for all that we have, every blessing that is ours today. We may not always have it. Many others in the world probably don’t have it. Even here in the U.S.A.
A warm bed, clean clothes, enough food to fill a tummy three times a day, a job, a spouse who cherishes us, parents still in good health, money to go to the dentist so our teeth don’t rot out… all sorts of things are ours to be grateful for. Another is reasonable security/safety every night as we sleep. Do we realize how many people in the world have to try to sleep even with the awareness that they or their loved ones may easily be robbed or killed in the night? Talking with people at the bus and train stops has made me conscious of this ever-present danger many here in our own city face continually.
How about the freedom we have to walk around, to go here and there pretty much whenever we want, to look at the blue sky and the lovely trees, hear others laugh, and give and get a hug? We should be thanking God for such things –especially when we understand that those in prison crave to get just one glimpse or bit of these things… and that those in eternity without God, will forevermore receive no such thing. How awful! Are we therefore doing whatever we can to free those caught in spiritual prisons?
A friend of mine called me last evening to tell me of a fright she had just encountered, having been set free just a half hour before. For just as she’d gotten off work and stepped into the elevator, the electricity in the whole building went dead. There she was, trapped and alone. I, being claustrophobic, was certainly horrified to hear of her ordeal. But what she was telling me was that, though it lasted only fifteen minutes, she came out of there exceedingly grateful for all sorts of things!
I immediately thought of how grateful we should all be for cell phones. And I’m sure she was (and is) grateful she had hers with her, and that there was reception, for she was able to call the boss who reassured her that they wouldn’t be leaving her alone and would be attending to the problem without delay. She also had the Lord. She knows the Lord and knew she could call out to Him –He who is always there for us– and she did!
When I told my husband about it, he reminded me of the time when he was in the elevator at his work building when it actually broke, and since he was merely making a quick visit to a different floor, he’d left his phone on his desk. Because it happened to be the weekend, no one else was at work. Finally, a janitor heard him yelling, and the firemen eventually had to come to get him out. He said he too prayed fervently and just talked himself through it: “The Lord is with me, it’ll be okay”, etc.
But, I think of those who haven’t yet been freed from their tragedies… like of those in Connecticut who are having to endure fresh anguish regarding their children who were gunned down by a wicked nut yesterday morning… or of those who are facing a terminal illness… or of those who have been rejected for the umpteenth time… But especially, I think sadly of those who are too stubborn or ignorant to understand that a fate of eternal darkness and hopelessness and fire –with the devil (who they’ve been choosing as their master instead of God)– really does await them if they continue to refuse to repent.
So, let’s determine to have grateful hearts and teach ourselves to give thanks for all the freedoms and other blessings we have, even as we remind, model, influence, and teach others to do the same. For gratefulness –toward others, and especially towards God– can make all the difference in how we handle future trials and tragedies, as well as in the level of joy and happiness and contentment and assurance we choose to experience as we walk through every day of our lives.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
To Sin Is To Show Hostility To God
December 14, 2012
Friends,
Those who sin are indulging in the sinful nature, they are allowing themselves, at least at that moment, to be controlled by the sinful nature, and they are thus, to one degree or another, living according to the sinful nature. For the person who has committed himself to the Lord, living according to the sinful nature should be a foreign and non-existent concept and activity. This is not what most “Christians” teach, but it is what God’s Word teaches.
By living according to the sinful nature a person will die (Rom. 6:23 & 8:13), meaning that, even for the person once dwelling in Christ, spiritual death will begin to rot through that person’s inner man. (John 15:1-6) Because the sinful nature desires the exact opposite of what the Spirit of God wills and stands for, there is a conflict created (Gal. 5:17), and if the person submits himself to the wishes of the sinful nature, rather than that of the Spirit, he has, in so doing, set himself at enmity with God. There is a period of grace, during which time the Spirit will speak conviction to the person, but if that person rejects the conviction and makes the choice to give in to sin, or even continues to contemplate giving in, then he has exhibited rebellion toward God. He has not pulled up the root of sin in his heart, and he has neglected to do so for the simple reason that he likes it there. He likes it there because he wants an excuse to sin. He wants an excuse to feel that, and tell others that, he just “can’t help but sin”, and thereby, he makes himself a victim who expects to be treated with, not only tolerance, but with extra care and concern and compassion.
No, we are not to treat such people as if they are victims. They’re not. They are rebels. This is, of course, not politically correct even amongst “Christians”, but it should be. If we’d expel the immoral and idolatrous “Christians” from our company, as we’re supposed to, then the foul yeast wouldn’t keep permeating the whole batch! (1 Cor. 5:1-13) The rebels wouldn’t keep influencing, discouraging, and confusing those who had previously been running their race obediently and whole-heartedly.
Can we just see Jesus going up to those people who were using God’s temple for a market, and saying meekly and politely, “Oh, excuse me. Can I say something? I mean, I totally believe that you all need to make a living, and I’m sure God understands that all your hearts are right, but could we consider meeting about this later so as to maybe decide on another spot for the sales?” Good grief. –How not like Jesus such apologetic talk is! Jesus took a whip to those guys, turned over their tables, and ordered them to get out of God’s sacred temple. (John 2:13-16) Yet we have tolerant-of-sin “Christians” telling us that we need to be sweet and understanding toward those who indulge the sinful nature, including toward “Christians” who do so. In actuality, what they’re wanting, in regards to confronting sinners and in their attempt to feel less guilty about their negligence to speak up on behalf of holiness, is for everyone to be as sheepish and spineless as they are! But how un-Christ-like is that?!
Instead, here’s the Truth of it: If a person sins, and then refuses to renounce that sin totally and completely –as Jesus says, a “gouging out of your eye if it causes you to sin” (see Matt. 5:29) type of renunciation– then that person has set his mind on sinful things (Rom. 8:5), is wallowing in spiritual death (v. 6), and operates from a mind that is hostile to God. (v. 7) Such a person is controlled by the sinful nature (v. 8 ), cannot please God (same verse), and will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:21)
There is no excuse for a “Christian” to indulge the sinful nature. By coming into Christ, that nature was died to (Rom. 6:2,6,7 // Gal. 5:24 // Col. 3:3), and now we live only to please God, not ourselves (2 Cor. 5:15), doing so by our submission to the control of His Spirit at all times (Rom. 8:9) so that Christ can, without hindrance, live His life through us. (Gal. 2:20)
It’s either, or. We are either walking with and working for Christ, or we are exhibiting hostility toward Him. (Matt. 12:30) The difference is proven by whether or not a person has truly clothed himself with Christ (Rom. 13:14), is walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and is being obedient to His every command. (John 14:15 // Rom. 8:9 // 1 John 2:3-6)
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
Bible Chart
December 13, 2012
Friends,
A dear friend that I met at the train stop several years ago sent me this chart last week. It is the whole NIV Bible, each chapter accessible with one click. How wonderful that God has made His Word so available! His kindnesses and mercies are continually pouring out upon mankind. May we take advantage of His grace, and may we love His Word exceedingly –so much so that we desire it more than our daily physical food!
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
Bible-Book List
Stephen Corry’s Letter To President Aquino
December 12, 2012
Friends,
There has been some good news in that President Aquino did meet with the Agta and the farmers and fisherfolk this week to listen to them voice their complaint about APECO trying to take their land, and he called for an investigation into the allegations. Here are two good news articles on that:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/12/11/aquino-orders-review-apeco-257801
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/322541/aquino-wont-scrap-apeco-orders-review
Certainly, those who prayed and/or spread the news of the Agta’s march from Casiguran to Manila, as well as the letters written, including to President Aquino himself, have been instrumental in the attention and favor the Agta have received concerning the issue of their plight. One potent letter to President Aquino was written by Stephen Corry, the founder and director of Survival International, the leading international lobby organization for the rights of indigenous people. Their website is: http://www.survivalinternational.org
Here (and used with permission) is Stephen Corry’s compelling letter:
~~~~
6th December, 2012
Your Excellency,
I am writing, once again, to express Survival’s concern regarding the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport (APECO) and its threat to the land rights of the indigenous Casiguran Agta people. It is of great concern that the plans for APECO continue, despite strong local opposition, land grabbing and reports of human rights violations against those who oppose the project.
You may be aware that 120 indigenous people, farmers and fisher-‐folk, representing 3000 families, are currently walking the more than 360km from Casiguran to Manila. They are asking for a zero budget for APECO. Appropriately, they plan to arrive in Manila on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. I urge you to meet with them in order to hear their concerns about the project and also the intimidation and harassment they have suffered.
The Agta peoples have lived on this peninsular for many generations. Their rights to their land are enshrined in both Philippine and International law. I call upon your government to ensure that the rights of the Casiguran Agta people are respected. No developments should be allowed to take place on their land without their free prior and informed consent.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Corry
Director
~~~~
Well, God is good and kind and compassionate, and we can be assured that He not only sees the plight of the afflicted and mistreated, but also hears their prayers –as well as those who have cried out to Him on their behalf. May we all continue to pray that God will enable President Aquino’s promised investigation to be done honestly and fairly, and may we continue to thank the Lord for all He is doing, and has done, since the Agta began their march for justice and equality.
It’s true that the controversy is far from over, but, there is definitely hope that justice could prevail.
Sincerely,
with love,
Rachel
Know God's Word 