HOMING!

GOD WANTS ALL HIS CHILDREN TO TURN THE STORM CLOUDS INTO CHARIOTS - HEAVEN AWAITS OUR ARRIVAL.

"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come" (Hebrews 13:14).

We are homeward bound. This world is not my home - I'm just passing through. Beyond these mountains of difficulties lies home! Ah, sweet home! Fainting ears are revived when our thinking stirs us heavenward. Tired muscles find new strength to trudge on for God. Do not become discouraged, child of God. Mountains of difficulties, strifes, wars will continue to hound us till the Lord calls us home. When your heart fails you, God sends His sunshine and the rain. You will sprout again, believe it! The hard things give us energy to go on. The exceeding riches of His grace squeeze us through the tunnels and keep our eyes on the goal - Heaven!

Tighten your loins with the promises of God. The difficult mountains are His stepping stones of joy. We are to keep the strong staff of faith well in hand and trust God in the dark. We are actually safer with Him in the dark than without Him in the sunshine. We must stay focused - at the end of the gloomy passage beams the heavenly light! The Lord tells us that, "I will make all my mountains a way" (Isaiah 49:11). There is no need to fear or be discouraged. When we reach heaven, we may discover that the richest and most profitable experiences that we had in this world were those gained in the very roads from which we shrank back in dread. So keep your chin up and move forward. Look at Job as an example for us to maintain a steadfastness that cannot shake our faith. It was because Job was on God's main line that he found so many tunnels and ways to get through the barriers of his life. The great thing to remember is that God's dark times are not His goals for us. His tunnels must be traveled to get somewhere else. Therefore, be patient, my soul! The darkness is not your journey's end. The tunnel is not your abiding home! Implicitly rely on the methods of His guidance. He takes us step by step over the rough terrain. God never gves guidance for two steps at a time. We must take one step, and then we receive light for the next.

Keep your goal in view - accept the struggle - the end result will be worth it all! Don't become frightened and run and hide in a cave. Look for His inspiration, vision, and power! When we are living on earth's low levels we fail to catch the inspiring visions of God which are the true support of the prophetic life. We must come into the sunshine and make the ascent of the mountain if we would discern those evidences of God's power which are always available for the recreation of faith and courage.

When you keep your eye on the goal, each day will seem beautiful even though suffering and sorrow may cross your path. God is getting you ready for Heaven. Regardless of the hail storms of life - don't break! Cling for your life to the one truth that God has not forgotten you! He holds the winds in His fists, and the waves that now seem as though they would swallow you up, in the hollow of His hands. Hold on! Do not break, even though you keep bending with the pressure, leave it all quietly with Him: failures, fears, foes, and your future! You can face the forces of darkness today fearlessly! Maintain your perspective and ride on, oh child of God.

The road is dusty; the journey is long. Look up! Look up in the early morning when the sun comes peeping over the horizon, out of the shadows of the night. Look up in the noontide when the resting-spot is still afar in the distance. Look up when you see the even-star. Look up! There shines the City!

Watch out for the devil - He loves to fish in troubled waters. Beware of every hesitation to abandon to God. Do not let the subleties of the Evil One defeat your growth and desire to move forward with the Lord. Step on to the ladder of safety that leads into Heaven. Draw nigh unto God - the devil will flee. God is seated on His throne for the very purpose of giving help in time of need. Go unto Him at midnight. He loves the hour of extremity. The budding morrow in midnight is the dawn of hope.

We are a stranger and a pilgrim here on this earth below as was our fathers before us. This life is but a pilgrimage; the earth is not our rest. Every day brings us nearer our home in the City of God, and the Lord is willing to be our companion in every step of the desert march!

It is a hard climb up a hill when you have a burdened heart and begin to feel weary in well doing. You long to go home, to reach Heaven's shores. You feel tired and done. God never permits any of His children to come up a steep hill along life's pathway without having provided at the foot of the hill a cooling spring from which the traveler may drink in refreshment and strength. He climbs beside you; lean upon Him! God has no road without its springs! His message from the homing pigeon as you sit and drink is ...

"Perhaps today! It won't be long! Occupy till I come!"

"

An Arch of Color Offers Hope

THE SIGN OF THE RAINBOW - GOD'S PROMISE AND TESTIMONY TO HIS COVENANT

"I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you ..." (Genesis 9:15)

Everyone I know loves to see a rainbow after a storm. God always keeps His promises! We usually say, somewhat ecstatically after a thunderstorm, "Look at that arch of color across the sky. Isn't that a magnificent sight?" The Lord has promised to never flood the world again and the beautiful arch of color we call a rainbow after a storm reminds us of that promise. When it's time to look for a break in the clouds - a ray of sunshine appears, and then the rainbow in the rain. We can trust the Old Testament "I will" promises of God to revitalize our daily lives and restore our spirit to its full, robust, Christ-centered potential when we see the storm clouds roll in.

Our hope lies in the promise of God to keep His Word. He has chosen to deal with His people by making promises and then keeping them. It is the very essence of the azure assurance of the rainbow. After a severe storm, we anticipate a rainbow in the sky and without hesitation go looking for one. We are reminded of God's promise to mankind that has been faithfully happening since the days of Noah. Hearts are put at rest as we experience Christ's out-stretched arms.

There are many cloud-dispersing "I will" promises made to us by Christ throughout the Scriptures. They express His gracious willingness to reach us where we are and give us inexplicable joy. These are tender words that touch us when we hurt and inspire us when we long to hope again. All the Old Testament "I will" promises remind us of the solid biblical truth: God never forgets us and His rainbows in the rain are on time when we doubt His providence and need to learn again to do thins His way.

God's rainbows are reassurance of His faithfulness of His covenant with us. When our lives are filled with the thunderclouds of doubt, God sends His rainbows to us. Clouds remain until we can identify our suffering. Is it physical pain, guilt, grief, emotional hurts, lurking memories, worry over others, or anxiety about the future? Many times cloudy periods could include all the above. Storm clouds help us realize our need for God. Can you hear His whisper in your soul, "I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you." When those difficult clouds of doubt break, the sun shines through again. God often produces a rainbow in the sky, but He also puts a rainbow in our hearts. We begin to see the heavy black clouds that once blocked the sun slowly disappear. The last sprinkling showers subside. Remember, it is the final raindrops after the storm that serve the sun in producing the rainbow!

In remembering the rainbow of the new covenant, Christ brings to our hearts the love shared between Him and the Father. This is the essence of life! Claiming and climbing this rainbow - we in Christ and Christ in us - we share in the mutual expression of eternal love. Hope is always with us.

Lloyd J. Ogilvie says that, "Christ makes climbing the rainbow a daily, fresh source of grace by presenting us faultless before the presence of God's glory. This glory of God is the sum total of all His attributes in the radiant, shining majesty."

Isn't it fun to receive any sort of a greeting card with a rainbow n the front? It reminds us of God's love and promise as He displays Heaven's archway of color. Doubts are erased as we gaze heavenward and hear God's words, "I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you." Christ's love is adequate as He offers color of varying hues to fulfill our every need.

Stress, pain, and frustration are inevitable in today's fast-paced world. But you do not have to let daily problems steal your happiness. Climb the rainbow of Hope. Trust and claim God's promises - abundant life is about to be yours.

Contumacious Saints!!!

GOD WANTS TO LEAD US ON INTO REALMS OF GRACE IN WHICH WE SHALL GLIMPSE HIS GLORY!

"Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; for the perverse person is an abomintion to the Lord, but His secret counsel is with the upright"
Proverbs 3:31-32

Cynicism, criticism, and complaining often pollute the atmosphere and cause the saints of God and the body of Christ to suffer unnecessarily. Our hearts break and we agonize over the struggle for victory we so much desire. Giving unto self is difficult and takes a determination to allow God to discipline and mold us into His own image. We find ourselves asking, "What is God's way of self-denial?" Being stubborn creatures we often get ourselves into the most ridiculous and preposterous dilemmas.

We willfully display utter sinfulness and the reigning power of self steers us far from our walk with God and growth into the ways of Christian maturity. We refuse to give in even at the tugging of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts. The door swings wide open and the devil gleefully steps inside. He knows there is a deadly self-life that lies deep inside each one of us, and he sets out to destroy us, prowling around and waiting for us to take the self-plunge.

The stubborn, self-willed, proud, self-sufficient person that persists in pursuing its old path will end up on a deadened road with no escape route. The world we live in is full of such people. The greed and selfishness of mankind leaves behind a legacy of ruin and remorse. Even though we tend to be stiff-necked and stubborn, amid all the chaos of wanting to do things our own way, but falling flat on our face, the Lord reminds us to lift up our heads and behold the Son of God. He offers us hope in Matthew 8:34 when he says, "If any man will follow Me, let him deny himself daily and take up his cross and follow Me."

Like a stubborn sheep we will struggle, kick and protest when the Master puts His hand upon us to work out His purpose in us. Even if it is for our own good, we will rebel and refuse to allow Him to help us when we need it so desperately. We often become bullheaded when troubles come and then these overwhelming situations produce stress. We begin to blame God and become angry at Him. We refuse to give Him the opportunity to stretch our faith and increase our Christian growth. Instead we form a mind-set - we will not bend. We acquire headaches literally and metaphorically. Nonetheless, God persists in us and will not let us rest at any stage of our Christian growth. Therefore, complaining and arguing will not change the purpose God has set out to develop in our lives. It really does us no good to do battle with Him.

Letting go of our stubborn behavior and willfulness brings delight to the Lord, and even though giving our full surrender to Him is a risky business, we must take that first step of trust and move forward with confidence. It's scary, as it is a big step of faith. As we grasp the full potential to the life He has given us, we learn to cooperate with God. We find ourselves in touch with the awe and wonder of God; we want to grow in Christ. Ours is to be willing. The rest is up to God. We begin to long for the kind of faith which surrenders all we are in faithflness - not guilty fear - and issues in a consuming passion to taste all the potentials we have put in our grasp.

The Lord Jesus does make strigent demands on us once we belong to Him. Pig-headed behavior is never in His plans for us. Unconditional surrender is a fitting response to His love. Confessing our past failure and disobedient behavior patterns, let us courageously face up to the claims of God upon us and seek henceforth to be true disciples of our glorious Lord. Our self-love becomes one of the stubbornest hindrances to daily growth. When we give it over to a full surrender, the cross becomes a pathway that we deliberately choose. A spasmodic obedience to the Scriptures will not do. Real discipleship demands a continuance.

William MacDonald in his book, True Discipleship quotes H.S. Evan Hopins when he says, "The Savior is not looking for men and women who will give their evenings to Him - or their weekends - or their years of retirement. Rather, He seeks those who will give Him first place in their lives. He looks today, as He has ever looked, not for crowds drifting aimlessly in His track, but for individual men and women whose undying allegiance will spring from their having recognized that He wants those who are prepared to follow the path of self-renunciation which he trod before them." (thoughts by William MacDonald, True Discipleship, Midwest Christian Publishers, Oak Park, IL, 1962)

This attitude does not and cannot lend to saints being involved with contumacious behavior of any degree. There is no room for personal pride when we submit to Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Therefore, child of God, if you come to realize that your commitment to Christ is only a spiritual miscarriage - come to know yourself - converge a yielding of all unsurrendered areas of your life over to God's control. Away with stubborn, obstinate behavior! Thrive in the glow of repentance toward God. Claim victoriously, "For me to live is Christ!"

"My Master, lead me to Thy door:
Pierce this now willing ear once more,
Thy bonds are freedom; let me stay
With Thee to toil, endure, obey.
-H.G.C. Moule