Hi all,
This has been a summer with a little of everything.
From travels to see family and friends, to the richness of family and friends visiting us; from the life and death struggles of those close to us, to seeing many of our generation wrestle with health issues, and much more. We’ve had tremendous highs and tremendous lows. Yet through it all we’ve seen the faithfulness of the Lord.
Before I continue however, I want to say a quick word about our September 20 Orlando conference.
The Lord has told me to talk on end times, so I am preparing a multi-page handout for the day that will walk a person through the Jewish teaching of the ‘rapture’. Because it is what Paul taught, we will tie in chapter and verse with it, providing clarity and understanding. This handout is just for those in attendance, for we will most certainly wander in and out of the syllabus during the day, so one needs to be present for it to all make sense.
I will also share things the Father or Lord have said to me about the times we are in, and some of the things set to happen, some of which may be altered by prayer. See the link above for information.
Uganda orphans
The process for the Ugandan agency to place 60 true orphans with families is a long process. As the agent explained to me, having that many children to place all at once is not in his budget, so we’ve been paying for his field agents to visit prospective foster families for assessment.
They have visited 10 families who are able and willing to take in a child. The process involves first visiting relatives even if they are distant relatives, and 6 of the 10 have met that criteria. So progress is happening, and I’ve been told it will take through August. They hope to visit 5-6 families per week and/or find 5-6 families per week who can be foster parents. Thank you for those undesignated gifts to KWOWI especially, as these expenses fall outside the normal sponsorship purposes.
When we were young, spiritual life was all about faith.
That is to say it was about how ‘our faith’ could shape our world. Need money? Faith will provide. Sick? Faith will bring healing. Something wrong? It must be the devil and faith will set life straight again. It was a very narcissistic spiritual life. It never examined what we did wrong, it was always the devil at fault. When real life couldn’t be changed by ‘our faith’, it was time to examine what we believed and why. Faith was hard charging, won’t be denied, devil get out of my way sort of walk.
Some Christians have turned ‘faith’ into a faith in get rich quick, others thought they could name it and claim it. Some watched what they said with fear for saying anything that might open the door to the devil. Others turned faith into a principle or spiritual force they thought they could produce, or someone more ‘anointed’ could produce to heal them. That is especially dangerous because it separates the Father and His will from the grace and faith that proceed from Him, turning it into a principle completely within our power and ability.
Some people have taken it to such a point the Father has become the adversary. They think if we do x then God will do y, and if we gather enough people in one place and shout real loud and show our sincerity, He will (fill in the blank) send revival, heal, provide money, save wayward children, save a spouse, prosper a business), etc. In these cases the Father has been turned into the stingy old man in the sky we have to convince to send an answer, a revival, a healing, etc.
Now that more than 50 years walking with the Father and Lord have passed…
What 50+ years of walking with the Father and Lord allow a person to do, is to look back for a common Presence, a ‘red line of redemption’ running through it all. All the little sects and fad teachings that rise and fall get stripped away to reveal that thin red line of redemption, the blood of Jesus running through it all. Once you see that, all those streams of the faith, all those popular teachings coming and going, fall into the dust heap of life. They didn’t really matter in the big picture. I may have learned a thing or two along the way, but in the big picture of my walk with God, they had little impact.
What remains are core truths revolving around actually knowing the Father, knowing the Lord. When we were younger Paul’s words in II Timothy 1: 12 didn’t have the same weight they do now:
“For I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him against that day.”
I know in whom I have believed. Earlier in my life I would say that I believed more than I knew Him. I knew more OF Him than knew Him. Now I know Him. And with that knowing comes me being persuaded that He will keep what I’ve entrusted to Him – including all those questions about things in life.
Abraham is observed in Romans 4:21: “…he was fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to do it.”
Abraham had faith – certainly. But he became fully persuaded. He is the only man in the Old Testament called ‘the friend of God’. (Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23). From friendship grows trust. And somewhere between faith and trust one becomes persuaded that what the Lord has received entrusted into His care, He is faithful to hold until that day.
In Hebrews 11: 13-15 we are given a list of early people of faith, from Abel to Noah, to Abraham and Sarah, and are told; “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them far off, were persuaded by them and embraced them.”
Faith is based on a revelation (grace), and that leads to knowing the Promise Giver. That develops trust as we become persuaded in steps, to trust Him.
When you can say like Paul; I know in whom I have believed, and am fully persuaded that which I have entrusted to Him, He is able to keep until that day, you will have rest, peace, and a confidence from which you cannot be easily moved. All those teachings will swirl around you, but not affect you negatively, because your focus is on the One you know and have been persuaded by, to trust Him.
Trusting in someone, in this case the Lord, comes by knowing Him and witnessing His record of faithfulness in one’s life through years. It is that combination of faith and trust that provide such peace in our spirits, and such rest when life does something unexpected.
My encouragement today is to not only have faith, but to have trust in the Lord. We have all deposited our hearts with Him, our secrets only He knows, the depth of our sin and the height of our love for Him. Trust Him in these things, and rest in that. Rest in that peace. Rest because we know Him, and trust Him.
A word of thanks to all who donate to this ministry. We can certainly agree with Paul who in II Corinthians 8: 2-4 thanked those who supported him, ‘taking upon themselves help with the service to the saints.’ That is true. But on a very personal level, we thank you so very much for giving into our lives. I wish there were time to write every single person a note of thanks each month. But know please that you are loved, appreciated, prayed for – so very much!
Blessings,
John & Barb, Brian & Amy
