Happy Thursday

Don't Wait for the Attack to Get Prepared

  

Picture this. A young man is walking down a dark street when he is approached by a large, mean-looking man who will not let him pass. The young man isn't quite as physically fit as he should be because he hasn't been exercising or working out. Seeing that he is no match for the attacker, the young man says, "Excuse me just one moment while I go home and work out with my weight set. Stay right here. Don't move. I'll be right back. Then we will fight." At this point the young man runs home, works out on his weights for 10 minutes and then goes back to the dimly lit street and fights the attacker. He wins because of his ten-minute workout.

It sounds silly, doesn't it? But that's the way many Christians try to live their lives spiritually. They wait until Satan attacks and then at the last minute try to exercise spiritually by reading a few verses and praying under pressure. Any time we read God's Word and apply it to our lives, it is good, but usually when the man stops us in the alley or Satan attacks our home, it's too late to exercise our body or our faith.

If our spiritual muscles aren't built up before the attack, we may find the attack more than we had expected. Be prepared. Build your faith daily. Then when the attack comes, your shield of faith will protect you.

So here's the point. We must walk by faith each and every day. We cannot live like the world six days a week and then put in our two hours and two dollars on Sunday and expect that to be our faith.

Walking by faith is a lifestyle. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Everything we do, everything we seek to accomplish, each day is to be in faith.

A few years ago, a friend of mind was facing a disaster in his life. He was at the end of his rope and didn't know where to turn. He had tried everything except God, but now he was desperate. He would try anything to get out of the jam he was in. He wanted me to tell him how to pray to God and how to get his prayers answered.

Even though this man was a Christian, he always tried to solve everything in his life by his own power. I knew that in order for him to be helped, he needed some straightforward teaching and needed to be shown these teachings in the Word.

I showed him that according to James 1:6, we must pray in faith if we expect to receive anything from God. I told him that when we pray according to God's Word, we must believe and expect God to answer our requests.

A few weeks went by and I ran into this man at a local store. When I asked him how things were going, he made an all-too-common statement. He said, "Well, I tried praying in faith, but it didn't work. Somehow I knew before I even prayed it wouldn't and I guess I was right."

Well, you don't try faith. When we say we will try faith, we are admitting that there is a chance our prayers won't be answered. When we believe there is a chance our prayers won't be answered, there is doubt. Where there is doubt there is no faith. Where there is no faith, God is restricted by His own Word.

We must walk by faith! 

Daily Smile:
A brilliant magician was performing on an ocean liner. But every time he did a trick, a talking cat in the audience would scream, "It's a trick. It's not magic. You're a big phony!"

Then one night during a storm, the ship sank while the magician was performing. And who should end up in the same lifeboat together, all alone, but the talking cat and the magician! For three days, they glared at each other, neither one saying a word to the other. 

Finally the cat sighed and said, "All right, smart-aleck. You and your darn tricks. What did you do with the ship?"

In The News:

Gosnell Trial: Pro-Life Leaders Plan Courthouse Prayer Vigil During Closing Arguments

A group of national pro-life leaders plan to hold a prayer vigil outside the Philadelphia courthouse where abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is being tried for murder as closing arguments in the case begin Monday, the Christian Post reports. "We will be gathering in prayer and public witness to ask God that these violent and barbaric acts of violence against women and children would be brought to justice," said the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition. "We will also be praying that we would live in a nation where human rights and equality would be guaranteed and embraced by all and we would never have to witness atrocities like this again." Gosnell, a late-term abortion provider, is charged with killing babies born alive in his clinic, reportedly targeting poor women who could not afford better health care. Though the accounts of what went on in his facility have been gruesomely graphic and have been made public since the court hearing began, it is only recently that major news outlets began their coverage of the case. Pro-life leaders argue that aborting and killing babies in the sixth and seventh months of pregnancy are not unique to Gosnell's clinic. "Sadly, the tragedy and horror surrounding the actions of Kermit Gosnell show that government officials and the pro-choice movement are more interested in protecting abortion rights than they are protecting the rights and health of women and their children," Mahoney said.

Burma: Christian Converts Lose Jobs and Homes

Persecution is increasing in Burma for Buddhists who convert to Christianity, Voice of the Martyrs reports. As people turn to Jesus Christ, they have difficulty keeping jobs and are often driven from their hopes, according to a VOM worker. Two families currently working with VOM's Burma fish farm project lost their jobs and homes after coming to faith in Christ last July. One family is living in a hut used for secret worship services, while the other is living in a hut where fish feed is stored. Amid the increasing pressure, the fish farm just completed its second harvest cycle. Despite setbacks from flooding and government opposition, it still generated income, which will be invested in church planting as well as re-invested to make the farm more productive.