Joie de Vivre A Wretched Man’s Quest To Follow Jesus Christ

A 15-year-old school kid in Arizona wrote:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks..
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.

It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

If you aren’t ashamed to do this,
Please pass this on.
Jesus said,
‘If you are ashamed of me,
I will be ashamed of you before my Father.’

I’m not American, but the poem also speaks so much about the state of the world today I am passing it on.

HT: Lavrai.com.

Foreword: I thought I’d give a little background into how this testimony came about, because it simply demonstrates how often God works wonderfully in us and there’s only goodness when we submit to His will.

For some days now, my wife has told me that she hasn’t been able to sleep well because God has prompted her time and again to write her testimony down.

She asked me why, and I told her testimonies were a good way for us to glorify God through telling others what He has made anew in us. As to why God is telling her to do so I am not sure, yet we need trust that the Lord has need for her to do something that has not been revealed, but it’s all good (Romans 8:28).

We had retired rather late to bed last night. Just 15 minutes later, she was out of bed, and the study light came on while her computer whirred to life. When I popped into the study to ask why she wasn’t in bed, she was quite in tears, telling me that God had admonished her for not submitting to His will, right after prayers.

She had been fighting the burden in her heart to write her testimony down, believing wrongly that it’s rather pointless.

It was the first time she had experienced such a prompting, so I gently told her that that’s what God does with me many, many times over — a feeling so heavy in one’s heart that you go on your knees and cry out saying, “Father, Lord, I’ll obey and do it!”

I made coffee for us and stayed up with her while she completed her testimony which we are now sharing with you. May it encourage and bless you as it has us.

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O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still.

Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, `Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

– A. W. Tozer
The Pursuit of God.

Footnote: You can read an online edition of the book “The Pursuit of God” here.

Over the last few days I have been led to read more of the harms of the prosperity gospel and its effects on ordinary Christians like you and me. I don’t specifically look out for these accounts, but I believe God has led me to read them and warn others.

Some are really heart-wrenching accounts where families have lost loved ones and almost everything they owned. In the end, I can only conclude that the prosperity gospel not only takes away all that one has materially and turn one’s life on its head, but, more dangerously, it can also take away lives of those who trust in the falsehoods!

In one such instance that is very well-documented, let me share with you the account from the Parker family.

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Thank you, everyone, who has remembered me and the pain I was going through in your prayers!

The LORD heals indeed!

Hallelu et Adonai!

Prior to the procedure this afternoon, I’ve heard so many horrible stories from friends and colleagues about how much pain some of them had after having their wisdom teeth extracted surgically.

But because of all your prayers, the LORD has healed me and seen to it that I am not suffering in pain after my surgery.

I’ve just awoken after a good few hours of much-needed sleep, and there’s absolutely no pain, whatsoever. Yes, read that: NO pain!

No doubt I’ve had painkillers and am faithfully following the instructions to complete the prescription of antibiotics, but with my limited knowledge from the testimony of others, I know that suffering no residue pain at all in the immediate hours after the surgery is a miracle in itself.

Thank you, LORD, for you are good and merciful. Thank you, LORD, for you are our Jehovah Rapha!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

– Psalm 103:1-5

Amen!

Picture by Summers.

During His ministry on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ cleansed a good number of lepers as recorded in the Gospels. Perhaps the best-known and oft-preached story of such cleansings is in the account of the 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19).

In fact, the Hebrew word in the Masoretic texts for leprosy is tzaraath, which is an incurable condition worse than leprosy.

A person with tzaraath will experience inflammations, rashes, swellings and boils. Wool, linen or leather (common materials for clothing then) vestments put on him will also become infected. In other words, someone with tzaraath will not be able to cover his shame (for it is regarded as punishment for sins) and will be ostracized.

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Perhaps there comes a time in your walk with God where you realize that maybe you have learned so much falsehoods or teachings that have been twisted in one way or another from church and even the most respected pastors and teachers, that you think that perhaps you haven’t really lived a real Christian life.

It’s not a real Christian life because you have not learned to be truly obedient, nor truly submit yourself to God’s will. It’s not a real Christian life because you think that being subject to God’s will is just trying to do what is taught in the Bible and have the faith that God shall answer your prayers, and thinking to yourself that you’ve asked them in accordance to God’s will.

And to think that you’ve been dissing the prosperity gospel when you yourself are living it! Because the prosperity gospel in its essence is about you, you, and you!

Because, when you pray, don’t you say “Oh, Lord, bless me” with this or that, a job, a wife, a girlfriend/boyfriend, and whatever that your heart desires, you preach within yourself the prosperity gospel!

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