Dear Weekly Readers!
This week I am asking for prayers for safety and that Jesus
may be lifted up and preached, to the Glory of God, as I am currently with a
mission team on a trip into Africa.
May the Holy Spirit lead us on this trip, and may all of us
be obedient to His Word wherever we are!
This week our article is written by Pastor Orval Wirkkala.
May God Bless your week!
John R.
The Faithfulness of God
We read of the faithfulness of God in the past, we witness His faithfulness in the lives of those around us today and therefore, we are convinced that His faithfulness is a future reality. We know that He loves us and as a result of His love toward us, we are now an extension of God's love for the world. Therefore, life's experiences offer us opportunity to demonstrate God's love to the world. It is by believing who God has made us to be that we are enabled to live our lives this present world. This is called living faith.
KJV Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
In our lives today, we are surrounded by people who trust in the same God that Abraham and Sara trusted and therefore, we seek the same city that that those who lived before us sought. In spite of obstacles that come before us in this present world, we look into the future as being an expected reality. Here is the testimony of a dear sister in the congregation in which I serve.
"Early mornings is a time for me to read God's Word before all the "demands" and "noises" of the day find their way into our minds. One particular quiet morning, I was stopped by a clear voice saying, "Do not be afraid." Puzzled, I sat wondering, then put it in the back of my mind. Sometime later, a week, maybe, I discovered a foreign mass in my body. After all the tests, it was revealed to be cancer. The words resurfaced, "Do not be afraid."......Lord, I am afraid! Fear came in waves over me, but above it was the Voice: "Do not be afraid."
"How often in God's Word are we reminded of this. God always goes before us and holds us in the palm of His hand. Sickness, diseases, and trials are no surprise to Him. They all work to bring us closer to work out His will in our lives."
Jesus says today, "Come to Me, you are are weary and afraid, I will give you strength and courage to face this, too."
"He lifts the gloom and sends rays of hope and peace to our hearts. One day we will exchange these earthly bodies to glorified ones where no aches or diseases will touch us. We will praise Him with new tongues and sing with all the saints in glory: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Praise be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost".
And she leaves us with this encouragement from the psalms....
Psalm 5:11 "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defends them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass or crown him as with a shield
."
We thank her for blessing us through the sharing of her life with us, which is the life of Christ in her, that which the Apostle Paul wrote of.. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Through testimonies of God's people from the past as well as from today of the faithfulness of God toward them, we are encouraged to press forward to the prize of the high calling for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) Let us press on, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, and to the One who has promised to complete that which He has begun in us, even the salvation of our souls.
Together, let us press onward..................only time is between us and our heavenly reward....
God's Peace!
Pastor Orval Wirkkala
We read of the faithfulness of God in the past, we witness His faithfulness in the lives of those around us today and therefore, we are convinced that His faithfulness is a future reality. We know that He loves us and as a result of His love toward us, we are now an extension of God's love for the world. Therefore, life's experiences offer us opportunity to demonstrate God's love to the world. It is by believing who God has made us to be that we are enabled to live our lives this present world. This is called living faith.
KJV Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
In our lives today, we are surrounded by people who trust in the same God that Abraham and Sara trusted and therefore, we seek the same city that that those who lived before us sought. In spite of obstacles that come before us in this present world, we look into the future as being an expected reality. Here is the testimony of a dear sister in the congregation in which I serve.
"Early mornings is a time for me to read God's Word before all the "demands" and "noises" of the day find their way into our minds. One particular quiet morning, I was stopped by a clear voice saying, "Do not be afraid." Puzzled, I sat wondering, then put it in the back of my mind. Sometime later, a week, maybe, I discovered a foreign mass in my body. After all the tests, it was revealed to be cancer. The words resurfaced, "Do not be afraid."......Lord, I am afraid! Fear came in waves over me, but above it was the Voice: "Do not be afraid."
"How often in God's Word are we reminded of this. God always goes before us and holds us in the palm of His hand. Sickness, diseases, and trials are no surprise to Him. They all work to bring us closer to work out His will in our lives."
Jesus says today, "Come to Me, you are are weary and afraid, I will give you strength and courage to face this, too."
"He lifts the gloom and sends rays of hope and peace to our hearts. One day we will exchange these earthly bodies to glorified ones where no aches or diseases will touch us. We will praise Him with new tongues and sing with all the saints in glory: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Praise be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost".
And she leaves us with this encouragement from the psalms....
Psalm 5:11 "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defends them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass or crown him as with a shield
."
We thank her for blessing us through the sharing of her life with us, which is the life of Christ in her, that which the Apostle Paul wrote of.. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Through testimonies of God's people from the past as well as from today of the faithfulness of God toward them, we are encouraged to press forward to the prize of the high calling for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) Let us press on, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, and to the One who has promised to complete that which He has begun in us, even the salvation of our souls.
Together, let us press onward..................only time is between us and our heavenly reward....
God's Peace!
Pastor Orval Wirkkala
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