Courage in Spite of Terrifying Circumstance

Courage in Spite of Terrifying Circumstance

Written by Sheila Schuller Coleman

"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you." -Psalm 91:5-6, 9-10a

As a young wife and mother, I found myself terrified from time to time. There was the time when my three-and-a-half-month-old son was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. I was terrified when they wheeled him into the pediatric intensive care unit (he completely recovered - praise God!).

I was terrified when my husband and I were hit with an unexpected bill from the IRS that we did not have the money to pay. (Thankfully, we were able to get a loan and pay it off in time.)

I was terrified when my husband and sons were late coming home some evenings (prior to cell phones). I imagined them dead at the side of the road and often worked myself into nearly a panic attack.

I was terrified when I received a phone call in the middle of the night telling me my father was in a coma and in brain surgery in Amsterdam - they didn't know if he would survive and, if he did, what shape he would be in for the rest of his life.

Some of my fears were rational and some were not. Nevertheless, I learned this through the terrors that I have encountered in my lifetime: Terror is a frame of mind - not a state of being!

That means that terror is an attitude - not a circumstance. This means that terror is merely a response. I can choose how I will respond to any circumstance. I can choose courage just as I can choose terror. I can choose to cry out to God when I find myself in a terrifying circumstance. When I do, God will deliver me - and He will deliver you, too - from the terrifying feelings and the terrifying circumstances!

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PRAYER:

Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, I cry out to You when I am afraid. Deliver me from my terror and deliver me from my terrifying circumstance. You are my strong deliverer. I praise You and thank You for what You are doing for me -today and every day. Amen.

Trials and Pain: The Necessity of Wounds

December 14

Trials and Pain: The Necessity of Wounds
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word....It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. --Psalm 119:67,71
It is amazing to me! There are people within the ranks of Christianity who have been taught and who believe that Christ will shield His followers from wounds of every kind.
If the truth were known, the saints of God in every age were only effective after they had been wounded. They experienced the humbling wounds that brought contrition, compassion and a yearning for the knowledge of God. I could only wish that more among the followers of Christ knew what some of the early saints meant when they spoke of being wounded by the Holy Spirit....
In every generation, the people who have found God have been those who have come to the end of themselves. Recognizing their hopelessness, they have been ready to throw themselves on the mercy and grace of a forgiving God. Men Who Met God, pp.59,62
"Lord, don't let me waste the humbling wounds. Do Your great work within me, and help me to respond properly and learn all You want me to learn through Your working. Amen."

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Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: The Seared Conscience

November 21

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. --Titus 1:15

But when a conscience has become seared, when a man has played with the fire and burned his conscience and calloused it until he can handle the hot iron of sin without shrinking, there is no longer any safety for him.

Paul wrote in his epistle about those to whom nothing is pure any longer, "but even their mind and conscience is defiled."

Here Paul speaks of an inward corruption, revealed in impure thoughts and soiled language. I am just as afraid of people with soiled tongues as I am of those with a communicable disease.

Actually, a foul tongue is evidence of a deeper spiritual disease and Paul goes on to tell us that those with defiled consciences become reprobates, something just washed up on the shore, a moral shipwreck. Echoes from Eden, 64-65.

"Oh Lord, deliver me from that 'inward corruption.' Guard my mind and my tongue; convict me of any carelessness or straying. Keep my conscience alive and active. Lord, I really don't want to end up a dirty old man, 'washed up on the shore, a moral shipwreck.' Amen."

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Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

Tumbalalaika – Amsterdam

This is the Sephardic Synagogue in Amsterdam. It is entirely lit by candles.

It was built several hundred years ago and never "electrified."

The arc, seats, bema, etc., were all hand-made by ship-builders.

During WW II the Nazis somehow missed it and never entered it so it is entirely intact and original.

It is a real beauty. This concert was done in the sanctuary and is very rousing.

| Tumbalalaika |

The Church: Different From the World

July 23

The Church: Different From the World

Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate," says the Lord. "Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." --2 Corinthians 6:17

The church's mightiest influence is felt when she is different from the world in which she lives. Her power lies in her being different, rises with the degree in which she differs and sinks as the difference diminishes.

This is so fully and clearly taught in the Scriptures and so well illustrated in Church history that it is hard to see how we can miss it. But miss it we do, for we hear constantly that the Church must try to be as much like the world as possible, excepting, of course,
where the world is too, too sinful....

Let us plant ourselves on the hill of Zion and invite the world to come over to us, but never under any circumstances will we go over to them. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, and the cross speaks of death and separation, never of compromise. No one ever compromised with a cross. The cross separated between the dead and the living. The timid and the fearful will cry "Extreme!" and they will be right. The cross is the essence of all that is extreme and final. The message of Christ is a call across a gulf from death to life, from sin to righteousness and from Satan to God. The Set of the Sail, 35,36.

"Lord, help me to be willing to be different. Forgive me for the sin
of blending in. I pray that our neighbors would see something
different in our church and our people and be drawn to the Savior. Amen."

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Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

God Thinks You're Wonderful!

God Thinks You're Wonderful!

...It may be difficult for you to believe that God knows your name...but He does.Written on His hand. Spoken by His mouth. Whispered by His lips. Your name.

You have captured the heart of God. He cannot bear to live without you.

God's dream is to make you right with Him. And the path to the cross tells us exactly how far God will go to call us back.

It is not our love for God: it is God's love for us in sending His Son to be the way. If you want to touch God's heart, use the name He loves to hear. Call Him "Father".

He thinks you're wonderful!

I have written your name on My hand. Isaiah 49:16

Excerpted from the Book, God Thinks You're Wonderful! by Max Lucado »

Fairview Alliance Church, Spring Garden Clean Up

Sugaring off with the FAC Youth Group

The Holy Spirit: He Can Be Grieved

February: The Holy Spirit

In my sober judgment the relation of the Spirit to the believer is
the most vital question the church faces today.
Keys to the Deeper Life, page 15

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February 8
The Holy Spirit: He Can Be Grieved
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. --Ephesians 4:30
Because He is loving and kind and friendly, the Holy Spirit may be grieved.... He can be grieved because He is loving, and there must be love present before there can be grief.
Suppose you had a 17-year-old son who began to go bad. He rejected your counsel and wanted to take things into his own hands. Suppose that he joined up with a young stranger from another part of the city and they got into trouble.
You were called down to the police station. Your boy--and another boy who you had never seen--sat there in handcuffs.
You know how you would feel about it. You would be sorry for the other boy--but you don't love him because you don't know him. With your own son, your grief would penetrate to your heart like a sword. Only love can grieve. If those two boys were sent off to prison, you might pity the boy you didn't know, but you would grieve over the boy you knew and loved. A mother can grieve because she loves. If you don't love, you can't grieve. The Counselor, 51-52.
"Lord, I think I take Your love for granted and consequently forget how grieved You are when I sin. Overwhelm me today with Your love, so that I might be more careful to not grieve You. Amen."

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Today's "Insight for Leaders" is taken by permission from the book, Tozer on Christian Leadership, published by WingSpread Publishers

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This Insight for Leaders devotional is also available in a print-friendly format here on the LMI web site.

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