Seeing the Wind

"But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"" (Matthew 14:30 NAS95)

Observation:  How do you see the wind?  

Mmm... One can see the spray that the wind kicks up.  One can see the choppy waves.  And one can feel its force... but, how does one see the wind.  One doesn't.

Jesus said this about the wind:

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going"  (John 3:8).

Honestly, we can see and hear the effects of the wind, but we do not see and hear the wind itself.  We can only feel it.  And it is by faith that we acknowledge that feeling as wind.

In the same way we can see and hear the effects of God's power but we do not always see and hear God himself; it is only by faith that we know He is working.

Why all this philosophy?  Because Peter put his faith in the wind.  Looking around at the waves, feeling their spray blasting against his face, the fisherman allowed himself to be distracted from Jesus.  He looked to his circumstances rather than looking to His Savior.  All He could see was: Wind.

Application:  What am I looking at, and believing in?  Does Jesus have my faith or does the wind have my faith.  I think of what James wrote to the church:

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:5–8 NAS95)

Prayer:  Lord make me a single minded man.  When I feel the wind, let me look to Jesus and not to the rolling waves.  Turn my fears to faith and my troubles to trust.  In every difficulty let me hear a call to prayer.  And when I'm tempted to speak doubt, teach me to talk faith.

The Night God Came to Dinner

During wartime, two groups of enemy soldiers arrived at the same house. Then a miracle happened.
BY: Adapted from a story by Rod Ohira

Fritz Vincken owns a bakery just outside of downtown Honolulu. He dispenses warmth and a smile along with hot buns and fresh bread to his loyal customers. Fritz has lived in the Hawaiian islands for many years now, and when he first arrived he was enchanted by the kindness and goodwill of the Islands' people. When asked, however, he admits that for him, the ideal of aloha was first learned long ago--when he was a lad of twelve.

The setting was on the other side of the world from Hawai'i, on a harsh winter night in the Ardennes Forest near the German-Belgian border. It was December, and two months had passed since Hubert Vincken brought his wife and his son Fritz to a small cottage in the Ardennes Forest for their safety. The family's home and its eighty-eight-year-old bakery in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle) had been destroyed in a bombing raid.

"We were isolated," Fritz recalled. "Every three or four days, my father would ride out from town on his bicycle to bring us food. When the snow came, he had to stop." His mother was concerned that their food was in very short supply, as the war seemed to be moving closer to their cottage of refuge.

By late December the cottage was no longer out of harm's way. German troops surprised and overwhelmed the Allies on December 16, turning the Ardennes Forestinto a killing field.

On Christmas Eve, Elisabeth and Fritz tried to block out the distant sound of gunfire as they sat down to their supper of oatmeal and potatoes.

"At that moment, I heard human voices outside, speaking quietly," Fritz remembered. "Mother blew out the little candle on the table and we waited in fearful silence.

"There was a knock at the door. Then another. When my mother opened the door, two men were standing outside. They spoke a strange language and pointed to a third man sitting in the snow with a bullet wound in his upper leg. We knew they were American soldiers. They were cold and weary.

"I was frightened and wondered what in the world my mother would do. She hesitated for a moment. Then she motioned the soldiers into the cottage, turned to me and said, 'Get six more potatoes from the shed.'"

Elisabeth and one of the American soldiers were able to converse in French, and from him they learned news about the German offensive. The soldier and his comrades had become separated from their battalion and had wandered for three days in the snowy Ardennes Forest, hiding from the Germans. Hungry and exhausted, they were so grateful for this stranger's kindness.

A short time later that evening, four more tired soldiers came to the cottage. However, these men were German.

"Now I was almost paralyzed with fear," Fritz recalled. "While I stood and stared in disbelief, my mother took the situation into her hands. I had always looked up to my mother and was proud to be her son. But in the moments that followed, she became my hero."

"Frohliche Weihnachten," Elisabeth said to the German soldiers, wishing them Merry Christmas. She then invited them to dinner.

But before allowing them in, Elisabeth informed them she had other guests inside that they might not consider as friends.

"She reminded them that it was Christmas Eve," Fritz said, "and told them sternly there would be no shooting around here." These soldiers, still mere boys, listened respectfully to this kind and mature woman.

The German soldiers agreed to store their weapons in the shed. Elisabeth then quickly went inside to collect the weapons from the American soldiers and locked them up securely.

"At first, it was very tense," Fritz said.

Two of the German soldiers were about sixteen years old and another was a medical student who spoke some English. Although there was little food to offer, Elisabeth knew that everyone must be very hungry. She sent Fritz outside to fetch the rooster he had captured several weeks earlier.

"When I returned," Fritz recalled, "the German medical student was looking after the wounded American, assuring him that the cold had prevented infection.

"The tension among them gradually disappeared. One of the Germans offered a loaf of rye bread, and one of the Americans presented instant coffee to share. By then the men were eager to eat, and Mother beckoned them to the table. We all were seated as she said grace.

"'Komm, Herr Jesus,'" she prayed, 'and be our guest.'

"There were tears in her eyes," Fritz said, "and as I looked around the table, I saw that the battle-weary soldiers were filled with emotion. Their thoughts seemed to be many, many miles away.

"Now they were boys again, some from America, some from Germany, all far from home."

Soon after dinner, the soldiers fell asleep in their heavy coats. The next morning, they exchanged Christmas greetings and everyone helped make a stretcher for the wounded American.

"The German soldiers then advised the Americans how to find their unit," Fritz said. "My mother gave the men back their weapons and said she would pray for their safety. At that moment, she had become a mother to them all. She asked them to be very careful and told them, 'I hope someday you will return home safely to where you belong. May God bless and watch over you.'"

The soldiers shook hands and marched off in opposite directions. It was the last time Fritz or his mother would ever see any of them.

Throughout her life, Elisabeth Vincken would often say, "God was at our table" when she talked of that night in the forest.

Fritz eventually came to live in Hawai'i and continued to carry this childhood lesson of brotherhood in his heart. He realized that being kind to one another and seeing beyond differences is a universal value, but he was surprised to discover that Hawai'i actually had a word for this ideal--aloha. When he thinks of aloha, he remembers that night long ago when everyone was welcome at the table.

Stretch Out You Hand

"And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (Matthew 8:2–3 NAS95)

Observation:  Five beautiful words!  "Jesus stretched out His hand."  Glory!  He is the one who heals with outstretched hand.  He is the one who parted the sea through the outstretched hand of Moses.  And He is the one who purchased our salvation with outstretched hands on Calvary's cross.  How I thank the Lord for the outstretched hands of Jesus.  

I once wrote a song about His Hands.  It says:

Hands that healed the lepar, and opened blind eyes

that lifted up the lame and brought the dead to life.

Father we praise You for the touch of His mighty healing hands...

Hands folded in the garden, and bound in the night

They were nailed to a tree, outstretched to bring us life

Father we praise You for the blood, that flowed from His healing hands...

Hands of forgiveness still reaching out today

Still touching the outcast, still offering grace

Father we praise You for the touch, of scarred but healing hands...

O how I need the touch of Jesus.  And I am so grateful the for the promise of Isaiah 59:1:

"Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear." (Isaiah 59:1 NAS95)

Application:  Where do I need the touch of Jesus today?  

Prayer:  Jesus I need You to reach out and touch my mind.  Just lay your hand over my head and fill me with the thoughts of glory.  Fill me with thoughts of faith.  Teach me to talk faith!

Talk faith, pure, sacred, holy faith. Bear no discouraging testimony, for this pleases the enemy. Talk of the goodness of God. Have we not enough at every step to praise him for?  {The Upward Look 329.4}

Talk faith, pure, sacred, holy faith. Bear no discouraging testimony, for this pleases the enemy. Talk of the goodness of God. Have we not enough at every step to praise him for?  Manuscript 1151. 

Yes Jesus, stretch out Your hand and touch my lips this morning.  As I stand before Your people, may the words I speak be words of faith.  May they be words of hope and of courage.  Speak through me Jesus.  Speak encouragement.  Speak blessing.  Speak joy.  Speak salvation.  

Lord I pray the prayer of the apostles this morning:

"Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."" (Acts 4:29–30 NKJV)

Yes Jesus... grant me boldness in the face of the enemy's threats.  And as You allow me to speak with boldness, may you stretch out Your hand to heal, may You stretch out Your hand to lift up the broken, may You stretch out You hand save.  We need Thy hand Lord Jesus.  We need Your touch.  

Stretch out Your hand just now!  Amen!

No More Stuff!

This week our family got an email update from our friends Mike and Sara Hawthorne who are serving at The Mission at Natuvu Creek, a medical mission station in the islands of Fiji. (for more info go to: www.missionatnatuvucreek.com) The Hawthornes have been at Natavu Creek since September.

In January of this year, they came to Alamosa and shared how God was leading them to sell their 35 Acre Ranch in Masonville, CO, and move with their six children to Fiji to become Jesus' hands and feet for the Fijian people.

The following is from one of Sara's latest letters in which she tells about receiving a large storage container of their belongings 2 months after arriving in Fiji:

Great cheers and excitement greeted the colossal, red metal box, as the truck carrying it pulled in next to the bus stop on our property.

As the rain gently fell from the sky, the doors to that well traveled container, which left Colorado ahead of us in the middle of August, were opened and its ingredients unloaded. A large group of hard-working men arrived to help us with this daunting feat. Mike climbed up and started to pull out the first of our earthly possessions. Mattresses, couches, shovels, and all the works were handed down an assembly line until I would point each item to the direction of its new home. Many hands made for a quick process, and we were completely unloaded within a few hours.

However, the monumental task of the day was still ahead of us. We had to remove the container from the truck, without the help of any heavy equipment. A crane was supposed to arrive to pick up the container, but a communication break down left us with no choice but to pray and brainstorm. In the end, the men tied the container to several coconut trees, and the driver pulled forward with the container crashing to the ground, miraculously upright!

This experience brings me to one of my lessons learned. No more STUFF! It was a bit embarrassing to unload box after box, and have all of our new friends working hard to help us, when the truth is that they live very simply and contentedly with very little. One man asked us if we were moving the whole state of Colorado to the Mission. He was joking, of course, but if he only knew how much STUFF we had already gotten rid of.

As we were preparing to move to Fiji, downsizing, and getting rid of many things, I looked at shopping in a whole new light. Every purchase was carefully examined, and prayed over with the question of 'do I really need this?' I encourage many of you to ask this question when you are at the store. Especially with the holiday season approaching, does your Aunt Sue need you to waste money on something she doesn't really need?

Friend, Sara's point is well taken. Why not give a little more to charity this holiday season and a little less to the ones who really don't need anything? Why not stop by Milagros and choose a gift from La Puente's Alternative Giving Menu? Or how about emailing Sara (sonshineranch@gmail.com) to find out how you can support The Mission at Natuvu Creek? Or pick a favorite charity of your own, send them a donation, and then put a card on your Christmas tree addressed to your loved ones telling them that you gave in their honor. As Sara said well: "Invest yourselves in things that last. You will never regret it!"

Blessings,

Jim Moon, Pastor

Alamosa SDA Church

Constant Contact

""You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." (Mark 13:13 NAS95)

Yesterday I was on the phone with my friend Steve and he shared this incredible quote from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing with me:

Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go. Know and believe the love that God has to us, and you are secure; that love is a fortress impregnable to all the delusions and assaults of Satan. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Proverbs 18:10. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 119). 

A similar quote is found in the book Ministry of Healing:  

Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Saviour. By prayer, by the study of His word, by faith in His abiding presence, the weakest of human beings may live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold them by a hand that will never let go. (Ministry of Healing, p. 182).

My wife is currently going through the Beth Moore study When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, and one of the points Ingrid has wrestled with is the idea of being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Beth concludes that Satan may harass those who are sealed but that ultimately they belong to God and there is nothing the Devil can do to take them from the Lord's hand.  

However, today's text says that it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved.  In other words, those who do not endure will be lost.   It's not that the devil takes them from God's hand, but that they choose to walk away from the hand of God.  Yes, when we receive Christ we find shelter from Satan, but temptation is about the devil seeking to lead us step by step outside that shelter.  Thus, those who do not abide in Christ will be cut off and thrown into the fire as John 15 tells us.  

Yes, when we confess Christ with our mouths and believe with our hearts the promise says: "we will be saved" (Romans 10:9).   But "will" is the critical word.  As long as we continue to confess, as long as we continue to trust "we will be saved."

To be sealed by the Spirit of God means that we have been set apart.  We are now a part of those destined to be saved.  But that doesn't take away the fact that we must endure until the end.  King Saul received the Spirit of God, but because He didn't endure, eventually the Spirit of God left him:

""Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. "It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. "And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do." 

Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them... 

Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him." (1 Samuel 10:6–10; 16:14 NAS95)

O friend, the key to security in Christ, the key to assurance of salvation is this... Confession and Connection.  True assurance, an assurance without presumption, is choosing to live in contact with the living Christ.  As long as we are connected we may be confident.  Our confidence and assurance isn't from our confession alone, but from our confession combined with our connection to Christ.  If we abide in Him we will bear much fruit.  And one of the fruits we bear is assurance of salvation.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I choose you again.  Today Lord, let me live in connection to You.  Be my vine, that I might bear Your fruit.  Let Your strong hand hold me close and never let go!  Amen!