HIS WAY

So true!

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HIS WAY

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God bade me go when I would stay

(’Twas cool within the wood);

I did not know the reason why.

I heard a boulder crashing by

Across the path where I stood.

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He bade me stay when I would go;

“Thy will be done,” I said.

They found one day at early dawn,

Across the way I would have gone,

A serpent with a mangled head.

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No more I ask the reason why,

Although I may not see

The path ahead, His way I go;

For though I know not, He doth know,

And He will choose safe paths for me.

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—The Sunday School Times

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Source: Daily Streams

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WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS?

Matthew 8:27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Barnes:

The men marveled –

Wondered, or were amazed.

What manner of man – What kind of a personage.

How unlike other men!

What a vast display of power!

and how far exalted above mortals must he be!

Jesus spake to the winds; rebuked their raging, and the sea was suddenly calm. The storm subsided; the ship glided smoothly; danger fled; and in amazement they stood in the presence of him who controlled the tempests that God had raised; and they felt that “he” must be God himself, for none but God could calm the heaving billows and scatter the tempest.

No scene could have been more grand than this display of the power of Jesus.

The darkness;

the dashing waves;

the howling winds;

the heaving and tossing ship;

the fears and cries of the seamen,

all by a single word hushed into calm repose,

present an image of power and divinity irresistibly grand and awful.

THE DELAY – A Poem

Years ago I had a desire to become involved in Vacation Bible School (VBS), so I asked the Lord to open a door for me to do so. The years passed and no opportunity came. I all but forgot my prayer until one day, years later, it came to mind again and I asked the Lord why He didn’t answer my prayer, because I thought it was a good prayer. I also told the Lord that I accepted His ways in my life, and that He knew best, even though I didn’t understand. It was at that point that my prayer was answered. 

THE DELAY

Once upon a summertime past,

I talked to the Lord, and this I asked,

Remember my prayer for a VBS,

Lord, why did it never come to pass?

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A good prayer I thought, for the summer season,

But Lord I know you have a reason,

I will trust whatever comes from your hand,

But I must confess Lord, I don’t understand.

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A still small voice I heard in my spirit,

“Do it now” … I could hardly believe it!

The timing was perfect, this I now saw,

The children around me, the Lord would draw.

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I was so excited, all doubts were gone,

That very summer a VBS was born,

Neighborhood children, so many were they,

Gathered together they learned of God’s ways.

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The Bible was taught to these sweet little ones,

A beautiful work our God had begun,

They ate and they played, and sang many a song,

We had VBS for three summers long!

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The Lord hears all of the prayers we have prayed,

And in His great wisdom sometimes He delays,

To answer until the time is just right,

Giving us seasons of joy and delight!

Cathy White 2018 ©

The VBS lasted for three summers. The parents were very open to their children coming and some even asked if we would have another VBS when summer came around again the following year. I gave each parent a sheet of paper showing them what would be taught, and I asked them to sign a permission slip for their children to attend. I also asked the parents to list any food allergies their children had. (I used to work for a large church.) These were the children and families that I knew, and my grandchildren knew, from the neighborhood.

1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Delay is not denial…

John 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

JESUS SAID: Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night”…

John Chapter 3

1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

More on… SALVATION

 

FIFTY YEARS IN THE CHURCH OF ROME by Charles Chiniquy

FIFTY YEARS IN THE CHURCH OF ROME

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by Charles Chiniquy

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COPYRIGHT 1886

(Excerpt)

DEDICATION

TO ALL THE FAITHFUL MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL,

I also, dedicate this book.

Venerable Ministers of the Gospel! Rome is the great danger ahead for the Church of Christ, and you do not understand it enough.

The consequence is an ignorance of Romanism which becomes more and more deplorable and fatal, every day.

It is ignorance which paves the way to the triumph of Rome, in a near future, if there is not a complete change in your views, on that subject.

It is that ignorance which paralyzes the arm of the Church of Christ, and makes the glorious word “Protestant” senseless, almost a dead and ridiculous word. For who does really protest against Rome, to-day? where are those who sound the trumpet of alarm?

When Rome is striking you to the heart by cursing your schools and wrenching the Bible from the hands of your children; when she is not only battering your doors, but scaling your walls and storming your citadels, how few dare go to the breach and repulse the audacious and sacrilegious foe?

Why so? Because modern Protestants have not only forgotten what Rome was, what she is, and what she will forever be: the most irreconcilable 5and powerful enemy of the Gospel of Christ; but they consider her almost a branch of the church whose corner-stone is Christ.

Faithful ministers of the Gospel! I present you this book that you may know that the monster Church of Rome, who shed the blood of your forefathers, is still at work, to-day, at your very door, to enchain your people to the feet of her idols. Read it, and for the first time, you will see the inside life of Popery with the exactness of Photography. From the supreme art with which the mind of the young and timid child is fettered, enchained and paralyzed, to the unspeakable degradation of the priest under the iron heel of the bishop, everything will be revealed to you as it has never been before.

The superstitions, the ridiculous and humiliating practices, the secret and mental agonies of the monks, the nuns and the priests, will be shown to you as they were never shown before. In this book, the sophisms and errors of Romanism are discussed and refuted with a clearness, simplicity and evidence which my twenty-five years of priesthood only could teach me. It is not in boasting that I say this. There can be no boasting in me for having been so many years an abject slave of the Pope. The book I offer you is an arsenal filled with the best weapons you ever had to fight, and, with the help of God, conquer the foe.

TO THE BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND PEOPLE OF ROME,

this book is also dedicated.

In the name of your immortal souls, I ask you, Roman Catholics, to read this book.

By the mercy of God, you will find, in its pages, how you are cruelly deceived by your vain and lying traditions.

You will see that it is not through your ceremonies, masses, confessions, purgatory, indulgences, fastings, etc., you are saved. You have nothing to do but to believe, repent and love.

Salvation is a gift! Eternal life is a gift! Forgiveness of sin is a gift! Christ is a gift!

Read this book, presented by the most devoted of your friends, and, by the mercy of God, you will see the errors of your ways—you will look to the GIFT—you will accept it—and in its possession you will feel rich and happy for time and eternity.

(Articles regarding former Roman Catholic priest Charles Chiniquy can be found in the archives of the New York Times. A subscription to the Times is required.)