There DOES seem to be a 'spirit' of hopelessness rolling in upon our thought and society; as if there is nothing worth living for, no ultimate aim to reach for.
My life for the last fifty years, together with Esther my wife, has been involved with the care and development of children; children who have had to face fear and anxiety, as well as a sense of hopelessness for their own future.
We have had to deal with the effect this has had upon them. We have had to find ways to pacify their fears and anxieties and calm their mental disturbances, and give them hope for the future. It has been quite a labour, but we have seen no suicides in the 400 hundred we have lived with and cared for. We have seen many satisfied hearts and minds, and many disturbed young people pacified and brought through to a peaceful outlook and existence. And seen many of them go on into marriage and parenthood as they labour for a living in this increasingly difficult, competitive and very uncertain world. In all those that took time to come back to us for our Anniversary last week, we rejoiced to see young men and women facing up to life bravely and with faith for the future. MANY OF THEM have done so by seeking out God in the world around them, and in their lives; discovering that they are not on their own, and that they need never be defeated. They have actually done what the Prophet Amos exhorted us ALL to do in his Book in the Old Testament of the Bible chapter 5v4 and 6 -
Thus says the Lord.....SEEK (look for) Me
(enquire for, and of Me, and require me as you require food,
and you shall LIVE.
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THUS, when I was six, I remember looking up into the night sky, and at the stars that hung and twinkled there. My childish mind reached out with the question - 'What holds the stars up?' - it rose up above me in my thoughts, and almost immediately the answer was there in the front of my mind - a 'flash' message 'GOD is holding them up!' I was not a church goer, did not attend Sunday School, had no Christian parent.
SINCE I WAS SIX I have KNOWN without doubt that GOD exists. I BELIEVE that GOD wants every person to KNOW that He IS real, and forever existing and alive. HE wants us to know that He IS able to hear and answer our prayers in the 'here and now' of our lives. THIS is not what the world around us generally believes or even has time to consider. Never mind, 72 years after I was six and found out that God is there for me and you, I STILL believe and know it as a FACT. I might die of a terminal disease, get shot dead, or in some other way physically suffer, BUT I will still KNOW God is with me.
God says, in the Bible, in MALACHI 3V10 -
'PROVE ME NOW,
and SEE what I will do for you'
BUT HOW? How shall I prove HIM? The Prophet Jeremiah says that we shall find Him 'when we search for Him with all our heart / mind, and mental faculties _ Jeremiah 29v13
IF we would reach out to Him in our spirit - our inner man....'....if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far ever every one of us - Acts 17v27 - reaching out with all our senses and faculties, trying to perceive God in our inner self.
THUS, when I was six, I remember looking up into the night sky, and at the stars that hung and twinkled there. My childish mind reached out with the question - 'What holds the stars up?' - it rose up above me in my thoughts, and almost immediately the answer was there in the front of my mind - a 'flash' message 'GOD is holding them up!' I was not a church goer, did not attend Sunday School, had no Christian parent.
BUT I had my answer. It was an answer I needed, with my drunken father beating up my Mum inside the house. It was a definite answer, and it satisfied ME as my world was breaking up behind me. If He was holding the stars up, HE could and would hold ME up too. From then on this incident formed the foundation of finding PROOF of God in almost everything I saw around me. Psalm19v1 and also Romans 1v20....
Let your thoughts reach out to discover God. He WILL let you find Him - if you sincerely want to.
....................................................
THE APOSTLE JOHN found another way of coming to know Jesus, and being close to Him, and through Him to God, our Father in Heaven
In his FIRST Letter, chapter 2v3, he says 'Hereby we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.'
-This is how we may discern (daily, by experience),
that we are coming to know Him,
(to perceive, recognise, understand and become better acquainted with Him):
IF we keep (bear in mind, observe and practise)
His Teaching (precepts and commandments).
THE MORE we read the WORDS of Jesus, and even ALL the Scriptures, the more we shall slowly begin to SEE what pleases, and what offends God, generally, and even in the particular.
BUT, we have to read regularly, and we have to let what we read unfold in us a true understanding and intuition of how God is - UNTIL we can truly say that we 'know' Him
THE APOSTLE PAUL in his Letter to the Roman Church, chapter 12v2 writes - 'Change the way you THINK - so that you may PROVE for your own selves what is the good, and acceptable and perfect will of God; EVEN the thing which is good, acceptable, and perfect in His sight for you.'
NOW we are back to Malachi and 'proving God' again.
WE ALL NEED TO KNOW GOD practically - NOT just theoretically. GOD wants us to know He is not a myth, or the creation of any man's imagination.
IT IS OUR DUTY TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH FOR OURSELVES. To PROVE by personal experiment and enquiry - Ephesians 5v10 'Proving what is acceptable to the LORD'. AND, by implication, also what is NOT acceptable. As we put into practise in our life what we KNOW, we shall REAP what we sow - and hopefully LEARN from it.
IN CONCLUSION, the APOSTLE PAUL writing to the Church in Thessalonica and in his FIRST Letter chapter 5v17 exhorts them all to ' Pray without ceasing.' To communicate with God all the time, as if he is constantly with you, wanting to share your life. 'HE is never far from us - Remember Acts 17v27.
As you share your thoughts and feelings and desire with HIM, you should expect Comment, and even Action as He responds to you - He will make Himself known to be there with you, and to have HEARD what you share with Him.
BUT - if we willingly live a life that is not pleasing to God, THEN He may withdraw Himself from us, and refuse to be found by us - 1.Chronicles 28v9
HAVING FOUND GOD, WE HAVE THEN TO AGREE WITH HIM.
We have to make Lord of our life
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FRANCIS LAHOL HAS HAD TO SPEND A FEW DAYS IN HOSPITAL, but is now home again with his family in Testimony House. He continues to recover, and gain strength. He has ONE more session of Radiation AND Chemotherapy to undergo. Please to join our prayers for his total healing.
JAMES MANU returned from yet another visit to Eye Clinic. They are stating that he will need a further twelve months of treatment - either 6 or 12 sessions. Generally the current prognosis is the best he has had yet, and he is much encouraged.
DAN NDUNGU went up to Nairobi for his operation to repair the hole in his heart last Sunday. He was expecting the operation to take place on the Tuesday. It was delayed due to the late return of the surgeon from his vacation! It was deferred till Thursday but has again been deferred until Monday or Tuesday of next week, due to a shortage of bed space!! Very frustrating and difficult.
But we know the Lord is over all this, and that in the end it will all work out for the best. Mica Yego from Tyndale Cottage (Dan's home) is there with him in Nairobi.
A 16% tax on petrol has hit the nation this week, and there is a current shortage of fuel as well, which has together brought increasing pressure on the travelling public and trade. Of course the effect on all consumer products, especially food, is also expected to immediately increase the cost of living. The future looks rather bleak for all. Nairobi has already seen riots, and the petrol shortage may continue, and has already begun to be felt here in Eldoret.
BUT THE SUN IS SHINING - AND BEST OF ALL GOD is caring and watching over us
May He Bless you all and establish all your thoughts, strengthening your Faith. Our Love in Him to you all, as we all together join hands in and with the Lord Jesus.
John, Esther and Daryl Green
1 comment:
Amen & yes God is real ! ! in the midst of all the rush & hustle of life if we can but take a moment of our time & give Him;we shall hear from Him, we shall see Him and experience his presence and Love.
God bless you for that beautiful message I will be praying for Francis, Dan, James & the other needs of the homes & school.
Antony wanya
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