IVAN MOISEYEV OF U.S.S.R.

” More than that, we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance ” Romans 5:3.

Ivan Moiseyev, a young soldier was endlessly called by the Communists to head – quarters for talks to make him deny Jesus and deviate from his faith.  One morning, Ivan saw a bright star falling from heaven. Like a comet, it came closer and became bigger. Ivan was thrilled and filled with joy to see an angel above him. The angel hovered about him and spoke,” Ivan, go. Don’t be afraid . I am with you “.Ivan couldn’t speak but, his joy was like fire within him. He went to Major Gidenko’s office and knocked quietly at the door. He had been interrogated again and again. When Ivan was asked about his God, joyfully he shared his faith saying,” He is the One who created the universe. He greatly loved man and sent His Son “. As Ivan was persistent in his faith, Gidenko ordered him to stand in the street where the temperature was thirty degrees below zero. Major sent other officers to persuade Ivan but of no use. Soldiers around him were converted, impressed by his ardent faith. They put him in refrigerated cells. They clothed him in special rubber suit into which they pumped air until his chest was so compressed, he scarcely could breathe. Finally Ivan died with difficulty as a Christian. His body was returned to his family. He had been stabbed six times around his heart. He had wounds on his head and around the mouth. Ivan’s father wrote,” May it be that this living flower which gave the fragrance of its youth on the cross should be an example for all faithful youth. May they love Christ as our son has loved Him “.

REVELATION

” I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed ” ( Revelation 15:1 ).

Tribulation period consists of  opening of seven seals , then sounding the seven trumpets. The seven last plagues are also called the seven bowl judgements.  Unlike the previous plagues, they are universal and they will culminate in the abolition of all evils. God’s wrath is completed with them. John saw which looked like a sea of glass and it was mixed with fire, to represent wrath and judgement. Those who stand beside it, are victorious over the beast and his image. They held harps and sang the song of Moses where he celebrated Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The song of the Lamb celebrates the ultimate deliverance of God’s people from the power of satan. Our Lord’s deeds are great and marvelous and His ways are just and true. The whole universe should fear Him and bring glory to His Name. All nations will come and worship Him for He alone is Holy and His righteous acts have been revealed.

LITTLE IS MUCH WITH GOD”

” And take in your hand this staff with which you shall do the signs ” ( Exodus 4:17 ).

Usually, we tend to believe a lot more can be done if we have large financial resources, talented man-power and innovative ideas. But these things don’t matter to God; a little is much when God is in it. When God asked Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses was afraid the people wouldn’t listen to him or follow him. So God asked him,” What is in your hand?”.He replied,” A rod “. God went on to use that rod in Moses’hand to convince the people to follow him,  to turn Nile water into blood,  to bring plagues in Egypt,  to part the Red Sea  and to perform miracles in the wilderness. In Judges3:31,  a relatively unknown man Shamgar killed 600 Philistines single-handedly. How?  He won a great victory with nothing more than an Ox-goad ( a stick sharpened on one end to drive slow-moving animals ). It is ironic that God used a non-Israel warrior Shamgar to deliver Israel from its enemies. Moses’rod and Shamgar’s  ox-goad when dedicated to God became mighty tools. This helps us see that God can use what little we have to do great things when we surrender to Him. God is not looking for people with great abilities but for people who are dedicated to follow Him and obey Him.

” Dear Lord, You can do great things when I use the little I have to serve You with all my heart. Let me begin to do my part and witness Your miracles. In Jesus’Name I pray “.–Amen.

TASTE AND SEE

” Taste and see that the Lord is good ”  ( Psalm 34:8 )

Linda gave her little daughter Sweety, four jellybeans and told her that was all the candy she was going to receive that day. After practically gulping three candies, Sweety lingered over that last candy. She sucked it, took it out of her mouth, bit a little bit, sucked it, then gnawed at the outer shell. Knowing that it was the last candy, she spent thirty minutes to taste and eat that. Linda observed her little girl with amusement. Sweety learned the value of savoring  – enjoying the taste, texture and the flavor of each bite. When we read in Psalm 34:8, ” Taste and see that the Lord is good “, we can be sure that God expects us to “savor ” His Presence. He allows us to gain intimate and satisfying knowledge of Him. When we meditate on His Word, we will draw out a deeper understanding of who He is. When we digest God’s Word, we will find that not only does it make us stronger in our faith, but its wisdom also sweetens our life. We need to feed ourselves spiritually, just as we do physically. As we taste His goodness and love, He will reveal the distinctive flavor of His creativity, sovereignty, holiness and faithfulness. Our Father would look on with enjoyment as we learn how to enjoy and savor Him. Our great privilege is to enjoy God’s Presence.

” Dear Lord, let me taste Your goodness and savor all that You have done. I draw close to You and praise You, the holy, sovereign and faithful one. In Jesus’Name I pray “.–Amen.

SUPERSTAR

” For when one says,” I follow Paul ” and another,” I follow Apollos ” are you not mere men?”. ( 1 Corinthians 3:4 )

In today’s culture, ” Superstars ” such as great soccer players, popular musicians and Holywood celebrities abound in number. Paul called the first century Corinthian believers, infants as they had become divided over their own ” Spiritual Superstars “. Paul viewed such favoritism as a reflection of the sinful nature in a believer’s unyielded heart. When one said,” I follow Paul ” , and another said,” I follow Apollos , Paul asked,” Are you not mere men ?”. He called the Corinthians ” Spiritually immature Christians ” as they were  ” worldly ” controlled by their own desires. Paul planted the seed of the Gospel message in people’s hearts. He was a missionary pioneer, he brought the message of salvation. Apollo’s role was to water  –  to help the believers grow stronger in the faith. Paul founded the church in Corinth and Apollo built on that foundation. But, the believers in Corinth had split into factions pledging loyalty to different teachers. Our spiritual leaders should certainly be respected, but we should never place them on pedestals. It was God alone who made the seed of spiritual life grow. He alone is the Superstar. Let us be careful not to put our Christian leaders on pedestal as a substitute for Christ. Instead, let us appreciate how God is using a variety spiritual leaders for His honor and His glory.

” Dear Lord, give me the wisdom to follow the example of our spiritual leaders, but help me not to think so highly of them that leads to worship them instead of You. Let me honor and worship You alone. In Jesus’Name I pray “.–Amen.

 

GLORIFY ONLY GOD

“If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” I Peter: 4:11

Corrie Ten Boom was a dutch watch maker and Christian who, along with her father and other family members, helped many Jews escape the Nazi holocaust during World War II. Being a World War II concentration camp survivor, she became a popular speaker around the world. Thousands attended her meetings as she talked about how she had learned to forgive her captors just as Christ had forgiven her sins. According to her “Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart”. After each meeting, people surrounded her and heaped accolades on her for her Godly qualities and thanked her for encouraging them in their walk with the Lord. Corrie said she would return to her room, get down on her knees and present those compliments in thanks to God. She called it giving God “A bouquet of praise”. In I Peter 4:10, Peter says that the Lord has given each one of us gifts to use to minister to one another so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the Glory and the Dominion for ever and ever. All our abilities should be used in serving others and none are for our own exclusive enjoyment. We have nothing to offer others that we have not first received from the Lord, so the Glory belongs to Him only. Praising God and glorifying Him is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

“Dear Lord, when i receive a compliment for something I have said or done, let me privately give You a bouquet of praise which You alone deserve. Let me glorify You for the help and compliment I have received. In Jesus’ name I pray” – Amen.

BIBLE QUIZ (398)

QUESTIONS

1. Which two cities did Jesus say would have repented in sack cloth and ashes if they could have seen his miracles?
2. Who put ashes on her head after being sexually assaulted by her lecherous half brother?
3. Who put on sack cloth when he learned of a government plan to wipe out the Jews?
4. Who was Job speaking to when he said, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”?
5. Which two men tore their clothes when the Israelites murmured against he Lord about going into Canaan?
6. Who rent his clothes when he heard Absalom had taken revenge on Amnon?
7. Whose assassination caused eighty men to come to Jerusalem with torn clothes and offerings of grain and incense?
8. Which leper’s plea for a cure caused the king of Israel to tear his clothes?
9. Which warrior’s death caused David and his men to tear their clothes in grief?
10. Which friend of David, loyal during Absalom’s rebellion, met David with torn robe and ashes on his head?

ANSWERS

1. Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 11:21)
2. Tamar (2 Samuel 13:19)
3. Mordecai (Esther 4:1-3)
4. God (Job 42:6)
5. Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:6)
6. David (2 Samuel 13:31)
7. Gedaliah’s (Jeremiah 41:4-5)
8. Naaman the Syrian’s (2 Kings 5:7)
9. Saul’s (2 Samuel 1:11)
10. Hushai the Archite (2 Samuel 15:32)

Graham Stuart Staines

“My life is worth nothing, unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and Love” Acts: 20: 24

Graham Stuart Staines was an Australian Christian missionary who was born in 1941 in Palmwoods of Australia. He was the second son of William and Elizabeth and he surrendered his life at the tender age of 10 at a Gospel meet. He believed that he was called by God to serve the poor. He had been working in Odisha among the tribal poor and the lepers since 1965. He met Gladys in June 1981 while working for leprosy patients and they married in 1983 and had worked together since then. They had three children – a daughter (Esther) and 2 sons (Philip and Timothy). Staines assisted in translating a part of the Bible into the Ho language of India including proof reading the entire New Testament manuscript, though his focus was on a ministry to the lepers. He spoke fluently Odia and was popular among patients whom he used to help after they were cured. He used to teach how to make mats out of rope and basket from sabi grass and trees, leaves. On the night of 22nd January 1999, he attended a jungle camp in Manoharpur, an annual gathering of Christians of the area for religious and social discourse. He was on his way to Keonjhar with his sons, who had come back on holiday from their school at Ooty. They broke their journey for the camp and decided to spend the night in Manoharpur. They slept in the vehicle because of severe cold. According to reports, a mob of 50 people armed with axes and other implements attacked the vehicle while Staines and his children were fast asleep. The station wagon where they were sleeping was set alight by the mob. Graham, Philip and Timothy Staines were burnt alive. Staines and his sons apparently tried to escape but they were allegedly prevented by the mob. Enduring the pain, Gladys Staines stated “It is far from my mind to punish the persons who were responsible for the death of my husband and two children, but it is my desire and hope that they would repent and would be reformed”.

 

REVELATION

“Then I heard a voice from Heaven say ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on'” Revelation: 14:13

We will be blessed, if we remain faithful to our Lord, abstaining from receiving the mark of the beast either on the forehead or on the hand. Those who remain faithful through every trial and persecution will rest from their labor. They can withstand the persecution by trusting in Jesus Christ and obeying His commands found in His Word. Then, John saw a white cloud and seated on the cloud was like the Son of Man, the image of judgement. Christ is separating the faithful from the unfaithful like a farmer harvesting his crops. This is a time of joy for the Christians who have stood firm and who have been persecuted and martyred, and they will receive their long-awaited reward. Another Angel came out of the temple and said that the earth was ripe for the harvest. So He, who was seated on the cloud, swung His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested. Another Angel came with a sharp sickle and gathered clusters of grapes and they were smashed in the wine press of God’s wrath. They were trampled outside the city and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses and the distance was set to be thousand six hundred stadia. The distance of 1600 stadia equals about 180 miles, approximately the north-south length of Palestine.

SPIRITUAL EYESIGHT

” Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Law ”  ( Psalm 119:18 )

Charles Hadden Spurgeon, the 19th century preacher told a story about a woman who said to the painter Joseph Turner while he was painting,”  Why do you put such extravagant colors in your pictures ? I never see anything like them in Nature “.       ” Don’t  you wish you did , Madam “. It was a sufficient answer. He saw them in Nature even if she did not. In a similar way, believers in Christ can see many spiritual truths in Scripture which the unbelievers can not recognize. God’s unfathomable nature and His wonderful plan  — Jesus’death and resurrection and the promise of Salvation are revealed only to those who believe that what God says is true. Those who believe in Christ’s death and resurrection and put their faith in Him, will know all they need to be saved. This knowledge, however can’t be grasped by even the wisest people, unless they accept God’s message. God’s plan, however is still hidden to unbelievers because they either refuse to accept it or choose to ignore it.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can apprehend the truths of the Word of God and appreciate their beauty and significance. We can see wonderful things in Scripture that are completely unnoticed by those who are spiritually blind. The Spirit of God enables the people of God to understand the Word of God. Scriptural insight is available only to those with Spiritual insight.

” Dear Lord, When I wait for You silently and meditate on Your Word,  reveal me the hidden treasures in the Scripture. Lord , open my eyes and illumine me . In  Jesus’Name I pray “.–Amen.