-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: ben@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> archives/read online: http://associate.com/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <21 January 2003> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "Omnipresence and your thoughts" - (Pt-2) - Keith Cox 2) <Bible-Study> "Be wise as serpents..." (Pt-4/6} - Charles E. Wigg 3) <Prophecy> "Outline of prophetic events" (Pt-3) - B. Anstey 4) <Poem> - "Resignation" - C.M. W. Cowper 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "OMNIPRESENCE AND YOUR THOUGHTS" (PART-2) Keith Cox Does anyone hear our thoughts? When you are in the office meeting and you think that terrible thing about your boss, are you the only one listening? When that errant thought about your friend flies across your mind, is the internal blush only seen by you? The way we answer these questions, no doubt, will be indicative of the times in which we live, and a hallmark of our time is the gross over-emphasis upon the individual. Part and parcel of this over-emphasis is the manner in which we prize and misconceive the interior life: that which transpires inside the individual, that which no other human knows about except when we show it to them through words or actions. We conceive of our interior life as being wholly our own because we think that we are the only ones ultimately a party to it. "No one else is in my thoughts," we think, "therefore they are mine exclusively." And certainly this can seem to be very true. For instance, I cannot communicate to my best friend through my thoughts. At dinner with him, if I think, "Pass the salt," he will not hear me and pass the salt. He might read my body language, or know my eating habits, and pass the salt. But no matter how well he knows me, he will never read my thoughts; they will always be communicated to him through some other medium such as my words or actions. Thus it is easy to see why we construe our interior life to be a solitary monologue -for no other human can hear it. But if we are to take seriously the notion of the omnipresence of God, and I think that most if not all intuitively know that notion to be true, then we must explode this conception of the solitary monologue. Your internal ears are not the only pair attuned to your interior life. The Divine ears, and eyes for that matter, are attentively fixed on you and your life, both external and internal. We cannot hide from Him in some corner of our mind. And just because we might forget that He is there, does not mean that He forgets that we are there and leaves off to go do something else. This is terrifying if you do not trust Him, or know that He loves you. Yet Christ tells us that God loves us, and Christ shows us that God is trustworthy. If you don't believe me, simply ask God, He is listening to your thoughts. --- Copyright(c) 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <BIBLE-STUDY> "BE AS WISE AS SERPENTS, AND AS HARMLESS AS DOVES" - (PART 4 OF 6) Charles E. Wigg BE WISE AS SERPENTS. We noticed earlier that the Lord Jesus did not say, "Be wise as THE SERPENT". He never wishes His servants to draw upon Satan's cunning, or to be like the Serpent. However God has given to His creatures certain wisdom in their ways and habits, this is the wisdom that the lord Jesus wishes us to emulate. A serpent really should not be able to exist, yet they are usually quite fat and seem to prosper. They have no legs with which to run, and they are quite slow in their movements. The experts tell us that they can only travel at 5Kms per hour. Yet they can catch rabbits that are quite speedy, and birds that can fly, also frogs that can leap and swim. They have no arms or hands, they cannot catch or hold on to anything. IT HAS NO TEETH. A viper has teeth, but a serpent has none. It has to swallow its food whole, whether it be a bird, a rabbit, or mouse, a frog, or even an egg. It is unable to chew anything. It does have two fangs in the roof of its mouth at the back. But these fangs are hollow, and they enable it to administer poison to anything that it bites. SHOWS NO AGGRESSION. Normally a serpent displays no aggression, unless it has young nearby. It will not stand up for its rights, but if you meet a serpent on a path, it will usually get off the path into the undergrowth and let you have right of way. We sometimes hear of 'Aggressive Evangelism', yet often people are turned away from the Lord by such. We need to be 'As wise as serpents'. MAKES NO NOISE. The serpent never advertises its whereabouts by making a noise, never draws attention to itself. If it did it could not survive. Some would argue that a serpent can make no noise. But I had an old friend, (he is with the Lord now). He was much more experienced than I in these matters. He told me that serpents can bark like a dog, and he has heard them do so when they were very agitated and angry. But normally they make absolute no noise. They do make some noise when traveling through long grass, but they cannot avoid this KEEPS OUT OF SIGHT. A serpent rarely shows itself, it keeps out of sight where possible. Again if it did not do so it would not survive. Some serpents live in desert areas where there is no cover. In such places they so blend with their surroundings, that if they lay still they are very hard to find. Most will agree with me, that self is our greatest hindrance. Much is made today of publicity. This is used to draw the crowds, but when it comes to personal witness and service, we need to exalt Christ, and to keep ourselves out of sight. [To be concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "OUTLINE OF PROPHETIC EVENTS" (PART-3) B. Anstey THE BLESSED HOPE The Lord Jesus said "In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." He has also said, "Surely I come quickly." The proper hope of the Christian is to expect the Lord to come at any moment. There are many indications that lead us to conclude that the Lord's coming is very near at hand. See Appendix 'B' for further discussion on this point. Christians all over the world are looking for the Lord to come. This is the "blessed hope" of the Christian. (Tit. 2:13) The Lord could come today! (Jn. 14:2-3, Rev. 22:20, Heb. 10:37) THE RAPTURE When the Lord Jesus comes He will descend from heaven with a "shout," with the "voice of the archangel," and with the "trump of God." (1 Thes. 4:15-18) This is what Christians call "the rapture." The "shout" is to awaken the "dead in Christ." These sleeping saints are a special class of believers who have been redeemed during the period in which the church has been on earth. Even though death has claimed their bodies they are still referred to as being "in Christ." This expression ["in Christ"] indicates that they are Christians. The Apostle Paul uses it in his writings to indicate the Christian's individual place of acceptance before God. It denotes the full Christian position before God in new creation and is inseparably bound up with the Holy Spirit's indwelling. To be "in Christ" means to be in Christ's place before God. The very position that Christ now occupies before God is the Christian's place. Old Testament saints are not said to be "in Christ," although their souls and spirits are safe with Him in heaven. At the Lord's coming, the "dead in Christ" will rise out of their graves to meet the Lord in the air. This is the first resurrection. The "voice of the archangel" or "archangelic voice" appears to be the Lord's own voice in the power of the archangel. His voice here apparently refers to the raising of the Old Testament saints, for He had often appeared to His people in those times as "the Angel of the Lord." He now calls them out of their graves with that voice in which He was known by many of them. They will rise out of their graves at the same time as the "dead in Christ" rise, and will also partake in the first resurrection. (Heb. 11:40, 12:23 "made perfect") The "trump of God" is what will close up this present dispensation. All believers who are alive on earth at the time of the Lord's coming [rapture], will be "caught up together" in the air with the New and Old Testament saints* who will be raised from their graves at that time. [To be concluded] --- [*There is also another school of thought that the OT saints will be raised only before the millennial reign of the Lord - Ben] - [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________________________ 4) <POEM> "RESIGNATION" JOB 5:19, PS 10:17; LK 22:35 C.M. W. Cowper O Lord, my best desire fulfil, And help me to resign Life, health, and comfort to thy will, And make thy pleasure mine. Why should I shrink at thy command, Whose love forbids my fears? Or tremble at the gracious hand That wipes away my tears? No; let me rather freely yield What most I prize to thee, Who never hast a good withheld, Or wilt withhold from me. Thy favour all my journey through, Thou art engaged to grant; What else I want, or think I do, 'Tis better still to want. Wisdom and mercy guide my way; Shall I resist them both - A poor blind creature of a day, And crushed before the moth? But ah! my inmost spirit cries, Still bind me to thy sway, Else the next cloud that veils my skies Drives all these thoughts away. ---------------------------<BrethrenVoice>--------------------------- Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: www.brethrenvoice.net <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:32 _______________________________________________________________________