D. L. Moody: The Triumphs of Hope

In the fifteenth chapter of Romans, thirteenth verse, the Apostle says: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." The next thing then is hope.

Did you ever notice this, that no man or woman is ever used by God to build up His kingdom who has lost hope? Now, I have been observing this throughout different parts of the country, and wherever I have found a worker in God's vineyard who has lost hope, I have found a man or woman not very useful. Now, just look at these workers. Let your mind go over the past for a moment. Can you think of a man or woman whom God has used to build His kingdom who has lost hope? I don't know of any; I never heard of such an one.

It is very important to have hope in the Church; and it is the work of the Holy Ghost to impart hope. Let Him come into some of the churches where there have not been any conversions for a few years, and let Him convert a score of people, and see how hopeful the Church becomes at once. He imparts hope; a man filled with the Spirit of God will be very hopeful. He will be looking out into the future, and he knows that it is all bright, because the God of all grace is able to do great things. So it is very important that we have hope.

If a man has lost hope, he is out of communion with God; he has not the Spirit of God resting upon him for service; he may be a son of God, and disheartened so that he can not be used of God. Do you know there is no place in the Scriptures where it is recorded that God ever used even a discouraged man.

Some years ago, in my work I was quite discouraged, and I was ready to hang my harp on the willow. I was very much cast down and depressed. I had been for weeks in that state, when one Monday morning a friend, who had a very large Bible class, came into my study. I used to examine the notes of his Sunday School lessons, which were equal to a sermon, and he came to me this morning and said, "Well, what did you preach about yesterday?" and I told him. I said, "What did you preach about?" and he said that he preached about Noah. "Did you ever preach about Noah?" "No, I never preached about Noah." "Did you ever study his character?" "No, I never studied his life particularly." "Well," says he, "he is a most wonderful character. It will do you good. You ought to study up that character." When he went out, I took down my Bible, and read about Noah; and then it came over me that Noah worked 120 years and never had a convert, and yet he did not get discouraged; and I said, "well, I ought not to be discouraged," and I closed my Bible, got up and walked down town, and the cloud had gone.

I went down to the noon prayer meeting, and heard of a little town in the country where they had taken into the church 100 young converts; and I said to myself, I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard that; and yet he worked 120 years and didn't get discouraged. And then a man right across the aisle got up and said, "My friends, I wish you to pray for me; I think I'm lost;" and I thought to myself, "I wonder what Noah would have given to hear that." He never heard a man say, "I wish you to pray for me; I think I am lost," and yet he didn't get discouraged!

Oh, children of God, let us not get discouraged; let us ask God to forgive us, if we have been discouraged and cast down; let us ask God to give us hope, that we may be ever hopeful. It does me good sometimes to meet some people and take hold of their hands; they are so hopeful, while other people throw a gloom over me because they are all the time cast down, and looking at the dark side, and looking at the obstacles and difficulties that are in the way.

Great Devotional Thought From Tozer

Just what attracts us to the church we attend? What a question to ask, especially from a pastor. Still, after nearly 41 years of walking with the Lord, and after 38 years of ministry, the things Tozer says are things I and many of my fellow pastor friends see quite regularly. Is the church you attend helping you to really know Jesus and His word? Tozer says it well, and what he says should be heard clearly. Here you go, may the Lord minister to us all!

Failure and Success: The Great Goddess Numbers

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. --1 Corinthians 3:12-13

The emphasis today in Christian circles appears to be on quantity, with a corresponding lack of emphasis on quality. Numbers, size and amount seem to be very nearly all that matters even among evangelicals. The size of the crowd, the number of converts, the size of the budget, the amount of the weekly collections: if these look good the church is prospering and the pastor is thought to be a success. The church that can show an impressive quantitative growth is frankly envied and imitated by other ambitious churches.

This is the age of the Laodiceans. The great goddess Numbers is worshiped with fervent devotion and all things religious are brought before her for examination. Her Old Testament is the financial report and her New Testament is the membership roll. To these she appeals as arbiters of all questions, the test of spiritual growth and the proof of success or failure in every Christian endeavor.

A little acquaintance with the Bible should show this up for the heresy it is. To judge anything spiritual by statistics is to judge by another than scriptural judgment. It is to admit the validity of externalism and to deny the value our Lord places upon the soul as over against the body. It is to mistake the old creation for the new and to confuse things eternal with things temporal. Yet it is being done every day by ministers, church boards and denominational leaders. And hardly anyone notices the deep and dangerous error.

Will You Also Go Away?

John 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?

         I had gotten to the point of where I just wanted to give up.
         I am not sure why, but so many things had piled up on me at one time that I had just gotten to the point of breaking. Work, college, teaching two Bible studies a week, an emotional letdown, plus an assortment of other concerns had just pushed me over the edge. I had gotten to the point of just wanting to give up.
         I just didn't care anymore.
         I can still remember my mother's face when I told her that Christianity was a good philosophy for some, but as for me, it just didn't seem to work. She was so upset, and understandably so. I had led her to the Lord in January of 1971, and here it was November of 1975 and I was talking about throwing in the towel.
         I had been teaching Bible studies in my parents' home since September of 1973, and had shared many times about the faithfulness of God, the purpose of trials, and how God would never leave you nor forsake you. I knew these things, but for me, it seemed as if the heavens were brass and God had turned His face from me. I somehow was convinced that God loved other people, but He just didn't love me. So I told her, "Christianity just doesn't work for me". As she walked out of the den, I felt terrible. I didn't want to be a cause of stumbling for her and yet I honestly was so depressed I just blurted out what I was feeling.
         I can still remember sitting on a couch in the den with my bible open next to me. I didn't want to read it, but I picked it up and began reading the gospel of John, chapter 6. Then I came to verse 67, "Will you also go away?" I can't explain it in any way but must simply say, I knew God was asking me the same question. I remember praying, "God, where is there for me to go? When I got saved, I lost all my old friends, I am in Bible College, and my only dream for the last five years has been to one day pastor a church. Where can I go? There is nowhere I can go"!
         These were not words of faith and love, but rather of confusion, anger, and frustration. I felt like I was stuck, and had no alternatives. After praying these words, I continued reading the passage. John wrote, "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God" (V68-69).
         As I read these words, I began to cry. I remember praying, "Where can I go Jesus? What is there in life, but You? I am hurting so much inside, I feel like I could die. But I am convinced that You have the words of eternal life. I know that you are the Son of the living God. Help me, please!"
         I wish I could tell you that immediately my depression left me, but it didn't. I struggled for some time after, but the struggle changed. I no longer felt like a helpless victim of circumstances, and no longer felt abandoned by God. I understood that the victory that would overcome the world would be faith; faith in a loving God Who would walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death. 
         My healing came through surrendering to God's word, and receiving God's promise to be with me and to never leave me. 
         Today, if you are hurting or feeling low, trust in the promises of God and return to His word. After all, where can you go?
             He has the words of eternal life.

For the Love of David

Deut. 6:6-7 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

         Such a beautiful baby boy. 
         There really was no question what we would name him. Though I had toyed with the idea of naming him Aaron Michael, the moment he was placed into my arms I knew he would be named David. 
         David Aaron. My son. My namesake. My first little boy. 
         He had dark brown hair, and large brown eyes, and was absolutely beautiful.
         So beautiful was he that we would be stopped by strangers who would just stare at him and inevitably say, "What a gorgeous little girl!"  Immediately I would correct them. "This is not a little girl. This is a little boy! His name is David!"
         Little boys have a way of worming their way into your heart, and he was no exception. Filled with energy, always running, always getting into one adventure after another. 
         When David was two years old, his aunt Pattie bought him a Superman cape, and from that moment on, he and his cape were inseparable. He had to wear his little cape 24 hours a day. He would wear it when he went to bed, and he wore it throughout the day, only removing it when he took his daily baths.
         I remember vividly coming home from the office every night only to be greeted by Superbaby, as he would hold his little arms out in front of his little body, and would pretend to be flying from room to room, always off on a new adventure, always protecting his family from danger. 
         I loved him so much, my little boy, my David.
         On one occasion, our young family went on a vacation, and we took his older sister Carin and him to a museum in Morro Bay, California. We were standing in the parking lot, outside of the museum entrance, and David (wearing his cape) and I were standing next to our car as my wife Marie and Carin walked across the parking lot and stopped and waited by the curb. I told little David "Now stay right next to me while I get this bag out of the backseat" but David would have none of this. Like a bullet, he ran across the parking lot to his mother, not seeing a car coming in his direction. With a scream coming from both Marie and me, the driver of the car slammed on her brakes, narrowly missing my two-year old baby boy.
         When things like this happen, it is amazing what goes through your mind. At that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart. It was a simple question, but one that has remained with me from that point on.
         "Your little boy almost came home today. What have you poured into his heart that has really counted?"
         Obviously, how much can one pour into a two year old? Yet, that one thought has remained with me from that day on. What am I pouring into my son that really counts? If he is taken home before me, what thoughts will I comfort my wife, family, and myself with? What have I given him that will last eternity?
         Today we have an opportunity to pour into the lives of those we love lessons that will last literally for eternity.
         Let us have something to give them that will last.
         Let us give them faith and love. 
         Let us give them Jesus.

The Look of Love

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

         She was the love of my life.
         She had won my heart before I had even met her, and from the first time I saw her, my heart was forever captured.  She had beautiful brown eyes, short curly brown hair, the most gorgeous complexion, an infectious smile, and skin as soft as a baby. 
         As a matter of fact, she was a baby. 
         But she was not just any baby, she was my baby. My first baby. My Carin Marie. And I was head over heels in love with her. 
         As many first time father's can understand, I was afraid when I first thought of being a father.  Would I be any good at it? Would I be loving, kind, gentle, fair? How will I discipline this baby? How will she affect my relationship with my wife? So many questions, so many prayers.
         And then it happened. Carin was born, and before you knew it, the doctor was placing in my trembling hands a little bundle of noise. 
         "Look, momma," I said to my wife Marie, "we have our little girl".
         We brought her home, but my questions still needed to be answered. How can I show her how much I love her? How can I learn to love her? How can I learn to love?
         One day, the Lord gave me the answer.
         I was standing next to Carin's bassinet, holding her in my arms, and looking deeply into her eyes. I can remember saying to her, "Baby, your daddy loves you. He loves you with all of his heart". My eyes were brimming with tears, and I was holding her tightly as I just gazed at this beautiful bundle of love, this gift from my Father to Marie and me. As I held her, and gazed at her, my sister in law came into the room. I can still remember turning to look at her, and the look I gave to her was the same look I was giving to my baby.
         At that moment, the Lord spoke gently to my heart.
         "You have been asking Me to show you how to love" He seemed to say. "If you desire to learn to love others, then you must first look at Me. If you look at Me in the way that you are looking at your baby, then you will see that it will not be so hard to love others. The key, My son, is to first look at Me."
         How simple, and how true. 
         Today, if you find it hard to love others, spend some time looking first at Jesus.

His Voice

John 10:4   When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 

         As any parent knows, hardly anything is as comfortable as being in bed on a cold winter's night, wrapped tightly and warmly in your blanket and comforter. Once I get into bed, I do not plan on leaving that bed until I am almost forcibly removed the following morning. I am especially difficult to remove if it is cold in the house. There is just something about stubbing your cold big toe on a hard bedpost that is completely unacceptable!
         When my family was younger, we lived in a two-bedroom house. Three of our kids shared one bedroom, and Marie, our fourth baby Anna Rebekah, and I shared the other bedroom. Eventually the Lord graciously provided us with a four-bedroom home, and we moved Anna into her own room.
         At first, she didn't like this much. Though the home wasn't much larger than the home we moved out of, yet because she had been sleeping in our room for so long, the thought of her being in her own room really made her uncomfortable.
         I can still remember one night in particular. 
         It was late, it was cold, and I was in bed. I was also nearly completely asleep when I heard her shaky, squeaky little voice piercing the darkness. 
         "Daddy, I'm scared! Come and get me!"
         I rolled over and told Marie, "Honey. The baby is calling you!" 
         "No she's not", Marie said, "I distinctly heard her cry out Daddy!"
         At that moment, I did what any thinking daddy would do. I said "Anna, I'm not getting up!  If you want to sleep in our room, you're going to have to come here yourself!" Immediately she cried out, "I can't come, daddy! I can't see in the dark! Come and get me!"
         Now what was I supposed to do? I was too lazy, too cold, and Marie wouldn't get up! I did the next best thing. "Honey, you can come to my room. I'll just keep talking, and you follow my voice!" This she did, and the next thing we knew, she was cuddled up in our bed, sleeping comfortably, as happy and contented as she could possibly be. (And I was still warm!)
         As selfish as it may seem to you, I actually was teaching Anna an important lesson. 
         The lesson is this: Whenever it is dark, and we are not sure of where we are to go, the best thing we can learn to do is to call out to our Father, and when He answers to simply follow our Father's voice. So often in the darkness of night and in the times of uncertainty everything around us cries out to distract and turn our attention away from the Lord. I have found that the very best and safest thing we can do at such a time is simply to follow His voice. By following His voice, we will be brought to safety, comfort, and peace. 
         His voice cries out through His word, the Bible.
         Spend time today, learning from His word, and learning to hear His voice. He calls to you, even in your darkest nights, and will lead you to comfort, peace, safety, and warmth, in Him.

I Will Never Leave You

Hebrews 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

         "Dad, will you please pray for me?"

          "Of course, son. What would you like me to pray for you?"

          "That tomorrow I'll get picked to play on the team. Every day, everybody else is picked first, and I am left off the team. I'm the best at throwing the football, and it's a game of catch that we play during recess, but I'm always the last one to get picked. Please pray that I'll get picked for the team."
        
         I indeed prayed for him.
         I prayed that he would be picked for the team. 
         But I also prayed that he would know how much he is loved.
        
         When he asked me to pray, my son was sitting next to me on our living room couch. His little head was nestled on my chest, and I put my arm around his shoulders. Such a big boy, no longer a small child, but in his eyes tears were forming, and sobs came gushing forth as he asked his father to pray for him.
        
         I am not embarrassed to say that as I prayed for my son, I also cried.
         I cried because his pain touched me. 
         I cried, because he is such a gentle loving little guy, and to see him hurt broke my heart. 
         I cried, because this is a pain he is feeling that I and so many others am so familiar with. The pain of being the new kid. The pain of being rejected. The pain of needing to belong and being left out. 
        
         I especially cried because I could not help him. He was alone at school, and I could not be there, to pick him for my team.
        
         How I loved my little boy, how my heart was so easily touched by his pain. I wished I could be there for every disappointment, for every rejection, to scoop him up in my arms and to say to him "Son, I love you. You are so dear to me. If others don't  see you for what you are, I surely do. Though others reject you, you will never be rejected by me."
        
         I am simply a human father, filled with sin and imperfect in every way imaginable. Yet I love my child. If I so passionately love my child, as flawed as I am, I can only imagine how loving my heavenly Father is who loves me more than I could ever dream of loving my son. I have come to firmly believe that the Lord never rejects His children. Because I believe this, it is to his heavenly Father that I directed him.
        
         As I prayed for my son, I thanked God because, though I could not be present on the schoolyard to hold him and be his friend, Jesus certainly could be. It is Jesus who never leaves us. It is Jesus who never forsakes us. Even though men may reject us, we will always be accepted by Him.
        
         Today, if you feel a bit sad or are struggling with a sense of rejection, take heart. There is One person who loves you completely, and that One person is the Lord. Turn your eyes to Him today. Cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you. He never will leave you, nor forsake you. 

            He loves you.