This is from the blog Dover Beach:
“When Abba Anthony thought about the depths of the judgments of God, he asked, ‘Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?’ He heard a voice answering him, ‘Antony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.'”
--Saint Antony the Great
This is from the Singapore Christian blog:
A prison inmate on a death row was asked his last wish before he could be electrocuted in the electric chair, he asked for a pen and paper then wrote:
“Dear mum, If the law was fair today you would be here seated next to me waiting to be electrocuted in the electric chair, but since the law is blind I have been convicted for the crimes we committed together. Mum remember how it started, do you remember when I was 3 years old when I stole my brothers sweets? you didn’t correct me, remember very well when I was five the day I stole my neighbours’ toys and hid it at home you said nothing, mum remember when I was 12 when I hid my cousin’s ball in the garage when he had come to play with us at home and you said that you did [not] see it yet you saw it. Do you remember the day I was expelled from school at 15 years? Dad wanted to punish me but you refused and that very day you had a bitter argument with dad about this because you where defending me, you said I was still young you said the teachers where wrong to say that I was not attending class. You defended me, you said I was right yet you knew I was wrong. Mum remember very well, you saw me steal our neighbours’ bicycle when I was 17 but you didn’t report I sold it but you were silent mum. You loved me so much yes you loved me but you you didn’t correct me, instead you spoilt me. That is how it started and it graduated slowly until today when I will be electrocuted for bank robbery and murder. I was very young I just needed your guidance mum, by the time you will be reading this I will be gone.
Yours truly, your loving son.”
To all parents out there, the Bible says. Proverbs 13:24 (NIV): "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them."
Bible Hub
This is from the blog Crushed By God:
When a service provider or agent puts us on hold, our flesh rises exponentially with each passing moment. Of course, we can hang up, yell in the phone, and even write bad reviews online….“Bad customer service, was on hold for 10 minutes!”
But for followers of Jesus Christ, our lives, our hopes and expectations, can be put on hold for days, months, even years. “We belong to God” does not imply membership but ownership, we’ve been bought with a price. God heard our cry for deliverance, for healing, for financial breakthrough, for a call to serve – for purpose and fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God – and yet oftentimes He puts us on hold.
Noted English evangelist Leonard Ravenhill speaks of God’s “University of Silence” in his book, ‘Sodom Had No Bible’. Many spiritual giants endured years of ‘silence’, such as Joseph imprisoned for many years and Moses’ 40 years of shepherding. Jesus Himself lived 30 years, seemingly silent, while observing religious hypocrisy and all kinds of human suffering. Noted in Matthew, Jesus surely had divine wisdom and discernment at a young age. But even as God incarnate, Jesus maintained perfect obedience as a Servant – waiting for the Father’s perfect timing to reveal Him as Savior.
As servants ourselves, we may find our particular ministry with its passion and calling, come to a season’s end. It is a tremendous loss as nothing compares to ‘co-laboring in the fields with the Father’ with the joy of God’s Spirit moving. Yet, there are times when our assignment lies only on the sidelines, waiting for God’s perfect timing, His open door and call to service.
“Most of us hate to be under-rated. We may not seek to head the parade, but – and this is our pitiable weakness – we must be in the parade.”! (Leonard Ravenhill)
The ‘University of Silence’ separates us, not only from the world, but often from broad fellowship with believers. God desires an intimacy that comes from separation – often a separation unto Him brought about by loss and suffering. Why separation? Why loss? Why suffering? Why should our hopes and expectations be on hold?
How long should we wait at life’s juncture before God opens the door, reveals His will, or leads us to those “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”? Obedience requires that we wait indefinitely, faith requires that we hope expectantly!
Conversely, we can create possibilities, try to ‘make things happen’ – but that is not a call of God. That’s the ‘call of King Saul’ who lost the kingdom through his own willfulness. Saul lost his kingship when he ‘appointed’ himself priest and later, void of all spiritual discernment, lost his life after consulting a witch.
When God has us ‘on hold’, when we’re stuck at some juncture, God’s word assures us of His sovereignty and purpose over our lives. He also warns us though, of acting outside His will – it is the dependence upon Him and the surrender to Him that under-gird a life pleasing to God.
It is actually an honor to be in God’s ‘University of Silence’. When we are living right and yet He calls us out of the parade and away from all that seems fruitful and winning, He’s calling us to Himself. Being obedient in the everyday ordinary and sitting at the feet of our Lord is not a demotion, it’s a preparation.
God may keep us “on hold” but will never hang up. He is working in that silence, in that wilderness, even in an undeserved ‘prison’. I pray, in these last days, to walk with obedient patience, and yet with living expectancy of God’s call into a new season.
A Dream About Egypt
The Saint Must Walk Alone
God's Storehouses in Famine
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| President Donald Trump |
Dreams from the LORD 2011-2018
4 October 2018
Last night I had a dream where I saw a younger LBJ: he wasn’t President, but still a U.S. Senator. LBJ was talking with a few other U.S. Senators. They were conspiring against JFK. It was a very long dream, but most of the details are gone from me now.
In this dream, LBJ represents the Deep State; JFK represents President Donald Trump. The Deep State is comprised of establishment Democrats and Republicans who are trying to undermine President Trump’s agenda. Some people think that LBJ was behind JFK’s assassination in 1963.
If powerful men cannot kill you, they will engage in character assassination and smear campaigns to ruin your reputation.
The Death of President Lyndon Johnson
A Dream about the Kennedy Family
A Dream about Donald Trump
Mysteries of Trump & the Church
