Author: BTP

Faint Not — Part 4

Why do we faint? We have considered just a few reasons this week. Here is one last reason, and something to really consider in the society in which many of us find ourselves today. David said, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). What he was really saying is, “If I lose a sense of the goodness of the Lord and the end of the journey, I will faint. It is those two things that keep me going.”

We live in a live for the moment society. But if we only live for the moment we are going to get discouraged and give up. David’s son, Solomon must have learned the lesson from his father, for he wrote, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). Let’s live the rest of our life in view of eternity and the fact that we are going to be with the Lord Jesus in that wonderful place where we will be beyond the weariness, the trials, the need of chastening and the danger of fainting. In conclusion let’s remember the exhortation, “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). It will be worth it all when we see HIM!

 

Faint Not — Part 3

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint”
(Luke 18:1).

Here is perhaps one of the most important elements of our subject this week. More often than not, faintness in our Christian life is the result of not praying, and not praying always. Prayer is our powerhouse, and we cannot function as healthy, happy Christians without power, just as a light bulb cannot shine without drawing on the proper source of electrical current.

Notice, it’s not just praying when things are good, or praying once in awhile. It is ALWAYS! Sometimes we pray after we fall or faint, or when some great difficulty looms before us. If we are going to stand fast and “fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12), we must be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18).

The Prophet Isaiah put it this way: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

 

Faint Not — Part 2

“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him” (Hebrews 12:5).

Here is another reason why the child of God often faints.

When the Lord allows circumstances in our life to correct us because of waywardness, or out and out disobedience, how to we respond? To “despise…the chastening of the Lord,” is to grit our teeth, steel ourselves against it, and be convinced that this is just the kind of thing that happens to everyone now and then. In this way we don’t learn the lesson, nor do we accept the circumstance from His good and loving hand, and the end result is that we faint or give up under the rebuke.

The blessing from chastening only comes from accepting it as necessary, and learning what is in it for our good and blessing. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). It is not that chastening is pleasant or enjoyable, but when we have learned the lesson, the result is invaluable, and we avoid spiritual fainting.

 

Faint Not — Part 1

This week we are going to consider the question, Why do we become weary and faint in the path of faith and service for Christ?

One reason is given to us in the following verse: “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). In other words, if we forget what the Lord Jesus suffered in His pathway here, we are going to throw up our hands in discouragement when we are wronged or ridiculed for being a believer and follower of Him, or when the trials and difficulties of life hit us head on.

Who suffered more than the Lord Jesus, both in His pathway, and in going to the cross? No one! And if we keep Christ before us as the object for faith and have a sense in our souls, at least in some measure, of what He suffered, we will not faint. Instead we will be given the spiritual courage and stamina to endure in the Christian race. As we read at the beginning of this same chapter: “Let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (verses 1-2).

 

Dear Young Christian:

When I was a young person I often heard it said, It is wrong to murmur, but not wrong to groan.

The children of Israel did a lot of murmuring. In fact, their history in the wilderness is summed up when it says, “They believed not His word: but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord” (Psalm 106:24-25). To murmur is really to blame God, whether directly or indirectly. When the Israelites spoke against Moses, or anyone else, they were really blaming the Lord.

However, we do groan. “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also” (Romans 8:22-23). To groan is to feel the effects that sin has brought into the world. We read of the Lord Jesus, “He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled” (John 11:33).

So you can groan this week, but be careful not to murmur. Take everything as from the Lord, and Rejoice in Him.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to [email protected]

Sacrifice and Victory

“Christ died…He was buried, and…He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

I saw a motto on a bumper sticker the other day while visiting in Trinidad; here is what it said:

NO SACRIFICE, NO VICTORY!

I’ve thought a lot about it in regard to the great sacrifice of Calvary and the great victory that has resulted. The Lord Jesus, in giving Himself as the supreme sacrifice, has won a great victory over sin, Satan, and death. “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

Whitlock Gandy wrote:

His be “the Victor’s name,”
Who fought the fight alone;
Triumphant saints no honour claim,
His conquest was their own.

Bless, bless the Conqueror slain,
Slain in His victory;
Who lived, who died, who lives again — 
For thee, His church, for thee!

 

Was She Happy?

“Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20).

On November 21st 1988 the news reported the death of a very prominent lady, who had spent most of her life occupied with her appearance and making headlines. Her name was Christine Onassis. She died suddenly while on a visit to Argentina. The cause of death — heart failure!

Although the multimillionaire heiress of her father, she had a very unhappy and lonely life. Four times married and divorced, in 1971 She attempted suicide. She lost her parents and brother within a few months of each other. She possessed wealth and fame, but by her own confession she was not happy. In fact she was utterly miserable!

Even for Christine Onassis death could not be halted. Rich, middle class, or poor, after death these things have no further significance. In the next life money can buy nothing. The only thing that counts is whether we decided for or against Christ.

 

In His Presence

“Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord” (2 Samuel 7:18).

How good, and how needful it is to sit quietly in the Lord’s company…To speak to Him, yes…but also to silently enjoy His presence. Do you, like King David, feel comfortable and secure alone with the Lord? To feel such, is our great source of strength and joy.

Here is what the bride in the Song of Solomon said about her bridegroom: “I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste” (Song of Solomon 2:3). When we are with someone we love we don’t always have to be saying or doing something special, we just enjoy being with them.

Another weekend is approaching; you will, no doubt, have some free time. Use some of it to slip away and be alone with the Lord. Just a little quiet time. Feel His love, and those everlasting arms of power that are about you. Give Him the joy of having you alone with Himself.

 

Good News — Part 2

Here are two more testimonies from long ago, but still relevant for us to consider today:

From the snowy heights of the Andes Mountains comes the following:

“How is it,” asked the Peruvian man, after hearing John 3:16 quoted, “that during all the years of my life I never before heard that Jesus Christ spoke those precious words?”

It was repeated in the white streets of Casablanca.

“Why,” cried a Moor to a Bible-seller, “have you not run everywhere with this marvelous Book? Why do so many people not know the man Jesus whom it proclaims?”

Yes, it is still the cry from the four corners of the earth, and how shall we answer?

Isaiah was asked a question: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” His answer was, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8). We all need to hear and answer this question today. Whether we are sent by the Lord around the corner, around the community, or around the world. We all have a story to tell…the story of the gospel…the story of Jesus.

 

Good News — Part 1

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation” (Isaiah 52:7).

Here are some testimonies from the past of those that had never heard the good news of the gospel, and wondered why someone hadn’t told them sooner:

“How long is it,” asked an old Mohammedan woman of a missionary in Bengal, “Since Jesus died for sinful people? Look at me! I am old; I have prayed, I have given alms to the poor, I have gone to the holy shrines; I am become as dust with fasting; and all this useless. Where have you been all this time?”

The cry was echoed from the icy shores of the farthest Northwest Territory.

“You have been many moons in this land,” said an old Eskimo to the Bishop of Selkirk, “Did you know this good news then? Since you were a boy; and your father knew? Why did you not come sooner?”