A beautiful flower

“BEFORE THEY CALL I WILL ANSWER; WHILE THEY ARE STILL SPEAKING I WILL HEAR.” – Isaiah 65:24

My two German devotional treasuries

In one of my German devotional treasuries I find this about Pilate.

Pilate, the silly judge.

Please read Matthew 27:24.

He is silly because of three things:

FIRST of all he says that the Lord Jesus Christ is without guilt, that he is innocent.

SECONDLY in spite of that he is sentencing the Lord Jesus Christ to death.

THIRDLY he is performing the act of washing his hands in token of innocence.

Pilate is so silly that even a little child cannot help but laugh about what he is doing.

I am finding that in the book Lass dein Heil uns schauen by Wilhelm Busch

“Die Kommunikation ist viel wert. Aber nicht alles ist wert, kommuniziert zu werden.”

Das hat Ernst Reinhardt gesagt und so fing ein email an, das ich vor einigen Tagen aus der Schweiz erhielt.

Ich glaube,dass die Artikel, die ich in den letzten Jahren geschrieben habe (www.wernerdekarski.net), wert sind, kommuniziert zu werden.

Aber vor kurzem habe ich doch einen Artikel geschrieben, der nach meiner Meinung nun wirklich nicht wert ist, kommuniziert zu werden. Er hat keinen geistlichen Inhalt und heisst “Dogs on the Street,” auf deutsch, “Hunde auf der Strasse.”

Ich glaube, es ist nicht von ungefaehr, dass ich gerade zu dieser Zeit das am Anfang erwaehnte email erhalten habe. Vielleicht soll ich noch mehr pruefen, was ich kommuniziere.

“Why is it that the body of Christ worldwide has not more influence in the world?” That is the question I have asked myself for quite some time now.

There are so many Christian Organizations and Ministries worldwide. Only today I picked up two Christian magazines and information about three upcoming big meetings in our country.

Ephesians ONE

In his exposition of Ephesians one D M Lloyd-Jones talks about the early Christians. They were not a big number. But they impacted their heathen neighbours in a profound way.

Why was that? That is the question. He gives also the answer.

He says that the Christians influenced the world at that time because of THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIFE and they were truly Christian. And because of that they possessed power.

In Ephesians one the Apostle Paul gives us a description of the Christian. Two things we are told about them: They were saints in Christ Jesus. They were faithful in Christ Jesus. He explains also in detail what that means.

And here is the answer to the question at the beginning I have asked myself for quite some time.

I find the answer in the book mentioned above. “The lack of influence of the Christian Church in the world at large today is in m y opinion due to one thing only, namely, (God forgive us!) that we are so unlike the description of the Christians that we find in the New Testament.” – D M Lloyd-Jones

SUNFLOWER

“‘BUT THE MAN WHO MAKES ME HIS REFUGE WILL INHERIT THE LAND AND POSSESS MY HOLY MOUNTAIN.'” – Isaiah 57:13

Do you know what? I don’t really want to do that. The devil reminds people of their past.

“FISH UP THE PAST”

If the devil reminds you of your past, what are you going to do? If that happens, it is good to know what it says in the Bible.

The Bible says in Psalm 103:12: “as far the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Read also Psalm 103:3.

In Isaiah 38:17 we read. “You have put all my sins behind your back.”

The Bible says in Micah 7:19, “You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea.”

And in Hebrews 8:12 we are told, “‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no  more.'”

If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. We find the future of the devil in the last book of the Bible, in Revelation. There it says, “‘He [the devil] is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.'”

“‘… ; to loose the chains of injustice ….'”

“‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, …'” – Isaiah 58:6