Items For Prayer And Praise
By Lois J. Stucky
It is much too easy to take for granted the marvelous thing God has done for mankind by revealing Himself to us through His Word. In His creation all around us God teaches us much about Himself, and He could have stopped with that degree of revelation. But He opened His loving heart much wider to us by giving us His Word. In it is a much fuller revelation of Himself and of what He has done for us and of what He requires of us. It is a “more sure word” and leaves man without excuse for his ignorance about God. His Word reveals Him to be a God who is altogether holy, altogether lovely, altogether worthy and noble, altogether deserving of our best and our all. He is altogether wonderful beyond words to express!
In their articles in this issue, the writers urge us to invest time in getting to know this superlative God better. George Muller and Erick Gurr exhort us to spend adequate time alone with God and His Word. These men speak of the Word of God as “food for my soul.” Who of us has not experienced that just as physical food benefits the physical body and keeps it alive, so in a similar, mysterious way, the spiritual food of the Word of God keeps the spiritual life healthy and full of vitality? Through the Word we come into contact with this glorious God and our souls are fed to fullness and to satisfaction.
Whoever of us has become careless about our time alone with God and His Word, might we take the exhortation of these godly men to heart. The rekindling time alone with God is much too vital to neglect. It is much too important to allow it to become a routine habit with little expected and little received through it. Our God is much too wonderful a God to be content to know Him in a casual, superficial way. The days are too perilous to endanger our souls by failure to be watchful and to strengthen ourselves through His Word. Let’s seek to dig deep into God’s Word and to know Him to the fullness of our capacity.
Missionaries who work in countries where the Christians do not have the Word of God in their language, are aware of how likely there is to be serious weakness in the church. Often these Christians are lacking in commitment. They are more prone to error. They have too little conception of how rich salvation through Christ is. They may be more easily enticed into sin. It is more difficult to maintain zeal for God and for the work of His Kingdom. We must pray that God will bless the work of translators and literacy workers, that the Word of God will become available to these people as speedily as possible, and that they will be taught to read it. How encouraging to hear that Wycliffe Bible Translators is planning to double the number of new workers they send out to do translation work!
Then there are those who can read in a language which has the Bible; but they do not have access to it. In writing us for literature to read in his home, an African brother says:
“I am a Christian who likes hearing or listening to the Word of God, but I am living in a village which is far way from the town where the church is, and I always hear the word of God only once a week. It is not enough. If you can send me a Holy Bible, I will be using it. …”
It is a blessed privilege to give eager hearts like this one the Word of God, which is able to “make [them] wise unto salvation,” and which will help them grow spiritually. It will be a “lamp unto [their] feet and a light unto [their] pathway.” The jungle trail is pitch-black at night, fearsome and dangerous. So is the spiritually dark pathway though life, without the light of God’s Word shining upon it. There are pitfalls and snares set by the devil, aimed to bring destruction to the souls of men. How many, how many fall prey to his terrible and eternal desolation!
Oh friend, what we can do, let us zealously do! We are very grateful for those who, through the years, have risen to the opportunity and have sent supporting gifts and have upheld with faithful prayers, enabling Herald of His Coming to have a part in sending afar the blessed Gospel light. Think of it friends--this Word we are privileged to send out “shall stand forever” (Isa. 40:8). In God’s Word is the way of Life. God’s Word is the “power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). God’s Word is pure and holy and just and good, because the almighty and faithful God behind the Word is so. What a God we have to proclaim! What a Word we have to preach! Your gift sent today will be very helpful to us, as we endeavor to enlarge our outreach and to help more come to a better knowledge of our great and glorious God!
Praise God!
• That though we human beings are so unworthy, God loves us and desires to bring us into a place of fellowship with Himself and to make us partakers of the divine nature and to conform us to the image of our blessed Saviour, and to take us to spend eternity with Him. What incomparable love and grace!
Please Pray!
• That many Jewish people will put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and experience the salvation of their souls.
• That we at Herald of His Coming will be sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, and will thereby be able to fulfill all God’s calling to this ministry.
• That God will keep us all faithful in seeking Him for the great movings of His Spirit to bring in the souls He wants to save before the end shall come.