Victorious Christian Living Newsletter
Welcome to the April 2009 Edition
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This issue includes:
2 of My Featured Teaching Articles
Quotes for Inspiration
A Bible Quiz Question
Just for Laughs
Interesting Bible Facts
A Powerful Story
Favorite Articles from My Blog
Links to My Other Sites
Video of the Month
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How Do You React to Closed Doors!
When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
-Alexander Graham Bell-
Hindsight is something we all have, but we need more foresight. Every person on the planet has a huge dream that they either have now or have had in the past. They would like to invent something that could affect people in a positive way, be a part of a huge cause for good, or be a dynamic leader who can carry out a great vision to better society in some way.
Even if you achieve a dream of being wealthy, it still can never substitute for being a part of a cause that does something good for others. That makes you feel good in a way that wealth alone never can.
The problem with having your own dream is the fact that many times it just doesn’t become a reality for any number of reasons. When that happens, many people feel shattered and are never able to pick up the pieces because they have put so much time and emotion into it.
If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart, you have the Living God inside you in the form of the Holy Spirit. His job is to give direction and show you the truth about decisions you must make every day.
Many times we set long-term goals that are based on our own fleshly desires, and don’t even realize it.
God can see into the future and knows the outcome of the decisions you have made. If you are His Child, He desires the best for you just as you desire that for your own children. If you see that the path they are taking is a bad one, you want to do everything you can to keep them from doing something that might destroy them.
From prior experience an adult knows that certain roads lead to heartache and destruction, where a child does not have that capability.
The same is true with the Christian and God. He can see where you will be down-the-road, and because He loves you He wants to do whatever it takes to keep you from being destroyed if you have chosen the wrong path.
God sometimes has to close a door that might look great to you in the present moment. When this happens, don’t stand there longing for it to reopen. Do not look at the closed door as the end – rather think that God must have something much better for you in the long run.
Get on your knees, seek the truth, and ask Him what you need to do next. If He tells you to go in a different direction, do not let fear hold you back.
Ask God to give you the faith to take whatever steps are needed to get you back on the right path.
When the new door opens, do not hesitate to go through it. Never let fear of going through a new door keep you from getting God’s Best.
Life will never be boring if you let Him do the leading.
By Cathy Deaton
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Stretch Your Mind With New Ideas!
Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes-
Have you ever noticed that when a brilliant idea comes into your mind, it gives you a jolt of excitement and joy that you didn’t have before. It’s like you have unlocked a door and there are wonderful goodies inside that you never knew existed.
In cartoons, a bright idea is portrayed as a light bulb that suddenly lights up above the person’s head. Then they start to smile and their whole countenance changes as they realize the answer to their problem. When this happens in real life, you have clarity of thought and are open to an “out-of-the-box” way of thinking.
We read about people who have great ideas and invent wonderful new things, but most of us think that honor is reserved only for special people who have a very creative imagination or are extremely smart.
Each person was born with natural gifts and different degrees of creativeness. We all use them every day to help us forge our own distinct personalities that set us apart from the crowd. God works differently, though, in that He chooses a person to do a particular job and then gives him the tools he needs to accomplish it.
Sometimes He may have you do something where you can use your natural gifts; other times He may tell you to do something that you have never thought about and do not consider to be one of your natural gifts.
If you choose to step out on faith He will give you new ideas, and stretch and grow you as much as possible. It is amazing how much you can accomplish when just months before you would never have attempted those things at all. You will find that the stretching and growing processes are not nearly as tough as you thought they would be. God sees strengths in you that you cannot see yourself, and He knows exactly what you are capable of accomplishing.
There are plenty of people in the Bible who told God they couldn’t possibly accomplish what He desired, but the great ones took up the challenge even though they couldn’t see how things would turn out.
When you walk with God, the Holy Spirit has freedom to work in your life. He gives you direction and guidance until you get the job completed. Many times you can’t see where you are going until after you have gotten there. Then you can look back and see how everything has fit together to work in perfect order. Once you have stretched your mind and faith, you have grown in wisdom and knowledge. Then when you look back you can see where you used to be and the extent of your growth.
The stretching process is not always easy, but the end result is worth it. Your mind will truly never be the same each time you decide to let God help you think “out-of-the-box.”
By Cathy Deaton
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Quotes for Inspiration
Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see.
William Newton Clarke
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Teresa
Forgiving means to pardon the unpardonable; Faith means believing the unbelievable; and Hoping means to hope when things are hopeless.
G K Chesterton
The bridges you cross before you come to them are over rivers that aren’t there.
Anonymous
One who lacks courage to start has already finished.
Anonymous
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A Bible Quiz Question
Where is the only place in the Old Testament where God is said to be like a tree?
The answer will be given in the newsletter next month.
The answer to the 3-2009 newsletter quiz question is A Dead Lion, found in Ecclesiastes 9: 2-4.
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Just for Laughs
How Well Does Cold Water Clean?
A young man went to visit his 90-year-old grandfather in a very secluded, rural area of the state he lived in. After spending the night, his grandfather prepared breakfast for him consisting of eggs and bacon. He noticed a film-like substance on his plate and he questioned Grandpa, “Are these plates clean?”
Grandpa replied, “Those plates are as clean as cold water can get them, so go on and finish your meal.”
That afternoon, while eating the hamburgers his grandfather made for lunch, he noticed tiny specks around the edge of his plate, and a substance that looked like dried egg yokes. So he asked again, “Are you sure these plates are clean?”
Without looking up from his hamburger, the grandfather huffed, “I told you before, those dishes are as clean as cold water can get them, now stop being so picky!”
Later that afternoon, he was on his way out to get dinner in a nearby restaurant. As he was leaving, Grandpa’s dog started to growl and wouldn’t let him pass. He yelled back, “Grandpa, your dog won’t let me out!”
So Grandpa shouted, “COLD WATER, GET OUT OF THE WAY!”
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Interesting Bible Facts
STRANGER – A foreigner; one not an Israelite, living in the Promised Land. Explained by some to be all those not members of the Jewish Church; not the “foreigner” who was merely visiting the land as a traveler. The mixed multitude that went out of Egypt with the children of Israel; the original Canaanites, captives of war, fugitives, hired servants, etc., were all called foreigners.
They equaled one-tenth of the whole population in Solomon’s time. If the stranger was a bondman he had to be circumcised; and without this rite, if he were even independent, he could not be admitted to full privileges. The number of strangers who were slaves in Solomon’s time was very great – probably 150,000.
SUBURBS – A place where herds are driven to graze, a pasture; especially the open country around the Levitical cities. According to the Talmud, and most English expositors, the space from the wall outward measured 1,500 feet, and was used as a common or suburb; and the space from without the city on the east side was 3,000 feet, and used for fields and vineyards.
SURETISHIP – One who makes himself responsible for the safe appearance of another, or the payment of his debts. Christ is the “surety of a better testament” according to Hebrews 12:22.
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A Powerful Story
Has He Said, and Will He Not Do It?
The Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517, produced virtually no church-send missionaries until two Moravians, Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann, were commissioned on August 18, 1732, in an unforgettable service in which 100 hymns were sung. The two soon left Herrnhut for Copenhagen, seeking passage to the islands.
But Copenhagen proved unfriendly, and the two men were pelted with obstacles. One disappointment followed another, and much opposition arose to their mission. No one would help them. No ship would take them. Their morale sank.
At that critical moment, Numbers 23: 19 turned up in their daily devotional book: Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Inspired by these words, Dober and Nitschmann determined to persevere, believing that God would fulfill what he had started through them.
A handful of people in Copenhagen began helping them, and the tide of public opinion turned. Two royal chaplains lent their support, and even the Queen of Denmark encouraged them. Princess Charlotte contributed financially.
A court official secured passage for them on a Dutch ship, and on October 8, 1732, they sailed for the West Indies, opening the modern era of missions.
The Lord had spoken to them, and they had believed that He would make it good.
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My Favorite Blog Posts
The Requirements for True Revival!
II Chronicles 7: 14 (photo below) contains some interesting points:
You are God’s Child if you have asked Jesus to come into your heart as your Savior; only then can you call Him by name and be one of His People.
God always has conditions for His Blessings. He promises to do His part if you promise to do yours.
Below are His conditions:
shall humble themselves
AND
pray
AND
seek my face
AND
turn from their wicked ways
In the Greek, the AND connecting all these verses means you must do ALL of them, not just choose which ones you want to do and leave the others out.
Then God says after His Requirements are met, He will hear your request, forgive sin, and bring healing and restoration.
You have to really want revival in your own life and in your church before God will send it. If you are tired of living a powerless Christian life, make the choice to meet the requirements of this verse. God will reveal Himself to you in a marvelous way.
Don’t settle for powerlessness in your Christian life any longer.
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My Dream and What God Spoke To Me Through It
I had just fallen into a fairly deep sleep when I awoke with a start. You know how sometimes you dream and it seems so real that you wake up and find yourself physically attempting to handle the situation.
So it was with my dream. My grandson is 19 months old at this writing, so naturally he is curious about everything. It always amazes me at how far those little hands can reach. He stands on tiptoes and stretches his hands as far up as possible, putting every ounce of energy into his endeavor. I know that every person reading this can picture a child as they do this. They are totally engrossed in that particular object and nothing else is on their mind.
I can’t recall what the object was now, but I had placed it on a shelf above him that I didn’t think he could reach. When I awoke from my dream, his fingertips were almost to the bottom of the object I had placed above him for safekeeping. I actually sat up in the bed and was almost to the point of racing to him because it was heavy and would have hurt if it had fallen on his head.
I was able to get my bearings before I actually woke up my husband by bounding out of the bed. At that moment I felt the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit say: “This is the way you need to live your life – stretching and yearning for God with just as much intensity as your grandson was trying to reach the object that so fascinated him. He put every ounce of energy he had to reach the thing he thought of as a prize.
My ultimate prize as a Christian is an eternal life in Heaven one day, but while I am living on the earth it is my duty to live for God with everything in me and allow Him to use me to accomplish things for Him. I can’t even begin to imagine what He has in store for my life.
A lot of people think of God as being irrelevant, old fashioned, and outdated in the world today. There is nothing that could ever be further from the truth in my experience. In fact, I have found that this world and the things in it are very boring compared to living a life that is sold out to God, and I know that I have only scratched the surface in seeing Who God Is.
I encourage you to stretch as far and high as you can from the tips of your toes to your fingertips toward the prize of living a life sold out to God. He will meet you right where you are and start to grow and stretch you in order for Him to be able to do a great work in and through your life.
To check out my blog go to Who God Is
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Please check out my other sites by clicking on the links below:
Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living
Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life
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Video of the Month
That’s My King! Do You Know Him?
This is a video of an incredible message by the late S. M. Lockridge describing our God and who He is. Though he can’t be described with just words, this is about the best you can get this side of Heaven.
Rev. Lockridge gets all excited as he describes the many things God is to the Christian that are listed in the Bible, and I get excited as I listen to Him.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upGCMl_b0n4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1]
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That’s it for this newsletter. I hope that you have been truly inspired and blessed. I have prayed about each word written that it would minister in whatever way God desires.
It is also my prayer that God will bless you and your family and start to truly show you Who He Is. He is far greater than anything you could ever imagine.
In Christ,
