YOUR HOUR for BOLDNESS - A Word

YOUR HOUR for BOLDNESS - A Word

by Andrew Strom

Last year I put out a word about what would happen at the end of this "pandemic" season and the "sudden stop" it has brought about. The article was called, "Remnant - This is Your Hour."

I am still utterly convinced of its truth. Despite all the bad, the pandemic has also brought a massive change of season - and

with it will come massive opportunity - but only for those who are bold. Here is a portion of that word:

"To those who have been "waiting" in the caves and the rocks and the depths of the wilderness - I say, "Lift up your eyes." The

very season you have been waiting for is here. Your true ministry is about to begin... Like World War II, like the Great Depression -

this is the hour after which nothing will ever be the same. And Remnant - this is the season you were built for.

I am speaking to those who have been set apart. You have allowed yourself to be broken. You have trained yourself for battle. You know how to preach Repentance and Conviction of sin. You have been trained in the healing of the sick and the moving of the Holy

Spirit. You know how to baptize, to pray powerfully - and to train others. You are a fully-equipped preacher of the true gospel... You have a boldness and an audacity about you. While others shrink back, you will jump forward. You were built for such a time as this..

"Fortune favors the brave," goes the saying. And this has never been more true than it is now. While others fear - you are bold.

While others play it safe - you see this hour for what it is - and you seize the moment. Those who shrink back will miss out.

Those who are alert - and move forward with boldness - will have

the field almost to themselves... Remnant - this is the hour you

were built for. Don't let it pass you by."

I am writing today to loudly confirm every word that I said back then, and to encourage every person on this list to lift up your

eyes and see this "new day" not with a mindset of fear and negativity, but as a season full of new opportunity. Yes - there

are plenty of negatives that we could be dwelling on. But this is a call to look with different eyes - and see the massive opportunity that awaits those who are bold enough to seize the

day. It is just like the motto of the British Special Forces -

"Who dares wins."

Right now we see postings every day on the Internet by Christians who are stoking our fears over what is happening in the world -causing many to shrink back in alarm. And many will indeed hide

away in their basement, fearing to go forth in such stormy times.

But Jesus didn't promise us a rose garden. In fact, as I have said before, this is the hour of the "storm harvest" - a harvest that can only be brought in by those who are prepared to reap in chaotic conditions. And what a great hour awaits such ones - for the

fields are indeed whiter than ever - especially in the poorer nations where fewer and fewer will dare to go. The harvest is ripe beyond words - yet the laborers are so few.

Will you be such a "storm-harvester," my friend? Will you be one who dares all for Christ - to bring in such a mighty harvest? Look

up, for the season has changed. Remnant, this is indeed your hour. The fields are ripe, the time is short, and the "Lord has

need of thee."

Special blessings to all,

Andrew Strom.

Wasted-By Watchman Nee

Wasted by Watchman Nee

From "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, May 1939

And while He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. "For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good; but you do not always have Me. "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. "And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, that also which this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her." (Mark 14:3-9) The Lord has ordained that the story of Mary anointing Him with the costly ointment should always accompany the preaching of the gospel. We know the story well. Judging by the story in connection with her brother's resurrection, we know that the family was not an especially wealthy one. The sisters had to work in the house themselves, and one of them, Mary, had an alabaster box with three hundred pence worth of ointment in it, and with a stroke she broke it and poured the whole of that costly nard upon the head of the Lord. According to human reasoning it was altogether too much, even for the Lord. That is why Judas took the lead with the other disciples in thinking that Mary was wasting something (John 12:4-5). Now we come to the word which the Lord wants to emphasize at this time, the word waste. What is waste? Waste simply means giving too much. If a shilling will do and you give a pound, it is waste. If two ounces will do and you give a kilogram, it is a waste. A waste means that you give something too much for something too little. A waste means that the one who is receiving the something is not worth so much. Yet we are dealing here with something the Lord said was to go out with the gospel, wherever the gospel should be preached. With the preaching of the gospel the Lord is out to have a result that corresponds with Mary's action here: that is, for people to come out and "waste" themselves on Him. That is what He is after. Now we must look at the question from two angles, that of Judas, and that of the other disciples. They all thought it to be a waste. To Judas, who had never called our Lord the Lord, everything that was poured upon Him was waste. Even water would have been waste. To the world, the service of the Lord, and our giving of ourselves to Him is pure waste. "Such and such a man would have made good in the world if he were not a Christian," is a sentiment that is frequently expressed. For anyone with natural talents to be a Christian, to serve the Lord, is deemed to be pure waste. So thought Judas, "We could manage better with the money; we could give it to charity; we could do some social service, we could help people in a more practical way. Why pour it down at the feet of Jesus? As to yourself, can you not find a better employment of your life?" That is what Judas was thinking, and that is what the world is thinking. It is too much to give yourself to the Lord! But no! When once our eyes have been opened to the worth of the Lord, nothing is too good for Him. But it is upon the reaction of the other disciples that I want most to dwell; for they affect us more than does Judas. We do not mind very much what the world is saying, but we do mind what those other disciples are saying who ought to have understood, yet did not. We mark that they said the same thing as Judas; and not only so, but they were moved to indignation, saying, "To what purpose is this waste...?" Now here is the whole question of waste, and of what the Lord is after. Today, even amongst Christians, there can be found much of that spirit that wants to give as little as possible to the Lord, and yet to get as much as possible from Him. The prevailing thought today is of being used, as though that were the one thing that mattered. That my little rubber band should be stretched to the very limit seems all important. But this is not the Lord's mind. The Lord wants us to be used, yes; but what He is after is that we pour all we have, ourselves, to Him, and if that be all, that is enough. It is not a question of whether the poor have been helped or not, but of whether the Lord has been satisfied. The question is not one of working for Him, my friends, but of service to Him, of ministering to the Lord. That is what He is after; that I should give Him my all, even though people should say, 'You are doing nothing!' My service to the Lord is to please Him. There is many a meeting we might take, many a convention at which we might speak, many a campaign in which we might share, but this is not the first consideration. That my usefulness should be brought to the full is not what the Lord is after, but His concern is rather with my position at His feet and my anointing of His head. What I have as an alabaster box, the most precious thing, my whole life. I give it all up to the Lord. It seems as if it is a waste, but that is what He is after. May I tell you something? One thing some of us have come to learn is that in the divine service the principle of "waste" is the principle of power, whereas the principle of "usefulness" is the very principle of scattering. The real usefulness in the hand of the Lord is "waste." The more you think you could do, the more you employ your gifts to the very limit--and perhaps beyond the limit--that you will find to be the principle of the world, and not the principle of the Lord. I knew a sister in the Lord, now in His presence, who was very greatly used of Him. But my first concern about her was that she did not seem to be being used. Every time I said to myself; Why did she not get out and take some meetings, get somewhere, do something? It was a waste to live in a small village without anything happening. Sometimes when I went to see her, I almost shouted at her: "No one knows the Lord as you do. You know the Book in a most living way. Do you not see the need all around you? Why don't you do something? It is a waste of time, a waste of energy, a waste of money, a waste of everything, just sitting here and doing nothing!" But she was the one who helped me most of all., The highest thing is not just to be moving about. I do not mean to say that we are going to do nothing, but the first thing is the Lord Himself, not the work. That is what He is after. So the Lord said, "Why trouble ye her? She has wrought a good work as to Me. The poor you will always have, but you cannot always have Me." The whole point is, What am I going to do to the Lord today? Did those other women who came with their spices to the tomb succeed in anointing the Lord's body? No! He was risen. Only one succeeded, Mary, who anointed Him beforehand. It seems as if man will say I am wasting my time--but Lord, nothing is too good for Thee! He is worthy to be served. He is worthy for me just to be His prisoner. He is worthy for me just to live for Him. Let others say what they will. Have our eyes been opened to see that working for the poor, working for the benefit of the world, working for the eternal welfare of the sinner, as things in themselves, are not to be compared with the work we do to the Lord, with our being just for Him. What is your estimate of the Lord? Then the Lord said, "She hath done what she could." It means that Mary had given her all. That was all she could do, no more; and she did it. The Lord will not be satisfied with anything less. The whole point is a life really laid down at the feet of the Lord, and that in view of His death, His burial; that is, in view of a future day. Then it was His burial, now it is His crowning day that is in view. He will be acclaimed by all in that day, but how precious, far more precious to Him it is that we should anoint Him now; not with any material oil, but with that which is deepest and, maybe, hard for us to break. The Lord get anointing from us today! Further, the Lord said, "Wherever the gospel shall be preached, this story shall be told." Why? Because the gospel is meant to produce this. The gospel is not primarily for the satisfaction of sinners. The gospel is preached that everything may be to the satisfaction of the Son of God. Not to sinners first of all, though, praise God, sinners will be satisfied. But supremely it is Christ who must find satisfaction through its preaching.

"(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5

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OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (20) 

 "(but they are but vain words)" Isaiah 36:5 

 WE have now reached that part of the Old Testament in which there are few parenthetical statements, so perhaps I may be permitted to make use of this one which is only to be found in the Authorised Version. IT is part of the harangue made by the multilingual Rabshakeh, who was Sennacherib's Public Relations Officer. 

The all conquering Assyrians found Jerusalem a very hard nut to crack, so they tried cajoling threats when they did not quite know how to use their customary force. This is a constant stratagem of our spiritual enemies, and it is sometimes successful. 

 THE point of emphasis being made was that it would only be a vain matter of empty words if the Jews claimed to have resources in themselves. 'You are saying', reasoned Rabshakeh, 'that you have counsel and strength for this war, but your claims are absurd.' This would have been quite true if it had been Hezekiah's position, but it was not. He made no such claims.  

HAD he made them, it would indeed have been a foolish boast. The might and experience of the Assyrians were all too great for any resistance by puny little Jerusalem. If the Jews had relied on their own skill and strength, they would undoubtedly have been defeated. But they were not defeated. God's people never need be defeated. 

There is another factor in their spiritual warfare, a factor of which the natural mind has no knowledge. Defeat is turned into total victory when the Lord is brought into the fight. CLEAR and persuasive as were the arguments of the loud-mouthed Rabshakeh, they in their turn proved to be quite vain, for Hezekiah had ample resources to withstand the attack, though those resources were in the Lord and not in himself. 

HEZEKIAH did not say that he had them. He never used the words which the lying Rabshakeh tried to put into his mouth. What he did say was that he had no strength (37:3), his only hope being in God's ability to answer prayer or perhaps in His willingness to do so. 

Hezekiah himself was not too sanguine. "It may be" he suggested. Isaiah the prophet had a much more robust faith. But little faith or great faith, the two men prayed and sought help from heaven.

 The answer came quickly and comprehensively (2 Chronicles 32:21). And it was all because they prayed. 

 IF Hezekiah had said, or even thought, what was alleged by Rabshekah, he would have indeed been frustrated. His words would have been vain. And if we say or think in those terms, imagining that we can tackle the task, there can be no hope of victory for us. 

Our way, like that of Hezekiah, must be the way of humbling and prayer. What a pity we so seldom take it!

God's Most Hated Attribute - Charles Spurgeon Devotional

The Springs of Endurance

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons 

The Springs of Endurance

      
      He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved--Mat 24:13
      
      To Grow Bitter Is to Be Beaten
      
      He who is able to endure has learned one secret of the overcoming life. To endure is to bear patiently whatever the revolving years may bring us. It is to accept quietly and cheerfully the intractable elements of life. It is to pass through difficult or tragic hours free from any embittering of spirit, for to grow bitter is always to be beaten. We say "what can't be cured must be endured"; but that is scarcely the endurance of the Scriptures. Such endurance is a joyless thing. It is forced submission to necessity. The endurance of which the Bible speaks is of a happier character than that; it is a glad and even grateful acquiescence. Paul and Silas, in the prison at Philippi, did not accept things in a joyless way. They were happy; there was a lilt within their hearts; they sang so loudly that the prisoners heard them. And that is the endurance of the Scripture the bearing of things in a happy kind of fashion; an acceptance with the note of triumph in it. Of that gracious and beautiful endurance the New Testament indicates three sources.
      
      Sources of Endurance: Faith
      
      The first of these is faith --a burning and bright faith within the heart. That is the thought in the apostle's mind when he tells us to take the shield of faith (Eph 6:16). A shield is not a weapon of offence. It is different from sword or spear. A shield is a protective bit of armour. It guards the soldier amid blows and buffetings. And Paul means that if we are to be guarded amid the blows and buffetings of life, there must be radiant faith within the heart. If our darker hours have no meaning in them, if they be quite devoid of plan or purpose, if there be nothing in life but accident or chance, the most man can achieve is resignation. But if God be love, and if everything that comes to us arrives in the perfect ordering of the Father, then another attitude becomes possible. He who believes that God is in the difficult circumstance is empowered to endure it. He can say with Christ, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith finds the soul of goodness in things evil. Faith is one great secret of endurance.
      
      Sources of Endurance: Love
      
      Then, too, there is love, for love endureth all things (1Co 13:7). Wherever there is love within the heart there is present the power to endure. Think of the mother with her little child. Not long ago she was a restless girl. Now, when her little one is ill, she is beautifully and divinely patient. And this endurance, which is never sullen, but instinctive, and often with a song in it, is like a token of spring and blossoming of love. God is patient, says St. Augustine, because He is eternal. But there is a deeper source of His patience than eternity. He is patient because He loves. He bears with and pardons us a thousand times, and endures our folly and our shames, just because His love endureth all things. Let any man love learning, and what will he not endure in its acquiring? He will scorn delights and live laborious days, and be supremely happy in his travail. Love is one great secret of endurance, and our Lord empowers His children to endure by the new love He kindles in their hearts. He shows them that God is eminently lovable. He reveals the lovable element in man. He sends into their hearts His gracious Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is love. What hatred or indifference cannot do, love can do, and is doing every day. Love endureth all things.
      
      Sources of Endurance: Vision
      
      Lastly, there is vision. Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible (Heb 11:27). To see the invisible, when skies are dark, is always to have power to win through. What inspired Robert the Bruce to endure? It was his vision of a liberated Scotland. What inspired Columbus to endure? It was his vision of a continent ahead. Every inventor, every explorer, every artist wrestling with his dreams, endures as seeing the invisible. Never was there endurance like the Master's. It was radiant with peace and joy. It did not falter even in Gethsemane. It was equal to the agony of Calvary. And at the back of it, from first to last, inspiring, animating, and sustaining it, was the unclouded vision of His Father's face. We too can practice that same presence. We can do it when life is very difficult. We can do it when the way is dark. We can do it when we cannot understand. And, doing it, we come to be so sure that underneath are the everlasting arms, that endurance passes into joy.

Psalm 119:165

 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Luke 10

10 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

 2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 

 3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

 4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 

 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.  

7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 

 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 10 But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, 

 11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

 12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. 

 13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 

 14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. 

 15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. 

16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. 

 17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 

 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 

 22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. 

 23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:

 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 

 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 

 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 

 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 

 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 

 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 

 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 

 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 

 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. 

 38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 

 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 

 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 

 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 

 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.