The Good News Magazine 2nd Edition

Welcome to our second edition of ‘The Good News Magazine.’ We hope that you were blessed by our first edition which covered a lot on ‘God’s divine plan.’ If you did not get our previous edition and are interested in reading and sharing it, please let us know so that we can make it available to you. Our contacts are at the end of this Magazine.

BELIEVING IN THE LORD JESUS

Dear reader, the reason why we share this good news to you is because God loves you and wants you to have fellowship with Him. It is the father’s joy to have good relationship with His children. God has an awesome plan for you! You are special to Him! He only wants you to believe in Him.

What must you do to be saved?

Probably that would be a question for most people. And when we fully understand it then we will not only "accept Jesus as Savior," but make Him Lord in our lives. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul what he must do to be saved, Paul did not respond, "Accept Jesus as your Savior." Rather he said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…" (Acts 16:31). 

             

We are saved when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not saved just because we believe a doctrine about salvation or Jesus, but when we believe in a person -the Lord Jesus Christ. That is saving faith. Too many think because they believe that Jesus' death was a sufficient sacrifice for their sins, or salvation is by faith, or a hundred other things about Jesus or salvation, that they have saving faith. But they don't. The devil believes all those things about Jesus and salvation. Saving faith consists of faith in Jesus. And who is He? He is Lord.

When you believe that Jesus is Lord, you will act like He is Lord, submitting to Him from your heart. If you don't submit to him, you don't believe in Him. If someone says, "I believe there is a deadly poisonous snake in my boot," and then calmly puts his boot on, he obviously doesn't really believe what he says he believes. People who say they believe in Jesus but haven't repented of their sins and submitted to Him in their hearts don't really believe in Jesus. They may believe in an imaginary Jesus, but not the Lord Jesus, the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. The big question is, do you believe in Jesus?

YOU ARE IN GOD’S MIND

Psalms 40:17 says ‘But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.’

Hmmm, that sounds great, indeed more than I could imagine. God’s Word is full of promises, His Word stands forever. He is the Ancient of Days. What God promises in His Word He fulfills. He is no man that He would lie. The Lord has always been our helper, He comes when we least expect it. How true is that!

The Lord thinks about us, He does so because we are always in His mind.He indeed thinks about you and I. Many of us might be going through some stuff. It comes to a point where we think within ourselves that God has forgotten about us. But that is not so. God ever always thinks about us. A mother may forget her child but God will never forget us. Our names are written in the palm of His hands. He can always see your name inscribed in His palm.

He will smile upon you and will say this to you, ‘ My son, I will never leave you nor forsake you, you are my beloved one, before you were formed in your mother’s womb I knew you, behold I have good plans for you, plans to prosper you, plans to give you an expected end, so be of good courage and never give up!’

Isn’t it wonderful to know what our Father thinks about us? Remember when you are going through hard times, He is there for you and will encourage you.  He will bring you up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set your feet upon a rock, and establish your goings.

King David knew the secret and the secret was this; patience. He had hope before God. He never lost hope. His trust was in the Lord. Hope filled his heart and that is when he decided to wait patiently upon the Lord. I don’t know how long he must have waited, but he was patient enough till God heard his cry. I don’t know how long you have been waiting upon God, but be patient, God will come. I don’t know how long it’s taken to fix your marriage but wait patiently for things will turn out well at God’s appointed time. The Psalmist says, Thou tellest my wanderings:  put thou my tears into thy bottle:  are they not in thy book? (Psa. 56:8). Though you have cried many times and suffered in sickness, the Lord will you comfort and peace. Just as Jesus brought hope and healing to many while on earth, He hasn’t changed, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He did then, He can do it now. All we need to do is to have faith, for God is pleased with those who believe and have faith in Him.

Probably you have given up on ever getting a new job but listen to this: God thinks about you. He wants to establish you.  It could be on health issues and you have suffered long enough, be patient, God has you in His mind.

May be in your suffering or sick bed, God can use you in that bed to be a great encourager to many. Sooner than you think God will put a new song in your mouth, you will start testifying of His healings, restoration, provision, deliverance, salvation, multiplication, promotion and much more!

I say again wait upon the Lord. His timing is not our timing; His thoughts are much far different from ours. He always comes when we least expect Him. And when He visits you, He will bring glad tidings with Him. Your life will never be the same again, hold on and see the Lord’s salvation.

Finally, let’s know that the Lord is our helper and that He is our deliverer. He will not delay, only we become patient enough till we see a breakthrough for God has not forgotten about you.

 Elisabeth Elliot -“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts.” 

A LONG TIME TO WAIT

Written by Rolf

We all know what it means to wait, practicing patience while we anticipate what is to come. Some of us do it better than others, but we all go through it every day. Did you know that the Bible says some of our best character traits come out from our practices of patience; it yields a fruit that is pleasing to God. So why is patience all that important you say, after all I don’t have much time for that? Well, you must always remember that even impatient men sinks slowly in quick sand, so it would be good for us to use caution in everything we do, and for that you need patience.

In the Bible, patience helps build our faith. You may have a big prayer request that takes years to answer, but because you never gave up, God eventually answered that prayer. Like a man using a sledgehammer day after day after day against a huge rock, things will eventually change.

All of a sudden, a crack appears in that rock and that may have taken a very long time.
We all want things to happen now, not later. In God’s view, He can outlast us when it comes to time waiting, so always best to pray for His timing in our life. God teaches us what we need know in order for us to learn what we need to learn. King Solomon once wrote in the Bible that for everything there is a season and a time, so be it the hard way or easy way God will show you what you are seeking Him for.

Think of each time you pray as if you swing that big sledgehammer against the giant you’re praying about, you don’t see anything, and all you seem to get is blisters on your knees.

One day you will hear that mighty rock crack my friend, and when that happens you will be even more on your knees now praising God for the answered to what seemed impossible. For what things that seem impossible with man are possible with God, remember that and never give up. Abraham was 100 years old when his son was born, Noah was 600 years old when he finished building the ark, and some of you may feel that you have been waiting that long for God to answer a prayer, all things will happen in God’s time according to His will.

Someone once said that there is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. God is at work in your life for His glory and for His honor, and that is up to His timing. Don’t give up looking to God for answers to prayer my friend, for when you pray for something that you know is in His will, it will happen sooner or later.

(If you would wish to contact the above writer, please let us know.)

Shall we pray:

Dear heavenly Father, I come before you. I know I am a sinner and I confess all of my sins before you. Come into my heart, make me whole dear Lord Jesus. From today I have decided to follow you Jesus as you are my Lord and savior now. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Rex Rouis - Hope keeps you alive. Faith gives your life meaning, blessings, and a good end.

Thomas Fuller – If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.

Randy Furco - You can have hope without faith, but you can not have faith    without hope!

LIFE’S STORIES

Everyone Has a Gift Story
A True Story of Love & Perseverance

At the prodding of my friends I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Honor and I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, IA. 

 I have always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons - something I have done for over 30 years. During those years I found that children have many levels of musical ability, and even though I have never had the pleasure of having a prodigy, I have taught some very talented students. However, I have also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged' pupils - one such pupil being Robby.

Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano, so I took him as a student. Well, Robby began his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor.  

As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel.  But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary piano pieces that I require all my students to learn. Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him.

At the end of each weekly lesson he would always say 'My mom's going to hear me play someday'.  But to me, it seemed hopeless; he just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled, but never dropped in.

 

Then one day Robby stopped coming for his lessons. I thought about calling him, but assumed that because of his lack of ability he had decided to pursue something else. I was also glad that he had stopped coming - he was a bad advertisement for my teaching! Several weeks later I mailed a flyer recital to the students' homes. To my surprise, Robby (who had received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and that because he had dropped out, he really did not qualify.

 

He told me that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to his piano lessons, but that he had been practicing. 'Please Miss Honor, I've just got to play' he insisted. I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital - perhaps it was his insistence or maybe something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night of the recital came and the high school gymnasium was packed with parents, relatives and friends.

I put Robby last in the program, just before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he might do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer'. Well, the recital went off without a hitch, the students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on the stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked as though he had run an egg beater through it.  'Why wasn't he dressed up like the other students?'  I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'

 

Robby pulled out the piano bench, and I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen to play Mozart's Concerto No.21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys; they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo, from allegro to virtuoso; his suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by anyone his age.

 After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo, and everyone was on their feet in wild applause!  Overcome and in tears, I ran up onstage and put my arms around Robby in joy.  'I have never heard you play like that Robby, how did you do it?'

Through the microphone Robby explained: 'Well, Miss Honor ....remember I told you that my mom was sick? Well, she actually had cancer and passed away this morning. And well ...... she was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she had ever heard me play, and I wanted to make it special.'

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy. I thought to myself then how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I have never had a prodigy, but that night I became a prodigy ....... of Robby.  He was the teacher and I was the pupil, for he had taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself, and may be even taking a chance on someone and you didn't know why. Robby was killed years later in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April, 1995.

And now, a footnote to the story: This reminded me of how we judge each other every day, the ones we think who will do well but don’t—or turn out mediocre, and the ones we though who never would amount to much, but end up surprising us all. The truth is that God does the bestowing of gifts upon us, what we do with them is our gift back to our creator. Each of us have at least one gift, others more, and how we use that gift is the legacy we leave of what kind a person we really were. Whatever your gift God gave you in this life, you always look better using your ability to honor God then if you were yourself.

Editor's note:

The story was truly a blessing, and gave us much to think about.  However, we would like it understood that the Lord has told us to be absent from the body is
present with the Lord for those who are saved.  According to scripture, we know that once a soul has left this earth, they do not have the ability to hear or see anything that is going on here on earth.  However, to a young boy his age, it is understandable as to why he would feel so."

Rex Rouis – “A Desire becomes a Hope when we discover a reason for its expectation, and there is no better reason to expect something than a promise given in the Word of God.”

POETRY

I REFUSE TO BE DISCOURAGED(By BJ George)

I refuse to be discouraged,
To be sad, or to cry;
I refuse to be downhearted,
And here's the reason why...

I have a God who's mighty,
Who's sovereign and supreme;
I have a God who loves me,
And I am on His team.

He is all-wise and powerful,
Jesus is His name;
Though everything is changeable,
My God remains the same,

My God knows all that's happening;
Beginning to the end,
His presence is my comfort,
He is my dearest friend.

When sickness comes to weaken me,
To bring my head down low,
I call upon my mighty God;
Into His arms I go.

When circumstances threaten
To rob me from my peace;
He draws me close unto His breast,
Where all my strivings cease.

And when my heart melts within me,
And weakness takes control;
He gathers me into His arms,
He soothes my heart and soul.

The great "I AM" is with me,
My life is in His hand,
The "Son of God" is my hope,
It's in His strength I stand.

I refuse to be defeated,
My eyes are on my God
He has promised to be with me,
As through this life I trod.
I'm looking past all my circumstances,
To Heaven's throne above;
My prayers have reached the heart of God,
I'm resting in His love.

I give God thanks in everything,
My eyes are on His face;
The battle's His, the victory's mine;
He'll help me win the race.
Written By BJ George, But "Inspired By Our Lord Jesus Christ"
Copyright@ BJ George

William Gurnall - Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called "The rejoicing of hope" (Hebrews 3:6).

David Platt - “Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.” 

LOVE AND PERSEVERANCE

Watchman Nee tells the story of his stay in China with twenty other Christians.

The bathing accommodations were inadequate in the home where they were lodging, so they went for a daily dip in the river. 
On one occasion, one of the men got a cramp in his leg and began sinking fast. Mr. Nee motioned to one of the other men, who was an excellent swimmer, about the drowning man. To his astonishment, however, the man did not move. He just stood there and watched the drowning man. 

Mr. Nee was agitated, but the swimmer was calm and collected. Meanwhile, the voice of the drowning man grew fainter and more desperate. Mr. Nee hated the swimmer who just stood and watched on the shore when he could have jumped into the river and rescued the drowning man. As the drowning man went under for what looked like the last time, the swimmer was there in a moment, and both were soon safely on shore. 

After the rescue, Mr. Nee chewed out the swimmer, accusing him of loving his life too much and being selfish. The response of the swimmer revealed, however, he knew what he was doing. He told Watchman that if he had gone too soon, the drowning man would have put a death grip on him and they would have both drowned in the river, and he was right. He told Mr. Nee that a drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself. 

Such is the case with our salvation. When we stop trying to save ourselves, then the Lord can step in and save us when we yield to Him. When you see the struggle that is a sign that you’re sensitive to sin and that is where God can help you.

Would you like us to pray with you? Do you have anything that you would like to share with us? We are here for you, please feel free to email us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Corrie Ten - "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God

DO YOU SUFFER FOR NO REASON AT ALL?

That sounds like an odd question to ask, but a legitimate one. Every person, at one time or another, has faced hard times. I'm sure you have too. And they aren't all physical- sometimes, we find them in the least expected areas. We expect them at work. We expect them in social situations such as dealing with PTA or school situations. However, we seem to get knocked off kilter when they hit us in our home, but especially at our church or for our faith. As the years go by, we're hearing more and more problematic suffering for being or behaving as a true Christian should at the hands of the world, but also an increasing rate of Christian Brothers and Sisters towards other Christian Brothers and Sisters, which I'm sure, as a parent, upsets our Father.

Peter wrote to some young Christians scattered around what is today the western part of Turkey. They were surprised that they were suffering for being Christians. They thought it was strange that their faith, which one would think should bring peace and comfort, would actually end up causing suffering, at least with some of their family and friends...for no other reason than for living what they believed...for their faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:12-16 tells us, " Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."

Obeying God was bringing these young Christians into suffering and this disoriented and discouraged them. But Peter said that it shouldn’t have that effect on them. They needed to ask themselves very carefully why they were suffering, and then consider how a Christian should suffer. That’s how they could reconsider their hard times and understand them more as God wanted them to. First they had to ask themselves why they were suffering. We have to admit, that yes, there are times when the suffering we go through, be it physical, mental, or emotional, is brought on ourselves because of poor choices we've made. Some, we could see it coming like a train coming towards us, but don't really care about the consequences to come, at that time. Other times, its not knowing, but impulsively jumping into something we should have taken the time to pray about. And other times, we've prayed about it, wasn't sure, but made the decision before receiving a peace from the Lord about it or even listening to the Holy Spirit that was TRYING to speak to us. 

No matter what the circumstance, the outcome is the same; Self-inflicted suffering. This is NOT the kind of suffering Peter was talking about. These are consequences....results of our indiscretion...sometimes, out-right sin. What Peter was talking about, is the suffering that we may endure due to our faith, living as a true Follower of Jesus Christ, not participating in the things that can tempt or entangle us in Satan's snare. This is suffering for the cause of Christ, which is totally different.It seems that the first Christians were told this again and again. And perhaps we need to hear more of this ourselves. Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth about how “the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance” (2 Cor. 1:5). Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi about his own desire to know this participation in Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10). These early Christians knew that they were called to share with Christ, to participate with Him.

Just as He had shared in their (Heb. 2:14), so they were to share in His sufferings.  

Peter also wrote to these Christians about how they should suffer. And the answer is not as simple as we would like it to be, but the answer is certainly made quite clear. We’re to suffer not with surprise and shame, embarrassment that we follow Jesus Christ, hide our faith behind acting like the rest of the world, but with rejoicing and praise just like Christ accepted His suffering. He was able to rejoice and praise His Father in the midst of all He was enduring because He knew He was doing the will of His Father and pleasing Him. The trials we undergo for being Christians are part of what Peter refers to here in 1 Peter 4:13 as sharing in the sufferings of Christ. That’s WHY we can rejoice in them. That's not to say that we're giddy with joy and excitement that we are going through this type of suffering, however it is actually evidence that we are united with Christ. How amazing! These young Christians were scared that the insults and trials they were experiencing meant they had done something wrong...but Peter tells them that they were evidences that they were doing something right! 

So as we contemplate this, lets also remember what we're told in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ~ "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." What we go through here on Earth is so very temporary compared to eternity. Whether our suffering is due to our faith, or is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, we who have trusted Jesus Christ as our only source of salvation can take comfort in the fact that this life is only a blip in time...but eternity is what matters! Let's all examine our hearts, make sure we know 100% where we stand with the Lord, and then look forward to His coming to take us Home, or our Home going when our time on earth is over. Amen.

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God bless you all and know that you are all in our prayers. Thank you.

Justus, Debbie & the Team, Kenya, USA**