A Mysterious and Tender Presence

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8.
The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Psalm 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand….
It was the Maker of all things … who created the human soul, with its capacity for knowing and for loving. And He is not in Himself such as to leave the demands of the soul unsatisfied. No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this life of struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to believe in law and force, in things that have no pity, and never hear the cry for help. We need to know of an almighty arm that will hold us up, of an infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in His Word revealed Himself.
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The carnal mind cannot comprehend these mysteries…. The worldly-wise have attempted to explain upon scientific principles the influence of the Spirit of God upon the heart. The least advance in this direction will lead the soul into the mazes of skepticism. The religion of the Bible is simply the mystery of godliness; no human mind can fully understand it, and it is utterly incomprehensible to the unregenerate heart.
The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.
The Faith I Live By p. 54
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for James who is suicidal. Kathy
—–Please pray for ex-husband’s family. His 38 year old nephew was found dead yesterday frozen in the neighbors yard. An autopsy is being done for cause of death. Darla
—–My husband is having angina attacks. Would you please pray for him. Kay
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Dear Friends,
When I was in 9th grade, I sat beside a girl named Marlene in my homeroom (a classroom where we had opening exercises including the pledge of allegiance and Bible reading). There was also time for quiet talking. Marlene and I became instant friends. Both of us were misfits and were shunned by the other teens—she was 16 while the rest of us were 14. This was because of her learning disabilities.
At that school, the majority of students were perfectly normal, but there were a couple of gangs of ruffians that made everyone else miserable. As the year progressed, the girl gang got angry with Marlene, and because I was her friend, they were angry at me. We had done nothing to them. They had just decided that because Marlene was a little slow in learning, they were against her. This gang of girls was the terror of the school. Even the boy gangs were afraid of them.
One time when I was in the bathroom, to my horror, several of the gang happened to be in there. Before I could walk back out, the surrounded me, wrestled me to the floor and smeared me with lipstick. I was very frightened. Seeing the look on my face, my teacher asked me to stay after school. The teacher and the school counselor talked with me. I told them what had happened. The school counselor took me home.
The girls must have gotten into trouble because things went from bad to worse. South Junior High was about 2 1/2 miles from where I lived. Every day I would leave early and walk to school rather than take the school bus which was always so crowded. During the winter I often waded in snow above my knees. I felt frozen by the time I got there. Because of all of these gangs that ruined everything for everyone else, they didn’t open the doors until just a few minutes before class, so I would join all of the other students who were huddled up tight to the school doors trying to stay out of the cold Michigan weather as much as we possibly could. As I look back upon it, the “gang activity” that was in the late 1950’s was nothing at all when compared to today; but in those days, the majority of us students were afraid of these groups who had a reputation for vandalism and for beating up their fellow students.
On my way to school one spring day, I suddenly found myself surrounded by this gang of girls. I was terrified and tried to ignore them hoping that they would go away. They surrounded me and kept me from going further. The leader of the group tried to start an argument with me. A cold finger of fear crept up my back as I saw that some of them had knives: open knives. I wasn’t sure what they planned to do with those knives, but I didn’t think they were planning on eating an apple.
Because of my terror, for years I could not remember what happened next, but one day just a few years ago, I could. As I looked around for someone to help me, I noticed a teacher walking along on the other side of the street. I had seen her at school many times, but had never spoken to her or even waved “hello” whenever I saw her walking to school. This particular day, I saw her look over toward us and immediately begin to cross over to our side of the street. When the girls saw the teacher coming, they quickly put away their knives and tried to pretend like they were being friendly, but that teacher was not fooled a bit. She talked with the girls for a few minutes and then walked the rest of the way to school with me. How thankful I was to have a rescuer! From then on, I always waved and said “hello” to her and sometimes we would walk to school together.
We all need rescuing from someone far more frightening than that girl gang, for our “adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 Praise God! We have a Rescuer from his evil schemes. We have a Saviour Who sees the plight we are in and delivers us from the power of the evil one. He assures us, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.” Matt 18:11-13 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
Wonderful Saviour! Think of it! He left all of the glories of His Heavenly Kingdom and came to this dark and sinful world to save us. We were surrounded by the enemy and in the greatest of danger, but he provided a way of escape for us. With a heart full of love, He pleads “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Isa 1:18;Eze 33:11
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.” Isa 33:22 He will forgive us! He will cleanse us! He will give us the victory over those sins that so easily beset us! But we must ask for these blessings, we must desire them more than any other gift. We must co-operate with Him. (God never forces us against our will. Force is the tool of the evil one.) “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matt 13:44-46
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” Heb 2:3 How shall we answer Him in the judgment if we turn away from His great gift of grace? Jesus is coming soon! All around we can see this world crumbling. Now is the time to get ready. Now is the time to make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10) “And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!” Zech 9:16,17 Soon we will see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory! Soon we will look up and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa 25:9