God’s People Brought to the Test

We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God’s Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring . . . [God’s true people] to the test. Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ.

I saw our people in great distress, weeping, and praying, pleading the sure promises of God, while the wicked were all around us, mocking us, and threatening to destroy us. They ridiculed our feebleness, they mocked at the smallness of our numbers, and taunted us with words calculated to cut deep. They charged us with taking an independent position from all the rest of the world. They had cut off our resources so that we could not buy nor sell, and referred to our abject poverty and stricken condition. They could not see how we could live without the world; we were dependent upon the world, and we must concede to the customs, practices, and laws of the world, or go out of it. If we were the only people in the world whom the Lord favored the appearances were awfully against us. They declared that they had the truth, that miracles were among them, that angels from heaven talked with them, and walked with them, that great power, and signs and wonders were performed among them, and this was the Temporal Millennium, which they had been expecting so long. The whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law, and this little feeble people stood out in defiance of the laws of the land, and the laws of God, and claimed to be the only ones right on the earth.

God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan would counterfeit any miracle that might be worked…. They are to take their stand on the living Word—“It is written.”

Maranatha p. 209
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Prayer Requests

—–Please pray for wisdom and discernment. J

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Dear Friends,

My parents were divorced when I was a baby, so I have had very little contact over the years with my dad’s side of the family. His mother had stopped by a few times over the years for an hour or so when she was in Kalamazoo to see her other grandchildren, my half-sister and brother. I had even met my half-sister once when I was seventeen, but, sadly, her mother would not allow another meeting.

In 1985, I found my father and from then till he died in 1991, talked to him on the telephone several times a year. A few years later, when we moved to Kansas, I met my Uncle Russell for the first time. I was surprised that he had known who I was throughout my life. I marveled at his acceptance of me into the family. It was as though we had always known each other, as though I had always belonged. As I sat beside him looking at a book of the family genealogy that a relative had researched, and looked at the many shoe-boxes full of family photos, my heart felt whole for the first time in my life.

Just as I had always been a part of the Buck family, so, when we accept Jesus into our heart, we belong to a larger family than any earthly family. When we open our heart’s door to Jesus, we are totally and completely “accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.” Eph 1:6-10

Think of it! When we truly accept Jesus as our Saviour, the Great King of the Universe puts His arms around us and welcomes us into His great family. We are no longer orphans or fatherless. We become whole for the first time. We truly realize for the first time that “the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Titus 3:4-8

As we become part of the great family in heaven and earth, we delight to open His Holy Word, that we may see Him more fully see His great Self-sacrificing love for us. On its pages we read of His dealings with other members of our family, with Abraham who was saved by faith (Rom 4:3), Isaac who would not fight back although others took advantage of him (Gen 26:15-18), Joseph who remained faithful no matter what the price (Gen 39), Nehemiah who was very zealous for God and helped the people complete the wall, Daniel whose faithfulness caused him to be greatly beloved by his Heavenly Father, Zechariah who interacted with the angel who was instructing him in visions, the physician and historian Luke, the loving disciple John, the list goes on and on…. Jesus said, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 8:11

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph 3:15-21