Claim your gifts!

Matthew 7:9-11 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Another great preacher whose writings I love to read is John R. Rice. He wrote, "I once imagined I was in Heaven, walking along with the Angel Gabriel. I said, "Gabe, what is that big building over there?"

"You'll be disappointed," he answered. "I don't think you want to see it." But I insisted, and he proceeded to show me floor after floor of beautiful gifts, all wrapped and ready to be sent.

"Gabriel, what are all of these?"

He said, I thought rather sadly, "We wrapped all these things, but people never called for them."

There are gifts and an abundance of blessings to be received from heaven -- but we need to claim them as our own! We receive not because we've asked not.

When we ask the Lord in humility and expectation for His goodness, He will answer! Then we'll be better equipped to do the great things He has in store for us.

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In these days, we have to pray for wisdom! In the letter of James, the Lord’s brother, he writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally…” [James 1:5] The context for this request is trials! Since this is a time of almost constant trials, God knows we need His wisdom, more than ever.

Throughout the Bible, the faith of the saints was never something passive — but rather a faith of action.

Much of the world is dealing with the greatest disruption of their lives… probably in their lifetimes, particularly in the West, and what is known as the “First World”. Here’s a helpful perspective toward understanding what is taking place.

Continuing our exciting account of the Moravian Revival, I have to highlight the minuscule quantity of saints involved. This was, in proportion to its astounding effect, a very small group, a little church. Yet the amazing demonstration of God’s principle of power through unity re-echoes the events at Pentecost when 120 believers also were in profound unity waiting on the Lord. It wasn’t the numbers but the removal of contention and division that paved the way for a 100-year revival.

The Moravian revival, our current subject, began in the little community of Herrnhut on August 13, 1727, with a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit likened to that of Acts 2. It was a work of God that would transform this group of splintered Christian settlers into a unified missionary endeavor committed to reaching the unsaved around the world.

It never ceases to amaze me how our little girl, Elianna is growing and developing. I remember when she first came into this world, she was so helpless and frail — she couldn’t even move her head without our help. Now, just having turned two, she’s running around and tumbling, jumping, singing and dancing!

We found an interesting story in an old copy of “Our Daily Bread”: In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian — the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores — was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The candidate was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner won over incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes. A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for Republican Committeeman from Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The town’s mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won!