2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
When Corrie Ten Boom (author of “The Hiding Place”) was a little girl in Holland, her first realization of death came after a visit to the home of a neighbor who had died. It suddenly impressed her that someday her parents could also die. When Corrie went to her father about her concern, he comforted her with these words of wisdom. “Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” “Why, just before we get on the train,” she replied. “Exactly,” her father said, “and our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need–just in time.”
Many of us don’t think about it but we, as humans have such a problem with fear — fear that God won’t come through when we’re in need. We want insurance — insurance for our cars, insurance for our houses, for our health, and for our lives. We want to be ensured that we’ll be okay if something happens. It has become our way of life in the western world.
Now, we’re not saying go and cancel all your insurance plans — but at the same time, God wants us to trust in His provision in our time of need!
Recently, in our time while we’re ‘re-deployed’ in the States, we are truly learning the meaning of ‘never early, never late.’ We’ve been in the States longer than we’ve been in 18 years, and we’ve not been scheduling any speaking engagements more than two weeks out. And yet, we’ve not gone a single weekend where we were not speaking and sharing.
Every single day since we have been here our faith has been tested and time and time again, God has provided for us in ways we could never conceive — physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, and in every other way — never early, never late — always just when we need it.
We need not fear anything that is before us. God will give us the strength to endure anything that comes our way. He has our ticket!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As the world celebrates the end of 2024 and enters into 2025 tonight, it looks toward the conclusion of yet another year. However, God has not been working on his plan according to the Gregorian calendar- rather, according to His own calendar. For example, when Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified and became the Lamb of God slain for the world, it was on the Biblical feast of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew). When He rose again from the dead, His resurrection was on the feast of first fruits. Fifty days later, the Holy Spirit was poured out during the Hebrew Feast of Shavuot or better known as Pentecost. This marked the beginning of the harvest season, and we’ve been in the midst of the great harvest for the past 2000 years. The fall feasts have yet to be fulfilled prophetically, however we as believers are groaning for the world’s redemption!
This parable in Matthew 25 is a warning to the entire body — be ready with your oil! Each of these virgins was anticipating the Lord’s return; none were atheists, or non-believers. They were all virgins who claimed to be awaiting the Bridegroom’s arrival. But notice carefully that only half of them were truly ready.
In the year 1920, young Oswald Smith stood before the examining board for the selection of missionaries. He had wanted to be a missionary for as long as he could remember, and for all that time had been crying out to God that He might open a door for him to do so. Finally, his time had come. There he stood awaiting his destiny. His long-awaited was about to come…”No.”
When God called Gideon to lead Israel against their enemies, He wanted to show that a small army empowered by God was more effective than the largest armies. But notice how they fought – without weapons that an army would normally use. They fought with shofars and lamps! They fought with weapons that the world would consider ineffective, yet triumphed mightily over their enemies. They shouted as loud as they could, sounded the shofar, and broke the vessels that held the fire so that their lamps burst through with brightness.
Let me tell you a funny little story. An old mountaineer and his wife were sitting by the fireplace one evening, passing the time in silence. After a while, the wife broke the stillness and said, “Jed, I think it’s raining. Go outside and check, will ya?”
During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in a bind. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia if they would bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. Each piece of jewelry he received, he would exchange for a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. These decorations would be inscribed, ‘I gave gold for iron, 18l3’.
In connection with the Hebrew Word “Amen”, meaning “faith”, “truth”, “belief”, and “trust”, consider this revealing passage in Isaiah which further amplifies the dimensions of the word in the most wonderful and comforting promise:
“He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [“Amen” in Hebrew]. …