Faith Messenger Sept 2014
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Transcript of Faith Messenger Sept 2014
W E L C O M E B A C K!
The Lord is the everlasting God, The Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40
GOD LOVES YOU!
The Creator’s Promise
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you! Heb. 13:5
In the original Greek, the word “never” is actually a compounding of five negatives. It really should read, “I will never, no, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you!” It’s a forever never which has no exceptions. In the original Greek the word “leave” means “to leave behind, to abandon, to give up on, to send back.” So far, then this verse reads: “I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, or send you back!” “Forsake” means in the Greek, “to leave one in a helpless state, to disregard.” It also can be further expanded to include “not relaxing my watchfulness over you.” …In other words, we can relax. God will always
be there for us! (The Daily Encourager) Pg 2
Contents:
I Will Never Forsake You…………1-3
Take Off the Grave Clothes……… 3-4
God’s Eagles ...………….….……. 4-7
A prayer, CT NEWS...……………….7
*Volume 78 *No. 7 *Published by Christian Triumph Co. *Permit # 695 * SEPT 2014
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These scriptures on Page 1 (2ND column) are from the book of Hebrews. The writer was encouraging those who were even then struggling with temptation “to turn away from their faith and give up…” as well as those “hurting believers” and those who needed encouragement, strengthened, or “relief” from burdens plus those weary who needed rest. (Comments from the Living
Insights Study Bible, Page 1330, NIV)
Hebrews 13:6: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid…” These words of assurance are for us today as well. Many face difficulties and need the help of God our Father. Paul’s promise in Philippians 4:19 gives hope and strength: “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Along with this, God does not give up on His wandering sheep.
“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell
you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” -Jesus (Matt. 18) NIV
God is not willing to “give up” or “abandon” those who have walked away. In the story of the lost son who wandered, Jesus uses these words to describe the Father’s love: “But while [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Continued - Pg 3
Faith Messenger
Permit #695
Published monthly, except July and August.
POSTMASTER SEND ADDRESS CHANGES
TO: Christian Triumph Company
P.O. Box 5187
Corpus Christi, Texas 78405
L.Y. Janes, Founder (deceased); Israel Hernandez,
President; William Anderson, Vice-President;
Fred Pena, 2nd
Vice-President; Diana Beletic,
Secretary/Treasurer; Una Collins, Asst. Sec./Treas.
This periodical is issued without charge in the name
of the Lord Jesus to help inspire child-like faith and
maintain Christ-like simplicity among the people of
God. To send donations or for your FREE
SUBSCRIPTION, write to the address above or
contact Christian Triumph Co. at
[email protected]. Or see us on the web
at ChristianTriumph.org
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The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet….let’s have a celebration.’” Luke 15:22-23 NIV
COME HOME!
LET’S CELEBRATE!
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FREEDOM
“TAKE OFF
THE GRAVE CLOTHES AND LET HIM GO!”
In the Biblical account of Lazarus’ resurrection, Jesus spoke words of liberation! “Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish.” John 11:25, 26 LB
We know that Jesus is all powerful and that He did release Lazarus with the words, “…roll the stone aside!
Lazarus, come out! Unwrap him and let him go” John 11: 39-43 LB. Yet, it is sometimes hard to believe that Jesus wants to… or… has freed us from our own “grave clothes” of past sin and mistakes. In fact, our remorseful thoughts and actions may feel very binding at times, especially when we ponder a decision to enter ministry or assist in church leadership. And, sure enough, just like a chorus of background singers, the evil forces blend in with those thoughts of self-defeat, determined on discouraging a God-anointed labor of love. Though we understand that God does forgive and forget, as found in Micah 7:19 LB, “…You will tread our sins beneath your feet; you will throw them into the depths of the ocean,” we sometimes pass by opportunities to “spread our spiritual wings” and, solely by faith, move forward. Being called into ministry of any kind is much more about God and much less about us. The Apostle Paul writes that “…we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV
In fact, our clay jars may also “show” some scars, but it is God’s Spirit who ministers through us as He “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Romans 8:26 NIV And, nothing, not even painful memories, can separate us from the P4
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love of God. Romans 8:37-39. Entering a selfless, spiritual ministry is attainable through childlike-trusting in God’s Amazing Grace, and, oh, the freedom from bondage one experiences when completely dependent upon His measureless mercy! What inexpressible freedom and joy to hear and “feel” these words, deep within one’s spirit, while moving forward into the will of God: “TAKE OFF THE GRAVE CLOTHES AND LET MY CHILD GO!” - Jesus By Editor (In appreciation to Chaplain Ron and Jeanne) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor: Several months ago a person requested the tract, God’s Eagles. Unfortunately, it needed reprinting which has now been done. The next article on this page entitled God’s Eagles is that very tract. Although the author is unknown, Brother Janes (the founder) wrote a poem following the story of the mother eagle. If after reading the tract, you would like a few to share, just write to Christian Triumph PO BOX 5187, Corpus Christi, TX 78465-5187, and we will mail those – without cost. Thank you!
GOD’S EAGLES “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth
over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings,
taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so
the Lord alone did lead him and there was
no strange god with him.” Deuteronomy
32:11, 12
Now we are going to talk about eagles –
God eagles. In the first place, how does God
make His eagles? Moses says that God has
several stages in the process of making a
spiritual eagle. The first thing - He stirs up
the nest as an eagle stirs up her nest, so the
Lord stirs up the nest of the people of whom
He designs to make “eagles.”
The eagle builds a large nest on the
mountain crag or in the highest tree that it
can find, a great nest of sticks, that it lines
with wool or skins of animals making it soft,
and there the young eagles get fat and lazy.
When the time comes for young eagles to
fly, they are not disposed to get out of their
nest – just like people, exactly. Thus, the
mother bird, with her bill, picks out every
soft thing in the nest and throws it outside
and lets the eaglet down on the sharp briars
and sticks, and it tries to find a soft spot but
cannot. It gets on this side of the nest and
there is a stick, and on that side, but there is
another stick. It cannot sleep and becomes
so miserable and unhappy that finally, it is
willing to get out and go somewhere else.
This is also God’s method with those who
are going to be His spiritual eagles. God
stirs up the nest of every true saint. It may
be one’s home life that God stirs as He takes
away the soft lining, one’s property, or
loved ones, a father, mother, sister, brother,
husband, parent or children. As well, He
stirs the church nest, making things
unpleasant and disagreeable, so that we find
no peace or rest in the home church. He stirs
up the neighborhood, digging away the soft
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things and making life miserable so that we
are perfectly willing to move out and go
anywhere or any place. God stirs up our
theology, our notions, our opinions, and our
plans, and all kinds of crucifixions come.
All the apostles had their nests stirred, all
the patriarchs, all the reformers, all the
evangelists and all the pastors, in some way
or another, have had their nests stirred –
their social nest, family nest, or the church
nest. In one way or another, God stirs the
nest, and lets us down on hard things that
draw the blood, make us ache, and make us
suffer. And so, friends, this is the way that
God works and is working. Look back
twenty-five, thirty or forty years and see
how you were fixed; look at the change in
your life from then to now. See how God
has taken all props from under you – that
church, that preacher, that Christian, that
piece of property. God took away the props
until you laid down on the hard rocks,
thorns, and briars. He tore up the soft nest.
This is God’s method.
God not only stirs the nest of the saints,
but He flutters over them. When God allows
trouble, sorrow, poverty, and desolation to
come to us, and we are sad, and weep and
cry and look down to find something to lean
upon, then God flutters over us – the sound
of wings. God does it to draw attention to
Himself, to get us to look away - to Him, to
look away from the coffin and the grave, the
old house, the deserted farm, and the
departed friend. Then when God gets our
attention, there comes a change. The mother
eagle might flutter all day long, but the
young birds would never look up while
lying on a soft sheepskin or a rabbit skin.
But when it is all thorns, briars and sticks in
the nest, they look up.
The next thing God does is “spreadeth
broad His wings.” He unfolds His
magnitude, His attributes, His majesty, His
might, His power, and His glory. I shall
never forget when we lost everything we
had, after trying to save a little for twenty
odd years, everything was swept away, and
we were two thousand dollars in debt,
without even a dollar to pay. Then God
began to reveal Himself to us, and my wife
said one day, “I believe God is a living
God!” We all say we believe that, but I
never knew what it meant until He began to
spread abroad His wings. When God shows
a person the amplitude of His providence,
the unspeakableness, the greatness, the
vastness of His resources, it is a revelation
to the soul. You have read it and believed it
all your life with the intellect but that
doesn’t count like it does when God actually
shows you the magnitude of His amazing
grace.
The eagle spreads abroad her wings, and
then the young bird sees that the mother is
larger than the nest. When God shows us the
resources that He has and that these
resources are larger than all our needs for
body, soul and spirit, for time and eternity -
when God shows us that even more than we
need is, in God, provided for us - what a
sense of assurance comes into our souls!
When I had not a dollar on earth – only
fifteen cents – and a family to support, I felt
just as safe as or even safer than I do now. I
felt that Almighty God was just as able and
willing to help me as though I had a million
dollars. The nest was gone; everything was
gone, but God showed me His long wings:
“He spreadeth abroad His wings.”
Are you an orphan? Is your wife or
husband deceased? Is your mother or father
gone? Are you poor? Are you hated? Are
you cast out? Are you ostracized and
minimized and undersized? Are you
perplexed? If you will get your eyes on God
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and God alone, you will not have a care; you
will not have an anxiety. All we need is to
see God as we do the eagle: “spreadeth
abroad her wings.” When God comes to a
soul and begins to unfurl His attributes,
unfurl His inexhaustibleness and draw the
vision of the soul away from the briars,
thorns, rocks, distress, sin, and everything
on earth or in hell, and when you begin to
see God and let God unfold Himself to your
soul, oh, what a wonderful epoch that is!
The next step: “She taketh them and
beareth them on her wings.” The first step
was “stirs the nest, tearing it all to pieces.”
That is what God did to Christian Church in
Jerusalem. He stirred their nest, and they
went out everywhere preaching the gospel.
They never would have gone fifty miles if
God had not stirred their nest in Jerusalem.
He stirred the nests of Luther, Wesley, and
Whitefield, and my own nest. What for? To
make us go!
The mother eagle will spread out her
wings from tip to tip and lay them right flat
down and the young eagle will step from the
briars, thorns, and sharp sticks, climbing
upon the mother’s soft wings. The eaglet
puts its claws in her wings and holds on to
her feathers. When she begins to shake her
wings, the bird takes a stronger hold. The
little bird can look back then and see the tree
and the nest as round and round the mother
goes into the clear blue sky. After she has
soared one thousand, two thousand and
more feet, she will give a sudden lurch, and
off falls the little eaglet. Oh, how it tumbles
and rolls, putting out its wings and beating
the air. The mother bird watches and when
the young bird is about halfway down to the
earth, she shoots with the accuracy of a
bullet, catching the bird, then around and
around and up she goes. That process is
repeated until the little bird learns how to
fly.
So God stirs our nest; we weep, sob and
cry – money gone, friends gone, church
gone; nobody loves me. Then Jesus Christ
stretches out one great wing, and we begin
to take hold of Him as He moves out and up
and away!
“My! Oh! What shall I do? I thought I was
sanctified. I thought I was going to heaven
and now it seems to me that my religion is
gone! Down, down, down, the devil will get
me.” But God is watching from the skies,
and when we get almost down, He shoots
under us and bears us up, around and
around, higher and higher, until we get to
where we have learned the lesson. “Lord,
forgive me! I was leaning on my own
sanctification; I was leaning on what You
have done for me. Now I see, Lord, I dare
not lean on anything in this world, not on
my feelings, shouts, blessings and not on the
past. Instead, I must trust you now and live
by faith.” When we get to that place, we
learn to fly. Lean on the Lord and Him
alone. That is God’s way to make us eagles.
Then God can turn us loose in a thunder
storm or at midnight or on a cold winter day
with the wind blowing forty miles an hour,
knowing that we will turn our face right into
the face of the blinding storm and beat our
way like a sailing ship against the storm.
God teaches us how to fly, how to go
through these storms, how to keep alive
while pressing on, willing to live by faith,
trusting God for soul, body and for all
things. – Selected (minor editing)
Learning to Fly God stirs the nest and makes you fly,
Then you begin to weep and cry;
His hand has failed and down you go,
With naught in sight but rocks below.
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A dreadful sight and fast the fears
Take place as all hope disappears:
Oh, how you miss the downy nest,
But God has stirred it for the best.
So from your nest He picked the down,
Left naught but thorns, and briars around;
Then gladly you stepped upon His wing,
And to this thought you’d always cling.
But still on this you could not grow
The ways of God to fully know;
‘Tis time to exercise your wings,
And get the faith that launching brings.
So quick He lurches, down you go,
And help you cannot see nor know;
Then to your wings you swiftly take,
While fears increase your heart to break.
Far down, down, down you swiftly go
Until you’re near the rocks below;
Then quick beneath your trembling frame
He darts: you’re safe from care and pain.
This lesson He repeats quite oft,
Until you learn to soar aloft
Above all troubles, trials and waves,
Until you learn Christ always saves. - L. Y. Janes
_______________________________
A PRAYER
Father, forgive the cold love of the years As here in the silence we bow. Perish our cowardice, perish our fears kindle us, kindle us now. Lord, we accept; we believe; we adore Less than the least though we be;
Fire of love, burn in us, burn evermore Until we burn out for thee. Author Unknown
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Christian Triumph Church
“In the works”
Christian Triumph News By Diana
The radio ministry of the Christian Triumph church, Israel Hernandez, Pastor, is on for three hours per week. The Spanish church is still growing and attendance is approximately 40 persons on Sunday morning. The local Bible (Spanish) Institute is going strong; eight new students are attending twice a week. The Spanish correspondence courses have approximately 400 Bible students. Many requests are coming from Cuba, Brazil, Peru and even Spanish requests from England and Spain, asking for tracts and Bible courses. News about Peru in Oct. Editor: MORE TO COME. Thank you!
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Faith Messenger
A publication of Christian Triumph Company
PO BOX 5187
Corpus Christi, TX 78465
Address Service Requested
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles… Isaiah 40
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