THE POUND PROCLAIMER
Volume III
February 2008
Number 4
Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the
good news of His salvation from day to day. Psalms 96:2
JOB,
MAN OF PATIENCE AND FAITH
By Wendell Ward
I believe Job is a superb demonstration of strong faith.
His faith was the kind which produces steadfastness even in tribulations. God
is teaching us through Job that we must maintain our personal faith, our
confidence, and our assurance in him always. We are taught never to falter even
when we cannot understand all the whys and wherefores.
The poets have said:
O for a faith that will not shrink,
Tho’ pressed by every foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.
That will not murmur or complain
Beneath the chastening rod,
But in the hour of grief or pain,
Will lean upon its
God.
W. H.
My Christian friend, no matter what the circumstance, we
must know that God is in control, and that above all things, we must be
faithful. Like Job, let us say, “Though
he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15).
Have you considered the extent of Job’s suffering and
therefore the worth of his example to us? Job suffered the loss of his worldly
goods and all ten of his sons and daughters. Job became afflicted in body and
then on top of all this his wife urged him to curse God and die. To add insult
to injury his friends came and accused him of having failed God and sinning
greatly or otherwise his sufferings would not have been.
I am so thankful that God gives us a different story of
Job’s sufferings. His great example proves that we can and must serve God
because of our strong love for him instead of for selfish gain. As desolate and
afflicted as Job was, he was still able to say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
We sometimes sing: Will your anchor hold in the storms of
life? When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift,
cables strain, Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
Our anchor is secured by our Savior’s hand. We find
comforting power in God’s word. The more truth we know the more comforted we
shall be! Job’s example teaches that God sees to it that the winds are never
too fierce and that the waves never beat too high.
Take courage my suffering Christian friend; see the
harbor lights of our city of gold! We shall anchor by the heavenly shore with
the storms all past for ever more.
-
The
Editor’s Page
Peter directed comments to Christians by writing, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless
people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both
now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18.
The feel good religion is a lawless religion. This sounds
strange to some. All of us want to feel better emotionally. The excess of
products that promise to make us ‘feel’ better attest to this fact. This
translates into a desire for the inspirational and uplifting side of religion
to the neglect of character building religion.
The religion of Christ gives His followers the
opportunity to make actual progress in the quality of their character.
Christianity is not a guarantee that we will always ‘feel good’. Christians are
people with emotional ups and downs. It is growth in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord that defines the Christian.
The question is not “How does my religion make me feel?”
The question we should ask is, “Where does my religion place me in relation to
God?” The examining and testing of ourselves should be a daily practice. How
else can we evaluate our spiritual health? Constantly cozying up to a ‘you are
ok, I am ok’ religious doctrine does nothing to bring about genuine growth.
The honest evaluation of self is a major step forward.
However, it is not the cure for spiritual anemia. There must be the courage and
the will to make changes where they are needed. Sermons, articles, and
Christian friends can provoke us to repent, but change is an action completely
under the control of the individual.
All will agree that there are areas wherein we need to
improve. Sadly, like New Year’s resolutions, improvement falls by the wayside
because of our propensity to fall backwards into old habits. For this reason,
we don’t need to seek ‘good feels’ as much as we need renewed commitments
toward spiritual growth. When we became Christians, we made promises to God.
Spiritual progress comes from remembering those promises and remaking self on a
daily basis.
The man who can come to God with his feelings and desires
in check will become a man perfect in faith. The man who comes to God demanding
that his feelings be soothed will be sorely disappointed. It is the one who
comes with the weight of failures, unfulfilled dreams, forsaken, and dejected,
who will find refuge. Consider the following as an illustration of this
thought. When David hid in a cave while fleeing from king Saul, he cried out to
God, “Be merciful to me, O God, be
merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I
will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” Psalms
57:1.
Like David, we must understand that our relation to God
is the answer to life’s problems. To obtain the answer, we must grow in grace
and knowledge.
AN INVITATION: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
He left His
home in Heaven, and came to earth,
To be born of a
virgin, a very lowly birth.
To do the will
of the Father was why He came.
The Christ,
Messiah, Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, His name.
For your sins
and mine, He suffered and died,
Ridiculed,
beaten, on the cross, in my place, crucified.
The grave could
not hold Him, He arose the third day.
To teach His
disciples so they could teach us His way.
His blood was
shed, to cleanse us from all sins.
A great
sacrifice that can redeem and save men.
“I am the way,
the truth, and the life. Said He.
No man cometh
to the Father, but by Me.”
Heed His call;
obey Him, before it’s too late.
Repent of your
sins. The good confession, make.
Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, this, I believe.
Baptized for
remission of sins, salvation to receive.
Made clean and
whole by the blood of the Lamb.
Heir and joint
heir with Him, in God’s family, I am.
A member of His
body, kingdom, church, and free,
From the world
and the devil who still wants me.
But faithful
until death, I can join Him there
Where He
intercedes for me. And there’s never a care.
If you are His
sheep, but have gone astray,
By repentance
and prayer return to His way.
So
come to Him now, He waits, arms open wide
He paid for
your sins, wants you by His side.
Come before
it’s too late, and make it right.
His yoke is
easy, and His burden is light.
Jack
L. Goff
-
THE
LAST WORD
THE
CHURCH THAT JESUS BUILT
By Wallace
Whitehorn
Christ’s
church was promised
By God’s prophets of
old.
Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, and Zechariah,
And the message was strong and bold.
Christ’s church began on Pentecost,
When humanity cried out
for truth.
Peter told them what to do,
And the Holy Spirit was the proof.
Christ
and His church
Work hand in hand.
Christ
is the Head
Of this wonderful band.
Recognizing
Christ’s church
Is easy for us all.
When
we study God’s word
And obey that heavenly call.
Serving
in Christ’s church
Is walking in Jesus’ way.
So
that Heaven can be home
Some sweet day.
- 10323 Orby
