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June 20, 2013 at 5:35 am (Focus)

ernest reading pose

Rev. E. Anderson

THE WISE REQUEST

“How much better to get wisdom than gold”- Proverbs 16:16

What do you pray for? If you’re like me, your list of requests looks something like this: God’s protection of family members. Financial provision. Travelling safety. The salvation of non-believing friends and loved ones. Healing for a sick parent or neighbour. Strength to make it through a difficult season at work. And so on.

Those are all legitimate requests, concerns that God wants us to bring to Him. But when was the last time you prayed for something a bit deeper? When was the last time you prayed for wisdom?

Such a request is not as specific as, say, asking God to give you a safe, productive business trip or pleading with Him to protect your child from the chicken pox epidemic at school. But it’s just as important, if not more so. We all need wisdom, no matter what we do for a living, no matter where we work or live, no matter how much money we make, no matter how smart we think we are.

But we don’t just need any kind of wisdom. We need God’s wisdom—especially at work. We need it when we’re trying to come up with solutions to complex business problems. We need it when we’re planning our schedules for the day, the week, and the month. We need it when we’re handling sensitive personnel issues. We need it when we’re dealing with difficult co-workers. We especially need it when we’re facing ethical dilemmas or when we sense that God wants us to confront a colleague about something.

Asking God to give us wisdom on a daily basis isn’t odd or self-serving. It’s the wise thing to do.

Follow Solomon’s example (1 Kings 3:4—15). He could have asked God for any blessing in the world—wealth, honour, victory over his enemies, a long life, etc.— and yet his only request was a wise, discerning heart. He believed that wisdom was better than gold.

What about you? Do you genuinely desire wisdom, too? More important, do your prayers show that you desire wisdom?

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a message from the late david wilkerson

June 20, 2013 at 5:32 am (David Wilkerson)

david_wilkerson

Rev. David Wilkerson

JESUS IS KING OF MY LIFE

Perhaps you are saying, “I want Jesus to be king of my life. I want to do everything He commands me!” Let me show you two of the wonderful blessings that come to all who enthrone Jesus as king of their lives.

First, Scripture says if you will submit yourself to Jesus, waiting to receive His counsel and direction, you will partake of His holiness. “We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:9-10).

Paul commands us to come to Jesus, asking Him to give us dominion over all our sins and fears: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:13-14).

God is saying, “If you want to know abundant life—true, full life—then submit yourself to Me and I will give you life without fear, guilt or condemnation!”

Second, those who submit to Christ’s lordship will walk in peace—without fear or anxiety. “That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. . . . Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:74-75, 78-79).

What a wonderful promise! If we will yield our lives to Him, He will shine His light into our darkness and guide us into peace and rest. You can tell when a person has enthroned Christ in his heart. Such a life produces a peace that passes all understanding and you can see that peace in the person’s face and demeanour.

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christian testimony

June 20, 2013 at 5:29 am (Christian Testimony)

dennis pearce

Dennis Pearce

COMIC DUO MADE ME THINK SERIOUSLY

A footballer thought he had it all until he found God and realised there was more to life than the game.

A footballer has told how he found God after listening to comic duo Cannon and Ball.

Dennis Pearce, formerly of Notts County and Wolves, became a Christian in 2001 at DudleyTown Hall.

He says, “I went with my wife to see Cannon and Ball. There were probably over a thousand people there and I remember just sitting and listen­ing to what they were saying and it hit home.

“They mentioned the life-style they used to live and how they were empty, and when they talked about their Christian life, I just thought, ‘I want a piece of that. That’s what I’m missing.’

“And at the end, they said the sinner’s prayer, which I’d never even heard of before, but I repeated it to myself, and I meant it with all my heart.

“As soon as they said ‘amen’, it felt like God was there. I felt love like I’d never experienced before. It felt like Jesus laid his arms around me and there was love flowing from my head to my toes. It was a tingling sensa­tion and I could feel it going all the way down my body, and I felt warmth and peace and love.”

Dennis, a tough-tackling left-back in his day, had only previ­ously attended church when he went to a family christening, although his agent, Cyrille Regis, had talked to him about faith.

Dennis, 38, adds, “I was doing well at football, I had a wife and daughter and I was •OK financially, but I thought, “I’ve got all this but I’m still not happy. Something’s still missing.’ Being a defender – a left-back -I used to get stuck into tackles and obviously went in to win the ball, but also to try and hurt the player at the same time – to let him know that he was in a game and scare him.

“I also used to say things to people I was playing against – maybe stuff about their girl-friends or wives or kids-just to distract them from their game. But obviously, when I became born-again, I couldn’t do that. I’d

After hearing the testimony of Cannon and Ball, Dennis’ life changed lost that aggressiveness in me. I couldn’t go out and deliberately hurt anyone anymore, and that part of my game went. In a sense, I could see that my game had changed.”

But 11 years on, there are no regrets for Dennis, who now plays part-time for Stour-port Swifts. He is due to retire from football at the end of the season.

“I know God’s got a plan, I’m just leaving it in his hands,” he said.

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