II Chronicles 33:1, 2, 9

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

That is disturbing picture! Represented is Manasseh, king of Judah (697-642 BC); his 55 year reign was the longest of any king of either the united kingdom or the later split kingdoms (Israel to the north, Judah to the south). He was also the most wicked king in the Jews’ Old Testament history! In the twenty-second year of his reign, he was taken prisoner by the Assyrians, and carried off to Babylon! The Contemporary English Version in II Chronicles 33:10 and 11 describes what the picture represents this way:

     The LORD tried to warn Manasseh and the people about 
     their sins, but they ignored the warning.  So he let 
     Assyrian army commanders invade Judah and capture 
     Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose and tied him up 
     in chains, and they took him to Babylon. 

Manasseh’s godly father, King Hezekiah was granted a fifteen-year extension to his life (see II Kings 20:1-6). Since Manasseh was only twelve years old when he began his reign, he must have been born during this fifteen-year extension!

Here are some of the highlights (or should we say, lowlights) from II Kings 21 of Manasseh’s reign:

• Verse 2 – “…he did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” God gave the Israelites strict laws, such as in Leviticus chapters 17 through 20, concerning what they must never do! Here is what He said in Leviticus 18:3 through 5:

     ...according to the doing of the land of Canaan...you 
     shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances
     ....You shall...keep My statutes and My judgments, 
     which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the 
     LORD.

• Verse 3 – “…he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed….” The high places were where apostate Jews worshiped the false and degrading gods of other pagan nations.

• Verse 3 – “…he…made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done…” (see I Kings 16:33). The second of the Ten Commandments says in Exodus 20:4 and 5:

     You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or 
     any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or 
     that is the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
     under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor 
     serve them....

• Verse 3 – “…he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.” The LORD had told the Israelites in Exodus 20:3 (the first of the Ten Commandments): “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

• Verses 4 and 5 – “He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, ‘In Jerusalem I will put My name.’ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.”

• Verse 6 (English Standard Version) – “He burned his son as an offering….” But God explicitly said in Deuteronomy 12:31, “…every abomination to which the LORD hates…[the Canaanite nations] have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”

• Verse 6 (International Standard Version) – “He…practiced witchcraft, used divination, and consorted with mediums and spirit-channelers. He practiced many things that the LORD considered to be evil and provoked him.” In Deuteronomy 18:10 through 12, God said this:

     There shall not be found among you anyone...who 
     practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who 
     interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who con-
     jures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one 
     who calls up the dead. For all who do these things 
     are an abomination to the LORD....

• Verse 7 – “He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said…‘In this house…which I have chosen…I will put My name forever….” Yet in Isaiah 48:11 He said, “…how shall My name be profaned? …I will not give My glory to another.”

It does not look good for King Manasseh!

But…

…part of our featured Scripture is verses 12 and 13 of II Chronicles 33: “Now when he [Manasseh] was in affliction* [in Babylon], he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and he prayed to Him….” We are told in Isaiah 55:6 and 7:

     Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him 
     while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, 
     and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return 
     to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to 
     our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

It may sound unfair after all that Manasseh had done, but God is faithful to save the repentant sinner! Consider the man on the cross next to Jesus, the one who rebuked his fellow, and cried out, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42).

• He was a thief, and insurrectionist, and most likely a murderer!

• He only had hours to live!

• He could do nothing physically, for he was nailed to his cross!

• He could only cry out to King Jesus to remember him!

And he is in heaven, rejoicing in his Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!

So it is with Manasseh! And if his humiliation at the hands of the Assyrians did happen in the twenty-second year of his reign, he had another 33 years to show he meant business when he turned back to God! Is there any proof he was serious in his repentance?

• II Chronicles 33:13 – God “…received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.”

• II Chronicles 33:15 and 16 (English Standard Version):

     And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from 
     the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he 
     had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD 
     and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the 
     city. He also restored the altar of the LORD and 
     offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of 
     thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the 
     LORD, the God of Israel. 

Yes, his many years of sinning still affected his people! (see II Kings 21:11-17). Sin does that! But no one has sinned so much that God will not receive into His arms upon sincere repentance and faith! So from the evidence in Scripture, especially from II Chronicles 33:13 through 20…

Manasseh, a bad king, is in heaven!

---

*According to the Haggadah (Jewish rabbinic legendary traditions), Manasseh was taken prisoner to Babylon and tortured in a heated oven! It was in the oven that he made supplication to the gods he worshiped in Judah. When none helped him in his misery, he cried out to the One God Jehovah who delivered him!

II Chronicles 7:14, 15

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

“If…” is one of the biggest two-letter words in the English language! It can decide the outcome of a small incident, or world-changing situations! The latter is applied to this opening word in II Chronicles 7:14 and 15:

     ...if My people, who are called by My name will humble 
     themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from 
     their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and 
     will forgive their sin and heal their land.  Now My 
     eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer 
     made in this place.

II Chronicles 7:14 is the theme verse in a prayer time we started at our church – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – from 6:30 to 8 AM. I resurrected a three-by-ten foot banner I made 39 years ago for an evangelistic service we had in another church. Having studied revivals that have taken place through history, I have learned that all revivals have been preceded by intense prayer! So we are calling on God to heal our land! America needs to be healed from…

• …the Covid pandemic now resurging!

• …political, social, racial, and economic divides!

• …sexual and gender confusion!

• …the cultural push to cancel or rewrite our American history!

• …the ongoing wars and conflicts into which our enemies have drawn us!

• …the personal and family needs of so many in our country!

• …the spiritual decline especially prevalent among our younger generations!

All these issues (and more) are addressed when we experience a heaven-sent, Spirit- empowered revival!

Gerald, at age 90, is one of our regular participants in the revival prayer time. He has regularly brought up the importance of the first word in II Chronicles 7:14 – “If…”!

Accordiing to II Chronicles 7:14, there are three things that God will do – that only God can do! Often in language, there is a second word in relation to the word if. It is the word then. If this or that happens, then this or that will follow. So it is with God!

• “…then I will hear from heaven….” God only is in heaven, that is, He and only the ones whom He invites into His presence!

✞    The angels who did not follow Lucifer in his rebellion 
     (see Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12 -17).  

     ➔    Matthew 26:53 – Jesus said, “...do you think 
           that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He 
           will provide me with more than twelve legions 
           of angels?”

     A Roman legion at full strength was six thousand 
     soldiers! That means Jesus could have had “...more 
     than...” 72,000 angels come to His assistance! 
     “...more than...” could refer to millions of angels!  
     Revelation 5:11 appears to refer to at least a hun-
     dred million angels!

     ➔    Revelation 12:3, 4 – “...a great fiery red dra-
           gon [Satan]...his tail drew a third of the stars 
           of heaven, and threw them to the earth....”

     Many Bible scholars believe that “...the stars of 
     heaven...” refer to the angels that followed Satan’s 
     rebellion and became demons! “...one third...” of 
     the angels would be  “...more than...” 36,000 demons, 
     perhaps millions of them! Factoring in Revelation 
     5:11, there could be 33 million demons!

✞    Redeemed human beings!

     ➔    Revelation 7:9 describes “...a great multitude 
           which no one could number, of all nations, 
           tribes, peoples and tongues...” – saved human 
           beings who put their trust in Jesus Christ as 
           their Redeemer!

     Whether this is just those saved out of the Great 
     Tribulation or across the ages of history, it isn’t 
     exactly clear. But it seems to lean toward those so 
     saved. If so, the number of believers in heaven since 
     Adam and Eve must truly be beyond comprehension!

But back to God who “...will hear from heaven...,” only He 
is omniscient (knowing all things), and only He can hear 
all the sincere and repentant prayers of His people! 

• “…then…I will forgive their sin….” In Luke 5:20, 21, the scribes and Pharisees had it right when they questioned, “Who can forgive sins but God alone? ” when Jesus said to the paralytic “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

     ✞    Only God can forgive sins, because sin is ul-
          timately against Him! As David wrote in his 
          confessive psalm 51 and verse 4: “Against You, 
          You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in 
          Your sight.” And yet he had...

          ➔    ...committed adultery with Bathsheba, even 
                fathering a child with her (see II Samuel 
                11:1-5).

          ➔    ...tried to cover up this adulterous sin 
                by having Bathsheba’s husband Uriah mur-
                dered (see II Samuel 11:14-17). 

          ➔    ...remained unrepentant about a year con-
                cerning his sin.

     ✞    I John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is 
          faithful and just to forgive us our sins and 
          to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

         ➔    As David testified in Psalm 32:1-5:

               Blessed is he whose transgression is 
               forgiven, whose sin is covered. Bles-
               sed is the man to whom the LORD does 
               not impute iniquity, and in whose 
               spirit there is no quile....I acknow-
               ledged my sin to You, and my iniquity 
               I have not hidden.  I said, “I will 
               confess my transgressions to the LORD,” 
               and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

         ➔    See also Psalm 103:12; Proverbs 28:13; 
               Isaiah 43:25; Micah 7:18, 19: Acts 26:
               16; Romans 4:7, 8; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 
               1:7; Colossians 1:13, 14; Hebrews 8:12; 
               I John 1:7-9; I John 2:2.

• “…then…I will…heal their land.”

     ✞    I will not mention again all the malignant 
          specifics of our society that needs healing.  
          But if you look once more at the opening list 
          of wrongs and malignancies facing our nation, 
          God can heal all these and so much more!

     ✞    ...and He knows we in America need His healing!

But it is all dependent upon that little word – “If…”

• “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves….”

     ✞    We cannot stay in our safe homes and havens and 
          say... 

         ➔    “Well, I’m ok! My kids are doing pretty 
               well! We have enough money to live on!  
               And we are all in decent health!”

         ➔    “All is well in my world!”

         ➔    “It is too bad what is happening in Af-
               ghanistan, Haiti, North Korea, and some 
               other parts of the world! But what con-
               cern is that of mine?”

     ✞    What about...

         ➔    John 3:16 – “For God so loved the [whole] 
               world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
               that whoever believes in Him should not 
               perish but have everlasting life.”

         ➔    Mark 16:15, 16 – “Go into all the world and 
               preach the gospel to every creature. He who 
               believes and is baptized will be saved; but 
               he who does not believe will be condemned.”

         ➔    Ephesians 1:22, 23 – “...the church [belie-
               vers all over the world]...is His body....
               Now you are the body of Christ, and members 
               individually....if one member suffer, all 
               the members suffer with it; or if one mem-
               ber is honored, all the members rejoice 
               with it.”

     ✞    We must get off our ‘high horse’ of self-suffi-
          ciency apart from God and each other, and “...
          humble ourselves...” to be where God wants us!

• “If My people, who are called by My name…will pray….”

     ✞    Not just...

         ➔    ...the “Lord’s prayer” of Matthew 6:9-13 and 
               Luke 11:2-4.

         ➔    ...“Now I lay me down to sleep....”

         ➔    ...“God is great, God is good....”

     ✞    What God wants, and we need, is soul-searching 
          confession of...

         ➔    ...our sins!

         ➔    ...the sins of each other!

         ➔    ...the sins of our church!

         ➔    ...the sins of our nation! 

                (see Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9:4-19).

• “If My people, who are called by My name…will seek My face….”

     ✞    God told Moses in Exodus 33:20, “You cannot 
          see My face, for no man can see My face and 
          live.” God is too glorious for mortal man to 
          see the LORD ‘face on’ and live!

     ✞    But, it is written in...

         ➔    II Corinthians 4:6 – “...God...has 
               shone in our hearts to give the light 
               of the knowledge of the glory of God 
               in the face of Jesus Christ.”

         ➔    John 14:9, 11 – “Jesus said...‘...He who 
               has seen Me has seen the Father....Believe 
               Me that I am in the Father and the Father 
               in Me....”

     ✞    To seek His face is to know Him intimately!  

         ➔    To know how He thinks, how He acts, how 
               He loves, how He blesses!

         ➔    To know His furious anger and judgement 
               against sin and sinners!

         ➔    To know the extent of His sacrifice to 
               reconcile sinners unto Himself!

     ✞    A great benefit of seeking God’s face in 
          Jesus Christ is found in II Corinthians 3:18:  

             But we all, with unveiled face, beholding 
             as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are 
             being transformed into the same image from 
             glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of 
             the Lord.

	  We become more and more like Jesus when we be-
          hold Him in the mirror of the Word of God.....
          and obey what we behold! (see I Corinthians 
          13:12; James 1:22).

• “If My people, who are called by My name…will turn from their wicked ways….”

I once had a friend named Myron, who confessed to me his love of gambling and his desire to “…only once in awhile…” cheat on his wife by visiting prostitutes. He asked me, “How can I stop this stuff, because I guess I shouldn’t be doing it.” I told him, “Myron, you can’t face in two different directions at once. Turn to the Lord heart, soul, strength and mind, and you will be turning away from the sin you don’t want to do.”

I don’t know if he took my advice, but it is solid advice! No one can sincerely seek God’s face in Jesus Christ and continue in sin! It is impossible!

The second verse in our featured Scripture is only seventeen words long: “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer made in this place.” Where is “…this place…” located in which we are to pray?

• King Solomon prayed to the LORD at the dedication of the magnificent Jerusalem temple just completed under his leadership. II Chronicles 7:14 and 15 are part of God’s answer to Solomon’s prayer. Obviously, “…this place…” referred to that newly-built temple!

     But there hasn’t been a Jewish temple since 70 AD 
     when the Romans destroyed the third temple King 
     Herod built! So applied to us today, “...this place
     ...” can’t mean the Jewish temple!

• However, Paul wrote in…

     ✞    I Corinthians 3:16 – “Do you not know that you 
          are the temple of God and that the Spirit of 
          God dwells in you?”

     ✞    II Corinthians 6:16 – “...you are the temple 
          of the living God.  As God has said, ‘I will 
          dwell in them and walk among them.  I will 
          be there God, and they shall be My people.”

So the temple is us!  You might say, it is a portable temple, for it is found wherever we are.  So pray, “...in this place...,” wherever you are!  It is written in I Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers.”

     This is what the Lord calls us to do!

If…
we do our part, what we can do…
Then…
God will do His part, what only He can do!

Jeremiah 6:10; Acts 7:51

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Sometimes ears need operations (surgeries)! From the website of Westchester Medical Center Health Network (wmchealthaps.com/ear-surgery-and-procedures #Acoustic%20 Neuroma), here are a few instances where ear surgeries are beneficial:

• “A cochlear implant is a specialized technology that allows individuals with severe to profound hearing loss to hear and understand sound. The cochlear implant electrically stimulates nerve cells in the inner ear (cochlea), which then sends a signal up the hearing nerve to the brain.”

• “While earwax is a healthy and normal part of the ear canal, excessive, impacted, or hard earwax can cause pain, pressure, earache, dizziness, and other adverse symptoms.”

• “Also known as ‘surfer’s ear,‘ exostoses is a slow-progressing disease that results from routine exposure to a combination of cold air and water. The exposure causes the bone of the ear canal to overgrow, constricting and in some cases causing the ear canal to become totally blocked.”

• “For individuals with vertigo from Ménière’s disease….Surgery can either stabilize inner ear function…or eliminate sensory information from transmitting from the inner ear to the brain….”

There are a lot more instances where ear surgeries are helpful and/or needed. On the above-mentioned website, twenty-seven are listed! But one that is not mentioned is ‘ear circumcision’! I’m sure that those who are reading this Gem know what circumcision means – It is the surgical procedure for the removal of the foreskin of the male organ. So what do I mean by ‘ear circumcision’? You may get an indication of the meaning from our two featured Scriptures:

• Jeremiah 6:10 – “To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.”

• Acts 7:51 through 53 – This Scripture records the end of Stephen’s sermon to the Sanhedrin (the council of Jewish leaders):

     “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and 
     ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your 
     fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did 
     your fathers not persecute? And they killed those 
     who foretold the coming of the Just One [the Lord 
     Jesus Christ], of whom you now have become the be-
     trayers and murderers, who have received the law 
     by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” 

  So incensed were the members of the Sanhedrin, they 
  condemned Stephen, and took him out and stoned him to 
  death!  He was the first Christian martyr!

Do you see what uncircumcised ears means? Can you hear what God is saying? Or do you need surgery to correct the condition of uncircumcised ears? (I got creative with the title, and call this Gem ‘Operation EAR!’).

How does God communicate with us?

• He speaks to us through His Word, the Bible!

     ✞    Mark 12:29 through 31 – Jesus said, “The first 
          of all the commandments is... ‘...you shall love 
          the LORD your God with all your heart, and with 
          all your soul, and with all your mind, and with 
          all your strength.’ This is the first command-
          ment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You 
          shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

     ✞    John 14:15 (The Living Bible) – “If you love Me, 
          obey Me....”

     ✞    So we can say of Mark 29:30, “...you shall obey 
          the LORD your God with all your heart, and with 
          all your soul, and with all your mind, and with 
          all your strength.”

Have you heard this command? Do you heed this command?

• He speaks to us sometimes in “…a still small voice.” (see I Kings 19:12).

     ✡    Isaiah 30:21 – “Your ears shall hear a word be-
           hind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ 
           whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever 
           you turn to the left.” The context of this verse 
           is when Israel will be experiencing the Millen-
           nial Kingdom. But God has given us the Holy 
           Spirit to dwell within us, to guide Christians 
           today!

     ✞    John 16:13 – “...when He, the Spirit of truth, 
          has come, He will guide you into all truth; for 
          He will not speak on His own authority, but what-
          ever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you 
          things to come.”

     ✞    Acts 16:6 and 7 – Paul, Silas, and Timothy “...
          were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the 
          word in Asia....they tried to go into Bythinia, 
          but the Spirit did not permit them.”

     ✞    I John 2:27 – “But the anointing [the Holy Spir-
          it] which you have received from Him abides in 
          you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; 
          but as the same anointing teaches you concerning 
          all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and 
          just as it has taught you, you will abide in 
          Him.”

• He speaks at times through other people, especially fellow believers!

     ✡    Proverbs 15:22 – “Without counsel, plans go 
           awry, but in the multitude of counselors 
           they are established.”

     ✞    Luke 2:15 – “So it was, when the angels had 
          gone away from them into heaven, that the 
          shepherds said one to another, ‘Let us now go 
          to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come 
          to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’”

     ✞    Acts 15:32 – “Now Judas and Silas, themselves 
          being prophets also, exhorted the brethren with 
          many words and strengthened them.”

• Especially in Islamist countries, God is using visions and dreams to bring Muslims unto Him, and to direct believers as they witness in dangerous situations!

Why don’t we hear what God is saying to us?

• We may be too busy planning our own agenda! Life is busy and often we are too busy to hear the Lord because we are trying to make plans for the future and to manage the present!

     ✡    We need to heed what the writers of the 
           Psalms tell us:

          ➔    Psalm 27:14 – “Wait on the LORD; be of 
                good courage, and He shall strengthen 
                your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!”

          ➔    Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that 
                I am God....”

     ✞    Do our prayers consist more of telling God our 
          agenda or are we listening to Him? If God speaks 
          would we even hear Him?

• In all these instances where so many people are not in tune with the Lord……their ears need to be circumcised!

     ✡    Under the old covenant of the Jewish law, cir-
           cumcision was the sign that the people were 
           God’s people, ready to abide by His laws! 

               He who is born in your house and he who 
               is bought with your money must be circumc-
               ised, and My covenant shall be in your 
               flesh for an everlasting covenant. And 
               the uncircumcised male child, who is not 
               circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, 
               that person shall be cut off from his peo-
               ple; he has broken My covenant. (Genesis 
               17:13, 14).

     So the uncircumcised person would be excluded from 
     Israel and Israel’s God! He could not be near the 
     LORD, and so could not hear Him!

By the way, it was a male-dominated society at that time, so the male bore the token of the covenant in his flesh for his whole family.

What about uncircumcised ears?

     ✡    In Jeremiah’s Old Testament time, the Jews 
           refused to hear and obey God, who had called 
           them to obedience so many times through the 
           years by the prophets He sent unto them.  
           Their ears were “...uncircumcised and they 
           cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the 
           LORD is a reproach to them; they have no 
           delight in it.”

     ✞    In Stephen’s New Testament time, the Jews, 
          especially those in leadership (the Pharisees, 
          the Sadducees, and the Scribes), did not ac-
          cept what the Son of God was bringing them, 
          “...[eternal] life, and [life] more abundant-
          ly.” (John 10:10).  They refused to hear, so 
          their ears (as well as their hearts) were 
          uncircumcised!

     ✞    If...

          ➔    ...one is not born again, his or her 
                ears are naturally uncircumcised! As 
                it says in I Corinthians 2:14 (Contem-
                porary English Version), “That's why 
                only someone who has God's Spirit can 
                understand spiritual blessings. Anyone 
                who doesn't have God's Spirit thinks 
                these blessings are foolish.” 

          So to begin the surgery of Operation EAR (to 
          have your ears circumcised), you must accept 
          Jesus Christ as your Savior! 

          ➔    ...Christian, if you are not in tune with 
                God, hearing and obeying Him, plead with 
                the Lord to make you willing (see Philip-
                pians 2:13) to submit to Operation EAR, 
                the surgery necessary to open the neces-
                sary path to truly communicate with the 
                Lord!

Let God circumcise the foreskin of your ears!

John 1:4,-5, 9

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Light and darkness, darkness and light…

This Gem is late! It was due to be published at 8 AM on Saturday, August 21st. But I had a problem with darkness in my study because my fan light wasn’t working. It would come on for awhile, then go off, then start blinking on and off, and then go quit altogether. So last Friday I began to resurrect a nice brass finish fixture that I had picked up from a neighbor who had a major remodeling of his house underway. I lacked a bracket that mounted the fan light to the box in the ceiling of my study. The bracket from the failed fixture was a quarter of an inch too long. So I reconfigured that bracket to make it fit my resurrected fan light. About six hours later, after a couple of more modifications, I finally got the fixture in place. I turned on the circuit breaker, then the wall switch, then pulled the chains to turn on the light and the fan. Nothing worked! That beautiful fixture is now in the trash!

Then remembered two fan lights I had stored in the attic of the garage. I had bought them a few years before to install on the porch of our cottage which we no longer own. So I retrieved one of the fixtures, thoroughly examined it for any mouse or squirrel damage (I found none), and proceeded to install it. That took another two hours of concentrated labor! But it works! I now have light in my study where before there was darkness!

So this is my explanation for the Gem being late.

My recent experience with darkness and light brought to mind a Scripture from John 1:4, 5, and 9, showing forth a great truth concerning spiritual darkness and light! It would do all of us good if we would understand these three verses!

     In Him [Jesus Christ] was life, and the life was the 
     light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, 
     and the darkness did not comprehend it....That was 
     the true light which gives light to every [person]...
     who comes into the world.

John’s gospel opens in the same way that the first book of the Bible begins: “In the beginning….”

• Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

• John 1:1 through 3 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

We learn that “…the Word [who] was God…” in verse 1, “…became flesh, and dwelt among us…” in verse 14. So the Word can be none other than Jesus Christ!

In both Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 through 3, “…God…In the beginning…” created everything that is! But it may come as a surprise to some that Jesus was involved in creation to the extent that as explained in verse 3, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

• Saint Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:16 and 17 – “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

• The writer of Hebrews says the same in Hebrews 1:2 and 3 concerning God’s “…Son… through whom He made the worlds….and [He is] upholding all things by the word of His power….”

So not only was everything created by Jesus, He also sustains everything! If Jesus Christ were to ‘let go,’ everything would fly apart and cease to exist! He is that powerful!

And His light is powerful!

• For by His own lips He declared in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (see also John 9:4, and in the following verses where He restored the light of sight to a blind man). His light has to be powerful since He “…gives light to every [person]…who comes into the world.”

• In Revelation 21:10 and 23, the Apostle John wrote concerning the vision God gave him:

     An angel “...carried me away in the Spirit...and showed me the 
     great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from 
     God....And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to 
     shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb 
     [Jesus] is its light.”  	

But God does not force His light on anyone! He just invites us to come, as in Matthew 11:28 through 30:

     Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
     give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I 
     am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your 
     souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

But do not ignore the light! Jesus gives this warning in John 3:16 through 21:

     For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
     that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever-
     lasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to 
     condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be 
     saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who 
     does not believe is condemned already, because he has not be-
     lieved in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this 
     is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, 
     and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
     were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and 
     does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 
     But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds 
     may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

Light and darkness, darkness and light…! The choice has eternal repercussions!

Choose wisely!
Choose light!
Choose life!

Psalm 147:2-6

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

What does it mean that God is omniscient? It means that God knows all! Here is how Psalm 147:2 through 6 describes it:

     The LORD...heals the brokenhearted and binds up their 
     wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls 
     them all by name. Great is our LORD, and mighty in 
     power; His understanding is infinite. The LORD lifts 
     up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Let’s take this Scripture phrase by phrase. But I will not take the phrases in order, for we will establish God’s omniscience first, and then apply it – all according to what these verses say.

• Psalm 147:4 – “…He counts the number of the stars….” The idea is, God counts exactly the number of stars! How many stars are there in the universe? According to the website, scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3775#:~:text= The%20number%20of%20stars%20in,stars%20in%20the%20 observable%20 universe!

     Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has approximately 100 bil-
     lion stars in it, but...There are about 10 billion 
     galaxies in the observable universe! The number of 
     stars in a galaxy varies, but assuming an average of 
     100 billion stars per galaxy means that there are 
     about 1,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000 (that’s 1 bil-
     lion trillion) stars in the observable universe!...
     This amount is about equal to the number of grains 
     of sand on ALL of the beaches on planet Earth!

And that is in the observable universe! We can probe into space with telescopes about 13.7 billion light years! How many stars, how many galaxies are beyond what we can probe is anyone’s guess!

God is omniscient!

• Psalm 147:4 – “…He calls them all by name.” “Jim, Harry, Scott, Mildred, Sally, Patricia, Starlette (that one fits!)…” and on and on, every star is named! There aren’t that many names to go around, are there? But God does it, naming every one…..and remembering every name! He must have one stupendous mind!

God is omniscient!

• Psalm 147:5 – “Great is our LORD….” His greatness is beyond description! But I will try to give a few Biblical examples. Here are twelve Scriptures:

     ✡    Deuteronomy 10:17 – “For the LORD your God is 
           God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, 
           mighty and awesome....”

     ✡    I Samuel 7:22 – “...You are great, O LORD God, 
           for there is none like You, nor is there any 
           God besides You....”

     ✡    Nehemiah 9:32 – “...our God, the great, the 
           mighty, and awesome God....”

     ✡    Psalm 47:2 – “...the LORD Most High is awesome; 
           He is a great King over all the earth.”

     ✡    Psalm 95:3 – “...the LORD is the great God, and 
           the great King above all gods.”

     ✡    Psalm 147:5 – “Great is our LORD, and mighty 
           in power; His understanding is infinite.”

     ✡    Jeremiah 10:6, 7 – “...there is none like You, 
           O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great 
           in might). Who would not fear You, O King of 
           the nations?”

     ✡    Jeremiah 32:18 – “...the Great, the Mighty God, 
           whose name is the LORD of hosts.”

     ✡    Malachi 1:11 – “...from the rising of the sun, 
           even to its going down...My name shall be great 
           among the nations....”

     ✞     Luke 1:32, 33 – “He will be great, and will be 
           called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God 
           And He will reign over the house of David for-
           ever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

     ✞	   Hebrews 4:14 – “...we have a great High Priest
           ...Jesus the Son of God....”

     ✞	   Revelation 15:3 – “Great and marvelous are Your 
           works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your 
           ways, O King of saints! 

God is omniscient!

• Psalm 147:5 – “…our LORD…is…mighty in power….”

     ✡    Toward the beginning of this Gem it says “...He 
           counts the number of the stars....” But He also 
           created them in the first place! Here is what 
           is written in Isaiah 40:26: (New American Stan-
           dard Bible).

              Lift up your eyes on high and see who has 
              created these stars, The One who leads forth 
              their host by number, He calls them all by 
              name; because of the greatness of His might 
              and the strength of His power, not one of 
              them is missing.

     ✡    According to Genesis 1:3, “Then God said...” and 
           whatever He said came to be! So by His Word all 
           creation came into being!

     ✡    Jeremiah 32:27 – “Behold, I am the LORD, the God 
           of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for 
           Me?”

     ✡    Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have 
           made the heavens and the earth by your power 
           and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard 
           for You.”

     ✞     It is by His Word that God created everything! 
           What (or who) is His Word? According to John 
           1:1 and 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and 
           the Word was with God, and the Word was God....
           And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us
           ....” The Word is Jesus Christ! Now what does 
           it say about God’s power through the Word, His 
           Son Jesus Christ?    

          ➔    John 1:3 – “All things were made by Him, 
                and without Him nothing was made that was 
                made.”

          ➔    Colossians 1:16, 17 – “For by Him all 
                things were created that are in heaven 
                and that are on earth...all things were 
                created through Him and for Him.  And 
                He is before all things, and in Him all 
                things consist.”

          ➔    Hebrews 1:1-3 – “God...has appointed...
                His Son...heir of all things, through 
                whom He made the worlds; who...[is] up-
                holding all things by the word of His 
                power....” 

God is omniscient!

• Psalm 147:5 – “…His understanding is infinite.” So great is God’s understanding that we are told in Proverbs 3:19, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens.” Here are two other Old Testament Scriptures that speak of the LORD’s understanding:

     ✡    Isaiah 40:28 (International Standard Version) 
           – “The LORD is the eternal God, the Creator of 
           the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired 
           or weary; and His understanding cannot be 
           fathomed.”

     ✡    Jeremiah 51:15 – God “...made the earth by His 
           power; He has established the world by His 
           wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His 
           understanding.”

What does it mean for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? He understands us completely!

     ✡    Psalm 139 is worth a close reading.  Here are 
           some portions:

          ➔    Verses 1through 4 – “LORD, You have 
                searched me and known me. You know my 
                sitting down and my rising up; You un-
                derstand my thoughts afar off. You 
                comprehend my path and my lying down, 
                and are acquainted with all my ways.  
                For there is not a word on my tongue, 
                but behold, O LORD, You know it alto-
                gether.”

          ➔    Verses 7 through 12 (International Stan-
                dard Version) – “Where can I flee from 
                Your spirit? Or where will I run from 
                Your presence? If I rise to heaven, there 
                You are! If I lay down with the dead, 
                there You are!  If I take wings with the 
                dawn and settle down on the western hori-
                zon Your hand will guide me there, too, 
                while Your right hand keeps a firm grip 
                on me. If I say, ‘Darkness will surely 
                conceal me, and the light around me will 
                become night,’ even darkness isn't dark 
                to You, darkness and light are the same 
                to You.”

          ➔    Verses 13 through 16 – “For You have formed 
                my inward parts; You have covered me in my 
                mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am 
                fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous 
                are Your works, and that my soul knows very 
                well. My frame was not hidden from You when 
                I was made in secret....Your eyes saw my 
                substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your 
                book they were all written, when as yet 
                there were none of them.”

     ✞     The Bible sums it up in John 2:24 and 25: “...
           Jesus...knew all men, and had no need that any-
           one should testify of man, for He knew what was 
           in man.”

     ✞     In Matthew 6:31 through 33, the Lord Jesus fin-
           ished His discourse on worry and faith this way:

              Therefore do not worry, saying, “What 
              shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” 
              or “What shall we wear?” [or anything 
              else we might worry about!] For after 
              all these things the...[unbelievers] 
              seek. For your Heavenly Father knows 
              that you need all these things. But 
              seek first the kingdom of God and His 
              righteousness, and all these things 
              shall be added to you. (emphasis mine).

     ✞     The Lord even knows how many hairs are on your 
           head (and that number is always changing)! (see 
           Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7).  

God is omniscient!

• Psalm 147:6 – “The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.” He does this with perfection and without mistake because, as it says in John 2:24 and 25, “…Jesus…knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” Here are some other Scriptures about God’s perfect knowledge and judgment:

     ✡    Psalm 7:9 – “...the righteous God tests the 
           hearts and minds.”

     ✡    Jeremiah 17:10 – “I, the LORD, search the heart, 
           I test the mind, even to give every man accord-
           ing to his ways, and according to the fruit of 
           his doings.”

     ✞     Romans 2:16 – “...God will judge the secrets of 
           men by Jesus Christ....”

I want to be among those whom He lifts up!

God is omniscient!

We need to get to the first part of our featured Scripture, for this is the most personal part! We have spent a good deal of time showing God’s omniscience. Now, let’s apply it!

• Psalm 147:2 – “The LORD…heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

     ✞     In Luke 4:18, Jesus read from the scroll of 
           Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue, quoting 
           Isaiah 61:1:

              The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, be-
              cause He has anointed Me to preach the 
              gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to 
              heal The brokenhearted, to preach deliv-
              erance to the captives and recovery of 
              sight to the blind, to set at liberty 
              those who are oppressed, to preach the 
              acceptable year of the LORD.

     This is the summary of why the Son of God was incar-
     nated into human flesh! He came to “...heal the bro-
     kenhearted and bind up their wounds...”!

     ✞     In order to do that, Jesus (God come in the 
           flesh) has to know by omniscience...

          ➔    ...who is brokenhearted and wounded!

          ➔    ...in what way they are brokenhearted 
                and wounded!

          ➔    ...what is the best ‘divine medicine’ 
                for those broken hearts and open wounds!

          ➔    ...how to best apply that ‘divine med-
                icine’ for the quickest healing!

     ✞     By the way, everyone’s broken heart and wound-
           ed life is the damage caused by sin! That’s why 
           Paul wrote in I Timothy 1:15, “...Jesus came 
           into the world to save sinners....”

          ➔    So ask Jesus to be your Savior!  No 
                fancy prayer is needed. The shortest 
                prayer in the Bible is fine!  When 
                Peter started sinking after he took a 
                few steps on the water of the Sea of 
                Galilee (see Matthew 14:24-29), “...
                he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ 
                And immediately Jesus stretched out 
                His hand and  caught him.” (Matthew 
                14:30, 31). Jesus will stretch out His 
                hand and catch you, too!  Just cry out 
                to Him!

	  ➔	Make Him Lord of your life also!  

      		➣	Read His Word, the Bible, and 
                        obey His leading!

		➣	Ask Jesus to teach you to pray!

		➣	Join a good Bible teaching 
                        church!

		➣	Give of yourself, your time, 
                        your effort, your money!

		➣	Share with others what Jesus 
                        has done (is doing) for you! 

Remember what the Lord said in John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.“

God is omniscient!

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Never mind the ‘Part 2 ‘ in the photo above, I want to emphasize ‘Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit’! That fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with the works of the flesh, and both are listed in Galatians 5:19 through 23:

     Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, 
     fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, 
     hatred, contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, 
     dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, 
     and the like; which I tell you beforehand, just as I also 
     told you in time past, that those who practice such things 
     will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the 
     Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, good-
     ness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such 
     there is no law.

Let’s look at the two lists side by side:

Works of the Flesh                  Fruit of the Spirit

Adultery (sex outside of marriage)           Love (agape, the high-
Fornication (including adultery                est form of love)
  and incest)                                Joy (cheerfulness, calm 
Uncleanness (moral or physical                 delight)
  impurity)                                  Peace (safety, prosper-
Licentiousness (unbridled lust,                ity, tranquility, 
  outrageousness, shamelessness,               fearlessness)
  insolence)                                 Longsuffering (patience,
Idolatry (worship of false gods)               endurance, slowness in 
Sorcery (magic, drugs used for                 avenging wrongs)
  magic)                                     Kindness (moral good-
Hatred (hostility)                             ness, integrity)
Contentions (strife, wranglings)             Goodness (upright in 
Jealousies (contention, envy)                  heart and life)                                                              
Outbursts of wrath (fierceness,              Faithfulness (conviction 
  indignation)                                 of God’s truth lived
Selfish ambitions (to put oneself              out)
  forward)                                   Gentleness (mildness,                                      
Dissensions (disunion, division)               humility)                                           
Heresies (following wrong beliefs)           Self-control (mastering  
Envy (jealousy, ill-will, spite)               of desires and pas-
Murders (slaughter)                            sions, especially sen-
Drunkenness (intoxication)                     sual passions) 
Revelries (drunken parties, 
  rioting)                                     

Paul ends his description of seventeen works of the flesh with these words: “…and the like….” In other words, these seventeen are not an exhaustive list! There are still more works of the flesh, and none of them are good!

Now, which list would you like to have describe your life? Just take the first three of the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, and peace: If those three things filled your life, would anything trouble you? Would you be living a happy and victorious life?

So how do you get the fruit of the Spirit manifested in your life?

✞ First, you ask the One who manifested all these things in His life, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come into your life!

     •    Realize your need for Him.

     •    Confess your sins to Him.

     •    Ask Him to come into your heart and life, to save you from 
          a wasted life, and an eventual hell!

     •    Ask Him to be your Lord and Master.

Matthew 11:28 through 30 – “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

John 6:37 – “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

Romans 10:9 and 13 – “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved….For whosover calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

✞ When you accept Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and life to forever dwell with and in you!

I Corinthians 3:16 (English Standard Version) – “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ”

Romans 8:9 – “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

✞ Obviously, the fruit of the Spirit must be generated in and through us by God’s Holy Spirit!

✞ Saint Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:18 to “…be filled with the Spirit….” Then, in Ephesians 5:19 and following, Paul lists certain things that flow out of a person who is filled with the Spirit:

     •    Ephesians 5:19 – “...speaking to one another in psalms and 
          hymns and spiritual songs....”

     •    Ephesians 5:19 – “...singing and making melody in your 
          heart to the Lord....”

     •    Ephesians 5:20 – “...giving thanks always for all things 
          to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ....”

     •    Ephesians 5:21 – “...submitting to one another in the fear 
          of God.”

     •    Ephesians 5:22 – “Wives submit to your own husbands, as 
          to the Lord.”

     •    Ephesians 5:25 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ 
          loved the church and gave Himself for it.”

     •    Ephesians 6:1 through 3 – “Children, obey your parents in 
         the Lord, for this is right.”

     •    Ephesians 6:4 – “...fathers, do not provoke your children 
          to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition 
          of the Lord.”

     •    Ephesians 6:5 through 8 – “Servants, be obedient to those 
          who are your masters....”

     •    Ephesians 6:9 – “...masters, do the same things to them, 
          knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there 
          is no partiality with Him.”

     •    Ephesians 6:18 – “...praying always with all prayer and 
          supplication in the Spirit....”

✞ Paul wrote his letter to the Colossian church about the same time as he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. Here is what he says beginning in the middle of Colossians 3:16 though 4:1:

     •    Colossians 3:16 – “...teaching and admonishing one another 
          in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs....”

     •    Colossians 3:16 – “...singing with grace in your hearts to 
          the Lord.”

     •    Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do in word or deed, do 
          all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the 
          Father through Him.”

     •    Colossians 3:18 – “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as 
          is fitting in the Lord.”

     •    Colossians 3:19 – “Husbands, love your wives and do not be 
          bitter towards them.”
 
     •    Colossians 3:20 – “Children, obey your parents in all 
          things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.”

     •    Colossians 3:21 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children, 
          lest they become discouraged.”

     •    Colossians 3:22 – “Servants, obey in all things your 
          masters....”

     •    Colossians 4:1 – “Masters, give your servants what is 
          just and fair, knowing that you have a Master in heaven.”

     •    Colossians 4:2 – “Continue earnestly in prayer....”

Why do I take the time and effort to list above the subject matter of these two Scriptures – Ephesians and Colossians? Because….

✞ …the two lists are almost identical!

     •    Same order of subjects!

     •    Almost the same words!

✞ …what Paul is saying is that apparently there are two different sources from which the lists of these things flow!

     •    In Ephesians 5:18 Paul tells us to “...be filled with the Spirit...”!

     •    In Colossians 3:16 He exhorts us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...”!

If the identical things flow out of being “…filled with the Spirit…” and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…,” then I have to equate the two, or at least know that they are very closely related to each other!

So here is the answer to being “…filled with the Spirit…”: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly!” And for that to happen, you must be richly dwelling in the word, your Bible!

✞ And what is going to happen if your life is filled with God’s Holy Spirit? You will be filled with “…the fruit of the Spirit…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

✞ What’s the alternative? Your life will manifest “…the works of the flesh…adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries….” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Which do you want?
Get into your Bible
…and stay there!

Jeremiah 33:2, 3; Luke 18:1

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

Above is a photo of George Muller (1805-1898), a German-born evangelist who was persistent in prayer. He was the director of the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol England; for which he prayed in thousands upon thousands of pounds/dollars in donations, caring for over 10,000 orphans in his lifetime, and establishing 117 schools for the Christians education of more than 120,000 people! But this Gem is not about his amazing life caring for orphans or other grand accomplishments for God. This is about him praying for five friends.

Here is an excerpt from the website, GorgeMuller.org:

     In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five 
     individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission, 
     whether sick or in health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever 
     the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed 
     before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and 
     prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the sec-
     ond was converted. I thanked God for the second, and prayed on 
     for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them, 
     and six years passed before the third was converted. I thanked 
     God for the three, and went on praying for the other two. These 
     two remained unconverted.

     Thirty-six years later he wrote that the other two, sons of one 
     of Mueller’s friends, were still not converted. He wrote, “But I 
     hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not 
     converted yet, but they will be.” In 1897, fifty-two years after 
     he began to pray daily, without interruption, for these two men, 
     they were finally converted...!

Two selections, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New, compose our featured Scripture:

• Jeremiah 33:2 and 3 (International Standard Version) – “This is what the LORD says who made the earth, the LORD who formed it in order to establish it — whose name is the LORD — ‘Call to Me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.’ ”

• Luke 18:1 – Jesus “…spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not to lose heart.”

I share all this with you because of God’s graciousness to me: A dear friend put his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior after I prayed for him for 55 years! No, I do not think I am in the same category of a prayer warrior as was George Muller. But God is faithful, and used my prayers in this friend’s salvation!

I became a Christian when I was 19 and in the Air Force. A friend had converted to be a Roman Catholic, and I wondered why. He shared his experience with me, and since I had no strong Christian influence in my upbringing, I decided to become a Roman Catholic! But as I studied the Catholic faith, I also was reading my New Testament the Air Force had issued me. As I read, I ran into questions comcering Catholic teaching, and no one in authority satisfactorily answered my questions. I continued in practicing the Catholic faith until I met my Baptist wife! Baptist teaching better addressed my concerns, and so I have been a Baptist for 53 years, and a Baptist pastor for almost 50!

But my conversion to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ happened soon after I started studying Catholicism. I did not know much of what the Bible teaches about God’s Son, but I discovered three things:

• Jesus is real!

• Jesus is alive!

• Jesus loves me!

…and I fell ‘head over heels’ in love with Him!

All this to say, I started praying for my friend, and have kept it up almost daily ever since!
I also talked to him about Jesus, and sent him some books. But he wrote me some years ago, telling me he had his own religion (a mix of eastern religion), and he asked me not to share Christ with him anymore – it would destroy our relationship! I said I would not share anymore, but I kept on praying!

My friend, four years older than I, came down with cancer. I broke my ‘promise’ and wrote him a letter telling him of my love for him, and that I wanted him in heaven with me. Because of this, I shared again about the Lord Jesus, and why and how he should ask Him to be his Savior! I wrote, “It does not have to be a fancy prayer, just sincerely ask Him to come into your life and heart, cleanse you of all sin, and be your Savior.”

He called me a few days later. He said, “I have made a decision. I am going to accept Jesus as my Savior!” This was just over a year ago, and I have been praising God ever since!

• Jesus said in Luke 18:1 – “…men always ought to pray and not to lose heart.” He then followed with the parable of the persistent woman and the corrupt judge – The woman finally got the judge’s decision in her favor because she kept ‘bothering’ him with her problem! (see Luke 18:1-6). We are never a ‘bother’ to God! The Lord followed His parable with these comments:

     “And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry out day and 
     night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you 
     that He will avenge them speedily.”

Continue to beseech our Heavenly Father! His ‘speedily’ may not be according to your timing, but He will never leave you forsaken! (see Hebrews 13:5).

• Jeremiah 33:3 is often called “God’s phone number” – based on the phone numbers that were current back around 1950. But you don’t need a special phone or a special number to contact God! Just “Call to Me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.” Hidden things…who can truly understand God’s miraculous salvation?

     ✡    The Jews didn’t understand! (see Romans 10:1-4).

     ✞     The angels can’t totally comprehend! (see I Peter 
           1:12 – Good News Bible).

But you (and I) can call upon God and He promises to answer! And if His salvation is hidden to some, it is open to you and me, for according to Romans 10:9 and 13:

     ...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe 
     in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will 
     be saved....For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall 
     be saved.

So pray…for your own salvation and needs, and for your friends and loved ones! God will bring them unto Himself, even if it takes 50 or more years!

I came back from vacation, a time away from my computer for which I had planned ahead by writing Gems and scheduling them through July 31. Arriving back home Monday, August 2, I discovered that the hosting program, WordPress, had problems with my Gems for Living website. But with the help of my son-in-law, we (hopefully) fixed the problem! So I am posting again, the next Gem scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, August 7.

If all things go right, I will be back to posting new Gems every Tuesday and Saturday.

God bless you.

Chip Norton