How to Handle Discouragement

by Benjamin Burke

Do you ever get discouraged? Maybe you’ve moved away somewhere and have to make new friends. Imagine what it’s like to live in another country where communicating with other people, about simple things even, can be hard.

It can be hard to go through periods of time when you feel down. It’s even harder to come to God with it. But the Lord challenges us to trust in Him and seek Him. Most people say, “It’s hard enough to follow God, but to give up everything, including friends and family, impossible!” But if you want to know God, you have to love Him and believe that He is enough, no matter what problems you face.

When I am feeling a little down, there are a few things I do. I pray, try to keep a clean heart and mind and not fixate on my troubles, and I choose to concentrate on God’s goodness. I remember to think about scriptures that I know will encourage and strengthen me. Two that I like are:

1.) For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear” (Hebrews 13: 5, 6). 2.) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James4:8).

I also remember to be thankful. It is easy to think about the things you don’t have, but it is more important to praise God for the things you do have. I try in everything I do to listen out for God. I am re-reading a book right now called the Door Within where the motto of the knights is, “You are not alone”. When I read this I remember that God wants to remind me of His love even when I am doing everyday things like reading. Finally, try to find someone to show kindness to and encourage them in what they are going through. Remember, you might not be the only one feeling down.

So whenever I am feeling down, I try to turn the spotlight off of me and onto God. When I do I always feel less discouraged.

Be On Guard

by Sterling Burke

“Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith,

be courageous, be strong, do everything in love.”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

I have been taking a martial arts class with our teammate, Jonathan Trentham. The theme of the class is the verse above. I have read and re-read it many times through the years and it always challenges me.

This whole verse really stands out to me every time I read it. Paul was writing to the church in Corinth encouraging them to keep the faith and honor the Lord in all things, but also warning them as well not to fall into the hands of the enemy.

“Be on your guard” In the first 4 words Paul has already set a strong clear warning to the Church. Paul is telling them to be alert, not to let down their watch to continue to press in the Lord Jesus and his plan for their lives and not to allow room for anything that is not of God in their lives. He could have stopped the verse right there but he doesn’t. He continues to stress the point by saying “Stand firm in the faith”. His word of warning is growing louder and louder. Now it’s a cry to the people, "Follow the Savior, don’t give up, keep your ground, stand firm in the faith!”. He’s now pleading, begging the people not to give up hope.

The next part is letting them know not to back down, never to back down, and to keep up the fight! “Be courageous”, he says, as he encourages his brothers in the faith to maintain the fight, because God is on our side. That part really stuck out to me the most; “be courageous”. There's so many things that come to mind when you think of courageous but always one of the last is being courageous for the One that deserves our bravery the most.

Paul goes on to say “Be strong”. He’s not talking about physical strength but more mental and spiritual strength in God. Be strong in the Lord. That means keep his laws and commandments, His Word, 100% of the time. Again Paul’s prayerfully begging that they keep firm and stand in Jesus.

So, first “Be on your guard stand firm in the faith” he is warning his friends to keep the faith not to fall out. Then secondly “be courageous, be strong” he's telling them to keep up the fight in the spirit. What could Paul possibly say to wrap up such an amazing couple of verses? He ends with “do everything in love.” Be on your guard stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong; he chooses to end with, do everything in love. Do everything, not just half the time, not just when you feel like it, but do everything in love, all the time. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on your guard stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, do everything in love.” with only a few remarkable words, Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, managed to say so much.

Beautiful Feet

by Benjamin Burke

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings the good news

Who proclaims peace,

Who brings glad tidings of good things,

Who proclaims salvation,

Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

God calls us to missions. Sometimes, it is only to our neighbors, our friends, those around us where we are at. And other times, it is to the world. He may call us to go to completely different cultures. No matter where God calls us to go, we have to go, period.

It’s a period, but it’s not the end of the story. One way we can prepare for missions is to do what Jesus says most frequently to do; Read the Bible and pray. You have to make sure you are ready, in season and out.

As Christians we know that a time will come that we will have an opportunity to share the gospel and the good news. Many Christians spend time sitting and waiting for the opportunity to do that, but they are not preparing or seeing the daily importance of having fellowship with God. But the truth is, you can’t give what you don’t have. A verse that comes to mind is a verse from Ephesians 6. It says that when we are going out as Christians we need to have our feet “shod with the preparation of the gospel”. You notice that it actually uses the word preparation. Preparing to share with people is the most important part of missions.

God does call us to go out and share. Let’s not just hear the call. Let’s not just look for opportunities. Let’s be ready! If we are full His words then those words can be used to change people when the Holy Spirit leads us to speak them. If we are taking His good news, we are proclaiming peace, tidings of good things, and salvation! Our God Reigns!

Change

by Sterling Burke

In the world we live in, change, might be the principal part life. Some say life is change. Though if life is change, where is stability found? Does everything change all the time? The better question is; what doesn’t?

We live life fearing change when the reality is once you get up from reading this your life will have changed. Everything is change, and change is in everything.

I only wish that as things change, we could learn from the circumstances it brings and so, gain understanding from the past. Maybe if the past is clear we would be able to distinguish just what is needed to produce a brighter future. This to me seems the wisdom in it all, because you cannot stop change, you can only attempt to handle it wisely. Experience teaches, in the end, it will be just that; an attempt. Change will always come, but for better or for worse is up to you. You control your decisions and every decision made affects change. You cannot control actions of others around you, but again, you can control your decisions and your reaction to the future it brings.

You never again will have the same chances and the same opportunities as you do now. You will never view life the same. Enjoy the day. I am by no means saying do not take pleasure in the season you are in. I am simply trying to state when change comes do not shove it away. Move forward. Do not live your life trying to recreate the past by holding on tight to memories. Good are bad, they strengthen you. They are there to learn from. Don’t let them pin you down where you cannot move on. Remember, but do not relive. Live in the present, for soon it will be the past. Look forward to the future for soon it will be the present. Remember the past for it shaped you into who you are.

Change is an inevitable force, which can, in no way be stopped. As a mountain does not melt away into the earth, nor does change linger at your command. Only God does not change. Only God is in control as life gives way to change. If you attempt to control change, you are placing yourself in the place of God. Learn to trust. God knows where you are, He knows exactly what is happening around you. He knows exactly where you are and what you need. He placed you where you are for a reason and only He knows why. Trust and hold on to Him and He will always use all that happens to strengthen you. So, embrace the change God brings.

He is good and He brings us good all our days as we humble ourselves, trust Him, obey Him, and follow where He leads, no matter what has to change to get us there!

A Word to the Young

This is an review of the article A Word to the Young by Pastor Paul Washer by Benjamin Burke

In the article A Word to the Young by Mr. Paul Washer, Mr. Washer covers a lot of things, like reading the Bible, prayer, surrounding yourself with godly companions, and being committed to seek after God. The first thing he talks about is to “Remember the Brevity of Life”. He says that we need to “fight” off the temptation to forget the brevity of life, and that we need to learn from the bible and remember that our days are numbered. I really like this is because he really points out that our lives are going to end just as fast as they began. We must understand that we only have one shot to do what’s right, and that is to believe in the one and only true God.

The second thing he talks about is to “Remember your Creator”. He says that the only way we can remember the brevity of life is to remember our creator. He says that “Unless you purpose in your heart to remember God and use every means at your disposal to remain true to that purpose, you will fall into vanity and your life will be wasted” ¹. This really stands out to me because if you say “I believe in God”, but don’t act on it and just leave it at that, it’s one of the most dangerous things you can say.

”Read the Bible”. Mr. Washer says that “One of the greatest things a young Christian can do is to make a lifelong practice of reading the Bible systematically from Genesis to Revelation over and over again”²… the only thing a real Christian can do to strengthen his faith is to read the Bible. He says that most Christians have a sectioned knowledge of the Bible because they don’t read it the way it is written.

“Pray”. That’s it. Pray. Its brings us closer to God. That’s the only thing that brings real happiness. If you don’t read the bible you can’t pray, if you can’t pray you can’t live eternally with God. What an awful thought. To be eternally separated from our “Creator”. Prayer is only thing that brings us closer to God, and that is the only thing that satisfies.

“Flee Youthful Lusts”. Mr. Washer points out that in the Bible God tells us to stand strong while facing Satin, but to “Flee from youthful lusts”. That’s how strong the secular world is. God makes it that specific to run away from the world. If you open that door just a tad bit, the devil can stick his “foot” in that little crack and he’ll never allow you to shut it. And the only way you can, is to ask Jesus to come into your life, and help you in that area.

Now I want to ask you a question, what do you want people to say at your funeral? Do you want them to say “I was proud of him or her”, or “He was a mighty man or woman of God”? Or do you want them to say “He or she wasted his or her life”, or “He or she knew there was a God, but chose to stray away”? Which one do you want? We must devote our lives to Him, and Him only. We have one shot at this. Our days are numbered.

Sterling - Jan. 2011

I Regret That I Have but One Life to Give

“I regret that had but one life to give for my country.” I want to start this blog out with this quote by a man who loved his country, even to the point of death; Nathan Hale. He was an American spy in the revolutionary war. He had been caught stealing British documents. The British dragged him out to execute him without even a trial, and when asked what his last words would be, he replied, “I regret that had but one life to give for my country.”

If he loved his country so much that he’d give his life for it, how much more should we give our lives for our God? I have had the privilege to meet people like that all over the world. Some of those people have been put in jail up to seven times. Even though most of us don’t have to live like that, we still have a responsibility to do what God has given us to do, whether it’s in our town or even around the world. Like in Vietnam, China, or any where else no matter how old you are, you still have a responsibility to do what you are called to. That can be hard sometimes. Christ never said it would be easy, instead, He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15).” He didn’t say, “go preach the good news where it’s the easiest.” See the difference? “All creation,” that means Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Russia, everywhere! But sadly, most of the people that I know are nice and comfortable in their nice little house with their nice little car. They never step outside of their comfort zone to tell anybody about God. I'm not saying you can't be comfortable. It’s just that you can't stay in the same place, stagnant, when God has called you somewhere else or to lay your hands to something. You need to go! Wherever it is, no matter how hard it is, we need to “go”. We have to “go”.

Jesus died on cross for you and me and we don’t even take time to listen to Him, or tell anyone about Him in the simplest and easiest of situations. Maybe sometimes we just need to slow down, listen, and come before God willing to do what He has called us to do.

Benjamin - January 2011

I am Called to Pray!

I keep wanting to press more into Jesus, to connect more with who He is and what He thinks about situations that are going on around me and in different areas throughout the earth. Many times at night I lay wanting to be able to really pray. I always start prayers with requests that the Lord help me pray. You know where the scriptures say “teach us how to pray” (Luke 11:1) and “I want to believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24), those kinds of prayers.

In Ephesians 6, Paul talks about the armor of God. He describes how to use the armor. He tells us to put on the armor that we might withstand, and having done all, still be standing when we are wrestling in heavenly places. The wrestling that he is describing is a picture of being in a battle. That is exactly what it is, a battle. Thus we wear the armor. It is for protection as we stand and fight for the truth of God. And that is where Paul starts.

In Ephesians 6:14, Paul tells us to stand with our waist protected with truth, and our heart with the breast plate of righteousness, our feet prepared to take the gospel of peace, and above all to have faith as a shield to guard us from the arrows of the devil. He tells us our helmet is salvation and our offensive weapon is a sword. And that sword is the Word of God. It is a powerful weapon!

So, what I think we can learn from that passage is that we are constantly in a spiritual battle and that battle is prayer! In that battle we have to protect ourselves by speaking the truth in all things, walking in Jesus’ righteousness, and knowing we can only do those things through faith! Salvation protects our mind, and that’s why Paul tells us to put it on like a helmet. But the only way that we can come to salvation and be righteous and truthful and ready to share the gospel is by God’s word, and is through understanding God’s Word. And that is the final thing Paul tells us to “take up”, the sword of the Spirit. It is the only power that we will have to use to fight in our battle of prayer.

I do feel called to pray. Reading this passage really made me stop and think. If I want to be effective and able to pray, I will have to know and live by His word. I don’t have to be fearful and wonder what to pray. I can pray His word and know His will through doing that. I can always pray in Faith!