“But what can I do?” So often that thought crosses our minds. What can we do? We can do plenty. And I trust that God has given you many, many, many things to do. The more important question is, why don’t we do something now?
The reason that we hesitate is that the devil is a liar and we’ve been listening to him. The world bombards us every day with lies and distorted half-truths. So that people are afraid to walk down the streets of their neighborhoods. People are afraid to make decisions. And it fills the vacuum we leave in our minds when we fail to hide the faith building truth of God’s word in our hearts. It results in inaction even more than wrong action. Fear cultivates unbelief. In II Cor. 4:4 God’s word says, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not”. This is true for Christians, as well as non-Christians. If you have fear in an area of your life, you are simply blind to the truth in that area. And the reason we are blind is not that there is darkness around us, but that the Devil has blinded our minds. He does it by lying to us. For example, look at the pictures. What do you see? If before you had ever seen this picture I said, “it is an old woman,” you would see the old woman. But if instead, I said, “It is a young woman,” that is what you would see.
Faith is simply acting according to God’s perspective, rather than the world’s F.E.A.R., False Evidence Appearing Real. We have been trained since childhood to trust our five senses. But many times the things we perceive with our five senses contradict the promises of God’s Word.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” I John 4:18.
We cannot please God if we are not walking in faith. I can assure you that if you begin walking in Christian faith and responding to the holy spirit, you will make mistakes and you probably will fall down once in a while. But I can also assure you that you will not be rewarded for negligence simply because you claim fear or ignorance. And God’s word assures that if you trust and obey, He will hold you up.
“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” II Thes. 3:3.
So because He is faithful and stablishing you and keeping you from evil, try this:
I want you to ask God, “Lord, give me someone that I may minister to.” Then pick a time and go outside and wait to see who comes by. Then serve them the love of God. We must begin to minister God’s love in our own neighborhoods. The true CHURCH is the body of Christ, not limited to the place we go on Sunday. Jesus is relying on you and I to minister His love daily.
In the next few issues this column will offer practical ways to increase our effectiveness as Christians. Let us share the Joy of the Lord, NOW! We must choose whom we will serve and obey. Oh Lord, enlarge our hearts that we may love the unlovable as you have!
Fever is the physiological response of a healthy body to unwelcome organisms, or proteins. In response to the invasion, the body turns up the thermostat in the hypothalamus. Then as your body temperature rises to the new setting, you experience chills. After the higher temp has done its job, the hypothalamus is reset at normal body temperature. Then you sweat. This is how your body cools you back down. You won’t notice this unless it is a good high fever or 100 or more.
Every science book that I have seen, that covers the amazing immune system, acknowledges the beneficial effects of a fever. It increases the activity of antibodies which disable invading bacteria or viruses. And it increases the appetite of the phagocytes, which are white blood cells that eat bacteria and dead tissue.
Fever is a sign of a functioning body, not a mysterious syndrome. We have been programmed to distrust our bodies. So out of fear, we run to the doctor or druggist to “relieve” the fever. That is one reason why we have so many chronic auto immune diseases today. Help maintain your health by drinking plenty of pure water and resting during a fever. If you treat the cause of a fever, the fever will relieve itself. There may be times when fever is not welcome. You will need to discern those cases by examining all the symptoms. If the fever needs to be reduced you can use a lukewarm enema to bring down the internal temp slightly, or a tepid bath, but this will not reset the thermostat. So it may have to be repeated. In any case 98,6 is not the goal, because there is a purpose for the fever. And as always, go to the Lord in prayer.
The power to save mankind, make him whole, is in the resurrection. The death of the son of God paid for man’s sins. But he remains spiritually naked until clothed with power from on high as prophesied in Luke 24:49. “I send the promise of my Father” that “ye be endued with power from on high.”
The Greek word translated "endued" here is rendered "clothed" most other places. The resurrection is the event which enables us to minister in Christ’s stead. Imagine the joy with which Peter stood boldly and proclaimed the truth: