Truth in Real Life Moments

Nate Saint

   

“And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives… and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”

Born on August 30, 1923, Nathanael Saint – or “Nate” – would grow up to be the most famous missionary pilot who had ever lived. From his childhood, he loved to fly and dreamed of being an airline pilot like his older brother.

Nate Saint began taking flying lessons when he was in high school and served as a pilot in World War II. He enrolled in Wheaton College, but eventually quit school to join the Mission Aviation Fellowship.

In 1948, Nate Saint and his wife Marge established an air base in an abandoned oil exploration camp. They were then able to supply nearby missionaries with medicine, mail, and needed supplies. They served God’s servants.

While returning from one particular flight to Quito, Saint got caught in some dangerous air currents and the plane crashed. The Lord preserved his life, and he considered it one of God’s ways of humbling him.

It was his humility, combined with his understanding of the risks involved, that made him just the right missionary pilot to work with Jim Elliot. In September 1955, Saint joined a team of men whose goal was to reach the Huaorani settlement. Saint discovered the settlement from the air, and the team began dropping baskets of gifts to the natives. After three months of air contact – Saint was piloting the plane – the whole team went to camp on the shore and to meet with the people on the ground.

The meetings started well, but they did not end as planned. There were misunderstandings that led to hostility, and all five of the team members were speared and killed by angry villagers.

Their story received international attention, and the men were heralded as martyrs for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nate Saint was among those five martyrs. Through his personal testimony, he inspired many workers to join in missionary aviation efforts, risking their own lives for the sake of the Gospel.

What are you doing with the time that you have? Are you humbly spending the time and talents and other resources God has given you for Him, or for your own dreams and plans? Are God’s priorities important to you, or do you have your own priorities?

Matthew 10:39 – “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Devos

God Sees All Our Actions

   

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)

Carrie’s dad used to tease her that he had eyes in the back of his head. It seemed like he could be driving the truck or watching TV, totally paying attention to something else, but if she tried to untie his shoelace or sneak off with a cookie, he could always catch her in the act! Have you ever noticed that in your own parents? They might be cooking, cleaning or reading the paper, but they just seem to know magically whenever you are planning to do something you do not want them to notice.

God is our Heavenly Father, and just like a parent, He always watches over us. Even when you don’t think He sees you, He does! The Bible says “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” God is actually far more watchful and aware than your parents ever could be, because He is God! He knows everything. He sees everything.

God spots sin immediately. In the book of Joshua, God strictly forbid anyone from taking gold, silver or clothing from Jericho. But do you know that is just what Achan did anyway! Achan stole from God, thinking God was not watching or that God did not really mean what He said when He commanded them not to take anything. Achan buried his stolen treasure under the ground, in his tent, which was only one tent in the middle of the huge Israelite campground. Surely God would not see him there. Surely God would not mind that he took a few things and hid them away. But God saw. And God did mind. Achan had disobeyed and then tried to cover up his disobedience.

God’s watchful eyes do not let anything slip by. God showed Joshua exactly where to find Achan and the stolen goods. Achan and his whole family had to pay for his sin of disobeying God.

The Lord’s eyes are in “every place” throughout the world. He will not let sin and wrongdoing slip by. God cares about His glory. He expects us to obey Him. God cares about His people. He watches out for them like a father watches out for a child. He is seeing you now, and He wants to see you doing right.

Are you like Achan, trying to get away with something? Are there sins you are trying to hide from God? If so, you are showing that you do not really believe that God is Who He is. You are acting like God cannot see you, or like God’s knowledge is limited.

Remember that God’s eyes can see every hidden thing. He has no limits. Confess your sins and live before God in trust and obedience.

The eyes of God are in every place, all the time.

My Response:
» Am I trying to get away with something before God?
» When I’m fighting temptation to sin, does it help me to take the time to acknowledge that God sees everything I do?
» Have I started thinking of God as though He had limits like I do?

Devos

God’s Stories Teach Us What To Do

   

“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)

Tyrell and Tia couldn’t wait to get to Sunday School. Last week, the teacher, Mrs. Naginflagin, had told them that each person in the class could get up in front of the class and tell his or her favorite Bible story. So, all week long, Tyrell and Tia had been getting ready to tell their favorite Bible story.

Tyrell’s favorite Bible story was David and Goliath. Tyrell wasn’t very tall; in fact he was the shortest in his class–even the girls were taller than him! He liked the story of a small boy taking down a big giant.

Tia’s favorite story was about the birth of Moses. She loved the fact that Moses’ mother gave up her baby so that his life would be saved. She liked seeing how God made it possible for Moses’ mother to get Moses back, in a way. She got to raise her own son because Pharaoh’s daughter found him floating in the basket and wanted one of his own people to help her care for him.

Sunday morning finally came. As Tyrell and Tia took their seats, they looked around wondering what was everyone else’s favorite story would be. “Good morning, class,” said Mrs. Naginflagin. “Today, each of you will get to tell the rest of the class your favorite Bible story. Who wants to go first?”

Immediately Tyrell’s hand shot up into the air. Mrs. Naginflagin invited him to walk to the front of the room, and he began to tell the class the story of David and Goliath. And Tyrell got excited! He went into all the great details of the story, even bringing up other classmates to help act out the awesome fight scene (of course, Tyrell was “David” and the biggest boy on the class had to be “Goliath”). It made Tyrell feel good when his “stone” (it was really a crumpled up piece of paper) hit the “giant” in the forehead and knocked him to the ground.

One by one, each kid in the class told his or her favorite story. When it was all done, Mrs. Naginflagin began to teach the Sunday School lesson. She began with a question. “What do you think God wants you to do because of the story you just told?” Tyrell and Tia had never thought about that before; they just liked the stories.

Mrs. Naginflagin told them to turn to James 1:22–“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Mrs. Naginflagin began to teach the class a very important lesson. She said that God’s Word does not have these stories in it only because they are “cool stories.” God’s stories are wonderful stories, but they are more than that! These stories are actual events–they really did happen! And God included them in the Bible so that we would learn about Him from them, and so that we would know how we should act.

Tyrell and Tia had never really thought of God’s stories that way before. Now as they remembered their favorite stories, they paid attention. They thought about how God might want them to act based on the truths they learned about Him from the stories. Tyrell leaned that God can give strength to fight His battles, even when the chances of winning seem impossible, and no matter how hard it seems. And Tia learned from what happened with Moses’ mom that she should rely on God for protection and blessing, even when everything seems hopeless. Both of them saw good reasons in their favorite stories for trusting God and obeying God.

God gave us His stories to teach us about Himself, and we should act on what we learn from them.

My Response:
» What is my favorite Bible story?
» Have I ever thought about what my favorite Bible story teaches me about God?
» Have I changed my behavior based on what God has taught me about Himself from His Word?

Devos

God Carries Our Burdens

“Casting all our care upon him, for he careth for you.” (I Peter 5:7)

Randy and his mom stepped into the hospital elevator, and he pushed button 5 to take them to the 5th floor, where Grandpa Jim’s room was. Randy normally liked elevators, but not this hospital one. Grandpa Jim’s cancer was getting worse every day, and Randy was pretty sad and scared about it. He could feel gravity weighing him down as the elevator carried them up, and he thought to himself, “That’s just how my heart feels right now. All weighted down.”

Has your heart ever felt heavy with sadness or worry because of the things going on around you? Have you ever been afraid or frustrated because of people around you? Randy was sad and scared about his grandpa’s pain and possible death. Maybe you have burdens that are hard for you to bear. If you have ever felt like your heart might break if it has to take one more thing, the God of the Bible is the One to Whom you should turn. He invites you to take your worry and sadness and fear and frustration to Him.

Did you know Jesus Christ calls us to come to Him when we are burdened down with cares? In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus Himself says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Do you know what a “yoke” is? A yoke is a wooden frame to fasten two work animals together. A yoke joins or unites two horses or two oxen, so that those two will work together to pull a wagon or a plow. It spreads the weight across two sets of shoulders instead of one. If one animal is weaker than the other, the other pulls harder to keep up with the work load. Once they are working together, they can get the job done.

Does it seem odd to you that Jesus is calling already-tired laborers and people with burdens to come and put on a “yoke”? But the yoke of Jesus is a lightweight yoke. He says His yoke is easy to bear. Jesus is telling us that when we are afraid, or have something to do that seems impossible to us, we can rest if we are connected to Him. If we are walking with Jesus and going in the direction He wants us to go, we do not have to bear any of our burdens alone. The load Jesus has borne for us is heavier than anything we could ever endure. And there is no load God cannot bear. He wants us to know that He will bear the heavier load when we are “yoked” to Him. For Him, the load is easy and we can find rest.

Today, if you feel burdened by something that is happening in your life, take some time to think about what kind of God we have. Imagine that you are fastening Jesus’ “yoke” to your neck and ask Jesus to help you. Be “yoked” together with him and give Him all your cares. He promises that, with Him, the burden is bearable and you will have rest.

God invites us to rely on Him when our burdens are too much to bear.

My Response:
» Is my heart weighed down by things I cannot handle?
» Have I accepted Jesus’ invitation to come to Him with my burdens?
» Am I walking in step with Jesus, trusting in His strength, and obeying Him?

*NOTE: The audio recording lists the passage as Matthew 12:28-30, however, the correct passage is Matthew 11:28-30.

Devos

The Father Loves You

   

“For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” (John 16:27)

When God made Israel into a nation and blessed them, He also gave them some instructions (what we now call the Law). Unfortunately, the people of Israel often disobeyed the Law. In fact, they disobeyed much more often than they obeyed.

As Israel went on disobeying, God sent prophets to them, warning them that He would judge their sins if they didn’t come back to Him. But Israel kept ignoring Him. So eventually He kept His promise and sent cruel armies against His people to destroy their cities and drag them away from their homes to foreign countries.

But God was merciful, and He allowed many of His people to return home. That happened a few hundred years before Jesus was born. When the Jews returned home, they realized that God was serious about sin – that He really meant business.

But many Jews began thinking that God was merely an angry God, without much love.

When Jesus came, He showed compassion to people. He was often stern – He had to be so that people would know that He took sin very seriously. But He also forgave people who turned from their sins, and He was patient with people who kept messing up.

Because Jesus was so kind and good, His disciples knew that He loved them very much. However, they still viewed God the Father as a bit too distant – a bit too stern – for them to ask Him for things. So they would just ask Jesus.

But then Jesus told them something that probably amazed them. Just before He went to the Cross, He said, You don’t have to ask Me for things anymore. You can go to the Father directly, because the Father Himself loves you.

Jesus also said that the only reason we can go directly to the Father is that He (Jesus) died for us and made a Way. In fact, Jesus said that He is the Way to the Father. Because Jesus is the Way, we pray to the Father “in Jesus’ name.” But we don’t have to pray to Jesus, asking Him for things. He wants us to pray to the Father. Jesus wants us to know that the Father loves us, just as the Father loves His Only Son.

If you believe in Jesus – if your confidence is in Him – then the Father loves you. And so you can pray directly to the Father, in Jesus’ name.

Not only does Jesus love you, but the Father loves you, too.

My Response:
» Do I pray to Jesus instead of to the Father because Jesus seems nicer? Do I need to start praying directly to the Father?
» Do I pray in Jesus’ name? Do I need to start praying in Jesus’ name to remind myself that Jesus is the Way to the Father?