Hearthstone - January 2003

Volume 18, No.1 JANUARY 2003
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CONTENTS Happy New Year Fear Not Hugs 'N Tugs By Wendy Greiner Lefko Diagnosis The Best Of Lifeline By Rev. Larry W. Greiner Shut The Door Where Did They Go?	HAPPY NEW YEAR Like a book whose pages are fresh and unspotted, a new year has been placed in our hands. Immediately, however, the clock begins to tick off its minutes and the recording of a new year begins. Joy, success, heartaches and problems will all find a place on the pages. The new year can be a year of defeat or a year of triumph, depending on our focus. We can either look at the circumstances surrounding us or we can see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. One morning a crowd gathered about the entrance of the Hotel Statler in Washington, D.C. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the appearance of President Eisenhower. At last the word spread, "He’s coming! He’s coming!" People in the throng stood on their tiptoes, stretching as tall as possible to see the famous statesman. One day we, as believers, will have the joy of seeing the Lord of lords and King of kings, Jesus Christ. "Thine eyes shall see the king in His beauty" (Isaiah 33:17). What a day that will be! Until then may we see Him with the eyes of faith as we spend time in His Word and in prayer. May we also see Him in our circumstances. May our prayer be: "Jesus we would see in 2003." Back to Contents

FEAR NOT
	A new year looms! We need not fear! Our God is in control; The cloud "What if?" can melt away; He rules from pole to pole. Man’s unknowns are all known to God; To Him there’s no surprise; So come what may, He works with skill, All-powerful and wise. Is Christ your King? Are you His child? He’ll never do you wrong; Fear not, but trust, He’ll see you through And fill your year with song. —E. Ruth Greiner ©2002 Back to Contents

"Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to Your service
and to Your heart."
—David Livingstone’s Diary

HUGS 'N TUGS
By Wendy Greiner Lefko
	A week or so after we had put up our Christmas decorations, I noticed an unfamiliar ornament hanging on a lower branch of our Christmas tree. The interesting thing about this particular item was that it was a tiny wooden Easter egg! By the height at which it had been placed, and from the past experience of decorating the tree just a week or so earlier, I knew it was my 3-year-old little "helper" who had added this latest adornment. She loves to decorate, putting every ornament she can find upon the branches. I realized she must have found this out-of-season decoration lying somewhere in the house and decided it belonged on the tree among the other Christmas ornaments. Interestingly, the more I thought about it the more I felt it was exactly where it belonged. What a beautiful reminder that Christmas is only the beginning! Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father to be born a baby, which is why we celebrate Christmas. But He was born to die, to take the penalty for our sin so that we might live. Then, as only God could do, He rose from the dead to show us the new life we could have in Him if we would but accept it! And that new life is symbolized by the egg that we associate with Easter, the day we celebrate our risen Lord. New life! What a beautiful thought for the New Year! To go from Christmas into a brand new year with a vivid reminder of all things new that can be ours when we have Christ as our Lord and Savior. I can’t think of a better way to have a fresh start as we approach the New Year. We are given a clean slate, a new beginning, full of promise, all wrapped up in a shell of time that is a gift from God to us to use as we will. What a precious treasure we hold in our hands that only began with Christmas. It carries on to Easter and beyond as we live the life He so graciously gives us. Let’s not waste the privilege of time and opportunity as the New Year, full of new life, unfolds in our hands. Let’s use the gift He has given to bring honor and glory to His name. Praise God for new beginnings! "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Back to Contents

DIAGNOSIS
	On his eightieth birthday, John Quincy Adams responded to a query concerning his well being by saying: "John Quincy Adams is well. But the house in which he lives at present is becoming dilapidated. It is tottering upon its foundation. Time and the seasons have nearly destroyed it. Its roof is pretty well worn out. Its walls are much shattered and it trembles with every wind. I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon. But he himself is quite well, quite well." "And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Thy strength to this generation, Thy power to all who are to come" (Ps. 71:18). Back to Contents
THERE ARE NO VICTORIES AT DISCOUNT PRICES." —General Dwight Eisenhower

THE BEST OF LIFELINE
By Rev. Larry W. Greiner
	Dr. R.A Torrey tells the following remarkable story. "One night I was preaching in a suburb of Chicago. When I gave the invitation a large man rose to his feet. After the meeting, as I sat beside him, he said, 'Let me tell you how I came to accept Christ tonight. I have been a churchgoer all my life, but I only went to criticize. Whenever anyone got up in the prayer meeting to testify, I took out a little notebook I kept and wrote down what they said. Then I kept tab on them during the week to see how their lives agreed with their profession. I finally came to the conclusion that all Christians were hypocrites. My heart became as hard as a stone. Then some months ago I was taken very ill. The doctors told me I would die within 2 years, but I was not afraid to die. I had become so hardened by my criticism of professors of religion that even death had no terrors for me. One day a retired minister came to visit me in the hospital and asked if he might pray for me. I said, "Yes, you can pray if you want to. I have no objection if it will do you any good. It won't hurt me any. Yes, pray if you want to, if you will enjoy it. It won't disturb me." He knelt beside my bed and began to pray. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. I was keeping tab on him to see if he was real. I thought I was dying but I was not frightened in the least. I was perfectly callous and hardened. But as I lay there watching him pray, I saw tears rolling down his cheeks. I said to myself, "Here is this man, a perfect stranger to me, with no possible interest in me, and yet he is weeping over my sins and my lost condition. It broke my heart, and that is why I am here tonight. That is why I got up and asked for prayer. That is why I have received the Lord Jesus as my Savior tonight."’ Dr. Torrey said, "I tell you, you will win more men and women by your tears than you will ever win by your arguments." When was the last time you shed tears over a lost soul going to hell? May we ask the Lord, in this new year, to give us compassionate hearts for lost souls, that the world will see the reality of God's love in us. "I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee." (2 Timothy 1:3,4) . Back to Contents
Many people would rather state their discontent instead of being content in whatsoever state they are in.

SHUT THE DOOR
	One of the great difficulties in this day of hurry and worry is to shut out the world. When we enter into our closet all the world seems to crowd right into the secret place. We preach sermons and do business on our knees. The place for worship becomes a house of merchandise and the place of devotion literally a den of thieves. It is half our victory when entering into the closet to "shut the door." A man was standing in a telephone booth trying to talk, but he could not understand the message. He kept saying, "I can’t hear." The man at the other end said, "If you will shut the door you can hear." Not without a battle will we be able to shut the door, shut out the world, and shut our souls up to God. But unless we learn by pains in prayer to silence the world’s din and distraction and get alone to get the ear of our God, we shall only be fighting as one that beats the air—much ado about nothing. Only behind a shut door will fall showers of blessing from an open Heaven. —Selected Back to Contents
Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry during the day and too sleepy to worry at night.

WHERE DID THEY GO?
	Here I stand, Lord Looking puzzled Holding a pad of stubs in my hand. Where did all the tickets go? All 365 of them So quickly— Thank you for the new book All ready to be used. I’ll treasure each ticket And use them Gratefully, Hopefully, for YOU! —Violet Munro Back to Contents