Hearthstone - April 2003

Volume 18, No.4 APRIL 2003
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CONTENTS Be Still And Know Worship From The Heart Suffering's Reward Hugs 'N Tugs By Wendy Greiner Lefko Best of Lifeline By Rev. Larry W. Greiner A Paradox My Maker's Will Korean Korean Every Moment Speaking The Truth	BE STILL AND KNOW "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain; Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. —Katharina von Schlegel During the First World War in an island community in the highlands of Scotland, young men were being called up in increasing numbers for military service. Each time contingents of them gathered at the pier to sail to the mainland, their relatives and friends assembled there and sang: God is our refuge and our strength, In straits a present aid; Therefore, although the earth remove, We will not be afraid: Though hills amidst the seas be cast; Though waters roaring make, And troubled be; yea, though The hills by swelling seas do shake. A river is, whose streams make glad The city of our God; The holy place, wherein the Lord Most high hath His abode. God in the midst of her doth dwell; Nothing shall her remove; The Lord to her an helper will, And that right early prove. Be still and know that I am God: Among the heathen I Will be exalted; I on earth Will be exalted high. Our God, Who is the Lord of hosts, Is still upon our side: The God of Jacob our refuge For ever will abide. —From The Scottish Psalter Back to Contents
WORSHIP FROM THE HEART
	Some people seem to clutch their anxieties like trophies that show how important they are. If you are trying to cope with stress by yourself, don‘t brag about it. God’s remedy is the only one that works: "Cast all your cares upon God. He cares for you." Freedom from anxiety is a gift you can gratefully accept. Back to Contents
SUFFERING'S REWARD
	1 Peter 5:10 "But may the God of all grace, who has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." "A little while! Compare it with the eternal years, with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, with the compensations that await us. "There is a limitation to our suffering. It is only for a little while, but every moment has been fixed by the immutable purpose and love of God. You shall not suffer one moment more than is absolutely necessary for your perfecting of God’s glory, and for every moment there is an ample supply of grace. What a banquet that will be when God will satisfy the expectations of those whom He has called to partake of it. And the suffering is being used, in ways you little understand, to perfect, stablish, and strengthen you. God brings forth His veteran hosts in the day of battle. Think not so much of affliction as of the love of Christ and the blessedness of being like Him and with Him forever." —F.B. Meyer Back to Contents
BIBLE: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

HUGS 'N TUGS
	By Wendy Greiner Lefko "When am I going to die?" That was the loaded question posed by our inquisitive four-year-old daughter. It wasn’t quite the morbid conversation it sounds like. Instead it was a continuing talk about the glories of Heaven. As Grace is growing and able to understand more about Salvation, I have been sharing with her the wonderful aspects of new life in Christ. She loves to talk about Heaven and the wonderful things that await us. It seemed only natural, when I told her we will go there when we die or when Jesus comes to take us, that her mind wanted to know when it would happen. When would Jesus return? When would we die? She asked, "When am I going to die?" I struggled for an answer and the best I could come up with was, "I don’t know." She had asked this question with such gleeful anticipation, as if in her child’s heart she couldn’t wait to get to Heaven, I could see in her eyes she already had an answer to her own question. "I know when I’m going to die!" she exclaimed. "Oh? When?" I hesitantly asked. With innocent faith that only a child seems to possess she matter-of-factly said, "When Jesus calls my name." I couldn’t argue with that and had to chuckle that my four-year-old came up with a wiser answer than I had given. As adults we often complicate the simplest of matters. We look for carnal answers to spiritual questions. When will the Lord return? When is it our time to die? When will this or that happen? We seek answers in earthly time, while God’s answers lie in Heavenly time, and His timing is always perfect. Often He chooses not to reveal His specific timetable to us so that we will rely solely on Him and trust Him for both the present and the future. If we are so busy wondering when our time will be up or how much longer we have to do something, we will be distracted from our original purpose. If, however, we seek to do God’s will and serve Him faithfully, leaving the timing of the future in His hands, we will be free to do His work with our whole hearts. All we need to know is that when it is our time to go to Heaven He will call our name, not a moment before or a moment after. May we have child-like faith, trusting our Heavenly Father with our whole lives. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8,9). Back to Contents

THE BEST OF LIFELINE
	By Rev. Larry W. Greiner Gordon Johnson tells the following story. "Many years ago at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis a Sunday school teacher was needed for the junior boys. This class wasn't bad, just energetic. While no teacher had been able to control them, Ewald Chaldberg, a Swedish immigrant, accepted the challenge and the invitation to teach the class. Ewald still had his Swedish accent, and buzzing all over the church was the word, ‘He'll never make it. Three weeks and that will be the end.’ But Ewald Chaldberg believed God when he took the class, and he stayed with it through the years. He kept teaching the boys. "Some years ago I was asked to visit that church and share in a service. It was the tenth anniversary of the death of Ewald Chaldberg. How do you like that — a layman in the church, and they're celebrating the tenth anniversary of his death! "During the service, they recounted that at least forty men were in Christian service someplace in the world because Ewald Chaldberg taught boys, loved them, and watched over them as they grew. He had faith to believe that God could overcome his human limitations. On the morning of that anniversary celebration, twenty-seven lay persons stood up to say, ‘We're going to be like Ewald Chaldberg in a small way.’ "The obscure immigrant with a Swedish accent found significance because he trusted the Lord who said, ‘My idea is bigger than your idea.’" The most powerful work done for the Kingdom of God on earth is found, not so much in the famous and renowned ministers on television and radio, but in the lay workers in the church. They may not have great talent or eloquence when it comes to speaking but are given over to God to do with them as He wills. Some turn away from any kind of ministry in the church with the excuse that God has not given them the gift to serve in a certain area. Let us not allow our weaknesses or lack of confidence in our own abilities keep us from being used of God. God wants the humble, the weak, the poor, the frail ones of His family to say, "Yes Lord, I’ll do it." For "all things can be done through Christ who strengthens us." Are you willing to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me"? "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Back to Contents

A PARADOX
	Make me a captive, Lord, And then I shall be free; Force me to render up my sword, And I shall conqu’ror be. I sink in life’s alarms, When by myself I stand; Imprison me within Thine arms, And strong shall be my hand. —George Matheson How is it possible to be slave and free, winner and loser, at the same time? It is a paradox, even as we find many such paradoxes in the Bible. "When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor.12:10). "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it" (Matt.16:25). "He that is least among you all, the same shall be great" (Luke 9:48). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). Here is one of nature’s phenomena — a kernel of wheat must disintegrate and decompose in the ground in order to reproduce itself. It must die in order that it might continue to live! George Matheson learned this lesson through his own personal experience. As a brilliant young ministerial student of eighteen, he lost his sight almost completely. Because of his blindness, he eventually had to give up his research and scholarship in theology, an activity which he dearly loved. Instead, George Matheson gave his time and strength to devotional preaching and writing. During his lifetime as a minister in the Scottish Free Church, he had a profound influence on all who heard him preach, including Queen Victoria. —Selected Back to Contents

LARRY’S KOREAN KORNER

A fine young Korean man named Pat, who had been part of our Korean youth ministry, joined the marines about a year and a half ago. It has been a struggle, as he has sought to live for Christ. Added to the pressure of becoming a good marine was the ridicule he received for reading the Bible and sharing his faith. We have kept in touch while he has been serving our country.

Recently Pat left a sobering phone message on my answering machine. It said, "Hi, Reverend Larry. This is Pat. I called to let you and the youth group know that I am being deployed to Iraq." His voice quivered nervously. He went on to ask that I and the church youth group would pray for him. He closed his message with these words: "Tell the youth group I love them." How I wished I had been home to answer the phone when he called, and there was no way to return his call. Please pray that the Lord would calm Pat’s fears and keep him safe from harm. Also pray that Pat would find great opportunity and boldness to share his faith in Jesus Christ with other frightened soldiers during this crisis. They all need our prayers.

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Volume 18, No.4

APRIL 2003

Hearthstone Archives | Home Page

CONTENTS

BE STILL AND KNOW

WORSHIP FROM THE HEART

SUFFERING'S REWARD

BIBLE: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

HUGS 'N TUGS

By Wendy Greiner Lefko

THE BEST OF LIFELINE

By Rev. Larry W. Greiner

A PARADOX

MY MAKER'S WILL

EVERY MOMENT