DIRECT LINE

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV)

Like most people you probably get very frustrated when you call some significant organization needing important information and you get a mechanical answering service. After a brief recorded message you get a number of options. You choose one and soon you get another recorded message and when you do eventually find the option that you choose you are put on hold....seemingly ad infinitum?

What if you called on God in prayer and got a recorded message? 'Thank you for calling Heaven. Your prayer is very important to us. Please stay on the line and your prayer will be answered as soon as an operator becomes available.

But that is not the way it works. God is always online and always available. He does not need a receptionist not does he need a string of intermediaries. You have a direct line to God.

From the e-Book, DAY LIGHTERS - 365 devotional messages to ignite your day. Available from Amazon.com

Have You Changed Yet?

Look, I am making everything new (Revelation 21:5, NLT)

Have you experienced changes since you became a Christian? Has there been a change in your thinking, in your habits, in your overall life?

The new birth brings changes to our outlook on life, our attitudes towards people, and our relationships with people. As Christians we can see things from God’s point of view, and we see history events in the world and life around us from a new perspective.

We begin getting along with people whom we previously disliked or even hated. We can see them through the eyes of Christ. Our relationships with other – husbands, wives, parents, children, employers, employees also begin improving as we begin following biblical principles for getting along with others.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!(2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)

Excerpt from the book, DAY LIGHTERS by Nico Bougas - 365 Quickfire devotions to ignite your day. Available for download to your computer as an e-book from Amazon -Kindle store.

Unqualified

My power works best in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT)

Do you ever feel that God can't use you because you aren't qualified? Many of us feel the same way. In fact, there were very few men or women in the Bible who were used of God who didn't have a personal struggle or challenge of one kind or another. Moses and Mary weren't the only ones who didn't feel qualified for the work God was calling them to do!

Someone has pointed out that "Moses stuttered. John Mark was rejected by Paul. Hosea's wife was a prostitute. Jacob lied. David had an affair. Abraham and Sarah were too old. David was too young. Peter was impulsive. John had a temper. Naomi was a widow. Paul was a murderer, as was Moses. Jonah ran from God. Gideon and Thomas both doubted. Jeremiah was depressed. Elijah was burned out. Martha worried too much. Matthew was a despised tax-gatherer. Noah had a drinking problem."

We are in good company. Let go and get the job done.

Hell on Earth

Six weeks before he died, Elvis Presley was asked by a reporter, "Elvis, when you started your career you said you wanted three things in life: You wanted to be rich, you wanted to be famous, and you wanted to be happy. Now you are rich, you are famous but are you happy Elvis?"

"No," replied Elvis, " I am as lonely as Hell!"

Rich, famous, but lonely. At first Elvis remark seemed offensive. But when you come to think of it it's actually well put. Hell is a lonely place. For some very lonely people Hell begins here on earth. They have many friends and a great social life but are still desperately lonely.

There has been much debate about the subject of Hell recently. I believe that we cannot even imagine what Hell is like. The Bible paints a picture of the most extreme punishment and isolation. But it is in a whole new spiritual realm that we cannot begin to understand. But one thing we can understand is that it is a very lonely place and it lasts for all eternity. So forget about a grand re-union with all your drinking buddies if you are not right with God you will be “as lonely as Hell.”

Psalm 102:7 (NLT)
I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.

“No man cared for my soul…”

“I am alone…”

Mixed Reception in Greece

I would think I am a harmless old guy. I am not the confrontational type and try not to provoke people unnecessarily. So I am pretty much your regular peace-loving individual. But apparently some people in Greece don’t see me that way. In fact our recent Bible distribution project was a great example of the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13. We definitely met up with some thorny and some hard characters who were not open to receiving the good news we were sharing.

RESPONSES

“Take this rubbish and don’t clutter our neighborhood with this nonsense,” said a Rather stern looking man as he collected the bag we had just placed on his gate. This wasn’t exactly the response we were hoping for as we passed out thousands of bags containing the New Testament in Modern Greek as well as an audio version on CD plus some gospel literature.

“Fyge! Fyge! Fyge!” Get out of here! Scram! We do not want you evildoers corrupting our town!” screamed another. I opened my mouth to explain that all we were doing was spreading the good news that God loves them and that we wanted to give them a free gift. But I never got more than a word or two out before he came charging towards me with clenched fists, eyes blazing and his blood pressure soaring. I decided I had better quietly withdraw before he had a heart attack or I got beaten up.

We also had a run in with the law when a police car drove up beside us on an isolated road near Corinth, Greece. “Pull over” he shouted in a voice of authority. (As the temperature was well into the 90s I knew he wasn’t wanting a warm sweater.) Someone had called the police station and reported that suspicious strangers were seen in the vicinity and it was his duty to investigate.

None of the young people had their passports with them so he said we would have to come down to the police station for questioning. It was time for my trump card, and so I whipped out my Greek ID card. This seemed to ease the atmosphere and they then called into the police station to check on my police record. Fortunately, I was clean so they let us go on our way. This was a little intimidating, especially for a group of young people from sheltered Christian backgrounds, attending a Christian high school and a vibrant Christian church – their only crime was spreading the good news.

SHAKING THE DUST OFF YOUR FEET

In this situation I could identify with the Apostle Paul when he got rather despondent with the Jews in the Corinthian area and was tempted to move on to more fertile fields. But God spoke to him in a vision one night, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” (Acts 18:9-10, NLT)

Over the past few centuries there have been many missionaries who have come to Greece and simply given up. They found the work too difficult and the people unresponsive. They echoed the words of the spies entering the Promised Land, “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are. All the people there are giants and next to them we felt like grasshoppers.” (Numbers 13.31-33)

WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED?

So what can a small, ill-equipped mission group accomplish in this spiritually and geographically barren terrain? The truth is we will never know until we get to heaven. We have just completed Operation Joshua 4, when in just 6 days, 103,528 Greek households received copies of the New Testaments and audio CD’s in Modern Greek, in 866 villages. 72158 Kilometers were driven (that’s almost twice the circumference of the earth), on some of Europe’s most dangerous roads, with no major accidents! This involved some 270 volunteers, with 17 nationalities being represented in total.

For a country that has never experienced a reformation or a revival or any major mass evangelistic crusade, this constitutes a huge, historical and remarkable event. Of one thing we can be sure, many lives have been touched. And maybe that longed for revival is about to break forth. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4:12, NLT)

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:11, NLT)