The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.

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October 19 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good afternoon Lord and thank you for the opportunity to share the lessons you have been teaching us. I could tell the young man was very anxious. He wanted the circumstance to turn out a certain way and he did not want to wait at all. He was trying to do everything he could to control the situation, and for a moment or two he wanted me to jump into his anxiety and fear as well. He wanted me in the lake of chaos, control and fear with him. But You gave this opportunity to me to share your love, grace and power. You also used it to show me how I look when I want to control a situation to assuage my own fears; when I want control. Thank You for the most recent lessons over the past years and months, and  for the “forced lessons” in staying inside the trial.

And God said, “You can give a man a fish or you can teach him to fish, and in teaching him, it is important that the trials and tests have their perfect reward…so patience must prevail. Like Psalm 66 as interpreted by Eugene Peterson in The Message says”……..

He trained us first,     passed us like silver through refining fires, Brought us into hardscrabble country, pushed us to our very limit, Road-tested us inside and out, took us to hell and back; Finally he brought us to this well-watered place.