Living by Faith and not by Sight

When was the last time that you dedicated your life to Christ with the words, “Lord, I'll go wherever you want me to go and do whatever you want me to do.” Those words don't just tumble off the tongue do they. One doesn't say them in jest. But, when uttered to God and followed in faith they are life changing!

During my work with the Habiteto team I have gotten to know a young couple who are on fire for Christ. Sandro and his young wife Gislene are just four years old in the Faith but are about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of their young lives. They have expressed the above mentioned dedication to the Savior and will be moving their family to Curitiba to study at our Bible College this coming February. This is a huge step of total dependence and trust in God and His provision.

Sandro was lead to Christ by one of his furniture making coworkers and after accepting Christ he began to look for a Bible preaching church. He discovered Calvary Baptist not too many weeks later. “I went to several churches but either they didn't preach the Bible or they had very worldly music standards.” He told me in a recent conversation and mind you these words come from a young man who was extremely involved in heavy metal rock music!

Sandro comes from a background which in his words “Was full of Godlessness and foul language.” But now, the energies that he used to spend on swearing and lying is used in telling others about his Savior. He is the type of person that you simply cannot talk to with out him mentioning over and over again his Lord and the salvation He provides.

Sandro and Gi had been living together for four years before he came to Christ. Not long afterward the Lord began to work in his life and he realized that they needed to be married.

Gislene's came from an evangelical background but in all of her years of going to church she had never heard the Gospel until she received a visit from some of the members at Calvary. As these visitors explained the Good News in a simple way she realized that she too needed to be saved.

Sandro, as I mentioned, is a furniture maker. He does excellent work. However, in a conversation just the other day he told me that he has never been able to get into a furniture factory, which would guarantee contracted employment (this is not uncommon for furniture makers here in Brazil). He said, “I know that the Lord has a purpose in all of this. He knows that if I did get a steady job that I might take my eyes off the goal that Christ has for my life.”

He proceeded to recount how that on many occasions God has met his family's needs in wonderful ways. One turn of events in particular grabbed my heart. He said, “We were down to just one liter of milk. That was all the food that we had in the house. That one liter was for our baby Joshua. Gislene said to me, 'Sandro what are we going to do?' I told her, 'I don't know but I do know this, God will never let us down!'” He continued, “As we knelt to pray and ask for God's help there was a knock at the door. It was a friend from the Calvary church with a 12 pack of one liter boxes of milk and many other groceries!” He wept as shared this testimony of God's goodness and provision.

Now this precious couple is depending on God's provision for more than just a liter of milk. Sandro, Gislene and their sons, Ruan, and little Joshua, will be moving six hours south to Curitiba to study God's Word. They are walking by faith and not by sight. They will need His help to provide for their studies, rent, food, and clothing, and the children's schooling! How will God provide for these needs? We all know that God uses people to help people. I don't know about you but this is the type of investment that I want to be a part of! So, won't you please pray with me for God's continued direction and provision for this young couple. And, could it be that God would use you to help them?

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth? Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...

Church Isn't a Place

Many times we say, I'm going to church on Sunday. What some fail to understand is that "church" isn't a building. I remember our pastor saying, "the church is an organism, not an organization." He was teaching us the Bible truth about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the body, and the church is his body on earth. Another pastor once said, "God's hands have human fingers." This is a difficult concept for some to grasp, pun intended. However, it is important to understand that God accomplishes his work through human beings. He uses us, the church, to do his will and work. It's not that if we don't do his will that he is stymied. But he does use willing servants. To be in the church, one must be a part of the family. You cannot be in the church if you don't have the Savior. The church is not for the lost; it is for the edification of the saved. The lost can come and hear the message of salvation. But the church is made up of t...

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