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#22/ 15-Apr-2000
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          P O S I T I V E     W O R D S
               Editor: Peter Wade
       ----- http://www.posword.org/ -----
   ... helping you discover who you really are!

          CELEBRATE HIS RESURRECTION... 
      "Because I live, you shall live also"

IN THIS ISSUE...
1. News this month!
2. Songs I Remember
3. Positive Words for Today
4. Searchlights from the Word
5. Bible Study Outlines

_____________________________________________________________________
1. NEWS THIS MONTH

"THE NEW YOU", the first session of the Denver September 1999 "In
Christ" seminar, is now online in audio format. This will give you a
good taste of what to expect in the upcoming August "In Christ"
seminars in Cleveland OH and Seattle WA. This powerful teaching covers
the two great doctrines of the Church.
< http://www.peterwade.com/modules.php?name=zina >

BOOKS TO INDIA
   We have sent 600 books for distribution to pastors on the
subcontinent of India (200 each of 3 titles). Please pray for these
brave men of God in difficult times in their country. Some years ago
we sent around 1500 books to Nigerian pastors and believe they had a
great impact on the believers in that country too.

FOR YOU TO READ...
   "Quiet Talks On Prayer" by S.D. Gordon -- we have placed another
FIVE chapters from this author's largest selling book, this time on
"How to Pray". These are some of the most powerful words on prayer
that you might ever read. You won't always agree with him but you will
certainly want to pray!
< http://www.posword.org/articles/gordsd/prayer00.shtml >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PETER & VIVIEN'S SCHEDULE FOR 2000 / 2001

In Christ Seminars: 
   Cleveland, OH (August 11-13) -- Seattle/Tacoma, WA (August 18-20). 
Family Camp: Mendocino, CA (Aug.28-Sep.3).

IF YOU WANT TO BE ON OUR MAILING LIST FOR THESE EVENTS, please email
us your postal address.

JANUARY 5-11, 2001 (Fri-Thur): *** Australian Bible Conference ***
Halls Gap, Victoria, with group tour from USA. Speakers: Dr. Norman
Campbell, Dr. Peter Wade. Motel-style accommodation in the beautiful
Grampian Mountains.

Changes in dates DO occur... please check before making travel plans.

_____________________________________________________________________
2. SONGS I REMEMBER

Ira D. Sankey, Moody's song leader, combined with Rev. W.O. Cushing
(author of over 300 songs) in 1876 to write this month's song. It came
out of a period in Cushing's life after his wife's death, when illness
forced him to leave his pastoral ministry. It is based on the many
verses in the Psalms that speak of God being "my strong Rock, for a
house of defence" (Psalm 31:2); "But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge" (Psalm 94:22). Here is his
well-loved song, "Hiding in Thee", from Sankey's Sacred Songs and
Solos, No. 519, and in many other hymnals.

   Oh, safe to the Rock that is higher than I,
   My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;
   So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine would I be;
   Thou blest "Rock of Ages", I'm hiding in Thee.

Chorus: Hiding in Thee, Hiding in Thee,
        Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee.

   In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour,
   In times when temptation casts o'er me its power;
   In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
   Thou blest "Rock of Ages", I'm hiding in Thee.

   How oft in the conflict, when press'd by the foe,
   I have fled to my Refuge and breated out my woe;
   How often when trials like sea billows roll,
   Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.

_____________________________________________________________________
3. A POSITIVE WORD FOR TODAY (Peter Wade)

                   GOD IS WITH YOU

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the
depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle
on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your
right hand will hold me fast" (Psalm 139:7-10).

Many of us have been trained from an early age to pray to a God who
was always viewed as being up in heaven. Perhaps the influence of what
is termed by many as "The Lord's Prayer" is partly responsible for
this emphasis, "Our Father which art in heaven." I was brought up in
the atmosphere of a Christian home and I was taught to pray to a God
in heaven. I was encouraged to ask God for the things I thought I
needed, and so I looked upon God as someone I should keep on the right
side of and as a side benefit I hoped that by my prayers my parents
would believe I was toeing the line! Many believers still have these
attitudes.
   As a teenager I remember one Christian who, when asked to pray,
always launched out with these words, "Almighty God, Creator of the
heavens and the earth." Immediately we were looking up there
somewhere, in the great blue yonder, where God was thought to be. This
concept was drilled into us as children by teaching and by the example
of others. Now, as adults coming to an understanding of our position
and power as New Creations, it is time we rethought the matter of the
omnipresence of God.
   Today we fly from continent to continent at great speeds and
heights, and still wherever we go, God is. Yet this same God of
unlimited immensity dwells within me in all His fulness. Ephesians
1:23 and 3:19 declare that I am filled with all the fulness of God.
This truth must certainly change the concept of prayer.
   There is nowhere I can go where God is not present. "'Am I only a
God nearby,' declares the Lord, 'and not a God far away?'" (Jeremiah
23:23). What comfort this truth gives! A God who is at hand, right
there at all times in all situations. Not the Absent Caretaker of so
many Christians, not the deaf or unwilling God so that we have to
"bruise our knuckles" before we catch His attention, but the God who
is everywhere and that means right at hand.

AFFIRMATION: I go through life with great confidence, knowing that God
is always present to help and to guide me.

_____________________________________________________________________
4. SEARCHLIGHTS FROM THE WORD

G. Campbell Morgan was a well-known preacher and writer of over 60
books from the first half of the 20th century. In this spot each issue
we reproduce a comment from one verse in every chapter of the Bible.
We continue with Paul's letter to the Philippians.

"Lights in the world, holding forth the word of life" (Philippians
2:15,16).

That is a very beautiful figure of the mission in the world of those
who are "blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish." The
marginal reading substitutes the word "luminaries" for "lights." I do
not think this helps us much, save as we remember that the word
"luminaries" refers to the heavenly bodies, and mainly to the sun and
moon. The idea is not that of the lampstand, but of the light itself. 
   The Greek word only occurs twice in the New Testament, here and in
Revelation 21:11, where, speaking of the holy city, the seer declared:
"Her light was like unto a stone most precious." There the reference
was not to the light the city diffused, save in a secondary sense. It
was to the light she received, which is directly after described in
the words: "The lamp thereof is the Lamb, and the nations shall walk
amidst the light thereof" (verses 23,24). What then, the Lamb is to
be; in final glory, to the City of God, the children of God are to the
world today. 
   This function of shedding true light upon the darkness of the world
will be fulfilled as the "Word of life" is held forth. To live by the
Word, is to shine in such wise that those who are in darkness may have
guidance and help. The conception fills us with a sense of our
weakness, and that the more, when we ponder the conditions already
quoted, viz., that we are to be "blameless and harmless, children of
God without blemish." Yet, thank God, these words follow the glorious
declaration that it is ours to "work out with fear and trembling" what
God works within of His good pleasure.
  
_____________________________________________________________________
5. BIBLE STUDY OUTLINES

These Bible Study outlines come from the excellent book by F.E. Marsh,
"1,000 Bible Study Outlines".

"BEFORE GOD" IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION
1. "Stood before God" (viii. 2).
2. "Ascended up before God" (viii. 4).
3. "Voice... before God" (ix. 13).
4. "Witnesses... before the God of the earth" (xi. 3,4).
5. "Elders... sat before God" (xi. 16).
6. "Accused before God" (xii. 10).
7. "Remembrance before God" (xvi. 19).
8. "Stand before God" (xx. 12).

"BEGAN TO BE..."
1. A Mighty Hunter. "Began to be a mighty hunter" (Gen. x. 8).
2. An Amazed Saviour. "Began to be sore amazed" (Mark xiv. 33).
3. A Perplexed Band. "Began to be sorrowful, and to say... Is it I?"
   (Mark xiv. 19).
4. A Wilful Bankrupt. "Began to be in want" (Luke xv. 14).
5. A Mutual Joy. "They began to be merry" (Luke xv. 24).
6. A Glorious Theme. "Great salvation; which began to be spoken by the
   Lord" (Heb. ii. 3).

"BEFORE GOD"
1. "Righteous before God" (Luke i. 6).
2. "Favour before God" (Acts vii. 46).
3. "Memorial before God" (Acts x. 4).
4. "Present before God" (Acts x. 33).
5. Truth "before God" (Gal. i. 20).
6. "Acceptable before God" (I Tim. v. 4).
7. Charged "before God" (I Tim. v. 21).

BELIEVER'S CALLING
God called Abram from the land of idolatry to go with Himself to a
land of promise -- Heb. xi. 8. See from Deuteronomy viii. what kind of
land it was. Those who believe in Christ are called...
1. From the darkness of sin and ignorance, to the knowledge and light
of God -- I Peter ii. 9.
2. From the bondage of legalism (doing things because we ought) to the
liberty of the Gospel -- Gal. v. 13.
3. From the turmoil of unrest and disquietude, to the peace and
quietness of reconciliation with God -- Col. iii. 15.
4. From the death of spiritual death of trespasses and sins, unto
eternal life -- John v. 24.
5. From the unholiness of the self life to the holiness of fellowship
with God -- I Peter i. 15.
6. From the wrangling of self-interest, to partnership with Christ's
sufferings -- I Peter ii. 21; iii. 9.
7. From the uncertainty of the future, to the "eternal glory" in
Christ -- I Peter v. 10.
Let us walk worthy of our calling-Eph. iv. 1; and make it "sure" by
our obedience -- II Peter i. 10.

BEHOLD THE CHRIST
1. "Behold My Servant" (Matt. xii. 18). See Him in His life, labour,
and love.
2. "Behold the Lamb" (John i. 29, 36). See Him in His sinlessness and
sacrifice.
3. "Behold the Man" (John xix. 5). See Him in His beauty and sympathy.
4. "Behold the Sower" (Matt. xiii. 3). See Him in words, works, and
faithfulness.
5. "Behold your King" (John xix. 14). See Him in His might, majesty,
and authority.
6. "Behold the Greater" (Matt. xii. 41, 42). See Him in supremacy,
pre-eminence, and glory.
7. "Behold your God" (Isa. xl. 9). See Him in His Deity, dignity, and
giving.

BELIEVERS ARE...
1. Saved from condemnation -- Rom. viii. 1.
2. Accepted in the Beloved -- Eph. i. 6.
3. Made meet for the inheritance -- Col. i. 12.
4. Sanctified in Christ -- I Cor. i. 2.
5. Sealed with the Holy Spirit -- Eph. i. 13, R.v.
6. Possessors of eternal life -- I John v. 12.
7. Blessed in Christ with all spiritual blessings -- Eph. i. 3. Here
are riches indeed!

BELIEVERS ARE CALLED...
1. "Children" for kinship -- I John iii. 1, 2, R.V.
2. "Saints" for holiness -- I Cor. i. 2.
3. "Christians" for identification -- Acts xi. 26.
4. "Brethren" for fellowship -- Heb. ii. 11.
5. "Sheep" for character -- John x. 3.
6. "Servants" for employment -- Matt. Xxv. 14
7. "Friends" for companionship -- John xv. 15.
When we are called anything, we are supposed to be true to what we are
called.

BELIEVER'S OUTLOOK
Briefly summarised, we may say there is a sevenfold outlook of
blessing before the believer.
I. We shall "meet" Christ -- I Thess. iv. 17, and that means, as the
word "meet" suggests, we shall be caught up to meet Him in the air,
and come back with Him to the earth.
2. We shall "see Him as He is" -- I John iii. 2, not as He was in
humiliation and death, but as He is in glory and incorruptibility.
3. We shall be received by Him -- John xiv. 3, as He promised, "I will
receive you to Myself," which means He will take us to His heart.
4. We shall stand before Him that our life and service may be tested,
and our conduct towards our fellow-believers scrutinised -- Rom. xiv.
10; 1 Cor. iii. 12-15; ix. 5; II Cor. v. 10.
5. We shall be rewarded by Him, for when we stand before the judgment
seat of Christ it is that each may have his praise from God -- I Cor.
iv. 5.
6. We shall be "like" Him in all the beauty of His manhood, and body
of glory -- I John iii. 2; Phil. iii. 20, 21.
7. We shall be with Him, and have the joy of His companionship for
ever -- I Thess. iv. 17.

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(c) 2000 Peter Wade
http://www.posword.org/