#43/ 05 Feb 2002

          P O S I T I V E     W O R D S
               Editor: Peter Wade

       ----- http://www.peterwade.com/ -----
 ... the realities of Christ in you and you in Christ!
      ----- http://www.inChristRadio.net/ -----


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IN FEBRUARY
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NOW AVAILABLE
"I'm Excited About Ephesians" by Peter Wade (Vol. 1) -- two audio
CDs with six teachings on chapters one and two of Ephesians. Two
and a quarter hours of inspiration!

DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
2003 International Bible Conference, January 3-9, at Halls Gap,
Victoria, Australia. More details next month.

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INSIGHTS FROM MY WRITING
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                MY MIND IS THE BATTLEGROUND

"Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes
and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12 NKJV)

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by
the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air
devoured it" (verse 5). Jesus went on to tell that some seed fell
on rock, some fell among thorns, but others fell on good ground.
   In verses 11-15 Jesus explains the parable: "Now the parable
is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are
the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word
out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 
   "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe
for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
   "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they
have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and
pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
   "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who,
having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and
bear fruit with patience."
   The teaching is very clear that Satan takes the Word of God
out of the minds ("heart" is used here to describe the seat of
the personal life) of people to stop them believing to be saved.
Satan works on the minds of unbelievers, either to confuse them
or to place in their minds wrong thoughts, or to get their minds
into a passive state so they do not will to believe God's Word.
(From "Renewing Your Mind", Chapter 1, by Peter Wade, adapted by
Hildy Matthews.)
   AFFIRMATION: I now understand how Satan works on my mind. He
wants to make me doubt God's Word and His promises for me. 

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INSIGHTS FROM MY READING
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Have you noticed that one of the most frequently used words of
identity for Christians in the New Testament is "saint"? A saint
is literally a holy person. Yet Paul and the other writers of the
Epistles used the word generously to describe common, ordinary,
everyday Christians like you and me. For example, Paul's
salutation in I Corinthians 1:2 reads: "To the church of God
which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ
Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."
   Notice that Paul didn't say we are saints by hard work. He
clearly states we are saints by calling. The tendency of the
church is to believe that saints are people who have earned their
lofty title by living a magnificent life or by achieving a
certain level of maturity. In the Bible, believers are described
as "saints", which means holy ones (e.g. Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2; II
Cor. 1:1; Phil. 1:1.
   Being a saint does not necessarily reflect any present measure
of growth in character, but it does identify those who are
rightly related to God. In the King James Version, believers are
called "saints", "holy one" or "righteous ones" more than 240
times. In contrast, unbelievers are called "sinners" more than
330 times. Clearly, the term "saint" is used in Scripture to
refer to the believer, and "sinner" is used in reference to the
unbeliever.
   As believers, we are not trying to become saints; we are
saints who are becoming like Christ. Telling Christians they are
sinners and then disciplining them if they don't act like saints
seems counterproductive at best and inconsistent with the Bible
at worst.
   From "Victory Over the Darkness" by Neil Anderson. See the
Recommended Book of the Month on our home page.

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INSIGHTS FROM EVERY BOOK OF THE BIBLE
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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 Titus.

"To the pure all things are pure; but to them that are defiled
and unbelieving nothing is pure" (Titus 1:15).

These words closely follow a reference to "Jewish fables, and
commandments of men," and this fact helps us to understand them.
The whole system of living by tradition was unutterably evil; and
our Lord Himself and His Apostles protested against it. Such
traditions constantly led men to a burdensome life, in that they
made actions to be sins which were no sins, and left the truly
sinful things of the inner life untouched. It is so even today.
Man-made regulations as to what men may do or not do, are the
greatest enemies to real spiritual life that it is possible to
conceive. 
   These words, then, touch the true deep note about life. The
"all things" refers to everything which is non-moral; such as
appetite and food, desire and marriage, exchange and commerce,
weariness and recreation. and so on through all the varied realm
of life. To the pure all these things are pure, and they will be
maintained in purity. To the impure, every one of them may be
made the vehicle and occasion of impurity. No traditions, no
commandments of men, no rules and regulations, can save the
ordinary things of human life from positive obscenity, if the man
handling them is himself as impure man. On the other hand, the
man who is pure may enter into them all; and not only will he not
be defiled by them, but will not defile them; he will hold them
in pureness. To all of which the words of Jesus testify, that not
what goeth into a man defileth, but that which cometh out of him.

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INSIGHTS FROM BIBLE STUDY (F.E. Marsh)
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CONSIDER AND CONCLUDE
The word "consider" in the following Scriptures means to perceive
and to see clearly, and thus come to a right conclusion.
1. "Consider the ravens" and "lilies", and trust in the Lord
(Luke 12:24,27).
2. Let us consider the "beam" of fault in ourselves, lest we
receive the rebuke of Christ, because we "consider not" (Matthew
7:3).
3. Consider what God does, as Moses did at the burning bush, when
he "drew near to behold (consider) it" (Acts 7:31,32.
4. Consider what the Lord brings before us, like Peter when he
"considered" the vision (Acts 11:6).
5. Consider not the natural when a Divine promise is given, like
Abraham when he "considered not his own body" (Romans 4:19).
6. Consider fellow believers, for we are charged to "consider one
another" (Hebrews 10:24).
7. Consider the Lord Jesus in His Priesthood and Apostleship
(Hebrews 3:1).

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(c) 2002 Peter Wade
http://www.peterwade.com/
http://www.inChristRadio.net/