#44/ 04 Mar 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 MARCH
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ONLY 23 LEFT !!!
"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! 

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DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
2003 International Bible Conference, January 3-9, at Halls Gap,
Victoria, Australia. Three teaching sessions a day, plus an
optional workshop or sharing. Teachers include Peter Wade, Norman
Campbell, and others to be announced. 
   US visitors: what a great time to see Australia -- the
airlines want your business and your dollar equals about $1.90
Australian! Escape the northern winter and get good teaching,
fellowship and fun, and you watch the kangaroos every morning and
evening! New web pages will be on our site shortly about this
outstanding event.
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INSIGHTS FROM MY WRITING
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......................SATAN'S PLAN

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ" (II Corinthians 11:3).

Paul is referring to the story of deception in Genesis 3:1-13,
where Eve was tempted by Satan. God confronted Eve in verse 13:
"And the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have
done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me and I ate.'"
Satan was able to influence Eve, first by suggesting she question
the integrity of the Word of God, then to doubt it, and finally
to twist it around completely to the opposite meaning.
   Satan deceived Eve; he did not attack her physically, but he
worked on her mind. God reminds me of this incident to warn me
that Satan will attack me in the very same manner, that is, he
will attack my mind.
   God also warns me that the area of attack will be that of "the
simplicity that is in Christ." Satan will attempt to complicate
and confuse the truth of the Word regarding who I am and what God
has done for me in Christ. Satan's plan is to get me to not
believe that Christ is my life, that I am blessed with all
spiritual blessings and am absolutely complete in Him. Satan will
continue to attack "the simplicity that is in Christ." (From
"Renewing Your Mind", Chapter 1, by Peter Wade, adapted by Hildy
Matthews.)
   AFFIRMATION: As long as I understand that Satan's plan is to
attack my mind, I can stand on the truth of God's Word to follow
with confidence God's plan for my life.

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INSIGHTS FROM MY READING
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In God's reckoning, the work of the Cross has been once for all
finished. We should always make this distinction. When we reckon
upon Christ's death FOR US and our DEATH WITH HIM, we use the
past tense, saying with Paul: "I have been crucified...", "Our
old man was crucified...", "Reckon yourselves... to be dead...".
In these and many other instances Paul pictures our union
"together with Him". We are delivered from sin's guilt and its
power by reckoning on our identification with the finished work
of Christ on the Cross. There is a finality--we are to reckon on
what is past.
   There are some who confuse this with another of Paul's
statements and assume we are called to "die daily" to sin. NO!
Paul insists we are DEAD TO SIN. From the time of our first
knowledge of Christ's redemptive work, and our appropriation by
reckoning it ours, we have been dead to sin. In any dispute with
Satan, or uprising of the flesh, we reckon from the time of our
FIRST RECKONING. It is always past! Finished!
   When Paul said, "I die daily", he was not saying that we are
called to die daily to sin. It is just at this point many confuse
the "work" of the Cross and the "way" of the Cross. The first is
a past tense reality which we reckon upon. The latter is a
present tense reality which we share with Christ continually...
Paul says, "I die daily". The context is very plain. There is no
reference to dying to sin. The apostle speaks of his daily
willingness to hazard his life for the gospel. The passage read,
"If the dead rise not... why stand we in jeopardy every hour?....
I die daily. If by the manner of men I have fought with beasts at
Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?" 
(I Corinthians 15:30-32).
   From "The Ultimate Intention" by DeVern Fromke. 

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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.

"That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all
things" (Titus 2:10).

Here are two ideas which flash with a surprising brilliance. The
first is that the doctrine of God our Saviour can be adorned; and
the second is that those who are spoken of as able to do it are
slaves. Perhaps we shall understand the first better, if we begin
with the second. The word "servants" here is distinctly the word
for slaves, and it may well be conceived that the conditions of
slaves in Crete, where Titus was labouring, were of the worst.
Paul had already said that the testimony of one of their own
prophets was true that the Cretans were liars, evil beasts,
gluttons. Slavery in a society of such must have been a terrible
thing. 
   Among these slaves there were some who were saints, and these
were declared able in the very life of slavery, to "adorn the
doctrine." Moreover, the Apostle had declared how they would do
it. It would be done by subjection to their masters; by seeking
to be well-pleasing, by not gainsaying; by honesty, by
faithfulness; in short, by such action in difficult circumstances
as to win from their very masters a recognition of their
goodness. Thus we see how "the doctrine of God our Saviour" may
"be adorned." It is adorned when its effects on life and
character are expressed in conduct. To be true and gentle and
faithful in circumstances that are hard and unfair, and even
unjust, is only possible in the power of some great spiritual
conviction; and the value of such spiritual conviction is
revealed in such conduct.

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INSIGHTS FROM BIBLE STUDY (F.E. Marsh)
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CONTENTMENT
"Godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Tim. 6:6).
Contention and contentment are the same in the contents of their
first two syllables, but what a difference in their contents as a
whole. The Greek words "arkeo" and "arketos" give a chain of
Scriptures which tell of the soul and secret of contentment. The
words are rendered "enough", "sufficient", "suffice", and
"content".
1. A Dark Past. "The time past of our life may suffice us" 
(I Peter 4:3).
2. A Divine Saviour. "Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us",
etc. (John 14:8).
3. A Glorious Assurance. "My grace is sufficient for thee" 
(II Corinthians 12:9).
4. A Happy Companionship. "It is enough that the disciple be as
His Lord " (Matthew 10:25).
5. An Imperative Command. "Be content with such things as ye
have" (Hebrews 13:5).
6. A Needful Reminder. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof" (Matthew 6:34).
7. A Contented Conclusion. "Having food and raiment, let us
therewith be content" (I Timothy 6:8).

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