#45/ 24 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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AT EASTER
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See our new Easter home page at http://www.peterwade.com/ . Enjoy
the special articles we have selected for you to read. Remember,
"It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!"

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DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
2003 International Bible Conference, January 3-9, at Halls Gap,
Victoria, Australia. Full details are now ONLINE -- follow the
link from our Home Page.
   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 NOW on our site about this outstanding event.
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INSIGHTS FROM MY WRITING
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                           GOD'S PLAN

"Then we will no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind and doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive"
(Ephesians 4:14).

God's plan is for us to be mature, not to be minors in
understanding. One of the signs of being a child is to be tossed
to and fro by every outward circumstance. This verse speaks of
being "carried about with every wind of doctrine". What that means
to me is that if I hear some religious leader or evangelist or
even a friend tell me that I have to pray half the night for needs
God has already provided for me, then I might be tempted to swing
from one doctrine to another.  
   This tossing back and forth is not the normal Christian life.
God tells me how Satan works in this situation. He uses "the
trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in
wait to deceive". Deception originates in the mind. Thus I see
that Satan's attack on the believer is almost identical to his
attack on the unbeliever, for with both classes of people he works
on their minds.
   If Satan can get the unbeliever to think about something else
apart from the Word of God, he has accomplished his purpose. And
if he can deceive the believer into not walking on the basis of
God's Word, then God's kingdom is hindered in its advance and the
believer does not enjoy his liberty in Christ nor the more than
abundant life. 
   In I Corinthians 14:20 I read: "Brethren, do not be children in
understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding
be mature."
   Renewing my mind to God's Word means that I replace my old
values and thoughts with the attitudes, beliefs, and concepts of
God as revealed in His Word. (From "Renewing Your Mind", Chapter
1, by Peter Wade, adapted by Hildy Matthews.)
   AFFIRMATION: I will put God's Plan for my life into action by
studying and learning from His Word so that I can discern when
Satan is attacking me and then stand firm on God's Word.

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INSIGHTS FROM MY READING
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OUR PRESENTATION -- THEN OUR UNVEILING
We are now waiting! As His own begotten ones we are waiting for
the return of our Lord in the air when we shall be caught away to
be presented before Him "without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing." ... In that day we will be ready with the Lord Jesus to
share in the government which shall be upon His shoulder (Rom.
8:19-25; Eph. 3:10-11; 5:27). J.B. Phillips has so well portrayed
this in Romans 8:18: "In my opinion whatever we may have to go
through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent
future God has planned for us. The whole creation is on tip-toe to
see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own."
   What could be more wonderful than to realize that we have been
predestined "unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself"
(Eph. 1:5). The word "children" in the Authorized Version is out
of harmony with Paul's idea of adoption, and so is the preposition
"of." The Greek. word "huiothesia," denoting "sonship," is used
instead of "children." "Adoption of children" is acceptable to the
English mind, where we think of children as the subjects of
adoption. But Paul is speaking of "born ones" who are destined to
a place of full maturity, responsibility, and authority in the
family of God.
   Paul had the ear of a poet and a seer. "We know," he says,
"that all creation groaneth and travaileth." He sees nature as
unsatisfied -- the thunders are complaining, the rolling years are
moaning, the winds are wailing, and the flowers are withering.
Something must happen.
   "For (even the whole) creation (all nature) waits expectantly
and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known -- waits for
the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship " (Rom. 8:19 Ampl.)
Creation here can only mean the world of nature. It cannot mean
the sons of God, for they are that which is awaited. It cannot
mean the evil world system, because none of it will share in the
glory. It cannot mean the angels, because they are not described
in the creation story. There is only one possible meaning. It is
this: the physical, material world of plants, animals and earth
which God has made as the habitation of His family, groans and
suffers along with us under a condition of mortality and
corruption.
   Not only so! "... we ourselves, who have the first fruits of
the Spirit, are groaning within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption" (the placing in full sonship). For while we know we are
God's children, we are waiting for the son's robe. Our robes are
now ragged. This corruptible body is not good enough for sons, we
are waiting for the redemption of the body. Until sonship is
complete we rejoice to be in the family; and while we are able to
say "Hallelujah," there is ever another cry, "Even so, come
(quickly) Lord Jesus."
   The Phillips' version says, "It is plain to anyone with eyes to
see that at the present time all created life groans in a sort of
universal travail. And it is plain, too, that we who have the
foretaste of the Spirit are in a state of tension, while we wait
for that redemption of our bodies which will at last mean we have
REALIZED OUR FULL SONSHIP IN HIM" (Rom. 8:23). 
   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.

"They who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works"
(Titus 3:8)

The alternative reading suggested in the Revised Version, "careful
to profess honest occupations", helps us to understand what was in
the mind of the Apostle when he wrote these words. The whole
chapter reveals the kind of world in the midst of which these
Cretan Christians were living. It was characterized by
insubordination to authority, by laziness, by disaffection and
contention, and by every form of evil excess. Moreover, it was
intellectually a world of wrangling and disputes over all sorts of
things. In the midst of such conditions the Christians stood
fundamentally as those who believed God. To believe God is to
believe His Word, His revelation of the true order of life. Those
who stood on that belief could testify to the power of it in no
better way than that of good works, that is, by following a quiet
and diligent life of devotion to duty, in callings which in
themselves were honest. And that is always so. 
   There is no more powerful force for rebuking all evil things,
whether of conduct or of opinion, than that of the quiet, strong,
persistent life of man or woman who goes on from day to day doing
the duties of the day well, cheerfully, and with joy. It is not
easy; and that is recognized in the very verb employed. They are
"to be careful"; that is, they are to make it a study, to take
thought about it. It is not easy, but it is worth while.

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INSIGHTS FROM BIBLE STUDY (F.E. Marsh)
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CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
The whole fabric of Christianity rests upon Christ's Resurrection.
It is --
1. The keystone to the arch of truth -- II Tim. 2:8. 
2. The warrant to faith -- Rom. 10:9,10.
3. The pith of the Gospel -- I Cor. 15:3,4. 
4. The ground of hope -- I Thess. 4:13,14. 
5. The harbinger of glory -- I Peter 1:3.
6. The evidence of the supernatural -- Eph. 1:19,20. 
7. The incentive to holiness -- Rom. 6:4.
8. The basis of assurance -- Rom. 8:33-39.

CHRIST'S RESURRECTION ("Proofs") Acts 1:3
There are many "infallible proofs" of Christ's resurrection. Among
the proofs may be noted:
1. God-ward, it was the display of God's power -- Eph. 1:19,20.
2. Christ-ward, it was the declaration of His Sonship -- Rom. 1:4.
3. Spirit-ward, it is the demonstration of His life -- Rom. 8:11.
4. Believer-ward, it is the denomination of God's grace -- 
   Eph. 2:1-4.
5. Hell-ward, it was the defeat of Satan's realm -- Rev. 1:18. 
6. Death-ward, it is the destroyer of sin's sting -- I Cor. 
   15:54-57.
7. Glory-ward, it is the day-star of hope's assurance -- I Thess. 
   4:13-18.
Other proofs might be enumerated, such as the undisturbed clothes
in the sepulchre -- John 20:4-9; the many witnesses who saw Him
alive -- Acts 10:40,41; and the difference Christ made in the
lives of those who received Him -- I Cor. 6:9-11.

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