Virginia Brandt Berg in Activated

01

INDEX ON VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG ARTICLES IN ACTIVATED

ARTICLE PAGE

Streams that Never Run Dry 4

Christmas Rush, or Christmas Reason? 7

A Sense of Values 9

Put God on the Spot 11

The Choice 13

The True Christmas 15

Beginning Again 17

Finding Faith for Miracles 19

Rest and Repose 21

The Light Breaks in 23

Conformity or Conviction? 24

The Lower Lights 26

Strength from Weakness 27

Sickness – Punishment or Plan? 29

The Tongue 30

Baca 32

New Beginnings 34

How to Have a Happier Home 36

Be Still 38

It’s So Because God Said So 40

Thoughts 42

Blackout 44

The Measure of Faith 46

Boomerang 48

Forgiveness 50

Forgetting the Past 51

Renewing Your Mind 52

Year by Year, Day by Day 53

Co fort i Life’s Dark Hour 55

The Extra Allowance 57

Loneliness and the Cure 59

The Healer 61

Portrait of Love 62

The Miraculous 63

Wings from Weights 64

God Does ’t Cha ge with the Years 65

Fixed Determination 66

The Road to Happiness 68

Transformed 69

02

ALPHABETICAL INDEX

ARTICLE PAGE

A Sense of Values 9

Baca 32

Be Still 38

Beginning Again 17

Blackout 44

Boomerang 48

Christmas Rush, or Christmas Reason? 7

Co fort i Life’s Dark Hour 55

Conformity or Conviction? 24

Finding Faith for Miracles 19

Fixed Determination 66

Forgetting the Past 51

Forgiveness 50

God Does ’t Cha ge with the Years 65

How to Have a Happier Home 36

It’s So Because God Said So 40

Loneliness and the Cure 59

New Beginnings 34

Portrait of Love 62

Put God on the Spot 11

Renewing Your Mind 52

Rest and Repose 21

Sickness – Punishment or Plan? 29

Streams that Never Run Dry 4

Strength from Weakness 27

The Choice 13

The Extra Allowance 57

The Healer 61

The Light Breaks in 23

The Lower Lights 26

The Measure of Faith 46

The Miraculous 63

The Road to Happiness 68

The Tongue 30

The True Christmas 15

Thoughts 42

Transformed 69

Wings from Weights 64

Year by Year, Day by Day 53

03

i

can never forget the day when it dawned upon my consciousness as a reality, a fact, that the promises of the Bible were practical, that they could actually be

applied to my everyday needs. It was a revelation to me that God meant exactly what He said in the numerous promises given in His Word, and that He would fulill them to the very letter if I, in faith, would reach out and claim them in a deinite manner.

God’s Word said that I had been given “exceed-ingly great and precious promises,” that through them I might be “partaker of the divine nature.”1 But to my limited understanding, those prom-ises were only beautiful scripture language, never meant to be taken seriously or applied practically.

I was like the very ignorant woman many years ago who had lived most of her life hidden way back in the highlands of Scotland, and who was so poor that her church had to pay her rent for her.

One day when her pastor brought the monthly rent, he said, “Mrs. McKintrick, why is it that your boy does not support you? I understand he has a very good job in Australia, and that he is a good boy who loves you dearly. Is this not the case?”

“Oh yes,” said the mother, “and he never forgets me. Every week he writes me the most loving letter.”

Curious to know more about a son who could so love his mother and yet leave her without support, the pastor asked to see some of the letters.

Soon the woman returned with two packages. “hese are his letters,” she said, handing him the irst package, “and these are the pretty pictures he

sends me with every letter. hey it nicely in the letter, and it shows he thinks about me.”

“A picture in every letter.” he pastor was more curious than ever. “May I see them also?”

“Oh, surely,” she answered. “Some are of a man’s head, some of a man sitting on a horse, and some have the king’s picture on them. See, this one here has the King of England. Long live the king!”

“Long live your son!” said the astonished pastor. “Why, my dear friend, do you know that you are a rich woman? his is money. You have wealth here! And to think of how you have sufered and done without, when right here in the house all the time you had riches that you thought were just pretty pictures!”

his was surely my trouble when it came to the promises in God’s Word. I thought they were just pretty pictures, just beautiful language. Little did I realize just how literally God wanted me to take His promises!

In God’s Word you and I have been given exceed-ingly great and precious promises—and there are hundreds of them. Limitless resources! Streams that never run dry.

By Virginia Brandt Berg

Little did I realize just how

literally God wanted me to

take His promises

12 Peter 1:4

4

04

EXPECTANCY

Christians are divided into two types: those who pray and really expect something to happen, and those who just pray and do not expect anything to happen.

Prayer is irst a means to an end, a connecting link between our human needs and God’s divine resources. Prayer is not meant to be a “pious reverie” that has only a subconscious efect on us. Prayer is an intensely practical thing, as real, as uniform, as genuine as using the telephone. And the party at the other end of the line—God Himself—says to us, “Ask and it will be given to you. You do not have because you do not ask.”2

ACCEPTANCE

It is our part to do the taking, His to do the giving. he Scripture says, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”3 When we ask in prayer, then is the time to believe—and if we do, we will receive.

“Now this is the conidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”4 It does not say we are going to have, but it says we have. We have it now, not because any of our senses testify to it, but because God has said so.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”5 Faith is believ-ing that God is going to answer, even if you can’t see the answer yet. It is not what we think about it, but what God says about it that counts. It is not what we feel, but what faith claims.

APPROPRIATING FAITH

Attempting to teach the principle of appropriat-ing faith to the members of his church, a preacher once ofered his expensive pocket watch to a group of boys sitting on the front row.

“Sonny, would you like to have this watch?” he asked the oldest boy.

“You can’t fool me! I know you don’t mean it,” answered the boy.

he question was repeated to the next boy, and again and again down the line. Each time came a similar answer.

At last the preacher ofered the watch to a little fellow about ive years old, who was sitting on the edge of his seat, his bright, eager eyes focused in-tently on the preacher’s face.

“Little man, would you like ...” hat was enough. A chubby hand quickly grabbed the watch and in-stantly pocketed the gift. While wiggling back on the seat, the boy said with a satisied, grown-up sigh that it was just what he had been wanting all the time.

After the service, the other boys crowded around the preacher and protested. “How were we

2Matthew 7:7; James 4:23Mark 11:2441 John 5:14–155Hebrews 11:1

5

05

supposed to know you really meant it?” “hat’s just the kind of watch I was wanting.” “If you really meant it, why didn’t you put it in my hand, or ask me again, so I’d know?”

Only the youngest boy had appropriating faith, and he put his faith into action.

ACTION

Many people believe the promises of God, but in sort of an impersonal, indeinite way: “Oh yes, they apply in general, but not speciically to me or this situation.” Whereas the person who gets results is he who, when he has asked God for something, acts on his faith and proceeds as if he possesses. He takes

God at His Word on some promise and counts it done. his is often called the “stand of faith.”

A splendid illustration of this is found in the Bible passage where Jesus told the lepers who came to Him for healing to go show themselves to the priest for cleansing. Jesus hadn’t healed them yet, but the scripture says that, “As they went, they were healed.” As they put their faith into action and obeyed, even though they hadn’t yet seen the answer to their prayers, God met them.6 When we put forth the efort of a believing will, God honors that step and meets us. As someone once said, “When faith goes to market, it takes a basket along.”

THE STAND OF FAITH

One time I had prayed and done everything else that I knew to do, yet there was no answer to my prayer. I had come to the end of myself and could do nothing more. Why didn’t God answer?

As I turned the pages of my Bible and prayed, my eyes fell on these very words: “Having done all, stand.”7 Immediately I saw the truth. I had been virtually blaming the Lord for not answering my prayer, when I had not been doing my part at all. I hadn’t taken the stand of faith.

So I began to praise and thank Him that the answer was on the way. Within six hours I saw that answer, but it was no more mine then than when I had irst taken the stand of faith. It had already been mine by faith. We see because we have believed, not believe because we have seen.

Faith is not some great thing, not some glori-ous feeling, not some wonderful sensation, as many think, but it is simply taking God at His Word. Just as your hand reaches out and takes ahold of some-thing, so faith is the spiritual hand that reaches out and takes ahold of the promises of God and appro-priates them.

So make the connection with God today through prayer, bringing your requests to Him and claiming His promises. He never fails! 1

(Excerpted from Virginia Brandt Berg’s book

of the same title.)

When faith goes to

market, it takes a

basket along

6Luke 17:12–147Ephesians 6:13

6

06

I was standing in the doorway of a department store a few Christmases ago, enjoying a lovely nativity scene in a store window, when a mother and her little girl came hurrying by.

Catching a glimpse of the beautiful scene, the child grabbed her mother’s hand and exclaimed, “Mama! Mama! Please let me stop for a minute and look at Jesus!” But her mother replied wearily that they weren’t even half through with their shop-ping list and didn’t have time to stop—and walked on, dragging her disappointed daughter behind her.

The child’s words rang in my heart for a long time after that. Please let me stop for a minute and look at Jesus. I thought of all the minutes that had sped by me that busy Christmas in the mad rush of life that is accelerated at the height of the shopping season. How many minutes had I spent shopping and buying presents and pre-paring decorations and food in the great wind-up to Christmas, and how many had I spent with the One whose birth and life is the true meaning of this celebrative season?

Jesus is always so very close to us. He is “at our right hand” and “closer than a brother” (Psalm 16:8; Proverbs 18:24). He is within speaking distance. His birth is the essence of Christmas. His gifts to all—peace, love, and joy of heart—are the essential magic of Christmas. With arms outstretched He holds out these gifts to us and says, “Come to Me. I will give you rest. Learn from Me, and you will fi nd rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–30). But these we will never receive if we forge on, endless shopping and to-do lists in hand, too busy to stop and even notice He’s right there.

Like the old saying, “Dew never falls on a stormy night,” we rarely experience the sweetness and joy of time spent with Jesus while in an anxious and feverish rush of accomplishment. But the dew of Heaven and the blessings of Christmas fall peace-fully on our hearts and lives when we stop

Christmas

Rush, or

Christmas

Reason?BY VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG

4 activated December 2001 07

for a moment to get quiet and remember Him. To go on without Him is forfeiting the only real, lasting joy and perfect love that can be experienced in this life and shared forever.

Why don’t we stop and enjoy—really enjoy—what Christmas means? Cut down our task lists. Enjoy the beauty. There are so many wonderful things about Christ-mas and so many beautiful things to see. It would be a shame to miss it all, wrapping this and wrapping that, rushing for this last thing and that, cooking and preparing so much for a feast, cluttering our Christ-mas with so many unnecessary things. And should we not stop to enjoy anything of life until after Christmas, the fury with which we proceed will send us reeling into the New Year sighing, “I just survived Christ-mas!”

Jesus came to bless our lives. That is why we have Christmas. He said He came to bring us life, and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). And the apostle Paul tells us, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Peace and life in all their

fullness need not elude us. They are ours to enjoy this Christmas if we’ll give Jesus a chance in our lives and a place in our hearts.

Let me take a minute with Jesus. The true presence of Christmas is found with Him. Let the celebration of His birth touch my heart in a new way this year. Let me learn more about the gifts He gave me so long ago on Christmas. Let me be a part of Christmas itself by being more like Him. Let me stop and look at Jesus.

Dear Jesus, I want each day that comesTo share some part with You,Where I can sit, receive Your peace,And hear You speak to me.

A place where I can turn asideAnd leave the cares of life,Where I can get the strength I needTo banish storm and strife.

A quiet, serene, and trusting placeWhere You alone can give

The very blessing that I need—Here would I rest and live. ★

“LORD, FORGIVE!”The day before Christmas had been full

of incidents, some of them unpleasant. Father seemed to be burdened with worries as well as bundles. Mother’s anxiety had reached the break-ing point on many occasions throughout the day. Wherever the little girl went, she seemed to be in the way. Finally she was hustled off to bed. The feverish excitement of the Christmas planning had completely unnerved her. As she knelt by her bed to pray the Lord’s Prayer, she got all mixed up and prayed, “Forgive us our Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us.”

As we watch the tense, nervous shoppers this season, we might feel like praying as the little girl did, “Forgive us our Christmases.”

—AUTHOR UNKNOWN

activated December 2001 5 08

I WAS SITTING IN A LITTLE COFFEE SHOP overlooking the ocean, watch-ing the boats far out to sea. Sud-denly I became conscious that a man at the next table was saying something interesting, and loudly enough for everyone around him to hear. His companion had asked him the question, “Why did you dismiss Henry from your offi ce staff?”

“Because he had no sense of values,” the man replied. “He didn’t value life, health, or money, and this began to affect my business. When-ever I wanted him, he was taking a coffee break. It seemed to me that he valued a cup of coffee more than his job—and I warned him about that a number of times.”

A light wind had risen, and the little sailboats on the hori-zon skimmed over the water. As I watched them and thought about Henry, I wondered how many people like him just skim over the surface of life, never having any sense of values and living off the nonessentials while the things that are truly worthwhile in life get

crowded out.Can you imagine someone

ruining an expensive pair of gloves by picking up a penny from an oily driveway, or lighting a dollar bill to fi nd a lost penny in the gutter? Well, there are people like Henry who do that with their lives, and they do it because they lack a sense of values.

I wonder sometimes if that’s what’s the matter with our confused world. On a stupendous scale, we have put the emphasis on material things instead of spiritual things.

Jesus’ emphasis was always on the spiritual. What’s the great, outstanding purpose of life? What are we here for? God has entrusted us with the sacred responsibili-ties of loving Him, pleasing Him, and loving others, but do we truly put those things fi rst? Too often we shove God and the things of the spirit aside in order to give some trivial, momentary interest fi rst place.

When that’s the case, all of life is thrown out of balance and the result is only disharmony and confusion,

A sense of valuesBy Virginia Brandt Berg

10 activated August 2002 09

LOOKING FOR LIFE?If you’re looking for meaning in life and want to put priority on things of eternal

value, the fi rst step is to receive the most precious gift ever bestowed—salvation, the

promise of eternal life in Heaven. All you have to do is open your heart and life to the

gift-giver, Jesus, by sincerely praying a prayer like this one:

Thank You, Jesus, for the great gift You are offering me—forgiveness for my sins

and eternal life with You in Heaven. I open my heart to You and accept this gift that

You paid for with Your own life when You died for me on the cross. Please give me a

new life, a fresh start, with Your sense of values. Help me to learn to know You better,

fi nd Your plan for me, and to love You and others more. Amen. •

and the only remedy is to put God back in His rightful place.

Are the things that really matter in the proper perspective in your life? Do you have a sense of values? Or do you let little trivialities and material things come before your relation-ship with God or fi nding His best for you through reading His Word and prayer?

The Bible contains the Word of God. There’s life in that Word. It’s food for your soul and absolutely essential to your spiritual growth. If you excuse yourself by saying you don’t have time for it, then your soul will suffer; you will be stunted spiritually.

Prayer is communion with God. Without prayer, you go through life powered only by your own puny strength and wisdom, when you could have His. God’s Word says, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), but it also says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians4:13). The Lord’s strength comes only through prayer and reading His Word.

A friend of mine spent all of her years scraping, digging, and slaving to build and decorate a little cottage where she could be comfortable for

a few years, and just a few months after it was fi nished she was stricken with an incurable disease. While I was at her bedside she said to me, “Time is closing in on me! I spent the little time I had on things that don’t have a bit of value in the place where I’m going.” She had a sense of values, but too late. How sad!

I wish sometimes we could see all the events of life framed in the results they lead to. What a change there would be in our lives! We wouldn’t give priority to trivialities when eternal things are calling.

The one that lives only for today instead of for eternity has no sense of values. Every day some-one will say, not in words, perhaps, but by his actions, “I just don’t care about getting a mansion in Heaven. I’m not interested in eter-nal things. Give me a mansion here instead, or a little fame and glory. I’ll take my satisfaction here.” And the King of kings who has offered him a crown of glory and an eternal Home among the mansions of Heaven is put aside for these “other things” that really have no value. Please don’t let that be you! •

No one

will ever

be great in

life or soul

without a

sense of

values.

activated August 2002 11 10

You are coming to a King, Large petitions with you bring; For His grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much!

—John Newton (1725–1807)

PUTPUTGOD GGODGODON ONTHETHE

SPOTSPOT

Proceed as if possessing


After you have asked God for something, take action. Act on your faith. Put God on the spot by show-ing Him that you believe so strongly that He is going to answer that you are going ahead as if He had already answered.

When I was the pastor of a church in Wagoner, Oklahoma, there was a girl named Etta, who wanted very much to go to college to pre-pare for Christian service. For two years she prayed for money to pay her tuition, and during the second year she got deeply in debt. The situation looked impossible.

She came to me in tears and much discouraged. I asked her if she knew that it was God’s will for her to go, and she answered that she was absolutely sure it was.

“Then I would certainly not wait any longer,” I said. “You’ve been asking the Lord for the money for two years, but you have never shown by your actions that you really expect Him to send it. If you really believed He was going to answer your prayer and give you the funds you need, what would you do?”

“I’d get my clothes ready, write the school that I was coming, and make all the other arrangements,” Etta answered.

“Then that is exactly what I would do if I were you. Stand on His promise and make the necessary arrangements, just as you would if you had the money in your hand. Real faith would proceed as if it

8 activated VOL 3, ISSUE 1011

had already happened. If someone were to promise you the money, you would believe them, but God Himself has already promised in His Word, in Psalm 37:4, to give you the desire of your heart, yet you don’t believe Him.”

“But Mrs. Berg,” the dear girl answered, “I do believe Him! I’ll prove it! I’m going home to pack my clothes and get ready. School opens in a very short time, and I’ll have to hurry.”

Etta never wavered from that moment on. She went straight ahead with her preparations, just as if she already had the funds. She was positive that the Bank of Heaven would open its windows at just the right time.

The day before she was sup-posed to leave, she phoned me to say that her clothing and other belongings were all ready to pack, but she had no suitcase. Over the phone we claimed the Scripture promise, “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory” (Philippians 4:19). Then I went about my work and forgot the incident.

About an hour later a friend phoned. She was cleaning house, she said, and found a number of things she didn’t need any longer and wanted to get rid of, including a large suitcase. She wondered if I could use it.

“You’re fi lling an order from Heaven,” I said with a laugh, “only you have the wrong address. The Lord wants the suitcase sent to Etta’s home.”

The next night a number of us went to the train station to see Etta off to college. “Mrs. Berg,” she whispered, “the money hasn’t come yet, but I am not the least bit frightened. I absolutely know the Lord has heard my prayer and I know that I have what I asked Him for” (1 John 5:14–15).

I thought there must have been a mistake some-where. Some friends had told me they had taken a col-lection amongst themselves to help Etta, but...

Just then I heard the train whistle in the distance and saw the glow of the headlight. Etta searched my face for a clue. What could I say?

Suddenly one of the people who had taken the collection came running up to us. “I was doing some work at the offi ce, when I remembered the money the others had given me to give to Etta,” he said. “And here is some more—a gift from my wife and me.”

“And here is more,” said another friend who had also just come to see Etta off.

“All aboard!” called the conductor. “All aboard!”“All aboard God’s promises!” I said to Etta. “It pays

to believe, doesn’t it?”“It’s wonderful,” she answered, “simply wonderful,

what faith can do!” •

PRAYER FOR THEDAY

PRAYERPRAYERPRAYERFORFORFORTTHETHEDAYDAYDAY

Prayer for the day

When I am with You, Jesus, I know

that everything’s going to be okay;

You’re going to work everything out. I

know You’re going to take care of all the

other things I thought I should be doing

instead, because when I put them all

aside to be with You, that’s when You tell

me, “Now I can do them for you. ” Thank

You for carrying the load and handling

all the problems I would be struggling

with right now on my own if I weren’t

here, bringing them to You. •

activated VOL 3, ISSUE 10 9

12

HAVEYOUEVERTHOUGHTABOUTthe

choiceMoseshadtomakewhenhe

forsookEgypt?Thatchoiceiswhat

madeMosesgreat.Solomonisknown

forhiswisdom,Danielforhisvision,

Davidforhispsalms,andPeterforhis

zeal,butMoseswasgreatbecauseof

thechoicehemade.

WereadinHebrewschapter11

thatMosesisincludedamongthe

heroesoffaithinGod’shalloffame:

“ByfaithMoses,whenhewascometo

years,refusedtobecalledthesonof

Pharaoh’sdaughter;choosingrather

tosufferaflictionwiththepeopleof

God,thantoenjoythepleasuresofsin

foraseason;esteemingthereproach

ofChristgreaterrichesthanthe

treasuresinEgypt:forhehadrespect

untotherecompenseofthereward”

(Hebrews11:24–26KJV).

Moses,whomasababePharaoh’s

daughterhadfoundinabasketintall

reedsalongtheNileRiver,wasreared

inPharaoh’spalaceinwealthand

privilege.Butwhenhecameofage,

hehadtomakeachoice.Hewasa

Hebrew,notanEgyptian:Wouldhebe

TheChoiceBYV

IRGINIAB

RANDTB

ERG

4 activated VOL4,ISSUE10 activated VOL4,ISSUE10 5

13

truetoEgyptandwearthecrownof

thepharaohs,orwouldhechoosehis

ownpeople?

Whatacrisisitwasforthisyoung

man,Moses!Imaginehimclimbing

tosomehighplaceandlookingatthe

lightsofthepalaceastheytwinkled

fromtheimperialcity—thepalace

withallitsrichesandbeauty,the

thingsthathehadbeenusedtoall

hislife.Thenhelookedsouthtoward

thepyramids,wherehisownpeople

workedasslavesofPharaoh,making

bricks.Astheyworkedtothesoundof

theslavedriver’swhip,Moses’heart

burnedwithinhim.Theywerehis

people,butifhechosetobeoneof

them,hewouldhavetoforgetallthe

comfortandluxuryhehadalways

had;hewouldwearthedespisedgarb

oftheslavesandrenounceforeverhis

fostermother,Pharaoh’sdaughter.

Buthemadehischoice,asGod’sWord

says,“tosufferaflictionwiththe

peopleofGod[rather]thantoenjoy

thepleasuresofsinforaseason.”

Nowthese“pleasuresofsin”were

moretemptingthanonemightthink

fromthissimplestatement,because

Egyptatthattimewasthemost

attractivespotonearth.Hergranaries

wereburstingwithgrain,andthe

wealthoftheworldpouredintoher

treasury—andMosescouldhavebeen

heirtoitall!

Moseshadbeeneducated“inall

thewisdomoftheEgyptians”(Acts

7:22),soheknewexactlywhatsuch

achoicewouldmean:turningfrom

thepossessionsofthemightiest

empireonearthtoslavery.Buthewas

notonlyeducatedandwise,hewas

farsighted;hewaswillingtosacriice

presentpleasureforfuturegain.“He

hadrespectuntotherecompenseof

thereward.”Inotherwords,heknew

thatthepleasuresofsinwereonly

foramoment,butGod’srewardfor

choosingrightlywasforalleternity.

Mosesunderstoodthatwithout

God’sfavoramillionaireisonlya

pauper.TheapostlePaulwroteof

Jesus,“ThoughHewasrich,yetfor

yoursakesHebecamepoor”(2Cor-

inthians8:9).Thisisthechoicethat

Mosesmadetoo.

Moses’choiceentailedpovertyand

sufferingandterriblehumiliation,

buthedecidedhewouldratherbe

theleastofGod’schildrenhereand

wearacrownforeverinHeaven

(James1:12;Revelation2:10).Andso

hetookastandwithGod’schildren,

thathemightstandwiththembefore

theeternalKing.

StandingwithMosesonthesteps

ofthepalaceitmayhavelookedlike

afoolishchoice,butstandingonthe

stepsofthethroneofGodinHeaven,

asMoseslooksback,whatawiseand

gloriouschoiceitwas!Hebecameone

oftheworld’sgreatestleaders,andhis

inluencereachestothisveryday.

Somanytodayareshort-sighted

whentheymaketheirchoices;they

canseeonlythepresent.Theysell

outthefutureforthepresent.They’re

blindtotherewardthatcouldhave

beentheirs.

Whataboutyourchoices?Doyou

sufferfromshort-sightednessofthe

soul,spiritualmyopia,whereyou’re

livingmostlyforthepresent?Ordo

youkeepyourheartandmindonthe

greatrewardGodhaspromisedto

thosewhoputHimandHiskingdom

irst?

Arepleasuresblindingyourvision

tothegreatrewardGodhasinstore

foryou?Therealitiesofeternityare

pleasuresforevermore!Godlovesyou

andhasgreatplansforyourlife,but

Heleavesthechoicetoyou.Makethe

rightone.•

Ifhechoseto

beoneofthem,

hewouldhave

toforgetallthe

comfortand

luxuryhehad

alwayshad.


14

ThetrueChristmasSOMEPEOPLECANNOTUNDERSTAND

howGodcouldhavecomedownand

beenwrappedinhumanflesh,but

Hecame.Thatisn’tstrangetome.In

fact,itisquiteeasyformetobelieve

becauseIseeJesusborninhuman

heartseveryday.Hecomesandlives

inheartsandtransformslives,andto

methat’sagreatmiracle—thatHecan

beborninyourheartandmyheart

andlivethereinourhearts,identify-

ingHimselfwithusthatway.

God’sWordsaysthatJesusshallbe

called“wonderful.”“UntousaChild

isborn,untousaSonisgiven;and

thegovernmentwillbeuponHis

shoulder.AndHisnamewillbecalled

wonderful,Counselor,MightyGod,

everlastingFather,PrinceofPeace”

(Isaiah9:6).

WonderfulHisnamebecauseHe

waswonderfulinHislife,goingabout

everywheredoinggoodandhealing

allthatwereoppressed(Acts10:38).

WonderfulHisdeathbecauseHedied

foryouandme,thatwemighthave

eternallife(1Peter2:24;1John4:9).

WonderfulHisresurrectionbecause

Herosefromthedead,thatwemay

alsoberesurrected(1Corinthians

15:20–21).Andwonderfulnowin

HislifeafterdeathbecauseHe

livestointercedeforus

(Hebrews7:25).

Butitisnotenough

thatChrist,theKing

ofkings,wasbornin

Bethlehembeneath

thestarthather-

aldedHiscoming;

Hemustbeborn

withinyourheart

beforeHefindsHis

throne.Won’tyou

letHimcomeinto

yourheart?

Perhapsyou’ve

seenthefamous

paintingbyWilliam

HolmanHuntin

whichJesusisseen

standingbeforea

THETRUECHRISTMAS

BYVIRGINIABRANDTBERG


ThetrueChristmasCHRISTMASPRAISES

AsyouandyourlovedonesgatherthisChristmas,youmaywanttotaketheopportunitytothanktheLordforallHegaveuswhenHecametoearthasababysolongago.

Herearesomeshortprayersofthanksgivingthatcanbereadprivatelyorinagroup,takingturns.

MayGodblessyouwithapraise-illedChristmas!

closeddoor,withalanterninhand.

SometimeafterHunthadfinished

whatwastobecomehismostfamous

work,someonecametohimandtold

himthathe’dmadeamistake:There

wasnodoorknob.“Ididn’tmakea

mistake,”Huntanswered.“Thedoor

mustbeopenedfromtheinside.The

doorknobisontheinside.”

Jesus,theSavior,canneverenter

adoorunlessitisopenedfromthe

inside.God’sWordsays,“Asmanyas

receivedHim,tothemHegavethe

righttobecomechildrenofGod”

(John1:12).ReceiveHimthisChrist-

mas!Hewilltransformyourlife.

WelcomeHimintoyourheart!

Ifyouhaven’tyetreceivedGod’s

mostwonderfulgift,Jesus,youcan

rightnowbyprayingthefollowing

prayer:

ThankYou,Jesus,forcomingto

earthandlivinglikeoneofus,for

sufferingallthethingsthatwego

throughsothatIcouldknowmy

heavenlyFather’slove.ThankYoufor

dyingforme,soIcanbereconciled

withHimandhaveeternallifein

Heaven.IreceiveYouasmySavior

now.Pleaseforgivemeforallthe

wrongsI’veevercommitted,andhelp

metogettoknowandloveYouina

deepandpersonalway.Amen.h

Christmas!—Howspecialthistimeis!ThankYou,Jesus,forgivingusthisspecialoccasiontoloveandenjoyYouandeachother.

ItwasthesongofangelsthatledtheshepherdstoYourside.Somaywe,bythesoundsofChristmas,beledtofallonourkneesinpraisefulworshipofYou.

ThewonderofYourlove,thetreasureofYourSpirit,thewarmthofYourtouch,thejoyofYourpresence,salvation,happiness,pur-pose,peaceofmind,andsomuchmore—thankYouforfreelygivingussomanygifts!

Happybirthday,Jesus!WeloveandpraiseYouforallYouhavedoneforus,andforbeingourspecialfriend.

YouarethesweetestOneweknow.HelpustoloveYounotonlyonChrist-masDay,buteverydaythroughouttheyear.

ThankYouforleavingHeaventobringabitofHeavendowntous.

YouaremorebeautifulthananyChristmastree,morewonderfulthananypresent,moreexcitingthananyChristmasparty!Yougivemeaningtoourlives.

JustlookwhatYoustarted,Jesus,bysayingyestoYourFatherwhenHeaskedYoutocomehereforoursakes!HelpmetoalwayssayyestoYouinreturn.

WithYouinourhearts,Christmastakesonanewandwonderfulmeaning.HelpustogiveYourlovetootherssotheycanenjoyChristmaslikewedo.

ThankYouforChristmas.ThankYouforgivingusthisspecialdaytoenjoyYouandeachother.ThankYouforlivinganddyingforus.ThankYoufortheunendinggiftoflifethatwecansharewithothers.


BeginningAgain

BYVIRGINIABRANDTBERG

TheLandofBeginningAgain

Iwishthereweresomewonderful

place

Called“TheLandofBeginningAgain,”

Whereallourmistakes

Andallourheartaches

Andallourpoorselishgreed,

Couldbedropped

Likeashabbyoldcoatatthedoor

Andneverputonagain.

Iwishwecouldcomeonitall

unawares

Likethehunterwhoindsalosttrail,

AndIwishthattheone

Whomourblindnesshasdone

Thegreatestinjusticeofall,

Couldbeatthegate

Likeanoldfriendwhowaits

Forthecomradehe’sgladdesttohail.

—LOUISEFLETCHERTARKINGTON


17

I’MGLADTOSAYTHEREISSUCHAPLACEasThe

LandofBeginningAgain,andyoucaninditno

matterwhoyouareorwhatyourpasthasbeen.You’ll

indthatplaceintheseversesfromtheBible:

“Thisisthemessagewhichwehaveheardfrom

Him[Jesus]anddeclaretoyou,thatGodislight

andinHimisnodarknessatall.…Ifwewalkinthe

lightasHeisinthelight,wehavefellowshipwith

oneanother,andthebloodofJesusChristHisSon

cleansesusfromallsin.Ifweconfessoursins”—here

isthatplacewhereyoucandroptheshabbyoldcoat

ofyourpastlife—”Heisfaithfulandjusttoforgiveus

oursinsandtocleanseusfromallunrighteousness”

(1John1:5,7,9).

Thatpassage,likesomanyothersintheBible,con-

tainsawonderfulpromisefromyourheavenlyFather

toyou,HischildwhoHedearlyloves.Godhasgiven

you“exceedinglygreatandpreciouspromises,that

throughtheseyoumaybepartakersofthedivine

nature”(2Peter1:4).

GodwillbackHispromiseswithallofHispower

andability,butthereareconditionsattachedtothese

promises—conditionsthatyoumustmeet.God

setsHisownterms,buthowblessedyoubecome

whenyoumeetGod’sterms!Whenyousubmitto

Hisconditions,thewealthofHisblessingsandriches

cometumblingdownonyou.Thesearethekeysthat

unlockthetreasurevaultsofHeaven:knowingand

meetingtheconditionsattachedtoeachpromise.

Godnotonlywillsbutlongsforyoutohaveyour

everyneedsuppliedandthedeepestdesiresof

yourheartfulilled.KingDavidwroteinthePsalms,

“DelightyourselfalsointheLord,andHeshallgive

youthedesiresofyourheart”(Psalm37:4).Butnote

thecondition:“DelightyourselfintheLord.”Godwill

giveyouthedesiresofyourheart—Hesaidsoandit

isso—butthetermsmustbemet.Firstyoudelight

yourselfinHimbylovingHimirstandforemostand

doingyourbesttopleaseHim,andthenHegrants

yourdesires.

God’stermsaren’thard.Jesussaid,“CometoMe,

allyouwholaborandareheavyladen,andIwill

giveyourest.TakeMyyokeuponyouandlearnfrom

Me,forIamgentleandlowlyinheart,andyouwill

indrestforyoursouls.ForMyyokeiseasyandMy

burdenislight”(Matthew11:28–30).

Somanywonderfulthingsarepromisedyouinthe

Bible—forgivenessofsin,joy,peace,eternallife—that

Icouldn’tbegintolistthemall!Thosepromisesare

thereforyouandcouldchangeyourlifecompletely.

Butyoumustmeettheconditions,andtheirstcon-

ditionisthatyoucometoGodandhumblyconfess

thatyouneedHishelpandforgiveness(1John1:9).

Hecanandwillforgiveanything,butonlyifyouask

Himto.

God’sWordsays,“Hewhocovershissinswillnot

prosper,butwhoeverconfessesandforsakesthem

willhavemercy”(Proverbs28:13).Don’tbelikeEmmy

themaidwho,whenthewomansheworkedfor

askedher,“Emmy,didyousweepundertherug?”

answered,“Yes,ma’am,Isweepeverythingunderthe

rug!”

Thingssweptundertherughaveawayofcoming

backtohauntus.Itdoesn’tpaytopretendalliswell

whenit’snot,butifyouwillhumblyacceptGod’s

termsforforgiveness,you’vegotit!Assoonasyou

confessyouareasinnerandturntoJesusChrist,the

Savior,forhelp,Hewillcomeintoyourlifeandgive

youchangeandfreedomlikeyou’veneverknown!

“HewhodidnotspareHisownSon,butdelivered

Himupforusall,howshallHenotwithHimalso

freelygiveusallthings?”(Romans8:32)—includinga

newbeginning!

—

Ifyouhaven’tyetexperiencedGod’sloveand

forgiveness,youcanrightnowbysincerelyprayinga

simpleprayerlikethefollowing:

ThankYou,Jesus,forpayingthepriceformy

mistakesandwrongs,soIcanbeforgivenandput

mypastbehindme.ThankYouthatYoucleanseme

fromallsin—pastsin,sinnow,andfuturesin—by

faith.IaskYounow,dearJesus,topleasecomeinto

myheart,forgiveme,andgivemeYourgiftofeternal

life.Amen.•

“CometoMe,allyouwholaborandare

heavyladen,andIwillgiveyourest.”


18

FOR MIRACLES

FINDING FAITH

BY VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG

It took a miracle to put the stars in place.

It took a miracle to hang the world in space.

But when He saved my soul,

Cleansed and made me whole,

It took a miracle of love and grace.

—JOHN W. PETERSON

I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE

CANNOT BELIEVE IN MIRACLES, when the

Bible contains so many accounts of

miracles. Of course, you meet some

intellectuals who contend—often in

an infl ated academic style and super-

cilious language—that the miracles

recorded in the Bible either never

happened or can be explained scien-

tifi cally, or if they did happen, such

miracles are impossible today. Well,

those miracles did happen just like

the Bible says they did, and in every

case it only took two elements: the

power of God and someone’s faith.

The power of God hasn’t changed, of

course, so whenever that power is met

by the faith of some sincere believer,

you can expect to see a miracle. It

happens all the time!

Faith in the Bible creates faith in

the miraculous. The Bible not only

reveals the acts of the supernatu-

ral God, but it also imparts faith to

anyone who reads it with an open

heart (Romans 10:17). The Bible has

a miraculous, transforming effect on

our lives, and that gives us faith for

other miracles. Faith in God and His

Son Jesus Christ, faith in the Christ

of the Bible, makes for faith in our

everyday lives. That’s because real

faith believes in the changeless Christ,

and His power brings the same results

today as it did during His earthly

ministry and through His original fol-

lowers.

Shortly before His crucifi xion Jesus

promised, “He who believes in Me,

the works that I do he will do also;

and greater works than these he

will do, because I go to My Father”

(John 14:12). Then after His resur-

rection, when He appeared to His

disciples, He said that signs (miracles)

would follow those who believed in

Him, and miracles did follow (Mark

16:17–18, 20). It wasn’t long before

others were saying of the fi rst Chris-

tians, “These who have turned the

world upside down have come here

too” (Acts 17:6). Those fi rst followers

and the ones who were to come had

such confi dence that the supernatu-

ral power of God was at their com-

mand that they dared to challenge the

mighty Roman Empire and shook it to

its very foundations.

The power of

God hasn’t

changed, so

whenever that

power is met

by the faith of

some sincere

believer, you

can expect to

see a miracle.

4 activated VOL 5, ISSUE 3 19

If Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and for-

ever” (Hebrews 13:8), why is it so hard to believe

that He, in answer to prayer, will do the same

kinds of miracles today? Wherever you fi nd real

faith manifested, you will fi nd miracles. God’s

faithfulness to His Word absolutely compels Him

to perform miracles.

So when you don’t see miracles it must be

due to an absence of faith, not because Christ or

His promises have changed in the very least. If

you live in His Word, if you dig out His promises

and build your faith on them, if you trust Him to

keep His word even when it seems impossible,

you’ll see things come to pass that are impos-

sible in the natural realm. You’ll see God at work

in the realm of the supernatural.

I pray that God will help you discover a sense

of the supernatural and learn to have complete

confi dence in the reality of divine power that’s

yours through the miraculous Word of God.

“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for

with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).

It’s been my practice for many years, when-

ever some desperate need arose, to trust God to

work a miracle. I didn’t always get the miracle

I was praying for, but that was never through

any fault of God’s—and He did send miraculous

answers to prayer many more times than He

kept me waiting or said no.

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through-

out the whole earth, to show Himself strong in

the behalf of them whose heart is perfect”—full

of faith—“toward Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9 KJV).

His compassion and love for you, His willing-

ness to come to your rescue in times of need,

and His faithfulness to His promises are just the

same today. He longs to see faith and meet your

needs.

The next time you need a miracle, claim this

promise in utter confi dence: “He who did not

spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us

all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us

all things?” (Romans 8:32). His power is just the

same today, and it’s there for you. God is still on

the throne, and prayer—wholehearted, full-of-

faith prayer—changes things! •

THE FAITH CONNECTION

A certain woman had a fl ow of blood for

twelve years, and had suffered many things

from many physicians. She had spent all that

she had and was no better, but rather grew

worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came

behind Him in the crowd and touched His

garment; for she said, “If only I may touch His

clothes, I shall be made well.”

Immediately the fountain of her blood was

dried up, and she felt in her body that she was

healed of the affl iction. And Jesus, immediately

knowing in Himself that power had gone out of

Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who

touched My clothes?”

But His disciples said to Him, “You see the

multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who

touched Me?’”

And He looked around to see her who had

done this thing. But the woman, fearing and

trembling, knowing what had happened to her,

came and fell down before Him and told Him

the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter,

your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and

be healed of your affl iction.”

—MARK 5:25–34

activated VOL 5, ISSUE 3 5 20

hardly stand it—the pressures are so great!” People talk about the strain they’re under, and it can be seen on their faces. We are living in the rapids of time. The speed and relentlessness with which we move is most remarkable, but it takes its toll on our bodies, minds, and spirits.

As I tried to get quiet in my soul today, I realized how much stress and pressure had gotten into me. But I know where I can fi nd repose. Webster’s Dictionary defi nes repose as “a state of being at rest.” Other meanings are “freedom from worry; peace of mind; calmness; tranquility.”

That sounds so nice, but how does one get to that state? How are people going to fi nd such repose when they’re on the run and in a rush all the time?

take time in God’s pres-ence, when I read His Word and search the Scriptures, and when I search my own heart and spend time in prayer, the peace that He promises is restored—sweet rest and repose that only God can give. The remedy takes all that strain out of the spirit; it relieves unrest of mind and tension of body.

So many people in this jet-propelled age have to take tranquilizers to calm themselves down. I read recently of a man

from work and said to his wife, “I can’t believe all the things that happened in the offi ce today! I’ve been under such strain, such tension, that I can hardly stand it! Give me one of those pills to calm me down.” So she gave him the pill, but just about that time the phone rang and he was ordered to come back to the offi ce because a very important customer was ready to give a big order. So he said to his wife, “Where are those pep pills? I’ve got

Rest AND

Repose


HE COULD THEN REFRESH OUR SOULS,

CLARIFY OUR THOUGHTS,

AND TAKE AWAY THE STRAINED FEELING.

4 activated VOL 5, ISSUE 6 21

to have one!” People take one pill to pep up and another one to calm down.

Pressures are many, and some people have no other recourse but to pop pills. But the Christian does have another recourse! The Christian has his quiet time—the time of meditation with God that will cool the fever of this hectic rush. But we have to do our part to get quiet with the Lord. Here are some verses that demonstrate this reality.

“Moses said to them, ‘Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concern-ing you’” (Numbers 9:8). He had to get those around him quiet before he could even hear what the Lord wanted to say to them.

In 1 Samuel 9:27, the prophet Samuel said to King Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us. … But you stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the Word of God!”

In counseling and praying with people, it can be so hard sometimes to get them quiet enough to listen to God’s Word. A wonderful verse about that is 1 Samuel 12:7, where the prophet Samuel says to the people, “Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord.”

In Job 37:14, God says, “Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.”

David talked about meditating and com-muning with God at night or fi rst thing in the morning, before the rush of the day begins. “Medi-tate within your heart on your bed, and be still” (Psalm 4:4). And God says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

If only we would get to this quiet place so we could seek God’s presence and read His Word! He could then refresh our souls, clarify our thoughts, and take away the strained feel-ing. Some people think it’s a waste of time to

stop to meditate, to stop and pray, yet millions throughout the ages have found that only in the presence of God could they fi nd rest and peace and subdue every symp-tom of pressure.

Prayer makes available the power of God that can take all the strain out of life. Won’t you think about it? His Word says that they who believe enter into the Lord’s rest (Hebrews 4:3). God’s Word goes on to say, “There remains there-fore a rest to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). You don’t have to wait for Heaven to get that rest! You can have it right now! God bless you and bring you into His place of per-fect peace. •

WHATWHATI NEEDI NEED

MARCIA, AGE FOUR, was my Sunday morning commit-

ment. Today Marcia had exhausted my surprise bag of

coloring books and puzzles in the fi rst seven minutes.

Even the candy failed to hold her attention for more than

thirty seconds.

I took Marcia’s face in my hands and, looking into

her eyes, whispered, “What do you need to make you

happy today?”

Returning my gaze, she whispered, “I need to sit

on your lap!”

I took her in my arms. She nestled down until her

soft cheek rested against the skin of my neck, and she

barely stirred for the next hour.

I remember days when my own behavior was an

adult version of Marcia’s. I was restless, dissatisfi ed,

impossible to please. When that happens again, I hope

I will be as wise as Marcia and as honest about my needs.

My restlessness melts away when I rest in Jesus.

—AUTHOR UNKNOWN

activated VOL 5, ISSUE 6 5 22

activated VOL 5, ISSUE 10 7

ONE EVENING AS I LAY ALONE on my sickbed, there suddenly came into my heart an intense longing; I felt com-pelled to cry aloud to some unseen power for help. I could not raise my voice above a whisper, so in an ear-nest whisper I pled, “If it could be possible that there is a God out there somewhere, reveal Yourself to me.” I seemed driven by some power beyond myself to call and call, so over and over I repeated, “If You are there, please, oh please, for mercy’s sake, reveal Yourself to me.”

As though in response to my plea, a deep conviction of sin came over my heart. I felt as though I were the vilest of sinners. This was unusual for the simple reason that I had always been rather self-righteous. I had lived a very moral life and was quite proud of it—very self-satisfi ed. It was as though my eyes had suddenly been opened and I saw myself in my true condition for the fi rst time in my life—my past good works appeared as nothing. The burden of sin and self increased until it seemed greater than I could bear, and at length I began to weep.

I was not alone any longer, for I felt His presence in that room as real as if some member of my family were standing by my sickbed, and I was talking to Him as naturally as a little child talks to a parent. I told Him all about it, and I knew He heard and understood, for a sweet, indescrib-able peace and a cool restfulness came over my troubled spirit. I had seen no vision, heard no voice, nor otherwise evidenced anything with the natural senses, but had made such real, personal contact with Him that I could truly say, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him” (2 Timothy 1:12). All my unbelief had fl ed. God was real indeed, and I was a “new creature” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV). The light had broken in! •

(THE ABOVE IS AN EDITED

EXCERPT FROM THE HEM OF HIS

GARMENT, THE LIFE STORY OF

VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG. THE HEM

OF HIS GARMENT IS AVAILABLE AT:

WWW.ACTIVATED.ORG.)

The light breaks in

lightBY VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG

(At the time of this experience, Virginia Brandt Berg [1886–1968] was a helpless, hopeless invalid. Paralyzed from the waist down in an accident, she had been confi ned to bed for most of the previous fi ve years. She also had life-threatening heart and lung problems, and suffered various other side effects from numerous unsuccessful operations to try to restore the use of her legs. Her condition had steadily deteriorated until she weighed only 78 pounds [35 kg].)

23

ONE OF THE MOST COMPELLING

STORIES in the Bible is the one about four teenagers, found in the first chapter of the book of Daniel. After the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnez-zar instructed Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to “bring some of the children of Israel in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowl-edge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans” (Daniel 1:3–4). In other words, the king’s eunuchs were to take these outstanding young Israelites—four of whom were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—and make them real Babylonians.

It goes on to say, “The king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s deli-cacies and of the wine which he drank” (verse 5). After three years of instruction and this special diet, these young ser-vants in training were to stand before the king.

But because the Israelites were forbidden by Old Tes-tament laws to eat certain foods, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; there-fore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (verse 8).

“And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, ‘I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces

looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king’” (verse 10).

But Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had made up their minds that they would not compromise their convictions, so Daniel asked if they could eat their own food for 10 days. “‘Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appear-ance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.’ … And at the end of the ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies” (verses 13,15).

It goes on to say, “As for these four young men, God

BY

VIR

GIN

IA B

RA

ND

T B

ER

G

CONFORMITY OR

CONVICTION?

4 ACTIVATED VOL 6, ISSUE 2

24

HAVE CONVICTION,

HAVE COURAGE!

To deny self is to become a

nonconformist. The Bible

tells us not to be conformed

to this world either physically

or intellectually or spiritually.

BILLY GRAHAM

You have to have conviction,

or you have no reason to

live. And then you have to do

something about your con-

viction, or you can’t stand to

live with yourself.

D.B.B.

There’s an allegiance that

is one and undivided in the

Christian. It’s a devoted, dedi-

cated life—a life surrendered

to the Christian ideal. Therein

lies its power.

V.B.B.

The fanaticisms that we

should fear most are those

that could be confused with

tolerance.

FERNANDO ARRABAL

Have courage—moral cour-

age, the courage of one’s

convictions, the courage to

see things through. The world

is in a constant conspiracy

against the brave. It’s the age-

old struggle—the roar of the

crowd on one side and the

voice of your conscience on

the other.

GENERAL DOUGLAS

MACARTHUR

gave knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”

At the appointed time, King Nebuchadnezzar interviewed the young men, and “among them all none was found like Daniel, [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm” (verses 19–20).

How courageous these young men were! It seemed as though much more could have been theirs if they had been willing to conform to the Babylonian way of life, but they wouldn’t. As a result, God was able to use them mightily for His glory, and in the long run Daniel was exalted above all the king’s other counselors.

As has been the case throughout history, many people today are willing to compromise their principles in order to be accepted or more successful. But this story shows how one such seem-ingly small decision can have a great effect in the years to come. If Daniel and his friends had compromised early in life, they would not have stood their ground later. Daniel would not have triumphed in the lions’ den (Daniel chapter 6), or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel chapter 3).

They were in a difficult position and took a stand. We

today who love God and want to stay true to Him are in a similar position, as all around us people try to rule God out of their lives and thoughts and programs. Rock-solid reali-ties—God’s sovereignty, the truth of His Word, and godly standards of moral con-duct—are being replaced by the shifting sands of apostasy, rationalism, and materialism.

What about you? Will you stand up for your convictions, or go along with the crowd? Will you stand out for Jesus Christ and the only real stan-dard for today, the Word of God, or will you do that which seems more expedient and compromise? Will you take a stand against the world, or cut the corners of bedrock principles and make dim and shadowy the Word of God?

The Kingdom of God is founded on absolute things—absolute truth and candor and sincerity. And always there is the kingdom of evil that is no less absolute in its falseness. The question is whether or not you are going to see that the issues of Christian living and Christian duty are sharply defined.

Will you take a definite stand today? You can’t conform to both the things of God and the things of the world. The Christian life is a transformed life, not a conformed life! God’s Word says, “They trusted in the Lord and were never confounded” (Psalm 22:5). You will not be confounded if you trust in Him fully and never conform at the price of com-promise. �

ACTIVATED VOL 6, ISSUE 2 5

25


Some of them, especially the very aged, would be lying there all alone, day after day. I visited the hospital daily for about a month, and no one ever came to see them. No one cared enough to come. After awhile, this bed or that bed was empty, and still no one had come.

Then I would look out the window of my husband’s hospital room, out to the highway where cars were rushing back and forth, and I would think about poor, lost humanity—so many lonely, sorrowful people, so many broken hearts.

I realized then how much everyone—whether dying or rushing through life—needs the Father’s love and mercy. I realized, too, how much the Lord needs us as lights to point people to His heart of love. There in the hospital this hymn would come to me, and I would sometimes sing it to my husband, sit-ting at his bedside:

When my husband’s health was decliningand I was visiting him at the hospital,

I would see other patientsin waiting rooms or in their beds

and think about what they must be suffering.

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy

From His lighthouse ever more,

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning,

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman,

You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,

Loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother,

Some poor sailor, tempest tossed

Is trying now to make the harbor,

And in darkness may be lost.

—“The Lower Lights,” music and lyrics by Philip P. Bliss, 1838–1876

God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the upper lights, but we are the lower lights along the shore. God has entrusted us with some sacred responsibilities—certain things that should have the first priority in our life. Lots of things demand our attention, and there is so little time for them all. If we’re not careful, we will put off or miss what is truly important. What a blessing you could be to your family and neighbors—your “neighbor” being anyone God puts in your path who needs His love and your love, anyone He wants to love and help through you. �

The Lower Lights

ACTIVATED VOL 6, ISSUE 5 | www.activated.org 7

26

weakness

The central promise there is, “He gives

power to the weak.”

The apostle Paul said something

similar. “When I am weak, then I am

strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). It’s

interesting to note that Paul wrote

those words to the Greeks, who exalted

intellect and physical beauty and

prowess—man and his achievements—

and had no use for a weakling. Yet

we know that Paul had some physical

impairment, his “thorn in the flesh,” as

he called it (2 Corinthians 12:7), and

the Greeks said of him, “His bodily

presence is weak, and his speech

contemptible” (2 Corinthians 10:10).

The fact that he had been scorned,

stoned, whipped, and imprisoned didn’t

help his reputation either. In short, Paul

did not at all measure up to the Greeks’

ideas of strength.

What the Greeks didn’t understand

is that God frequently works contrary

to human logic and natural expec-

tations. He says in His Word, “My

thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are

your ways My ways, for as the heavens

are higher than the earth, so are My

ways higher than your ways, and My

thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah

55:8–9). What the Greeks called weak-

ness, God calls strength.

STRENGTH FROM

WEAKNESS


“Have you not known? Have you not heard?”

the Bible prophet Isaiah asks in chapter 40

of the book that bears his name. Not known

what?—“The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the

ends of the earth … gives power to the weak, and to those

who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths

shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,

but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and

not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28–31).

6 www.activated.org | ACTIVATED VOL 7, ISSUE 2

27

It’s very often people who are not

particularly gifted, nor highly trained,

nor learned in man’s wisdom that God

is able to do the most with. Because

they are humble, emptied of self, weak

in themselves, and depend on God for

strength, He can work through them.

He supplements such weakness with

His strength, and they become truly

strong. “To those who have no might

He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29).

All of God’s spiritual giants have

been weak men and women who

became great by God’s power. Moses

was such a poor public speaker that

God said his brother Aaron could do

his speaking for him. But because

Moses had learned to depend com-

pletely on God, he became the greatest

lawgiver the world had ever known.

Most of Jesus’ disciples were unedu-

cated, but the influence of those weak

men is felt to this very day. God was

able to use them because they realized

their weakness and put no confidence

in themselves.

But when we are so sure of our own

strength, so confident of our own

powers, the Lord leaves us to walk

alone in the strength we are so sure of.

I’m reminded of my daughter when she

was just learning to walk. She was natu-

rally very impulsive, and she insisted on trying to walk by

herself rather than let me hold her hand and guide her. She

really couldn’t walk well yet, but in her independent spirit

would pull away, over and over, to launch out by herself, fall-

ing, bumping, and bruising her way along—and she nearly

always bore the marks of her independence on the end of her

little nose.

How many of us bear the marks of our independence—

our wanting to lean on our own strength until, sometimes

broken, defeated, and disappointed, we learn to depend

on God’s strength instead of our own? What a pity that we

should depend on the human when we can have the divine,

that we should draw only on our natural resources when

we can have all of Heaven’s resources at our command!

How strange it is that we should insist on depending on our

own strength and wisdom when we can have the power of

Almighty God!

God wants to be our ally. He longs to give us His strength,

but if we insist on walking by ourselves in our own strength,

just as I’ve said, He’ll leave us to stumble around till we find

how little strength we actually have. He’ll walk off the stage

of our lives and leave us to ourselves until the foundations of

our pride and confidence in the human strength have been

shaken and we at last come to the realization that our sup-

posed strength is weakness.

Look to God for strength. He says, “I dwell with him who

has a contrite and humble spirit” (Isaiah 57:15). Ask God for

His wisdom and His strength, and He will give it to you, “that

the excellence of the power may be of God” and not of you

(Matthew 7:7; 2 Corinthians 4:7). Then you will be able to say

with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who

strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). ■

FAITH OR WORKS?

It’s a dilemma that all Christians face at one time or another: How much does

our success depend on faith, what we trust God to do, and how much depends on

our works, what we do ourselves? What’s the balance?

A rowboat makes a good analogy. Label one oar “faith” and the other oar

“works,” and see how far you can get with only one or the other. Drop the oar

labeled “faith” and row with the one labeled “works,” and you’ll find yourself going

around in circles. Drop “works” and row with “faith,” and you’ll go the opposite

direction, but still in circles. But if you apply equal pressure to both oars, you’ll

find yourself moving forward in a straight line toward your goal. It takes both!

GOD WANTS

TO BE OUR

ALLY. HE

LONGS TO

GIVE US HIS

STRENGTH.


28

SICKNESS

—PUNISHMENT OR PLAN?


people who, like Job, had their faith

purified in the furnace of affliction. Job

said, “God knows the way that I take;

when He has tested me, I shall come

forth as gold” (Job 23:10). God some-

times uses sickness or some other hard-

ship to draw us closer to Him or get us

back on track if we’ve gone astray, but

when He does we have this promise:

“Afterward it yields the peaceable fruit

of righteousness to those who have

been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

It’s the “afterward” that God is

interested in. Afterward, many times

there is a great deliverance. It may

not always come in the form we have

prayed for or expected—it may not

come in the form of physical heal-

ing—but if we let God accomplish His

purpose through it, we’ll come out

better for it. “In all these things we are

more than conquerors through Him

who loved us” (Romans 8:37). “And we

know that all things work together for

good to those who love God, to those

who are the called according to His

purpose” (Romans 8:28).

People often think of God in terms of

judgment, retribution, and punishment,

whereas the Bible tells us that “God is

love” (1 John 4:8). He deals differently

with each of us and very often His ways

are past finding out (Romans 11:33),

but we always have the assurance that

whatever He does, He does in love.

GOD KNOWS

THE WAY

THAT I TAKE;

WHEN HE

HAS TESTED

ME, I SHALL

COME FORTH

AS GOLD

WHEN AN OLD FRIEND VIS-

ITED ME IN MY HOME—a

man who had been a noted writer,

teacher, and radio broadcaster—I was

shocked at his physical state. It had

been some years since I’d last seen him,

and in the meantime he’d had a number

of strokes. He walked with much dif-

ficulty, and could hardly speak.

After he left, someone else who had

also been visiting at the time remarked,

“What do you suppose he did, for God

to let such a thing happen to him?” The

question struck me as rather harsh and

judgmental, and as I thought about it

later, I realized that this is actually a

fairly common reaction. When someone

suffers from a debilitating sickness or

accident, others often wonder what sin

the person committed to bring such a

punishment upon them.

But is that necessarily the case? I

believe that in many cases a better

explanation can be found in the Bible’s

book of John, chapter 9: “As Jesus

passed by, He saw a man who was blind

from birth. And His disciples asked

Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this

man or his parents, that he was born

blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this

man nor his parents sinned, but that

the works of God should be revealed in

him’” (John 9:1–3).

We also seem to forget that many of

the greatest examples of faith down

through the ages have been those of


IN HER POEM “AN EVENING PRAYER,” C. MAUD

BATTERSBY CAPTURED WHAT SHOULD BE THE PRAYER OF

EACH OF US EVERY DAY.

If I have wounded any soul today,

If I have caused one foot to go astray,

If I have walked in my own willful way,

Good Lord, forgive.

If I have uttered idle words or vain,

If I have turned aside from want or pain,

Lest I offend some other through the strain,

Good Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee.

Forgive the secret sins I do not see.

That which I know not, Father, teach Thou me—

Help me to live.

The Bible has a lot to say about the power of the tongue

for good or evil. “We all stumble in many things. If anyone

does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to

bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths

that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look

also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by

fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever

the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and

boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kin-

THE TONGUE



dles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue

is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body”

(James 3:2–6).

Also, in the book of Proverbs it tells us, “Death and life are

in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), “There is one

who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of

the wise promotes health” (Proverbs 12:18), and, “A whole-

some tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks

the spirit” (Proverbs 15:4). So if you want a long, useful,

healthy life, “keep your tongue from evil” (Psalm 34:13). For

your own sake and everyone else’s, watch your words!

How often we wound someone with an unkind word—

maybe unintentionally, but unkind just the same! Some of

us carry scars on our bodies from wounds and cuts. Usually

they don’t bother us, but they remind us of something that

happened perhaps years ago. But how different it is with the

scars left on the heart by a bitter, angry tongue!

Here’s another poem that continues that thought:

If I knew that a word of mine,

A word not kind and true,

Might leave its trace on a loved one’s face,

I don’t think I’d speak it, would you?

If I knew the sting of a word

Might linger and leave its mark

With a deep dark scar on a loved one’s heart,

I don’t think I’d speak that word, would you?

—George Matthas Adams

You’ve probably heard or said yourself some time, “Sticks

and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm

me.” Well, that isn’t true! Sticks and stones can make sur-

face wounds, but words can wound even deeper and take a

long time to heal. Wounds to the heart are hidden deep, and

often no one but the one who carries them knows—no one,

that is, except the heavenly Father. He sees them and under-

stands, but what a shame that we should ever be the one to

inflict that wound and cause that ugly scar!

Why do thoughtless, unkind words

leap from our lips like they do? Is

there any remedy? Yes, there is! Thank

God, there is! The remedy begins with

a change in the heart—our heart—

because “out of the abundance of the

heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew

12:34). There’s only one way to change

the unruly tongue, and that is to trans-

form the heart, the spirit that controls

it. The remedy begins with praying to be

filled with the Holy Spirit. When we live

in the Spirit, every word will be loving

and true, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

So open your heart to Him. Ask Him

to fill you with His Spirit. Then as you

make a habit of reading and absorbing

God’s Word, you’ll come into a deep,

abiding relationship with Him, and that

relationship will manifest itself in your

words and actions. When His Word

abides in you, you can’t gossip or say

unkind or bitter words. We can never

control our tongue ourselves. “No man

can tame the tongue” (James 3:8), but

God can! “With men this is impossible,

but with God all things are possible”

(Matthew 19:26).

Trust God to change you! Believe

that His Word will not fail. He can come

in with His Spirit, and cause kindness

to flow through you because He pos-

sesses your tongue and your life. You’ll

become a stream of blessing to all

about you. God bless you and help you

in this. He will bring you through to vic-

tory, because God is still on His throne

and prayer changes things!

WHY DO THOUGHTLESS, UNKIND WORDS

LEAP FROM OUR LIPS LIKE THEY DO?

IS THERE ANY REMEDY? YES, THERE IS!


31

INPSALM84,KING

DAVIDDECLARED,“BLESSED

ARETHOSEWHOSESTRENGTH

ISINGOD. Who passing through

the Valley of Baca, make it a

well; the rain also covers it with

pools. They go from strength

to strength” (verses 5–7,

paraphrased).

You won’t find the Valley of

Baca on modern maps of the

Holy Land, and it isn’t clear

whether David was referring to

an actual geographical location

or using Baca (derived from

the Hebrew word bakah, which

means “weeping”) figuratively.

If figuratively, Baca is a place

where all of us have been at

some time or other. It’s a place

of suffering, a place of sorrow,

a place of hardship. It’s a dry,

dusty, desert place, this Baca.

The rest of the Psalm brings

out the beautiful thought that

BACABy Virginia Brandt Berg

whenever we pass through such

a place, we have an opportunity

to turn that difficulty or

disappointment, that sorrow or

hardship, whatever it may be,

into a blessing.

I’m reminded now of a friend

of ours who has done just that.

Some time ago he became

gravely ill, and it looked like the

end of the active, productive life

he had always led. It looked like

the end, but he turned his Valley

of Baca into a great blessing. He

“dug a well there,” and as a result

he has become even more loving

and patient and sympathetic

and an even greater blessing to

others. He let his “Baca” bring

out the best in him.

When you find yourself in the

Valley of Baca, get down and dig

deep in your heart to find out

why God has brought this thing

into your life, and if He wants

to say something special to you

about it. Do some real digging.

Dig a well there, and then dig

in God’s Word until He reveals

His precious truth to you. You

can become victorious in any

situation, even one as seemingly

hopeless as this Valley of Baca.

You can transform your “desert”

into a beautiful place, like my

friend did.

Someone has said that a well

doesn’t look very appealing

beside a running stream, and

I would have to agree. I once

sat by a mountain stream in a

magnificent forest, and I can’t

imagine any well looking nearly

as refreshing as that beautiful,

bubbling, crystal clear stream

did. But if you put any well out in

a dry, dusty desert, the water in

that well will look mighty good!

When, in time of sorrow and

distress, you can stand on the

You can t ransformyour “deser t ”

into a beaut i fu l p lace .

10 www.activated.org | ACTIVATEDVOL7,ISSUE1032

FEEDING READING

Fearoffailureisa

lackoffaithand

canactuallycause

failure;onlyfaith

succeeds.

Isaiah7:9b

Matthew13:58

Matthew17:19–20

James1:6–7

Ifwerelyonlyon

ourselvesandcarnal

means,wehave

everythingtofear

becausewevery

likelywillfail.

1Samuel2:9b

Psalm33:16–17

Psalm127:1a

Jeremiah17:5

John15:5

Whenwetrust

theLord,wehave

nothingtofear,

becauseHenever

fails.

Numbers23:19

Psalm37:5

Jeremiah32:27

Matthew19:26

Philippians4:13

Godcanwork

throughuseven

betterwhenwefeel

weakandincapable.

Isaiah40:29

2Corinthians4:7

2Corinthians

12:9–10

Ifwebelieveand

obeyGod’sWord,

successisassured.

Deuteronomy29:9

Joshua1:8

2Chronicles20:20b

Psalm1:2–3

Matthew7:24–25

James1:25

Keepyoureyeson

Jesus.

Psalm27:13

Matthew14:25–31

Hebrews12:2–3

Aslongasour

desireistoplease

andfollowtheLord,

Hewillseetoit

thatHispurposeis

accomplished.

2Chronicles16:9a

2Chronicles31:21

Psalm37:23–24

Ecclesiastes8:12b

2Corinthians3:4–5

Philippians1:6

2Timothy1:12b

fearof

failure

promises of God and trust in

His goodness, others will see

your faith, and it will be to you

and them as a well in a hard,

dry, dusty place. That’s when

your faith shines brightest:

when it causes you to rise

above difficulty.

But some people just settle

down in their sorrows, they sort

of luxuriate in their misery or

“martyrdom.” They stay in the

valley of weeping, in the Valley

of Baca, like one woman who

came to me for sympathy. True,

she was having terrible troubles,

but she saw only herself, only

her sorrow. She wasn’t dwell-

ing on God’s faithfulness or

His promises or stirring up her

faith at all. Her faith could have

transformed her valley of suffer-

ing into a place of blessing and

refreshing, but she didn’t let it.

The Christian life is supposed

to be one that is superior to cir-

cumstances. We can live above

it all, because we have a loving,

all-powerful God and all of His

wonderful promises. “In all

these things we are more than

conquerors through Him who

loved us” (Romans 8:37).

We are not to stay in that dry,

desolate valley, nor are we to

merely endure troubles. Just to

endure isn’t victory! We are to

praise God and shout the victory

even before we see it. We are

to stand upon God’s Word and

prove His promises. That is how

we get victory out of seeming

defeat! And when we overcome

that way, we find many divinely

given living waters springing

up. “The rain also covers it with

pools. They go from strength to

strength.”

So the next time you find

yourself in the Valley of Baca,

reread this passage from Psalm

84 and put it into practice.

We can l iveabove i t a l l ,

because we havea lov ing,

a l l - power fu lGod

and a l l o fHis wonder fu l

promises .

ACTIVATEDVOL7,ISSUE10 | www.activated.org 11

33

S WE STAND BEFORE THE NEW YEAR,

WE DON’T KNOW WHAT’S IN STORE FOR US. But there’s

one thing we do know, and that is that we can leave the past

behind with all of its cares, pains, heartaches, and mistakes.

We can’t undo one single act and we can’t unsay one single

word, but if we will give our grief and regrets to God, He

can make this New Year a thing of joy and beauty. The Bible

promises, “All things work together for good to them that

love the Lord” (Romans 8:28)—even our past.

Every day of the past year is beyond our reach, and we

should leave it there. God has the past in His keeping, and we

should not go back and be tormented with regrets. It’s sad

how some people say they’re trusting God, yet they worry

about the blots and stains on the pages of their past.

Once we have turned to God and confessed our mistakes

and wrongdoings and asked for forgiveness, then we must

not go picking around in the past and bringing up those

things again. God says of your past

sins, “I, even I, am He who blots out

your transgressions for My own sake;

and I will not remember your sins”

(Isaiah 43:25). If God doesn’t even

remember them, why should we?

The Bible calls the Devil “the

accuser” (Revelation 12:10). He loves

to accuse us about our past, because

he wants to make us feel guilty and

condemned. But God’s Word says,

“There is therefore now no condemna-

tion to those who are in Christ Jesus”

(Romans 8:1). Rather than going back

into the past and regretting this and

that and weeping over things that we

can’t change, we should remember

BEGINNINGSA New Year’s

ChallengeBy Virginia Brandt Berg

A


God’s comforting promise, “Though

your sins are like scarlet, they shall be

as white as snow; though they are red

like crimson, they shall be as wool”

(Isaiah 1:18).

I once read a poem that went

something like this: “If I could find

the road to yesterday, I’d write the

page with cleaner pen and wipe out

yesterdays.” Well, I don’t want to find

the path to yesterday, because I can’t

wipe out anything! Only God can cover

those mistakes of the past, and when

He looks at us in light of the sacrifice

that Jesus has already made, that

makes all the difference! It isn’t God’s

way to make us relive the past, and who

wants to when the future is as bright as

the wonderful promises of God?

When I think about the year that is

set before us, I think about all of the

promises in God’s Word and about

the wonderful things that can happen

because those promises are unfailing,

unchanging, and meant for each of us

personally. With all of those promises,

why would anyone want to go back and

retrace the past, to walk the road to

yesterday?

The cross of Christ, like out-

stretched arms, stands blocking the

way to the past. Because Jesus has

already paid the penalty for our wrong-

doing, we can and ought to say with

the apostle Paul, “Forgetting those

things which are behind and reaching

forth to those things which are ahead,

I press toward the goal for the prize of

the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”

(Philippians 3:13–14).

Forget those things which are

behind! Forget them! Press onward and

upward toward the goal and the prize!

You can’t make the sands in the hour-

glass run backwards, and even if you

had the wealth of the whole world, you couldn’t retrace the

path to yesterday, you couldn’t go back.

What a pity if we carry the burden of the past when the

Lord paid such a price to lift that burden and set us free!

“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,” as the old hymn so

beautifully expresses.

A young man once came up to me after I’d spoken to

a large group about that. He was an ex-convict just out of

prison, and he couldn’t believe that it was so easy, that God

would cleanse his past if only he would confess his wrongdo-

ings and ask Jesus to come into his heart and be his Savior.

He kept talking about all of his wrongs. It was just too much

for him to believe that God could forgive such an awful past,

but that night he gave his heart to Jesus, and Jesus lifted

that load. Jesus forgave that man and gave him freedom

he’d never known. After that, the man never stopped talking

about the mercy of God and how God had rid him of the tor-

ment of the past. He would often repeat the words of a hymn

that he fell in love with: “My yesterdays so filled with guilt

and shame, my yesterdays are gone, oh praise His name!”

Is there anything more wonderful than the miracle of

forgiveness and the assurance of having our wrongdoing

forgiven? This wonderful forgiveness is for all of us. Jesus

died for all of us. All we have to do is accept His forgiveness

and receive Him as our Savior. “If we confess our sins, He

is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from

all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). That’s His unqualified,

unbreakable promise to you.

If you haven’t met the One who can lift the burdens of

your past and give you a bright future now and eternal life in

the world to come, you can today. He stands meekly at your

heart’s door, waiting for you to invite Him in. Simply pray,

“Jesus, please come into my life, forgive my sins, fill me with

Your love, and give me Your gift of eternal life.” Virginia Brandt Berg (1886–1968) was the mother of Family

International founder David Brandt Berg (1919–1994).

IT ISN’T GOD’S WAY TO MAKE US RELIVE THE PAST,

AND WHO WANTS TO WHEN THE FUTURE IS AS

BRIGHT AS THE WONDERFUL PROMISES OF GOD?


35

HOW TO HAVE A HAPPIER HOME

After studying extensive

recordings of table talk,

he wrote, “I had no idea

I would discover a real

pattern in the [mealtime]

conversation of families.

I just wanted to learn what

families talked about,

but to my amazement

I have found that family

after family had definite,

consistent conversational

habits, and that the critical

pattern was the most

prevalent.

Adapted from Virginia Brandt Berg

What is the greatest weakness in most families?

According to Dr. James H. Bossard, a former

professor of sociology at the University of

Pennsylvania who spent 40 years probing what he called

“neglected areas of family life,” it is the way parents talk in

front of their children.

“These families rarely

had a good word to say

about anyone. They

carped continuously

about friends, relatives,

neighbors—almost every

aspect of their lives, from

the lines of people in

the supermarket to the

stupidity of their bosses.

“This constant nega-

tive family atmosphere

had a disastrous effect on

the children, because a

high percentage of [these

families’] children were

antisocial and unpopular.

And this pattern of the

family’s hostility many

times turned to quarreling

amongst themselves. With-

out fail, their meals were a

round of insults and bicker-

ing. The children absorbed

that pattern, and it caused

the children trouble.

“Long ago,” Dr. Bossard

continued, “a great Teacher

pointed out that what

comes out of the mouth is a

great deal more important

than that which goes in to

it.” That Teacher was Jesus,

and that wisdom is found

in Matthew 15:11.

Jesus also said, “Out

of the abundance of the

heart the mouth speaks”

(Matthew 12:34). If

your soul is superficial,

egotistical, and mean, all

those qualities are going

to permeate your words

as they flow from your

lips. But if the Holy Spirit

has control, the words you

speak will be filled with

divine light, just as Christ

is light (John 1:4; 8:12).

Words flowing from a

soul filled with God’s Spirit

of love will have a mag-

netic quality that will draw

others. When the heart is

burning with divine love,

you don’t need to try to put

pathos or tenderness into


your conversation. All your

words will have a savor and

a power that comes from

an inner depth.

Do you want to always

speak just the right words

at just the right moment in

just the right way so that

they will have a lasting

good effect? That probably

seems almost impossible—

and it is humanly impossi-

ble. But it’s not impossible

when you let the Spirit of

the living Christ speak

through you.

How can this be? How

can you be so filled with

the Spirit of Christ that He

can guide you in all that

you say? It can only happen

through you taking time

with Him, getting filled

with His Spirit and His

love. You must take time

to read His recorded Word,

the Bible, and partake of

His Spirit by letting Him

speak to you personally in

prayer and reflection.

But if you don’t do

those things, then just

when you want and need

them most, the right

words will not come forth.

What will come forth will

more likely be shallow,

lukewarm, or negative.

But if you let Jesus live in

you and take time in His

presence, soaking up His

love and Spirit, “from your

JUMP-START

A Message f rom JesusThe surest way to help your loved

ones get off to a great start each day is

by starting the day with love. Easier said

than done, you might say, when you’re

just waking up yourself! But if you pray

for that extra oomph you need and

give it a try, I think you’ll be pleasantly

surprised.

Don’t just eat breakfast together

in silence, staring at your plate, the

newspaper, or the back of the cereal

box. Count your blessings together.

Thank Me for the wonderful things

you’re sure I’m going to do for you that

day in answer to prayer and because I

love you. Read a short passage from

the Bible. Pray for each other and the

different things you expect to face that

day, and claim a promise from My Word

for each victory you need.

Tank up on Me! I am love and light,

My strength is unfailing, and all things

are possible for Me. Fill up on Me first

thing, and you and your loved ones

will be ready for any challenge the day

may bring your way.

Those few minutes you have together

in the morning are also a great time

to give encouragement. Tell her how

nice she looks. Tell him you’re sure

he’s going to do great in school. Give a

parting hug or kiss that conveys “I can’t

wait to be with you again!”

Start the day with love, and love will

carry you through the day. ◄

innermost being shall

flow continuously springs

and rivers of living water”

(John 7:38 Amplified Bible).

So the root of the

problem isn’t actually the

tongue, but the heart.

Words only convey what’s

in the heart. Jesus taught

that our words reveal our

heart’s character. “A good

man out of the good trea-

sure of his heart brings

forth good things, and an

evil man out of the evil

treasure brings forth evil

things” (Matthew 12:35).

There is no way under

the sun to change the

quality of our words except

to change the spirit from

which those words flow.

There has to be a change

of heart.

If you need such a

change of heart, begin by

praying, “Create in me a

clean heart, O God, and

renew a right spirit within

me” (Psalm 51:10). Then

as you spend time with

Jesus, the fountain of all

goodness and kindness

and gentleness, your

relationship with Him will

deepen and you’ll soon

find your words to be

conductors of His Spirit,

making you a greater

influence for good in the

lives of those nearest and

dearest to you. ◄


37

asked the Lord to do

something to avert disaster,

He spoke to my heart. Just

write a note and take it to

the apartment where she

lived before. Maybe she will

have some reason to go back

there or someone who knows

where she moved will find

your note and tell her to

contact you.

So I wrote the note and

went over to the apartment

to deliver it. Just as I

arrived, note in hand, up

drove the very person I

had wanted to reach but

couldn’t!

Isn’t it wonderful how

God is able to work things

out? I learned then that,

as God’s Word says, my

“strength is to sit still”

(Isaiah 30:7 KJV). In this

mad rush that modern

living has become, we

“Be still”

“be Still and Know tHat

i am God” (Psalm 46:10).

The Lord once used that

Bible verse to drive home

a vital lesson, as well as to

demonstrate His ability to

give specific, immediate

guidance as we listen to

Him in prayer.

I needed to get in touch

with a woman whose

address I did not have, and

it was an emergency. Every

part of my being seemed

to throb with anxiety. I felt

as though I would fly to

pieces if I didn’t get some

word to her. As I prayed

about what to do next,

suddenly a paraphrase of

Scripture came to me. Just

be still. Get quiet and know

that I am God.

When I sat down,

quieted my spirit, and

by virginia brandt berg

have an even greater need

for this divine stillness

to bathe our souls in

quietness. It is only when

our minds and spirits are

quiet and serene that we

can come to know God.

“Be still and know that I am

God.”

How did my getting still

make me “know that He

is God”? His answering

prayer in such a miraculous

way demonstrated once

again the wonderful truth

that He is God.

Many people have the

mistaken idea that the

stillness this verse speaks

of is a sort of controlled

tension, a practiced poise,

and that they can compress

anxiety in some way. They

may be able to do that

sometimes, but if they do,

it’s only a surface calm;

inwardly they are a boiling

cauldron. That isn’t the

kind of stillness we are

� www.activated.org | aCtivated vol 8, iSSue 738

What shall the believer

do in times of darkness?

Sit still and listen. Let him

trust in the name of the

Lord and rely upon his

God. Let him just sit still,

as the Scripture says—be

still and listen. The first

thing to do is to do nothing,

to stand still. That goes

against human nature, but

that’s the wise thing to do.

There’s a saying, “When

you’re rattled, don’t rush.”

In other words, when

you aren’t sure you know

what to do next, don’t

rush blindly into anything,

hoping for the best.

There have been times

when I have run into a

spiritual fog and I have

wanted to do something so

badly in my own strength.

I’ve felt that I had to

unsnarl the tangled wires

or find the solution to a

problem; that I had to do

something. My human

energy felt like it had to

rush out and take care

of the problem. But I

have learned that while

sometimes human energy

may help a little, it is far

better to anchor my boat

and let it swing upon its

moorings for a while and

simply trust God!

Be still and see what God

will do. It is when we are

quiet and trusting in God

that He can work. Worry

often prevents Him from

doing all that He can. If our

minds are distracted and

our hearts are stressed,

we’re not in a position

where He can do much for

us. The peace of God must

quiet our minds and bring

rest to our hearts.

Put your hand into

the hand of God, and let

Him lead you out into the

bright sunshine of His

love. Be still. Let Him

do the work for you. “Be

anxious for nothing, but

in everything by prayer

and supplication, with

thanksgiving”—by getting

still before God—“let your

requests be made known

to God; and the peace of

God, which surpasses all

understanding, will guard

your hearts and minds

through Christ Jesus”

(Philippians 4:6–7).

talking about! The stillness

of God isn’t mere passivity.

It’s a genuine stillness of

spirit that brings about the

greatest clarity of thought,

and it is in that stillness

that we come to know

God’s will and plan.

I know from experience

that divine stillness often

comes through trials and

testings. How can that be?

Trials and tests subdue the

soul, and suffering humbles

the spirit. Are you going

through a difficult time

right now? Then get quiet

and be still before the Lord,

and He will show you how

to get sweetness out of that

difficulty. He will teach you

wonderful lessons from it,

but you’ve got to get quiet.

It is in that sweet, still

devotion that He is able to

speak to your heart.

Not in the earthquake or

devouring flame,

But in the hush that could

all fear transform,

The still, small whisper to

the prophet came.

Oh soul, keep silence on

the mount of God!

Though cares and needs

throb around like a sea

From supplication and

desires unshod,

Be still and hear what God

shall say to thee.

—mary rowles Jarvis

aCtivated vol 8, iSSue 7 | www.activated.org �39

IT’S SOBECAUSE GOD SAID SO

so, not because of anything I saw or felt. I suddenly believed that God had heard my prayers and had already answered, that He had reached down and had healed me, even though my physi-cal condition appeared to be unchanged. It was so simply because God said so. That was enough! My heart leaped for joy at that realization, and in that moment there was born in my soul something that has never changed from that day to this: an abiding, unshakable faith in God’s Word.

Again and again, lying there helpless in bed, I whis-pered over and over, “It is the Word of God—it cannot fail! It’s God’s Word, and He cannot lie!” It was as though I could see the marvelous Word of God marching down the centuries, invincible, infallible, inexhaustible, and

why someone hadn’t told me the truth of these things before, but suddenly a deep con-viction dawned on my soul that God could not fail to keep His promises!

I had considered myself a Christian all my life, but I had never really believed God’s Word, nor had I met Christ personally. It was through a little gospel tract that I had that glorious experience. Christ came into my life to fully satisfy. Gone was my unbelief and the accompanying sense of futility and disap-pointment in life, and there arose in my heart an unfamiliar hunger.

I was an invalid at the time, and had been for the past five years—utterly helpless and a hopeless case, according to a number of phy-sicians. But after I received Christ and my faith came to life, I began to look to Him to restore my health. I prayed to be healed and waited for God to let me see some evidence that He had heard my prayer and was going to answer. Like many other people, my faith was the “seeing is believing” kind. But the Bible teaches just the opposite: Believe and you will see.

God brought certain verses from the Bible to my mind to show me that I must believe a certain thing simply because He said it was


THE WORD

OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD

CANNOT FAIL; you can depend upon it. When I first learned that, I realized that through the years the Bible had never been a living, vital thing to me, but rather a sort of combination of creeds, doctrines, wise sayings, and printer’s ink. I hadn’t known the power in the Word of God, that it could bring miracles to pass. I don’t know


40

unchangeable. What joy came into my heart as I realized I had such a strong anchor to hold on to.

I believed the work was done, for I had met His conditions. There was His promise, very plain and sure, that He could not and would not fail to keep His Word, and I was not going to doubt that promise.

Then it happened, exactly as He had promised it would. I was completely healed! How wonderful it was when I found out that Jesus Christ was “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That was many years ago, and I’m still going strong. [Editor’s note: Virginia Brandt Berg was 29 years old at the time of her healing and lived another 54 years, to the age of 83.]

Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit,

and they are life” (John 6:63). When we come into the realization that there is life-giving power in what God says in His Word, then we have hold of the truth that makes all things possible.

“God is not a man, that He should lie. ... Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). And 1 Kings 8:56 says, “Not one word has failed of all [God’s] good promises.” Take that to heart! Put your finger on a verse, some promise, and say, “It’s so because God says so!” Whatever the need is in your life right now, He will meet it! He will guide your life daily, faith will spring invincible, and you too will shout triumphantly, “It’s so because God said so! What He has promised He is able also to perform!”

God’s Word is as full of promises as

the heavens are full of stars, and all

of them are payable according to the

conditions named. They are made freely

and they are paid fully. [Nineteenth-

century British preacher Charles]

Spurgeon called the book of God’s

promises “the checkbook of the Bank of

Faith.” We do not have checkbooks for an

ornament or for meditation, but for use!

A promise of God is given to be

presented and paid in full. The believer’s

capital for the King’s business is all

lodged in the Lord’s treasury, and the

only way to secure it for use is to make

daily drafts upon the unfailing supply.

God writes no names upon these

promises, only conditions upon which

they will be honored. Put your name

in, fulfill the conditions, and draw

upon God for all He promises. Some

promises are payable upon demand,

while others are dated further on. But a

long-term promise of God is as sure of

payment as one payable on demand!

—MRS. CHARLES E. COWMAN (1870–1960),

MOUNTAIN TRAILWAYS

DRAWING POWER

THERE IS

LIFE-GIVING

POWER IN

WHAT GOD

SAYS IN HIS

WORD

“


41

OHUGHTS

T THOUGHTSby Virginia brandT berg

“i JuST CannoT oVer-

CoMe My bad

ThoughTS,” a woman

wrote me, asking for advice.

“As you may remember, I

wrote you before about

someone near to me who is

very spiteful and says such

unkind things, and I told

you that I had overcome my

urge to say anything back.

I have been able to control

my tongue, but I haven’t

changed my thinking any.

I may have self-control

outwardly, but I’m seething

on the inside.”

That letter reminded

me of a story about a little

boy named Jimmy who was

punished for doing some-

thing that his mother had

told him again and again

not to do. At last she said,

“You sit in the corner until

I tell you that you may get

up.” Jimmy sat there, but

he was very angry and will-

ful about the whole thing.

After a while his mother

asked, “Jimmy, are you

ready now to obey?” And

Jimmy said, “Well, I’m sitting down, but

I’m still standing up on the inside!”

Often it’s that inward struggle of the

mind that’s the hardest to win. That’s why

God’s Word makes it so plain that we’re

supposed to take control of our thoughts:

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever

things are honest, whatsoever things are

just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso-

ever things are lovely, whatsoever things

are of good report; if there be any virtue,

and if there be any praise, think on these

things” (Philippians 4:8 KJV).

I once heard someone say that he

believed the greatest power God has

42

OH

given us is the power to think. Our

thoughts are a vital part of us, and they

accompany us wherever we go. We can

no more get away from our thoughts

than we can get away from our shadow.

When our thoughts are positive and

principled, they become the best of

traveling companions, but when they

aren’t, they dog our steps and rob us of

happiness and peace of mind.

It’s the old foundation principle that

our desires, which are what motivate

us, are the direct result of our thinking.

We exhaust our energies dealing with

those results, while failing to deal with

the source, which is the mind; we fail to

“think on these things.”

All high and holy aspirations come

from high and holy thinking. When we

stop to consider the miracle of life, the

world God created for us, and the marvel

of His love, we realize that we’re sur-

rounded with so much that’s beautiful

and wonderful. It’s an awful shame when

our thoughts go wandering among weeds

and brambles, when they turn to ungodly

and ugly things.

We get so busy that we don’t take time

to think properly, to meditate. It reminds

me of another story about a mother who

went to visit her son in the big city. He

was so busy rushing here and there that

all he had time for was, “Hello, Mother!”

and “Goodbye, Mother!” One day she

said to him, “Son, when do you do your

thinking?”

Many of us are like that. We get

too busy to stop and think, to turn our

thoughts toward God and the life-giving

truth of His Word, to “set our minds on

things above, not on things on the earth”

(Colossians 3:2).

The battles of life are first fought

on the battleground of the mind, and

the issues of life are determined there.

Murder is first committed within the

precincts of the mind, before the shot is

fired. The thief puts out his

hand and steals the watch,

but first he has stolen it

within the precincts of his

mind. We teach our chil-

dren that they shouldn’t do

this and they shouldn’t do

that because it’s wrong, but

do we teach them to think?

Do we teach them to center

their thoughts on things

that are “true, honest, just,

pure, lovely, virtuous, and

praiseworthy”?

Thinking seems to be a

lost art these days. People

don’t take the time to think

things through. If they did,

God would show them a

plan; He would show them

how to get the thing done or

how to unravel the problem

situation if they would just

stop, look to Him, and give

Him a chance.

Getting back to that

woman’s letter, it seems

almost unpardonable to

allow our minds to linger

on thoughts of hate and

criticism and resentment.

But how do we overcome

such thoughts?

The only way to get

rid of impure thoughts is

to overthrow them with

thoughts that are “pure

and lovely.” The way to get

rid of malicious thoughts

is to overthrow them with

loving, positive thoughts.

The only way to reap a

proper harvest from the

fertile garden of the mind

is to carefully sow good

seed and carefully tend the

crop. As my father taught

me when I was a little

girl, “Sow a thought and

you reap an action. Sow an

action and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit and you reap

character. Sow character

and you reap a destiny.”

God’s Word says that as we

think in our heart, so are

we (Proverbs 23:7).

Thoughts may seem to

be the most insignificant of

things, known only by our-

selves, but psychologists

tell us that each thought

influences the total of our

consciousness. If a thought

is repeated enough times,

it becomes a thought

pattern. Those who train

their minds to think kind,

gentle, loving thoughts will

grow to be kind, gentle,

and loving. But those who

habitually think negative

thoughts will develop ugly

temperaments and be ruled

by feelings of resentfulness,

bitterness, and anger. Their

life will shape itself, not

in a way that is beautiful,

but in one that is debasing.

They will find their soul

bending downward in a

sort of a permanent moral

curvature, while those who

“set their minds on things

above” grow straight and

tall and true.

Ask God to help you “set

your mind on things above,”

and as you continue to look to

Him, He will transform you

through the renewing of your

mind (Romans 12:2). That’s

the secret to overcoming

bad thoughts!

43


In the Northeast Blackout

of 1965—the largest blackout

in U.S. history—at least 25

million people in Ontario,

Canada, and the U.S.

Northeast, including New

York City, lost electricity for

up to 12 hours. Such outages

were commonplace in other

parts of the world and still

are, but this one was totally

unexpected and caught

everyone unprepared.

This article is taken from

a talk given shortly after the

incident.

I WAS LISTENING TO A

NEWS REPORT ABOUT THE

BLACKOUT IN THE NEW

YORK AREA, when one man

who had been there said

he could never express the

feelings he had when the

power, which he had always

taken for granted, suddenly

came back on. It made

me think of the personal

blackouts I’ve been through,

such as a severe accident

from which it seemed I

would never recover. When

I did, how glorious it was

to be out of that darkness

and into the light once

more, free from the pain

and ill health! Only those

who have been through

such blackouts know how

wonderful it is when the

lights come on again.

When you’re in the midst

of darkness, the thing that

makes it blacker still is

the thought that you may

never come out of it. I want

to assure you, though, that

the lights will come on

again if you will put your

trust in God and not waver.

This is where those with

faith in God are at a great

advantage, for they know

the day will come when

God will send deliverance.

Faith is the victory.

It was pretty dark for the

apostle Paul when he was

in prison, but he had such

faith that he was able to live

above his circumstances

and conditions, so much so

that he wrote in Philippians

4:11–13: “Not that I speak

in regard to need, for I

have learned in whatever

state I am, to be content:

I know how to be abased,

and I know how to abound.

Everywhere and in all

things I have learned both

to be full and to be hungry,

both to abound and to

suffer need. I can do all

things through Christ who

strengthens me.” The joy of

the Lord was his strength

(Nehemiah 8:10).

No wonder Paul could

say, “None of these things

move me” (Acts 20:24). I’m

sure there were those in

that blackout who felt just

that way. The blackness

didn’t strike terror into

BLACKOUT


44

their hearts or take from

them their feeling of

security. They had an

inner source of strength,

a supply that was above

all circumstances. Paul

did too, and that is why

he could write, “We are

hard pressed on every

side, yet not crushed; we

are perplexed, but not

in despair; persecuted,

but not forsaken; struck

down, but not destroyed”

(2 Corinthians 4:8–9).

There is an old saying,

“When you come to the

end of your rope, tie a knot

and hang on!” When Paul

came to the end of his

rope, he took a promise

from God’s Word—“God

will not leave you nor for-

sake you” (Deuteronomy

31:6; Hebrews 13:5)—and

held on.

God has given so many

wonderful promises to

hang on to, and they can

shine like stars in your

blackout. And by the way,

that’s another thing that

someone said who went

through the blackout. The

thing that impressed them

most was that they could

see the stars. It had been

a long time since anybody

in New York had seen the

stars. Let me give you a few

“stars” to help you through

the next dark place you

pass through:

“The angel of the Lord

encamps all around those

who fear Him, and delivers

them” (Psalm 34:7).

“Many are the afflictions

of the righteous, but the

Lord delivers him out of

them all” (Psalm 34:19).

“Oh, fear the Lord, you

His saints! There is no

want to those who fear Him.

Those who seek the Lord

shall not lack any good

thing” (Psalm 34:9–10).

“The name of the Lord

is a strong tower: the

righteous run to it, and are

safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

“The Lord also will be a

refuge for the oppressed, a

refuge in times of trouble”

(Psalm 9:9).

What a wonderful feeling

when in the dark to know

that God is there!

I received a phone call

from a woman who had

fallen and sprained her

ankle. She was weeping

with pain, so I hurried to

her home and took her to

the hospital. I prayed for

her complete and speedy

recovery and for the pain

to subside, but the whole

time she didn’t stop talking

about how bad things kept

happening to her, and about

how God must not love her

because He didn’t treat

her right. I don’t think she

heard a word of my prayer.

She didn’t have any stars

in her night at all. The

lights didn’t come on for

her, no matter what I said.

She never let God have a

chance. How sad!

How we handle everyday

difficulties prepares us for

bigger or more important

future events. If we can

learn to live above the cir-

cumstances and conditions

that cast dark shadows

over our days, we will be

ready for any big blackout

that may come. He says,

“My grace is sufficient for

you, for My strength is

made perfect in weakness”

(2 Corinthians 12:9). •


45

To know God is to be sure that He

keeps every promise He has made.

Abraham knew God and “did not waver at

the promise of God through unbelief, but

was strengthened in faith … being fully

convinced that what He had promised

He was also able to perform” (Romans

4:20–21).

Some people think of faith as something

very mysterious and far beyond their

reach. Others think of faith as a gift that

some people are born with; some have it

to a great degree, but others don’t. Both of

those are misconceptions.

God has dealt to each one a measure

of faith (Romans 12:3). Everyone who has

received Jesus has been given a mea-

sure of faith, but many people don’t use

their faith. If you don’t use your faith, it

becomes flabby, just like muscles when

you don’t use them. For faith to grow,

you’ve got to keep exercising it.

In the spiritual life, faith conveys to us evidence

of spiritual truths, just as our five senses convey

evidence of physical things.

the measure of


A friEnd of minE aSkEd tHE man-

agEr of a SupErmarkEt if he had

ever cashed a bad check for a stranger.

“No, I never did,” he said, “because I never

look at the check—I look at the man. If I

can trust the man, I take his check.” What

a lesson in faith!

In Hebrews 10:23 we find these words:

“He who promised is faithful.” Who makes

the promises in God’s Word?—God does.

Look at the Maker of the promises, and

then there can be no question as to their

absolute validity. God’s Word says, “Now

acquaint yourself with Him, and be at

peace; thereby good will come to you”

(Job 22:21).

Faith


46

Just as an unseen force of attraction holds the

material world together and the unseen principle of

confidence holds the financial world together, so the

unseen law of faith is the underlying force that holds

the spiritual world together.—V.B.B.

A college student was assigned to read a certain book, which she quickly concluded was boring and

academic. She would read it some other time, she told herself as she tossed it into her closet. Some

weeks later, a guest lecturer visited the college, and the girl went to hear him. Immediately she was

captivated by his good looks, personality, knowledge, and enthusiasm for his subject matter. Halfway

through the lecture, she realized that he was the author of the book that she had so quickly dismissed.

As soon as she got home, she dug the book out of her closet and read it cover to cover. Why had the

book suddenly become so interesting?—Because she had met and been love-struck by its author.

If you think the Bible is dry and uninteresting, maybe you just need to meet its Author. You can right

now by praying this simple prayer:

Jesus, I want to meet and get to know You. If You really are who people say You are—the Son of God

who died in my place so I could be forgiven my wrongs and have eternal life—please show me. I open my

heart to You now and invite You in. Amen.

MEET THE AUTHORAdapted from David Brandt Berg

Faith is not gained through scholarly

analysis; it’s not to the wise and pru-

dent that the deepest secrets of God are

revealed (Matthew 11:25). It’s to those

who dare to take God at His word.

Those of childlike faith push right

through all the arguing and doubting.

They put the intellectuals to shame as

they reach out and take from God the

fulfillment of some promise that the intel-

lectuals don’t seem to be able to grasp.

Faith operates in an entirely different

realm from our five senses, but some of

the same principles apply. When we taste

something sweet, we have evidence that it

is sweet because our taste buds tell us so.

No matter what anyone else says, we know

it’s sweet because we have evidence.

In the spiritual life, faith conveys to us

evidence of spiritual truths, just as our five

senses convey evidence of physical things.

Just as we accept what our five senses tell

us, we must accept as evidence what our

faith tells us. When we do, our faith brings

that thing to pass and makes it real to us.

As you have believed, so let it be done for

you (Matthew 8:13).

Take God at His word. When the

troubles and trials come, instead of letting

them grow and grow, get your Bible, find

a promise, and claim it in Jesus’ name.

Here is one that is surely too big for me to

comprehend, but I often claim it: “What-

ever you ask in My name, that I will do,

that the Father may be glorified in the Son”

(John 14:13). And here’s another one: “Call

to Me, and I will answer you, and show you

great and mighty things, which you do not

know” (Jeremiah 33:3).

No wonder the Word calls these prom-

ises exceedingly great and precious and

tells us that through them we can become

partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

All you need is simple faith! t


47

WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, I

went to my first circus. There,

before my awestruck eyes, were three

rings in full action—performing animals

in one, and acrobats leaping and flying

through the air in another. What interested

me most, though, was taking place in the

third ring. A girl and a boy were flinging

brightly colored missiles, which, after they

had crossed the ring, turned and returned

to the very hands that had flung them. No

matter which direction they were thrown,

the things curved and came back swiftly

to the young performers, who would catch

and fling them again.

I watched in amazement. What made

those things change their course and

circle right back to where they began?

“They are boomerangs,” someone beside

me said. It was the first time I had ever

heard the word, and I tucked it away in my

young mind.

I’ve heard the word many times since,

of course, and I’ve also seen the principle

behind it play out in life. In

fact, life itself is a boomer-

ang. Everything we do

comes back to us, some-

time, somewhere. God’s

Word says, “Whatever

a man sows, that he will

also reap.”1 Every word or

action we fling out comes

back some day.

It is uncanny how a

boomerang circles and

returns to the one who

threw it out, and that is the

way it is with the spiritual

law of retribution. What-

ever a man throws out into

the world, the same shall

return to him. If he throws

out the bread of kindness,

kindness will come to him;

if he throws out a curse, a

curse will come upon him.

Whether good or bad, it

boomerangBY VIRGINIA BRANDT BERG

1 Galatians 6:7

will return to us, and it

often gains momentum as

it does.

Sometimes it happens

immediately, like

the case of a mother

who I overheard in a

supermarket, speaking

to her child in irritable,

impatient tones. When

the child railed back in

the same tone of voice,

I thought, That mother’s

boomerang is coming back

to her.

Other times it may take

years. I once met another

mother who asked me to

pray with her for her grown

son, whose life had gone

all wrong. “At the time, it

was so different,” she told

me. “When he was small,

I gave no thought to how


48

my actions were affecting his values. I

thought I was just having fun. But when I

heard prison doors close behind my boy,

I couldn’t help but think that what I was

really hearing was the distant echo of my

own life.” Her child’s life, like metal when

it’s molten, had flowed into the mold and

hardened there. The boomerang had come

back.

One morning I visited two women in the

same hospital. One room was filled with

flowers and cards and all sorts of beautiful

little gifts from friends and acquaintances.

The sufferer was surrounded by those

thoughtful gestures of love and concern,

kindness, and sympathy. That was a

reflection of her life, for she had sown

love and thoughtfulness into others’ lives

throughout the years, and now it was all

coming back to her in her hour of need as

she lay sick in that hospital room.

In a room down the hall, another

woman lay alone. Bitterness, resentment,

and suspicion were etched on every

feature of her face. Selfishness had ruined

her life. Still as self-absorbed, suspicious,

and critical as she had always been, there

she lay with her face turned to the wall—a

wall as hard and cold and bare as the ones

she had built around herself all her life.

Now she was alone as she faced death.

Oh, what a difference there was in

those two rooms! The boomerang had

come back to both women, but in very

different ways.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good

measure, pressed down, shaken together,

and running over will be put into your

bosom, for with the same measure that

you use, it will be measured back to you.”2

Anyone who lives unselfishly, caring for

and lifting the burdens of others, easing

their pain, and helping to supply their

needs, surely will see that boomerang

come back in the form of blessings some

day!•

1 Galatians 6:7

1 Luke 6:38

If you show people real love, you won’t have a hard

time winning friends. If you’re sincerely concerned about

others and you show them love, they’ll be concerned about

you and show you love. Love begets love. If you sow love,

you’re going to reap love. If you sow friendship, you’re

going to reap friendship. 1

Love cannot fail. It makes no difference where it is

bestowed, it always brings in big returns. You can’t give

without getting, you can’t show true love and concern

without receiving love in return—and the more you give,

the more you get.

Many others around you are just as lonely, and they’re

longing for love as much as you are. They’re probably just

waiting for you to make the first move. Step out and try

to make someone else happy, and you’ll find a whole new

world of love you’ve only dreamed of.

If you give love, you’ll get love! That’s God’s system;

that’s God’s rule. God will make you happy if you make

others happy. It’s that simple!

how to find loveBY DAVID BRANDT BERG


49

f o r g i v e n e s s“LORD, MAKE ALL THE BAD PEOPLE

GOOD,” a young boy prayed, “and then

make all the good people nice.” Unfortu-

nately, in this imperfect world, sometimes

we have to live around people who aren’t

always good, and other times we have to

live around generally good people who

aren’t always nice. We’ve all been in situ-

ations where we feel we’ve been unjustly

treated or misjudged, and we almost

certainly will be again.

At times like that, it’s good to remember

that we, too, haven’t always been good or

nice. “Judge not, that you be not judged,”

the Bible says, “for with what judgment

you judge, you will be judged; and with

the measure you use, it will be measured

back to you.”1 That should make us a

little more thoughtful about our attitudes

toward others, especially those who have

wronged us, for exactly what we give will

be exactly what we receive. “Therefore

you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you

are who judge, for in whatever you judge

another you condemn yourself; for you

who judge practice the same things.”2

Perhaps you feel that you have to do

something about the wrong that’s been

done to you, to hurt others as they’ve

hurt you, but don’t do it; don’t bear a

grudge. Nothing will sour your disposi-

tion and ruin your happiness like letting

bitterness creep into your heart. Beware

“lest any root of bitterness springing up

cause trouble, and by this many become

defiled.”3 It is far better to forgive and

forget that injustice you’ve suffered. Pity

and love and pray for those who hurt you,

and then leave matters in God’s hands.4

God knows all about it, and His Word

speaks with finality regarding our for-

giving those who wrong us, no matter

how unfair it all seems. Jesus said, “If

you do not forgive men their [wrongs],

neither will your Father forgive your

[wrongs],”5 and “My heavenly Father also

will [punish] you if each of you, from his

heart, does not forgive his brother his

[wrongs].”6

You can’t do that yourself; it’s not in

your human nature to forgive. It has to be

Jesus working in and through you. Tell

Him about it, ask Him to cleanse your

heart of any animosity or bitterness that

may be festering, and turn the situation

over to Him completely—and don’t take

it back the next time you think about that

person or situation. Only then is He able

to go to work on your behalf, to heal your

spirit and help you move on. This usually

isn’t what we feel like doing, but it’s God’s

solution.

If you’ve been hurt, He waits to help

you, He wants to help you, and He will. But

you must set things in motion. You must

forgive.•


1Matthew 7:1–2

2Romans 2:1

3Hebrews 12:15

4Matthew 5:44–48; 1 Peter 3:9

5Matthew 6:15

6Matthew 18:35


50

As we stand before the portal of the New Year, we don’t know what it’s going to bring, and I’m glad for that. I’m glad we can’t pull aside the curtain of time and see what the future has in store.

But there is one thing we do know, and that is we can leave the past behind, with all of its worries and cares, pains and heartaches, mistakes and blunders. Isn’t that wonderful? All of that is forever in the past, beyond our recall. We can’t undo one single act or unsay a single careless word, but we can make a fresh start in the coming year.

If you’ve received Jesus as your Savior, you don’t have to bear the burden of guilt or regret; all of the mistakes, regrets, and sorrows of the past year are in God’s almighty hand, covered by His love.

God can give you in this next year “a crown of beauty instead of

the patBy Virginia Brandt Berg

1Isaiah 61:3 NIV2Deuteronomy 32:13; Isaiah 41:183Romans 8:284Isaiah 43:255Philippians 3:13–14, KJV

ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”1 He can bring honey out of the rock and sweet waters out of the bitter desert of the past, no matter what it was.2 All of this is promised you in His Word, if you are His. “All things work together for good to those who love God.”3 He can make it all work out for your good!

Many people say they believe in God’s mercy and forgiveness, yet they worry about the stains on the pages of their past. hey never fully rejoice in the fact that God has blotted them out.4 Who wants to live in the past when the future holds such wonderful promises? “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize

of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.5

3Regardless of your past, Jesus

can make your future so bright that you’ll want it to never end—and it won’t! Heavenly happiness here and now and for all eternity is just a short prayer away. If you haven’t yet received Jesus as your Savior, you can right now by sincerely praying the following:

Dear Jesus, I want to know You. hank You for giving Your life for me. Please forgive me for all the wrongs I have done. I now open the door of my heart and I ask You to come in. Give me Your gift of eternal life and ill me with Your love. Amen. 1

Forgetting

12

51

Ioncetalkedwithawomanwhosaidshetriedvery

hardtothinkonlypositivethoughts,butshewasnever

abletokeepitupforlong.Evenwhenshemanaged

toappearoptimistic,inwardlyshewasofteninturmoil.

Herself-helpapproachtopositivethinkingexcluded

God,sowhenthingswentwrong,shedidn’thaveany-

thingsolidtoholdonto.

Thatmayseemparadoxical—faithinGodbeing

somethingsubstantial—butit’strue.“Faithisthe

substanceofthingshopedfor,theevidenceofthings

notseen.”1Inthefaceofdificultyanddisappointment,

faithisfarmoreeffectivethanmerementalexercise

becauseitisbackedbypromisesthatGodhasmade

inHisWord—promisesthatbringabouttangibleresults

whenbelievedandappliedtoreal-lifesituations.

Thesepromisesnotonlyhavethepowertochange

problemsituations;theyalsohavethepowertochange

us.TheBibletellsusto“betransformedbytherenew-

ingofthemind.”2Itisthroughthose“exceedinglygreat

andpreciouspromises”thatwe“maybepartakersof

thedivinenature.”3

Wecan,byanactofourwill,takeourmindoffof

negativethoughts.Unlessweillthatvoid,however,the

negativethoughtswillrushbackin.Whatshouldwe

replacethosenegativethoughtswith?Whatismore

positive or more powerful than the living Word of the

livingGod?Whencoupledwithprayer,theuplifting,

transformingWordofGodcangiveyouvictoryover

everyugly,negativethoughtanditsconsequences.

Asyoumakeaconsistentefforttoreplacenegative

thoughtswithpositivethoughtsfromGod’sWord,it

willbecomeahabit;youwilllearnto—astheBibleputs

it—“bringyourthoughtsintocaptivity.”4

Thisisverydificulttoaccomplishinthetumultofthe

world.Wedon’tindthemindofGodonthestreetsof

sociallifeorinthehobbyshop.ToconnectwithHim,

indaplacewheretherearenodistractions.“Whenyou

pray,gointoyourroom,andwhenyouhaveshutyour

door,praytoyourFatherwhoisinthesecretplace;and

yourFatherwhoseesinsecretwillrewardyouopenly.”5

Thereisnoplacewherethemindcanbeasfully

renewedasinthesecretplaceofprayer,alonewith

God.Whenwecomeasidefromthetemporalthingsthat

distractandharassus,andthereinthepresenceofGod

weputourmindonthethingsofGod,thetransforming

powerofGodthenbeginstoworkinus,andweare

changed,renewed.1

1Hebrews 11:1

2Romans 12:2

32 Peter 1:4

42 Corinthians 10:5

5Matthew 6:6

RENEWING

YOUR MIND

2


4

52

Someone asked me the other day, “Why do you so often tell your age?” Well, I think it’s wonderful how God has kept me through so many years. I’ll tell it again.—I’m in my 80th year [in 1966]!

I wouldn’t fear old age, if I were you. Some people think that old age brings on all sorts of troubles and inconveniences. here is some of that, of course, but old age can also be a glorious adventure, especially for those who have a personal relationship with Jesus. Without Jesus, I imagine my life would have been humdrum and illed with disap-pointments and failures, and I’ve talked to many people who are like that—people who are haunted by a sense of emptiness and futility because they don’t have faith or a living relationship with a living Jesus.

How many people do you know, especially older people, who have radiant, joyful faces? So many of the faces of old people we pass on the street are unhappy and ridden with fear, and the reason for that is their lack of faith. hey don’t have an anchor in times of storm; they don’t have Jesus to depend on. here is no joy on their faces because there is no joy in their hearts. But it doesn’t have to be that way. One of my friends described the face of one lady he knew as “an old cathedral lit up for evening worship.”

I’ve met other older people who talk about what a wonderful life they are experiencing in their old age, and inevitably that positive

Year by year,

Day by day By Virginia Brandt Berg

Old age can also

be a glorious

adventure,

especially for

those who

have a personal

relationship

with Jesus.

4

53

outlook and those positive outcomes are because they have strong faith. hey say, “he Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? he Lord is the strength of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”1 or, “I don’t fear the years! Come what may, I’m in God’s hands,” or, “God is a loving Father, and I know that all things will work together for my good because I love Him.”2 What a glorious standard to live by!

A lot of people get bogged down with the cares of this life; they worry about whether or not their physical and material needs will be met in the future. “O you of little faith,” Jesus chided some of those people in His day. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”3 We have this assurance: “God shall supply all [our] need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”4 When the years come upon us, God understands our needs just as well as He does when we are young, and He is just as capable of meeting them.

he Bible tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”5 He and His promises don’t change with the years. hey are just as true and just as much for us when we are old as when we were young. “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes”6 will work just as well when we are 80 as it did when we were 18. “So we may boldly say: ‘he Lord is my helper; I will not fear.’”7

“[God] Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”8—He will not fail us in our old age, in other words. hat’s the God I know. hat’s the God who has proven Himself to me year after year under all conditions, and He’s standing ready at this moment to meet your needs also, whatever they may be. No matter what your age and no matter what your need, you are a unique concern of His at this very moment and always.

Virginia Brandt Berg (1886–1968), was a foremost evangelist

of her time and mother of David Brandt Berg (1919–1994),

founder of the Family International. 1

1Psalm 27:1

2Romans 8:28

3Matthew 6:32,26

4Philippians 4:19

5Hebrews 13:8

6Mark 9:23

7Hebrews 13:6

8Hebrews 13:59Revelation 22:12

10Psalm 138:8; Philippians 1:6

T H E B E S T T I M E

O F L I F E

By David Brandt Berg

Old age should be the greatest

time of life. If you’ve filled your

days with love, lived a good

life, and done your best to

please God, it’s a time when

you can see the good fruit

of your labors. That should

give you a feeling of genuine

permanent accomplishment,

and you can look forward to

eternal rewards.9

It’s really sad that so many

people view old age as a

terrible time of life, when

really things should be getting

better and better. Old age only

becomes a disappointment

if we find ourselves growing

older in years without growing

closer to God. That’s like

walking in a circle; it’s motion

without progress. But God

didn’t give us the gift of life

intending the first half to be

the best. What God begins,

He completes and brings to

perfection.10 So neither fear old

age nor fight it, but take hold

of this stage of life and make

something beautiful out of it.

Age is opportunity no less

Than youth itself, though in another dress;

And as the evening twilight fades away,

The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)

5

54

Never have I been so glad that I had faith as when my husband died.

Oh, the comfort, the blessing, the peace in the hour of trial that those of us who believe can draw on. Many of the condolence cards that I received had messages based on this Bible verse: “We sorrow not as those that have no hope”1—and that is so true!

When I was visiting my husband in the hospital, I talked with people who had no faith, who were standing by the bedsides of dying loved ones without any consolation or hope. I thank God for His wonderful plan of redemption that makes me know that I’m going to meet my husband again in a better place—a plan that was worked out in God’s mind from the foundation of the world, that though we die, we shall live again.2 I thank God, too, for the good news that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and the third day arose so that we could do likewise.3 God gives a special dispensation of grace when we need it. We don’t have it beforehand, but when we come right up against what would otherwise be a time of severe heartbreak, there He is.

When my husband was sick, I would often sing to him, standing by his bed. I don’t have a beautiful voice, but the hymns were beautiful, and his favorite was a verse of “How Firm a Foundation.”4

Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.And when through deep waters I call thee to go,he rivers of sorrow shall not overlow.

How God upheld me! I’ve seen that promise from His Word proven true once again. I came to deep water, but it did not overlow me.5

You know, life isn’t complete without faith in God. He says that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.6 How true that is! It’s such an abundant life when we have faith.

When going through my husband’s things, I found this poem that he kept in his Bible.

AFRAID?By E.H. Hamilton

Afraid? Of what?To feel the spirit’s glad release?To pass from pain to perfect

peace,he strife and strain of life to

cease?Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?Afraid to see the Savior’s face,To hear His welcome, and to tracehe glory gleam from wounds of

grace?Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?A lash—a crash—a pierced heart;Brief darkness—Light—

O heaven’s art!A wound of His a counterpart!Afraid? Of that? Afraid? Of what?To enter into heaven’s rest,And yet to serve the Master

blessed?From service good to service best?Afraid? Of that?

COMFORT IN LIFE’S DARK HOUR


4

55

T E A R S I N H E A V E N

B Y D A V I D B R A N D T B E R G

The Bible doesn’t say there aren’t

going to be any tears in heaven.

When we get to heaven and face

God, we will no doubt all have a

few tears to shed for mistakes we

made and opportunities we missed

and loved ones that we’ll wish we’d

loved more and been kinder to. We

will all have something to be sorry

about and ashamed of then.

But isn’t God wonderfully loving

and merciful? He says He’s going

to wipe away all those tears. “God

will wipe away every tear from their

eyes.”8

The Bible says, “The sufferings

of this present time are not worthy

to be compared with the glory that

shall be revealed in us.”9 When we

think about that, it helps us bear

some of the things we have to go

through now.

“Weeping may endure for a night,

but joy comes in the morning.”10

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus

and the end of life’s road. “For our

light affliction, which is but for a

moment, is working for us a far

more exceeding and eternal weight

of glory.”11

1 Thessalonians 4:131.

John 11:25–262.

1 Corinthians 15:43.

John Rippon, 17874.

Isaiah 43:25.

John 10:106.

Psalm 23:47.

Revelation 21:48.

Romans 8:189.

Psalm 30:510.

2 Corinthians 4:1711.

My dear husband wasn’t afraid to move on, and if you have received Jesus as your Savior you won’t be afraid either, because you’ll know that He will be with you. hough you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He says, “I will be with you.”7 He will be there to comfort you.

Never has God’s love proved so great, never His mercy so sure and His grace so abundant as during the week after my loss. I praise Him with all my heart for fulilling His Word and for His faithfulness.

Virginia Brandt Berg (1886–

1968) was an evangelist,

radio ministry pioneer,

and the mother of Family

International founder

David Brandt Berg.1

“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot

heal.”—homas Moore (1779–1852)

5

56

Have you ever been away from home and found yourself without cash? I had that experience when I left home to attend university, and I got so distressed that I couldn’t sleep. Suddenly it occurred to me to write my father. I should have budgeted more carefully, of course, but I knew he would understand. What a relief it was when I made that decision! My father had helped me many times before, and I knew he would help me again. I had perfect assurance during the days it took that letter to reach home and the answer to come back. [Editor’s note: his took place over 100 years ago, before email and even widespread use of the telephone.] I had needed to ask for an extra allowance, but I knew it would come. And it did.

We’ve all experienced days when sudden trouble swept down on us and our strength gave way. We looked around, but there was no way out. hen we turned to God and asked Him for an extra allowance.

Perhaps you know what it is like to have His help from day to day, and you depend upon that help and are grateful. But when God tells us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,”1 He is speaking of something beyond that. his is extra help in extraordinary circumstances—extra

the extra


Our heavenly Father

is always there, only a

prayer away, waiting

to forgive and give us

that extra allowance.

allowance

4

57

strength when we are especially weak, extra material supply when we have extra needs, extra grace when we’re under extra strain, extra wisdom when we need it, and extra love when others need to feel God’s love through us. We turn to our heavenly Father, and He gives the extra allowance we need at the time to overcome that particular trouble.

I’ve heard people say, “God has promised to be with us in trouble, but He never promised to free us from trouble.” hose people need to read that verse more carefully. He may not free them as quickly as they would like or in the way they expect, but He does promise deliverance: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.” He promises both.

Surely God was with Daniel in the lion’s den, but He also delivered him out of the den.2 We know He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the iery furnace because King Nebuchadnezzar said he saw four igures in the lames—“and the form of the fourth [was] like the Son of God”3—but God also delivered them out of it.

When we have troubles that God doesn’t deliver us from immediately, it’s usually because we aren’t ready to be delivered; there is something we need to do irst, or some lesson we need to learn. Once we have found and

tra done or learned that, He does deliver us.

I’ve gone through times when I was so discouraged about my failures that I couldn’t call on God at that moment. But when I got my eyes of of my faults and weaknesses and onto God’s promises, He delivered me; the extra allowance was mine as soon as I asked for it.

here is lots of advice loating around about how to overcome diiculties. “Dance your troubles away.” “Just keep smiling.” “Look for something pretty every day.” “Do something nice for someone else.” Well, I certainly believe in being positive and doing nice things for others, and those will get your mind of your troubles, but they won’t necessarily get you out of deep trouble.

here was a time, before I had a personal relationship with Jesus, when I was a helpless invalid. Someone who had even less faith than I did kept telling me, “Hold on. Just hold on.” But that was the trouble—I didn’t have anything to hold onto! But thank God, as believers we don’t just have something to hold onto; we have someone to hold onto! “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.”4

One day my car stalled on a lonely road. I was alone and quite desperate, when suddenly I remembered that not far away lived a former friend. I say

“former” because although I often thought about this woman, it had been quite awhile since I’d made time to visit or phone her. I knew she would be happy to help, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk up to her house and ask because I had neglected her for so long. I sat in the car and tried to get up the courage, but I never did.

It can be like that when we fail to include God in our thoughts and activities day after day, when we fail to ask His advice and help in the little things, or thank Him for His goodness, or make time to draw inspiration and learn from His Word. If we’ve been neglect-ing Him, it’s pretty hard to call on Him in the day of trouble. It’s hard and it’s humbling, but it’s a whole lot better than continuing to struggle. Our heavenly Father is always there, only a prayer away, waiting to forgive and give us that extra allowance.

Virginia Brandt Berg

(1886–1968) was the mother

of Family International

founder David Brandt Berg

and a renowned evangelist

and pastor. For 15 years she

hosted the gospel radio

show MEDITATION MOMENTS.

This article is an edited

transcript of one of her

broadcasts.1

allowance

1. Psalm 50:15

2. Daniel 6:16–23

3. Daniel 3:24–25

4. Psalm 46:1

5

58

There is a mystery in human hearts: to every one of us, from time to time, there comes a sense of utter loneliness.

Some of the loneliest people in the world are those who are con-stantly surrounded by others, yet they feel that no one truly knows or understands them. hey may even have an abundance of material things—everything to satisfy every physical need—yet they complain of loneliness. hey long to share their interests with someone, to ind someone who will listen to their problems and sympathize with them.

We may have a lifelong com-panion or dear friends who love us, but even they will never know or understand us completely. We may climb the heights of success or accomplishment, yet there is no one who can fully share the emotion of that moment when we inally reach our goal. Our dearest friend is a stranger to our supreme joy and cannot realize our most bitter pain. Some tears are always shed alone. No other human being can ever enter the deepest recesses of our mind or soul.

loneliness

“here is no one who really understands, no one to share all I feel!” Such is the cry of each of us, in turn. We wander in a solitary way, no matter what or where our lot may be. Each heart, mysterious even to itself, must live its inner life in solitude.

But why? Why do we all have this deep craving to be understood by someone? Why this intense long-ing to have another share our joys and triumphs, sorrows, and defeats?

Did God, who made us a living soul, make some mistake in this, His masterpiece, humankind? Has He left some void in our makeup? He made provision for every other hunger of life: bread for the hunger of the body, knowledge for the hunger of the mind, love for the hunger of the heart. Has He then left the soul unsatisied, with this longing for deepest understanding and truest companionship unful-illed? Has He left this loneliness of ours unanswered?

here is an answer to these questions. his incompleteness that we feel is a need of our soul for God. He knew that when we found human sympathy lacking, we would seek the divine. He knew that this

God put a

little sign on

the table of

your heart

that reads,

“Reserved

for Me.”

—and the cure

4

59

very sense of isolation, of not being understood, would drive us to Him.

God made us for Himself. He desires our love. He put a little sign on the table of your heart that reads, “Reserved for Me.” In every heart, He wishes to be irst. He therefore keeps the secret key Himself, the key to open all our hearts’ chambers and to bless with perfect sympathy and peace each solitary soul that comes to Him.

God Himself is the answer, the fulillment. He who made us is the only One who can ill every part of our life. God’s Word says He is our “satisfying portion.”1 Not until He ills that inner longing will we ever be truly satisied or completely free from loneliness.

God wants to satisfy that need, but He and His love are so big, so great, that they are beyond our comprehension. hat is why He needed to make someone who could show us His love in terms we could understand, someone who was within our realm, someone we could experience, one Man who was like Himself, His Son.

Jesus is touched with our every longing, and He will satisfy every longing of our heart. As He enters

our life, He becomes our satisfaction. He is complete companionship, ideal and perfect friendship.

here’s no need to ever be lonely. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “I am with you always.”2

So when you feel this loneliness, it is the voice of Jesus saying, “Come to Me.” And every time you feel that no one understands, it is a call for you to come to Him again. And when beneath some heavy load you faint and say, “I cannot bear this alone,” you say the truth. he grief that no one understands conveys a secret mes-sage from the King, entreating you to come to Him again. You cannot come too often.

His presence satisies the lonely soul, and those who walk with Him from day to day can never know a solitary way.


(1886–1968) was an evangelist

and pastor, and the mother

of Family International

founder David Brandt

Berg (1919–1994).1


Psalm 107:9; Psalm 73:261.

Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:202.

5

60

61

Last Christmas a doctor invited my family to perform a show for about a dozen of his elderly patients.

As it turned out, only ive were well enough to attend. It was the small-est audience we had ever performed for, but the beautiful smiles on those wrinkled faces made it worth the time and efort. Afterwards, we visited a few more frail seniors in their homes. One woman with a walker greeted us outside and led us into her dark little house, where I sat with her on her bed and we sang Christmas carols together in the local dialect.

When we left, she waved through her one small win-dow and gave us a smile that brought tears to my eyes. As we drove home, I thought about her and the others—alone, poor, ill, yearning for love—and my own problems seemed petty. It’s Christmastime again, and I’m reminded that there are millions like that woman. Can you spare a little love for one near you?

Evelyn Sichrovsky is a

member of the Family

International in Taiwan. ■

Can you spare some love?By Evelyn Sichrovsky

Adapted from Virginia Brandt Berg

The Christmas season is here again. Christmas decorations are up in the streets and shopping areas, Christmas music ills the air, and store windows are illed with Christmas displays and gift ideas.

As I stood in front of one store window and watched a band of animated elves dance and play on little tin horns, I wondered what such a scene had to do with Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, God’s Son. Why had the store chosen elves over a nativity scene?

hen it struck me: many people fantasize about Santa Claus and elves because they ind it hard to believe the Christmas story. Why would God choose to reveal Himself to us in human form? hat seems irrational, illogical, but that’s exactly what God did. When God wanted to manifest His ininite love for us, He sent it in a tiny baby, who in manhood would teach us God’s ways and lead us back to Him. hat is a deep and wonderful truth—and something we can really celebrate.

Virginia Brandt Berg (1886–1968), was the mother of Family

International founder David Brandt Berg.

Portrait of Love

6

62

63

There is a beautiful stained glass window

in the historic Wesley’s Chapel in London,

inscribed with these words: “If I take the wings of the

morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there

shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”1

People have always wanted wings—a way to be lifted above

their earthbound lives and troubles. It seems to be human nature

to feel conined and discontented with “here.” hings surely must

be easier, brighter, better, freer “there,” just over the next hill.

here’s another verse where the Psalmist echoes the get-me-

away-from-it-all sentiment. He says, “Oh, that I had wings like

a dove! I would ly away and be at rest.”2 But he also knew the

secret to inding that wonderful place away from it all, and he

shared that secret with us: “he Lord sustained me.”3

God sustained David through all his diiculties and tests, and

He transformed his weights into wings. “But those who wait on

the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with

wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall

walk and not faint.”4 When we turn to God’s Word and wait in

God can solve your problems in

one little glimpse. He can refresh

your spirit with one deep breath.

He can clarify your thoughts with

just one sweet strain of heavenly

music. He can wipe away your

fears and tears with just one little

restful moment in that perfect

peace He gives when your mind is

ixed on Him and Him alone.6

—David Brandt Berg

1. Psalm 139:9–10 KJV

2. Psalm 55:6

3. Psalm 3:5

4. Isaiah 40:31

5. Psalm 27:14

6. See Isaiah 26:3.

WINGS rom

WEIGHTSBy Virginia Brandt Berg

prayer until God touches our soul, we mount

up to realms of peace and rest and are truly

“sustained by the Lord.”

his old world daily strives to pull us

down, but there is an upward pull that will

lift us to the very heart of God. If you read

God’s Word, share your heart with Him, and

wait for Him to speak to you, you will ind

all the strength you need. But many people

try to run on their own strength, hoping that

they will somehow surmount their diiculties

that way. hey put the feet before the wings.

But read that verse again. he running and

walking come after the renewing. What

chance does your soul have if you never take

those moments to connect with God and

draw strength from Him? “Wait on the Lord;

be of good courage, and He shall strengthen

your heart.”5

Evangelist and pastor Virginia Brandt

Berg (1886–1968) was the mother of

David Brandt Berg, founder of the

Family International.

4

64

In times of supreme test, God has revealed Himself to me and

I have found Him so real that I could

shout with absolute conidence, “I

know whom I have believed!”1

God has promised, “When you

pass through the waters, I will

be with you; and through the rivers,

they shall not overlow you. When

you walk through the ire, you shall

not be burned, nor shall the lame

scorch you.”2 “So we may boldly say:

‘he Lord is my helper; I will not

fear. What can man do to me?’”3 “If

God is for us, who can be against

us?”4

In sudden emergencies and

prolonged trials, God fulills His

promises today just as surely as He

did in the past. He is saying, “I will

not fail you. When you are in the

midst of trouble or under great stress,

just keep courage. I will not under

any circumstances forsake you.” And

He means that for you.

hat’s the God I know, the God

whom I have proven year after

year under all conditions, and He’s

standing ready at this moment to

meet you in any trial that you may

be passing through. He’s speaking

to you now. If you feel that you can

go no further unless your load is

lightened, this message is for you.

God is faithful. No matter what

your age, no matter what your

trouble, you are a particular concern

of God’s at this very moment. You are

the one that He longs to help. “Come

to Me, all you who labor and are

heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”5


(1886–1968) was the mother

of David Brandt Berg (1919–

1994), founder of the Family

International. ■

ALWAYS, IN ALL WAYSA Prayer of Thanksgiving

O Lord, you made all the delicate,

inner parts of my body and knit

me together in my mother’s

womb. Thank you for making me

so wonderfully complex! Your

workmanship is marvelous—how

well I know it. You watched me

as I was being formed in utter

seclusion, as I was woven together

in the dark of the womb. You saw

me before I was born. Every day

of my life was recorded in your

book. Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts

about me, O God. They cannot be

numbered!6 ■

1. 2 Timothy 1:12, emphasis added

2. Isaiah 43:2

3. Hebrews 13:6

4. Romans 8:31

5. Matthew 11:28

6. Psalm 139:13–17 NLT


7

65

For years I nearly always closed my Meditation Moments radio show with the words “God is still on the throne, and prayer changes

things!” Someone once wrote in and said, “I don’t ind

those words in the Bible.”

No, they’re not in the Bible, but they’re certainly

scriptural and express an important truth.

If prayer doesn’t change things, then let’s quit praying.

But if prayer does change things, then we ought to devote

more time to prayer, for all around us there are many

things that need changing. If prayer does change things,

then let’s get busy praying and changing the things that

need changing. Just think what could happen if you really

believed that! Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are

possible.”1 If you’ve prayed and things haven’t changed,

then this little talk is for you.

FIXED DETERMINATIONBy Virginia Brandt Berg

A common expression among some Christians is

“praying through.” hat means you keep praying until

you receive a deinite assurance that God has heard the

prayer and will take action. Perhaps you’ve felt that assur-

ance at times—that you didn’t need to continue praying

for a certain situation because you were sure that God had

heard your prayer, the matter was in His hands now, and

He would work it out as He knew best.

he Bible is full of accounts of those who prayed

through, particularly King David in the book of Psalms.

I get a thrill in my soul whenever David emerges from

prayer and comes out with a bold expression of assur-

ance: “he Lord has heard my prayer!”

At the beginning of one psalm, when David began to

pray, he was almost in despair over some great trouble,

but it wasn’t long before he came away declaring, “Blessed

be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my

supplications! My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;

therefore my heart greatly rejoices.”2

Another time David was overwhelmed with discour-

agement, but he poured out his heart to the Lord and

came away with the sweet assurance: “he Lord has

heard the voice of my weeping. he Lord will receive

my prayer.”3 And another time David comes away from

prayer with the words, “Certainly God has heard me; He

has attended to the voice of my prayer.”4

1. Mark 9:23

2. Psalm 28:6–7

3. Psalm 6:8–9

4. Psalm 66:19

5. Psalm 116:1–2

6. John 14:14

7. John 16:23

8. Galatians 6:9

9. See Hebrews chapter 11.

4

66

hat assurance became so ixed in David’s heart and

mind that he began one psalm with the words, “I love the

Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplica-

tions. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I

will call upon Him as long as I live.”5 He knew God was

going to hear and answer.

Years ago I was injured in a terrible accident that

left me a total invalid, paralyzed from the waist down,

and I was mostly conined to bed for the next ive years.

I also had life-threatening heart and lung problems,

and sufered various other side efects from numerous

unsuccessful operations to try to restore the use of

my legs. It was this ixed determination—this praying

through—that brought the fullness of faith that I needed,

and the result was that I was miraculously and completely

healed.

hrough Jesus Christ you too can have your prayers

answered just as wonderfully. Hold on to His prom-

ises. “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”6

“Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give

you.”7 Have this ixed determination. “I’m going to hold

on until the answer comes.” Don’t give up!

How badly do you want your prayer answered? Are

you willing to meet this condition, this ixed determina-

tion, or will you let delays discourage you and cause you

to give up? Will you allow obstacles to block your way to

victory? Will you let others’ doubts frustrate and foil your

faith? here are many ways of meeting a crisis, but only

one way guarantees victory, and that is to pray straight

through it.

he Bible says, “Let us not grow weary while doing

good”—in this case, praying—“for in due season we shall

reap if we do not lose heart.”8

May your faith be strengthened as you think of

King David and others in the Bible who through this

ixed determination brought down the walls of Jericho,

marched through the Red Sea on dry ground, and

wrought many other miracles.9

Take God’s promises and march straight through any

diiculty, saying like the saints of old, “I’m determined

that nothing shall cheat me out of what God has prom-

ised me in His Word!”

here are many reasons why God does not always

answer immediately or in the way we expect, but He does

eventually answer every prayer. Do you want your prayers

answered badly enough to keep praying until God assures

you He’s going to answer? hen you won’t be disap-

pointed, because God is still on the throne, and prayer

does change things!

Virginia Brandt Berg (1886–1968) was an evan-

gelist and pastor. ■

5

67

Regardless of whatever else we may be looking for in life, we all have one aspiration in common: we all

want to be happy.

Happiness is diferent things

to diferent people, of course, but

some seem to think that it is as

simple as having a good time. As

children, we all do that. We think

that happiness means doing as we

please, having lots of fun and not

much work. Eventually, after getting

into plenty of mischief and sufering

many stomachaches, most of us learn

that happiness does not come from

grabbing everything we want—that

happiness is not the product of idle-

ness and chocolate creams.

Unfortunately, some people never

do seem to learn that. hey spend

their lives looking for happiness in all

the wrong places, only to realize too

late that they have been chasing shad-

ows. Meanwhile there are others who

do not make the quest for personal

happiness their top priority, their holy

grail, but they ind it just the same.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote a

poem about this search:

I’ve lost the road to happiness,

Does anyone know it, pray?

I was dwelling there

When the morn was fair,

But somehow I wandered away.

I saw rare treasure

And scenes of pleasure

And ran to pursue them when, lo,

I had lost the road to happiness

And knew not whither to go.

Where can true happiness be

found? It is found in living in

harmony with God. Many people

think they are unhappy because

of their circumstances, but that is

not it—something is wrong in the

heart. When the heart is right, all is

right, but when the heart is wrong,

all is wrong. hey are at war with

themselves because they are out of

harmony with God.

Jesus told His disciples, “If you

know these things”—the keys to

right living that He had taught

them—“blessed are you if you do

them.”1 he King James Version

translates the Greek word makarios

“happy,” rather than “blessed.” hat

makes the point even more clearly,

and there is a world of truth in it! Joy

is a result of right living. When we

try our best to do things God’s way,

we can stop struggling to ind happi-

ness, because happiness comes to us.

If our hearts are right with God and

our will is in line with His, we ind

rest of spirit, peace, and joy—chief

building blocks of happiness.2

The Road to

1. John 13:17

2. See Matthew 11:28–30;

Isaiah 26:3; John 15:11.

Happiness Adapted from the writings of Virginia Brandt Berg


(1886–1968) was an American

pastor and pioneer radio

evangelist through her radio

program Meditation Moments,

which aired for 15 years. ■

4

68

I once attended a meeting where a 16-year-old boy sang several gospel songs, and as he sang, his face shone with

joy. I learned later that he had grown

up in a horrible home environment.

From the age of 12, he had been

forced to steal to support his family,

and within a year, he was also

stealing to support his own drug

habit, which his life of crime had

led to. He had been arrested and

spent years in and out of juvenile

correctional centers. But one day,

some young people met him on

the street and led him to receive

Jesus, and his life was completely

transformed.

How had that transformation

taken place? he Bible says, “All of

us who have had that veil removed

If you haven’t yet asked Jesus to help

change your life for the better, you

can do so right now. Simply pray a

prayer like the following:

Jesus, I want to share my life with You.

Please come in and transform me into a

new person.3

can see and relect the glory of the

Lord. And the Lord—who is the

Spirit—makes us more and more

like him as we are changed into his

glorious image.”1 he transforma-

tion takes place by beholding Jesus.

Many people try to transform their

lives with human striving and carnal

willpower, but through self-efort

they can never experience the kind

of transformation that boy did—

never! It can only happen as we

behold Jesus.

Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and

let Me abide in you.”2 his is the

secret of the transformed life: Jesus

abiding in you and living out His

life through you. He’ll do the

transforming and change your life

for the better if you give Him the

chance!


(1886–1968) was an American

evangelist and pastor. ■■

Transformed

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

2. John 15:4

3. See Romans 12:2.

All I know is this works. It’s not only

worked for me, but I’ve seen it work for

literally thousands and thousands of

people. I have seen the transformation

on people’s faces when they receive

Christ. I’ve seen the glory come on

them, the light.—Joyce Meyer (b. 1943)

The same Jesus Who turned water

into wine can transform your home,

your life, your family, and your future.

He is still in the miracle-working busi-

ness, and His business is the business

of transformation.—Adrian Rogers

(1931–2005)


13

69

Documents

Virginia Brandt Berg in Activated