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VERSES:

" Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren"....Deuteronomy 4:9

PRAYER

Oh most merciful and loving God in Heaven, we worship You in spirit and in truth and in gratitude for Who You are and What You have done. We have seen Your Hands, the Work of Your Hands, the Wonder of Your Love and the Grace from Your Heart, as the winter of our discontent, the wickedness of our hearts and the wandering lost nature of our souls were rescued from sin, death and hell. You did that, oh Lord. We are living proof, I am living proof, of the unseen Hand of God, Whose Arm is never too short, to reach into the depths of depravity and despair and pull us out by the root to replant us in the Garden of Grace.

 

We know, in every fiber of our very being, what You have done in protecting us from danger, keeping us from falling and from the wolves and sure death out there as the angels You sent, kept us from "dashing our foot up against a stone". Father, I remember those days. I remember the fields of dirt, thirst and hopelessness You took me out of....just like You took the little shepherd boy away from the flocks who slew great giants and became king David of Israel. As Your Faithful servant, meek yet strong, Moses urged all believers for all times, I purpose to "take heed" and wear Your salvation of my soul on my sleeve that others may gain. I take particular, punctilious, painstaking, rigorous, care in, as Your Apostle Paul says "working out" that salvation....not to be "saved again" but to build on what You have given me, in Grace through Faith, to a daily maturing in that Faith....in the spirit of boldness, power, love and a sound mind!

 

It is only by staying, abiding and walking close to You, Abba Father, that I can be, that we can be, of any use to the Kingdom of Your Great Son, King Jesus the Lord of Heaven's Armies and the real Commander in Chief of the world! It is only by constant prayer, intercession, and letting the Word of God, the Bible richly dwelling in us day after day, month after month, year after year,  that Your servants can be effective in leaving a legacy of Lordship not just to our children from their birth to their maturity, but from their teenage years until they themselves become parents and then, if we are blessed with clarity of mind and good old age, we too can share what God, through Christ has done for us.  Lord, give us this day, not just our daily bread, but the daily power, strength, boldness, discernment and wisdom to execute every statute You laid out in this Scripture from this verse above, so that we will be able to do just as You commanded,  to not just leave but LIVE a legacy of love, and the Knowledge of the Goodness and Wonderful Works of our Lord, to those whom we will one day temporarily leave behind. We ask this in the Precious Name above all names - Jesus, our Lord, amen.

Holy Bible, Book Divine

Precious Treasure, Thou art mine!!!

Amen

More than 30 years ago, I received a call from an elderly man named John Hunter. Someone had given him my name, and he said he hoped I might be able to answer some of his questions about the new things God was doing in the church.

I agreed to meet with him, and after that initial meeting John and I got together often. I learned that he had already known the Lord for more than 50 years—much longer than I had even been alive at that point. He didn’t flaunt his credentials, but he also had many years of experience as a church leader and Bible teacher. John clearly knew Christ in a deep and profound way.

So why did he want to get together with me? That was something I always found puzzling. Was it that he had a fatherly concern for me as a young Christian leader? Yes, I’m sure he wanted me to succeed as a leader—but that was not why he wanted to get together.

Did he want to straighten out my theology? No, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

Still to this day, I’m shocked by John’s primary reason for wanting to spend time with me: He was so hungry for the things of God that he hoped to learn something even from a “youngster” like me.

This may not seem so remarkable to you, but it still challenges me to the very core of my being. Why? Because John Hunter was hungrier for the Lord than I was.

Let me explain…

Before I met John, I was pretty satisfied with the spiritual level I had attained. I felt knowledgeable about the Scriptures and in touch with the Holy Spirit—wasn’t that enough? But John exemplified the same kind of insatiable hunger for God that the apostle Paul wrote about:

   Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that    for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but        one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for        the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect [mature], have this      attitude (Philippians 3:12-15).

Until his dying day, John Hunter was still pressing on, not satisfied with the knowledge of God he already had. In his later years John developed Parkinson’s Disease, which made it much more difficult to “press on”—but he did nonetheless. His gait was more wobbly each time we met, as if his tall, lanky body might fall at any moment.

But he insisted on getting together anyway.

When we sat to have lunch, John’s hands shook violently if he tried to gesture or to bring a spoon to his mouth. Often his food spilled on his shirt, drawing the attention of those at neighboring tables in the restaurant.

As his final days approached, John’s words came out slowly and slurred. Sometimes he didn’t finish the sentences he started. But I could always sense the presence of the Lord during the times we shared.

It will be great to see John Hunter again someday. In heaven, I’m sure he has a fantastic new body, unaffected by anything like Parkinson’s. And I can’t wait to see how his childlike spiritual hunger is finally being satisfied as he dances in worship before God’s throne.

Let’s remind each other to follow John Hunter’s example, always yearning to go higher, toward the “upward call of God” for our lives. Let’s stay hungry until our hunger is fulfilled in eternity.

And perhaps the Lord would even have us invest ourselves in a new generation, as John Hunter did with me. Our lives will be changed when we do.