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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life Issue #870 July 29, 2003 Hold Your Breath How long can you hold your breath? For some people the answer is a relatively long time, for others only a few seconds at best. So what? I want you to try little experiment. Hold your breath. Please, bear with me and hold you breath as you read. No cheating now, hold it. Hold it. Keep holding it. Hold it as long as you can. Now as you're still holding your breath, I want you to think about something. Imagine God stopped giving for ten minutes. I know it's hard to picture, but imagine that God did absolutely nothing for just ten minutes. What would happen? We wouldn't be able to breath, and by now you're getting a sense of what that must feel like. There would be nothing to hold the universe in place. Gravity wouldn't work so things would be flying every where. Planets, suns and moons would be falling out of orbit. Chaos would rain supreme as Satan tried to make the most of the ten minutes. It's something truly beyond our ability to imagine. You can quit holding you breath now. Even if the physical realm held together, and I don't believe it would, the world would see evil unleashed at a level never imagined. With no restraint from God, people would drift towards the basest levels of their being. September 11 would look like a picnic. Violence, perversion, anger and evil of every kind would burst out everywhere. With no restraint people could indulge the most depraved of their thoughts without consequence. People complain of the level of evil and suffering in the world today. It is truly sad and horrific, but it is nothing compared to what it would be. Everyone has had some level of depraved thoughts, now there would be nothing holding them back. What would you be tempted to do if there were no consequences or restraints? How would that compound the evil and suffering in the world? We all like to think we're nice, decent people, but without God's influence all of that would disappear. It's only by His grace and mercy, by His constant giving and intervention that evil is held in check. God rests By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2-3 NIV But even when He rests, His attention is directed towards us and He gives non-stop. Until next time, praise God for the wonderful gift of His non-stop giving. Praise Him in the midst of whatever you face in life. Be blessed Hallelu Yah (Praise God)! Kevin YOU ARE Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour you are cared for. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. You have value in the eyes of God so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that heaven will not be complete without you. HELP FOR THE HURTING Life is hard, there is no denying that fact. It would be harder, if not impossible without God's loving nature. Life is easier with God and He wants to draw you into a personal intimate relationship where he can love you, forgive you and bring you eternal life. Will you let Him? You can simply begin the relationship by honestly and completely opening your heart, admitting you need God's help, and saying a prayer along the lines of: Jesus: I have made many mistakes in my life and done things I am not proud of. I have sinned. I need your love and forgiveness. I believe that you came into this world and gave your life on a cross to pay for my sins and that you defeated death and rose again. Please forgive me, and be the Lord of my life. I give my life to you Lord. Amen If you pray this prayer for the first time let me know so I can rejoice with you. Did you know that at Gleanings, we have a dedicated team of prayer warriors and all prayer concerns are kept strictly confidential? Your comments, your questions and your joys are shared with the prayer team, to keep me accountable as the head of the ministry and to encourage them as they see God at work in your life. As with prayer all these things are kept confidential within the Gleanings team. To share your questions, comments, thoughts, prayer concerns and praise reports email us If you enjoyed this issue of Gleanings From The Word, email it, in its entirety, to a friend. For information on use of Gleanings in your church newsletter or other situations please visit the permissions page . You can write to us at Gleanings From The Word Ministries International 114 Oak St Sherwood Park, AB Canada T8A 0V8 © 2003 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin Gleanings From The Word Minististries International - All Rights Reserved
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