By Faith Alone
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Midi music (click on title): Amazing Grace, Hosanna(traditional), Hosanna(rock), Impossible Dream, Jesus Christ Superstar By Eunice Soper
"Deaf Ear"
When Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, tempting Him at a time when He was weakened by days of fasting, Jesus met each one of Satan's offers with a steadfast refusal to sin. He had come from His home in heaven with a great aim in mind -- to prove the love of God for His people and secure for them the eternal life they had forfeited by their sin in the Garden of Eden.
With this great purpose in mind He was deaf to all ideas that would turn Him aside from achieving His purpose. Satan's temptation on the point of appetite at a time when He was hungry; the offer of a kingdom at a time when He was without a single follower, or a home of His own; the offer of an "easy" way to secure the power and glory of the world at a time when He realized that His life on earth would eventually lead to torment and death; to all these things Jesus turned a deaf ear, for He had a great goal for His life. Consider the story of twelve-year-old Tom. One day, as he boarded a train when he sold papers, he incurred the wrath of one of the trainmen. The irate man hit the lad on the ear so hard that his hearing was impaired. During the rest of his life it was impossible for him to hear many of the things that went on about him.
What a terrible handicap, you say? Tom did not consider it thus, for years later Thomas A Edison, one of the greatest inventors of all times, said that he found his deafness to be a boon. It shut away from his mind many of the things that might have distracted him from the work that he was doing. It enabled him to focus his mind on the problem at hand.
In some ways it might be well if we were all a little bit deaf! A bit hard of hearing when companions tempt us to do things we should not do. A bit deaf when the voice of Satan tries to get through to our consciousness. That "deafness" would enable us to keep our mind clear of so many of the temptations that otherwise distract us and weaken our efforts to live a consistent Christian life.
Let us develop that "deafness" in our life that forces us to say, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Then we will be better able to focus our attention on our goal in life.
Back in the days of walled cities the walls were patrolled at night by sentries who walked back and forth on them. At regular intervals they called out the time, and added the reassuring message, "All is well." During times of strife the householders in the cities listened anxiously during the nighttime for those reassuring words, "All is well." When the call was heard, they could relax and go back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that they were well cared for.
One evening the operator in a telephone exchange answered a call. Instead of getting a question from an adult voice, she heard only childish sobbing. For moments she tried to get the child to talk, but there was nothing but that heartbroken sobbing. Finally she asked, "Are you a boy or a girl?"
Along with more sobs came the answer, "A-a-a-a little boy."
"But little boys are generally brave. They don't cry. What's wrong, sonny?"
"I-I-I'm all alone, and it's dark in my room, and I can't go to sleep," he wailed.
"Oh," said the understanding operator. "I see. Now look, son, you go on back to bed. Leave the receiver off the hook, and I'll be right here all night long, right beside you. You can speak to me at any time. I'll keep watch. Will that be O.K.?"
"Yes," came the relieved voice. "That'll be just fine."
Later, the mother came home, and finding the child asleep and the telphone receiver off the hook on the bedside table, she began to ask questions. She listened in surprise as the child told how a kind lady had kept watch over him all night long. Mother called the operator and told how she had gone to church, leaving the boy asleep in charge of a baby-sitter. The irresponsible girl had wandered off for a walk with her boy friend and left the child alone. The girl had failed as a sentry, but the operator had provided the comfort the child needed.
Today there is daily news of fighting, war, bloodshed, rioting, murder, and violence of every kind. Often we feel frightened. But we can be comforted by the knowledge that God is near us, as close as a prayer. He can keep us safe, for He is always awake to our needs, day and night. He "shall neither slumber nor sleep."
"She's a nuisance," declared the farmer, as he tossed her off the nest for the dozenth time. "She's so little she can't hover a full setting of eggs, so I don't want to bother with her." Impatiently he shut the door on the clucking, persistent creature that was already trying to find her way back to the nest.
But the farmer's wife felt sorry for the small brown hen that was so determined to hatch a family, so within a few days the little brown hen was allowed to have a few eggs. She clucked and chirred, and fluffed her feathers, then settled herself contentedly for the three weeks' wait.
No nestful of eggs was ever cared for better than those ten eggs under the little brown hen. And at the end of three weeks she strutted forth proudly exhibiting her ten fuzzy, healthy chicks.
All summer she clucked, sang, scratched for, and taught those ten chicks. And each night she had to stretch her small wings farther and farther to cover their growing bodies.
Then one of the other hens left her half-grown brood to shift for themselves. Promptly the little brown hen added the orphans to her own brood, stretched her wings a bit farther and stood on tiptoe to hover them.
"A wonderful mother hen," commented the farmer. And the next spring at brooding season, when the little brown hen made her wishes known, she was the first to be provided with eggs.
She knew what she wanted. She made the most of her opportunity. She did her part and more. She was, in other words, a hard worker and a success.
Let's be like the little brown hen. If we have made up our minds what we are going to do with our lives, let's persist, let's work, and let's "do it heartily," until the time when Jesus says, "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."
When the time came for God to deliver Israel from the Egyptians, He waylaid Moses in the wilderness. Here He unfolded to the astonished and unwilling man the plan of leading a nation of slaves into a land of their own and making of them a nation. The more God explained, the more Moses protested that he could not do the job. He had been away from Egypt so long he had forgotten the language. He was too old, and most important of all, the children of Israel would not listen to him.
Then it was that God asked, "What is that in thine hand?" Moses held it out -- his shepherd's rod. God turned the rod into a serpent, from which Moses fled, and then God turned it back into a rod again. This would be a sign, God said, that the message that Moses bore was not from human lips.
In time to come Moses used that rod on more than one occasion to work miracles for the Israelites as they marched toward their new home. It was used to part the Red Sea. It struck the rock that provided water for them. It parted the Jordan. It was a simple stick, but when it was dedicated to the use of God, it became a mighty power, working miracles.
We do not have to have exceptional talents to work for God. If we dedicate what we have to Him, He can accomplish much through the humblest means. When God needed someone to deliver the children of Israel from the Philistines, Shamgar with his ox goad was the means of deliverance. When Israel had again sinned and fallen into the hands of the king of Canaan, it was a simple tent nail in the hands of a woman that caused the death of Sisera, the captain of the army, and the downfall of the enemy.
It was the whitened jawbone of a desert carcass that Samson found at hand when again the Israelites needed help. And David, the brave young man of Israel, battled the strong man of the Philistines with nothing but his slingshot and five small brook stones. When He wanted to feed five thousand people, it was a small boy's lunch of five barley loaves and two fishes that Jesus blessed to provide that meal.
A shepherd's rod, an ox goad, a tent nail, a dried-up jawbone, a slingshot, a lunch -- all of these are small, inconsequential things, but when they were dedicated to God they accomplished mighty deeds that have gone down in history.
Are your talents small? Don't bury them in the earth. Dedicate them to God, and with His help you will accomplish the things that need to be done.
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"Religion is a unique force in society. It promotes both good and evil. Historically, it has helped to abolish slavery. It has promoted racial integration, equal rights for women, and equal rights for gays and lesbians. It has motivated individuals to create massive support services for the poor, the sick, the hurting, and the broken. Conversely, it has been used to justify slavery, racial segregation, oppression of women, discrimination against homosexuals, genocide, extermination of minorities, and other horrendous evils." --
Religious Tolerance
"I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord, that does all these things." Isaiah 45:6-7 Widely varied in size and structure, picturesque houses of worship cling throughout generations to Appalachia's hills and hollers. There's an echo of faith in everyday conversation and an ancient devotion steels residents in courage, humor and grace as they struggle with weather-related and man-made catastrophes. Eunice Soper has written many devotional books, mostly for children. Semi-retired from professional service worldwide for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, she and her husband, Francis, radiate peace, strength and practical good-heartedness from their adopted home in Virginia's central Shenandoah Valley. Sister Mary Rose McGeady, administrator of Covenant House, writes a very readable monthly on-line newsletter about her experiences with some of the 44,000 homeless and runaway children CH helps each year. Covenant House offers assistance, including food, clothing, medical aid, educational and vocational training and counseling, through shelters in 15 major cities. Their toll-free NINELINE (1-800-999-9999) connects children to counselors and resources in any area. "Love is the answer to the final question." -- Unknown. Spirit Web: Spiritual Consciousness on the WWW, a site maintained in Switzerland with copious worldwide links, introduces alternate and ancient paths of enlightenment which have become increasingly popular throughout this century, including within Appalachia. "The path of knowledge is that of the occultist and the sage; that of love is that of the mystic and the saint. The head or heart approach is 
not dependent upon the ray, for both ways must be known; the mystic must
become the occultist; the white occultist has been the saintly mystic.
True knowledge is intelligent love, for it is the blending of the
intellect and the devotion. Unity is sensed in the heart; its
intelligent application to life has to be worked out through knowledge."
-- Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic, page 120; quote from The Feather of Maat and other words of wisdom
The Hindu Tantric Home Page explores the ancient, complex spiritual tradition of India. "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.... Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them with a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.... that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." -- Deuteronomy 11:13,14,18,21 
"Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit." Zechariah 4:1-6. Beth El Shaddai, a small Messianic Synagogue uniting Jews and Gentiles from Birmingham Alabama, updates their informational site weekly with pertinent Biblical history, feasts and holidays, and maintains related web links. "The [Japanese] Ninja that played an important role in the information battles upraised their abilities to the highest level by using the Ninpou they established. The Ninpou forming prompt actions and the toughest mental powers can also be a trustworthy guide to success.... The Iga Ninpou were developed in order to train the mind, techniques and body of the Ninja. Among the secrets that turned impossible into possible, there are relaxing techniques, health maintaining methods and healthy diets that all can be adapted to the lives of modern people. " -- The Truth of Iga Ninja "Mine is the secret that opens upon the door of youth and mine is the Cup of the Wine of Life and the Caldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality. I am the Gracious Goddess who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man upon earth. I give the knowledge of the Spirit Eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.... I who am the beauty of the Green Earth, and the White Moon amongst the stars and the mystery of the Waters, and the desire of the heart of man, I call unto thy soul to arise and come unto me. For I am the Soul of Nature who giveth life to the universe; from me all things proceed and unto me all things must return.... I have been with thee from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire." -- Book of Shadows "...So let our sacrifice rise before you today, And fully follow after you, For those who trust in you will not be disappointed. So now we follow you with all our hearts; we revere you And seek your face. Do not disappoint us, But deal with us in your forbearance And your abundant mercy. Deliver us in your wonderful way, And glorify your name, Lord; May all who do your slaves harm be disgraced; May they be put to shame and lose all their power and might, And may their strength be broken. Let them know that you are the Lord God alone, Glorious over the whole world." -- The Song of the Three Children: 16-21,, The Apocrypha trans. by Edgar J. Goodspeed; also see Old Testament Apocrypha, Wesley Center for Applied Theology; and Gnostic Virtual Home) |
Midi (click on title): "The Rose," Words & Lyrics by Amanda McBroom
Word Preserve -- A Country Rag Index
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And the soul, afraid of dyin', that never learns to live. 
By Faith Alone, text © Eunice Soper, 1996, 2000. All rights reserved.