a t the meeting, ju st as the service was about to begin, a woman made h er way through the crowd to the platform . She handed Mr. Moody an envelope, but there was no time to rea d anything then. Putting it into his pocket, Mr. Moody started the service. When the evening was over, he recalled the en velope and hastily looked inside. What should he find but a check fo r $3,000! What a wonderful answ er to p ray er! More intriguing is the fa c t that when he contacted the woman to thank her she explained that she had first writ ten the a m o u n t fo r $1,000, l a t e r changed it to $2,000 and then, ju st be fo re leaving fo r the service, the Holy Spirit seem ed to compel h er to m ake it $3,000.00. How true the assuring testi mony o f the apostle Paul, “My Gad shall supply all your need, according to H is riches in glory by Christ Jesu s.” * Friendshipconsists offorgetting what one gives and remembering what one re ceives. * * * REPENTANCE It is interesting to see how people in the world look u p o n scriptural terms such as “repentance.” A tribe o f Indians in Guatemala have a phrase to describe it : “I t pains my heart.” The Baouli people o f West A frica are a little more precise as they d eclare: “It hurts so much I want to quit it.” As the little Sunday school boy had i t : “Repentance is being sorry enough fo r doing something that you don’t do it again.” In the northern Sotho language o f South A frica, repentance is de scribed as something that happens in the sinful h ea rt: “I t becomes untwist ed.” In a sim ilar manner, the Choi In dians o f Southern Mexico sp eak o f re pentance as “The h eart turning itself back.” Their neighboring Tzeltals de scribe repentance as “My h eart returns because o f my sin.” I t ’s fascin ating to see the recognition o f the truths o f this B iblical term, even from heathen lands. They k n ow that sin warps, twists, and p erv erts the human heart. The Mazahua Indians o f Mexico have summarized the implications o f repen t ance when they declare that an individ u al who asks the L ord’s forgiven ess “has received a new h eart from God.” 25 * *
As the B ible assures us, “I f we con fes s our sins, the L ord is fa ith fu l and ju st to forg iv e us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” * What God provides through grace he expects the believer to possess through faith. * * * THE FATHER’S NAME The B ible tells us that God puts the solitary in fam ilies. How wonderfully He uses the home unit in illustrating etern al truths. T ake the fam iliar term o f endearment, “Daddy.” Did you know that this word o f affection has its coun terpart in S criptu re? I t ’s the A ramaic word pronounced “Abba.” Its truly lit eral translation would be equivalent to our “p apa,” denoting the greatest bond o f love possible between parents and child. P erhaps translators, through fe a r o f being regard ed as irreveren t, didn’t allow this word to be put into English. Unfortunately, the reverse has hap pened fo r “Abba,” not being in com mon usage, seems to be au stere and dignified. It ’s found three times in the New Testam ent: when the Saviour ad dressed H is Heavenly F a th er in the Garden o f Gethsemane, (M ark H :3 6 ) ; when the Christian is taught, to ap proach God through the indwelling presence o f the Holy S p irit: “F o r ye have not received the spirit o f bondage again to fea r, but ye have received the Spirit o f adoption, whereby we c r y A b b a , F a t h e r ” (Rom . 8 :1 5 ); “ . . . God hath sent fo rth the Spirit o f his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, F ath er” (Gal. 1 :6 ). Through all o f our trials and tribulations, we have the assurance o f God’s love because o f this close bond o f relationship with the Holy Spirit, who resides in our hearts * The tongue, being in a wet place, is prone to slip. * * * THE STILL WATERS You know the words o f David from the 23rd Psalm , “H e leadeth me be side the still waters.” We’re told that stream s during the rainy season are often sw ift and treacherous. It ’s not * * * *
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