The Introduction to "What Our Hands Have Handled
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personal testimonies
More than ever these days, as this world offers its guarantees for every area of life, we need a people who are fully convinced that its offers are a deception and human life is a vapor. God looks for people, who live by the simple faith of children in an all-powerful Father. I want to lay before you the beginning of a book, in which I tell a little about the Christianity that I had the privilege of observing as a child…
Introduction
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Not long ago, I visited my brother in California and he reminded me of a scene that was repeated several times, when we lived at home with our parents. My father, a missionary to Native Americans, spent many hours alone with God, studying and praying. On some occasions, because the meal was prepared, my mother had to interrupt him, so that he would join us at the table. When he entered the kitchen, his conduct and face intimated that he had come from another world. As he gave thanks for the food, or at times, even before bowing his head, suddenly emotion gripped him, tears flowed and excusing himself, he rushed from the table to return to his room. To dad, the presence of God was a reality.
When my older brothers and sisters permanently left home, I was still a teenager. Awaking one morning, I saw my mother visibly shaken. She had dreamed during the night and in the dream, the Lord appeared to her with the same question that He gave to his listeners 2000 years before: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” The concern upon my mother’s face, engraved the moment in my mind and lodged itself deeply into my being. Perhaps in part, the dream was for me, so that I could share it with others today.
August 31 - September 6 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
August 31
Psalms 85:6-13
6. Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7. Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
From time to time through the years, fresh outpourings of the Spirit have come and we look desperately heavenward once again with the same prayerful question that the Psalmist uttered: “Wilt thou not revive us again?” Oh, for a time when God is at peace with His people and there is rejoicing in heaven and on earth, when mercy is evident and salvation comes to and through the church. The word of the Lord to us is peace, as to the woman taken in adultery, with a caution, “Go and sin no more.” His salvation is not far off, for “in Him we live, and move and have our being.” Ever since He came to earth, the potential has been attainable. Mercy and truth have been companions. His word of peace and His power for righteousness enable a people to serve Him faithfully in love. Heaven and earth meet, as earth’s people are reborn from above, God raining righteousness down from heaven and truth springing up from the earth. The ministry of Elijah and John the Baptist precede revival, calling for righteousness and tuning hearts to His ways. “Wilt Thou not revive us again?” Grant us, oh Lord, the answer to that prayer. Prepare our hearts.
The Sufferings of Christ
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Important messages
He has been teaching the youth lessons on the cross and some “get it” and are excited about it. Others have the attitude, when can we get past this subject into something more interesting. A while back, he preached on “propitiation” in a Sunday morning service. People came up to him afterwards, saying they had never heard a message on the subject, including a 70-year-old veteran, very active in church activities.
Is that bothersome to you? It is to me. For that reason I wrote the book, We Have an Altar, because I wanted Christians to be able to know what they’re talking about, when they say, “Jesus died for us on the cross.” That’s about as deep as the understanding of many goes. Below please read chapter three and see if you agree with me that many Christians today need to hear this message, especially young Christians. Maybe you can help me get this book into their hands.
Chapter 3
The Supreme Suffering of Christ
“Jesus cried out with a loud voice… ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?’”
Mark 15:34
I struggle to find an adjective to describe the suffering of Christ on the cross. Nothing seems adequate. What word can justly define that which only occurred once in history on this earth and was unique and unequaled by any other event or person? It was excruciating, unearthly anguish, immeasurably beyond whatever we might put in second place. In fact, take the composite pain and torture ever afflicted upon human beings throughout the ages, multiply it by any number you choose and you will yet come far short of finding a comparison for that which took place in a lone body on Calvary’s hill.
An Allegory... part eight (final)
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Important messages
Chapter 15
IT’S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
….. These people readily signed our petition on their knees, as was their custom. The natives in the white robes knew about the massacre. They were surprised that the foreign representatives, who came from a land that was considered by many to be the King's country, knew so little about His power. They had many ideas and plans and were involved in many projects, yet when a crisis came, they did not know which way to turn. They seemed to lack an intimacy with the King.
In contrast, these natives in the white robes were in constant contact with Him. They had an uncanny knowledge of His Word. They had learned very little about modern methods and simply and literally relied on what was written. One thing was important to them and that was to immediately obey His command. They seemed to sense the very longings of the King and set about to please Him, before a command was given.
There was an understanding among them that each individual was in communion with the king, from the least to the greatest, and were taught by Him. There was nothing that was more important among them. The leaders fully recognized that they were only brothers to the rest and were as prone to mistakes as anyone else. They knew to always yield to the individual guidance that others received and understood that each one was responsible to hear and obey the Sprit of the King. One day, each one would give an account to Him.
Each held a healthy distrust in himself and we heard one say, "I am a worm and no man." Another, who held a wonderful relationship with the King declared, "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." Still another said, "I am a man of unclean lips and I live with a people of unclean lips", yet easily we could see that these were the holiest people we had ever met. However, they understood their need for the King and therefore they spent much time alone with him by day and by night. They lived very close to the River and its friendly waters continually washed them from all impurities. How refreshing it was to be with them! They were poor, yet they made many rich.
August 24 - 30 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
August 24
Psalms 81:8-16
8. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;
9. There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14. I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Similar to the cry of the Lord in the Psalm is that of Jesus to the Laodiceans, “If any man hear my voice” and put away his idols, I will come in and sup with him. “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it.” The Manna-feeder is still our Source. Unfortunately, there are history worshipers today, who need to become present recipients of nourishment from an unchanging God.
A curse follows those who will not hear, because they are led by their own wisdom, taken up with fulfilling their own will. It is the curse of continuing an existence with no intrusion from God. May it not be upon us.
The divine “oh” assures us of God’s intentions towards our revival. Does he still groan today? Why should we walk in temporal wisdom and human power, when we can have His abundant and eternal ways? Enemies could be subdued, souls saved, and God’s best provisions would satisfy our souls. Who will let go and let God have His way? Who will profit from history by letting Israel’s provider fill his mouth to overflowing?
An Allegory... part seven
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Important messages
Chapter 13
COWARDICE LEADS TO CONFORMITY
……. We came to a place that was particularly refreshing. During this time we entered the River often, not only by day, but also by night, to bathe. It seemed that the waters penetrated the depths of our beings and extracted gratitude and praise. There were other things to do in that area, but none of us wanted to leave the River. Nothing else seemed worthwhile or nearly as enjoyable, compared to it.
We camped now on a plane and growing there was a tree distinct from any other kind in the world. No one knows how old it is, but the King's travelers who pass by call it Revelation. Its bark is pure white and curiously there is writing that covers the trunk from top to bottom. From time to time, we would sit around the tree and read the words. A breeze from off the river would blow through the leaves, producing a whispering sound. If we listened carefully, we could hear understandable words that gave more clarity to what was written on the bark. We had the impression that there was no limit to the heights we could reach, if we were obedient to its words. It told us that the way that we were taking went through waters, where we would be led supernaturally. Just as it was with the waters of the River, so these words went deep into our souls.
We had to go on, confirming the word that we had received by our walk. We walked mostly in an easterly direction and we had not gone far, when we heard murmurs of voices close by. We arrived at a steep precipice that fell to a wide canyon and there was no way that we could see to go on.
August 17 - 23 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
August 17
Psalms 78:36-41, 65-72
36. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
37. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.
38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
40. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
41. Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
65. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
66. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
67. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68. But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
69. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
70. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
71. From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
An Allegory... part six
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Important messages
Chapter 11
RIGHT AND WRONG MATERIALS AND METHODS
…Before we settled down for the night, a man of experience gave us something to think about on our air mattresses. “There is a right way and there is a wrong way,” he said. “The right way is the King’s way and the wrong way is our way. It’s just that simple. We cannot do whatever pops into our head and think that, since we do it for the King, everything will turn out all right. The King Himself told a woman one day that she must worship in spirit and in truth. We have been very conscious that we must work in conjunction with the River of the Spirit of the King. We must also know that all must be done according to truth. The King said, ‘I am the Truth’, and when we abandon truth, we abandon the King.”
It was like serving a huge meal before going to bed and I could not sleep. Two verses from His Majesty’s book were playing in my mind, “From Thy precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” I remembered, as I learned to walk by the Stream, an inner light lighted the Word and I could read in the dark. It led me, when my natural eyes could not see the path. I grew to love that true word and to love truth is to hate lies – every false way.
August 10 - 16 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
August 10
Psalms 76:1-3
1. In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
2. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
3. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
This is a Psalm of peace, due to the destruction of the instruments of war. Blessed are the peacemakers and God brings peace through His people.
Israel had seen His acts and the whole country had been under His influence. Judah, however, was more intimate, closer to His heart and the seat of blessing. They knew Him.
The Psalmist narrows things down, beginning with Israel, then referring to Judah, next to Jerusalem and finally to Mt. Zion. Curiously, he refers to the holy city by its original name, going back to Genesis and the days of Melchizidek. Salem was established on two principles- righteousness and peace. We must frequently go back to the beginnings to find the original intents and purposes of God. We see “in the beginning it was not so.” In the beginning, righteousness reigned and thereby peace. Coming closer still, we find ourselves on Mt. Zion, at the place where God is at home, the place from which He operates and executes His judgments.
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