Blessed Appointments

When the Lord intercepted Paul on the road to Damascus, knocked him from his high horse to the ground, and spoke in saving power to him, He said, “Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointedfor thee to do” (Acts 22:11). What a blessing to know that everything that comes our way was already appointed by God. This same word is also translated, “Determined, ordained, and set.” What joy to know that nothing happens but that which our Heavenly Father has appointed. We will face difficult and heavy trials but knowing they were appointed by our Lord takes the sting out of them. He is too wise to err, too kind to be cruel, and “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to purpose.” Pastor Todd Nibert

Divine Healing

All healing of spiritual sickness or natural sickness is of God. The healing of natural sickness is never accomplished without the power of God. Vain are the skills of the most learned physician if God is not pleased to heal; and, if He is pleased to heal, He can do so with or without the medicine or the physician.

Trials, trouble, and illnesses are a part of this flesh and this world! God has never promised His people freedom from the infirmities and afflictions of the flesh, but He has promised His sufficient grace for every trial. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” “In the world ye shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

When a believer is sick, it is not “of the devil,” nor is it from “lack of faith.” As in all our experiences, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord,” and we can be sure that this, too, shall be for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28).

If you know and love the Lord Jesus and He is pleased to bring affliction into your life, treat it the same as you would any other trial. PRAY and seek the prayers of other believers for your deliverance. Do not seek the aid of religious healers. If a man preaches “another gospel” and “another Jesus,” he has “another spirit.” USE WHATEVER MEANS and medicine you have available and WAIT UPON THE LORD. “In EVERYTHING give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thess. 5:18).

May God be pleased to bless you with health of body, but more important is the perfect cleansing and healing of our souls in Christ Jesus. Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1988)

I AM THAT I AM

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Ex.3:14).

Who is this that speaks from the burning bush upon the mountain? It is the very same person that speaks throughout the gospel writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It certainly is no mistake that the Lord Jesus Christ told the Pharisees that, "Before Abraham was I am"(John 8:56). Our blessed Saviour did not have His beginning at Bethlehem, He is the everlasting God. Yes, He was manifested in the flesh as a real man in time (1Tim.3:16). However, let us never forget that He at no time stopped being God (John 1:14). Someone has put it, "He remained what He was (Almighty God) and He became what He was not (flesh)." Especially through the gospel recorded in John, our Lord identifies Himself as the, "I AM." Here are several scriptures to think upon this week.

1). I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." (John 6:35).

2). I AM THE LIGHT. "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

3). I AM THE DOOR. "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).

4). I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).

5). I AM THE RESURRECTION. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).

6). I AM THE WAY, TRUTH AND LIFE. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

7). I AM THE TRUE VINE. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1).