Hello Everyone from the Editor

I am sure that you have all heard of a mirage! It is something that we see that is not real. Often on a hot day we see a mirage on the road that looks like water. But mirages are far greater in a hot desert. When a person is thirsty, hot and weary, they see something that looks like a lovely lake. It is caused by the heat radiating from the hot desert sand.

Many years ago Egypt sent its troops to conquer the land of Nubia, south of Egypt, which has the vast Nubian Desert. On one occasion a regiment of Egyptian troops was crossing this desert. The heat was oppressive and their water was almost all used. Suddenly they saw what seemed to be a beautiful lake bordered with palm trees. Their guide, who knew the desert, told them that this was only a delusion.

The thirsty soldiers became angry and impatient at the guide and attacked and killed him. Then they all ran off eagerly to the water. They left the path they were to follow. On and on they ran, but the mirage seemed to be ever further away. Gradually they became exhausted, and overcome with heat and fatigue, they all perished in the burning sand.

When others came to search for them, they found the guide by himself, slain by the soldiers, and the soldiers scattered over a large area; everyone had died following a mirage.

Spiritually we may follow mirages. The world and its pleasures often appear so satisfying. People rush after these worldly things, but they are sadly disappointed in the end.

The Bible is like that guide to the army, it tells us of the safe and right path and of the true way of life and peace in Christ. Many people hate that guide and are sure that what they see is best.

Only Christ can supply the deep needs of our hearts and supply our spiritual thirsts. His grace and blessings are real and they last forever. What are you following - Christ or a mirage?

Persevering Prayer

A woman in Berwick, England, was saved by the Lord’s grace and mercy. Her heart was now filled with joy and peace in knowing that her sins were forgiven and the Lord was her Saviour.

But her husband was filled with anger and grief because of her Christian faith and became very violent and intolerant towards his wife. He treated her most unfairly and could not speak peaceably to her. He mocked and criticised her beliefs and Christian life. However this did not cause her to turn away from the Lord.

Soon the husband became a wife-beater and often attacked his wife. As a result she often had to leave the house and stay in one of the fields until he quietened down.

This woman did not tell others about her sad situation, but took the matter to the Lord in prayer, she was sure that with God all things are possible. She resolved to pray every day for a year for her husband’s conversion, in fact she resolved to pray for an hour each day.

This woman was enabled to keep her resolve for a full year without missing one day. But after the year there was no change of attitude in the husband. The woman wondered what she should do? At last she determined to continue for six months and pray every day for him.

This woman remained faithful to her resolve for the full six months, but at last the final day came. She went to her closet to pray as she had always done. She thought that perhaps her prayers were contrary to the will of God and she resolved not to call on the Lord any more as it seemed certain that her request would not be granted.

At dinner time the husband came home from his work very cast down and dejected. Instead of sitting down to his mid-day meal, he went straight to his room. His wife quietly followed and to her joy and astonishment, she heard him praying rather than mocking. After a while he returned to his work until night.

When he came home, his wife asked him in a loving way, “What is the matter?” He replied, “I am a lost sinner. About twelve o’clock today I was at my work when a passage of Scripture was deeply impressed upon my mind, which I cannot get rid of, and I am sure that I am lost.”

His wife encouraged him to pray, but he replied, “O wife, it is no use, there is no forgiveness for me.” He was smitten with grief and remorse over the dreadful way he had treated her. He asked. “Will you forgive me?” “Yes,” she replied. “Will you pray for me?” he asked. “Oh yes, I will.” “Will you pray for me now?” he implored. “That I will with all my heart.”

They fell on their knees and wept, and cried to God for mercy. His tears of repentance were mingled with her tears of thankfulness and joy. He became a sincere Christian, and later endeavoured to tell his neighbours of the way of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Learning from bits of paper

Rev. Corrie was once a chaplain of a school in the Indian City of Allahabad. The people spoke Hindustani, but there were no translations of the Bible in that language at that time.

Rev. Corrie was eager to somehow spread the word of God in some way. He had no means of printing or publishing a book. So he did what he could. Each night he would sit down and write a number of texts on small pieces of paper, and the next morning as people walked passed his place, he would give them these texts. The people readily accepted them.

After a time Rev Corrie moved to Madras to work in the church there. He heard no more about the slips of paper that he had distributed for several years.

One day a missionary from Allahabad contacted him telling him that a man, who was very sick, had returned to the city and he had been to visit him. The missionary was amazed at the knowledge of the Scriptures this man had. He told the missionary that he had never seen a Bible or heard a preacher. “How is it that you are so well informed of the Scriptures?” asked the missionary. The man reached under his pillow and pulled out a bundle of well-worn and tattered slips of paper.

“From these bits of paper that a man distributed at his door twenty years ago. I have not seen him since, but I have read them every day. It is from these slips of paper that I have learned all I know about the Lord and salvation.” This man had come to a true knowledge of Christ and trusted in Him with all his heart.

How glad Rev. Corrie must have been to hear that his feeble labours had not been in vain. The word that he had sown had not been lost or forgotten and God had used it to save a man’s soul.

Let us be faithful to sow the seed of God’s word whenever we have an opportunity.

Don’t want to go to heaven!

An old minister was very grumpy. Often his grandchildren came into his study and wanted to look at his books. He would growl at them and tell them to go away. He seemed to be so grumpy that the children could not please him at all.

One day one of the children’s mother was talking to him about heaven. Suddenly he said, “Mother, I don’t want to go to heaven.” The mother answered in surprise; “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” “No”, replied the boy, “I am sure that I do not want to.”

“But why not?’ inquired his mother. “Well, Grandpa will be there, won’t he?” “Why, yes, I hope he will.” “Well”, replied the lad, “as soon as he sees us in heaven he will be growling at us.

He is never nice to us, so I don’t want to go to heaven if grandpa will be there.”

This boy did not realise that no Christian will take their grumpy nature to heaven or any other sad faults they have in this life. They will be perfect and without any sin or blemish.

However grown-ups should never act in ways that make children think ill of the things of God. Our lives should encourage others to desire to know the Lord and to be in heaven. Sometimes people have seen Christians and felt that they would love to be like them, but other Christians have been so hard and severe that others have thought that they would never like to be like them or with them.

Do we recommend Christ and God’s ways to others by our lives and words, or do we drive people away from the things of God. Young children often gain their first impressions of the Lord from us. Is that impression a good one or does it drive them away?

The Bible’s purpose

“The Bible is a strange book,” said an unbeliever to a minister. “A wonderful book.” He replied. The unbeliever continued, “It has some strange characters among its saints such as David and Solomon and others. If these men lived today we would say that they deserve to be put in prison for life.”

“Worse than that,” replied the minister, “if they received what they deserve they would be sent to hell forever. But you are probably mistaken as to the purpose and aim of the Bible. It is not meant to show us how good men are, but to show how the grace of God brings salvation to the worst of men, and makes saints out of the vilest sinners.”

Unlike other books, the Bible does not try to hide or excuse the worst sins that people committed, but tells us how they repented of those sins and found the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.

Smile a while

q Ugly Aunt: A little girl said to her Auntie, “You are very ugly, Auntie Rosie.” Her mother heard what she said and angrily told her to go and tell her Auntie that she was sorry. Obediently the little girl went to her Aunty and said, “Auntie Rosie, I am very sorry that you are so ugly.”

q Twin brother: A boss told one of his staff, “I have a vacancy. Your twin brother could fill it.” “MY twin brother?” replied the puzzled worker. “Yes, the one that was at the football match, while you were at your uncle’s funeral.”

q Bob tail: A man asked the vet to cut off his dog’s tail. “Why?” he asked. “Well”, replied the owner, “my mother-in-law is coming to stay and I don’t want her to see any signs of a welcome.”

q Ready meal: A group of hungry lions was watching for food. Suddenly they saw a cloud of dust. They stood up to get a good view. It was a bus-load of tourists. “Just our luck”, said one lion, “here comes meals on wheels.”

q Rosey word: The sign outside a florist’s shop read, ‘Say it with flowers.’ A man asked for one rose. “Only one?” the florist queried. “Just one.” the man replied, “I am a man of few words.”

q Nosey obstacle: A policeman saw an old lady swerving her car all over the road. When he ran and stopped her car, she said, “Thank goodness, you’re here officer, I saw a tree in the middle of the road, so I swerved to the left and there it was again.” The officer looked inside the car and said, “That’s your air freshener.”

q Clean hands: “Have you washed your hands?” mother asked young Billy. “Yes Mother,” he replied, “and if you don’t believe me you can go and look at the towel.”

Simple Joseph

Joseph was a poor simple lad who delivered parcels and messages around the city streets of London. He could not learn and so he had a very poor education, but Joseph was diligent in carrying parcels from place to place..

One day as he was carrying a large parcel, he passed by a church where he heard people singing God’s praises. The minister of this Church was Edmond Calamy, a faithful preacher of the gospel. Joseph crept inside; there were a number of well-dressed people there while he was in old rags.

The preacher read his text from 1Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” He explained that there is eternal salvation for the vilest of sinners,. and that God often chooses the weak and base things and not many noble are called.

Joseph listened with amazement; he never took his eyes off the preacher and took in every word he spoke. Going home, Joseph talked to himself in his simple way, “Joseph never heard this before! Christ Jesus, the God who made all things, came into the world to save sinners like Joseph; and this is true: it is a faithful saying.”

Not long after, Joseph became sick with a dangerous fever. As he tossed upon his bed, he said over and over, “Joseph is the chief of sinners; but Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and Joseph loves him for this.” His friends asked him whether there were not some good things about himself, but he said he could not save himself and had no goodness. He said “Jesus Christ came to save sinners, why may not Joseph, after all, be saved?” .

When his friends found out that he had heard Rev. Calamy preach, they asked him to visit him. Joseph was very weak, but when he heard Rev. Calamy’s voice, he lifted himself on his elbows and said loudly, “O sir! You are a friend of the Lord Jesus. I heard you speak well of Him. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and why not Joseph? Oh, pray to Jesus for me; that He will save me. I think that I love Him for coming into the world to save such sinners as Joseph.”

Rev. Calamy did pray for Joseph and encouraged him to trust in Christ. Joseph thanked him for coming; then he put his hand under his pillow and pulled out some money wrapped in an old cloth. He put the money in Rev. Calamy’s hand and said, “This is the money that I have foolishly kept for my old age, but Joseph will never see old age. Take this money and divide it among the poor friends of the Lord Jesus, and tell them that Joseph gave it to them for His sake who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

Having said these words, Joseph lay back on his bed and immediately died. Rev. Calamy was overcome with tears, but left the house thankful to God. He often told this story to others with much feeling and thanks to God.

Destroyed by greed

The lives of many people have been ruined by greed. Scripture says, “Beware of covetousness.” Luke 12:15. And “The love of money is the root of all evil.” 1 Timothy 6:10.

In the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompei that was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, a petrified body of a woman was found trying to gather her jewels, instead of fleeing from the burning city.

Many years ago a ship named Britannia struck some rocks off the coast of Brazil. On board were a number of barrels containing a large consignment of Spanish dollars. Quickly the crew brought some of the barrels on to the deck of the boat hoping to rescue them. However the sea was so rough and the boat was breaking up, that the captain ordered everyone to man the lifeboats and escape.

When the last lifeboat was about to sail, the midshipman rushed back to see if everyone had left the ship. To his surprise there was one man with a hatchet breaking open a barrel to get the coins. “What are you doing? Escape for your life, don’t you know that the ship is breaking up and sinking?” shouted the midshipman. The man replied, “I have been poor all my life and I am determined to get some of these coins.” The man would not listen to the warnings and was left to his fate. In a few minutes the ship was engulfed in huge waves, broke up and sank immediately.

Many people act in a similar way. They wreck their lives and families seeking to be rich by gambling and other unjust ways, and often lose their lives in doing so.

Scripture wisely tells us not to set our hearts on earthly things, and to be content with such things as we have. Salvation and the grace of God are true riches that shall last forever.