SIGNPOSTS | Martha VanCise

Don’t Grab the Fiery Arrows

by martha vancise | AugSat2015 | SIGNPOSTS

The Evil One bombards us with fiery arrows every day. We know the danger of grabbing “temptation” arrows, but we often reach for and grab the “what if” arrows. What if I lose my income? What if my cancer goes out of remission? What if my teen makes harmful choices? What if my end years are spent in mental confusion? What if the stock market plunges? What if my spouse dies? What if, what if, what if?

Instead of raising the shield of faith to deflect “what if” arrows, we seize them and turn them over and over in our thinking. We spend time examining them and trying to figure out a way to extinguish them if they touch our lives. Few of the “what ifs” ever become a reality, but grabbing those arrows, and turning them over in our minds will destroy our peace.

We live under a barrage of fiery “what ifs” from the Evil One. We can choose to raise the shield of faith and trust that God will be with us if a “what if” comes to pass, or we can lower the shield and try to catch the arrows and extinguish them by ourselves.

Don’t reach for the fiery arrows. Raise your shield of faith. God’s everlasting love and faithfulness will see you through any realities of the future.

Photo: Shutterstock

Swaying Grasses

by martha vancise | JulSat2015 | SIGNPOSTS

No matter how young or old we are, no matter how few or many years we have walked with God, we are prey for the Lion. The Apostle Peter said “Be alert! The devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Too often, we do not recognize the swish of the tail swaying the high grasses of our life until the lion is mauling us. Jesus warned us to always “Be on guard. Be alert! Watch!”

Take time to STOP! Look for the slight movement that is disturbing the peace and joy of your life. Don’t wait until the lion pounces and you are fighting to survive. What temptation, what worry, what obsession, what habit, what person, what activity and what love is making your peace and joy waver?

We cannot ignore the lion that lurks in the grasses. We cannot put off dealing with the lion. We must deal with the lion when we first recognize its presence, and before it goes into full-attack mode. Peter said, “Resist the lion. Stand firm in the faith.” (Mark 13:33,37; I Peter 5:8-9)

More than My Utmost …

by martha vancise | JulFri2015 | SIGNPOSTS

Oswald Chambers is best known for My Utmost for His Highness. Those daily devotionals, though, are a small portion of Chambers’ sayings, teachings, and sermons that his wife recorded: shorthand, verbatim, and published. The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers fill almost 1500 double-column pages of an 8 x 10 ½ book. Included in those writings are short sentences or daily thoughts that he posted on a notice board for soldiers who camped in the desert outside Cairo, Egypt. Although written and posted 100 years ago (1915-1917) many of those sayings and other Chambers quotations are still relevant today.

Don’t let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.
Measure your growth in grace by your sensitiveness to sin.
There is a purpose in every life that is in God’s keeping of which we know little, but which He will fulfil if we let Him rightly relate us to Himself.
Worry is nothing in the world but personal irritation with God because I cannot see what He is after—only I don’t call it that, I talk about “an overwhelming burden of care.”
We can choke God’s word with a yawn; we can hinder the time that should be spent with God by remembering we have other things to do. “I haven’t time!” Of course you have time! Take time, strangle some other interests and make time to realize that the center of power in your life is the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
God rarely rebukes us for our impulsive plans because those plans work their own distress.
Whenever you come in contact with the great destructive sins in other lives, be reverent with what you don’t understand. There are facts in each life you know nothing about and God says: “Leave him to Me.”
It is easier to stand true to a testimony which is moldy with age because it has the dogmatic ring about it that people agree with, than to talk from your last moment of contact with God.
Our Lord was never impatient. He simply planted seed thoughts in the disciples’ minds and surrounded them with the atmosphere of His own life. We get impatient and take men by the scruff of the neck and say: “You must believe this and that.” You cannot make a man see moral truth by persuading his intellect. “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth.”
Put all “supposing” on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty . Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.
A river touches places of which its source knows nothing, and Jesus says if we have received of His fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have nothing to do with the out-flow— “This is the work of God that ye believe. . . .” God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.^*

^*This material came from The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers (Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Limited; 2000. Available at http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Works-Oswald-Chambers/dp/1572938412

Hedge Gaps

by martha vancise | JulThu2015 | SIGNPOSTS

My daily prayer is that God will build a high hedge around those I love, that will keep happiness—destroying intruders out. My prayer is, “Keep them from accidents, wrong choices, and disappointments.” I will always pray this way, BUT that is not the way Jesus taught us to pray. In his pattern for our prayers, he said “deliver us from the evil one.” In the last instructions to his disciples (John 17:15) he said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

The evil one has one purpose – to separate us from God. Satan rips at the prayer-planted hedges that surround us and our loved ones in order to destroy our faith in a loving, caring, faithful, good God. Satan will use good times as well as bad times to separate us from God.

God’s concern is not about the security of the hedge, but protecting us from the evil one.

I will keep praying that the hedge of protection from temptations, trials, and consequences of a fallen world stays high around those I love, but more than that, I will pray that wherever the hedge thins or comes down, they will reach their hand through the gap and grip God’s hand even tighter.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

The Best Way?

by martha vancise | JulThu2015 | SIGNPOSTS

Is God’s way or plan for our life the best one?

Choosing to follow God’s way does not guarantee

Fulfilled dreams
A model family life
Avoidance of extreme grief
Lack of stress and mental anguish
Alleviation of physical pain
Financial freedom
Acceptance by others
Success in the eyes of others

If these elements in life are important to you God’s Way may not be the Best Way for you to travel

What does God’s Way promise?

Way of peace
Way of character development
Way of balance
Way of contentment
Way of freedom from fear – especially fear of death
Way of joy
Way of hope
Way of becoming what we were created to be
Way to eternal life

A Seed of Faith

by martha vancise | JunThu2015 | SIGNPOSTS

…if you have faith as small as a mustard seed… Matthew 17:20

“She’s looking for something she isn’t going to find,” Betty said. The discussion during the morning office break centered around a film star’s decision to abandon a successful career to enter a convent. Of all the people in the group, Betty had definitely searched for happiness in the most places. She had been an exotic dancer performing on nightclub stages with film and TV stars.

Her comment caught my attention. As a believer, who had found that elusive “something,” I recognized that Betty was a searcher. From that day on I prayed for her and made a special effort to befriend her. Although Betty and I had differing beliefs and lifestyles, we became close friends.

During another office-break discussion, Betty firmly proclaimed, “I’m an agnostic! I don’t think you can know that God exists.” One day, though, when we were alone, Betty said quietly, “I know God exists. When I was about four years old, I had a pet chicken that got sick. My pet was dying and I prayed to God to save it. That chicken recovered.” She paused and quietly said again, “I know God exists.”

God uses many ways to plant seeds of faith to draw us to him and encourage us to place our trust in him. The seeds may lie dormant for years. We may cultivate the seeds or we may ignore them, but we cannot deny their existence.

Years after I had moved thousands of miles away from Betty, I received a letter from her. “You may be shocked,” she said, “but I’ve given my life to Christ and I even teach a Sunday School class.” It’s never too late for a dormant seed to sprout and come alive.