Dear Reader

As I look at the front and back covers of this issue, I am strongly reminded of these two aspects of our walk with the Lord—uplift and danger. The Lord is in the business of redeeming lost humans, and lifting us up from the pit of sin and despair to the high places of His love and grace, but because we always are free to choose, the peril of falling remains.

Just as the mountaineer’s triumph is all the more real because of the real dangers involved in the climbing, so the ascent to the spiritual heights the Lord has for us are accomplishments to cause real rejoicing because the possibilities of not making it are real.

We rejoice greatly when we have the privilege of seeing people respond to the cry of the watchmen, “Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God,” not only because we are burdened as the watchmen in the scripture is to cry out this message, but also because so many succumb to the perils of the way. Indeed, I’ve cried out for help more than once this past week, and by the grace of God I’m still climbing, thanks be to God!

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”* (2 Timothy 3:16)

Now something can be profitable without you or me profiting from it. I am grateful that there is something profitable available to me, but I want to actually profit from it.

If I need some truth to lean on, or if I need to be checked in something I’m aiming to do, or if I’m mistaken and need to be corrected, or if I need to know what is right to do in my situation, the Word of God has what I need. What do I need to do, to see to it that I do profit? “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This alerts me right away, that if it took the Lord’s inspiration for the scriptures to initially be written, then I need the same inspiration from the same source to get the benefit that was designed in it all the way to me. Sometimes I have needed to humble down, and get rid of my own notions. Other times, I have needed to have some foundation laid (perhaps some other truths in the scripture, or some experiences the Lord must give me) to be in the position to get the inspiration. Still other times, I could not get to the point of inspiration without being in the midst of spiritual battle, in the midst of a trial—and then the inspiration blazed out to me in my time of great need.

Dear readers, what you read in the following pages are truths that we have found profitable for us, and we desire them to be profitable for you. If you need to humble down, please do—the inspiration is so necessary, so precious. If you must wait on the Lord to have some more foundation laid, be patient and wait on Him, for “when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”* (Proverbs 13:12) If you are in the midst of the battle, may the “Lord of battles” inspire it to your immediate need, and to many future needs as well.

Our heart’s desire is to see more of you in Zion—pray for us, we want to stay on the mountain!

In Christian love,
The Editor