Tell What He’s Done for You

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God Is a True Friend

For a year or more I had been wanting to have a pickup truck. I had previously had one, giving it considerable use until it finally wore out, several years ago. Since then we had gotten by without one.

I was just feeling a desire to have one again, as the various things useful for our flower and vegetable gardening, and care of several animals (sheep, chickens, rabbits), would be more convenient to “pick up” with a pickup. I also was started on a building project, and the times that I could use a borrowed pickup made getting materials (both used and new) for that project much easier. Finally, it seemed a useful thing in our congregation to have an additional pickup (there was one other pickup, which I borrowed on occasion).

After considerable prayer and research, I had settled on wanting the same type as we had previously owned, and with what we had saved so far, I started looking for one about 10-15 years old. I had a list of particular criteria in mind, and checked a weekly free ad publication, as well as searching in online classifieds for our area. Time after time some of the criteria would be met, but not others. The length of time this was taking was often a trial for me, as I don’t naturally enjoy planning as much as executing. Often I sought the Lord for more patience and cast the burden on Him again.

Then, in an online ad, I found one that was located a two-hour drive away. I checked the vehicle title history, and began an email correspondence with the owner, asking question after question. Everything fit the “mandatory” criteria, and each question yielded a satisfactory answer. Only one thing was nagging at the back of my mind—in the picture of the truck, the appearance and color was bright and shiny. I wondered whether I might be tempted to pride in owning such a vehicle, or if the bright colors would prove a stumbling block to others trying to live humble lives as children of God. The more I looked at the photo, the more I concluded it would probably be alright.

In our Sunday services, the afternoon message was about being a “friend of God,” and God wanting to be our friend, like with Abraham and Moses. I was planning to contact the owner of the pickup Monday evening to work out a time to see the vehicle and try it out, but as I was going to work Monday, I just felt deeply the need to have the Lord be my friend and advise me in the matter. The scripture came to mind, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”* (Proverbs 27:6) When I parked the car, I stopped and began to earnestly pray. “Lord, I have been praying and waiting a long time, and this vehicle really seems like a purchase I shouldn’t pass up. But I want You to be my friend, and tell me, based on what You know, whether I should get this vehicle. If you show me that I shouldn’t, though my flesh may not appreciate it, I will give up the idea of purchasing it.”

The Lord brought before me the scripture “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.”* (Ezekiel 28:17) Although, of course, this scripture is addressing another subject, the Lord brought very forcibly upon my mind the connection of beauty and brightness with wisdom being corrupted and my heart being lifted up. I was deeply touched by the Lord’s willingness to warn me against purchasing this vehicle, and that evening emailed the owner to let him know the Lord had told me not to get it and thank him for taking time to communicate with me. He was not offended, and I was blessed in my heart.

And so, I waited still, trusting the Lord and blessed in my soul!

“But I have called you friends.”* (John 15:15)

Nearly two more months passed, and then we saw a pickup in an online ad of a local dealership that seemed to meet the criteria. The next morning we went to see it, and before going the Lord gave us this scripture: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.”* (Exodus 13:21) We looked for the Lord’s leadings throughout the proceedings and felt His blessing in purchasing it.

It has already been a blessing, and its nickname (based on it’s license plate), is “Willing Burden Mover.” It is so good to trust in the Lord!

—A brother in the Lord

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Brought Out from Man-Rule

Dear Saints,

Greetings Dear Ones in the name of the Dear Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly wonderful to be on His side of the battle, where we are assured of His victory at all costs. With Him there is no losing the battle even if it means getting transferred to the upper level of life—Eternity. Amen! It is with this feeling that I wish to write to you Dear Ones, just in way of expressing my deep gratitude, first to God and then to you, and also to let you see what God is doing with you. I know you know already, but please, let me say a few words to inspire you to keep this up.

This morning I was reading in Ezekiel 34. As I read, the Lord reminded me how we (family as well as other saints) wandered in the hills of the present “Church of God” (Ezekiel 34:6), jumping from group to group until the Lord spoke clearly in a vision and showed us that we would only find soul rest when we had done away completely with groups and stood firmly and steadily in and with Jesus. As I meditated, I remembered how I traversed the whole of the USA, where I attended meetings and preached in “Church of God” congregations. But despite all these trips and the money that was offered me all these times, I never had any soul satisfaction. All the time, I sincerely thought I was working for God, and I faithfully put all the money in projects I thought were projects for the glory of God, forgetting even my dear family in all this, as I felt God was to be number one in all my endeavors. Oh, how disappointed I was when I found out that I had been building man’s organizations all through! How sad it turned out to be that man was getting all the glory for all the work we so faithfully did!

I thank God for not forsaking me in all those years I wandered over those “hills.” After showing me how far I was entrenched in groups, and that I could get to Jesus only if I got clear of those groups, He led me to you. It was a miracle to get to you Dear Ones. I remember in your very first letter, you told me that you had nothing that I could join or get thrown out of. I ignored that, as it sounded familiar, and waited prayerfully for it to be proved. It is now about two years since we met, and it seems like we just met the other day! Dear Ones, I am so grateful to God for what He is doing through you. I feel like the following words were fulfilled in my case:

“As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”* (Ezekiel 34:12-16)

Therefore, Dear Ones, when the going gets difficult and you feel like nobody cares about the work you are doing, please, remember this: you have been used of the Lord to redirect a soul that had been lost in the wealth, pride and prestige of the “Church-of-God Babylon.” I have seen them and have seen what they are. I have been in several of them and have been treated like a king among them. So I know what I am talking about. You have been used of the Lord to help such a soul settle in its home in the Lord. May the Dear Lord keep helping and using you all through. Therefore, be encouraged Dear Ones. This one soul is important in the eyes of God. Then there is my family too. They are rejoicing because of the way you have been used of the Lord. It is our prayer that other souls will be reached with this wonderful truth and that they will be helped too.

Just to remind you, I will quote from a recent mail you sent me so you can see how the Holy Ghost is using you and stay encouraged:

If I keep in unity with Jesus, I will stay in unity with all that are in Jesus. I must forsake my own capacity in myself to form bonds with others, and draw close to God, so that I will be drawn closer to all that are drawing closer to Him, also. This is the depth of those words “one in us.”* (John 17:21) “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”* (Ephesians 1:10)

Yes, Dear Ones. Keeping unity with Jesus is the greatest ambition and job I can ever dream of. Oh, what a wonderful revelation! In the “hills” we wandered in, I thought unity was in a certain group and that all the others were to be disdained! Then you went on ahead and said that the focus is a changed heart and that

It is all that matters. It changes the entire relationship of ourselves to this basis, and forsakes all other ways [2 Corinthians 5:16]. It is to exalt His ways above our own. Can I see the fingerprints of the Lord within you? Then it matters not if our personalities are different and abrasive to each other. “He giveth more grace.”* (James 4:6) It matters not if our intellectual capacities vary widely. We are both taught of God.

Ah, Dear Ones, thank you, and thank you once more. I want you to see that there is a good reason that the Lord is keeping you alive and that you are valuable to His course. Please, stay encouraged and in His will. There are many out there who are lost and wandering all over there. They need to be reached and helped too, if they are hungry for the truth of God. Please, stay up there in those heavenly places.

—Your brother in the Lord