Monthly Archives: November 2019

November 6, 2019 · 4:31 am

First the Blade (Chapter 22)

 

First the Blade 

© 2019 by Larry Nevenhoven

Chapter 22

Building Mustard-Seed Faith (g)

I’ve looked at numerous videos on my computer concerning the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The scenes were horrible and disturbing. There was no possible way I could relate to the agony and loss the Japanese people suffered, even my prayers seemed inadequate.

One scene from a particular video invaded my thoughts and brought with it a nagging question. The particular scene showed the tsunami wave breaking through a housing development and heading out into a farming area. You could see the tsunami carrying homes, autos, buses, and debris in its wave undulations.

The nagging question was this: if I were caught by surprise and stood in the middle of that farm field, facing that oncoming tsunami, could I survive?

“Are you silly? There’s no conceivable way you can survive that scene. Where’s your logic, Larry?” one may say.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

The number one hindrance to faith is we can only see our circumstances and nothing else. They loom as huge obstacles in our paths, impossible to get around. Then, because our focus is on the circumstances, our intellect, logic, and reason race ahead and calculate the odds of whether we’ll survive our sicknesses, poverty, dismal marital relationships, family problems, or disastrous situations (like the tsunami), and guess what? There’s never any hope for us. We are doomed.

Faith sees the circumstance – and never ignores it – but it instantly fixes its eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. (82) He is the One who calms the seas with a word or calls us to walk on water. He is the One who raises the dead and multiplies the bread and fish.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Our faith has to be focused on the mighty One who lives within us, not on our puny strengths or abilities. He must be our everything!

I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. (Philippians 4: 13 Amplified Bible)

Could I possibly stand in a field, facing an oncoming tsunami with all of its force, and survive? Yes, I could, but it’s not my decision to make, it’s His decision because He owns me. He knows when I’ve finished my course. I’m absolutely convinced He’s able to bring me to that particular end time period for my life. (83)

I sincerely believe that the more we know the One who lives within us, the less power our circumstances will have over us.

So, how can faith overcome our circumstances?

(Continued…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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November 4, 2019 · 4:32 am

First the Blade (Chapter 21)

First the Blade 

© 2019 by Larry Nevenhoven

Chapter 21

Building Mustard-Seed Faith (f)

T. L. Osborn sat in the auditorium, next to his wife, Daisy. The two were young missionaries who had just returned from India. Their missionary experiences had discouraged them, which left them needing answers if they wanted to continue in their callings.

They went to hear William Branham speak that night, hoping for a spark of hope, which would reveal what they needed for their missionary work.

Branham preached a message and afterward he called a young girl to come out onto the stage. The girl suffered from severely crossed eyes. Branham turned her around so she faced the crowd.

“I want everyone to see the miracle God is going to perform in this young girl,” he said.

He prayed for her.

T. L. Osborn sat in nearby balcony seats and saw the miracle as it unfolded. He watched the eyes move around in their sockets until they were properly aligned. The youngster jumped up and down with joy as the crowd roared its approval.

Osborn sat there, amazed by the miracle, and then he heard a thousand angels say to him: “You can do that.”

Because of one man’s bold ministry on that one special night, T. L. and Daisy Osborn went back to the missionary field. Their ministry continued for fifty years to over 70 nations. They preached to crowds of 20,000 to 300,000 at a time. Few Christians have ever known the ministry success and miracles, which the Osborns ended up having on the mission field.

Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7) 

Like T. L. Osborn, I had a “one man on one special night” experience in the early 1990′s. It did not occur in a large auditorium with thousands of people looking on, but instead, it happened in a small church with twenty people sitting in pews.

I sadly no longer remember the man’s name, but he was from a small town in Iowa. His ministry was an apostolic one to parts of Africa and Europe, but unlike the preachers I liked at the time, he was a soft-spoken, humble man.

He gave a testimony, which still reverberates within my heart today on how big our God is and how able He is to help us… if only we believe in Him.

The man told how he and another man were in the southern part of France, heading toward Paris. They needed to get to the Charles DeGaulle Airport so they could fly to Africa, but they had a big problem. All trains were delayed. It looked like they would miss their airplane connection.

As they sat in the train depot, the Iowa man prayed. “Lord, You asked me to go to France and then to Africa, because You sent me on these assignments. It is Your responsibility to make it all happen. Where’s Your miracle? I’m waiting for it.”

An English man walked up to the two. “If you’re going to Paris, a train will pull up over there in a few minutes,” the man said.

He pointed to the opposite side of the depot. “It’s a special train. I’ve already taken care of your tickets, just get on it.”

A train pulled up almost immediately. The man and his friend took their suitcases and boarded the train. They sat down and watched the countryside fly by. After an hour or so, they arrived in Paris and disembarked inside the Charles de Gaulle Airport, near the ticket counter for their flight to Africa.

They paid for their tickets at the airline counter. The friendly agent asked, “With all the problems with trains, how did you get to the airport today?”

The Iowa man pointed over his shoulder without looking. “We rode on that train over there,” he said.

The ticket agent blinked his eyes. “What train?” he said.

The Iowa man turned around and looked. There were no tracks or train behind him, but instead there were walls and walkways through the airport.

What reverberates within me is this: if God will build a train track and put a train on it because a small-town Iowa man asked for a miracle, He’ll do it for you and me.

And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. (Romans 4: 21)

(Continued…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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November 1, 2019 · 4:29 am

First the Blade (Chapter 20)

First the Blade 

© 2019 by Larry Nevenhoven

Chapter 20

Building Mustard-Seed Faith (e)

Marion, a friend of mine, drove her car on snow-covered roads in Iowa during the late evening hours of a 1970′s winter day. Her rear tires had chains on them. As she headed north on the interstate, the roads cleared up and she heard the chains banging against the wheel wells of the car’s fender.

She pulled off onto the shoulder of the road, which was filled with snow. She walked around to the rear of the car, knelt down in the snow by the tires, and tried to unloosen the chains, but the fastener was stuck.

After trying for a long time, she looked up to heaven. “Father, I’m your daughter and I’m cold and tired. I need You to unloosen these chains right now.”

The chains fell off the tire into her hands without her doing anything. She went around to the other tire and the same thing happened. God removed the chains for her.

Amazing, but why did it happen?

 

I bid a large painting job on a home in a historic preservation district of Louisville, Kentucky in the late 1990’s. The total bid was $22,000, but it required a substantial amount of equipment and tools, which I could not afford to buy ahead of time. My only hope was that each draw payment would be on time so I could purchase the supplies whenever they were needed.

Everything went well at first, but then, the general contractor notified me a $5,500 draw payment would be two weeks late. I was in trouble because my two workers needed pay checks.

I sought God.

“Lord, You’ve always told me that You were my provider. Where’s the money I need to finish this job?” I prayed.

While I’m crying out to the Lord about money, Carol decided it would be a good time to buy a house. I know. I know. I know. This does not make sense, right? How can a penniless couple ever think about buying a house? The quick answer: by faith.

We went to an open house that morning where a husband and wife attempted to sell their own home without a real estate agent. We liked the home and explained our credit problems and lack of money. The man somehow came up with an interesting idea.

He loaned us $7,500 at a low interest rate with no maturity date, which we could use as a down payment for his home after the money had been in our account for sixty days. His lawyer wrote out the papers. We signed them and received the check.

With the money, we bought the equipment, supplies, and paid the two workers. Two weeks later, I received two checks from the general contractor for $11,000.

Guess what happened next?

The man who loaned us the $7,500 figured out we could not qualify for a loan and asked for the money back. We obliged him and wrote a check to him for the full amount. A zero interest loan.

Another amazing testimony, but why did it happen?

(As it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. (Romans 4: 17)

By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11: 3)

 These amazing answers happened because we trusted God.

Our backs were against the wall and our faith was in Him. He is the Creator who can make things happen out of nothing.

(Continued…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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