Post Resurrection 2026

Good morning,

The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. What’s next?

Jesus gives the Great commission. He walks among men for forty days. He tells the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. He ascends into heaven. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.

ASCENSION OF JESUS (Acts 1:9-11)

⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;¹¹ Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Jesus leaves again. This time, His followers understood why He came, the purpose of the cross, their purpose of telling others about Christ. Then the two men tell those assembled that Jesus is coming again. 

Do we believe Jesus is coming back? It is the believers blessed hope. When He comes next, He meets believers in the sky, as we are raptured out of this world. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

That should be a tremendous comfort to each of us. God has not forgotten us. If we have trusted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, Jesus will come and take us home to live with Him forever! 

Hallelujah, come quickly Lord Jesus!

PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION (Acts 1:12-14)

¹² Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.¹³ And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Jesus told them to wait. They went and spent time praying and asking God for wisdom and direction. 

The only way we can discern God’s will in our lives is through prayer and the reading of God’s word, the Bible. God has revealed everything we would need to know through His word. 

Do we desire to know God’s will for our lives? Enough to read what God wrote to us outlining His plan? And then to obey it? There’s the rub. We want God to see things our way, answer prayer the way we want, and give us what we desire. That is not how God works.

God sees the big picture. He knows everything about us. His plan for us will help us to grow and mature in Him. His plan brings Him glory and us closer to Him. 

We have a choice to make. Follow God’s plan or reject it.

What will we do?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Post Resurrection 2026

Good morning,

The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. What’s next?

Jesus gives the Great commission. He walks among men for forty days. He tells the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. He ascends into heaven. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.

Jesus gives the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.¹⁷ And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Great Commission was given to the disciples. Jesus commanded them to do five things.

First, Go. The hardest part of completing any task is to get up and GO. 

Second, teach all nations. They were commissioned to tell everyone about what Jesus had taught them. Beginning with salvation through Jesus. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Third, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The first act of obedience as a new believer is baptism. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)

Fourth, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Teaching here is referring to discipleship. Helping the new believers grow in their relationship to Christ.

Fifth, Jesus reminds them that He is with them always. 

So, how does this apply to us?

We as believers in Christ are commissioned to complete these five tasks. We must be willing to, Go, tell others what Jesus has taught us, get them to church to be baptized, then teach them about the things of God, and remember that Jesus is always with us.

Will we be obedient to the Lord’s commissioning?

Jesus walks among men for forty days (Acts 1:1-3)

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ² Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:³ To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Wait (Acts 1:4-8) (Read Joel 2:28-29, Isaiah 44:3)

⁴ And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.⁵ For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.⁶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.⁸ But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus walked among men for forty days. Reminding them of what He had said, why He came, and what was to come.

He told His apostles to wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit prophesied in Joel 2:28-29.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:²⁹ And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”

The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was witnessing. It is God’s plan that believers in Christ tell others of what Christ has done for them and about what He will do for others. When we witness for Christ, we do not go alone. The Holy Spirit leads, guides, and convicts’ men of their sin. Also, it is not our purpose to lead others to Christ. We can’t. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to save the lost. All we do is tell them of their lost condition, why they need to be redeemed, and of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. 

But then Jesus tells them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise. Are we willing to wait on the Lord? We don’t like to wait. We want what we want and we want it now! Waiting, coupled with prayer and supplication, allows God to prepare us for what He has next. God is in no hurry. 

Are we?

ASCENSION OF JESUS (Acts 1:9-11)

⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;¹¹ Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Jesus leaves again. This time, His followers understood why He came, the purpose of the cross, their purpose of telling others about Christ. Then the two men tell those assembled that Jesus is coming again. 

Do we believe Jesus is coming back? It is the believers blessed hope. When He comes next, He meets believers in the sky, as we are raptured out of this world. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

That should be a tremendous comfort to each of us. God has not forgotten us. If we have trusted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, Jesus will come and take us home to live with Him forever! 

Hallelujah, come quickly Lord Jesus!

PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION (Acts 1:12-14)

¹² Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.¹³ And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Jesus told them to wait. They went and spent time praying and asking God for wisdom and direction. 

The only way we can discern God’s will in our lives is through prayer and the reading of God’s word, the Bible. God has revealed everything we would need to know through His word. 

Do we desire to know God’s will for our lives? Enough to read what God wrote to us outlining His plan? And then to obey it? There’s the rub. We want God to see things our way, answer prayer the way we want, and give us what we desire. That is not how God works.

God sees the big picture. He knows everything about us. His plan for us will help us to grow and mature in Him. His plan brings Him glory and us closer to Him. 

We have a choice to make. Follow God’s plan or reject it.

What will we do?

MATTHIAS CHOSEN TO REPLACE JUDAS (Acts 1:15-26)

¹⁵ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)¹⁶ Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.¹⁷ For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.¹⁸ Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.¹⁹ And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.²⁰ For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let another take.²¹ Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,²² Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.²³ And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.²⁴ And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,²⁵ That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.²⁶ And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The disciples prayed, sought God’s will, and voted. Matthias won. God answers prayer.

WHAT WE LEARNED

Wait

Pray and ask

Do

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Post Resurrection 2026

Good morning,

The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. What’s next?

Jesus gives the Great commission. He walks among men for forty days. He tells the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. He ascends into heaven. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.

Jesus walks among men for forty days (Acts 1:1-3)

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ² Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:³ To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Wait (Acts 1:4-8) (Read Joel 2:28-29, Isaiah 44:3)

⁴ And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.⁵ For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.⁶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.⁸ But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus walked among men for forty days. Reminding them of what He had said, why He came, and what was to come.

He told His apostles to wait for the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit prophesied in Joel 2:28-29.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:²⁹ And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”

The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was witnessing. It is God’s plan that believers in Christ tell others of what Christ has done for them and about what He will do for others. When we witness for Christ, we do not go alone. The Holy Spirit leads, guides, and convicts’ men of their sin. Also, it is not our purpose to lead others to Christ. We can’t. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to save the lost. All we do is tell them of their lost condition, why they need to be redeemed, and of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. 

But then Jesus tells them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise. Are we willing to wait on the Lord? We don’t like to wait. We want what we want and we want it now! Waiting, coupled with prayer and supplication, allows God to prepare us for what He has next. God is in no hurry. 

Are we?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Post Resurrection 2026

Good morning,

The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. What’s next?

Jesus gives the Great commission. He walks among men for forty days. He tells the apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. He ascends into heaven. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.

Jesus gives the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.¹⁷ And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted.¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Great Commission was given to the disciples. Jesus commanded them to do five things.

First, Go. The hardest part of completing any task is to get up and GO. 

Second, teach all nations. They were commissioned to tell everyone about what Jesus had taught them. Beginning with salvation through Jesus. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Third, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The first act of obedience as a new believer is baptism. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41)

Fourth, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Teaching here is referring to discipleship. Helping the new believers grow in their relationship to Christ.

Fifth, Jesus reminds them that He is with them always. 

So, how does this apply to us?

We as believers in Christ are commissioned to complete these five tasks. We must be willing to, Go, tell others what Jesus has taught us, get them to church to be baptized, then teach them about the things of God, and remember that Jesus is always with us.

Will we be obedient to the Lord’s commissioning?

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This week we will be exploring the Scriptures. The need to search, meditate, walk worthy,  repentance, and God’s intercessory prayer for us.

If I could hear Jesus praying for me in the next room

Charles Spurgeon, et al.

Hebrews 7:24-25, “Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely, those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”

The priesthood of Jesus is unlike anything this world has ever known. Earthly priests came and went, bound by mortality and sin. But Jesus, the sinless Son of God, lives forever. His priesthood is permanent, unchanging, and perfect.

And because He lives forever, He is able to save completely. Not partially. Not temporarily. Completely. From the deepest guilt; from the power of sin to the punishment it deserves–He is mighty to save.
No believer is ever beyond His reach.
No sin is too dark for His cleansing blood.
No soul is too entangled in sin for His delivering hand.

This complete salvation flows from a wondrous truth: He always lives to intercede for His chosen and redeemed people. Even now, in this very moment–Jesus is interceding for US. He is not pleading for mercy as one who is uncertain of the outcome. Rather, as the crucified and risen Savior, He presents His perfect sin-atoning sacrifice before the Father. His nail-scarred hands are the eternal evidence that . . .
the price has been paid in full,
the wrath of God has been satisfied,
justice has been upheld,
and His mercy flows freely.

We are not kept by our own power, but by the power of God. If we had to keep ourselves, we would be like the spider’s web–swept away by the first rough wind of temptation or persecution. The saints shall never perish. They are not only saved, but safe. They are not only pardoned, but preserved. The same grace that chose them and redeemed them–also secures them to the end!

If I could hear Jesus praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference–He is praying for me.

What comfort this brings to every believer.
When our prayers falter, His do not.
When our faith is weak, His intercession is strong.
When Satan accuses, Jesus speaks.
We do not stand before God on the strength of our own performance, but on the everlasting merit of our High Priest. Our Priest lives; and while He lives, His people are safe. The unchangeable Christ is the rock of our confidence. Your salvation is as secure as His throne in Heaven!  

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This week we will be exploring the Scriptures. The need to search, meditate, walk worthy,  repentance, and God’s intercessory prayer for us.

Sodom will be better off!

John MacDuff, “The Doomed City“ 1887

Matthew 11:24, “I assure you, Sodom will be better off on the judgment day than you!”

Alas! It is to be feared that many mere professors are content with having “a name to live,” who are spiritually dead. There are thousands who come to our churches, who hear the preacher, who assent to the message, but go back from listening to the tremendous themes of Death, Judgment and Eternity–only to plunge as deep as ever into engrossing worldliness and sin!

The preacher may be heard; his words may fall like lulling music on the ear–but the gates of the soul are firmly locked and barred against admission. The preacher may thunder his rebukes, but some heart-sin and life-sin will, in spite of them, be retained and caressed.

Are there none now reading these words, whom the Savior would begin to upbraid, because they have not repented? When His scrutinizing eye looks down upon listening audiences throughout our land, all apparently solemn, sincere, outwardly devout–does He not discern, lurking underneath this fair external guise, the signs and symptoms of loathsomeness and decay; like the pure virgin snow covering the charred and blackened ruin?

Sermons will not save us!

Church going will not save us!

Orthodoxy in creed and party will not save us!

Repent! Repent! is the sharp, shrill call of the Gospel trumpet! There must be . . .
a change of heart;
a change of life;
a crucifixion of sin;
and a cleaving unto the Lord who died for us, with full purpose of heart!

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This week we will be exploring the Scriptures. The need to search, meditate, walk worthy,  repentance, and God’s intercessory prayer for us.

That you may live a life worthy of the Lord, and may please Him in every way

Richard Baxter

Colossians 1:10, “That you may live a life worthy of the Lord, and may please Him in every way.”

“Value time as an inestimable treasure and be just as careful that you lose not one day, than you would be to lose a fortune.”

“Many a man who is now in Hell would give a thousand worlds, if he had them; for one of those hours which you idly cast away.”

“He who spends his life in idleness or vanity, does worse than if he threw it into the sea; for he makes it fuel for his own condemnation.”

“If our time is short, and our work is great–then should we not be the more diligent? Will you loiter and trifle away your life, when your everlasting welfare lies at stake?”

“Live as men who are always looking death in the face. Spend every day as if it were your last. Use your time as those who must shortly give an account to God.”

“To squander time is to despise the gift of God, and forget eternal realities. Each day lost on sin or vanity, is a step nearer to judgment.”

“The man who neglects to redeem time, is in danger of losing both time and eternity.”

“Those who trifle away their days, are treading on hollow ice; they do not know the moment when it will break under them.”

“The Almighty gave us seventy or eighty years, that we might spend them for His glory–shall we dare to spend them in sin?”

“Your time is God’s, and not your own; therefore spend it as if He were your employer, and you must answer to Him.”

“O precious time! More precious than gold or rubies! Let not a day of it be trifled away.”

“When you stand before God, how sweet will every hour appear which was spent for Him!”

Time is a stewardship which God entrusts to us, to be used wisely and faithfully, and for which we must give an account on the day of judgment.

We should ever strive to use our time, as Jesus did when He was on earth.

[The excerpts above are all taken from Baxter’s “Christian Directory,” and from his outstanding book, “The Saints Everlasting Rest.”] 

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This week we will be exploring the Scriptures. The need to search, meditate, walk worthy,  repentance, and God’s intercessory prayer for us.

Meditate, practice, pray!

Thomas Brooks, “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ”

Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to obey everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.”

You must meditate and dwell upon what you read; otherwise your labors will be lost. The more any man contemplates the Scriptures, the more deep and firm impression is made upon his heart by those truths. Heavenly meditation brings out the sweetness in divine truths. Not those who get most, but those who keep most, are the richest. Just so, not those who hear most, or read most; but those who meditate most, are the most edified and enriched.

You must also practice and live out what you read. To read much and practice nothing, is to hunt much and catch nothing. Ah! what cause have most to sigh, that they have heard so much, and read so much; and yet done so little!

You must also pray over what you read. Many read much, and pray little; and therefore get little by all they read. Galen writes of a fish called Uranoscopos, that has but one eye, which continually looks up to the heavens. Just so, when a Christian has one eye upon his Bible–the other eye should be looking up to Heaven for a blessing upon what he reads!

“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

This week we will be exploring the Scriptures. The need to search, meditate, walk worthy,  repentance, and God’s intercessory prayer for us.

Search the Scriptures!

George Everard, “A Talk about the Family Bible“ 1878

The word Bible signifies Book; and when we call it the Bible, we mean that it is the Book of books–the best Book, the wisest Book, the Book that will do us the most good of any in the world!

If all the other books in the world were destroyed, however great and irreparable the loss–if men still had the Bible, they would be far better off than if it were destroyed, and all other books remained.

It is the Book that alone can tell . . .
how sin can be forgiven,
how temptation can be overcome,
how trouble and sorrow can be met,
how tears can be wiped away, and
how death can be the gate of everlasting life.

It is indeed the best companion . . .
for days of trial,
for the day of sickness, and
for the hour when we must part from all below!

Oh what a treasure is a well-read Bible! It is . . .
a mine of gold,
a hive full of honey,
a field covered with a rich harvest.
It is a tree of life, of which every twig bears precious fruit.
It is an ocean full of pearls.
It is a river full of the purest water of life.
It is a sun whose beams warm and cheer the heart.
It is a bright star that can guide the pilgrim through the darkest night.
It is a granary stored with the finest of wheat.
It is a medicine–chest, from which we may find a remedy for every malady of the soul.
It is a Mount Pisgah, from which we can view the promised land of Canaan.
All this and much more, is the Bible to those who love to search it and explore the depths of heavenly wisdom which it contains.

Dear friend, whatever you forget–never, never forget to read something out of this precious Book day by day.

The Scriptures warn against . . .
the fear of man,
the allurements of worldly pleasures,
the snare of pride,
and the temptation of doubt and unbelief.

Search the Scriptures! Whatever you have done hitherto, begin now to search them daily as for hidden treasures!
Go deep into this precious mine.
Ponder what you read.
Compare the commands and precepts with your own daily life.
Bring its promises to bear on your heart and trials.

When we read the Scriptures, we should pay good heed to it. There are depths and heights in many of the simplest verses, that we can never reach. Therefore we ought to turn them over again and again in our minds. We must mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. A few verses or even a single verse well thought over; and still better, well prayed over–will bring more profit and help than many chapters listlessly or carelessly read!

“When Your Words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” Jeremiah 15:16

. . .

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com

Good morning,

Charles Spurgeon gives us a pattern of  fellowship that we can have a closer and more intimate relationship with God.

The best pattern of fellowship with God

Charles Spurgeon

Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

A missionary some years ago, returning from Southern Africa, gave a description of the work which had been accomplished there through the preaching of the gospel. Among other things, he pictured a little incident of which he had been an eye-witness.

He said that one morning he saw a converted African chieftain sitting under a palm tree with his Bible open before him. Every now and then he cast his eyes on his book and read a passage, and then he paused and looked up a little while, and his lips were seen to be in motion. Thus he continued alternately to look down on the Scriptures, and then to turn his eyes upward towards Heaven.

The missionary passed by without disturbing the chieftain; but a little while afterwards he mentioned to him what he had seen, and asked him why it was that sometimes he read, and sometimes he looked up?

The chieftain replied, “I look down to the Book, and God speaks to me; and then I look up in prayer, and I speak to the Lord–and in this way we keep up a holy talk with each other.”

I would set this picture before you, as being the best pattern of fellowship with God–the heart hearkening to the voice of God, and then replying in prayer and praise.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need!” Hebrews 4:16

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX            Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com