Peniel Pentecostal Holiness Church

3239 Rosebud Road Walnut Cove NC 27052
Pastor: Dr. Tim Nelson -  Church Office 336-591-36112
A Place To Encounter God Face To Face. Gen. 32:3

A Word From The Pastor Archives 2022
August 2022
 

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Isaiah 6:8.

There are two sides to this stupendous proposition, His sending and our going. Some are called who do not go, like the son who promised to work in the vineyard but went not. Some go who are not sent: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran” Jer. 23:21).

What a supreme privilege that the God of the Universe can use us in His business—“Whom shall I send?” Yet He never compels us nor violates our freedom of will—“Who will go for us?” His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for someone who will go—not someone who will merely sing about it or say, “Here am I, send somebody else.”

Never mind whether or not the mission will be a success. Isaiah was told that his hearers would not receive his message. We are not called to succeed, we are called to go.

And when we go He goes along!

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 135

Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.

Observe the source of our victory—“Thanks be unto God.” The Blesser is greater than the blessing. Consider the nature of our victory—“which giveth us the victory.” It is the gift of God. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” And behold the means of our victory—“through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It is total victory over sin, death, and the grave. It is daily victory. Every heart ought to be a “victory garden.” And it is final victory.

“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” It does not explain the world, nor endure it, nor enjoy it—it overcomes the world. But not just any kind of faith. It must be faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, for our victory is through Him.

Every day is V-Day when our faith is in Him. And every day is Thanksgiving Day for the victory through Him.

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 138.

Last of all he was seen of me also. 1 Corinthians 15:8.

In this marvelous and classic statement of the Gospel, Paul sets forth the Christ of history: “Christ died”; the Christ of doctrine: “Christ died for our sins”; the Christ of the Scriptures: “Christ died … was buried … and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Then he moves further to declare the Christ of experience, the experience of others, to begin with. “He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, of above five hundred brethren at once, of James, of all the apostles.” And finally he reaches a climax in the Christ of his own experience: “and last of all he was seen of me also.”

It is possible to know Christ as a fact of history, of doctrine, of the Scriptures, of the experience of others, but it avails nothing if we cannot add, “Last of all he was seen of me also.”

It was said of Thomas Chalmers that he had “an original experience of Jesus Christ.” Have you seen Him for yourself?

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 80–81.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13.
As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deuteronomy 33:25.

Red-letter days and lofty experiences tend to fade. Resolutions, though penned in blood, soon lose their original drive. Spiritual stimulants, like shots in the arm, may serve a purpose, but living by shots in the arm, whether physically or spiritually, is abnormal. The trolley car does not run all day on one big push of power at the start. Its slender arm reaches up and keeps constant contact with the current.

Christ is our strength and He is with us all the days and is ever available. He will not give us tomorrow’s strength today, nor will yesterday’s grace suffice. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” but also sufficient unto the day is the strength thereof with which to meet the evil.

Believe Him for today’s strength today!

Vance Havner, Day by Day: A Book of Bible Devotions (Baker Publishing Group, 1953), 159–160.