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#11/ 22-June-1999

          P O S I T I V E     W O R D S
               Editor: Peter Wade

     ----- http://www.peterwade.com/ -----

IN THIS ISSUE...
1. At the Positive Words site
2. Songs I Remember
3. Positive Words for Today
4. Searchlights from the Word
5. Humor

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1. NEW AT THE POSITIVE WORDS SITE
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It's time again for updates at the Positive Word site,
and we have some great reading for you.

SEVEN RULES FOR BIBLE STUDY by F.E. Marsh
  (From the Introduction to the book "1,000 Bible Study
Outlines".)
  "The best way to prove the truth of the Bible is to
study it. The living man proves the fact of life. The
Living Book proclaims the Living Author. Men's books are
bushes without the burning flame; the Word of God is a
Bush flaming with the fire of God. It is God-breathed and
God-breathing. As the Creator breathed into man's body
the breath of life, and thus united man's body with his
created spirit, so God has taken the body of human
language and united to it the Holy Spirit, and breathed
the breath of the Living Christ in its sacred revelation.
We do not worship the Book as a Book, but we worship Him
who is revealed in it, and because of Him we prize the
Book. (There are many other articles by F.E. Marsh in our
online Library.)

THE EXCHANGED LIFE by J. Hudson Taylor
  "The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord
Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus
counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete...
  ... It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a
risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think
what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your
right hand be rich and your left poor? Or your head be
well fed while your body starves?... No more can your
prayers or mine be discredited if offered in the name of
Jesus (i.e., not for the sake of Jesus merely, but on the
ground that we are His, His members) so long as we keep
within the limits of Christ's credit -- a tolerably wide
limit!"

QUIET TALKS ABOUT THE HEALING CHRIST by S.D. Gordon
3 more chapters: Does God Send Sickness and Disease?,
How Does Christ Heal?, and How Far May Christ's Healing
Be Expected? BUT not just truth on divine healing, but
also on "keeping in touch with Christ". Great teaching!
  "The surrender is an act, a glad act. Then it becomes
a practice, a constant unwavering practice. And then it
becomes a habit, a fixed unconscious habit of action.
  It simply means fullest touch of habit and motive and
life with Him who died for us, out of the love of His
heart, when He didn't have to. This is the meaning of
being in touch with Christ.
  The purpose is this: in everything to please Him. The
purpose really becomes a passion, a tender, strong, tense
passion, a passion of love, a passion for Him.
  It does not simply ask "is this wrong?" and leave it
out. "Is this right?" and put it in. But this: "What
would He prefer? What would please Him?"...
  A thing may be proven not wrong. But if that quiet
inner Voice tells you it is not best, not what He would
prefer, then that is quite conclusive here for the man
really in touch.
  Christ's preference, Christ Himself, the Man who loved
so, and loves, and cares what we do, this quite settles
things for the man in touch.

THE GOLDEN KEY TO PRAYER by Emmet Fox
  "Prayer will enable you, sooner or later, to get
yourself, or anyone else, out of any difficulty on the
face of the earth. It is the Golden Key to harmony and
happiness.
  To those who have no acquaintance with the mightiest
power in existence, this may appear to be a rash claim,
but it needs only a fair trial to prove that, without a
shadow of doubt, it is a just one. You need take no one's
word for it, and you should not. Simply try it for
yourself, and see.

DIE GRASHUEPFER-PHILOSOPHIE by Peter Wade
  A German translation of our article "The Grasshopper
Philosophy", translated by one of our readers, Petra
Gullert. Thanks, Petra. (You can also read it at Petra's
web site 
< http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/3737/ >. Perhaps
it's time you read the English version again!

All of these good articles can be accessed from our home
page at < http://www.peterwade.com/ >

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2. SONGS I REMEMBER
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One of Vivien's craft friends recently presented me with
a leather-bound, gilt-edged music edition of "Sankey's
Sacred Songs and Solos", containing 1,200 songs. Sankey
was song leader for the D.L. Moody campaigns, the George
Beverly Shea of his day, with a sweet, clear voice. He
wrote many songs himself, and music to other's lyrics.
His song books, in various editions, sold like wildfire
and were almost the standard evangelical hymnbook of the
late 1800s and early 1900s.
  When I was a teenager there was a popular Sunday
evening radio broadcast with a choir who sang songs from
this volume. Somehow over the years I passed on my copy,
and I'm thrilled to have one again. I've been through all
1,200 songs and there are many great and memorable one's
there. One I want to share with you I first knew as a
poem from a leaflet, and it was written by A.B. Simpson
(there is an article by him on our site). I was surprised
to find in Sankey's that he had also written the music
for the song.

Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord;
Once is was the feeling, Now it is His Word;
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own!
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.

Once 'twas painful trying, Now 'tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost!
Once 'twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once 'twas constant drifting, Now my anchor's cast.

Once 'twas busy planning, Now 'tis trustful prayer;
Once 'twas anxious caring, Now He has the care;
Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me;
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine;
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored Safe within the vail.

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3. A POSITIVE WORD FOR TODAY
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              A MESSAGE OF COMPLETENESS

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with
every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation" (II Corinthians 5:17). It is a complete
creation; there is nothing left out. God is not
interested in half measures; God is not interested in
partial healings;  God is not interested in partially
solving problems. God is a God who goes all the way.  All
of His works are perfect, and the New Creation which God
created within me is perfect and complete.
  The scripture, II Corinthians 5:18, declares that "All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and give us the ministry of reconciliation. "All
this is from God," and since God is spirit (John 4:24)
then the New Creation is a spiritual inside job. The word
"of" (KJV) is rendered by many translations as "from,"
the genitive of origin.
  God's righteousness is a complete righteousness and it
is part of God's complete New Creation. This New Creation
is also complete in respect of its blessing. How much
blessing did He give me? Every or all (KJV) spiritual
blessing. It is a complete blessing. I do not deserve it.
I could work from now until eternity and still not earn
it, but God in His grace and mercy gave me a complete
blessing. I am blessed with Heaven's best! 
  Since I am so blessed, there is nothing spiritual that
I do not already have.  This is taking the message of the
New Creation to its logical conclusion. I can truly
declare, "I am blessed." As I feed my mind with the Word
of God and begin to comprehend His attitudes, beliefs,
and concepts, then I will show forth in greater measure
the reality of being "blessed with all spiritual
blessing." (From "You Are A New Creation", Chapter 1,
adapted by Hildy Matthews.)

AFFIRMATION: I thank God for making me a New Creation
and telling me how to tap into the greatness of this
truth of completeness.  

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4. SEARCHLIGHTS FROM THE WORD
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G. Campbell Morgan was a well-known preacher and writer
from the turn of the century. In this spot each issue we
reproduce a comment from one verse in every chapter of
the Bible. We continue with the so-called "Prison
Epistles" of Paul: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
Philemon.

  "Remember my bonds" Colossians 4:18.

  That is the last word but one, in one of the most
wonderful letters Paul wrote, certainly the letter which
in conjunction with that to the Ephesians constitutes the
crowning height of all his teaching. It is not quite the
last word. That follows, and in consonance with all his
life and teaching turns back to God, and out towards
others, in the parting wish "Grace be with you." 
  Yet it is very suggestive that there should come the
cry which reveals his consciousness of limitation and
suffering. The whole letter had been written in prison,
and surely during the writing the place had flamed with
light. Paul had been seated in the heavenlies. The most
wonderful visions of the glories of his Lord had passed
before him, and he had seen himself and all Christian
souls filled to the full, complete in the fulness, the
completeness, of this Lord of surpassing glory. 
  Having finished, he took the pen in his own hand to
write the salutation -- and as he did so, the weight of
the chain which bound him was felt, and perhaps its pain
also. Then his heart went out toward his comrades, and he
craved their sympathy and help: "Remember my bonds." How
close that human touch brings him to all of us, and how
much more powerful becomes all his high spiritual
teaching because of it! It is always so. The great things
of spiritual interpretation are ever made more powerful
to others whcn they are reinforced by the touch that
reveals our fellowship with those whom we serve in the
sense of need. And yet in spite of the chain, he wrote
his salutation: "Grace be with you."   

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5. HUMOR
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Each issue includes some of the best pieces we have seen
since our last issue. So here we go...

VERY SHORT BOOKS
     1)  The Joys of Root Canaling
     2)  Amelia Earhart's Guide to the Pacific Ocean
     3)  Career Opportunities for History Majors
     4)  Detroit - A Travel Guide
     5)  Different Ways to Spell "Bob"
     6)  Dr. Kevorkian's Collection of Motivational
Speeches
     7)  Everything Men Know About Women
     8)  How to Sustain a Musical Career by Art Garfunkel
     9)  Mike Tyson's Guide to Dating Etiquette
    10) One Hundred and One Spotted Owl Recipes by the EPA
    11) Popular Lawyers
    12) Staple Your Way to Success
    13) The Amish Phone Book
    14) Popular In-laws
    15) Water-skiing the Bermuda Triangle
    16) Vice Presidents With Really Good Ideas

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher
was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the
group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at
it when you are all grown upand say, 'There's Jennifer;
she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, he's a doctor.'" 
  A small voice, Johnny's, at the back of the room rang
out, "And there's the teacher... she's dead."

My wife is a teacher and one day a 2nd grader said he
wished he was God. She asked him why.
  He said, "If I was God, I would be able to go into the
girl's bathroom!"

Pastor Filler was finishing his children's story this
morning on the topic, "On your mark, Get ready, GO!"
relating it to life as a race and pointing out that they,
the children, were in the preparation stage.
  At the conclusion he asked, "When is our race over?"
One young child replied, "When the fat lady sings!"

One Sunday a pastor told his congregation that the
church needed some extra money and asked the people to
prayerfully consider giving a little extra in the
offering plate. After the offering plates were passed,
the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had
placed a $1,000 bill in offering. 
  He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy
with his congregation and said he'd like to personally
thank the person who placed the money in the plate. A
very quiet, elderly, saintly lady all the way in the back
shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to
the front. Slowly she made her way to the pastor.
  He told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much
and in thanksgiving asked her to pick out three hymns.
Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation,
pointed to the three handsomest men in the building and
said, "I'll take him and him and him."

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THANKS for reading Positive Words. Please share it
with a friend!
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(c) 1999 Peter Wade
http://www.peterwade.com/