Thought for November 10, 2023

•  1766: Queens College chartered--Rutgers University
• 1871: Stanley greets Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika--"Dr. Livingstone, I presume"
• 1885: First motor cycle unveiled--Daimler
• 1891: First WCTU meeting--Boston
• 1910: First Gideon Bible placed in a hotel room [some say 1908]
• 1938: Pearl Buck receives Nobel Prize for "The Good Earth"
• 1961: First long distance call without an operator
• 1954: Marine Corps War Memorial unveiled in Arlington 
• 1975: Edmund Fitzgerald and a crew of 29 lost in Lake Superior
• 1976: Utah Supreme Court approves execution of Gary Gilmore
• 1989: Destruction of the Berlin Wall begins
• Born: Martin Luther, Mikhail Kalashnikov [AK-47]
• Died: Lott Cary [missionary], James Rowe ["I Was Sinking Deep in Sin"], Harry Ford Sinclair, Leonid Brezhnev, Norman Mailer

I have written about Lott Cary before. Born in slavery on the plantation of a Methodist minister in Virginia, Cary was hired out to work in a tobacco warehouse in Richmond. He joined First Baptist Church in Richmond. There he learned to read the Bible and was a student in a small school for slaves taught by Deacon William Crane. Cary was allowed to collect waste left over in the warehouse where he had become a supervisor. After his wife died, he used the proceeds of selling this waste to buy freedom for himself and his two children. He became a minister and co-founded the African Baptist Missionary Society. Charles Mercer and Robert Finley founded the American Colonization Society to aid Blacks emigrate to Africa and form the colony of Liberia in 1819. Supported by First Baptist Church, Cary became the first black missionary to Africa where he established the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia. He died in an explosion while making bullets to repel a local native attack. 

Thought:

Meditating on  1 John 4:4 today. In the first 3 verses of this chapter, John tells us to test the spirits because there are many false prophets. Certainly, that is true today. John says that if a spirit/prophet does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh and is from God, the spirit is the spirit of the antichrist. Then John tells us that we have overcome these spirits because greater is He in you than he who is in the world. Do you see yourself as an overcomer today? Do you feel like a conquering victor today. If not, why not--for greater is He in you than anything in this world. This truth may explain why I am not bold in my witness and testimony--I don't think I am an overcomer, victor, conqueror. This truth may explain why I feel overwhelmed by the issues of the day. This truth may explain why I get depressed or anxious or doubtful or fear--I forget that greater is He in me than he that is in the world. Maybe my whole life, my entire attitude would be transformed if I could just live with the truth that greater is HE. Ponder these scriptures this morning--

• John 16:33--In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.
• Romans 12:21--Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
• 1 John 5:4--Whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
• Romans 8:37--No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 

What do I see--Jesus is victorious. Jesus is conqueror. In Christ we conquer, not in our strength, but in His. The issue is my faith. The victory that overcomes fear, doubt, tribulation, trial, anxiety, depression is faith. We sing--Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Lord, increase our faith.

Blessings, 

Larry