Daily Manna from Heaven

by Dr. Harold Sala

“Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.” -Hebrews 4:13

To what degree is it legitimate for airport security officials to embarrass passengers, provided their discomfort gives everyone the assurance that the flight you are on is a safe one? That’s one of the very issues that confront travelers today.

You may have seen the article in the papers with the caption, “Before takeoff, scanner takes it all off.” The caption underneath the headline read, “New imaging machine peers through clothes to search for dangerous items. Critics say it’s a virtual strip search.”

Here’s the low-down. Sophisticated electronic technology known as millimeter wave imaging takes pictures of a person which are white and dark gray standing before a camera. Though they are somewhat fuzzy, the pictures are detailed enough to reveal not only a weapon but also your bulges—say love-handles or fat around the middle, and the outline of your physique.

The result is a kind of 3-D image that shows how the person looks without clothing. Some think it is fine; others say it is an invasion of their privacy. Fully clothed but naked! Do you know that’s exactly how God sees us?

That very thought, though, brings comfort to some and strikes fear in the hearts of others. Nothing is hidden from His eyes. “Nothing?” you may ask incredulously. That’s what the Bible tells us. Here is how it puts it. “Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done” says Hebrews 4:13. This fact creates two immediate responses.

Some are terrified. “You mean God knows everything about me?” their hearts cry out in shame. Why should we be surprised that God knows the contents of your e-mail, the text messages that you thought were completely confidential, and your whereabouts when you told your wife you were going one place but went somewhere else—somewhere you would just as soon she didn’t know about.

Quite often we forget that He who spoke the word and created our first fathers, Adam and Eve, doesn’t grow older century by century, and his memory doesn’t wear out with use, nor does He have so many programs running on His computer (if He has one) that He has trouble keeping tabs on those of us who dwell on this terrestrial village known as Planet Earth. He doesn’t need a “black book” to keep track of what we do. He knows. He’s God, and that fact separates Him from the way we look at things.

Others rejoice when they understand, realizing God know the times you try so hard and nobody notices, the times you work your fingers to the bone and nobody says, “Thank you!” When you are misunderstood by others, it means God knows your heart—your true feelings—and He understands. That’s comforting and encouraging. They also rejoice because they stand forgiven in God’s sight.

They remember the fact that when God forgives us, He wipes the slate clean, as though we had never sinned. Isaiah 43:25 puts it like this: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).

It’s uncertain whether the new airport security image will be popular, but being clothed with the righteousness of Christ by being His child gives you all the protection you’ll ever need. Knowing that nothing is hidden from the Lord may strike fear into the hearts of some, but it brings joy to the hearts of those who are right with God. Think about it.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years.” -Deuteronomy 8:2

One lesson that smart travelers learn is that you can’t take it all with you! You usually can spot the first-time-traveler—the person who has the large bulging suitcase held together with a piece of rope or gray tape. The overweight traveler is also apt to get a shock when he or she finds out the cost of overweight luggage. Whereas airlines used to be “traveler friendly,” more likely than not they are struggling with survival and personnel is under stress, just as you are. It isn’t that the person behind the counter doesn’t like you. He’s just trying to keep his job and please his boss, too.

As a veteran traveler, I’ve learned some important lessons over the years, and perhaps you can learn from my personal experience. Let’s get started. If you are going to travel, I have three important suggestions. First, travel light. This means get rid of the heavy Samsonite suitcase and trade it for a lightweight one. Getting nailed at the airport for overweight luggage often costs more than buying a lighter suitcase.

Traveling light is important not only when you fly, but it’s equally important in how you live. Lots of people carry a tremendous load of baggage. Long ago the psalmist wrote, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). That is something that you must do. The Hebrew word that we translate “cares” includes a host of ideas and thoughts—burdens, worries, concerns over health, wealth, and your future.

“What’s in your box?” I am occasionally asked when I check in at an airport. The bulky excess baggage that people carry in life may be memories that burn, resentment or anger against someone who has hurt you, a deep-seated fear that something may happen to you because what you fear took down your mother or father.

My friend, John Coloumbe, takes groups to Israel, and before they board a little boat on Galilee, John tells them, “Find a stone that is equal to the burden you are carrying right now and bring it on board with you.” On Galilee, they cut the engine of the little craft, and John tells them, “Look, Peter, who fished here, said we are to cast our burdens on the Lord,” and in the stillness of the moment, one by one, individuals drop their rocks into Galilee, symbolically turning them over to the Lord. Get rid of your excess baggage and take refuge in the Lord.

Next travel right. Over the years we have developed a rule of thumb: “When in doubt, leave it out.” Of course, there are certain essentials, and you will look funny, feel funny, or act funny without them. Don’t trust your memory. A short pencil is better than a long memory, especially if you pack in a hurry or are stressed out with details that make you forget essentials.

Make a standard list of absolute must-have essentials to insure that what you really need is packed; but remember, you don’t need as much as you think you do. Generally you are seeing people who won’t remember what you wore, so forget about taking a change for every day you are gone.

Finally, travel cool. When your flight is delayed, your luggage gets lost, or you have a seatmate that talks your head off, keep your cool. When you get stressed out and are in someone’s face, everybody loses. Airline personnel have limited abilities to change some things, so be nice, smile, and talk without raising your voice. It’s the best way to fly. You may not get to your destination any sooner, but you will feel better, look better, and be far more relaxed when you arrive.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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By: Dr. Harold Sala

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15

”Why were you willing to come to our village and teach us?” asked the Pastor. Before I tell you how I responded, you need to know where we were and what the circumstances were.

First, I was in a mountain village about two-and-a-half hours from Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria. About 80% of the population of Bulgaria, once part of the former USSR, is Orthodox, about 12% are Muslims, and less than ½ of one percent are Evangelicals—making Bulgaria a much neglected mission field.

Ruins of churches built in the 4th century are well preserved in Plodiv, which at one time was known as Philippopolis—named after Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Walking through the ruins of ancient Plovdiv, you would think you were in Greece or Rome, with amphitheaters and marble columns which have been reconstructed. Today, however, things are radically different.

How did I happen to be in a Pomak village—where a handful of people live–representative of the 700,000 Bulgarian Muslims, isolated from the mainstream of Bulgarian life? The story begins with a brave and courageous woman, Svetlana Bakardeieva, who was one of our students at Donetsk Christian University in Ukraine.

Svetlana’s grandfather was a full-blooded Bulgarian, and after she graduated from DCU, she felt God was calling her to this country as a missionary. When churches there discovered that she had no large missions organization behind her, they quickly lost interest in her desire to do evangelism.

Meeting a warm-hearted pastor from a village in the isolated mountains of Rhodope Mountains, she began taking the difficult bus ride to the area on Fridays, returning home on Mondays, braving storms, isolation, and hardship, encouraging, teaching, and integrating the love of Christ into her ministry.

Then Svetlana married Kenneth Morikang, who has worked with Guidelines for about 7 years, and they formed a team, ministering and working among a very neglected group of people.

Getting to the village requires several hours of travel through mountains. The last 13 kilometers are over a rough, unpaved road filled with potholes and hair-pin curves, but at the end we were warmly greeted by the pastor who invited us into his home for breakfast—opposite the mosque, the largest building in the village.

On that Saturday I did the first-ever-to-be-held-in-that-village marriage and family conference. The audience–former Muslims who listened intently and responded enthusiastically to the teaching. When the pastor asked why I would be willing to come there, I responded, “Because you are important to the Lord and you are important to me as well.”

I hope you will pray for Kenneth and Svetlana along with their baby girl, Kristina, asking God to use them to reach many for Christ. We have all agreed to pray for at least five converts between now and the end of 2009.

Ultimately an issue has to be faced: “Is every person important to the Lord?” I explained that, on occasion, I minister to groups consisting of thousands of people, but that I go just as readily to small groups who need the Word. There are implications to what I just said—ones which we often prefer not to address.

This also means that people we come in contact with on a daily basis—perhaps the ones who drive buses or clean houses, or sit in the convenience store and address you with an accent, are in need of the Good News, just as you were once. They count in God’s sight as well.

Remember, Jesus taught the multitudes but also walked all the way to Sidon, where He had a conversation with one woman. I think He would have done the same thing in Bulgaria. If you would like to become part of this ministry reaching Muslim families, contact us at Guidelines.

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“The preceding material was written by Dr. Harold J. Sala, and is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or financial profit is prohibited. Permission to reproduce this article was granted by Guidelines, Inc.”
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