We Serve a Great God

"Give ye them to eat."

Mark 6:37

1. God uses what we have, not what we don't have. "He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes." (vs. 38)

2. God orders His work. "And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties." (vs. 39, 40) – the right people, place, time, and way.

3. God can do so much with so little.

• The difference is God. "And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all." (vs. 41)
• God gives enough. "And they did all eat, and were filled." (vs. 42)
• God gives more than enough. "And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes." (vs. 43)

–Tim Cruse

Fresh Anointing

Written 30 years ago when I was in Bible college after I was

called to preach on February 22, 1981:

“It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Corinthians 1:21). God, in His greatness and sovereignty, has chosen something seemingly foolish to the world to convey the gospel. He has chosen us as preachers to tell the wondrous story of amazing grace and redemption!

I view preaching in two distinct ways. First of all, I believe with all my heart that preaching is the greatest privilege ever given to fallen man (apart from salvation). The God of this entire universe has called you and me to preach His blessed Word! Amen! Secondly, I look at preaching as a great responsibility. We have to be faithful in proclaiming God’s Word because we will give account to Him one day!

God is looking for some men who will stand in the gap and make up the hedge. Oh, how we need some men of God today who will preach in the power of God, with His anointing and unction from on High. We need men who are called, committed, compelled, constrained, courageous, and compassionate. We need preachers who will yearn for God’s power and blessing. Truly, men of God!

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that

he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;"

I Timothy 1:12

–Tim Cruse

What Do You Have Coming?

"And let us not be weary in well doing:

for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Galatians 6:9

God instructs us in Romans 13:7 to "Render therefore to all their dues...honour to whom honour" and in I Samuel 2:30 that "them that honour me I will honour".

• A Faithful Man – read how God honoured Joseph in Psalm 105:17-22 and understand that God uses people to treat us in ways we do not deserve to prepare us for the honour we do deserve; that is coming our way.

• A Faithful Wife – “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come” (Proverbs 31:25). She looks at the future and smiles because she knows “a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised” (vs. 30). Honour is coming to her house.

• A Faithful Child – children who obey and honour their parents have the promise from God “That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:1-3). Blessing and fullness of days are on their way to them.

Victor Frankel, who lived in a Nazi death camp, stated, “The prisoner who had lost faith in the future – his future – was doomed.” May God help us to “hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). Don’t lose heart and stop short. Your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Do right and the honour that is traveling your way will soon reach its destination.

–Tim Cruse

I Believe

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the

goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Psalm 27:13

I Believe...

1. “There is a God in Heaven” – Daniel 2:28

2. The Bible is His Word – “that revealeth secrets” – vs. 28

3. He has a plan for my life – “But as for me” – vs. 30

4. There is nothing too hard for Him – What “there is not a man on earth

that can” do, “there is a God in Heaven that” can. – vs. 10 & 28

5. He will bring His plan to pass in His time – 12:9-13

David and Daniel believed that God would show them good when others were showing them bad, and that He would strengthen them in times of great challenge – and He did!

–Tim Cruse

Our Seeking Savior

Our Seeking Savior

• ...is looking for sinners – "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." –Luke 19:10
• ...is looking for servants – "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." –Acts 13:22
• ...is looking for servants who will look for sinners – "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." –Matthew 9:38

To follow Jesus Christ is to become a fisher of men (Matthew 4:19). Are you a true follower of Him? Tell someone about the gospel of grace this week.

–Tim Cruse