Daily Treasure

“And the gospel must first be published among all nations” (Mark 13:10).

In our verse and also in Matthew 24, we see signs for the end of the age. No one but the Father knows the date when He will send His Son to bring His children home. However, we certainly notice some warnings that this day is fast approaching. I mentioned yesterday about the vast number of nations in this world. Today’s verse, in reference to the end times, states that all nations will have the opportunity to hear the gospel. It will be proclaimed in some form.   Though Bible scholars differ concerning whether this has already been fulfilled or is yet to happen, with each passing day, we see more and more prophecy fulfilled.   Time swiftly passes; we must redeem it. Join in the all nations stretch, envisioning that joyous day when people from every tribe and nation will join together in praise to our Savior and King.

Our mission focus today is Russia and Asia. Specific areas include Japan, Russia, India and Nepal.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Remember these requests for Day Three of WNAC PreEaster Week of Prayer.
Russia: Praise the Lord for our strong and ongoing partnership
with the Baptist Union. Pray they will resist and stand against
doctrinal positions that cause division in the church. Pray for
Russian pastors’ efforts to reach out cross-culturally.
India and Nepal: Praise the Lord for the great work going on in
India and Nepal. Any given Sunday, over 16,000 believers gather
in FWB churches. Praise Him for 369 churches, for 102 people
in training; for hundreds baptisms in the last year. Pray for
Brother Carlisle Hanna’s health and wisdom as he counsels and
leads pastors. Pray for endurance for churches as they face
persecution from Hindu and Muslim radicals.
Japan: Praise the Lord for open doors as a result of the 2011
tsunami. Continue to pray for missionaries and teams (such as
the THP trip planned) as they reach out to minister to those in
need and share the gospel. Pray for the six ordained pastors, the
10 churches, and 12 missionaries ministering in this recovering
country. Pray for the financial situation as the weakened dollar
against the yen has caused a 12% loss.

“And he said unto them, Go ye  into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Mark’s Gospel records the Great Commission in concise form—easy to understand yet not so easy to accomplish. Can we even fathom the enormous task of taking the gospel to the whole world?  Are we burdened for those who have never heard about Jesus?  Or has our apathy reduced the size of the world?  (I was curious to know just how many countries there are in the world. I found an alphabetical list of 251 on www.nationsonline.org.)

Does our exercise plan include praying, giving, or going? Doing nothing is not an option. This would only lead to atrophy—a condition defined as “degeneration, decline  or decrease as from disuse.”

Let’s do some world stretches and embrace the truth. People worldwide need the Lord, and we must be willing to do whatever we can to promote the gospel. Today we focus on Europe and Cote D’Ivoire.  Use available resources to gain a greater vision for the people of Bulgaria, Spain, France, and Côte d’Ivoire—souls Christ died to save.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Join in Day Two of PreEaster Week of Prayer.
Bulgaria: Praise the Lord, the Postlewaites have been assigned
to join the Awtreys in this hard country. Pray for them as they
prepare to go. Pray for unity in the Svishtov church and for
boldness as they face the challenges of an atheistic society; and
for the physical, spiritual and emotional strength of the Awtreys
and church leaders.
Spain: Praise the Lord for committed leaders who have perse—
vered through tough times. Praise the Lord, the Alpedrete
church has outgrown its building and is relocating to a larger
facility. Pray for the five churches and three national pastors.
Pray for new opportunities through social outreach.
France: Praise God for five churches with an average weekly
attendance of 245. Pray for the two ordained pastors; for the
united, field-wide partnership strategy with local churches; for
more national leaders and leadership training; for two new church
plants; and for the youth ministry Dennis and Carol Teague with
their son Joel and his wife Lydie are initiating.
Côte d’Ivoire: Praise the Lord that peace has begun to return to
the country. Continue to pray for stability and recovery. Pray for
the 14 ordained pastors, 37 lay leaders, and the 68 churches and
preaching points. Pray for the leadership to have a vision to plant
more churches. Pray for the eight churches diligently planting
other churches. Ask God to protect and lead the one remaining
family, the Andersons.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”  (Acts 1:8).

As we begin PreEaster Week of Prayer our focus will be on FWB International Missions. During April we will also continue our stretching exercises.  The 2012 PreEaster Prayer theme is “Stretching Into Our World: Reaching the Unreached,” which correlates with this month’s study, “Stretching Ourselves…Into Our World.”

It wasn’t much of a stretch for me to find Scripture verses for this week. They will be familiar ones for most of us. In spite of this familiarity, we must ask ourselves, “How far are we stretching to reach the lost of the world?

Today’s verse coupled with the Great Commission gives us a great stretching plan. If you are new at exercising and/or implementing stretching into your routine, I suggest you start out slow. We can also apply this spiritually.  Our Scripture gives us a starting point and we can choose to expand our reach. Begin with your community, then state, then country, and finally the world.  The first two will help you loosen up. Just think how good you will feel as you reach beyond those boundaries into the “uttermost part of the earth.”

Each day will feature different areas to think and pray about.  Today’s areas make up Central and South America.  What do you know about Brazil, Panama, Uruguay, and Cuba?

Do you know anything about these fields and its workers? Depending on the answer to these questions, you may need to do the “missions stretch.”  This involves some “knee exercises” and pushing ourselves to do more than our usual “Lord, bless our missionaries” prayer time..  Try doing some research about these fields and check out www.fwbgo.com for information about the workers.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: DAY ONE focuses on these praise and prayer items from Central and South America.

BRAZIL: Praise the Lord for the 25 ordained national ministers
within our works. Pray for these pastors as they take on more
responsibility for the whole work; for efforts to form a national
association; for retired missionary Don Robirds’ health and
facility in Portuguese as he teaches in the Bible institute in
Campinas through June.
PANAMA:  Praise the Lord for 50 years Free Will Baptists of work in
Panama, and for 11 churches and 11 ordained pastors. Praise Him
and pray for the two church-planting projects underway through
the joint efforts of a missionary family and a national pastor.
Praise Him for the goal of each church to plant another church
and pray for the success of these efforts. Pray for the ministry of
the Bible institute as they seek to meet the need for more trained
leaders. Praise Him for the six students who just graduated.
URUGUAY: We praise the Lord for the 50 years of ministry in this
country and five ordained pastors. Pray for them and their vision
for church expansion. Pray the pastor who wants to plant five
house churches in Montevideo will experience God’s blessing,
encouragement, and success. Pray for Neil and Mandi Morgan as
continue to adapt to the culture and language.
CUBA:  Praise the Lord for 75 years of ministry in Cuba; for 49
churches and 74 meeting places; for 54 ordained pastors; and for
almost 9,000 in church attendance every Sunday. Pray for the
strong national church planting movement; and for the church in
the face of continuing oppression.

“Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.  He tried to keep it secret that he was there, but he couldn’t…” (Mark 7:24 NLT).

I’ll try to put this as gently as I can:  If Christ were present in your church service today, would He be noticed?

Would He fit into the crowd—or stick out like a sore thumb?

Would He be welcomed and ushered to a great seat—or be left to fend for himself, and only by the grace of God not choose Sister So-and-So’s pew?

Would He be acknowledged—or ignored?

Would He be invited back—or leave unnoticed?

You see, it’s not a given that God visits every service and every church every Sunday…but when He is there, it shouldn’t be anything that’s kept under wraps.

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for women’s groups sharing the special “Stretching Into Our World” presentation in services today. Pray that many would join in this year’s PreEaster Week of Prayer effort.

“If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his throne and talk with him there.  I would lay out my case and present my arguments.  Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me”  (Job 23:2-4 NLT).

Job mentions finding God,  approaching His throne, providing Him with his list of complaints and then doing one of the hardest things there are to do…stop to listen and understand.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Hearing is easy.  If you have ears, you’re capable of hearing.

Listening and understanding?  Hard.

We’d prefer to leave our wish lists at God’s feet, spout off our requests—and run off, believing He’ll do just what we’ve asked.  That’s not exhibiting faith; that’s being demanding and aloof to the responses a Mighty Savior demands we make to His holiness.

Are you making time to stop and listen to the Lord?  Are you finding out what heart issues need immediate attention?  Are you understanding the hardest of His decisions?

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for presidents Matt Pinson, Timothy Eaton, Wendall Walley, Lorenza Stox and Bruce Barnes as they lead Free Will Baptist colleges.

“His lord said unto him, Well done thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21).

This verse holds two emphases. First,  “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”  To stand before Christ and have Him utter those words will be beyond description. After stretching our muscles perhaps for many years here on earth, we will cool down.  And we will then “enter into the joy of thy lord.”  That will be our ultimate success.

A beautiful song entitled “Applause”  gives two examples of people who served the Lord for many years. Neither really received much recognition in this life. When they came to the end of life, they were welcomed into Heaven by the applause of angels. Then as they looked around, they saw the Lamb of God who was leading the applause.  So many songs try to capture what Heaven will be like, but I think it actually will be beyond anything we could ever imagine.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for women attending the California WAC state meeting today and tomorrow.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”  (Matthew 25:34).

Imagine and ponder this scenario: Your participation in an outreach program has brought about the winning of souls. You and your church have grown because of it. You know the meaning of true success. Soon Christ will return and as the obedient child of God, you will “inherit the kingdom.”  You will be ready to stretch out and rest from all your labors.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for women in your church and community who are struggling with addictions.