For years, I’ve kept a simple prayer journal that is filled with a record of special experiences with God—concerns, prayer requests, His providences, answered prayers, and insights from inspired writings. At the beginning of each year, I go back through my journal, creating a summary list of how good God has been during the year. At times when I need special reassurance, I turn back to previous journals to remember what God has done and praise Him.
Looking back in one of my journals, October 19 stood out. In a hotel in Paso Robles, California, I was feeling down, confessing my sins, and trying by faith to accept God’s promises—when my cell phone rang. It was my sister, Carol. She was calling from Nebraska to share the story of a terrible car accident she had survived. Calling her survival a miracle of God, she went on to say how God was speaking to her through this experience and one of my sermons on CD I had sent. The sermon had arrived just when she needed it.
God seemed to be telling her it was time for a major recommitment to Him. Would I come and baptize her? So, in early December in a swimming pool on the Union College campus in Lincoln, Nebraska, my heart was filled with joy as I baptized my older sister who had helped raise me.
And there’s more. A close friend of Carol’s was frustrated with God’s church for years. Watching Carol’s spiritual journey had seemingly softened her friend’s heart and he had tentatively decided to reconnect with a local congregation.
What an encouragement to me at a time when I was frustrated with my own failures. When I felt I needed rebuke, God surprised me with encouragement instead. What a beautiful picture of God! And when I’m becoming proud of my progress, He sends rebuke. He always gives me what I need. I want to live every day more like Jesus, so that the Father can use me continuously.
While traveling on God’s business, one morning Jesus stopped by a well in Samaria. Tired, hungry, thirsty, He waited for His disciples to return from the local grocery store. Then God sent a woman in need of her Savior. When His disciples returned, they encountered an energized Son of God. “ ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work’ ” (John 4:34, NKJV).1
In the motel that morning, I became energized with the encouragement God sent me through Carol. So often in Scripture, God tells us to “remember” how He has led us in the past (see Psalm 105). He’s such a precious Friend and all-knowing God!
I am so grateful that I have a record in His Word and my journals of who God is and how He works for His people throughout history and in my life. Those “way markers” help me face the challenges of today.
This month’s lead article by Jon Paulien reminds us that in Revelation and all of Scripture “To worship God is to recount His mighty acts. To recount His mighty acts is to rekindle the power of the original act in one’s present experience.”
In Mark 5, Jesus told the demoniac “ ‘Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you’ ” (v. 19). When Jesus returned to that area, multitudes came out to see Him because of that man’s witness. Testimony to God’s acts makes all witness and preaching more powerful. And as Ellen White said regarding encouraging us to praise God for His wonderful
works, “No more effective means can be employed for winning souls to Christ.”2
The very best way in any culture to draw people to our Lord is when we live an authentic, Spirit-filled experience with Jesus. We should love others by sharing with them how He has answered our prayers, met our needs, and changed our lives in so many positive ways. Journaling our Lord’s acts can encourage us, strengthen our ministry, and have a major impact in helping others join the exciting adventure with Him!
1 All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version of the Bible.
2 Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Pub. Assoc., 1941), 300
A message from Jerry Page
It is my privilege to serve as interim editor of Ministry, among my other responsibilities as General Conference ministerial secretary, while the search continues for the new editor.
We appreciate the years of excellent service by former editor, Derek J. Morris, who is now president of Hope Channel, and Willie E. Hucks II, former associate editor, who is now serving as associate professor in the Christian Ministries Department at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University.
Our newly elected associate editor, Jeffrey Brown, a gifted pastor, teacher, and church administrator, is in the process of transitioning from his current ministry at Oakwood University.
