I Am His and He Is Mine ~ Tom Milam, Missionary to America

Musings of a Mountain Missionary: 

He Leadeth me  

December 30 

“I Am His and He Is Mine” 

Psalm 87:7; Colossians 2:10; 3:3

 

Thank God that I am a new creation, not something made over or repaired but altogether new, from the inside to be worked out into the outside. My outside life must learn to put on the garments that matches the inside man now and the battle is on! The God-life that en-dwells us has its own value system of Gods nature, it battles daily with the human nature to supersede it and bring it under subjection.

 

My natural virtues will fall victim to the working of daily sanctification and be replaced by the virtues of Jesus Christ. Your natural confidence will wither up and blow away and you’ll find yourself drawing from the well of the resurrected life of Jesus. Don’t ever be upset because your natural life is withering away. Our natural life holds no extended virtues, they die out as we learn how to live the sanctified life. The holy life can’t be described in terms of the natural life, because the natural life is so undependable; right when you think that you can trust your flesh, it will fail you. The natural man can never be built up high enough to please God by itself; But must be brought into harmony with the new man. We then will have the flowing out of the Jesus -life.

 

“Up Higher”

The natural man will wither and dry,

so the new man can build us up high.

Higher yet, and higher still,

Lead me to live in thy perfect will.

-Tom Milam

 

Daily Jewel:

“Don’t ever be upset because your natural life is withering away.”

 

Join me for “THE JEWEL FOR THE DAY”, locally in Port St Lucie and Ft. Pierce FL, on 105.9FM and www.wbofradio.com at 6am and 2pm every weekday, thanks.

 

"The secret of Judaism. . ." ~ LKMilam

This story is said to be true, but I do not have the authors complete identity or the complete identity of the teenage boy, Yankel, described in the story.  What did catch my eye and heart this morning was in the last paragraph.  “Let me tell you the secret of Judaism. . . .”  I believe it is a secret that all people should embrace.  And even more importantly, if it is exercised through the love of Christ, it will be everlasting.

I found four verses in our King James Bible that say, "love your" - we are to love through Christ even our enemies.  So thankful for the instruction and guidance of our God through the Scriptures.

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luke 6:27  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Colossians 3:19  Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

Please share your thoughts. And so, the story goes. . .

In Crown Heights, there was a Jew, Yankel, who owned a bakery. He survived the camps. He once said, “You know why it is that I’m alive today? I was a kid, just a teenager at the time. We were on the train, in a boxcar, being taken to Auschwitz. Night came, and it was freezing, deathly cold, in that boxcar. The Germans would leave the cars on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days on end without any food, and of course, no blankets to keep us warm,” he said. “Sitting next to me was an older Jew – this beloved elderly Jew - from my hometown I recognized, but I had never seen him like this. He was shivering from head to toe, and looked terrible.

So, I wrapped my arms around him and began rubbing him, to warm him up. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him to hang on. All night long; I kept the man warm this way. I was tired, I was freezing cold myself, my fingers were numb, but I didn’t stop rubbing the heat on to this man’s body. Hours and hours went by this way. Finally, night passed, morning came, and the sun began to shine. There was some warmth in the cabin, and then I looked around the car to see some of the other Jews in the car. To my horror, all I could see were frozen bodies, and all I could hear was a deathly silence.

Nobody else in that cabin made it through the night – they died from the frost. Only two people survived: the old man and me… The old man survived because somebody kept him warm; I survived because I was warming somebody else…”

Let me tell you the secret of Judaism. When you warm other people’s hearts, you remain warm yourself. When you seek to support, encourage and inspire others; then you discover support, encouragement and inspiration in your own life as well. That, my friends, is “Judaism 101”.

Please Pray for us,

 

Tom & Linda Milam

Missionaries to America

Phil. 2:16

What Giants Are You Facing? ~ Linda K. Milam

August 19, 2017

Good morning from Ft Pierce FL! 

I arrived safely on Tuesday night and as expected, stepped into an absolute whirlwind of duty and chaos, all without my partner NOT by my side! I sure miss him. He is the one who loves me the most and loves taking care of me. But that day I faced my giants with only his sympathetic words coming from my phone! 

While we were gone on this trip, Our home had brand new flooring put in and a new kitchen and both bathrooms updated. We are blessed with the loving care of our "spiritual daughter" caring for us from afar. She is a blessing to us both and made all this happen while we were in meetings during our recent trip to our WV mission house.  

The changes are beautiful but oh my soul ~ I looked around after my first look at the beauty and knew I was in trouble. I felt like Peter when he stepped on the water to walk to the Saviour, and he "looked around at the storm" and began to sink under the water, he took his eyes off Jesus and his faith wavered!  Yep, I did the same thing Tuesday night. I let the things around me take my eyes off my Saviour.  

All of my furniture was pushed and shoved everywhere! Left behind leftover construction material everywhere and everything is covered with TILE DUST from the ceilings to the floor and every surface in between! Vision that!   

Driving nearly 16 hours, I was so tired I just wanted to go to bed! But before I could do that I had to wrestle a 500 lb plus treadmill which had our bed shoved up against the wall, away from the bed, so I could remove the furniture on the bed. Sadly I slipped a disc and now I am in excruciating pain. I somehow located my back brace put it on and continued the cleanup. I stripped the bedding, dusted all around, made the bed and by then I was truly exhausted and in much pain. Aren't you tired thinking of that?  This was all after I unloaded the Yukon and at midnight by now!  I'm tired all over again thinking about it! LOL  

I did what I could and laid down. You know when you drive for long periods of time and you finally lay down your body "hums" for a while. Well, mine does. I eventually fell asleep but was up quite early to begin the cleanup process. The only problem, my back. I could hardly maneuver enough to shower and dress. All I could do was turn my back on the mess and walk out the door and head to the Print Shop. I knew I would need help so I went to the shop instead.  

I know ~ We hear it all the time!  How do they do what they do? Go the way they go all the time? They are getting older and older but seem to get busier than ever.  

How do we do it? Truly by Gods grace. He never fails us even when we fail Him. We are people just like other people. Having blessings from God gives us many responsibilities and we choose His way for our lives. We get tired, and pain strikes us and we sometimes get to the point we can't go anymore.  

But We don't get up every morning and start our busy schedules without spending time with God.  

He is my strength and my high tower, my Saviour and my Father, my Guide and my Leader and I follow Him by choice.  Through the reading of my Bible, prayer time, and my devotion time I gain strength for the day. That is how. I do get weary and my faith fails me at times but the morning time with God gives me the strength to go on. I loved Paul Chappell's devotion on Faith this week. It helped me to keep focused on accomplishing His tasks for the day. Here is a portion of it.  

"Our faith is not measured by what we say, but by what we do. If we truly believe God’s promises, then we will claim them and act on them. We will never accomplish what we should for God if we do not trust Him." ~Paul Chappell  

I am putting all my trust in Him. Why don't you. Your stories are just like mine we are people. We allow the circumstances around us to overwhelm us and become tired and discouraged. We in essence take our eyes off of Jesus. That's our weakest point and the devil will attack as soon as you let down your guard, Christian. Before I began the task of getting myself a place to lay down to sleep, I called my sweetheart in tears. "I can't do this, I cried! I need you." Overwhelmed he knew what to do.  After we both cried awhile my sweetheart took us to the feet of our Saviour in prayer!  It does work. "It is just stuff", I said. It will get done when it gets done!

Forgive my long rambling this morning. I missed posting so I'm making up for it. ☺️❤️   

What giants are you facing today?  Health, finances, family, life in general?  If you are saved and know you are, take it to the Saviour in prayer. He WANTS to help you, but you have to put your trust in Him. If you are not saved, He still wants to help you. Your first step of faith, is to accept Him as your "personal" Saviour.  

KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

Whosoever means you. Put your name right there, pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins and your unbelief and accept Him by faith!  You will NEVER regret it.  

I pray a little bit of my heart has reached yours!  We are truly blessed with many friends and family who pray for us every day. We receive not only requests for us to pray but many reminders from others letting us know they are praying for us. Yes, through it all, We are loved and blessed! 

Have a blessed day. LKMilam

 

Missionaries to America

Tom and Linda Milam

Phil. 2:16

 

 

Stuff is Tuff ~ Linda K. Milam

Stuff is Tuff ~ Linda K. Milam
First Published on 9/18/10, Edited 2/15/17

All Scripture quoted is from the
Authorized King James Bible, AV1611
 
 

 

 

 

 

PRAY FIRST
~~~~~~~~
Over time, ladies I know and have met, have learned to know me a little, particularly now that I am the wife of a Preacher. Because of this, I hear many requests for prayer. They call me on the phone; meet me at a church, or as last week, in a restaurant! I even had a sweet lady I met here in West Virginia tell me she “knew I could reach God” if I would just pray for a friend of hers. I believe he does here my prayers but your prayers are just as precious to God as mine. Don’t leave Him out of the request to have someone else pray. Please, let me know how I can pray for you and with you. I promise you I will pray. But make sure you haven’t excluded God from being the first to go to.

Pray first then ask others to pray with you if you think it necessary. I am no different from you. I struggle with many things in my life. It doesn’t have to be something anyone even knows about, and there are some things no one knows anything about, except my dear husband. Stuff is Tuff! What are we doing to help ourselves and others around us? If the first thing we do is run to another person we know, share our hearts, and ask them to pray – I believe we started out wrong. 

Have you ever been guilty of sharing and not even asking someone else to pray, you just wanted to “talk”? The very first thing we should do is take it to God. Then, if necessary, ask Him to direct us to the one that will pray with us and for us! Believe it or not, when I am done praying like that, I find that I usually don’t need to “share” with anyone else. I have already shared it with my dearest friend and Saviour.

GLORY IN YOUR INFIRMITIES
~~~~~~~~
 “. . . Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me . . .” 2 Cor. 12:9 God already knows about the “stuff” that makes your life tuff! Believe me. Take this verse to heart – glory in your infirmities no matter what they are and count it all pleasure to suffer for Him. Tuff words – but so true if we could only grab that great piece of wisdom.
 

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. All things. You don’t mean the “Tuff Stuff” do you! I most certainly do probably more than anything. Most people look at this verse the same way – but what does it really mean. 

I have heard it quoted thousands of times I know, “. . . all things work together for good . . .” and that is where they stop! What was God in his great wisdom, trying to teach us? It will do our souls good to search this truth out. Every providence from God, leans toward the spiritual good of those that love God; it will break them off from sin, bring them nearer to God, wean them from the world, and fit them for heaven. This could be the “stuff” in your life. 

God has a way of taking “stuff” from us to draw us closer to Him. It could be a husband or wife you are complaining about; a child, a parent, a job, pastor or church, any number of things. Be grateful you have them. One day they may be gone!

What is keeping you from serving God as you know how? When the saved act out of character, corrections may be taken to bring them back to the Lord again. I pray that God does that to me every day. No one likes to be chastised or disciplined. But, we should want to have our minds and hearts to be His; renewed when we wake every morning. I do pray for that! Do you know that worldly cliché that is quoted all around the globe, “What Would Jesus Do?” – I have adopted and adapted it a little. Not only what would He do, but what would He think of what I am doing right now. Is it Christ honoring, uplifting, loving, caring or all the negatives to that? God help me to always be aware and to try to be a help and blessing to all those around me. 

DESIRE GOD’S GRACE
 ~~~~~~~~
 As my husband preached God’s Word this week at a revival in Bomont, WV, I realized how blessed I am to be married to a called man of God. He has surrendered his whole life to God, trusting Him who saved us to direct and guide his every footstep. He loves me and wants to see me grow in the Lord. 

 His messages on grace this week were certainly sent from Heaven. How they blessed my heart and revived my desire to a higher level of service to God. Renewing a deep desire to live for Him using His free gift of mercy and grace to help me in my daily walk! Through the Word, I was given a renewed fervor to pray as never before re-dedicating my life and heart to be totally surrendered in every area. Prayer, study of God’s Word, in the grace of salvation, singing, service, standing, and through it all he provides His sufficient grace. “. . . My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9 I will trust the Lord to provide that grace I need in my every day walk for Him.

Every one of us know people who live daily with hurts. Listen, I am one of them. In our daily lives, we face the issues of life in general, from marriages, friendships, children, lost loved ones and the list goes on. My heart aches for folks just like this, but I'm coming to realize that we can be each other's greatest enemy as we tend to share with each other and sympathize with each other. Are we really helping each other, or are we fueling the fire of discontent? Have you listened to someone share a heartache and then couldn’t wait to put your “two cents worth of wise knowledge in before they have barely drawn breath” all because you want to help them and all said and done before you even prayed? Listening is a wonderful gift or it could be your greatest curse. I know what it is to spend hours in tears; wanting to run away, and on a very rare occasion thought it would be better if I just died, then I could be out of my misery and stop causing others misery. Yes, folks, I have been there. I needed a friend to talk with and all the time, He was waiting. Lean on Him and His understanding.

DESIRE GOD’S WILL
 ~~~~~~~~
 What is God’s will for our lives? Trust in a Holy God to direct. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17.

God has given us His Word which is full of promises He has made to us. Get in there and find your promise. It will help. The following thoughts and those written above, were brought to my mind while studying today. Let them be a blessing to you as I have.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. All things. Ah! But you don’t know about my problems, you say. They are greater than any others. My marriage, my finances, my children, my job, my life in general is a mess. God surely can’t fix this! Do you claim the blood of Christ for your salvation? Have you trusted him to save you? Are you saying that God cannot save? If you have a faith and believe in your salvation - believe He can clean up your "mess". He said all things in Philippians 4:13 – Then I say I believe that – but do I?

Honestly? I have to say, I don’t claim that verse all the time. I want to, but I confess I am guilty! I am just like anyone else. I do let myself wonder and fret a little too much (okay my husband says a lot) over things I personally cannot control. Maybe it is a heartache that only God can heal. I am guilty of trying to understand, wallow it around in my own mind, and weep as I never have before each time I bow my head to pray, begging God to “fix it”, all the while, wondering what I have to do to fix it. Oh! Yes! I do that. Have you been there? Oh! If we could only trust in the all things portion of this verse and allow GOD to take control. Through his mercy and grace God can help us with the all things in our lives.

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What are your needs: emotional, physical, material, financial? Again, I take us back to our salvation. If you believe you were saved by the precious blood of our savior, why can’t you believe that He will supply? The experiences of need I could put down on paper are so many I would never get done writing. And I know there are needs in your lives; needs that may be desperate needs, ones that need to be met every day. What is your need? Are you physically ill? Do you have a disease that only God can heal? He is the great physician and beyond our physical needs, He wants to heal your heart and soul. Is your heart broken over some circumstance or situation in your life? He can heal that as well. Do you know Him as your personal Saviour? 

If you do not, then much I say here may not be of help. However, lost sinner, I do pray it will encourage you to make your decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, surrender your sin ridden life to Him and be saved. And Christian I pray you are encouraged and changed.

It doesn’t matter who you are; a teenager, woman, man, we all need to look at whatever situation we find ourselves in right now (good or bad) and pray as our Lord prayed, He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Matthew 26:42. As we choose to see that God is with us and wants to bless us even in the worst situations, we can find the peace “. . . which passeth all understanding, Philippians 4:7.

Get into God's Word and claim His promises -- they are God's personal gift to you, believe he loves you so much that he would give us these promises to stand on. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4.

LET GOD FIGHT THE BATTLES
~~~~~~~~
 We fight battles in our lives every day. If we could grasp the fact that the battle is not ours, but God’s! 2 Chronicles 20:15, 17 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's...Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

 And when the battle is over, Joy comes! Psalms 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Are you looking for the joy of the Lord. It is ours to claim.

We are not walking alone. Many preachers say (as mine did last night) Christians are either coming into a storm, coming out of a storm, or are in a storm. But we are going to come out of the storm, it is a promise, and more than that, during that storm He is with us. Jesus said it best! “. . . I will be with thee;. . .” in Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Another great promise, God’s grace is sufficient, whether we think so or not! A promise many of us forget or may never have known. This is a promise I need daily. God wants to meet your every need as he tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

“. . . all things are possible”, why is it so hard for us to claim this verse. But it is a promise! Why do we count our iniquities greater than God? I have that tendency – to make my “tuff stuff” bigger than God. That is ridiculous. The reason we don’t claim this verse is quoted in the verse. “. . . If thous canst believe, . . .” Our faith in God is not what it should be. Let’s just be honest about that. We should always check up on our faith to make sure we are where we are supposed to be scripturally. “. . . If thou canst believe. . .” words Jesus himself said in Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Wow – all we have to do is not get weary and we shall reap! I don’t know about you, but I do get weary of “well doing” and honestly sometimes I faint or fail. It seems as there are so many around us who have needs that are made known in so many ways. Sometimes I “see” the need, someone tells me about someone’s need, and then I believe God has a way of putting someone on my heart that might have a need. I just want to be “in place” as my husband says, to help in time of need. But there is a reverse to that. I have needs. Just keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to those around you, and don’t grow weary, “. . . for in due season we shall reap. . .”

IN CLOSING
 ~~~~~~~~
 I am almost finished here, but have by no means listed all of God’s promises. I have enjoyed this study however, and trust you will use it to help you. And comment back – give me your precious promise and thoughts so that I might be blessed. I would love to hear from you. God loves you and I appreciate you all for your prayers and support in our ministries.

How about this promise? Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. God delivers us from our afflictions. Did you say that right, you ask? Yes, according to this verse God will deliver us from our afflictions. That is a positive for sure promise. Your affliction or mine is never to great for Him. Claim this verse now, and trust God to deliver you no matter the circumstance. He Will!

2 Corinthians 4:17 God works for us! He is working for us as it says in 2 Cor. 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” I am so thankful that our afflictions are “. . . but for a moment. . .” God surely wants to meet your needs. Our afflictions are but for a moment if we call upon Him today. Put your faith and trust in Him. I trust these thoughts will be a help and blessing. 

Linda K. Milam,
Missionary to America
Ps. 48:14