Montgomery Ministries

“ Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God : it is He that has made us and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.”

Have you ever taken the time to realize how grateful and thankful we should be towards the Lord every day of our lives ? We have so much to be thankful for ! If we spent the next seven days and nights thanking God and praising Him for His goodness and His faithfulness to us, we wouldn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how good He has been to us. Think with me for a moment- if you are reading this inside your home, a home with heat, running water and food in your pantry, you are further along than many people in the world at this moment.

If you were able to get out of bed today under your own power, you are blessed above many hurting, suffering people in the world at this very hour. In fact, if you have a bed to sleep in you are blessed ! On many of my exercise walks through the streets of Addis Ababa Ethiopia recently, I saw folks lying on sidewalks because they had nowhere else to go. Did you have anything to eat today ? Do you realize how fortunate you are ? Millions on the planet will spend much of their waking hours trying to figure out how to find something to eat today.

Do you have clothes on your back ? Do you have more than one pair of shoes ? I have been in countries where a pair of any kind of shoes was considered a luxury. I saw people just recently in Africa with clothes so old and threadbare you just knew that they had been worn for a long, long time and were probably the only clothing the poor soul had in this life. Do you dream about owning one of the many luxury cars with all the fun options advertised in the glitzy commercials on TV, and feel that because you don’t have one in your driveway right now, that somehow you’re missing out ? I’d like you to see how many people ( the majority ) in other lands must climb into a minivan laughingly called a “bus”, originally designed to hold maybe 6 or 8 people, and see 12 or 13 folks squeezed inside a very unsafe, cramped vehicle and travel long distances in this manner to get from point “A” to point “B”. They do this because it’s all they can afford.

We are so blessed and don’t even know it. We’re so used to the prosperity and blessings that God has given us, that we simply take for granted how good the Lord has been to us. It’s time for the Body of Christ to cultivate and maintain an attitude of gratefulness and heartfelt thanks to the Lord. Let’s not allow an ungrateful, unthankful spirit to have any more place in our lives. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, many have developed a “ you owe it to me ” mentality. A feeling that instead of appreciating all the wonderful things the Lord has seen fit to do for us and in us, we have the idea that we “ deserve ” all the good things we’ve experienced up ‘till now.

These kinds of negative attitudes are so subtle. They develop in us over the years, little by little. We are so used to being well fed, clothed, and provided for. We automatically assume that we will continue to enjoy life at a high standard, that somehow it’s “owed” to us. But we too often fail to take into consideration that the things we enjoy, the things that are available to us, the blessings that are all around us are in our lives because of the goodness of God. Period. Not because of our talent or ability. Not even simply because of our hard work and sacrifice. Those are certainly factors in one’s success and material blessings. But at the same time, if it were not for the goodness and mercy of God, none of us would have the ability to “make a living.”

He is the One who gives us our next breath, causes our hearts to continue to beat, gives us strength for the day, and enables us to think, to reason, to make decisions, to use our bodies to labor and be fruitful. A failure to recognize God’s blessings and goodness in our lives opens the door real wide to the sin and deception of pride. We begin to have the idea that our own ingenuity and know how has brought us all the comforts and good things we enjoy.

“ It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” ( Lamentations 3:22-23 ). The reason we are not destroyed is because the Lord has had mercy upon us. He has watched out for us. His hand is upon us. He goes before us. Underneath us are His everlasting arms. And His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. He makes the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth. He is for us and not against us. His mercies endure forever.

Let’s begin today to take several praise and thanksgiving breaks during the day and remind the Lord how grateful we are for His lovingkindness and tender mercies in our lives. We can be so thankful that He is the Living God, and there is no other. He is deeply involved in every aspect of our lives that we have fully surrendered to Him. He wanted us to be a part of His family so much that He became a man, suffered and died in our place to eradicate the curse of sin in our lives, and make it possible for us to receive His life-eternal life.

He is not some distant, unfeeling deity. He cares about every part of our life. He is as close to us as the words of prayer and praise we utter to Him. He is a very present help in times of trouble ( Psalm 46:1 ). He is worthy to be praised. I encourage you to make heartfelt praise and thanksgiving to God a bigger part of your life today. Give the Lord thanks on a regular basis, and watch the walls of loneliness, depression, anxiety and fear begin to crumble before you !

I have recently returned from my second visit to Ethiopia. I travelled there last year in late October and spent 10 days teaching at Victory Bible College in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. I promised the Director of the School that I would return there this year for 4 weeks to teach the 1st and 2nd year classes there. Once again, I was so blessed to have the opportunity of speaking into the lives of some of the finest, most dedicated men and women of God in the whole world. Many of the students are full time Pastors who felt the need for a structured, formal Bible School education and training to enhance the effectiveness of their ministries in the churches.

I continue to be so impressed with the zeal, the passion and the commitment to excellence of both the students and the very capable administration of VBC. A mighty generation of Jesus-loving, Word-believing, Holy Ghost-filled ambassadors of Christ are going forth from this School and touching the nation of Ethiopia in a great way. Some of the first graduates of this now 5 year old School have established VBC extension schools in remote parts of Ethiopia, and during my time of ministry there a third extension school was started. Victory Bible College is the only Bible School in the nation that could be termed a “ Word of Faith ” School. That is, it is the only school that stresses the integrity of God’s Word, the preeminence of the message of faith and victory, and the absolute immutability of God’s Word moreso than denominational creeds and doctrines.

My longer time there this year really enabled me to develop stronger bonds of friendship and fellowship with the students. I was able to spend much time with many on an individual basis, and have grown to love them as precious brothers and sisters in the Lord. I am continually amazed at the gratitude and the appreciation of the students for the things we shared with them. I have seldom witnessed such a great hunger for the Word and the things of God as I have with the students of VBC. I taught 5 classes, Monday through Friday :
“ Submission and Authority ”, “ Principles of Faith ”, “ Principles Of Ministry ”, “ Renewing The Mind ” and “ Believers Authority.”
Then 2 nights a week, in addition to the day classes I taught Night School for 1 ½ hours for the benefit of those students who were not in a position to enroll in the full time program.

VBC is connected with Victory Christian Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma. This great church was started several years ago by Pastor Billy Joe and Sharon Daugherty and is genuinely impacting the nations of the world with well over 1,000 International Victory Bible Schools. As you know, Pastor Billy Joe was promoted to Heaven a year ago, and Pastor Sharon is now in Senior Leadership there. V.C.C. is continuing to implement the vision of the Daugherty’s to proclaim a Living Christ to the nations. They are heavily involved in World Missions, planting churches and raising up IVBI’s to train Leaders and Ministers to effectively preach and demonstrate the Gospel abroad.

Stephanie and I are IVBI Volunteer Teachers, and are very humbled to be a part of what God is doing in the nations through the ministries of the IVBI Schools like the one in Ethiopia. And like the one in Estonia I will be returning to in February 2011. Time is short, and Jesus must be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations. Then shall the end come. Once again, we want to thank each and every person who prayed, sowed and had a part of our Mission to Ethiopia 2010. may God bless mightily all who were involved in this great work.