Archives for April 2016

No More Defective Faith: The Exchanged Life (Hudson Taylor)

April 28, 2016 By

No more defective faith -- "The Exchanged Life" by Hudson Taylor - (Chapter and PDF) "Instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another." www.jeanwilund.com

Few books have affected me as profoundly as Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secrets. 

It’s available on Amazon, on audio and CD, and on Kindle.

(At the time of this post, the Kindle version is only 99 cents. Order it today!)

Who is Hudson Taylor?

Excerpt from the back of the audio CD:

You may be unfamiliar with the spiritual magnitude of Hudson Taylor, a great and godly man who was a pioneer missionary to China.

You will be amazed at the relevance of this man’s life as you see how effectively he modeled the integration of truth, faith, humility, and obedience.

His secret of the “exchanged life,” and his profound dependence on the Lord for every need, must be discovered by a new generation.

Physician, evangelist, administrator, visionary, compassionate husband and father–Hudson Taylor filled all these roles, and more.

He left a lasting mark on the great country of China, and few in the history of the Chinese church have accomplished so much with so little.

Hudson Taylor’s life exemplifies how to wholly trust God because God is indeed enough. That was the “secret” by which he lived and it can be yours as well.

In my recent post about The Vine and the Branches by David Tryon entitled Jesus Said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” I said, “Huh?”, I credit Tryon’s writing and Hudson Taylor’s for crystalizing my understanding of what it truly means to abide in Christ.

All of Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secrets is brilliant, but Chapter 14 –– The Exchanged Life is the section I re-read the most.

In it, Taylor explains his breakthrough to understanding how to truly abide in Christ. 

I’m surprised I don’t have this chapter memorized as much as I’ve studied it.

I long for The Exchanged Life to be more fully reflected in my life.

I’ve provided the transcript of the chapter in its entirety below.

I transcribed it from one of my many copies of Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secrets. 

In fact, the copy I used is so worn, I’ve lost the cover and the first chapter.

But I’ve since ordered two new copies to replace the battered one.

I wanted two, so I can loan one out and still never be without one at home.

Smart, I know.

At the end of this post is a downloadable PDF of this chapter. But you really should buy the whole book. In fact, buy two copies.

Enjoy and prepare to be changed! [Read more…]

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Crazy Faith! (by John Waller)

April 25, 2016 By

Listen to John Waller sing Crazy Faith and learn the story of crazy faith that inspired the song. (www.JeanWilund.com)

Crazy Faith!

That’s what it takes to say Yes to God at times.

John and Josee Waller took a crazy leap of faith into an adoption adventure they never expected. [Read more…]

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Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” I said, “Huh?”

April 22, 2016 By

If you've ever wanted to understand Jesus' parable of the Vine and the Branches, you've found the right place. David Tryon explains it well. (www.JeanWilund.com)

Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” I said, “Huh?”

Then He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

That sounded important, yet still my response was, “Huh?”

Maybe if I’d lived on a vineyard in Italy this would’ve made sense, but I grew up outside of Atlanta, GA, better known for peaches, peanuts and red clay.

I couldn’t wrap my brain around how one could actually “abide in Christ.” Until . . . David Tryon and his article “The Vine and the Branches.”

Tryon made sense of this confusing, but life-changing truth.

I re-wrote all of it into more modern English, but I have no idea where it’s disappeared to, so I’m including the version my dear friend and mentor Grace gave me years ago.

Yes, this is long, but I didn’t want to leave any of it out for those of you who, like me, desperately want this truth to sink in and make a difference.

For those who don’t have the time to delve into this long article, I’ll be addressing this in much shorter clips soon, but please consider studying this. It changed me.

If God can use this to change me, why would He not do the same for you?  

 THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

By

David Tryon

 

There are many Christians, struggling to live the Christian life, who have never discovered where the strength to live that life is to be found.

There are many earnest believers, young and old, who are continually being disappointed and cast down because they are finding their own resources so inadequate to meet the demands of real Christian living.

There are hundreds of Christians of all ages who are hungering and thirsting after a fuller, deeper life than that which they now experience. [Read more…]

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God Must Do It All ~ Come Alive Dry Bones! (by Lauren Daigle)

April 18, 2016 By

Click to listen to Lauren Daigle sing Come Alive Dry Bones and read a powerful message if you've ever felt like dry bones or loved someone who is. God must do it all. Ezekiel 37 & Zechariah 4:6 God must do it all. Come alive dry bones!

I’d just finished play practice for West Side Story my senior year in high school when my friend Zach told me the horrible news that President Ronald Reagan had been shot.

Zach was such a jokester, I didn’t believe him at first.

Twenty years later I was standing in the kitchen when my husband Larry called me from work on September 11th. A plane had just hit one of the twin towers.

Five years later I was sitting on an airplane flying from Paris, France to Atlanta, GA when I finally grasped what it really meant that God must do it all. [Read more…]

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Waiting & Wondering Are Agonizing. God is Amazing!

April 15, 2016 By

Waiting can be agonizing. Waiting and wondering can be torture. But God is absolutely amazing! He'll show up in ways and places you don't expect. (www.JeanWilund.com)

Waiting can be agonizing. Waiting and wondering can be torture. But God is absolutely amazing!

Yesterday God blew me away with His kindness and His ways in the midst of agonized waiting and wondering.

He doesn’t always answer me in miraculous ways. Sometimes He doesn’t seem to answer me at all. When He doesn’t, He’s no less amazing, loving, kind or powerful.

But when He does, I have to shout it out. So here it is:

I woke up yesterday with a heavy heart I couldn’t shake.

I tried.

I reminded myself of the wonderful truths of God’s sovereignty, kindness, and power.

How can a heavy heart stand in the face of that?

I’ll tell you: [Read more…]

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Do We Have To Not Care Whether We Live Or Die? “To Live is Christ” (by Sidewalk Prophets)

April 11, 2016 By
Music Video "To Live is Christ" by Sidewalk Prophets. (www.jeanwilund.com)
 

What does it mean “to live is Christ?” Does it mean we have to not care whether we live or die?

“For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.” 
~ Philippians 1:21

In the movie First Knight about the legend of King Arthur, Lancelot wins a sword fight in impressive fashion. (Watch the movie clip at the end of the post.)

His opponent, Mark, wants to know how he learned to fight with such skill:

Mark:         How did you do that? How did he do that? Was that a trick?

Lancelot:   No. No trick. It’s a way of fighting. 

Mark:         Could I do it? Tell me. I can learn.

Lancelot:    You have to study your opponent, how he moves, so you know he’s gonna do it before he does it.

Mark:           I can do that.

Lancelot:     You have to know that one moment in every fight when you win or lose. And you have to know how to wait for it.

Mark:            I can do that.

Lancelot:      And you have to not care whether you live or die.


Oh, wow. That last one’s a tough one:

And you have to not care whether you live or die.

I think I like the apostle Paul’s mindset better.

For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Paul doesn’t tell us not to care if we live or die. He tells us to be excited about both.

No matter whether Paul lived or died, he was good.

Lancelot resigned himself to either fate.

If he lives, great. If he dies, oh well.

Paul embraced both opportunities.

If he lives, great. If he dies, awesome.

Paul lived for something that overpowered his fears and despair and drove him to truly live.

If Paul gets to live, he gets to live for Christ. He gets to love what Christ loves and share the powerful truth of Christ with every breath, whether with words or deeds.

And if he dies, he gets to be with Christ face-to-face. Awesome.

Paul couldn’t lose.

This didn’t mean he couldn’t suffer.

Paul could’ve been the national champion of suffering. Here are just a few of his “struggles”:

  • Whipped five times with 39 lashes.
  • Beaten with rods three times.
  • Stoned and left for dead.
  • Shipwrecked four times.
  • Floated in the deep for a day and a half.
  • Bitten by a viper.
  • Survived an assassination plot.
  • Had a “thorn in his side” that God wouldn’t take away.
  • Arrested and imprisoned several times and for years at a time for preaching Christ.
  • Endured cold and without clothes.
  • Attacked by an angry mob.
  • Betrayed by his own people.

(Acts 9:23-29; Acts 13:50; Acts 14:5,19; Acts 15:11; Acts 16:23, 39; Acts 17:5-7, 10, 18, 23-14; Acts 22:24-29; Acts 23:1-8; Acts 23:33-27:2; Acts 27:14-28:1, 3-5, 13-15; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 6:3-20; 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10; 2 Timothy 4:6-8)

Do You Have To Not Care Whether You Live Or Die? Read & find out and then watch music video "To Live is Christ" by Sidewalk Prophets. (www.Jeanwilund.com)He could either glorify Christ by living large or when he met Him face-to-face. Either plan worked for him. 

This wasn’t some “glass is half-full” positive mental attitude.

This was “the glass is overflowing” God-confidence.

It allowed him to endure things few of us will ever have to face and still enjoy peace in his soul, even when there was no peace in his circumstances.

At times Paul felt discouraged. Beat down. He even despaired of his life at times. (2 Corinthians 1:8)

But when life crushed him, he got back up to live another day.

To really live.

Not just exist.

Not just survive.

But live!

For most of us, we live without the fears Paul faced.

Sure, suffering will come. None escape it.

But whether we live or die, with Christ, we’re good. 

We’re free to live with abandon and enjoy life.

Sidewalk Prophets’ song “To Live Is Christ” is based on the apostle Paul’s infamous quote that brilliantly outshines the mythical Lancelot’s.

“For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.” 
~ Philippians 1:21

This is what David Frey, one of the founding members of Sidewalk Prophets had to say about their song “To Live is Christ”:

“This verse lays it all on the line for us as a band. What does it mean to truly live?

“Some hold great stock in wealth, or status or other earthly things, but for us…we long to live a life chasing the heart of God.

“Each day is a continual battle to lay our lives down, and lift up Christ on high.

“This song has become our anthem.”

~ David Frey, Sidewalk Prophets

Enjoy Sidewalk Prophet’s music video “To Live is Christ”: 

[Read more…]

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