God lives and works today.
He isn't a distant impersonal deity.
No, He loves us sinful creatures with all
His heart, and He longs to make our
lives full and happy.
Listen to today's testimony of one of the
sisters from the little land of Canaan.
One of my favorite Bible verses is Zechariah
2, verse 10.
I come and I will dwell in the
midst of you.
That had always been my longing.
If only God would dwell in me.
But I sensed that He wasn't always living
in me.
My life was far removed from it.
Once, after a Bible study, Mother Basileus said,
When you go apart with the Lord now,
ask Him to show you what has the
first place in your heart, because He can
only live within you if there is room
for Him.
When I began to pray, I knew immediately
what had taken over the first place in
my heart, and, after much hesitation, I wrote
down a dedication in my spiritual diary.
Lord Jesus, I'm willing to bring you a
sacrifice of love, to leave my beloved Canaan,
my mothers and my sisters here, and go
abroad to one of our foreign branches.
About a year and a half later, the
Lord Jesus asked me to keep this commitment.
He called me to serve Him in Scandinavia.
When the time of departure came, my heart
almost broke.
But then I experienced, Jesus is always nearest
to us when we are where He wants
us to be.
He was so near to me in Scandinavia.
For many years I had longed for this
nearness, but had never found it.
But now, all of a sudden, I became
completely dependent upon Him.
I could no longer ask my mothers for
advice about every small thing, or go to
my sisters and say, please help me.
Now I had to discuss everything with Jesus.
I needed Him all day long, and He
was really there and helped me in my
every need.
But homesickness for Canaan did come over me
sometimes when I was traveling from one country
to another.
Once, when I wrote home about it, Mother
Materia sent me a song which Mother Basilea
had written.
Ever since, it has been my song, for
it says, I enter my garden, and Jesus
is near.
I enter my room, and He is also
here.
The dearest, the fairest, is waiting for me.
He loves me so warmly and intimately.
We travel together, or land and or sea,
and each place is home when He's walking
with me.
The strange is familiar when He's at my
side.
The fairest, the dearest, my treasure and pride.
Many friends have told us, oh, if only
I could stay on Canaan forever.
The Lord Jesus is so present there.
But today I know, Jesus is nearest when
we are in the place He wants us
to be.
Wherever He has called us to go, that
is where He is.
And there He is waiting for us.
This knowledge has filled my heart with joy
and gratitude.
Now I can only say, thank you, Jesus,
that you have drawn so near to me.
So all that I have, I will give
Him.
I'll sacrifice all I hold dear.
My whole life to Jesus belong me.
My heart seeks my Lord to reveal.
You have been listening to a program written
by Basile Schlenk of the Little Land of
Canaan.
To learn more about how God lives and
works today, visit us at our website, www
.canaan.org.
That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot
org.
If you contact us, we would be happy
to send you a free inspirational booklet.
If you do not have access to the
web, please contact this radio station for our
postal address.
God bless you.