BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing Eng Nov 2017 | Page 7

November 2017 before the throne in front of the Lamb, wearing white robes, holding palm branches in their hands (Rev 7:9). May our writings have the same propelling force. For our writings to have this effect we should bend our knees. As much as we intercede and prostrate at God's feet before going up the stage to deliver a message, so much we must do before, during and after writing an article or book. A message spoken may be heard by a thousand people but a written one by thousands. What an awesome responsibility! A writer can expect persecution for writing the truth and not for itching ears (2 Tim 4:3). Jeremiah, the prophet of doom, wrote something which neither the people nor the king wanted to read. Jeremiah was a young priest from the little town of Anathoth, a few miles northeast of Jerusalem, when the Lord called him for a specific prophetic ministry. He was reluctant because he was quite young and not a 'speaker.' Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched his mouth (Jer 1:6,9). How much a writer needs this touch! The people of Anathoth who accepted his priestly ministry were not ready to tolerate his prophetic ministry because it exposed their sins and hurt them. They plotted to kill him (Jer 11:18,19). His prophecy was ridiculed and mocked and consigned to flames by King Jehoiakin (Jer 20:7-11). How weary Baruch would have felt to do it all over again on a scroll with stylet! (Jer 36). Jeremiah was thrown into prison. Paul was kept under house arrest for two years during which he wrote four epistles (Acts 28:30,31; Col 4:18). The ageing apostle John was exiled to Patmos where he wrote the vision, against all odds. How difficult it was those days to write! No paper, pen, electricity, office room, laptop, journalism, coffee, tea, printing presses, Google pictures and what not. But they had the anointing. That's all that mattered. They wrote with stylets on scrolls, laboriously, wherever they were, in the prison or in the bobbing ship, in daylight or chimney light. How much more should we! To conclude, I would like to highlight what God told Baruch: “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not” (Jer 45:5). Put the emphasis on “yourself.” Seek only God's glory! www.lilianstanley.com A Brief History of Blessing Magazine The periodical of the Mission 'BLESSING' magazine is prepared and published monthly in English and Tamil since 1972. The year of inception of the Blessing vernaculars are as follows: Oriya - 1976 Kannada - 1976 Hindi - 1979 Telugu - 1983 Malayalam - 1987 Marathi - 1988 Gujarati - 1990 Assamese - 1996 Bengali - 2006. The combined circulation in 2017 is around 56,000 copies. We have started to publish the Blessing E- Magazine in English from the year 2016. It is available in our website: www. bymonline.org. Thank God for the Editors, Translators, Proof- readers, Typists, Designers, Printers for their consistent contribution to this ministry. Continue to uphold the 'Editorial Team' of all the 'Blessing' vernacular magazines in your prayers. 500th Issue |PAGE 7|