newsletter
Servant Ministries, Inc.
Issue No. 92 Ira & Judy Milligan Jan 1, 2006

United Ministers' Fellowship Conference
March 23 - 25, 2006 

The place is the Honeysuckle Inn in Branson, Missouri. For reservations call 1-800-942-3553. The motel is $35.00 a night. The conference is free. Lord willing, Judy and I will be there early so if you can, come early and enjoy the fellowship.
New 2005 Tax Relief

Katrina's disaster has prompted Congress to pass a temporary law allowing you to deduct all of your 2005 charitable contributions instead of only a percentage as before (see your accountant for details). We will keep our books open until January 15 for last minute 2005 contributions. We'll get the tax receipts out the first of February. 

The Prophet's Perspective 
A Set Time of Favor 

2005 has come and gone, leaving in its wake a toll of destruction that's hard to fathom. Florida's four hurricanes in 2004 were just an introduction to what lay ahead. They were followed swiftly by the horrific tsunami in Southeast Asia in December and the ensuing death and destruction was still fresh on everyone's mind when the Gulf coast was hit by a powerful one-two knockout punch from Katrina and Rita. The US is still reeling from their blows.
But that's all world and national news. Unless you were visiting Southeast Asia or living in south Louisiana or Mississippi at that time you probably escaped most of natures fury. But what about your own personal storms? Have you escaped them? Hell appears to have knocked on many of our doors in 2005, regardless of where we lived. I know the devil certainly came knocking on mine!

2005 appeared to start off with great promise. At our annual conference in March Al Houghton ministered one of the most inspiring messages I've heard in years; God told him to arise and declare a set time of God's favor. "[God] will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come" (Psalm 102:13). Did he hear correctly? Yes! Without doubt! But, as he expounded the word and we rejoiced over the good news, most of us failed to take into account the way that particular Psalm starts out:

"A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily" (Psalm 102:1-2).
God uses affliction to prepare us for promotion. The greater the promise, the more severe the preparatory trial. Joseph was sold as a slave, and then endured false imprisonment before becoming Egypt's prime minister. Mary was highly favored among women but suffered the stigma of premarital pregnancy and the agony of Christ's crucifixion. God's favor doesn't guarantee freedom from grief and ridicule.

Nevertheless, invariably, severe affliction compels us to question God. "Why God? Why did you allow this to happen to me?" We ask, but seldom receive an answer. Our quest for answers is usually an exercise in futility. God works all things after the counsel of His own will. Other than the explanations that He has already given in His written word, He's not in the business of explaining why He does what He does.

The truth is, when Hell comes knocking there's only one proper response, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). For "this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). Asking why so that we may understand our affliction isn't what God is looking for. He wants us to trust His will for our lives and anything short of full surrender implies lack of trust on our part.

And as for dealing with the devil's onslaught? God's favor assures us of eventual victory. We're not the only one given to "exercises in futility". The devil's attacks are as futile as our questions. Our covenant with God includes this promise: "The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways" (Deut. 28:7). If we do as Abraham did, remain strong in faith and stagger not at the promise of God, the devil can't win. For, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

"Helping Hands"

Judging by the way the calls are coming in, it looks like 2006 will be as busy as 2005 was. This year, I'm praying for God to open more new doors in the southeast part of the US, and possibly further west than we traveled last year. Gas prices have made travel much more expensive than before, but until God shows us otherwise we plan on keeping up the same pace as we have in the past. (We usually travel between two and three weeks out of each month.) 

Prayer Partners' Update

Since my last report, the doctors have pronounced our son Bill cancer free, and Judy hasn't had any more "heart attacks" (I'm not sure that her heart problem actually qualified as a heart attack, but if not, it was close). So, your prayers are working! Thanks, friends. Now we need prayer for our finances to be restored.

The Dreamer's Corner

Most dreams are parables, and the dictionary defines a parable as, "a short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson." Usually, dreams accomplish this task through the use of symbols. One way to increase our understanding of symbols is to study them in groups, or "families".
In ordinary conversation, we use certain related words to illustrate certain concepts, such as various levels of comfort. For instance, hot; steaming; warm; cool; cold; freezing ­ all speak of different "degrees" of comfort or discomfort, as the case may be.

Similarly, both the Bible and our dreams use family groups of symbols to illustrate truth this way. One group frequently encountered in the Bible is predators. Predators are predominantly used to symbolize the enemies of God's people and, like predators; all enemies are not the same. Various individuals pose different levels of threat or use different tactics in warfare, so it takes several different symbols to portray the many different aspects of Satan's despicable character and devious tactics.

This family of symbols includes lions, bears, serpents and wolves. Predators such as eagles, owls and foxes are also biblical symbols, used in various and sundry ways to indicate certain character traits or types of behavior of our enemies.

Lions are known as the "king of beast", using strength and agility to overcome their prey. Bears use brute strength, while serpents have to resort to stealth and deadly poison to prevail. Eagles rely on their lofty position and excellent eyesight, while owls can see their prey even in darkness. Foxes, because of their small statue, have to rely on craftiness. On the other hand, wolves are swift and cunning, traveling at night in packs to utilize the strength of numbers, so in many ways they embody several of the characteristics of the other six.

Interestingly enough, of these seven, in Scripture God uses three of them to portray Himself! See if you can identify which three He uses, and why. Sweet Dreams!