"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I Corinthians 13:11.

Recently, the Lord sent us a message on spiritual maturity. As it was going forth, the Lord brought to my mind several childlike ways. Let us examine them and see if we have put away "childish things."

Children speak their mind. They will boldly tell you that you are ugly, or that they don't like the gift you have given them, etc. Spiritually, are we still speaking our mind, no matter who we hurt or what damage we are doing?

Many times, if things don't go their way, they will pout. Their bottom lip comes out and they will not so much as give you the time of day. What about spiritually? If church services don't go exactly like we think they should, or the pastor doesn't handle a situation like we think he should, do we clam up, or maybe even quit going to church? Remember, this is the way children handle life. "...When I became a man, I put away childish things."

Maybe you are not one to pout, but one that throws a tantrum when things don't go as planned. Instead of clamming up, you make sure everyone knows that the situation should have been handled better, or services should be run more smoothly, etc. It is still a child's way of handling life.

Children have great exuberance over worthless items. Some of them can become so excited over a cheap, plastic toy which tears up before the day is over. They aren't willing to save their money until they can buy something which will last. They want it now. Are we letting our joy and happiness come from the worthless things of life? We should be taking the time to dig a deep well in the things of God and let peace and joy be springing up within.

Many times children are picky eaters. As long as they can have candy, cookies and ice cream, everything is fine, but give them green beans and broccoli, and they immediately say "Yuck!" Are we picky eaters with God's Word? Do we just want to measure to certain things? God has a well-balanced meal to set before us and to be healthy we must eat it all.

Children's attention span is about two inches long. Try sending a three-year-old to his room to pick up toys. Invariably he will look at a book or play with the toys. How are we? When God gives us a job to do, are we willing and able to complete it? When we are prompted to read and pray, or send a card to someone; do we get sidetracked? What about that area God has dealt with us about? Do we complete the task or fail to completely conquer?

If you are calling, "Ice cream, everyone," children hear very well, but if they think you are calling them to do work they suddenly become deaf. Do we have selective hearing when God is talking to us?

Little children need to hang on to their mother, or their security blanket. Are we afraid to step out into a new field for the Lord, or would we rather keep quiet than to testify or pray like the Lord is asking us to?

Many times children become discouraged very easily and are ready to give up. I heard of one child who, because he couldn't ride a bike with the first try, wasn't going to try again. When we try and fail, are we ready to throw in the towel? That is being childish. If at first we don't succeed, try, try again. A sign of maturity is to get up and try all over again.

Often I find my children taking things into their own hands and correcting each other without giving me a chance to handle the situation. We need to learn to back off and let God do the correcting. God is well able to correct without our being in control and bossing.

It is real easy for children to say, "I can't." If we are not careful, we will tell the Lord, "I can't forgive." "I can't be kind." "I can't measure up on that line." That is being like a child.

Children are ready to lie, if need be, to cover up their faults. If they don't lie, they will make an excuse. God sees right through all our lies and excuses.

CA-Dear saints and friends: As I study the 23rd Psalm with my Sunday school class, I am inspired, encouraged and convinced that the path of the righteous is for me. If we allow Him to, He will clear our lives of rocks of stony unbelief. He tries to tear out the roots of bitterness. He attempts to break up the proud human heart that is sometimes set like sundried clay. He then sows the seed of His own precious Word, which, if given half a chance to grow, will produce good, healthy saints, full of peace and contentment. The Good Shepherd has supplied green pastures for all who care to move into them and find peace and plenty. -Loyce Davenport

CA-Faith Publishing Company: I am so blessed to report that the balance problem with my inner ear is all gone. The healing of the malady, which had lasted seven months, began about the time that your Faith and Victory, asking for prayer, began to reach the mailboxes of those nearest Guthrie. By the time my copy arrived on the West Coast, the job was done. Yours rejoicing, -Nelson R. Markham

NC-Dear Bro. Wayne and saints: Greetings in Christian love. I trust that you and the saints are doing fine in the Lord. We are pressing onward in the Lord, trusting Him each day for help to be what He would have us to be. You all are in our prayers, and we pray that you will remember us also. In Christian love, -Sis. Julia Holt

OK-Dear Bro. Wayne, saints and workers at the Print Shop: Greetings of love in the name of our Lord. I am so thankful for His saving and keeping power. He has been so good to me. I haven't been well since January, but thank the Lord, He has blessed me the last few weeks with more strength in my body. Words can't express my thankfulness to the Lord for what He has done for me. Also, the saints have shown their love and concern by calling, sending cards and praying. Thanks to each of you. Many times when I would be suffering and be so very weak in body, I know the saints were in the battle with us.

The Lord visited me many times with a Bible verse or a song. The peace that comes to my mind in time of suffering is such a blessing to my soul. I want to make Heaven my home. Please continue to pray that I will be faithful. Your sister in Christ, -Alta Bock

TX-Dear Bro. Wayne: Greetings in the precious name of Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus! Without His amazing grace where would we all be today?

I have suffered with the beginning of osteoporosis for over a year. I know I have the faith for my healing, but maybe it is not God's will for my healing just yet. God has His own place and time for everything. Yet I continue seeking the prayers of everyone, because sometimes I am beyond going. Put me and our church on your prayer list....

I love my Faith and Victory papers. I read them over and over. Keep up the good work.

In the love of Jesus, -Sis. Rhoda Smith

CA-Dear Bro. Murphey and saints: Praise the Lord, I am past 90 years of age and still determined to follow Jesus all the way.

I am blessed to be able to talk with some of the saints quite often. It is so encouraging. I am feeble, but I am still able to read the precious messages in the Faith and Victory.

Please pray for my unsaved loves ones. I always pray for God's people everywhere, and for people to come to the Lord before it is too late....

Pray for me. I am determined to be faithful and follow Jesus all the way.

Your sister saved by the precious blood of Jesus, -Ruth Donnelly

WA-Dear Bro. Wayne Murphey and co-workers: "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Psalm 23:1.

This verse is such an encouragement to me, because the Lord supplies everything for me. I am so glad for the opportunity of being one of His children. From my youth up, until now, in my old age, He hasn't failed me, although I have failed Him. I am watching and praying more to keep closer than ever before. I need the prayers of the saints that I will keep faithful to my Shepherd.... -Sis. Naomi Jones

LA-Dear ones: Greetings in the name of Jesus. I am very thankful today for all the Lord means to me, and for all He has done for me. I am, also, very thankful to have been taught the truth from a child, by a mother who taught by "precept and example."

The provision of divine healing is a wonderful part of the plan of salvation, and it was made available to all of us by the stripes which Jesus suffered for us.

I would like to relate some of the wonderful healings the Lord has performed for me in the last two and a half years.

In July of 1995, I was carrying out the trash when I stepped on the edge of the walk and my right foot buckled. It was either broken or badly sprained, as it was about six months before I could wear a shoe and walk on it normally. But I do praise God for healing it and helping me through the pain and discomfort.

Then, last February, I was eating in town when a piece of food became lodged in my throat, completely sealing off my windpipe. God was so good to have someone there to help get it dislodged, and again, I praise Him for it.

Now, this summer, on August 30th, I was standing on a chair trying to hang a picture, when I lost my balance and the chair tipped. I fell over the back of the chair and landed on my back, on a concrete floor that had only a thin layer of carpeting on it. Thank God, my daughter, Janell, was at home and was able to come immediately and help me get up and into the living room to a recliner. I very possibly broke some bones, including a toe, and was very sore for several days. About three days after my fall, I was sitting in the recliner and I turned my back wrong and it started having muscle spasms just below my left rib cage. I had four of them within about three hours of time, and they were very painful. I could hardly stand to move. The ministers came and prayed for me and God healed me and I haven't had them since. Thank the Lord!

The ministers and saints have been faithful to pray for me each time I have been in need, and God has been so good to hear and answer prayer.

Not long after I had fallen in August, I got something in my eye and suffered about four hours with it, but the Lord helped us to finally see it and Janell was able to get it out for me.

I thank God for all of His blessings to me, and also to our family. We love Him and desire your prayers that we will be true to Him.

In Christian love, -Cynthia LaCroix

NC-Faith workers: "...All things work together for good to them that love God...."

Keep up the dedicated press and pray for me that I will hear the Lord each time He calls me to work!

I mean to go right on, with God's hand in mine.

Love and prayers, -Sis. Brenda White

TN-Dear Bro. Wayne: I trust this finds you and the other faithful workers well, encouraged and pressing on in the good, Holy Bible way. I thank the Lord for the Bible and its teaching. With it by our side, we can always have a guide. It will teach us how to live and what to say.

I thank the Lord for His many blessings to me each day, and for His loving care and protection for over 88 years. It was in 1909, the year of my birth, when my parents first heard the truth and came out of sectism (along with others). The Lord got the Rockvale, TN, Church of God started, and under the preaching of those old-time ministers, signs and miracles followed. So I have been in the Church of God all my life, and I thank the Lord and those faithful "old-timers," for it....

Yours for the whole truth, -Bro. Charles B. Williams

MO-Dear Bro. Wayne and co-workers: Greetings of love in Jesus' precious name. I enjoy reading the Faith and Victory very much. It encourages me to stay in the one, true way.

I have been blessed with good health most of my life, and when things have gone wrong He hasn't failed me.

I have many loved ones that need healing and many loved ones that need salvation.

I enjoy helping others who are less fortunate than myself, so I have no problem with keeping busy.

Jesus has been so good to me that I can't thank Him enough.

It is written, "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." Matthew 23:35.

"From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation." Luke 11:51.

Jesus was talking to Pharisees, scribes and lawyers when He said the words recorded above. It might seem unfair that they should be responsible for things that happened before their time, but they had the written records of the shedding of righteous blood and God's judgments on those that were responsible. Because they had this knowledge and they also knew the commandments to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, their disobedience to what they knew the will of God to be made them responsible. Even knowing these things, they had purposed in their hearts to do the very same thing. The Bible says they were motivated by envy, which is a manifestation of selfishness. We who are living in this dispensation are even more accountable for the past events because we have more knowledge. Unless we have the love of God in our hearts and a complete surrender of our will to Him, we will be like those that crucified our Lord Jesus. Our disbelief and disobedience can make us partakers in the crucifixion of Jesus, and can there be any greater sin than that?

"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." I Timothy 4:16. This text tells us that by being obedient we will not only be saved ourselves, but also through our obedience others may find salvation, and this should be the greatest desire of every child of God.

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. This is another scripture that speaks of the responsibility of having knowledge. We have no excuse for ignorance because we have the Bible, which is the Word of God, to let us know what God's will is for us.

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48. Here we are told that we will be judged in the last day by the words of Jesus, so we will have to be obedient to what He has said, and it is all in the Bible.

Christmas is a time of sentiment. Children anticipate its coming with wide eyes and anxious hearts, hopeful of the presents they wish to receive. For adults, it is often a time when their thoughts drift back to childhood and the pleasant memories which surrounded their family during the Yule season. It is also an occasion when many are reminded of the story of Christ's birth.

A heartfelt sentiment was expressed by Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she visited with Elizabeth prior to the birth of Christ. Mary said, "...My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:47-48. This is the essence of what Christmas should mean to us today.

There is a picture in which the artist depicts two little beggar children standing on the pavement before a beautiful house. They were peering through the windows at a happy family gathered around the table during an evening meal. They saw the father, mother and children, well-dressed, and with glad faces, enjoying the luxury and great comfort within.

It was winter, and the night was bleak. Snow was falling. As the impoverished children observed all the brightness and beauty within, they could describe it, but could not call it their own. Outside, the storm swept about them, and they shivered in their thin rags, feeling the gnawing misery of unsatisfied hunger.

So it is of those who celebrate Christmas, but cannot say that their soul magnifies the Lord, and that He is their Saviour. To feel sentiment at the story of the angels heralding peace on earth, of the shepherds finding and honoring the Christ Child, and of the wise men from afar following the shining star in the heavens, is only to look into the windows of salvation.

To fully celebrate Christmas we must be a part of the story of redemption. We must have the Christ child reigning within our hearts. When He does, we are drawn into His family, and there is nothing to equal the feeling of inner peace and joy which it brings.

Subscription Special

Included in this issue mailed to subscribers in the U. S., is an envelope with a special subscription offer. By filling out the names and addresses on the lines provided, ten of your friends, neighbors and relatives can receive the Faith and Victory for one year at a cost of only $10.00 to you. We urge our readers to take quick advantage of this special offer. Begin the year of 1998 by sending Gospel literature into as many homes as possible.

We are still seeking the Lord to provide the means for the completion of the new Print Shop. We are asking God to better equip this work for the efficient production of Gospel literature. It is always an encouragement to hear from each of you who share an interest in the publishing work. You are a comfort and encouragement to us, more than you may know, and we thank you for expressing your love through prayers and support.

Several former Print Shop workers have said that they are in the process of writing about their experiences while laboring here in the past. I urge as many former employees as possible to send in their testimonies for printing in the special 75 Year Anniversary Edition.

We are encouraged by the increasing amount of response we are getting from the Internet. During this past month of November, more contact has been made through this means than at any time since its formation.

On Jan. 1, 1998, Bro. Ed and Sis. Roberta Wilson, along with Bro. Clifford and Sis. Patsy Smith, plan on leaving for India to attend the National Convention in the area where Bro. John Varghese pastors. Although foreign travel can be costly, the encouragement generated through this kind of fellowship is invaluable. Our understanding is that the airline tickets for Bro. Ed and Sis. Roberta have not been entirely covered, so if the Lord should burden anyone to help in this outreach, you may send an offering to this office to be relayed to Bro. Ed. Not much time remains before they are to leave, so whatever is done will need to be done quickly.

1998 wall calendars will soon be in stock and ready for sale. The calendars feature a colorful nature scene with a Bible verse for each month, and make nice Christmas gifts. They measure 7 1/4" X 13 1/2" and are available for the cost of $3.00 each, which includes postage and handling.

We will soon have in stock and ready for sale, bound volumes of the 11 issues of the Faith and Victory paper for the year of 1997. The price is $2.00 per book, plus $1.50 for postage and handling.

Also soon to be in stock are the 1997 Beautiful Way yearbooks for Juniors (52 papers for the year) at $1.00 each, plus $1.00 for postage and handling. The limited supply of these books will be sold on a first come basis.

Income tax time is right around the corner. If you have contributed to this work during 1997 and need a receipt for the purpose of deductions, please let us know.

The next issue of the Faith and Victory will carry the date of 1998. Until then, we wish each of our readers a blessed Christmas Holiday Season. And as we look into the future, we say with the Apostle Paul, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." I Thess. 5:23.