It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)
во время долготерпения Божия, к показанию правды Его в настоящее время, да явится Он праведным и оправдывающим верующего в Иисуса. (К Римлянам 3:26 Russian)Con la mira de manifestar su justicia en este tiempo: para que él sea el justo, y el que justifica al que es de la fe de Jesús. (Romanos 3:26 Spanish)
Our Dear Heavenly Father ~ Thank you for the spectacular gift of life on this new day that breaks over the horizon with proof positive that we are loved and cared for by your providential care. Give us wisdom as we think about those who boldly presume that their sins are insignificant and hidden from your eyes. Help us to be more effective in communicating your message to the lost that we can be fully justified in your sight because of our faith in Christ our Lord who died on the Cross to remove the guilt we bear and the penalty for our many sins. With faith in Jesus, we pray in His name, Amen.
Dima, who is he son of our Olga has "grown up in the church", came by yesterday for some conversation and counsel. We enjoy talking with him and sympathize with his attempts to get some direction in his life. Our study with Maxim began on time and he was well prepared and when he realized that he would not have only one more class before we leave Magadan tomorrow, he decided to complete Advanced Course Lesson 7 & 8. We plan to spend a little time with him later today going over his results. We had good attendance and participation in our Bible study about the Kingdom of God - the glorious Church. Following the study, we had our usual time of tea and fellowship. Olga always has some snack prepared to share, and we decided to buy another watermelon since it is a rare treat here in Magadan. Then, Anna came in with some freshly cooked halibut and some salmon caviar. It was another feast and occasion to enjoy one another’s company. As we were setting up for the tea, a young man came in with his girlfriend and asked about English classes. Alexander is 21 and Rita is 17. We went over the World English Institute course in brief with them and explained that we will be leaving on Sunday. He asked "and what are we supposed to do?" So, we will meet with them again today for a few minutes since we have so many people to see today. We suggested that they register for the WEI on-line course and ask for DB to be their teacher. They agreed with this and Alexander said they would go and register immediately. While we were having tea and I was still discussing our lesson with Maxim, Ivan was helping Vasily get registered as a student with the Institute of Theology and Christian Missions in St. Petersburg. Ivan is already a student with ITCM. Earlier in the day, Galina helped me scan and send a letter of recommendation for Vasily who was baptized along with his wife Katya here in our bathtub over 12 years ago. Vasily preaches when Ivan is working or away from Magadan as he will be soon when he comes to Nikolaev to preach for several Sundays while we are in the USA. We are getting down to the wire as the time approaches for us to leave Magadan and we realized how much this trip means to us and the local church since they very seldom have any visitors either from the USA or Russia. Hopefully, regular airline service will be resumed between Alaska and Magadan in the near future. Thank you for the prayers for this work and our work in Nikolaev, Ukraine.
It's interesting to see that there are common struggles among all people (speaking about Dima looking for direction in life). I've found that is how we can reach out to people wherever we are. We can help them with those struggles and show how following God will make the struggles worthwhile, although not always easier.
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