Dear friends and partners in the Gospel,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
My family and I get so excited to see the first snow flakes falling to the ground, and we hope that enough would fall so that we can have a snowball fight, and then get to work building a respectable snowman. Last year, my eldest son, Ethan had the pioneering idea to even build an igloo in our back garden – and that is precisely what we did! I know for many people it is not so much fun, and we think and pray for the homeless at this time in particular that will have to fight for their lives against the cold and wet that snow brings.
Right now, I am waiting for my flight to Northern Ireland to take off at Heathrow airport, and it is a joy to watch the snow fall from my window seat. John Lawson, George Osborn Faye Porter and I are about to embark upon a weekend of outreach and training across Northern Ireland, and launching our first ever IGNITED Conference. When ever I see snow, I am quickly reminded of the words in Isaiah 1:18,
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
What a terrific verse for the believer to cherish for eternity, and yet the challenge to remain clean is which us while we are in this world.
A writer who visited a coal mine noticed a perfectly white plant growing by the side of the entrance. The author and the other visitors with him were astonished that there, where coal dust continually blew and settled, this little plant would be so pure and white.
As the people watched, a miner took some black coal dust and threw it on the plant, but not a particle stuck. The visitors repeated the experiment, but the dust would not cling. Nothing could stain the plant’s snowy whiteness.
This illustrates what every Christian life should be like. We live in an evil world, surrounded by ungodly influences. It is our mission to be pure amid all this dirt and remain unspotted from the world. How is this possible?
Enoch lived in the days before the flood, a time when “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Yet the Bible tells us that “Enoch walked with God three hundred years” (5:22).
If the Lord can keep a plant white as snow amid clouds of black dust, can He not by His grace keep your heart pure in this world of sin? We live in the world, but the world must not live in us.
Perhaps we can reflect on the words of that popular hymn, “Whiter Than Snow”.
Whiter Than Snow
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, look down from Your throne in the skies
And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself and whatever I know
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat;
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing I see Your blood flow
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, before You I patiently wait;
Come now and within me a new heart create.
To those who have sought You, You never said “No”
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Chorus:
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Please pray for our mission in Northern Ireland.
God bless you.
Keep on keeping on…
Tony Anthony
Founding Director & Evangelist
Avanti Ministries | 6 Clarence Road | Southend-on-Sea | Essex | SS1 1AN | UK
Telephone: +44 1702 333 319 | Email: tony@avantiministries.com
Avanti Website: http://www.avantiministries.com
Passion Conference: http://www.avantiministries.com/passion
Tony Anthony’s Website: https://www.tonyanthony.co.uk