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Verse of the day:
The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. -- Proverbs 15:29 Think about it: Gerald Heffington worked at a gas station in a rough part of a small town in Kentucky. One night as he was closing up in order to go home, a young man in a dark blue Cadillac drove up. The young man seemed very nervous and seemed to be talking, even though there was no one else with him in the car. Gerald still went and asked the young man if he needed any help, all the while praying for protection. The young man gave him one hundred dollars and demanded fifty cents worth of gas. Gerald was sure that something was wrong, but he did as the man asked. Just as Gerald was about to put the nozzle back, the young man sped his car out of the station. Puzzled, Gerald was left holding the hundred dollar bill. Two nights later, the same young man drove into the station. Gerald figured he’d come back for his change, and walked up to the car. “Where are the two guys?” the young man asked nervously. “Which guys?”Gerald asked. “The ones who were working here two nights ago,” the young man said. “I was armed and planning to steal all the money from the gas station and harm you and your wife. But just as I was about to get out of the car I saw two huge guys at least seven feet tall. The names on their uniform tags said Clyde and Brutus. They told me, ‘We know who you are and what you are planning to do!’” The young man explained how apparently Clyde and Brutus added their own touch of warning of what would happen to him if he dared to continue with his plans. He would regret not heeding them. The young man got out of there fast. The young man added, while talking to Gerald, “Keep the change, and tell those guys I’m never coming back again!”The car sped out of the station. Gerald stared in amazement after him. Gerald had been the only employee two nights ago, and he certainly did not know a Clyde or a Brutus. But he had certainly prayed for God to protect him on that night. Gerald had never thought before that angels could be named Clyde or Brutus, and he looked forward to meeting them again one day. Praise of the day: Psalm 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. P.S. If you have a miracle you would like to share please send it to me [email protected] and I'll add it to our Monday Miracles. Thanks. Jesus calls us His friends. One of the most famous verses about friendship with Jesus is from John 15:13-15, where Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
As I meditated on this, I also reflected on what it means to be Jesus’ friend. He may call us His friends, but do we consider Him to be our Friend? I hope the following things I’ve learned from the Bible will challenge you, as it has inspired and challenged me, to grow in your friendship with the Lord. We are friends of God when we. . . 1. Make time to draw close to Him. Scripture records that “[t]he Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11). Nothing fosters my intimacy with God more than spending time with God alone—meeting Him face to face, as it were. Isn’t that how we would cultivate closeness with our friends, too? Likewise, we need to regularly meet with God and spend quality time to get to know Him more intimately. 2. Revere Him. While we can enjoy closeness with God, our intimacy with Him is also built on a deep reverence for Him. The Bible says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14, ESV). When we think in terms of human relationship, this may be difficult to understand. After all, what does it look like to revere a friend? One way that helped me think about this was to imagine what it’s like to make friends with a king. Friendship with God does not mean we lose a sense of reverence for Him; after all, God is the Lord of lords and King of kings. As we befriend our King with reverence, He will confide in us what’s upon His heart. 3. Listen to Him tell us what’s on His heart. And this is why Jesus tells us, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Just as friends would listen attentively to what each other are saying, so we, too, can cultivate our friendship with Jesus when we pay close attention to what He reveals to us about the Father’s business. 4. Rejoice at His counsel and trust His corrections. When we read the counsel of God in the Bible, do we see it as tedious rules to follow, or do we delight in His wise instructions to us? “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice” (Proverbs 27:9). When our close friends give us good, sincere counsel, we appreciate them deeply for it. A measure of how much we are a friend to God is how much we find joy in the pleasantness of His counsel to us in His Word. There are also times when our friends would correct us out of love. It may hurt us for a while, but we know that they care for us and want to see us grow. We wouldn’t like for them to only tell us what tickles our ears. For “[b]etter is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:5-6). Similarly, God rebukes us from time to time when we aren’t walking right, because He loves us and desires us to grow in maturity. Do we trust the rebukes of our Friend, who always knows better than us? 5. Obey what’s on His heart. It’s not just enough to listen to God tell us what’s on His heart—including His counsel and corrections for us—we also must do what He confides in us. Jesus says as much: “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). We build our friendship with God when we obey what God commands us to do. 6. Celebrate, and not compete with, Him. When John the Baptist was being compared to Jesus, he didn’t claim glory for himself, but exalted Jesus, saying, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:29-30). Friends naturally rejoice with each other and want the other person to succeed; their joy is our joy. We don’t see healthy friendship as competition. In the same way, when God’s glory is shown in a situation in which we are involved, do we celebrate our Friend’s moment, or do we want to compete with Him and divert the limelight to ourselves instead? 7. Have a pure heart and speak with grace. I find this proverb interesting: “One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend” (Proverbs 22:11). Since God is the King of heaven and earth, might this verse also speak to what He looks for in a friend? Who wouldn’t enjoy hanging out with friends who carry purity in their heart and convey graciousness in everything they say? Perhaps, as we grow toward becoming a person like that, the King will enjoy our friendship with Him all the more. 8. Love Him unwaveringly, intimately, and sacrificially. Loving God as a friend involves loving Him loyally, in spite of difficulties; loving Him intimately; and loving Him self-sacrificially, just as He loves us. Proverbs 17:17 compares friendship with loyal brotherhood: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” Good friends weather thick and thin together, instead of abandoning each other when the going gets rough. There will be times in our relationship with God when things become difficult. Would we love our Friend unwaveringly through these times as well? Scripture also paints friendship as a beautiful picture of intimacy, as in the friendship of David and Jonathan: “Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. . . . And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself” (1 Samuel 18:1, 3). In a greater way, because of Jesus, we are now “united with the Lord” and “one with him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17). Would we also love our Friend this much and this intimately? 9. Finally, the love of friendship is self-giving. After Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13), He proved His love for us by laying down His life on the cross, so that we can be made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). Would we, in our love for our Friend, love Him self-sacrificially, too? He gave His life for us. May we reciprocate by loving Him more than our own lives, so much so that we do not even shrink from death (Revelation 12:11). There’s still much I need to learn as I continue to meditate on what the Word says about friendship with God. While I grow in this, I’m incredibly amazed and grateful that the King of the universe loves me so much that He wants a friendship with me. It made me realize that even as I worship and revere Him, I can draw close to God as my best friend. I can always confide in Him, and He’s also eager to share His heart with me. In Jesus and through faith in Him, I can now approach my Friend in His throne room with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16). Would you join me in building a friendship with God? We share in His fellowship when we give our lives for Him—to follow Him, serve Him, and “love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” (Ephesians 6:24.) There is no greater love than this that we can give to our beloved, precious Friend. P.S. Download Free Verse Sheet -- God's Promise in Times of Trouble on the Verse Sheet page https://actionvisioncoaching.weebly.com/verse-sheets.html Verse of the day:
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. – John 15:16 Think about it: There are times in life when we each feel like an anonymous unknown. It’s a discouraging realization. You’re a statistic—a woman or a man, over forty or under forty, single or married, able-bodied or disabled. Every so often, you put your vote in the ballot box and wonder if it makes a difference. If you didn’t show up to work today, you wonder if anyone (apart from the payroll department) would even notice. Not many achieve the type of fame that would make us stand out in the mass of humanity. And even if we do, fame is lean comfort in difficult times, and usually transitory. The reality is that few of us feel like Very Important Persons (VIPs), much less are viewed that way by the world at large. Perhaps this was how Nathanael felt, living in first-century Palestine under the shadow of a brutal military occupation. We’re not told why he was sitting alone under a fig tree—maybe he was reflecting on his powerlessness to change anything; maybe he was in prayer. At any rate, his friend Philip finds him and shares some good news—they have found the Messiah. Nathanael agrees to come and meet Jesus. The conversation bears repeating: As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.” Nathanael is astonished to find out that God has been watching him. It is the realization that God knows him that inspires him to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God and become an enthusiastic follower. Even when nobody else seems to be thinking about us, God certainly is! He’s been watching over us our entire lives, even before we were born, and will continue all the way through. Job reflected on this while in the midst of his troubles: “He keeps a close watch on everything I do.” God not only thinks about us, He admires us: “There will be recognition for each person from God,” and “God will rejoice because of you.” We are not unknown to God. He knows you and me by name. Not mere statistics, but valued. You and me. We are God’s VIPs. -- Abi May Praise of the day: I will rejoice because: “He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.” – Psalm 115:13 Verse of the day:
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.—Philippians 4:8 Think about it: Thank the Lord for all the good things! “Whatsoever things are good, think on these things.” Don’t dwell on the mistakes and the errors, or what you think may be errors. A lot of people do that with the Bible—they dwell on all its supposed mistakes and contradictions and errors. I suppose the Lord allows some of those things, just like He says He permitted Jesus to be a cornerstone to some people, but a stumbling block to others. There are even things that Paul couldn’t understand! “For we know in part, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away.” (1Cor. 3:9-10) Apparently, the Lord has allowed a few unknowns, or even mistakes or mistranslations over which people can stumble if they choose to, but the vast majority of the millions and millions of Christians have been saved and served the Lord and gone home to glory without stumbling over those things. We don’t chuck out the whole world because a few things seem bad. We don’t commit suicide because we have difficulties and cast away our whole life just because we have problems and make mistakes. When you find one little brown spot on an apple, you don’t throw away the whole apple. You just cut out the little brown spot; you correct it. For God’s sake, we ought to think on the good things and thank the Lord for all the right things. Someday we’ll understand and we’ll know—even as we’re known. Meanwhile, let’s thank God for all we do know and for all the good! Amen? Praise of the day: Psalm 115:18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD. By Michael and Maria, USA
In December we spent a week in the Dominican Republic, visiting five orphanages. One orphanage was new to us, although we did know some of the staff, as they had been part of another nearby orphanage for boys and they had opened a facility for girls. This was one of our best trips ever for several reasons. Here is how it happened: In September we shipped five crates of nonperishable food to three of the orphanages. While at the shipping company here in Miami, we met Ed, the owner, who is from the Dominican Republic. After explaining that the things we ship are to help orphanages and that we would be going there in person in December to visit them, he asked us how we get around to visit all the orphanages while we are on the island. Upon finding out that we always rent a car and drive ourselves, Ed offered the services of one of his drivers there to take us to each place we needed to go. The headquarters of the shipping company is in Santiago, the city where we would be staying. What a difference it made to us having someone to drive us; we arrived at each place relaxed and not all stressed out from having to deal with the intense traffic of the island. Once we were on the island, Ed called us daily from Miami to check on us and also talked with his driver to make sure we were doing all right and didn’t need anything. When Ed talked to us on our third day there, he informed us that from now on anything we want to ship to the Dominican Republic to help the orphanages would be free of charge. “You are helping my country, and we need to take care of you,” he stated. God bless him for his kindness and generosity. But it gets even better! Once we arrived back home in Miami, we went to visit the manager of the supermarket that donated about 50 lbs. of laundry detergent that we shipped with the food back in September. This manager is also from the Dominican Republic. While we were on the island, the directors of three of the orphanages we had sent the crates to thanked us profusely for the food. But they were really raving about the gift of laundry detergent! They each told us basically the same thing, that although they receive donations of food, toys, etc., nobody gives them laundry detergent and they use lots of it, because they wash clothes, bed linens, and towels daily. This particular supermarket had donated all the detergent, so we wanted them to know how much it was appreciated. We explained to the manager that, now that we have free shipping, we can provide more regular help to the children. He got quiet for a minute, thinking, and then said, “Here is what we can do. Every three months we can donate 64 boxes of laundry detergent. And on top of that, I will talk to the owners and I will get them to commit to donating canned food along with it. That way every three months you can ship these items to the orphanages.” There were new children in each orphanage, but the ones who had known us from previous visits remembered us and were so happy to see us and to see that we had brought them new books! One director informed us that the teachers of a nearby elementary school had seen the books we brought last time and really liked them. They had borrowed them and used them to teach class in their school. We hope to visit that school on an upcoming trip to see if we can begin helping them as well. What we have seen consistently in every orphanage we have visited so far is how hungry the children are for personal attention. After we pass out each individual gift package, we simply sit and talk with them. They gather around us and seem to absorb whatever we have to share. As soon as Maria sits down, within minutes she has a crowd of girls around her. Some want her to fix their hair, the younger ones want to sit on her lap, and they all want to hear stories and see the photos she has on her phone. This is our time to encourage the children and share our faith with them. Sometimes it happens that the children immediately get deeply engrossed in opening their packages and reading the new books or coloring the activity pages with the crayons we bring. That is our cue that the Lord wants us to spend extra time with the staff. Since I had the recent experience of working with teens in the Shelter for Unaccompanied Alien Children in the Miami area, I found I could relate to the directors and staff on a different level, having “been there and done that.” My experience in Miami gave me a deeper understanding of some of the challenges they go through as they care for the children. In each orphanage we visited, we went out of our way to show the staff and directors appreciation and to encourage them in their tasks. This year we brought gifts not only for the children but for the staff as well. We brought them inspirational agendas and books, which they really liked. As a final note we would like to share a quote that has helped us to try to be a blessing to all these children: “If you have love, you always have something to give.” And thankfully, our dear Jesus specializes in pouring out love, so that anyone will always have something to give. Thank you for your support! If you would like to help or want to read more inspiring things about what people are doing to help others go to https://radgiving.weebly.com. Verse of the day:
Happy is that people, … whose God is the LORD. -- Psalm 144:15 Think about it: Here’s a great verse: “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.” (1 Kings 4:20) I have years of Bible study and learning under my belt, but I’m not sure I’ve heard this verse before. At least, its meaning has always slipped past me. The verse is talking about a period of Israel’s history, during the reign of King Solomon, when there was peace in the land and great prosperity. And what did the people do? They feasted, partied, and were merry! Sadly, this is a new concept for me. I’m the girl who’s always waiting for the inevitable. When things are good, my instinct is not to enjoy it. Rather, I start to worry, wondering around which corner my next struggle-slash-tragedy-slash-suffering is lurking. I used to think I was preparing myself, but what if I was forfeiting opportunities for joy? Obviously, we experience sadness, suffering and even prolonged seasons of hardship. But the more I learn about the nature of God, the more I understand how vested He is in our happiness. Abundant joy is a blessing from His hand: “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) In the hard times and the struggles, which are guaranteed parts of life, I’ll continue to depend on God’s grace, joy, and peace. But in the good times, when there are happy kids, good friends, blue skies, and a good man loving me, I’m going to celebrate life and be happy! I’m going to recognize how wonderful life is, and I hope you will too! --by Marie Alvero Praise of the day: Isaiah 12:2-4 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
Verse of the day:
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come ... He will come and save you. —Isaiah 35:4 Think about it: An African once told a story of God’s miraculous protection on Easter Sunday at the Ibuga Church of Western Tanzania. The Ibuga Christians met outdoors because their church was not big enough to hold the 800 people who attended the services. As they sang and praised the Lord, they had no idea of what was happening in their village. Just as they started the service a lioness came out of the jungle. Normally lions only kill to eat, but this lioness was wild. She dashed from house to house, killing three goats, a cow, and then a woman and her child! As people panicked, the lioness ran off toward the Ibuga Church meeting. All the villagers said that now the ’Mungu Mwena’(God is good) people will get it, because the lioness was headed directly for them. The congregation suddenly saw the lioness only a few yards away, growling furiously! The people were terrified! The preacher shouted, “Folks, don’t be afraid! The God who saved Daniel from the lions is here. The Risen Christ of Easter is here.” With a God-given faith and authority he turned to the lioness and said, “You lion, I curse you in the name of Jesus Christ!” Then the most amazing thing happened. Even though there was no rain at all, a bolt of lightning struck the lioness and she fell down dead. The preacher ran and jumped on the body of the lioness to continue preaching! Seventeen people were immediately saved, and the whole community agreed with the policemen who said as they carried the carcass to the police station, “The God of these ‘Mungu Mwena’ people surely is a God of miracles!” Praise of the day: Psalm 135:20 Bless the LORD, O ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD. P.S. If you have a miracle you would like to share please send it to me [email protected] and I'll add it to our Monday Miracles. Thanks. |
AuthorThe goal of the blog is to provide interesting, motivational, soul feeding material. All to help remind us that God loves us all and wants a personal relationship with each of us and will take care of us in times of trouble. I aspire to be a force for good by providing you with positive input. I encourage you to share the blog with others. Archives
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