Friday, August 18, 2017

Look to the Lord

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And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)

            A lot of events happen in our modern world that cause Christian people to become disenchanted. Every day, the newspapers and the television news reports tell of tragedies that tend to cause believers to initially question the state of our world.

            Due to our humanity, we often wonder why these things occur. The vast majority of these events transpire because we, as a people, have turned away from God. We HAVE to return to God in order to see any positive change in our world and especially in our nation.
           
            We don’t allow Him in our schools. He can’t be in our government buildings. His name is usually never heard except when it’s disrespectfully used.

            In order to get out of this morass of evil –doings, we need to return to God. This means we begin to pray to Him for all our needs. We need to return to the daily practice of reading our Bibles.

            One way we can return to God is to participate in worship services. If your church has a time of testimony, stand and testify to what God has done for you lately. 

            Ask God to lead you to a ministry of your church that you may be able to work in. Maybe all you can do is donate to that ministry or even pray for it.

            Follow the scriptural guidance on tithing. I know of a friend who used to tithe her grocery money and the Lord blessed her many times over.
             
            When each of us goes to meet the Lord God, He will ask us one question,” What did you do about my Son, Jesus?” I believe His question can be broken down into some other ones. “Did you know Him?” “Did you live for Him?” “Were you His hands or feet?” How we answer that question will determine if we gain entrance into heaven to live with Jesus.


             


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Patience


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                In preparing to substitute for my Sunday school teacher in our class, I find myself caught by a statement the author of our study book makes. We have been studying the virtues a Christian should possess and exhibit. Lately, we are studying patience.

            The author, Randy Frazee, states it this way, “At the root of impatience is mistrust.”1 We see full-blown impatience when Sarai takes things into her own hands and gives Abram her handmaid, Hagar. We all know what has happened because of that action.

            What causes us to lose patience?

            *We feel rushed. Maybe we didn’t allow enough time for an activity or prep time for an event. Could it be that the number of incidences of road rage could be lowered if a person had left home a bit earlier?

            *We become angry. Maybe someone pushes our buttons. Usually, when this happens to me, the issue is a trivial one that won’t matter on another day.

            *We have lost sleep. We should choose to plan our evenings and our days so we can sleep and take those naps (my stepfather called then “siestas”) in order to be able to not get riled up.

            We have always been taught not to request patience from God because if we do ask, He will send events and conditions to us with the aim of our developing it.

            When I was in college, I learned that certain responses to life are learned responses. We have to learn to be humble, patient, kind and gentle. Our natural bend is to be the opposite of these assets. I have found that, for me, it is true. If I am left to my own thoughts and ways, I will become very impatient.


1.      Randy Frazee, Think, Act, Believe, Like Jesus, © 2014 Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. P.196

Monday, August 14, 2017

Hearing the Word


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https://www.findshepherd.com

And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:41-42(ESV)

            Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He told her things about her life that a stranger would not know. She ran into town and told the people about her encounter with this man that she believed was the Christ.

            The people of the town went to the well and Jesus spoke to them. Many more believed because of what they heard. They heard for themselves.

            Today, we seem to be afraid of sharing Christ with our neighbors, not because we are ashamed of Him. We fear rejection. People of the world, once they discover a person belongs to Christ, acts differently toward that person or persons. We have to stand for Christ even when others might reject Him.
           
            “How can we stand for Christ,” you may ask? We can:
           
·         Pray for them. Add those names to our prayer lists and pray for them as we would those of our church family.

·   Try to show kindness to those around us. Smile and greet them when we see them.
  
·          Attempt to ‘be there’ when someone has a great need. We might be led to ask if they could use an extra pair of hands.  

·         Not judge when we hear things about their activities. Remember, they might not know those activities might not be things God likes.

·         Speak kindly to others about them. Others are watching how we handle certain aspects of our lives.


Dear Father God: Please guide us as we attempt to tell others about You and Your wondrous acts of mercy and of the miracles You have performed for us, your children. Give us Your words in order for Your Kingdom to grow. I ask these things out of Your mercy and grace. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen    

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...