This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
God always seems bigger to those who need him most. And suffering is the tool he uses to help us need him more.”
`~Joni Eareckson Tada ~
Lord, I used to think it was strange that Paul said we should be grateful for suffering. Now I understand that it is through suffering that I draw closer to you, and I better understand how much I need you. Thank you for all the ways you care for me and teach me, even in suffering.
Lord, every day I am hungry and thirsty. Give me that daily hunger and thirst for Your spiritual gifts and for Your presence.
I challenge you to prayer this scripture for your unbelieving friends.
I John3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.”
Father, I am so thankful that you have adopted me into your family. Thank you for loving all your children and gifting them with spiritual blessings. Today I pray for my friends and family members who do not know your saving grace. Please open their hearts. Open their ears and eyes that they may see and understand how much you love them and long to bless them. May they seek you and find you.
All He asks is that we call on Him.
Father, too often I rely on my own weaknesses instead of calling on your strength. Forgive me and keep turning to You and calling on You in all circumstances.
This morning I cleaned my stove. You
know, took out the burners and the drip pans and cleaned all the accumulated
gunk. Most of it wiped up easily, but a few spots took a little elbow grease
and some steel wool pads. Before long, the stove looked shiny and (nearly) new.As I worked, my mind meandered, as it
tends to do. I thought about all those meals I’d cooked on this stove. Would
you believe it? Twenty-nine years’ worth of meals. That’s a lot of years and a
lot of meals. Any botched meals were the fault of the cook, not the stove. It
endured boil-overs, splatters, occasional burned food, and spills on the
burners.As my mind wandered, I couldn’t help
but compare myself to that stove. Twenty-nine is pretty ancient for a stove.
Now I don’t consider myself ancient, but I am retired, and I am on Medicare.
Even though I don’t like the title, I am officially classified as elderly.In all my years, I’ve botched many
things, said or done the wrong thing to the wrong person. I have boiled over in
anger, regretting words that came out of my mouth. Over the years, there have
been countless occasions where I’ve just made a mess of things. I haven’t always
followed God’s recipe for my life. I’ve been spiritually careless and taken
things and people for granted.I am so grateful that God is always
willing to clean up my messes. No matter what I have said or done, or how often
I have ignored his suggestions, He is willing to forgive. Even when I make a
huge mess, He helps me clean it up, He forgives and offers me grace. He opens
my eyes to truth and wisdom in His word, and He shows me a better way. Are you
ready to ask Him to help you clean up your messes and offer you grace?
Father, thank you for cleaning up my messes. Thank you for sending your son to offer grace
to all of us that we may be sparkling clean in your sight.
“Without rain, nothing grows. Learn to embrace the storms in your life.” David Wolfe
A quote to remember when life is hard.
Father, I thank you for the storms in my life. In those times, you enable me to grow–if I listen for your voice. Keep me always growing closer to you, in the storms and in the calm.
I challenge you to pray this verse for others this week.
Hebrews 10:19-24
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Lord, I thank you for the sacrifice of your son, Jesus. I thank you that His sacrifice ripped open the curtain to the holy of holies and allowed us to draw near to you. Thank you that you forgive us and free us from guilt. Show us how to encourage each other to live in love and to do good deeds for others.
If you haven’t tasted what life is like with Jesus, perhaps you should taste and see for yourself.
Lord, I pray that others would be able to taste the peace, joy and love in life with you.
The Eyes Have It
As I taught the simple rhythm game, dozens of pairs of dark brown eyes danced with glee. Huge smiles covered the faces of the beautiful children sitting on the floor with me in this church in the poorest section of Matamoros, Mexico. In spite of the language barriers—the children spoke no English, and I spoke only a little Spanish—we communicated. As we clapped, snapped, sang, and did crafts together, their eyes sparkled.
Later in the day, whenever I glanced up from my work preparing for the next day’s bible school, one or more small brown faces peeked through the church windows. When I smiled and waved, their hands waved furiously, smiles broke out, and brown eyes danced with glee. Pure joy shone out of those huge, dark brown eyes.
Maria, the mother and grandmother of some of those children often sat, watched, and listened at our daytime Bible school. Even though she spoke no English, she loved to watch us and the children. Part of the day she stayed at her tiny home a block and a half away. There, she watched the men in our group saw boards, pound nails, and paint turquoise walls. Her eyes watched as the new edition to her home, a 10 foot by 16 foot room, nearly doubled the size of her tiny house. Maria, mother of ten, one deceased, watched her house grow. Maria, quietly sitting in a folding chair at the church, watched the children laugh, play, and learn at Bible school. Maria, active member of her church, sang praise songs at the top of her voice and knelt on the hard tile floor to silently pray. In her eyes I saw tremendous gratitude. In those big brown eyes, I also saw amazing peace and amazing faith.
Seventeen of us had traveled to Matamoros, Mexico in two rented vans. For six days we worked in Mexico, joining God in the work he was already accomplishing there. I looked into the eyes of my 16 companions. Some eyes glowed the same dark brown as the residents of Matamoros. Others
shone bright blue or green. At first glance all I saw in those eyes was fatigue. They worked all day in the heat—110 degrees plus heat index—and slept at night together on the roof, praying for a breeze, scattering when it rained. All this produced deep fatigue. Looking past the fatigue, however, I saw more. In those eyes was resolve: pound one more nail, paint one more board, help one more child, serve one more meal. In these eyes I saw true servanthood. In spite of the unbearable heat and the extreme tiredness, I saw the eyes of eager servants wishing to do God’s will.
The eyes…the eyes are what I remember most. Whether the brown eyes of the locals or the multi-hued eyes of their guests, I saw something special shining in all those eyes. Through the eyes, as clear as a cloudless sky, I saw the love of Christ shining through.
In what ways are you letting the love of Christ shine for others?
Father, show me how to let your love shine through me, whether I am ministering in a foreign country, in a homeless community, or in my own neighborhood.
Growing Our Faith Together 