Devotional for 1/18/13

Pain

 

My mind today is on the thoughts of pain in the human body, whether it be a physical bodily pain or an emotional pain of the heart and mind. Both are just as real as the other.
 

There are many scriptures in the Bible that we as Christians can lean on to comfort ourselves in times of bodily pain or in times of emotional stress and turmoil.We must depend on God’s Word as infallible in that the Lord knows all of our infirmities and can heal all our sicknesses physically or emotionally, if we but look to him by searching his word and seeking his guidance and counsel. It has been said that “Time heals all wounds”, I believe that to be mostly true. It doesn’t mean that we ever forget our wounds and scars in both pretenses...but God has placed in us a way of escape in most cases, as we are but mortal beings.
 

There are different manners of pain that humanity deals with in which there is an antidote (being the Word of God), if we yield to the power of its authenticity, which is every word spoken from the mouth of God.
 

Denoting emotional pain there are various sorts
 

Fear: The scriptures can help us overcome fear and a troubled heart. One antidote is John 14:27 >>> “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (Or) 2^nd Timothy 1:7 “God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.

 

Trust: Challenge yourself with trusting in the Lord. Antidote: Proverbs 3:5-6 >>> “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.
 

Depression: Throughout our lives we will encounter times of depression, discouragement and frustration. These are times of sorrow, however, God can turn these times around. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
 

In the book of Romans 8:28 (which is one of my favorite scriptures), the Bible says “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” 
 

My final analogy is this: Although we may endure pain for a season, we must accept that God will heal us according to his purpose. Pray about all things, believe for all things and God shall bring it to pass.
 

Written by: Glenna Williamson

Devotional for 1/17/13

Putting Away Christmas

I really do not want to put away Christmas decorations, ever. Each year I face this same dilemma. When our schedule is full, I am not disappointed that there is no time for packing things up. Yet as I cross off another day in January it is a looming reality that I must face.

I ask myself why I have this issue, and, of course, the first answer is, I am lazy. I just put all this stuff up and dusted and tucked cute things into little corners. I really do not want to take it all down again so soon. Then there is the sentimental part of me that likes the extra color and all the meaning that each bit of décor represents. Just like a dusting of snow can make the messiest yard look beautiful, the lights and colors of Christmas can make life look beautiful.

Christmas is special. It is when mankind is encouraged to stop looking at ourselves and our own needs and desires. We are asked to tend to the needs of the poor and hungry; put away our own schedules and agendas.  Each of us has the opportunity to accept, embrace, and remember the Light has come.



In some ways, Christmas decorating covers a multitude of problems. It can distract us from walls that need painting, carpets that need cleaning, or furniture that could use replacing. The focus of the holidays on going to church and spending time with family and friends can even sidetrack us from our own relationship struggles, work challenges, or financial issues.
 

Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

Isaiah 60:1 Amplified
 

I know it will take more effort on my part, once all is cleared, and the day to day items resume their places, to remember that every day is a gift of life from the One who Loves us so much. More importantly, to remember that the gift of life each day is of value, even when the routines of our lives make it look like no day is any more special than another.

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

John 16:33 Amplified

Dear Lord, Thank You for the beauty of traditions and the life changing power of Your Truth. Please help us to be strong and to take courage when things are going bad for us, for You are with us. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

 

Devotional for 1/16/13

"Power, Love, and a Sound Mind"

The enemy, satan, would like nothing more than for us to wake up every day with an all consuming fear to the point we can hardly function. I am talking about shaking in our boots, knees wobbling and an overwelming sense of worry and anxiety. He knows that if he can get us operating in fear, then we cease to make an impact for Jesus. God's Word clearly tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Fear is never of God and we can choose to not walk in it. We can embrace His power, love and sound mind and reject all fear. God wants His people walking with confidence and boldness, praying and speaking and believing His Word is true. As we choose that route, impact for Christ is bound to happen!

In His Radical Love,
Sandy Billingham

Devotional for 1/15/13

Worn Out

Have you ever felt that you were at the end of your rope and worn out? I know I have. Sometimes life is filled with rough mountains that we need to climb. When we attempt to scale whatever the barrier is, we can end up damaged, shabby, and dog-eared.Sometimes the problem lasts for months, and we just end up exhausted with not one bit of energy left.

We stumble through our days in a kind of mental fog…just going through the motions. One of the members of Tenth Avenue North was being interviewed on our Christian radio station recently. He was talking about a song he had written. It came from something his wife had said to him. They had two daughters…one still an infant. He said that they had not been able to sleep through the night for about nine months. One day when he was leaving she said to him in a tired, lifeless tone of voice, “Honey, I am just worn out.” Here is the song that he wrote. It is called “Worn.” 

Please click on the link below…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUEy8nZvpdM

Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you give me rest when I am worn out. You see redemption in my life as I walk my path and because of the challenges I win because of my willingness to follow You.  When my heart is frail, I feel You strengthening me. You have refreshed me with the knowledge that my inside can be reborn. I thank you for all of these blessings. Most of all I feel safe and hopeful because you are there for me even before my day begins. Deo gracias alleluia!

Written by Corinne Mustafa

Devotional for 1/14/13

To Be Understood as to Understand

 "Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

This passage is highlighted in my NIV Bible to remind me that it is pointless for me to spend time arguing with someone about God’s Word.  Especially since I know that when I started reading the Bible as an adult, most of it went over my head like a huge flock of geese flying south for the winter. I knew what the words said, but I just didn’t get it.

It was discouraging for a while, and I almost gave up, thinking that I was too dense to comprehend what seemed obvious to so many others.  Maybe God didn’t need me to get it.  Maybe He had enough people already, and I was just trying to fit in where I did not belong.  After all, I did not look like anyone else in my church.  Perhaps the people were just too polite to send me away.  They were Christians, after all.

Of course, being a Christian was something else that I did not quite understand either.  So my hard-headed self decided to keep trying. After all, I am a fairly bright person, and I read about the people in the Bible who were considered “less-than” in the eyes of their contemporaries.  Maybe I was one of those people.

Then it came to me.  We are all those people.  The less than perfect, incomplete, flawed human beings who seek love and acceptance. We make so many mistakes.   We fail time and time again. We judge ourselves and misjudge everyone else most of the time.

But if we can humble ourselves and seek the Lord, He will forgive and reconcile us. He will allow us true discernment and understanding, so we can learn to truly love.

I am learning this in small doses with the help of my sisters in Bible Study. I am learning to bow down before I look up for help. Seeing how I can blossom while God heals me inside.  

More and more I am finding the passages in the Bible that I need when I really need them.  Sometimes I gain understanding about what the Lord is saying, when someone I love reads a passage out loud and it seems to fill her with light from within.

We need to study God’s Word for ourselves; the way we would find a quiet place to read and re-read a letter from a person we cherish deeply. The Bible is filled with love letters to each one of us. 

The more I pray and ask for the Lord to open my mind, the more I understand about others and myself.

Written by Lynda Kinnard

EFFECTIVE PRAYER Sunday Devotional for 1/13/13

I recently had a medical situation where there was a possibility of cancer.  A biopsy was performed, then further sampling and testing was done, with only precancerous changes noted.  Treatment was instituted with medications to reverse those changes.  Prayers were said for my health, for a positive outcome, all across the country, and even a few from across the ocean.  Prior to a repeat biopsy, many people said they were praying for a positive result, and they just knew that everything would come back OK because they were praying in Jesus' name, with true faith, and fervently that all would be well.  The Bible gives us many examples of fervent prayers being answered affirmatively, and that the sick will be made well.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.  Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  James 5:13-16 NIV

There are times in life when we pray for something, that we feel we know God will answer in the way we expect, because God loves us and has promised us good things if we love him, and promises to answer our prayers.  In my case, my biopsy results were less than optimal, leading to surgery we had hoped to avert.  What happens when prayers are not answered as asked?  Did we not have enough faith?  Did we not pray fervently enough?  Did we not go to God enough times and insist?  I knew that sometimes our will and God's will do not match up, that God sometimes has other plans even when we don't understand them.  God was not at fault here, humans made a false assumption that they knew God's will.  We must always pray our desires, but those who are "righteous" will always pray that God's will not their own will be done. 

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  Mark 14:32-36 NIV

We know that after Jesus prayed this most gut-wrenching prayer to be spared from torture and death on the cross, that he still had to go through that awful pain.  His prayer was not answered affirmatively, not because he did not have strong enough faith or a fervent enough prayer, but because there was a greater need and outcome that God willed to be done.  God answers all prayers, just sometimes the answer is "no" or "not yet" or "trust me".  Let us take heart then that even Jesus had a prayer that was answered "No" and that God always has the total picture in mind that we cannot always fully see.  In the end however, God always has our best interests at heart.

written by Jan Andersen

Countenance

          “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice.”

 Song of Solomon 2:14 <KJV>

When I was a new Christian, in the church I was going to, we used to sing this beautiful song.  Ever wonder what “countenance” means? 

1. Appearance, especially the expression of the face: <The question left him with a puzzled countenance.>

2. The face or facial features.

3. a. A look or expression indicative of encouragement or of moral support.

    b. Support or approval.

4. Obsolete: Bearing; demeanor

Solomon was saying to his love,

“I want to see your face and read what you are thinking in your expression.” 

Perhaps those we meet everyday are reading in our faces something that we didn’t mean for them to see.  I remember sitting at my desk one day listening to a Dictaphone so I could put together notes and an outline for the sermon the next Sunday. I was the Church Secretary, and that was my job. But, my job was also to greet people as they came into the office. I guess the look of concentration on my face made me appear sad or even angry to a lady who came in.  She proceeded to reprimand me for not having a “happy face” for the public.  I didn’t take that well, because she was so off the mark. But, also because in my heart, I felt this woman was one of the bossiest persons I had ever known.  My countenance was an important part of my job, and it’s also an important part of your job as a Christian. 

Many people feel that when reading Song of Solomon, we need to see that it is Jesus talking to His Bride, the church.  When we are talking to non-believers about Jesus, what is our countenance?  Do we look overjoyed at what He has done for us? Do we look pained and sad when thinking of what He did on the cross? It’s very easy for others to misread our countenance. 

When Moses came off the mountain after spending time with God, his face shone.  Exodus 34:35 says,

          “And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone…”

Moses’ countenance reflected that he had been in the Presence of the Lord.

Too bad it’s not that easy for us to see when someone has been in the Presence of the Lord now.  Moses was the leader of the Hebrews at that time and it was most important for him to spend time with God.  But in this case, it was evident in his face  

  ~~ it shown because he had literally been in the Presence of the Lord.  We should all have that kind of evidence on our faces when we’ve spent time in the Presence of the Lord.

One time at a special service when an evangelist from Uganda was visiting my church, I had a spirit of joy descend upon me and I must have laughed with joy for about 15 minutes straight. Now, my countenance would have reflected my joy at being in the Presence of the Lord that night!

My point in all this is to be aware of the face you are showing to others, especially when you are ministering to an unbeliever.  They are searching not just your words to them, but what they see in your face.

Linda Garrett

January 2013