Prayer Requests

Please pray for K for wisdom.

Please pray for Scott for healing.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." 

(Matthew 7:7, NIV)

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for K for help in a health situation.

Please pray for me as I am waiting for God's timing.

Praise God that Me Me's test results were good.

Pray for the victims of the bombing in Germany.

Pray for peace in Egypt.

Please pray for those in the Northeast who are dealing with bad weather conditions.

"I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, NIV)

Turn On the Light

 (01/28/11)

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about freedom of choice… the freedom to choose our actions and our behaviors in the midst of trials.  As I was writing that devotional, God gave me some insight I wasn’t expecting.  He took my focus away from Paul and Silas to the jailer.  Let’s revisit this story… 
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” (Acts 16:25-31, NIV: emphasis mine)
Now let’s discuss the jailer for a moment.  When he was in the dark, he was afraid and prepared to kill himself based on fear and what he thought was the truth; but he heard Paul’s voice and asked for the light.  Once he was in the light, he was no longer afraid; and he made the choice of salvation.  Let’s go over that again.  When he was in the dark, he was afraid and ready to make a really bad choice on what he thought he knew.  Once he heard the call and asked for the light, he was no longer afraid and he chose God.  Now, let’s apply this to our own lives.  How often do we sit in the dark feeling fear and despair, making decisions based on what we think is the truth without ever asking God to shed His light on the subject?  God’s light shows truth; and in the case of the jailer, the truth was that the prisoners were still there and he no longer had to be afraid.  So you may ask, “What is my truth?”  Well, I can’t answer that completely because only God knows your situation fully.  I can say, however, that there is a truth you can always count on.  No matter what is going on, or how hopeless you may feel, God will always be there for you; and just like the jailer, you no longer have to be afraid. So the next time you’re sitting in the dark believing that your situation is impossible, ask God to turn on the light.  What you see might surprise you.

Proverbs 3:5-6                       1 John 1:5-7

2 Samuel 22:29                      Psalm 119:105

Caring for One Another

by Tericia Eller

My Daddy used to always say that God will never give you more than you can handle. I remember not being totally convinced of that truth. I have even heard others say that particular idea is not Biblical.  Then one day I came across a verse in the Bible that seemed to express the same sentiment my Daddy did: “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message) I want to be clear here that I do not believe that God means for me to “handle” life on my own; on the contrary, what He wants is for me to seek Him.

It was not until I went through my divorce that I began to wonder about my Daddy’s advice, so I went back to 1 Corinthians 10:13 and read it again.  What I understood then was this: There is NO experience that I will EVER have that is unique to ME.  There will ALWAYS be someone else who has been through it.  AND, here’s the best part, if I stick close to God and seek Him, He will provide all I need to endure and triumph to His glory.  But it does not end there.  Right in the middle of the darkest, most painful, and deepest despair of my divorce, I clearly felt the Lord reminding me that He would see me through, and that when I had reached the other side of the storm, I was to turn around and reach out; there would be someone else there, heading right into the same kind of storm God had just brought me through.  I promised Him that I would.

It did not take long.  A few months after my divorce was final, I found out a friend was going through exactly what I did.  I reached out to her and shared with her what God had done for me. I shared His Word and His promises.  I told her that God would carry her through if she sought Him with all of her heart.  I then challenged her to look back when SHE reached the other side and reach out.  God provided just such an opportunity for her to do so.  She was able to share God’s Word and promises to a Christian sister headed into a painful divorce.

As children of God, we are called to share God’s promises, not only with non-believers, but with other believers as well!  We are called to lift one another up as a community.  We are to “love our neighbors as ourselves.”  We are the Body of Christ. We must care for each other.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for my neice, Alyssa.  She has been sick, but is getting better.

Please pray for Vicki for wisdom in the choices she makes.

Please pray for Scott.  He is dealing with a hernia.

Please pray for Me Me for healing from cancer.

Please pray for the victims of the Detroit Police Department Shooting.

Please pray for the victims of the Wal-mart shooting in Washington.

Please pray for Kelly for healing.  Pray for her family as they have been under a lot of stress.

"The Lord has heard my plea: the Lord accepts my prayer." (Psalm 6:9, English Standard Version)

Never Give Up

"The person who never gives up always sees victory."

Joyce Meyer, Power Thoughts

The Freedom to Choose

The other day as I was driving into town in the midst of what looked like a blizzard, I found myself getting very irritated. You see, I don’t like snow. When I see snow, I see a white prison. I see something that keeps me trapped at home when I may have a class to go to, work I need to do, or errands to run. I see something that keeps my daughter out of school; and makes me have to change my schedule around. In short I see something that makes me feel powerless, and I hate that feeling. So, after I finished complaining to my boyfriend about the weather (he is such a good listener), I decided that I needed a spiritual attitude adjustment. Don’t we all need those sometimes? So as I made my way to Panera in order to sit in front of their fireplace and read, God told me to start with His words about freedom. Let’s start here:

“…The Lord sets prisoners free.” (Psalm 146:7, NIV)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV)

What this all says to me is that I am free. Free from what? I was still there in the snow, feeling helpless to change anything. So here’s another scripture I came to:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-21, NIV)

Then I realized where my freedom lies. It’s in the power to choose. I have the choice to move somewhere warm, but I choose to stay here because I believe I have been led back to Boone in order to finish my degree. I have the choice to stay upset about the snow, something I can’t control; but I choose to have a good attitude in the midst of a frustrating situation. I can choose to continue looking at what seems like the cause of my trouble, the snow; or I can choose to look to God and the blessings He has for me every day.

Now, as God was giving me all these “a-ha” moments, He also reminded me of how Paul and Silas acted when they were in prison:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” (Acts 16:25-31, NIV)

Paul and Silas sat worshipping God in the midst of terrible conditions. And when they had the freedom to leave, they chose to stay. Their choices, their actions, their attitudes, glorified God and in the end brought the jailer and his family to Christ. As followers we have the same freedoms given to Paul and Silas. We are free to look at our circumstances in frustration or free to look to God in praise. And whether we realize it or not, those choices we make affect not only our lives but the lives of others. So tomorrow, when the local forecast is predicting one more storm, and I begin thinking about all the ways I have to rearrange my life in order to accommodate the weather, I will have a decision to make. Let’s hope I make the right one.

They Can Huff and They Can Puff...

Sunday morning as I was listening to Pastor Hunt give his message on building the proper foundations in life, I was reminded of the story of The Three Little Pigs. Now, I know we’ve all heard the story, but let’s recap. The first pig built his house of straw, and when the wolf came to the door, the house came down. The second pig built his house of sticks, and again, the wolf blew that house to the ground. The third pig, the wisest of the three, built his house of bricks; so when the wolf came to his door, he could huff and puff all he wanted. That little pig had confidence and peace because he knew his house was built on a solid foundation and was there to stay. How often do we build our lives from straw and sticks, and ignore the foundational bricks that God gives us in His word? When the wolf (the storms of life) comes to our door, does his huffing and puffing shake our world apart; or are we able to rest securely on the solid foundation of God’s word? Let’s make our minds up to put a new brick on our foundation each day. Let’s read the Word and stay in prayer so when the wolf comes to our door, we can stand firm.

Isaiah 28:16

2 Timothy 2:19

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

Matthew 7:24-27

Ephesians 2:19-

What Are We Waiting For?

"We must stop merely waiting for something good to happen and take action to ensure that something good will happen."

Joyce Meyer, Power Thoughts

Prayer Requests

Please pray for Kelly and her family. Earlier this week her grandfather fell and had a stroke. This past weekend her grandmother had a heart attack. Kelly is also still recovering from pneumonia.

Please pray for all those in the path of this Southeastern storm.

Pray for the victims of the shootings in Arizona.

Pray for the victims of the plane crash in Iran.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies." (Psalm 18:2-3, NIV)

Prayers and Praises

Please pray for Kelly's grandfather. He had a stroke yesterday.

Please pray for Miss Inus. She's not been feeling well.

Please pray for the Greenes. They recently had a death in the family.

"I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, NIV)

New Lesson for a New Year

The Right Time is Right Now

(01/04/11)

Ok, so it’s a New Year, and what do we all do when the New Year rolls around? We make resolutions. We resolve to lose weight (I know I have after eating way too much!). We resolve to read our Bibles more, stay more organized, spend more time with friends and family, prayer more, start a new hobby, etc. We all want to make a change in our lives for the better. What we forget, however, is that the “new you” doesn’t have to wait for the New Year. We have a God whose grace and mercy is new every day. (Lamentations 3:22-23) We have a God who says we don’t have to wait until the timing is just right to start fresh. We can do that at any time of any day of our lives. You know what else is cool? It’s not all up to us. He tells us in Philippians 1:6, “… he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NIV) God knows that we can’t do this on our own; and if we ask Him, he will give us the strength, motivation, passion, etc that we need to succeed. So the next time we decide to wait for the “right time” to come along, we need to say a prayer and check our watches. The “right time” may be “right now”.

Ezekial 36:26

2 Corinthians 5:17