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Archive for the ‘Life Experiences’ Category

So much more than a scrape

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on July 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This verse of the day illuminated my cell phone screen:

O Lord my God, I cried to you for your help and you have healed me.  Psalm 30:2

Picture1It also illuminated my heart.  David cries out for God to help him.

How often have I done that? I have fallen, like a child off my bike.

I recall my mother hearing my sobs, rushing to me and helping me hobble into the house, my knee bloody and embedded with asphalt pebbles. She not only helped me up, but knew I needed more. She cleaned up the wound, yes -ouch that stung and I cried a bit more – bandaged it, and hugged me until the initial pain subsided. Then, off I was, with a slam of the screen door. Back to playing with my friends with a story to tell.

So it is with God. I stumble, and like David, cry out for help. But He does so much more. He not only helps me back onto my feet, but holds me as I cry. He washes my wounds with His mercy and bandages them with His grace. Soon, I am back on track and the healing has begun. It may take weeks, maybe months, but slowly that hurt will dissipate. The redness will fade.  One day I will look and barely see it anymore.

But, oh what a story to tell! Just as David did in his psalm.

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from Phil’s testimony

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on July 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“Are you asking God to serve you, are you asking to serve God? If you pray for something that is in your control and you can do, then you are asking God to serve you.”  – Phil Jones, Christian song writer

 

In his testimony last night at a concert, this wise musician stated that when he was in his twenties, he was unsure if God existed. A friend challenged, “Then ask Him to manifest Himself in your life so you can know.”

Phil took that challenge.  He asked God to show Himself in a way that was out of Phil’s control – that was for Phil’s three-month old son to smile at Phil’s grandfather who was near death from emphysema.  The first day they visited the hospital, nothing happened. Phil chastised a god he still was not sure existed. “I was ready to believe in Him.”

Phil testifies that God clearly spoke to his heart. “You have one more day in town. Go back.”

The next day, when they entered the hospital room, his tiny infant son smiled – nonstop,for 45 minutes! Phil could only give God the glory. He gave his life to Christ and chose to serve Him from then on.  He has been serving and singing of God’s love and power to congregations for decades now. “God has been faithful. It is one thing to ask Him to make your baby smile, it is another to trust Him to provide your livelihood for His sake.”

By the way, his grandfather lived for 17 more years until the ripe old age of 93, and saw Phil’s son grow into a fine young man.

 

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Are You WORN out?

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on July 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you feel beat by life’s waves, there is hope.  Last winter when I was in a low spot, I heard this song over the car radio. I had to pull over. I sat on the side of the highway while cleansing tears let Christ flow back in and wash my worries into His lap.

Listen to the honest, heart-felt and hopeful song by Tenth Avenue North. Then fall to your knees and let Him carry the load.

 

 

 

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Weakness to Strength

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , , on July 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

reblogged from Prayer For Freedom

 

Weakness to Strength

Posted: 12 Jul 2013 05:08 PM PDT

The number of slaves estimated in the world.
The number of slaves estimated in the world.

Human Rights Watch estimated 15 million children are bonded labor in India alone. In the U.S. there are American children being sold on the streets for sex, numbers as high as 15,000 with 100,000 at risk of becoming trafficked victims.

I started to work with inner city children to help prevent trafficking. I sat and listened to girls as young as 10 tell me about their 18-year-old boyfriends. Frustrated, I began fighting battles and tried to force change. But I found there were only two things that brought real change and opened the doors for me to help. Prayer and my own weakness, because that is when I depended solely on God.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Many times people feel helpless to bring change to the world, they don’t know what to do or how to help. As Christians we are never helpless to bring change, in our weakness we will be able to bring change when our dependency is on Christ. Prayer and faith will always bring change to a world in desperate need of hope and justice. Our commitment begins with weakness in ourselves, seeking Gods heart through prayer, listening and walking in obedience.

When you are listening or reading the Bible what do you think God has called you to do to end slavery?

 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

Prayer for Me: Father, thank you because in my weakness you are strong. Let my ears and heart be sensitive to you as I pray for the captives to be freed. And in faith I believe you are bringing freedom to people around the world.

Prayer For My Generation: Father, bring freedom to the children of my generation trapped in slavery. Let them never give up hope and know Christ’s freedom.

By Staff Writer at Prayer For Freedom

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From An Amazing Report

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on July 11, 2013| 1 Comment »

This was taken from the Anglican Relief and Development Newsletter dated July 9, 2013.

ok tornado

Unbelievable Devastation:

Whatever redemption has now come was birthed first from incomprehensible tragedy [in Moore, OK on May 2o, 2013.] The toll was shocking: 24 people were killed, including 7 children at the Plaza Tower Elementary school, and over 375 were injured. As the 1.3 mile wide tornado ground slowly over a 17 mile path it smashed 1,150 homes and caused around $2 billion in damages. The tornado was designated an EF5, the severest possible rating on the official Enhanced Fujita scale which measures wind speed and destruction…

The Beginning of Hope:

Spiritual healing is an important component of this relief effort as residents continue to deal with the shock and trauma. Christ our Redeemer will be organizing an Alpha course focused on those affected by the tornado that will provide a space to express questions about why God allows such tragedy and suffering.

Fr. Wilson explains the idea as a way to reach people holistically: “We’re going to let people know that we’re working on their physical healing, but also talk about healing them as whole people.” He does not claim to have all the answers to these questions, but it is important to provide a space to bring them before God, Fr. Wilson says.

oklahoma torando

 

Tragedy Turned to Transformation:

As the shock wears off, the congregation is beginning to see God’s grace at work, despite the tornado’s destruction. The small congregation  has been transformed into a missional church dedicated to serving its community.

When another tornado came through town a week later, the church housed over 200 people who were trapped in their cars in the tornado’s path. Without a storm shelter, all they could offer was the church building itself and the comfort of prayer. “We told them ‘all we have is Jesus,’ but we believe in him.”

Inside the darkened and storm battered church they comforted and prayed for frightened travelers for two and a half  hours before the storm abated, and through that experience a new ministry has been born. From now on, Fr. Wilson says, “When we get a storm warning we’ll go to the church a make sure it’s open for people.”

In the storms of life, what better shelter than to be in the arms of Jesus (and gathered with His people). Please continue to pray for the families affected by the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma and North Texas. Pray for all who have been tossed in their own storms that they may see Christ in the midst of it all  and reach for Him.

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On a Coin’s Words

Posted in Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on July 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Lord, we pray we will again be One Nation under You.

Heal our land as you promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 …if we humbly pray. Protect human dignity. Establish just laws. Help us to honor You as our only source of Strength, our Shield and the Truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

pray for our nation

                              Happy Birthday America 

 

 

 

 

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in a ceiling fan

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on June 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Today, I heard a small grind, like the way phonograph needles would sound when they reached the end of a song on an old record player.  A tree limb  rubbing on my window screen? No… too constant.  A weird brid call? No… ah, hah!  It sounds as if it’s going in a circle. Yep, the ceiling fan.

That ceiling fan in my bedroom runs 24/7/365. In winter it pumps the heated air up and around the room. In summer, it is needed to force the air conditioned coolness over me in a refreshing breeze. Ahh – afterall, it is 104 degrees F out there today in North Texas.

Most of the time, I forget it is there. It keeps churning and doing it’s thing. I take it for granted.

In my life, I often don’t hear God. Yet His Spirit which dwells inside me is proof He is always there. Scripture says He will never leave or forsake me.  Every once in a while, I hear Him grinding away at my attitude that needs adjusting, or shaping me for the next ministry He has in store for me, or molding me into the person He knows I can be.  Like the potter at the wheel, He patiently works, whether I notice or not.

Lord, forgive me for the times I take Your loving mercy and grace for granted. Renew in me an awareness of You in my life so I may praise You more often.  You are more than worthy, and I am nothing without You. Amen.

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In a Diet

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on June 18, 2013| 1 Comment »

beef-steakWell… this program I have started calls it a lifestyle change – not a diet!  The first week, we were in a toxic-cleansing “jump start” stage, so we were limited to lean red meat, grapefruit, eggs and raw veggies. The third day I felt waves of vertigo and was very sluggish. But I kept at it and increased my water intake. It got a bit easier, then a bit harder. Temptations crept into my brain – would eating just a bit of this or that really hurt? The funny thing was this: during that week, I thought I would crave chocolate or bread. What I craved was string cheese.

So why should you care? God spoke to me during that week and perhaps what He said to me will be meaningful to you. I learned that some foods are not as tough to give up as I imagined they would be. The same is true for our habits. “But, God, I can’t give up watching that TV show I love, even if it does have more and more sex and foul language. ”  “Sure I will pray every day, but I still want to hang out at the weekly beer, cigars and poker game with the guys- okay?”  “God, I know I should keep the Sabbath, but it’s summer and the lake is calling me.” You get my drift.

When we go on a lifestyle eating change (see, I didn’t say diet.) we have to relearn what to eat and what not to eat. When we go on a spiritual lifestyle change, we must do the same. Everything we do, think and say must be weighed against the Word. As we do, God will detox us from what was poisoning our souls. The Blood of the Lamb will cleanse us. It may feel strange in the beginning, but that’s okay. Keep at it. Just understand that temptations will creep in. Count on it.

Hang in there – fall to your knees and ask for strength. Drink in more and more of the Living Water to help flush out what is not spiritually healthy for you.  The weight of the world will slowly slip from your shoulders, pound by pound.

By the way- in case you do care, I’ve lost  7.8 pounds that week, which, for this metabolism-of-a-snail gal, is a miracle in itself! Lord, help me to slough off the same toxicity in my spiritual life so I may be more fit to serve You!

But he [Jesus] said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”  John 4:32-34

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Is Being Angry Okay?

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on June 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

 

You may be familiar with the passage in Ephesians 4:26 which says to not let the sun go down on your anger. It is often given as marital advice.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????But, anger itself is not evil.  The first part of verse 26 says: Be angry, and sin not, it doesn’t say to  never be angry because that’s a sin.

So where does the sin part come into the picture? It is all in how you handle your anger.  Anger that brews or broods can become toxic.  In fact, the next verse, 27, says to give no opportunity to the devil.  When we mull over our hurt and angry feelings like a cow chews its cud, that is like sending the evil one a personal invitation to come into our hearts and minds.

Anger doesn’t have to be a destructive emotion. It should be the catalyst that drops us to our knees, not fly off the handle.  Righteous anger happens when something vehemently against the Word of God happens. When that anger rears up inside of you, it is a prompting by the Holy Spirit.  It is a call to action – to pray, to  peacefully protest, to speak truth.  It is not a call to lash out, say things you will regret later, or hold a grudge. You can find God in the middle of your anger.  In fact, you should.

So, go ahead – be angry. Righteous anger over being violated or robbed, or hearing about atrocities such as sex slavery and child trafficking should get your bile boiling.  When someone hurts our loved ones, we should get riled. But, stop it there. Give it to God and let Him channel the anger according to His will. Remember that God is the one who has the right to judge others, not us. We are to forgive so we can be forgiven.  Like separating the shaft from the wheat, we must ask God to separate our emotions from our anger.

And, if you are angry at God because you don’t understand why or how He could allow something to happen, that’s okay as well. Beat on His chest and scream like a two year old. That’s being honest and raw. God can take it. Just don’t turn away from Him. Ever. Give Him the chance to heal you, correct you or comfort you.

Be angry- that’s okay- but don’t turn it into a sin. Don’t let it separate you from the One who loves more than anything, or the ones who are trying to love you the best they can yet still manage to step on your feelings. Before the day is over, lay that anger in the hands of the One who knows the best way to handle it.

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A Swell of Swallows

Posted in Life Experiences, Nature, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Every morning when I drive to work, a flock of swallows huddles together under one of the highway overpasses. You can barely see them as they cling together for safety, companionship and warmth. But when cars whiz by, they immediately scatter willy-nilly, flying in a  chaotic waltz. They swell into swirls going a thousand different directions. Then one by one they return to the underpass. This happens over and over, every morning. Silly birds. After a while, you’d think  they’d be immune to the disruptive engine noise and vibrating whoosh of the wind as tons of metal and rubber zip by underneath them.

Are we immune to disruptions? As Christians we huddle together and cling to our traditions. But when something disruptive happens  often we let it ruffle our feathers. I have seen congregations burst into chaos when someone suggest a new way of doing things. People fly off the handle, as the saying goes. Everyone scrambles to take sides, often bumping into each other’s feelings.  But, eventually, we all remember to whom we should cling and peacefully return one by one to our knees before His throne … until the next disruption whooshes by to unnerve us.

It may be that many church goers cling to the wrong things such as traditions and customs, mistaking them for faith. “But we have always done it this way.”  “We have never allowed children at the early service.” “The minister should always preach for 20 minutes, no more.”  “The women have always held Bible study at 10 am on Thursdays. We can’t possibly move it to the evening just because some women work nowadays.”  The theology behind why we do what we do gets lost in the routine.

Perhaps, God’s spirit shakes us up a bit now and then to see how we will react. Will we cling to our faith, or scatter in a swell of chaotic fluttering like the swallows, seeking security in our steadfast routines and customs?

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