Thanks for understanding about canceling last night and for praying for Karen and me. Karen is rebounding and I have been on the fringes of sickness and mostly sleeping a lot. We didn't want to contaminate anyone. We will be good to go by Sunday. Thanks again!
I picked up donuts yesterday and set up and then left. I have no report of how things went but when I left at 10:15 there were at least three tables full of people. I'm sure God was at work and used those that were there. Thanks for all who helped clean up and minister!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning Cloaked in the Armor of God and Righteousness of Jesus Warriors! God is sure allowing some of us some stretching, growing in faithfulness and trust and teaching us to persevere opportunities. Keep your focus up and keep putting on that armor in prayer. God is with you and working all things together for good. He has plans for you and your loved ones that we can't often comprehend, yet we know in our heart of hearts that He is there with them and us and holding us all in His strong right hand. Amen! The enemy is prowling about trying to destroy our faith and tempt us to loose hope and walk away from God and His plans. Let us keep covering and encouraging each other in these journeys we are traveling through.
I read a devotional on season 4 of the Chosen this morning that talks about how we resist and try to get out of suffering ASAP. Yet, God uses such times to grow us and our faith and they are often a part of His plan to grow us and bring about His good plans through a refined, redeemed people. They remind us to keep sinking our roots deep into God and His Word and remain steadfast in hope. They remind us to get this deep into the fiber of our being so that we can draw on it as needed, "God is faithful and can't be anything but good and loving and purposeful and sovereign and present and perfect in knowledge and wholly committed to our sanctification. And He loves you. And He sees you. And He's for you. And He's got you in the palm of His hand and at the center of His will." Chew on that a bit. Sanctification is the process of making something holy and set apart. God is always at work in us and working all things together so keep focused on and trusting Him when things seem hopeless and dark. He is still there holding you. Lean on Him and allow Him to carry out His plans. It's never easy to travel through some of the things we have to face in this fallen world. It's helpful to remember Whose we are and that no matter what, He is there and always loves us even as He is working some hard things into good.
How do we bring hope to the hopeless and depressed and distraught? Pray like crazy and just be present and loving. And if you are on the dark side of things, please allow some in to walk with you. And keep redirecting to things above. Try counting and recounting blessings as a way to redirect. It's hard but God is with you and we are here for each other. Reach out and love someone and allow some in to your journey.
Our devos for today kinda thread through all of this. Check them out below. The Word for You Today reminds us of the schemes and relentlessness of the devil who loves to keep kicking you while you're down. But we, in Christ, are overcomers and always His. Amen! Charles Stanley reminds to pray on the armor and stand firm through all the battles we face and to keep praying for victory. The Upper Room reminds us to sink our roots deep in God and His Living Word and draw in that Living Water that will strengthen and sustain you. Our Daily Bread uses Psalm 103:8-17. Here's a passage to sink your roots into and take into your heart. Read it prayerfully on your own. It begins, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love." Amen! Dwell there some today. It ends with this truth, "But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him..." ODB discusses Love when we are deeply hurt and they ask "How has God shown you mercy for the wrong things you've done? And "How can you respond to His mercy and love today?" Talk to God about that and process that with some close friends. God is there and wanting to love on you and through you even in the darkest of times. I end with Sarah Young's Jesus Calling devo about trusting God, fixing your thoughts on things above and allowing Him to work things together right before your eyes as you still yourself and allow Him to.
I'm praying for you all and here if you need to talk or pray and so is Sarah. Dwell in deep love today and take in the Living Water that will sustain you through it all. Ask Jesus to come be your Lord and Shepherd today and to lead you to those green pastures and still waters and to walk with you through the darkest valleys. He is there and will! Amen! May God cover you with His shalom and help today and always. Amen!
TWFYT:
CS:
UR: Deep Roots
[Blessed is the one whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers. - Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
My wife and I took a late summer hiking trip through northern New Mexico. The scenery was quite a contrast to the lush, green vegetation of our home state of Michigan. The New Mexico landscape is brown and arid — except for a few green trees that caught our attention. We were intrigued. How could these trees be so green, while all the other vegetation around them was so dry?
Farther down the trail we came upon a placard that explained that the trees we were looking at were junipers. They have a unique root structure that allows them to thrive in arid lands. While the root systems of most plants are shallow, the roots of the juniper tree can go down 25 feet and spread 100 feet in search of water. Their root system allows them to survive drought, while other plants wilt.
This made me wonder: What is our ability to survive spiritual droughts? How deep are our roots? What can we do to help our roots find the source of life-giving water?
Regular study of the Bible, prayer, devotional literature, and participating in the church community are some of the practices that help us remain deeply rooted and spiritually green in arid seasons!
Today's Prayer
Dear God, help us to grow deep and wide-spreading roots that search for your life-giving water in all seasons. Amen.
ODB:
|
“God has been so good to us! I want to thank Him for our anniversary.” Terry’s voice was steady, and the tears in her eyes showed her sincerity. Those in our small group were deeply moved. We knew what past years had held for Terry and her husband. Though a believer, Robert suffered from the sudden onset of severe mental illness and had taken the life of their four-year-old daughter. He would be institutionalized for decades, but Terry visited him, and God did a beautiful healing work, helping her forgive. Despite profound heartache, their love for each other grew.
Love and forgiveness like that could only come from one source. David writes about God this way, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve . . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:10, 12).
The mercy God shows us comes through His expansive love: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love” for us (v. 11). Love so profound compelled Him to go to the depths of the cross and grave to take away our sins so that He could bring all who “receive him” (John 1:12) home to Himself.
Terry was right. “God has been so good to us!” His love and forgiveness reach beyond unthinkable boundaries and offer us life that never ends.
By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
|
|
How has God shown you mercy for wrong things you’ve done? How can you respond to His mercy and love today?
Merciful God, please help me to revel in Your love and to grow in it. Love through me, that others may know Your perfect love too!
|
|
|
|
|
|
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
God’s people have a propensity to be forgetful and unfaithful (see Deuteronomy 6:10-12; 8:11; Jeremiah 3:21-22). Psalm 103 reminds us not to forget God but to remember what He’s done. To ensure that we “forget not all his benefits” (v. 2), the psalmist lists the things God’s done to show His great love for us (vv. 3-19). He calls us to reaffirm who God is and to remember who we are (vv. 8-19). God is compassionate, slow to anger, loving, forgiving, and gracious and “does not punish us for all our sins . . . [or] deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (v. 10 nlt). He’s forgiven all our sins completely for all time (vv. 11-12). The metaphors of withering grass and fading flowers (vv. 15-16) remind us of our mortality and frailty in contrast to God’s eternality and sovereignty (vv. 17-22).
K. T. Sim |
|
|
|
|
|
SY:
LISTEN ONLINE
