Greetings my friends! Back from the family reunion. Good time was had by all - very good turnout! It took about 2 hours one way to drive. Beautiful weather. Heard Deil got skin cancer from a cyst by her nose, she has to have radiation every day. She was there. Had a group picture taken, we are a big group. My Mom and Dad had six kids, so we all were there with our kids. Lori enjoyed showing off Jeremy there! While there, I sent out a prayer request for Deil from my phone.
Always good to be back home. Hope you all are enjoying the evening.
When your world turns upside down and everything seems so frightening,
thank God for His unchanging and constant love. Lord, Your love is the same
yesterday, today and tomorrow. In You I am safe and cared for.
S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
"He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and
multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your
righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great
generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the
rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God." ~2 Corinthians
9:10-12
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
I believe that God had already seen my heart's needs before I cried to
God, before I was conscious of those needs myself. I believe that God
was already preparing the answer. God does not have to be petitioned
with sighs and tears and much speaking before God reluctantly looses
the desired help. God has already anticipated our every want and
need. I can try to see this, and humbly receive all that God has to
offer me.
P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may understand my real wants and needs. I pray that my
understanding of those needs and wants may help to bring the answer to
them.
There Is Someone Who Really Cares
In your times of deep despair,
Do you feel there is no hope?
As the darkness closes in on you,
Do you feel you cannot cope?
As you struggle on through every trial,
Do you say "When will it end"?
As you cry yourself to sleep at night,
Do you wish you had a friend?
When your body's racked with aches and pains,
Do you feel you are alone?
When you think about the future,
Do you fear the great unknown?
There is someone who really cares,
And He hears your every cry.
His arms are reaching out to you,
And on Him you can rely.
When things close in around you,
He sees your fear and doubt -
He wants to hold you in His arms,
And He will never cast you out.
As you stumble through the darkness,
He will be your guiding light.
He wants to wipe away your tears,
For you are precious in His sight.
Reach out right now to Jesus,
And let Him take complete control -
He'll take that heavy burden,
And He'll touch and make you whole.
He's reaching out His arms to you,
And He wants to be your friend.
Let Him take you in His loving arms,
For His love will never end.
The Caged Birds
A man was on the side of the road with a large birdcage.
A boy noticed that the cage was full of birds of many kinds.
Where did you get those birds?" he asked. "Oh, all over the
place," the man replied. "I lure them with crumbs, pretend I'm
their friend then when they are close, net them and shove them into
my cage." "And what are you going to do with them now?" The man
grinned, "I'm going to prod them with sticks, and get them really
mad so they fight and kill each other. Those that survive, I will
kill. None will escape." The boy looked steadily at the man. What
made him do such things? He looked into the cruel, hard eyes. Then
he looked at the birds, defenseless, without hope. "Can I buy those
birds?" the boy asked.
The man hid a smile, aware that he could be on to a good thing if he
played his cards right. "Well, he said hesitantly, "The cage is
pretty expensive, and I spent a lot of time collecting these birds.
I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll let you have the lot, birds, cage
and all for ten dollars and that jacket you're wearing." The boy
paused, ten dollars was all he had, and the jacket was new and very
special, in fact it was his prized possession. Slowly, he took out
the ten dollars and handed it over, then even more slowly he took off
his jacket, gave it one last look then handed that over too. And then
he opened the door and let the birds go free.
MORAL OF THE STORY The Enemy of the world, Satan, was on the side of
life's road with a very large cage. The man coming towards him
noticed that it was crammed full of people of every kind, young, old,
from every race and nation. "Where did you get these people?" the man
asked. "Oh, from all over the world, " Satan replied. "I lure them
with drink, drugs, lust, lies, anger, hate, love of money and all
manner of things. I pretend I'm their friend, out to give them a
good time, then when I've hooked them, into the cage they go."
"And what are you going to do with them now?" asked the man. Satan
grinned. "I'm going to prod them, provoke them, get them to hate and
destroy each other; I'll stir up racial hatred, defiance of law and
order; I'll make people bored, lonely, dissatisfied, confused and
restless. It's easy. People will always listen to what I offer them
and (what's better) blame God for the outcome!"
And then what?" the man asked. "Those who do not destroy themselves,
I will destroy. None will escape me." The man stepped forward. "Can
I buy these people from you," he asked. Satan snarled, "Yes, but it
will cost you your life."
"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life."
A LITTLE GIRL´S PRAYER
Author Unknown
Helen Roseveare, a missionary doctor from England to Zaire Africa,
told this as it happened to her in Africa.
"One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but
in spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature
baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty
keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. (We had no electricity
to run an incubator.) We also had no special feeding facilities.
Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with
treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for
such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another
went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back
shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had
burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "And it is our
last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.
As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central
Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.
They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest
pathways.
"All right," I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can,
and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts.
"Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with
any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the
youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them
about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby
warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily
die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister,
crying because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-
year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our
African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle.
It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please
send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by
way of a corollary, "And while You are about it, would You please send
a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"
As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I
honestly say, "Amen?" I just did not believe that God could do this.
Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But
there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this
particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I
had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had
never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me
a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the
equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses'
training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front
door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the
verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking
my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the
orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully
undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it
unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes
were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out
brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out.
Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the
children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and
sultanas--that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. Then,
as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I
grasped it and pulled it out--yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water
bottle!
I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that
He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed
forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent
the dolly, too!"
Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small,
beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted.
Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give
this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves
her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my
former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's
prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of
the girls had put in a dolly for an African child--five months before--
in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that
afternoon."
"Before they call, I will answer!" Isa 65:24
July 25 - Jesus Calling
As you listen to birds calling to one another, hear also My Love-call to you. I speak to you continually: through sights, sounds, thoughts, impressions, scriptures. There is no limit to the variety of ways I can communicate with you. Your part is to be attentive to My messages, in whatever form they come. When you set out to find Me in a day, you discover that the world is vibrantly alive with My Presence. You can find Me not only in beauty and birdcalls, but also in tragedy and faces filled with grief. I can take the deepest sorrow and weave it into a pattern for good.
Search for Me and My messages, as you go through this day. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with your whole being.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
-John 10:27
We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
-Romans 8:28 amp
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
-Jeremiah 29:13
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