Some of you may have noticed a splint on my right hand… I broke off a little part of a bone on the last joint of my right pinky. 🙂 Yes, I was playing basketball when this happened. Please know that I am well aware of how old I am…. hahehehahahahahaha… but I do enjoy running up and down the court with the team. My doc told me I had to wear this splint for 6 weeks… and I’m getting closer to having that right pinky back.
Don’t know if you realize how difficult it is to type without the use of your little finger. It is almost impossible, and this experience has been a good reminder of I Corinthians 12:12, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”
Why not continue to read in your Bibles I Corinthians 12:14-27 where it explains that even though we are all different, we all have a vital role to play in the body of Christ? The real question that remains is — what is YOUR ROLE and are you PLAYING YOUR ROLE?
Why not look around the Church and see what role God desires for you to play?
Don’t feel sorry for my right pinky. Let it be a reminder that we all have a distinct calling in the Kingdom of God.
Job said these words in chapter 16, verse 6, “If I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away either.” These are the words of a man who was truly hurting. Have you ever hurt so bad that you didn’t know what to do and didn’t know where to turn? Job had so much pain in him that he couldn’t find a solution to relieve him of his heartache. Life had been difficult for him, with his family and possessions all ripped away from him.
There is no greater pain than the pain of being separated from someone you love. There is something about love that bonds hearts and relationships together in such a way that whenever loss occurs, it is devastating.
I think that’s what Job was going through, and the pain was overwhelming for him. He tried to talk his way through this pain, thinking that if he talked about the issues, the pain would subside. Then he tried to not talk about the issues, thinking that if, perhaps, he ignored them, they would mysteriously disappear. Well, no such luck! When pain sets its terrible hooks inside of you, it’s nearly impossible to detach oneself from the pangs of tribulation that result.
When this type of suffering occurs, we can only RUN TO the AUTHOR of LIFE, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can lift this burden. No other agent or entity has the means to ease one’s pain. Jesus suffered in all ways that He might relate to us and minister to us. I have been there when the only way for comfort was to lean on His majesty and His sovereignty.
I always take comfort in knowing that Jesus watches over the little birds of the air (Matthew 6:26), and if He’s watching and providing for them, then I can be assured that He is watching and providing for me as well. The only question that remains is whether or not God is able to truly care for me when I’m going through the valleys of this life.
One only needs to read Job chapters 38-41 with an open heart to reach the conclusion that God is the only One who is able to meet our deepest needs. Even Job reaches this conclusion in Job 42:5 when he acknowledges that “my ears HAD heard of you but NOW my eyes have seen you.”
This leads to this obvious conclusion: when we are hurting, truly hurting… we need to look no further than Jesus. When we understand His greatness and His authority, our problems will begin to diminish. He alone will walk us through the storm. He has… “been there, done that” when He died on the cross. He will see us through when we think we can’t go on.
Last year at this time you gave out your new devotional Romancing Royalty. It has been a blessing to me personally, as I have used it for my own devotional times, but also has blessed me in ways I would never have anticipated. I want to bless your heart with how your book has worked this past year in the hearts of some people I have given it to. I have an opportunity every day to meet many different people in another area outside of the valley, and as a Christian, I try to share my faith when I can – sometimes that means over a long period of time, gradually forming a friendship or sometimes God puts someone in my path who has a definite need he makes me aware of. Here is the story of 7 books and the results:
Von Louise had been in a bad car accident and it shook her up. Her partner of many years then left and she shared all this with me. I purchased a book for her and she began reading it, came to Shepherd to hear you in person, and I led her to the Lord at the end of the service. She now attends another church regularly and is growing. 1yr/April
Stacy was in a depression when I gave her the book and she started reading and learning that God loves her. She found a church and is growing. 1yr/July
Ed seemed hungry for the Word as I shared scripture, so I gave him a book (which he read straight through!) He is growing, but I need to make sure he is a believer. 1 yr/August
John became an alcoholic after surgery as pain relief. He let me give him a book in September and is now not drinking. I have an appointment with him to give him the gospel. 5 yrs/September
Kirby having nothing but time after back surgery began reading the devotional, and is now attending church and open to the gospel. 5 yrs/1 yr/October
Tracy’s husband left her after 12 years. The devotional has comforted her and moved her toward God. 8 months/November
Christine. God told me to give her a book even though I had just met her. After reading it for the first time, she told me she is a recovering alcoholic and it is exactly what she needed. God knew! Weeks/3days
I indicated how long I have known the person first, and then when I gave the book to them. In Kirby’s case, it wasn’t until the surgery a year ago that I was able to start witnessing, so I gave you 3 times there.
Thank you for listening to God and doing what he tells you so that many people can know the love of our Lord. Thank you for giving me a tool that has opened hearts to the gospel. It was exciting to a part of God’s work this year. I am going to continue to use the devotional as part of my outreach as God leads.
I kept wanting to write another post, but the truth of the matter is that I sooooooooooooooo loved the Maranatha picture below that I didn’t want to write anything else.
The picture of the sky is so beautiful, and it fit so well with what we’ve been talking about the past few Sundays, but if I were to post articles thereafter, then that picture is no longer front and center.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…. What shall I do????????????????????????????
I think I might just keep posting that picture!!! Yes… that is an excellent idea!
I do hope everyone had a chance to reflect upon the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.
God changed a nation through the words and life of this great leader, and I believe that if he were alive today, he would LOVE our church because it’s a partial fulfillment of his Dream. I say partial because we still have a long, long, long way to go, but I believe that our church is on the forefront as far as people from different races worshipping together in the name of Jesus.
Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are ALL ONE in CHRIST JESUS“.
That says to me that we are all equal in the sight of God. With the diversity of Shepherd of the Hills Church, we are able to tell the world that it’s possible for people of all walks of life to come and worship together in Jesus’ name.
Way to go, church!! You make me proud!! Keep on letting that light of yours shine brightly!!
Jesus said in Matthew 25:40,“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Wow!!! This tells me that Jesus is fully aware of all the little things we do for people who cannot help themselves, and that as we live, move, and go about our daily tasks, we should be on the lookout for folks who need a helping hand. As we meet the needs of the down and out, we are literally, actually, and distinctly helping Jesus.
Did you catch that???
We have daily opportunities to help serve Jesus. If you saw Jesus with His arms full, and He needed help with opening a door, wouldn’t you quickly race to hold the door open for Him??? Then shouldn’t we do that for the elderly person who is gingerly walking through an otherwise awkward or heavy door?
If you saw Jesus looking for somewhere to throw away a used paper cup, wouldn’t your heart leap for the chance to take that cup to the trash for him? Then it seems we should eagerly do the same for someone else.
I think that each of us needs to look around for a chance to serve Jesus today.
Who can we find that needs our help today? A child, a teammate, a fellow employee, a person standing on the street corner begging for a few leftover coins? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… I think if you would just look around, you would see folks who need help all around you. And ultimately, the greatest gift you could EVER give Jesus, besides your own life, is to introduce Him to those around you who are desperate for salvation and eternity.
We get to serve Jesus by helping others, and the best way to help someone is to help them find Jesus. This sounds like a win, win, win situation. Jesus wins, you win, and the person we help wins. I need to finish this entry so I can get started.
How about helping the “least of these” today and then posting here exactly what you did……
