faith

Christmas Faith: 

The Shepherds

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." (Luke 2:15 NIV)

If man were to script the Son of God's birth, Jesus would have been born in a palace or a mansion. The news of His birth would have first been sent to one of the power brokers of the day - King Herod or Caesar Augustus.

But, God's script was different:

     no palace, but a manger surrounded by animals...

     no power brokers, but the social outcasts of the day, a band of shepherds...

They were considered untrustworthy and their work made them ceremonially unclean and as a result they could not participate in worship.

After being surprised (and terrified) by a visit from the angel of the Lord, and then a large group of angels, the shepherds were confronted with what to do with the message they heard: "Today is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). What did the shepherds do with the first announcement of the Gospel? They believed! Their immediate response was: "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about" (Luke 2:15).

They don't stop to discuss whether it's exactly according to what was written in Daniel.  They don't question if they really saw angels or if they're just imagining things because they're overworked. They don't get a religious leader to accompany them. They don't even get cleaned up! They hurry off to Bethlehem to find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. They believed all that God had told them!

What are you doing with what God has told you?  Are you acting and reacting with faith?

     Or are you discussing logistics?

     Bargaining with God?

     Nit-picking the assignment?

     Getting another interpretation?

What is God asking you to do today in faith? Just believe!

And you will be amazed at how God works in your life...

     how He works through you to reach a hurting world...

     how He spreads His message to expand His Kingdom!

-marji "mike" kruger

ready

But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. Matthew 10:19.

 

The servants of Christ are to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial for their faith. Their preparation is to be made day by day, in treasuring up in their hearts the precious truths of God’s Word, in feeding upon the teaching of Christ, and through prayer strengthening their faith; then, when brought into trial, the Holy Spirit will bring to their remembrance the very truths that will reach the hearts of those who shall come to hear. God will flash the knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures, into their memory at the very time when it is needed.

 

You are now to get ready for the time of trial. Now you are to know whether your feet are planted on the Eternal Rock. You must have an individual experience, and not depend upon others for your light. When you are brought to the test, how do you know that you will not be alone, with no earthly friend at your side? Will you then be able to realize that Christ is your support? Will you be able to recall the promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world”? There will be invisible ones all about you bent upon your destruction. Satan and his agents will seek in every way to make you waver from your steadfastness to God and His truth. But if you have an eye single to His glory, you need not take thought as to how you shall witness for His truth.

 

Young men and women, are you growing up to the full stature of men and women in Christ, so that when the crisis comes, you cannot be separated from the Source of your strength? If we would stand during the time of test, we must now, in the time of peace, be gaining a living experience in the things of God. We must now learn to understand what are the deep movings of the Spirit of God. Christ must be our all and in all, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

-e g white, our higher calling, pg 356

geese

There was once a man who didn't believe in the incarnation of Christ or the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and was skeptical about God.

He and his family lived in a farm community. His wife was a devout believer and diligently raised her children in her faith. He sometimes gave her a hard time about her faith and mocked her observance of Christmas. "It's all nonsense - why would God lower himself and become a human like us?! It's such a  ridiculous story!" he said.

One snowy day, she and the children left for church while he stayed home.  After they had left, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blinding snowstorm.  He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.

Then he heard a loud thump, something hitting against the window. And another thump. He looked outside but couldn't see.  So he ventured outside to see. In the field near his house he saw, of all the strangest things, a flock of geese! They were apparently flying to look for a warmer area down south, but had been caught in the snow storm.

The storm had become too blinding and violent for the geese to fly or see their way. They were stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to do more than flutter their wings and fly in aimless circles.

He had compassion for them and wanted to help them. He thought to himself, "The barn would be a great place for them to stay! It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm."

So he opened the barn doors for them. He waited, watching them, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But they didn't notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.  He moved closer toward them to get their attention, but they just moved away from him out of fear. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread trail to the barn.  They still didn't catch on.

Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to shoo them toward the barn. They panicked and scattered into every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where there was warmth, safety and shelter.

Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, "Why don't they follow me?  Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?  How can I possibly get them into the one place to save them?"   He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. He said to himself, "How can I possibly save them? The only way would be for me to become like those geese. If only I could become like one of them!  Then I could save them! They would follow me and I would lead them to safety."

At that moment, he stopped and considered what he had said. The words reverberated in his mind: "If only I could become like one of them - then I could save them."  And then, at last, he understood God's heart towards mankind, and he fell on his knees in the snow and worshipped Him.


"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  We beheld His Glory, the Glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth!" (John 1:14)

"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." (John 3:16)

best

 The Christmas party was over. Several of the men were sitting at a table reminiscing about the Christmas days of their childhood. The conversation turned to the best Christmas of their lives. As they went around the table, they noticed one man hadn't said anything. They asked, "Come on.. Frank, What was your best Christmas?"

Frank said, "The best Christmas I ever had was when I didn't even get a present." The others were surprised. They had to hear the story. Frank began to talk.. "I grew up in New York. It was the great depression and we were poor. My Mother had died when I was just eight years old. My Dad had a job but he only worked two or three days a week and that was considered good. We lived in a walk up and we just barely had enough food and clothes. I was a kid and didn't really notice."

"My Dad was a proud man. He had one suit. He would wear that suit to work.  When he came home, he would take off the jacket and sit in his chair still wearing his shirt, tie and his vest. He had this big old pocket watch that had been given to him by my mother. He would sit in his chair, the chain from watch hanging out, connected to the fob in his vest buttonhole. That watch was his proudest possession. Sometimes, I would see him, just sitting there, looking at his precious watch. I bet he was thinking of my mother."

"One year, I was about twelve, chemistry sets were the big thing. They cost two dollars. That was big money but every kid wanted a chemistry set including me. I began to pester my Dad about it a month or so before Christmas. You know, I made all the same kid promises. I would be good. I would do my chores. I wouldn't ask for anything else again. My dad would just say, 'We'll see.."

"Three days before Christmas he took me to the carts. There was this area where all the small merchants keep their street carts. They would undersell the stores and you could get a good buy. He would take me to a cart and pick out some little toy. "Son, would like something like this?" I, of course, would tell him, 'No, I want a chemistry set.' We tramped to nearly every cart and him showing me some toy car or toy gun, and me refusing it. I never thought that he didn't have the money to buy a chemistry set. Finally, he said, we better go home and come back the next day."

"All the way home, I pouted and whined about the chemistry set. I repeated the promises. I said I didn't care if I never got another present. I had to have that chemistry set. I know now that my Dad felt guilty about not being able to give me more. He probably thought he was a failure as a Father and I think he blamed himself for my mother's death. As we were walking up the stairs, he told me, that he would see what he could do about getting me the chemistry set. That night I couldn't even sleep. I could see myself inventing some new material. I could see the New York Times.. 'Boy wins Nobel Prize!"

"The next day after work, my Dad took me back to the carts. On the way, I remember, he bought a loaf of bread, he was carrying it under his arm. We came to first cart and he told me to pick out the set I wanted They were all alike, but went through them, like I was choosing a diamond. I found the right one and I almost yelled. 'This one.. Dad!'"

"I can still see him, reaching into his pant's pocket, to get the money. As he pulled the two dollars out, one fluttered to the ground, he bent over to pick it up and as he did, the chain fell out of his vest. The chain swung back and forth. 'No watch.' In a flash, I realized that my Dad had sold his watch. He sold his most precious possession to buy me a chemistry set. He sold his watch, the last thing my mother had given him, to buy me a chemistry set."

"I grabbed his arms and I yelled, 'No.' I had never grabbed my Dad before and I certainly had never yelled at him. I can see him, looking at me, a strange look on his face. 'No, Dad, you don't have to buy me anything.' The tears were burning in my eyes. 'Dad, I know you love me.' We walked away from the cart and I remember my Dad holding my hand all the way home."

Frank looked at the men. "You know, there isn't enough money in the world to buy that moment. You see, at that moment, I knew that my Dad loved me more than anything in the world."

That is the way that God loves us. He didn't just say it. He showed it. He gave the most precious thing anyone could give. He gave His Son. John 3:16, says, "For God so loved the world (you and me) that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."

He gave His Son, Jesus, That you and I might have everlasting life. If you haven't accepted that great gift.. Accept it now.. Just ask him to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior. It is that easy to receive the greatest gift ever given.


Author Unknown

think

Heavy rains remind us of challenges in life. Never ask for a lighter rain. Just pray to God for a better umbrella. - That is an attitude!

Life is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relationship, it's not how we care in the beginning, but how much we care till the very end.

Some people always throw stones in your path. It depends on what you make with them. A Wall or a Bridge? - Remember you are the architect of your life.

Search for a good heart, but don't search for a beautiful face. Coz beautiful things are not always good, but good things are always beautiful.

It’s not important to hold all the good cards in life. But it’s important how well you play with the cards you hold.
Often when we lose all hope & think this is the end, Remember God and pray, it’s just a bend, not the end.' -

Have faith and have a successful life.
One of the basic differences between God and humans is, God gives, gives and forgives. But the human gets, gets, gets and forgets.
Be thankful in life...

If u think it is your alarm clock that woke you up this morning, try putting it beside a dead body and you will realise that it is the Grace of God that woke you up.

It is JUST BY THE GRACE OF GOD that we are alive.

 

Have a peaceful reflection

pump

There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time, his throat became very dry.  About that time, he saw a little shack in the distance. 

He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.  The note read: "Pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it.  If you do this, you will get all the water you need".

Now the man had a choice to make. If he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked, he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work, he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or, he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die.

After thinking about it, the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle.  At first, nothing happened, and he got a little scared.  But, he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out that he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed.

 

Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”!

We have the same choice to make.  Do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us, and settle for immediate satisfaction? Or do we trust God and give up all that we have to get what God has promised us? I think the choice is obvious. We need to pour in all the water, and trust God with everything. Then, once we have experienced what God has to offer - "the living water", we need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump.  Believe me,  It works!!!"

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will directs your paths."   (Proverbs 3:5-6)

asante

"God commanded us to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
After George Washington authorized the first Thanksgiving Day in 1789, 74 years passed without another such day of thanks.  Then Abraham Lincoln established the holiday as an annual event in American life.  His Thanksgiving Proclamation is worth reading again today:

"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scripture and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.  But we have forgotten God.  We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.  Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.  I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

When did President Lincoln authorize our annual Thanksgiving Day?  In 1863 - in the midst of the Civil War.

Hard places and hard times are the best times to be thankful.  For then we open our lives to the God who alone can bless and prosper us.  He cannot give us what we will not receive.  An attitude of gratitude is essential to receiving the grace and favor of our heavenly Father.  And it is appropriate in thanks for his every blessing, given now and in eternity.

And so, from our home and our hearts to yours, have a very blessed Thanksgiving Day.
  

trustworthy

     A defense attorney was cross-examining a police officer during a felony trial.  It went like this:

Q:  Officer, did you see my client fleeing the scene?

A:   No sir, but I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender running several blocks away.

Q:  Officer, who provided this description?

A:   The officer who responded to the scene.

Q:  A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender.  Do you trust your fellow officers?

A:   Yes sir, with my life.

Q:  WITH YOUR LIFE?  Let me ask you this, then, officer -- do you have a locker room in the police station -- a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?

A:   Yes sir, we do.

Q:  And do you have a locker in that room?

A:   Yes sir, I do.

Q:  And do you have a lock on your locker?

A:   Yes sir.

Q:  Now why is it, officer, IF YOU TRUST YOUR FELLOW OFFICERS WITH YOUR LIFE, that you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with those officers?

A:  You see, sir, we share the building with a court complex, and sometimes defense attorneys have been known to walk through that room.

Sometimes it's best not to pursue a particular line of questioning!

But it's true that there are some people we can't trust at all and there are others we can trust with our very lives.  Our level of trust is based upon how someone has proven themselves to be faithful in the past.  As you probably know from personal experience, it takes months and years to establish a high level of trust, but only a moment to destroy it.  Because people do let us down, we are sometimes made to feel that there is no one we can trust.  But fortunately, there is always someone.

"Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,  the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them -- the LORD, who remains faithful forever." (Psa. 146:3-6, NIV)

Father, thank you for being faithful, for proving over and over that you are indeed a God we can trust with our very lives.  While there are others who have let us down, you never have.  For that we praise you!  May our trust in you be reflected in our willingness to allow you to guide us this and all the days in our lives.

-alan smith

me

Samuel's great statement of the responsibility of praying for the people in our lives is, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you."  That's 1 Samuel 12:23.  The outline of the message went like this...

1. "I pray."   That's the privilege of prayer.

What an honor to be invited by the Heavenly Father to participate in His work throughout the world simply by bowing our heads and expressing our thoughts and worship and requests to Him.

2. "I pray for you."   That's the responsibility of prayer.

We need each other so much. We have not been sent out simply to pray for everyone everywhere, otherwise, we would get the phone book down and get started. However, we each have a circle of people who depend on us for prayer. In my case, it's my immediate and extended family first, then our church leadership and membership, and so on.

　

3. "I cease to pray for you."    That's the danger of prayerlessness.

Many of us used to pray for people we no longer mention to God. What could cause us to quit? In Samuel's case, he had been rejected by the very people who were now asking for his prayers (12:9). He would have been within his rights to tell them to buzz off. But his devotion to them was not conditional on their response, so he would keep right on praying for them.

　

4. "Far be it from me to cease praying for you."    This is the commitment to pray.

Samuel is not merely hoping he will pray or even asking God to help him pray; he is announcing to the people his intention of praying for them, period. He promises to intercede with God on their behalf.

　

5. "Far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you."    This is the holy burden of prayer.

It is a personal matter between the Heavenly Father and me. When I quit praying, I not only disappoint you and weaken myself, more importantly, I sin against God. After all, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."  That's from Romans 14:23 and it applies to prayerlessness if it means anything.

Joe, told the people about the meanderings around Manhattan by subway. Now, some of the Louisianans in our party had been there before and had some experience finding their way via the tube, but the rest of us were novices. We clustered around maps of the city, trying to find where we were, where we wanted to go, and which train to take. A few times we took the wrong train or missed our stop and had to back track.

But everyone was in good spirits - we laughed a lot - and tried to learn from the experience. Then, there were other times when we calmly walked to the correct station, took the right train, and got off at our stop with hardly a thought. Those were the times we had a guide along, a resident of New York City who negotiates the subways every day of their lives.

Think of that as a parable of life.  God has given us the map, the Bible, to show us the way.  But if He did nothing more - if we were on our own here - we would huddle around it trying to figure out where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there, making mistakes galore.  But God took pity on His wayward children and gave us a Guide - Himself.  The Holy Spirit knows the way and we follow Him.  His leadership is always in accordance with the Map, since He wrote it!  Our task is to stay close to Him and go where He leads.

A church member wrote on his worship registration form last Saturday, "Pastor, my wife and I pray for you and Margaret every day."  I am so touched by those who call my name to the Father.  God alone knows the debt we owe them for their intercession and the difference they make in our labors.

I once heard someone say, "My prayer doesn't count much. I'm only one person."  I said, "Do you know anyone who is 'two'?"  "I'm only one person" is the one excuse no citizen of planet Earth can use to get out of anything, since we are all 'ones' and no one is two.   Therefore, all of us 'ones' may go ahead with the privilege and responsibility of prayer.  There are people counting on my prayers today. God help me not to let them down.

choose

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

The Psalmist had made a decision.  The Lord God had given him that day.  Now he chose to live through it with a positive spirit and a hopeful heart.

Nothing is more crucial to the quality of our lives than the choices we make about HOW we will approach the circumstances, relationships and crises of each day.  In the end it is that attitude which largely determines the outcomes we will find.  I CHOOSE God as my refuge . . . I CHOOSE to believe . . . I CHOOSE to find a way.

Mrs. S. had lived alone for many years and got out only with the help of a wheelchair.  Every Saturday (Sabbath) she wheeled herself into the side aisle of our sanctuary (one without handicap access) where she worshipped attentively.  She always seemed to be "up," a radiant person who made people smile just to be around her.

One evening Mrs. S. spoke to the youth of the church and was asked how she could always be so alive, so full of joy.  She responded, "Well, I certainly didn't choose to live the last half of my life as a widow.  And I didn't choose to have my son killed in the Korean War.  I didn't choose to have to ride around in this chair for the past ten years.  But one thing I did choose - to be happy.  I decided to make the best of every day and to see the best in every person."

A friend who has been a missionary in South America for many years told me of taking some American visitors through his city.  One of them spotted a beautiful large poinsettia tree in front of a small house as they passed by.  The visitor wanted to take a picture and, not realizing that the plant was brittle, reached up to pull down a branch for the camera.  A six-foot length of flame-red poinsettia snapped to the ground.

At that moment the woman of the house stepped out of the door and confronted the gringos standing there, poinsettia branch in hand.  Humiliated, they tried to express regret and offered to pay for her loss.  But they could no more fix the personal damage than they could repair the tree.  Still, instead of adding to their embarrassment, the woman cheerfully asked them in for tea.  She chose to forgive them, to overlook their clumsy behavior.  She CHOSE to offer them grace.

This is the day the Lord has made.  We are responsible to decide how we will live in it.

-michael halleen

key

Zig Ziglar tells the story about an elderly man playing an organ in a cathedral in Europe. He was playing sad and melancholy music. It was sad because this was his last day as organist of the cathedral. He was being replaced by a younger musician.

At dusk, somebody stepped into the cathedral. Seeing the younger man, the organist stopped playing, locked the organ and slipped the key into his pocket. He was approached by the young man, who simply said, "Please, the key."

On receiving the key, the young organist went to the organ and began to play.  While the old man had played beautifully and skillfully, the young man played with sheer genius. Music such as the world had never heard came rolling out of that beautiful old organ.

This was the world's introduction to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The old man, with tears in his eyes, said, "Suppose - just suppose - I had not given the master the key!"

Have you given the Master the key - the key to your heart and to your life? Have you given Him complete control?  Does he hold the key?

"No man can serve can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

......answers

When the idea is not right, God says,"No."
No - when the idea is not the best.
No - when the idea is absolutely wrong.
No - when though it may help you, it could create problems for someone else.

When the time is not right, God says, "Slow."
What a catastrophe it would be if God answered every prayer at the snap of your fingers. Do you know what would happen? God would become your servant,not your master. Suddenly God would be working for you instead of you working for God. Remember: God's delays are not God's denials. God's timing is perfect. Patience is what we need in prayer.

When you are not right, God says, "Grow."
The selfish person has to grow in unselfishness.
The cautious person must grow in courage.
The timid person must grow in confidence.
The dominating person must grow in sensitivity.
The critical person must grow in tolerance.
The negative person must grow in positive attitudes.
The pleasure-seeking person must grow in compassion for suffering people.

When everything is all right, God says, "Go."
Then miracles happen:
   ...A hopeless alcoholic is set free!
   ...A drug addict finds release!
   ...A doubter becomes as a child in his belief.
   ...Diseased tissue responds to treatment, and healing begins.
   ...The door to your dream suddenly swings open and there stands God saying, "Go!" 
-author unknown

? will

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths."  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Dr. Baker James Cauthen resigned from the faculty of Southwestern Seminary and the pastorate of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Ft. Worth to take his family to China in 1939, in the midst of war.  

His explanation was simple: the safest place in all the world to be is the center of the will of God.

Before he left for China, Dr. Cauthen said to his friend Bill Howse: "Bill, many people are making a lot out of what we are trying to do, but for us it's simply the will of God.  It's such a good feeling that I can say that if our ship is bombed in Hong Kong harbor and we never set foot on Chinese soil, I will have a sense of completeness because I will have been doing the will of God for me."

Remember. The Will of God will never take you...

    Where the grace of God cannot keep you,

    Where the arms of God cannot support you,

    Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

    Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you...

    Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,

    Where the riches of God cannot supply you,

    Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,

    Where the army of God cannot protect you,

The will of God will never take you...

    Where the love of God cannot enfold you,

    Where the mercy of God cannot sustain you,

    Where the Word of God cannot feed you,

    Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you...

    Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,

    Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,

    Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,

    Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

wait

Those who wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like the eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  (Isaiah 40:31)

...for twelve years she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. (Mark 5:25)

"While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said, "Why bother the teacher any more?"  (Mark 5:35)

Parents waiting for children out past curfew know it. Couples having trouble conceiving a child know it. A family separated by overseas military service knows it. A person needing an organ transplant knows it. A candidate for law or medical school knows it. A pregnant mom 10 days past due knows it. A person struggling to be hired for a job knows it. In fact, at one time or another, most of us come to know this brooding beast. It's the long wait -- that drawn out time of fretful anticipation and extended longing.

"Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength..."

Often, this is easier said than done. Before we get to "mount up on wings like eagles," we often have to obediently grind away through the brutal passage of agonizing time. Before we can "run and not grow weary," we have to trudge on as anticipation dims and hope's flickering flame fights against the winds of despair. Many times, we just have to keep walking and trust that some hidden grace will help us "not faint."

That's what makes this story of Jairus' daughter so compelling to me. Like you, I don't like to wait. In my mind, if there is any privilege for those with power and position, one should not have to wait! "They" surely don't have to wait like I do. "They" get to move to the head of line. "They" get to throw around their weight and get what they want when they want it.

In this case, however, "they" (or more accurately, "he") didn't. (see Mark 5:21-43) Instead, Jairus' humbling approach to Jesus, an approach that could cost him everything in sacred society, was interrupted by a desperate woman who had faced "the long wait" herself as she had hopelessly gone to every healer available to her, and no doubt prayed incessantly for her own cure. This woman, who could not go into the synagogue because of her uncleanness, derailed the hope parade of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue.

I find two things amazing about both of them. First, neither complains about his or her wait. Not the woman, who has spent her fortune on false medical hopes, nor Jairus, who has spent his respect capital to associate himself with a suspicious teacher. Both wait for their Lord to act.

Impatiently waiting? Probably! But, they waited and received their grace. Second, they both received the personal attention of the Lord -- the man of power who could expect that attention and the woman on the fringes who, in her day, could not expect it.

Jesus refused to let the woman have an anonymous miracle!

He personally and specifically blessed her. Jairus' daughter would not be healed for the crowd, but only in the closed intimacy of Jesus' chosen few and Jairus' family. Both waited faithfully. Both received the personal attention of the Master! Each received his or her heart's greatest desire.

This is not a story about long ago and far away. It is a reminder that Jesus is there for those who wait. It is a renewal of the ancient hope that God will act for those who don't give up during the long wait. You see, the issue isn't the wait. Instead, it is all about refusing to give up hope when the journey seems so long (12 years for the woman) and the problems so insurmountable (a dead 12-year old daughter for Jairus).

Maybe you face the long wait right now. Maybe your heartbreak or shame or disappointment or loss seems insurmountable. If so, I want to encourage you to come back to this story of the powerless woman and the powerful man and remember the place their broken hearts met, the place their broken dreams were mended, and the place their long wait ended. Know that place is really a person, and his name is Jesus.

-phil ware

? spider

Last Saturday (Sabbath) our pastor told an interesting story and, had it not been serious, it would have been funny. He told about a fellow in a support group who for months on end kept praying about a personal problem. 

Week after week he would pray with seemingly great conviction, "Oh God, clean the cobwebs out of my life... clean the cobwebs out of my life!"

 

Finally, in utter frustration the leader of the prayer group broke into the man's prayer and prayed rather boisterously, "Oh God, KILL THE SPIDER in this man's life!" 

 

If we are struggling with a besetting sin or bad habit, what can we do about it? Certainly pray and ask God for deliverance - but also pray that he will show us the root cause of our problem because, more often than not, our repetitive failures are the fruit of a deeper root. 

God not only wants to deliver us from habitual sins but also free us from the deeper root cause.

tangled

Knoxville Airport - waiting to board the plane: I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say that because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego...

I tried to keep from staring but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy grey hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long. Clean, but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered reading somewhere that he was dead. So this man in the airport... an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?....

There I sat trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him. Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh no, God please no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. 'I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"...

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it..."I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair."

The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm you're girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am on him. I am going to witness to this man."

Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair." I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hirbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane, How am I suppose to brush his hair without a hairbrush?"

God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will thoroughly finish you unto all good works." (2 Tim 3:7) I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man, and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?" "May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?" To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that. At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?"

At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Longlocks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."

Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."

"I have one in my bag," he responded. I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but I must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull.

A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everyone else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.

His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag, went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees, and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"

He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures.

He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride." "She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself. What a mess I must be for my bride."

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it. Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"

I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share. I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted because you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way... all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

- beth moore

? apology

Many of you are familiar with the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that."

 Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her."

 Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution."

Many of us keep looking for a less obvious solution.  We know we've done something to hurt someone around us.  But we are so hesitant to say, "I'm sorry."  I'm convinced that while those two words are some of the hardest words for us to say, they are two words that have the most potential to improve our relationships.

What a difference it would make in our marriages, in our friendships, in our churches, if we weren't so obstinate in refusing to admit that we've done something wrong.  Our pride stands in the way, and we continue to search for a less obvious solution.

"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24)

-alan smith

living

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  (John 10:10b)

I remember picking up a book one day called "Sleeping Through the Revolution" by Dr. Paul Rees . In that book, I came across a quotation from Dr. Stanley Jones' book, "Abundant Living".  This is how the quote ran : "The early Christians did not say in dismay, 'Look what the world has come to', but they said in delight, 'Look what has come to the world!'"

They saw not merely the ruin but the resources for the reconstruction . They saw not merely that sin did abound but that grace did much more abound ."  

Dr. Jones added this significant sentence, "The whole secret of abundant living can be summed up in this sentence : 'Not your responsibility but your response to His ability ."'

I like that, don't you?  What a reminder for today!

Not your responsibility but your response to His ability ."

! run

There's an old African proverb that says, "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

When we awaken each morning, we must realize that "The devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)

In Psalm 5, we read that David came to God early in the morning and asked for his protection and help. We also need to pay attention to the vital importance of prayer.

"The Secret"
By Ralph Cushman

I met God in the morning
When the day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O'er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them,
Brought to me a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I, too, had loosed the moorings,
With the presence left behind.

So, I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!

....genuine

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Matt 15:8

There's an excellent illustration that demonstrates the difference between intellectual faith and genuine faith. In the late 1890's, a famous tightrope walker strung a wire across Niagara Falls. As thousands of people watched, he inched his way along the wire from one side of the falls to the other.

When he got to the other side, the crowd cheered wildly. Finally, the tightrope walker was able to quiet the crowd and shouted to them, 'Do you believe in me?'.  The crowd shouted back, 'We believe! We believe!'.

Again he quieted the crowd and shouted to them, 'I'm going back across the falls on the tightrope.  But this time I'm going to do it with a wheelbarrow, balancing the front wheel on the tightrope.  Do you believe I can do it?'. The crowd yelled back, 'We believe! We believe!'

There was a reporter there covering the story.  The  tightrope walker turned to him and asked the same question, "Do you believe in me?  Do you believe I can do it?"  The reporter responded, "Yes.  I believe in you.  I believe you can do it."

The tightrope walker responded, "Great.  Get in the wheelbarrow!"

Intellectual faith says, "I believe"  Genuine faith will "get in the wheelbarrow".