Friday, March 28, 2025
Becoming Like Him
Friday, March 21, 2025
Worst Enemy
Monday, March 17, 2025
Saint Patrick's Day!
Friday, March 7, 2025
Hope Through Prayer
Hope Through Prayer
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”
(Romans 12 vs. 11 & 12)
Hold on to your faith; keep holding on. When the going gets tough, choices are hard, and stress builds, pray about it; turn it over to God. Paul’s letters repeat that repeatedly, and we often do not hear it. Our faith is not always strong, and we can be confused.
In his message above, he talks about a great way to get through a day, week, or month. He is preaching a way of life through faith to confidence and peace.
Memorize this one, try it, and you will like it.
Thought for Today: Let’s attack today with “fervor,” being “joyful,” and by all means prayerfully.
Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, we thank you for the
day you made for us. We thank you for the opportunity to do your will and
contribute to each other’s peace.
Amen
Friday, February 28, 2025
A Still Place
"Be still and acknowledge that I am God."
(Psalm 46:10)
The world is a busy place. Americans are overbooked; families are tied up daily with career and children's activities; empty-nesters seem to have filled the time with commitments; often, retirees do not know how they ever had time to work. That leads to stress, tension, and frequent family failures. That's correct; the family that plays too much together may not have enough quality time to survive. They do not have time to call for help.
Henry Nouwen says in his book Bread for the Table, "These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on. It is important to keep a still place in the "marketplace." This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. With that stillness, God can be our gentle guide in everything we think and do."
Do you have a still place? How do you keep your sanity?
Thought for Today: Influenza, COVID-19, and other conditions in our world are causing many of our friends and neighbors to undergo unplanned life changes. Let us pray that God will be present in their lives as they pursue peace through new opportunities.
Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, the world around us is confusing, sometimes cruel,
and always challenging to understand. Please allow us time to step aside and dwell
upon "your will" rather than "our wants and needs." Let us
find the peace or stillness to allow "thy will to be done on earth as it
is in heaven."
Friday, February 21, 2025
Share Your Spirit
Share Your Spirit
"And you show that you are a letter from Christ
delivered by us,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but tablets of human hearts."
(2 Corinthians 3:3)
In the early 1990s,
the pastor at our small church introduced the concept that we were all ministers,
and his function was facilitator or spiritual leader. He encouraged us to speak
our faith, demonstrate our spirituality daily, and reach out to people. He used
to say that the average Methodist invited a guest to church every 22 years.
In our wildest dreams, we may someday
achieve world peace, resolve world hunger, and become an ethnically and
racially blended society. When that happens, it will not happen through our
politics today. It will be a Godly event that we cannot perceive.
We are all
ministers and have the opportunity to work every day towards an improved
society. Language and color divide us into nations and social groups. However,
there is a common language,".., not on tablets of stone, but tablets of
human hearts." We all have a job to do.
Thought for Today: We can easily get caught
up in our activities. Families have sports programs, school issues, and
business issues, while singles have their way of filling the week. Yes, most people
in the world keep busy. Today, let us seek the opportunity to demonstrate and
share our spirit with someone.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, today we thank you for the people you placed in our lives who
have supported and led us to grace. Today, we pray for the opportunity to
contribute to your will here on earth.
Amen
Friday, February 14, 2025
Respect
00213 Respect
"Plans fail
for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers, they succeed."
Earning
respect is an ongoing challenge throughout our lives. According to the book of
Proverbs, communication will make other people want to connect with us.
Proverbs 15vs22 talks about the benefits of good counseling and sound advice.
"Two people working together are
four times better than the best of the two alone.
Also, three heads are nine times better than the best of
the three working alone." There are no scientific studies to confirm
this, but it is true at some level. Sharing our thoughts and advice makes us
all stronger.
To earn respect, be a willing
advisor. Share your experiences, your knowledge, and goodwill with those in
need. Share that precious intellectual property that God has allowed you to
accumulate. Earn respect through sharing.
Thought for Today: Today, let us think about helping others through
our experienced advice. Try hard to let others help us. Listen and share as
Proverbs advises us and observe how much better we feel when we practice
sharing.
Prayer for Today:
Dear Lord, we pray for peace and tranquility for those around us and throughout
the world. We pray that somehow our life's experiences may be shared and used
as an example of your will.
Amen