Something Miraculous Happened

By Gillis Killam –

When I came to Christ as a young person at age 12, I was unaware of all that actually happened to me spiritually; but I knew that things were different. My fear of going to hell when I died was gone and I had peace that I was right with God. I had lived in fear, knowing that the Bible said that one day Jesus was coming back to earth; and I was not ready to meet Him.

Prior to my conversion I had a dream in which I was standing at the screen door at the back of our house. Looking up over the trees I saw a vision of Christ with all his angels surrounding the throne. I was afraid, knowing I was not ready to meet Him. I knew little of the Bible except that my parents “made me” go to church and Sunday school. I woke from my sleep terrified that I was too late. I wondered if my parents were still there. They were!

Shortly after this I was in a meeting where our pastor was having special evangelistic services and found myself under conviction for my sin. When the altar call was given I went forward and knelt at the altar and gave my life completely to Christ. The peace of God filled my heart and I went home knowing that my account was settled with God. A whole new world of spiritual awareness came to me and I had a strong desire for the Word of God and to know the will of God for my life.

What happened there was that the Spirit of God came into my spirit which had been dead to God; (Ephesians 2:1-3) and my spirit was quickened and made alive to God! I was born again! (John 3:3). Something so unexplainable happened; and as A.W. Tozer put it, “For that which must happen in the new birth can never be explained by psychology or psychiatry.”(Renewed Day by Day – Feb. 21) The Bible came alive to me and the love for God filled my heart. We describe it as a NEW Heart.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV).

Prayer: “Thank you Lord!

Uncertain Future

By Gillis Killam –

A friend of mine worked for a number of years in a corporation and felt that his job was secure; until one day he was informed that he, along with around two hundred others, was being laid off. Being educated in his field, and having previous experience living and working in a number of other countries, he and his family had moved to Canada where he obtained employment and was able to buy a house.

He was devastated by this turn of events but managed to keep his spirits up. I encouraged him to seek God’s will and trust Him. Although he obtained another job it was at a reduced salary. I asked him about his future and he indicated that it was uncertain. This produced pressure on him and his wife, as well as his children.

In these uncertain times there are more people who face even worse circumstances, but there is comfort to be found in God’s will, and in knowing the Lord. No matter what happens we are in His care. Furthermore, it is in times like these that God is working out His plan for his children and will use the uncertain times to cause us to grow in grace and the knowledge of Him. We need to learn to trust and listen to what God is saying to us. We should not rely on our own abilities and influence but seek Him first (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jesus talked about this in Matthew when he used a section of the Sermon on the Mount to deal with such anxious times; “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34 NIV).

We can rely on our Lord because He knows the future. He cares too much for us to let us get lost.
“A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9 HCSB).

Rained Out

By Michelle Lim –

This baseball season the weather turbulence has rained and snowed out many of the games. Every day there’s a ball game my two boys look out the window wishing away the clouds.

As much as I love watching my sons’ baseball games, one day last week my emotions were a bit more ambiguous. We had already cheered through three games and attended three practices. Just this once I looked out the window wishing for rain.

My elation as the first plump droplets slapped against my window faded in the disappointment on my son’s faces. I managed to feel a dash of remorse, momentarily.
Just as soon as the remorse passed, all thirty seconds of it, my mind filled with all of the things I could do with the new time.

When I stood at the window wishing for rain, I had to hear the first rain drops before I knew that we’d be rained out. My faith in rain wasn’t that great even though we’d had many of rained out games during the season.

This reminded me of another man’s faith in rain. In 1 Kings 18, God told Elijah to go
present himself to Ahab and God would send rain on the famine ravaged Samaria.

Elijah didn’t look out the window. He just obeyed, knowing that God would do as he
promised. He believed so earnestly that he sent the servant seven times to look for rain
clouds.

When a cloud the size of a man’s fist was all that could be seen he warned everyone to
hurry down from the mountain before the rain stopped them.

What incredible faith that all Elijah had to see was a cloud the size of a man’s fist for him
to know that God had answered.

Oh to have the faith of Elijah in everyday life, believing that God can do anything with the mere suggestion of its possibility. Now, every time I look out the window I remember Elijah and his amazing faith. I look for a fist sized cloud and smile because I know that God can do anything with even such a small hint of His Presence.

Bible Verse: “So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you” 1 Kings 18:44b.

Sin and Love

Heather Allen –

Last week my son Noah and I had a conflict of interests. I was interested in him obeying. He was interested in playing and ignored what I asked him to do. After ten minutes of discussion and internal prayer, I sat him down. I looked into his bright teary eyes and told him the consequences of his continued disobedience: a week without any video games.

The week before this fairly normal event, I read a few parenting tips. On occasion I have given a consequence for Noah’s action and then released my child in order to model mercy . But one of the tips I read took that idea a step further, encouraging parents to take their children’s consequences from time to time. As much as I like Tetris, it is a rarity for me to play video games. But my, oh my, how I love a hot bath after a long day.

I looked at my son’s sad face and felt compassion. I said I would take his discipline. I would forego a pleasure bath for one week. Honestly, I am not sure what response I was hoping for, but he smiled and said, “You mean I can play video games?” I reminded him about redemption, and why we need it. I thought about pulling out a dry erase board for some illustrations. He looked so happy. Surely, he does not understand how much I like baths!

I did not expect my older children, lingering nearby, to offer to take the consequences by giving up what was important to them. One thought ran through my head as I asked them to join me at the table—I should have thought this through more. I felt we were standing on the brink of great spiritual understanding and I was not sure which direction to go.

If I were having this conversation with God, what would he emphasize? I spent moments throughout the day thinking about this.

I talked to my husband about it as I climbed into bed and kept talking as he snored. Do I remind Noah that his sin costs more than a bath and an apology? Does God remind me of my sin to reveal his salvation?

Romans 7:7 says we know what sin is because of the law. The Ten Commandments are the law. If we break one of these, we have broken them all. Saying sorry does not cover it.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:23-25, NIV).

Sometimes I will be able to carry my children’s consequences, but I cannot atone for their sin. Correction done well teaches children about their inherent value and their need for a Savior.

In our case, it meant reminding Noah that God’s word says children are to obey their parents. When he chooses not to, he not only disobeys us, he disobeys God.

When he understands he has sinned against God, he can also understand there is a consequence. The consequence of sin is death. The one who covered this debt is Christ.

God exposes sin, to reveal his love. Salvation is miraculous and beautiful for those who know how badly they need it.

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him” (Romans 4:7-8, NIV).

Deadheading

By Charlotte Riegel –

While working with the Green Thumbs Ministry team at our church, I noticed the west pansy bed looking rather bedraggled. It looked as if it needed water in spite of the recent rains we’d had. Perhaps the building had sheltered this bed and prevented it from getting much of the needed moisture.

However, before watering, I decided to do some deadheading, removing flower heads that are past their prime. It’s a bit like getting a haircut. If spent flowers are not removed, the plant will direct energy into creating seeds, however, if the dead flower heads are removed quickly, the plant will direct energy into creating beautiful new flowers.

An hour later I could hardly believe my eyes. The flower bed looked rejuvenated and quite beautiful. I then realized lack of water had not made this bed look so awful, but rather, the many spent flowers hanging their heads at the end of their normal cycle.

I pondered this miraculous makeover for several days and then wondered if my life is sometimes like that pansy bed. Do I have ‘spent’ flowers drooping from my life? Is it time to prune my activities and commitments because some of them are past their prime and causing me to look bedraggled? By removing areas in my life that are basically ‘dead’ I could freshen up and be rejuvenated. This would free up energy to create new ‘flowers’.

Does your life need some deadheading? Don’t hang onto areas of your life that are spent. Let them go and make room for some new endeavors. You will be amazed at your renewed vigor, creativity, and beauty.

“Thank you, Master Gardener of my life, for pruning me to become more fruitful in Your vineyard.”

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1- 2 NIV).

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