Waiting On The Lord
October 13, 2024 by Kathleen Brown
Filed under For Her
Carrying a tall plastic tumbler half-filled with water in one hand and a pair of orange-handled scissors in the other, I stepped gingerly off the gravel road into the ditch. I had to lift my feet high over scratchy brown weeds while simultaneously avoiding the ant hills scattered over the sandy soil. Too late it occurred to me that sandals didn’t constitute appropriate footwear for my mission.
Life gets messy, doesn’t it? But there are rewards for those who persevere.
Vanity, Vanity, All Is Vanity
October 11, 2024 by Jane Thornton
Filed under Family Focus
On a muggy summer morning a few months ago, a creak and rustle disturbed my deep vacation slumber. I slit one eye open to see my teenaged daughter creeping toward my bathroom. My bleary gaze rolled to the clock: seven a.m. “What are you doing up so early?” My voice was thick and groggy. Remember this happened in the summer, and my daughter is a teenager. Normal rousing time for her would be eleven.
Present Your Body
October 8, 2024 by Laurette Willis
Filed under Health and Fitness
Here’s a sobering question: Do you think we’ll be required to give an accounting to the Lord for the stewardship of our bodies and how well we’ve taken care of them?
While exercise was not a priority in Biblical times, in Romans 12:1 Paul answers that question when he says, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Each of us is advised to take care of our body since it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That’s a frightening thought for most of us when we really stop to think about it! “You are not your own,” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “For you were bought at a price” (the shed blood of Jesus Christ).
Could that mean your body is not yours, but the Lord’s? How well are we caring for the Lord’s property?
The good news is that since your body belongs to the Lord, He has a vested interest in helping you care for it. Your body is not only the temple of His Holy Spirit, it’s what you need to be able to walk around on this earth and spread the good news that Jesus is Lord.
You CAN be a FIT witness for Christ. The more fit and healthy you are, the greater the probability is that you will be around longer to carry out His will for your life.
The enemy wants you to fail at your task–to fail horribly and leave the earth before your time. He doesn’t really care that you’re going to heaven; he just doesn’t want you to take anyone else with you! If your body is out of shape and lacking energy, it’s difficult to do all the Lord is calling you to do. But you and the Lord–working together–can change that!
“What?!” you ask. “The Lord needs MY help? But He’s omnipotent, all-powerful and in control!” Well, yes–and no. He is all-powerful, but He will not wrestle the cake fork out of your hand or pick up the strings, like a grand marionette master, and animate your body to take a brisk walk. We are the ones who have to exercise our will to exercise our body and “choose life.”
You don’t have to wait to do that! You can start right now by doing something small. Would you be willing to choose to do at least one new thing for your health and fitness today? Here are some ideas: take a brisk walk, eat a raw vegetable salad before dinner, have an apple for dessert or snack instead of a sugar-laden treat, pray for God to help you make healthy choices before you eat, write your goals for a healthier lifestyle in a prayer journal.
When you feel tempted to overeat, turn to the Lord in prayer and praise, and yield to the fruit of the Holy Spirit within you. Galatians 5:23 says that one of those fruit is self-control!
Ask the Lord to help you become the person He has called you to be. You are not alone. Remember, He loves you more than you can possibly imagine, and wants you to succeed in every way. In Philippians 4:13, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Paul says that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. That includes having a healthier lifestyle!
Christian Fitness Expert and author Laurette Willis is the Director of PraiseMoves® Fitness Ministry, offering fitness programs, DVDs, books and instructor training for those interested in a Christian ALTERNATIVE to yoga, plus fitness for spirit, soul, and body at http://praisemoves.com. To follow Laurette on Twitter, please visit http://twitter.com/Fit4Christ, and Facebook at http://facebook.com/people/Laurette-Willis/661158603 ©2009
God Really Does Answer Prayer
By George Dalton
Seven years ago my father died after a long illness and went home to be with the lord. At his funeral I met a cousin that I had not seen since we were boys fifty years ago. You know how you do when you see someone that you were once close too. “Give me your phone number; here take down my number.”
My wife and I had a ranch in east Texas, part of which was on four hundred acres of leased land. We sold all of the cattle and equipment and moved to a large city. Several large bales of hay were left in the field from the year before and the owner asked me to make sure they were removed. I contacted a neighboring rancher and asked him if he could help me get rid of the old hay. We agreed to meet back at the ranch one morning a week after my father’s funeral. While driving to the ranch, my cell phone rang, and you guessed it: it was my long lost cousin. His words were, “How are you fixed for cash money.” I was stunned. I haven’t seen this man for five decades and the first thing he wants to know is how much money do you have? I asked, “Why, what do you need?” He responded, “I need to borrow a thousand dollars today.” I asked, “Why do you need a thousand dollars today?” He said, “I am over drawn at the bank and if I don’t get a thousand dollars today I will have checks bouncing all over town.”
I knew right then I was in over my head. I told him I was on the way to the ranch and would call him as soon as I got back. As soon as he hung up I thought of Gideon and his fleece. So I started to pray, “Dear God I don’t know this man anymore. Is he a drug addict, an alcoholic, a gambler? Father I don’t know him, but you do. Please give me a sign telling me if I should give him the money he wants or not.”
Remembering Gideon’s fleece, I drove for a few minutes thinking about how could God give me a sign. I prayed, ”Father use the old hay. If Bud charges me to haul off the old hay, I will know that you do not want me to give that man the money. If he offers to buy the hay for any amount over $5.00 per bale, I will know that you want him to have the money.”
Bud walked around the field and asked me how many bales I had? I didn’t know so we counted them. Exactly one hundred bales. Then he asked me how much I wanted for the hay. I decided that I wouldn’t say a word because I had made a deal with God just a few miles up the road. I said, “You tell me what it is worth to you and that is what I will take.” He walked around the field for a few minutes looking at the bales and then said, “I’ll give you $10.00 a bale. Is it Ok if I pick them up Saturday?” Do the math. I had one hundred bales and he was going to pay $10.00 per bale.
I raced home and told my wife that I needed a check for $1,000.00. When I told her the story, she immediately agreed that we should take the money to my cousin. When I delivered the check to him, my cousin, that I only had seen once in fifty years, thanked me then informed me that he had no idea when he would be able to repay the loan. I told him about my prayer and then said, “I made my deal with God. If you pay me or don’t pay me, that is between you and God.”
I shook his hand and walked out of the Wal-Mart where he worked, a happy blessed man. Because I knew I had just witnessed God’s direct answer to an urgent prayer.
Choosing Obedience Over Convenience
“You want me to do what?”
I have to imagine that was Abraham’s gut response when he heard God’s command to take Isaac and sacrifice him. He had prayed for decades for the child. Now God asks him to bind him to an altar and kill him? Really?
