Letting the Light of Christ Shine

By Judy Davis –

Jesus Christ came as light, joy, and peace. Exactly what the human race needs. How can people receive this light, joy, and peace? They get it only through a disciplined life transformed daily by the Holy Spirit.

When people lose the light of Christ in their lives, depression, pain, and misery come in. When they are filled up with his Spirit and dwell on him, the love He has for them will pour out onto others ultimately helping them with their own troubles.

We have no idea what people are going through. We should be ready to help and console those in need. Recently, one of our neighbors shared about the pain and suffering they had experienced through the years. His wife was killed by a dump truck slamming into her car. His son committed suicide. He married later on and his new wife’s daughter was murdered by her ex-husband. God places people in our path for us to pray for them, encourage, and comfort them.

Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit, but it must be cultivated. We must learn to resist the enemy. If he can get Christians’ joy, he will have their strength. Christians should SMILE and let joy be a part of their lives so others may see and believe. They know in their heart as long as there is life there will be difficulties.

If Christians carry the burdens of others, they will lose their own. Everywhere they look there are others worse off than they are. When they pray for them, love them, and help them, they will get their minds off themselves.

Learn to live above the every day circumstances. So what if things are not going smoothly? Accept them and move forward. Go to the library, go to the gym, go bowling, write in a journal, but most of all, spend quality time in prayer and the Bible.

PRAYER: Father, please help me today to better understand Your Word as this will produce the light of Christ in my life. Letting Your light shine in our lives is the key to turning others toward You.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 NIV).

Spiritual Lessons from Gallon Man

By Hally Franz –

“Gallon Man” reminds me a bit of the old character, Pacman. His head is formed from the letter G, and the opening appears to be Gallon Man’s mouth. If my interpretation is correct, he is viewed from a side profile, and is outfitted with four spots or eyes that are also visible from the side shot. Those are formed by evenly spaced Q’s, which of course have two P’s in each of them. His detailed and symmetrical design is completed with two little C’s that exist inside each of the P’s, inside each of the Q spots (or eyes). We know there are 16 cups in a gallon, 8 pints in a gallon, and 4 quarts in a gallon. Try drawing one for yourself.

When I arrived to pick up my daughter from a recent after-school tutoring session, this was the explanation I observed in the final minutes. This British-born teacher was working with my girl on American “standard” units of measurement. She had been through yards, feet and inches as well that day. And, as she wrapped up her lessons, she made a very simple, but profound comment in her wonderful English accent, which her students adore.

She said that “Heavenly Father is a God of order.”

My daughter attends a Christian school, so comments regarding faith are made often throughout the day’s activities. However, as I heard that simple proclamation, I was moved by its complete and utter truth.

There is order in His creation, perfection in His plans. In the workings of our human bodies, and in the functioning of plants and animals in our environment, we see innumerable examples of His precision. There is nothing random or left to chance, for He is in charge.

So, when we find ourselves in chaos or turmoil, whose counsel ought we seek to return order to our lives? Who provides the listening ear and the wisdom to make right a life that’s off track and out-of-whack? No, it’s not the master of measurement, Mr. Gallon Man. It’s another big “G” – the originator of all and author of order.

PRAYER: Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for the examples of precision, perfection and order in all You have created. May those wonders always serve to remind me to seek You at times when my life is anything but orderly.

“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. “ Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.” (Isaiah 40:25-26 NLT).

Be Quiet! I Can’t Hear God

By Michelle Lim –

If you have ever tried to get a large family in the car and on the way to church, you know that chaos is the norm. Everything from missing shoes to mismatched socks and a solid dose of arguments thrown in is just the routine.

One such morning my family and I were celebrating the close of the garage door as we backed out of the driveway for church, when my daughter asked to listen to some music.
We were more than happy to turn on the worship CD in our van and cruise to church with the sound of joy instead of the chaos we left in our wake.

Just when we thought we were in the clear, my son in the back seat started to complain.

“I don’t want any music. Turn it off.”

Like any good parent I reminded him that we don’t always get our way.

Like any sister, my daughter piped up with, “I want to listen to music.”

I was ready to intervene when my son said something that gave me pause:

“Be quiet! I can’t hear God.”

That day we left the radio off and were quiet on the way to church. My son needed to hear God and as a family we couldn’t stand in the way.

How about you? Do you feel the chaos is so overwhelming sometimes that you can’t hear the voice of God? I know that I do. It is difficult to carve out time in our crazy schedules to just sit and listen to the voice of God.

When we get in the toughest spots in life, we need to hear from God more than ever. We can’t fill the silence with chaos and our own solutions. We just need to be quiet so we can hear from God.

My son taught me something that day that I will never forget. Even in the midst of chaos we can quiet ourselves to listen to God’s voice. It is merely a decision to draw a line between the chaos and ourselves and stop to listen. Only then can we get the answers we need for our day to day lives.

“Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55:3 ESV).

PLOP! PLOP! FIZZ! FIZZ!

By Elaine James –

I was feelin’ good about my clothing choice and pink lipstick for the day. Stepping out into the fresh air, I prayed my ritual prayer with a gentle whisper “God let me be in the moment and be in the right place at the right time for You.” I was digesting my breakfast and the scripture of the day:

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for He grants sleep to those He loves” (Psalm 127:1-2 NIV).

I was heading to the local coffee shop in response to a friend’s e-mail stating “We should get together for coffee. I want to toss around the idea of a prayer group for parents…what do you both think?” The “both” was referring to my longtime girlfriend and me. I was actually thinking “Really, God? Another prayer group?” Poor attitude. Shame on me!

To make a long story short, this lady was in fear of the bad influence the world is having on our children. So legit! I too can work myself up into a mind loop of despair questioning “What if they take that influence and make bad choices themselves?”

My friend and I shared many scriptures that morning. I took out my phone Bible and read the above scripture. Side note: taking a verse from the morning into the day is so important. If we don’t put Jesus first everything we do will be done in vain. I didn’t make this stuff up; God did. We prayed together and she invited Jesus into her house (heart). The day denoted a new birth for her future. We left committed not only to pray but study the Word together. She was convicted that a prayer for a new beginning and the prospect of learning the Word dispelled darkness of fear and shed light on her new found path.

If you follow my devotions you can sometimes expect to get a jingle out of me. The one that comes to mind at the end of this God story is this; PLOP! PLOP! FIZZ! FIZZ! Oh what a relief it is!

Jesus plops scripture in front of us and fizzles our anxious thoughts into a pool of water that gives medicinal relief.

Jesus loves you! You can love Him back with this simple prayer of relief!

Father in heaven I want to follow you today. I am a sinner. I know Jesus died for me and rose from the dead so that I can eternally be with You. Thank you for calming my anxious thoughts. From this day forward help me to rise early and build my house with You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hijacked

By Charlotte Riegel –

My plans were all set for the day. I arose earlier than usual, showered, dressed, had breakfast and felt energized as I started into the day’s activities. Hubby was still at the table finishing up breakfast when the doorbell rang. I was delighted to see my neighbor standing there and greeted her with enthusiasm.

December had been a busy month for both of us and we were overdue for a visit and catch-up session over tea. “Hello! I’m sooo glad to see you,” I said with a hug. “Do you have time to come in and have tea?”

“Well, yes, that is why I’m here,” she responded with a smile.

I put aside my planned work projects knowing I still had time to work on them before my meeting in the afternoon. I soon discovered the importance of this little tea party as my friend shared about some rough waters of life she was encountering.

It was well past noon when she left. I hurriedly prepared some lunch still thinking I could make adequate preparations for my afternoon business meeting. Beginning to feel stress rising within me and aware there was no way I could make the necessary phone calls I released a sigh of dismay and decided to offer a cancellation of the planned meeting so as not to waste the time of the other party involved. He said we should meet anyway and work with the information already available to us. I was very grateful my hijacked morning had not destroyed the rest of my day.

Elaine Townsend, wife to Cam Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, often encouraged new missionary recruits with the following words: “Interruptions are the most important part of the day. The rest is just filler.”

Reflecting on the day’s events at bedtime, I recognized the tea party as having been a divine appointment and thanked God for helping to salvage the remainder of my day.

“Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 GNT).

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