Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Night Light for Couples - The Trouble Paradox


“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

When troubles line up in what seems like an endless parade, feelings of despair or helplessness can be overwhelming. One way out of this downward spiral toward depression is to reach out to someone else. Our own difficulties seem less threatening and all‐consuming when we are busy helping someone else handle theirs. The possibilities for helping others are limitless. Visit the sick. Bake something for your neighbors. Do household chores for an elderly shut‐in. Use your car for those without transportation. And, perhaps most important, be a good listener. Sometimes what a person needs most of all is simply a friend who will share his or her life for a few moments.

This is one of the powerful paradoxes of the Christian life: When we share someone else’s pain, we often shed some of our own. When we help others, we end up helping ourselves. When we lift another’s burdens, ours lighten.

Just between us…
  • What do you do when you’re discouraged or depressed?
  • Am I helpful to you when you’re feeling down?
  • In what ways did Jesus minister to the downhearted? Is there someone in a difficult situation who could use our help?
Dear God, thank You for Your goodness during trouble. Increasingly, make us Your instruments to help others in need. Help us to share Your comfort and testify to Your great faithfulness. Thank You that we’ll be blessed in doing so. Amen.
  • From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
    Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Standing Strong Through the Storm - NORTH KOREA TESTIMONY


And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:22-24

After Gyeong Ju Son, a young woman from North Korea, gave her moving testimony at The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town in October 2010, the 4200 participants from over 190 countries, came away stunned—many moved to tears.

Born in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, this petite 18-year-old is the daughter of a former high-ranking government leader—an assistant of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il.

In 1998, when Gyeong Ju was at the tender age of six, her father suffered severe political persecution and the family was forced to flee to China. It was there that her parents came to know the amazing grace and love of God. After only a few months, her mother, pregnant with their second child, died of leukemia.

“It was in the midst of this family tragedy that my father joined a Bible study led by missionaries from South Korea and America, and after a time his strong desire was to become a missionary to North Korea,” she says.

In 2001 her father was reported and arrested by the Chinese police, to be sent back to North Korea, where he was sentenced to prison. Desperately crying out to God during this time, his three-year incarceration only served to strengthen his faith. After his release he returned to China and Gyeong Ju Son was reunited briefly with her father.

“Not long after he chose to return to North Korea—instead of enjoying a life of religious freedom in South Korea—to share Christ’s message of life and hope among the hopeless people of his homeland.”

In 2006 her father’s work was discovered by the North Korean government and once again he was imprisoned. Not having heard from her father again, she assumes he has been publicly executed on charges of treason and espionage. This is often the fate of confessing Christians in North Korea.

Left in China, Gyeong Ju Son was adopted for a while by the family of a young pastor, and it was their love, care, compassion and protection that made a deep impression on her. When they left for America she was given the opportunity to go to South Korea.

RESPONSE: Today I give thanks for brothers and sisters who serve Jesus at the cost of their own lives.

PRAYER: Pray today for those believers still living in North Korea and committed to evangelism.

Girlfriends in God - The Miracle is On Its Way


Today’s Truth

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful (Colossians 4:2, NIV).

Friend to Friend

Christmas morning is serious business at the Southerland home. The sequence of events does not vary. First come the stockings. Everyone has a bulging stocking spilling over with small gifts.

And I am not talking about just any old stocking stuffers. I listen and question and watch our children and grandchildren all year long to see what makes their eyes sparkle and their faces light up.

I keep an ever-evolving Christmas list. No one knows where I keep it. And no one ever will if I can help it. I begin buying stocking stuffers and gifts each summer, and I stash them in secret hiding places around the house. I told you … serious business!

After the stockings are opened, we take a break to clean up and eat breakfast. Dan then reads the Christmas story and talks about the miracle of Jesus’ birth.

It is then time to open gifts. We try to follow the rule of taking turns so everyone can enjoy the process. It works pretty well with the adults, but not so much with the kids. The adults usually end up waiting to open gifts until the kids have opened all of theirs. Watching the children really is my favorite part of the day.

One Christmas, God used our oldest grandson to teach me an important lesson. He was six years old at the time and desperately wanted a red remote control Corvette for Christmas. All year long I had heard about this amazing car, so when I found it during a Christmas in July sale, I quickly bought it and stashed it in one of my secret spots.

When Christmas morning rolled around that year, the kids tore into their gifts with the usual exclamations of delight. But everything stopped when Jaydan opened that car. He jumped to his feet, eyes wide with excitement, pumped both fists in the air and yelled, “I knowed it! I just knowed it!” Jaydan then threw himself into my arms and then Dan’s arms, thanking us for the car before he raced back to play with it.

Our daughter-in-law then explained that he had been praying for that car for months and had even picked a spot in his room where he would keep it … when he got it.

That’s faith.

That’s praying with thanksgiving.

It reminds me of the time when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. While His friend was still in the tomb, Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank You that You have heard me” (John 11:41).

Don’t miss this important truth! Thanksgiving came before the miracle. Jesus prayed and then thanked God for what He was about to do. Jesus knew. He did not wait to see the miracle before giving thanks to God. His gratitude came before the miracle as an act of faith.

I wonder what Jesus was thinking and feeling. I mean raising someone from the dead is no small feat. Jesus was God … and yet He was man, too. Did a doubt or two slither through his heart and mind? If so, He chose to set them aside and trust His Father as an act of faith and assurance that the miracle was on its way. We need to do the same.
  1. God is willing and waiting to pour out His favor and blessings on a life of faith. Hebrews tells us that faith always honors God and God always honors faith.
  2. Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him.”
  3. Sometimes my faith is small and weak. That’s when I cling to the words of Jesus found in Matthew 17:20:
  4. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
  5. I want to be like Jaydan. I want to grow to the place where I pray … and make room in my heart and life for the answer to that prayer before it comes.
  6. I want to live in a constant state of celebration that the miracle is on its way!
Let’s Pray

Father, I come to You today with a faith that seems so small. I want to believe You, Lord. I want to walk by faith, knowing that You will keep every promise You have ever made. Help my unbelief, Lord.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.


Now It’s Your Turn

Read Psalm 86:15 (NIV) “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

Record this verse in your journal. Then make a list of the words in this verse that describe God. What do these words tell you about God’s willingness to bless your life?

What is the first step of faith you need to take today? Are you willing to take it right now? 

More from the Girlfriends

NEW BOOK from Mary Southerland! Mary has updated the E-Book, Fit for Life, and released it in a soft cover book. Fit for Life addresses the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual areas of your life and teaches you principles that will empower you to bring each area under God’s control.

Be sure to check out the FREE MP3s on Mary’s website and connect with Mary through email or on Facebook.

Seeking God? Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends in God
P.O. Box 1311
Huntersville, NC 28070

info@girlfriendsingod.com
http://www.girlfriendsingod.com

Verse of the Day - September 27, 2016


Matthew 6:33 (NIV) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Read all of Matthew 6

The Daily Readings for September 27, 2016


Hosea 4:1-10
Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing. Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they changed their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the LORD to devote themselves to

Acts 21:1-14
When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail. We came in sight of Cyprus; and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day. The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us and took Paul's belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, "The Lord's will be done."

Luke 5:12-26
Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean." Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose. Be made clean." Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. "Go," he said, "and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them." But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray. One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, "Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Stand up and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he said to the one who was paralyzed-- "I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home." Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen strange things today."

Morning Psalms

Psalm 97 Dominus regnavit
1   The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2   Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3   A fire goes before him and burns up his enemies on every side.
4   His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees it and is afraid.
5   The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6   The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7   Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in false gods! Bow down before him, all you gods.
8   Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O LORD.
9   For you are the LORD, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10   The LORD loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11   Light has sprung up for the righteous, and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
12   Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name.


Psalm 99 Dominus regnavit
1   The LORD is King; let the people tremble; he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.
2   The LORD is great in Zion; he is high above all peoples.
3   Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; he is the Holy One.
4   O mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5   Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and fall down before his footstool; he is the Holy One.
6   Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7   He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8   O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; you were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9   Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and worship him upon his holy hill; for the LORD our God is the Holy One.


Psalm 100 Jubilate Deo
1   Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness and come before his presence with a song.
2   Know this: The LORD himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3   Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
4   For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.


Evening Psalms

Psalm 94 Deus ultionum
1   O LORD God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, show yourself.
2   Rise up, O Judge of the world; give the arrogant their just deserts.
3   How long shall the wicked, O LORD, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4   They bluster in their insolence; all evildoers are full of boasting.
5   They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your chosen nation.
6   They murder the widow and the stranger and put the orphans to death.
7   Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, the God of Jacob takes no notice."
8   Consider well, you dullards among the people; when will you fools understand?
9   He that planted the ear, does he not hear? he that formed the eye, does he not see?
10   He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish? he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?
11   The LORD knows our human thoughts; how like a puff of wind they are.
12   Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord! whom you teach out of your law;
13   To give them rest in evil days, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14   For the LORD will not abandon his people, nor will he forsake his own.
15   For judgment will again be just, and all the true of heart will follow it.
16   Who rose up for me against the wicked? who took my part against the evildoers?
17   If the LORD had not come to my help, I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18   As often as I said, "My foot has slipped, " your love, O LORD, upheld me.
19   When many cares fill my mind, your consolations cheer my soul.
20   Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you, one which frames evil into law?
21   They conspire against the life of the just and condemn the innocent to death.
22   But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my trust.
23   He will turn their wickedness back upon them and destroy them in their own malice; the LORD our God will destroy them.


Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus
1   Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
2   Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
3   For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4   In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also.
5   The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land.
6   Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7   For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
8   Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.
9   They put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
10   Forty years long I detested that generation and said, This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways."
11   So I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest."


New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.