Wednesday, October 11, 2017

LHM Daily Devotion - October 12, 2017 "Knowing Us"

In 1937, you might have seen five signs along our nation's highways...

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour



"Knowing Us"

October 12, 2017

O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

In 1937, you might have seen five signs along our nation's highways. They read, 

The cannibals / Took just one view / And said / He looks too nice / To stew/ Burma-Shave

Of course, that was then, and this is now. No longer will the message on the sign be "one size fits all." Today we are seeing the dumb static billboard message being transformed before our very eyes. Appearing in select spots around the country is the smart digital billboard.

Here's how the smart digital billboard works:

1. The billboard looks at you, and a roadside camera reads your license plate, and sends it to

2. a computer, which will tell it who you are, your address, age, race, income level, etc. and then

3. flash a tailor-made ad up on the screen that advertisers think will be of special interest to you.

If there are a number of cars, the computer will decide if it wishes to go after one special customer, or average things out to appeal to the most people passing by.

According to one of the developers of the smart billboard, from beginning to end, this whole process only takes a second or two. Of course, the smart billboard doesn't need to work fast when it is examining and evaluating a bicycle rider or a pedestrian. And, yes, it can read a lot of information about you by calculating the speed you walk, the length of your stride, and a host of other small bits of information.

As I read about the smart billboard, I found the whole idea a little bit creepy. Yes, I know my web-browsing habits are reported to all kinds of advertisers who select what little commercials they are going to throw at me. Still, the idea that I'm not going to be anonymous even in my own vehicle is somewhat unsettling.

In contrast to the knowledge gleaned by the smart billboard, we have the Triune God. As our Designer and Maker, the Lord knows us from the inside out. Not just our buying habits, but everything about us is knowledge possessed by our Lord.

Sadly, when we say everything in the previous statement, we have to confess there are some things we wish would stay hidden. Our sins, our shortcomings, our many transgressions put us in opposition to the Lord and worthy of condemnation.

In response to our helplessness, the Lord has decided to give us not what we want, like a smart billboard might. No, in the Person of His Son, the Lord gives us what we most need: forgiveness of sins, salvation, and a home in heaven. With gladness at what the Lord has done, we are able to place ourselves in the hands of God and, like the psalmist, say, Lord, "Lead me in the way everlasting" (see Psalm 139:24).

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give thanks that even though You know our many sins, You still love us and have worked to save us. May we continue to rejoice in the salvation our Savior has won. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin!  Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).

CPTLN Devocional de 12 de Octubre de 2017


Alimento Diario

Autenticidad

12 de Octubre 2017

Esto les causa gran regocijo, aun cuando les sea necesario soportar por algún tiempo diversas pruebas y aflicciones; pero cuando la fe de ustedes sea puesta a prueba, como el oro, habrá de manifestarse en alabanza, gloria y honra el día que Jesucristo se revele. El oro es perecedero y, sin embargo, se prueba en el fuego; ¡y la fe de ustedes es mucho más preciosa que el oro!
~ 1 Pedro 1:6-7 (RVC)

Carolina Hayes es una mujer de principios. Digo esto porque, a pesar de todo, aún sigue protegiendo a Bruce.

Hace un tiempo Bruce, un cerdo de 177 libras, se apareció en su pequeña granja en Australia. Carolina le curó los rasguños y las heridas que tenía, y lo alimentó, haciéndolo sentirse como en su casa.

Bruce demostró su gratitud volviéndose agresivo y exigiendo más alimento del que Carolina podía compartir. Al no conseguir lo que quería, fue al garaje y destruyó un colchón, rompió en dos el palo de una escoba, y luego comenzó a mordisquearle los tobillos, y a dar golpes contra la puerta a las 4 de la mañana.

Finalmente, Carolina se dio cuenta que Bruce la tenía cautiva en su propia casa.

Si Bruce me hubiera hecho todo eso a mí, ya hace tiempo que hubiera estado sobre mi mesa... no en mi mesa, sino sobre mi mesa.

Pero Carolina, además de ser vegetariana y amante de los animales, es una mujer de principios. Lo que hizo fue llamar a las autoridades y pedirles que se hicieran cargo de Bruce. También solicitó que no fuera enjaulado, que no fuera llevado al matadero, y que no fuera lastimado. Como mujer de principios que es, Carolina simplemente quería que se llevaran a Bruce.

Se me ocurre que cuando Pedro escribió las palabras que sirven de texto para esta reflexión, estaba orando para que los cristianos sean personas de principios, especialmente en lo que respecta a su fe.

Es cierto que se pasa por tiempos difíciles; es cierto que el mundo es a veces agresivo y pone a prueba la fe. Pero, más allá del dolor que se pueda sentir, Pedro quería que quienes han sido lavados en la sangre del Salvador resucitado, se aferren con firmeza a la fe que recibieron en el bautismo.

Pedro quería que los creyentes sean cristianos con principios.

¿Por qué? Porque al pasar por pruebas y persecuciones, el Señor perfecciona nuestra fe y la hace mejor, más pura y más valiosa de lo que era antes.

Seamos siempre cristianos con principios... cueste lo que cueste.

ORACIÓN: Padre celestial, gracias por habernos dado la fe a través de nuestro bautismo. Danos fuerza y perseverancia para soportar las pruebas de esta vida aferrándonos a ti, de tal forma que nuestra fe sea cada vez más pura y refinada. En el nombre de tu hijo Jesús. Amén.

© Copyright 2017 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. ¡Utilice estas devociones en sus boletines! Usado con permiso. Todos los derechos reservados por la Int'l LLL.

The Daily Readings for WEDNESDAY, October 11, 2017

The Calling of Matthew
2 Kings 22:14-23:3
So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her. She declared to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the LORD, I will indeed bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants-- all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have abandoned me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the LORD. Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place." They took the message back to the king. Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. The king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant.

1 Corinthians 11:23-34
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

Matthew 9:9-17
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Morning Psalms
Psalm 119: Qoph Clamavi in toto corde meo
145   I call with my whole heart; answer me, O LORD, that I may keep your statutes.
146   I call to you; oh, that you would save me! I will keep your decrees.
147   Early in the morning I cry out to you, for in your word is my trust.
148   My eyes are open in the night watches, that I may meditate upon your promise.
149   Hear my voice, O LORD, according to your loving-kindness; according to your judgments, give me life.
150   They draw near who in malice persecute me; they are very far from your law.
151   You, O LORD, are near at hand, and all your commandments are true.
152   Long have I known from your decrees that you have established them for ever.


Psalm 119: Resh Vide humilitatem
153   Behold my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.
154   Plead my cause and redeem me; according to your promise, give me life.
155   Deliverance is far from the wicked, for they do not study your statutes.
156   Great is your compassion, O LORD; preserve my life, according to your judgments.
157   There are many who persecute and oppress me, yet I have not swerved from your decrees.
158   I look with loathing at the faithless, for they have not kept your word.
159   See how I love your commandments! O LORD, in your mercy, preserve me.
160   The heart of your word is truth; all your righteous judgments endure for evermore.


Psalm 119: Shin Principes persecuti sunt
161   Rulers have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your word.
162   I am as glad because of your promise as one who finds great spoils.
163   As for lies, I hate and abhor them, but your law is my love.
164   Seven times a day do I praise you, because of your righteous judgments.
165   Great peace have they who love your law; for them there is no stumbling block.
166   I have hoped for your salvation, O LORD, and have fulfilled your commandments.
167   I have kept your decrees and I have loved them deeply.
168   I have kept your commandments and decrees, for all my ways are before you.


Psalm 119: Taw Appropinquet deprecatio
169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding, according to your word.
170   Let my supplication come before you; deliver me, according to your promise.
171   My lips shall pour forth your praise, when you teach me your statutes.
172   My tongue shall sing of your promise, for all your commandments are righteous.
173   Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your commandments.
174   I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
175   Let me live, and I will praise you, and let your judgments help me.
176   I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; search for your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Evening Psalms
Psalm 128 Beati omnes
1   Happy are they all who fear the LORD, and who follow in his ways!
2   You shall eat the fruit of your labor; happiness and prosperity shall be yours.
3   Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive shoots round about your table.
4   The man who fears the LORD shall thus indeed be blessed.
5   The LORD bless you from Zion, and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6   May you live to see your children's children; may peace be upon Israel.


Psalm 129 Sæpe expugnaverunt
1   Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth, let Israel now say;
2   Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth", but they have not prevailed against me."
3   The plowmen plowed upon my back and made their furrows long.
4   The LORD, the Righteous One, has cut the cords of the wicked.
5   Let them be put to shame and thrown back, all those who are enemies of Zion.
6   Let them be like grass upon the housetops, which withers before it can be plucked;
7   Which does not fill the hand of the reaper, nor the bosom of him who binds the sheaves;
8   So that those who go by say not so much as, "The LORD prosper you. We wish you well in the Name of the LORD."


Psalm 130 De profundis
1   Out of the depths have I called to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
2   If you, LORD, were to note what is done amiss, O LORD, who could stand?
3   For there is forgiveness with you; therefore you shall be feared.
4   I wait for the LORD; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.
5   My soul waits for the LORD, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
6   O Israel, wait for the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy;
7   With him there is plenteous redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

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.

Prayer of the Day for WEDNESDAY, October 11, 2017


O Lord, I beseech you to deliver me, and all of your children, from the fear of the unknown future; from fear of failure; from fear of poverty; from fear of bereavement; from fear of loneliness; from fear of sickness and pain; from fear of age; from fear of death. Help us, O Father, by your grace to love and fear only you, and fill our hearts with cheerful courage and loving trust in you; through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.
Amen

Verse of the Day for WEDNESDAY, October 11, 2017


Psalm 62:1 (NIV) [Psalm 62][For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.] Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

Read all of Psalm 62

Listen to Psalm 62

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Morning Devotions with Cap'n Kenny - Enduring Faith


Enduring Faith

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve, continually rescue you.”
~ Daniel 6:16 (NIV)

While Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied back in Israel, Daniel continued his ministry in Babylon where he and his people remained in exile. As Daniel had prophesied, the Babylonian empire was eventually conquered by the Medes and Persians, but because of Daniel’s excellence as an administrator and man of God, he not only survived, but maintained his favored status under Darius the Mede and then Cyrus, King of Persia.

Darius exercised his rule through 120 satraps who oversaw the kingdom. Over the satraps, he appointed three administrators, one of whom was Daniel. “Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” Daniel 6:3. In a fit of political jealousy, the remaining satraps and administrators sought to undo Daniel, but they could find no corruption or negligence in him. They finally settled on a way to cause Daniel’s downfall, or so they thought. “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Daniel 6:5.

The administrators and satraps went to King Darius and preyed upon his pride. They suggested that the king pass a law prohibiting anyone in the kingdom from praying to anyone other than Darius for thirty days. Darius put the decree in writing, and according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, the law could not be repealed, even by Darius.

Daniel was a faithful servant to Darius but more faithful to his God. He disobeyed the decree and continued to pray to God three times a day. His political rivals brought him up on charges and Darius reluctantly enforced the law. Darius was distraught, he had been fooled, but he was constrained by the laws of the land.

You know the rest of the story. Daniel’s sentence was to be thrown into the lion’s den overnight, but God shut the mouths of the lions. In the morning, after a sleepless night, Darius rushed to the lion’s den and cried out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.” Daniel 6:20-21.

The king then punished Daniel’s rivals by throwing them to the lions, and the lions consumed them before they touched the floor.

In contrast to my mental images of this event, Daniel was actually an old man by the time he was thrown into the lions’ den, probably in his 80’s. Throughout his life he exemplified excellent and faithful service to his king, but he saw God as his highest authority. If I were Daniel and I was in my 80’s, looking back over a life of faithful service, I would probably have been pretty frustrated with God. “God,” I would have said, “what’s the deal? I’ve always been faithful to you, always served excellently, never complained. But now I’m getting thrown to the lions? Are you my God or aren’t you? Where’s my reward? I’m old now, why can’t I just have peace?”

But that’s me. There’s no indication that Daniel complained or lamented his situation. He persisted in faith and in service. God did reward him, and supplemented his already extraordinary life with another tremendous story that continues to minister to us today. I long for a life more like Daniel’s. I pray that it will one day be said of me that there is no fault to be found in me except as it relates to my enduring faithfulness to God in the face of adversity.
Lord, let my faith always persist in the face of adversity. Amen.

In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny


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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Devotion shared by Stephen J. Peterson.
“What’s the deal God?"

Un Dia a la Vez - La infidelidad… enemiga del amor


La infidelidad… enemiga del amor

Mis ojos pondré en los fieles de la tierra, para que estén conmigo; el que ande en el camino de la perfección, este me servirá.
~ Salmo 101:6 (RV-60)

La infidelidad es enemiga del amor y un cuchillo que corta el alma. Por eso, Dios quiere que enderecemos nuestros caminos.

Es triste que haya personas que tenga ese tipo de experiencia, ya sea por su traición o porque las traicionen.

Dios ve la infidelidad como un pecado y se cataloga por igual tanto en el hombre como en la mujer. Por tradición, el hombre siempre ha sido más infiel, pero la verdad es que hoy en día las mujeres también tienen altos índices en este aspecto. Además, es tan fuerte que hasta son capaces de dejar a un lado a sus hijos y vivir una aventura.

La infidelidad es la peor decisión que podemos tomar. Tiene consecuencias muy dolorosas y te deja un vacío que solo puede llenar Dios con su perdón. No vale la pena arriesgar lo que tienes por unos momentos de placer, pues después la soledad y la culpabilidad serán tus compañeros.

Dios quiere hoy enderezar tu camino y quiere que valores el hombre que te ha dado. Y si no tienes pareja, tampoco tienes derecho al hombre ajeno. En mi caso, el Señor me llevó por un proceso de restauración tan doloroso que aprendí la lección, pero no me salvé de vivir las consecuencias.

Por eso te invito a que rompas hoy con esa relación. Pídele a Dios que te perdone y te dé la oportunidad de una nueva vida.

No siembres en la vida de los demás lo que no quisieras vivir en ti o en tus hijos. La infidelidad te lleva a la muerte espiritual.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón

Standing Strong Through the Storm - GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE OR FORSAKE US


GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE OR FORSAKE US

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“When I was pregnant with our sixth child,” says Bahar from Central Asia, “my husband Bahtiyar fell ill and was diagnosed with stomach cancer. We often prayed for his healing and together with the few other believers in our village we looked to God for His help. Bahtiyar was also seeing a doctor, but not much could be done for him.

“Shortly before Bahtiyar’s death several men from the village mosque came to our house and talked to him. They knew he had been a Muslim before and had become a Christian. Now, when he was so ill, they started debating with him and urged him to return to Islam, promising that they would give him a decent burial. Bahtiyar did not have to think about it at all; he refused to deny Jesus and sent the men away.

“He was with us for three more days; then he passed away and went to be with the Lord. It is our custom to bury our dead on the same day, so when my son went to the other believers in the village and told them that his dad had died they arrived immediately to arrange his funeral. They and other Christians from a nearby town did everything that needed to be done and really took good care of us as a family. According to our tradition Bahtiyar’s body was put in a yurt so people could pay their respects.

“As we lived in a small village the news that Bahtiyar had died was out in no time and it did not take long before the Mullah and many men from the village came to the yurt and started to shout at the believers. “You can’t bury him here in our cemetery, we don’t want him here! This man has left our religion, he has betrayed us, and we don’t want him to defile our cemetery. Find another place!” They were really angry and even threatened to burn our house and the yurt with Bahtiyar’s body. The believers called the police but it took a while before they arrived. Meantime they moved his body to Kisul, another village nearby.

“For a while I was completely confused and did not know what to do. Was God still in control? Was He watching over us as a family, over me? Here I was, pregnant with my sixth child, my husband had just died, we had so many problems burying him and the whole village, including my own mother in law, was against us. Where and how were we going to live?

“God has promised in His Word that He will never leave us, nor forsake us, and He never does. For a brief period I thought that God had left me, but fortunately that did not last long. Soon God reassured me of His presence, I rediscovered my joy in God and I trust that He is in control, even though things in our family have been very difficult this last year.

RESPONSE: Today I will rejoice in God’s reassurance of His presence and control of all things in my life.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, that You are concerned about the smallest details of my life regardless of the circumstances.

Girlfriends in God - I Love it When A Plan Comes Together!


I Love it When A Plan Comes Together!

Today’s Truth

For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
~ Hebrews 11:10 (New English)

Friend to Friend

Our son was born to be a builder. From the time he could hold a plastic red hammer in his toddler-sized hands, Jered began hammering imaginary nails into the coffee table, fixing everything that was broken in our house, and drawing crayon blueprints of various objects he planned to build.

I knew we had a true builder on our hands when Jered built a clubhouse inside our garage. And what a clubhouse it was – complete with four walls, a roof, windows and a door, carpeted flooring and a window air conditioning unit – all of which he scrounged from neighbors, dumpsters and piles of discarded wood at construction sites. If we needed storage cabinets in our garage, Jered drew up blueprints and built them. When we moved to a house with small bedrooms, Jered designed and built a queen-sized bunk bed over a built-in desk and book shelves to conserve space in his room. We no longer bought furniture. Jered simply built it. Looking back, I did not realize that those crayon blueprints and plastic tools would pave the way for our son’s career. Today, he is a master carpenter and builder.

Jered reminds me of another young man who was destined to become a builder – Jesus. Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter by trade and taught Jesus everything he knew about being a master carpenter. It was not uncommon for the son to carry on his father’s business in those days. I often wonder if Jesus didn’t have a little workbench beside Joseph’s. I am sure Jesus must have followed His daddy around, hammering alongside His father’s true blows. I imagine Joseph had to remove a few stray nails driven by Jesus and even repair a few of his Son’s “jobs.” Did Jesus build a piece of furniture that Mary treasured like I treasure everything Jered has ever built for our home? Jesus was and is the ultimate Architect and Builder.

Yes, God is the Master Creator, but His greatest creations are not made of wood or stone. Jesus was and is the creator of eternal masterpieces like you and me. His blueprint for our lives is second to none. His plan is the Word of God and is without flaw or error as it molds us into the image of God – a process that is sometimes painful.

I once promised myself that I would never buy a house that could be described as a “fixer-upper.” I don’t like fixing things. I want everything to be fixed before I move in. But there we were, buying a town house that needed so much work even the realtor couldn’t believe my husband and I wanted to buy it. Why didn’t someone stop us? No one did, so the sale was made, and we went to work. Actually, my son and husband went to work while I went crazy.

I had no idea how horrible the process of remodeling could be. We basically gutted the whole place and rebuilt it – while living in it. I was not happy … and resolved to never set foot in another house that required so much work. I am so thankful God does not feel that way about me.

Honestly, I often wondered why God didn’t just demolish the old me and build a new one. Then He did just that – through a two-year battle with clinical depression. While sitting at the bottom of that deep, dark and slimy pit, the Father lovingly stripped away old fears and insecurities. From the walls of my heart, He tore the rotten attitudes, undisciplined thoughts and unholy desires that had walked me to the edge of my pit - then pushed me in. He replaced rusty old dreams with new ones and basically, gutted my life to build a new one, a better one, and a stronger one.

I know there are days when the plan of God seems completely wrong and we simply do not understand. Every moment is pregnant with darkness, and our hearts are numb, paralyzed by fear and doubt. We are treading water in the storm-tossed sea of life, desperately longing to see Him walking on the treacherous waves toward us, rescue in His hand. It is in those shadowed moments that we must choose to trust the Plan Maker, the Master Designer, even though our faith is small, and we cannot understand the plan. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And one day, every one of our question marks will be yanked into exclamation points as we see that high plan as He sees it – perfect.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT).

Today, Girlfriend, set aside your meager agenda. Lay down your limited life arrangement and look for God to meet you at the point of surrender, power and victory in His hands. Now that is a great plan.

Let’s Pray

Father, please forgive me when I stubbornly choose to ignore Your plan for my life. Thank You for always being there for me, ready to rescue me from my own selfish desires and decisions. Help me remember that Your plan is the highest plan for my life and give me the strength to follow that plan. I want to honor and please You, Lord.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Read and memorize 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” How does this verse impact the way you live, think, and act?

More from the Girlfriends

The most common invitation offered by Jesus Christ is simply to "come." He doesn't ask us to fix what is wrong or expect us to clean up our lives. That is His responsibility. Jesus loves us just as we are - in the midst of our sin and frail humanity. When we come to Him with a "yes" in our hearts, He lovingly transforms the broken places into beautiful scars of healing and new life. "Come As You Are” is an encouraging message filled with hope and God's love and power to help us be all He created us to be. Check it out! And be sure to connect with Mary on Facebook or through email.

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Ron Hutchcraft - Your Life's Most Memorable Legacy


Your Life's Most Memorable Legacy

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Ronald Reagan led one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th Century-a life which he sadly and progressively forgot in the last years of his life. His long battle with Alzheimer's Disease acted like a cruel eraser. It removed recollections of what he had done and even who he was. After Ronald Reagan's death, we learned a lot more about what happened during his long journey into darkness. Memory of his years in Hollywood just disappeared, and then he couldn't remember being Governor of California, and ultimately he lost all that had happened in his years as being President of the United States. But one memory stayed alive almost until the end. In the office that Nancy Reagan set up for him, there was a picture on the wall; it was a picture of the Rock River in Illinois. When visitors would ask him about it, after most of his life was there no more, he would brighten and he'd say, "Oh, that's where I was a lifeguard when I was 17. That's where I saved 77 lives!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Life's Most Memorable Legacy."

After all was said and done, the one thing Ronald Reagan could remember about his life was the lives he saved. But then, there's nothing about your life that's more worth remembering. No matter how many or how few, no matter how large or how small your life accomplishments have been, that's your greatest legacy. There's nothing more heroic, there's nothing more meaningful than being someone's difference between life and death-especially if it's eternal life or death.

Our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 11:30 tells us what the legacy of your life and mine ought to be. God says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." What you should have to show for the one life you've lived is a trail of life-people whose souls you have helped move from sin's death penalty to the eternal life that can only be found at Jesus' cross.

There's a stretch of beach that God has assigned to each of us who belongs to Him. There's a stretch of beach where He's assigned you to be His lifeguard-the one who's responsible to do all you can to rescue the people around you who will die spiritually unless someone helps them get to Jesus. You may be looking around and saying, "Me? Surely God must have someone better than me to help these people get to heaven?"

Stop looking around. You're the one He's put in their lives. Not some highly trained spiritual professional, not some professional God salesman, not someone with a more outgoing personality, not someone who's got it more together than you have. Your Savior decided you were the person they needed as their link to Him.

Look, if you're like most of us, your fear has kept you from actively trying to introduce them to Jesus. Fear is actually from one thing: it's all about me. It's focusing on ourselves-how I'm going to look, what they'll think about me-instead of focusing on what might happen to them if we don't try to tell them.

Maybe you've been preoccupied with goals and accomplishments that won't even last for your lifetime, let alone forever. But God says those who lead many to righteousness will "shine like the stars forever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). People in heaven because you cared-there's nothing you can do in this life that can even come close to that as a legacy. Lives saved forever.

The place where you work, the activities you're involved in, the school you attend, the neighborhood you live in, the people who keep showing up in your life; they are the lives at stake on your stretch of the beach. Don't fail the Savior who died for them by letting them live and die without Him because of your silence. Don't fail them by not showing them the difference Jesus makes; by not telling them what Jesus did for them on the cross.

See, you are their chance at Jesus. You're their chance at heaven.