But He's Mine!

I have a dear friend whose 28-year-old son is severely handicapped. He has a special wheel chair and she has to feed him every meal. The obvious love she has for this son takes my breath away, as I watch her carefully spooning specially prepared food into his small, deformed mouth, and wiping his lips, and gently patting his hands. The love shining through her eyes cannot be explained to some people. She tells me, "Well, I love him because he is mine."

Her son will never cross the stage in a cap and gown, never walk down the aisle to marry, never lovingly hand her a grandchild to hold and rock. Actually, he will never be able to perform for her at all. He will never be able to take care of her in her senior years. Her love is a love that receives, and expects, nothing in return. "Because he is mine."

I think of John 10: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--and I lay down my life for the sheep...no one takes it from me but I lay it down on my own accord..."

We are His sheep -- the sheep of His pasture....

We are just as helpless as my friend's son. Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

He loves us and cares for us "because we belong to Him."

Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever. From Him no power of evil can sever.
He gave His life to ransom my soul--now I belong to Him.
Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone--but for eternity.

What's on Your Schedule Today?

We are in the life-saving business. We rescue people and bring them to Jesus. 

What about this woman?

She was 70 years old when she came to Jesus. She lived in a small village in Africa. She was blind and uneducated, but wanted to do something to help other people come to Jesus.

She took her French Bible to her local missionary and asked him to underline John 3:16 in red. He did.

Then she took her Bible and a chair and sat each day in front of a boys' school.

When dismissal time came and the boys began leaving, she called out: "Please come here. Do you read French?"

As they approached she asked them, "Please read to me this passage underlined in red."

Then she would ask if they knew what it meant. She explained the verse and told them about Jesus and what He had done for them.

Due to the boldness and obedience of this aged blind woman at least 24 of those young men became pastors!

What's on your schedule today?

How To Fill Your Day With Good

1 Peter 3:8-12, Paraphrase from The Message

"Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.

That goes for all of you - no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm.

Instead - bless. That's your job - to bless. You'll be a blessing as well as get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: say nothing evil or hurtful, snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace with all you're worth.

God looks on all this with approval."

[That's the kind of life I want, so I guess that's the kind of person I want, and need, to be!] 

Paul and Timothy Pray for Their Friends

The New Testament gives us great insight on how to pray for our friends -- especially in the epistles where the writers record exactly what they are praying for when they are praying for their friends.. .

Consider these words from Paul and Timothy in the letter to the Colossians:

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to His will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. 

We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making Him proud of you as you work hard in His orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. 

We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul -- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that He has for us." (Colossians 1:9-12).

Lots of ideas here of how we should pray for each other. I love especially the glory-strength that spills over into joy petition, and also the idea that as we learn how God works we can learn to do His work ourselves!

And that He can make us stronger so we can take part in all the glorious things He has prepared for us!

Holiness - Intend to fly? - William Law

 This selection is from William Law's (1686-1761) The Holy Life:


Just as we cannot live a holy life without prayer, so we cannot have prayer without a holy life. To be foolish in the way we spend our time and money is no greater mistake than to be foolish in relation to our prayers.

If our lives cannot be offered to God, how can our prayers?
.....

Our lives should be as holy and as heavenly as our prayers. It is our strict duty to live by reason, to devote all of the action of our lives to God, to walk before Him in wisdom and holiness...and to do everything in His name and for His glory.

If our prayers do not lead to this, they are of no value no matter how wise or heavenly.

No, such prayers would be absurdities. They would be like prayers for wings though we never intended to fly.