Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

March 8th 2014. It was a Saturday. A day I purposefully tried to prepare for every waking moment for almost 3-weeks. I prayed, I cried, I read the books, I got angry, I was regretful, I talked to people, and then I prayed and prayed and prayed some more…for peace in my heart to not fall into the despair I felt so many years ago and for so many years after the saddest day of my life. Yet, I was so completely unprepared for the day, or any day thereafter. I was blindsided by a feeling that words couldn’t describe as my daddy went home to be with my sister, Vicki, and his mom, dad, sister, and brother in Heaven. It was not despair. It was not anger. It was, as best as I can describe it in words…peace in my heart and a feeling of absolute faith in God’s promise.

About 14 years prior to Daddy’s passing, my best friend in the universe, my sister, Vicki, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just a few weeks after rallying back from a 14-hour surgery to fix some of the ravages that cancer had left behind. Friday, October 20, 2000, about 4:00 a.m., I got the call…and I thought, “That’s it. No more ‘believer’ in this gal. I’m done. Thanks be NOT to GOD. What God? What God would leave me here to LIVE in this heartache? To watch my parents LIVE in the greatest sadness a parent could experience?” (I say ‘live IN the sadness because, for me, it has never ceased to be any less sad than the moment it happened. Not one ounce of sadness has ever left my heart.)

Somewhere along my walks and talks (okay, ‘talks’ might be putting it mildly…I screamed, cried, begged, and beat my fists on the ground as I fell to my knees in the middle of the trail) with Jesus and God over that 14-year span, I began saying, “I HAVE to believe that there IS a God, that there IS a Heaven. Because I cannot live this life without BELIEVING that I will be reunited with Vicki with all the love and joy that we had every moment of her existence on Earth! I HAVE to believe in that…otherwise, what’s the point of living at all?”

Through repeated efforts of everyone around me and just an overwhelming feeling of having a pointless existence in this world, I made the journey back to ‘believing’ in that which I cannot understand, but that which I cannot live without–hope and faith that it’s all true. And when my daddy passed away, there was no anger in me for God, despite the immense sadness. All I’ve felt since that moment through today is…at peace and ready to join Daddy and Vicki in the joy of His kingdom whenever He calls me home.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that You continue to fill my heart with peace throughout the most unimaginable sadness as my family and friends are called home to You in the coming days of my life. I pray that through my tears and even my anger, that You know that I am Your faithful servant on this Earth today, tomorrow and every day until You bless me with the gift of all gifts–everlasting life with those I love in the house of the Lord. Amen.

Contributed by Nessa Austin

 “On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:

Sun, stand still over Gibeon and you moon, over the Valley of Aijalon

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,

till the nation avenged itself on its enemies.

as it was written in the Book of Jashar

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.

There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened

to a human being.

 Bold Faith

Now the first thing you see and are amazed at is that the sun and moon stopped and stayed in place for almost a full day. I mean this has never happened before or since with a person asking GOD to do this. What a supernatural thing to happen, and it is amazing! I do not want to discount this miracle of GOD.

What I think is even more amazing is Joshua asking GOD to do this in front of all these people. I mean really how embarrassing this would be if GOD did not do it. I don’t know if I would be so bold and ask this of GOD. Ok, I do know, and I would not do it. Joshua’s faith is a very powerful message to the Israelites and to us today. 

GOD does answer prayers, and HE most certainly will answer a bold prayer. A bold prayer requires a bold faith in GOD. Joshua had this faith. He knew that not only could GOD do this but also GOD would do this. Wow is all I can say. What if we all prayed this boldly to GOD knowing that HE can and will answer our prayers? 

So I want to encourage each and every one of you to pray to GOD and pray boldly with a bold faith knowing that GOD can and will answer your bold prayer. Have faith and trust GOD with everything. HE will guide you. HE will direct you. 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, You are so faithful, trustworthy and true. Forgive us for not trusting You with everything. Forgive us for not praying boldly to You. Lead us, guide us, and encourage us to come to You with everything and to have a faith so strong that we know not only that You can do it but that You will do it. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

                                                                                         Contributed by Laura Dungan

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”   Luke 18:13

As I studied these scriptures, knowing the Pharisee had looked down upon this tax collector and exalted himself for all his good deeds and his tithing and verbally abused the tax collector, I began to think where I may have unintentionally done the same. As a Catholic did I look at others going into the confessional booth and smirk to myself when their confession took “forever?” As a Lay Pastor in the Reformed Church, Crystal Cathedral, did I look at those who came to our church to just make themselves look important; always trying to make sure they were in the camera’s lens and dismiss their spiritual needs?  As a Lay Pastor/Elder in the Presbyterian Church did I put the “order of worship,” the appropriate prayers and responses ahead of the urgent needs of those seeking peace and acceptance? Through the years of changing churches, theologies and doctrines, I have learned a difficult and yet extremely important lesson–these things are not important because as Jesus taught us in Mark 9:40, “For he who is not against us is on our side.” So, confessions, orders of worship, rote prayers, limelight and fame are not what He taught. Jesus simply taught us to follow in His footsteps and love one another as He loved us.  

Prayer: