Day 20: 1 John 4:7

1 John 4: 7 : Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. NIV

“I’m a Believer”

It’s my opinion that all newborn babies are weirdly funny looking little creatures and that notion was tested when I first cast my eyes on my granddaughter Evelyn. This event happened five months before Evelyn was born during a routine appointment at Scott and White with my daughter-in-law Saemi. During Saemi’s ultrasound procedure, I was able to watch the screen and up popped the grainy picture of this tiny person. You would think that as I watched in stunned silence at the image of my first grandbaby that the words of some profound scripture or sainted hymn would have come to my mind but actually it was something quite different. What popped into my head was the Neil Diamond-penned, classic pop tune from 1966, recorded by The Monkees, the song, “I’m A Believer.”  Yes, The Monkees. In a darkened exam room in Scott and White in 2010, I gazed at the weirdly funny looking face of my grandchild and (cue the music) I heard these lyrics in my mind: “Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer. Not a trace, of doubt in my mind. I’m in love and I’m a believer.”

Today is Evelyn Elizabeth Smith’s 4^th birthday and even though she now lives almost 7,000 miles away from me, I think back with such tenderness and remember the moment I glimpsed the face of my precious granddaughter for the first time. How marvelous is the human condition that allows us to love another human being so completely at first glance and to know without a doubt that this depth of love will be with us forever. How grateful I am to God that He also loves each of us at first sight and continues to love us so unconditionally. I’m a believer.

Heavenly Father:   Thank You for grandchildren. Amen.

Contributed by Becky

Day 19: Psalm 93:1-10

Psalm 93:1-10: The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The Lord is clothed. He has girded Himself with strength, surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from old: You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up O Lord, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea. Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your House O Lord forever.

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Where it feels like as soon as your feet hit the floor there are a string of bad things happening to you one right after the other? I had a LOT of those days before I rededicated myself to God and started talking to Him on a regular basis. I was so caught up in life and the ways of the world that I forgot to see how good the Lord was, and forgot how good it felt to just praise Him. I forgot that I could ask for anything I needed and He would provide. Since I’ve been back in the church, I have been coming to the Lord more regularly in prayer, asking for His blessings on others, and asking for the things that our family needs. I am witnessing to people I don’t know, I am raising my children in the ways of the Lord, and I have never been happier in my life. I feel like when I pray, the Lord hears me and answers my prayers. I might not always get what I ask for, but He gives me what I need and continues to bless me. I still have those days where it seems like nothing is going right, but I know that God is always by my side just a prayer away, guiding me in the way I should go.

Dear God: I feel Your blessings all around me and I am filled with Your goodness & hope.

Contributed by Christine

Day 18: Luke 2:15-19

Luke 2: 15-19: When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

From the Cradle to the Cross

March 7th is a special day for me because it is the day my daughter was born (Happy Birthday, Kathy).

When Jesus was born and the shepherds had departed Luke 2 verse 19 tells us Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. What does it mean to ponder? The dictionary defines ponder as to think deeply about something.

Today we, as parents, keep the birth of a child in our hearts; but we also have photo albums, scrapbooks, and smart phones to keep a record.

Did Mary at the foot of the cross still ponder all the things of Jesus’ life in her heart? I like to think that she did. On this side of the cross we definitely know the price he paid. Let us then through the Lenten season ponder all our blessings because of his love and sacrifice.

Praise the Lord, He is Risen!

Thank You God for Your loving care of  families. May we show love to one another as You showed love to us through sending Your only son, Jesus, for us. Amen.

Contributed by Elaine

Friday, March 6, 2015

Day 17: Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28, King James Version (KJV): 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Looking for God in the Small Things in Life

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa

There was a period in my life, about ten years ago, when I was yearning to learn where God would lead me. I believed there must be some great plan into which I would fit. I was pretty pleased at where my life had led to that point, though almost every step, twist, and turn of my journey had been unforeseen. Well, unforeseen, by me.

I spent all of 2004 in Iraq, and some of the following year. The job I had consisted of very long days, every day, seven days a week. The sleeping areas were half a mile from where I worked and it became my custom to pray during the walk that came at the end of the day. It was usually around 10:30 so it was always dark, almost always quiet, and I was most frequently alone. Over the course of my time there I would make that nightly journey every bit of 400 times.

At one point, I began to wonder philosophically about what God might have in store for my future life. What was His plan and where did I fit?  For many nights, I prayed for guidance and a revelation onto which I could take hold and start that journey. Night after night I asked the same questions. Read more…

Day 16: Luke 22:41-44

Luke 22:41-44: He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed. He said, “Father, if it’s your will, take this cup of suffering away from me. However, not my will but your will must be done.” Then a heavenly angel appeared to him and strengthened him. He was in anguish and prayed even more earnestly. His sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.

There are two questions I want you to contemplate for a minute. In the garden of Gethsemane, how was Jesus feeling before his prayer?  And how did He feel during his prayer?

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Day 15: John 4:43-54

John 4:46-48: ⁴⁶ He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. ⁴⁸ Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”

This passage includes Jesus healing a royal official’s son who was close to death, telling the father he would not believe without seeing sights and wonders. Jesus healed the boy and his household began to believe.

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Day 13: Mark 5:23

Mark 5:23:²³ and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.”

An Angel In the Room                          

“My little daughter is very sick. Please come and place your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!”

Emma was the 5th and last embryo her Mom and Dad had to try for a second child. She had been frozen for six years at Read more…

Day 14: Mark 10:45

Mark 10:45 – For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Relationships

Several years ago, we had the opportunity to start a building project down on the creek by what would become Methodist Park, Killeen. We were a group of men that just got together to work. Some had carpentry skills. Some had welding skills. Some had no building skills at all!

There was one man who had a special gift. He had the gift of inspiring those around him to serve. You could see the joy of the Lord in his eyes. He was battling cancer. When he would come to the park, his attitude and genuine love for his fellow man made each of us a better person. His talent was truly bringing us together in service to our Lord. His faith was such an inspiration. This man lost his battle with cancer, but his legacy lives on not just in the park, but in the hearts of each man he led while building this project.

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Day 12: Mark 3:31-34

Mark 3: 31-34 “Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived at the house where he was teaching. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he looked at those around him and said, “These are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

The True Family of God

Over 25 years of the Army family moving from place to place we have come to appreciate ‘Home is where the Army sends us’. Moreover the family of God has been upper most in our lives living in various communities from St. Louis, Missouri to Clarksville, TN and living on numerous military installations from Ft. Rucker, AL, to Howard AFB, Panama to Mannheim, Germany.

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Day 10: Matthew 4:19-21

Matthew 4:19-21: And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

Credo for Life

We pause from the busyness of life, to affirm our willingness

To live like Jesus did here on earth, to want what he wanted

And to love what he loved.

We pledge to try to rise to the noblest and finest persons

We can ever be;

To see when possible that nothing we do is unimportant:

That any act, great or small, is significant, when done

According to God’s plan.

We renew our pledge to practice the way of Jesus with others:

To help with compassion those who are weak,

And to hasten the day when those who have so much in life

Will do more for those who have so much less.

May God’s indwelling Presence empower us to fulfill these promises.

May God’s kingdom come; may God’s boundless “Will”

On earth be done,

Till life reflects the fullness of God’s blessings,

Free from the fear of death and awaiting in peace

For the glory of that life yet to come!

Blessed are You, O God of all creation. We give You thanks for the life You have gifted us and the love with which You have sustained us, because You trust us to live our lives with others, to the fullest we know how and to the best we can. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Contributed by Rev. B.B. Mequi, retired