PRAYERS

letters for and from the heavens...

Our Daily Bread- OUR TIMES-- HIS HANDS


In a message to the 2002 graduates of Cedarville University, Dr. Paul Dixon encouraged them with these words: “Your times are in God’s hands.” Our family listened and thought it was appropriate for the graduates, which included our daughter Julie.
We had no idea that in 5 days our 17-year-old Melissa would graduate to heaven through a car accident—and we would be left to recall with new meaning that thought from Psalm 31:15.
Over the years, we have become painfully aware that in God’s mysterious ways, He has planned for some Christians a life that is short. I think of one young Christian girl, the kind with a smile for everyone, who had a sore finger—and a week later was dead from a raging infection. Or the young believer who was killed while playing softball when a ball hit her in the neck. Or the teen boy who loved Jesus and fishing—and died when a car hit him as he rode his bike home from the fishing hole. Melissa, Heather, Maggie, and Thomas. In their short lives, they created a legacy of faith in Jesus and love for others. They were ready when His time for them had come.
“I trust in You,” the psalmist said, recognizing that his life was in God’s hands alone (vv.14-15). Are you trusting God for whatever comes next on your calendar?

Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in Your hand,
All events at Your command. —Ryland
Our times are in God’s hands; our souls are in His keeping.

source: www.odb.org

Today's Bible Reading -- Psalm 31:1-16

1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
       let me never be put to shame;
       deliver me in your righteousness.

 2 Turn your ear to me,
       come quickly to my rescue;
       be my rock of refuge,
       a strong fortress to save me.

 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
       for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

 4 Free me from the trap that is set for me,
       for you are my refuge.

 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
       redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

 6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
       I trust in the LORD.

 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
       for you saw my affliction
       and knew the anguish of my soul.

 8 You have not handed me over to the enemy
       but have set my feet in a spacious place.

 9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
       my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
       my soul and my body with grief.

 10 My life is consumed by anguish
       and my years by groaning;
       my strength fails because of my affliction, 
[a]
       and my bones grow weak.

 11 Because of all my enemies,
       I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
       I am a dread to my friends—
       those who see me on the street flee from me.

 12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
       I have become like broken pottery.

 13 For I hear the slander of many;
       there is terror on every side;
       they conspire against me
       and plot to take my life.

 14 But I trust in You, O LORD;
       I say, "You are my God."

 15 My times are in Your hands;
       deliver me from my enemies
       and from those who pursue me.

 16 Let your face shine on your servant;
       save me in your unfailing love.

Today's Bible Reading -- James 2:1-9

1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
 5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[a] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

Our Daily Bread- GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES


In her fascinating book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Ruth Reichl reflects on her 6 years as a New York Timesrestaurant critic. Because she was the most influential critic in the country, top restaurants posted her photograph so their employees could recognize her. Hoping to earn a high rating in the New York Times,the staff intended to provide her with their top service and best cuisine.
In response, Reichl developed a clever strategy. Hoping to be treated as a regular patron, she disguised herself. On one occasion, she dressed up as an old woman. The restaurant made her wait a long time to be seated and then was unresponsive to her requests.
In the early church, James spoke out against favoritism: “[If] you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves?” (2:3-4).
When people attend our churches, are they treated impartially? Or do we show favoritism to the wealthy or elite? God calls us to show concern for and interest in all people, regardless of their social status. Let’s welcome all to join us in worshiping the King!

Dear Lord, You welcomed us into Your kingdom, not because of who we are but because of who You are— our loving and merciful God. Help us to open our arms of fellowship to all who enter in. Amen.
God lets us into His fellowship. Who are we to keep others out?

source: www.odb.org

Today's Bible Reading -- 2Kings 7:3-11

 3 Now there were four men with leprosy [a] at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, "Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, 'We'll go into the city'-the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die."
 5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!" 7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
 8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
 9 Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace."
 10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, "We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were." 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.

Our Daily Bread- DAY OF GOOD NEWS


My Australian friend Graham wasn’t born blind. He was blinded by a freak accident at age 9. Yet he never felt sorry for himself. Wherever he went, he shared what Jesus Christ meant to him. His last trip was to Thailand as a practicing physiotherapist. Besides using his professional skills there, he wanted to share the gospel of Christ.
The four lepers in 2 Kings 7 had some good news to share as well. They had stumbled into the Syrian camp and found it deserted. After helping themselves to the food and loot, they remembered the starving people of Samaria, shut in as a result of a Syrian siege. Their response was: “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent” (v.9). So they went and told their fellow Israelites about the provisions.
Despite their physical and social disadvantages, both Graham and the lepers thought about others. They were thankful for what they had found and considered it too good to keep to themselves.
Do you know someone who needs to know what Jesus has done? Don’t make excuses for what you lack in abilities. Instead, share the good news of what the Lord has done for you, and your life will take on new purpose.

Help us, Lord, to be a lifeline
To a dying world today,
Bringing hope to hopeless people,
Telling them that Christ’s the way. —Sper
When we are thankful for what we have, we want to share it with others.

source: www.odb.org

Today's Bible Reading -- John 5:1-9

1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
 7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
 8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
      The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

Our Daily Bread- BECOMING WHOLE


John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer prizewinning novel The Grapes of Wrath begins with a scene in drought-ravaged Oklahoma during the Great Depression. With the crops dying and the land choked by dust, the women watched the men to see if they would break under the strain. When they saw the men’s will to carry on, they took heart. Steinbeck writes, “Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole.” The issue was not happiness, prosperity, or satisfaction, but wholeness. This is the great need of us all.
In the King James Version of the Bible, the word whole is often used to describe Jesus’ work of physical healing. When the Lord encountered a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, He asked, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:5-6 kjv). After Jesus healed the man, He challenged him to also embrace spiritual wholeness: “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (v.14).
If we only want something Jesus can do for us, our relationship with Him will be limited. When we want Jesus Himself, He brings completeness to our lives. Christ wants, first and foremost, to make us whole.

I thank Thee for Thy precious Word
Where Thou didst make me see
My sinful self, my helpless soul,
Made whole by trusting Thee. —Anon.
Only Jesus can give wholeness to a broken life.

Today's Bible Reading -- Luke 18:15-17

15 Now they were bringing even infants to Him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him, saying, "Let the children come to Me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

Our Daily Bread- BRING THEM TO JESUS


The Scripture reading from Luke 18 about children seemed unusual at the memorial service for David Holquist. After all, he was 77 when he died.
Yet the pastor said the verses fit David, a long-time college professor, perfectly. Part of his legacy was that he took time for children—his own and others’. He made balloon animals and puppets, and helped in a puppet ministry at church. When planning worship services with others, he frequently asked, “What about the children?” He was concerned about what would help the children—not just the adults—to worship God.
Luke 18 shows us the concern Jesus had for children. When people brought little ones to Him, the disciples wanted to protect Jesus, a busy man, from the bothersome children. But it seems that Jesus was not at all bothered by them. Just the opposite. The Bible says that Jesus was “greatly displeased” at the disciples, and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them” (v.16). Mark adds that Jesus took them in His arms and blessed them (10:14-16).
Let’s examine our own attitude about children and then follow the example of David Holquist. Find some ways to help them come to Jesus.

To those who are teaching the gospel,
With love in their hearts for its truth,
Comes the gentle reminder from heaven,
“Forget not the children and youth.” —Anon.
God has great concern for little children.

source: www.odb.org

Today's Bible Reading -- 1Corinthians 2:6-16

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him," 10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what person knows a man's thoughts except the Spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. 14 The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Our Daily Bread- HIGH-TECH COMMUNICATION


When it comes to communication, our world is becoming increasingly high-tech. The popularity of things like Twitter and Facebook might cause some to think the Bible is too old-school. The tech-savvy people of our world might feel deterred because there are no sounds and no nifty graphics in the Bible. But the truth is, there’s more high-tech power in God’s Word than in any cutting-edge communication tool our world will ever know.
It’s not uncommon for a pastor to be told, “When you said that in your message, it was just what I needed.” Somehow during the sermon, God spoke to the person’s heart with a message tailor-made for him or her. If you’ve ever read the Bible and sensed God speaking directly to you, you know what I’m talking about. God has hard-wired you with His Spirit, who illumines your mind to understand His Word.
Imagine getting a “text message” directly from the Creator of the universe telling you exactly what you need at exactly the right time. No matter how high-tech this world gets, you’ll never experience a more powerful mode of communication!
Rejoice in the reality that “we have received . . . the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12).

Give me the insight, Lord,
As I hear Your Word today,
So I will truly understand
Your message and Your way. —Monroe
The Bible may be old, but its truths are always new.

source: www.odb.org