A Second Chance

 

When my second child went to school, I was so lonely that I went with her and took my younger son along with me. I served in her classroom as a parent volunteer, and the teacher was so grateful to get my help in her overly crowded classroom.

The next year, my youngest started school, and he was already used to it - had the same teacher and went to the same classroom. I was able to just keep on serving as a parent volunteer that second year too.

The next year, my baby went to first grade, so I volunteered as an art teacher for the local alternative school for miscreant teens. I did that for one year and the principle hired me without a degree as a teacher in math and history for the next three years.

I quit teaching these core subjects the next year and went back to volunteering as an art teacher...that was my passion and they had no money for an arts program. I was able to influence so many kids for Christ during those years.

My family also joined me in this ministry when we had the students over one or two each week for supper at our home. A few students without a family even lived with us from time to time for brief intervals.

God had a plan for this time as well. Several of the students were blown away by the unity and love in our family. They never experienced that, family dinners or joining hands and praying before the meal.

A few even accepted Christ during their visits in our home. One particular student stayed with us for a few weeks, then left our home and went to a rehab school to learn a trade. During his time there, they discovered that he had heart issues.

My husband happened to have an insurance exam in Little Rock at the same time that Anthony was hospitalized there for his heart. I went to spend the day with my former student while my husband took his test.

Anthony and I chatted, prayed, did a Bible study, played games and passed the time in companionship until he started having chest pains and his machines gave off loud alarms.

The hospital staff asked me to wait outside of the room, which was simply a glass enclosure in the middle of ICU. Anthony followed me with his eyes as I left the little glass room, and they never left my face - our eyes riveted on one another as the doctors and nurses gave him medical attention.

I stood out there crying and praying for this dear young man, even after the life left his body and the medical team tried shocking his heart, doing CPR and squeezing bags of air into him to fill his lungs with oxygen.

His eyes remained opened the whole time, and his face was still turned in my direction as he stared at me. So, I expected God to bring him back to life as I prayed and waited on Him to perform a miracle.

The miracle that day was that Anthony went to live with our God and Savior Jesus Christ. I remained on this side of glory, with my three children; but I was profoundly changed on that day.

I was the last person Anthony saw before God's angels came to escort him to heaven. I will never stop praising God for using me in this way to bring comfort to this dear boy who lived through so much pain and disappointment throughout his short 19 years of life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for using us in Your way and timing in such a perfect manner in Your divine appointments. Keep us ever mindful that You have a multitude of mundane and miraculous tasks for us to perform for You throughout our lifetime.

You already planned them before we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10), and it is up to us to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit to put us in the right place at the right time to do Your will for us. We cannot thank You enough for including us in Your plans for the lives of others and for using us to further Your Kingdom in the earth.

Thought for the Day:
No activity is random and frivolous and mundane when it is created for us by God to allow His Son, Jesus, to work through us and to use us for His ultimate glory.

Struggling with Our Faith - Part 1

When we struggle with our faith in God, it does not happen because Jesus is inadequate evidence for our conviction. Jesus is actually the very foundation of our Christian faith. 

Other religions diminish His importance in human history and call Him a good teacher, but refuse to give Him the elevated status as Emmanuel – God with us in the flesh (1 John 2:23).

The facts surrounding His miracles are proof enough that He is who He claimed to be. However, when we add His resurrection from the dead and His appearing to people for 40 days before His ascension (Acts 1:3; Luke 24:50-53), we have to conclude that He is God.

Christianity recognizes Jesus in His rightful place for all time. Jesus existed before He was born as a baby on the earth (John 8:58). He is the physical manifestation of God in human form (John 14:9).

If we take Jesus’ words for who He was, we have to believe that He is God. He actually told people that He came from above and that He is not from this world (John 8:23, 17:16). He shared in our Father’s glory prior to his short human existence (John 6:62, 17:5).
 

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to discern the voice of Your Spirit within us, so we can avoid living according to the dictates of our flesh or the devil. We revel in both the glory and humility of Christ who abides within us (John 14:6). We want to follow His example and live in the center of Your will, rather than according to our human desires and impulses.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus existed as God prior to His advent on this earth; yet, He humbled Himself as a servant and a sacrifice for our sins. - Philippians 2:6-8

No Longer a Sinner

 

We were all sinners at one time; but as Born Again Believers, that is in the past tense. That is no longer our spiritual identity. We are now saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). God calls us Saints (Ephesians 2:19; Psalm 31:23). This word means “holy one.” If we call our self a sinner, we may focus on sin and fall into sin. If we realize that we are Saints, we will focus on holiness and live a life set apart for Christ.

Who we are is what determines what we do. If I am a miner, I will mine. If I am a seamstress, I will sew. If I am a mechanic, preacher, teacher, laborer, sales person...you get the picture. Since I am a Saint, I will live a holy life unto the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:10). We may still fall to temptation and sin, but it is as a Saint not as a sinner, because we no longer live in a lifestyle of sin.

We often want to change our circumstances; however, God put them here for our edification, admonition and education. Do not struggle so hard against the areas of your life, which you do not like (Acts 26:14). God allows circumstances into our life, not to punish us, or to force us to do something we do not want to do, but to enlarge our borders (1 Chronicles 4:10) and to equip us to help others who come to us in their time of need (Luke 22:31-34).

God will create a clean heart in us (Psalm 51:10). We are coheirs with Christ and we inherit all of God’s promises with Him (Romans 8:17; Hebrews 6:12; 2 Peter 1:3-4). We can trust God to keep us in the palm of His hand and to continue to perfect us as His chosen priesthood and royal nation regardless of what is going on in our life (1 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 49:16).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to live in the awareness of Your calling on our life (Ephesians 2:10), so that we can walk according to Your will for our life. Help us to accept with joy what You provide for us, the good, the bad and the ugly. You always supply what we really need, even if it is a trial. As we prove faithful over the little things, You will give us charge over much (Matthew 25:21-23). 

Thought for the Day:

Our faith does not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power within us. – 1 Corinthians 2:5

Sidetracked

Read: Proverbs 2:3-5

" Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."

- Proverbs 2:5

A “sidetrack” refers to a second, relatively short length of railroad track that is placed just to the side of a main track. It is joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends. Engineers use them either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track either to meet from opposite directions or to pass in the same direction. A train is sidetracked from its course to make room for another train to pass. Sometimes, this maneuver throws the original train off schedule and makes life more difficult for the travelers inside.

In the same way that the train gets sidetracked, we also get sidetracked in our walk with God. This sidetrack refers to an alternate venue of thought or activity, that is a deviation or distracton from the main topic or central activity. It is also secondary or subordinate in importance or effectiveness. We allow the social mores of this world to cause us to take this alternate route, rather than to allow God's transforming hand to do a sanctifying work in our life. Then, we experience unnecessary trials and distance from God. Our prayers are stilted and our understanding of God’s Word weakens.

However, God continually calls us to a closer walk. If we repent and seek God’s will with all of our heart, He reveals His truth to us, fills us with His love and pours out His grace upon our lives. The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher and leads us into the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He wants us to trust and obey His Word and His Spirit, and to honor and respect Him with our lives.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to use my time to seek the knowledge of God as a hidden treasure, and to walk in reverence for Your name. When I get sidetracked, lead me back to Your path of righteousness. Let me walk with reverence for You, Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).

Thought for the Day:

If our worldview lines up with God's Word, it will stand the test of time.