Bearing Fruit For Jesus  WAITING ON THE LORD

 "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

...God knows the best time for everything. If we desire to walk with him, we will follow his instructions, even if it means waiting. What we want to do or desire to have may be acceptable to God, but God's timing could be different than ours. If he tells us to slow down and wait, he does this for our benefit. We need to trust him and wait for his direction. "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" (Psalm 25:4-5).

With our limited insight and insistence on having things now, we are likely to question God's timing. God only wants what is good for us, and that may include waiting.

...God may want us to wait for one of several purposes. He knows that, at times, to give us something immediately could be harmful to us. We could be unprepared to receive that for which we prayed; we may have improper motives or need stronger faith. He may have a much better plan in mind. Jesus himself waited. He heard that his good friend Lazarus was dying, but didn't go to him immediately. He told his disciples that the reason for his delay was so that they might believe (John 11:1-44). God is in control, and we know that he will not grow tired or weary of providing for us.

Prayer:  Lord, you are so gracious to me. In your infinite wisdom, you give me what I need when I need it. Help me to use my life in ways that give you honor and glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Tanya Marshall      Pilgrimage Reflection  The Garden Tomb

He is not here; he has risen! (John 20:16)

On the last day of our pilgrimage in Israel, we visited the Garden Tomb, which is one of severalpossible sites of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial in a nearby tomb. This location lies outside Jerusalem’s old city walls, which fits with the custom of the time of not doing burials within the city limits.

 A wonderful guide there told us the arguments for this possibly being the site, which included showing us an outcropping of rock right there which resembles a skull. Mark 15:22says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

Then the guide led us into the tomb itself. He spoke of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection, rightly emphasizing that it doesn’t matter so much where it happened, but that it did happen.

Doug then led our group in a worship service and final communion in one of the small outdoor worship alcoves near the tomb. As Doug was speaking about the women coming to the tomb on Easter morning, I had a fleeting vision of Jesus standing next to him, with a grin on his face, saying, “Yes, I’m not in that tomb over there. I’m here with you, with the living. It is good that you are here. Now go, spread the word.”

Prayer: God, there are many who don’t know that you’re alive and present with us every day.

Rod Gartner

Spreading the Word;  Matthew 10:5-9, 2 Corinthians 4:1-7

How often have we listened to a sermon or a presentation encouraging us to tell others of our faith or to lead someone to be open to Christianity.  Or, how often have we listened to people deriding the Christian faith and tried to counter their arguments?  Being lost for words is too often the case.  Why can’t our talented Christian educators provide us with the means to respond? 

As told in Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his 12 disciples to work with the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  How could we today even come close to accomplishing what those 12 did?  Perhaps we are too hard on ourselves.  Maybe we have helped a few.  Have you ever been on a mission trip and worked with families who have had very little?  Many are very eager to learn, and we are challenged to dig out the right resources.

 In the process, we have often been the ones to have gained the most.  But back to the main challenge; how can we even initiate the change process?  A minister friend of mine offered that we can be effective by just living a good Christian life in the best way we can.  This can become a copout.  We must continue to learn and be aware of any humble way by which we can help.

Prayer:  Help us Lord to not hold back, make us aware of situations where we might be of help, and then guide us in taking some action.

Joanne Hager

"My soul yearns for thee in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee. For when the judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." Isaiah 26:9

Nothing like watching world news or reading the paper to send me into prayer. I feel helpless sometimes when it all seems to be bad. But there's also a verse in Isaiah that fits that situation just as well, "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:4

Prayer:  Thank you Jesus for giving your life that we can live forever. Keep us safe from harm so that we can give back to the world that is so needy.

CLOUDS OF BLESSING Roy Behling

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me", even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. - Psalm 139: 11-12  (NIV)

As the prayer elder that Sunday, it was a morning of mixed emotions as one family had fears of imminent death, while a young person had joy for being healed and so it went with concerns and praise. In the parking lot afterwards, I noticed fluffy white cumulus clouds in one part of the sky and brooding dark storm clouds on the horizon. Now both sets of clouds contained water droplets that would become blessings for the earth. However, the storm clouds held more droplets and thus greater blessings.

Both the joy and sadness mixed up in daily life may contain blessings. Sometimes the greater blessings can be found in the stormy moments. Living in Christ means all our life events are opportunities to experience His love. The more difficult ones may well bring us richer experiences of His grace. We may not always be aware of Christ's presence, and holding on to His promise to remain in us (see John 15:4)  may not take away our pain or answer our questions, but challenging times can lead us to God's greatest blessings.

Dear Lord, no matter what storm this day brings, give me Your assurance that You remain with me. Help me to receive Your blessings each day, even during life's challenges. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Tanya Marshall   -God’s will, not my will

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  (Isaiah 55:8)

 I heard a fairly new contemporary Christian song on the radio a few weeks ago.  It’s called “Even If” by the group, Mercy Me.  The main theme is expressed here:

I know You’re able, and I know You can

Save through the fire with Your mighty hand.

But even if You don’t

My hope is You alone.

I know the sorrow, I know the hurt

Would all go away if You’d just say the word.

But even if You don’t

My hope is You alone.

We often face huge trials, disappointments, serious illnesses, deaths, and crises in life.  We pray for healings and resolutions to big problems.  Here’s where the conflict between the two scriptures above becomes apparent.  We’re supposed to ask God for what we want and need, and the Matthew passage implies we’ll get it.  But these song lyrics express a mature faith of one who has chosen to hope in God, even if God doesn’t answer our prayers how we’d like.  A mature faith trusts God anyway, and acknowledges the idea in the Isaiah passage.

For some reason this song was a comfort to me.  I don’t understand God’s ways, but I am choosing to trust anyway.

Prayer:  God, help us remember you are with us through all the trials and difficulties of life, even when you don’t choose to heal or resolve or answer.  Help us keep going and keep our hope in you anyway.  Amen.

Judy Lentz-      GOD OF HOPE

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13 

As I age, I find myself worrying more about what the world will be like for my children and my grandchildren.  The newspapers, the news channels and the internet tell us daily about one or more of these frightening events:  identity theft, scams, drug addictions, severe weather conditions like tornados or hurricanes, earthquakes, child abuse, terrorism and genocide, all of which might be far away or right here at home.   It frightens me.  I find myself praying fervently that our children and our grandchildren will not be faced by these scary situations.

Am I alone in being so frightened by all of these possibilities?  I doubt it.  But what I do know is that I can choose to focus on these negative situations or I can choose to focus on the beauty of God’s world, His mercies shown daily, the joy of a newborn baby, the peace of a healed loved one and so many more wonderful events in our lives.  God has blessed me with the presence of the Holy Spirit and I choose to allow him to give me the power of peace because I trust him to watch over me and my loved ones.

 I know he is there no matter what happens.

This knowledge alone allows me to be filled with joy and peace and encourages me to trust in him by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Join me in that knowledge.  My favorite benediction is the one taken from Genesis 31: 49 paraphrased that says:  Go in peace and may the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other.

Prayer:  Dear Lord – you are the Lord of the kingdom, you are the power and the glory and through the power of the Holy Spirit, you fill me with hope, joy and peace.  Remind me, when I doubt or when my fears overcome my joy, that you are there to guide me through whatever difficulties I am experiencing showing me that trusting you will give me the hope, joy and peace I seek.  In the name of Jesus, we pray.  Amen.