Persecution

Have you ever considered how easy we really have it in America as Christians? Don't forget to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted simply for professing Christ. Pray that their sacrifice would be seeds for the Gospel to be spread. Pray for them to persevere in the face of adversity. Pray for the Lord to sustain them and be their satisfaction regardless of circumstances.

Click on the link below to read about modern day Christians being persecuted for their faith.

Persecution.com

Another Creative Quiet Time ~ You are what you eat...

Read Psalm 34:8

Fix a meal of some of your favorite foods.  As you prepare and you eat, think about how God's glory is displayed to us through our senses and give Him thanks for smells, presentation, textures, tasts and His provision.  You can do this with family or friends too!

The Satisfaction of Food

I don't know if you ever struggle with food the way I do... it's a love-hate relationship.  The many textures, tastes, colors and flavors that food has to offer are really an amazing gift from God.  And yet, all too often, I find myself taking comfort in food - which is to put the created above the Creator. 

• A little stressed - where's the chocolate??!!?? 
• A little bored - how about a snack? 
• Life feeling out of control - nothing a PB&J can't cure.

Have you been there?  Maybe it isn't food for you - maybe it's something else?  The real question is - where do we seek satisfaction other than God?  Maybe you prefer shopping?  Escaping in a good book?  Surfing the internet or connecting with friends on Facebook. 

I'm starting a journey that I've started many times before...  that journey is to seek my satisfaction in the Lord, rather than food. 

Psalm 107:8-9 ~ Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!  For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.

Do you want or need to join me on this journey?  If so, let me know how I might be praying for you. 

Another Creative Quiet Time

Read 1 Thess. 5:17.   Create a prayer calendar for the next month.  [You can print a blank page from a printable calendar page like this one, or some other resource.]  Put a different person or prayer item on each day.  (ie) you might put a family member, a country, a missionary, or some other prayer request on each day.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you fill in each block.  Keep this calendar handy and pray each day.

I believe!

Psalm 19:1 ~ The heavens delcare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims is handiwork...

Another Creative Quiet Time

Read Jeremiah 29:11-13.  Use old magazines and/or photos and creat a collage of your dreams.  What are your plans for the the future?  Consider each plan and ask the Lord if it is His plan for your life.  Give your plans over to Him, and ask Him to help you trust that His plans are so much better than what you and I can dream up.   

photo courtesy of bing.com free clipart.

A Refreshing Thought to Drink In...

The following is excerpted from the daily devotional by Octavious Winslow called Morning Thoughts.  It struck me this morning, and I wanted to share it...

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32

Look at the cross; behold His precious Gift transfixed to it, and that by His own hand, and for your sins.  Then look at your present circumstances, survey your wants, your trials, your chastisements, your bereavements, your heartaches, your heartbreaking tribulations, and know that God still is love.  If He had love strong enough and deep enough to give you Jesus - to tear Him as it were, from His bosom, and to transfix Him on yonder accursed tree for your iniquities - has He not enough love to bow His ear to your cry, and His heart to your sorrow?  Will He not rescue you from this difficulty, deliver you out of this trouble, shield you in this temptation, supply this want, and support, succor, and comfort you in this grief? Oh yes, He will!  Doubt it not!  The cross of Calvary is a standing pledge - standing until sin and guilt, want and woe, shall be known no more - that God, who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will with Him also freely give us all things necessary to our good, and promotive of His glory (Rom. 8:32)