Merry Christmas 2015

Hello folks! As I said last year, there are lots of posts you should see from the previous years. So here's the link to the post from last year, which then lists all the posts related to Christmas, on this blog. Merry Christmas! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad! Here is the link:

http://kiranmj.blogspot.de/2014/12/merry-christmas.html

Happy Advent!

This is a repost of the Advent post from 2013. :)

Happy Advent!


The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. Basically, it is a countdown to Christmas day from the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and can also be thought of as a new year of the Church. The Lord is coming. During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.

As mentioned earlier, Advent worship is like a journey through the Christmas story and most often people use Advent wreaths for the same. The circle of the wreath, made of evergreen branches laid flat, remind us of God, His eternity and His mercy, both which have no beginning or end. The four candles on the wreath represent the hope, preparation, joy and love, where the third candle is light pink and all others are purple, as seen in the figure. These are lit in the same order, one every Sunday. 

The first candle symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. Read Romans 15:12-13

The second reminds Christians to "get ready" to receive God. Read Luke 3:4-6

The third candle recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. Read Luke 2:6-15

The fourth reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. Read John 3:16-17

There are many more interpretations of the candles - hope, peace, love and  joy or God's people, the Old Testament Prophets, John the Baptist and Mother Mary. Please have a look at references 2-4 for various interpretations, prayers and references from the Bible for each week.

The final central candle, the Christ candle is lit the day before Christmas and symbolises what John 8:12 says, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (NIV)

References:

1. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=5

2. http://livinghopeomaha.wordpress.com/about-living-hope/bible-stud/the-meaning-of-the-advent-wreath/

3. http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/adventwreath.html

4. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/advent-devotional-guide-preparing-for-the-coming-of-christ/

P.S.:Thank you Navya Varghese for reminding me :)
This post might be updated or further new posts added from time to time. Please check the main blog.

God Will Make a Way - Don Moen

- Anonymous
See more here: http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/song-story-god-will-make-a-way.html

Isaiah 43:19New International Version (NIV)

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

An impossible situation might make you feel more depressed than excited. Don Moen’s song “God Will Make a Way” sprang from this kind of episode, a tragedy in his family In 1990, his sister’s family lost their oldest son in a car accident, as they were travelling between Texas and Colorado. Moen was unable to be with them in the aftermath, due to a previously scheduled recording session, but in his grief for them, he found solace by writing the song’s words on an airplane trip the following day.

Isaiah’s words (Isaiah 43:19) comforted him, so he rephrased them for the song’s lyrics. Friends of the family’s son came to accept God, because of the promise of heaven, and of seeing him again. The family’s own lives were fed as they involved themselves in their local church in a deeper way.

Fruit comes about in ways we don’t expect, Moen’s sister remembers.

Have you lost someone close? How are you dealing with it – does life seem unfair, maybe even impossible to comprehend, in death’s wake? There’s but one way to manage life, when death intrudes. It’s not pie-in-the-sky to hope in God and to prepare for a home with Him. I believe. If you don’t, what have you got to lose if you change your mind today? That’s what Don Moen and the prophet Isaiah have to say. There’s a way He’s made, though I cannot sometimes fathom it.

Lyrics:

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today

Buy this song on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/god-will-make-way-best-don/id626456799
See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsMAXhc0QTs

Trofim Dimitrov & Thomas Hudson

- Anonymous

Psalm 5:11-12New International Version (NIV)

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Trofim Dimitrov

Trofim Dimitrov could hear the dogs barking long before he reached the pit. On the way, he prayed fervently for his enemies, the guards, who then threw him down, naked to the hungry dogs.

Immediately, a great howling was heard. When the officers looked down into the pit, they saw Brother Dimitrov kneeling in prayer and the dogs in panic.

Barking wildly, the dogs were trying to jump the walls in order to save themselves from the strange power emanating from him!

Thomas Hudson - England 1558

The crowd looked on, curious at what the martyr would do next.  Thomas Hudson had come this far without denying his faith. The bishop had questioned him again and again, he'd not weakened in prison, and now he was walking to the place of execution. At the last minute, would he recant?

Just before the chain around him was made fast, Hudson stooped, slipped out from under the chain, and stood a little to one side. A hush came over the crowd-everyone wondered why he hesitated. The Christian prayed. Only Hudson knew the real reason he had stepped down. At the last minute he had suddenly been attacked with doubts and felt his faith grow weak.

Not willing to die while feeling this way, he fell upon his knees and prayed to God, who sent him comfort. Then he rose with great joy, as a reborn man, and cried, "Now, thank God, I'm strong. I don't care what man can do to me!"

Going to the stake again, he put the chain around himself. The fire was lit.

Saint Lawrence

- Anonymous

(?-258)

"Turn me. I am roasted on one side."
 Saint Lawrence is one of the most celebrated Roman martyrs.

A church deacon during the time Emperor Valerian was vigorously persecuting Christians, Lawrence also served as the keeper of the church's treasures. He was arrested and told that to save himself he must give the church treasures to the government.

Lawrence readily agreed and told the official that it would take at least eight days to assemble them. On the eighth day, Lawrence returned to the prefect and presented him with hundreds of poor and disabled men, women, and children.

"These," he said, "are the riches of the church."
The enraged official then ordered Lawrence to be stripped, tied face down on a gridiron suspended over a bed of coals, and slowly burned to death.

Lawrence maintained a cheerful appearance throughout the ordeal and, when asked if he had any last request, responded with his last words.
"Turn me. I am roasted on one side."

His behaviour was said to have been so impressive that several Roman senators converted to Christianity on the spot, and hundreds of citizens did the same the following day.

A Lesson on Humility

1 Peter 5:6-7New International Version (NIV)

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post.

When asked, "Why is that there?"

Alex Haley answered,

"Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words & think that they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post & remember that he didn’t get there on his own. He had help."

Robert Raikes - The Founder Of Sunday School

Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Pre-dating state schooling and by 1831 schooling 1,250,000 children, they are seen as the first schools of the English state school system.

 

Raikes was born at Ladybellegate House, Gloucester in 1736, the eldest child of Mary Drew and Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher. He was baptised on 24 September 1736 at St Mary de Crypt Church in Gloucester. On 23 December 1767 he married Anne Trigge, with whom he had three sons and seven daughters. Their oldest son Reverend Robert Napier Raikes had a son General Robert Napier Raikes of the Indian Army.

 

Robert initiated the Sunday school movement. He inherited a publishing business from his father, becoming proprietor of the Gloucester Journal in 1757. The movement started with a school for boys in the slums. Raikes had been involved with those incarcerated at the county’s Poor Law (part of the jail at that time) and saw that vice would be better prevented than cured.

 

He saw schooling as the best intervention. The best available time was Sunday as the boys were often working in the factories the other six days. The best available teachers were lay people. The textbook was the Bible, and the originally intended curriculum started with learning to read and then progressed to the catechism. Raikes used the paper to publicise the schools and bore most of the cost in the early years.

 

The movement began in July 1780 in the home of a Mrs Meredith. Only boys attended, and she heard the lessons of the older boys who coached the younger.

 

Later, girls also attended. Within two years, several schools opened in and around Gloucester.

He published an account on 3 November 1783 of Sunday schools in his paper, and later word of the work spread through the Gentleman's Magazine, and in 1784, a letter to the Armenian Magazine.

 

The original schedule for the schools, as written by Raikes was

 

"The children were to come after ten in the morning, and stay till twelve; they were then to go home and return at one; and after reading a lesson, they were to be conducted to Church. After Church, they were to be employed in repeating the catechism till after five, and then dismissed, with an injunction to go home without making a noise."

 

There were disputes about the movement in the early years. The schools were derisively called "Raikes' Ragged School".

 

Criticisms raised included that it would weaken home-based religious education, that it might be a desecration of the Sabbath, and that Christians should not be employed on the Sabbath. Some leading ecclesiastics -- among them Bishop Samuel Horsley -- opposed them on the grounds that they might become subservient to purposes of political propagandism. "Sabbatarian disputes" in the 1790s led many Sundayschools to cease their teaching of writing.

 

Notwithstanding all this, Adam Smith gave the movement his strongest commendation:

"No plan has promised to effect a change of manners with equal ease and simplicity since the days of the Apostles."

 

By 1831, Sunday schools in Great Britain were teaching weekly 1,250,000 children, approximately 25 percent of the population. As these schools preceded the first state funding of schools for the general public, they are seen as the forerunners of the current English school system.

Leadership Magazine carried a story about 4 young men, Bible College students, who were renting a house together. One Saturday morning someone knocked on their door. And when they opened it, there stood this bedraggled-looking old man. His eyes were kind of marbleized, & he had a silvery stub of whiskers on his face. His clothes were ragged & torn. His shoes didn’t match. In fact, they were both for the same foot. And he carried a wicker basket full of unappealing vegetables that he was trying to sell. The boys felt sorry for him & bought some of his vegetables just to help him out. Then he went on his way.

But from that time on, every Saturday he appeared at their door with his basket of vegetables.
As the boys got to know him a little bit better, they began inviting him in to visit a while before continuing on his rounds.


They soon discovered that his eyes looked marbleized, not because of drugs or alcohol, but because of cataracts. They learned that he lived just down the street in an old shack. They also found out that he could play the harmonica, & that he loved to play Christian hymns, & that he really loved God. So every Saturday they would invite him in, & he would play his harmonica & they would sing Christian hymns together. They became good friends, & the boys began trying to figure out ways to help him.

One Saturday morning, the story says, right in the middle of all their singing & praising, he suddenly said to them, "God is so good!" And they all agreed, "Yes, God is so good."

He went on, "You know why he is so good?"
They said, "Why?" He said, "Because yesterday, when I got up & opened my door, there were boxes full of clothes & shoes & coats & gloves. Yes, God is so good!"

And the boys smiled at each other & chimed in, "Yes, God is so good."
He went on, "You know why He is so good?"

They answered, "You already told us why. What more?"
He said, "Because I found a family who could use those things, & I gave them all away."

August H. Francke and the Homeless Orphans

In the latter part of the 17th century, German preacher August H. Francke founded an orphanage to care for the homeless children of Halle. One day when Francke desperately needed funds to carry on his work, a destitute Christian widow came to his door begging for a ducat--a gold coin.

Because of his financial situation, he politely but regretfully told her he couldn't help her. Disheartened, the woman began to weep. Moved by her tears, Francke asked her to wait while he went to his room to pray.

After seeking God's guidance, he felt that the Holy Spirit wanted him to change his mind. So, trusting the Lord to meet his own needs, he gave her the money.

Two mornings later, he received a letter of thanks from the widow. She explained that because of his generosity she had asked the Lord to shower the orphanage with gifts.

That same day Francke received 12 ducats from a wealthy lady and 2 more from a friend in Sweden. He thought he had been amply rewarded for helping the widow, but he was soon informed that the orphanage was to receive 500 gold pieces from the estate of Prince Lodewyk Van Wurtenburg.

When he heard this, Francke wept in gratitude. In sacrificially providing for that needy widow, he had been enriched, not impoverished.

Proverbs 28:27 New International Version (NIV)

27 Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
    but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

God Provides!

Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story.

 "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister.

One of the girls responded,

 'Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead.

And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.'

That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it.

 Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle!

Immediately the girl who had prayed so earnestly started to dig deeper, exclaiming,

'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!'

And she was right!

The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests, and 5 months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those specific articles."

Make Prayer A Habit

Luke 5:16 New International Version (NIV)

16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Habits are powerful things. We form our habits, then our habits form us.

So this year are you going to stop talking about it, and make it a habit to spend time with God in prayer each day?

If your desire is to be like Jesus, you must begin to pray regularly, for He ‘often withdrew to lonely places and prayed’.

Don’t let the word ‘lonely’ intimidate you. Once you cultivate an awareness of God’s presence, you’ll prefer His company to that of anybody else.

Don’t let the word ‘withdrew’ intimidate you.

Just shut off your TV, your computer and your mobile phone and you’ll make a wonderful discovery:

Psalm 16:11 New International Version (NIV)

11 You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

 John Wesley said,

‘I have so much to do that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.’

 Martin Luther said,

 ‘Prayer is the most important thing in my life. If I should neglect prayer for a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.’

 The hymnist wrote:

‘Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care. And bids me at my Father’s throne, make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief my soul has often found relief, and often escaped the tempter’s snare, by thy return, sweet hour of prayer.’

When the disciples asked Jesus about prayer, He began by saying,

Matthew 6:9-15 New International Version (NIV)

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 6:13 The Greek for temptation can also mean testing.
2. Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

www.thewordfortoday.com.au

Is There a Catfish in Your Tank?

- Anonymous

Some fish suppliers were having problems in shipping codfish from the East Coast. By the time the fish reached the West coast, they were spoiled. They froze them, but by the time the fish arrived, they were mushy. They decided to send them alive. But the fish arrived dead.

So they tried sending the fish alive again, but with one difference.

They included a catfish in each tank. You see, the catfish is the natural enemy of the codfish. By the time the codfish arrived, they were alive and well, because they had spent their trip fleeing the catfish. This is my point.

 Maybe God has put a catfish in your tank to keep you alive and well spiritually.

 It's called Persecution.

Maybe there's a person at work who always has eight hard questions for you every Monday morning regarding spiritual things. Maybe it’s that neighbour who is giving you a hard time for your faith in Jesus.

Maybe it is a spouse or family member who doesn't believe.

You are wondering why this is happening. It is like that catfish. That person is keeping you on your toes.

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples,

John 15:19English Standard Version (ESV)

19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

God will allow persecution in the life of the believer.

If you're experiencing persecution, here are two things to remember:

 1. Persecution confirms that you are a child of God.
 2. Persecution causes you to cling closer to Jesus.

When you are suffering persecution for your faith, remember that this world is not your home.

A Beggar's Rags

- Author unknown

A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate.
The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was invited to the party.

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble.
 Would he dare?

He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. "Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king."
"Wait here," the guard replied. In a few minutes, he was back. "His majesty will see you," he said, and led the beggar in.

"You wish to see me?" asked the king.
"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?"

The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the king's face.
 "You have been wise in coming to me," the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. "Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes."

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared hope for.
"You are now eligible to attend the king's banquet tomorrow night," said the prince.
"But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last forever." The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank you," he cried.

But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated.
What if the prince was wrong?
What if he would need his old clothes again. Quickly he gathered them up.

The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he should.
 He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.

Time proved that the prince was right.
The clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went.
They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags.

One day as he lay dying, the king visited him.
The beggar saw the sad look on the king's face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince's words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true royalty.
He wept bitterly at his folly. And the king wept with him.
We have all been invited into the royal family--the family of God.

 To feast at God's dinner table, all we have to do is shed our old rags and put on the "new clothes" of faith which is provided by God's Son Jesus Christ.

But we cannot hold onto our old rags. When we put our faith in Christ, we must let go of the sin in our life, and our old ways of living. Those things must be discarded if we are to experience true royalty and abundant life in Christ.

What are you holding on to from your life before knowing Jesus?

Whatever it is, get rid of it! God will give you everything you need ... you don't need to rely on the world to satisfy you anymore!

A Little Burnt Toast

- Samuel Machado

"When I was a little girl, my mom liked to cook food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made some toast after a long, hard day at work.

On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his toast, smile at my mom, and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember Watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite! When I got Up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad For burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: 'Baby, I love burned toast.'

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if He really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, 'Debbie, your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides-a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!' You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook.

What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship again that may be a "close-friend relationship, husband-wife relationship or to that matter any relationship whatsoever" !!!!

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where burnt toast isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!! "

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket, but into your own"

1 Peter 4:8 New International Version (NIV)

8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

The Parachute

- Samuel Machado


Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected & parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured & spent six years in a Communist prison. He survived that ordeal & now lectures about lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb & his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up & said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied.

 Plumb gasped in surprise & gratitude. The man pumped his hand & said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb assured him, "It sure did-if your 'chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today." Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, 'I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform-a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wondered how many times I might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk. I wondered how many times I might have seen him & not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot & he was just a sailor.'

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship carefully weaving the shrouds & folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, 'Who's packing your parachute?'

Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.

Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory-he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, & his spiritual parachute."

He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead.

In our day to day life we do carry the invisible parachutes of God’s grace and mercy that shields us throughout our journey. And how often we forget these invisible blessings! It’s time to remind ourselves us of the awesome grace that keeps this world and us intact until the appointed hour. We all are Para-Troopers with Parachutes designed by our Heavenly Father.

Let’s carry these chutes as we continue in the War... Yes the War with the spiritual forces of darkness, which try day and night to annihilate us into sin and destruction. But no matter what, the Safety Jacket of the Cross and the Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will carry us through in victory.

Take all of me, Jesus!

- Gary Wilkerson

In the 1800s, after a visit with a couple and their eight children, a young woman wrote an anointed song. All the family members attended church but during her five days with them, she sensed a coldness in their hearts toward the things of God. They seemed to lack spiritual fervour and there was no reverence for Him.

Deeply burdened, the young lady prayed fervently for her hosts the entire time she was with them, believing that God would deal with their hearts. She also spoke the truth in love and boldly warned them. Before she left, a revival had broken out in that house of ten people. They wept for hours as they rejoiced at what the Holy Spirit was accomplishing in their lives!

The composer of the song, Frances Havergal, said, “I was too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration. These little couplets formed themselves, and chimed in my heart one after another till they finished with 'Ever, ONLY, ALL for Thee!'"

CONSECRATION HYMN

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Would you ask God to fill you afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit?

I invite you to pray,
“Take all of me, Jesus. I want my life to be fully consecrated to You!”

Looking Forward to Better Days

When a player begins to score, the opposing team assigns their best players to block him. So the attack you're experiencing right now could be an indication of your value to God.

2 Corinthians 11:26-28New International Version (NIV)

26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

How did Paul handle these experiences?

Philippians 3:12-14New Living Translation (NLT)

Pressing toward the Goal

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Now, Paul didn't forget any of it; he could remember names, places, faces, and even record it. But here's the difference: he refused to let what was done to him affect his outlook. That's the attitude you need! When your desire to go forward becomes greater than the memories of your past, you'll begin to live again.

Proverbs 29:18King James Version (KJV)

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

The very fact that God is putting desire back into your spirit means that better days are coming! So rise up and say with the Psalmist,

Psalm 27:13-14New International Version (NIV)

13 I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.