Sometimes we throw words and terms out there even with a sense of authority without really understanding the full meaning of what we imply. I have been challenged lately in my own thinking to recognize some terms used from a religious perspective as opposed to what is used from a biblical perspective.
I have been doing some reading concerning arguments on the internet from different writers about how people present the salvation message or do not present, in the writers mind, the biblical intent of salvation. It all made for some interesting reading and quite quickly, I began to understand how things, once again, get distorted very easily.
I have said myself, “religion or relationship” with God?” The word relationship does not appear even once in scripture (KJV). So I asked myself if I am to be completely biblical, what word DO I use? God’s Word points to, instead of the term “relationship”, to take a closer look at the biblical meaning for the word “fellowship”. There are 17 references to fellowship; all pointing to our fellowship or not having a proper experience of fellowship with God. Other references refer to “Fellow-citizens, Fellow-disciples, Fellow-heirs, Fellow-helper(s), Fellow-laborers(s), Fellow-prisoner(s), Fellow-servant(s), Fellow-soldier; all rendering different phases of fellowship.
The Greek meaning for fellowship in I John 1:3, is “benefaction to communicate, communion”. “. . . and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Communion: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all, Amen.” II Corinthian 13:14. The Greek meaning for Communion is: fellowship. From the “communion of the Holy Spirit” more fellowship is possible with God .
A relationship, on the other hand, can have different meaning to different people and may not mean the same or work out the same for everyone. My thinking from that is, we experience many different religions out of a variety of distorted thought patterns. Religion, as we know it, was not ever a God ordained thing. In fact, Jesus spoke out against religious leaders from time to time for their stubborn adherence to the law instead of recognizing God’s grace. “Religion” is a man made creation from start to the last finish.
Fellowship with God, on the other hand, is a different realm of intimacy. Fellowship in its true biblical sense and meaning creates a whole different world of thinking about our world and our connection to Jesus through our complete trust in His death, burial, and resurrection for our personal salvation and continued fellowship with Him thereafter!
So the final thought is this, “Are we actively seeking an active and alive sense of fellowship with our Creator or do we settle for a religion or religious experience rather than personal fellowship with the Creator of the universe and our personal Savior?
Thought for the week,
Is it going to be “Faith and Fellowship” or “Religion and Relationships”?
Have a great week,
Judith
Life Series ~ P.O. Box 1671 ~ Murfreesboro, TN 37133 ~ lifeseries@comcast.net
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Marriage ~ must read!!!
When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, "I've got something to tell you." She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. "I want a divorce." I raised the topic calmly.
She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, "Why?"
I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, "You are not a man!" That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.
She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said; I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.
The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.
When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.
In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both would struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.
She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door every morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. "No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce," she said scornfully.
My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, "Daddy is holding mommy in his arms." His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; "Don't tell our son about the divorce." I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young anymore. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.
On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.
She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, "All my dresses have grown bigger." I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.
Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.
Our son came in at that moment and said, "Dad, it's time to carry mom out." To him, seeing his father carrying his mother had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.
But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, "I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy."
I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore."
She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. "Do you have a fever?" she said. I moved her hand off my head. "Sorry, Jane," I said, "I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day, I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart."
Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.
At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, "I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."
That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I ran up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.
My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever negative reaction would come to our son, in case we pushed thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....
The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. And do have a real happy marriage!
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. "I want a divorce." I raised the topic calmly.
She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, "Why?"
I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, "You are not a man!" That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.
She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said; I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.
The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.
When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.
In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both would struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.
She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door every morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. "No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce," she said scornfully.
My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, "Daddy is holding mommy in his arms." His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; "Don't tell our son about the divorce." I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young anymore. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.
On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.
She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, "All my dresses have grown bigger." I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.
Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.
Our son came in at that moment and said, "Dad, it's time to carry mom out." To him, seeing his father carrying his mother had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.
But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, "I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy."
I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore."
She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. "Do you have a fever?" she said. I moved her hand off my head. "Sorry, Jane," I said, "I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day, I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart."
Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.
At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, "I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."
That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I ran up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.
My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from whatever negative reaction would come to our son, in case we pushed thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....
The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. And do have a real happy marriage!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
School Stress
“One of Eric's class mates could really use your prayer. He is in the hospital with a severe brain injury and is on life support. Apparently he tried to commit suicide but the kids were not given that information. He is in a medically induced coma right now and it doesn't sound good. Please pray for him and the kids at the school.”
Marilyn
Received today~ Friday, February 26, 2010
“Keegan passed away today. Randy is struggling with why people still die when he prays for them. So keep the kids in your prayers now. It's going be rough. I will be going and staying at school with them to help them when the counselors talk to the classes.”
Rose
This e-mail rings a strong chord with my heart. Recently a young boy in grade school fell at my feet in a fetal position on the floor crying like he was in total pain. When I was able to get to the bottom of it all, his emotions were destroyed because his pizza was on the floor. I picked up his milk and wiped it off then assured him I would get him a new, clean piece of Pizza. When I walked him through the process of getting things worked out, he was fine again.
Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 in my work as a cafeteria monitor, I had a first grader break down with a serious emotional meltdown. I have been watching him for some time now and noticed he often wants to vomit. I have retrieved the wastebasket for him on several occasions. Sometimes he has actually vomited.
At any rate, I went to him because he was in distress again. He looked into my eyes crying until his chest was sobbing inward and outward with his tears rolling down his face, telling me in his broken way through tears and intense face with his hands motioning from chin toward top of his head, “My head starts to get full up and . .. “ He could not finish because he does not have the vocabulary at 6 years old to say his head will “explode” is what I took from this seriously sad moment. I am attempting to get him some help with a counselor.
There is another young man in second grade who also is showing signs of deep emotional stress. He will bend way over his food tray with fork shaking side to side under his head. He is in another world when he gets in this “trance” as I view him obviously in distress of some kind. Both children are smart individuals. These are not mentally challenged kids!
My friends, our children are under such pressure at home, school, and in the world from an over stimulated environment! There is not ever enough quiet s-l-o-w time or too often there is not a safe place for these kids to go and I find myself deeply concerned about our small children in school. Eric’s friend sadly does not come as a surprise to me. Quite frankly, the most stress I have observed has been with our young boys. I must wonder if our next generation of young men are going to be ready to face the rigors of adulthood.
I find myself praying for these precious children often even as I talk with them. One positive thing did happen recently. A child came crying deeply hurt. I learned from a mother visiting with her child that the table of students around him had revealed a “top” secret he told his friend. That “friend” told another and so on it went. Quite quickly the entire table knew his secret and all were laughing at him. I drew him gently away to a nearby seat in the cafeteria. I asked, “Do you go to church?” “Yes”, he said. “Do you know about Jesus?” I asked. He replied that he did and I said, “Jesus is the only friend that you can ever trust with any secrets and remember that for the future.” “But I trusted them!” He exclaimed. “Yes, I know but sometimes people disappoint us and cannot be trusted.” I said.
This child’s suicidal attempt and consequently resulting in his death only confirms my resolve that we all have a responsibility to keep our school children in our prayers. I encourage parents in these busy over stimulated times to seriously consider home-schooling your children. They are the most valuable part of your life. There is so much more home school support out there now. When I home schooled for a semester to get our oldest on course with his studies in 1987 there was very little support but it is a different story now. If home schooling is out of the question, then make quiet time mandatory for your child some way, some how! Turn the television off! Even the newer more recently produced cartoons are getting vulgar or sexually tainted. And we all know how commercials are exploiting every possible means of sexual activity or demeaning family values by often having a child act out inappropriately toward an adult.
Parents~ delegate quiet time and play time; real play time, not in front of the television with an X-box! With five children, George and I were exhausted most of the time but going the extra mile to protect their minds and emotions was well worth the effort.
Judith
Marilyn
Received today~ Friday, February 26, 2010
“Keegan passed away today. Randy is struggling with why people still die when he prays for them. So keep the kids in your prayers now. It's going be rough. I will be going and staying at school with them to help them when the counselors talk to the classes.”
Rose
This e-mail rings a strong chord with my heart. Recently a young boy in grade school fell at my feet in a fetal position on the floor crying like he was in total pain. When I was able to get to the bottom of it all, his emotions were destroyed because his pizza was on the floor. I picked up his milk and wiped it off then assured him I would get him a new, clean piece of Pizza. When I walked him through the process of getting things worked out, he was fine again.
Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010 in my work as a cafeteria monitor, I had a first grader break down with a serious emotional meltdown. I have been watching him for some time now and noticed he often wants to vomit. I have retrieved the wastebasket for him on several occasions. Sometimes he has actually vomited.
At any rate, I went to him because he was in distress again. He looked into my eyes crying until his chest was sobbing inward and outward with his tears rolling down his face, telling me in his broken way through tears and intense face with his hands motioning from chin toward top of his head, “My head starts to get full up and . .. “ He could not finish because he does not have the vocabulary at 6 years old to say his head will “explode” is what I took from this seriously sad moment. I am attempting to get him some help with a counselor.
There is another young man in second grade who also is showing signs of deep emotional stress. He will bend way over his food tray with fork shaking side to side under his head. He is in another world when he gets in this “trance” as I view him obviously in distress of some kind. Both children are smart individuals. These are not mentally challenged kids!
My friends, our children are under such pressure at home, school, and in the world from an over stimulated environment! There is not ever enough quiet s-l-o-w time or too often there is not a safe place for these kids to go and I find myself deeply concerned about our small children in school. Eric’s friend sadly does not come as a surprise to me. Quite frankly, the most stress I have observed has been with our young boys. I must wonder if our next generation of young men are going to be ready to face the rigors of adulthood.
I find myself praying for these precious children often even as I talk with them. One positive thing did happen recently. A child came crying deeply hurt. I learned from a mother visiting with her child that the table of students around him had revealed a “top” secret he told his friend. That “friend” told another and so on it went. Quite quickly the entire table knew his secret and all were laughing at him. I drew him gently away to a nearby seat in the cafeteria. I asked, “Do you go to church?” “Yes”, he said. “Do you know about Jesus?” I asked. He replied that he did and I said, “Jesus is the only friend that you can ever trust with any secrets and remember that for the future.” “But I trusted them!” He exclaimed. “Yes, I know but sometimes people disappoint us and cannot be trusted.” I said.
This child’s suicidal attempt and consequently resulting in his death only confirms my resolve that we all have a responsibility to keep our school children in our prayers. I encourage parents in these busy over stimulated times to seriously consider home-schooling your children. They are the most valuable part of your life. There is so much more home school support out there now. When I home schooled for a semester to get our oldest on course with his studies in 1987 there was very little support but it is a different story now. If home schooling is out of the question, then make quiet time mandatory for your child some way, some how! Turn the television off! Even the newer more recently produced cartoons are getting vulgar or sexually tainted. And we all know how commercials are exploiting every possible means of sexual activity or demeaning family values by often having a child act out inappropriately toward an adult.
Parents~ delegate quiet time and play time; real play time, not in front of the television with an X-box! With five children, George and I were exhausted most of the time but going the extra mile to protect their minds and emotions was well worth the effort.
Judith
Friday, February 5, 2010
My Soap Box ~ Haiti
With all the current news about the Christian group from Idaho being arrested in Haiti for transporting children without proper paper work, I am reminded of many years of my own thoughts about how we perceive children who need a “better” situation.
There is not a doubt in my mind these Christian believers truly thought they were doing these children a favor by providing better living situations for the children in their care. But I must ask, could they also not find a solution with the parent that remains alive to help in their care? I realize the entire Haiti situation is complex at best, but the whole current situation in Haiti does serve as a reminder for our need to rethink our mindset in these matters.
I am calling into question the whole adoption process and how we deal with these situations. It is my personal view; as long as there is a living, loving parent in the mix, we should be giving that parent every possible resource to care and nurture their own child. Of course, every situation is individually different and we must work every family situation on a case by case basis, but making any parent feel forced to give up their child to complete strangers to eventually be placed in another country for a “better life” is not reasonable to me. There is also something; to be said for keeping a child in their own environment with their own culture, but in a nurtured, loving way.
As parents of five children, had anyone persisted that I (we) were too poor to raise our children, it would have not been any worse than if someone were to rip my heart out to suggest we give our children up for adoption. As a mom, I was ready to throw myself in front of a moving vehicle in order to protect my child. Their safety and well-being was always my (our) first and top priority!
As for the missionaries, it would be much better to open an orphanage for those children who are left behind without either parent alive and then encourage the parent(s) who have children with dire situations of need to come on board as staff or staff helpers to give love and help to other children without a living parent. I truly think we need to be very careful about these matters! If you will do a word study by bringing up the website ~ www.Bible.com , type in the search box the word “fatherless” under King James Version, you will find immediate abuses cited in scripture of not handling family situations properly.
Thought to ponder,
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3
Judith
Life Series ~ P.O. Box 1671 ~ Murfreesboro, TN 37133 ~ lifeseries@comcast.net
FEEDBACK FROM THIS ARTICLE_____________________
"I believe that you stated the more appropriate solution. Sometimes, our cultural arrogance can be somewhat blinding. I am sure these people were well-intentioned. I wish that they could have been given better spiritual guidance."
A.N.
"I agree whole heartedly Judith! We have one such organization we support two children in other countries and this organization not only helps clothe and feed the child and educate them and gives them all of the medical help they need, they also educate the parents in how to be able to make more money and how to better care for their children.
One lady we saw while we were in Africa last August told us that she didn’t think her children would ever have a life because she has AIDS and she had no idea how to keep from passing it on to her children and she was so excited that Compassion had come in and taught her how to care for them and herself and gave her the medicine she needed and built her a little house to go along with her little huts so she could better care for her family.
Another lady showed us how they taught her to make laundry soap to sell to her friends and neighbors so she could buy food just in case her husband couldn’t find work that day so now they knew they could have dinner every day, so she went out and taught some of her friends too. Compassion focuses on helping the children but making sure the family and community benefit as well.
They even encourage the supporters of these children to go and visit them on a compassion trip. We were able to see all of the records they were keeping on the children in the compound where the children went to school. Compassion has 65,000 children that are supported by people around the world in Haiti and they are doing their best to help all of the families impacted by this earthquake. My husband worked with several other radio hosts on Feb. 1st to help raise money to help those in Haiti through Compassion.
We may not be able to go over there and physically help these children but there are people who live there that are doing their best to do so. We all can help by doing what we can from here by giving the whole family of each of those children a chance at a better life in Haiti!
If anyone is interested in checking out Compassion you can do so at www.compassion.com
God Bless,
Janet Scott
Executive Director and Assistant to Bill Scott
Xtreme Youth Alliance International"
"Thank you Judith, I have a cousin who is a missionary in Port Au Prince, Haiti to the orphaned babies that are sometimes found outside of hospitals and dumpsters. They are not in the business of finding adoptive parents for these babies but have an orphanage there in the city. Right now this facility was primarily unharmed by the earthquakes. However, the quake did destroy the protective wall that surrounds the buildings. My cousin who is a pilot has been busy flying missionaries and supplies to Haiti from the Florida Keys area and at last report had made 3 round trips.
Your testimony is very encouraging. It brought back a memory for me when I was a pregnant teen. Adoption was not a word my counselors or my father used; abortion was the only option I was given at that tender age, and I am ever grateful the Heavenly Father guarded my heart for that horrible situation.
As a Christian and adoptive mother, I know that God is in the adoption business, but we truly need to be seeking His will in every situation. Adoption is no exception. I have also seen adoptive situations where it was not healthy for the child, the adoptive parents, and/or the birth parents."
Lovingly, Margo
"Thank you for this issue. So often Christians think they shouldn't speak up. Thank you for standing up. I thought about what you said--and agree so much!!"
Mary Cox Pace
"Very well stated!"
Rachel Sharp
Retired from Child Protection Services
"You have great ignorance in what you are speaking about. I have worked with children who were orphaned, abandoned, abused, neglected and unloved even by their own parents and family members. Orphanages that are really permanent institutions for many are not healthy for any child. What a child needs is first to have their basic needs met food, clothing and shelter. Next they need love and personal contact and next the environment to thrive. If these people in fact believed that the children in Haiti did not have access to these basic needs and were trying to find a way to provide them then that is not wrong. No one has said that these children were ripped from parents arms. That is wrong. When a parent realizes that they are unable to provide for their child and seeks those who are willing and able to, it is the greatest love to place this child where it is loved and cared for." SB
My response~
"I have to respectfully disagree with the premise that it is better always to take an impoverished child away from a parent. I do not think that is what you think either for that matter. I am saying it is best; at the very least; to first explore an option for the child to stay with the parent. There are situations, of course, that a child should not be with a parent due to abuse; physical and emotional.
There was one loving parent that did give her child over to the Christian group from Idaho. That is where I take issue with the whole process! I am not speaking to those who are in situations that cannot be mended other than finding a loving family who will take them in. Our son and daughter-in-law are seriously looking into adoption under the right circumstances. Scripture talks about adoption under the right circumstances.
Another reader shared the great work that an organization called Compassion does with 65,000 children in Haiti. I have been searching their website and find it very interesting. www.compassion.com
With your work as you state in your e-mail~ “orphaned, abandoned, abused, neglected and unloved even by their own parents and family members.” I am certain you will find that Compassion gives an additional option for struggling families.
I do respect anyone who is working with these type situations. God knows, there are far too many broken families but it is a sad fact of life. My sincere best to you in your work."
Judith
"You're so right. I was on mission field in Thailand/India and when word got out that we were opening an orphanage; everyone dropped off/abandoning their kids for us to take "so they'd have a better life." It came nonstop so we had to turn all away and change the mission to a paid day care program. The kids had to live with parents and for a small fee they could become students and be taught and cared for from sunrise until sunset each day...they got the best of both worlds and so did we; my church still runs several like that and they are very successful. Just met one boy I met in Thailand daycare and he was at our church on Wed last week. He has become a missionary. He has the better of his 2 cultures with his identity in tact!"
Laurel
This is what I am talking about! Thanks Laurel for this information. What a great way to support struggling families! Judith
I totally agree with you. Very well put. I have never really thought about it like this.
Antonia
There is not a doubt in my mind these Christian believers truly thought they were doing these children a favor by providing better living situations for the children in their care. But I must ask, could they also not find a solution with the parent that remains alive to help in their care? I realize the entire Haiti situation is complex at best, but the whole current situation in Haiti does serve as a reminder for our need to rethink our mindset in these matters.
I am calling into question the whole adoption process and how we deal with these situations. It is my personal view; as long as there is a living, loving parent in the mix, we should be giving that parent every possible resource to care and nurture their own child. Of course, every situation is individually different and we must work every family situation on a case by case basis, but making any parent feel forced to give up their child to complete strangers to eventually be placed in another country for a “better life” is not reasonable to me. There is also something; to be said for keeping a child in their own environment with their own culture, but in a nurtured, loving way.
As parents of five children, had anyone persisted that I (we) were too poor to raise our children, it would have not been any worse than if someone were to rip my heart out to suggest we give our children up for adoption. As a mom, I was ready to throw myself in front of a moving vehicle in order to protect my child. Their safety and well-being was always my (our) first and top priority!
As for the missionaries, it would be much better to open an orphanage for those children who are left behind without either parent alive and then encourage the parent(s) who have children with dire situations of need to come on board as staff or staff helpers to give love and help to other children without a living parent. I truly think we need to be very careful about these matters! If you will do a word study by bringing up the website ~ www.Bible.com , type in the search box the word “fatherless” under King James Version, you will find immediate abuses cited in scripture of not handling family situations properly.
Thought to ponder,
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3
Judith
Life Series ~ P.O. Box 1671 ~ Murfreesboro, TN 37133 ~ lifeseries@comcast.net
FEEDBACK FROM THIS ARTICLE_____________________
"I believe that you stated the more appropriate solution. Sometimes, our cultural arrogance can be somewhat blinding. I am sure these people were well-intentioned. I wish that they could have been given better spiritual guidance."
A.N.
"I agree whole heartedly Judith! We have one such organization we support two children in other countries and this organization not only helps clothe and feed the child and educate them and gives them all of the medical help they need, they also educate the parents in how to be able to make more money and how to better care for their children.
One lady we saw while we were in Africa last August told us that she didn’t think her children would ever have a life because she has AIDS and she had no idea how to keep from passing it on to her children and she was so excited that Compassion had come in and taught her how to care for them and herself and gave her the medicine she needed and built her a little house to go along with her little huts so she could better care for her family.
Another lady showed us how they taught her to make laundry soap to sell to her friends and neighbors so she could buy food just in case her husband couldn’t find work that day so now they knew they could have dinner every day, so she went out and taught some of her friends too. Compassion focuses on helping the children but making sure the family and community benefit as well.
They even encourage the supporters of these children to go and visit them on a compassion trip. We were able to see all of the records they were keeping on the children in the compound where the children went to school. Compassion has 65,000 children that are supported by people around the world in Haiti and they are doing their best to help all of the families impacted by this earthquake. My husband worked with several other radio hosts on Feb. 1st to help raise money to help those in Haiti through Compassion.
We may not be able to go over there and physically help these children but there are people who live there that are doing their best to do so. We all can help by doing what we can from here by giving the whole family of each of those children a chance at a better life in Haiti!
If anyone is interested in checking out Compassion you can do so at www.compassion.com
God Bless,
Janet Scott
Executive Director and Assistant to Bill Scott
Xtreme Youth Alliance International"
"Thank you Judith, I have a cousin who is a missionary in Port Au Prince, Haiti to the orphaned babies that are sometimes found outside of hospitals and dumpsters. They are not in the business of finding adoptive parents for these babies but have an orphanage there in the city. Right now this facility was primarily unharmed by the earthquakes. However, the quake did destroy the protective wall that surrounds the buildings. My cousin who is a pilot has been busy flying missionaries and supplies to Haiti from the Florida Keys area and at last report had made 3 round trips.
Your testimony is very encouraging. It brought back a memory for me when I was a pregnant teen. Adoption was not a word my counselors or my father used; abortion was the only option I was given at that tender age, and I am ever grateful the Heavenly Father guarded my heart for that horrible situation.
As a Christian and adoptive mother, I know that God is in the adoption business, but we truly need to be seeking His will in every situation. Adoption is no exception. I have also seen adoptive situations where it was not healthy for the child, the adoptive parents, and/or the birth parents."
Lovingly, Margo
"Thank you for this issue. So often Christians think they shouldn't speak up. Thank you for standing up. I thought about what you said--and agree so much!!"
Mary Cox Pace
"Very well stated!"
Rachel Sharp
Retired from Child Protection Services
"You have great ignorance in what you are speaking about. I have worked with children who were orphaned, abandoned, abused, neglected and unloved even by their own parents and family members. Orphanages that are really permanent institutions for many are not healthy for any child. What a child needs is first to have their basic needs met food, clothing and shelter. Next they need love and personal contact and next the environment to thrive. If these people in fact believed that the children in Haiti did not have access to these basic needs and were trying to find a way to provide them then that is not wrong. No one has said that these children were ripped from parents arms. That is wrong. When a parent realizes that they are unable to provide for their child and seeks those who are willing and able to, it is the greatest love to place this child where it is loved and cared for." SB
My response~
"I have to respectfully disagree with the premise that it is better always to take an impoverished child away from a parent. I do not think that is what you think either for that matter. I am saying it is best; at the very least; to first explore an option for the child to stay with the parent. There are situations, of course, that a child should not be with a parent due to abuse; physical and emotional.
There was one loving parent that did give her child over to the Christian group from Idaho. That is where I take issue with the whole process! I am not speaking to those who are in situations that cannot be mended other than finding a loving family who will take them in. Our son and daughter-in-law are seriously looking into adoption under the right circumstances. Scripture talks about adoption under the right circumstances.
Another reader shared the great work that an organization called Compassion does with 65,000 children in Haiti. I have been searching their website and find it very interesting. www.compassion.com
With your work as you state in your e-mail~ “orphaned, abandoned, abused, neglected and unloved even by their own parents and family members.” I am certain you will find that Compassion gives an additional option for struggling families.
I do respect anyone who is working with these type situations. God knows, there are far too many broken families but it is a sad fact of life. My sincere best to you in your work."
Judith
"You're so right. I was on mission field in Thailand/India and when word got out that we were opening an orphanage; everyone dropped off/abandoning their kids for us to take "so they'd have a better life." It came nonstop so we had to turn all away and change the mission to a paid day care program. The kids had to live with parents and for a small fee they could become students and be taught and cared for from sunrise until sunset each day...they got the best of both worlds and so did we; my church still runs several like that and they are very successful. Just met one boy I met in Thailand daycare and he was at our church on Wed last week. He has become a missionary. He has the better of his 2 cultures with his identity in tact!"
Laurel
This is what I am talking about! Thanks Laurel for this information. What a great way to support struggling families! Judith
I totally agree with you. Very well put. I have never really thought about it like this.
Antonia
Saturday, January 9, 2010
"Free" or Really Free!
Psalm 51
When we live any variable away from absolute truth, we always suffer consequences. There is much mental and physical unrest in our world due to our inability to accept God’s absolute truth, compassion and justice. In effect, the results ~ we are our own worst enemy much of the time. When our thought processes are persistent in the wrong direction we do not get truth results. It is that simple! God’s original directive for His best in our lives gets set aside or delayed due to our not clearly understanding or responding to truth.
Verse 10
“Create in me a clean heart. . .
It is that daily process through the washing of the Word (Ephesians 5:26) over our minds, heart and soul. It is that daily spiritual washing while learning the nature of God that the renewal of our minds accomplishes the spirit of a clean heart.
"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." Isaiah 28:10. It is a process by which we learn how to love God, love His Word to us from the Bible and love our fellow man.
To be renewed we FIRST need the Redeemer; our Savior. "For God SO LOVED the world. . " John 3:16. Our lives begin a genuine path of freedom and life as we learn our position in Christ. "And we are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Colossians 2:10.
When we experience the redemption of Christ at salvation, we can appropriate, apply, and take possession of the abundant life promised by God through His Son Jesus. Our prayer needs to be . . .
“. . . and renew a RIGHT SPIRIT within me.”
Verse 11
“. . . and take not your HOLY SPIRIT from me.”
The Holy Spirit is provided as the Comforter to our hearts the moment we give our lives to Jesus. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30.
Verse 12
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your FREE SPIRIT.”
All the world talks about and strives for is living for the “free spirit”, living for a "free" lifestyle, living in and for the pleasure of the moment. The world’s view of living the free life is a distorted, perverted “free” spirit that eventually destroys your life.
God’s free spirit promise really is freedom in the best way possible for peace of mind and direction for your life. God’s freedom comes without the destruction that comes with living out the supposed freedom offered by the world. “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking who he may devour.” I Peter 5:8.
We do not acquire wisdom from trying to live our lives from the OUTSIDE IN BUT FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Meaning~ we learn the wisdom of God from within through the teaching of the Holy Spirit to our heart and spirit; the core person that we become from wisdom learned through scripture. These scriptural behaviors and attributes are then lived out in our daily lives in wisdom toward others.
The media constantly focuses on what we should and need to do to improve our outside physical qualities. Seldom do you ever hear or learn how to improve character, personal control, personal responsibility, etc.
“The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I (Jesus) come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. Jesus provides life in every form it is possible. It is provided, available and waiting for us to appropriate and to apply truth to our lives.
Thought for the week,
As a result of a RIGHT SPIRIT, empowered by the HOLY SPIRIT, we enjoy the presence of a FREE SPIRIT.
Judith
When we live any variable away from absolute truth, we always suffer consequences. There is much mental and physical unrest in our world due to our inability to accept God’s absolute truth, compassion and justice. In effect, the results ~ we are our own worst enemy much of the time. When our thought processes are persistent in the wrong direction we do not get truth results. It is that simple! God’s original directive for His best in our lives gets set aside or delayed due to our not clearly understanding or responding to truth.
Verse 10
“Create in me a clean heart. . .
It is that daily process through the washing of the Word (Ephesians 5:26) over our minds, heart and soul. It is that daily spiritual washing while learning the nature of God that the renewal of our minds accomplishes the spirit of a clean heart.
"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." Isaiah 28:10. It is a process by which we learn how to love God, love His Word to us from the Bible and love our fellow man.
To be renewed we FIRST need the Redeemer; our Savior. "For God SO LOVED the world. . " John 3:16. Our lives begin a genuine path of freedom and life as we learn our position in Christ. "And we are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Colossians 2:10.
When we experience the redemption of Christ at salvation, we can appropriate, apply, and take possession of the abundant life promised by God through His Son Jesus. Our prayer needs to be . . .
“. . . and renew a RIGHT SPIRIT within me.”
Verse 11
“. . . and take not your HOLY SPIRIT from me.”
The Holy Spirit is provided as the Comforter to our hearts the moment we give our lives to Jesus. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30.
Verse 12
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your FREE SPIRIT.”
All the world talks about and strives for is living for the “free spirit”, living for a "free" lifestyle, living in and for the pleasure of the moment. The world’s view of living the free life is a distorted, perverted “free” spirit that eventually destroys your life.
God’s free spirit promise really is freedom in the best way possible for peace of mind and direction for your life. God’s freedom comes without the destruction that comes with living out the supposed freedom offered by the world. “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking who he may devour.” I Peter 5:8.
We do not acquire wisdom from trying to live our lives from the OUTSIDE IN BUT FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Meaning~ we learn the wisdom of God from within through the teaching of the Holy Spirit to our heart and spirit; the core person that we become from wisdom learned through scripture. These scriptural behaviors and attributes are then lived out in our daily lives in wisdom toward others.
The media constantly focuses on what we should and need to do to improve our outside physical qualities. Seldom do you ever hear or learn how to improve character, personal control, personal responsibility, etc.
“The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I (Jesus) come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. Jesus provides life in every form it is possible. It is provided, available and waiting for us to appropriate and to apply truth to our lives.
Thought for the week,
As a result of a RIGHT SPIRIT, empowered by the HOLY SPIRIT, we enjoy the presence of a FREE SPIRIT.
Judith
Friday, December 11, 2009
Born Again
Today’s newsletter consists of two different e-mails received from two completely different sources received within 12 hours of each other! I am astounded once again at God’s timing in things and direction to what needs to be sent to you, my readers.
On a side note about God’s timing~ Our son was walking down the hall of his work place and asking God what he was to do about a situation requiring a work decision. Immediately after he worded his prayer concerns to God, he got a buzz text on his phone from his sister. Letha. She, completely unaware of the brewing “storm” with his work, gave him the verse; Exodus 14:13-14 about how God would fight for him! And God has been there in the middle of the entire work drama.
And so, we know God is actively busy about our lives, working all things together for good; Romans 8:28.
I want you to take note of the explaination for several uses of the phrase, “born again”. Bro. Carroll makes several good points in his article. He is an excellent author, pastor, musician vocalist and has a variety of music to offer on his website~ www.carrollroberson.com
"There are many "mysteries" recorded in the sacred scriptures. The mystery of the partial blindness of Israel in Romans 11:25. The mystery of the church being made up of Jews and Gentiles in Ephesians 2:1-9. The mystery of the indwelling Christ in Colossians 1:26-27. The mystery that not all believers will face physical death in I Corinthians 15: 51-52. The mystery of the Messiah, how He was God manifested in the flesh in I Timothy 3:16.
The mystery of the new birth does not have the word "mystery" in the text, but it is one of the great mystery passages in the words of Jesus the Christ. It is recorded in John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Our Lord was talking to a very religious man named Nicodemus about how to enter into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus had had many "born agains" in his life. In Judaism, they were said to be "born of water" when a person was born in the flesh. The young boys were pronounced "born again " when they reached the age of thirteen for the bar-mitzphah. The young adult men were "born again" when they married, starting a new chapter in their life. "Born again" was pronounced again when they reached the age of thirty and became a rabbi, and also when they became fifty years old and became a member of the Sanhedrin. So Nicodemus had experienced all of these "born agains", but he had never experienced being "born again" into God’s kingdom, which is being born of the Spirit! Jesus never used that terminology on anyone else, but it was needed in order to reach Nicodemus. According to John 7:50and John 19:39, we can see that Nicodemus was a changed man after his conversation with the Messiah.
May you and I never lose the "wonder" of being in God’s kingdom. It’s supernatural, a working of God’s Spirit in our lives. Enjoy the mystery of it all!
Bro. Carroll
On a side note about God’s timing~ Our son was walking down the hall of his work place and asking God what he was to do about a situation requiring a work decision. Immediately after he worded his prayer concerns to God, he got a buzz text on his phone from his sister. Letha. She, completely unaware of the brewing “storm” with his work, gave him the verse; Exodus 14:13-14 about how God would fight for him! And God has been there in the middle of the entire work drama.
And so, we know God is actively busy about our lives, working all things together for good; Romans 8:28.
I want you to take note of the explaination for several uses of the phrase, “born again”. Bro. Carroll makes several good points in his article. He is an excellent author, pastor, musician vocalist and has a variety of music to offer on his website~ www.carrollroberson.com
"There are many "mysteries" recorded in the sacred scriptures. The mystery of the partial blindness of Israel in Romans 11:25. The mystery of the church being made up of Jews and Gentiles in Ephesians 2:1-9. The mystery of the indwelling Christ in Colossians 1:26-27. The mystery that not all believers will face physical death in I Corinthians 15: 51-52. The mystery of the Messiah, how He was God manifested in the flesh in I Timothy 3:16.
The mystery of the new birth does not have the word "mystery" in the text, but it is one of the great mystery passages in the words of Jesus the Christ. It is recorded in John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Our Lord was talking to a very religious man named Nicodemus about how to enter into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus had had many "born agains" in his life. In Judaism, they were said to be "born of water" when a person was born in the flesh. The young boys were pronounced "born again " when they reached the age of thirteen for the bar-mitzphah. The young adult men were "born again" when they married, starting a new chapter in their life. "Born again" was pronounced again when they reached the age of thirty and became a rabbi, and also when they became fifty years old and became a member of the Sanhedrin. So Nicodemus had experienced all of these "born agains", but he had never experienced being "born again" into God’s kingdom, which is being born of the Spirit! Jesus never used that terminology on anyone else, but it was needed in order to reach Nicodemus. According to John 7:50and John 19:39, we can see that Nicodemus was a changed man after his conversation with the Messiah.
May you and I never lose the "wonder" of being in God’s kingdom. It’s supernatural, a working of God’s Spirit in our lives. Enjoy the mystery of it all!
Bro. Carroll
Prayer Works
The following is from Source Ministries and I would not change a thing. Lewis Gregory has said it best~
THE WORD IS: And He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint . . . Nevertheless . . . shall He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:1-8
THE POINT IS: Research shows that many people say they believe in prayer. According to a Barna Research study in 2001, as many as 89 percent of adults in the USA believe "there is a god who watches over you and answers your prayers." A more recent study by Barna in 2006 found that, “Slightly more than four out of five adults (84%) claimed they had prayed in the past week. That has been the case since Barna began tracking the frequency of prayer in 1993.” Furthermore, most religions throughout the world believe in the importance of praying to one or more gods. But what kind of god, and what kind of prayers. Obviously there is much praying in the world today, but how much of it is actually praying? Most “so called” praying, whether by Christians or non-Christians, is not at all what the Lord Jesus Christ meant by prayer. There is prayer, and then there is PRAYER—Biblical, effectual prayer! Although the widow in the parable our Lord gave in Luke 18:2-5 illustrates persistent praying, there is much more to prayer than that. Many other religions pray long and hard, but that is not enough. Jesus dispelled the myth of this kind of faulty praying in Matthew 6:7. He explained that those who rely on their lengthy prayers are really caught up in vain repetitions—dead works, void of the life of God. Thus these kind of prayers are of no eternal value, and therefore of no real earthly good, not for you and certainly not for the Lord.
THE APPLICATION IS: So stop praying as though it all depends on you: how well you pray, how loud you pray, how long you pray, how hard you pray. The reason you should pray is because it all depends on God. And just who is this God to whom you should pray? He is the Lord God Almighty—the Creator and Sustainer of all things—the one and only true and living GOD! He alone can both hear and answer your prayers. Luke 18:1 clearly indicates that prayer should be a way of life! But in order for it to be a way of life, you must stay in an attitude of prayer. Such an attitude of prayer involves a fixed dependency upon God—in a word: faith! Many people pray, some people pray to the one true God, but not many people actually pray to Him in faith. However, only the “prayer of faith” is true PRAYER—Biblical and effectual in every respect. The prayer of faith is a conscious, deliberate, unwavering trust in the Lord God Almighty. It is the kind of praying described in the Bible, whereby you direct your prayers to the one and only true and living God, trusting in Him alone to bring it to pass. When you pray in faith, you are willing to wait patiently upon Him to answer in His own time and way. God is looking for people of faith: those who will simply believe Him for all things great and small. As you pray in faith you will not become faint, because you will be relying upon the One who never grows weary or faint. And He will sustain you!
Lewis Gregory
Source is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), faith-based discipleship ministry.
Visit us at http://www.sourceministries.net
Thought for the week,
“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983)
“Be careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful for anything. I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone.” Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)
Have a great week,
Judith
Life Series ~ P.O. Box 1671 ~ Murfreesboro, TN 37133 ~ lifeseries@comcast.net
THE WORD IS: And He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint . . . Nevertheless . . . shall He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:1-8
THE POINT IS: Research shows that many people say they believe in prayer. According to a Barna Research study in 2001, as many as 89 percent of adults in the USA believe "there is a god who watches over you and answers your prayers." A more recent study by Barna in 2006 found that, “Slightly more than four out of five adults (84%) claimed they had prayed in the past week. That has been the case since Barna began tracking the frequency of prayer in 1993.” Furthermore, most religions throughout the world believe in the importance of praying to one or more gods. But what kind of god, and what kind of prayers. Obviously there is much praying in the world today, but how much of it is actually praying? Most “so called” praying, whether by Christians or non-Christians, is not at all what the Lord Jesus Christ meant by prayer. There is prayer, and then there is PRAYER—Biblical, effectual prayer! Although the widow in the parable our Lord gave in Luke 18:2-5 illustrates persistent praying, there is much more to prayer than that. Many other religions pray long and hard, but that is not enough. Jesus dispelled the myth of this kind of faulty praying in Matthew 6:7. He explained that those who rely on their lengthy prayers are really caught up in vain repetitions—dead works, void of the life of God. Thus these kind of prayers are of no eternal value, and therefore of no real earthly good, not for you and certainly not for the Lord.
THE APPLICATION IS: So stop praying as though it all depends on you: how well you pray, how loud you pray, how long you pray, how hard you pray. The reason you should pray is because it all depends on God. And just who is this God to whom you should pray? He is the Lord God Almighty—the Creator and Sustainer of all things—the one and only true and living GOD! He alone can both hear and answer your prayers. Luke 18:1 clearly indicates that prayer should be a way of life! But in order for it to be a way of life, you must stay in an attitude of prayer. Such an attitude of prayer involves a fixed dependency upon God—in a word: faith! Many people pray, some people pray to the one true God, but not many people actually pray to Him in faith. However, only the “prayer of faith” is true PRAYER—Biblical and effectual in every respect. The prayer of faith is a conscious, deliberate, unwavering trust in the Lord God Almighty. It is the kind of praying described in the Bible, whereby you direct your prayers to the one and only true and living God, trusting in Him alone to bring it to pass. When you pray in faith, you are willing to wait patiently upon Him to answer in His own time and way. God is looking for people of faith: those who will simply believe Him for all things great and small. As you pray in faith you will not become faint, because you will be relying upon the One who never grows weary or faint. And He will sustain you!
Lewis Gregory
Source is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), faith-based discipleship ministry.
Visit us at http://www.sourceministries.net
Thought for the week,
“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983)
“Be careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful for anything. I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone.” Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)
Have a great week,
Judith
Life Series ~ P.O. Box 1671 ~ Murfreesboro, TN 37133 ~ lifeseries@comcast.net
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