A Christian Devotional

[Shammu]

Be His messenger!

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

The other day, we looked at how Elijah had become so weary running from Jezebel that he sat under a Juniper tree and asked the Lord to take his life. But the Lord knew exactly what Elijah needed and sent forth an angel, a messenger, to revive and nourish him. What was the result of this nourishment and refreshment? Elijah continued to press forward doing great things for the Lord.

Perhaps you know a saint who’s growing weary and in need of refreshment -- be His messenger and supply his or her needs. You never know -- perhaps that bit of encouragement is all they need to get up from under their Juniper tree and keep on keeping on for the Lord!

When you supply a need, you are acting as God’s messenger. He who refreshes others will, himself, be refreshed!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Let it rain! Let it rain! Let it rain!

Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Finally, we got some rain here in the Land, after a long winter with very little. It poured cats and dogs for a couple of days straight and even snowed a little in Jerusalem! For those stormy couple of days, we didn't leave the house.

To our amazement, when we took a little drive yesterday to run a few errands, we noticed that everything had suddenly become green. Miles of land, which only days before were parched and brown from the hot summer and fall and then the rainless winter were now covered with a bold green. It was absolutely shocking to see how all that life could come about in such little time.

We too could use a little rain, couldn't we? God wants to send an outpouring of His Spirit upon us today. Let's not run away and cover up! Let's open our hearts to His rain and allow it to water our dry and hardened hearts. Just a touch of the Father's refreshing waters can make us soft, new and full of life again.

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

The Lord cares for you!

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

One of my favorite and most admired men of faith is a man named George Mueller.  George Mueller (1805-1898) did many great works for the Lord in his lifetime, among them building several orphanages.

The following is a great story he tells:

It was time for breakfast at of one of my orphanages in England and there was no food. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. A young girl whose father was a close friend of mine was visiting the home. I took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs.  We sat down at the table with the others and and I prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."

At once, we heard a knock at the door. There stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow, I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock this morning and baked you some fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon afterward, a second knock came. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. There was no way to move and repair the cart except to empty it of the milk he needed to still deliver so he asked me if we could use his milk. We had a wonderful breakfast that morning.

Faith was the pinnacle of George Muller's life.  Without a personal salary, he relied only on God to supply the money and food he needed to support the hundreds of homeless children he befriended in the name of Messiah. A man of radiant faith, he kept a motto on his desk for many years that brought comfort, strength, and uplifting confidence to his heart. It read, “It matters to Him about you.” Mueller believed that those words captured the meaning of 1 Peter 5:7, and he rested his claim for divine help on that truth. He testified at the end of his life that the Lord had never failed to supply all his needs.

Remember that God is concerned with our every need! Cast your cares upon Him today.

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Take part in divine multiplication!

Luke 9:16-17 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

The disciples worried -- we only have five small loaves and two fishes! What ever will we do?? Five loaves and two fishes could never feed the multitudes in the natural realm! But we have a God who is in the multiplication business! He works on an entirely different mathematical equation than we are accustomed to -- He takes the little we offer and turns it into more than we could fathom!

How often do we feel as if we have little to offer? The Lord is interested in everything we have to give, even if it seems miniscule to our eyes!

Let's not be afraid to offer up our gifts, talents, abilities, accomplishments and material things that we may find insignificant. They are not! When we give up even the littlest of things to the Lord, He brings forth an abundance!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Are you hungry?

Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Have you ever noticed that most of our phone conversations go something like this? You call, say a word or two, they'll say a short thing or two in reply and then something like "Ok, in the middle of something, gotta run, talk to you later"! That's a good example of most of our telephone conversations with people when we were living in the United States.

Now that we're living in Israel however, it's a slightly different story. When we call America now, people are always making time to talk to us. In fact, usually they excuse themselves and go into a separate room so they can hear us loud and clear! And vice versa when they call us! But that got us thinking.

If we make some time and excuse ourselves from a room to talk to someone important on the telephone, how much more should we do these things for the Lord of Glory?!

William Wilberforce, Christian statesman of Great Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, once said, "I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of private devotions starves the soul. It grows lean and faint."

We don't starve our bodies, do we? Then why do we starve our souls? We would never dream of not eating for a month or two, but how long has it been since we've gotten to a quiet room to nourish our souls with the Lord? Seems ironic, doesn't it? Our bodies our only temporary -- they will be buried six feet under some day, along with our belongings eventually. Our soul, though, is what we should be nourishing daily, what we should be guarding as our most prized possession, because it will always be around!

I think many of our souls are lean and faint today. Let's get our priorities straight. Let's excuse ourselves from the hustle and bustle and spend some time nourishing our souls and hearing the Lord loud and clear!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Are you in love?

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Have you ever noticed that when people are in love, they tend to forget everything else?   Everything becomes secondary -- cars, houses, money -- nothing matters -- it is all secondary to love.  Then, when they fall out of love, as in a divorce, all of a sudden those things mean everything!  They argue about all the little meaningless things they ever owned together. Each wants it all for himself.

The same is true with the Lord.  Before we know Him, all we really have are possessions.  But when we come to know God -- truly know Him -- those things mean very little -- we're in love! We're willing to give up everything. Those people who are most in love with God and filled with His love are the least possessive and the least materialistic.

If we have been wrapped up in our possessions, we've lost sight of our greatest treasure!  All that stuff means nothing.  Let go of it.   Return to your first love.  Lighten your heart and fall in love again with the love of God!

Have a great weekend falling in love again!!!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Has someone been watching?

2 Corinthians 13:5-6 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

We came across this interesting story by Leslie B. Flynn in her book Dare to Care Like Jesus.

A Christian baroness, living in the highlands of Nairobi, Kenya, told of a young national who was employed as her houseboy. After three months he asked the baroness to give him a letter of reference to a friendly sheik some miles away. The baroness, not wishing the houseboy to leave just when he had learned the routine of the household, offered to increase his pay. The lad replied that he was not leaving for higher pay. Rather, he had decided he would become either a Christian or a Moslem. This was why he had come to work for the baroness for three months. He had wished to see how Christians acted. Now he wanted to work for three months for the sheik to observe the ways of the Moslems. Then he would decide which way of life he would follow. The baroness was stunned as she recalled her many blemishes in her dealings with the houseboy. She could only exclaim, "Why didn't you tell me at the beginning!"

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the minute we label ourselves "Christian", we must know that people will be watching us everywhere we go. This does not mean that we have to be perfect (although that is what the world often expects to see)! But what it means is that we have to be daily walking in repentance, frequently examining our behaviors and motives, and praying for God's deliverance from all the ways we fall short. We must be bettering ourselves for the Kingdom every single day! Yes, it must be the main focus in our lives!

This week we'll be focusing on witnessing. Stay tuned in for some power-packed devotions!

None of us have arrived. We all have work to do. Let's make it a point to be in daily, or even hourly contact with the Lord, asking Him to restore our hearts and minds for His sake and for the sake of all who are watching!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

He's looking for a few good men (and women)!

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

The following is an excerpt from Moody's Anecdotes, a must read.

"A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do. 'Well,' said the chaplain, 'you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them.'

For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked - 'By the way, did you take my advice?' 'I did, for two or three nights,' [the soldier answered.] 'How did it work?' 'Well,' said the young man, 'I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed.' 'Well,' asked the chaplain, 'How did that work?' The young soldier answered: 'We have a prayer meeting there now every night, three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest.'

Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them to it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ."

Need we say more? Let's ask the Lord to touch our lives with power today. That we may be released from our stresses, our problems and even our own desires -- that we may become focused on being available for the task at hand. There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Keep going--don't stop!!!

Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm (z'roah) shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

In the Greek olympic games of old, a unique race was run. The winner was not the runner who finished first --- it was the runner who finished with his torch still lit.

There are times in our lives when we feel like we just can't continue in the race. These are precisely the times when the enemy loves to assault us to the point of breaking and torment us saying "You'll never make it to the finish line first, you may as well just quit now". This is the time we need to cling on to God's promises! The Lord will soon reward our diligence for all our toiling here in this world. Paul said, "Let us not grow weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint".

Let's allow God's wonderful promises to strengthen and comfort us in each circumstance so that we can run the race --- not to finish first, but to run together, side by side --- the flame of our torch reaching the finish line blazing brightly with fire for Him!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Be sober, be vigilant

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

One Christian musician tells about getting to know some of the work crews in the auditoriums where his group's concerts were held. Those overseeing the performances preferred concerts-in-the-round, which meant extra work for the "riggers," who would have to walk the four-inch rafter beams to hang speakers and spotlights, often a hundred feet or so above the concrete floor. For this kind of work they are obviously very well paid.

"The fellows I talked to weren't bothered by the sight of looking down a hundred feet," says the musician. "What they didn't like, they said, were jobs in buildings that had false ceilings-- acoustical tile slung just a couple of feet below the rafters. They were still high in the air, and if they slipped, their weight would smash right through the flimsy tile. But their minds seemed to play tricks on them, lulling them into carelessness."

So it is as we go about doing the work of the Lord on the earth. Satan would love nothing more than for us to see that false ceiling a few feet below, giving us a false sense that there's not far to fall and egging us on to be careless as we work. But in reality, there's a looooooong waaaaaaaaaay dowwwwwwwwwn.

The devil is a crafty deciever. We give him a foothold and he can bring us a long way down, all the while, tricking us into thinking we're safe. It is crucial that we become ever aware of his sneaky tactics. The only reason he came is to lie, kill, and destroy us and the work of the Lord!

We must realize how easily we can allow satan to get that little foothold -- and just say NO! Say "NO!" to that little temptation by which you've been being lured! Say "NO!" to that little sin that you've been contemplating. Let's cry out to God today for our deliverance and be done with it! There is MUCH work to be done for the Kingdom!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Don’t allow the crows to persuade you!

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

There is an old Persian fable of a hen, a mouse, and a rabbit who lived together in a little house in the woods. They shared all the work and lived in harmony. The chicken found the firewood, the mouse brought the water from a nearby brook, and the rabbit cooked the meals. Each did his work faithfully and contentedly.

One day, while the hen was out in the forest looking for wood, a nosy crow approached her and asked what she was doing. When he heard, the crow began caw, “That’s not fair! You’re doing the hardest part of the work! That rabbit and mouse are taking advantage of you!

The chicken continued about her work, but try as she would, she could not stop thinking about what the crow said. These feelings festered and festered, and by the time she got home, she was so upset that she burst out in tears, screaming, “It’s not fair! I do the hardest work of the three of us! That’s it! I’m not going to gather this heavy firewood anymore!”

Discontent spreads, as you know, and immediately the rabbit and mouse also began to argue that they had been doing the hardest work and that they were not going to do their jobs anymore either. The three argued until they were tired and finally decided to switch jobs – from now on the rabbit would gather the firewood, the hen would bring the water and the mouse would cook.

As the rabbit hopped into the forest for wood, a fox trailed him, caught him, and ate him. The chicken put the pail into the creek, but the current pulled the pail down under and the chicken with it. The mouse, while sitting on the edge of the big pot of soup, lost his balance and fell in.

Discontentment not only destroyed their happiness but their very lives.

We all have a job to do here. No job is greater than the next -- no person is greater than the next, no matter what those crows might tell you. We are all working for the same King and we can worship Him even while gathering firewood, if that’s what He’s called us to do!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

The Lord cares for you!

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

One of my favorite and most admired men of faith is a man named George Mueller. George Mueller (1805-1898) did many great works for the Lord in his lifetime, among them building several orphanages.

The following is a great story he tells:

It was time for breakfast at of one of my orphanages in England and there was no food. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. A young girl whose father was a close friend of mine was visiting the home. I took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. We sat down at the table with the others and and I prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."

At once, we heard a knock at the door. There stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow, I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock this morning and baked you some fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon afterward, a second knock came. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. There was no way to move and repair the cart except to empty it of the milk he needed to still deliver so he asked me if we could use his milk. We had a wonderful breakfast that morning.

Faith was the pinnacle of George Muller's life. Without a personal salary, he relied only on God to supply the money and food he needed to support the hundreds of homeless children he befriended in the name of Messiah. A man of radiant faith, he kept a motto on his desk for many years that brought comfort, strength, and uplifting confidence to his heart. It read, “It matters to Him about you.” Mueller believed that those words captured the meaning of 1 Peter 5:7, and he rested his claim for divine help on that truth. He testified at the end of his life that the Lord had never failed to supply all his needs.

Remember that God is concerned with our every need! Cast your cares upon Him today.

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Embrace the desert!

Psalms 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

The average American who reads this passage probably thinks of green pastures as wide areas of unending soft green grass. But here in Israel the climate is so dry, that there's really no such thing.

Long ago, the shepherds of Israel learned to find grass where most people wouldn't think to look. Here, green pastures are created as the breeze from the Mediterranean Sea brings moisture into our arid climate. It is from this moisture that a kind of dew settles upon the sides of certain hills creating little tufts of grass -- just enough for one day's feeding for a flock of sheep. The shepherds would lead their flocks through the hot parched desert in search of these. It's no wonder those sheep would obey the shepherd's voice. They would easily die in the desert trying to survive on their own. The sheep learned to depend on the shepherd to daily lead them to their sustenance.

How many times does it feel like we're walking aimlessly through the desert and there doesn't seem any refreshment near? When our lives our bombarded with trial after trial it can feel this way. But we must keep in mind that though we are walking through the desert, our Shepherd is leading us to green pastures to be refreshed. And it's these times in the desert that God causes us to depend more upon on him. These thirsty times are special times -- times to be embraced!

Don't despise those desert walks with the Shepherd and don't be afraid. God has something special for us there -- and there are green pastures near.

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Hee-nay-nee!

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Wiersbes, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, quotes: "Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior."

In a survey given to those attending training sessions for a Billy Graham crusade in Detroit, attendees were asked to answer this question by checking one of the following answers. "What is your greatest hindrance in witnessing?" 0% said they don't care. 9% said they were too busy to remember to do it. 12% said their own lives were not speaking as they should. 28% felt the lack of real information to share and 51% feared the reactions of those with whom they might share.

If we truly believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life, why aren't we spreading the word? Hmmmm. Maybe we don't really believe that. I guess no one thought to include that reason on Billy's survey.

Do we truly believe in heaven? Do we believe without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the only way to get there? If we do, how can we keep our mouths closed to a world of people who are headed for the agony of eternal burning?

Hee-nay-nee means "Here am I", in Hebrew. This should be our cry to the Lord today. Send me, Lord! Help me to open my mouth for you! Work through me Lord, for your sake Lord, and for the sake of those who don't know you!

Let's commit to leading at least one person to Jesus this month. Tomorrow we'll give some tips on how.

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.

[Shammu]

Go ye!

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

A story is told of a man who tried to be a zealous Christian.Unfortunately, he was a little on the slow side and sometimes did the wrong thing. While working as a barber, the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather on his face!

I’m afraid this would not be the most effective way to share the Good News of our Lord! But here are a few tips to keep in mind as we set out to share His truth with our family, friends and anyone else comes our way!

1--Prepare yourself! Spend some time in prayer, even fasting. Get right with the Lord. Ask Him to remove anything that could hinder His anointing upon you.
2--Ask the Lord for wisdom. He knows our families and friends much better than we do and He wants to speak into their lives.
3--Don’t think you have to have all the answers. No one does! It’s okay to say, “I don’t know”. Humility is often a powerful testimony in and of itself!
4--And speaking of testimonies, ours holds a lot of power too! Don’t be afraid to speak boldly about what He’s doing in your life!
5--Wait for the right timing. Be sure to be led of God’s Spirit and not out of self-defense or self-righteousness.
6--Be full of both grace and truth! Anyone can tell the truth, but if it’s not seasoned with grace, it could easily fall on deaf ears.
7-- Seeing the fruit of your labor isn’t often something that happens in one day -- it may take a lifetime. Don’t be discouraged!
8-- Pray for them to be touched by dreams, visions, and other encounters with Christians. Expect to see God move in their lives! After all, it is His will that they come into the Kingdom!

If we are not responsible for reaching the world with the Gospel message, then who is? Let's keep on praying and making ourselves available for the Lord to use us in people's lives! They'll be thanking us for eternity!

This e-mail Devotional is supplied by Worthy Devotionals.