Devotional #31     Forgiveness- What You Loose is Loosed!

            Some wounds go deep. Deception. Rejection. Betrayal. Once we’ve lived long enough, we’ve all needed to be on both the giving and receiving end of forgiveness. Forgiveness is so important to God that it’s a part of Jesus’ pattern for prayer that is referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer!” “…And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors,” it goes!

            The Lord does not like it when we are unforgiving, considering the price it cost Him to offer us forgiveness for all of our many crimes against Him (i.e. the suffering and death of His own dear son, Jesus). Romans 5:7-8 declares, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That’s forgiveness! His forgiveness is ongoing, too! John encouraged us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) For God, confession is all it takes for us to receive His full pardon, then why do we seem to make our offenders jump through hoops in order to receive our forgiveness?

In Matthew chapter18, Peter asked Christ if a brother should be forgiven seven times. Jesus replied, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” How could someone possibly offend you 490 times?  Jesus is telling us to forgive all offenses, just as he forgives us all of our sins! Christ goes on to tell a story of a gracious king who forgives a servant of a very great debt. But, this servant harshly punishes his own servant for a much lesser debt. That’s how God views our unforgiveness towards people. How dare we, who have been forgiven for so much, not forgive others for much less of an offense! The scripture concludes, “Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Consequently, God has tied our willingness to forgive with our ability to receive His forgiveness. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 6:14-15

            I’ve been forgiven much and I’ve forgiven much. Family and dear friends’ wounds were particularly painful. Although with God’s help I was able to forgive, times of separation sometimes helped to bring further clarity and perhaps minimize continued abuse. 

Offenses by leaders of the church stung but had to be forgiven. Here’s my best example, when my superintendent from Virginia was willing to offer me more money if he could confirm my work experience in the Christian school. When he called, although I had given so much for four years, they said that ‘they had no record of me having worked there!” Denying my years of loving service was one thing, but in this case it diminished my income. Ouch! 

Years earlier, several youths, from the projects near my high school, hit me with a heavy object. They broke my glasses and gave me a black eye. The Lord told me to pray for them every time I tell the story. He gave me love and a grace to immediately forgive them.

On the other hand, the most difficult thing I’ve had to forgive was a colleague at my school who taught my son in the second grade. As confirmed through other students, and teachers, she seemed to target him daily, treating him with contempt and excluding him from activities often. This caused him to have traumatic nightmares about her and fears about teachers for years to come. Confronting her in a letter, in which I requested a meeting, didn't help and she never apologized. I even had to remove my son from my school for a time, since he (in tears) refused to return to 'her class.' After some time, God began to show me what my unforgiveness towards her was doing within me. That unforgiveness was like a poison, which had to be released to God. I, however, sat with it for several weeks. It was destroying me internally like a cancer. Acknowledging how much I had been forgiven by Him, I told the Lord that I needed His help forgiving. I saw that I would never be able to do it on my own, not this time. I realized that I was bound because I bound her. I had stopped up the channel for God’s love and forgiveness to flow to me. He lead me to the path of forgiveness by treating her kindly and submitting those angry feeling to Him whenever they resurfaced (and believe me, they resurfaced often). As He lovingly reminded me of His great and full forgiveness towards me, I became empowered to let her go more readily. The Lord taught me that I had to show forgiveness in the small things, like saying “Good morning,” including her in conversations, and ministering to her. I like it better when my heart is happy and free, not tied up in chains of hurt and locked up in bitterness.   Are YOU ready to be free? Are YOU ready to fully forgive and receive forgiveness?

  

See It for Yourself: Daniel 9:9, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Micah 6:8, Romans 5:7,8, Matthew 6:12-15, 18:21-35, John 20:22-23, Psalm 85:2, 103:10-12, 1 John1:9

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

     I thank you that you “(have) not dealt with (me) according to (my) sins,
Nor punished (me) according to (my) iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, So far (have You) removed (my sins) from (me). Likewise, strengthen me to truly forgive those who have offended me. Loose me to loose others! Help me to practice a life of forgiveness- both giving it freely and likewise receiving it!

In Jesus’ name I pray.  

Amen.

Working It Out:

Binding someone in unforgiveness?

Loose them, then you’ll be truly free, too!  

Devotional #30     

The Landlady and Her Rebellious Son

When we moved back to New York, Staten Island was more affordable than our native, Brooklyn. Consequently, we took a first floor apartment there. The owner lived in Florida. Her son and his family lived in the basement and there were tenants on the second floor as well. She was very pleasant at our first meeting and we were excited about our return to New York City. We sensed that we wouldn’t be in this apartment for long, but it would serve God’s purposes for us for a reason and a season. As Christians, we must remember that some of what we go through in life isn’t for us, as much as it’s for someone else.

Quickly, we learned that our new landlady was keeping secrets from us. We rapidly discovered that her son believed that she had promised to gift the house to him once she moved to Florida, and the apartment that we were now renting was where he intended on living with his family. Needless to say, he was very verbal about telling us that he’d rather we not be there at all. However, his mother commissioned him to be the superintendent of the house and there were several repairs he would need to address. When my wife began doing laundry, we found that there was no hot water hook up for our washing machine. If that weren’t enough, he started insisting that my wife stick to a very strict “schedule” of when we were ‘permitted’ to wash clothing. He played loud music late at night. Before winter, he put a lock on the thermostat in our apartment. Furthermore, he complained to his mom about our water usage. He lied saying that we ran the water all day long.

Week after week, we would clarify with the landlady, by phone, and she would call her son who reluctantly would do her bidding and ease up on us. But, as time went on, by God’s grace, we were able to show understanding, witness to him and, also having had a domineering parent, I tried to encourage him to think better of himself and build his family up by moving out on his own, as I had done. It seems at times that he was listening, but he’d always revert to feeling annoyed by our presence. His wife was impressed that we were able to be kind, despite his treatment of us. She would also apologize for his attitude and she would often temper his rage! Yes, we were given a special dispensation of grace from the Lord to show compassion, despite his poor treatment of us. 

Some time had passed between our phone calls to our landlady, in that period the Lord had shown us that it was time to look for another apartment. Soon after, she called us wondering if her son was still being difficult toward us. I shared with her that although I didn’t appreciate that she had kept information from us when we first rented the apartment, I believed that God allowed us to be there as a loving witness to her son. She began to cry. She said that her dear friend, who was a Christian, prayed with her and said to her that God sent us to live there because He loved her son and wanted to reach him. It was clear that her friend and I had heard the same things from the Lord. God, in fact, had me say all of these things to her son. She was amazed! Before we hung up, we were both crying. She was also sad to hear we’d be moving and apologized for all we had endured. 

See It for Yourself: Matthew 5:43-48, 1 Corinthians 4:10-12

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

Help me to truly love my enemies, to bless those who curse me, to do good to those who hate me, and to pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me. In this way you said I will be your son. For you bless both the good and the evil with the sun’s shining, and send rain on all of us as well. Loving my loved ones and greeting my friends won’t make me great in Your eyes, because even sinners do that! Perfect me in this, my Father, just as You are perfect.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.

Working It Out:

     Have this mindset of Saint Paul and the other early Apostles:

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure…”                          

Devotional #29               

The Power of the Name

As a child, I was so excited when I found a small plastic card with my name on it at the stationary store! “Joseph” it taught me means “May God add!” As a believer, I hope that I add blessings to those around me and that thereby I live up to my name! I think of how the ancients in scripture, moved by the Spirit of God, named their children appropriately to the call that the Lord placed on their lives. Jacob correctly named his offspring, such as Judah (praise) from which Christ came and Joseph who ‘added’ life amidst death, forgiveness for the evil done to him and love, though he was treated with hatred and contempt!  David was God’s “beloved” who was called ‘a man after God’s own heart.’ Samuel was suitably named since ‘God heard’ the prayers of his mother who was at first unable to conceive. Many more could be named, but of course the best of all being, Jesus. Our Lord’s name was given to Mary by the angel Gabriel, since fittingly Jesus came to ‘save’ us all!  

Aware of the importance of a person’s name, my wife and I prayed each time she was pregnant. We did not kowtow to Italian traditional norms of naming our children after our grandparents, parents, or even ourselves. We believed God would make it clear to us what each of our children’s names should be. The names that we most considered for our firstborn were Evan, which means “God is gracious” or David, which means “beloved!” When he was born, we knew that we needed to decide. While she first held him, my wife said to me, “I know what I believe he should be named, but I want to hear it from you!” I smiled and said to her, “His name is David!” She said, “That’s what I thought!” A dear sister in the Lord arrived the next day with a picture frame that had a boy’s name and its meaning on it. Just as I had found that card with my name on it so many years earlier. Before we unwrapped it, she knew our two choices, but did not know the final decision. As we had torn the gift wrap away she jokingly declared, “I hope I got it right!” She did! Our David had received his first gift with his name on it.

In my wife’s second pregnancy we found that we liked several boys’ names, but not having a girl’s name in mind at all we quickly realized that the Lord was showing us we’d have another boy. One night, late in the pregnancy, we sat down to seek God specifically for a name. Although I mainly pray with modern English wording, for some reason I was praying in King James English, as I said, “Dear Lord, please ‘grant’ us a name for this child!” Immediately I knew, “Grant, his name will be Grant!” I declared. Furthermore, on the way to the hospital, when he was born, we stopped at a red light on ‘Grant” Avenue. In the eleven years since that day we’ve seen Grant’s ‘giver’s’ heart and his loving empathetic approach to hurting people. Yes, this name certainly suits him!

Names certainly have significance, and no name more than the name of Jesus. Philippians 2:8-11 says, “…He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Calling on the precious name of Jesus saves, heals, and delivers us. “The Lord is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy.”

See It for Yourself: Philippians 2:8-11, Exodus 20:7, Psalm 99:2-3,

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

You commanded us, saying, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Your name is holy and precious to your people. May we continue to make your name great in the earth until that day that you bring all things under submission to the mighty name of your son, Jesus!

In His great and holy name we pray, 

Amen.

Working It Out: 

Many now disrespect His sweet name -

They attribute it with shame.

We must not use it in vain…

For we who worship this great name, now…

Know that at its sweet sound all shall one day bow!

Devotional #28     

Meant to Walk on Streets of Gold

     Once we were living in Virginia we found that we could still save the cost of owning a car, since we could surprisingly get to most places on foot. The Lord also blessed us with many generous neighbors, although we tried not to overtax them by requesting too much help from them. But, there were several places to which we needed to walk a great distance. We had a small grocery store right across a passable highway from us. But, to save money and have more options we needed to walk about three miles to our supermarket. We’d often push our cart down the rocky, dusty road to replenish our necessities.

           

One week night, after 9:00 pm, we realized we needed certain items, one being diapers for our son, and we simply couldn’t wait to buy them. It had been a tough day at work and I still had a lot of prep work to do for the next day. My wife offered to go, but I didn’t want to put her in danger, since certain parts of the road was poorly lit and wild animals were around our area. Leaving home on that cold, late evening was the last thing I wanted to do.

           

I groaned and cried out to God on my long walk to do my duty, “Why, Lord? Why must my life be so difficult? I was actually brought to tears as I looked at my feet and questioned, “will I always be walking everywhere on these things.” 

Immediately my view changed, the ground before me shone with a beautiful golden hue. It appeared as though I was standing on a golden glassy mirror. Revelation 21:18 says of Heaven, “…the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” My feet transformed. You see, my big toe on my left foot is stunted and since my right big toe is longer, my right foot is a half size longer than my left foot. This difference has been a source of embarrassment for me. But, in this vision, which seemed more vivid than real life, my feet were perfect, the corresponding toes completely even and not a mark or blemish was on either foot. I was wearing a linen robe, instead of the jeans I had changed into before my reluctant excursion. Then, I heard the Lord’s voice, “Behold, do you not know that these feet were meant to walk upon My streets of gold?” As God transformed my surroundings in this vision, so He converted my perspective from darkness to light!

What joy to know that trails and troubles have their purpose, but shall all pass away. Jesus promised that we who trust Him will have mansions in His kingdom of Heaven. I joyfully await the fulfillment of that vision for both you and me!

See It for Yourself: Revelation 7:9, 10, Revelation 21:3, 4, II Corinthians 4:16-18

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

I thank you for the promise of Heaven. A place where You Yourself will tabernacle with us!  You, our God, shall wipe away every tear from our eyes, and put an end to death, sorrow, and crying. For you will cause all pain to cease. For You shall make all of these earthly struggles, troubles and woes pass away, and Your glorious, new, never-ending day shall dawn!

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.

Working It Out:

     Let us do as 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 instructs, 

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Devotional #27     

Casting Our Bread Out on the Water!

          As we prayerfully considered moving from our first apartment, my wife and I realized that we could no longer afford to live in New York City on a new teacher’s salary. We had always said that we’d love to live down South. The slower pace, neighborliness, and prospect of finding a good church (in the Bible belt) also played into this desire. Mostly, we wanted to follow God’s leading before we’d do something so drastic.

           

As we continued praying, we agreed that the Lord was in fact leading us to make this move. We had an excitement and imagined how the pioneers must have felt as we’d move to a brand new place, and a have a fresh new adventurous start. But, where would we go? What state? What city? Once my wife and I both knew where God was sending us, we simultaneously called out, “Virginia!” At the time, the government was issuing images of the fifty states on quarters. Whenever we’d make change we’d receive ‘Virginia’ quarters from store clerks. Then, I looked online at teaching jobs in Virginia. I only found five that interested me. I thought of how David only prepared five smooth stones with which to take down a giant. I knew that one of these five would be the next place where I would work.

                       

Ecclesiastes 11:1 came to mind, “Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.” Stretching out in faith, I emailed five resumes. I received a call from Manassas Park City Schools asking me to come down. As non-drivers, we wondered how I’d get to an interview 255 miles away. When I asked a friend to pray for God to open a door to a miracle, she offered to drive me down. Wow! What a blessing! But, this was only the beginning! The interview went very well and I got the job! My father-in-law drove me down to look for a place to live. We found a house rental that would cost us less than most small apartments in New York. But, we needed to wait to find out if we were approved to live there.

When the movers came a week later, we had to give them two addresses (a storage facility and the home rental we were waiting on). When the truck was almost loaded the realtor called, the rental was ours. The Lord’s timing isn’t ours, but He certainly knows what He is doing. We rejoiced that He came through for us in the nick of time!

A week later, when we had to meet the moving truck in our new home and I had to start work, my father-in-law had emergency triple heart bypass surgery. My wife remained with her family, while another friend came through and drove me down. She returned home that night. I remained alone, with the Lord! Not what I expected, howbeit, definitely what I needed!

           

I continued unpacking for several days. Then, on the morning of my birthday I called out to God for another miracle. “Please Lord,” I said, “I don’t want to be alone on my birthday.” How would He pull this off? After a short walk to get to know my new neighborhood better, I arrived home to find a note on my door. It came from a woman I had taught with at the Christian school. We were two of twelve teachers who taught there and I had the pleasure of teaching her daughter when she was four.  She saw me when I had left my home and recognizing who I was informed me in this note that she lived in the home right around the corner from me. When I rang her bell, we held hands and jumped up and down like two gleeful children. I celebrated my birthday with dear friends that night.

My father-in-law recovered and my wife joined me a week later. Thanks to her cousin who 'just happened' to be coming down to Maryland to visit with her brother. We know that there are no coincidences with God! We praised God for all He had done! “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

See It for Yourself:             

Ecclesiastes 11:1, 1 Samuel 17:40, Isaiah 48:17, John 10:2-4

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

You are the Good Shepherd. We, as Your sheep hear Your voice. You call us by name and lead us by the way that we should go. Remove all distractions that seek to hinder us from hearing You and help us to obey and follow wherever You lead.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Working It Out:

If He is “God” shouldn’t we be seeking His will and following where He leads us!

Devotional #26               

“Touch Not Mine Anointed!”

     When my wife and I were about to get married, we prayerfully selected our first apartment. We’d have the first floor and the landlords lived on the second floor. Since we came highly recommended, they agreed to rent it to us for $850 per month, with a promise of not raising us for a very long time. This was considered a reasonable rent for a four room apartment in Brooklyn, NY in 1998.

Overall, it started well, but it wasn’t without difficulty. The apartment was poorly insulated. Once we had our first child, we were concerned about the cold on winter nights. Moreover, the landlady complained when our baby would cry and later when he started to walk she complained his falling down would shake her whole apartment. However, when her grandchildren made noise, she didn’t consider how this would affect us beneath her on the first floor. When we’d call about other concerns, they often wouldn’t address them at all. Other than these issues, overall I was mostly happy in my new family's first dwelling.

Our landlord was retired. He was generally kind to us and took pleasure in stopping to play with our baby. We had become close enough to know that he did not lack for money. He even boasted that he retired with an excellent pension. He claimed that the reason that his wife worked in the neighborhood was to afford her gambling habit.

They called us into the hallway one day to tell us that they would be raising us $50 in the following month, and then raise us $50 again in six months. We pleaded with them saying that on my new teacher’s salary we often had to put groceries on a credit card. They didn’t even want to entertain our concerns, claiming that I would continue to get raises, but they were on a 'fixed income.' They insisted they needed this raise. So, we paid it and would trust God to make up the difference.

They had a fish pond in the front of the home. A week after we paid the rent, with the increase, our landlady (who I’ll call ‘Ellen)’ boasted that she bought three more coy fish at $50 each. We walked into our apartment speechless. My wife sat and cried. What an injustice? They knew that we were struggling to feed our baby, and she spent our first three rent increases in a moment- on fish?

We immediately sought the Lord for wisdom about how to handle it and when to start looking for a new home? As my wife was praying, The Lord gave me a vision. I saw Ellen running in panic, pleading with us about something. I was certain that this vision of God’s judgment on her selfishness would come to pass. But, with the vision, I was reminded that God desired that we love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. I sensed that God was cautioning us that He wanted us to wait to see HIs vengeance and that we should not rejoice in that. Instead, we should pray for mercy and our response to her should be compassionate love. I recalled 1 Chronicles 16:22 where God warns those who treat His people poorly, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”  

Sure enough the exact vision I saw came to pass only shortly later. My wife and I had come home one day to find Ellen running frantically up and down the front steps looking heavenward. I leaned in and whispered to my wife, watch, this is my vision. Ellen cried out, “Oh, did you see it?” She pointed up and moaned, “The bird, the big bird?”  She went on to tell us that her friend who lived nearby had called to say that a large bird was eating coy fish out of her pond. She warned Ellen to try to cover her pond. Ellen said, “I was still on the phone with my friend when I went to the window and saw this big white bird swoop down and eat my fish.” She said that the funny thing was that it wasn’t eating the neighbor’s fish who lives across the street, and the next door neighbor had a pond in his backyard and his fish weren’t touched either. God allowed us to watch as the bird flew back, grabbed her last fish and carried it to finish his meal on the roof. Incidentally, the bird appeared to be a heron which we have never seen in our neighborhood in Brooklyn before or since. 

See It for Yourself: 1 Chronicles 16:20-22, Romans 12:17-21        

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

Help me to be like Jesus, who repaid good for evil done to Him, to live in peace with others (as much as is possible), and to leave judgment to You. You are judge! I beseech you therefore, have mercy on me, those I love and also on my enemies.

In Jesus’ name I pray. 

Amen.

Working It Out: 

Your job is to love, God’s job is to judge. 

Since God is love, that will work out to your benefit! 

But, the best victory against an enemy is turning him into a friend!

When that is possible, that's a wonderful occurrence! 

Devotional #25               

A Sword of Separation

Some people find discomfort reading some of the strong and seemingly abrupt things that Jesus said in scripture. That is because there’s a misconception of Christ and Christians as always having to be “nice!” Once, “(while Jesus) was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” Side note, the Bible said that Christ never sinned, therefore God the Father approved of even the sayings and actions of Jesus that some of us might have trouble accepting! As believers, our families, even if they know the Lord, can be a stumbling block to us remaining in God’s will. Satan, you will find, will use anything or anyone to hinder you from reaching your maximum potential in Christ. Familial obligations, family expectations, and standing traditions can be Satan’s tools used to keep us out of God’s particular plan for us.

 Another disciple of Christ, when called by Jesus to follow Him, said to our Redeemer, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” If you didn’t know that these verses were in scripture, would you be surprised that our Lord spurned his own mother and siblings and actually suggested that someone should miss his own father’s funeral?

I don’t believe that this is always the case, it is more so the exception. After all, the commandment says that we are to honor our parents. We see on one occasion Jesus attended a wedding with his mother and helped at her request. When He was told that his family wanted to speak with Him that particular day, I believe He recognized that specifically as the voice of Satan, trying to keep Him from His God given task of speaking with those multitudes. Shame on Mary and his siblings if they had insisted on seeing him in that moment and thereby becoming a hindrance to God's plan that day. Furthermore, that man to whom Christ said, “let the dead bury their own dead,” spoke to the fact that there was only death for this man amongst his family, thus keeping him from the abundant life that Christ was offering him!

2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

In Matthew 10:34-39, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

            Though the Lord’s perfect will is true peace and reconciliation for people, between themselves and with Him, there are occasions where the Lord calls us to lay down even our family or closest friends on His altar. This for some is for a short time, and for others might be for good! Most of my married life (for about 15 years) I was estranged from my parents and siblings. After some time, the Holy Spirit moved on my heart to reconnect. What a joy when God brings restoration! I thank Him for it! Now, what about you? Does your family create an atmosphere that draws you to the Lord and His plan and purposes for you, or further away from Him? Do your dearest friends stop you from reaching your fullest potential in Christ? Are you truly ready to leave everyone and everything for God, if you had to do so? 

See It for Yourself: Matthew 12:46-50, 8:21-22, 10:34-39, 19:29, Mark 9:43-44, 2 Corinthians 6:14

Prayer Focus:

Dear Lord,

You said that “…everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for (Your) name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” Help me to forsake everything or anyone that keeps me from You, even as your Father forsook you, as you bore the punishment for my crimes on the cross. Let Your voice, Lord, trump the other voices that I hold so dear!

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen.

Working It Out: 

Jesus said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched…” As extreme as that sounds, are you ready to separate even from family, or dear friends, if God so leads? Can you truly give up all for Him?