Joyce Meyer Spending Time With God

Israel Unveiled Vol. 1: Mt. of Beatitudes

 

 

 

We Need You, Lord

We need you, Lord.
Like lost wanderers in a burning, empty desert
Thirst for cool, clean water,

We long for you to quench us.
In a world gone progressively mad,
With chaos all around us,
We seek refuge in the order and purpose of your law.
With evil sneaking, leaking everywhere,
Spreading heavy darkness,
Creating feelings of emptiness,
We hunger for your goodness and light.
Turn us around, Lord, we pray;
Retrieve your sheep who have gone astray.
Draw us to the satisfaction
Of your purity and righteousness.
Cleanse us, and make us more like you,
Role models, examples, beacons,
For others who are searching for meaning for their lives.
Come, Lord Jesus.
We need you, Lord.

Matthew 5:16
Proverbs 4:18

 

 



LOVE HAPPENS

 

 

 

LOVE HAPPENS

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 4:16

When love happens, good happens…
Kindness happens when love acts.Joy happens when love celebrates.Patience happens when love waits.Hope happens when love promises.Life happens when love gives.Change happens when love prays.Blessings happen when love cares.Beauty happens when love grows.Healing happens when love touches.Fullness happens when love abounds.Righteousness happens when love chooses.Truth happens when love speaks.Purpose happens when love guides.
Because God is love, love happens…when love happens, something good will always happen! 
 



 

Opinion or Truth?

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. John 3:20-21 (NKJV)
As a follower of Christ, when someone asks you what you think about a particular topic, it is better not to give them your opinion, but rather, to state what you believe. As a believer, your faith is not based upon your opinion, but upon the truth of God.
Truth is different from opinion because it is founded in the nature, the character, and the will of God. Truth is different from opinion because Truth is eternal. Truth is different from opinion because truth is not influenced by national interests, personal interests, or cultural interests. Nations rise and fall, cultures come and go, and personal interests can differ from one life to the next.
Truth is a plumb line by which every life, nation, and culture can measure itself.
Truth is an anchor for the soul of every life, nation, and culture that wants to hold steady against the winds of adversity.
Truth is a light to the path of every life, nation, and culture that seeks to walk free from the deceptions that lead it into darkness.
Truth is the power that exalts a life, nation, and culture that desires to be kept from falling downward into reproach and shame.
Let the words of truth be in your love songs; Let the knowledge of truth be in your prayers; Let the practice of truth be in your kindnesses; Let the beauty of truth be in your worship; Let the utterance of truth be in your proclamations; Let the choices of truth be in your character; Let the celebration of truth be in your praise.
One of the most important parts of our legacy is to have followed the path where God’s truth has taken us. 
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5 (NKJV) 



Dorcas

 

Dorcas   It is one of the signs of the times we live in that the skill of home sewing is slowly disappearing. Women work outside the home now and don't have time to acquire the skills. Fewer and fewer are able to teach the few who want to learn. Besides, machine-made clothing is so relatively cheap that sewing is at best a hobby, not an economic necessity.   Not so in New Testament times. All clothing was handmade. And every town had poor people who were clothed literally in rags. Dorcas seems to have been an older widow in Joppa on the coast who showed her Christian faith in making clothes and helping the poor.   "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died. . . . All the widows stood around him [Peter], crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them" (Acts 9:36,37,39).   Dorcas' resurrection is a magnificent story. It is a demo version of what God is going to do for all believers when he returns. But I love Dorcas even more for her servant-heart, a seamstress who put clothes on the poor.



Impossible Situations By Pamela Rosario

 

 

 

The day was almost over. As I cleaned the room in preparation for the next patient, I heard the intercom blare my name announcing a call waiting for me at the nurses’ station.

I maneuvered my way through the crowded hospital corridor and picked up the first free phone I could find. The grim tone of my brother’s voice caused my heart to leap into my throat.

“They found a large tumor on Mom’s liver.” This was not the first time we had heard the words “tumor” or “cancer.”

Six years earlier, she had fought a hard fight against colon cancer and won. However, we felt the winds of change after a kidney infection landed her in the emergency room earlier that month. Her doctor performed a blood test that indicated her cancer might have returned. The CAT scan confirmed our worst fears. The cancer had spread, or metastasized, to her liver.

“What are we going to do?” Alan’s voice broke through my stunned silence.

After asking a few more questions about my mother’s test results, all I could say was, “I’ll call you back.”

I left the desk and found my husband in another area of the emergency room where we both worked as nurses. I shared the news with him and other co-workers who were standing by. Concerned looks and pats on the shoulder were all they could offer in the way of a solution. My husband turned to me. “What about Rhonda?”

Spurred on by a glimmer of hope, I grabbed the phone. My hands shook as I dialed the number. The din of the emergency room grew faint as I waited for the familiar voice to answer.

“Hey, Rhon. It’s Pam. Can you talk for a minute?”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I launched into the story without taking a breath. “Mom has a tumor on her liver. Alan told me her doctor said he can’t operate because it is wrapped around a major blood vessel. What can I do? Who can I take her to?”

Then came the inevitable question, “What kind of insurance does she have?”

I took a deep breath “She doesn’t have any."

The silence that followed was shattered by my friend’s determined voice, “Pam, give me a minute and I will call you back.” The phone went dead.

As I waited, my heart began to sink. How would my mother get the care she needed? Mom had survived two major surgeries, six weeks of radiation, and eighteen months of chemotherapy. After she went into remission, my parents tried to obtain some sort of health coverage for her. All of these efforts were fruitless. Because of her history, no conventional insurance company would touch her. She was too young for Medicare, and when she tried applying for Medicaid, she was told she would have to divorce my father in order to qualify for benefits. After fifty years of marriage, this was not an option. Furthermore, even if we had the funds, where would she get a doctor? Few surgeons in the state would call themselves qualified to tackle such a case, and, if they did, it could take months to get an appointment. Our chances seemed bleak. It was an impossible situation.

Throughout the Bible, we find story after story of men and women surrounded by circumstances that had no viable solution. In the Old Testament, we read about a couple of senior citizens waiting for a promised child to be born. Let us not forget the runaway murderer commissioned by God to lead Israel out of centuries of slavery against the super power of his day. How about the Israeli leader who needed more hours of daylight in order to defeat the enemy? All of these were impossible situations.

In the New Testament, we can feel the anxiety of the disciples as five thousand hungry people waited for the meal Jesus announced that He would provide. Ponder this: Lazarus was dead. Mary and Martha were racked with grief when Jesus finally arrived three days later. “Where were you?” they cried. More impossible situations.

The list goes on and on, but with every insurmountable obstacle, God comes through. Abraham and Sarah have a healthy baby boy. Moses brings the children of Israel out of bondage after four hundred years of oppression while being chased by the entire Egyptian army. Joshua defeated the enemy when God made the sun stand still. Jesus not only fed five thousand men, but also all the women and children who were there with food to spare. Much to the delight of Mary and Martha, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life. When the world shakes its head and announces there is no way, God flexes His muscles on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him, (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Replaying the events of that day, I feel humbled and honored at the evidence of God’s hand at work in Mom’s life. Little did I know that God would use an old friendship to bring about a new solution. When the call finally came, Rhonda’s voice rang full of confidence.

“Pam, the doctor I work for has agreed to see your Mom. He is one of the best trauma surgeons in Florida. And, because of where her tumor is located, we are going to enroll her in the teaching program so all her hospital costs will be covered. She won’t have to pay for a thing.”

Friend, are you facing an impossible situation? Perhaps a loved one has been touched by an unexpected illness like my mother, or your checkbook shows more withdrawals than deposits. If so, just remember what God asked Jeremiah in chapter 32, verse 27: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for me?” When we see obstacles, God sees opportunities. God is ready, willing, and able to do all that we need. Turn the burden over to Him, ignite your faith, and watch the hand of God turn your situation around.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for working all things for my good. Give me a loyal heart so that you can ‘show Yourself strong’ in my life. Bring to my mind how You have rescued me in the past. Increase my faith so I can see Your solution to my impossible situation. In Jesus’ name, amen.”