Keeping Watch
The first stage was the engagement and the second was the betrothal. Now comes the third stage, the marriage. In this third stage, the bridegroom comes unexpectedly for the bride. No one knows the day nor the hour, for preparations for the marriage were being made.
6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’
12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’
13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”
Perhaps Today
“13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.
17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage (comfort) each other with these words.”
THE ADOPTION
Standing in the large church foyer I hear the words “Hey Mamaw”, coming from my newly adopted grandson as he comes running for a hug! My heart melts to know that just one day before, he was adopted into our family. This had been in the making for about a year. I got to experience this great love firsthand when I heard the judge called him by his new last name and watched his little 5-year-old face lite up as he hugged my son, his new dad, and said “I’m adopted”!
After signing documents, making pics, giving hugs and kisses, with family and friends, my new little grandson leaves the courthouse along with his newly adopted 1 year old sister, and their “parents”. Outside awaits a white limo with a driver to escort them to the celebration location. As they take their seats I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that just as the limo driver goes to close my grandson’s door, he holds out his hand against the door to let the driver know “I’m a Dolan” his newly adopted name.
Greater Things
Soon I saw her at the store where she immediately shared her burdens first thing. I just listened and told her we would pray. I also found out her mom has been a believer for years. Then soon we both ran into her at the store again, this time she thanked us for praying.
Will I see her again? I don’t know, but I believe this was God ordained. Many times, we look to do “Great Things.” Maybe it’s to have a great pulpit ministry, great evangelist meetings, starting a church plant, to have great followings with YouTube, Instagram, or maybe even to move to another country to serve in a much-needed difficult place. I wonder if we are looking over the horizon to see “Great Things” while missing the “Greater Things” right in our path. Read more…
God’s Loving Presence
By Deborah King
A New Song
A Heart of Prayer
As we begun January 2021, we the church were called once again to a time of prayer and fasting for the coming year. After our 2020 year that we have all had, it was probably one of the most important things we should do. I normally pray and fast in this month along with our church and continue a small portion of fasting weekly through the year, but it was not until Pastor Appreciation Day 2020 that I realized how profoundly important this January call was, not just to fast but to develop in this time “A Heart of Prayer” as well so that we could be ready for God’s agenda for the coming year.
For you see, yearly we try to give our pastors a unique gift to represent the theme or direction the Lord was taking us during the year. As we gave them a picture of a heartbeat representing that they never missed a beat ministering to the Body of Christ in this trying time, it was then that I realized the importance of their call to have us develop “A Heart of Prayer” for the coming year.
I believe we do this by following Jesus example. In (Mark 1: 35-37) Jesus is up early to pray before anyone else. The day before, He had had a full day of ministry, and now the scriptures say “before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. 36 Later Simon and the others went out to find him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
Every time I read this part of the scripture, I often wondered what was going through the minds of Simon and the others that came looking for Jesus. Earlier Jesus had called several of these disciples to follow Him and they immediately left at once and followed Him to become “fishers of men. “Now Jesus, is up at daybreak and they are not following behind. Could it be they were already making plans for an earthly kingdom after hearing Him speak with authority to the evil spirits and watching Him heal many from various diseases, including Simon’s own mother-in-law? Perhaps they were dreaming of being a part of that new earthly kingdom and slept in? Could it be they were beginning to make their own agenda without the most important thing, “A Heart of Prayer?” Read more…
Newsletter
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Changed Not/Changes Not!
In the gospel of Mark, the Woman with the issue of blood can tell you what to do, for she suffered 12 years with this constant infirmity. She spent all she had on doctors and tried everything she knew, and still, she “changed not” for the good. She opened her eyes in the morning, “changed not.” The noonday, “changed not.” At the closing of the day, “changed not.”
But today was different because Mark 5: 27 says “When she heard about Jesus…….
Well, we may wonder how she heard and what did she hear, for she was isolated from everyone due to her ritual impurity. Could it be she heard her neighbors talking through the open widow as she sat down for a moment of strength after household chores? Or did she see and hear a crowd going by her house on the way to the lake to see if Jesus was there? I do not know, but we do know that she heard about Jesus. What have you heard about Jesus? Do you have ears to hear?
I wonder did she hear Luke shout, (Luke 5: 17 b)….”the Lord’s healing power is strongly with Jesus!” Or a nicely dressed man once demon-possessed tormented by a legion of demons, testifying that he was a cutter, once constrained with mental chains, shouting and praising Jesus shackle free, while pigs float in the water. (Mark 5:15 b) She may have heard the man, once a leper telling how he knelt down in front of Jesus as “unclean“ and stood up “ Clean” (Mark 1:40-42) or the once paralyzed man telling how he came down through the roof by faith-filled friends walking out the front door with forgiveness and healing. (Mark 2:10) Read more…
The Big Picture
On my list of things to do, working a puzzle is not one of them. But due to the pandemic I chose to work a 1,000-piece puzzle at home. I thought, how hard can this be, since the puzzle was offered to me already in multiple baggies arranged by color, and 1 baggy with just the border. So, I got out my card table, the picture of the puzzle, and began the task. Except for 1 piece, the border was done quickly. I did not work on it every day, just occasionally. I would put a piece in here or there. Some days I could only find a few pieces after hours of searching. It was becoming a very frustrating task. The pieces I just knew would fit, did not, and other pieces kept falling off the table’s edge. I was even offered a magnifying light to help find the correct puzzle pieces, but I wanted to do this without help. When I did find a piece or two that fit, it reminded me of hunting Easter eggs as a child. It was exciting for the moment, but then back to the hunting again. Read more…