I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
When my husband and I were dating, it was the 70’s, the era of free love, hippies and doing what felt good. Nevertheless, we did not show each other a lot of public displays of love. We were quickly enamored with each other, but we shared kisses and cuddles privately, out of the view of a majority of others. Both of us were raised to believe that our love was between us, not to be gawked at by those who may or may not be commenting on our affectionate shows of love. Nowadays, some fifty years later, we kiss in restaurants or on sidewalks or wherever we feel like, and we sometimes hear others say, “Aww. How sweet!” We don’t kiss to get a reaction. We do so because our love for each other bubbles over and out.
About 2000 years ago, Jesus gave us a model of selfless love when He went to the cross willingly and died for us there. He hung on that cross in front of a multitude of believers and scoffers. He was not afraid to show His love for us in a very public and humiliating way. Now, every day, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our love for Him by telling others about His great sacrifice and how it has changed our lives. We cannot just hide His love in our hearts, but we need to take it to others. His model showed us that it was meant t be public, meant to be shared. And if others ridicule us because of our sharing our faith, then we are compelled to share anyway. Our words may mean the difference between their suffering or rejoicing for eternity. It’s a public display of Jesus’s love for us and for all mankind.
How different would our world, communities, and homes look if we committed to helping the hurting around us?
The writer of Proverbs, typically considered to be King Solomon, penned these words:
“If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!”
Proverbs 19:17 NLT
There are those who are financially or materialistically poor. Maybe they were born into a cycle of poverty, have hit hard times, or are physically or mentally sick. But there are also those—like Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5—who are poor in spirit.
Giving generously to those in need, caring for the vulnerable, and living an open-hearted life is the call of every believer.
Jesus echoed this theme in Matthew 25, explaining that good works like feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, showing hospitality to strangers, and visiting the sick or incarcerated will not go unnoticed. In fact, when we do such things, we’re actually serving Jesus (Matthew 25:40).
How wonderful would it be to end poverty, stop hunger, and witness the day when the world is entirely at peace? Eventually, Jesus will make all that is wrong right, once and for all. But until then, we get to keep serving Him and loving others every chance we get.
No one can do everything, but we all can do something.
Genuine followers of Jesus will be compelled by His Spirit to love the people He’s created. And if that’s not enough, we can believe Him when He says that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
John put it this way:
“If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?”
1 John 3:17 NLT
When we serve God’s people out of obedience, we’re serving Him!
There are commercials frequently about how refreshing certain beverages are. But there is also spiritual refreshing. What is refreshing? According to the online dictionary, it means stimulating, reviving and to give rest. How do we as Christians get that refreshing?
Going to the throne of God once is not enough. We have to keep prayed up and consistently repentant. God forgives us each time we fall, but our responsibility is to be alert to sin and when we notice it encroaching into our lives, we have to repent and turn away from it. Then, we can experience the refreshing that comes from being in God’s presence.
Once we are refreshed, we don’t just sit back and wait for the next blessing to come. It is our duty to then go out and refresh the hearts of others. We can do that by sharing our testimony or by sharing truth from God’s word. It is refreshing to me to write my thoughts on scripture verses here in this blog. It is equally refreshing to read blogs of other believers who encourage me to continue in the faith.
May you truly be blessed today with a refreshing of your soul, mind and spirit.
I was told for many years even before I finished high school that when opportunity knocks, I have to open the door. Today, this verse was in my devotional and reminded me of my grandparents’ saying and also expanded on it in a spiritual way. We are always to be ready to tell others about Jesus. There is a world of hurting people who need to know him and we need to seize the time that He has given us to share His love, mercy and grace with them. Yes, the days are evil, but God is good and we need to tell His Story to all who will listen.
I want others to find this rest that only comes from God. In the midst of life’s turmoil, you can find rest and peace in Him, knowing that He can be trusted with your eternal security.
Have a blessed day and when the opportunity arises to share about Jesus, jump in with faith and tell what He has done for you!
My husband and I are approaching our fiftieth year together and when people see us joking around and laughing together, they usually ask how long we have been married. When we tell them, they want to know our secret. Well, our first secret, which isn’t so secret after all, is that we have built our marriage on the Lord. He has always been our foundation and we have taken our vows before Him seriously. That is not to say that there have not been times when I wanted to throw in the towel, walk away and start a new life without Harry in it. But God just wouldn’t let me do that. He knew that the feelings were fleeting but the commitment was forever.
As I read my devotionals this morning, I realized that one of the reasons that we have been together for so long is that we bear each other’s burdens. When Harry was working on his Master’s degree and having difficulty writing his papers, I had him write them longhand and then typed them for him, editing the grammar errors as I read aloud to him and changed the wording so that his meaning was clear. I did that for two years, complaining some but also realizing that I was helping to make things better for both of us and for our family. Then, many years later, when I had a stroke, Harry took over all of the cooking duties and has continued that to this day. I can still cook and do so when the urge hits me, but my loving husband shouldered the responsibility to make sure that I am getting the nutrition I need for my brain to function as well as possible. We have been partners in raising three children, partners in our many moves and in finding churches. We encourage each other and when one is down or upset about something, we can tell the other and know that we have immediate understanding, concern and prayer.
We know each other well and can sense when something is not quite right and when the other person needs prayer, some time together or an encouraging word. Just a smile helps sometimes. You know, it works for strangers, too, the people you meet out in the world who just need a smile and an encouraging word. I try hard to notice what people are doing well when we are out doing errands and make it a point to compliment them about something, no matter how small. People in the service industry especially get a lot of flack and grief from customers, but I don’t think they hear a lot of positive feedback. It only takes a few seconds to notice how carefully someone is bagging your groceries or how attentive they are to putting in the right cost or even how friendly they are in spite of how tired they must be. Take time to comment and watch how their face lights up, from the inside, because you touched their hearts.
I always used to tell my own children and then my students to be careful not to judge others by the standards we set for ourselves because we don’t know what they are going through. That is another reason that Harry and I have been together for so long. We understand how difficult life is for each other and have worked together to lighten the load instead of adding to it. We have shared our history before we met and we know each other’s story for the last five decades. The hard times…we were there to hold each other up. The fun times…we were there to laugh together. Laughing, crying, embracing, always together. What about those you meet briefly? Do you instantly dislike them because of an outward appearance of a first impression? Do you judge them because of the way they live or the car they drive? Maybe we should all just take a step back and realize that where that person is now is perhaps not where they want to be, but neither is it where they once were. Instead of walking away and being glad that we are not like them, maybe we need to imagine if we were like them and be more compassionate towards them. Jesus never met a stranger that He did not seek to understand their needs and to show them love. How can we not choose to do likewise?
Yes, almost fifty years have passed. Actually, we met on my birthday fifty years ago and got married the following April. But the time seems short to get to know each other, to walk in each others’ shoes and to encourage each other. There are many whom I meet for only a few minutes who need me to understand, to look them in the eyes and to appreciate them for the unique creation that God has made them to be. Why have we been together for almost fifty years? Because of sharing worries and shoes.
www.bible.com/reading-plans/3797/day/2
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 