October 26
Trash?? Not Me!!
In the Message Bible, in Psalms 113:7 and 8 it says, “He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who’ve been thrown out with the trash, Seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best.”
I’m sure most of us, at some point in our lives, have felt like we were doomed to live in the dirt of life, or that we had been thrown out with the trash. If you feel like that now, there is Good News for you. Not only is Jesus concerned about you, He is searching for you. Right now He is looking for the downtrodden and rejected. His desire is to find them and then lift them up to a place of honour; to give them a seat beside the most honored guests.
Do you feel like you are one of the downtrodden? If you do, turn your gaze upon Jesus and allow Him to take over your life. No long prayer needs to be said. He is sitting beside you now, just turn to Him and say, “Jesus, I need you.” If you do, He will be true to esteem you as the honored person that you are.
October 19
All Are Healed
There’s a passage in Luke 4:40 and 42 that I have always found interesting. “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them … And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place.”
It doesn’t specifically say this but it appears to me that he healed people all night long. In many places it states that Jesus healed all that came to Him. No one that came to Him for healing ever left ill. If they came and they were sick, they were healed. I’m sure people did not come to Him in groups of three or four. It seems more likely that they came by the hundreds.
The verses in Luke states that when it started to get dark people came to be healed and He healed every one. If they did come by the hundreds it would seem plausible that He healed people all through the night and did not finish until morning had arrived.
I can’t wait until I am in a church service like that; one that starts at 6:00 pm with people being healed constantly until the next morning.
October 12
Speak Life
A friend about my age commented to me the other day, “I’m to young to be feeling this old.” As much as I like this friend, he has it backwards and is speaking tiredness and defeat over his life. I think we should twist it around and say, “I’m too old to be feeling this young.” That is how we need to view life.
Too many people speak despair, tiredness or illness over their lives. How can we expect God to help us if we agree with the devil. Satan is the one who wants us to live a defeated life, one in which we only see the bad and have no hope of improvement. If we agree with or encourage that kind of life, it is the one will be destined to live.
God wants us to speak victory over our lives. If we speak victory, we open the door for Him to bring it in. 1 Corinthians 15:57 assures us, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Since we already have the victory the only requirement of us is to proclaim it and live in it. Next time you feel defeated, proclaim and walk in the victorious life that Christ has won for us.
October 5
Almost Stung
I was out walking the other day when something on my shirt caught my eye. I looked down and there was a wasp just above my waist clinging to my shirt. He had his back end bend under and seemed as though he was trying to sting me through my shirt. Luckily, I had on a loose shirt and his stinger was well away from my body. Needless to say I quickly flicked him off and continued on my way.
I did nothing to disturb this wasp. I was just walking along the sidewalk minding my own business and it appeared as though he said to himself, ‘I think I will sting this guy’. How often do we feel this happen in our daily lives? We are going through our day minding our own business when some calamity happens for no apparent reason, other than it seems someone is out to get us. Well, someone is, Satan.
But we need not fear. Ephesians 6:16, reminds us, “At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One.” (Good News) No matter what Satan may try to throw in our direction, we have a God that is able to keep us safe. |
Ray's Column