The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“For without me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

“How do you do it day in and day out?” Harriet asked Lydia. “First of all, I don’t know how you drive that size bus in the first place. Second of all, I was talking to one of the other drivers, and he told me that you have the worst run possible. Some of the worst kids ride your bus. How do you do it day in and day out?” Harriet asked emphatically. “Well, some days are a bit more challenging, I must confess,” Lydia said as she poured another cup of coffee for her friend. “But I have found that the more I pray before I leave, the better things have been going. I often pray, confessing to the Lord that I cannot do this without Him. Yesterday one of the biggest teens who is so disruptive in school actually lingered before he got off my bus. He told me, ‘Have a good day, Miss Lydia. See ya’ in six and a half hours.’ I told him that I would be praying for him today. Harriet, he stopped and I think that he nearly cried. He said, ‘Ain’t nobody ever told me that, Miss Lydia,’ and with that he shot off the bus, and of all things turned around and waved at me! Only the Lord could have done this.” How about you? In what ways are you discovering the Lord doing things that only He can do?

For today: Be watching for “only He could do this” moments today.

“Art not Thou our God, Who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:7).

King Jehoshaphat is leading the people in prayer because the impending battle was shaping up against them. Wouldn’t it be something to have a king (or in our case a president) who would call our country to order and lead in prayer because of the enemies we face? In his prayer, Jehoshaphat referred to Abraham as “God’s friend.” This is one of three such references to Abraham (see also Isaiah 41:8 and James 2:23). What a wonderful way to be known, the friend of God. Of all the things that could be said of a person, what could be greater? The Lord Jesus told us, “You are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). That’s what I want to do today. I’ll surely need the Lord’s help to do it. How about you?

For today: What better title than, “the friend of God”? Let’s remember this throughout our day.

“God thundereth marvelously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend. For He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth” (Job 37:5-6a).

Elderly Elizabeth came to the place where she agreed that she couldn’t live alone any longer. For several years her family had wanted her to move in with them. She didn’t want to be a burden as she would put it. Nothing could be further from the truth. She soon admitted that she was delighted to be around the happy noise and activity of her family. One of the favorite times of her day came when the family would gather for their ‘evening worship,’ as they called it. After the Bible reading, her son would ask his family if there are any prayer requests. One summer evening, her little five-year old grandson, Joshua, raised his hand. He had a prayer request. Being called on by his daddy, he spoke right up saying, “In children’s church my teacher said that God says to the snow, ‘Head on down to the world.’ I want God to send snow to us.” Smiles abounded. Several other prayer requests were taken, and a sweet time of prayer was enjoyed by the family. As soon as the prayer time concluded, before anyone could say a word, Josh ran to the window, peeked outside and said, “Not yet. But I still want it to snow.” Later that night, Elizabeth looked in her concordance and found our verse for today. The sweet prayer time continued that night as she reflected on the blessings of belonging to her great and awesome God.

For today: How about you? Aren’t you glad that you belong to the Lord? Don’t you wish everyone did?

“For which cause we faint not: but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

Two men from the church went to call on Leo in the hospital. “What are we going to say to him?” the first man asked the other. “I am really nervous about this call, I will admit. I really don’t want to go, but with the pastor asking us to visit Leo, I knew we had to,” the second man concluded. “What do you say to a man whose cancer has spread, and the doctors say there is no hope?” he quietly asked as they walked down the hospital corridor. Entering Leo’s room, the men were greeted by Leo’s family. Motioning for them to come up to his bed, the two men from the church moved closer to Leo. Quietly and with a halting voice, Leo whispered to the visitors, “Hi guys. It is wonderful to see you. Now don’t you go and worry about me. This is a little affliction and compared to eternity, it is just a moment.” The men looked at each other, and one of them confessed, “Leo, we were afraid to come because we didn’t know what to say. We should not have worried. You said it all.” How about you? How do these verses impact your life?

For today: I want to keep my troubles in perspective. The affliction is light and is only for a moment!

“Whom having not seen, ye love, in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

“How can you say that you love God? Have you ever seen Him?” the cynical man seated across the airline aisle asked. “I could never love someone I can’t see. How foolish!” he continued. James and his wife Alyssa were among the several hundred airline passengers making their way across the Pacific Ocean. James had the opportunity of witnessing to the man and sharing the joy of knowing the Lord. James responded graciously, saying, “I can understand what you are saying. However, let me share with you this truth. It does take faith, that’s for sure. Take us for instance. We have papers saying that our little daughter is in China. We know her name because we have read it. We know a little about her because we have read it. We believe that she exists because we have read it. But we have never met her. We’ve never held her. But we love her already. By faith we believe what we have read, and I can testify that it is possible to love someone you have not yet seen. It is the same with the Lord. We have read about Him, and we already love Him.” The arrogant man was speechless. James had many other opportunities to share with him about the Lord Jesus on the long trip. How about you? Though you have not seen the Lord Jesus yet, do you love Him?

For today: The more you get to know the Lord, the more you will love Him.