Month: February 2024

God Answers Prayer

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And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”  But He answered her not a word …Matthew 15:22-23a

Did it ever feel like God wasn’t paying any attention to you? That is undoubtedly the feeling that this woman experienced in today’s verse. She cried. She begged. She fell to Jesus’ feet. But nothing she could do or say seemed to touch the Lord. Her story reminds me of the Bangladeshi people I met on a mission trip to Northern India. They could only find work breaking up gravel from the river banks in that city, because they were Muslim and not Hindi. Most of the local people would not hire them and so they were forced to take the lowest, most menial jobs. The way they were treated was a lot like this woman at first appears to have experienced. Yet, though she didn’t realize it at first, Jesus made His only mission trip abroad in answer to her prayers. 

So if it seems as if Jesus is not listening and no one else seems to care if our prayers will be answered, we have to decide whether we will continue to believe or go away? Will we continue praying or will we give up? For all of us, there comes that moment when we must decide what to do with God’s silence. This woman who appeared to have no religious background, no friends and no encouragement, gives us a wonderful testimony, of humility and patience. She shows us that not only is God listening, but that He also cared enough to send Jesus on His long trip to earth, just for you!

Your Father Feeds Them

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Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26 ESV

Our younger son recently gave me a book by Pastor Tony Evans called, Kingdom Man. Though it is from a few years back, the basic principles on biblical manhood really haven’t changed. Being a bit of a bird lover, I especially enjoyed his take on this verse about how God takes care of the birds. He says, “A bird can’t just sit on a branch with its beak wide open, waiting for God to drop a worm down…” Though Dr. Evans was mainly focused on alerting men to their responsibility to work, this line inspired me with a slightly different message which I shared at Life Care Center on Friday.

First, God has given every bird its own song. Long before dawn the rooster begins his crow, in the daytime the Chickadee peeps and in the middle of the night, the owls hoot and pigeons coo. In that same way, each of us, needs to lift our voice in our own way, every day to our Father in prayer. Yes, He knows what we need, but He is waiting to hear our voice. Next, whether it be night or day, every bird, is appointed a time to look for food. Whether seeds or fish, carrion or worms, every bird knows they must to look for food. In that same way, we are each given a source of food, called the Bible. Within its pages, there are more than 7,000 promises, numerous warnings and chapters of helpful guidance for our lives. But God will not whisper the stories of Genesis in our ear, while we play golf, nor will he sing the Psalms over us when we are watching TV. It is our responsibility to open up our Bibles and seek our daily bread. In my dad’s last week of life, one of his great comforts was a nurse who came and spent time reading the Bible to Him on her night shift. Dad didn’t say, “Well I’ve lived a godly life, I know Jesus as my Savior, so what’s the use.” No! He knew that his source of strength was to be found in the pages of God’s book. Last of all, every bird has a job. Eagles build their nests, our mockingbird swoops down to harass the hawk, because it is too near his nest, and mother robin must feed an endless supply of worms to her chicks. In the same way, we all have an opportunity to serve. It is not God’s job to mow our neighbor’s lawn when they are sick. He will not bake a cake for your son’s birthday, nor will He do the dishes, when your wife needs a break. Jesus already has finished His part. Now it is our privilege to do ours, and then watch in grateful amazement as God takes care of all our needs!

I do hope you like our rendition of “His Eye is On the Sparrow. It has been a great blessing having our newest volunteer, Sharon Clark, helping me to sing. I have already put her on notice, that when we go to visit family this summer, that it will be her turn to keep the meetings going. Have a blessed weekend all!

From the top, these are Mallard ducks roosting on a neighbors roof, a group of Ibises near our community pond, a Muscovy Duck, an Anhinga drying its wings and a Great White Egret looking for lizards.

Devotions for Lent

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Here in the middle of winter, it is hard to believe, but we are just a little over a week away from beginning the season, commonly called Lent. Though the word, “Lent” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible, it is nonetheless a good opportunity to refocus our thinking and our lives around the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ironically, this year, Lent begins on Valentine’s Day. Now don’t try the excuse, “Honey, I would have bought you chocolates, but I thought you had given them up for Lent!” Though we all have different customs concerning Easter, one thing all of us have in common with believers from the days of Jesus is that it comes unexpectedly. In fact, if we were to examine the scriptures carefully, it might appear that the Romans, who sealed the tomb and set a guard over it were more concerned about the resurrection than the disciples. After all, Mary and the other women did not come to the tomb to witness a miracle, their plan was to bring spices to complete their traditions for burial. Later, when they went back to report the visions of angels and an empty tomb, no one was more shocked and unbelieving than the disciples. Though Jesus had taught them over and over that He was to die, be buried and raised on the third day, not one of them understood or believed it to be possible. But on that “One Unexpected Morning” the story of the lives of every man, woman and child on earth was changed. Jesus died for our sins, and was buried in a rich man’s tomb, just as Isaiah 53 had foretold. He could not be kept in the grave and was raised, just as David prophetically tells us in Psalm 16:10. Yet, no one was waiting to see the miracle at the moment that the angel rolled back the stone. The Roman guards were terrified, and the rulers of the people remained unbelieving even after their reports. Peter and John ran to see what they had not even imagined in their wildest dreams and on resurrection morning Jesus came, unexpectedly for us all, but exactly as He had promised all along! If you are looking for a devotional resource this Easter, “One Unexpected Morning”, is a 40-day Lenten reader in both large and regular print as well as in eBook form. The link below is for the large print version, but you should be easily able to find the others from that page.