“If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” —Exodus 15:26
My friend Ken (hunting, fishing, and general mischief farmer buddy, who always lived on the edge of everything he did) had a four-wheel drive pontoon army vehicle. He loaded up his two kids and several neighborhood kids and was driving up a huge mound of dirt in a vacant lot. As he was going over the top of the mound, his foot slipped off the clutch and the pontoon flipped over backward. Most of the kids were thrown off safely; Ken’s two-year-old, Mandy, had a broken collar bone. The steering wheel landed in the middle of Ken’s chest, and he had to be rushed to the emergency room.
When I arrived, the nurse escorted me into his room. Ken was in extreme pain, having difficulty breathing. His skin was ashen color, and I was fearful that he might not make it. When he began trying to talk, with excruciating pain and effort, he said, in broken sentences, “Sam…I’ve got it figured out…” I thought he was going to say something deeply spiritual and profound, like, “If I don’t make it…take care of my family,” or “This is what I want you to do at my funeral!” He continued, to my consternation, “I’ve got it figured out…when I get out of here, we’re going to put some roll bars on that thing!” I didn’t know whether to laugh, or cry, or punch him!
I blurted out, “Oh, no, you’re not! Janet and I have already decided to sell that pontoon before you get out of here!” Of course, he was under heavy pain medication, and in a lot of pain, and wasn’t up to saying much more. I took him by the hand, and in prayer I lifted him up before the throne of our healing Lord. After praying, my heart was heavy, and I needed to cry a bit, and I wanted to see Janet. He still looked ashen, and every breath was extremely painful. I went out and visited with Janet and the family, and had prayer; and because I felt so intensely for Ken, I went back to pray with him.
I was not prepared for what I witnessed! He was breathing normally, effortless, freely. His skin was back to its normal ruddy complexion. He was talking clearly and smoothly. He said, “Sam, get the doctor. I’m ready to go home!” Our friend Elvan had been to pray with him a few minutes before my first visit in the room. Ken said, “After you prayed, as you were walking out of the room, suddenly, I started breathing normally and feeling better!” Of course, he still had sore ribs and muscles, but his breathing was good; and that was the main thing he needed. The doctor came in and discharged him and Janet took him home. Later that night, Ken’s neighbor, a doctor, came to see him and said, “Let me check you over and see how your ribs are.” The doctor said, “I’m taking you back to the hospital. There’s air in your abdominal cavity; you have a hole in your lung!” After the doctor ordered new lung X-rays, he said, “Ken, over here is a scar from when you had Valley Fever; but here is a new scar. You had a hole in your lung, but it is all healed up! You’re OK, and the air will go away.” Ken told him about Elvan and me praying for him and how he started breathing normally as I walked out the door; and the Muslim doctor raised his hands and said, “Praise be to Allah. Only God could have done this!”
I remembered the words of God to Moses, at Marah (place of bitterness), in answer to his prayer, where God sweetened the bitter water and said, “I am the Lord, who heals you!” (Jehovah-Raphe).
Thanks, Lord, for that day in the emergency room when you demonstrated the awesome power of prayer to you, the One who says without hesitation, “I am the Lord, who heals you.” Transforming Hearts…Transforming Lives! Amen!
Dr. Sam Bruce, President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries; Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
© 2010 by S. K. Bruce. Your Life Repeated in My Life: Story Devotions for Christ Followers, unpublished
Friday, March 9, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A Simple Invitation Day 9
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” —John 1:45
In greater and greater numbers, I discover people who are burned out on the institutional church. Some have given up on church but have not given up on God. In our outreach to our respective communities, let us not neglect this key group. Let us not give up on them, either. With time and the right opportunity, they will come back.
Robert is a local business owner in our community who needed some computer work done within his store. He heard about someone named Bill, who had computer skills, and invited him to come by his business to provide an estimate. In the course of their dialogue, Robert invited Bill and his family to our church. For Bill and wife, Susan, there was immediate hesitancy, due to a debacle that happened at their previous church that had left them jaded and confused. Needless to say, their ecclesiology took a major hit. After some time, though, they came and brought their children.
What they found was not what they expected, which was “more of the same.” What they found, instead, was a loving community of people who helped them heal and believe again. Note this excerpt from a testimony written by Susan and published on our church’s web page:
I knew in my heart that not being a part of a local church was not healthy and more importantly not something that I should be doing with my children. At the beginning of 2008, I started a prayer journal. One thing that I put on my list of goals for 2008 was to find a church home. In February of 2008, I had my third child, and I knew that the most important thing for her life was to be raised as a Christian. In April, my family attended Olde Towne for the first time. What a difference this church has made.
We were welcomed and celebrated before we could get out of the car. The people were loving in a way that I had never experienced. The services are so God-centered and worshipful that I have begun to let go of my fears and hurt. Olde Towne has restored my life in Christ by freeing me from religion and laying the pathway back to the relationship I had with God when I was first born again.
Bill and Susan are now totally involved in the local church and serve as lay leaders. Just think: it started with a simple invitation, just like the one Philip extended to Nathanael. For the family listed above, they are grateful that someone reached out and dared to extend hope where hope was needed.
Lord Jesus, help us to extend invitations to those who are separated from the body and need to find a home among your people. In your name, Amen.
Dr. Marshall Stokes, Pastor, Olde Towne Community Church, Ridgeland, Mississippi
In greater and greater numbers, I discover people who are burned out on the institutional church. Some have given up on church but have not given up on God. In our outreach to our respective communities, let us not neglect this key group. Let us not give up on them, either. With time and the right opportunity, they will come back.
Robert is a local business owner in our community who needed some computer work done within his store. He heard about someone named Bill, who had computer skills, and invited him to come by his business to provide an estimate. In the course of their dialogue, Robert invited Bill and his family to our church. For Bill and wife, Susan, there was immediate hesitancy, due to a debacle that happened at their previous church that had left them jaded and confused. Needless to say, their ecclesiology took a major hit. After some time, though, they came and brought their children.
What they found was not what they expected, which was “more of the same.” What they found, instead, was a loving community of people who helped them heal and believe again. Note this excerpt from a testimony written by Susan and published on our church’s web page:
I knew in my heart that not being a part of a local church was not healthy and more importantly not something that I should be doing with my children. At the beginning of 2008, I started a prayer journal. One thing that I put on my list of goals for 2008 was to find a church home. In February of 2008, I had my third child, and I knew that the most important thing for her life was to be raised as a Christian. In April, my family attended Olde Towne for the first time. What a difference this church has made.
We were welcomed and celebrated before we could get out of the car. The people were loving in a way that I had never experienced. The services are so God-centered and worshipful that I have begun to let go of my fears and hurt. Olde Towne has restored my life in Christ by freeing me from religion and laying the pathway back to the relationship I had with God when I was first born again.
Bill and Susan are now totally involved in the local church and serve as lay leaders. Just think: it started with a simple invitation, just like the one Philip extended to Nathanael. For the family listed above, they are grateful that someone reached out and dared to extend hope where hope was needed.
Lord Jesus, help us to extend invitations to those who are separated from the body and need to find a home among your people. In your name, Amen.
Dr. Marshall Stokes, Pastor, Olde Towne Community Church, Ridgeland, Mississippi
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
I Could Have Traded Five Dollars for a Hundred Dollars! Day 8
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” —1 John 4:18
When I was a child, Dad was president of Wesley College. When I was eight years old, Dad made me a member of the worship team and paid me ten cents each time I sang in a service. I kept my dimes in little bank the size of a dime coin roll. I had saved almost five dollars. I counted and stacked them in dollar -size piles and put them back in the bank. One day, a lady where we were having dinner held out her tightly closed hand and said, “I’ll trade what I have in my hand for your bank and dimes!” I was curious to know what was in her hand, but I knew what was in my bank and how long it took me to accumulate my treasure; fifty dimes represented fifty songs! After much inner struggle, I decided to keep my dime bank and five dollars. When the lady opened her hand, I saw a hundred dollar bill! I was so disappointed that I cried.
Many people are like that, holding on to their puny little desires and toys, a few little joys, some happiness, a few fleeting thrills, along with a lot of fears, frustrations, heartaches, and anxieties. Then Jesus Christ, the Liberator comes along and offers to trade them eternal life—a life of inner peace and freedom, purpose and meaning, fulfillment and joy. Yet, they cling to their little empty or partially full lives because they are afraid to trust him, afraid to lose that which will not last or satisfy for what is eternal and will satisfy immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).
I didn’t know if I could trust that lady, and I didn’t know what she was offering in exchange for my bank, but as you spend with our Lord, listening to his thoughts, delighting yourself in him, getting the desires of his heart, making them the desires of your heart, you learn to trust him because his offer of salvation and abundant life is clear. “There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Jesus Christ has proven himself across ages of time to be absolutely trustworthy. Millions of changed lives attest to his ability to save and satisfy people, who, in simple faith, trust him and ask him to come into their lives and take control. God the Father made an offer to trade gis gift of eternal life for our time on earth. He sent his Son Jesus to complete the plan and make the offer. We choose to reject or accept it. To accept God’s offer gives new life, opportunities and relationships more valuable than anything we can dream or give up.
Jesus asked, “What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:37). He said, I am leaving you with a gift—peace of heart and mind—worth more than gold, silver, or anything else. What an offer! It’s like trading five dollars and a fifty cent bank for a hundred dollars—only the results of this trade are much more important, with eternal consequences and higher stakes! Choose to follow and serve Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and enjoy eternal life with him.
I was speaker at a men’s retreat where we gathered around a bonfire. Several gave testimonies of God’s work in their lives. One young man said, with deep emotion and tears, “I declare an end to dysfunctionality in my family tree for generations! I am going to be a godly husband and father!” That night he made a better trade than giving up five dollars for a hundred dollar bill; and his wife and children got a new husband and father. Years later, he is still soaring high with the Lord, and is a Christ-follower and leader in the church. That’s a God kind of trade! Transforming Hearts…Transforming Lives!
Thanks, Lord, for your offer to trade your eternal life for my brief life, your full life for my empty life, your presence for my loneliness. Help me to always live in intimate relationship with you, and to offer your gift to everyone I meet. I love and trust you! Amen.
Dr. Sam Bruce; President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries; Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
When I was a child, Dad was president of Wesley College. When I was eight years old, Dad made me a member of the worship team and paid me ten cents each time I sang in a service. I kept my dimes in little bank the size of a dime coin roll. I had saved almost five dollars. I counted and stacked them in dollar -size piles and put them back in the bank. One day, a lady where we were having dinner held out her tightly closed hand and said, “I’ll trade what I have in my hand for your bank and dimes!” I was curious to know what was in her hand, but I knew what was in my bank and how long it took me to accumulate my treasure; fifty dimes represented fifty songs! After much inner struggle, I decided to keep my dime bank and five dollars. When the lady opened her hand, I saw a hundred dollar bill! I was so disappointed that I cried.
Many people are like that, holding on to their puny little desires and toys, a few little joys, some happiness, a few fleeting thrills, along with a lot of fears, frustrations, heartaches, and anxieties. Then Jesus Christ, the Liberator comes along and offers to trade them eternal life—a life of inner peace and freedom, purpose and meaning, fulfillment and joy. Yet, they cling to their little empty or partially full lives because they are afraid to trust him, afraid to lose that which will not last or satisfy for what is eternal and will satisfy immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).
I didn’t know if I could trust that lady, and I didn’t know what she was offering in exchange for my bank, but as you spend with our Lord, listening to his thoughts, delighting yourself in him, getting the desires of his heart, making them the desires of your heart, you learn to trust him because his offer of salvation and abundant life is clear. “There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Jesus Christ has proven himself across ages of time to be absolutely trustworthy. Millions of changed lives attest to his ability to save and satisfy people, who, in simple faith, trust him and ask him to come into their lives and take control. God the Father made an offer to trade gis gift of eternal life for our time on earth. He sent his Son Jesus to complete the plan and make the offer. We choose to reject or accept it. To accept God’s offer gives new life, opportunities and relationships more valuable than anything we can dream or give up.
Jesus asked, “What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:37). He said, I am leaving you with a gift—peace of heart and mind—worth more than gold, silver, or anything else. What an offer! It’s like trading five dollars and a fifty cent bank for a hundred dollars—only the results of this trade are much more important, with eternal consequences and higher stakes! Choose to follow and serve Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and enjoy eternal life with him.
I was speaker at a men’s retreat where we gathered around a bonfire. Several gave testimonies of God’s work in their lives. One young man said, with deep emotion and tears, “I declare an end to dysfunctionality in my family tree for generations! I am going to be a godly husband and father!” That night he made a better trade than giving up five dollars for a hundred dollar bill; and his wife and children got a new husband and father. Years later, he is still soaring high with the Lord, and is a Christ-follower and leader in the church. That’s a God kind of trade! Transforming Hearts…Transforming Lives!
Thanks, Lord, for your offer to trade your eternal life for my brief life, your full life for my empty life, your presence for my loneliness. Help me to always live in intimate relationship with you, and to offer your gift to everyone I meet. I love and trust you! Amen.
Dr. Sam Bruce; President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries; Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Prayer Makes a Difference Day 7
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. —Ephesians 6:12–13, 18
Years ago before the formal focus on the 360 Revolution concept, I used to pray for those around me who didn’t know Jesus. The 360 Revolution focuses on looking 360 degrees around you to see where God is at work and to get involved, praying for at least three persons six times a week who don’t know Jesus and missing zero opportunities to share God’s love.
One of my ministry fields was the gym. I used to compete as a power lifter and was in the weight room most days of the week. I would write down on my prayer list some of the guys I saw regularly and had interaction with and would pray for them regularly. What I found is that when I prayed for them to find Jesus and for the opportunity to share Jesus’ love with them, some incredible things happened. I remember I had been praying, and there was a guy over at the dumbbells working out. He said something to me that gave this huge opening to talk about spiritual things.
It was just crazy how it happened, and I believe without regular prayer on my part, it would have never happened. God did some incredible things in that place. People came to find Jesus; others who had been walking away from him came back and God did an incredible work. A men’s accountability/Bible study group started at Cracker Barrel, and before you know it, we had to go to more groups because it got too large. I believe without a doubt, if there hadn’t been consistent prayer, it would have never happened.
The Bible says that we are in a spiritual battle. Paul said, “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph 6:12–13, 18). We need the weapon of prayer.
For us to see lives changed, I challenge you, no, better yet, I dare you to try to pray six days a week for three people who don’t know Jesus. Pray that you would have a chance to share God’s love. You will be amazed at what God does. I double dare you!
Don’t be discouraged if nothing happens immediately. Sometimes it is the faithful prayers over years that bring someone to Jesus. I prayed for over two years for a guy who was against any spiritual conversations. Finally, God opened up a window and, well that’s another story for another day.
Lord, I want to be part of the 360 Revolution, looking 360 degrees around me for the three people who don’t know you, those you want me to pray for 6 times a week, missing 0 opportunities to share your love with them. As I stand in the gap in prayer for them, Lord, please go before me to prepare their hearts to receive your awesome love and life-transforming power. May they never be the same because they have met you in all of your healing love and grace. Thanks, Lord, for letting me be involved in your plan of transforming hearts…transforming lives. Amen.
Dr. Andy Stephenson, Leader of Youth and Family Ministries, Church of God Ministries
Years ago before the formal focus on the 360 Revolution concept, I used to pray for those around me who didn’t know Jesus. The 360 Revolution focuses on looking 360 degrees around you to see where God is at work and to get involved, praying for at least three persons six times a week who don’t know Jesus and missing zero opportunities to share God’s love.
One of my ministry fields was the gym. I used to compete as a power lifter and was in the weight room most days of the week. I would write down on my prayer list some of the guys I saw regularly and had interaction with and would pray for them regularly. What I found is that when I prayed for them to find Jesus and for the opportunity to share Jesus’ love with them, some incredible things happened. I remember I had been praying, and there was a guy over at the dumbbells working out. He said something to me that gave this huge opening to talk about spiritual things.
It was just crazy how it happened, and I believe without regular prayer on my part, it would have never happened. God did some incredible things in that place. People came to find Jesus; others who had been walking away from him came back and God did an incredible work. A men’s accountability/Bible study group started at Cracker Barrel, and before you know it, we had to go to more groups because it got too large. I believe without a doubt, if there hadn’t been consistent prayer, it would have never happened.
The Bible says that we are in a spiritual battle. Paul said, “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph 6:12–13, 18). We need the weapon of prayer.
For us to see lives changed, I challenge you, no, better yet, I dare you to try to pray six days a week for three people who don’t know Jesus. Pray that you would have a chance to share God’s love. You will be amazed at what God does. I double dare you!
Don’t be discouraged if nothing happens immediately. Sometimes it is the faithful prayers over years that bring someone to Jesus. I prayed for over two years for a guy who was against any spiritual conversations. Finally, God opened up a window and, well that’s another story for another day.
Lord, I want to be part of the 360 Revolution, looking 360 degrees around me for the three people who don’t know you, those you want me to pray for 6 times a week, missing 0 opportunities to share your love with them. As I stand in the gap in prayer for them, Lord, please go before me to prepare their hearts to receive your awesome love and life-transforming power. May they never be the same because they have met you in all of your healing love and grace. Thanks, Lord, for letting me be involved in your plan of transforming hearts…transforming lives. Amen.
Dr. Andy Stephenson, Leader of Youth and Family Ministries, Church of God Ministries
Monday, March 5, 2012
Distractions from Communicating Freely with God Day 6
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” —Luke 10:41‒42a.
I was visiting a home in a South Carolina mill town when the conversation turned to prayer. In the course of our discussion, I confessed that I sometimes let daily concerns distract me from communicating freely with God.
“I know what you mean,” the lady of the house said. “It was so difficult for me to pray while I was having financial troubles a few months ago. I worried so much, my prayers didn’t seem to go higher than the ceiling.
“I couldn’t sleep one night because of it. I paced the floor and cried out to God, but still I could get no sense of peace about my situation. So I went outside and climbed up the ladder that a roofing crew had left there in the middle of a repair job, just to sit on the roof and pray. I said, ‘Lord, I don’t want anything to come between us—not even this roof.’ Right away, I felt God’s peace settle over me and I knew I would be all right.”
The roof wasn’t the obstacle, of course. Preoccupation with her financial needs (including the roof repair) was. So when she put herself physically in a posture that disregarded all of those concerns, she was able to converse with God freely again.
I don’t recommend that you climb up on the roof in the middle of the night. But see if you can put yourself in a posture that disregards everything distracting you from God so that you can talk freely with him and he with you.
Lord, I don’t want anything to distract me from You, not even this ________________. The one thing I really need is my relationship with you. Amen!
Joe Allison, Coordinator, Publishing and Creative Services for Church of God Ministries, Inc.; CGM Liaison, Transformation Team Connect/Refresh
I was visiting a home in a South Carolina mill town when the conversation turned to prayer. In the course of our discussion, I confessed that I sometimes let daily concerns distract me from communicating freely with God.
“I know what you mean,” the lady of the house said. “It was so difficult for me to pray while I was having financial troubles a few months ago. I worried so much, my prayers didn’t seem to go higher than the ceiling.
“I couldn’t sleep one night because of it. I paced the floor and cried out to God, but still I could get no sense of peace about my situation. So I went outside and climbed up the ladder that a roofing crew had left there in the middle of a repair job, just to sit on the roof and pray. I said, ‘Lord, I don’t want anything to come between us—not even this roof.’ Right away, I felt God’s peace settle over me and I knew I would be all right.”
The roof wasn’t the obstacle, of course. Preoccupation with her financial needs (including the roof repair) was. So when she put herself physically in a posture that disregarded all of those concerns, she was able to converse with God freely again.
I don’t recommend that you climb up on the roof in the middle of the night. But see if you can put yourself in a posture that disregards everything distracting you from God so that you can talk freely with him and he with you.
Lord, I don’t want anything to distract me from You, not even this ________________. The one thing I really need is my relationship with you. Amen!
Joe Allison, Coordinator, Publishing and Creative Services for Church of God Ministries, Inc.; CGM Liaison, Transformation Team Connect/Refresh
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Soaring from Incorrigible Defeat to Incredible Praise! Day 5
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! —2 Corinthians 5:17
Sienna came into my office and crumpled dejectedly into the chair across from my desk. With tears streaming from her eyes, she said, “Pastor Sam, I want out of my marriage. Shawn and I were married sixteen years ago. When we started dating, I was on a rebound from a broken relationship. I discovered I was pregnant, and even though we didn’t really have any feelings of true love for each other, we decided to marry for the sake of the baby. There has never been any real love in our marriage. Now, Shawn is drinking too much. He’s becoming verbally abusive, and I’m tired of putting up with him.”
Her words, “I just want out!” reverberated through sobs and tears. My “Daddy heart” wanted to give her comfort, and say, “It’s OK. You’ve given the relationship sixteen years; it’s not getting any better, so it’s all right to get out.” But I closed my eyes and silently prayed for wisdom, and both Sienna and I were shocked at the words that tumbled out of my mouth. I said, “Sienna, our Lord Jesus Christ can give you and Shawn a love for each other that you’ve never had. He can heal your marriage and give you a Christian home like you’ve never dreamed!”
I’ll never forget Sienna’s reaction as long as I live. She jumped up. I thought she was coming to hug me for my words of wisdom. But she screamed at me, “That’s not what I wanted to hear from you!” She ran out into the hall, slammed the door, and left. It was so loud that my secretary ran up the stairs to see if I was OK! And I thought, through tears, “Well, Sam, you really helped her a lot, didn’t you! You’ll probably never see her again!” But I did! Shawn and Sienna were out of church for several weeks; they showed up one Sunday morning. Sienna asked if she could talk with me.
I hoped things were better. But it was a repeat performance: “I want out!…“Jesus can put new love in your hearts!”…Scream: “That’s not what I wanted to hear!”…Gone! That scene repeated itself several times in the next year. I began to believe it was a hopeless relationship. Shawn and Sienna were bound by incorrigible defeat. Months later, I was directing our choir in the musical Living Witnesses.
In preparation for the song There’s Life in Jesus’ Name, the instructions said to have a testimony of the transforming power of God in someone’s life. No one but I knew who it would be. Sienna walked to the microphone. She told the whole story of her and Shawn’s brokenness, her visits with me, the advice I gave her, her screams at me; running out on me, the counseling they received, prayers of family and friends for their reconciliation. She looked down at Shawn, and said, through teary eyes, “Shawn, I want to tell you today in front of all our friends that I love you with the love Jesus placed in my heart for you—a love we never had in all the years of our marriage!” She thanked the congregation and me for our prayers and support.
As they embraced in the aisle, everyone stood up and erupted into spontaneous praise and applause. The choir exploded into singing There’s Life in Jesus’ Name! And we all knew there was joy in heaven that day as Shawn and Sienna went soaring from incorrigible defeat to incredible praise! The same God who healed, restored, and refreshed Shawn and Sienna can take you and your loved ones soaring from incorrigible defeat to incredible praise! new creations! Transforming hearts…transforming lives!
Thanks, Lord, for the awesome power of love, prayer, listening, and the Word to transform hearts…transform lives! For making everything fresh and new in Christ!
Dr. Sam Bruce, President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries; Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Sienna came into my office and crumpled dejectedly into the chair across from my desk. With tears streaming from her eyes, she said, “Pastor Sam, I want out of my marriage. Shawn and I were married sixteen years ago. When we started dating, I was on a rebound from a broken relationship. I discovered I was pregnant, and even though we didn’t really have any feelings of true love for each other, we decided to marry for the sake of the baby. There has never been any real love in our marriage. Now, Shawn is drinking too much. He’s becoming verbally abusive, and I’m tired of putting up with him.”
Her words, “I just want out!” reverberated through sobs and tears. My “Daddy heart” wanted to give her comfort, and say, “It’s OK. You’ve given the relationship sixteen years; it’s not getting any better, so it’s all right to get out.” But I closed my eyes and silently prayed for wisdom, and both Sienna and I were shocked at the words that tumbled out of my mouth. I said, “Sienna, our Lord Jesus Christ can give you and Shawn a love for each other that you’ve never had. He can heal your marriage and give you a Christian home like you’ve never dreamed!”
I’ll never forget Sienna’s reaction as long as I live. She jumped up. I thought she was coming to hug me for my words of wisdom. But she screamed at me, “That’s not what I wanted to hear from you!” She ran out into the hall, slammed the door, and left. It was so loud that my secretary ran up the stairs to see if I was OK! And I thought, through tears, “Well, Sam, you really helped her a lot, didn’t you! You’ll probably never see her again!” But I did! Shawn and Sienna were out of church for several weeks; they showed up one Sunday morning. Sienna asked if she could talk with me.
I hoped things were better. But it was a repeat performance: “I want out!…“Jesus can put new love in your hearts!”…Scream: “That’s not what I wanted to hear!”…Gone! That scene repeated itself several times in the next year. I began to believe it was a hopeless relationship. Shawn and Sienna were bound by incorrigible defeat. Months later, I was directing our choir in the musical Living Witnesses.
In preparation for the song There’s Life in Jesus’ Name, the instructions said to have a testimony of the transforming power of God in someone’s life. No one but I knew who it would be. Sienna walked to the microphone. She told the whole story of her and Shawn’s brokenness, her visits with me, the advice I gave her, her screams at me; running out on me, the counseling they received, prayers of family and friends for their reconciliation. She looked down at Shawn, and said, through teary eyes, “Shawn, I want to tell you today in front of all our friends that I love you with the love Jesus placed in my heart for you—a love we never had in all the years of our marriage!” She thanked the congregation and me for our prayers and support.
As they embraced in the aisle, everyone stood up and erupted into spontaneous praise and applause. The choir exploded into singing There’s Life in Jesus’ Name! And we all knew there was joy in heaven that day as Shawn and Sienna went soaring from incorrigible defeat to incredible praise! The same God who healed, restored, and refreshed Shawn and Sienna can take you and your loved ones soaring from incorrigible defeat to incredible praise! new creations! Transforming hearts…transforming lives!
Thanks, Lord, for the awesome power of love, prayer, listening, and the Word to transform hearts…transform lives! For making everything fresh and new in Christ!
Dr. Sam Bruce, President, Sam & Sandie Bruce Ministries; Pastor, Hope Point Church, Pearl, Mississippi; Online Instructor, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Fasting from Study…Yet This I Call to Mind Day 4
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. —Lamentations 3:21
Dr. Ann Smith shouted a greeting as she walked through our offices a few days ago. She was carrying a cane but scarcely seemed to use it, so I commented on how well she appeared to be recovering from hip surgery. She confirmed this and said she was enjoying a new book I had sent her.
“That was the strangest thing about being laid up after the surgery,” she said. “I wasn’t able to read anything. For the first time I can recall, I had no desire to read. I just wanted to concentrate on healing.”
She smiled and added, “Even so, the Lord brought to mind so many things I’d read before. I had time to reflect on them during my convalescence, so I didn’t feel deprived at all.”
Ann Smith is such an eager student that it’s hard to imagine her not reading for any extended period of time. (Obviously, she was perplexed by it too.) Yet God used that time of “fasting” from study to deepen her relationship with him. He called to her mind resources she had already accumulated.
The writer of Lamentations shared a similar testimony from the Exile: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD” (Lam 3:21–26).
Lord, when we are deprived of things that normally sustain us, we trust you to sustain us. Call to mind your faithful provisions of the past, and help us to wait patiently for the future you are preparing. Amen!
Joe Allison, Coordinator, Publishing and Creative Services for Church of God Ministries, Inc.; CGM Liaison, Transformation Team Connect/Refresh
Dr. Ann Smith shouted a greeting as she walked through our offices a few days ago. She was carrying a cane but scarcely seemed to use it, so I commented on how well she appeared to be recovering from hip surgery. She confirmed this and said she was enjoying a new book I had sent her.
“That was the strangest thing about being laid up after the surgery,” she said. “I wasn’t able to read anything. For the first time I can recall, I had no desire to read. I just wanted to concentrate on healing.”
She smiled and added, “Even so, the Lord brought to mind so many things I’d read before. I had time to reflect on them during my convalescence, so I didn’t feel deprived at all.”
Ann Smith is such an eager student that it’s hard to imagine her not reading for any extended period of time. (Obviously, she was perplexed by it too.) Yet God used that time of “fasting” from study to deepen her relationship with him. He called to her mind resources she had already accumulated.
The writer of Lamentations shared a similar testimony from the Exile: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD” (Lam 3:21–26).
Lord, when we are deprived of things that normally sustain us, we trust you to sustain us. Call to mind your faithful provisions of the past, and help us to wait patiently for the future you are preparing. Amen!
Joe Allison, Coordinator, Publishing and Creative Services for Church of God Ministries, Inc.; CGM Liaison, Transformation Team Connect/Refresh
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