Welcome Home

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Ouick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." Luke 15:20-24, NIV

When my friend and I go away, we always look forward to going home. Not nearly as much as her dog does welcoming us home. When we are still on the other side of the door, you can hear the excitement in the dog's vooice as she anticipates us walking through the door. When we open the door and come in, that is when all the welcoming really kicks into high gear. The dog is so excited to see us return home. She runs around, giving us kisses. For the dog, no housewarming would be adequate except when a party is there waiting for us when we get home.

That is the way when each of the Lord's lost children finally returns home to Him. When a person accepts Christ as His Savior, there is a party of angels singing in celebration of him coming back to where he belongs. Just as the dog became excited before we even came through the door, God waits in anticipation for all of His children to return to Him. It is our job to bring every one of those lost children home to God.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me so much as to welcome me home with loving arms when I was lost. Amen.

Jodi (AZ)

Power In Praising The Lord!

",,,,Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.'" from 2 Chronicles 20: 18-23

This Bible paragraph means alot to me. I am amazed at the way King Jehoshaphat had victory over nations that came to destroy them. He did not use weapons, or swords, or horses, for war, but he had the people play instruments to praise the Lord and eveyone repeat "Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever." (verse 21). The Lord's power was then demonstrated to them by sweeping all Israel's enemies. The same Lord in the past is the same Lord forever.

I have experienced the power of the Lord by praising Him in a time that one of our Christians from Toro's Church in South Haiti was possessed with 7 demons. The name of that one possessed with demons was Jertrude Joseph. She is the daughter of a voodoo priest named Dadoute Joseph that used to work mightly for all kinds of people in Haiti.

I was not on the mountain when the lady became crazy and wanted to kill herself by running to the cliffs to jump down. The villagers were obliged to hide all knives in the house, if not, she would use them to kill herself. It happeed according to the priest's sons and daughters just because Jertrude did not ask them permission to come to listen to the gospel of Christ and receive Christ as her Saviour.

She spent a week having our people surround her praying and fasting and casting out the demons, but nothing worked because those demons were sly. When I went up on the mountain, usually on Saturday to preach on Sunday, I could see Jertrude surrounded with all the Christians sitting peacefully waiting for an action by the demon. The demon came out and went back, this is not true. The Christians used to spend all their time for nothing and when they left, the demons came to kill Jertrude again..

I remember what the King Jehoshaphat did and the power of our Lord was used to show while worshipping. I said to the Christians, "Let us worship the Lord to see what the demons have in mind. After 40 minutes of worhipping, the power of the demons was manifested, and we divided the worshipping group in two. One group was worshipping and the other was holding the lady. We cast them out in the name of Jesus one after another. They talked to us and told us why they came to the girl and who sent them.

Whoever encounters difficulties, trials, or demons' challenges, just live in worship because it is more powerful than any nuclear bomb that may exist.

Oh Lord, we thank thee for all those weapons that are available for us to use in time of need. Help us not only to worship You in all circumstances but also to worship You for what You are and what You are to us.

Belade (Haiti)

The Stewardship Allowance

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this. says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

When I was a young child in the 50’s I learned a valuable lesson about stewardship. My father decided that year that he would give my two sisters and me an allowance—a big twenty-five cents each week! I know it sounds so small now, but then having twenty-five cents each week was a big deal.
There were some strings attached to this allowance. We each had to pay our tithes and save a dime of the twenty-five cents. Each week I faithfully put three cents in the church offering---a little extra since you could not cut a penny in two! I also dropped a dime in my little bank. The rest was for me to spend as I wished.
So many lessons were learned from that experience. Tithing a tenth of my income has been a high priority for me and my family ever since. We also saved for a rainy day and have found these very helpful when hard times come.
Giving to God what is His is important. Those who save will be glad they did when the rainy days come. I am very thankful that my father taught this to my sisters and me in word and deed.

Lord help me to be a wise steward with what you have given me and may I be thankful every day for all you have given me.

Bonnie (Tenn)

The Fruit Of The Wilderness

You shall remember all the ways which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not (Deut. 8:2, NASB).

During my prison ministry I met an inmate who became my friend. Once I told him about some things that had been discouraging me. After listening to me he quoted the above verse. This verse gave me insight for my trials I had never considered.

The verse above explains why the Israelites remained in the wilderness. They wandered so they would be humbled. God also wanted to reveal what was in their hearts, proving whether they would keep His commandments.

The same reasons are true about our own trials. Adversity humbles us like nothing else. The wilderness tests us, proving what is in our hearts.

Trials reflect who we are. They tell us the truth about ourselves. Nothing shows what is genuine quite like adversity. Faith is easy in prosperity. But what kind of faith will we have in the wilderness?

The fruit of the wilderness is precious. A wilderness might look barren at first, but there is fruit if we search for it—probably more than what we might realize.

We should not fear the path into the wilderness. God has reasons for leading us there. For without the wilderness we would probably never discover the truth about ourselves.

Heavenly Father, help us have fruitful lives even in the most challenging circumstances. Keep us from being discouraged in the wilderness. Amen.

John (PA)

The Fruit of the Wilderness

You shall remember all the ways which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not (Deut. 8:2, NASB).

During my prison ministry I met an inmate who became my friend. Once I told him about some things that had been discouraging me. After listening to me he quoted the above verse. This verse gave me insight for my trials I had never considered.

The verse above explains why the Israelites remained in the wilderness. They wandered so they would be humbled. God also wanted to reveal what was in their hearts, proving whether they would keep His commandments.

The same reasons are true about our own trials. Adversity humbles us like nothing else. The wilderness tests us, proving what is in our hearts.

Trials reflect who we are. They tell us the truth about ourselves. Nothing shows what is genuine quite like adversity. Faith is easy in prosperity. But what kind of faith will we have in the wilderness?

The fruit of the wilderness is precious. A wilderness might look barren at first, but there is fruit if we search for it� ��probably more than what we might realize.

We should not fear the path into the wilderness. God has reasons for leading us there. For without the wilderness we would probably never discover the truth about ourselves.


Heavenly Father, help us have fruitful lives even in the most challenging circumstances. Keep us from being discouraged in the wilderness. Amen.

By J. W. Christopher

He Is Risen

Luke 24:6a - He is not here, but He has risen. (NASB)

Over the period of a few weeks in Sunday School, the lessons have been about the rewards of salvation, abundant life, and eternal life, given to us when we believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts. I'm nine years old. It's Easter Sunday. Given our final instructions, a small group of us enters the church service. The little Methodist Chapel is packed. We sing a number of rousing hymns and choruses: "He is Risen", "He Lives", and so on, and the sermon follows. Finally, the invitation comes: "Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and want Him to come into your hearts, may come forward to receive Him." Nervously, but very sure I want this, I walk to the front, and as I am prayed for, I feel a physical lurch in my body, a lump in my throat, and huge happiness in my heart. Right there, my young life changes. I am safe. I am not alone. Jesus is inside me all the time. By God's perfect grace, those changes, which occurred that Easter Sunday, still pervade my whole being to this present day.

Easter 2011: Christians all over the earth celebrate the miracle resurrection of our Lord. He is risen! He is alive! Everything about our Lord is gloriously unique: His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, His eternity. Jesus in our lives makes us unique human beings also. Through our Jesus’ resurrection life, everlasting life -- and all that He gives -- is ours.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

May we remember all He has appropriated for us, as we celebrate with honour and humility in this Easter season. Jesus' resurrection power working in and through us is the evidence in our lives that we are indeed children of God. Through Jesus' resurrection, we have the divine guarantee of His justification and reconciliation to God. Jesus' resurrection is like our seal, our surety, not only that we are reconciled to God, but also that we are made righteous, and we can live resurrection-power-filled lives. 


Prayer: O Lord, high praises we offer to You in grateful prayer, celebratory song, worship, and in holy communion. Thank You from our hearts for all You have sacrificially wrought for us and in us. Heavenly Father, may we ever be happily testifying to all humanity of Your perfect salvation plan. In Jesus' saving name, we pray. Amen and Amen.!

Rosemary (Australia)

Closeness Through Christ

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Colossians 4:2, NIV)

"Oh, dear heavenly Father, please eliminate this distance between us." In my early twenties, I began to fervently pray this day after day, year after year. My sister was eleven years older than I was. I thought she still saw me as that little girl.

I believe the distance grew greater when I was twelve. My brother and sister were eighteen months apart and were like twins as children. I will never forget that day in November which shattered our lives. My brother committed suicide at the age of twenty-one. No one could ever replace my brother and his closeness to my sister. I just continued to pray for my sister and me to grow closer.

Later on, I began to see glimmers of hope. I learned my sister had accepted Jesus into her life. I began to pray for more closeness. When I was in my late thirties, all the prayers seemed to shine through our relationship. Being in separate states, we reached each other through the telephone. I noticed the passionate tone of her voice as she described the church she now attended. We would talk about the church and what ministries we participated in. I could not wait for the time when I went back to visit my family in Indiana. I was so excited to attend her church. As the praise music was playing, tears streamed down my face as I lifted my hands up in praise and thanks to God.

After the service, my sister gave me a big hug and said "I love you. I'm so glad this has brought us closer together." As I fouht back tears once again, I embraced her and cherished that moment as I said, "I love you, too, Sis".

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing me with family and friends in my life which I can share You with. I pray for those close to me who do not know You. Make me an instrument to draw them to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jodi (AZ)