What did I do on my summer vacation? Don and I had the privilege to travel with the On Eagles’ Wings team to several Native American reservations in Washington state as they brought the light of Jesus to dark and hurting places. We saw the miracle of lives changed for eternity and God showing up in amazing ways. Just wanted to share this one story by Ron Hutchcraft that was very meaningful to us and hope it is for you too.
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And it’s a great party. She sits on her bed and asks us to pile on every one of her stuffed animals. They have a great time talking, rocking, singing, and imagining.
One night, I found Sharkey — a souvenir from the beach. Unfortunately, Sharkey found his way into our dog’s mouth not long after coming home. He was tattered and frayed, languishing in the bottom of the toy bin. I thought it would be fun to invite him to the party.
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While doing a study on accountability, I came across some articles about the seriousness of friendship. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since.
We tend to use the word “friend” rather carelessly, don’t we? Any person we have a few conversations with, work with, or “like” on Facebook we call a “friend.” This isn’t necessarily bad, but I believe such frivolous usage of the word is making us miss the real meaning of biblical friendship.
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The Good Shepherd puts His mark on our lives to remind us that we belong to Him. It is a sign of His ownership, provision, and protection.
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Are you not certain? Have you not been paying attention? The limitless God, the Lord, The One who brought the world into existence, Does not need rest because He's over-exerted Himself or didn't get a good night's sleep. His perception is impossible for us to figure out.
Read MoreMuch of the world is dying of starvation, and they have all the food they could ever dream of eating. Full, but empty. Clothed, but naked. Rich, but unbelievably poor.
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What bothered me most was not knowing my true motivation for not wanting to watch this video. I took my husband’s advise, and with notebook in hand I prayed about it. Here is a glimpse of what came of that,
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Two years ago we had been blessed by excellent health. Through the knowledge of giving our bodies what they need, we can, in a very small way, control our health. However, ultimately, God has complete control. He created every cell in each of our bodies, and He is the one who decides the function and purpose of each of those cells. He has given us means to help our ailments, whether by supplements, changes in diet, or knowledgeable physicians, but again, ultimately there is only one Great Physician.
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Christians can make the strangest claims when comforting those who are suffering. What do you say to someone whose life is falling apart? If you have but few precious minutes with a person who’s lost a job, home, spouse, child, or all sense of purpose, what comfort do you give?
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As I look back on that time, I think it was Lesson One for me in the school of faith. That is, it was my first experience of having to bow down before that which I could not possibly explain. . . . Faith’s most severe tests come not when we see nothing, but when we see a stunning array of evidence that seems to prove our faith vain. If God were God, if He were omnipotent, if He had cared, would this have happened? Is this that I face now the ratification of my calling, the reward of obedience? . . . I had desired God Himself and He had not only not given me what I asked for, He had snatched away what I had.
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Use me, Lord, please use me
I know I’m frail O but I am here, Lord
Use me, Lord, please use me
For Your Kingdom and Your Glory
I am weak but You are holy
Countless childhood surgeries. Yearlong stints in the hospital. Verbal and physical bullying from classmates. Multiple miscarriages as a young wife. The unexpected death of a child. A debilitating progressive disease. Riveting pain. Betrayal. A husband who leaves.
If it were up to me, I would have written my story differently. Not one of those phrases would be included. Each line represents something hard. Gut wrenching. Life changing.
But now, in retrospect, I wouldn’t erase a single line.
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When we complain, it is frequently evil. But complaining is not necessarily evil. There’s a faithful (believing) way to complain and a faithless (unbelieving) way to complain.
The Bible often refers to faithless complaining as grumbling and warns us not to do that (Numbers 14:26–30; John 6:43; Philippians 2:14; James 5:9). Grumbling complaints directly or indirectly declare that God is not sufficiently good, faithful, loving, wise, powerful, or competent. Otherwise, he would treat us better or run the universe more effectively. Faithless complaining is sinful because it accuses God of doing wrong.
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Every day we are faced with choices: surrender to self-pity, or press on in spite of disappointment and failure.
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He starts with a quiet heart, but he begins to ask God and his friends and himself and anyone who will listen all these questions that come flooding into his mind. It really all comes down to the question of why. Why me? Why this? Why now? Why? What happens as the book progresses is that Job begins to try and understand things that are not fathomable. And because he can’t understand, rather than being content with mystery . . .
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You see, from an outside perspective, Elisabeth Elliot had so many reasons to give up, to curl up and to turn inward over the years. Her first love was martyred, her second was lost to cancer, and her third and final nursed her as her memory left, not to mention all the trials and struggles that come just from the living of life in a broken world. Time and again, she looked into the darkest and most difficult and she saw God and found Him to be faithful … and then she wrote it down so that we wouldn’t lose hope when it was our own turn in the dark places.
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