HIGH FIVE

The "high five" sign or "give me five" or "thumbs up" seems to be the universal language of goodness, happiness, or congratulations. My foreign readers will have to let me know if it is used in the country they reside in. When you say hi often you say "Give me five"!

tami

This "giving of five" is done when people feel joyful or happy. Do you feel joy or happiness in your life? Joy should not be dependent upon what is going on in your life but deep down you can experience the joy of the Lord no matter what is happening around you. "Now Becky don't be ridiculous! You are saying people in Moore, Oklahoma who have lost loved ones can actually have joy?"

Scripture says in Nehemiah 8:10 'Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Is The Lord your strength? Do you or can you feel His presence? When you get a moment read the entire chapter of John 15. Verse 11 says 'These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.'

Joy comes from God. You need to meditate on His word and His love for you. Do not allow your circumstances or people to rob you of joy. Joy could also stand for an acronym which is "Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself Last". Think of that for a moment. If you did concentrate and put Jesus first each day you would have a much better chance for maintaining your joy.

PRAYER:Lord I thank you that in you is found true joy. I know the enemy tries to defeat me daily and steal my joy. I will not allow things to spoil the joy of the Lord.Comfort those who are grieving today and bring them joy in their sadness. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click on link and worship God in praise and song.

http://youtu.be/ibPUbKW5Sak

TRAGEDY, SADNESS, AND CHRISTMAS

Christmas time is happy and joyous for most or so we might think. Many people associate a family members death around this time of year and can not seem to get past it. Death may have occurred prematurely for a young person and when it is time for Christmas, the ache of that memory of that loss lingers on.

Yesterday the unspeakable tragedy occurred when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Connecticut with 20 young children among those killed. The families of these children will indeed have a horrible time at Christmas this year. Who would think of killing small innocent elementary school children? It is hard to comprehend why this would even happen. Who knows? Evil is out there and it works overtime to destroy our world.
The news media will be on the bandwagon now to ban all guns. It is a fact that this world has become ultra violent. People who are against guns always use times like this to try to take them away from law abiding citizens. It is not having a gun that is the problem, but it is what is in the heart of man. It is no wonder people do evil things especially since look at what is on television and in the movie theaters these days. Why on earth does everything have to be about killing and violence? Why is it necessary to make video games depicting crime and violence? Taking prayer out of our public schools in 1963 was certainly a huge factor in the downfall of our American society as well as removing the Ten Commandments.

Why are some so offended about the name of Jesus and the word of God? First of all Satan is alive and well and working his evil schemes in the heart of mankind. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:10(NIV) that ' the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.' It is only through Jesus that you have eternal life.
There is good and evil in our world and yesterday's shootings were definitely in the very evil category. We need to pray for the families of the victims, the family of the shooter, and the entire community. Also pray for First Responders who had to come upon this unimaginable scene. Pray also for clergy and counselors in the area to use words of faith and wisdom in their counseling for the many people affected by this tragedy. Also pray for our government to not overreact to try to abolish our Second Amendment rights.

Once again we do not know why bad things happen to good people and especially to little children. This is not the time to get angry at God although many people do. They say 'why didn't you stop this Lord?' God can bring goodness out of tragedy although it may not seem so at the time.

In attempting to comfort those in grief, it is not the time to give them a bunch of Bible verses. It is time to be a friend and comfort them and pray for them.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) says 'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?' Mark 7:21(NIV) says 'for from within, out of man's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder and adultery.' You can see from reading these two Bible verses how important it is to get your heart right with God. You keep it right by feeding it a steady diet of scripture. This is how you grow in love and learn to stop hating. For now we all need to simply keep all those involved in this senseless tragedy in our prayers.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus help us keep in the word of God and stay on the path of goodness and righteousness. We know Lord you too are hurting to see little children gunned down but we also pity this shooter who obviously had some problems. Father God we ask that you work something good out of all this tragedy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

THE GOD OF COMFORT

Do you know someone who could use a little comfort right now? Maybe it is you. Are you able to comfort others when they are going through hard times? Sometimes and in some situations it is best to just be there and listen.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 says " Blessed be the   God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and   God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in   Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too."

What exactly does it mean to comfort? Webster's dictionary defines it as "to give strength and hope to and  to ease the grief or trouble of." You can comfort friends or strangers. I think of the scenes after the horrific national disaster on September 11, 2001 which left visual memories in our brains we can never erase. During this time strangers comforted strangers. Our president was on the scene giving comfort. Words, prayers, and acts of kindness were in abundance. But it should not take a tragedy of this magnitude to wake us up to the needs of those around us.

Romans 12:15 says "Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep."  Perhaps worry less about our own problems and check into the lives of those around  you and see who needs a hug or just someone to talk too. Ask God for wisdom in how to help and what to say.

Who is it that you know who could use a word of comfort today?


PRAYER: Lord Jesus I desire to be able to reach out to a friend, family member, or stranger who needs comforted because they are emotionally or physically hurting. Help me to show your comfort to those around me. In Jesus name. Amen

HUGS!!

 Recently I was in a coffee shop and observed two close female friends hugging as a greeting. This got me to thinking about when we go to heaven and get a  'God hug'. Handshakes are more formal and you see men mostly doing that or business associates but a hug is something special and shows intimacy between friends or family. God will be the greatest hugger ever. No formal handshaking for Him.

 In church and Bible study people often exchange hugs with dear friends but even at some churches I have attended you feel comfortable giving a 'God hug' to those around you during greeting time instead of the traditional handshake. There was allot of hugging going on a few days ago at our son and new daughter in law's wedding as people were happy to see each other and greeted by hugging.
 Think how neat a hug makes you feel from a loved one or a friend, then imagine those people out there that have no friends at all. There are people out there like that,extremely lonely folks who would give anything to be hugged. The saying goes "if you want to be a friend you have to show yourself friendly" so do not wait for someone to always make the first move. Talk to people and get to know them. I have made my friends in many neat 'God thing' ways. Think of ways you could be a friend to someone who needs one or if you are the one needing that friend why not make the first move.

Now back to that 'God hug' from God himself someday. God loves us with an everlasting love. He is ready to wrap His arms around you. In Matthew 11:28 it says "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest."  Mark 6:34 says "When Jesus arrived and saw a huge crowd he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.So he began teaching them many things.
Are you in need of a touch from God today? God loves you. All you need do is call on Him.

 PRAYER: Lord God I thank you for the love and comfort only you can give. When I start feeling sorry for myself help me to learn to reach out to someone who seems lonely or to call a friend. Help me show God's love to those you put in my path daily. In Jesus name. Amen.

Further reading: Psalm 23