Category: Friendship

Posted on

Do You Ponder?

Interesting word, ponder. I wonder if I should ponder over it’s meaning.

In the last few days my heart has filled with memories of Christmases past when the kids were little. There were some very lean times but even in that they were good because our focus was on it being Jesus birthday, being with the ones we loved and not on the gifts under the tree.

I remember one year I insisted that we all write letters to each other on what we loved and appreciated about one another. I still have those letters today – they are tucked safely away in the cedar chest. I guess you could say, I pondered them in my heart.

We need to take a lesson from Mary for that’s what she did that very first Christmas morning.

“and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.” Luke 2:18-20 ERV

As the shepherds arrived telling all the angels had said, she pondered – treasured, meditated – those things in her heart. I’m sure it wasn’t just the words of the angels that she pondered. She probably relived her visit with Gabriel and then her cousin Elizabeth. Her conversations with Joseph, the trip to Bethlehem and the miracle of being alone in a stable and giving birth must have filled her heart as well. Each detail indelibly etched in her memory.

God’s miracle – God’s provision – God’s love – wrapped in a tiny bundle, cradled in her arms, nursing at her breast! Yes, these would be the things she pondered; these would be the memories she would hold for the rest of her life. As the angel told her: “For nothing will be impossible with God”.

We need take time to ponder – to treasure and meditate – on what God has done in our lives and for those we love. Maybe you don’t feel God has really done anything spectacular for you, well then, go back to that first Christmas, He sent His Son to save us from our sins. That’s a pretty good place to start.

Posted on

“With” Is Better

Where are you going today? Doing anything special? I always find that even the mundane is more fun when I have someone along to share it with. Yesterday, Dave and I had lots of errands to run and we enjoyed it more because we were “with” each other.

We are never alone even in the dullest or most difficult moments. We have a promise that God is with us. That’s what His name means:

“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].” Isaiah 7:14 AMP

Immanuel, God with us!

God came to walk with Adam in the cool of the day; then He came and walked and talked with Abraham and Moses, David and Daniel, Enoch and Elijah, you and me. God loves being with His people. It’s only fitting that one of His names should mean God with us. That was His goal – to have relationship with us, to walk and talk with us, friend to friend, Father to child.

Do you recall the first time your child didn’t want you around? I remember hearing our toddlers say “I do this”. It was cute but then when they were in their teens, they got too big to need my presence or it wasn’t cool to have their folks hanging out with them. It hurt. I can only imagine how much it must hurt the Father when we exclude Him from our activities, not wanting Him around, taking the attitude “I’ve got this”.

He’ll let us try to handle things, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail but He’s always there. He never leaves us alone – that’s who He is, that’s what He does.

“God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.” Hebrews 13:5b ERV

Friends may come and go; relationships change. Death may separate us from the ones we love. But the Lord will be with us forever and when we have Him, He takes care of the rest.

What’s on your list of things to do today?

Take Him along. Lunch with a friend, bring the extra guest. Need some down time, the two of you can sit quietly together, after all He IS Immanuel! He’ll be excited you’ve included Him in your plans.

Posted on

Clean the Glass

I have several hurricane lamps in our home. Periodically I need to take the globes off the lamps and clean them. We don’t use them very often but if/when the electricity goes out they come in handy, besides that, I just like looking at them. However, they aren’t of much use if the glass is dirty or if I forget to fill them with oil.

I was thinking about those lamps this morning and it reminded me of what Jesus said to the multitude at the Sermon on the Mount.

“You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, 15 and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. 16 Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 CEV

And then Paul gave us another instruction using the same analogy.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing 15 so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world, 16 and you offer them the teaching that gives life. So I can be proud of you when Christ comes again. You will show that my work was not wasted—that I ran in the race and won.” Philippians 2:14-16 ERV

Hurricane lamps need to be kept full of oil and the wicks need to be trimmed periodically to keep the lamps burning clean. They can smolder and then soot builds up on the glass chimney and the light is dimmed. It’s then the lamp has to be scrubbed clean. It was no easy task.

The world needs our light; we bring brightness to the lives of those around us through our relationships. Sometimes the glass globes of our lives get covered in soot. We need a good cleaning! The Lord uses His word will wash us clean.

“Christ did this so He could set the church apart for Himself. He made it clean by the washing of water with the Word. 27 Christ did this so the church might stand before Him in shining-greatness. There is to be no sin of any kind in it. It is to be holy and without blame.” Ephesians 5:26-27 NLV

Holy Spirit clean the globe of my life with the “washing of the water of the Word”. I want to shine as brightly as I can for the Father’s glory. Amen.

Posted on

If Not Now, When?

Last month while Dave and I were in the mountains I took time to read. I don’t know why but I rarely take time to read at home…That’s not a completely honest statement. I do know why. There is always one more text to write, one more call to make, one more search for product or information that needs to be done and reading falls to the bottom of my list.

In the mountains, with the computer at home, cell service was virtually non-existent. So there was time; time to read, time to talk, time to walk, time to refresh. That’s when I read a book that had been sitting dormant on my bookshelf for years.

I had removed it from the bookshelf last fall while I was writing my book. I used it as a literary model; font size, chapter length, number of total pages, publishing layout.

It was written by a former pastor’s wife, she and her family moved to Yuma while I was in high school. Her husband married Dave and I. Her daughter and I had become best friends in high school and we are still dear friends today. The title of this book interested me so I took it camping. Singing the Song I Came to Sing by Joy P Gage drew me into it’s pages.

Here’s an excerpt: “We must seize moments of quiet interlude amidst hours of inescapable responsibility. We must find ways to connect with people who are important to us. We must ask ourselves, ‘If not now, when?’ That is how we celebrate life one day at a time…

I looked at my life and asked, ‘What matters most for me and what do I want to do about it?’ Like many other women I longed for more time to nurture relationships and I longed for quiet interludes in which I could refresh body and sprit alike. I yearned to take a break from my crowded schedule and celebrate life one day at a time.”

If not now, when? If I don’t take the time to celebrate each day that the Father has blessed me with, when will I?

Those words from the beginning pages of her book were the words of my own heart. I had to read on. Those aren’t just words from Joy’s heart and mine but they are words of God’s heart. After all, He was the one who said it was not good for man to be alone and then He created Eve. Mankind was the creative outpouring of God’s desire for fellowship. It was God who came to walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the garden at the end of each day.

It was God who said through Paul that we are all members of Christ’s body and we need to nurture and care for one another. We draw strength from our friendships, especially if they are with others who have a heart for the Father and His word.

“Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. 12 These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. 13 All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. 14 Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, 15 but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. 16 Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16 NLV

We each have a part in the Father’s plan. Sometimes life gets in the way. What is it that pulls on your heart but is being put off for “someday”? Let the Lord use those four simple words, “If not now, when”, to remind you to make every day a celebration of His love, cultivating and nourishing the relationships He brings to your life. 

(I found copies of Joy's book can be found on eBay and Amazon)

Posted on

I Learned Something New!

Don’t you enjoy learning new things? I learned something new yesterday and I just had to share it with you. We were listening to a teaching by Pastor Tim Ross. He was using the first chapter of the book of Ruth as his foundational Scripture.

I love the book of Ruth! It’s one of the Bible’s best love stories. It’s short and easy to read. In a nutshell, it’s about two women and their relationship and it ends with a marriage and a child that effects the course of Jewish history.

Naomi is a Jewish woman who is widowed and also experiences her two sons deaths. She decides to return to her home country; her family had left years ago because a famine. Her widowed daughters-in-law make plans to go with her. However, Naomi tells both women to stay with their families and that she will return home alone. The women argue with their mother-in-law, who is in a real state of depression and at Naomi’s insistence one of the women decide to stay in their home country of Moab.

“But Ruth said:

“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”

18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. 19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem…” Ruth 1:16-19 NKJV

I have heard Ruth’s reply used at weddings to express the commitment between the bride and the groom. It has been used on jewelry charms shared between friends. It is a true expression of loyalty that has come through the ages.

Ruth would not let her mother-in-law go through this time of sadness alone. Ruth was experiencing her own grief, she had lost her husband, but her concern for her mother-in-law overrode her own need for comforting, she needed to the be comforter.

Isn’t that what we were talking about in yesterday’s blog. Jesus said he came to be a servant and not to be served?

Now, I’ve known this story and it touches me each time I read it – the love between these two women. The depth of their friendship and commitment to one another goes deep. But this is the new part – Pastor Tim asked how many have ever felt alone in their time of grief and disappointment. He wanted to know how many had ever been “ruth-less”.

Ruth- less! The definition of ruthless is this: “having or showing no pity or compassion for others”. Merciless, cruel, hard hearted, pitiless are just a few words that can be used as synonyms for ruthless.

But did you know that “ruth” is a word that can be used as a noun and it means a feeling of distress or grief? It’s synonyms are compassion, condolence, regret, sympathy, understanding and sadness. We have all needed “ruth” in our lives at one point or another and we have all felt ruthless at other times. I had never known this before. This was a very new understanding to me. Of course, I knew the meaning of ruthless but I had never put it in this light.

Ruth was a companion, a friend of true depth to Naomi. In going back to Bethlehem with Naomi Ruth met Boaz, her husband and they had a son. Ruth is King David’s great grandmother. King David is in the ancestral line of Jesus. A woman with a servant’s heart, a heart of compassion, created a legacy of compassionate people.

I pray you never know ruthless days! We have the promise of God that He will never leave, abandon or desert us. He brings ruth to our lives just like He brought Ruth to Naomi’s life.

My prayer is that I will always be able to see those who need me to be ruth to them.

Posted on

Tell Me Bout the Good Old Days

We have friends visiting with us for the weekend. They have served the Lord for many years as pastors, missionaries, Bible study leaders and Mom and Dad.

Yesterday, we spent a good portion of the afternoon and evening talking about God’s faithfulness. They shared stories with us of times that things seemed hopeless and desperate. And we shared similar times with them. Each and every time we were able to share with each other had the Lord had moved miraculously and how He provided for all our needs.

God is faithful!

There were stories of the Lord providing financially, others where He brought physical healings and some where the Lord filled our lives with peace and direction. How great is our God!!

We were able to agree that God’s word was always a source of comfort and direction. It brought us strength when we had felt weak and searching for answers. We have seen the Lord provide for us from His goodness and also seen His hand reaching out to our children and our grandchildren.

The stories were testimony to God’s goodness and His love! It’s so important that we look back and recall how it used to be – the good and the bad – because in this we can see God’s faithfulness and His provision. Moses told the children of Israel to retell the stories of how God provided for them from the deliverance out of Egypt to arriving at the Promised Land.

“Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only true God! 5 So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. 6 Memorize his laws 7 and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning.” Deuteronomy 6:6-8 CEV

We need to be storytellers of God’s goodness.

“My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.5 If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. ” James 1:2-5 CEV

Last night we had joy as we recalled the wonderful things the Lord had done and continues to do. The things we faced as mountains were removed when we trusted God and His word. It’s important that we retell these stories so that others will know of God’s faithfulness.

I had the words of a country song come to mind this morning as I was thinking on last night’s conversation.

“Grandpa (Grandma), tell me bout the good old days
Sometimes it feels like
This world’s gone crazy
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday
When the line between right and wrong
Didn’t seem so hazy

Did lovers really fall in love to stay
And stand beside each other, come what may?
Was a promise really something people kept
Not just something they would say?
Did families really bow their heads to pray?
Did daddies really never go away?
Oh, Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days” The Judds

Let’s take the time to tell our grandkids ’bout the good ol days and the faithfulness of our God!

Posted on

Where To Now?

I’m sure that must have been a question on the mind of the disciples as they talked among themselves after the crucifixion. Where do we go from here?

I ask that of myself. Where am I going? What do I depend on to guide me through life? Jesus has the answer for me and for you also. He said “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” John 14:6 ERV

The whole purpose of His ministry was to bring us to place where we would put our faith in God’s love and be brought into relationship with Him.

“But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.

9 We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger. 10 I mean that while we were God’s enemies, he made friends with us through his Son’s death. And the fact that we are now God’s friends makes it even more certain that he will save us through his Son’s life.” Romans 5:8-10 ERV

There are four verses that are the basis for my daily walk. In some way or another, each day I remind myself of my foundation in the Scripture. These verses guide my life and my relationship with the Lord.

“But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.” Hebrews 11:6 CEV

“…Anything that is not done in faith is sin.” Romans 14:23b NLV

“When someone belongs to Christ Jesus, it is not important if they are circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.” Galatians 5:6 ERV

“Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. 6 Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. 7 Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. 8 Love never fails!” I Corinthians 13:4-8 CEV

So here’s the progression of thought.

  1. I want to please God the Father so I must have faith and believe that He wants relationship with me.
  2. I recognize whatever I do that is not done in faith is sin.
  3. In order for faith to truly work it must have love as its foundation.
  4. Finally to have effective faith I must be walking in love and love is kind, patient, unselfish, not rude or jealous, boastful or proud. Love assumes the best and is supportive, loyal and trusting – it never fails.

My decisions, actions and reactions need to be based on knowing God’s amazing love for me; His character is love and He shares that with me so that I can walk in faith and please Him. My faith is never in my own works or abilities but always in His! Then and only then is my day truly successful!

This Easter morning is a good time to examine and evaluate our path in life. Let’s walk in faith and please the Father today!

Posted on

Love Hurts

A few days back I read something that Max Lucado had written. He asked what would have happened if the two Mary’s hadn’t have gone to the tomb on that Sunday morning. I like how he thinks – he looks at the Bible not as a religious book but as a book about relationships.

Religion would tell us that the women went to the tomb of Jesus because that’s just how God commanded it to be. Not true, God has never forced anyone into obedience. We all have a free will and these women were no different. It was their love for a dear friend that drew them to the tomb not religious teaching.

“The Sabbath was over, and it was almost daybreak on Sunday when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.” Matthew 28:1 CEV

Their hearts must have been aching. They had watched Jesus die. There was no one like him. Did they try to figure out how they would move the stone? After all, they were just two women. They didn’t have the strength. They weren’t going expecting to find an empty tomb and a risen Saviour. Their purpose in going was to properly prepare His body for burial since it had been so rushed when he was taken down from the cross.

“The Day of Rest was over. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They wanted to put the spices on Jesus’ body. 2 Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the grave. The sun had come up. 3 They said to themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the grave for us?” 4 But when they looked, they saw the very large stone had been rolled away.” Mark 16:1-4 NLV

And when they arrived and saw the stone was moved and the tomb was open they were heart sick. Where was Jesus?

“While they wondered about what had happened, they saw two men standing by them in shining clothes. 5 They were very much afraid and got down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why do you look for the living One among those who are dead? 6 He is not here. He is risen. Do you not remember what He said to you when He was yet in Galilee? 7 He said, ‘The Son of Man must be given over into the hands of sinful men. He must be nailed to a cross. He will rise again three days later.’” 8 They remembered what He had said.” Luke 24:4-8 NLV

Now they remembered! Their grief gave place to joy. They had come to grieve, to say good-bye to the Man who had changed their lives dramatically. In their sadness they had forgotten His words that He would rise again.

Joy, absolute joy! They had to go tell the disciples that Jesus was alive. He had risen from the dead!

“Now hurry! Tell his disciples that he has been raised to life and is on his way to Galilee. Go there, and you will see him. That is what I came to tell you.”

8 The women were frightened and yet very happy, as they hurried from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples.” Matthew 28:7-8 CEV

I’m asking you to imagine that you were with those women. Place yourself there. Hear the message of the angels, watch the anguish melt away and pure joy fill your heart. Now do as the angels said.

Go tell someone that He is alive! We serve a risen Saviour!!

Posted on

Heart To Heart

Technology is wonderful. We can send an email and receive a response in a couple of hours. Better yet, we can text and get an answer in a matter of minutes. These forms of communication are fine but nothing can compare to hearing the voice of a dear friend.

Video chats are nice, phone conversations are great but sitting and talking face to face is over the top!

Face to face conversations involve touch, eye contact, voice inflexion and quality time. These times are the best when building and keeping a relationship. That’s why I love my morning quiet times so much. I get to sit and talk with my heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In my heart and through God’s word, I can hear them speak to me. There’s nothing that compares to these intimate moments of personal communication.

Heart to Heart!

The Father wants to hear what’s on my heart and He wants to share His loving thoughts with me. The depth of that is almost incomprehensible but it’s true. Loving, Almighty God wants to speak with me.

“Call to Me, and I will answer you. And I will show you great and wonderful things which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NLV

The Creator of the Universe is waiting to talk to me and show me the wonderful things that He has done and that He desires to do! And then, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come to remind us of the things that Jesus had taught while He was here. He knew that sometimes we have memory failure and forget so He sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper.

“I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26 But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.

27 “I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid.” John 14:25-27 ERV

When we find ourselves worrying over a particular situation; work, children, health, finances, relationships, if we pray about it and ask the Lord to remind us of what we need to do, He will be faithful to give us the answers we need. He will bring peace to our lives.

We can talk heart to heart.

I’m sure we all have those close friends whose word we trust. We know they will tell us the truth, they won’t lie. We can place even greater confidence in what God says to us. In all of time, He has never lied and He never will. I remember the first time I read these verses written by John. They seemed too good to be true.

“We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more important. And this is what God told us: He told us the truth about his own Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the truth that God told us. But people who do not believe God make God a liar, because they do not believe what God told us about his Son. 11 This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13 I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. 14 We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. 15 He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him.” I John 5:9-15 ERV

When we place our confidence in Jesus and believe that God sent His Son to be our Savior we receive new life in Him. And if we know that we have new life in Christ, God’s word says we can come to Him, with no doubts, and ask Him for the things we need and He will give them to us. God isn’t looking to withhold things from us; He wants to provide for us and fill our lives with blessing.

“Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness, 4 through which he also gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With these gifts you can share in being like God. And so you will escape the ruin that comes to people in the world because of the evil things they want.” II Peter 1:3-4 ERV

When we talk to the Father, heart to heart, we won’t be asking for things that are selfish or displease Him instead we will be asking for things that will make our relationship with Him stronger. That pleases Him greatly.

I want you to look at the face of the woman in this image. Do you see the contentment and joy? She is at peace spending time with Jesus. This sense of well-being doesn’t come with a quick text, a short email, a brief call; it comes from spending time face to face and heart to heart.

I’ve prayed for you this morning that you will know that same peace.

Posted on

Friendship with God

Years ago Dave and I met a man by the name of David. It was after church on a Sunday evening and we stopped in at a restaurant on Central Avenue in Phoenix. We were there with friends for coffee and a snack before heading home. The restaurant was full.

We noticed a young man going from table to table. He stopped and visited for just a moment and moved on. We were told his name was David. David had a speech impediment that made him difficult to understand and his leg had been damaged so he walked with a shuffled limp as he moved from table to table. That evening we noticed that he had scratches and bruises that were fading from his face. Finally, he arrived at our table. David smiled at everyone who was sitting there. We said hello and then he delivered his universal message, “Jesus loves you and I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

We were told that at times customers would complain and so management would ask him to leave the restaurant. At other times he would be beaten up by street thugs or pushed off the sidewalk and into the street. Thus, the bruises and scratches. But none of the abuse changed David’s message. No matter how badly he was treated, his remarks were always the same. “Jesus loves you and I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

David had a friendship with the Father. He knew the depth of the love that Jesus had for him and he wanted to share it with everyone. Not just those who were nice and polite but also to those who took advantage and abused him. He truly lived the message of yesterday’s blog. He loved God and he loved others. He was a man with a message.

I imagine that Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was a man like this. He was chosen by the apostles to serve the new converts, especially the widows, along with six other men. This way the apostles could continue in prayer and the study of the Scriptures each day.

“The whole group liked the idea. So they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus (a man from Antioch who had become a Jew). 6 Then they put these men before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.[b

7 The word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger. Even a big group of Jewish priests believed and obeyed.

8 Stephen received a great blessing. God gave him power to do great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9 But some of the Jews there were from the synagogue of Free Men, as it was called. The group included Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They started arguing with Stephen. 10 But the Spirit was helping him speak with wisdom. His words were so strong that these Jews could not argue with him…13 The Jews brought some men into the meeting to tell lies about Stephen. These men said, “This man is always saying things against this holy place and against the Law of Moses. 14 We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change what Moses told us to do.” 15 Everyone there in the council meeting was staring at Stephen. They saw that his face looked like the face of an angel…

When those in the council meeting heard this, they became very angry. They were so mad they were grinding their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56 Stephen said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side.”

57 Everyone there started shouting loudly, covering their ears with their hands. Together they all ran at Stephen. 58 They took him out of the city and began throwing stones at him. The men who told lies against Stephen gave their coats to a young man named Saul. 59 As they were throwing the stones at him, Stephen was praying. He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He fell on his knees and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for this sin!” These were his last words before he died.” Acts 6:7 – 7:60 ERV

I hope you will take the time to read chapters six and seven of the book of Acts. When the men brought lies to the council about Stephen, he boldly stood and preached the message of Jesus to all of them. This is what made them so angry – this is why they stoned him.

Stephen’s message made an impact on one young man standing there that day. He was holding the coats of those who were executing Stephen. The man’s name was Saul. Saul felt that he was honoring God in trying to annihilate the Christians. He had many of them arrested, imprisoned and even killed. Then he, too, have a life-changing experience when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. His name was changed to Paul and he spent the rest of his life telling people about the love and the grace of God. He wrote over two-thirds of the New Testament emphasizing God’s grace, unmerited favor, and unconditional love.

When we have a true encounter with the love of God it will be a friendship like no other. Not only is God our father but Jesus becomes our Savior and our dearest friend. It’s only natural to tell people about our best friend – that’s what David would do as he walked from table to table.

I hope you have the opportunity to tell someone about your Friend today. The love of God is unstoppable!


Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress