Gratitude Every Second

 

 

Jose Garcia – Project Manager, CBN Guatemala

The word thanks is probably one of the shortest words, but it carries a big meaning. How many times do we forget to give thanks? How many times do we forget to look at the sky, observe our surroundings, and smile with thanks?

We are not always disposed to express gratitude. I remember one of the saddest days of my life was when my 18-year-old niece died. I would never see her again, and I did not have the opportunity to hug her and say goodbye, due to her unexpected death. Remaining grateful during this very difficult time was the last thing that crossed my mind.

Over the years, we understand that, in a split second, the circumstances in our lives can change and rob us of that desire to be grateful. For a long time, I prayed,

Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food (Psalm 102:1-4 NIV).

For several months following this painful event, I decided to be silent and simply observe how everything was happening around me, see how each second passed. I stopped being grateful because, in the midst of this difficult process, a part of me had also died.

Pain can take us captive, and we can easily forget that God is always on our side. But, when the Lord shows us His love and His presence guides us in everything we do, He touches our hearts. Through serving in an organization like CBN, I have seen Him reflected in the lives of many people who contact us, write and call. They continue to trust and remain grateful, despite the difficulties they are experiencing, and God, through this, has touched my own heart.

Seeing and rejoicing together with people who, despite everything, give their lives to Jesus and decide to follow Him no matter what produces in me the greatest gratitude that can be expressed. It makes me realize that even in our difficulty:

The Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:5

With time, we can learn to always be grateful, even without understanding, without knowing what tomorrow will bring. And as every second passes, life teaches us to be grateful and to understand that, with God, all things will work for His good, redemptive purpose.

I would like to ask you, are you ready to be grateful for every second of your life?

Knock Your Praise Out of the Park!

 

 

Jennifer Scribner – Partner Development Specialist, cbn.com

We hear a crack as the bat makes contact with the baseball. The fans in the stands erupt in cheers as the ball soars over the wall and the player rounds the bases in celebration of a home run!

I like going to baseball games and rooting for my team. It’s thrilling to share in the excitement of the game while sitting in the stands with other fans. If you’ve ever been to a sporting event, you know exactly what I mean. The crowd is ecstatic, and there is a sense of exhilaration in the air. Clapping, cheering, singing, and chanting are heard in response to every play of the game. We shout out to the athletes as they take their places on the field and we praise them for every outstanding play!

All of this reminds me of how we should approach our heavenly Father in worship and praise.

Psalm 98 (NLT) is a beautiful chapter about praising, singing and giving thanks to the Lord for everything. We are to break out and sing for joy as He announces His many victories. In a joyful symphony before the Lord God our King, we bring harps, trumpets, and sound the ram’s horn. According to verses 7 and 8, all living things, including the seas and rivers, clap and shout with praise in celebration of our Lord’s victory! My mind can clearly picture how that lovely praise party would look and feel. I’m reminded of how overjoyed I was at the baseball games when I was shouting, throwing my hands up, and cheering the players on for each victory on the field.

I need to stand back and consider whether I praise and thank God as enthusiastically as I do for my favorite team. It is essential for our spiritual walk to devote time to worshiping God, whether that be through listening to worship music, singing, praying, or simply reflecting on the victories God has brought about in our life.

Psalm 98:7-8 says,

Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in.

Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy.

Let’s pray:
Help us to remember the value of praise and thanksgiving, heavenly Father. Let us join the rivers, lakes and all of creation in bowing before You. Every day, we will lift our eyes and hearts to you and delight in You. Father God, thank You for all Your blessings, great and small. We have the victory because You won the battle.

What God Says About Worry

 

 

Sarah Singleton – Office Manager & HR Admin – CBN Europe

‘Fear Not’ is written 365 times in the Bible (that is one for every day). Worry, the emotion felt by fear dwelt upon, is addressed by Jesus here so creatively:

“Consider how the wildflowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you” (Luke 12:27-28 NIV).

The flowers of the field spring up and fall, each one beautifully dressed, given all it needs to thrive. A flower does not buy a raincoat for spring or weave a sunhat for summer, but each is covered with petals.

Solomon was known as the wealthiest man of Israel and so Jesus is describing to the listeners then, and the readers now, more wealth than most will ever see. We could imagine a person being dressed in the finest jewelry and gown but even this cannot stand up against how beautifully the flowers of the field are dressed.

Flowers of some species live less than one day, they’re gone in a blink of an eye. Our lives are not gone in a blink of an eye, however, in Jesus we have eternal life. How much more will He care for His sons and daughters, who live with Him for the rest of time, than for flowers in the field that come and go?

Jesus continues to a call to fill the absence of worry with the promise that all we need and will be given when we ‘seek His Kingdom’ (Luke 12:31). We are called not simply to remove worry from our lives but also to pursue God’s Kingdom, His will, and His righteousness in our lives.

When worry rears its ugly head, remember the flowers of the field dressed in their fine petals which are finer than all that wealth can provide, and seek His kingdom. Even in a season where there is so much uncertainty and fear, He is the Provider and Sustainer of all life. Just as he covers the flowers, He will cover you, His child.

Entirely Faithful

 

Jessica Teed – Well & Clean Water Coordinator – OB Headquarters, cbn.com

I have seen God’s faithfulness in my own life many times. In the fall of 2014, the Lord led me to leave everything and everyone I had ever known to follow Him. The first time the Lord whispered Virginia Beach to my heart in 2010, it wasn’t an audible voice, but I knew I needed to pay attention. God was doing something. I began to pray and seek the Lord like never before. As time went on, He showed me pieces of the puzzle little by little. They were never big pieces, so I had to trust in Him and in His timing and wait for my moment to move.

In the fall of 2014, the door to make my move to Virginia Beach finally opened. Nothing looked like I thought it would, but I followed Him in obedience anyway. It was not easy. The amount of homesickness and sadness I felt was overwhelming. I felt completely alone. I even started to question whether I had heard from the Lord. I couldn’t understand why everything was so hard since I had followed the Lord in obedience.

I have always felt more connected to God when I have been in His creation, so I put on some sneakers and prepared for a hike and a chat with Jesus at a nearby park. It started out well enough, but eventually, I was faced with so many water-logged trails that I had no choice but to walk through the muck. It was at this moment that my emotions got the best of me. Not only weren’t things working out the way I thought they should, but now I was wet and covered in mud. I remember yelling, “This is absurd!” in the middle of the woods as I loudly asked the Lord why He would bring me to Virginia Beach only for me to continually struggle. I wanted desperately to leave and move back home.

As tears rolled down my cheeks, I heard His still small voice, You are not going home. Trust Me. I have something good coming for you.

Later that day, as I was reading, Psalm 89 was just the reminder I needed to trust Him.

O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O LORD? You are entirely faithful (Psalm 89:8 NLT).

I realized I could trust in the Lord to come through for me because He has before, and He will again. Two weeks later, God brought new opportunities to me, and I finally began to see the fruits of my obedience to Him. Not only did the Lord provide the opportunity for me to work for CBN, but it was through working at CBN that I also met the man I would later marry. What the Lord provided for me wasn’t what I expected, but it was indeed good.

Friend, God is entirely faithful, and He is always good. Whatever you are facing right now, trust Him to come through for you. God will take care of you because you are precious to Him, and He loves you very much.

Father God, thank You for Your faithfulness and your goodness. I can trust You to come through for me because it’s who You are. Lord, You know what I am facing right now. Help me to see Your hand upon my life. Strengthen me and revive me through the truth in Your Word. I choose to trust in You today because You are entirely faithful. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.  

I will sing of the LORD’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. (Psalm 89:1-2)

Tears of Joy and Sorrow

 

 

Dayna Lovelady, cbn.com

I have noticed that crying is a universal expression of both joy and sorrow. This became more evident as I devoted time to intercultural studies at Regent University’s School of Divinity and in my daily life as I lived and worshipped in a multicultural neighborhood and also worked with people from different backgrounds at CBN. No matter our language barriers, cultural differences, or geographic boundaries, tears of joy and of sorrow can be understood across the diverse communities.

There was a season of my life where tears of sorrow flowed often. After the deaths of several family members, friends, and coworkers in ministry, I was heartbroken and sorrowful. I knew that I needed to grieve properly so that I could be well emotionally, mentally, and spiritually in the long term, so I set aside time in the mornings and evenings to process my grief. Some days this meant journaling my thoughts, other days I would let tears flow as they came, while some days I would simply sit and pray.

Although he was in a different time period, the psalmist expressed a similar plight as he lamented,

LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out before you day and night. May my prayer reach your presence; listen to my cry (Psalm 88:1-2 CSB).

The psalmist acknowledged God being his salvation before he cried out to Him during the day and at night. Maybe you find yourself in a season of crying out to God due to your life circumstances or due to the condition of the world. God hears your cries, even if you feel worn out from crying. The psalmist stated in Psalm 88:9,

My eyes are worn out from crying. Lord, I cry out to you all day long; I spread out my hands to you.

Even though he was worn out, he found strength to stretch his hands to God. May we do the same even in moments of fatigue and weakness.

Source of True Joy

 

 

Lorie Hartshorn – Co-Host – The 700 Club Canada, cbn.com

We all want to experience joy in our lives, but the truth is there are things that can rob us of joy. Not too long ago I put out a question on our 700 Club Canada Facebook page asking, what steals your joy? These were some of the responses:

• Comparison, when I feel less than others
• Competition, when I feel I can’t keep up
• Unmet expectations
• Disappointment
• Stress
• Busyness
• Sickness
• Regret
• Fear

That’s quite a list. Can you relate to any of those things stealing your joy? I’m sure we all can to one degree or another.

There is good news today. We can have joy in spite of any of those things! True joy is not dependent on whether I’m experiencing stress, sickness, regret, fear, unmet expectations or feeling like I’m not measuring up. True joy is a frame of mind, not a feeling.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul uses the word joy 16 times! He tells us that we find joy even in the middle of difficult circumstances. The joy-stealers above are all situations that can change from one day to the next. But the source of true joy is not transient or changing, because the source of our joy is Jesus, and He is eternal and unchanging.

The Bible says:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

He does not change! Because He does not change, He is able to be the source for unchanging, unending, indestructible joy for us no matter what is happening in our life.

Paul was not a happy-go-lucky, nothing-bad-ever-happens-to-me type of person. His freedom was denied, his finances were dwindling, his future was in doubt. Yet, it was Paul who wrote such things as

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

And:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (Philippians 4:11)

Paul could write those things because the eternal, unchanging Jesus was the source of his joy.  We can make Him the source of our joy and experience joy in any circumstance as well.

What do we do when life is unfair? Do we grumble? Do we become bitter and angry? Do we say, “Why me?” If our joy is centered on transient things, that’s most likely what we do. Paul, though, centered his joy on Jesus and his relationship with Him. That’s why he wrote,

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! (Philippians 3:1)

When Jesus is our source, our joy does not have to dissipate when problems come our way, because Jesus never changes. We can rejoice in Him, even when our lives get rocky. He will never leave us or forsake us. He is our stability, our hope and our joy. So don’t let those joy-stealers gain any ground in your life, because that’s courageous living.

Prayer of Commitment
Father, thank You for being my stability and source of joy. I focus on You and not my changing circumstances and rejoice in You today.

The Remnant

 

 

Vernell Windsor – Prayer Center Coach, cbn.com

Did you ever want to belong to the “cool kids’ club” when you were younger? Or perhaps your home was where everyone hung out all summer? This elite status had the potential to cloud one’s vision of reality just as much as not belonging to it. Let me explain. But, full disclosure, I did not have a membership card to the “cool kids’ club” (sigh).

I know what rejection by your own people, whether friends, family or strangers, feels like. I used to end up in a state of depression and did not even know it. I thank God for praying friends around me who would always intervene at just the right moment. They helped to rescue me from a dangerously slippery slope!

Today, I am honored to belong to a wonderful group called “the remnant.” This unique group has a special place in God’s heart. The Scriptures speak of a remnant in various places (whether explicitly or not). Romans 11 has a timely message for us all.

Elijah was a formidable prophet whom God used mightily. Something about him reminds me of John the Baptist as dire circumstances (rejection?) caused them both to lose sight of God’s heart. Paul quoted from 1 Kings 18 in his message to the church in Romans 11:2,

God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? (nasb)

Elijah had been “hiding” from King Ahab when he made this lament to the Lord. Just in case anyone missed the revelation in 1 Kings (like I did), Paul made it clear that Elijah spoke against Israel. God’s reply was classic and reverberated through the ages into the New Testament!

These next verses not only correct Elijah’s misconception, but reveal God’s omniscience. Romans 11:3-5 says,

“Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.

Newsflash: We have been kept by our heavenly Father. The Creator of the universe chose us! This is good news because inclusion in the remnant brings a strong sense of belonging, purpose, peace, and protection. As God-fearing believers, we have been “grafted in” to the family of God to fulfill His plan and purpose for humanity. Feelings of rejection and depression become a distant memory when we realize that God chose to keep us for Himself! No matter how real the rejection is, let us focus our affections on the One who keeps us from falling (Jude 24).

Let us pray! Oh Father, we pray that we can sense Your great love and acceptance. Help us to know that Your love covers us in every dimension, and we can thereby rest in You! Expose the lies of the enemy, that we may live free of his schemes for our demise. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen!