Stained and Ruined

Melissa Taylor

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

Devotion:
Looking back, it seems like I'm viewing the story of another person. I hardly recognize the little girl I became in that dark moment.

I was walking home from the bus stop. The walk took about ten minutes unless I stopped to talk to a friend or neighbor, which I usually did. Mr. Parks, a retired man, was sitting in his driveway waving to all the kids walking by. He was so friendly. On this particular day, he invited me into his garage. He said he had some candy to give me.

I walked in that garage an innocent trusting little girl. I walked out scarred for life.

Accessing Miracles

by Lonnie Lane

I received an email that simply said, “I am trying to figure out how I can access the help/miracles that Sid talks about on his programs. Thanks.” The implied question is: How do I make those things work in my own life and have those supernatural experiences be my own experiences? Brief as her question is, the answer is multifaceted. Having heard from this person before, I know she wants the key to live her life in the joy and victory in which Sid’s guests generally appear to live. I’m sure she’s not alone in her desire. I suspect there are many in Sid’s audience wondering the same thing. Wouldn’t we all like to be entirely free in every area of our lives? Maybe if we were, we’d be “raptured” like Enoch who “walked with God and was not because God took him.” (Genesis 5:24). Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The question before us now is how do we walk with God so as to access the help and miracles we need for ourselves or for others?   

Old Farmer's Advice:

A friend of mine post these wisdom quotes on facebook and I am reproducing them with his permission

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Experiencing the Power of God’s Love

Written by Christina Patterson

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Jesus loves you. I’m really serious. Jesus loves you. I know you have heard it from your Sunday school teacher, your Christian friend, and that bumper sticker on the car that cut you off this morning. You have may have heard it so much that its meaning and power have diminished in your heart and mind.

God’s love for us is not some cliché that looks nice on a T-shirt or sounds good in a song. His love is power. His love is freedom. His love changes things.

To Fly Again

By Suzie Eller

"Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

I stood on the small ladder with light bulb in hand. The weather was frigid, and changing an outdoor light was not what I wanted to do. But with darkness falling earlier it was necessary.

Something fluttered inside the lamp, which made me hesitant to reach in and unscrew the old bulb.

Peering in, I saw a bird at the bottom of the lamp with its wings pressed close to its side, and spindly legs twisted around the base of the lamp. How had this bird made its way into the lamp? How long had it struggled to be free?

For the next several moments I removed burned out light bulbs and debris, carefully trying to release the bird from its entanglement. As I tried to lift it to freedom with two fingers, it pecked furiously at my hand.

Your Thoughts Can Bring Healing

SARAH STEGALL

(http://www.stockfreeimages.com)

When it comes to your health, your thoughts are key. The Bible tells us to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable and right. We're told to meditate on those things that are pure, lovely and admirable (see Phil. 4:8).

You must consciously monitor your thoughts on a daily basis, choosing forgiveness and love over the dangerous emotions that ultimately destroy your health. At first it may take minute-to-minute monitoring until you get control.

One way to overcome playing old tapes of pain, self-doubt and anxiety is to go deep into the Word of God. Invest in inspirational tapes or praise and worship music.

God heals today as He did in the past; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So it follows that we can be healed of our past, set free in the present and be all that we can be in the future. In other words--whole, healed and free!

MORE THAN JUST SOWING AND REAPING

LUKE 6:38, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

LUKE 6:17-49

This verse reveals one of God's cardinal laws that will work in the spiritual realm, as well as the physical world. Just as we "give" seed into the ground to receive back multiple seeds, so it is with everything we give. Whether it's money, possessions, an emotion such as love or hate, prayers, or our time, we will reap a harvest of whatever we give. We reap exactly what we sow and proportional to the same measure that we give (Gal. 6:7-8).

"He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6). This law works on positive or negative things that we sow.

Although this is an unchangeable law of God, it can be overcome by a greater law in much the same way that we can escape the law of gravity by using the greater laws of thrust and lift. The negative things we have given don't have to come back to us if we apply the greater law of forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:9). Likewise, the good things we have sown can be voided if we don't continue in well doing (Gal. 6:9).

What We Can Learn From God's Silence

SCOTT HAGAN

(© Theodor38 / StockFreeImages)

I recently uncovered the amazing mysteries of tranquility while excavating a lost sermon of Jesus. I’d been overlooking it in my gospel quarry for years. Once I knew where to dig, it became a simple discovery—one I invite you to make for yourself.

Take a few moments with your New Testament and look up every passage detailing the crucifixion. Once you’ve found them all, write out the statements recorded as coming from the lips of Jesus while He hung on the cross. Now, slowly repeat those statements aloud, one after the other. You’ll find they barely fill one minute of spoken conversation when strung together. Seven one-liners!

What was Jesus saying during the rest of His six hours on the cross?

There is much He could have said. He could have ended the opening argument of His extradition with an ear-splitting sermon or offered up a plateful of prophetic thunder as a parting shot for Pilate. He could have unloaded an earful at the elders. He could have undressed with righteous rhetoric the Roman cohorts who stripped His clothes, and then showered condemnation on those who spat upon Him. He could have bellowed out a few shots from Jeremiah’s prophecies to wayward Israel or ordered up a few hungry bears as Elijah did.

When You Don’t Know What To Do

Written by Gail Rodgers

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:12-15)

Life is not always easy. Everyday letters come to this website from those of you walking through complex, confusing, and even tragic things that have unexpectedly imposed themselves on lives with little or no warning. If you find yourself arising to a day that is in turmoil, consider getting dressed for your day according to scripture.

A Rusty Nail

Written by Eric Reynolds

Do you need to work on forgiveness? Take our free life lesson. 

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Luke 11:14)

Imagine you’re doing work on a deck and you fall on a rusty nail. It’s a small puncture but you keep working. Meanwhile, anaerobic bacteria begin to metabolize and cause infection. You don’t treat it and soon you have lockjaw, facial spasms, difficulty swallowing, and muscle rigidity. You start to get full body spasms and they continue for weeks until one day you die…if you don’t treat it.

Sin is the same way. It loves to fester in a grudge. The puss and poison of bitterness will eat away at your soul and enslave you… if you don’t treat it.

Facing Marah?

"Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore, it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Exodus 15:22-24

Bitter things. No one likes bitter things. But bitter things are part of life. Life is not all honey and no bees. Roses do have thorns ... and all people face "bitter waters" from one degree or another.

The Marah story in Exodus 15 is especially significant. You see, in Exodus 14, God's people had just seen and personally experienced the greatest Old Testament miracle: the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh and his armies. The people take the first 21 verses of chapter 15 to rejoice and dance and sing over the great power of God. Life is good, and God is awesome! Hallelujah!

How To Win Him Back From The Other Woman

This is for my friend, I am charm, whose husband has left her and their child and is off having his affair with the other woman.

The statistics for an affair actually working out are very low, I think it is less than 2% of affairs actually turn into marriages, it is most likely not going to work out between him and the other woman, and it probably won’t even last past a year. This is good news for a wife who wants her husband to return to their family. However, you have many disadvantages on your side right now to work through.

A Letter To My Friend Whose Husband Is Cheating

Dear Charm,

I don’t know if you are a Christian, so I don’t think you will understand my perspective, but I thought you might appreciate it anyway because I know you are lost and hurting and you have a big decision to make and your mind is overwhelmed from shock and denial now. Let me just say, that you don’t have to make a decision at all right away, this is huge and it will effect so many people, you have the right to take as long as you want to make this decision, there is no rush, you can even take a year or two to make it if you want. For now, I advise you to wait and don’t decide. The main reason I’m saying that is because your brain is not working correctly, it is under a lot of stress, grief and shock and that is not the best situation to make a decision like divorce.

Is There Bitterness In Your House?

WANDA DAVIS-TURNER

 

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If resentment, anger and hostility gain a foothold in your life, they will diminish your effectiveness for God

I was once scheduled to speak at an annual women's conference at the Potter's House in Dallas. Before I arrived, I prepared the teaching I planned to give, "Is There a Lady in the House?" in which I describe two kinds of women: the industrious one lauded in Proverbs 31 and the "keeper at home" Paul writes about in Titus 2. But just as I was getting up to preach, the Lord told me, "You can't preach that message tonight."

At first I tried to convince Him to change His mind. But He reminded me that I was on assignment. I knew I had to say whatever He instructed, empowered and encouraged me to say--regardless of the risk or cost. And He wanted me to ask not "Is there a lady in the house?" but "Is there bitterness in the house?"

A Root of BitternessWhy bitterness? Because we cannot be the women God desires us to be when there is a root of bitterness in our souls.

You know what bitterness in the natural is. Something that leaves an acrid, lingering taste in your mouth. Something that is unpleasant, distasteful, galling and unpalatable.

Bitterness of soul is also unpleasant. It develops as a result of facing something that is grievous, difficult to accept or extremely painful. It is marked by harshness, resentment and deep animosity. And it sounds something like this:

FORGIVENESS CAN BRING HEALING AND RESTORATION

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:43-45

The literal meaning of the word “forgiveness” in the New Testament is “to release; to hurl away; to free yourself.” The only way to break the chain or cycle of hurtfulness is to stop and ask forgiveness. This allows a relationship to start over and begin anew. The Russian writer, Solzhenitsyn, believed forgiveness is what truly makes us different from animals. Only humans can perform the most unnatural act of forgiveness that transcends the relentless law of nature.

A young Iranian lady, we’ll call Fatima, was full of hatred towards her mother-in-law. For fifteen years her mother-in law was her enemy and there was a great deal of enmity in the family.
Several times Fatima had even tried to kill her mother-in-law. Once she put poison in her soup hoping to kill her. The mother-in-law felt very sick after that and was taken to the hospital. The doctors took the poison out of her stomach and were able to save her life. 

LIVE EACH DAY AS YOUR LAST

[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

On that fateful Sunday morning in January 1996, Joy Dimerin’s beloved fiancé, Severino Bagtasos, was killed when a lone gunman stormed into the church that he pastored and shot him twice. Severino was killed on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in the predominantly Muslim town of Alat on Jolo Island, in southern Philippines. He had a zeal in reaching Muslims for Christ. Joy and Severino were supposed to get married in May 1997.

“By the grace of God, I am doing well and still enjoying the ministry,” testifies Joy. She admits that feelings of loneliness and emptiness were the most difficult things she faced after her beloved Severino died. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t find a godly man like him again,” confides Joy. “I learned to see God’s purpose in my life,” Joy added. “I learned to accept whatever circumstances come my way and look at them as God’s instruments in molding me and in making me a better person. Through [Severino’s] life I learned commitment to the ministry and to prayer. Through his death, I learned to always be prepared to face the Author and Finisher of my faith. Through this tragedy, I learned to live each day as though it were my last.”

A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

Written by Paula Friedrichsen

Donned in her favorite nightgown Kimberly* slips under the covers anticipating a good night’s sleep. Patting her husband’s shoulder she says, Goodnight honey… Tentatively Ron reaches out for Kimberly and nuzzles her check giving her a tender kiss. With a familiar sick sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Kimberly wriggles away from Ron, while feigning tiredness and a backache. Although it’s been several weeks since they’ve made love, Kimberly can’t seem to stop herself from rebuffing Ron’s sexual advances.

But it wasn’t always this way…

A Living Example Of Love

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5) 

Don't ever worry about not having enough love inside you. The Word says God's love is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. God's love is in you. What you need to do is make a decision to let it flow.

Pray this prayer today.

"In Jesus' Name, I make a fresh and strong commitment today to live the life of love, to let the tenderness of God flow through me and heal the wounded hearts of those I meet.

"Father, teach me to love even when things go wrong. To be patient and kind when the children are underfoot. To overlook the spiteful words of an angry spouse. To rejoice when someone at the office gets the raise that I thought I needed. Teach me to talk in love, to lay gossip quietly aside and to take up words of grace instead.

The Key to a Lasting Marriage

And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

Do you remember the Energizer Bunny?  He was the mascot and marketing icon for Energizer Batteries.  That little rabbit beat a bass drum … and he never stopped.  He just kept going and going and going.

Wouldn’t it be nice if marriages were like that? Wouldn’t it be nice if, when you tied the knot, it wasn’t a slipknot?  The sad truth is that tons of marriages don’t seem to last as long as an Energizer Battery.  

Taking Sides

He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. EPHESIANS 2:14

Simon and Chana Taub of Brooklyn broke up housekeeping after 20 years of marriage—divorcing and going their separate ways. Sort of.

He went to the living room on the first floor, and she took the bedroom level on the third floor. And just to be sure they didn't bump into each other on the second floor—to which they both had partial access—a judge ordered that a partition be erected at the staircase, blocking them from accidentally crossing paths.

Now, I've seen the pictures of it myself on the Internet. An actual slab of white drywall, cut to fit a doorway opening in their richly ornate home. It's a stark representation of the stubborn walls of isolation that are nailed up in far too many homes across our land. Walls of silence. Walls of distance. Walls of unresolved issues. Walls built to the thickest dimensions with the materials of misunderstanding, impatience, annoyance and ridicule.