John 12:42-43 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God
God has taught me a very valuable lesson over the last several weeks that I would now like to share with you. My wife and I have been married for 40 years. After two years of marriage my wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Over the course of these past many years her condition has gradually deteriorated to the point where now she is bedridden, and has been for many years. Because of this, it has been very difficult for us to develop meaningful relationships with others. Mainly because of mobility issues and it takes a great deal of time to foster these types of relationships. My main concern over these past many years has been to be my wife’s caregiver and to attend to her every need. For these past many years we have basically been homebound, and unable to socialize with others the way most people do. This did not however prevent me from using my gifts, talents and abilities to try and reach out to others in order to encourage and enlighten them. I did this by using technology to reach people all over the world. For the past 30 years, I have trusted God to use and market my work, my poetry, songs and devotionals, free of charge with anyone He chooses. Initially, I did not concern myself with the effectiveness of my work, or any aspect of marketing it. I was quite content to devoting myself to a life of prayer and meditation while waiting to be of service to my wife. God has never disappointed me! All my work is my response to God after communing with Him in prayer and meditation. Not wanting to just file this material away in a drawer, I also had a great desire to share it with others and I did this using technology. This is the way I operated up until about three years ago when I retired. When I retired I found that I had more time on my hands to come up with better ways of reaching more people. Over the past three years, I’ve been very busy developing a website, WhisperArt.net, and purchasing the tools and services I needed to promote it. In the past, when I received an insight or realization from God, I would get so excited! I remember several years ago, I felt led to write God a poem, and I ended up writing an entire book. To make a long story short and to bring this devotional to close, I would just like to say that God was finally able to get my attention a few days ago. After working very hard over the past several weeks, coming up with better ways to serve God, He used the verse referenced above to let me know what was most important. I was sitting out on the patio the other evening under the stars by the fire, and I was reminded of that beautiful scene in the Bible where Jesus was on the beach fixing breakfast for Peter and Andrew, and the thought occurred to me, oh how I wish Jesus was sitting here with me tonight. I wanted to ask him a question and the question was; why have so many rejected you Lord, and chosen the wide path that leads to destruction. It didn’t take long for Jesus to answer and the verse referenced above came to mind. It made me wonder; am I doing all these things for the praise that comes from God, or am I doing all these things for the praise that comes from man. Because I have been so busy lately with the website and other things, I have neglected my daily prayer and meditation time, and I have missed those cherished opportunities of relaxing on the beach with Jesus. This my friends is what’s most important. Forgive me Lord. Praise the holy name of Jesus!
Prayer Meetings
The most important thing in the Christian life,
Is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
He causes the fog and darkness to vanish,
And floods our soul with light.
If you think He’s far away,
And totally out of reach.
Just call out and invite Him,
To breakfast on the beach.
You will find that his praise,
Will sustain you like nothing else can.
More than fame or status,
Or the praise that comes from man.
Our love for worldly things,
Will always become self defeating.
Jesus will provide for all your needs,
During your personal prayer meetings.