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Quarantine

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Spikes through Unwashed Feet (…and Bennington, Vermont Update)

Posted on June 4, 2020

Today, a sweet sister who lost her home in a recent tornado brought lunch to our family at my daughter’s home.  She’s living in a rental right now and trying to figure out what all has been lost and what may have been salvaged. She’s not a member of the congregation where my daughter worships. She has an infant herself and she traveled several miles from a nearby town to make the delivery. 

As I explained all of this to Ezra and Colleyanna, I asked them what it is that makes people love enough to reach out and help others even when they are hurting themselves. Even they knew the answer. “She wants to be like Jesus.” 

They are right. He prayed for the unity of His followers in God the Father and Son, when Father and Son were facing at Calvary the great “forsaking” that would facilitate that fellowship (Matthew 27:46).  He washed the disciples’ feet, while the feet through which the spikes were to be nailed, went unwashed at that Passover dinner (John 13:1-17). He replaced the severed ear of the One who came at Him with the sword (John 18:10-11). He was the One, hanging by the spikes on the tree, who said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34). He provided for His mother’s physical care from a hilltop at which no one was providing for His own. He, in the truest sense, taught us to “overcome evil with good,” (Romans 12:21). He conquered the evil one by the goodness of placing himself on the sacrificial altar and rising from the tomb. 

In 2020, we have some extra opportunities to share the goodness. There are, perhaps, more hurting people this year, in our country, than there have been or will be in the current century. We have the light of life in us, as Christians, and it’s a prime time for us to diligently place that light on the outside of the bushel’s darkness and be the city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14,15). That’s what the sweet sister was doing at my daughter’s door this morning. Helping from a place of hurt. Shining through a time of darkness, Reaching from a place of desperation. I want to be more like her in this amazing time of opportunity. 

And, speaking of this, I want to share below a letter I received from my friend who is the preacher’s wife at the congregation in Bennington, Vermont. A while back, I posted about this discouraged group of Christians and you responded (https://thecolleyhouse.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=13175&action=edit). You sent light and sweet fellowship through the USPS and it has made a positive impact. 

Here’s what she said: 

Hello! I just wanted to thank you again so much for that blog post a couple of months ago. Each of our church members on my list received 15-20 cards, and they appreciated them so much. One of our families tried to thank every single card sender individually (a few didn’t have return addresses), leading to one of your blog readers sending the family’s kids some paper and an art set! That same family also is in touch by email and regular mail with at least 3 of the card senders. The encouragement has been phenomenal.

In addition, one of the members on my list, Mitt, was living in a rehab center, forbidden to visit his family, and his family was able to deliver cards to the staff to give to him so he could still be encouraged. He passed away this week somewhat unexpectedly, at the age of 93, a faithful Christian until the end. Alan and Jen, two other people on my list, are his son and daughter-in-law, so an extra dose of encouragement was good to help build them up for this experience too.

Is there any way you can convey our thanks as a congregation? As a footnote on a blog post, maybe? There were so many cards sent that we just couldn’t keep up! What a wonderful problem to have!pastedGraphic.pngpastedGraphic_1.png

Also, please keep praying for our congregation. Out of our group of 30-35 members/somewhat regular attendees and their close relatives, there have been two people with heart attacks, one who was hospitalized with what was expected to be a heart attack, and two deaths (one was Mitt, the other a church member’s mom). Of course, all of these situations are miserable right now because of our continued stringent Covid restrictions (despite having zero confirmed Covid hospitalizations in our entire state right now). I know we share these burdens with congregations worldwide, but as a small group, we don’t usually have so much going on at one time.

Thanks again!pastedGraphic_2.png

So thank you from me, too. What a great time to be His! What a great application for those of us who are studying the compassion and confirming the deity of our Lord in the book of John this month. I love you, sisters!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #44: Truth and Mercy have Met

Posted on May 14, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:

My favorite Proverbs:  Proverbs 16:6  

“In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”

Observe these soul-saving ingredients: fear, mercy, and truth. 

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).  Why is fear important?  One powerful tool of the Devil, who loves to work in religion, is to subtract the fear of hell from both atheists and professing Christians.  Yet it is that fear that makes us crave and appreciate mercy and truth.  Consider that these two—mercy and truth—are often paired together in the Old Testament:

“And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren” (Gen. 24:27).

“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10).

“He shall abide before God forever. oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!”(Psalm 61:7).

“Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psalm 85:10).

“For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

This is a combination of characteristics seen in their perfection in our God. But we are commanded to use this combination in Christianity and the church as we hold one another accountable.  For example, elders who lead their flock in the process of withdrawal of the church from an impenitent member (according to the truth of the Word in 2 Thessalonians 3:6), will perhaps remember that Jesus gave Jezebel a space to repent (Rev. 2:20-21) and will apply that mercy to the member in the process of discipline. Mercy and truth have met together.

Jesus gave instruction about a Christian against whom a fellow-Christian has sinned.  Consider how His teaching involves both mercy and truth: 

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17). 

We clearly see the combination of the establishment of truth and the will to forgive and gain the brother. Everlasting mercy and enduring truth (Psalm 100:5).

Today consider that in the application of truth there is space for mercy.  Considering God’s application of this pair motivates me to want to be sure I get this combination right in my relationships.

FamilyBible Time with Glenn and Cindy:

It’s quiz night again! Just see how much fun you can have remembering what Jesus said in Matthew 25 (and Luke 12). Act out the following in a game of “Guess Who I Am.” Pretend to be each of the following and see if your kids can guess who you are. After each successful guess, have your children tell you what Jesus said about whomever you were pretending to be. The response will be repetitive, but that’s a good thing.

  • a sheep
  • a goat
  • a hungry person
  • a thirsty person
  • someone who needs a place to stay
  • someone who needs clothing
  • someone who is sick
  • someone who is in prison
  • the rich man tearing down his barns

Sing the song from Matthew 25 (Hannah’s Hundred) if you’ve been learning that. If not, sing Each Day I’ll Do a Golden Deed. Here are the lyrics:

A Beautiful Life
Each day I’ll do a golden deed
By helping those who are in need
My life on earth is but a span
And so I’ll do the best I can
Life’s evening sun is sinking low
A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done
Where there will be no setting sun
The only life that will endure
Is one that’s kind and good and pure
And so for God I’ll take my stand
Each day I’ll lend a helping hand
Life’s evening sun is sinking low
A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done
Where there will be no setting sun
While going down life’s weary road
I’ll try to lift some traveler’s load
I’ll try to turn the night to day
Make flowers bloom along the way
Life’s evening sun is sinking low
A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done
Where there will be no setting sun
No setting sun
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Rea Garvey / Sacha Skarbek
A Beautiful Life lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Red Brick Music Publishing

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #43: Proverbs 16:2–The Universal Standard

Posted on May 13, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:

My Favorite Proverbs: Proverb 16:2 

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.”

This proverb implies God has an objective, absolute standard for man’s behavior.  Here is the account of two-gun Crowley which I learned when I was younger.  I assume it to be true. It reads like a newspaper report and appeared in one of Dale Carnegie’s books:

On May 7, 1931, New York City witnessed the most sensational man-hunt the old town had ever known. After weeks of searching, “Two Gun” Crowley—the killer–the gunman who didn’t smoke or drink—was  trapped in his sweetheart’s apartment on West End Avenue.  One-hundred-fifty policemen and detectives laid siege to his top-floor hideaway.  Chopping holes in the roof, they tried to smoke out Crowley, the “cop killer,” with tear gas.  Then they mounted their machine guns on surrounding buildings, and for more than an hour, one of New York’s fine residential sections reverberated with the crack of pistol fire and the rat-tat-tat of machine guns. Crowley, crouching behind an overstuffed chair, fired incessantly at the police.  Ten thousand excited people watched the battle. Nothing like it had ever been seen on the sidewalks of New York.  

When Crowley was captured, Police Commissioner Mulrooney declared that the two-gun desperado was one of the most dangerous criminals ever encountered in the history of New York.  “He will kill,” said the commissioner, “at the drop of a feather.”  

But how did “Two Gun” Crowley regard himself?  We know, because while the police were firing into his apartment, he wrote a letter addressed “To whom it may concern.” And, as he wrote, the blood flowing from his wounds left a crimson trail on the paper.  In this letter Crowley said: “Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one—one that would do nobody any harm.”

Only a short time before this writing, Crowley had been with a woman on a country road out on Long Island.  Suddenly a policeman walked up to the parked car and said:  “Let me see your license.”

Without saying a word, Crowley drew his gun, and cut the policemen down with a shower of lead.  As the dying officer fell,  Crowley leaped out of the car, grabbed the officer’s revolver, and fired another bullet into the prostrate body.  That was the killer who said, “Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one—one that would do nobody any harm.”

Crowley was sentenced to the electric chair.  When he arrived at the death house at Sing Sing, did he say, “This is what I get for killing people?”  No, he said, “This is what I get for defending myself.”  The point of the story is this:  “Two Gun” Crowley never blamed himself for any of his heinous crimes.

This brief account of the life and death of a killer, combined with our proverb for today emphasize the fact that all people must be guided by a higher standard than their own momentary preferences.  Standards are vitally important, especially in view of man’s propensity to justify his actions, no matter how sinful they are. Every wrong done can be excused by rationalization. But, the Bible is universal, absolute truth, and God’s ways will always be higher than our ways (Isa. 55:9).

Spend a few minutes today meditating on today’s proverb and the advice King David gave to his son Solomon. Make application to your life and the lives of your children:

As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9).

Family Bible Time with Glenn and Cindy:

Before we complete our time of studying serving Jesus by serving others, let’s detour tonight to another passage that teaches us the concept of selflessness and sharing our bounty with others. We call this account the parable of The Rich Fool. Read or tell it to your children from Luke 12:15-21.

  1. A man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things he possesses. Challenge your kids to think of the richest (in material wealth) person they know. Then ask them to think about it and see if this person is the happiest one they know. Draw from this exercise that happiness in life is not in wealth.
  2. Now read the paragraph from Scripture again in which the rich man thinks about what he will do with his goods. Have them count how many times he uses the pronoun I. Is this man a self-centered man? Do we know anyone, or can we think of anyone in a story, who focuses on themselves?  (Maybe they might think of  someone like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast or the Wicked Queen in Snow White.) Is this the kind of person we’d love to be around? Is this person really happy?
  3. Make sure your children know what happens to all our material possessions when we die. Have older  children find the question Jesus asked about these material things upon a man’s death (from the passage in Luke 12).
  4. Have a conversation with any small children about what Jesus taught about sharing from this passage. Is he pleased when we want to keep everything for ourselves while others around us need or want things we could give them?
  5. See if your children can remember people in the Bible who were great at sharing. They might think of many among which may be these: Abraham shared with Lot (Genesis 13), Joseph shared with his brothers (Genesis 42:25), Boaz shared with Ruth (Ruth 2), the widow of Zarephath shared with Elijah (1 Kings 17), the Shunemite woman shared with Elisha (2 Kings 4), the little boy shared the five loaves and two fishes (John 6). If you have more than one child thinking, make it a little contest to see who can list the most “sharing” stories in the Bible. (Little prizes are great at any age)
  6. Finally, read to your children the Aesop fable “A Dog and His Bone.” You can find this in many places online. Here’s one: http://read.gov/aesop/026.html. How was the dog like the rich fool? Elicit from your kids that, in both cases, the prized possession was gone at the end, because of selfishness. Make sure you note that Aesop was just illustrating a truth taught by Jesus and the Word of God…that all truth about right and wrong comes from God.
  7. Pray with your kids.

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #42: Proverbs 15:16-17–Treasure with Trouble

Posted on May 12, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:

Favorite Proverbs: Proverb 15:16-17…

“Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.”

This has to be one of our top ten.  If you are recently married, you’d better get this truth into your home before the kids come along and you find yourselves in a dark place.  It has to be instilled consistently and early:  A godly, Christ-centered home where we love one another will always be vastly better than a house with wealth accompanied by trouble, hatred and disobedience to God.  

Think right now about your career. What are you trying to accomplish with that employment? What is the greater meaning of this work? Is work the most important thing in your life?  Does that job support your family or does your family support the job?

Does harmony and contentment thrive in your home because Jesus lives there and is the center of all you do?  Finish this statement: When harmony breaks down in my home it is usually caused by ________________. In many cases you will find that, behind whatever you wrote in the blank, is an emphasis on something material rather than a priority on pleasing God.  

I try to pour this principle into the hearts of people in pre-marriage counseling.  The value and size of a house doesn’t reveal the amount of happiness dwelling inside.  Happiness can thrive in a shack as well as a mansion.  Never assume that where there is wealth there is joy, because they often don’t live in the same place.

Our Lord said “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Contentment is in prioritizing His kingdom and your place in it. 

In your meditation times today, add this important proverb.  Sometime during the day, read it to your family, explain it, and let your children know this is the driving thesis of your home.

Family Bible Time with Glenn and Cindy:

Matthew 5:31ff (continued)

Jesus said “I was in prison and you came unto me.”

  1. Read Matthew 26:47-56 to your children and find out what the disciples did when Jesus was actually arrested–when he became an innocent prisoner. They became so afraid that they reacted in a way that we don’t ever want to imitate. How does Jesus tell us, as His disciples, in our Matthew 25 text that we can be with Jesus when He is in prison?
  2. Of course, most of us today in the United States cannot visit a prison during a pandemic, since there are restrictions against such. In fact, it is difficult to gain permission to enter at any time. But we can certainly, right now, support the prison ministers we know who have given/give lots of hours and  experience physical and emotional stress as they visit and teach the gospel in prisons. Tonight, have your children write letters of thanks and encouragement to a prison minister that you know. If you do not know one, let me recommend a faithful one for your children to write. Have your younger children draw pictures. This will encourage our brother who has devoted years to a prison work here in Huntsville.

Mr. George Coffell

c/o West Huntsville church of Christ

1519 Old Monrovia Road NW

Huntsville, AL 35806

If you have the Hannah’s Hundred CD, sing the Matthew 25 song once more along with the Matthew 5:16 song. Pray with your children. Remember to pray for the prisoners in our land; that the gospel may be taught to those who are in need of salvation and who may listen to the Word.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #41: Proverbs 15:14–The Pursuit of Knowledge

Posted on May 11, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:

My Favorite Proverbs: Proverb 15:14 — The pursuit of knowledge.

“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”

An aphorism, or proverb, just means a short, pithy statement or maxim. In the book of Proverbs, such a statement is often presented in the form of a contrast.  That’s true in our proverb today.

With what do you feed your mind most days?  Eight of our 24 hours is used for sleep, some for eating, some for work, some for exercise and family matters. What are you doing to expand your mind?  Are you committing enough time to learning God’s word? Jesus encountered a man one day who was too busy.  Here’s the exchange between them:

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead”(Matthew 8:18-22).

 The only way we know how to follow the Master is by study and application of His word.  At some point we’re going to have to decide to spend some time each day—to let the world go by for a few minutes—while we sit down and meditate on God’s word.  There isn’t anything wrong per se with enjoying entertainment (which doesn’t involve sin in anyway), but how much time do you spend on that while letting large gaps of time elapse between sit-down, focused Bible study?

If our young women fail to develop a personal Bible study habit, how will they rear the next generation of children to know the Word?  If our young men feed more on the Bible than on the “foolishness”  of this proverb, where will we get our preachers and elders in the next thirty or forty years?  Where will we get godly teachers and mentors?  We could find ourselves in the frightening position of lowering our standards and accepting preachers and elders who know much about social media, sports, and video games, but little about Scripture.  

For today, consider your own study habits and how you can improve. Make your study systematic. Find a deliberate system of study, such as 20 minutes each day before going to work or before the kids wake up.  Choose a book of the Bible and get a good commentary to help you along. Some may even take a leap of faith and join the Digging Deep studies (https://www.calebcolley.com/diggingdeep/ or https://thecolleyhouse.org/digging-deep). Once you begin some regimen of study, you’ll be amazed how many times the during the day you find yourself thinking about what you’ve been studying.

Help others by giving gifts of good commentaries, concordances, and Bibles, especially to young people.  Wise Solomon wrote, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecc. 12:1).  

Seek knowledge; not foolishness.

Family Bible Time with Glenn and Cindy

Matthew 25: 31ff (continued)

Jesus said “I was sick and you visited me.”

Emphasize to your children the premise of this passage: The way we minister to Jesus, who needs nothing now, is to minister to other people–all people, but especially those in the kingdom (Galatians 6:10)

Read to your children Matthew 14:14 and emphasize to them that one of the reasons Jesus healed sick people while on earth was that he had compassion on them. Talk about the meaning of compassion (feeling sympathy or pity). Try to give them an illustration, from their lives, of that feeling. (A pet that was suffering, a time when one rescued a sibling from being bullied, a time when a grandparent was in trouble, etc…) Tell them that anytime we see people suffering we should be “moved with compassion.”

When we see people who are sick, we should see Jesus. Right now, we cannot go and be with most of the people we know who are sick. We cannot even visit the hospitals. But we can make and send cards. Get out your church directory and find people who are sick…at least one per child.

  1. Use the time tonight to make cards for these sick ones. Be sure your children walk them to the mailbox tomorrow. (I’m not even sick and I was over the moon about cheer cards received during the pandemic from children of our congregation…you Canter kids and Mitchell kids!)
  2. Tomorrow, have each child (toddlers and up) make at least one phone call to someone in the church who is sick. Train them to be cheerful and full of compassion. Make sure they ask if there is anything the person needs that you could bring by and drop on the porch.
  3. If you have teeny people, let them practice by pretending you have cut your arm and let them bring band-aids to help you get better. Be sure to tell them that when they help people who are hurting, the Bible says they are helping Jesus.
  4. If you have the Hannah’s Hundred 2 CD (www.thecolleyhouse.org), play song #72 for your children. Play this each night for several nights until you know these verses from Matthew 25.

Pray with your kids. Be sure to let your children make a “sick list” prior to your prayer and pray for these people specifically.

If you do have the CD, also listen to Matthew 5:16 and practice singing that as you close.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #40:Proverbs 15:3–Our Omniscient God

Posted on May 8, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:

My Favorite Proverbs:  Our Omniscient God 

 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3).

Think of the magnitude of this.  Our Father sees the child that sleeps, the sparrow that falls, the young bride and groom as they stutter out their vows before family and friends, the farmer with his plow, the builder with his blueprints, the ravages and cruelty of war, the desperation of a pandemic that has kept people down too long, the sadness of the new grave, the thief who walks out without paying, the alcoholic who unseals the next bottle, the shameful husband who slyly deceives his wife to carry on a sinful relationship with another woman, and the men and women who work everyday to “let the words of their mouths and the meditations of their hearts be acceptable to God, their strength and Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Solomon only one among several who were inspired to describe this quality of God:

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the spirits” (Prov. 16:2)

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the hearts.” (Prov. 21:1)

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me” (Psa. 139:7-10).

“So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’” (Acts 17:27-28).

I remember a small boy who was scolded by his mother for telling a lie. He hid in the garage and when his mother found him she asked why he was hiding.  He tilted his head and said, “I’m hiding from God.”  Whether a small child or a most studied and clever atheist, no-one successfully hides from our God.

A troubled man once said to Gus Nichols, a great preacher of the past, “I don’t believe God hears me when I pray.” 

Brother Nichols said, “Alright, I’ll tell you what: We’ll walk together out into this nearby field tonight and you shake your fist at heaven and curse God.” 

The man couldn’t believe his ears. “Brother Nichols I would NEVER think of doing such a thing!” 

The wise Nichols then asked, “Do you mean to tell me you believe God hears you when your curse but not when you pray?”

Today, spend time in serious meditation on these deep words: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good,” and dedicate yourself to live in such a way that you find them to be a great blessing in your life and never a curse.

 Family Bible Time with Glenn and Cindy:

Matthew 25: Jesus said “I was naked and you clothed me.”

Let us just go ahead and tell you that all small kids are going to laugh when you tell  them Jesus said this. But you already knew that. Any line about anybody without clothes or going to the restroom is hilarious when you’re four. After you get past the hilarity, though, make sure your conversation about people in our world who need warm clothing is serious.

  1. Go to Acts 9 and tell your children the story of the raising of Dorcas. Note that, in this case, those who needed coats and clothes were widows. Make sure your children understand what a widow is. Make sure you make the “raising ” part of the story as amazing to your kids as it was to the church there in Acts 9.
  2. Now think of ways that your family might be able to provide clothing for those in need. Here are some ideas. Choose ONE of them and make sure it happens:

a. Let your kids go to their closets and choose an article or two of good clothing and think of a family you know who is happy to get hand-me-downs. You may even want to explain to the mom of the family, if you’re good friends, that you are trying to teach your children to share clothing from Matthew 25. Make sure your own children see the importance of choosing good clothing to give…things they would like to wear.

b. Go on Amazon (or a similar site) with your children and choose a new article of clothing and have it sent anonymously to someone who could use it; someone who may be having a hard time shopping right now, because of the expense or the exposure. A widow is a great choice!

c. Choose a good coat from one of your closets to save for fall. Hang it in a place where you’ll remember to give it to a child that’s in a large family when cold weather comes. Go ahead and mark the date for giving on your calendar so you won’t forget.

d. Does your congregation have a clothing closet for benevolent purposes? If so, prepare a basket, with the help of your children for donating to this good cause.

e. Are you a sewing mom? If so, choose a simple project–a pillowcase dress or apron or simple blanket to make with your children to purpose for giving to someone you know who’s having a hard time right now or to send to a missionary family with a card of encouragement.

f. At West Huntsville, we actually have a Dorcas class (seamstresses who meet to study the Word and make bears for children in emergency situations and in the hospitals, and also for sewing other items for needs as they arise). If you’re brave enough to venture into Hobby Lobby, buy a couple of yard s of colorful cotton fabric for this class to use in their projects.

While it’s often complicated today in America, to find those in need of clothing, remember, when we do find them, we are finding Jesus in need. And it is the opportunity of a child’s little lifetime to give Jesus clothes!

Pray tonight that God will help you all to see needs around you and to remember that someone in need is Jesus!