Sunday, June 7, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
Pastor Caroline - June 5, 2020
1 Peter Chapter 3 Verse 4 in the Good News Bible reads this way:
(4) Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God’s sight.
I spoke with a friend of mine just recently who said to me she did not feel beautiful anymore. I listened as she told me the things she wished she had, like the energy she had when she was young, the beautiful hair and the trim and slim body and on and on. When she finished the list I threw my head back and laughed out loud. She looked at me strangely for a moment and asked what I was laughing at. I said,”My dear, look at us, 50 years older, we are never again going to ever be those 17 year old, high spirited, young ladies we once were. Now that is a fact and a truth. We both laughed and agreed.
I did say to her, “When I see you I see a girl who grew up to be a wonderful servant of the Lord, a Mom who gave and continues to give all she had and has, in raising her family, who stood by her husband in all their years together and sometimes not in his finest years, shall we say, and who nursed her Mom and Dad in their final years until the Lord called them home.
I see a lady whose hair has turned silver with a shine that even the professional hairdressers cannot match, I see hands that are now a bit crooked from the hard labour over the years, and I see a heart as big as the sky, not only for her own family but for anyone who comes in her path.
I see a lady who is filled with peace and contentment and who is not wanting for the material things in life that will one day pass away. I see a lady who’s only desire is to love Jesus more so she can love others more”.
What do I see when I look at you?, I asked. She looked at me and waited for my summary.
I took a moment and looked straight into her eyes and I said, “I see, A Beautiful You!
I see in you 1 Peter Chapter 3 verse 4; a lady with a gentle and quiet spirit, a true sense of who you are in Christ, and who Christ is in you, a wonderful and true friend and someone who God values more every day you spend on this earth loving those you meet. Your beauty is deep within you and has a very healthy glow around you that lights up everywhere you go. You are precious and beautiful in His sight”.
You are, “A Beautiful You”.
You are precious and beautiful in my sight and I am thankful I have such a beautiful friend.
I pray everyone will take to heart the above scripture and put your name in the scripture and pray it over yourself. Then you will see your value in God’s sight.
Come and join me again on Monday when we have a new reading and a fresh new week. Have a blessed weekend.
Also Sunday I will share the message by video in the late afternoon, please join me then.
You are precious in His sight.
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Pastor Caroline - June 4, 2020
David Jeremiah’s reading today entitled, Breaking Bread, in the Daily in His Presence devotional, is a beautiful truth concerning the church and our faith family. When we go to church we love to be greeted with a smile, handshake, and /or a hug. Right now we are all missing that human contact and we are counting down the time till we can all gather once again. In service we love the worship that opens our heart to hear and receive the word of the Lord. We also love to share communion, the breaking of the bread, on the first Sunday of every month. And what better way to close the service then to open the altar for prayer and join with those who bring their praise and petitions to the Lord, in the presence of those who agree in prayer with them. We are a family and it is truly evident in the midst of our gathering together. We pray and encourage one another and that gives us new strength to face the week ahead and do the work of the Lord here on earth.
When someone is missing from service we notice and we inquire about their absence, making sure if they are ill or have a need that we can call or visit and discern how best we can offer help. This is what family is about, being there for one another.
David asked two questions in his last paragraph (please see the reading), and follows it with a statement that warms my heart. Having someone to talk and pray with and a small group that you can fellowship with are not optional disciplines as he says; but rather, are an essential part of the Christian experience. This is so true. We need one another to strengthen us in our walk with the Lord. Hopefully we will once again be together soon, but until then, please keep in touch by email, phone or even a hand written note you send in the mail. Let’s not lose contact with one another. Please remember to pray daily for the needs of others and thank God every day for His many blessings.
We all know how special it is when someone invites us to their home for a visit, and when we have a meal together it adds to the joy of the visit. This is how I look at communion in church, as a meal together. When we have communion it is special because we are calling to our remembrance what Jesus did on the cross for each and everyone of us. He laid down His life that we might have life abundant as we celebrate Resurrection and the promise He gave us. He alone, paid our sin debt and provides us with life eternal and every time we celebrate communion (break bread together), we are reminded of the finished work of the cross and His great love for us. This fills our hearts with gladness and is the simple truth of the gospel.
He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you. Do this in memory of me”. Luke Chapter 22 verse 19
In the breaking of the bread: we remember.
Please come and join us when services resume and we will all share communion together. Please consider this my special invitation to you, and I look forward to having you visit with us at Masters Hand Ministry. Watch our website for our return time when we are once again allowed to gather in larger numbers.
Enjoy the sun today after the much needed rain. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Pastor Caroline - June 3, 2020
As we look at the Good News Bible this morning I am brought to Proverbs Chapter 10 verse 12.
(10) Hate stirs up trouble; But love forgives all offenses.
Chapter 10 are Soloman’s Proverbs and this is a very good chapter to read as it contains a wealth of good advice.
Now let me tell you what brought me to this very scripture.
I normally do not watch a lot of television, however, yesterday the TV was on most of the day as I worked in my office across from the living room where the TV is. When Spencer is working at home he likes to have the TV on and catch the news. We are all working at home a bit more in this lockdown time and so consequently, we are hearing more of the news. Well, all day it seemed to me there was no good news. All the tension, riots, and protests spoken about on the news, cause so much damage and destruction that it troubles me, and the media plays it over and over. In Canada and the United States of America peaceful demonstrations turned violent. Such a shame that people cannot learn to express their feelings without more hurt and pain. We can never bring a good resolve to any situation if hatred fuels the fire. King Solomon in his Proverbs clearly states: hate stirs up trouble; and it does.
When things are wrong or unjust we are not going to mend the brokenness with reaction. We need to be reminded of Jesus, and act the way He would. He brought correction to people because He loved people and in that love He was able to direct their path. King Solomon says in the proverb we are using this morning, but love forgives all offenses. It is in this love that we can mend the broken- hearted, the misunderstood, and we can forgive the wrongs. This is not to say that we let anyone who commits crime get off free, but, we give them a chance to change their wrongful ways, correct their mistakes, and hopefully see the error of their way. We also hope to see that they are truly remorseful. When this takes place; change for the better will come forth. We are all responsible for our actions and must pay the consequence for wrongful reactions.
Today, I pray that people see the error of their ways in these protests that really just bring more angst. And I pray that somehow people would see; if we serve others, we can bring unity and not division. When we hold hatred within ourselves, we destroy day by day our inner being. Medical professionals will tell you the people who carry lots of negative energy will suffer the consequences, i.e.; higher blood pressure, headaches, low self-esteem higher risk of heart attack and those with lots of positive energy have lower blood pressure, good self-esteem and lesser illness overall.
When we serve others, put others first in our day, we will reap the reward of blessing, as the blessing we give away somehow always, returns a greater blessing to us.
I pray people all over the world with study the life of Jesus, study His ways, and emulate Him. Then and only then, will we live in a much more peaceful world, where all people of every race and tribe will work together for the betterment of each other and for the furtherance of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ here on earth.
Remember,
Hate stirs up trouble;
But love forgives all offenses.
We are all responsible for our actions and reactions so let’s be a world that carries out good actions of our Lord and be remembered as a blessing to our neighbours, community, province and country. Let’s be a righteous people and bring honour and glory to the Lord we serve.
Have a blessed day in serving others and our Lord.
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Pastor Caroline - June 2, 2020
Would you be blessed if I came to your house and gave you $1000 in cash, or the keys to a new car? How about a gift card to cover your grocery bill for six months? Perhaps you would rather a plane ticket to visit someone who lives out West when we once again allowed to travel. Well these would all be a blessing to anyone and I’m sure you would be happy to receive any one of these. You might even be so excited you would tell your friends how happy you are to have been given such a blessing. And people might say to you, “Wow you sure are lucky to have such a friend who has blessed you”.
However if I landed at your house and asked to bless you in “words of blessing“, would you still be as excited to share that with your friends? Would your friends still say, “Wow, you sure are lucky to have such a friend who is brought you “words of blessing”.
Well my dear readers and friends, the cash, the car, the gift certificate for groceries, and the plane ticket are all lovely blessings but are only useful until they have been spent up or used up. Then that blessing is gone.
Now let me share with you a blessing from Numbers Chapter 6 verses 24 to 26. I’m using the Good News Bible.
(24) May the Lord bless you and take care of you;
(25) May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;
(26) May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.
This blessing is called, The Priestly Blessing in the Good News Bible and in the Amplified Study Bible it is called, Aaron‘s Benediction.
This blessing is a gift from God that is everlasting. It is meant for all time. It is the “presence of God“, spoken over your life. Back in Numbers in the Bible when God spoke to Moses to bless the Israelites with this blessing, He intended them to receive His love and mercy. Gods very presence, His watchful eye and His peace would be upon the very people God called His own, the Israelites.
We are called His own or His chosen people, when we except Him as Lord and Savior. This prayer is meant for us today and for generations to come for all who are in the family of God.
So my blessing to you today is not a blessing that will wear out, fall apart, go out of style, or even a one time gift. It is a blessing you can claim on a daily basis and if you should live on this earth for 100 years then, this will be a blessing you can claim every day. You can walk in the truth of knowing that God will take care of you, He will watch over you, He will bless you and His peace will surround, you all the days of your life.
Now this is a blessing! One to tell all your friends about when you call them. And when you are speaking with them on the phone, pray this blessing over them and believe that God will hear and receive your prayer and He will deliver to them the fullness of this blessing and peace that goes beyond our understanding.
Fill your heart today with the presence of God, and His love and peace will bring you joy and you can share that joy with all those you meet.
What a gift,
What a treasure,
To know our God
Beyond all measure.
Thank you Lord for this little rhyme. Isn’t God good?
The blessing in Numbers Chapter 6 verses 24 to 26 which is in picture form at the end of this message, is God’s blessing to us today. I pass it along as a blessing to all of you. I am also reminded of Psalm Chapter 29 Verse 11, (Good News Bible),
(11) “The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses them with peace.
Let’s live in the blessing He gives to us and let’s share that blessing with everyone.Let it be your blessing to share with others as it is my blessing to share with you today.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Pastor Caroline - June 1, 2020
Can you believe today is the first day of June? The months of this year are certainly slipping by.
Tell them what great things the Lord has done for you.
David opens with this scripture, Mark 5:19.
In my Good News Bible this scripture reads:
(19) But Jesus would not let him. Instead, He told him, “Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.” This is the story where Jesus healed a man with evil spirits. Please read the story in Chapter 5 verses 1-20 in the Gospel of Mark.
I love the reading today in the devotional Daily in His Presence, written by David Jeremiah. The man who David speaks about today in the reading is interesting indeed. When people call him to sell credit cards or vacation rentals he has the right idea. He takes the opportunity to tell them about Jesus because he already has them on the phone. This sounds exactly like what I do, so, he and I must be related. We are actually, he is my brother in Christ in the family of God.
When I am on the phone doing medical calls, business calls, personal calls or sometimes even get a wrong number I love to take the opportunity to share the Lord. I have already done this during this lockdown time and been able to speak with the lady who in fact was a wrong number, and now we speak on a weekly basis about the Lord. I thank God for that opportunity and hopefully one day soon I will get to meet this lady in person. When I’m on the phone I might say to someone, ”Are you enjoying this day the Lord has prepared just for you?, or “I am thankful God directed me to you because you have been most helpful”. I use every opportunity to mention the goodness of the Lord and often people have thanked me. You can tell when someone is down, or hurting, sad or happy. Every instance calls for the mention of the Lord. In whatever the case may be, you can say God will help you with that if you ask Him, would you like me to ask Him for you? Then You can pray with them if it is an opportune time for them, and if not tell them you’ll hold them in prayer the moment you hang up. And do just that! You may never know how it will change their day and yours! God will bless you for interceding on the behalf of someone else.
David is correct in paragraph two, we need to be very creative in sharing the gospel these days. While the gathering together as an assembly is on hold, the message is not! The message is loud and clear and as we minister on a one to one basis, perhaps we can be more personal, more understanding, take a bit more time to pray with someone on their behalf, before the One, who, we know hears our prayers. Don’t even let a different language stop you, as I found out in Mexico a couple
years ago. I could not speak Spanish but by using my hands and expressions they understood I was praying to God on their behalf. God knows the language of the heart and that is truly all that matters.
I want to do ministry as Jesus did. I want to follow His example. Do as He did, talk to people, one person at a time when necessary and in groups when the opportunity arises. I will never fill His shoes but I am willing to walk in His path. Love people, introduce them to the Lord and His ways, and tell everyone what great things the Lord has done for me and He will do for them. It is no secret what God has done and I am glad I can tell the world, or at least my part of the world, about our Father in heaven who wants to give good things to all His children.
Today when you are speaking with someone who perhaps does not know the Lord, tell them about the Him, God will take it from there and life could be changed forever because you told them! Praise God!
Have a great day in the beauty of the Lord.
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