When we have sinned against another – we are inclined to apologize rather than ask forgiveness (if we say anything at all). If we ask forgiveness we often ask for blanket forgiveness rather than state the specific offense – for one reason – because it’s humbling to do so.

We tell the men in the Colony of Mercy (America’s KESWICK Men’s Residential Program) that asking for general absolution from their loved ones doesn’t really aide in the healing of the hurt they caused that loved one. We found the men would say, “I’m turning over a new leaf, will you forgive me for everything I’ve ever done, and let’s move on.”

I can’t point my finger though because recently I was beginning my morning devotional time with “Lord, forgive me for my sins” rather than confessing my sins naming them specifically to my Lord.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Specificity is important not because God doesn’t know but because it causes us to consider how we have offended Almighty God. Confessing our sins, naming them, is not for His benefit but for ours. So next time you are tempted to ask for blanket forgiveness, stop and call your sins by name and thank God for the forgiveness He granted through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. All of our sins sent Jesus to the Cross AND EACH of our sins sent Jesus to the Cross.

Diane

There are some people who have been so incredibly hurt by the very ones who were supposed to love, care for and provide for them. So now, they trust no one…not even God.

I recently had someone ask me in my office what my angle was, what was the “game” I was playing? And what I wanted from him. I had shown compassion, kindness and the love of Christ to him and this just did not compute in his world. He told me he trusted no one. One parent abandoned him at birth, the other parent when he was six years old. He had lived on his own since age fourteen. Trust, love, kindness were foreign concepts to him. He did not know what love or trust was…neither had been modeled in his life. Trust can’t develop in children if the ones who are supposed to care and love for them have not been trustworthy. No one trusts someone just because they are the authority in their lives but only as they exhibit trustworthiness over time. So in a sense trust is earned.

And so it would “seem” that because he had been deprived of the love and care every child should have, that God was not trustworthy as well. He had people tell him that Jesus loved him and God could be trusted but he didn’t believe it. He also shared that God could never forgive his sin because it was too great. My heart was broken for this deeply, deeply hurt man.

You and I are ambassadors for Christ, His representatives on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20 “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us”). That doesn’t mean that we will never hurt someone, or let them down because, let’s face it, we still have this thing called “flesh” this side of heaven. However, we never know when someone crosses our path or we talk to a stranger that this may be the only chance this person might have to see “Jesus” and His trustworthiness and His love modeled through Christ who lives in us.

What’s my angle? To be the light of Christ to shine for those who don’t know Him, so that they will be drawn to Him and experience His love for themselves and so that they, too, could shine the love of Christ to someone else.

God will never let my friend down and in time God will be shown trustworthy to him through God’s Word and His promises. In turn, God can use his life in a powerful way, showing His love and trustworthiness through him to the next hurt and broken person.

Psalm 9:10 “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

1 Corinthians 13:6-7 “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

In Christ,
MaryAnn

This year’s BINDING UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED: FAMILY AND FRIENDS ADDICTION SEMINAR is shaping up to be our best yet. You won’t want to miss it. October 8, 2009 8:30 AM -3:30 PM at America’s KESWICK. The $25.00 registration fee covers the sessions, materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks. Pastors attend free with 5 paid reservations. Every pastor, youth ministry worker, parent of a teen and loved ones of addicted family and friends should attend this seminar. Call today for your reservation 800.453.7942 or 732.350.1187.

Until recently I had no idea how instrumental, how fully vested my husband was/is in the day to day minutia of my life. You see, within the past two and a half months my husband has had two different knee surgeries. The first was pretty standard and minor, while the second involved him getting a knee transplant. What this translates to is him being off his feet for about 8 weeks while the knee parts and bits grow together.

My husband being off his feet means everything, every little thing involving his care and the running of our home, rests fully on my shoulders. Now this may not sound like that big a deal but trust me when I say, my husband does a lot of little and big things around our home that I simply do not do and haven’t for years. We have an ebb and flow to our relationship which has grown over time and which is good for us.

So for me to take up that slack to help him heal, added to doing everything involved in his daily grooming, along with helping with therapy and pain management, was more draining and exhausting than I anticipated. I simply had no idea! The realization of all the unseen things he, my prince, does for me fills me with more love and appreciation for him. Where, oh, where would I be today without this man in my life?

Much like us in our daily walk of faith, we simply have no idea how much the Spirit intercedes on our behalf. We go about our day doing what we do oblivious to what goes on in the heavenly on our behalf. We know that God is there and we know that He is caring for us; He is intimately involved in our care and feeding and, dare I say, grooming, all for Kingdom work and for His glory.

So what is my encouragement for you today?

Two things:
1. With a grateful heart give thanks to the Lord for every, every, everything.
2. Thank the people in your life who daily come, go and make it possible for you to do you.

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV

“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”Psalm 118:28-29 ESV

Stephanie

It’s hard these days to consider being generous. Everyone’s wallets are tight and times are hard. I am challenged myself as I ponder Malachi 3:8-12. God declares that His people have been robbing Him yet they do not know how they have done it. God tells them they have robbed Him of their tithes and offerings. They had withheld what was rightfully God’s.

I will not go in depth about tithing but I will challenge you in this: Are you still giving? There is a promise here that we must remember in these difficult days. We are not told to stop giving but that God will bless our giving! He is our Provider. He has a way of taking very little and doing miracles with it. Are we living like we believe this to be true? Think loaves and fish (John 6), the widow’s mite (John 21) and the widow’s oil jar (1 Kings 17) to name a few. Would we rather have that cup of coffee a day, get our nails done, or go out to dinner so we don’t have to cook, or would we choose to be generous and see God provide for us? Maybe your “tenth” has changed over these last months.

That’s okay. Just don’t stop giving! Don’t believe that God could not do much with your little.

Dare to be generous!

Kathy Withers

This year’s BINDING UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED: FAMILY AND FRIENDS ADDICTION SEMINAR is shaping up to be our best yet. You won’t want to miss it. October 8, 2009 8:30 AM -3:30 PM at America’s KESWICK. The $25.00 registration fee covers the sessions, materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks. Pastors attend free with 5 paid reservations. Every pastor, youth ministry worker, parent of a teen and loved ones of addicted family and friends should attend this seminar. Call today for your reservation 800.453.7942 or 732.350.1187.

Return to Me And I Will Return To You

“If you lose fear of God, there is nothing to restrain you. Many do not believe God sees them and do not believe He is aware of the condition of their hearts. They think that if He sees them and does not stop them, that it is okay. But He does see you and may not stop you, and it is not okay.” Henry Blackaby, Holiness

God knows that you and I are prone to wander off in disobedience and compromise. Losing our fear of Him means we lose our fear of sin. Do we really think that we can get something by Him? Do we really think that He winks at our “little” sins and lets them slide by? Losing our fear of Him means we lose our fear of sin. Has it become easier for you to go places you should not go? Do you watch what you shouldn’t watch? Do you do what you know you should not do? Has it become easier to sin? Then you have lost your fear of the Lord. Yet, this is God’s heart: “Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7 NKJV).

Earlier in verse 7 God acknowledges that His people have gone away from His ordinances and have not kept them. He knows where we have wandered off, too. He knows where we have been. He knows how far we have gone. But still He calls us to return. He promises that He will be there when we do. It is most likely, at times like this, that we realize we have the wrong view of the fear of the Lord. Could it be we have bought into the lie that God will always be angry, God will not take me back, and God will turn from me? He is unchanging. He cannot lie. He desires for you to return. His Son paid the price so you could return. He has given you the direction to go and He has made a promise. What’s holding you back from returning to Him?

Kathy Withers

This year’s BINDING UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED: FAMILY AND FRIENDS ADDICTION SEMINAR is shaping up to be our best yet. You won’t want to miss it. October 8, 2009 8:30 AM -3:30 PM at America’s KESWICK. The $25.00 registration fee covers the sessions, materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks. Pastors attend free with 5 paid reservations. Every pastor, youth ministry worker, parent of a teen and loved ones of addicted family and friends should attend this seminar. Call today for your reservation 800.453.7942 or 732.350.1187.

A few months ago we, as a staff, were asked on a scale of 1-10 how well we handle change (with 1 being not at all and 10 loving change). I think I am pretty good with change so I rated myself about an 8-9. How about you? Now ask yourself on a scale of 1-10 how often have you changed your mind, changed your ideas, changed friendships, or in my case…changed hairstyles! Regardless of where you find yourself on those scales Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” Even if you are fine with change and can roll with the punches, isn’t it good to know that God does not change one bit? If you struggle with too many changes and are easily overwhelmed by them, aren’t you glad that God does not change…EVER!

Things in our lives will always be changing for the better or worse but we can count on God’s consistency. We will never wake up one morning and find that He has left. We will never one day find out that He is no longer patient, loving, gracious or faithful.. When this world offers little for us to count on I hope you are comforted to know that Jesus can still be counted on. The same God who rescued the Israelites, who parted the Red Sea, who provided for every need, is the same today. The same God who was intimately involved in the lives of His people then is still involved and interested in you and your life. He knows all the changes that have come your way. Some have been easy and may have been for the better but others were hard and hurtful and have been very difficult to deal with. Yet God is unchanging. He is completely dependable.
Because God is unchanging He also has the same expectations of you as in the time of Malachi. He still expects us to fear Him, submit to Him and obey Him. He still expects us to live according to His standards in our work, marriages, relationships and all areas of life.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV). Henry Blackaby notes, ” The way Jesus led His twelve disciples is the same way He will lead you. The love He expressed on the cross is the same love He extends to you. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power available to you today. Count on the certainty that Christ is perfect. He will not change.” AMEN!

Kathy Withers

This year’s BINDING UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED: FAMILY AND FRIENDS ADDICTION SEMINAR is shaping up to be our best yet. You won’t want to miss it. October 8, 2009 8:30 AM -3:30 PM at America’s KESWICK. The $25.00 registration fee covers the sessions, materials, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks. Pastors attend free with 5 paid reservations. Every pastor, youth ministry worker, parent of a teen and loved ones of addicted family and friends should attend this seminar. Call today for your reservation 800.453.7942 or 732.350.1187.

For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 1 Cor 3:3 ESV

For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? NKJV

For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? NIV

Mere men…Paul does not mean men as in males but men as in humans. What is he saying? When there was fighting, conflict and strife he says they were living in the flesh rather than the spirit. In other words, people living in the flesh are living as mere humans. Mere humans. We live in the flesh with no outside help. We are good at it all by ourselves. We are behaving as mere humans. However, to live in the Spirit requires the Spirit of the Living, Eternal God dwelling within us to manifest Himself in and through us.

I trust that you, like me, would much rather live by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God than like a mere (wo)man.

Diane

FOR THE SPIRIT SEARCHES EVERYTHING, EVEN THE DEPTHS OF GOD. 1 COR 2:10
Stop there. Think about that…the depths of God. Can you imagine? It sounds like peering into a deep body of water where you can see deep but not to the bottom. The Holy Spirit searches the depths of God.

FOR WHO KNOWS A PERSON’S THOUGHTS EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF THAT PERSON, WHICH IS IN HIM? SO ALSO NO ONE COMPREHENDS THE THOUGHTS OF GOD EXCEPT THE SPIRIT OF GOD. 1 COR 2:11

The Spirit of God comprehends the thoughts of God because He is God. Imagine comprehending the thoughts of God, the depths of God.

NOW WE HAVE RECEIVED NOT THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD, BUT THE SPIRIT WHO IS FROM GOD, THAT WE MIGHT UNDERSTAND THE THINGS FREELY GIVEN US BY GOD. 1 COR 2:12

The Spirit of God dwells within the breast of every believer. He reveals the things of God to our hearts and to our minds, not everything, mind you, but THE THINGS FREELY GIVEN US BY GOD. God is knowable, but by no means comprehendible and we can praise God for that because if we could comprehend God, He would have to be a small God that could fit within our finite minds.

Rejoice together with me today that we have the Spirit of God Who searches the depths of God, comprehends the thoughts of God and enables us to understand the things of God freely given to us by God. HALLELUJAH.

Diane

We live in a culture today that knows little of serving others. I don’t mean during disasters like Hurricane Katrina or 9/11. People rush to serve in disaster. I’m referring to serving others in our homes and in our churches, in our schools and neighborhoods. Isn’t it so much easier to serve people outside our homes than inside? We are more inclined to serve the family across town that lost everything in a house fire than we are to serve our own family members day by day. Do you find you have to remind yourself to “go-the-extra-mile” in serving your family or co-worker or that hard-to-love person at church? I do.

“…through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13

Perhaps today you could pray that God would give you sensitivity to see ways to serve your family and friends in the ordinariness of life. That is my prayer.

Diane

Four and a half years ago, Victory Call was launched after months of prompting and prodding by my boss, Bill Welte. At that time I gathered a handful of women to join me in this endeavor to write brief devotionals to encourage the hearts of women to walk in victory. In the written guidelines I gave each of them I shared our purpose: “VICTORY Call is a 5-day a week, email devotional, to encourage and challenge women to live in visible victory in their daily lives, through their walk with Jesus Christ …Our goal is to encourage, teach, inform and challenge women in such a way as to promote spiritual growth and personal devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As is typical, when we agree to do such a thing, God sets to work to provide us life lessons to communicate to our readers. At this point, I think we have 800+ subscribers plus our friends on Facebook and other distribution sources.

Over the years you may have noticed that some of the original writers have stopped writing. Often their reasoning is that they don’t know what to write or they don’t write like the other VC writers. I continue to encourage them to write because we need the variety to reach our broad scope of readers.

Recently in my reading through First and Second Corinthians I nestled into 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. God has used these verses to challenge and encourage me in my writing (especially when I can’t think of anything to write about) and in my speaking ministry.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

All that to say – Victory Call is not about us “wowing” you with our wit and wisdom, wordsmithing or elegant phraseology, yet sometimes we can get caught up in that. Rather it is our desire that it be a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith, your encouragement, might not rest in our wisdom but in the power of God.

Amen!!

Diane