Month: May 2017

The Advocate

As I boarded the airplane to study in a city a thousand miles from home, I felt nervous and alone. But during the flight, I remembered how Jesus promised His disciples the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’s friends must have felt bewildered when He told them, “It is for your good that I am going away” (John 16:7). How could they who witnessed His miracles and learned from His teaching be better off without Him? But Jesus told them that if He left, then the Advocate—the Holy Spirit—would come.

After Jesus and His friends ate their last supper together, they…

Bring your pain to Jesus

Grief and pain are a part of life. But we may forget that Jesus experienced these emotions as well. Today on Discover the Word, we ask the question, “When Jesus comes to us in our grief, do we recognize Him?” Listen today to Discover the Word!

My Quest for Love Nearly Destroyed Me

Written By Aphesis, Singapore I come from a family of six. I have an elder sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother. My parents were hawkers. To give my siblings and I a comfortable life, they worked long hours and would not rest unless they fell sick. As a result, my siblings and I […]

Singing with Violet

An elderly woman named Violet sat on her bed in a Jamaican infirmary and smiled as some teenagers stopped to visit with her. The hot, sticky, midday air came into her little group home unabated, but she didn’t complain. Instead, she began wracking her mind for a song to sing. Then a huge smile appeared and she sang, “I am running, skipping, jumping, praising the Lord!” As she sang, she swung her arms back and forth as if she were running. Tears came to those around her, for Violet had no legs. She was singing because, she said, “Jesus loves…

from USA

Dear Friends-

My wife and I begin our day with a reading from OurDailyBread. You have suggested for your readers to offer thoughts or experiences they might have had. I have a personal account that I experienced a while back that you might include in your devotionals. You are free to modify it or edit it any way.

Meeting Jesus

My friend Larry and I are in our eighties. A few months ago before church I was in Fellowship Hall. Larry came up to me and said, "Sit down. I want to talk to you." As we were seated, he said that he had been to the doctor the previous week. The doctor said that he had a life-threatening condition. He then leaned forward toward me and said, "I'm going to meet Jesus before you do." Tears welled in my eyes, and I didn't know how to respond.

As time passed , Larry's condition grew worse. Eventually he was put in Hospice Care, and today (7/17/2016) he died. I think of him now as providing a wonderful expression of a gentle passage from this life to eternity. He has met Jesus face-to-face. "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Php. !:21)

Larry was an Elder in our church, and he continued to serve as long as he was able. He would always follow up with people in need in his own parish as well with others who, needed help.

As the end drew near, Larry made sure that provision was made for his wife. He met with our pastor, and planned the arrangements for his memorial service.

Insight

We all have experienced the death of someone we loved. It's so hard to realize that we'll never see them again - in this life. As Christians we grieve, but we have the assurance that we will be united once again. I sometimes wonder about those who don't know Christ. The void in their lives can't be filled in this life or the next.

Bring your loss to Jesus

Have you ever lost someone or something and worried that nothing would ever fill the hole left behind? Today, Discover the Word team members discuss how Jesus comforts us in the midst of our loss and grief. It’s a comforting truth coming to you today on Discover the Word!

Unlighted Paths

As we ventured home from a family vacation, the road took us through some desolate parts of central Oregon. For nearly two hours after dusk we drove through deep canyons and across desert plateaus. Fewer than twenty sets of headlights punctuated the darkness. Eventually the moon rose on the horizon, visible to us when the road crested hills but eclipsed when we traveled through the lowlands. My daughter remarked on its light, calling it a reminder of God’s presence. I asked whether she needed to see it to know He was there. She replied, “No, but it sure helps.”

After Moses’s…

from Great Britain

I was brought up in a Christian home, by parents who were missionaries to India. I had two brothers and a sister and the four of us were all born in India. Up to the age of 16 I moved back and forth between India and the UK but finally we all remained in the UK.

When I was 5 years old I heard the story retold of the cross of Jesus and how He suffered and died for me. I was very moved and asked Him to come into my heart and to stay there forever. Not knowing a lot, though, at that young age, and perhaps not realising the implications of that decision, my life style didn't change significantly right away.

When I was aged 10 or 11 however, I entered a kind of 'honeymoon' period in my Christian life. I became very enthusiastic about Christian things and keen to tell my friends that they too needed to be 'saved.' Sadly, this did not last. In my early to mid-teens my zeal cooled somewhat and other interests and distractions took over.

However, I don't think I stopped believing. God kept His hand on me and protected me from sliding too far into sin. At age 17, certain scientific facts about the vastness of the universe, the speed of light and distances measured in light years, caught my imagination. Coupled with Scriptures about the wonders of God's creation and what the Bible said in two psalms in particular (8 and 19), this brought me back to outright faith. I rededicated my life to the Lord and was baptised a few months later.

Down the years since then I have experienced many things - supremely happy times and some pretty tough times, including unemployment and mental illness. Through it all God has sustained me, provided for me and gradually strengthened my faith and deepened my relationship with Him. He has proved His love and faithfulness many, many times over! I have often failed Him but He has never let me down. At age 54 I was married to a Christian lady and we have now been together for nearly 14 years. Marriage was and is a life-changing experience and I am still learning and being stretched! I'm sure she is too!

The Lord is good: you should "taste and see" how true that is. He has promised me a glorious future in Heaven with Him; this is a "living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." The alternative, being separated from God for ever, is so awful as to be unthinkable. But it is inevitable if you do not seek Him and receive Him NOW. You don't have to take that route because God's offer of salvation is still open and available and He loves you and longs to welcome you into His family, to share the future He planned and paid such a high price for at Calvary's cross. Come to Him TODAY!

Bring your mustard seed-size faith to Jesus

Today on Discover the Word, the Bible tells us that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. So, does the size of our faith determine God’s response? Find out when you join us today on Discover the Word!

Why Am I Taking a Gap Year?

I must admit that when I first decided to take a gap year, I might have started off on the wrong foot. You see, I was giving different reasons to different people—depending on who asked.

Too Good Not to Share

During court proceedings, witnesses are more than onlookers or spectators. They are active participants who help determine the outcome of a case. The same should be true of the witnesses the Bible says we are to be. We are active participants in a matter of absolute importance—the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

When John the Baptist came to tell people about Jesus, the light of the world, he did so by declaring his knowledge of Jesus. And John the disciple, who recorded the events, testified of his experience with Jesus: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one…

Bring your fatigue to Jesus

Do you feel weighed down by all the work and worry of life? Well, today on Discover the Word, we discuss how we can bring our fatigue to Jesus and let Him carry our burdens. It’s the final week of the series “Bring It to Jesus”! Listen to Discover the Word!

Why Short-term Mission Trips May Not Always Be A Good Idea

Have you been on a short-term mission trip before? If you haven’t, picture these three scenarios