Stan knew he needed to be out sharing Jesus in his local area. Now, with the support of his church, he’s able to spend regular time in the town centre,…
WatchBack in 2010 when I was in university in Ghana, I made a friend who was two years ahead of me. Even though he was troublesome (he wasn’t always very…
ReadI want to share with everyone what…
ReadDon and Judy love to travel. Whether…
ReadGod’s hand was in every step of Saydee’s life from little boy in Africa to twenty-four years of serving at Our Daily Bread Ministries in the US. He grew up…
ReadI love the Lord and wanted to…
ReadJohn faced some major decisions about the…
WatchI was brought up in church from what I remember in my childhood. I gave my life to the Lord at the age of 17. Throughout my younger years , I struggled with religion and my place in God's kingdom and His plans for my life. I have had a lot of evangelists and ministers prophesies on my life, my future, and my place in God's kingdom. I tired to live up to all the things that I had heard, wanting to please God in every way possible. I was a woman seeking after God's own heart. For years, I labored in the church, I taught Sunday school to the youth, I sang in the mass choir and the gospel choir. I began to follow a daily routine of what was expected out of every day Christians, and I was not happy. I felt like I should've been doing more. In the year 2008, I began to go into renal failure. I was very sick and wasn't able to attend church like I normally did. I continue to send my four children to church in my absence. There were times when I was so sick that I wanted to end my life. I can remember a vision I had during this difficult part of my journey. I visioned a pack of wolves circling my bed with flaming red eyes. I was so afraid , I called out to Jesus and the wolves disappeared. Later my Bishop at my church told me that it was evil waiting on me to take my soul. I don't know if that was true or not, but, the vision was real. The following year I was in complete renal failure and I began dialysis treatments three day a week. 22 moths of being on dialysis, I received a kidney and pancreas transplant. I was back and I had a brand new purpose in the church. I felt the passion of my new found love for God. I was so happy about my blessing , that I was spreading the gospel like wildfire. I couldn't be move. In 2012, I was struck with E. coli. I was in a coma for four days. The transplanted kidney underwent so much trauma that I had to get a couple of dialysis treatments to get it functioning again. From then until now I continue to have trouble with my kidney that I was recently placed back on Dialysis. My kidney gave out on me last July.At the time I was in school, taking care of my sick mother and raising my own family. My mother passed while was attending school and It took a lot out of me. I was going to dialysis and doing my internship to become a medical assistant. I made it through. I give all the GLORY and HONOR to my LORD and SAVIOR. I save my testimony with everyone that I meet. I encourage my children everyday that no mater what kind of adversity you face, "with Christ, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE". Currently, I work in a multi-specialty pediatric office, and I get my dialysis treatments on a nocturnal shift. Spending the good news and my testimony. GLORY TO GOD. I ask that you continue to keep my family and I in Prayer.
ReadWhen I was 9 years old I was involved in a car accident. I had a traumatic brain injury, four rather painful brain surgeries later, the last of which was a frontal lobotomy, they removed the front 5th of my brain because it was all scar tissue. I have had no side effects following the surgery, an occasional migraine, but God has spared me from the usual loss of depth perception, and loss of character. I was forced to face eternity and come to grips with the fleeting life that we all face. I am often reminded of David, but not comparing myself to him. When he was a young boy he was anointed king by Samuel. This all played out in 1 Samuel 16, we see Samuel called by God to Bethlehem to anoint a king that would be too young to drive in our day and time. Samuel viewed each of Jesse's children, they were tall, strong and fit all the requirements you would expect of a king; ” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” My heart was changed from the time I had the car accident as a small boy, I have used my story to share the greatness and saving power of God more times than I can count. David was a man after God's own heart, he told everyone he met of God's power and influence in his life, he was quick to give God glory for his victories. David heard God's call early in life, and it changed his perspective, the saving power of Christ changes us. No matter what you look like, or your past, remember that outward appearance means nothing when it comes to matters of the heart.
ReadWhen I first joined Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA in 1973, I attended Sunday School with my two kids, David who was age 5 and Linda who was age 2. I did not know anything about the bible. I learned quickly from my teacher, Mrs. Annie B. Mahone. She had taught the adult ladies class for years and loved every minute of it.. She was my inspiration. She took it upon herself to mail out our church bulletins to the sick and shut in of our church at her own expense. As fate would have it, she became ill and found that because of poor circulation in her legs, she had to make some decisions. She would either have to live with the pain or have both her legs amputated. The pain was horrific so she allowed them to be amputated. When I found out she was in rehab, I went to see her preparing myself for the worse. Now this woman was 85 years old when this happened so I didn't know what to expect. She was calm and confident and so rooted in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that she put everyone around her at ease. No tears, no frowns just praising the Lord for his goodness. Wow! what a testimony. once she came home, I decided to ask her if she wanted to continue sending out the bulletins. She said yes so every Wednesday or Thursday I go over to her house and we sit and get the bulletins ready to be mailed out. Mrs. Mahone has learned how to get in and out of bed, go to the bathroom and even walk a little on her stubbies. Her son and daughter-in-law each take turns staying with her at night. She is a wonderful person who has not let her disability dampen her spirits for life. She is now 90 years old and doing fine. People need to know that with God's help, anything is possible.
ReadLast Thanksgiving, I volunteered at my local, church run homeless shelter/ food bank. I mostly help in making the Thanksgiving lunch. I find nice to see people come together to help those in need on a major holiday. Almost everyone comes from the church even our blind pastor. Even though he cannot help make the food he offers encouragement to everybody and talks with everybody about topics they like (the thanksgiving football game and family meals). Never think because you are disabled, blind, or have any other condition you cannot help. We are God's working hands to those in need. How can you help.
ReadYour assignment while waiting
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14 King James Version (KJV)
During the early 90s I was married to a man that fell ill early in our marriage.
As a 23 year old facing this I did not understand why we were going through this. How painful it was for me to see a faithful Man of God suffering through sickness.
One day as I was sitting on the edge of the bed crying out God I said to Jesus "Lord, Why Me"? I then heard a sweet voice from the Lord saying "Why not you"? The Lord said to me "I choose you for this assignment and only YOU could complete this task". Suddenly I had a new outlook not only the situation but a new outlook on myself "Wow, God chose me".
During the last year of his life my late husband said "I pray that God sends you someone to take care of you the way your have taken care of me". After 14 years of suffering at the age of 39 he went home to be with the Lord. We were married for 17 years. Wow, what a humbling statement , that during my late husbands suffering he was praying that God prepare someone in the future for me. He felt that was his assignment.
Sometimes we don't understand why we are assigned to a certain task but while waiting we are to be of good courage and to support those who are in need but also to show God's strength through our assignment.
The Lord has now blessed me with wonderful husband who loves me and takes care of me. What a blessing, my late husband and I were both able to complete our assignment.
So the next time God gives you an assignment walk proudly in it and say "God chose me because He knew He could trust me to complete this assignment".
"Lord, the task you have given me seems hard to do
But while waiting I know you will see me through"
"You cannot fully understand Chapter 2 until you have completed Chapter 1"
ReadI’m not new at trusting the Lord, but this time, fear kept plaguing me. The Lord brought us together less than three years ago through a miraculous way, and I couldn’t even get my head around the possibility that I might lose my beloved through his upcoming back surgery. His age, diabetes, scar tissue from the first back surgery, and the staggering negative statistics were all fear-producing realities. But, were they…..realities?
We started asking for prayer a month before the surgery date, as we had learned long ago that prayer forces the devil out of the issue, whatever it may be. Two weeks ago, we requested prayer and the laying on of hands from our elders, as Scripture denotes. Our Pastor anointed him and was joined by two elders praying over him. Our families, covering several states, were praying, as well as our prayer groups, here and in Seattle, as well as our Sunday School Class and other Christian friends. Heaven was being “stormed,” as the expression goes.
I had just experienced a simulcast by Priscilla Shirer at a neighboring church that centered around the “power” of prayer. She had just finished starring in the movie: “The War Room.” The main point that I came away with from her presentation was that in order to become an overcomer in whatever challenge we face, that we had to develop a strategy.
With this in mind, I decided that I needed a strategy for the time that I would be spending in the surgery waiting room. I knew that I was going to be alone, as the hospital was located on an Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA, with the surgery scheduled at 8:00am, with a check-in time of 6:00am. Some of our children would be joining me, but could not arrive until later that morning.
The day before we were to leave for Fairfield, we received an appreciative gift for a contribution we had made to Our Daily Bread Ministries…a CD entitled: “It is Well ....” I played it and was delighted, as it was a combination of soft instrumental worship music that was accompanied by narratives from Scripture and declarations describing the attributes of our loving Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. I knew this was the “tool” that I needed to keep me focused on Heaven while I sat alone in that surgical waiting room. What perfect timing! Our God is never late!
In driving up the afternoon before the surgery, the drive seemed short. The motel room provided by the VA because my husband was a disabled veteran was very comfortable, and our sleep that night was sweet. Our Lord was already at work lifting us above these circumstances.
As I was being escorted to the surgical waiting room, I thought: “Here we go, Jesus,” somehow feeling that I needed to tell Him when to report for duty….silly me.
During the next 4 hours, I felt as if I wasn’t sitting alone. It was as if the Lord was sitting next to me, my head on His shoulder as He stroked it while reminding me of Who He was and His love for both my husband and myself. It was the deepest awareness of His presence that I had ever yet experienced in my 70-year journey with Him. My mind and my lips praised Him as the CD led and time evaporated.
I was so enveloped by Him that I was startled and jumped when the neurosurgeon entered the room and sat beside me. I immediately grabbed both of her hands and looked intently into her face, looking for signs of the surgery outcome. As she opened her mouth to speak, tears fell upon her cheeks, and she quickly and exuberantly declared that the surgery went better than expected. She continued by saying that she was dreading this particular surgery because of the difficulties she knew it would entail.
And, yet, here she was proclaiming that, in her entire career, she had never, ever experienced the “prayers” (her words). Before me was this Christian woman trying to describe the mighty prevailing presence of the Holy Spirit!
As I listened to her go into further detail regarding her spiritual experience, I knew that indeed the Holy Spirit had been at work for days in our lives, and now in the surgeon’s too. She was going to give testimony about this experience to her prayer group when they met later in the week. While at first surprised at what had happened, it wasn’t long before I realized that my husband and I, and many others, were also praying for this surgeon.
My husband is now at home recovering. While very weak physically, his continence now radiates with a renewed joy. The debilitating pain and leg numbness that he had been living with for months is gone.
The purpose of this testimony is twofold. Scripture mandates that we are to declare in the assembly of believers whenever we have experienced God’s miraculous workings on our behalf. Our God indeed heals! Our God indeed provides! Our God indeed is faithful! Our God answers prayers in accordance with His will. Obviously, in our case, His will is to “give us a future and a hope (Jer: 29:11).”
Secondly, we’d like to extend our deepest appreciation to our family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ at Church, and elsewhere, for standing in the gap for us with your prayers and support. Prayer is powerful!
May 1, 2016
ReadI was a teen. My parents had split recently. My father drank a lot and would come home after the bars closed and make me get up just so he had someone to push around. I had an older brother that took his frustrations out on me also. Mom was in a far away state, unreachable. My room was in the basement. When the lights went out, it was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face. It was not only dark in my room, but in my heart. I felt hopeless and considered suicide. I had been to church in the past with my family when i was small and again in Jr. High with friends, but did not know Christ at all. All i understood was that God was everything. One night as i lay in bed, drifting off, i was aware that i was walking down a path in the dark. I could not see a thing but somehow i knew exactly where to put my feet. I walked only a short distance and then a blinding light shone and i heard two words only. "I'm here". I woke up crying because i knew, without a doubt, i was not alone and never would be. God came to me when i wasn't even looking, and told me He was there and always has been and always will be. My heart was filled and remains that way today, 35 years later. I have not one doubt that my Father in heaven has seen me through every second of every day of my life.
ReadI don't know when or how it happened, but somewhere along life's journey, I stopped believing in myself. I stopped believing in myself, and almost gave up on myself. I stopped believing that my skills and abilities were enough. I stopped believing that I'm capable of, worthy, and destined for greatness. I'm almost too ashamed and embarassed to write this, but if someone would've told me last week that I didn't believe in myself, I would've been puzzled. I have confidence, ambitions, and a moderate level of self-esteem. I guess I thought that was enough.
Yet, recently a friend of mine pointed out to me that it wasn't, and never would be. I was stunned that she could see through my smile to my hidden pain. I was surprised that she could hear me crying out for help underneath my positive voice and cheery disposition. I've felt abandoned, ignored, and invisible for years to certain people. However, she made me realize something: Many people in your life may give up on you, but you musn't EVER give up on yourself, even if they do.
Lord, I'm having a hard time believing in myself with all these negative people and circumstances surrounding me. Lord, I want to give up on myself and wallow in self-pity because of the negative environment I live in. Lord, help me to never stop believing in myself.
ReadI was raised Catholic but I thought of God only as angry about how I was living. I never thought of Jesus. At 24 I had already attempted suicide and believed that I had irrevocably damaged my brain with drugs. I had hit bottom.
I visited my brother John in Albuquerque in August of 1975 and heard the Gospel at many places he took me. One night he asked me several questions and said “Frank, praise the Lord, I think you’ve just been saved.” He had been very kind and I didn’t want to offend him, so I decided to check this out for myself and began reading the bible. Shortly after that I felt a thought welling up from deep inside me that I just had to express “John, I think I’m gonna get better.” That was the first positive thought I had had in a long time.
Today I am disabled but also blessed. I am able to see God’s help in my life every day. He isn’t finished with me yet.
Read11 years ago my husband left me (now my ex-husband) I did not know what to do, I was in a city that I was not familiar with, I was born in raise in Chicago, IL and he was raised in Detroit, MI and we had moved to Detroit two years before he left me. I had a job but I could not get to it without a car, I had some girls I worked with that would pick me up. I needed to move back to Chicago but, I did not know what I was going to do because I needed a job. Two days after he left me, I talked to a lady who was my supervisor at my last job, (in Chicago) she told me that they had just hired three people and if I had of called her a week earlier she could give me a job, the next day she called me and told me that her manager told her that she could hire one more person and that if I wanted the job I could have it. I moved back to Chicago and I was working two weeks after I got back home. God was there for me and He also helped me to get over losing my husband. I could go on because there is so much more that He has done for me. I am so grateful for God.
Read“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar …” (Psalm 139:1-14).
On a recent visit to a friend’s workplace, I met a Security Officer who knew a lot about me. He knew my father and other relatives; he also knew where I was from and where I was presently living. How does it feel to be known by someone whom you do not know? Depending on the person, if it’s a stranger you may feel a bit exposed or uncomfortable. While if it by a certain caliber of people, such as the president of the United States or the Queen, you may feel real important.
Whoever it is, you may want to find out something about the person who knows you, to sort of level the ‘playing field’.
The One who is of the highest caliber knows everything about us, even before we were born (Jer. 1:5). O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar (Psalm 139:1-2).He knows our name, He knows us so well that even the very hairs upon our heads are numbered (Matt. 10:30).
Wouldn’t it be good to know something about Him? I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine. (John 10:14). May we purpose in our hearts and start today by reading His words, talking to Him and developing a personal relationship with Him.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that even though You know everything about me, You still love me, help me to take the time to know You and to love you even more.
ReadIn December of 2014 my wonderful wife of 29 years received the shocking news that she had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. As time went on and the disease progressed, Teresa began to lose her speech and after many choking incidences, the doctor was left with no choice but to order her to have surgery for a feeding tube. As I sat there with tears in my eyes after receiving the news, I looked at Teresa and said, " You are so brave and so strong. I don't know how you do it." Teresa looked up at the ceiling and with her weak hand she pointed at a spot up above us. " You see that?" she said. I looked at the ceiling and at things on the wall, thinking perhaps I would find a certain note or phrase written there but saw nothing. Teresa pointed again at the ceiling. Right above our heads the frame of the ceiling tile formed a cross. "THAT is how I do it" she said.
"Wow! I didn't see that." I exclaimed.
" That is because you weren't looking hard enough."
" You have to be able to see Jesus in all things. He is there, but sometimes we just have to look a little harder to find Him. But that is exactly what He wants us to do." Teresa said.
ReadMay 21, 2016
I had a dream of myself entering an extremely gorgeous room, similar to England's Victorian classic style, such as that in the titanic ship movie where everything looks majestic. Perhaps more mesmerizing than that. The more I was at awe when I saw the staircase and climbed up with a "tour guide". I didn't see the face but there was someone taking me to our goal. Then we reached my room and the person with me made a deep sigh and smiled as if saying "Atlast we are here". And i also made my deep sigh signalling to mean "Atlast I can rest now and enjoy real peace." When I woke up and thought of the dream, I had sudden goosebumps . Maybe God showed me my room in heaven. The same day in the afternoon, i opened "our daily bread" May 21 devotion of the day and it teaches about God's dwelling place. It just amazes me how God communicates with us in a special way and makes us feel everything is prepared in this life after.