John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)

Being without my Bible one evening, I didn't remember just where I had left off in my readings. Using a friend's Bible, I opened to Genesis to find a new meaning in an often-read scripture.

That evening, the word that God gave me from these passages was "every". He gave every plant and every creature. Until that evening, I thought that this meant every plant and creature that we had. But the new meaning was that God had given every plant and creature that He had. He held back nothing, not even his Son.

How often do we pray for God to give us this or that, when, in fact, He has already given us everything that we need to meet our needs both physically and spiritually? He has already given us an abundance of food, air, and water. Daily, He offers us His love, His forgiveness, His peace, His joy, His salvation — His everything.

Perhaps our prayers should not be, "Lord, please give me this or give me that." Perhaps we should pray the following prayer:

Prayer: God of all creation, thank You for giving us your gifts of everything. You have held back nothing good from us. Help us, Lord, to accept and receive these gifts with humility, thanksgiving, and appreciation. Amen.

I'm constantly awed by the times when God has been with me at the most mundane times. Yes, he has been with me and comforted me when I called out in anguish. But what about those times when things are going normally? What about times when minor disasters are averted or projects just seem to fall together in ways that are beyond our own abilities? Those are the times when I know that God is with me every minute of the day.

Today was one such day. A friend called wanting to spend some time together, and a walk by the lake was just what she needed. I quickly agreed. You see, her father is in the hospital. His medications have been removed. His respiration has slowed. The family has arrived. My friend is in need of a little respite.

During our time together, she spoke of her father, of her family, and of the plans that had been made and that would have to be made. I spoke of worship services that I had been blessed by, and what was going on in my family. It was then that I noticed the beauty of a backwater pool that lay between our path and a stone bridge under the highway. The water was still and clear. We stopped for a moment. Then in a playful mood, I did one of those "Hey, watch this!" things. I announced that I could skip a rock twice across the water and under the bridge. I don't know why I chose this particular challenge. It just "came to me".

Choosing a flat stone, I made my first attempt. With all my might and in a side-arm motion, I hurled the stone. It hit the middle of the pool and skipped only once. It didn't even come close to reaching the bridge, much less going under. On my second attempt, I chose a slightly heavier rock; maybe the extra weight would help. Unfortunately, no, the outcome was about the same. As I stooped to pick up yet another stone, my friend asked how many attempts I was to get. "How many tries does God give us?" I answered. I'm sure that she thought that we would be there a very long time.

With the new stone in hand, I again launched it with all my might. It landed in just about the same place. But this time it skipped high in the air as if lifted by the sky. It landed right in front of the bridge and skipped two more times underneath, almost making it out the other side.

I couldn't believe it. Two skips and under the bridge. My friend and I rejoiced; we danced; we raised our hands in praise. "Thank you, Lord! Thank you for being with us."

Prayer: Lord, we are awed by your ever-presence with us. You are there in our times of greatest need. You are there in the normal activities of our work and our play. You are the perfect parent. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Recently, I spent time in Rio Bravo, Mexico, working in a mercy ministry that builds small homes, casitas, for Mexican families. These homes are very small, only 12 feet by 16 feet. They are well-built with a concrete floor, concrete block walls and a corrugated metal roof. Two doors and two windows are the only luxuries.

The family receiving the home refers to it as a palacio, a palace. It is hard for me to see a building, that I would use as a place to store my lawnmower, as a palace. But, to a family living in a structure built of cast-off materials, on a dirt floor, their new casita is a gift from God.

As builders, we are always blessed by the thankfulness shown by each of the families that we build for. In every case, we are served meals and treated like royalty.

This ministry and others like it in the area have built, and will continue to build, literally thousands of casitas for these people. These ministries attract builders by the tens of thousands and continue to flourish, at least in part due to the thankfulness that is shown by these Mexican people. Just as the 5000 were fed abundantly with the loaves and fishes, so are these people blessed with many new palacios.

Prayer Lord, help us to learn the lesson of thankfulness. Help us to be equally thankful for all the blessings that we receive, both large and small. Amen.

As we study Jesus' words in the Parable of the Sower, and reflect on their meaning, we usually focus on our particular fertility. We recognize when we are like the path or rocky ground, or when we are choked out by the thorns. Occasionally we are fertile soil, and we produce an abundant harvest.

But why did this particular parable have to be explained to the disciples? Weren't they fertile ground being prepared to carry on Jesus' ministry to the nations? The message to the disciples, and to us, is to focus on the sower.

Does the parable say, "Oh, you foolish sower, why did you waste good seed by casting it along the path, on the rocks, and among the thorns? Why didn't you save that seed for the good soil?" No, nowhere does it admonish the sower for sowing good seed on poor soil.

The same is true for our Christian witness. We are not to prejudge where or in whom we plant God's seeds. We are to spread God's message of love to all his people. We are not to withhold it from the unlovable. Some of our seeds will land along the path, on the rocks, and among the thorns, and not yield a harvest. But some will find their way to the good soil, and an abundant harvest will be in the making. We should not be discouraged. We are just to spread God's message of love to all people and let him take care of the harvest.

Prayer: Father God, we are your people because of those before us, who sowed your seeds of love in us. Make us bold as we share the harvest with those who have not yet received and accepted you as part of their lives. Help us not to be discouraged when our efforts are rejected or are unfruitful, but to rejoice when the seed falls on fertile soil. Amen.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is familiar to most of us. As with most things familiar, we usually interpret the story at face value.

But suppose the man was not beaten by thieves in the literal sense. Rather, his spirit was stolen, perhaps by his parents: "Why can't you be smart like your sister?" "Why can't you be good at sports like your brother?" or "You'll never amount to anything!" Perhaps it was by his peers for having the wrong wardrobe, haircut or skin colour. And there the man with the broken spirit lies, half-dead along the road that leads to God. Looking for help — from his fellow man, the priest and Levite — all is futile. They reject him and continue on their own journey.

But the Samaritan exemplifies Jesus by caring enough to stop, to bandage, to comfort. He raises the man from the dirt and lifts him to a higher place on the animal. They travel together on the man's journey, arriving at a place of spiritual shelter. The Samaritan pays for the continued care of the man. Just as Jesus paid the price to restore us to God, so is the man restored.

The Samaritan adds the promise to return and pay whatever is needed to complete the restoration so that the man's journey is complete. Jesus makes the same promise to us. He will return and complete whatever it needed to make His disciples whole in Him.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52a – Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. (NIV)

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for Your persistent grace and the promise of everlasting salvation in You. Thank You for being who You said You were, and for doing what You said You would do. We love You, praise You and worship You. Amen.

1 Peter 5:10 – And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (NIV)

The parable of the wise and foolish builders is a good lesson in construction whether we are building a house or building a life.

Years ago, I was in the construction business and I have dug many a foundation. Once the grass and topsoil were scraped back, the hard work of shovelling began. Invariably we would come upon many unseen obstacles. Rocks, tin cans, and long-forgotten water and sewer pipes were found to lie where we planned the foundation. Diligently we had to remove these obstacles until our ditch was straight, square and clean.

If we are to build a life on the rock of Jesus, we also have unseen obstacles that must be shovelled out. We can't build a new life on top of our old junky foundation. Our old sins of pride, greed, unforgiveness, self-reliance, materialism, and so on, all must be diligently removed.

But we don't have to do this by ourselves. All we have to do is ask for our Lord's help. By the strength of his Holy Spirit, he will come into us and take away those old sins and wrong desires, and make us new. We can trade in our old junky foundation for the straight, square and clean rock of Jesus. On this rock, we can begin to build a life that is strong, firm and steadfast for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for being the rock upon which our lives of service are to be built. Amen.

In my morning prayers, I had prayed for God to use me in his service and to set an appointment where I could help one of his lambs or witness in his name. On the way into the city, I had a wonderful encounter with a hitchhiker who blessed me with the opportunity to give him a ride. I witnessed to him and thanked him for being the appointment that I had asked for [>The Prayer Of Jabez, June 9, 2001].

But God wasn't through with me yet. By mid-morning, I felt compelled to move a motor home that I was offering for sale from a lot near my office to a parking lot almost a mile away. I really didn't want to take the time, but I felt compelled to move it and there was a deadline as to when I should have it there: 12 o'clock noon.

I was working away in the office, but as more and more time passed, I began to get that nervous feeling that I was running behind schedule and I had an important meeting to go to. Suddenly, I realized that I was late; it was 12:15 and I was still at my desk. Since I didn't have anyone to give me a ride back, I took my bicycle for return transportation and moved the motor home to its new location.

On the way back to my office there is a busy intersection on a major highway out of the city. A Burger King restaurant stands on one corner. This Burger King has a small tree along the sidewalk, and as I rode by there were two vagabonds, a man and a woman, under the tree. As I passed them on my bike I began to have that feeling that I should have stopped to talk to them. As I reached the intersection I saw a second man across the intersection holding up a sign. Realizing that he was with the other two, I walked back to them.

I spoke to the man and asked where they were going, thinking that perhaps God wanted me to give them a ride. He explained that they were on their way to Wichita, Kansas. This is quite a distance, and I didn't think that this was what God had in mind. Then I asked what the man with the sign was doing, since he was on the wrong side of the highway to secure a ride north to Wichita. The man explained that he was trying to "make lunch money". Lunch money — so that was it! God had brought me to this intersection so that I could feed his lambs. I gave the man enough money for three lunches, offered them God's blessings and rode away satisfied that my mission for God had been accomplished.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for reminding us that our job on this earth is to "feed your lambs". Amen.