In reading about this subject, I note that loneliness is increasing everywhere. It can be as unhealthy as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Does loneliness make you feel sick and needy?

I am single and live alone, but even married people can feel desperately lonely. I have read somewhere that in our modern society, one in five people suffer from loneliness. Both men and women can feel alone and be hurting as friends and relatives die or move far away to another city or country. Yes, we talk on the telephone, but we often feel that we don't really matter to our loved ones or friends any more. They are all so busy that they have little time for us.

Modern life is making us lonelier, and recent research indicates that this may be the next biggest public issue. It is on par with obesity and substance abuse. Lonely youth commit suicide or take more drugs. We are social beings, and we need to feel that we belong to others and feel connected to one another. Sadly, if people are socially isolated, they can remain in an uncomfortable state of loneliness. Is this you?

Research notes that social pain is as real a sensation for us as physical pain. Modern researchers have shown that loneliness and rejection activate the same part of the brain as physical pain. We may be really hurting, and when we are in pain, it hurts even more to feel so alone.

But Psalm 25:16 may speak to you. "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted." (NIV)

We need to turn to the Lord Jesus, and He will turn to us. He is always present with us and will touch our souls with His love. Our loneliness is His call into intimate fellowship with Him. He is all we need.

As I live alone, very often, there are good reasons to feel lonely, but I stop and pray about it. It is amazing what happens next. My feelings change, and I no longer feel lonely. Jesus is with me. Yes, there is a deep, hurting feeling all around me, but the Lord can touch and renew those feelings with His love, and I can laugh and be happy.

You and I need to turn to the Lord Jesus. He cares for us. He reminds us that "He will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6b NIV). All that we need to do is to turn aside to the Lord and pray. Yes, Jesus does hear us and touches our souls with peace and happiness, giving us something to do for the Lord. He is present with you and me always. We are not lonely. He is with us.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, we know that You are with us every day, and that You will help us to share our love for You with others. Please help us to reach out to our neighbours when they are in trouble. May we care for one another in true fellowship and in Jesus' precious love. We pray in His name. Amen.

How do we act when we are thankful? My feelings of gratitude became an inspiration inside that took me into the rowboat and around the lake. In the quietness everywhere, there was a supreme sense of calm.

What does the Bible say about our feelings of thanksgiving?

Psalm 100:4 – Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. (NIV)

When we think of what the Lord Jesus has accomplished for us and with us, we should be full of feelings of joy, gratitude, praise, and thanks.

When we see the red leaves on the trees, they can remind us to be thankful to God for health, for food, for friends, for worship, for the Holy Spirit with us. Are we thankful to God for who we are and what we have?

Philippians 4:5b-7 – The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Perhaps we can take this Thanksgiving weekend as a chance to request that our hearts and minds will be safe in Jesus. The red leaves falling will speak of God's message to us: whenever we fall, He will be near to catch us. All will be well. Thank You, Lord Jesus!

Here is what He gives us each day: He gives us the oil of the Holy Spirit in our lamps to keep us burning; He gives us joy in our hearts to keep us praising; He gives us peace in our hearts to keep us resting; and He gives us love in our hearts to keep us serving. These gifts are what we find under the Thanksgiving Tree each day.

Prayer: Lord, we see You; we love You. Please help us to serve You well today and always, for You are a wonderfully caring God, and we love serving You. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

John 15:8-9 – This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (NIV)

It is obvious to me that the love of God has filled me and kept me going all these years. I could not have done what I did without the support of His Holy Spirit. The Lord taught me how to write sermons and inspired my preaching. On those days when I felt sore and downtrodden, I prayed for comfort and always received it from the Lord. It is very humbling to recognize that God's love has been flowing through all that I have been called to do.

I give God the credit for all that, including the devotionals and books that I've written since retiring. I never felt that I was knowledgeable — it just seemed that the words came to me as I meditated. What I wrote depended on the Lord's guidance and the help of many friends. I enjoyed my life regardless of what I was trying to do. Everything needed the helping hands of others, and God supplied that through loving fellowship.

God's wonderful love has been with me, and I have never questioned that from childhood on. My life has taught me a lot about God's leading and how His love has enabled me to know which way to go with His help. I humbly thank Him for all that I have been able to accomplish in my life with His help and blessing.

The apostle John writes extensively about the love of God and how we need to be open to His love:

1 John 4:7,9-10 – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)

The love of God is ours through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. All we need to do is to open up to Him. When we open to Christ and accept His gift of eternal life through the Holy Spirit, the love of God fills us, and we grow in faith.

Romans 5:5 – And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for guiding us through our lives and for sharing Your love with us. Your love fills us with peace, joy, and gratitude and makes life worth living each day, while we share Your love with others. Thank You, Lord! We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sadly, many youth who were raised in church have split from Christianity and church life. I wonder if they feel that the Christian faith is not meaningful to them. It may be that they went to church only because their parents did. They don't have a first-hand faith — it is not personal. Jesus is just a name. He has no deep significance to them.

Only prayer can bring the Christian faith alive in an unbelieving heart. Are you praying for your young people — or is it our own hearts that need to change?

Another possible reason for a lack of interest in Jesus is that activities once considered sins are becoming increasingly acceptable in society — but not to Jesus, Who said,

Mark 7:21-22 – For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come — sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. (NIV 2011)

Doesn't this describe our society today? As I watch the television, I am shocked at how these faults show up among the youth of today. Our society is becoming more evil and thoughtless, and the youth do their own thing. Many are not the least concerned about church. Paul describes what will happen in "the last days":

2 Timothy 3:2-5a – People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. (NIV)

Sadly, this does describe our modern society. We need to pray for our young people — and all of us — for we live in an evil world. Is your church reaching out to those who are lost and alone?

We need to ask God to show us a way to reach out to our families and friends for Christ, for what is missing is the love of God shared among all, with Jesus' hand on them blessing them with His love.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we are very concerned about our families and the whole of society. We ask for Your Spirit to come into our lives as we share with our children and grandchildren. Speak to them of Your love through us. Lord, we love You. May Your love so spread through our community that our youth will be touched by Your loving Spirit. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

The apostle Paul mentions people who are "lovers of themselves":

2 Timothy 3:1-2a,4b-5 – But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (NIV 2011)

Does that sound like society around us today? Was society back then as selfish as that, too? Has human nature really changed that much? Was Timothy trying to reach people who were lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God?

I don't fear this as a sign of the coming of the end of the world, as some do, but it is a sign that we are busy looking after ourselves and not serving God. There are many people living on the streets today, unable to afford a residence, living in total darkness at night. Do we care for them?

Are you and I so concerned about our own needs that we spend little time worrying about other people's needs and fail to reach out to help another?

Matthew 22:37-39 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (NIV 2011)

Prayer: Lord, we live selfish lives these days. Please forgive us and turn our attention to the hurting and lonely among us. Show us how to share Your love with the outcast. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

What we present to others — our welcome mat — is often like that: in a mess. Others can see it only too well, for it is obvious in the way that we greet them. Do we give people our support? Do we really welcome others into our lives with gladness? Are we open and friendly, offering to help people — or are we spiritually cut off from them, not caring?

I have noticed that busy people today tend to ignore others in trouble. But that is not Christ's way. He wants to love and care for them through us. God's love prompts us to open the door to other people, as we invite them to step across the welcome mat of our lives.

What does God think of us? Are our days spent in pleasing God or in seeking our own pleasure? We can do foolish things during the day and then pray at night that God will bless us. Instead, the course of our day changes when we live by faith, knowing that God is with us. It is His love that we are called to share with others. Jesus said:

Matthew 18:5 – Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. (NIV)

Hebrews 13:2 – Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. (NIV 2011)

The welcome that we give to all, even those coming to us as strangers, is an opportunity to introduce Jesus into their daily tasks. So let us take any occasion to clean up the mess on our welcome mat. What we want is to share with others God's love and kindness. We need to introduce Jesus to them. His love is what we all need.

2 John 1:6 – This is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (NIV)

Please pray with me:

Prayer: O Lord, as You enter my front door, I welcome You and look forward to serving You throughout the days ahead. Please enter my life each day and help me to share what I have with others throughout the day as I serve You with gladness. I am not a carpet cleaner; it is You Who cleans up my life in order that I may serve others in Your name. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)

I can't recall when I first heard or read John 3:16. I must have been very young. The family often had worship around the breakfast table, and I remember kneeling at my chair as the family took turns praying. The beloved verse often came up, and we all felt greatly loved.

The wording, "only begotten Son", never bothered me back then, but what does it mean? The phrase was used to describe the relationship that Jesus has with God the Father and to highlight Jesus as uniquely sharing the same divine nature of God. The New International Version translates the phrase as "his one and only Son."

How beloved Jesus was as He came into the world to help us! We all need help because we are all sinners, intent on going our own sinful ways. But when we acknowledge Jesus as Lord, He saves us from the sins that try to control us, and with Him, we are free to rejoice at our salvation.

Although we know that God has only one Son, Jesus, Paul in Ephesians speaks of believers as having a relationship with God as His sons and daughters by adoption:

Ephesians 1:4b-5 – In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. (NIV)

As believers, we are adopted sons and daughters of God. That makes Christ our Brother. These are human terms that help us to understand the relationship between the Father, the Son, and us.

As life goes on, let us thank the Lord for drawing us into His family as sons and daughters. As we live in Jesus' Spirit, we belong to Him. We feel at ease, content and happy as we go through each day. As the beloved verse says, how comforting it is to know that we are so loved by God. As we age, it is wonderful to be held in God's loving embrace, knowing that in Him, we will not perish. Thank the Lord! We are safe and eternally at home in God's family.

Prayer: Father God, we love You and thank You for welcoming us into Your family as Jesus brings us home to You. Thank You for Jesus. May many people today come to appreciate what it means to have a loving Father God, as Jesus introduces them to You. We love You, Lord, and rejoice as we are welcomed home by You. Amen.