Have you ever been fishing? I grew up in Maryland and Florida, so I used to go fishing all the time. I love fishing, especially since I caught the most fish.

When you catch trout, the minute you pull them out of the water, all their rainbow colours go away. Then they become just a plain colour. They start gasping in the air when they are removed from the water. They will soon die if you keep them out of the water.

This is like it is with God's people. We must encourage them with the love of Jesus and keep them in the "water" of God's love through the Holy Spirit! Then waters of love will flow from us to them, and from them to others! And their colours will shine and glow! The world will know they belong to Jesus!

These are people with hearts, people with pain, people with a past, people who need to know Jesus and His resurrection and saving power! We must share what we know with them in truth and in love. These are God's trout, the beautiful fish whose rainbow colours only stay as long as they are in the water — the water of the Holy Spirit.

We must help the Body of Christ stay in the water! They must be encouraged to shine with their colours and individuality and reflect the love that Jesus has so graciously poured upon them! We must love one another! Help to keep your fellow fish as beautiful as possible.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, please help us not to judge people coming to the church to seek you and find you. Please enable us to see their gifts, talents, and potential to be awesome disciples of Jesus. Help us not to look at their outward appearance, but see their hearts, just like you do. Help us to encourage them to stay filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk in Your love. In Jesus' precious and holy name I pray. Amen.

God has been giving me this analogy lately because the following situation exists in my life. When Christians go fishing after their families and friends who have rejected them and Jesus time and time again, it becomes unproductive. The Christians get put down so much by them that they can't even witness to other people effectively, because they are so upset by the reactions of these people. The Christian's friends and family can sometimes be their worst enemies and be very discouraging. Even the Bible tells us that truth.

But there is good news. Peter went fishing one day, and, letting down his net on one side of his boat, he caught nothing. Then, at the command of Jesus, he let down his net on the other side of his boat, and caught many, many fish. Do you know what happened to the fish on the first side (the family) of the boat? When they saw all the commotion on the other side of the boat, they swam to see what was happening and they got caught too! Do you get the point?

When they see the works God is doing through you, they will follow! Wow, what great news! We don't even have to do anything to catch these fish. Just go where God tells us to go, and the fish will be just waiting to jump in the boat! And the fish that were tarrying (the family and sceptics) on the other side will come around too!

What a blessing! So, don't worry about our family or friends if they have rejected us. Just send up our prayers to our heavenly Father, God. He hears them all.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, please help us to catch all the fish you want us to catch for you, and to give you the glory, honour, and thanks for leading us to success in being good fishers of men for you. We pray that you will make us useful, and fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' precious and holy name we pray. Amen.

A few weeks ago I had a marvellous "mountain-top" experience that I would like to share with you for your encouragement. I was discouraged and I prayed, "God, please encourage me and send me a sign. I need it." So I got Mr. Taco, our pet dog, and said, "Let's go for a walk." As I was walking up the steep hill where I live, I started thinking about God and His miracles.

Then I crossed the road spontaneously and went to the other side where I normally never walk. As I got closer, I saw a sign that was right next to the street. It had two arrows on it. One said, "Angel Alley", and the other said, "Miracle Road". Right away, I knew this was a sign of encouragement for me from God. I asked Him to tell me about it.

He told me that I have been walking on Angel Alley and that He has had to send angels to hold me up and carry me through these past times in my life. He said, "Now you are on your way to Miracle Road," and I got very excited and started to bounce in my step! As I climbed further up the hill, I noticed some iris-type flowers. Their white petals were actually flapping in the wind and reminded me of angel's wings.

Then when I got near the top, I realized that I had never actually been up to the peak. I usually turn around at the park and head back. I could hear God tell me, "Today is the day you are going to press on and go to the top." So I did.

At the top, I saw the mountains covered in green, stretching out for miles. As I looked, I thought about how much God loves the world and how He wants everyone to be reconciled to Him. All of the sudden I burst into tears. Now I could experience what Jesus felt when He looked out upon Israel and wept. I stayed there for a while and wept and talked to God. It was quite an experience.

I was reminded that God wants to follow His people today with signs and wonders and His unconditional love. As we continue to walk prayerfully with God we will discover what he wants to show and tell us.

Here is a prayer for anyone who would like the joy of an intimate time of fellowship with Jesus, in a manner of His choosing.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, please help us to put You first in all things today. Please show us Your miracles and encourage us in Your love. Show us how to trust and obey, and experience the joy of intimate fellowship with You and Jesus. Make us useful in all things and follow us all the days of our lives with great joy and mercy. In Jesus' great and holy name we pray. Amen.

Some years ago I was cleaning out a drawer of pots and pans. I got everything organized and straightened out, and the drawer had room to hold more without spilling over. I thought to myself, "Now I can even put the bag of potatoes in here, instead of leaving them in the garage."

Just as that very thought crossed my mind, in walked my son Justin, holding a bag of potatoes and saying, "Here are the potatoes you were looking for, mom."

I nearly fell over, and laughed at God's sense of humour. Here I was thinking about putting the bag of potatoes in the drawer, and in walks Justin holding the bag of potatoes, without my even saying a word!

God wants us to know that He indeed wants us to be free of all our burdens and worries and concern. He also intends to answer our prayers, sometimes ones we don't even know were heard. When He sets us free in His Son Jesus, we are free indeed. Just like the cleaned-out drawer, there is room to hold more, and He brings us more, without our even asking.

So, let's clean out our drawers today — getting rid of all that clutter, reorganizing our thoughts, turning them towards Jesus. He will set us free so that we have room to receive more gifts and talents and use them for the kingdom of heaven. And the gift won't just be a bag of potatoes!

God wants to give us good things. Let us be obedient, and watch what happens! We may get a real surprise!

Prayer: God, bless us with great surprises. In Jesus' precious and holy name we pray. Amen.

One day recently as I was out watering the plants, I noticed that our pine tree had dropped plenty of needles in the street. I decided to clean them up so the entire yard would look nice. As I was picking them up, I remembered that my dad always used grass clippings to mulch the plants. So, I neatly piled them under the plants that needed protection the most.

Then I saw some weeds. I pulled them out and placed them under the plants and said to myself, "Well, at least these weeds are good for something." As I said that, God pointed out a truth that helped me, which I will pass along to help others.

Some are feeling pressed on all sides. Yes, it seems that there are enemies everywhere, including maybe even in your own family. But God says, "Take heart. I am using these trials to make you stronger and to depend solely on me — no one else. For there is no other God but I."

In time these weeds growing all around us will be plucked right out of the ground. The riches that they acquired and never used for God will be placed squarely in our hands, and we shall be rich towards God and for God!

They will be "mulch" for our ministries, to help them grow and prosper, and be effective in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Let's think about it: without trials, how could we testify of the goodness and mercy and grace and love of God, that He shows us every day, new every morning?

So mulch joyfully, for the time is coming when a bounty will be dropped in our hands and God will say, "Now use it for me!"

There is no greater love than the love of God which He delivers to us daily through His Son Jesus! So, let us celebrate and make plans to be blessed so that when the day comes, we will be ready to move for God and follow His will for our lives!

Prayer: Gracious and bountiful God, we give you thanks for all your gifts, even those which appear in the midst of trials. Help us to recognize how You want us to use even the weeds for good purposes in working in Your vineyard. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

A couple of weeks back, after the church service, there were some young people who wanted to come to my home to see my animals and yard before the next service at 6:00 p.m. I gladly said yes, as I had leftover barbequed chicken, and knew what I could feed them with ease.

Only one of the three people had been to my home before. She knew what was there. The others just explored while I cooked. It was fun watching them discover all the unique treasures of nature and gifts God has given me. Well, it was fun until they got to the turtle pond!

I hadn't cleaned it for a week and it was pretty smelly, and especially so after my son added some frogs he found the night before. My guests were excited at the prospect of seeing Mr. Turtle, but he could not be seen through the cloudy water. How embarrassing! Here I wanted to share one of my treasures, but it could not be seen.

As I cleaned the pond the next day, God showed me that we are like that. Sometimes our sin and wrong decisions cloud the true inner beauty and gifts that He has put in us. So many times, when people can't see them, they are not drawn to us and we can't have the opportunity to share Jesus.

God says, "It's time to clean out the ponds on this earth!" He wants to get out the bucket, throw out the yucky water and replace it with His fresh water that nourishes our souls.

The funny thing is that the yucky water is also useful. The fish waste serves as a fertilizer, and I put it on my plants. They become beautiful and healthy. God takes what is bad in our lives, turns it into good, and we can glorify Him through our testimonies. And guess who wins? Everyone!

Today one can see Mr. Turtle and the fish clear as day! We need to let our gifts and talents show to a dying world. The only way we can do this is to let God clean our ponds. It may not always be pleasant in the process, but the end result is worth it!

Prayer: God, help us to let You clean our ponds in love. Amen.

I love the garden in my backyard. It is very inspirational to me. I have a large slope full of night-blooming jasmine that smells heavenly! There are sunflowers, tulips, irises, fruit trees, lots of hummingbirds, huge butterflies as big as small birds, and tons of wild birds (and sometimes a lovebird and parakeet) that come to the numerous bird feeders I have, and squirrels that come right up to me when I call them.

But one of my special treasures is my pond! Last year, my oldest son, Paul volunteered to dig a hole and put in a pond for me. I was thrilled. He completed the pond and we put plants all around it and put in some goldfish and a turtle. They were so fun to watch!

But one day in October, a sad thing happened. I went out to feed the fish and turtle, but found all the rocks around the pond thrown down in the pond and the water half out, and all the fish and the turtle were gone!

I was so sad and wondered what kind of animal did that: maybe a cat, raccoon, an opossum? I decided not to fill up the pond; I left it, since winter was coming.

After this happened, God drew to my attention the first part of today's scripture verse, and I sensed that it is the devil who "comes to steal, and kill and destroy". I thought, "Now, isn't that true?" Something certainly did that to my animals! I believe this was also a warning in my own personal life because at that time, the enemy was definitely warring at my soul. So I learned to become very careful and walk with God very closely and obey everything He told me. It paid off.

Now, this spring, I was out in my garden and looked at the pond and thought that it would be nice to fill it up again. I thought I would only get some goldfish this time, since turtles are kind of expensive.

The new pond was even better than the first one, and I redecorated the area. It looked so nice. The day I was going to buy the fish, I decided to water in the morning. (Usually I do it in the afternoon.) I figured the ground would get well saturated and my flowers would bloom even better. I came out later just to look around, and as I was looking, I heard a noise in the bushes. I went over to look and what did I see?

Mr. Turtle! Mr. Turtle was back! Wow! I just laughed so hard! Here I thought he was gone, but most likely he had just climbed out when the rocks were pushed into the pond and went and hibernated! Was I tickled! And look, I had just made a new pond and it was all filled up and ready to go!

Can anyone guess the spiritual message in this? Here is what God told me.

Many of us think that the devil has killed, stolen, or destroyed the promises and dreams that God had given us because they have not come true yet. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Just like Mr. Turtle was only in hibernation and came back, so too will our dreams, talents, gifts, anointing, and other God-given powers that He has given us. The devil did not destroy them; they may only be in hibernation!

God has come, and comes again, to give us life!

Prayer: O God, turn around our situations and give us a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. We ask this in the precious and holy name of Jesus. Amen.