"Comforting Others"

Day #5 - "A Woman of Faith" Devotional
Verse: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

{*Editor's Note: So... obviously the devil didn't want any posts today... or someone to receive a word, as there was technical difficulties posting on the original 5th of January (as you can read by my first comment below). But the devil couldn't get a foothold in our lives, as God wanted and wants to do something great! We have been blessed by 2 special conferences with 2 special men of God... they will tell you they aren't special, but it's the amazing power of God working inside of them. (which I know, but I also know they are special to me too!) ALL PRAISE & GLORY to GOD!!}

Psalm 118 tells us that 'This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it'. Our devotional today is regarding comforting others... something some of us don't usually want to play a big role in. God comforts us, brings us joy, heals us, delivers us, etc... so that we can in turn do the same or share our testimony with others. Our testimony is our 'in-your-face' example of God at work in our world today. Some people think their problems are too big for anyone to handle... but they just don't know the power of God yet! If they see God at work in our lives, and the power of God moving in us and changing us, then they will be able to blessed knowing that He will be able to do the same for them. They just need to believe...

Every day there are those around us that need comforting, or even just a smile or a hug. Now, I know some of us aren't 'huggers', but even a hand-shake or a simple gesture that tells them you recognize they are there will help them out. We have the power of God inside of us to help those around us... His love in us helps us love those around us, even those tagged as 'unlovable'. His peace inside of us can overflow and help those who need the peace of God in their stormy lives. His joy that will bubble up inside of us and ooze out can lift even the darkest of spirits. His strength inside of us can help uplift those around us that are in need of some supernatural power. We just need to be AVAILABLE! I have heard a quote by ministers or preachers alike, "God's not interested in our abilities, he wants our availability". God wants us to be obedient and available... there are simple little things called 'shoulder taps' where God might just whisper something in your ear, or tap you on the shoulder for you to stop from your busy day, and realize that there's a hurting world of people around us. The world does not revolve around us... and sometimes we think our problems are leading us to the end of the world... but really there are ALWAYS those who are worse off then us. God wants us to be a light to them... to shine the Light of His Son. A simple word of encouragement (yes, even if your gift is not encouraging or exhortation) can make a BIG difference in someone's life.

Get out there and be the 'hands and feet' of Jesus... that's not just a cute saying someone made up, that is what God wants us to do and be. He cannot physically touch others, without us first using our hands and or feet to do so. We need to GO where he sends our feet to go, and TOUCH who He tells us to touch with our hands... or be his mouth or ears and SPEAK or LISTEN (truly listen) words of affirmation and blessing. A simple testimony of what God has done for you in the past, or even just yesterday or today will help someone else out more than you know. (I am speaking to myself here too, I don't always remember to stop and help... nor share my testimonies as often as I should.) But the Word tells us that we can OVERCOME by the Blood of the Lamb, and the WORD of OUR TESTIMONY... whether it be spoken or written...

The devil is a deceiver and he will try to tell you that your life doesn't make a difference... but GOD knows (and I know) and YOU SHOULD TOO... that your life DOES make a difference! Go M.A.D. (Go Make a Difference) Be the M.E. that God has called you to be. (M.E. = Maximum Effectiveness) Are you living up to your potential? Do you know what your potential is? None of us really are, and none of us really know... but GOD does, and He will guide us and direct us down the right paths if we just TRUST in Him!

To read other 'A Woman of Faith' devotional messages, click here...
To read other devotionals regarding the M.E. you are called to be (your MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS) Click here...

BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!!

Everyone needs COMPASSION...

“POINTS TO PONDER” – January 16th part 2

Written by M. Hall

Please feel free to agree or disagree with points made, and feel free to comment if so desired.

If you would like, you could write your own thoughts on the verse of the day, and include that in your own comments below. Thank you and may you be blessed!! =)

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” ~ Colossians 3:12

Just sitting here thinking of the people of HAITI, and praying… We are told to clothe ourselves with COMPASSION. Everyone needs compassion!


Compassion by definition is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorry for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. To often we stop at the first part of that definition and think we are feeling compassion for others. Just feeling sorry for someone does not make you a compassionate person, you also should have a desire to help them in their pain.


Check out http://www.lovehaiti.com/ for more information regarding the crisis in Haiti. YWAM is also involved, check out our friend’s site at http://www.ourlovingfather.com/ He quotes, “While many agencies are looking to ship donated goods into Haiti, YWAM Santo Domingo is buying supplies locally and transporting by land directly into Haiti. You can help: Contact info – info@ywamdr.org Tel. 809 307 5914”


Here are some verses found with http://www.biblegateway.com/ regarding compassion:
1. Romans 9:15
For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
2. Matthew 14:14
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
3. Mark 8:2
"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
4. Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
5. Mark 1:41
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"
6. Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
7. Matthew 20:34
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
8. Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
9. James 5:11
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
10. Philippians 2:1
[ Imitating Christ's Humility ] If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
11. Matthew 15:32
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."
12. Luke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
13. 2 Corinthians 1:3
[ The God of All Comfort ] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,


GOD BLESS YOU!


Listen to this clip, MIGHTY TO SAVE by Hillsong

Day 24: October 24th, 2009 - - Matthew 9:36-38 EXPECT A HARVEST!

“POINTS TO PONDER” – Day 24
Written by M. Hall
Please feel free to agree or disagree with points made, and feel free to comment if so desired. If you would like, you could write your own thoughts on the verse of the day, and include that in your own comments below. Thank you and may you be blessed!! =)

“When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them because they were hurting and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus said to His followers, ‘There are many people to harvest but only a few workers to help harvest them. Pray to the Lord, who owns the harvest, that He will send more workers to gather His harvest’." Matthew 9:36-38 NCV
WOW~ God is amazing! If you have been reading these devotionals, yesterday you would have read that I have been attending a Conference called Outpour. Today was the last day of the conference, there was an AM session, an afternoon session, and a PM session. Usually you feel a little sad that a conference is coming to an end, because the speaker is leaving, and leaving at a high note in your life spiritually. However, this Conference may be complete, but we have another Conference starting tomorrow night, with the same guest speaker!! Hallelujah God! Speak, your servant is listening! =)

So, there was a delay in writing this, part due to laziness, yet also I think part to God not being done speaking into my life on this thought and action. Harvesting... to a farmer, or a gardener that means alot. It means all the hard work has paid off, and you are reaping the benefits of sowing seeds, tending the field/garden, getting rid of weeds, watering, fertilizing, etc. Harvesting to us as Christians is basically the same, we reap what we sow. These past few years have been a great time of sowing for us. We have, so we give. When we haven't financially, we give in other ways, and God gives to us financially and in other ways, and we then give more financially to the Lord. Our acts of worship, teaching, and working FOR the Lord are also ways to give back to God.

Compassion... what a word. In this verse, it says Jesus saw the crowds and felt sorry for them. This does not mean pity, it means compassion. He had a heart for the 'multitudes', whether they were male or female; Jewish or Gentile; young or old; rich or poor; etc, you get the picture. As we learned back a few devotionals ago, Jesus is our Shepherd. A Shepherd has compassion for his sheep. I am thankful that I have a heart that breaks for His people, yet I continually need to ask God to 'break my heart for what breaks Yours'. He wants to harvest people. He is sowing seeds of love from the Father, to reap the benefits of more people in the Kingdom of Heaven, instead of in the clutches of the enemy. God wants to see everyone come to know Him, believe in Him and live for Him, but because He also gave us our free-choice, not everyone will make that important decision. We know there are millions and billions, and trillions and more people in the world who don't know Jesus, and what are we doing about it? Really?

Harvest time… Yes Lord, it’s harvest time! We need to be out ‘planting seeds’ if we expect to reap a harvest! We need to do some harvesting, but we also need to pray for others, so that there will be more harvesters. Lord, send more people to gather the harvest! Your harvest, for Your glory! We have to have a heart for the people. A heart like Jesus! I have been praying for a long time, and more recently & more often with the children I work with, for God to help us love others, like He loves us. WOW! What a statement, but when prayed with faith and believing it makes all the difference! Jesus was out with the people. Jesus talked with the people, even the ones no one wanted to talk with, or even hang out with. People that others hated or despised, or ones that were basically left to die. We need to start reaching out more, in love. Not expecting something in return from them. We can certainly expect somethng from our Father in Heaven, because He promises that we will reap what we sow. If we are sowing words of judgement, and ignoring other's needs around us, why in the world would we expect to reap a life of favour? WOW... I am speaking to myself on this one too, so don't think of me as nagging on you. But really, sometimes we need to be shaken up a little. Most of us have family members and close friends who are not saved. Yes, they may have said the cute lil' sinner's prayer when they were 5, but really, how are they living now? They have to experience God for themselves, and sometimes we have to be that 'first impression'. It's been said many times that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. It's also been said that we are sometimes the only Bible that people will get to see/read. We are the hands and feet, and mouth and ears... etc... of Jesus! We may never get a second chance to share the gospel with some people. Others in our lives may hear it over and over. Keep pressing in, and pressing on! Persevere through... Be the best example of Christ that you can be. People need us, because people need the Lord! We need to share that JOY with everyone.

We love the advancement in our world, but have so many things in our way today, and technology is a great thing, yet also a hassle. We love things like blogs, Facebook, MySpace, IM's, and more... yet, how much time do we spend on them, and how much time do we give to the Lord? I know I am guilty of this one too. (so don't take me wrong) This one is totally for me too! Writing the words, and speaking the words will help encourage me to do the Word and the words. I can use the 'excuse' (as that is a good excuse right now in the Christian circles) that I use Facebook, and my blog to minister and spread the good news, because that is definitely true. But that's not all I use it for, I also spend time on the silly things, like too many silly quizzes, and reality-based Social games. Do you notice that they can't just have ONE social based game (ie: Yo-ville), they have to keep adding more... and we keep accepting.... pretty soon these applications bog up our system, and that's all we can do. We think, I have 6 hours before I have to come back and take the cake out of the oven in the Yoville sweets factory, which should give me lots of time to check out my fields and crops in FarmTown, and of course its counterpart FarmVille (just incase you need more than one farm); yet I also have time to serve people in my restaurant in Cafe World or the Restaurant one (whatever its called). Oh, I can't forget I have to go help my Mob boss kill somebody, before they kill me in Mob Wars or Mafia Wars... but wait, I forgot to go back and take the 'French Onion Soup' off of the stove in Cafe World, so its gone to waste. Because I was too busy getting the hit man, I missed harvesting the crop of corn in FarmTown, so it has gone to waste.... and so on and so on, and soon our time with Jesus has gone to waste too! How our mindset changes, to think that feeding people every minute in Cafe World, or harvesting fields in FarmTown or FarmVille is totally a necessity. We fret when the preacher talks too long, because we have to 'serve our homestyle chicken dinner' in Cafe World before it goes to waste. What are we thinking??? Really...?? God's Word says, "Why spend your money on something that is not real food? Why work for something that doesn't really satisfy you? Listen closely to me, and you will eat what is good; your soul will enjoy the rich food that satisfies." (Isaiah 55:2 -NCV)

I was going to write a devotional before on harvesting, and on FarmTown, because the Lord was showing me things about sowing, reaping and harvesting. I was getting tired of the game, yet, I did however keep the application on, and checked in every now and then. I haven't planted any crops, and allowed my trees to grow, because for some reason crops go to waste, but trees stay fruitful. (Is there a spiritual meaning here, yes, and I'm sure God will reveal that to me more later.) You keep some games/applications on your page because your friends are playing it, and you are helping them. Pfffttphh... are we really helping them?? I can use all the excuses to why the applications were still on my Facebook, but in reality I just wasn't giving top priority to the One who deserves the top priority in my heart and life.

More about FarmTown, as that's the one that hit me first... Here are some pictures from the game, incase you don't have the application (and please, this is not a paid ad for FarmTown, so please don't go and add the application, unless you are willing to apply it to your life).








So, by these pictures, you see that there are many different 'signs' showing what's going on, so you know what you are to do. The first picture says 'plowed field', so you know that you can sow seeds, and in time they will grow into the crop that it says. The second picture says 'harvested field', so this shows that you just harvested a crop, and now can plow it and sow a seed. The third picture shows 'Apple Tree - Ready to Harvest', meaning you can now harvest the fruit from the tree, and then it will grow again and produce more fruit. The last picture shows a 'Potato Field Gone to Waste'. How sad is this picture? This means that you didn't harvest it in time, and you can not harvest it anymore, or get anything back from those seeds that were sown. You know the name of the crop, but its gone, so its no good anymore. Fortunately in the game, you can plow over the field, and start fresh, planting new seeds. The Lord is revealing a new truth to me, as I said He would in the above paragraph. The crops go to waste, yet the fruit trees remain fruitful. When we let seeds that were sown, die & not get harvested, or get choked by weeds, or eaten by birds, they go to waste. In other words, if we leave people un-harvested, they will go to waste, living a life of eternal damnation in hell. (Yes, hell is a real place.) Yet, when we harvest the fruit of love, joy, salvation in people, they in turn become more fruitful, and harvest fruit of their own. How amazing is God?? Now, wouldn't it be so much easier, if we all had 'signs', like the apple tree in the picture. Walking through the mall, and observing people, and seeing signs that say 'Ready to Harvest', would sure be a help wouldn't it? We would get excited I think, and go and speak to people more. Yet, taking the other side, what if we walked through the church, and saw signs that said 'Gone to Waste'?? Would it be too late to plow their hearts? Fortunately and unfortunately, we don't have physical signs, yet if we allow the Spirit to speak to us, He will tell us His heart for the people.

There is a book called 'The Heart Reader', and in it the man gets the spiritual gift (for lack of a better word right now) to be able to read the hearts of the people around him, and he can help them according to their desires and needs for the Lord. For the secular world, there is a movie called 'What Women Want' starring Mel Gibson. In this movie, Mel's character has an unfortunate (or fortunate in his case) accident, and he is able to hear the hearts of women and their desires and needs too. He in turn helps out many women because he can hear what they really want. However, this can happen in the real world, as I said above, if we allow ourselves to hear what the Spirit is saying.

We need to approach every day with God, expecting a harvest! Who knew when I put 'fall harvest conference' and 'expectation ministries' together, that coming up with 'Expect a Harvest' would mean sooooo much? Even if the title just ended up being special to me, and God speaking to me, that would be awesome. But I know that many others were touched at this conference, and will continue to be from Sunday night, to Tuesday night, and long after. (For those of you who couldn't make it out to Conference, or others who may be reading this, if you desire, you can contact me here to order yourself a CD set - - they are $5 a CD, and there will be 3 CD's) EXPECT A HARVEST! Pray for an OUTPOUR of His Spirit! Hallelujah Jesus!!
I'm not even going to touch on Cafe World, or the others, yet how much more important are the hungry people in this world, who need the 'bread of life', rather than a bowl of cyber soup. "Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Your hearts should be strengthened by God's grace, not by obeying rules about foods, which do not help those who obey them." (Hebrews 13:9 NCV) I am not condemning anyone, (as condemning nor convicting is my job), I'm just speaking the truth, and this is for my own benefit too. As I said, I am not condemning you if you have these applications on your Facebook, and maybe you will or will not be convicted by the Holy Spirit to change. Maybe you are okay in your spiritual walk, and can spend time on these frivolous activities. As long as you spend more time with God then you do with the Mob...
Think of the word 'applications', how do these really apply to your life? For the most part, you have to think of what you are actually playing. The innocent "killing", because its not real, and the innocent "stealing tips" because its not real, is still technically killing and stealing, and those are two of God's 10 commandments. Gets ya thinking doesn't it?? How much more fun would it be to go out and share Jesus, and get your friends sharing Jesus, and hearing the angels rejoice in Heaven over a lost soul coming home? Think of your Heavenly rewards, and our Lord saying, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant!"

Prayer: Wow, where to begin Lord. What to say Lord... I thank you above all that you do not want us to 'go to waste'. I thank You God for the truths that You have spoken and confirmed through your Word, and through your prophet. God help us to truly put You first in all we do. Lord, help ME to put YOU first in all I do. (I cannot speak for others, but because my heart breaks for them, I do). Thank you for showing me the silliness of it all, and how serious You are about Your people. They are not just crops and fruit, they are Your people, Your children, none of whom You want to see perish! Help us not want to see them perish either. As I have prayed on many occasions, help us love them like You love us. Help us see them through Your eyes. I pray for the Spiritual Words of wisdom and knowledge that I have used before, and let go to the wayside, to be refired in me. Help me to hear people's hearts, and to speak Your words into them. Words of life, and not death; words of peace, & not war; words of love & not hate; words of encouragement & not discouragement; words to build up & not tear down. Show me Lord the ones who are ready to harvest, the ones who need more seeds sown, and the ones who the world has told them they have gone to waste, but they are still alive to you. We all have to die to ourselves, to live fully in You. Praise You Lord that You made me who I am, and help me to share your love and make a good 'first impression' for You and Your gospel! To give Your love, we must be full of Your love, so let us fall more in love with You. Show us how high, how deep, how wide Your love is. In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus, AMEN!

Check out this video... we sang this song to the Lord at OUTPOUR to our consuming fire~ 'Let us fall more in love with you'!

EXPECT a HARVEST!!!!!