Pray & Reflect With Us: Body of Believers

Summer is a time when many people go on vacations to different types of destinations around the world. Some choose the beach for the waves and sun, while others may prefer escaping to the mountains for scenery and a hint of coolness in the air. I for one, hope to one day make it to Muir Woods, an incredible forest of Sequoia trees. Sequoias are sometimes referred to as the largest living things on earth, reaching almost 250 feet in the air and living for as many as fifteen hundred years!

If we could talk to these trees (not saying you should try;), one may ask how is it that you can stand that tall for that long? I always expected the answer to be that Sequoias had vast root systems that could support the tree for the duration of their long life, but this isn’t so. Roots of Sequoias only reach as far down as 4 feet, which pales in comparison to what you see towering over the ground in which they grow. The reason these trees can withstand the tests of time is because they grow in groves. You see they are surrounded by other trees like them that protect and help them to continue growing and staying strong.

Just like the Sequoias, as Christians we need to be surrounded by other people to help us stay strong and grow in the faith. Our prayer for you at Feed the Need is that you would find a body of believers that can help you grow and remain in Christ without being tossed and turned by the winds and the waves that life throws at each of us every day. If you are currently involved in a local church thank Jesus for that. The church is the bride of Christ, and as such we are to love Him and represent him well. This is extremely difficult to do on our own, just like Sequoias we need others around us to help stay on the straight and narrow path that Jesus calls us to follow.

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PRAY & REFLECT WITH US: WELCOME SUMMER

Welcome Summer! Long days, reading in the shade, baseball, iced tea, sunshine — ’tis the season of unparalleled displays of God’s common benevolence.

Summer it’s also full of exciting opportunities for us to grow in the grace of prayer.
Did you know God’s grace is immeasurable, not seasonal? “…so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7. There’s not more of Him now than in January, but summer tends to open our eyes a little wider. We can see a little clearer. And this helps how we pray.

In other words, prayer is when we snap out of it. Out of the busyness, out of Facebook charades, out of our culture-imposed identities. Praying is the most real thing we do, and if summer is when we are most awake, then let it teach us how to pray. Let it invite us into deeper fellowship.

During your prayer time this summer, remember Feed the Need Missions and the families that we serve.

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PRAY & REFLECT WITH US: SUMMERTIME PRAYER

It’s beginning to look at lot like summer!

The mercury on the thermometer continues to rise as the sun shines down upon us. As the final school bell rings and summer vacations begin, many will enjoy riding their bikes and playing with friends. Throughout the summer, they will relish in extra family time and long anticipated family vacations.

However, some will not…

Feed the Need Missions serves more meals during the summer months than any other season. This summer we are asking for your prayers as we enter this time of great opportunity to share food, water and fellowship with so many weary people. We also ask you to prayerfully consider joining us at one of our Feed The Need sites. We are in need of your helping hands and loving hearts. Come serve with us this summer! “Go out with joy and be lead forth with peace…” Isaiah 55:12

Come be a light with us and give someone a tiny piece of joy!

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PRAY AND REFLECT WITH US: SPRING RENEWAL

Spring is my favorite time of year!

Spring is the time to open my windows and let the cool breeze blow through my house to clean out all the musky smells of winter. It’s the time of year that flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and the grass starts turning green. It’s when neighbors start coming outdoors to mow their lawns, the sound of children playing, and the smell of neighborhood cook-outs please my senses.

Spring rings renewal and community in my heart!

As Spring is here, I pray that each of us take time to….

  • Allow God to come through our lives to remove the musky smells of winter. As Psalms 51:10 states, “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
  • Take time to glorify God for His creation. As Psalms 8:3-5 states, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
  • Build relationships with your neighbors. As Jesus says in Mark 12:31, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

With these thoughts in mind, please be in continual prayer for Feed the Needs Missions staff, leadership, donors and volunteers to continually allow God to create a clean heart within them, to give God all the glory, and continue to have a steadfast spirit to love their neighbors as themselves.

Thank you for praying along side us!

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Pray & Reflect With Us: Made New

Made New..

Spring is here and we’re excited. Everything is blooming and the birds are chirping, which means Easter is on its way. As we celebrate Easter and Jesus’ resurrection, lets keep in mind everything He created is made new. As his children should be celebrating His resurrection everyday.

How wonderful, how marvelous, is His love! To think, He was mocked, beaten and killed for us. What a day of rejoicing that must have been when He rose and realized it was all over–He had won the victory!

He arose in victory, joy, liberation, and freedom from the hands of evil men. Now we can say with the apostle Paul, “O death, where is your sting? O Hades [grave], where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

Thank you Jesus for dying for us!

Happy Easter!

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Pray and Reflect With Us: The Month of Love

The last few weeks I can’t help but notice we are in the, “Month of Love.” Every store I enter I am bombarded with the colors red and pink, hearts and cupids, chocolates and flowers. Valentine’s Day is a great reminder to stop and appreciate the ones we love, however if we are only expressing our love once a year, we might find ourselves in trouble! Buying my wife flowers and chocolate once a year is not going to cut it. Carving out an hour once a week to spend time with her is not enough either. My love for my wife is demonstrated by spending time with her daily. Making sure that I am meeting her needs, cultivating and nurturing her heart. I need to make myself vulnerable before her.

When I think of how I am to love my wife, I can’t help but be reminded of the Author of Love, Himself. God’s love for his creation is so profound, so vast, he brought redemption to this world through Jesus. This was God’s demonstration of love. And when we are moved to respond to His love, He asks to be loved by us in return. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Matthew 22:36-38

Our response to receiving God’s love is to love him fiercely in return. But if I’m honest, fierce love often looks like fleeting acknowledgements, quick prayers, a few minutes reading my bible when I can squeeze it in, and an hour or so on Sundays.

Maybe you can relate. Does your love for God seem a little flat? I think most of us can use a little heart examination concerning our love for our Creator. The beauty in doing so rests in God, the one who stirs our affections for Himself. We just need to ask Him to do so!

Join me and lets lift our hearts to the Father together:
Lord, thank you for your demonstration of love which brought hope to a hopeless world and transformed our hearts. Lord teach our hearts to beat with yours. Draw us, Lord, further into your love. May we long to be in your presence, and not allow busyness to be an excuse to neglect our first love, You. Use us to be vessels of your love in the world around us. Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

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PRAY & REFLECT WITH US: A NEW YEAR

As we begin this new year, it is a time of planning, starting new goals and hoping to meet them, and reflecting on what we did or did not accomplish last year. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions mixed in with the time we spend on the busyness that the new year brings.

As I, myself go through all of these thoughts, plans, and emotions, I am reminded how fast time is flying by. As I think about how fast last year went by, and how fast this year is already moving, it gives me chills to think about verses like Psalm 39:6: “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.” This causes me to pause for a moment and look towards God. To embrace this time right here, right now with Him.

How are we spending our time in this moment, looking to what God is doing in us and around us? Are we embracing Him or already looking to the future plans we are making? Are we enjoying where we are with Him right now, or dwelling on what we did or did not accomplish last year? My encouragement and prayer for you and me is that we would spend this moment right here, right now, worshiping Him, praising Him, and sharing His message with those around us. Meet Him in what He is doing and has done for this moment of time.

Here is our hope: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20) God sent His son for this moment in time. Will you spend this moment praying with me for what God is doing right here right now? Lord thank you for saving me. You are all I need.

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