Jeremia – A Story of Faith, Hope, and Love

2 / 17 / 142 / 20 / 14

In the “love chapter” of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13 – Paul wrote, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.“

While everyone was talking about love, Rev and I are clinging to all three . . . faith and hope and love.

The phone rang Friday morning. Caller ID read, World Vision. A Child Sponsorship Representative on the other end of the line began:

My name is Debbie, and I’m calling about your sponsored child, Jeremia. I’m so sorry to have to tell you that he was playing with friends at the river when he was caught by the current and drowned before help could arrive.

Today I’m asking you to join me in Faith, Hope, and Love action. Please don’t allow Jeremia to be just another little boy in a Kenyan village who didn’t get to grow up. His little life was so important . . . to the God who created him, to his family who loved and cared for him, to the World Vision staff who taught him and helped him, and to Rev and me who prayed for him, sent him little notes and gifts, and helped to provide for him. I’m praying his life will brome important to you too.

Jeremia – Love

His mother said in a note:

He is very active in the family and this has made every family member love him so much.

Jeremia drew this at the top of the page:

Jeremia – Faith

This was the Christmas Card Jeremia sent us this year:

I picture him sitting in a little chair at a low table getting a little help from his siblings and encouragement from a World Vision staff member. But he was a five-year old little boy who probably would have preferred playing with his friends and chasing the wind.

A little information about Kenya.

World Vision is partnering with Kenyans to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their children, families, and communities. World Vision’s child sponsorship program plays a vital role in this partnership with donors from the United States sponsoring more than 41,300 girls and boys. In addition to sponsorship, World Vision operates other programs that benefit communities in Kenya. Their efforts include:

Providing emergency supplies to 600,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the African drought.
Fighting malaria by distributing bed nets.
Helping children go to school by removing them from child labor situations.
Providing life-skills training to those affected by HIV and AIDS.
Increasing access to improved water supply, sanitation facilities and training on hygiene practices to benefit children’s health.
Improving the growth and development of boys and girls and the care of pregnant women.

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day – a perfect day for us to give hope for the future to a child, and to their family and community.

Jeremia – Hope

By God’s grace:

I have a confident hope that I will give Jeremia a hug when I greet him in heaven.
I hope that you will join me in prayer for Jeremia’s family and the ministry of World Vision.

Father, please hold Jeremia’s family close to You. Comfort their hurting hearts. Give them a vision of their son and brother running, playing, and sitting at the feet of Jesus. Please meet their needs . . . physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional. Father, give them hope, fill them with faith, and surround them with Your love. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

I hope that you will look into Jeremia’s face and honor him by sponsoring a child through World Vision.

For only $35 a month you can change a child’s life . . . you can offer faith, hope, and love. You can choose a child who shares a birthday with your child or grandchild or one from a specific country. Pray and ask God to connect you with the child He wants for you.

Please visit my World Vision Page – you will learn why this ministry is so important to Rev and me and sponsor a child if you choose. If 10 children are sponsored Rev and I will add another child to our little group. It would be a blessing to add a photo to our bulletin board and name to our prayers.

If you’d like more details about my travels with the World Vision Bolivia Bloggers in 2011 click here.

One last thing . . . would you please share this with your friends and family to help me spread the word about Jeremia, a precious five little boy who touched our lives with faith, hope, and love.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Amazed

4 / 18 / 122 / 27 / 17

Amaze: to affect with great wonder, to astonish.

What amazes you?

A Sunset?
A Rainbow?
A Symphonic Overture?
A Newborn Baby?
A Lion, a Giraffe, or a Hippopotamus?
A Rose, an Orchid, or a Giant Sequoia?

Sometimes we are so amazed by technology, that we forget to be amazed by
those things that surround us every day.

We forget to be amazed by the One who longs to fill our minds with wonder
and our hearts with praise.

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what He has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the LORD.
Psalm 40:3

Publish His glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things He does.
Psalm 96:3

When Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were amazed at His teaching, for He taught with
real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
Matthew 7:28-29

A vast crowd brought to Him people who were lame,
blind, crippled those who couldn’t speak, and many others.
They laid them before Jesus, and He healed them all.
The crowd was amazed!
Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well,
the lame were walking, and the blind could see again!
And they praised the God of Israel.
Matthew 15:30-31

The members of the council were amazed when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John,
for they could see that they were ordinary men with
no special training in the Scriptures.
They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13

Father, Forgive me. I foolishly allow myself to become amazed by the trivial. I set my mind on that which is unimportant and ignore the countless amazing things You are doing around me. I’m sorry. Give me eyes to see what You want me to see. Give me a heart to feel the way You want me to feel. Give me a mind that focuses on Your plans and purposes. Give me a soul that is filled with Your love. Give me the all of the strength I need to trust You and obey. I can’t on my own, but with Your help every moment of wonder will become a step of faith. I ask this in the name of my amazing Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.

A New Way to Pray – Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

4 / 13 / 124 / 22 / 16

When I was a little girl, my parents, like many others, taught me the prayer, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. However, they were concerned that the phrase, “If I should die before I wake,” would frighten their fragile little flower. (Understandable, since almost everything frightened me.) So, they changed that phrase to, “And hold me in Your arms so tight.”

Of course, I taught my children to say the prayer exactly the way I had learned it, and they are teaching to their children as well.

I have since heard variations of that phrase which ask for angels to watch and guard. Whatever the version, each one is precious when spoken through the lips of a child.

A number of years ago, a dear pastor friend of ours added these words to the end of the original prayer, “If I should die before I wake; I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should wake before I die, I pray the Lord would show me why.”

With all of the variations I’ve heard over the years, I finally wrote my own version which I keep tucked in the back of my Bible:

In Paul’s greeting to the Romans, chapter one verse five it says:

Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles (all people) everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name. (NLT)

Daily trust and obedience go against our selfish nature. I too often think I have a better way, better ideas, and a better plan. The truth is that I don’t have a better anything. So, I find it necessary to ask my Father often, multiple times in every twenty-four hour period, to help me to trust and obey….

Not so I can get gold stars next to my name in the Book of Life.
Not so I’ll look good at church.
Not so God will give me what I want.
Not so I can feel good about myself.

Although I have to admit each of those is very tempting.

I pray to trust and obey God to:

Bring glory to His name.

In the book, Just Give Me Jesus, by Ann Graham Lotz, she writes something very close to these words:

My motivation for obedience is His promise that if I obey, I will see His glory displayed through His life giving power.

I need His love.
I need His grace and mercy.
I need His strength.
I need His peace.
I need His presence.
I need His patience.

I need Jesus.

Tonight, as I climb into bed I will repeat the words of my childhood. I don’t say them often anymore choosing to pray with my own words rather than something I’ve memorized, but tonight I believe I will once again pray the prayer that blessed my childhood . . .

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

You can get a free download of the prayer to print by clicking on the image above.