by Gary Smalley and John Trent
Largely unused in marriages, homes, friendships, and businesses is a tool
called emotional word pictures that can supercharge communication and change
lives. This concept is as old as ancient kings but so timeless that it has been
used throughout the ages in every society. It has the capacity to capture
people’s attention by simultaneously engaging their thoughts and feelings. Along
with its ability to move us to deeper levels of intimacy, it has the staying
power to make a lasting impression.
When faced with the breakup of her parents’ marriage, a hurting teenager
named Kimberly used the following word picture in this letter to her father:
Dear Daddy, It’s late at night, and I’m sitting in the middle of my bed
writing to you. I’ve wanted to talk with you so many times during the past few
weeks. But there never seems to be any time when we’re alone.
Dad, I realize you’re dating someone else. And I know you and Mom may never
get back together. That’s terribly hard to accept—especially knowing that you
may never come back home or be an “everyday” dad to me and Brian again. But I
want you at least to understand what’s going on in our lives.
Don’t think that Mom asked me to write this. She didn’t. She doesn’t know I’m
writing, and neither does Brian. I just want to share with you what I’ve been
thinking.
Dad, I feel like our family has been riding in a nice car for a long time.
You know, the kind you always like to have as a company car. It’s the kind that
has every extra inside and not a scratch on the outside.
But over the years, the car has developed some problems. It’s smoking a lot,
the wheels wobble, and the seat covers are ripped. The car’s been really hard to
drive or ride in because of all the shaking and squeaking. But it’s still a
great automobile—or at least it could be. With a little work, I know it could
run for years.
Since we got the car, Brian and I have been in the backseat while you and Mom
have been up front. We feel really secure with you driving and Mom beside you.
But last month, Mom was at the wheel.
It was nighttime, and we had just turned the corner near our house. Suddenly,
we all looked up and saw another car, out of control, heading straight for us.
Mom tried to swerve out of the way, but the other car smashed into us. The
impact sent us flying off the road and crashing into a lamppost.
The thing is, Dad, just before we were hit, we could see that you were
driving the other car. And we saw something else: Sitting next to you was
another woman.
It was such a terrible accident that we were all rushed to the emergency
ward. But when we asked where you were, no one knew. We’re still not really sure
where you are or if you were hurt or if you need help.
Mom was really hurt. She was thrown into the steering wheel and broke several
ribs. One of them punctured her lungs and almost pierced her heart.
When the car wrecked, the back door smashed into Brian. He was covered with
cuts from the broken glass, and he shattered his arm, which is now in a cast.
But that’s not the worst. He’s still in so much pain and shock that he doesn’t
want to talk or play with anyone.
As for me, I was thrown from the car. I was stuck out in the cold for a long
time with my right leg broken. As I lay there, I couldn’t move and didn’t know
what was wrong with Mom and Brian. I was hurting so much myself that I couldn’t
help them.
There have been times since that night when I wondered if any of us would
make it. Even though we’re getting a little better, we’re all still in the
hospital. The doctors say I’ll need a lot of therapy on my leg, and I know they
can help me get better. But I wish it were you who was helping me, instead of
them.
The pain is so bad, but what’s even worse is that we all miss you so much.
Every day we wait to see if you’re going to visit us in the hospital, and every
day you don’t come. I know it’s over. But my heart would explode with joy if
somehow I could look up and see you walk into my room.
At night when the hospital is really quiet, they push Brian and me into Mom’s
room, and we all talk about you. We talk about how much we loved driving with
you and how we wish you were with us now.
Are you all right? Are you hurting from the wreck? Do you need us like we
need you? If you need me, I’m here and I love you.
Your daughter, Kimberly
LOOKING AHEAD …
More than two months before writing this letter, Kimberly had watched her
father, Steve, walk out of his family’s life with plans to divorce his wife and
pursue a relationship with another woman. The heartache that Kimberly, her
mother, and her brother felt was indescribable. But the anguish also extended to
Steve. Only a few weeks after leaving, he began to second‐guess his
decision.
That’s the impact of divorce. It appears to be a solution when in fact it
brings only pain and new difficulties. A few days after receiving Kimberly’s
letter, Steve appeared on his family’s doorstep and asked to come back. He
realized that divorce wasn’t the answer to his family’s problems. Would you ever
consider it an answer to yours? Has your marriage ever been on the brink of
breaking up? This week, we’re going to take a candid look at the divorce
“solution.”
- James C Dobson
From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James
& Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights
reserved.
“Dear Daddy” by Gary Smalley and John Trent. Taken from The Language of Love
by Gary Smalley and John Trent, Ph.D., a Focus on the Family book published by
Tyndale House. © 1988, 1991 by Gary Smalley and John Trent, Ph.D. All rights
reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
Friday, May 27, 2016
John Calvin, French theologian and pastor
Today the church remembers John Calvin, French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation.
He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. In these areas Calvin was influenced by the Augustinian tradition. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
John Calvin is the author of the most famous theological book ever published, Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. He is considered, along with Martin Luther, to be among the most significant of figures in the Protestant Reformation.
Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestantism in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of the Institutes in 1536. In that year, Calvin was recruited by another Frenchman William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva, where he regularly preached sermons throughout the week. The city council resisted the implementation of Calvin's and Farel's ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees known as Huguenots. He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and was eventually invited back to lead its church in 1541.
Protestants in France became known as Huguenots, a denomination with origins in the 16th or 17th centuries. Historically, Huguenots were French Protestants inspired by the writings of John Calvin (Jean Calvin in French) in the 1530s, who became known by that originally derisive designation by the end of the 16th century. The majority of Huguenots endorsed the Reformed tradition of Protestantism.
Read the Wikipedia article here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
We thank you, God, for the life and witness of John Calvin, and for the French Protestants known as Huguenots he strengthened. Amen.
He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. In these areas Calvin was influenced by the Augustinian tradition. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
John Calvin is the author of the most famous theological book ever published, Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. He is considered, along with Martin Luther, to be among the most significant of figures in the Protestant Reformation.
Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestantism in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of the Institutes in 1536. In that year, Calvin was recruited by another Frenchman William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva, where he regularly preached sermons throughout the week. The city council resisted the implementation of Calvin's and Farel's ideas, and both men were expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees known as Huguenots. He continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and was eventually invited back to lead its church in 1541.
Protestants in France became known as Huguenots, a denomination with origins in the 16th or 17th centuries. Historically, Huguenots were French Protestants inspired by the writings of John Calvin (Jean Calvin in French) in the 1530s, who became known by that originally derisive designation by the end of the 16th century. The majority of Huguenots endorsed the Reformed tradition of Protestantism.
Read the Wikipedia article here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
We thank you, God, for the life and witness of John Calvin, and for the French Protestants known as Huguenots he strengthened. Amen.
Men of the Bible - Nathan
His name means: "He [God] Has Given"
His work: He was a prophet in Israel during the reign of King David and the early years of King Solomon.
His character: Nathan was a fearless man whose obedience to God's voice put him nose to nose with the most powerful person in the land, first announcing that King David would not have the honor of building the temple and later declaring his immorality and his severe punishment for it.
His sorrow: With great hopes for Israel's success under the monarchy, Nathan was an eyewitness to sin, corruption, and mutiny that tore the nation apart.
His triumph: Because of his own faithfulness, Nathan was given the privilege of being God's mouthpiece to an entire nation.
Key Scriptures: 2 Samuel 7; 12
A Look at the Man
Nathan loved David, the king of Israel.
The proof of this love was in Nathan's allegiance to the monarch and his sincere attempts to encourage the king, even to the point of affirming his ideas of a grand temple when God had not blessed the venture.
But the acid test of the prophet's affection was not in supportive or affirming words, but in truthful confrontation—the kind of confrontation that could cost the prophet his friendship with the king, not to mention his life.
Nathan was clever and creative. His involvement in the selection of worship music in the sanctuary (2 Chronicles 29:25) tells us of his sensitivity. His personal involvement in the naming of the baby Solomon hints to us of Nathan's tenderness (2 Samuel 12:25).
But Nathan had been given a terrifying assignment fit for the bravest warrior. And, if the nature of the commission wasn't tough enough, it had come as a directive of the living God.
Friendships are often put to the test over long hours of work or waiting. Friends pay a price by listening or issuing words of love and encouragement. But friendship knows no bravery like the bravery of brutal, truthful confrontation.
Those who have named this clash of emotions "tough love" have named it well. It is tough, but it is also the deepest form of love.
Although it was not Nathan's only challenge during David's reign, the confrontation following the king's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and murderous attempt to cover it up was his most grueling.
But instead of going nose to nose with David—a strategy that could have gotten Nathan in serious trouble—the prophet told a story. Drawing out the compassionate shepherd in the king, Nathan told him a story of a poor man's family, their only possession a ewe. Much more than simply an animal on the man's farm, this lamb was in every way a household pet. It "shared the man's food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms." The lamb was "like a daughter to the man."
Nathan must have known, as he watched the king's face, that David was captivated by the tale.
"In the same town was a rich man," Nathan continued. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal…. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it."
David was blind with rage. "The man who did this deserves to die!"
Nathan must have taken a deep breath, knowing he had the king exactly where God wanted him to be. "You are the man," Nathan said in measured tones. "You are the man."
The great challenge in truth telling, even with a close friend, is to keep the focus on the deed and the guilty party, not on the confronter's need to be right. In this, Nathan was brilliant. In Nathan's message, David clearly heard God's voice. Years later David would write: "Against you [the LORD], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (Psalm 51:4).
Nathan dared to prove his love for his friend by telling him the truth in loving confrontation. And so skillful was the prophet at dealing with the king that when the third child was born to David and Bathsheba, they named him Nathan after the man who risked it all.
Reflect On: Psalm 51
Praise God: Because he is quick to forgive.
Offer Thanks: That God does not hold our sins against us as long as we repent.
Confess: Any sin you have tried to hide from yourself and from God.
Ask God: To purify your heart, making it “whiter than snow."
Today's reading is a brief excerpt from Men of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Men in Scripture by Ann Spangler and Robert Wolgemuth (Zondervan). © 2010 by Ann Spangler. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Enjoy the complete book by purchasing your own copy at the Bible Gateway Store. The book's title must be included when sharing the above content on social media.
His work: He was a prophet in Israel during the reign of King David and the early years of King Solomon.
His character: Nathan was a fearless man whose obedience to God's voice put him nose to nose with the most powerful person in the land, first announcing that King David would not have the honor of building the temple and later declaring his immorality and his severe punishment for it.
His sorrow: With great hopes for Israel's success under the monarchy, Nathan was an eyewitness to sin, corruption, and mutiny that tore the nation apart.
His triumph: Because of his own faithfulness, Nathan was given the privilege of being God's mouthpiece to an entire nation.
Key Scriptures: 2 Samuel 7; 12
A Look at the Man
Nathan loved David, the king of Israel.
The proof of this love was in Nathan's allegiance to the monarch and his sincere attempts to encourage the king, even to the point of affirming his ideas of a grand temple when God had not blessed the venture.
But the acid test of the prophet's affection was not in supportive or affirming words, but in truthful confrontation—the kind of confrontation that could cost the prophet his friendship with the king, not to mention his life.
Nathan was clever and creative. His involvement in the selection of worship music in the sanctuary (2 Chronicles 29:25) tells us of his sensitivity. His personal involvement in the naming of the baby Solomon hints to us of Nathan's tenderness (2 Samuel 12:25).
But Nathan had been given a terrifying assignment fit for the bravest warrior. And, if the nature of the commission wasn't tough enough, it had come as a directive of the living God.
Friendships are often put to the test over long hours of work or waiting. Friends pay a price by listening or issuing words of love and encouragement. But friendship knows no bravery like the bravery of brutal, truthful confrontation.
Those who have named this clash of emotions "tough love" have named it well. It is tough, but it is also the deepest form of love.
Although it was not Nathan's only challenge during David's reign, the confrontation following the king's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and murderous attempt to cover it up was his most grueling.
But instead of going nose to nose with David—a strategy that could have gotten Nathan in serious trouble—the prophet told a story. Drawing out the compassionate shepherd in the king, Nathan told him a story of a poor man's family, their only possession a ewe. Much more than simply an animal on the man's farm, this lamb was in every way a household pet. It "shared the man's food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms." The lamb was "like a daughter to the man."
Nathan must have known, as he watched the king's face, that David was captivated by the tale.
"In the same town was a rich man," Nathan continued. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal…. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it."
David was blind with rage. "The man who did this deserves to die!"
Nathan must have taken a deep breath, knowing he had the king exactly where God wanted him to be. "You are the man," Nathan said in measured tones. "You are the man."
The great challenge in truth telling, even with a close friend, is to keep the focus on the deed and the guilty party, not on the confronter's need to be right. In this, Nathan was brilliant. In Nathan's message, David clearly heard God's voice. Years later David would write: "Against you [the LORD], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (Psalm 51:4).
Nathan dared to prove his love for his friend by telling him the truth in loving confrontation. And so skillful was the prophet at dealing with the king that when the third child was born to David and Bathsheba, they named him Nathan after the man who risked it all.
Reflect On: Psalm 51
Praise God: Because he is quick to forgive.
Offer Thanks: That God does not hold our sins against us as long as we repent.
Confess: Any sin you have tried to hide from yourself and from God.
Ask God: To purify your heart, making it “whiter than snow."
Today's reading is a brief excerpt from Men of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Men in Scripture by Ann Spangler and Robert Wolgemuth (Zondervan). © 2010 by Ann Spangler. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Enjoy the complete book by purchasing your own copy at the Bible Gateway Store. The book's title must be included when sharing the above content on social media.
His Princess Every Day - His Faithfulness
Devotionals for Women - Inspirational author and speaker Sheri Rose
Shepherd imagines what a letter written from God to you would look like.
My Child,
What you see with your eyes is in physical form, but what I am doing is in the spiritual realm. How I long for your faith to increase so that nothing you see will shake you or prevent you from believing in Me. Faith is the only thing that will cause you to keep going when everything else inside your soul is screaming to give up. There will always be a crossroad in your life when you will have to make a choice to trust Me fully or to trust in what you see. Remember that trials make you stronger and perfect your faith so you can finish what I sent you to earth to do. So I ask you on this day, Whom do you choose to trust? And do you believe I am more powerful than your circumstance or any person who would come against you? The choices are yours, and they will determine your life’s direction.
Love,
Your trustworthy Father
The word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. He loves what is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth. - Psalm 33:4-5
Treasure of Truth
Don’t give up your faith because of what you see.
This devotional is written by Sheri Rose Shepherd. All content copyright Sheri Rose Shepherd 2015. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Visit HisPrincess.com for devotionals, books, videos, and more from Sheri Rose Shepherd.
My Child,
What you see with your eyes is in physical form, but what I am doing is in the spiritual realm. How I long for your faith to increase so that nothing you see will shake you or prevent you from believing in Me. Faith is the only thing that will cause you to keep going when everything else inside your soul is screaming to give up. There will always be a crossroad in your life when you will have to make a choice to trust Me fully or to trust in what you see. Remember that trials make you stronger and perfect your faith so you can finish what I sent you to earth to do. So I ask you on this day, Whom do you choose to trust? And do you believe I am more powerful than your circumstance or any person who would come against you? The choices are yours, and they will determine your life’s direction.
Love,
Your trustworthy Father
The word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. He loves what is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth. - Psalm 33:4-5
Treasure of Truth
Don’t give up your faith because of what you see.
This devotional is written by Sheri Rose Shepherd. All content copyright Sheri Rose Shepherd 2015. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Visit HisPrincess.com for devotionals, books, videos, and more from Sheri Rose Shepherd.
Girlfriends in God - When Doors Don’t Open
Today’s Truth
I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5, NIV)
Friend to Friend
The morning had been hectic and they were running late because the baby needed a last minute diaper change. Tara needed to get all three kiddos loaded up and to the car pool location quickly, but for some strange reason the back doors of her van would not open. She tried her clicker. She tried the key. She tried jiggling the lock.
Anxiousness started to well up in her heart.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” She grumbled loudly while trying to open the back doors of her minivan.
This is NOT what I need right now!"
The kids began to sense the tension and take on the stress for their own.
“What’s wrong, mommy?”
“The back doors aren’t opening and we’re gonna be late! That’s what’s wrong!"
Pressed for time and strongly annoyed, Tara told the kids to get in through the front door and had them crawl back to settle into their car seats. As she started the car she was aware of her agitation and didn’t like it.
Taking a deep breath, Tara began to recognize the stress for what it was. She remembered the Bible verse that is written on the chalkboard in their kitchen. Spoken from the lips of Jesus Himself, the words flooded her heart…
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Yes. They were having trouble getting a few doors open, but it was nothing that Jesus couldn’t help her handle. Calmed and cooled by the red-lettered love, Tara made an empowered decision … and a very cool minivan ministry moment followed that went something like this:
“Okay, guys! Here we go!” Tara began. “That was a bit stressful and I’m sorry for raising my voice. I’m not sure why the doors didn’t open, but we aren’t going to let it mess up our day. We can choose to let this situation get the best of us, or we can get the best of the situation by asking God to bring peace to our anxiousness. Remember the verse on the kitchen chalkboard? Jesus said that in this world we’re going to have trouble. Sometimes doors don’t open, but He’ll help us! Jesus told us to “take heart” because He has overcome the world.”
Then, from the back of the van her eight-year-old theologian son piped up and joined the sacred conversation.
“Yeah! And Jesus said that He'll never leave us or forsake us. God is always with us, mom!”
From. The. Lips. Of. A. Child.
God is always with us.
What began as a chaotic and stressful drive to school became a celebration of the presence of God. It was a devotion-on-wheels that began with a door that wouldn't open. A beautiful memory that started with stress but was changed by the grace of Jesus, our Overcomer.
Sometimes doors don't open for us. We don’t always get the position we want, the response we want, the admiration we want, or the health we want. But with every closed door comes an opportunity of response. When Tara invited God into her frustration and opened her heart to His presence the tension transitioned to peace.
A few minutes after the “stuck door debacle” they arrived at the carpool line to pick up the other children. Tara figured she’d try again. She pressed the button to unlock the back doors, and this time they opened with no resistance.
A smile spread across her face as this thought danced in Tara’s mind. If the back doors had opened a few moments earlier, we would've lost the opportunity to celebrate God’s peace and our time of sacred conversation would never have happened.
With that in mind she thanked God for the doors that didn’t open as she drove the kids to school.
I don’t always respond perfectly in stressful situations. And Tara readily admits that she doesn't either. But when we choose to turn our frustrations and disappointments over to God He gives us the grace we need to experience His peace in the midst of pressure.
Let’s Pray
Lord, Thank You for reminding me that You are dependable, available, and willing to help at all times. Please guide me toward Your grace when I grumble. Teach me to turn to You when I’m stressed so that others would see Your joy and peace in me.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Read Psalm 37. What verses in the chapter resonate with your heart today? What doors are not opening in your life that have you frustrated? Grab your journal and a pen and write a prayer of response. Not a journal girl? No worries. Swing over to my blog or Facebook page and write it there!
More from the Girlfriends
I Want It ALL is now available! This new book by
Gwen Smith will help narrow the gap between average ordinary living and the
not-so-ordinary promises of God found in His Word. We are meant to be women of
impact who expect great things and move in the power and grace of Jesus. That’s
the message of I Want It ALL. Order yours today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com or your favorite
retailer.Connect with Gwen on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Seeking God?
Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Girlfriends in God
P.O. Box 1311
Huntersville, NC 28070
info@girlfriendsingod.com
www.girlfriendsingod.com
P.O. Box 1311
Huntersville, NC 28070
info@girlfriendsingod.com
www.girlfriendsingod.com
DEFEATING THE ENEMY’S ATTACKS
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one
who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4
Ung Sophal established eight house churches in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the surrounding provinces. He and his wife lost their third and youngest child during the Pol Pot genocide. After many close calls, he was separated from his wife and children and sent to work in the fields. During these very difficult times, he still was able to lead sixty-five people to Jesus and even water baptize them. God miraculously spared his life on numerous occasions.
When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, Ung Sophal was able to return to Phnom Penh. It was now a ghost town. With a handful of other Christians, he started a house church, which grew from five members to six hundred in eight months.
That Christmas he invited some Christians to his home for a fellowship - including some Christian westerners working for aid organizations. Two weeks later he was arrested for this “illegal” activity and accused of holding a political meeting with CIA participation.
He was interrogated for days and beaten severely. When the interrogation proved profitless, he was left in prison for five months chained hand and foot. He lost seventy-five pounds and was very sick but he heard the Lord instruct him to fast and be silent for three days.
The authorities became alarmed at the end of his fast and took him to the hospital thinking he was dying. There he constantly heard the sounds of other people being tortured with electricity and being beaten and kicked. “Even without the beatings it was very hard,” he said, “I had a taste of hell, but God protected me.”
Ung Sophal was successfully treated by a Cuban doctor who was also a Christian (God has his people everywhere). One night when the electricity went out because of a tropical storm, the doctor helped Ung escape. Later he fled with his wife and children to Thailand and spent ten years ministering to other Cambodian exiles - the last five years as a widower.
In 1990, as restrictions against Christianity began to be eased in Cambodia, Ung made his first visit back to his homeland to encourage and teach the church. Word of his return spread quickly and three hundred people came to see him. He is eager for the task ahead. “I want to build my people,” he said. “God has a great work yet to do in Cambodia.”
RESPONSE: Today I will stand strong in Jesus’ strength no matter what Satan throws at me or against me.
PRAYER: Lord, thank You for encouraging testimonies of faithful people like Ung Sophal. Continue to grow Your Church in Cambodia, I pray.
Ung Sophal established eight house churches in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the surrounding provinces. He and his wife lost their third and youngest child during the Pol Pot genocide. After many close calls, he was separated from his wife and children and sent to work in the fields. During these very difficult times, he still was able to lead sixty-five people to Jesus and even water baptize them. God miraculously spared his life on numerous occasions.
When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, Ung Sophal was able to return to Phnom Penh. It was now a ghost town. With a handful of other Christians, he started a house church, which grew from five members to six hundred in eight months.
That Christmas he invited some Christians to his home for a fellowship - including some Christian westerners working for aid organizations. Two weeks later he was arrested for this “illegal” activity and accused of holding a political meeting with CIA participation.
He was interrogated for days and beaten severely. When the interrogation proved profitless, he was left in prison for five months chained hand and foot. He lost seventy-five pounds and was very sick but he heard the Lord instruct him to fast and be silent for three days.
The authorities became alarmed at the end of his fast and took him to the hospital thinking he was dying. There he constantly heard the sounds of other people being tortured with electricity and being beaten and kicked. “Even without the beatings it was very hard,” he said, “I had a taste of hell, but God protected me.”
Ung Sophal was successfully treated by a Cuban doctor who was also a Christian (God has his people everywhere). One night when the electricity went out because of a tropical storm, the doctor helped Ung escape. Later he fled with his wife and children to Thailand and spent ten years ministering to other Cambodian exiles - the last five years as a widower.
In 1990, as restrictions against Christianity began to be eased in Cambodia, Ung made his first visit back to his homeland to encourage and teach the church. Word of his return spread quickly and three hundred people came to see him. He is eager for the task ahead. “I want to build my people,” he said. “God has a great work yet to do in Cambodia.”
RESPONSE: Today I will stand strong in Jesus’ strength no matter what Satan throws at me or against me.
PRAYER: Lord, thank You for encouraging testimonies of faithful people like Ung Sophal. Continue to grow Your Church in Cambodia, I pray.
The Daily Readings for May 27, 2016
Proverbs 23:19-24:2
Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way. Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." Do not envy the wicked, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.
1 Timothy 5:17-25
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching; for the scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves to be paid." Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. Do not ordain anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.
Matthew 13:31-35
He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 31 In te, Domine, speravi
1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me; make haste to deliver me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, for you are my tower of strength.
5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O LORD, O God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, and I put my trust in the LORD.
7 I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy; for you have seen my affliction; you know my distress.
8 You have not shut me up in the power of the enemy; you have set my feet in an open place.
9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors, a dismay to those of my acquaintance; when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around; they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O LORD. I have said, "You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, and in your loving-kindness save me."
17 LORD, let me not be ashamed for having called upon you; rather, let the wicked be put to shame; let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be silenced which speak against the righteous, haughtily, disdainfully, and with contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, O LORD! which you have laid up for those who fear you; which you have done in the sight of all for those who put their trust in you.
20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from those who slander them; you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD! for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.
22 Yet I said in my alarm, "I have been cut off from the sight of your eyes." Nevertheless, you heard the sound of my entreaty when I cried out to you.
23 Love the LORD, all you who worship him; the LORD protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 35 Judica, Domine
1 Fight those who fight me, O LORD; attack those who are attacking me.
2 Take up shield and armor and rise up to help me.
3 Draw the sword and bar the way against those who pursue me; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
4 Let those who seek after my life be shamed and humbled; let those who plot my ruin fall back and be dismayed.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the LORD drive them away.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the LORD pursue them.
7 For they have secretly spread a net for me without a cause; without a cause they have dug a pit to take me alive.
8 Let ruin come upon them unawares; let them be caught in the net they hid; let them fall into the pit they dug.
9 Then I will be joyful in the LORD; I will glory in his victory.
10 My very bones will say, "LORD, who is like you? You deliver the poor from those who are too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
11 Malicious witnesses rise up against me; they charge me with matters I know nothing about.
12 They pay me evil in exchange for good; my soul is full of despair.
13 But when they were sick I dressed in sack-cloth and humbled myself by fasting.
14 I prayed with my whole heart, as one would for a friend or a brother; I behaved like one who mourns for his mother, bowed down and grieving.
15 But when I stumbled, they were glad and gathered together; they gathered against me; strangers whom I did not know tore me to pieces and would not stop.
16 They put me to the test and mocked me; they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 O Lord, how long will you look on? rescue me from the roaring beasts, and my life from the young lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great congregation; I will praise you in the mighty throng.
19 Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, nor let those who hate me without a cause wink at each other.
20 For they do not plan for peace, but invent deceitful schemes against the quiet in the land.
21 They opened their mouths at me and said, "Aha! we saw it with our own eyes."
22 You saw it, O LORD; do not be silent; O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Awake, arise, to my cause! to my defense, my God and my Lord!
24 Give me justice, O LORD my God, according to your righteousness; do not let them triumph over me.
25 Do not let them say in their hearts, "Aha! just what we want!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up."
26 Let all who rejoice at my ruin be ashamed and disgraced; let those who boast against me be clothed with dismay and shame.
27 Let those who favor my cause sing out with joy and be glad; let them say always, "Great is the LORD, who desires the prosperity of his servant."
28 And my tongue shall be talking of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way. Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." Do not envy the wicked, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.
1 Timothy 5:17-25
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching; for the scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves to be paid." Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. Do not ordain anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgment, while the sins of others follow them there. So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.
Matthew 13:31-35
He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."
Morning Psalms
Psalm 31 In te, Domine, speravi
1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me; make haste to deliver me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, for you are my tower of strength.
5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O LORD, O God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, and I put my trust in the LORD.
7 I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy; for you have seen my affliction; you know my distress.
8 You have not shut me up in the power of the enemy; you have set my feet in an open place.
9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.
10 For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.
11 I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors, a dismay to those of my acquaintance; when they see me in the street they avoid me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am as useless as a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around; they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.
14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O LORD. I have said, "You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, and in your loving-kindness save me."
17 LORD, let me not be ashamed for having called upon you; rather, let the wicked be put to shame; let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be silenced which speak against the righteous, haughtily, disdainfully, and with contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, O LORD! which you have laid up for those who fear you; which you have done in the sight of all for those who put their trust in you.
20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from those who slander them; you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD! for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a besieged city.
22 Yet I said in my alarm, "I have been cut off from the sight of your eyes." Nevertheless, you heard the sound of my entreaty when I cried out to you.
23 Love the LORD, all you who worship him; the LORD protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 35 Judica, Domine
1 Fight those who fight me, O LORD; attack those who are attacking me.
2 Take up shield and armor and rise up to help me.
3 Draw the sword and bar the way against those who pursue me; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
4 Let those who seek after my life be shamed and humbled; let those who plot my ruin fall back and be dismayed.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the LORD drive them away.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the LORD pursue them.
7 For they have secretly spread a net for me without a cause; without a cause they have dug a pit to take me alive.
8 Let ruin come upon them unawares; let them be caught in the net they hid; let them fall into the pit they dug.
9 Then I will be joyful in the LORD; I will glory in his victory.
10 My very bones will say, "LORD, who is like you? You deliver the poor from those who are too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."
11 Malicious witnesses rise up against me; they charge me with matters I know nothing about.
12 They pay me evil in exchange for good; my soul is full of despair.
13 But when they were sick I dressed in sack-cloth and humbled myself by fasting.
14 I prayed with my whole heart, as one would for a friend or a brother; I behaved like one who mourns for his mother, bowed down and grieving.
15 But when I stumbled, they were glad and gathered together; they gathered against me; strangers whom I did not know tore me to pieces and would not stop.
16 They put me to the test and mocked me; they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 O Lord, how long will you look on? rescue me from the roaring beasts, and my life from the young lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great congregation; I will praise you in the mighty throng.
19 Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, nor let those who hate me without a cause wink at each other.
20 For they do not plan for peace, but invent deceitful schemes against the quiet in the land.
21 They opened their mouths at me and said, "Aha! we saw it with our own eyes."
22 You saw it, O LORD; do not be silent; O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Awake, arise, to my cause! to my defense, my God and my Lord!
24 Give me justice, O LORD my God, according to your righteousness; do not let them triumph over me.
25 Do not let them say in their hearts, "Aha! just what we want!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up."
26 Let all who rejoice at my ruin be ashamed and disgraced; let those who boast against me be clothed with dismay and shame.
27 Let those who favor my cause sing out with joy and be glad; let them say always, "Great is the LORD, who desires the prosperity of his servant."
28 And my tongue shall be talking of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
Forward Day by Day Meditation for Friday, May 27, 2016
Matthew 13:31-32a He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs.”
Shrubs, by and large, are not great. Jesus speaks of the mustard seed, this small thing, which grows into a great…shrub.
I wonder if Jesus is reminding us of the great value of small things. The note you write to a friend you haven’t seen in a while. The food you bring to a family going through some significant life trauma. The strawberries you leave on someone’s front porch.
Small acts of kindness affirm the dignity of those we encounter each day and are great acts of love. Small words we pray in love and charity that focus us on God’s will and not ours are great acts of love. Small moments we share with other pilgrims on this journey of life that affirm and cherish are great acts of love.
The smallest acts done in kindness can grow into the greatest of all love.
Join more than a half million readers worldwide who use Forward Day by Day as a resource for daily prayer and Bible study.
Shrubs, by and large, are not great. Jesus speaks of the mustard seed, this small thing, which grows into a great…shrub.
I wonder if Jesus is reminding us of the great value of small things. The note you write to a friend you haven’t seen in a while. The food you bring to a family going through some significant life trauma. The strawberries you leave on someone’s front porch.
Small acts of kindness affirm the dignity of those we encounter each day and are great acts of love. Small words we pray in love and charity that focus us on God’s will and not ours are great acts of love. Small moments we share with other pilgrims on this journey of life that affirm and cherish are great acts of love.
The smallest acts done in kindness can grow into the greatest of all love.
Join more than a half million readers worldwide who use Forward Day by Day as a resource for daily prayer and Bible study.
Verse of the Day - May 27, 2016
Acts 20:24 (NIV) However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Read all of Acts 20
Read all of Acts 20
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