Encourage One Another...

[peacechild4]

When God Speaks......The Balm of Gilead​

​

Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?


There is a Balm of Gilead. It has the power to save us from certain death. It can bring hope to the hopeless and healing to that which is incurable. You can even read about it in the encyclopedia, where it is described as a honey-like aromatic resin with medicinal qualities.
So where is this balm, this honey, this healing medicine? For 14 years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I have searched for it, seemingly in vain. My heart echoed the cry of Jeremiah 8:21 & 22 as recorded in The Living Bible:
I weep for the hurt of my people; I stand amazed, silent, dumb with grief. Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why doesn't God do something? Why doesn't He help?
After all these years of searching, I think I finally know the answer.
Genesis 37:25 is the first time the Bible mentions this Balm from Gilead. Joseph, the beloved son of Israel, had been attacked by his brothers and thrown into a well. And they (Joseph's brothers) sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites (descendants of Hagar, Abraham and Sarah's maid; name means God will hear) came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm (salve, medicine) and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Unbelievably, Joseph's brothers went about their business as usual, even with murderous thoughts in their hearts. Ignored by his brothers, God heard Joseph's cries for help. He sent a band of outsiders (how sad that this is often the case) to rescue Joseph from certain death. [For as the Balm passed by, Judah declared to his brothers that it would be better to sell Joseph into slavery than to kill him. Verses 26 & 27.] Thus, the first application of the Balm of Gilead.
The Lord Jesus IS the Balm of Gilead. It was He who passed (whether seen or unseen) with that company that redeemed Joseph from death. But there is more to the meaning of this Balm of Gilead. We already know that Jesus IS the Great Physician, and in Him there is healing for all needs. So then why have so many not recovered? Why do we read in Jeremiah 46:11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. The Living Bible reads, </I>"Though you have used many medicines, there is no healing for you."</I>
Here is the reason why there have been no healing medicines. Here is why our bruise has remained incurable: What was the most precious and powerful of the medicines that the Ishmaelites brought to Egypt? What was that Balm of Gilead that was of such great value?
It was Joseph, Beloved. Joseph [a representative type of the Christ] was the Balm of Gilead. He was the one the Lord would use to save not only the people of Egypt and the surrounding nations, but the very nation of Israel itself. Joseph would later testify to his brothers, But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).
To be the man God could use to save much people alive, Joseph, like the perfumed extract taken from the Gilead tree, would be crushed, squeezed, refined, purified, even pulverized - not by a feelingless, indifferent God. By a God who is wise enough to know that the perfumed ointment cannot flow until the alabaster box is broken.
The illustration the Lord showed me was - and you're not going to believe this - Pesto Sauce! You make Pesto by putting fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, nuts and Parmesan cheese into the food processor and with a sharp, jagged, metal blade pulverize the ingredients until they are a well-formed paste. The results are exquisite. You could take those very same ingredients - the basil, garlic and all the rest - and mix them with pasta, but it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't even be worth eating. All the crushing, breaking, releasing, joining and forming are needed to bring out the full flavor, the full value.
So it is with us.
Beloved, you and I are called to be the Balm of Gilead, to each other; to those who follow after us; to the hurting nations; to those inside the Church and out. But to be of any use, to truly be a balm that can bring healing, we must be taken from one form to another. We must be made into a sweet perfume, a honey-like medicine that can flow out to others.
It is through our suffering, Beloved, that this is accomplished. It is because of what we have endured that we can say, Come, drink of the healing medicines that now flow from my broken places. Come eat of my experiences and find your healing. Through our struggles and our suffering, we are becoming a Balm of Gilead, just as Joseph before us.
Are you wondering why you are not yet healed? Why there seem to be no healing medicines for your situation? Could it be that you too are now being formed into a sweet-smelling salve that will bring healing to many? Could it be that your alabaster box is being broken, so the sweet perfume of healing can one day flow out to others?
Beloved, God has so many people in need, and so few through whom He can bring forth that healing. Why? Because being crushed, squeezed, refined, purified, and even pulverized is not something we embrace. We look for ways out of our tests. We search for means of escape. But what would have happened if Joseph had found escape from his prison? What if he had not been there to save many people alive?
The Lord Jesus could have made a way of escape for Himself from the Cross. He told us there were legions of angels ready to come to His aid. But He did not choose escape. He suffered willingly, that you and I might be spared.
This is the Balm of Gilead - the willingness to allow ourselves to be poured out for the good of others.
What will you do, Beloved? Will you be a Balm of Gilead the Lord can use, even if it means being carried off to a faraway land? Will you allow yourself to be forged in a prison - whatever your prison is - for a greater good than you cannot yet see?
If there is no healing balm in Gilead, as Jeremiah 8:22 suggests, it is only because so few have been willing to answer the call.

Reprinted with permission from When God Speaks Ministry

 

[angelwind]

When God Speaks......The Balm of Gilead​

​

Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?


There is a Balm of Gilead. It has the power to save us from certain death. It can bring hope to the hopeless and healing to that which is incurable. You can even read about it in the encyclopedia, where it is described as a honey-like aromatic resin with medicinal qualities.
So where is this balm, this honey, this healing medicine? For 14 years of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I have searched for it, seemingly in vain. My heart echoed the cry of Jeremiah 8:21 & 22 as recorded in The Living Bible:
I weep for the hurt of my people; I stand amazed, silent, dumb with grief. Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why doesn't God do something? Why doesn't He help?
After all these years of searching, I think I finally know the answer.
Genesis 37:25 is the first time the Bible mentions this Balm from Gilead. Joseph, the beloved son of Israel, had been attacked by his brothers and thrown into a well. And they (Joseph's brothers) sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites (descendants of Hagar, Abraham and Sarah's maid; name means God will hear) came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm (salve, medicine) and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Unbelievably, Joseph's brothers went about their business as usual, even with murderous thoughts in their hearts. Ignored by his brothers, God heard Joseph's cries for help. He sent a band of outsiders (how sad that this is often the case) to rescue Joseph from certain death. [For as the Balm passed by, Judah declared to his brothers that it would be better to sell Joseph into slavery than to kill him. Verses 26 & 27.] Thus, the first application of the Balm of Gilead.
The Lord Jesus IS the Balm of Gilead. It was He who passed (whether seen or unseen) with that company that redeemed Joseph from death. But there is more to the meaning of this Balm of Gilead. We already know that Jesus IS the Great Physician, and in Him there is healing for all needs. So then why have so many not recovered? Why do we read in Jeremiah 46:11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. The Living Bible reads, </I>"Though you have used many medicines, there is no healing for you."</I>
Here is the reason why there have been no healing medicines. Here is why our bruise has remained incurable: What was the most precious and powerful of the medicines that the Ishmaelites brought to Egypt? What was that Balm of Gilead that was of such great value?
It was Joseph, Beloved. Joseph [a representative type of the Christ] was the Balm of Gilead. He was the one the Lord would use to save not only the people of Egypt and the surrounding nations, but the very nation of Israel itself. Joseph would later testify to his brothers, But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).
To be the man God could use to save much people alive, Joseph, like the perfumed extract taken from the Gilead tree, would be crushed, squeezed, refined, purified, even pulverized - not by a feelingless, indifferent God. By a God who is wise enough to know that the perfumed ointment cannot flow until the alabaster box is broken.
The illustration the Lord showed me was - and you're not going to believe this - Pesto Sauce! You make Pesto by putting fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, nuts and Parmesan cheese into the food processor and with a sharp, jagged, metal blade pulverize the ingredients until they are a well-formed paste. The results are exquisite. You could take those very same ingredients - the basil, garlic and all the rest - and mix them with pasta, but it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't even be worth eating. All the crushing, breaking, releasing, joining and forming are needed to bring out the full flavor, the full value.
So it is with us.
Beloved, you and I are called to be the Balm of Gilead, to each other; to those who follow after us; to the hurting nations; to those inside the Church and out. But to be of any use, to truly be a balm that can bring healing, we must be taken from one form to another. We must be made into a sweet perfume, a honey-like medicine that can flow out to others.
It is through our suffering, Beloved, that this is accomplished. It is because of what we have endured that we can say, Come, drink of the healing medicines that now flow from my broken places. Come eat of my experiences and find your healing. Through our struggles and our suffering, we are becoming a Balm of Gilead, just as Joseph before us.
Are you wondering why you are not yet healed? Why there seem to be no healing medicines for your situation? Could it be that you too are now being formed into a sweet-smelling salve that will bring healing to many? Could it be that your alabaster box is being broken, so the sweet perfume of healing can one day flow out to others?
Beloved, God has so many people in need, and so few through whom He can bring forth that healing. Why? Because being crushed, squeezed, refined, purified, and even pulverized is not something we embrace. We look for ways out of our tests. We search for means of escape. But what would have happened if Joseph had found escape from his prison? What if he had not been there to save many people alive?
The Lord Jesus could have made a way of escape for Himself from the Cross. He told us there were legions of angels ready to come to His aid. But He did not choose escape. He suffered willingly, that you and I might be spared.
This is the Balm of Gilead - the willingness to allow ourselves to be poured out for the good of others.
What will you do, Beloved? Will you be a Balm of Gilead the Lord can use, even if it means being carried off to a faraway land? Will you allow yourself to be forged in a prison - whatever your prison is - for a greater good than you cannot yet see?
If there is no healing balm in Gilead, as Jeremiah 8:22 suggests, it is only because so few have been willing to answer the call.

Reprinted with permission from When God Speaks Ministry

You put this up at a very good time for me...

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[whatfor]

Wow this is an incredible thread, it has given me so much.

I have only recently started using the gifts God has given me, and your words have given me so much more confidence.
Thank you.

 

[ChowdersMom]

Wow this is an incredible thread, it has given me so much.

I have only recently started using the gifts God has given me, and your words have given me so much more confidence.
Thank you.

That's wonderful, Whatfor! May you produce much good fruit.

 

[peacechild4]

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:33

This one speaks to me this morning.. it is my favourite verse.. and through the Message it speaks it to my spirit in a whole new light which makes total sense to how I have been feeling lately!!

Let me explain.. my life is very ordinary.. and the Lord was impressing on me that I have been afraid to let go and just be ordinary.. Let go to Him.. If that makes sense.. as if everything will indeed pass me by.. I want to be extra-ordinary for Him.. but I guess the thing is.. if I soak myself in Him.. even while doing the ordinary.. Then He will do all the rest!

 

[ChowdersMom]

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:33

This one speaks to me this morning.. it is my favourite verse.. and through the Message it speaks it to my spirit in a whole new light which makes total sense to how I have been feeling lately!!

Let me explain.. my life is very ordinary.. and the Lord was impressing on me that I have been afraid to let go and just be ordinary.. Let go to Him.. If that makes sense.. as if everything will indeed pass me by.. I want to be extra-ordinary for Him.. but I guess the thing is.. if I soak myself in Him.. even while doing the ordinary.. Then He will do all the rest!

Peace, your life may seem "ordinary" by the world's standards, but to God and the people you minister to, you are quite extraordinary. Nobody can do what He created you for. I think most of us are going to be surprised when we find out how important and extraordinary our divine purpose was while we were here. Here's another Message verse I thought you might like:

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best! (2 Corinthians 4:7, The Message)

 

[peacechild4]

That is fantastic isn't it.. and says it so well!!

You can really tell that the Spirit moved in a great way and helped translate the Message.. Most of the verses I have read.. just hit the spot!!

spirtually terrorized ~ love that for an explanation of the battle we are constantly in..

Amen for getting in on the best!!

You have made me smile I do really like this.. Have a good weekend precious sister through the Lord... ChowdersMom!!

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[peacechild4]

How I love that scripture....Isaiah 53:5...by his stripes we are healed... I believe, I believe that there is nothing that God cannot do... I do believe in healing. Again I will say, as I have mentioned in a previous posting, it is God's will that we be healthy and in good health..
I like the verse that goes along with by his stripes we are healed. thinking of things that are not as if they were and they shall come to pass..Romans 4:17----- Romans 4:17 from the Spirit Filled Life Bible--God who gives life to the dead and call those things which do not exist as though they did..
God does heal instantly, and there are times we have to wait for God's perfect timing.But it will happen.. Habakkak 2:2-4 Wrote the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie, though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry....
Another good verse----Hebrews1:11 NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen....
Faith-----is ths substance of things HOPED for
EVEDENCE---- of things NOT SEEN.
This is a true story, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope it will encourage you in every way....
[SIZE=+0]If there is anything you are going through, I ask the Lord that he will minister to your hearts, and speak to you, and be encouraged for there is hope for you through the precious blood of Jesus Christ..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0].[/SIZE]
Does Jesus ever heal people now--like he did when he was here??

Yes! Indeed He does; and it is always OK to pray and ask Him if He will please make somebody who is sick well again, for it is his will that we be healthy and healed. That means if He sees it is for the best. He always knows best. Even a child can pray like that!

Praying for Daddy ​

The little girl in this story was only three years old when she did this lovely thing I am going to tell you about. What a great deal of good even a tiny three-year-old can do!
Her father is a very important businessman. Not long ago he became very, very ill. He was so sick that two doctors were called in, and the servants in the great big house where he lived were told to go about their work without making the least little bit of noise, so that the master would not be disturbed.
Nobody was allowed in the sickroom except the nurses and the doctors. They were most particular about this. There was to be no troubling of the patient for any reason whatever, they said. If he did not sleep, then there would be no hope of saving his life.
And that was just what the patient could not do. Sleep would not come. Hour after hour he tossed about, restless and irritable, and constantly getting weaker.
As the days passed and he became steadily worse, the doc&shy;tors finally decided that there was nothing more that they could do. It was only a matter of time, they said, and the family had better prepare for the worst.
All this time little Gloria had been filled with curiosity about what was going on in the darkened room. She knew her dear daddy was sick in there, but she couldn't understand why she was not allowed to go in, why she had to be kept so far away from him.
Now and then, when nobody was looking, she would creep along to the door of the sickroom and stand outside listening, as quiet as a little [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] hunting a mouse. There she would stay until the nurse opened the door. Then she would run away so fast that there was no time for the nurse to blame her for being there.
How little Gloria did want to see her daddy! She felt that he needed her, and it made her cross to be told that she mustn't go into his room any more.
Then one afternoon, as she was looking around a corner of the corridor, sadly watching the door of Daddy's room, the nurse came out and walked down to the bathroom. And she left the door open!
Like a streak of lightning Gloria sped around the corner and into the room. She just had to see her daddy, and you couldn't blame her very much, could you? But when she saw her daddy she felt very sad. He looked so pale and tired. "Poor Daddy!" she said, gently touching his hand. "I'm so sorry." And then after a pause, "I love you, Daddy." Daddy turned his head and smiled weakly at her. "I'm glad you came to see me," he whispered, trying to stroke her golden curls. Tears filled Gloria's eyes, and all of a sudden she walked over to the window and looked up into the sky. And there she talked quietly to Jesus, just as though she were talking to a very dear friend. In a moment or two she was back again at Daddy's bedside.
"Daddy," she said very earnestly, with her sweet little face aglow with happiness, "Jesus told me just now that you are going to get better.”
Daddy smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
Just then Gloria heard footsteps. It was the nurse coming back! But Gloria didn't even think of running to hide. It was her turn now.
"Ssssh!" she said, as the nurse came in, an angry frown on her face. "Ssssh! Daddy's asleep. Don't wake him up!" The nurse looked, and to her amazement she saw that Gloria was right. Her patient was asleep at last. The little girl had done more than all the doctors and the nurses together. The poor sick man, whom everybody had given up to die, slept soundly all that night, something he had not done for many weeks. In the morning, when he awoke, he was so much better that the doctors could hardly believe their eyes. And he kept on getting better until soon he was his old self again.
Today he is back at his work, but he never tires of telling the story of how his life was saved, not by the doctors, but by his own little Gloria and the prayer she prayed at the window that afternoon.

This is a true story.........It touched my heart even with tears....

​

 

[ChowdersMom]

That's a beautiful story, Peace. Oh, the faith and love of a child.

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[ChowdersMom]

[Deleted]

 

[peacechild4]

A Christian brother starting sending these links recently to me.. oh but the stories are absolutely amazing!!

This one is about an Indonesian Muslim teenager let down by family, friends and society, became a Christian the night Jesus appeared to her in a vision. That special night was Lailatul Qadar when Muslims individualize their prayers to Allah. From the moment she saw Jesus, His peace filled her heart and stayed with her even as persecution began.

She was later able to go on and forgive her family members... This is a healing you don't want to miss!!

A really beautiful and encouraging video.. goes for 42 minutes.. on You Tube!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g9WuKmL1Hk

 

[ChowdersMom]

Thank you, Peacechild. I've been reading and hearing about how the Lord is showing up in the dreams and visions of countless Muslims these days, although this is the first girl I've heard it about. But Muslim male after male has reported having visions or dreams in which Jesus appears to them and they become Christians because of it. Halleleuia!

 

[peacechild4]

Kathi Pelton: "BECOMING A BRIDGE TO THOSE IN NEED--SHARE ALL YOU HAVE WITH ONE ANOTHER"
By Kathi Pelton : Mar 14, 2007

"We must first learn to love one another face-to-face before we have the authority to stand as communities and nations face-to-face with other cultures and people groups to repair the breach."​

Revisiting Acts...
During this last month, I woke up a number of nights at exactly 2:44 a.m. As this began to happen night-after-night, I realized that the Lord was saying something to me. I began to seek Him regarding this and the Spirit of the Lord led me to the verse in Acts 2:44:
"And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other"
As I read these words, they stirred a great desire in me to be with believers in a more personal way. Recently, I have been experiencing an overwhelming longing to truly share and be in the lives of believers who the Lord has placed in my life, and in the city where I live. A compassion for His people and for the loneliness that many feel today, even within the Churches, has compelled me to spend more time with those around me.
To Know and Be Known...
The words from Acts 2:44 which states that they shared everything with each other, caused me to think beyond the material aspects of selling possessions and sharing wealth (although this is very important). I began to think about how Jesus shared His life and journey with His disciples. God began to talk to me about sharing my life with those around me. Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."
To journey together and share everything is to enter into both the times of rejoicing and the times of mourning with those around us. There is a deep longing in the Body of Christ to be known. I have taken these past few months to really sit and talk to a lot of people around me, and one of the first things that they will express is a deep desire to know the people around them, and to be known. To be known is to be cared for.
Jesus knew His disciples! He ate with them, slept alongside them, journeyed with them, loved them in their times of triumph, and in their times of defeat. He was very personal with them...as He is with us too! Therefore we, too, must be personally interacting with those who are around us.
Acts 2:46-47 states, "They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, praising God. The whole city was favorable to them, and each day God added to them all who were being saved."
Why were so many in the city being saved? Because God's people were acting like Jesus. They were being His hands and feet. They were being personal and sharing life together. They had great joy because they were known in a personal way, not only by God, but by one another. They were being a "city set on a hill," they were "light in the darkness," and they were LOVE to a world that hungered and thirsted to be known and loved.
Fences That Divide...
If we desire to be known in a personal way, then why do we have so much division in the Body of Christ? One reason is offenses. The enemy is very quick to use offense to divide the Body. When someone goes through a difficult time and no one is there to walk with them and mourn with them and sharing love in the midst of their pain, then it is easy for that person to become offended at the entire Body.
Recently, I had a short vision. In this vision I saw wooden fences that were surrounding believers. As I saw this, I heard the words, "O fences be removed!" I realized that the Lord was speaking of "offenses" through this picture. Then in the vision, I saw the fences that surrounded many believers be dismantled. Each piece of wood that had comprised these fences of offense, were laid in front of that person to became a bridge being built over the breaches and division in the Church. As I came out of this short vision, I began to declare over my own life, "O fences be removed!" I asked the Lord to take every plank of offense in my life and to use it as a bridge of restoration and repairing breaches.
"And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell." Isaiah 58:12
I encourage you to read through Isaiah 58. I feel as though this is a key chapter for seeing unity restored to the Body and for bringing in the harvest of those who are ready to come into salvation.
The New Sound...
"It was the sound of true love."
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1
Two years ago, I was a part of a gathering of believers in Edmonton, Alberta, called "Rise Up." During one night of this gathering, hundreds of believers entered into the purest and most beautiful time of worship I have ever experienced. As I was in the midst of this worship service, I was absolutely in awe at the sounds I was hearing. It was the sound of desire from God's people to God, and from God, to His people. It was the sound of true love.
During this time of worship (where no previously known songs were being sung, but only spontaneous songs of desire were being released), one of our team members, Stacey Campbell, quietly moved up onto the stage and released a very tender prophecy about the sounds we were hearing. She began to describe the sounds of the nails being hammered into our Lord's hands and feet and she called it, "The sound of desire."
It is the sound of love that stirs a desire so deep that One would lay down His life for the ones that He loves. John 15:12-13 says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
How is it that hundreds of people that night in worship could release sounds that still impact me two years later? It was because they had come to "know" Jesus in such a personal way that their desire could not be held back. The more they spent time with Him, the more they loved Him, and that night was like a symphony of love. There were no noisy gongs or clanging cymbals, only pure love.
God is calling us to that kind of love for one another. And we grow in love as we spend time together and get to know one another personally. We can't do that with every person in the Body of Christ, but as we do it with a small group (Jesus chose twelve), then we will find that our ability to love will grow into a desire that will overflow everywhere we go with everyone we meet. It will enlarge our hearts and our capacity for love. We will understand how love can lay down its life for a friend.

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters...
God is asking us to tear down the fences of offense and division between believers. Let us use these planks that the enemy has meant for evil and use them to build a bridge over the troubled waters in the Church. Then the Church will be known by her love! Just as the believers in the Book of Acts had favor in their city because of their love for one another, so will the believers in your city.
It is time for us to share everything with one another. It is time for us to share our lives, our time, our compassion, and our love with those around us. It is time to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and mourn with those who are mourning.
If we can do this as individuals, then God will entrust us to do this with cities and nations. We must first learn to love one another face-to-face before we have the authority to stand as communities and nations face-to-face with other cultures and people groups to repair the breach. Maybe if we can do it with one another, our children will begin to do it with nations. Remember, do not despise the day of small beginnings! It is in the small things that we learn to be faithful with the big things.
Today, you can begin to build that bridge over the troubled waters in your Church, in your city, and in your nation. Just begin with the one nearest you!
In Christ's Love,​

Kathi Pelton
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Operation Prayer Watch[/FONT]​