Time Out! Devotions

(from Crosswalk.com)

Seven-year-old Mencia Abreu and her brothers, Alex—age five—and Ricky—age two—slept wherever their parents laid them down. Sometimes on the streets of Queens, New York. Sometimes in a shelter or a grimy room in a cheap hotel. They played in alleys, parking lots, and dark hallways that smelled of stale liquor.

But one day, the Abreu children’s fragile world was shattered when Jose, their dad, was arrested on drug charges. Suddenly they were fatherless as well as homeless.

In jail, Jose was devastated. Overwhelmed by guilt, he had no hope that he could ever make things right again.

Then, in his most desperate moment, Jose met the God of mercy and forgiveness. Jose accepted Christ as his savior.

He grew rapidly in his new faith and eagerly shared it with his wife, Mayra. But Mayra was hopelessly addicted to cocaine and wanted nothing to do with her husband’s Jesus.

But God had other plans.

On Christmas Eve, the Abreus heard a knock on the door. “There was a UPS guy with a big box,” Mayra explains. It said, “from Jose Abreu.” But how could that be? Jose was in jail. Then Mayra remembered Angel Tree.

The kids were ecstatic. There were gifts from Dad!

As Mayra recalls: “I cannot describe to you the joy that my children and I felt when we opened [the presents]. I thanked God right there. I cried, and went on my knees. This is when I knew that God loved me, and I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my life.”

She also prayed that God would free her from her addiction to cocaine. And He did—believe it or not—on the spot.

That story took place 16 years ago. But even more amazing is what happened afterward. Reunited after Jose’s release, Mayra and Jose devoted their lives to serving prisoners and their families through Prison Fellowship and its great program Angel Tree. They even took children of prisoners into their home while their mothers were in prison, adopting numbers of them.

Jose went home to the Lord in 2008, but Mayra continues her work of love.  And it all started with a knock on the door—because someone cared enough to send Christmas gifts, and the Gospel, through Angel Tree.

This year, we need you to be part of the next miracle in someone’s life. We have an extraordinary challenge ahead of us. Churches across the country have committed to reach more than 300,000 prisoners’ kids with gifts and the Gospel this Christmas.

But as of right now, we have 50,000 children signed up for Angel Tree who live in remote areas of the country where there are no churches. And we need your help to reach them.

But you can help. Please go to AngelTree.org. For each donation you make of $35.20, we will send a prisoner’s child a Christmas gift, an age-appropriate book containing the Gospel, and actual greetings from their parent in prison.

When you go to AngelTree.org, you can even specify the age and gender of the child you’d like to reach. And of course, you can reach more than just one child if you are so led. It’s so simple, but so important.

And, like the Abreus, it can even bring a whole family into the kingdom of God.

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

In one of Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman’s meetings, a man stood up and gave his testimony: “For one year I begged the streets as a tramp and one day I tapped a man on the shoulder and said ‘Mister, could you please give me a dime?’ As soon as I saw his face, I realized it was my father. He threw his arms around me and said ‘I have found you. All I have is yours!’ I had stood there begging my father for ten cents while he had been looking for me to give me all he had.”

So often, Christians approach God like a stranger on the street, begging Him just to help them get by. But when we have accepted Christ as our Savior, He is no stranger to us; He is our Father, waiting with open arms, ready to embrace us in love and offer us everything He has.

Do we approach God from a beggar’s perspective or as His cherished child? If we have any difficulty seeing Him as our loving Father, we need to ask Him to help us develop a healthy Father/child relationship.

Luke 15:21-32 (New International Version)

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “

God is still on His throne and man is still on His footstool.

There’s only a knee’s distance in between.

Jim Elliot

(http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/magazine.aspx?id=3602)

(continued from previous post)

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8 – NIV)

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a new sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. And the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He’s crazy about you!

And because He loves you, He wants to hear from you. Prayer allows you to communicate with the heart of a God who loves you so very much. Your voice matters in heaven. God takes you and your concerns seriously. When you enter His presence, He turns to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God. He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home. He listens to the gruff confession of the death-row inmate. When the alcoholic begs for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the businessman steps off the street into the chapel, God listens.

Intently. Carefully.

Not only does God listen, but He has the power to help. I can remember as a youngster knowing some kids whose fathers were quite successful. One was a judge. The other a prominent physician. I attended church with the son of the mayor. In Andrews, Texas, that’s not much to boast about. Nevertheless the kid had clout that most of us didn’t. “My father has an office at the courthouse,” he could claim.

Guess what you can claim? “My Father rules the universe.”

What controls you doesn’t control God. What troubles you doesn’t trouble Him. What fatigues you doesn’t fatigue Him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not, he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.

How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth! “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 – NIV). The God who created the heavens is able to answer your prayers, and His resources are available to help you deal with your problems — even when they are bigger than you are.

How vital it is to pray, armed with the knowledge of God’s power and willingness to help in your time of need!

(from Discovering the Power of Prayer by Max Lucado)

(more to come in the next post!)