Jesus is My Provider - Saturday - March 6th

Saturday, March 6

Jesus Is My Provider

By Connie Dalziel as told to Kerri Bland

Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days--You would not believe if you were told.

Habakkuk 1:5

Jesus provides me the opportunity and privilege to serve as a missionary. Then, He works to accomplish His amazingly good will. This verse is the promise of provision that Jesus has given me during ministry trips.

I have experienced Jesus’ provision countless other times and ways as well. In December 2009 our family was looking forward to an Iowa trip to be with family and friends for Christmas. However, I was concerned about the gifts that were yet to be purchased and the money needed for travel expenses. The day of our departure Curt and I received $300. I finished the shopping with joy and praised Him for His provision.

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How has Jesus met your material needs? When has He gone before you and provided ministry opportunities?

Jesus, You are Jehovah Jireh. You are my Provider. Thank You for meeting my needs today and going before me to open ministry doors in the future.

Jesus is my Refiner by Denis Bland - Friday - March 5th, 2010

Friday, March 5

Jesus Is My Refiner

By Denis Bland

And He will sit as a … purifier of silver. Malachi 3:3

Chronic pain has been an unexpected companion of mine since the late 90s. Enduring numerous inconclusive medical exams, procedures, and physician indifference, I became increasingly doubtful that the diagnosis I desperately sought would ever be attained. Pinning my hopes on a visit to the Mayo Clinic, my plea for help was rejected twice--the last time in a letter received on Christmas Eve two years ago. Obviously not the gift I had hoped for, it left me feeling helpless.

Sure, Kerri and I, as well as our kids and a number of friends, have faithfully prayed for my healing. It hasn’t happened yet. But God has provided glimpses of hope. Through the assistance of my son-in-law Mike and the internet, I was led to a Minnesota clinic where I received a diagnosis. Although I’ve undergone the prescribed treatment, the pain, though diminished, remains. God only knows when, or if, I’ll ever be healed. But I can see how He’s using this “thorn in the flesh” to mold my character—as I discover His.

Never the most compassionate guy, I’ve become more sensitive to the pain of others and cling to the promise that “blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matt 5:7).

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What tool is God using to refine you?

Jesus, You are my Refiner and Purifier. Help me to trust today that

You are working in love for eternal good.

Jesus is My Hope by Dave Kendall - March 4th - Thursday

Thursday, March 4

Jesus Is My Hope

By Dave Kendall as told to Kerri Bland

Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

For most of my Christian life, I have understood and pursued Jesus in an intellectual way. My faith did not grab my heart. However, during my fifties my relationship with Him became personal.

At the age of 50 I realized something was wrong when I saw blood in the shower. Dr. Chris Hardy met me at the hospital. Even before I was given the diagnosis of colon cancer, I felt a peace, but I was conflicted by the uncertainty of what would happen next.

After surgery and during the course of the cancer treatments, the finiteness of my lifetime became very real to me. The chemotherapy took strength from my body that has never returned. As I recovered, God used a Christian song to impress upon me that He rescues the “black night of the soul.” I experienced His peace and grace in a personal way that I would never have known, if not for my cancer.

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Do you know Jesus as your personal Hope? How will you “cease striving”

today and flee to Him?

Jesus, You are my Hope. Thank You for being a very present help

in my current troubles.

Jesus is My Daystar - Wednesday - March 3rd

Wednesday, March 3

Jesus Is My Daystar

By Pastor Ed Hedding

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19 (KJV)

When I was a Boy Scout, I learned the principles of map reading and I was given a compass. I learned that the compass always points north no matter where you are on planet earth. I learned that if I had a map and a compass, I could pretty much find my way around. The compass always pointed to true north, which then helped me navigate my trails to the destination I was headed.

One of the benefits of being a Christian is that I always have a true north. Jesus, through His Holy Spirit and His Word, daily gets my personal perspective focused from God’s vantage point. I need that. The world is constantly battling my mind to stray away from true north or tells me that south is the direction I should go, when God’s map says otherwise.

Every morning, I try to spend a few minutes with my Daystar allowing Him to point me in the direction of His true north so I won’t get lost on my path. Without that time alone with Him, I can get off the path very quickly. But then I use my compass, the Word of God, to get me back on track.

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Challenge: What do you use to find True North in your life?

Prayer: Lord, may Your Word today be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Help me to walk in the paths that You have established for me. And when I get lost, may I come back to You, the Daystar that is always available to show me the way. In Jesus name, Amen.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd - Tuesday - March 2nd - 2010

Tuesday, March 2 Jesus Is the Good Shepherd By Lynn Headington as told to Kerri Bland Like a shepherd He will tend His flock. In His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom… Isaiah 40:11 In recent months I have been experiencing chronic back pain that is both debilitating and discouraging. There have been times when the physical and emotional burden has been overwhelming. I have known for a long time that Jesus walks with me, but recently I have learned that sometimes He carries me. The poem “Footprints in the Sand” describes my relationship with Jesus during this trial. I have felt Him carrying me during periods of severe back pain. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who carries His hurting sheep. I am thankful. What burden will you ask Jesus to carry for you today? Jesus, You are my Good Shepherd. Thank You that my physical and emotional concerns are not a surprise to You. Please carry me today in those places in my journey where I find it difficult to walk.

Gotta Tell Somebody, Inc. 4350 Tanglewood Road Bettendorf, IA 52722

Jesus is the Word - March 1st - Twila Belk

Monday, March 1

Jesus Is the Word

By Twila Belk

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. John 1:1

I’m a speaker, I write, I direct two writers conferences, and I interact daily with authors and publishing professionals. Every day I hear stories and see proof of how the spoken and written word change lives. And that gets me excited.

Words have power.

When I think about the power of words, I’m reminded that Jesus is the Word. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Bible also tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Here are some of the ways the Word has displayed His power throughout time ---

• He spoke into a dark void and the heavens and earth came into being.
• He spoke to the raging waves and they were stilled.
• He spoke to the dead and they came back to life.
• He spoke three little words on the cross—“It is finished”—and eternal life with the God of the Universe became possible for all mankind.

I’m coming to realize that if He can do all that, maybe He can speak powerfully into my life as well. Maybe He can speak powerfully through me.

May it be so, Lord. May it be so.

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The Word is powerful. The Word is life-changing. The Word is truth. How has the Word impacted you? How has the Word impacted others through you?

Jesus, today You speak to us through the Scriptures and Your Holy Spirit. Help us to receive Your words, to love Your words, to believe Your words, and to live our lives through the power and the truth of who You are—the Word.

The Lord Jesus Christ - Sunday - February 28th - Dan Klopp

Sunday, February 28

The Lord Jesus Christ

By Dan Klopp

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

I call on Jesus as my Lord Jesus Christ because I have encountered the raw and harsh reality that only in Him will I live. I prayed the “sinner’s prayer” at the side of my bed near my parents in the early 1980s. However, it wasn’t until 1995 that Jesus become authentically real and close to me.

In November of 1995, I visited Christian missionaries in the small town of Salmon, Idaho. I traveled there to receive training and discipleship in my deepening faith. As I was somewhat “new” in my renewed relationship with Christ, I found the missionary couple to be somewhat “extreme” in their faith. They prayed constantly and stopped to acknowledge Christ in everything they did. They referred to Christ as Jesus their friend, and harped on me to pray all of the time. They told me to audibly yell out “Jesus” when I did my daily chores. I became annoyed with their frequent praise and joyful worship to Jesus. They seemed to know Jesus as if He was right there with them.

One day we traveled into the mountains to cut down trees for firewood. After a short break for lunch, we piled back into the Ford Explorer to return to the forest. The missionary put the truck in reverse and backed up quickly in an arc to clear the nearby trees. Somehow the truck lost control on a patch of ice and we hurtled backwards toward the edge of the mountainside. Gordon slammed on the breaks, but the wheels locked and we skidded backwards. The back wheels of the truck moved down the last few rocks on the edge. Gordon desperately spun the steering wheel to get traction to the ground, with no results.

We were going backwards over the edge of the cliff! I clung to the headrest. I wanted to jump out of the truck, but the door handle seemed too far away. I knew there wasn’t much time left. The truck slowly edged back over the embankment, and I saw Gordon’s panicked eyes in the rear view mirror. The wheels spun and the entire truck tilted toward the air below. Just then Gordon screamed out at the top of his lungs, “JESUS!”

The truck stopped and the wheels caught. It was as if something had brought it to a halt. We gingerly climbed out, got behind the truck, and attempted to push it onto level ground. My eye caught something near my foot. As I bent to see, I found a small blackberry bush had entangled itself into the trailer hitch of the truck. Jesus had somehow saved us through the use of a small blackberry bush.

Acts 16:31 says that we shall call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved. He really has saved me. I think of Jesus as my life, breath, and reason for living. I’ve realized in my journey that He has truly saved me from the pit of despair, death, and pain. To me, Jesus is my Lord and my Christ. He is the only reason I live. For me, calling upon Jesus as “Lord Jesus Christ” helps me see the massive and all-consuming relationship that I have with Him. It’s a small way that I can verbally describe the all-powerful, all-knowing, and intimate truth that He lives, moves, and reigns in my life.

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Has the Lord Jesus Christ saved you? How have you seen His mighty hand quick to save you in your darkest hour? Take 5 minutes now to recall some moments where you called out to Him. Take a moment to thank Him for saving you.

Lord Jesus Christ, may I always remember Your powerful name.