O
THE
vercoming
You’re Richer Than You Know
SERIES
‘FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS’
PSALM 103:2.
‘They huddled inside the storm door – two children in ragged oversized coats. “Any
old papers, lady?” I was busy, the lady recounts. I wanted to say no – until I looked
down at their feet. Little sandals sopped with sleet. “Come in and I’ll make you
some hot cocoa.” There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks on the
Thank You Lord for
hearthstone.
everything I have,
‘I served them cocoa with toast and jam to fortify against the chill outside. Then I
for my home, my
went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget. The silence
car, my job and
in the front room struck through me. I looked in. The little girl held the empty cup
possessions. Father
in her hands looking at it. The boy asked, “Lady … are you rich?” I looked at my
I pray today for a
shabby slipcovers. “Am I rich, mercy, no!” The little girl put the cup in its saucer
glimpse of another
– carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was old, with a hunger that
person’s life less
was not of the stomach. ‘Then they left, holding their bundles of paper against
fortunate than mine, the wind. They hadn’t said thank you. They didn’t need to – they had done more
that You might touch than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers, but they matched. Potatoes and
my heart to develop brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job – these things
compassion, that matched, too. I moved the chairs back from the fi re and tidied the living room. The
with my portion, I muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth – I let them be. I want
might bless. Help
them there in case I ever forget again, how rich I really am.’
me give from within
my means, and not
overlook need in
It’s Not About Law - It’s About
others, in
Jesus’ Name.
Relationship
‘NO LONGER UNDER THE … LAW’ GALATIANS 3:25.
Not enough hours in your day? Join the club! Time has become our most precious
commodity and it’s going to the highest bidder! In 1965, experts predicted that
in 20 years we’d be working a 22-hour week and retire by the age of 40 because
Father help me
computers would do most of the work. So here we are in the 21st century;
bring my time with
computers are computing, faxes are faxing, beepers are beeping, but leisure time
You back into the
has shrunk by 37 per cent and the average workweek has increased to 47 hours -
chaos of my life. I
for some of us that would be a short week!
pray that You would
What did the experts overlook? Appetites! The more we have, the more we want, and
invade the storm of
the more we want, the harder we work. So the vicious cycle continues, and the fi rst
my busyness with
casualty is our time with God!
the words ‘Peace be
To build a relationship with God, we must ‘make a little chamber …’
still’. That I would (2 Kings 4:10) where we meet with Him daily. It’s easy to fail at this, especially
be able to say in the if we tell ourselves, ‘I’ll get up at 6 am and pray for an hour,’ but by the third day
coming days, it has we’re exhausted. We’re ‘no longer under the law’! It’s not about the law; it’s about
been so good to a relationship! Daily devotions must be rewarding, otherwise you won’t stick with
spend a special time them. So set a time that works for you.
with my Saviour, Start each day with prayer. Punctuate it with praise: ‘Seven times a day do I praise
my King.
Thee …’ (Psalm 119:164). If you can have coffee breaks, surely you can have time
for ‘praise breaks’! You just have to want to, right?
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