Christian Reflection and Prayer

Shortly before his death, the famous American missionary
doctor, Tom Dooley, returned to the U.S. to raise additional
funds for his hospital in Southeast Asia. As a doctor, he
knew he had terminal cancer and would soon be dead.
However, the big question on his mind was whether, under
the circumstances, he should spend his last days in the
country of his birth or return to his hospital in Southeast
Asia where the people needed him. While he was debating
this in his mind, a telegram arrived from some of the medical
corpsmen he had trained to be his helpers at the hospital.
"We need you here," the message read, and then went on
to say: "While you are gone, we are the fingers of your flesh
to heal the sick. We are your ears to hear their cries of pain.
We are your heart to love them." And that is precisely the
response Jesus asks of us. He sends us into a world and
a community where people need us. Consequently, we
pray to the Lord Jesus: "We are the fingers of your flesh
to heal them, we are your ears to hear their cries of pain,
we are your heart to love them."

 Sunday Sermons Online

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

God celebrates family

What was the most effective discipline you
have experienced?

Scripture:

Now his father, King David, had never disciplined
him at any time, even by asking, "What are you going?"
1 Kings 1:6 NLT

Rebounding skills

Suppose you get home from grocery shopping and
discover your six-year-old is eating candy you didn't buy.
It might be tempting to just scold him, send him to his
room, and let it go at that. After all, it's only worth a dollar,
and you're tired. But you'd miss an opportunity to turn this
"miss" into a second chance.

It would be better to take away any uneaten candy, put
your little shoplifter back in the car, drive to the grocery
store, hunt up the manager, and tell your kid to apologize.
Pay for the candy and deduct it from the child's allowance.
Then, if the culprit is truly sorry, be sure to express your
 forgiveness — and God's forgiveness, too.

You've just boxed out the opposition and put your kid in
position to rightly rebound. Because there will come another
time in that grocery store or when he's passing a coveted
pair of Nikes or — who knows?
Ricky Birdsong in Coaching Your Kids in the Game of Life

The Bible tells us that parents have the primary
responsibility for the spiritual development of our children.
And nowhere is the job given only to mothers and
grandmothers. As Moses told the people of Israel, "Repeat
[the command of God] again and again to your children"
(Deut. 6:7). Why not begin today?

adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with
devotionals by the editors of Men of Integrity magazine
(Christianity Today, Intl), Tyndale House Publishers (2002),
p 391

It is easier to build boys than to mend men.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN