Round one of the NBA Championships won by the Spurs! Yay!

BEHOLD, HE PRAYETH
Acts 9:11

Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of signs and tears; yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. “Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle,” implies that they are caught as they flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but “prayer is the falling of a tear.” Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah’s court, and are numbered with “the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high.” Think not that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob’s ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. “He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” True. He regards not high looks and lofty words; He cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He listens not to the swell of martial music; He regards not the triumph and pride of man; but whenever there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; He marks it down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom. C.H. Spurgeon

PLEAD HIS OWN PROMISE

Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. (2 Samuel 7:29)

This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us. Anything which the Lord God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

Oh, how sweet to quote what our own God has spoken! How precious to use a “therefore,” which the promise suggests, as David does in this verse!

We do not pray because we doubt but because we believe. To pray unbelievingly is unbecoming in the Lord’s children. No, Lord, we cannot doubt Thee: we are persuaded that every word of Thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation. We come to Thee and say, “Do as Thou hast said.” Bless Thy servant’s house. Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in Thy fear. Lord, give us food and raiment according to Thy Word. Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavors to make known Thy gospel in our neighborhood. Make our servants Thy servants, our children Thy children. Let the blessing flow on to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to Thee. O Lord God, “let the house of thy servant be blessed.” C.H. Spurgeon

THE SAFEST SHELTER

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest. Isaiah 32:2

Who this Man is we all know. Who could He be but the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, the man of sorrows, the Son of Man? What a hiding place He has been to His people! He bears the full force of the wind Himself, and so He shelters those who hide themselves in Him. We have thus escaped the wrath of God, and we shall thus escape the anger of men, the cares of this life, and the dread of death. Why do we stand in the wind when we may so readily and so surely get out of it by hiding behind our Lord? Let us this day run to Him and be at peace.

Often the common wind of trouble rises in its force and becomes a tempest, sweeping everything before it. Things which looked firm and stable rock in the blast, and many and great are the falls among our carnal confidences. Our Lord Jesus, the glorious man, is a covert which is never blown down. In Him we mark the tempest sweeping by, but we ourselves rest in delightful serenity.

This day let us just stow ourselves away in our hiding place and sit and sing under the protection of our Covert. Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus! How we love Thee! Well we may, for Thou art to us a shelter in the time of storm.  C.H. Spurgeon

BEFORE YOU BUILD

‘You must build…according to the pattern I will show you.’ Exodus 29:5 NLT

Go to God for the plan. God told Moses: ‘You must build this tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you.’ God knows what you will need in the future, you don’t. He prepared Noah a hundred years in advance of the flood. He prepared Joseph to feed Egypt seven years in advance of the famine. Without God’s guidance the best you’ll ever have are estimates, educated guesswork and projections. ‘To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.’ (Exodus 24:17-18 NLT) Moses spent over a month waiting in God’s presence for direction. Why? Because what he was building had to meet the needs of God’s people for generations. So go to the place of prayer. Tell those around you, ‘I’m not coming back until I hear from God and get His plan!’ When God orders it, He pays for it. But when He doesn’t give the order, and you decide to do it anyway, you’re on your own! Why? Because you won’t have confidence to go to Him in your time of need. Unless you start right, you won’t finish right. You say, ‘But I’m nobody special. Why would God speak to someone like me?’ If God has called you, and He has, then you’re special. His promise is, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God…and it will be given to him’. James 1:5 NIV  Bill & Debby Gass

A CHANGE ONLY GOD CAN BRING

Saul the Christian-killer became Paul the apostle – who saw that U-turn coming? No one, of course! That is what makes his transformation story so powerful (after the Christians got over their suspicions). It was an “only God…” kind of change. Paul told his own story of what he was like: “I… was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth… I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them… I even hunted them down in foreign cities.” (Acts 26:9-11) Only God could have taken a man whose life was so far gone, and turn him into the kind of evangelist that tries to persuade a king to meet Jesus: “I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may became what I am.” (Acts 26:29)

No one saw Saul’s conversion coming except Jesus. He knew that the ideal man to kindle the flame of the Gospel across Europe was the very same as the one who had been trying to stamp it out. All it took was a radical encounter with Him. Ridiculous – but that’s what happens when an individual really meets Jesus.

So often we lack Heaven’s perspective on our situations. We see problems. God sees the other side of the coin. Bring to God your most challenging problem and ask Him to show you the potential lurking behind it. Rev. T. Satryan

I made this book for my friend, Mona, who lives in Minot, North Dakota.

A few years ago, she and her husband lost their house in the flood. It was totally destroyed. They got

out what they could and had to leave some things behind. Here are a few pages for you to view.

On Thursday, September 5th, my daughter and I took my cat, Princess, to the Vet. I had no idea that this would be our last time together.
I found a large mass (tumor) under her stomach that was really hard. Princess was not one that you went about touching (especially underneath her), so I have no idea how long she had it. Last Sunday night, I noticed that it was red around a certain area and her constant licking there. The Vet said it perhaps was draining. Then I noticed how labored her breathing had become. Actually, I thought her heart was beating too fast, but Eric thought it looked to be her lungs instead. Anju noticed that she had lost weight–and we found out that she lost 5 pounds. She was barely eating and drinking…and hadn’t had a good bowel movement for a few days. Princess was 13 years old. I didn’t want her to be poked with needles and go through various procedures, so I made the decision to put her to sleep. It wasn’t an easy decision. I miss not touching her and loving her. I think our dog, Chloe, misses her too. She looked sad today. They know when something is not right. Princess was the most feisty cat I ever had. Anju surprised me with her one Saturday in 2002. When I was able to touch her more, I would put my face down to hers and tell her that her real mommy (the gal who first had her) really must have loved her otherwise she wouldn’t have named her Princess. She gave her away because she had had a baby and Princess would go berserk when the baby cried. I’m glad she came here. Not too many would put up with a cat like her. She had a good home and did very well. She was the Boss and Chloe and Mocha both knew it. I miss her. I miss her touch. Ohhhhh, would she purr when I was loving her. I would put my head on her and I would hear her. She was a loving cat … You just had to find it.

I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead.