Monday

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God,

and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart

and with all your soul.”

~Deuteronomy 4:29~

This is the day Caleb Estay will be born in Houston.  Pray for the family.  I  have already assured them of our prayers.  Don’t let them down!

Pray for Mrs. Avis Sullivan as she has a check-up today.  Pray for Margie Williams as she cares for her Momma and waits to hear about Caleb.

Mrs. Faye Price has an infection and pneumonia.  Please pray for her and her family to have a good day as the doctors address her health issues.

Betty Simpson asked for prayer for Mr. Bobby Simpson.  He will be seeing a surgeon on December 7th about a place on his back that has to be removed.

Dr. Earl Council will be undergoing tests in Ruston today.  Pray his problem will be located so doctors can work to return him to good health.

Peoples of Ethiopia

As the sun rises in Ethiopia, thousands of people make their way to church. They worship, sing and hear sermons delivered by priests in an ancient language they do not understand.

The people place their faith in a religion with many roots in the Bible — Christianity and Old Testament traditions. This religion, however, has lost touch with biblical truth through the years.

Many worship saints and demons. They believe there are more than a dozen paths to heaven. They do not have any assurance of salvation and lack understanding of who Jesus Christ is. Most put their trust in Saint Mary.

More than 42 million people in the Horn of Africa claim this religion as “truth.”

Christian workers Renee and Ed (names changed), have dedicated their lives to sharing the Good News with the people of Ethiopia. More than 90 percent are illiterate and unable to read the Bible in their own language.

Pray
Pray for Renee and Ed as they build relationships with them and share that the only way to heaven is through God’s Son, Jesus.

Pray the people Renee and Ed meet in Ethiopia will be open and receptive to the friendship and message of hope they offer.

Pray that more workers will be called to help spread the Gospel message.

GOING AGAINST THE FLOW

The story is told about a woman who called her husband on his car phone as he was on his way home from work and she said, “Honey, you need to be careful.  I just saw on the news that there’s some nut driving the wrong way on the Interstate.”  Her husband said, “There’s not just one nut, there’s hundreds of them!”

Have you ever felt that way?  Have you ever felt like trying to do God’s will makes you go the wrong way down the road?   All the traffic’s coming the other way.  Have you ever thought, “If everybody’s going this way, it’s so hard to go against the flow.  Would God really mind if I just turned around for a little while?”

An article in The London Times a couple of years ago reported that there are currently about 200 million Christians in over 60 countries who are being persecuted for their faith.  Because we have freedom in the United States to worship God, those of us who live here sometimes we forget just how many people in this world live under oppression – by Communist authorities or Muslim authorities, or authorities who simply oppose God and the people who follow God.

And even if you don’t face governmental oppression, there are no doubt many of you who live with oppression – in your home, in your workplace or at your school – oppressed by a family member or boss or teacher who makes it difficult on you as a Christian.  More and more, we all are living in an anti-God culture.  We live in an environment that makes it difficult at times for us to stand up for God.

We must remember the words of Paul:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

No matter which way the crowd around you is flowing, may you have the courage to travel the direction that God would have you to travel.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Many of us will be returning to work after having extra time off.  Pray that we will have a productive day.

Anna Lee