Puzzle Pieces of Life / Mrs Bre Kidwell

Mrs Bre Kidwell

Shift Nursery Director / Helps Hubby Teach Adult SS Class

Grand View Baptist Church

Beavercreek, OR

Puzzle Pieces of Life

In October of 2008, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I already had a handsome little boy and I was hoping for this baby to be a girl. I found out after a couple months that I was indeed having a girl. I dreamed she would be born perfect, with brown hair and blue eyes.

After nine months of waiting, the day finally arrived; the day my angel would be born. One and one-half hours after I was wheeled into the operating room I had an adorable baby girl. She weighed four pounds, 14 ounces, and was 16-1/2 inches long. “Small, but healthy” is what they told us.

Natalia began having spitting-up difficulties and we struggled for three months to keep her weight increasing. We decided to take her to a children’s hospital to see if the feeding specialist could help her. We checked in and went into our room for the appointment, where four doctors, a calorie specialist, and a medical student met with us. It was a little overwhelming at first listening to all the questions that were being asked, the taking of blood samples and other tests. At the end of the first visit we were told, “We don’t know why she has those problems, but we will try to find out.”

In July of 2010, we took Natalia to the Emergency Room of the Children’s Hospital and learned that she had even more problems. After a set of x-rays, a Lower GI, blood work, and with 3 teams of doctors working with her, they diagnosed her as having a diaghramic hernia. She had emergency surgery an hour and a half later. We stayed at the hospital for ten days. Even though those days, and the many to follow, were difficult ones, we watched God work in ways we would have ever expected. Let me share a few of the blessings He showered on us.

God’s grace is sufficient every day. My faith has grown so much! I believe God does provide miracles. He has shown me that his love for me is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

God has shown me the blessing of having a support group which is made up of my family, my Pastor (Dr. Mike Mutchler), and my church (Grand View Baptist Church).

God has taught me to be more bold in my witness for Him as I have seen the need to be bold in asking for the proper care/treatments for Natalia. A friend of mine wrote an article that was recently published in the Christian Womanhood magazine. During one of Natalia’s hospital stays I took copies of that article to the hospital and God used it, and me, to lead thirty-three precious souls to Him!

Since July of 2010, Natalia has had eight surgeries and has stayed in the hospital for more than 140 days. Using the tool of the Christian Womanhood magazine, I have been able to present the plan of salvation to many people. God has allowed me to lead over 145 souls to Him during that time. Thank you to the Christian Womanhood staff for all your hard work to make the magazine a blessing to me every month and for supplying such a wonderful tool!

I want everyone to know how thankful I am that I have the privilege to serve God, and that He used me and opened doors that I would have never been opened had it not been for Natalia’s health problems.

Every person’s life is a puzzle that God is putting together one piece at a time. Some of the puzzle pieces may be dark ones. Some may be made up of beautiful colors. But all are needed to make a beautiful picture. Natalia’s puzzle is just beginning. I may never know in this life why she has these health struggles, but I know God is creating a beautiful picture out of her life. 

I was recently reading all my notes and little things I have written about Natalia since she was born and I have to say that God has been good in my life. Not a day goes by that I am not on my knees praying to God for his strength and wisdom. Some mornings, with tears streaming down my face, I feel like all I can do is look up to Jesus and thank him for being so good to me! Natalia is not a burden or a stress. She is a blessing from God that He gave to me... Wow! I am privileged to call her "my little angle"! There are mornings when I wake up and walk in her room and wonder what I will find. Will she be sick? Will she be in so much pain so that she does not want to even move? Or, will she be smiling? What a blessing you are to me God! Thank you for letting me brag on you!!!

There is another thing I am sure of. I am 100% sure of the way to Heaven and that I am going there someday when I die. Do you know where you will spend eternity or do you have some doubt? Here is how you can know with 100% certainty where you will spend eternity.

1. Realize you are a sinner. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

2. Realize there is a penalty for sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

3. Realize Christ paid the debt for your sin by dying on the cross.
But commandeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us . Romans 5:8

4. Realize that you need to ask Jesus in your heart so you can have a place in heaven .
For whosoever call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved . Romans 10:13 .
Whosoever means anyone can ask Jesus in their heart. It doesn't matter what you have done in your life Jesus is there to forgive you of all your sin past, present and future sins. If you haven't had the chance ask him today through this prayer.

Dear Jesus
I come to you today to ask you to save me and forgive me of my sins. I right now accept you as my personal Savior thank you for saving me . Amen.
If you asked Jesus in your heart that is such a blessing to me!

My Opportunity is Today / Mrs Anna Cannon

Mrs Anna Cannon

Victory Baptist Church

Roseburg, OR

My Opportunity is Today

Prov. 27:1

Boast not thyself of to morrow;

for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

James 4:14-17

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

This is probably the busiest time of year for me. It is so easy to get caught up in cooking , shopping, decorating, getting the best deals, mailing Christmas cards and on and on.  It is so easy to let time get away from me and before I know it a week has passed and I haven’t spent meaningful time in my Bible, or witnessed to anyone or had a heartfelt conversation with God. It is so sad because this is the time of year we are supposed to express and show our thankfulness. We are celebrating the birth of God’s son, the savior of the world! And yet, we are so busy worrying about tomorrow! Will we get everything done? Will we remember to get that last minute gift? Will the house look just right? So, here are some points that help me make the most of the time I have no matter how busy life gets. Do I do this perfectly? NOT! But, it is a reminder of what is important.

1. I need to do good with the time I have. Eph. 5:15 

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

2. I need to be content with what I have. Heb. 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

3. I need to love wholeheartedly the people I have. Eph. 5:25-33

4.  I need to appreciate the blessings I have

5.  I need to deal with the problems I have

Let’s be good stewards of our time during this Holiday season, and appreciate all God has blessed us with. After all, we are not promised another tomorrow!

BE CONTENT WITH YOUR MAGNOLIA TREE / Mrs Jessica Southards

Mrs Jessica Southards

Associate Pastor's Wife

Bible Baptist Church

Radcliff, KY

BE CONTENT WITH YOUR MAGNOLIA TREE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***When I was first asked to do the devotion for this week, I was going to talk about foster care and adoption and how it’s touched our family. I was going to talk about the great need for good, Christian foster/adopt parents and for church support in the foster/adopt world.  God sent me in a different direction, but I would be happy to talk to anyone about these subjects!***

Fall is here! I love this time of year. The cool crisp air, the smell of wood burning, PUMPKIN SPICE... and, of course, the beautiful, changing leaves. God’s paintbrush in the Fall is just incredible. The street on which we live is surrounded by trees. A few weeks ago they all turned beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow. My neighbor has a huge tree in their front yard that turned several shades of red. It was so gorgeous and I had a serious case of jealousy for that tree. Ha! I would drive by that yard every day and wish that I had that beautiful view from my front window. I had a magnolia tree. I love my magnolia tree, but its leaves didn’t change. It was still green. I would have loved to look out my window and seen a beautiful, red tree. A couple of weeks ago I left my house and, like I always did, I looked over at that beautiful, red tree. Guess what? It’s leaves were gone. They had all fallen to the ground and there it stood, its branches bare, but my tree is still beautiful and green. God spoke to me that morning and reminded me of the principle of contentment. In Hebrews 13:5, the Bible says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as he have:” I think that contentment is something that we all struggle with at some point in our life. Maybe we struggle to be content with the home we have. Maybe someone just got a new car and you’re still driving the same car you’ve had for 10 years. Maybe everyone around you is getting married and you are struggling to be content in your single life. Maybe it seems like all of your friends are pregnant, and your arms ache to hold a child of your own (I know this one all too well). All of these things can cause great heartache. I truly believe that you can go to God about these hurts and ask, even beg, for Him to fulfill our desires. In fact, the Bible says in Philippians 4:6,” but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” God wants us to talk to Him. He wants us to tell him of our desires, but do you notice that he says “with Thanksgiving”? I think thankfulness and contentment go hand in hand. Contentment is so much more easily attained when we realize all that God has done for us and are truly thankful.

Broken Spirit Ingredient in the Recipe of a Merry Heart Medicine / Mrs Angela Forester

Mrs Angela Forester

Youth Pastor's Wife

Twin Cities Baptist Church

Flint, MI

“Broken Spirit Ingredient in the Recipe of a Merry Heart Medicine”

Proverbs 17:22 KJV “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”

   Wow. Just reading that verse, I feel like we can have just that as a devotional...so powerful in and of itself! But...I like to talk, so I’m gonna let God talk through me!
   So we all read this verse...of COURSE as written, as it should be! BUT after that, for this particular verse...what if we were to study sections (a) and (b) switched? We’ll touch on the merry heart...but let’s touch on the “broken spirit” aspect first...we, as woman, are very emotional people...not knocking it! God MADE US that way...He made us so that the hurt of others, it’s the hurt of our own,  often times (our kiddos, church family, physical family, etc.) The Bible even says in Galatians 6:2 that we are to bear one another’s burdens...and boy we better because it’s the law of Christ! Compassion, love, not just sympathizing but adding and embracing empathy with that, as well!
  God says to us in this verse that the merry heart is like the medicine....so how can the broken spirit be an ingredient in that? They are two TOTALLY opposite things! Well, what IS a broken spirit? It’s a circumstance, it’s an issue of the heart; something happened that broke us down (loss of a loved one, discord with fellow brethren in Christ, issue at home, depression, financial heartache, physical ailment, etc.). Something so strong and powerful that literally broke you.
  I have been there, and, as many other people know, as well, it’s a HARD place to get out of. You might think “God can’t use this broken heart/spirit” or “I just keep getting deeper and deeper and I don’t see a way out!”....WAIT! I have a secret for you...ready? —> THIS IS WHERE GOD NEEDS YOU to come back to Him <—
   James 4:6 says “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Broken spirits ARE going to happen! God also says in James 4:9&10, “James 4:9-10 “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” Ladies....it’s BIBLICAL to find yourself with a broken spirit!!!! (Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”) This is the exact place where you are able to HUMBLE YOURSELF before God and he will give you the GRACE you need and lift you up!
   A broken spirit is the trying of your faith (again, in James)...it is working your patience! That circumstance brings you to the honesty and humility you need to seek God! A broken spirit is Biblical, allowing yourself to STAY broken is sin!
   So how in the word is it FIXED?! Well, Psalm 139:23 & 24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: (24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” #1 ingredient: Recognize the broken spirit...remember, God doesn’t despise it! But staying there, He does. #2 ingredient: allow and SEEK God that He might search your heart! But remember Psalm 46:10, seek God, but “Be still and know that I am God.”...you can’t allow Him to speak to you and search you’re heart if you aren’t silent and still to let Him do His work! Be. Still......#3 ingredient: pray as David did (with a meaningful heart!) in Psalm 51:8-12, “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. (9) Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (12) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
   David prayed for the JOY he can only get from God to be restored! But he also prayed for a CLEAN heart (a clean bill of health!!). God is faithful! Always! He’ll pull out the broken spirit and return back the JOY of your Salvation! What a great feeling!! To know that your broken spirit itself isn’t a sin, it’s a place where God can use you, hold you, help you and pull you back up into His work with a ready and willing heart!
   These (3) ingredients...they are the recipe to the merry heart that “doeth good like a medicine”. Take the medicine from God! And get your clean bill of health from Him to return to the joy He gives to His children!

A Merry Heart! / Lauren Becker

Lauren Becker

Special Music / Pianist / Nursery Worker

Lafayette Bible Baptist Church

Wildwood, MO

A Merry Heart!

Today I just wanted to focus on a verse that sometimes I think as Christians too often we overlook. The verse is Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” I believe as Christians we should show others that there is joy in serving the Lord. Being happy in Christ, having a good spirit, and having a smile on our face can be a help to others as well as ourselves. It can show those who are unsaved that true joy and happiness comes from the Lord. It can encourage fellow Christians that may be going through a hard time. It can also help yourself be more encouraged in the Lord and keep a right spirit. A smile can be contagious! You never know who you can help, and you don’t know what people are going through. If you are always walking around with a bad spirit, that does not show a good example for the Lord. You can’t help people with a bad spirit, and it makes it harder for the Lord to work in your life. Let’s just remember to keep a merry heart and try to be an encouragement to others!