According to recent news, four out of every ten children in our culture live in homes without their
. Close to half of our children are being raised by single parents or find themselves part of a “blended” family. The so-called nuclear family consisting of two parents and their children is no longer the norm.
Single parents face many challenges. Single parents must accomplish on their own what often is a challenge for two parents. Without a partner, however, they need emotional support. Some single parents find themselves deep in debt and often face financial hardship. Some no longer feel accepted by former friends because their partner is gone.
Today, single parents need the help of the Christian community. In the Old Testament, God made provisions for widows and orphans. James calls us to put our faith into practice by reaching out to them. Had James been writing today, he would have included single parents and their children too. You and I may need to step in and help. Look around in your church for such needs and help. You can help care for young children, accept single-parent families into fellowship groups, and provide financial assistance. In the church, everyone should be accepted and included.
Religion that … [is] pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. (James 1:27).
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, help us as members of your church to reach out to all who stand alone as they raise their children, Father give us all the grace to accept and learn from each other. In Jesus, Amen.
During this pandemic and periods of lockdown, one thing that God has done for us is that He has given us more ministry opportunities. Reaching out to neighbours, friends, and the vulnerable. Millions have started online ministries and businesses. What about you! Don’t just sit there and watch the world go by. God wants to bless you and enlarge your territory. Your territory can be your sphere of influence, or your realm of responsibility or authority.
Are you ready for increase in your life today? You may desire God’s increase, but the Bible says we have not because we ask not. Are you asking for God’s blessing and ministry opportunities? Are you asking Him to enlarge your territory to make things bigger and better for you and your sphere of influence? When you ask God to bless you, your faith is activated, which opens the door for Him to work in your life.
Today, ask for God’s blessing, ask for His discernment and wisdom. Ask Him to make you more effective on your job; ask Him to increase the quality of your life and relationships; ask for more people to love and encourage. Ask Him to enlarge your territory so that you can be a greater blessing to those around you. Why not take one step of faith in prayer, God will open doors that no man can close, and He will pour out abundance in every area of your life! Hallelujah!
“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory…” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, I open my heart to You and ask You to bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory and my sphere of influence. God, I ask You to increase me in every area, and teach me to be faithful to You always, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
I really miss church – the testimonies, spiritual energy, fellowship, praise, singing and those hugs. Scripture commands us to come together with other believers as we see the end and the difficult times approaching, for our own good and protection.
Why you may ask? When we come together, we are strengthened, encouraged and uplifted by each other in a way that cannot happen on any other platform. We are empowered to stay strong in faith day after day. When we are connected to a group of like-minded believers and can feel the pain we are going through, we can hold or lay hands and pray for one another, and help each other through the difficult times.
Today, please make sure that you stay faithful to a good, Bible-based fellowship despite the pandemic. Be consistent to serve in any way you can. Whether you are a greeter, usher or children’s worker, musician or pastor, you play a vital role in the body of Christ. Together we are His hands and feet on the earth in these unprecedented times. As we see loved ones pass away and get gravely ill, let’s encourage ourselves and others by reaching out however we can. We all need each other!
“Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one other, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25, NLT)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for my family of believers. Father, in these tough times show me how to connect and encourage them. Please show me how to serve, help and do my best in a practical and tangible way. God, as I await Your return I want to be more faithful to You and Your body of believers, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
On a daily basis, there are things that come against us and distract us, and attempt to pull us away from Christ. That’s why every day we have to make the choice to follow Him. Sometimes it’s easy to think, “well, I go to church regularly,” or “I read my Bible.” The Christian life isn’t about how we live on the weekends, it’s how we live every single day. Are you spending time with God daily? Are you reaching out and putting others first? Are you sowing seeds to help those in need?
Today, if you know you need to make some adjustments in your daily walk with God, the good news is that you can start right now. Simply turn to Him and make the commitment to follow Him moment by moment. Let Him direct your steps and follow that inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. Make the choice every day to follow God’s will, and watch what He will do on your behalf!
“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for another day to serve and follow You. Father, search my heart and mind right now, and remove anything that would keep me from You. God, make me Your disciple, not just on the weekend but daily. I commit to set my mind on You daily, following Your steps and Your will, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
World Leprosy Day: Gospel for Asia-supported workers’ hands-on care for sufferers brings practical help and spiritual hope to those still marginalized by long-feared disease. WILLS POINT, Texas – Gospel for Asia (GFA) is spotlighting its efforts to bridge the historic social gulf caused by the disfiguring disease that leaves sufferers disadvantaged and often despised–one outstretched arm at a time. As Gospel for Asia-supported workers prepare a series of events offering hands-on care to sufferers across Asia, to mark World Leprosy Day, Sunday, Jan. 27, the organization is also publishing a special report on worldwide efforts to eradicate the disease.
A GFA-supported pastor helps a leprosy patient as part of the Reaching Friends Ministry caring for those afflicted by the stigmatizing disease.
The latest in an in-depth series of GFA reports addressing key global issues, “Leprosy: Misunderstandings and Stigma Keep it Alive” examines how leprosy continues to see those infected shunned despite breakthroughs in treatment, and the fact that most people are naturally immune to the disease.
Though there have been significant medical advances, more than 210,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2016–the majority of them in India. Millions more around the world are suspected to be infected but are not yet symptomatic because the disease’s incubation period is so long.
While doctors and scientists continue to work on prevention and treatment, GFA-supported workers are providing practical and emotional help to those affected. Often losing fingers and toes because leprosy’s nerve damage means they are unaware of infection and injury, many sufferers are left physically unable to work, or as a result of being shunned.
Through associated local churches and members of its Sisters of Compassion ministry, specially trained women missionaries, GFA helps provide practical care, from cooking and cleaning to bathing and dressing wounds. As well as providing physical help, these healing touches also seek to tend to emotional wounds by demonstrating to leprosy sufferers that they have not been rejected.
“When we were completely lost and dejected, Christ came to us and lived among us,” said GFA founder Dr. KP Yohannan.
“By serving these precious people who happen to be afflicted with leprosy, we are not doing anything extraordinary or special. We are simply extending the love that was first given to us.”
GFA’s ministry also endeavors to release patients from the guilt many carry because, the report notes, over the centuries many have believed the disease is the result of some great sin of theirs.
“Eliminating discrimination and false conceptions of leprosy is key to eliminating the disease itself,” the reports adds. All too frequent are “the stories of men and women abandoned by their spouses, in-laws, or even kicked out of their homes by their children.”
The World Leprosy Day outreaches are being arranged in addition to GFA’s ongoing ministry to care for patients. GFA-supported workers have reached thousands of leprosy patients since the Reaching Friends Ministry, as it is called, began in 2007. They visit some of the isolated colonies in which many patients are forced to live, often cut off from the rest of the world.
“We thought we would name the ministry differently, where they won’t have to remember their sickness or feel the stigma of it,” said Tarik, the pastor who helped launched the initiative.
“We thought, ‘Let us call them “friends” because they have been created in the image of God, like us. It is only the sickness that keeps them different, but let us not make that a barrier. Let us accept them as friends.’ “
Among the Sisters of Compassion reaching out is Sakshi, a former leprosy sufferer whose story is shared in the report: at one time she considered suicide because of her despair. Receiving treatment and care, and coming to faith through Reaching Friends Ministry, she now offers help and hope to others.
“Nobody wants to love them, hug them or to come near to them to dress them,” said Sakshi. “They have so many inner pains in their heart, because they also are human beings. They also need love, care and encouragement from other people.”
Observed internationally each year on the last Sunday in January, to raise public awareness of the disease, World Leprosy Day is marked on Jan 30 in India, to commemorate the death of leader Mahatma Gandhi, who championed concern and care for sufferers.
To read more news on World Leprosy Day on Missions Box, go here.
Gospel for Asia (GFA, www.gfa.org) and its worldwide affiliates have–for almost 40 years–provided humanitarian assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially among those who have yet to hear the Good News. Last year, this included more than 70,000 children, free medical services in over 1,200 villages and remote communities, 4,600 wells drilled, 11,000 water filters installed, Christmas gifts for more than 200,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry.
