Tag: Healing

In Memoriam – Victims in the Oakland Fire

My note: Because we live in the area, I think this nightmare has affected us more than maybe some of you. Nonetheless, I am sure as you read this memoriam, and look at these beautiful faces, you will be unable to not feel it personally.

These victims were going to, or teaching in, schools in the Oakland Area, as I understand it. One of the victims was a student of Professor Chris Johnson at California College of the Arts. (My daughter graduated from CCA, and Professor Johnson has had a major influence in her life, and ours.)

Tragedy occurs when one least expects it. I imagine these victims were either living in this warehouse, or attending the party. I can envision them…artists, musicians, students, and educators–immersed in their life’s dream, creativity running rampant, determined to pass on the gifts they had been given by sharing their unique ability to see the world just a little differently than most.

Our hearts are aching for the losses their families and friends are feeling. Our prayers are covering all of them.

Let us remember these people–their names, their faces. We will keep them in our hearts forever.

 

Oakland Fire Victims

  • askew
    CASH ASKEW
  • emb
    EM B
  • bernbaum
    JONATHAN BERNBAUM
  • barrettclark
    BARRETT CLARK
  • cline
    DAVID CLINE
  • danemayer
    MICAH DANEMAYER
  • dixon
    BILLY DIXON
  • dolan
    CHELSEA DOLAN
  • ghassan
    ALEX GHASSAN
  • gomez-hall
    NICK GOMEZ-HALL
  • gregory
    MICHELA GREGORY
  • hoda
    SARA HODA
  • hough
    TRAVIS HOUGH
  • igaz
    JOHNNY IGAZ
  • jo
    ARA JO
  • kellogg
    DONNA KELLOGG
  • kershaw.jpg
    AMANDA KERSHAW
  • lapine
    EDMOND LAPINE
  • madden
    GRIFFIN MADDEN
  • matlock
    JOSEPH MATLOCK
  • mccarty
    JASON MCCARTY
  • mcgill
    DRAVEN MCGILL
  • mendiola
    JENNIFER MENDIOLA
  • morris
    JENNIFER MORRIS
  • pines
    FERAL PINES
  • plotkin
    VANESSA PLOTKIN
  • Wolfgang Renner
    WOLFGANG RENNER
  • ruax
    HANNA RUAX
  • runnels
    BENJAMIN RUNNELS
  • siegrist
    NICOLE SIEGRIST
  • sylvan
    MICHELE SYLVAN
  • tanouye
    JENNIFER KIYOMI TANOUYE
  • vega.jpg
    ALEX VEGA
  • wadsworth
    PETER WADSWORTH
  • walrath
    NICK WALRATH
  • wittenauer
    BRANDON “CHASE” WITTENAUER

Reporters

Kurtis Alexander • Cynthia Dizikes • David Downs • Peter Hartlaub • Vivian Ho • Lizzie Johnson • Jenna Lyons •John McMurtrie • Sarah Ravani • Steve Rubenstein • Jill Tucker • Aidin Vaziri • Kimberly Veklerov • Sam Whiting

Editors

Demian Bulwa • Mariecar Mendoza

Interactive producer

Kimberly Chu

 

Overcoming discouragement brings great blessing

 Are you a “big picture” person?

(My Note: Considering the previous message on the site today, I think this one was also “right on” and meant for me to contemplate today.  Funny how that happens, huh?)

Who but God goes up to the heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fist? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name — and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!

Proverbs 30:4 NLT

Impressive panorama

When people understand events clearly, we often say that they “see the big picture.” This passage in Proverbs makes the point that the clearest view of the “big picture” will always include God. The sequence of rhetorical questions helps us consider the awesome identity and capacity of God. Much like the litany of questions that God showered on Job (Job 38:1-41:34), these push us toward humble and silent worship.

Agur was feeling overwhelmed (30:1), insignificant (30:2), and limited (30:3). But when he turned away from his smallness to contemplate God’s greatness, an atmosphere of confidence filled the rest of the chapter. He began with a little picture, no bigger than himself, but he soon looked at the big picture and forgot that he was weary and worn out. God gave him a new and refreshing point of view.

WISE WAYS  One of the best remedies for a weary and tired spirit is to contemplate the majesty and greatness of God. How have you found that to be true?

Dear Lord, when I look at all you have made, I know it makes me feel smaller, but it also fills me with wonder over how great you are! I worship you.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Proverbs by Neil S. Wilson, Tyndale House Publishers (2002), entry for January 30.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

This message makes me stop and think.

Do I really love my enemies?And better yet, who are my enemies? Do I really have any?

First of all, we are so blessed that we do not have to endure the kind of persecution referred to in this story. But if we did, what would be our attitude? our response?

On a routine day, how do we respond to our neighbors when they do something that displeases us?

Do we vent to them?

Take it out on them?

Are we passive aggressive?

Do we fuss and fume about it in our homes?

Do we love, instead?

Food for thought!

~ Sharon

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… Matthew 5:44

Perhaps the most difficult of Jesus’ commands is to love even our enemies. A true Christian always seeks another person’s highest good—even when mistreated. Brother Andrew says “The Christian’s only method of destroying his enemies is to ‘love’ them into being his friends.”

Romanian pastor, Dr. Paul Negrut, was visiting an old friend in Romania named Trian Dors in his humble home. As Paul entered, he realized that Trian was bleeding from open wounds. He asked, “What happened?”

Trian replied, “The secret police just left my home. They came and confiscated my manuscripts. Then they beat me.”

Pastor Paul says, “I began to complain about the heavy tactics of the secret police. But Trian stopped me saying, ‘Brother Paul, it is so sweet to suffer for Jesus. God didn’t bring us together tonight to complain but to praise him. Let’s kneel down and pray.”

“He knelt and began praying for the secret police. He asked God to bless them and save them. He told God how much he loved them. He said, ‘God, if they will come back in the next few days, I pray that you will prepare me to minister to them.’” Paul continued, “By this time I was ashamed. I thought I had been living the most difficult life in Romania for the Lord. And I was bitter about that.”

Trian Dors then shared with Paul how the secret police had been coming to his home regularly for several years. They beat him twice every week. They confiscated all his papers. After the beating he would talk to the officer in charge. Trian would look into his eyes and say, “Mister, I love you. And I want you to know that if our next meeting is before the judgement throne of God, you will not go to hell because I hate you but because you rejected love.” Trian would repeat these words after every beating.

Years later that officer came alone to his home one night. Trian prepared himself for another beating. But the officer spoke kindly and said, “Mr. Dors, the next time we meet will be before the judgement throne of God. I came tonight to apologize for what I did to you and to tell you that your love moved my heart. I have asked Christ to save me. But two days ago the doctor discovered that I have a very severe case of cancer and I have only a few weeks to live before I go to be with God. I came tonight to tell you that we will be together on the other side.”

RESPONSE: Today I will destroy my enemies only with love.

PRAYER: God give me Your kind of love for my enemies—so they too will love You.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS)
A daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks

© 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission

Related articles

Thou SHALT love . . .

. . . Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. . . .

Thou shalt love thy neighbor . . .
–Matthew 22:37–39

Here is the answer to the world’s problems today—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” “Thou shalt love thy fellowman.” That teaching is not out-of-date; it is absolutely relevant today. It is the only way in which the problems of the world today can be solved, whether the problems are those of individuals or of nations. If we love God with all our heart, we will have a capacity to love our neighbors. True love will find an outlet in service—not merely in singing hymns, attending church, or even in praying—but in trying our utmost to prove our love, by obeying the will of our heavenly Father.

Prayer for the day

True love demands everything I have. Take all the hidden things in my life that keep me from loving You and my neighbor as I should. Let me obey Your will unequivocally, dear Lord.

Prayer Request for me

Just wanted to ask for prayer for tomorrow morning.

I am having hiatal hernia surgery at 10:30 in San Francisco. I’ve had this hernia for over 10 years, but recently it became very enlarged, about 1/3 of my stomach is protruding through the wall of the diaphragm.

Everything should be fine, but surgery always brings a sense of anxiety for me.

I appreciate the support of our friends here on sharin’ His love.

Much love and blessings to all, and meanwhile I’ll be:

Day 83: Being a Warrior « ASPIRE. MOTIVATE. SUCCEED.

Day 83: Being a Warrior « ASPIRE. MOTIVATE. SUCCEED..

Wonderful message of encouragement. There are many out in the world who go through these feelings of depression. God sees us all, and knows what we need. The main thing we need is to “Not Give Up”. He knows how much we can bear. May we who are honored to follow Jesus, live our lives in service to others. We never know who needs the arms of Jesus through our human arms.

Rainy Day People: Counseling Others in the Storm | BROKEN BELIEVERS

Rainy Day People: Counseling Others in the Storm | BROKEN BELIEVERS.

Thank you, Bryan. I really appreciated this message. You’re right. Those who do not suffer from depression or a mental disorder, don’t understand. No offense to them. It’s just not possible. They can sympathize, but can’t empathize. My husband and I are both bipolar, borderline personality, and PTSD, to name a few of our disorders. Even though we empathize with each other, so many times we have to pray, hold each other, and let the crisis pass. Lately, I’ve been extremely depressed, and for no apparent reasons. It’s rough. It is a little corner of hell, or maybe a big corner sometimes. I know it’s horrible, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. It’s especially hard when you know that you have absolutely everything in the world, and with God, that a person could ever hope for, and yet, the depression is there, eating your guts out. Thanks for sharing your heart and encouraging others to express and share from theirs.

Prayer Request

I am going through so much pain from surgeries and physical therapy from shoulder, carpal tunnel, and torn wrist cartilage, that it is excruciating to sit at the computer to post messages lately. Unfortunately, I can’t take any type of pain meds like aspirin or even Tylenol because of the many side effects.

Please pray that this will pass quickly so that I can again be able to use the computer to share the messages God puts on my heart. Again, mostly messages that others have so graciously shared, but still amazing encouragement and inspiration that helps us through our day.

Thank you so much for including me in your daily prayers.

Blessings to all of you.

Sharon

Daily Promises – August 20 – In time, God will heal our wounds

Job 5:17-18 KJV

17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up:
he woundeth, and his hands make whole.


Promise #232: Do not despise My discipline, for in time I will heal your wounds.

You may be reading today’s promise and wonder why I would have ever chosen a Bible passage about discipline and wounding to be part of 365 Promises. We don’t hear too many sermons preached about the discipline of the Lord and if we do, they may be skewed from the perspective of the punishment from an angry God.

When many of us think of the word ‘discipline’, we think of our own life experiences with our parents, teachers, authority figures, etc. This does not usually bring up warm feelings of love and tenderness but feelings of guilt, shame and pain. In Hebrews 12:4-11, the writer encourages us not to despise the Lord’s discipline for God is treating us like His sons. God does not discipline us in anger but in absolute unconditional love.

Every son (or daughter) receives discipline. Receiving discipline is part of the evidence that we do indeed belong to God. The root word of discipline is disciple, which at its heart, is training. God is training us to become like Jesus and walk in His ways. In this Hebrews passage, the writer does acknowledge that no discipline is pleasant at the time, but it results in a harvest of righteousness.

In today’s promise, we have an assurance that though we may be enduring hardship now, there is a promise of healing for all our wounds to come. My prayer is that we would not see God’s discipline through the lens of how we were disciplined by authority figures in our lives. I pray that we would actually value the loving discipline from God and gladly submit to the Father of our spirits so that we can live a full life. (Hebrews 12:9)

~ Barry Adams
Photo by Steve Taylor

 

Daily Promises – August 13 – Forgiveness and healing are among God’s many benefits

Psalm 103:2-3 KJV

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;


Promise #225: Forgiveness and healing are among My many benefits.

When a person is interviewing for a new job, one of the questions that they would typically ask is “Could you tell me about the benefit package for this job?” Different jobs have different benefits. Health care, dental plans, retirement plans, etc. In this promise, David is worshipping God and reminding himself not to forget all of the many benefits that come as part of the package when we are in relationship with God. In verse 3, David declares two of these benefits… Forgiveness and healing.

It is interesting that David needs to remind himself not to forget all God’s benefits. The Lord exhorted the Israelites to not forget all the miraculous things that He had done for them in the past. That is why they created monuments of His goodness and annual feasts… so they would remember and not forget.

In Luke 22:14-20, Jesus shares the passover supper with His disciples and encourages them to remember Him every time they partook of the bread and the wine. It was important to Jesus that His disciples didn’t forget the price that He was going to pay for their complete salvation.  For it is in the remembering of Jesus death, burial and resurrection, that we continue to partake of the fullness of His life. My encouragement to you today is to bless the Lord with all your soul and don’t forget all His many benefits!

~ Barry Adams

Daily Promises – July 24

Hebrews 4:9-10 KJV
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Promise: If you enter into My rest, you will find rest from all your striving.
One thing that marks the orphan world system that we live in is the absense of the ability to rest. Busy, busy, busy. There is so much to do and too little time to do it. Rushing from work to home, rushing from home to work. Rushing to do the groceries, driving the kids to sports, going to church, etc. Throw in the thousands of media messages that we all get bombarded with every day. Busy, busy, busy.

It is exhausting just thinking about it. God is calling each one of us into a deep Sabbath rest in the very core of our being. While on the outside this might appear like pure inactivity and therefore unproductive, I believe the very opposite is true. When we allow ourselves to come into a place in our hearts where we cease from our own works, we are demonstrating in a very practical way that we are relying on God to work on our behalf.

This very real form of trust moves the heart of our heavenly Dad in a way that nothing else can. As long as we try to do all the work ourselves, carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, we will be trying to do the work in our own strength. When we come to a place where we can slow down in our hearts and quiet the busyness that resides in the depths of our soul, we will find the Prince of Peace waiting for us to join Him.

Sure work needs to get done, groceries need to get bought, kids need to be driven to their various activities. But I believe it is our Papa’s heart that we enter into a deep Sabbath rest in our hearts where we cease from our own striving and join Him in His rest. May God give each one of us wisdom today to show us how we can labor to enter into that place of rest.
Photo by Steve Taylor

Daily Promises – July 21

 

Jeremiah 30:17 KJV
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds,
saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying,
This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

Promise: I will restore your health and heal all your hurts.
In this fallen orphan world that we live in, sickness is part of every day life. We all know someone who is struggling with some form of infirmity, or we ourselves may be struggling. When Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, He said for us to ask our Father to bring His kingdom to this world. Since there is no sickness in heaven, we can receive comfort in knowing that healing is part of the good news of the gospel.

In today’s promise, God promises to restore health to our bodies and to bring healing to all our wounds. How the fulfillment of that promise applies to us personally is as unique as each one of us is different. God’s ways are not our ways and the fulfillment of this promise is tailored uniquely to our own circumstance.

Personally, I have suffered partial deafness as a result of a childhood ear infection. I can’t count the number of times that I have received prayer for healing. While the healing has not yet manifested itself, I still hold on to the promise that God is faithful and healing is part of the New Covenant bought and paid for by Jesus Christ.

Though there are times when I feel disappointment for not yet receiving my healing, I continue to open up my heart for more prayer. Sometimes that feeling of disappointment can open the door to disillusionment about healing. It is times like this that I need healing of the wounds of my soul. In Jeremiah 30:17, God promises to bring health to our bodies and healing to all the wounds we suffer in our heart.  I pray that whatever your circumstance is today, that faith would rise up in your heart and you would believe God for the healing you need for both your body and your soul.
Photo by Barry Adams