What Is Good

“With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high?  Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves?  Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? 

“Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly WITH your God.” Micah6:6-8

Our relationship with our heavenly Father seems complicated all too often when His desires for our focus is rather simple:  to trust Him to do justice, to love kindness and to be humble as you hold His hand through all the difficulties, sorrow and suffering you experience. 

And this means during the great and comfortable times too, because it is then that we are most vulnerable and forgetful of Who is sovereign and providential in our lives. 

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS?

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.

·        Isaiac of Ambassadors of Christ in the Philippines has asked us to pray to Edna Losbanes.  She is now recovering in hospital after emergency blood transfusions.  She should be released today.  Pray for her husband and the health carers’ skills and compassion and most of all that their financial needs will be met.

·        Deborah’s sister – this is an unspoken request and urgent.

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam have not posted updates but we must not grow weary of praying for her recovery and for Sam’s care and devotion.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

·        Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

Relevance of the Bible Today

“’But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.

“Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labour has born a child.  Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel.

[ … ] “’And he will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.  And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth.  And this one will be our peace.’” Micah 5:2-5a

God’s prophets had to feel discouraged and alone.  They lived in dark times…times that seemed hopeless.  Times when most of those around them did not care a bit about the Lord, His goodness and care for His people.  They purposed to forget about their history.  They instead embraced the ways of the nations they settled into, forgetting what was important in their relationships and life. 

And you wonder if the Bible is relevant! 

When you read it and think about it, what was written in those times seem perfect for what is surrounding us today.  We are in the midst of dark and terrible times that seem to grow darker each day. 

Like children in a pitch-dark room, in the middle of a horrible storm, it is time to take the Lord’s hand and hold it tightly, knowing there is no other hope.

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene 

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS?

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.

·        Isaiac of Ambassadors of Christ in the Philippines has asked us to pray to Edna Losbanes, who suffers with low hemoglobin and high creatinine. She was rushed to the hospital last night for a blood transfusion and will be hospitalised for at least the next three days.  Pray for her husband and the health carers’ skills and compassion and most of all that their financial needs will be met.

·        Deborah’s sister – this is an unspoken request and urgent.

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam have not posted updates but we must not grow weary of praying for her recovery and for Sam’s care and devotion.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

Precious Outcasts and Lame

“’In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will assemble the lame, and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted.  I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever. 

“’And as for you, tower of the flock, ‘hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come – even the former dominion will come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”  Micah 4:6-8

The idea of the remnant plays a prominent part in the divine economy of salvation throughout the Old Testament.  

I remember learning to sew with my Mom and both my Grandmas.  After we would carefully cut out the material for a new garment and gathered up the strangely shaped scraps (which were made into ‘crazy quilts’), there would be a small portion at the end of the cloth that would also be saved. 

This remnant was not enough to make a new garment from, but the material was sort of special because it was too lovely to throw out.  We saved the remnants for the future.

The remnant concept is especially applied to the Israelites who survived so many calamities, wars, pestilence and famine – people whom the Lord in His mercy spared to be His chosen people.  Today, this concept also applies to those who follow Christ and abandon themselves to His perfect plan.  Too precious in His sight to ever be lost…even unto eternity.

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS?

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.

·        Deborah’s sister – this is an unspoken request and urgent.

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam have not posted updates but we must not grow weary of praying for her recovery and for Sam’s care and devotion.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

·        Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

Want a Lifesaver and Life-Changer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkul2HPSDVc

Or search YouTube for:

Billy Graham 2018 - The Speech That Broke The Internet

“And many nations will come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’

“For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. 

“Then they will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war.’” Micah 4:2-3

The world seeks after a self-created peace.  Yet, there is no peace without God.  There is no hope without God, no love, only loneliness, loss, confusion, emptiness. 

The only way to peace is to trust God the Father and abandon striving after quick and easy solutions.  If you do not know how to do this, then be sure to watch the video above.  It is a life saver and a life changer!

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam have not posted updates but we must not grow weary of praying for her recovery and for Sam’s care and devotion.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

·        Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

Raptured Resources Challenge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFu8cjaPmEA

or search YouTube for the original Left Behind Series

“Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; when they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, ‘Peace,’ but against him who puts nothing in their mouths, they declare holy war. 

“Therefore it will be might for you – without vision, and darkness for you – without divination.  The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will become dark over them.  The seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be embarrassed. 

“’Indeed, they will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.  On the other hand I am filled with power – with the Spirit of the Lord – and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin.’” Micah 3:5-8

I hope you all either read the book series or saw the original, Christian produced movie series, “Left Behind”.  One of the most startling scenes was when the main character runs to the church, realising all born again, followers of Jesus Christ have been Raptured, including his beloved wife. 

When he arrives, he stands in the silent and empty church.  He hears weeping and steps closer to the pulpit where he finds the pastor of the church, who realises – who has been left behind and that he has only been paying lip service to the Truth and leading his people astray as well.  And now what will he do.

Today I challenge you to contact the leader of your church.  Call him, write him a letter or send an email to thank him for his courage and faithfulness.  There is no job or role that is more dangerous or difficult than that of a pastor who leads a flock of God’s people. 

Pray for them that they will always focus their lives and lessons to others on God’s Word.  Most of all, pray they have the only saving hope there is because one day the Lord Jesus will Rapture His people away.

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

FOR THOSE IN FULL-TIME SERVICE

·        Peter Frith – Works as part of Anglicare as the sole Christian chaplain at a special hospital.  The work is very lonely and challenging.  Pray for his encouragement, hope and that our loving heavenly Father sends another Christian to work with Peter.

·        St Marks Anglican Church Northbridge - Please pray God opens the hearts and minds of those who visit and for those who worship there regularly, pray their hunger for God’s Word grows.  Pray for strength, wisdom and healing rest, for those who serve there:  Simon Flinders, Pat O'Keeffe, Kathy Notley, Anne Penny and their families.

·        Isaias and Judith of Ambassadors for Christ in Philippines – are busily training up workers in ‘His Philippine harvest fields’.  This ministry gives so much to so many for so little.  To learn more:  http://www.afciworld.org (Look for "Nations" then "Philippines").

·        Doug McIntosh - an invaluable contributor to my love of Bible study has multiple myelomas and has retired from full time ministry.  Please pray for him, his family and the church he has worked so faithfully in, Cornerstone, in Lilburn Georgia.

·        Jenny S – Pray others always sense His grace in her.  Give her wisdom to seek balance, sustained strength, thriving health, protection and always the right handling of God's Word.

·        Audley – please pray for this faithful Bible teacher who has a weekly radio program to spread the Good News in Florida that he would have sustained good health and faithfulness with His Word.  Pray God would continue to soothe his grief, from the loss of his beloved wife.

·        Elaine and Jim -are now establishing a new ministry in Fiji.  Please pray for them as they settle in.  I will keep you updated on their mission there.

·        Jo and Steve - for their loving example of Christian life and devotion.  May their love flourish under His guidance

·        Stu and Jo and children, Laura and Jason – Pray for this devoted-to-the-Lord-Jesus-Christ family who are all involved in full-time ministry in NZ.  Keep them strong, healthy and resolute.

·        Please pray for JB, that our loving Father will constantly and consistently provoke his heart to minister to others.

·        Kevin and Sandy Currell (in Melbourne) need your prayers for their ministries and as they prepare to lead a teaching trip to the Holy Lands in March next year.

• The Catholic Church and the Pope, who need our prayers that he will always put Jesus first in all his life and decisions. 

Weekend Assignment: Trust or Obey?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrSCxfnN2B8

or search YouTube for: 

Chelsea Moon w/ the Franz Brothers - Trust & Obey

“Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds!  When morning comes, they do it, for it is in the power of their hands.  They cover fields and then seize them, and houses, and take them away.  They rob a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. 

“Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity from which you cannot remove your necks; and you will not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time.  On that day they will take up against you a taunt and utter a bitter lamentation and say, ‘We are completely destroyed!’” Micah 2:1=4a

God called out prophets to remind His chosen people that their relationship with Him was not based on selfish desires and self-gratification, but on trust and obedience. 

Choosing to live a life apart from God is making a commitment to sin, disobedience and mistrust.  These lead to judgment and death – here and now and into the future.  God alone shows us the way to eternal peace.  His discipline keeps on the right path.

For your Weekend Assignment consider which you believe is personally easier for you: to trust or to obey?  Then consider how inter-dependent they are.

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS?

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam ahave not posted updates but we must not grow weary of praying for her recovery and for Sam’s care and devotion.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

·        Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

Melting the Mountains

“The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

“’Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, And let the Lord God be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.  For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. 

“’He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.  The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.’” Micah 1:1-4

Reading Scripture reminds us of our Heavenly Father -- Who He is and how irrefutably powerful, wise, true and right He is -- has always been and always will be.  However, the world tries to engage us and distract us from Him and His truth.  It has been happening since a serpent in a faraway garden pointed out the benefits and attractiveness of some specific fruit.

Yet, God’s patience is amazing!  Consider the nations over all this time and how often God has loved, nourished and guided individuals who prefer to go their own way.  In the time of Micah, it was no different.  The messages Micah shared seem meant for today as times grow darker for now. 

Take care with love, especially His!  Your servant and friend in Christ, who still prays for you each morning.  Darlene

PS:  As a regular WeakDay Devotion Prayer Warrior, you may have noticed that I have removed all but the new prayer requests from the web/ blog site.  It was getting very long and some of the requests were personal.  It will only be available through email now, which you can request by sending an email to me at:  darlenerichard@gmail.com

PPS:  My statement of faith is found by clicking the following link, or cut and paste the link into your Web browser:  https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com   If you wish to find the WeakDay Devotion online, just do a Google Search for “WeakDay Devotion”.  (You can read it on your phone that way, too.  Or install the Google Blogger App from the app store.)

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS?

·        Sue Furbee and husband, Sam as she recovers from a special and costly procedure of stem cell infusion (completed Nov/ Dec).  Sam thinks she is talking more fluently now and can turn her head more easily.  For more information and to make a contribution for the high costs of these procedures to their GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/sue-furbee

·        Buddy & Susan – Father, You know their needs as they travel home to the States for their first furlough in over 20 years.  Guard their health and provide travelling mercies and the kindness of Your special angels along their journey.  Bless them with the warmth and welcome that only family and real friends provide!

·        Sergio – lost his job and now looking again.  He has just been diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes.  Was living with his brother, but he has asked him to move out, leaving him homeless.  

·        Claudio – His condition has improved once more as he continues his battle with liver cancer.  Pray for his health carers to be compassionate and wise and for Elea, his wife, that she has the extra strength and hope to hold his hand through this.

·        Toron – finishing his high school studies and needing strength, focus and confidence, especially with maths.

·        USA – that the Lord would demonstrate His power in an unexpected and uniting way during these times of unrest and confusion.  Help hearts settle and rest on You alone.