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KINDLE BOOKS

Recently finished a new Kindle entitled “Genesis & Discrimination”. It is a very powerful collection to challenge your thinking. Also, consider: Secrets of a Deeper Life in Christ , A Missing Psalm, Forgiveness. I hope putting these together in this new format will be a blessing to many more & will help support this ministry.

By Email Too

The WeakDay Devotion originated as encouragement for a dear friend who was having difficulties with her job.

It is especially for my family, firends, business people, students, pastors, teachers and a myriad of pre-, new and long-serving Christians who want more Scripture with their devotion than many of the regular devotionals offer. it is also written to be short so you can get on with your day, but filled with a new idea from God's Word that is practical and applicable. You can also have it sent directly to your email box every day - just send me an email (DarleneRichard@gmail.com) and I will add you to the distribution.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Careful What You Ask For

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNGl8f0Wvp0

Or search YouTube for ‘How should we pray for our leaders?

By Ligonier Ministries (3 mins 27 sec)

[Samuel speaking to Israel] “’When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ although the Lord your God WAS your king. Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold the Lord has set a king over you.

“’If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God.

“’If you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.’” I Samuel 12:12-18

It is easy to forget in daily circumstances that the Lord is always moving in our lives for our good and His glory, even when you wonder if He is paying attention. In I Samuel the people rejected the leadership by the Lord for the leadership of a man and there was a price to pay for this that the people did not anticipate.

When it comes to leaders or managers, all of us have experienced good ones and those we believe could do better. Sometimes we actively voice our opinion and even work against a leader we don’t agree with or like. However, God would have us be thankful for our leaders and pray for them because His hand is mightier than ours and we need to trust more that He knows best.

Take care with love, especially His, Darlene (who still prays for you daily)

PS: Find my statement of faith: https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com (where you will also find a series of beginner Bible studies to share). You can easily find the WeakDay Devotion online by doing a Google search for ‘WeakDay Devotion’. (Also, there is an android ‘Google Blogger’ app you can download to read them on your phone. Not sure about Apple.). For the books, go to Amazon books.

NEW PRAYER REQUESTS (any updates?)

· Yoshimi – has an interview today. Pray she will be calm and confident in her answers.

· Peyton and Carter - Grandchildren of Jeff and Rachael. Payton is their eldest granddaughter and is now in her third year at college. Carter is a senior in high school. Both are exceptional students and love the Lord. Pray they are not distracted by worldly things, that they continue to do well in their studies and that their love of the Lord increases daily.

· Thanksgiving - David – just had his final macular degeneration treatment and double cataract surgery. He is able to see so much better and now awaits some new glasses but is feeling stronger each day. Pray for wisdom for his health carers and for Heidi, his daughter, who cares for him daily, to be strong and healthy through this time.

· Pray for true, Christ-centered revival in America.

· Heidi – recovering from the loss of her Dad. She thanks you for praying. Please pray for her health and joy at her work.

· Thanksgiving - Joni - has just begun chemotherapy and needs your prayers to stay strong and that her health care providers will be wise and gentle with her during this time.

Thanksgiving - Denny is recovering well from his surgery. Please continue to pray for his patience and healing. Pray the Lord encircles Marci, his wife (and my life-long friend) with comfort, health and patience as she supports him.

· Peter and Jill – Peter just went through an attempt to place stents in his arteries and will have to have a new procedure now to finally manage the task. Pray for him, wisdom and skill for his health care providers and for Jill as she supports him during this stressful time.

· Jake - A friend of my brother, living with COPD (emphysema) and heart problems. Please pray for his daughter, Tiffany and for other friends and health carers to help him through his health journey.

· Annette and Lyle – have returned home and need prayer to settle in and begin a new adventure. Thank you for praying for Lyle, his wrist/ arm injury is slowly healing.

· Wayne B – is slowly losing his beloved wife, Lyn, (diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia three and a half years ago). She has been in care since May of 2020 but recently had a succession of falls and is now in a psycho-geriatric facility. She sometimes knows who he is but is no longer able to respond. Pray for comfort for Wayne as he deals with this difficult situation.

· Jen – lost her only sister and still needs your prayers to get through this difficult time and pray her health remains good.

· Demi and John – one evening he went out his backdoor to run an errand and was attacked by someone with a knife who stabbed him several times (one pierced his heart). He has recovered physically, but please pray for him and his wife as they pull their lives together – that they might find the Lord in all the chaos left behind.

· Callilah- a lost child. Pray the Lord captures her heart.

· Megan (for emotional healing) and Scott, her husband (for patience and wisdom) and wisdom for his sister, Clare, as she seeks to support them through troubled times.

· Sarah and Andrew – he left his job and she has gone to work in a new and exciting role. Pray for this precious Christian couple that they focus on family balance to the glory of the Lord.

· Sue and Rob - need prayers for wisdom and resolute spirits as they deal with their adult nephew, Luke. They invited him to stay with them during a difficult time in his life, but he refuses to leave now and is ungrateful and disruptive. Pray for salvation for Luke and that he accepts their request.

· Bettina – continue to pray for her as she grows into a new phase of her life in the Lord. Pray each of her five married daughters, their spouses and 17 grandchildren grow to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

· Robin – lost her beloved mother (was 93 years old), please pray for strength and healing for her as she navigates through this time of mourning and for her daughter who is comforting her.

· Family of Eric – Eric died suddenly at 52 leaving his 47-year-old wife and three girls (ages 16, 19 and 23). Pray the Lord brings strength to them as they regroup into a new life. Pray for trustworthy, honourable, Bible-based friends to continue to support them.

Pray for those in full-time service

Pray the Lord uphold our Christian leaders – that they never compromise God’s Word and remain bold and courageous in the face of evil. Pray for their wisdom, safety, ingenuity, strength and for their families.

Pray for those with ongoing health concerns

Many of us have family, friends and loved ones with fragile health. Pray God takes special care with them and protects them in practical ways and that the Lord will have mercy on them during this challenging time.

Pray for the World

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Background of WeakDay Devotions

Over eleven years ago a dear friend couldn't find a job. She's brilliant, skilled & experienced -- but simply couldn't find a position to suit her. After about eight months of struggling & searching, she was hired to work with the Sydney Olympics but six months later the role turned feral. She was discouraged as she pulled herself into work each morning.

Then it became apparent they were trying to "move" her out. She struggled. At least once a week she would be on the phone to me or be sitting on my balcony talking/crying her heart out. I found myself being a sort of Christian coach/mentor for her.

One morning after my quiet time, something I learned seemed relevent for her, so I shared it with her in an email. She wrote back that it indeed helped. Next morning the same thing happened. Again the Lord used it to encourage & strengthen her. The next morning nothing seemed good to send, but I searched till I found something I hoped would strengthen her. The Lord used it. Each week day morning from then on I would get up early & write her a note of encouragement.

A month went by & another friend sent me an e-mail expressing their own frustration with a work situation. I sent them a copy of the e-mail I'd sent my friend that very morning. They were encouraged & asked me to include them each morning. After a couple of weeks both wrote to me to say they'd been sending the email to others & would I just add theses new names each morning. They also suggested I ask others if they'd like to be included. I did & many asked to receive it. One day, I was asked to do a radio interview with Gordon Moyse ("An Ordinary Christian"). He had heard about the morning "WeakDay Devotions" & wanted his listeners to know more about them.

Almost every week day morning since that first e-mail, I've written a fresh word of encouragement for (by now) an untold number of people around the world. It was originally mostly business oriented, but has grown to be more general in nature with Christian business people knowing it is the little personal details of their walk that need a boost anyway.

Within the distribution list now are Christians or pre-Christians (Catholic & Protestant), some are Jewish, some have not made a decision about what they believe, yet. There are several pastors; a Catholic priest, a Jewish teacher and a Christian Web page creator (and pastor) who distributes select ones to his readership. There’s even a pastor in the USA who uses them as part of his daily radio program.

Many who receive them forward them to others & they ricochet around the world. They're used as morning devotions between friends at work in the USA, Argentina, the Philippines, New Guinea, Hong Kong & places I don't even know about yet.

The Lord is using these meek & meagre "presents to Him" for His own purposes in the lives of others & I'm constantly surprised & humbled at the encouragement I've found in my own personal time with the Lord because of their ministry to me!

If you'd like to have them emailed directly to you each day, just send me an email. I'm open to comments, suggestions & criticisms.

Again, it's almost always only one screen long, so you don't have to take too much time with them, they always come marked "Urgent" so they can be found more quickly. Finally, the distribution list is "blinded" so everyone's privacy is assured (although I pray for everyone I send to & know them all much better now).

Every day is different, some days are very short -- sometimes only one verse or two, but there's always a Bible verse (I always use the New American Standard Bible translation, unless otherwise indicated). There are also times when there is a suggestion for something special as an assignment. I've also written a variety of series, such as: The Ten Commandments, Forgiveness, How to Know God's Will, Fasting, Unmet Needs, etc.

Stay close to His Word.
Your servant and friend in Christ.... Darlene

The First Devotion

"And those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee." Psalm 9:10

From George Muller's Autobiography:

"I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.

"The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of reaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this...that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer."

Have a wonderful day resting in Him....love, your servant and friend in Christ...D

Another style: The Princess & the Pea

[Jesus teaching] "'And why do you look at the spec that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?'" Matthew 7:3

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." James 2:10

"So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!" James 3:5

"Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.'" Matthew 13:31-32

Ever notice how it's the little things that get under your skin and grow out of perspective? Think of the time you spend looking for a misplaced file or phone number. What about when you're late and get a red light or someone pulls out in front of you in traffic. Or how about when you get a paper cut or have a hang nail? How about forgetting someone's birthday or when you lose your glasses or keys? Any of these things can make us "lose our cool". As Christians we must be ever vigilant to how the little things can stumble our walk and witness with Christ.

It reminds me of the fairy tale of the Princess and the Pea (where a prince looked for a gentle and delicate princess to help rule his kingdom. He arranged a test of all the fair maidens. He had a stack of mattresses placed one on top the other and each "princess candidate" was invited to spend the night in the castle. The Prince became discouraged because no one seemed to respond to the test until one morning a lovely woman complained she could not sleep, as the mattress was too lumpy. Unbeknownst to her (and all the other candidates) the Prince had placed a single pea under the bottom mattress. No one else had been sensitive to the little things. Of course they lived happily ever after. In our Christian walk we need to be that sensitive to the little things that stumble us! Take care, your servant and friend in Christ – Darlene

A WeakDay Devotion

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