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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.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Seeing the Stain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY--kGNW7e8

YouTube – Is there a biblical list of sins?

By: GotQuestions.org (4 min 49 sec)

“And Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he replied, ‘Say it, Teacher.’ ‘A money lender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?’

“Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And He said to him, ‘You have judged correctly.’ Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

“’You gave Me no kiss but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet, you did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason, I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’” Luke 7:40-47

· Promise – God always forgives us when we admit our sin.

· Condition – We must personally and individually recognise that we are helpless when we want to resist sin – only Jesus was able to.

Here is a quote that may help explain that each of us must personally realise and admit to God that we have sinned against His rules and we do so daily:

“There is no answer to the sin problem of mankind, for the difference between a good man and a bad man is considered to be only relative. According to the Bible, there is no one who is good enough on his own to make it to heaven. This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross, to solve the problem of sin.”[1]

It is not about ‘living a good life’ or doing more good than bad -- even one sin is enough to keep us from eternal life. There is nothing we can do to erase the stain of sin of our willful choices. Also see: Romans 3:10-23, Ephesians 2:8-9.

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

PSS: Find my statement of faith: https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com (where you will also find a series of beginner Bible studies to share). 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. For prayer requests and updates email me: darlenerichard@gmail.com

Please update your PRAYER REQUESTS

· URGENT ISRAEL– 100+ days have passed of this horrible and unwanted war. Pray the Israeli forces locate and save the remaining hostages. Pray for the wisdom and safety of the Israeli soldiers, for those who have lost loved ones and for those moving through enemy territory as they risk their lives to restore peace and purify the land of all terrorists. Pray also for the Palestinian people – many are helpless captives of war.

· Barbara – the beloved wife of my brother, Tim (who passed away the end of January 2023). As one of God’s faithful widows, pray God protects her at all times, especially at night. Pray He guards the structure and integrity of the house. Pray He places willing people in her path to help her as she faces a life without Tim.

· Yoshimi – has started to attend church and read her Bible. Pray she grows into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

· Lindsey - the youngest daughter (now all grown up) of my dearest friends, Annette and Lyle. Lindsey needs your prayers for healing and strengthening. Pray for her patience and the wisdom of her health care providers.

· Jeff and Rachael’s family: - Peyton, granddaughter, graduated from college Dec 2023. Carter, grandson, is doing great in his first year in college now. Both are exceptional students and love the Lord. Pray they are not distracted by worldly things, that the Lord watches over and protects them, that they continue to do well as their lives develop under God’s loving hand and that their love of God’s Word increases daily.

· Patti and John – pray God continues to inspire them with His love and compassion and that He will guard their health. Pray also for travelling mercies as Patti is now the only one who drives. (Joshuah 1:6-9).

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

· Bettina – is preparing to retire after a lifetime of service to her company. Pray each of her five married daughters, spouses and 18 grandchildren support her as she enters this new phase of her life and they all continue to grow in their love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

· Ian – continue to pray that his desire to grow his understanding and effectiveness with personal evangelism is fulfilled.

· Elina – needs God’s wisdom and the courage of her convictions and resolve to live a life that is Christ-honouring for herself and her young son, Jimmy.

· 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.

· Christine – give her strength as she journeys to heart-healing and pray her husband gives his life to the Lord.

· Robin – continue to pray for her strength and healing as she continues her journey after the loss her beloved mother (was 93 years old) and pray for the strength of her daughter who is comforting her.

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

Pray for those in full-time service

Pray the Lord upholds 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 Especially for Salvation for:

· Louisville family of Jeff and Rachael – that a desire grows in their heart for a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

· R & B – exploring the Truth for themselves. Please place true believers in their paths to disciple them.

· Becky – still in rehab for spinal surgery. Pray for her patience and for her health care providers to be wise and compassionate, that her family rallies around her to care for her and, most of all, that she finds the Lord in all this.

· Fred and Barb – brother of Patti -- for salvation.

· Bryan and Julie (Patti’s daughter) Pray for the salvation of at least one of the family and that the others will follow shortly thereafter. They are parents of Callilah, Adrian, Micah, Kevin and Nate -- lost, damaged and troubled children – all of whom we have prayed for over the years.

· Sophie– six-year-old daughter of a friend is chronically ill and frail. Please pray for her, her parents and health carers to find ways to manage her symptoms and heal her and that this will lead them all to God’s saving grace.

· Paul – please pray for him. He still has not found a job or work after more than ten years. Please pray the Lord provides needed work so he can begin to heal and strengthen.

· Peggy – a dear friend and colleague of my sister-in-law who has been battling cancer in her neck for years. Her new oncologist has started a combination of chemo and radiation that seems to be working, but she is miserable. Please pray for her as she waits for her body to heal and strengthen and that she finds salvation.

· Sue and Rob – opened their home to support Luke who is angry and lost. He has been there a long time now and refuses to move out. Please pray the Lord saves all three and that Luke realises he must take responsibility for his own life. Pray for continued patience and compassion of Sue and Rob.

· Demi and John – one evening John went out their 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 pray for him and his wife as they pull their lives together – that they might find the Lord in all the chaos left behind.

· Jen N – a Jewish woman I’ve met at work, please pray for her that she will find a new role and that she stays safe and healthy. Please pray for her and her two boys (ages 16 and 17).

· Don Yockey- has lost his fight with cancer. Please pray the Lord uses this time to open the family’s hearts to His love and salvation.

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.

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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