Daily Treasure

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you…”  (James 4:8a).

We learned yesterday that having a successful relationship means giving all to make it work.  To further emphasize yesterday and today’s verses, our study writer lists the similarities of the two relationships we have been comparing in our Bible study.  She states, “As in marriage, the glue of our spiritual union involves communication, commitment, faith, and giving 100%.”

Some of us may blush when we use the word “intimacy.”  Search a dictionary and you’ll probably find this definition:“an association, knowledge, or understanding arising from close personal connection or familiar experience.”  Most of us have no problem understanding how that applies to marriage.  But to have that deep personal connection with our Savior, we must spend time with Him.  We must dialogue.  This can only happen when we spend time each day in His Word and on our knees in prayer.  Oh, that we would “draw nigh to God,” knowing He’s anxious to draw nigh to us.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for students graduating this month from the Gwen Hendrix Hispanic Bible Institute in Inman, SC. Pray also for continued support and the success of this ministry.

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3).

“Selfish ambition or vain conceit are mortal enemies of unity and harmony in the church,”  one Bible commentator writes. The same applies to a marriage.  There is no room in any relationship for pride and conceit.  There needs to be a self-sacrificing humility and love for others.

We’ve all heard this phrase in some form, “Marriage is a 50/50 proposition.”  Yes, there must be give and take.  However, a couple must each give 100 per cent to make the marriage successful.

We must be equally diligent with our relationship with God.  It cannot be God doing all the giving and we do all the taking.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Continue to keep in contact and pray for retiring home and international missionaries. They need your support during this transition as much as or more now than ever.

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

“Stick like glue.” That’s how our TWG study writer defines “cleave.”   Another descriptive word for cleave could be “bond.”  Whatever the relationship, becoming one in Christ or having an intimate relationship with God, hold on tight so nothing can sever either or both relationships.

Our verse speaks of a marital relationship. As you pour yourself into the life of your spouse you will become as “one flesh.”   From a spiritual perspective, we should empty out anything that could keep us from having an intimate relationship with God. We need a desire to draw so close to God we can almost hear His heart beat.  We must make our special bonds “stick like glue.”

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for YWAC (Young Women Active for Christ) groups. Pray that more of these youth groups would arise.

“Then Joseph brought his father, Jacob and presented him to Pharoah, and Jacob blessed Pharoah. How old are you Pharoah asked him. Jacob replied, I have lived for 130 hard years, but I am still not as old as some of many of my ancestors. Then Jacob blessed Pharoah again before he left” (Genesis 47:7-10 NLT).

Can you see this aged man being assisted to the base of Pharoah’s throne? Can you still see the sand and dirt that clings to him after the long, hard journey? Is he thin and frail from months of famine and worry over his boys?

Can you see the grand ruler being escorted into the throne room? The pomp and circumstance? The trumpeters, the flag bearers, the entourage of servants and dignitaries?

Can you hear the frail little man praying over Pharoah? Can you see his weathered hand resting on Pharoah’s kingly head as he speaks a prayer of blessing over his life, his rule, his country?

What enables a little old shepherd man to have this privilege, you ask?

Well, I believe you’re looking at it the wrong way—the privilege was all Pharoah’s! Pharoah was aware of this God of Joseph’s family. He had watched this entity care for and guide Joseph from a prison into a place of potential. He had noticed something different about Joseph, his words, his actions, his determination to serve someone higher and mightier than Pharoah himself.

I do not believe Pharoah’s life was the same after Jacob’s blessing. What did he do with the stirring he felt in his heart? How did he react to the convictions welling up in his chest and heart? How did he change?

God enables us to bless a few higher-ups in our own lives. Ever been given the awesome privilege of blessing your pastor? Your Sunday School teacher? Your boss? Your parent?

God does not issue abilities or ministries based upon a caste system—the lowest among us has the greatest potential in His eyes.

What are you doing with the blessing?

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: With schools soon out for summer, pray for those children who will need special people to help with their daily meals and provide safe activities for them.

SPECIAL REQUEST: Pray for former WNAC President Genelle Scott, whose husband Ben passed away Thursday evening; the funeral is today in Pocahontas, AR.

“Then Jacob said to Joseph, I never thought I would see you again, but now God has let me see your children, too”  (Genesis 38:11 NLT).

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The big three of early Christiandom.  The fathers of God’s people.  The roots of a Christian’s family tree.  Strong men.  Men who endured, believed and stayed true to God.  Men upon whose faith the church was built.

And here Jacob said, “I never thought….”  He had no clue as to the immensity of God’s promises.  He was surprised by the overwhelming love, blessing and grace of God.  He was touched that God actually remembered him and chose to give him the desires of his heart.

Shouldn’t he have known?  Couldn’t a giant of the faith, have realized the potential?  Don’t you think, after such a excitement-filled ancestry, he wouldn’t have been surprised?

But we are, aren’t we?

The greatest testimonies I’ve ever heard begin with the words, “I prayed and believed, but I never thought….”  Or, “I know God heard me, but I never thought He’d answer in such a huge way.”  Or my favorite, “I never thought He’d do so much for me—me!”

Friend, in your wildest dreams, your most vivid of imaginations and your grandest of hopes, you cannot fathom what God has in store for you.  You cannot fully grasp the love He intends for you to experience in His presence.  You are not capable of understanding the peace and joy He can bring into your heart.  You will always, and I repeat always, going to be stunned by His greatness and touch in your life.

Expect to be amazed as you follow Him.  Pray with the heartfelt knowledge that He’s going to answer–and His answers will surpass your grandest expectations.  Because?  Well, because we serve the God of the, “I never thought….”

Malinda Edgell
Illinois

PRAY TOGETHER: Please continue to pray for Rachel Fannin, daughter of home missionaries Chris and Carla Fannin. Her health problems are ongoing and will require much assistance.

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

The first verse of today’s Scripture depicts our old sinful nature.  How ugly we were in those “garments.”  When we put them off and replace them with the qualities mentioned in our second verse, what a contrast. Our spouse, family and friends cannot help but notice the difference. It takes work to sift out the “old,” but by doing so, God can start to replace it with something better.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for WNAC Executive Committee members involved in creating the special 75th anniversary presentation for the WNAC Convention in July.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

How many times have we heard the phrase, “If you can’t say something good about a person, don’t say anything at all”?  How many times have we hurt others with careless words?  Those others are often the ones we claim to love most.  We try to fluff it off because they will easily forgive us.  That’s not a good excuse— though we are quick to use it anyway.

What about those we hurt with words  who may not be willing to forgive and forget? Our old nature didn’t think this was much of an issue. Whether a marriage or a friendship, building a relationship requires certain things. One careless word can begin a domino effect, eventually destroying what we’ve tried to build.

As we put off the “old,” we must be careful that our words are kind and edifying. We must pray the words of Psalm 141:3: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: keep the door of my lips.”

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for continued growth and discipleship of new believers in the Chitre FWB Church in Panama.