I'm an Alien

I’m sure many of you know what it’s like to have to start at a new school. It’s especially scary when you can’t even understand what people are saying. My family had immigrated to this country in April, 1969. By September, I understood some English, but I still had a lot to learn. I'll never forget my 2nd grade teacher that year, Mrs. Dix. She took me on as her special project. While the rest of the class worked on an assignment, she put her arms around my shoulders and led me to the back of the class and taught me how to read English. She never allowed me to feel inferior to the rest of the class. When I had read through my first book of "Dick and Jane," she had me stand and read a portion of the book to the class. As I finished reading the last line, the entire class of about 25 students stood and gave me a standing ovation. I smiled at my classmates and my heart just about burst with joy, not so much because of my accomplishment, but because I felt like I belonged.

When I'm around nonbelievers or when I watch T.V., it doesn’t take long before I feel like I’m a foreigner in this world. Their views about life are contrary to God’s Word. The Bible says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:19)

Christians are citizens of God’s Kingdom (Eph. 2:19) and not the kingdom of this World. I’m most at home when I fellowship with other believers and worship God with them or when I enter my prayer closet to spend time alone with God. Like Mrs. Dix, the Holy Spirit wraps His arms around me and leads me to the altar for some one-on-one time with Him. I’m God’s special project that He’s working on. Yes, we have to remain foreigners in this World until God comes to take us home. But spending time alone with God and fellowshipping with other believers gives us a place where we belong. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity, Foreigners

Healing Is A Gift

I absolutely believe that Jesus still heals today. Yet I am still waiting for my healing. I have tried all sorts of things, i.e. fasting, fervently praying, pleading, demanding. Maybe if I say it just right, in a way that might please God, He will heal me. I prayed in the midst of the worse of this ailment and I have prayed when I was feeling really well. Yet, I am still waiting.

In the middle of my devotions one day, a verse popped out at me that finally set me free of this desperation I felt to find the right words that would induce God to heal me. In Acts 3:16 I read, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see." I finally understood that I cannot create this faith to grow in me by saying just the right words or speaking loud enough or whatever. Faith comes from God. I just need to ask and keep seeking Him.

The Bible clearly states in 1 Corithians 12 that healing is a gift. Jesus said in Matthew 7, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Therefore, I have determined to keep asking of my Father in heaven for complete healing. He also told us, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." He said "everyone." That means you and me too.

If you need healing, don't become discouraged. Keep seeking your Father. Don't look at others who have not been healed. Their testimony is not your Bible. Look in the Word of God and allow God to build faith in you for your healing. Romans 10:17 says, "Consequently, faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Go to a Bible-believing and Bible-preaching church and get saturated in the Word of God. Read your Bible at home and spend time getting to know God. This is a walk of faith that God has taken us on. Submit to Him and let him build faith in your life. When your healing comes, shout it from the roof top. Let eveyone know what a great and mighty God we serve.

Tags: Women, Religion, Devotional, Christianity, Healing

What?! No Boyfriend?

Teenage girls are under such pressure to have a boyfriend. They are made to feel that they have not achieved success until they have a boyfriend. When my daughter was 12 or 13 years old, an adult asked me if my daughter has a boyfriend yet. Why in the world does a 12 or 13 year old need a boyfriend? Does it make her more beautiful if she has a boyfriend? Is she more talented or a better student if she has a boyfriend? Of course not. What is this terrible pressure that society puts on teenage girls?!

Being a teenage girl can be a wonderful time in a girl's life. It's her chance to connect with other girls and develop close friendships. It's a time for her to develop her talents and read books she won't have time to read when she's older. This is her time to laugh and giggle and socialize with all her girlfriends. She should have a pajama party with her friends and she should go shopping with her them and try on clothes she would never dream of buying. She should try skiing or snowboarding with her girlfriends. She should refuse to allow the pressure of having to have a boyfriend rob her of this time of building friendships with girls.

One of the funnest weekends I had as a single girl was when a bunch of us rented a room for a weekend at the beach. There were about four or five of my closest girlfriends. We were all in our early twenties. None of us had a boyfriend at that time. A couple of us had just broken up with a boyfriend. The others just could not find the right guy. However, we decided that we would forget about guys for one weekend and have fun just being girls. We rented this room at the beach, we went out to a fancy restaurant, we got tan in the sun, and we had a great time simply being together.

These times with our girlfriends won't last forever. Not much after this weekend, one by one we all had a boyfriend and are now all married. I never see most of these girls anymore. If we had moped around the house because we didn't have a boyfriend, we would have missed out on such a great weekend together.

If you are single and without a boyfriend, please don't allow others to put needless pressure on you. Just keep praying and asking God to bring that right man into your life. But while you are waiting for that to happen, don't put your life on hold. Take a vacation with one of your girlfriends. Go to Disney with a bunch of girls. Go skiing in the Rocky Mountains with your girlfriends. Go eat at a fancy restaurant. Get a new hairdo and makeover, but take a girlfriend with you and enjoy the experience together. Pay off your college and even buy a house. Remember, if you can be a happy single person, then you will be a happy married person. If you are a grumpy and depressed single person, you will most likely be a grumpy and depressed married person.

"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11

Tags: Women, Religion, Parenting, Christianity, Boyfriends, Teenagers, Singles