Devotionals for the Heart: Hospitality

The Heart of Hospitality
A devotional by Melissa Henderson

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” 
~Romans 12:13 NIV

How can I serve others and show God’s love?

Pause for a moment and think of people around you. People you know and people who are strangers. How would you respond if they needed something? A meal, a ride to the doctor or a ride to the grocery store? What if all they needed was a simple hello or a visit?

Needs come in all sizes. From major needs to minor needs, at one time or another, we all need someone. There are times when we feel comfortable asking for help and other times, we decide not to ask for help. Maybe the feeling of being a bother or that maybe someone else needs more help than we need. So, we don’t ask. We try to accomplish things on our own or just give up in despair. Maybe we are embarrassed to need assistance.

I have experienced vertigo for over 25 years. Never knowing when a dizzy spell will occur can be very scary. There is a difference between dizziness and vertigo and it is very hard to explain to someone who has not experienced one or the other.

When I was first diagnosed with vertigo, I decided to stop driving as I didn’t want to put others or myself in danger. Some people could not understand my inability to drive. I look perfectly fine on the outside. No outward signs of any illness or medical condition. Yet, my body would not allow me to enjoy activities of the past.

Not being able to drive caused me to miss volunteer meetings and special events. My husband works full time and taking time off from work every time I needed to go somewhere was not an option. He is very understanding about my condition and realizes some days are better than others for me.

Then, came the decision to ask others for help. Not wanting to be a burden caused me to postpone asking for help in the beginning. People have their own lives and schedules. Who would want to disrupt their life to drive me to appointments? Would anyone have the extra time?

Praying and asking God what to do in this situation was vital. He answered my prayers. Once I gave my worries to God, a sense of relief filled my heart and soul. I began sharing my story. As I shared, friends and strangers told me about their conditions and knowledge of vertigo. Friends learned of my vertigo and began offering rides to my appointments and activities. I only needed to ask and the request was answered. There was no need for me to be embarrassed or to feel like a burden.

What a blessing! Keeping quiet had caused me more worry. Sharing and asking for help brought peace and comfort.

Some friends even shared they were blessed through being a blessing to me. We never know when we may need to lean on others for help. God has given us blessings in those who practice hospitality.

Have you helped someone lately? Have you been a blessing? I bet you have. Pause and think of ways you can be a blessing to someone. Simple ways like smiles, waving hello, a phone call, a note in the mail, and yes, offering a ride to someone who can’t drive are all ways to show God’s love.

In His Name,

Melissa Henderson

~*~
Author Bio: 

Melissa Henderson and her husband Alan live in South Carolina.

Married for over 38 years, they have one son (Mike) who is married to daughter-in-love (Christine) and now are blessed by precious grandson (Rowan).

Melissa was taught the love of reading and writing at an early age from her parents. She is now working on her first inspirational fiction novel.

Her passions are volunteering, Bible Studies and reading and writing. Connect with Melissa online, https://mimionlife.wordpress.com.

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Thankful Thursday: My Renewed Thoughts on Prayer

“Don't ever stop living for Jesus. The extremely hard days, the beautiful days and everything in between is worth it. It's eternally worth it.” ~Heather Lindsey

It's Thursday and I'm thankful for my renewed thoughts on prayer. 

Sometimes, troubling situations hit you so hard that you wonder, “What’s the point of praying about it anymore?”

I was there, at that point earlier this week and decided to call a Christian prayer line. 

I told them within my first few sentences, “I don’t see the point of praying about this anymore. Nothing’s changing!”

The call specialist did not condone my complaints. She simply said, “Well why are you calling asking for prayer if you don’t see the point of praying about it?”

She got me with those words and I paused. My mind swirled, my emotions raged and finally after like five seconds I realized that not praying about this situation was not a good idea.

“Well I still want someone to pray for me,” I finally said.

Have you ever been there? So deep in a dire situation that you felt like all hope was lost? Sinking so low that you don’t see the point of praying anymore? What’s the point of praying to God to fix a troubled situation if He’s not going to answer your prayers? Especially if it is a situation you’ve taken before the Lord for many years, if not decades?

Oh, but don’t you know? Hope is always part of the picture when you believe in God and trust Him with the outcome.

We may not always understand God’s methods but we can trust His heart. God wants what is best for us and He always hears our prayers, every single last one. Rest assured, God has not forgotten. He’s not ignoring you (Isaiah 65:24). He’ll never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) and He’s working it all out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). I believe this to be true because I’ve seen God move in my life and work miracles before, so I trust Him to answer my prayers according to His will. Meanwhile, I know God will give me peace in the process.

There’s a beautiful song performed by Annie Herring. “The Master’s Hand” is the title of song that I want to share with you tonight. This song is a source of encouragement for me and I’ve played it on repeat for the past week. How I found it must be by God’s grace because before two weeks ago, I’d never heard of Annie Herring. But I am so glad that I know her work now. See how God moves? He’s watching out for you even before you know you need Him. He did this for me two weeks ago when I first heard “The Master’s Hand.” God knew I’d need this song this week so He led me to it.

My soul is soothed by the beautiful message about holding onto the Master’s Hand. Annie is talking about God as the Master who holds your hand through every difficult situation in life. The song is about being able to endure whatever comes your way because you are in good hands—the Master’s Hands.

I hope you were encouraged my thoughts on prayer and I hope the sweet sound and lovely lyrics along with Annie’s soothing voice will encourage you to keep praying, keep trusting, keep believing in God.

Love,

Alexis

Prayer requests and Answered prayers

Dear friends,

A prayer partner gave this great idea to me and I'd love to share it with you!

She told me that a good way to see the progress of my prayers being answered by God is to keep track of it in spaghetti jars. Yes, spaghetti jars! Do I have your attention now? :) Great! Let me explain the process:

First, you get two empty spaghetti jars, wash the jars out in warm water and dish washing soap. Next, you dry out the jars with a towel. I let my two jars drain for 10 minutes with a towel inside. Once you have these beautiful squeaky clean jars dry and clean, you find a permanent marker and use it to write "Prayer Requests" on one jar and then "Answered Prayers" on the other jar. Then, you go to a Microsoft Word document or the notepad feature on your computer or get a pen and paper and write out your prayer requests. If you're using your computer for this part of the process then the next step is to print out the pages filled with your prayer requests. Please note: Make a space between each prayer request. Once everything is printed out, you need to take a pair of scissors and neatly cut out each prayer request (hence the spaces between each written/typed request). Finally, you take the paper strips filled with your prayer requests and place these precious pieces of paper into the "Prayer Requests" jar. Make time at least once-a-week to check your prayer request jars for answered prayers. How often you check it is up to you but make sure to complete this final this step- Each time God answers one of your prayers, take it out of the prayer request jar, make a note on the back of the paper of when (and how) God answered the prayer and place that strip of paper into the "Answered Prayers" jar!

Great idea, eh?

If you plan on taking this idea and using it, I'd love to know how God answers your prayers and how it feels once your "Answered Prayers" jar is filled to the brim! :)

How do you keep track of your prayer requests and answered prayers? I'd love to hear your ideas! Leave a comment. :)

Love,

Alexis

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6).