Good evening, Family. 🤴🏿🤴🏼🤴
We've been having some serious technical difficulties with the devotional in the past few days. Many of you have signed up for notifications and so you haven't missed a thing. I would ask that you each sign up to receive a notification when each devotional has posted. This would help a great deal. You can do that by clicking on "Follow Category".
We apologize for the issues. Hopefully they are worked out. Please be sure that you go back to read this week's devotionals since Sunday if you didn't receive the notifications. 👀
This week, we are praying for:🧎🏽♀️
•Tamara, whose apartment caught fire last week after her heating system exploded. Thankfully, by God's grace, she was not at home and no one else in the other apartments was hurt. However, Tamara lost just about everything. As you can imagine, she needed time to process, which is why I didn't post about it until now, but she would appreciate your prayers. I have assured Tamara that she can count on the support of her church family always.
•Seth, that he might remember to practice proper posture and to keep his feet flat to prevent any further curvature in his spine. May God infuse his little body with strength and power.
•Torrey, who is at home fighting Covid pneumonia in both lungs and needs supernatural healing. We praise God that everyone in the house has now tested negative for Covid, including Cassandra and Elijah, who had previously tested positive. Praise God for His goodness and mercy!
•Arnold, who has recovered from COVID, and is back at work. May God continue to heal him and walk with him.
•Ellie, who is fighting Covid. Let’s pray for a speedy recovery. Ellie is grateful that her two sons tested negative. May God continue to protect them.
•Norma’s friend, Johnny, who is in the hospital and in need of a touch from the Lord.
•Carole’s grateful for how God has answered her prayers regarding the custody of her grandson, Elijah. The first phase of the case is over and she is happy to know that Elijah is OK. She is also requesting that everyone keeps praying so that the custody case will be resolved soon.
•Alejandro, that he might be protected while on deployment and overseas. May the Lord keep His angels in charge over Alejandro and his shipments until they return home in the summer.
•Skylar, Heaven Lee, Jackie and Doris. May God move in their lives in mighty ways!
•Julissa, A young lady suffering from mental health issues and currently wanting to end her life. May the Lord deliver her from this battle and give her victory and a sense of her worth to God.
•Stacey, Charen’s dear friend , who joined us for service on Sabbath morning. May God move in her life this week!
•John Vega, who is still awaiting results of his tests. We are praying for good results and know that he is in God's hands.
•Tracy, Norma's friend Who is undergoing chemo treatment for her cancer. May God give her strength and healing, because it has not been easy for her.
This evening’s devotional was submitted by Pat...especially for Three Kings' Day. 💙
Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..” (NIV)
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, yet most people struggle to find God’s joy and peace this time of year especially with this global pandemic of 2020. Due to the fact that many have lost a loved one, parent(s), brother, sister a family member or a close friend, having financial difficulties, strained relationships, health problems, or just the busyness of the holidays, some people see Christmas and the time right after it as a time of stress, pain, or depression rather than joy.
As Christians we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus the promised Messiah who came to bring hope, forgiveness and change the hearts of people. Christmas is about miracles of transformation as found in the story of Matthew 2:1-12.
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magivfrom the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
As Christians celebrate today, we see that Here came the three wise magi, they knelt down for the baby Jesus and “offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
These three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense incense as a symbol of deity, and myrrh embalming oil as a symbol of death, reminding us that Jesus would die for our sins.
Even though we are struggling with this pandemic let us be thankful to the Most High and praise His Name because He is a merciful God to us. Happy Three Kings' Day to everyone!!!