Good Evening, Family!๐ผ
This week, we praise God for:
๐ Answered prayers for Joel, Carole's husband, who is home from the hospital after a hard fought battle with Covid. We praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy this far and CONTINUE TO PRAY for a full recovery!
๐ We thank God that Doris' friend's daughter, Ari, who tested positive for COVID after visiting a friend whose dad was positive and didn't know. Thankfully, Ari didn't experience any serious illness and, just as we prayed, her family didn't contract the virus! THANK YOU LORD!.
๐We are praising God that Stacey's son, who had tested positive for Covid twice last week has tested NEGATIVE! We thank God for his healing and protection!
๐ Marรญa thanks God for the beautiful surprise of having her son, Jordan, home for Mother's Day! May God grant him traveling mercies as he rotors back to work!
๐ All of the young people at the Lighthouse. Their willingness to help, to serve and to lead are an inspiration to everyone. We are so very BLESSED to have each of them! ๐ค
We are also praying for:
๐ Zully, Sue's sister in law, who is being treated for a serious infection after surgery for cancer. Please pray for healing, as she is a mother of two, and beloved by her husband and entire family!
๐ The UPDATE on our brother, John Vega. His results came back and there WAS cancer within his tumor. John will be beginning radiation immediately because the doctors believe that will be enough to get rid of any residual cancer left behind. We are praising God for that good news and will keep him in prayer! Please also pray for our sisters, Pat and Angelica, as they support John through this journey!
๐ Nelly, and for answers to her health questions. May God grant her team of doctors the wisdom they need to figure out this mystery.
๐ Diana, Leianaโs mother, as she grieves this unimaginable loss. Pray for strength as she has to endure the prosecution phase of this nightmare.
๐ Bianca, Vishal and Sebastian Suri. May the Lord shower their beautiful family with blessings from above.
๐ Our sister, Evelyn, as continues to recover from her surgery. May she experience less pain with each passing day towards a full recovery.
๐ Vasthi's friend, Rosa and her family.
๐ Micharen's aunt, uncle, and cousins, Ralph and Jr. May the Lord work out miracles on their behalf.
๐ Maria, who has been suffering from Tinnitus in her ear. Sheโs asking for prayer as she is going to see a specialist. Letโs ask for wisdom and for the doctor to offer her much-needed relief and healing.
๐ Angelica, as she has been given new and exciting opportunities at work, and in her educational career as she pursues her Master's degree.
๐ Doris, and her daughters, Jackie, Amanda and their children, Skylar, Heaven Lee, Dorian, Zaire and Amir. May God keep working miracles in their lives.
๐ Seth...that God would continue to shower him with His goodness, grace and love. May God work out the NEXT MIRACLE in his life! Pray for his MRI, that Seth would handle it well and that the results would be favorable, knowing that God has always come through.
๐ Anna Ortiz. Kristina provided us with this update: They found another lump behind her neck and she's now receiving treatment for that as well. Despite it all she's in good spirits and thankful for the prayers.
Tonight's Devotional continues our special Thursday Night Series with Prison Fellowship. Please pay special attention to the author of tonight's Devotional. ๐ It's amazing what God can do with someone who is committed to change...and committed to Jesus!๐ค๐ฝ
I SURRENDER MY FAILURE
You are sentenced, given a number, locked away from the world. Life seems hopeless. You feel like a failure in the world's eyes, worth nothing. But you must look at your life in a different perspective. You are a child of God, made in his image. Jesus loves you more than you can imagine and He gave his life to save yours. You are worth a great deal to him. BRUISED BUT NOT BROKEN "But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, s hould make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." (Hebrews 2:9-11) When I was first in prison, I struggled with the feeling of shame and despair that my time there would be an utter waste. But one day not long after my arrival, I read Hebrews 2:9-11. God himself, the Creator of heaven and earth, became a man, a prisoner, so He could understand us, feel our fears, and know our needsโand become our brother! God through Christ becoming our brother! That thought overpowered me. I realized that my being in prison was a parallel situation. If God was willing to lower himself to become one of us and share our sufferings, surely I could joyfully accept my position of being in prison so that I could know these men as my brothers. I could never have known the needs of these brothers by simply visiting a prison, just as God could not have known us without living among us. I had to become one of them. I also saw that my going to prison was nothing. Godโs own Son had gone to prison, was sentenced to die, and was then brutally executed. I no longer felt shame, just a deep gratefulness to God. God also showed me that He had a purpose, a mission for my incarceration. I could not separate myself; I had to become involved in the lives of my brothers. And as I loved them and shared their pains, He would give me opportunities to minister. I would never lose my special identification with inmates, for I was one of them, just as Jesus Christ will always be our brother by becoming one of us. Charles W. Colson Founder, Prison Fellowship ยฎ Released from Maxwell Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery Alabama, 1975
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for becoming our brother. I ask that you would free those in prison from the bondage of their shame and disgrace. Let them see prison as a time to share in the sufferings of their brothersโand to know that you share those pains as well. Amen.