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Sharing Time You Raise Me Up Grace and I sat at the outdoor area of a restaurant overlooking our hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska. The cool weather attracted many customers to enjoy outdoor dining. Except for an elderly man sitting alone, groups of patrons were fully immersed in conversations. I was quite busy taking pictures of the beautiful scenery when our food was served. I needed salt and got up to retrieve it from an empty table. As I walked close to where the old man sat, I noticed that he was having great difficulty getting up. As soon as he got up, back down to his chair he went. He tried a couple more times unsuccessfully and so I offered help. “May I help you?” I said smiling. “Yes, please,” he smiled back. I had difficulty helping the man get up but soon, he was on his way. I watched him walk to the street until he disappeared from view. He must live close by. I wondered how long he had tried to get up but everyone was too busy to notice. What I saw reminded me of folks like me who need a spiritual lift from all of life’s problems. A spiritual lift from our Savior, Jesus Christ. While in the Philippines last March, my sister and I had the great pleasure of staying at the grandiose home of a friend’s uncle. We had a beautiful air-conditioned room with Internet, free meals, and also a car and a driver that took us everywhere we needed to go. But when we got there, our host was in another city attending meetings. This was all right with me since I was a little shy to meet him. Each day I would ask when our host was coming home and a week later I learned that we may never see him; he was still tied up in meetings for another week. I heaved a sigh of relief. Good, I can thank him later through a phone call and a letter, I said to myself. But God had other plans…. One late afternoon three days before our 10-day stay was over, our host suddenly arrived. I felt a little awkward because I didn’t really know him. That evening we had to sit down together for supper and I was quite uneasy. But what a great surprise for me! Our host opened up and asked, “Can you teach me how to pray?” He also wanted to know more about Jesus. I get very excited when it comes to the topic of our Savior. This broke the ice! The next three hours were the most wonderful times I had spent with someone who hungered to know our Lord. During our conversation he kept saying, “My cup was empty when we started. Now it is full!” The joy and contentment on his face said it all. Here was a very successful businessman who has everything he could ever want, yet there was this great void in his life. To fill the void, he would invest on new ventures, buy new houses, cars, other things, but still, he continued to feel the emptiness. He wanted to know Jesus but did not know how. He had waited for a long time to be raised up from his life of despair by our Savior. Today, this friend continues to bask in God’s love and kindness. He is a changed man. Like the lyrics of the song “You Raise Me Up” by Brendan Graham, he has been raised up by Jesus. Here I wish to share the lyrics of the song: When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary; You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; There is no life – no life without its hunger; Jesus is telling you today how much He loves you. He is so eager for you to get to know Him so you can love Him, too, and be His friend. If you do, He promises your life will never be the same again. In fact, your life will be altogether new when you and Jesus become friends. Psalm 30:1 says “I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths. |
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We thank our lay workers – Lorie, Melrie and Pendy Flor, for taking care of our elderlies, kindergarten children and prison ministries. Thank you to our sponsors who have given funds for these 3 ministries. We pray that you will continue to support the adopted ministers. We don’t want to say this all the time because we know our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. But we need your financial support for monthly stipends and prayers in order for this ministry to continue. We pray that God will richly bless each and everyone of you. |