It’s another Wednesday and we are chugging along half way through the week! Really excited to share this God Gold that was recently shared with me from my aunt once again! So thankful for her and her heart for the Lord! As you’ll see in this gold, what you’re facing on Wednesday, it may not look good, but it’s just ingredients for what God is making happen for Friday or a day soon to come! He has a plan behind all that’s taking place in your life! Trust that, trust Him, and you’ll be just fine! Hope you have an awesome day and hope this little story brings you a golden blessing!!!
“One Sunday morning at a small southern church the new pastor called on one of the older deacons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head and said, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”
The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was totally perplexed.
The deacon continued, “Lord, I ain’t too crazy about plain flour either. But after you mix ’em all together and bake ’em in a hot oven…. I just love biscuits!
The deacon didn’t stop there. “Lord,” he said, help us realize when things come up that we don’t like, whenever we don’t understand what You are doing, that we need to wait and see what You are making. After you get through mixing and baking, it’ll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen.”
Thankful to share this God Gold with you today! As you know, on Wednesday’s, we dig a little deeper in the mine to find some of the weirdest, wildest Gold resources for you we can find! Thankful for my aunt to have shared this AWESOME analogy with me! Hope it can be as much of a blessing and encouragement to you as it has been for me!
“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.” It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down! -author unknown”
In a time where there is so much “bad news” of tragedy and turmoil surrounding the world, I am so thankful to share with you such a real-life example of the GOOD that God is working behind the scenes!!! My Papa, Harold Lunsford, sent me a text early last week asking for prayer for himself and others as they have been faithfully serving on the BGEA 24/7 Coronavirus Prayer Line team. What is this? And what is so good about it? Check out the story below for all the details! I promise you, you will not be disappointed! And at the bottom, stay tuned for the CHALLENGE from this piece of God Gold for you along with the link to the prayer line for you either to serve or give them a call if you need the help!
“What an honor and great blessing it is to serve with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. This week I have been serving on the BGEA 24/7 Coronavirus Prayer Team! Franklin Graham is doing a 60 second TV spots on Fox News, CNN and some of the major networks. He gives the plan of salvation and a telephone number. (888)388-2683 to call day or night to Trained Christian response team members ready to listen and offer prayer and encouragement!
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”— Psalm 46:1
Wednesday, March 25, 4,500 calls came in to the Call Center and 55 decisions for Christ, Thursday, March 26, 7,753 more calls came in and have documented 311 decisions for the day! Praise God for the harvest! Kristyn called the Prayer Line and the phone call was taken by one of our team members who has a Catholic background. Kristyn started the conversation by sharing, “i’m Catholic and don’t feel very worthy and need Jesus.” Kristyn was asked if she wanted to have a greater peace with God and was taken through Steps to Peace with God. She then prayed the sinner’s prayer. Afterward, Kristyn handed the phone to her sister. Our team member prayed for both of them and let them know they would be receiving follow-up materials. Another Team Member spoke with Isaiah who is in the hospital with Coronavirus…He has been watching Rev. Franklin Graham on TV and has been convinced he needs Jesus, but he has been prideful and not able to humble himself to accept Jesus. Isaiah was in Afghanistan and Iraq for 13 years and has seen many atrocities committed by others and himself. He was convinced God could not forgive him. He confessed his sins out loud, and prayed the prayer of salvation after many tears and great brokenness! This is just two instances of what God is doing through BGEA Coronavirus Prayer Line! Thank you Jordan for letting me share what God is doing with a simple 60 second commercial and a group of people who are willing to listen to people who are Anxious, fearful and hurting! Jesus is standing at the door knocking, let Him in and be your Lord and Savior!”
-Harold Lunsford
WOW!!!! Isn’t that awesome news to hear of the lives God is saving during a time filled with so much fear and death!!! For my Papa, and so many others that are serving on this team, I ask you take some time to pray for them and the people they are serving literally each hour of the day that God will continue to use them in a mighty way as they reach others with the Good News of Jesus!!!
A challenge for you, if you think you have no way to serve during this time with all of the “social distancing” rules and quarantines, THINK AGAIN!!! I want to brag on my Papa real quick, a man who has served Christ in all of the US on mission and in local churches for years. Now, in his 70’s, he is taking on the task of raising two children who are below the age of 10 years old. With that already being such a daunting task that takes all of the energy and strength you would need for it, he still finds time, sometimes taking shifts on this phone team at 12am-2am in the morning to serve the Lord by serving others and being there for them in such a time of crisis for them. All for the glory and spread of Christ, against all the odds, he makes no excuses, he just faithfully serves. So as much of an encouragement and example this was for me, I pray it will be the same for you! If you think there isn’t a way to serve others in this time, there is always a way and opportunities all around us! If he has no excuses and finds a way to serve despite all on his plate, we have no excuse to take on the same attitude and action in our own lives!!!
Challenge for all of us today: Lay the excuses aside and serve. We have plenty of avenues and ways to do so, people are in need of Jesus!!! Let’s take Jesus to them and give them LIFE during such a death filled time!!!
Prayer line video and Link:
Link to Website: lp.billygraham.org/bgea-prayer-line
Below you will see a video about the news of a recent fire that broke out at a church in West Virginia. The reason this news is getting an extreme amount of publicity, it’s not the church building that was destroyed or the fire itself, but it’s what remained throughout the scorching hot flames of the fire.
At the end of the fire, firefighters stood in amazement. As they said, there was times the flames were so hot that they had to halt from going in the building, but what they found that remained untouched and unharmed, the Bibles that the church had there and the cross that hung in the church! That makes zero sense right?!? How could these two things be unharmed but the church itself be destroyed? The Bibles are made of paper and the cross is made of wood, I’m no fire expert but don’t those two things burn more easily than most?
The conclusion of this can’t be explained by any kind of science or man-made reason. The over-arching theme of this wild event was spoken by the pastor at this church as he responded to the reporter upon hearing of the unharmed Bibles; ““In the midst of the fire, God’s word will always stand.”
How powerful and true is this statement made here by this pastor! It’s something as Christians we claim to believe but LOOK!!!! Look at what happened here, this statement is more true than we could ever imagine!!! There is no fire or nothing that can stand against or harm the Word of God or the truth that resides in it being the Good News of Jesus where by His sacrifice on the cross, a way was made for us when there was no way!
Wow God!!!! He never ceases to amaze us and I hope this awesome event that only God could be in control of strengthens your faith and opens you up to walking deeper into these two things that can’t be harmed or touched in our lives; the Word of God and the Cross of Jesus Christ!
What blew my mind even more from this wild news was that the church building burnt down but these two things remained. It really convicted me, as I live in the Bible belt of the deep south and in a country like America where so much emphasis and focus is put on facilities, the size of church buildings, the styles, and so forth. This event opened me up to see a lot of truth in the fact that yes, church buildings and facilities are great to be used for God’s purposes in reaching others with His truth. But at the end of the day, I hate to think that at times we can get so caught up in our church building and the beauty of it that we lose focus on the only things that really matter, and that is the Word of God and the cross of Jesus!!! I can’t imagine the revival that would occur if the focus becomes shifted to see what God says is the main thing and keeping it the main thing! Just something to think about because as we see here this church building was destroyed just like any other could be, but the only things that matter to God and that should matter to us were kept unharmed and untouched even in the most impossible odds! I hate this news for this church family but I am 100% positive they will be alright because they still have all that God has shown us that we need, His Word and the Gospel of Jesus!
I hope everyone has an awesome Sunday! Worship your tails off, get fed with some good Word, and get some rest for the week ahead! And I almost forgot for you Southerners, enjoy your fried chicken!!!
In the link below is a story I ran across earlier in the week and GEEZ!!! It is so powerful!! It’s absolutely crazy how God works things together and how God has no time table for His work! The story of this missionary is such a great example of planting Gospel seeds into people’s lives. You may never ever see the impact and lives changed from the seeds you plant but KEEP PLANTING!!! It may be 50 or 100 years down the road and these seeds are sprouting up like wild fire! Such a great reminder to plant, plant, and plant the good news of Jesus Christ into as many lives as possible in as many ways as possible and even if you don’t see an immediate harvest, that’s okay! Have faith that only God can make seeds grow, that God is always working things together for a big harvest and He works on a different time table than us! Don’t plant so you can see, plant in faith, the unseen and trust in the best farmer there ever was, God! It’s limitless what He can do with a few seeds planted here and there! Hope this story is an encouragement to you and God stirs your heart to plant, PLANT IN FAITH!!!!
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