Daily Living for Seniors

[Judy Harder]

In all my years of life, I've found there is one thing the Evil One loves to steal from God's children. That one thing is real and lasting peace.

But what if I told you that there is a way to experience peace no matter what your circumstances are? What if there was a way to know real peace regardless of the storms raging around you?

Well, there is a way!

You can experience true peace when you walk in intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ every day.

This is the peace Jesus talks about in John 14:27:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

God wants you to live in perfect peace! Yet most of us don't live that way because we allow Satan to steal that peace. And the way he does that is by distracting us from walking with Christ.

That's one reason why we have made our Daily Living Devotionals from Senior Living Ministries such a high priority. While it may sound simple, our daily devotionals are being used by God to help seniors across our country... and even around the world... to find that daily peace.

I love the fact that we can reach thousands of seniors each day in such a direct and meaningful way. .

Together, we can continue to show seniors how to find God's peace... give guidance on how to conquer discouragement... provide insights on prayer... and so much more!

In Christ,

[Judy Harder]

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. --Psalm 86:15

In 1859, a prominent French banker named Jean-Henri Dunant set off to see Napoleon about a financial transaction.

Running late, however, he found himself on a hilltop watching in horror as Napoleon's troops engaged in a brutal battle with the Austrians below. The images Dunant saw of the young dying soldiers and the wounded crying out in pain seared into his mind.

Then the next day, he saw a similar scene in a small, neighboring town. After a battle, terrified refugees were huddled together...and the wounded and dead lay everywhere. And as a result, Dunant decided to postpone his trip to visit Napoleon to stay and comfort the wounded solders and care for the frightened citizens.

This experience ignited a passion in the heart of Jean-Henri Dunant, and he started a crusade to help those in need. His efforts eventually won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, and the organization he founded, the American Red Cross, continues to help millions around the world today.

Like Jean-Henri Dunant, you've probably seen something that touched your heart and made you think differently. You've probably seen someone in need and wanted to help.

Unlike Dunant, however, you may not know what you can do to help those in need. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Anything you do for others in the name of Jesus, whether it's as simple as donating canned goods to your local food bank, supporting a local charity with a financial gift, or going on a short-term mission trip, is blessed in the eyes of God.

This should challenge each of us to go out of our way to help those in need! I hope you'll take time today and every day to show the love and compassion of Christ to someone who needs it.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God for opportunities where you can show compassion to others, and thank Him for the kindness He has shown you.

[Judy Harder]

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. --John 3:16

It all began with a single red paper clip.

Kyle McDonald of Montreal, Quebec wanted to see if he could eventually barter for a house in less than a year starting with only a red paper clip.

So first, he went online and traded the red paper clip for a pen that looked like a fish. That fish pen soon became a homemade doorknob...that became a camping stove...then a generator...and so on.

Near the end of his year-long trading spree, McDonald bartered a rare snow globe for a movie role. Then the small town of Kipling, Saskatchewan, offered to trade McDonald a three-bedroom house for the movie role, which they planned to auction off.

McDonald agreed and achieved his goal. From a mere red paper clip, he gained a house!

Have you ever thought about how valuable you are? You're so valuable, so priceless, that God made the ultimate trade for you! John 3:16 says He gave his only Son so that you could spend eternity with Him! You mean that much to Him.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for the worth He sees in you and praise Him for His gift of eternal life.

[Judy Harder]

Daily Living for Seniors

Friday, August 20, 2010   

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. --Acts 20:24

Dick Hoyt and his son, Rick, have completed countless races together, including the Boston Marathon and the grueling Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

While these are impressive feats, it's almost unbelievable when you consider that Rick suffers from cerebral palsy and is a quadriplegic!

During their triathlons, Dick pulls his son in a special boat. He cycles with Rick seated on the front of the bike, and then runs with his son in a special wheelchair.

Dick wasn't particularly athletic when his son, who couldn't speak, wanted to take part in a five-kilometer benefit race as a young boy. But after seeing his son's unbridled joy during the race, Dick decided the two should do more together. Today, Team Hoyt regularly finishes in the top quarter of the races they enter.

What drives this loving father to work so hard? He knows that his son Rick doesn't feel handicapped when they race together.

Isn't this a beautiful picture of God's love and concern for you and me? When we're weak, God is strong. He's there to push us, pull us, and even carry us through obstacles we cannot conquer on our own.

That's why we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)!

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for His fatherly love and that He is always there to push, pull, and carry you in any situation.

[Judy Harder]

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! --2 Corinthians 5:17

A young, enterprising store clerk convinced his boss a ten-cent sale would be a great way to reduce inventory. The boss agreed, and the sale was a tremendous success.

This gave the young man an idea: He would open his own store stocking nickel and dime merchandise! So the young man approached his boss and asked him to invest in his idea for a portion of the profits.

The boss said no. He thought the idea was ridiculous, and told the young man, "Honestly, where would you find enough merchandise to sell for a mere nickel or dime?"

The determined young clerk went ahead with his plans anyway. And eventually, F.W. Woolworth had stores all over the country!

Later, his former boss said with regret, "As far as I can figure out, every word I used to turn Woolworth down cost me about a million dollars."

Do you have something in your past you regret? Perhaps it's losing contact with someone you love or holding a grudge. Or losing a relationship. Or being unforgiving. The good news of Jesus Christ is that every day is a new day for His followers! His blood has cleansed you from all your sins and Jesus gives you the amazing opportunity to start anew every day!

That's the power of His grace!

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for the cleansing power of the cross to erase all your sins. And ask Him to help you with any past regrets you might have. By His grace you can start anew.

[Judy Harder]

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." --Matthew 17:20

There once was an Episcopal bishop in Ohio who stood in his pulpit and declared that flying through the air was both impossible and against the will of God.

It seems, though, that Bishop Wright's sons, Orville and Wilbur, didn't think much of their father's pronouncement...they invented the airplane anyway!

Have you ever felt strongly that something was impossible? Philippians 4:13 says "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." It doesn't say some things. It says all things.

Most would have said it was impossible for Sarah to have Isaac in her 90s. That it was impossible for Jonah to survive three days in the belly of a fish only to be spat out exactly where he was supposed to be.

And that Jesus' death and resurrection was impossible...only for Him to die and rise again so that you might have a relationship with God!

If you have an obstacle in your life you aren't sure you can overcome, don't be discouraged. Take heart because God can do the impossible! Trust in this promise today.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God that through Him all things are possible and ask for His power to do the impossible in your life today!

[Judy Harder]

Daily Living for Seniors

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. --Psalm 20:7

While serving in World War I as a merchant marine, British actor Herbert Marshall was required to wear a foul-smelling life jacket.

He hated wearing the putrid preserver, and at the close of the war, contemptuously tossed the repulsive object overboard in celebration. He then watched in horror as the long-tormenting object sank like a rock!

Like Herbert Marshall, you and I often put our security in things that really won't save us. Things like material possessions, finances, and job status...even things like our own good works.

In Jeremiah 17:5, God warns us, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD." But two verses later He says, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him."

So I want to ask you an honest question today: Who (or what) do you put your confidence in? If your trust isn't in Jesus Christ, you're holding onto a life preserver that will sink when you need it the most!

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Praise God that He is trustworthy, and ask Him to help you fully put your trust and confidence in Him.

[Judy Harder]

The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.  --Proverbs 28:1

In 1996, Reverend Joe Wright, pastor of a large church in Wichita, Kansas, bravely stepped to the microphone of the Kansas House of Representatives to open a session in prayer.

But it wasn't the generic prayer to which the congressmen were accustomed. In part, he said:

"We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism....

"In the name of choice, we have killed the unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed the abortionists....

"We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment."

He then asked for wisdom and forgiveness and closed the prayer in Jesus' name.

As you can imagine, Wright's prayer caused quite an uproar. But he stood strong...and said he wouldn't apologize for stating what was true.

In today's secular and Godless culture, we need more people like Reverend Wright to take a bold stand for Jesus...people who aren't afraid of declaring and defending the truth of God as revealed in His Word.

Are you one of those people? When was the last time you took a stand for Christ? Maybe it wasn't in front of a room full of congressmen, but perhaps in a personal conversation with an unbelieving friend.

Today, I want to challenge you to memorize the verse at the beginning of this devotional, and live it out in your daily life.

As a believer, you have the truth on your side! So you can be as bold as a lion as you live the Christian life.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask the Lord to help you be bold and strong in your witness for Him.

[Judy Harder]

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. --Ephesians 2:10

Pablo Picasso painted thousands of pictures in his lifetime. And as his fame as an artist grew, so did the number of forgeries of his work.

One day, a fellow artist brought the famous painter one of his supposed works of art.

"A fake!" Picasso exclaimed.

Not long afterwards, the friend returned with two more paintings for the master to inspect. "Forgeries!" he told the artist again. The dumbfounded artist sputtered, "I saw you paint this last one with my own eyes!"

Picasso shrugged, "Sometimes I paint fakes."

In your life as a Christian, do you ever feel that you're just "painting a fake"? Do you ever feel more like a forgery than a person who's actually been transformed by the awesome power of Jesus?

Truly becoming who God the Creator intends you to be starts with knowing Him, and knowing what He desires for you. And the best way you can do this is to spend time with God every day, reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer.

I want to challenge you not to settle for what you think Christlikeness looks like. Instead strive to be like Christ by spending time with Him every day!

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God to make you more and more like Christ today...and every day.

[Judy Harder]

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. --2 Peter 3:8

History is filled with bold predictions that completely missed the mark:

At the turn of the 20th century, car makers produced only four million automobiles because the experts believed the world would eventually run out of chauffeurs. 
Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, made the bold pronouncement that radio had no future in 1894.   
Mark Twain refused to invest in Alexander Graham Bell's telephone because he didn't see a use for it. 
Thomas Watson, the President of IBM, once said the future world would need "maybe only five computers." 
And in 1899, the director of the United States patent office told President McKinley that "everything that can be invented has already been invented." 
We often try to set our own course based on what we believe the future will be instead of seeking what God has planned for us first. How often we forget that God sees the future much better than we do!

Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

When you put your trust in God and obey Him, you can rest in the assurance that He will guide and direct your steps today and tomorrow.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Praise God for His infinite wisdom and ask Him to guide your steps today.