Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
Valentine’s Day is here once again, a day we focus on love. The Love we have for each other. And the love we have for God the Father and His Son Jesus who He sent to truly show us what love was all about…that love sometimes requires the deepest kind of sacrifice imaginable.
And because He loved us so very much, we know how we are to love one another…because He IS love.
So this week, I’m getting prepared for the day.
Dozen roses. Check.
Love themed jewelry. Check.
Card that expressed my love feelings for my beautiful wife. Check.
I seemed to have everything together to make the day special.
But then, I received a mailing from World Vision, one of the four organizations that Grace and I sponsor children through. The flyer spelled out the reason for the mailing…and changed my perspective for this Valentine’s Day…to include this message.
What did the flyer say?
“Crisis in the Horn of Africa. Urgent: 3 million children face starvation.”
My heart that was buoyed up so much from all my Valentine’s Day celebration sunk.
3 million children facing starvation.
Those words ate away at me and I felt so much sadness because in the midst of celebrating love and using the blessing of the Lord’s abundance to lavish gifts on my spouse, I was reminded that there are so many others who won’t be celebrating this day…so many who aren’t feeling so loved. In fact, many this day are feeling pretty lost…abandoned…alone…hopeless.
Are we thinking about them as we celebrate the blessings of love in our own lives?
And those who are feeling less than loved this day don’t just include the hungry. For many have lost loved ones since last Valentine’s Day. Still many others have suffered relationship break ups, children have become orphaned or abandoned or abused and neglected.
Yes, not all are necessarily feeling loved this Valentine’s Day. So what do we do about it?
I would encourage all of us to take a moment today to pray for those who are in the midst of any hardship that makes them feel less than loved. Let us pray that they might be able to feel the arms of their Father in Heaven wrap around them to comfort and console them…arms that will never leave them alone…arms that will always love them.
I also would encourage you to consider to make a donation for the cause of any organization that is making a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Many are doing God’s work in underprivileged nations and although we maybe can’t go to these countries and help physically, we can make a difference through the money that the Lord has blessed us with. And what better investment can you make than to help save a life…for 3 million children are starving this very day just in the Horn of Africa. How many other millions are suffering likewise?
If you are interested in child sponsorship, I highly recommend giving it a try. We’ve done it for 16 years now and have been so richly blessed in knowing we are making a special difference in the life of a child in need. What a better world we would live in if we all invested in just one child who was in need. We could defeat this problem of world hunger and improve the health of all of God’s children…one child at a time.
And so I invite you to take a look at World Vision (www.wvi.org), Children International (children.org), Compassion International (www.compassion.com) or Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org) as well as Steven Curtis Chapman’s adoption ministry, Shaohannah’s Hope (members.shaohannahshope.org). Any or all of these organizations are doing the Lord’s work and I’ve been richly blessed in my affiliation with them.
Jesus, in His parable of “The Sheep and the Goats” said:
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.
Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?”
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.”
Matthew 25:35-40
Today, as we celebrate love and, in doing so, celebrate the One, Jesus, who taught us the definition of love, let us honor Him and the love sacrifice He made for us by sacrificing a little for those who are the least...those who are in need of love.
And never let us rest until we ensure that every man, woman and child in this world know that they are loved. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
http://www.faithhopeandlove.info/
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
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