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 Diane
Musil is a special
friend of this
ministry. Here is a
picture of Diane with "Pup". I
recently asked Diane how long she
has been a Christian, and she
responded, "I was saved
7/7/1977 (30 years ago). That is
when I first became saved and
accepted Jesus Christ as my
Savior and
Lord!!!!" She is a women
of faith and a powerful prayer
warrior. Diane loves the
Lord with all of her heart and
has a deep abiding relationship
with Him, born out of life's
struggles.
Since
the beginning of this ministry,
Diane has been an encouragement
to Rhonda and me. Recently, we
asked Diane if she would be
willing to write devotionals,
which we could add to this
website, so that other people
would be encouraged too. Diane
said, "Yes,".
Diane
is Deaf and legally blind, caused
by being born almost three months
premature. Many years ago, Diane
was visiting at the Retreat
Center here and preparing to
share in chapel. Diane was in the
kitchen and I happened to walk in
on her as she was reading her
Bible and praying. Diane had her
Bible within three inches of her
eyes as she diligently, slowly,
was reading the Word of God. I
backed out of the kitchen. That
image of Diane reading her Bible
has spurred me on to be faithful
in reading the precious Word of
God. Rhonda and I pray that God
will encourage you as you read
Diane's devotionals (this is the
second devotional). Diane has
lived in the Chicago area her
entire life.
May
God encourage and bless
you,
Gary
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- This Month's Devotional -
God's Deep Love
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- BIBLE VERSES
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- Ephesians
3:17-19 (NLT)
- "And
I pray that Christ will be
more and more at home in your
hearts as you trust in Him.
May your roots go down deep
into the soil of God's
marvelous love. And may you
have the power to understand,
as all God's people should,
how wide, how long, how high,
and how deep His love really
is. May you experience the
love of Christ, though it is
so great you will never fully
understand it. Then you will
be filled with the fullness of
life and power that comes from
God."
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In these verses Paul is
speaking to you, to me, to the church and
praying:
I pray--Christ may live
in your hearts by faith.
I pray--you will be
filled with love.
I pray--you will be able
to understand how wide, how long, how high,
how deep His love is.
I pray--you (insert your name
here!)
will know the love of Christ.
His love goes beyond anything
we can understand.
I pray--you will be
filled with God Himself.
WOW! Imagine, filled with God
Himself!
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- TRUE STORY
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- I
became a Christian July 7, 1977 and Jesus
changed my life. I experienced God's love
and forgiveness, and I grew in my faith as
I read my Bible and went to church. In
addition, I would watch Christian
television programs. I had to sit real
close to the television to be able to see
the the programs and read the closed
captioning.
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- My
family were not Christians and did not
understand my Christian faith. My dad was
not very happy about it, and finally one
evening in 1984, he expressed it to me by
telling me that I went to church too much,
watched too much church on television and
talked too much about Jesus. Even though I
had been a Christian for seven years and
was growing in the Lord, I was still a
"young" Christian. My dad's words hurt me
deeply and I ran into my bedroom.
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- My
heart was crushed. I cried out to Jesus,
"Jesus, I love you so much" and in that
moment of discouragement I opened my Bible
and just happen to open to Romans 8. I was
not looking for a specific scripture and I
know it was God who led me to that page.
Verses 38-39 seemed to pop-up from the
page--I began to read, "And I am
convinced that nothing can ever separate
us from His love. Death can't, and life
can't. The angels can't, and the demons
can't. Our fears for today, our worries
about tomorrow, and even the powers of
hell can't keep God's love away. Whether
we are high above the sky or in the
deepest ocean, nothing in all creation
will ever be able to separate us from the
love of God that is revealed in Christ
Jesus our Lord." The part that reads
"our fears for today, our
worries about tomorrow...can't keep God's
love away" really ministered to me
in a special way back in 1984 and
continues to minister to me today.
KNOWING GOD'S DEEP, DEEP
LOVE
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- How
deep is Jesus' love? My friend, it is so
deep that no one or anything can stop
Jesus' love...I know it :) No matter what
you may be going through today, Jesus
loves you and Jesus cares about you.
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- Knowing God's deep, deep
love;
- Knowing my sins are
forgiven and my sins do not separate me
from Jesus;
- knowing Jesus' arms are
always open wide and Jesus will not reject
me, even when others do--
- these are just some of the
reasons why I love Him so much.
- "I love Him because He
first loved me" (1 John 4:19).
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- My
friend, no matter what happens keep going
to church, keep reading your Bible and
keep loving Jesus with all your
heart!
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- SONG
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- "O The Deep Deep Love Of
Jesus" by Samuel Trevor Francis
(1875)
- Worship the Lord as you
meditate on these comforting words
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- Verse 1.
- O
the deep, deep love of Jesus,
- Vast, unmeasured,
boundless, free!
- Rolling as a mighty
ocean
- In
its fullness over me!
- Underneath me, all around
me,
- Is
the current of Thy love
- Leading onward, leading
homeward
- To
Thy glorious rest above!
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- Verse 2.
- O the
deep, deep love of Jesus,
- Spread
His praise from shore to shore!
- How He
loveth, ever loveth,
- Changeth never,
nevermore!
- How He
watches o'er His loved ones,
- Died
to call them all His own;
- How
for them He intercedeth,
- Watcheth o'er them from
the throne!
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- Verse 3.
- O the
deep, deep love of Jesus,
- Love
of every love the best!
- 'Tis
an ocean vast of blessing,
- 'Tis a
haven sweet of rest!
- O the
deep, deep love of Jesus,
- 'Tis a
heaven of heavens to me;
- And it
lifts me up to glory,
- For it
lifts me up to Thee!
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- PRAYER
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- Dear
Father in Heaven:
- Thank
you for your wonderful love that is so
great we can never fully understand it. I
pray that You, Heavenly Father, Son and
Holy Spirit reveal to each person who
reads this devotion more of the depths of
Your amazing, unfailing love. In Jesus
Name I pray. AMEN.
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- Click
to return to this month's "Encouragement
Today"
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