Here is a copy of my Dad's daily devotional he sends out to his church. I love these, and I wanted to share this short word as we contemplate this holidays...


More Like Him

Daily Devotional November 26, 2008

"First Baptist Church of Magnolia exists to glorify God by worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the unsaved and to lead believers to grow in the grace of God and knowledge of His Word."

1 John 3:16-17



New American Standard Version

16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?



Pastor's Paraphrase

The clearest way for us to understand what love is really all about is to look at the love of Christ that would cause Him to give his own life to save us. Understanding this love, we ought to be willing to give our own lives to love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. We show that kind of love when we share the finances and possessions that God has given us with a brother who is in need. If we should see such a brother and have no compassion or desire to help them, how can we think God's love is within us?



"How does this help me become more like Him?"

During this Thanksgiving season, I remember a time a few years ago that was a special time of joy and celebration. There were thirty family members at our home for Thanksgiving lunch and eleven of our fifteen grandchildren stayed for an extended visit. It was a wild, crazy, and absolutely wonderful time. As you might imagine, trying to keep up with eleven grandchildren under ten years of age is a challenge.

We have in our laundry room a water cooler that dispenses chilled or heated water from a five gallon container of purified water. Having pure, clean water to drink from such a dispenser is truly a blessing. However, it can also present a challenge. Twice during the time that all of our family was home, we went into the laundry room to find everything on the floor soaked and water everywhere.

Though we could never catch the culprits "red handed", we strongly suspect that one of the not quite two year old little ones went into the laundry room undetected and held down the spigot on the water cooler and watched it flow unimpeded onto everything around it. Once the giant jug was empty, they sneaked back into the flow of "grandkid chaos" never to be apprehended. I can hardly expect a confession to a crime from a perpetrator who can't talk yet! Oh well, if that's the worst mischief we face as a family, we have nothing to complain about.

In our case, we just get another jug out of the garage and we once again have an ample supply of pure, clean water. We are more blessed than we know. That year, my oldest son, Chris, had recently returned from Liberia, where he and his church were working with Living Water International to install water wells in villages where they have no source of clean water. Children in such villages are dying in record numbers because of diseases that can be prevented with simply the availability of clean water. Not only is Living Water drilling wells to provide water to drink, they are helping to plant churches in these villages so that they can bring the Living Water of Jesus Christ to the thirsty souls of these villagers.

All this is made possible by American Christians who give of their financial resources to help others in Jesus' name who have far, far less than we do. Instead of another indulgence, they are allowing some of the resources that God has given them to be used to save lives and save souls. In reality, this should not be considered especially unusual or noble for any Christian. It is, in fact, what we all should do. If we do not, this passage questions whether or not God's love is really in us. For when His love is in us, it will come out to bless others and meet their needs in His Name.



How should I pray for Him to change my life?

Ask the Lord to give you wisdom to know how to share with others in ways that will bring Him glory and be a blessing to them. Continue to be thankful for all you have received long after the Thanksgiving holiday is just a memory. Pray that He would help you to be a wise steward of all that He has entrusted to you.




Dr. Ed Seay
Senior Pastor

Fellow Bloggers! Lend me your ears, lend me your tupperware!

God is doing a work in our hearts about missions.
Our church is being challenged like never before to look beyond ourselves here in America, where we are overfed physically and spiritually, and ask ourselves what role we play in sending the gospel out to the nations.
I have been wanting to involve my kids in our support of mission work. We have done that by making them very globally aware (learning about all of the continents, and the places around the world where people live in poverty and where people don't know Jesus), and by praying for missionaries and occasionally sending them care packages, put together by them.
But I have wanted us to do something more as a family that requires more than sending checks and sending our Daddy on mission trips. I want my kids to put thought and action into something...
This is the perfect way to do that!
My brother is involved with this organization, Living Water.
He goes on these mission trips where they dig wells and bring clean water to a community that has none, and then they bring the gospel message to them.
This is awesome, to see they meet their physical need for clean water, and then bring them the water that Jesus said will cause you to never thirst again!
I can imagine, after you do something like that for a community, you have their attention.
Chris' kids have done some fund-raising on their own for Living Water, and I thought that would be great for my kids too!
Our pastor just returned from India, and he said it only takes $1,000 to dig a well for a community that needs it there.
This is something I want our family to be apart of!
I watched this video from the website. I actually didn't know that the music was my brother's song, and my brother Chris is in it, when I clicked on it, so that is pretty cool. (Chris is the one with the scruffy goatee.)
It's short, so take a moment to see the people in Nicaragua revel in clean water.
Then I will tell you our game plan, and how I need your help!

Okay, so our plan is to make homemade salsa, and sell it to neighbors, etc.
We have had kids in our neighborhood hitting us up for whatever they're selling for years. And being the sucker I am for the cuties, I almost always buy something. Year after year, we buy wrapping paper, popcorn tins, and raffle tickets for stuff we desperately do NOT need so that the PTA flourishes, they get new band uniforms, and soccer teams can offer scholarships. That is all fine and good, but it's my kids' turn to hit up the neighborhood, and I want it to be for something eternally valuable!
So door-to-door we will go, selling salsa, and our goal is $1,000. If we sell them for $10, this means we need to sell 100 of them. This is going to take time for me to make that much salsa, obviously, but we hope to make it!
What would cut our costs cosiderably is this...if you could donate to me little storage containers, then I wouldn't have to buy jars to put it in. I plan on using the little Glad containers that we get when we buy deli turkey. Do y'all have those around your house? If so, and you live near me, would you mind collecting some for me and sending them my way? That would help the kids and I a ton!
Also, if you'd like to buy some salsa, that would help too!
We are excited about this opportunity. My dream is for the kids and I to someday to go on one of these trips. I know my brother goes frequently. How amazing would that be? I pray that this will cultivate a heart for missions and for those in need in my children as well. I pray God will move in them as He is moving in us.
Who will be able to resist my four adorable, little ones, pulling their wagon of salsa to their door? Hopefully, no one!