Thanksgiving Psalm
by John Fischer


Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are His.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with Thanksgiving;
Go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
And His faithfulness continues to each generation.

- Psalm 100

It’s really pretty simple.

He is God; we are not. He made us and so we belong to Him. We don’t really experience our own fulfillment until we are in a position to praise Him and offer Him thanks. Any other posture is arrogance and sheer folly, not because He is unkind or lording it over us, but because He is who He is, and we are who we are. We don’t get the point of our existence until we get this.

Whether you are in prison or in a mansion, alone or with family and friends – whether you are poor or rich, at war or at peace – this is true about you and it is true about me. This is not constraint. It is not praise on demand. It is sensible and true, the holy and right thing to do.

We were made for this – for the giving of thanks and the whole-hearted acknowledging of our Creator. We will do this forever. We are never really happy until we are doing this. This is not just one day out of the year to give thanks. It is our way of life every day – our lifeline with sanity, our tie to the real reason we are alive.

So while a country stops and gives thanks over an abundance of food, give thanks, not only because it is Thanksgiving Day, but because it is the right thing to do – the only thing to do.

Bluesday: Congratulations for Mother and son! Praise God for this wondrous miracle!

This wonderful Christian organisation has a relief center for the poor and needy in Atlanta and is forming several teams to take New Orleans in for His Kingdom. Please check this website and JOIN in going, in prayer, in giving!!!

Isaiah 58:6-7
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen…to loose the chains of injustice…to set the oppressed free…to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter.”

For more information please visit: www.bloodnfire.com

There are teams going from Minnesota, Dallas, Florida...... and Holland!! Yup My wish is to join, but the Lord is asking me stay here and pray! For more information, contact me by private message!

Be blessed you all in HIS Powerful Presence! amen

Dear Father Lord, thank You for Your Presence.. thank You for Your Faithfulness and Thank You for Your Holy Spirit ablazing through this gamesite! Father Lord, we bless You indeed. I would like to lift up all the angels who play here and do good to others. People who love their neighbour as they love themselves. People who are reflecting His Love towards eachother. And Lord I wish to lift up that special angel who couldn't wait to serve You in a wonderfully blessed way! Thank You Father! Bless Your Holy Name! I pray all this in Your Son's Precious Name - Name above all Names! Halleluyah - AMEN

Solo Violin
by John Fischer

In Atlanta, a killer on a rampage was stopped in his tracks by a single mom wielding Day 33 of The Purpose Driven Life. I wonder if any purpose can be found in New Orleans right now. At first glance it looks like chaos and anarchy with loss and despair higher than the high water mark in town.

But there are bound to be a number of believers in that mass of homeless humanity, and by that I don’t mean good, regular churchgoers, I mean people who know Jesus, and because they know Jesus, they have strength of character, fortitude and purpose that nothing in this world can faze.

This is a time when truth is tested, and real character prevails. You either lose it or you stand solid like a well-rooted tree when all around is giving way. People who have a purpose in life beyond their possessions or their place – people who know that a relationship with God is their most valued possession and nothing can take that away – will rise to the occasion. These people will continue to worship God even when their church is under water. They will grow leaps and bounds in their faith because faith becomes tangible in moments like this. They will bond immediately with others who know Christ, and serve those around them because that’s all you can do – that or complain, and they will be too buoyed by the reality of their faith to complain about anything. And they will realize a mission to spread the love of Jesus like never before.

Pray for these people, and know they are there. They are all over the place, and their time has come. Like Ashley Smith’s time came alone with a killer in her apartment, the time for a calm, steady faith, and even suitable humor has come.

There’s a story already out about a man in the Superdome who managed to escape the youth hostel where he was staying with his violin, and surrounded by the stench of human waste and the press of crowded suffering, he took his instrument out and began to play the Adagio of Bach’s “Sonata No. 1 in G Minor.”

“These people have nothing,” he said. “I have a violin. And I should play for them. They should have something.”

Pray for the believers who escaped with their faith and now have something to share with those who have nothing. It is their time to stand out like a violin in an overcrowded arena.


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

Thank you Nirvana Bless your heart!

AMEN Halleluyah!!! Isn't God GREAT!!!

whatdidyousay: Thank you my brother in Christ :-) I arrived here yesterday safe and sound - now im fighting the jetlag.. *oops headaches..

Im going on a holiday to the US; a missionary trip.. Please pray for me as I give art to 30 4 year olds during VBS :-)

I still cannot believe that we are gonna lose this wonderful fellowship, Gods Place is!!

Its easier to believe in HIM the LIVING GOD, then to believe to loose the place we could worship and honor Christ Jesus..

He, Our LIVING LORD, can come back tonight! Are you prepared? Are you ready? I pray as many people as possible are ready for that glorious day, the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OR LORDS will come through the closed gate in Zion to rule in the Temple for Thousands Years. AMEN

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD. He lives within us. We shine His Light , for we are His people. And we should live alike Him and grow more and more in Him, which is my prayer for you all! AMEN

Obey Him and He will give you peace and all the desires of your heart.

Delight yourself in HIM and He will give you the desires of Your heart. Psalm 37:4

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. AMEN 2 Corinthians 13:14


Anyone who like to help PBARP2 to keep it open, please email her!! God bless you,

Radiant

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your Presence and the Fellowship we enjoyed in this meeting place.. Thank you for Your wisdom and Your Love.. which never changes... You were the same when You created the earth and are the same today as you will be tomorrow and the years to come! amen

Thank You Lord, for Barb. I wish to lift her up here before Your tabernacle, Lord.. Thank You Lord for using her here at BrainKing to speak aloud about Your Love, Your Faithfulness.. Thank You Lord for fill her with your spirit to minister to lost people.. Lord, I bring her before You and pray for her health and her love for her loved ones in Your precious Name, Christ Jesus - Amen

Father Lord, I bring before You all my friends in this fine Fellowship and pray to keep them safe and protected under Your wings. As we will part now, Lord, I ask You to cover each one of us with the precious blood of Jesus to wash us clean; whiter then snow. We are Your precious sons and daughters and You will go before us and flatten the mountains.. And the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet Your unfailing Love for us will not be shaken, nor Your covenant of peace be removed, says You, Our Lord, who has compassion on us. (Isaiah 54:10)

Thank you Lord, for your new covenant in the promise You have for Your people since the day You created the earth. Thank you Lord, for given us your only begotten Son to fulfill Your new covenant! For You loved the world that You gave us Your one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For You did not send Your Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him, who lives!! John 3:16-17

Father Lord, guide our steps towards PEACE, that surpasses all understanding. Father Lord, guide our steps towards ETERNITY, there where You are awaiting us in streets of gold. Father Lord, help us to grow more in You and to draw nearer to You in everything we do. Father Lord, help us to study Your Word of Wisdom.. let us encounter Your true Love in the Promise, the Prophesies and the let grow a conviction in us that You will always keep your Promise. You are always Faithfull. Now please lead us to the Will You have for us in this life on earth.

For it is better to take refuge in the LORD then to trust in man. Psalm 118:8

Lord, YOU are in the center of the earth; You are in the center of the Bible and You are in the center of Our lives. I pray we lift up our eyes to heaven and ask for help.. cry out for help!!! Father Lord I believe that You hear us and speak to us in the silence of our hearts, in the depth of our hearts.. I pray we listen carefully and obey your every command!

Father Lord, thank You for Your Presence and Your everlasting Love!

Let me honor You and pray Your prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy KINGDOM come,
Thy WILL be done
on earth as it is in HEAVEN.
Give us this day our daily BREAD.
And FORGIVE us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever - AMEN Matthew 6:9-13

Dear global friends,

how are you all doing? Trust that the Lord is working in your lives immensely - the only possible way in which He reveals Himself to you and your loved ones.. I pray He blesses all of you abundantly!!

As I write this letter, my heart grieves.. it grieves for my church. There is spirit of a discord in our body of believers with regards to staff and budget issues. Without going into too much detail, I ask you humbly to pray for my church this week as we are between two meetings.. this week is announced as a prayer week for final votes to be done on these issues this coming Sunday.

Please pray for UNITY within the body. Please pray for repentence that every single part of the body should ask before our Lord Jesus Christ, before the meeting starts. Please pray we become clean and with a pure heart before the Lord and into this meeting... and please pray over this meeting, that we know that its Our Father that is in charge of this Church and every desicion taken... please pray that this crisis we are currently in will lead each part of the body more and more into His Presence, more and more growing into the wisdom, the knowledge who the Father is and what He has done for us.. I pray this crisis will be a challenge for all of us to put God first and let Him rule in our Church!! Let Him rule in our Church!! Please pray with us, that our body will be one in HIM and that our eyes and our hearts will tell about His Love, that our heart are full of fire about God, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit!! And please pray that Our Church will grow into that fire, that it will be purified into this fire of Faith, so that we will become a living testimony, that our body will be like Christ, that we will reach out and grow in number, all to glorify His Holy Name!! I pray that in Jesus' Holy Name - AMEN

Tomorrownight we will have a prayer meeting in our Church.. I pray many will come and pray with us and hope you will pray with us continually.. Bless your hearts!

In HIM, Radiant

Horseman: Will keep him in my prayers! Whats his name, Horse?

Horseman: Thank you! Apology.. I wish I would forget nobody, so please add groups of people who you think of with regards to being victims of the Hitler regime..

for all the soldiers who gave their lifes to FREE Europe from the occupation of the Germans during the Second World War..

also for ALL the undergroup warriors who gave their lives to save the lives of those who fought or those who were to be captured..

also for ALL the victims of the Hitler regime: Jews, Gipsies, homo sexuals, mental handicapted people..

Today May 5th, The Netherlands celebrates their 60 Years of Liberation after World War II!!

Praise the Lord for us living in Freedom thanks to these warriors..

Just learned yesterday and some of you the day before, that the Docs informed her, that is benign!! Remember the surgery she had beginning of this year... she has been in agony for a while now.. Imagine how much JOY this gives her and Happiness :-) Good4Her!

I put up a surprise party for her at Gods Place! Please join in, enjoy the cakes and the champaign and drop her a line :-)

Thank you
~*Josetta*~

Horseman: thank you, that is very interesting! :-)

Horseman: Thank you so much for sharing this!!! Bless your heart

Today at the Women Aglow meeting one of our sisters shared with us ,that today The Passover will be celebrated in Jerusalem, Israel. Its the day before the Jewish Pesach. The women are cleaning their houses and preparing for the Celebration. This cleaning proces has been done ages and ages.. continuously. Its an action to move out all the dirt and dust out of their houses.. a parallel to what happened at Easter: Jesus' Death moved out all the sin of our lives. The PassOver in Egypt was a forshadowing of what Jesus came to earth for: his suffering and cruxifiction and death. Jesus was the Passover Lamb. It also symbolises to get the Egypt out of our lives. The gentile believers will be together with the Jewish believers and when they get together we will be in His Presence: He will be our Hiding place!!

You are my hiding place,
You always fill my heart
with songs of deliverance
whenever I am afraid. I will trust in You!

I will trust in You!
Let the weak say I am strong
in the strength of my God.

Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then i am strong.

Shalom!!

Through Eyes of Faith
by John Fischer

You were planned for God’s pleasure, and bringing pleasure to God is called worship. Put these two things together and you can conclude that living your life as it was meant to be lived is an act of worship in and of itself. It would be good if we could get this concept and actually live our lives this way, but we have a tendency to miss the worship in the ordinary because we are looking elsewhere for the worship experience.

And people are looking everywhere. There is a movement afoot that can only be explained as a longing for a mystical religious experience, and by mystical, I mean something otherworldly. The huge outpouring of sentiment over the death of Pope John Paul II is one example. Interest in end-of-the-world apocalypse stories such as the Left Behind series would be another. The bestselling novel Da Vinci Code and NBC’s new dramatic series, Revelation, both show a rising interest is what one commentator called “religious mysteries.” And yesterday, on Larry King Live, a panel of “experts” explored the whole phenomenon of near-death experiences with a “hereafter.” What is going on here if it isn’t a growing spiritual hunger for a real experience with God?

Which is good and not so good. Good: in that people are seeking God — not so good: in that they have a tendency to look to the mysterious and otherworldly to find Him, and not into the more obvious day-to-day part of our lives. There is an element of mystery to our worship in that we are dealing with the unseen, but we are also dealing with the down-to-earth and the obvious, and if we had the eyes to see and the ears to hear, we would be finding God and mystery in the ordinary things as much as anywhere else. It’s like what Frederick Buechner wrote when he observed the childlike faith of people “who, like children, are so relatively unburdened by preconceptions that if somebody says there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they are perfectly willing to go take a look for themselves.”

In other words, they take the spiritual as something expected. People with childlike faith have no need to explain or explain away God in their lives; He simply is, and He is a part of everything they do. Spiritual things are obvious to children — even mystery. It’s all part of wonder, and worship is a kind of grownup wonder.

We don’t need to go outside of our normal experiences to experience God. We just need to believe, and starting with the eyes of a child, see everything we do through the eyes of faith.


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

I'm thankful I'm a child of God, in His safe tender care,
But most of all I'm thankful I can talk to Him in prayer.

Sometimes I come in joyful praise, and thank Him for His grace,
And other times I whisper as the tears course down my face.

I share with Him my deepest fears, my sorrows and my pain,
Until they all are washed away, much like a cleansing rain.

It often seems too marvelous to fully comprehend
The fact that Christ desires through prayer to be my dearest friend.

For in His Word He welcomes me to come before His throne,
And tells me He will answer if I make my longings known.

I've seen so many miracles that prayer alone has wrought,
But know that more would happen if I prayed the way I ought.

Dear Lord, please help me stay so close in fellowship with You,
That I'll reflect Your likeness, and draw others to You too.

And keep my heart completely tuned to hear Your every call,
So every breath will be a prayer, surrendering my all.

Written by: Betty Jo Mings

A note from Max Lucado

Courage

Could you use some courage? Are you backing down more then you are standing up? Jesus scattered the butterflies out of the stomachs of his nervous desciples....

We need to remember that the disciples were common men given a compelling task. Before they were the stained-glassed saints in the windows of cathedrals, they were somebody's next-door-neighbours trying to make a living and raised on supernatural milk. But they were an once more devoted than they were afraid and , as a result, did soome extraordinairy things.

Earthly fears are no fears at all. Answer the big question of eternity, and the little questions of life fall into perspective.

Isaiah 43:1-3:Don't be afraid, because i have saved you. I have called you by name, and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross rivers, you will not drown. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flames hurt you. This is because I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Psalm 31:19-20: How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you have given to those who trust you. You do this for all to see. You protect them by your presence from what people plan against them. You shelter them from evil words.

Usurper: Hi Greg :-) How are you? Have any prayer request?

Hello Jules and Usurper :-)

Nice discussion and I also have questions for Jules, but I suggest we continue our debate at the Debate club!! Thank you :-)

God bless you,
~*Josetta*~

Jules: Which Bible are you quoting?

Corporation: thank you.. surely will pray for a good and God-centered Pope!

and in this same spirit, here's a devotional:

Ready for Harvest
by John Fischer

One of the most encouraging things I have observed in the days since the death of Pope John Paul II has been the overwhelming turnout in Rome, and the outpouring of emotion worldwide, among youth. Popes in my lifetime have had a tendency to represent everything ancient, traditional and irrelevant about the church — the farthest thing from being a champion of the young. But John Paul was different. In Time magazine this is represented by a picture that captured three college-aged women in the crowd at the Vatican, caught with tears of emotion on their faces at the official announcement of the pope’s death. These were not rock star tears. It’s obvious that something is touching them at a very deep level.

Some of this, I’m sure, can be attributed to the man. He had a warmth and authenticity about his character that young people were especially drawn to. If anybody can spot a phony, it’s a teenager, and teenagers around the world sensed something real in this man. But I’m sure a large part of this youthful interest is also an indication of the general spiritual hunger residing in the next generation, some of which has been directed towards the pope merely because of the spiritual office he held.

Something is afoot. I haven’t seen this kind of youthful reaction to Christ and spirituality in general since the Jesus movement of the early 1970s. Evangelistic crusades are getting strong youthful support. Christian colleges are turning away students. Films that carry spiritual themes are getting big support at the box office. The Irish rock band, U2, sells out a tour these days in a matter of hours, and this, at a time when lead singer Bono has been most vocal about his faith. It’s no secret anymore that a U2 concert is a worship experience, and this has only enhanced the group’s appeal.

In 1993, on World Youth Day in Denver Colorado, the pope addressed thousands of young people who had gathered from all over the world to hear him. "Christ is knocking very hard at many hearts, looking for people like you to send out into the vineyard where an abundant harvest is ready," he said.

A dozen years later, that harvest is still ready, and it’s not only up to the young to respond. Their response helps authenticate the movement, but it’s up to all of us to take advantage of the moment and fulfill our mission to tell people about the reality of Christ in our lives.

Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest… I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others have already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest. (John 4:35, 38)


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.




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Grampa AD: Good to see & to hear from you, AD :-) Have a good & total recovery!!

This has been sent to friends, i thought to share it.

http://www.writingsbyskyangel.com/john_paul/john_paul.html

and my prayers go out to the millions of believers who loved this Pope during the 26th years of his reign over the Catholic Church and all the other admirors of him during the time Karol Jozef Wojtyla reigned as Pope John II. I heard on a CNN report that the Pope wanted us not to be sad, but to rejoice...

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me. "My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefor I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Pope John Paul II 1920~2005

My prayers go out to Pope John Paul II whose condition was "very grave" after he suffered cardiocirculatory collapse and septic shock.. quoted from a Vatican spokesman today.

May the Lord touch him with His healing hand and speak Truth and comfort to his loved ones and his followers around the world.

Vatican: Pope's condition 'very grave'

Praying that all those who loved Terri may be comforted by Gods Love and Faithfulness - In Jesus' Name - AMEN

Copyright: Brian Doerksen

This song is the end of a long journey for me. I have longed to see how we can incorporate more 'laments' in our modern worship experience for years, but writing a lament that congregations can sing together, seems to be much tougher than writing songs of joy!! In my opinion, there are so many reasons we need more laments in our corporate worship. The Psalms are full of them and Gods people have sung them for several millennia!! Today, real people need a safe place to express their pain and grief, and still know they are accepted and loved by God and His people! For the broken-hearted and those who are grieving, singing only 'happy songs' can leave them on the outside looking on. I have included this song to this project for allos us who are going through tough times, yet still we want to come and worship because there is no other place where we can find true comfort. Like the Psalms, our laments can honestly express our pain and our questions, and can still have an expression of hope as well. In Psalm 13, the word "but" looms large! Its maybe the hinge word of the Psalm and our song. This is who we are; this how we feel, but , in light of all that, I will still trust in You O God.


Psalm 13 (How long O Lord)

How long oh Lord will You forget me
How long oh Lord
Will You look the other way

How long oh Lord
Must I wrestle with my thoughts
And every day
Have such sorrow in my heart

Look on me and answer
Oh God my Father
Bring light to my darkness
Before they see me fall

But I trust in Your unfailing love
Yes my heart will rejoice
Still I sing of Your unfailing love
You have been good
You will be good to me

Pbarb2: Aww, thank you for posting about Terri.. God bless her and give her peace. She is with Jesus now.. I pray for her parents and all her loved ones.. In Yahweh's Son's Precious Name - AMEN

Bottom-Up Worshiper
by John Fischer

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God… He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. (Colossians 1:15 & 17)

Last week we noted the faith of Templeton Prize winner, Charles Townes. I’ve run into an additional source of praise and worship from yet another renowned physicist who believes in God. His name is Sir John Polkinghorne, and he has been honored for his remarkable achievements in mathematical physics by being appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society in England. He was part of the team that discovered the quark (the most fundamental particle of matter yet discovered). He has since left his post at Cambridge to study theology and serve as an Anglican priest. The title of one of his lectures is “The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker.”

I love that title. It makes me think about a different angle on worship. Often when we think about worship, we think about something lofty. We think of God in the heavens, and how He reaches down to us here below. It’s definitely top-down worship. We look up to see Him; we lift our hands, trying to meet Him reaching down to us. We start with God and we remember how He has worked throughout history, and how He has invaded our lives with His love. That’s top-down worship. It starts with God and seeks how a belief in Him colors the decisions and details of our lives. This is definitely one aspect of worship but not the only one.

Worship is also bottom-up. We can start by observing our world, our lives, and our history and begin to find God’s hand in all this. This is what you would expect from a scientist. Scientists begin with observation at the most basic level. They start with particulars and try and build conclusions or theories based on those particulars. For a scientist to believe in God (especially one who helped discover the universe’s most fundamental elements) means he started by observing the universe from the ground up, and based on all the particulars he gathered, God become his final conclusion. There was no other way for him to correlate all the facts that have been gathered by all the scientists over all time.

I would like to encourage you to be bottom-up worshiper. Such a person would be finding God everywhere, not just waiting for church or the worship music to start. God makes sense of our everyday lives. Everything from ground up holds something about God and something that can point us to Him. It’s a matter of opening our eyes and realizing that when it comes to worship, class is always in session.


John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

Ogopogo: My heart goes out to you! Prayers have been said for you and your loved ones. God bless,

~*Radiant*~

Bruno Jesus: I pray several times per day. And yes, I prayer walk for people in the streets. In fact I once went to Harlem to prayerwalk.

Happy Easter to all and love in the LIVING Christ,

~*Josetta*~

runningwolf: Thank you for this.. I see bumble tried to answer the questions.. perhaps more peeps will do so tonight.. When are you going to provide us the answers? :-)

I was sent a free website at where you can hear a great song “Via Dolorosa” plus see a little movie (4 minutes).

I can really recommend it to everyone who loves music!

This is my card for Holy Friday!

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!
**Please put your speaker on**

Via Dolorosa

love, ~*Radiant*~

March 24, 2005


“Jesus Slept Here”
by John Fischer

The Last Supper, which Christians celebrate tonight in what is traditionally called Maundy Thursday, has been immortalized in countless paintings and displays and acted out in famous plays, films and musicals. It is significant because it is when our most revered sacrament was first administered. It is also where Jesus gave his final instructions to his disciples, recorded in the Gospel of John and labeled by biblical scholars as “The Upper Room Discourse” (John 13-17). But rarely do we stop to think about that room and how it came to be such a sacred place. It belonged to somebody. Somebody donated it to the cause.

Somebody donated the donkey that Jesus rode in on for the Triumphal Entry, and someone prepared the meal for that famous supper. Think of how many different houses Jesus and his disciples slept in over three years of ministry. Think of how many meals were prepared for them. Think of those who contributed to their treasury so their basic needs could be met. Then there was Joseph of Arimathea who contributed his tomb as a burial place for Jesus, Nicodemus who helped prepare the body for burial, and the women who got up early on Resurrection Day to anoint the body because they could not do it on the Sabbath. All these people served Jesus and His cause, and without them, the work would not have been able to be accomplished. Yet we hear so little about them. Many remain nameless. They are always in the background.

That’s always the way it is with servants, but they don’t mind because it’s not about them. They are serving a higher cause and a greater one than they. Their job is to serve and get out of the way, and they do this with great pleasure. Their reward is in knowing that God sees their work, and in watching what their work has made possible in the lives of others. Servants are bent on pleasing God, and their own needs are minimal.

When you think about the Lord’s Supper, remember that someone set the table, and someone picked up afterwards, just as someone will have prepared the Last Supper celebration you might be experiencing tonight. Ministry doesn’t take place without service, and we are all called to play a part in serving each other. Make yourself ready.

WOW.. this interview is so powerful.. I pray this entire site will read it and learn from it!!!

Rick Warren wrote the bestseller: The Purpose Driven Life

Larry King INTERVIEW Rick Warren LIVE