Hearts Opened to God’s Love

Wisdom from James: "Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:2-4, 12-14, 17 

I was born during the Rhodesian (Zimbabwe) Civil War. We may not fully understand wars, their causes, or their timing, but I grew up hearing from my parents that because of the war people's fear of the unknown brought about “open hearts” to the Gospel. This seemed to give my parents more opportunities to share God's precious Gift.

When the pandemic struck the world by surprise in 2020, I saw it as a war, of sorts, because a great number of people were dying. So many died: some within our church family, a colleague from years past, including a dear friend whom I met as a teenager. I had never experienced such sorrow before. I believe the Lord uses times like these to soften the hearts of those who need Him.

It was these observations that reminded me that we live in the Last Days and time is short. During the Pandemic, though in “lockdown,” we decided to face this limiting opposition by beginning a series of Sunday school videos, sharing encouraging music, discipling people, and holding church services over Zoom. We just wanted to be witnesses to unbelievers and encourage our church family to keep spreading the Good News. “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech” 2 Corinthians 3:12 Yes, simplicity is a key element to the glory of the Gospel. So, we prayed that our simple efforts would bless others.

Today, we remain in the “Last Days” and we now ask for your prayers for us as we look for today’s opportunities to simply share the Good News.

The following video was one of those videos that I referred to earlier. These simple and plain messages were messages of God’s love that were sent out to six countries for a year and at Christmas during the pandemic…








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