Friday, January 21, 2011

WORD OF THE DAY - Thursday 20 January 2011 from Nikolaev, Ukraine

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26 NIV)


Most Holy and Righteous God, our Dear Heavenly Father ~ We offer thanks this morning for our faith that makes it possible for us to depend upon You for everything we need in this life and in the life to come. Give us wisdom as we consider more effective methods of reaching lost souls who are fretting over earthly bread that quickly becomes stale and useless. Help us to be good and faithful stewards of whatever blessings are showered upon us realizing that the world is observing how sincerely we follow Christ as Lord. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Посему говорю вам: не заботьтесь для души вашей, что вам есть и что пить, ни для тела вашего, во что одеться. Душа не больше ли пищи, и тело одежды? Взгляните на птиц небесных: они ни сеют, ни жнут, ни собирают в житницы; и Отец ваш Небесный питает их. Вы не гораздо ли лучше их? (От Матфея 6:25-26 Russian)

Через те вам кажу: Не журіться про життя своє що будете їсти та що будете пити, ні про тіло своє, у що зодягнетеся. Чи ж не більше від їжі життя, а від одягу тіло? Погляньте на птахів небесних, що не сіють, не жнуть, не збирають у клуні, та проте ваш Небесний Отець їх годує. Чи ж ви не багато вартніші за них? (Матей 6:25-26 Ukrainian)

Por tanto os digo: No os congojéis por vuestra vida, qué habéis de comer, ó que habéis de beber; ni por vuestro cuerpo, qué habéis de vestir: ¿no es la vida más que el alimento, y el cuerpo que el vestido? Mirad las aves del cielo, que no siembran, ni siegan, ni allegan en alfolíes; y vuestro Padre celestial las alimenta. ¿No sois vosotros mucho mejores que ellas?. (Mateo 6:25-26 Spanish)
We had our usual faithful two or three for the first Wednesday night Bible study and prayer meeting since we have returned. Stepan and Ludmila are so very faithful that their example is and inspiration to anyone who pays attention to their habits. They travel a long distance to our meeting place arriving on time using public transportation in all kinds of challenging weather. Moreover, they bring a good positive attitude expecting the church to grow as we continue to teach the Word that builds faith.

The New Year's "yolka" was still standing last night in the entrance foyer of the large building where the church meets in an upper room. Yesterday, people in the countries that come under the influence of Orthodox Christianity were celebrating a holiday that commemorates the baptism of Jesus. I have never understood how they determined the date, but they seem to agree on this as the proper date. One of the common ways to celebrate this date is for people to jump in the cold water that has been made holy by a priest sprinkling holy water in an otherwise ordinary basin of water, a lake or sea water. Then people jump into this hoping that they will receive healing from diseases. When we were visiting Inta in the Komi Republic during January 2009, we were invited by some new friends to go and jump in the frozen river for this healing. We politely thanked them but declined this offer. The New Year's tree may come down soon, but it is evident around the town that people continue to celebrate the New Year with gifts of chocolates and toys for children along with parties. I'm not sure when the trees come down and things get back to normal. We'll just watch and see how it goes. Thank you for your prayers for this work of evangelism here in southern Ukraine.

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