FAITH FOR TODAY*
SCRIPTURES AND THOUGHTS
Now reaching millions via the internet with the Word of God and ministry in music.
* Radio program begun by the Rev. Dr. JC Stanley, (ordination name) Heggelund, our Senior Pastor, on WNLC in New England while he served as a contact chaplain for the armed forces during the Vietnam War. This was a critical time for him as he was taken prisoner in the Soviet Union before the Iron Curtain fell, for giving out Bibles translated in Russian, after being a guest at the University of Moscow.
PRESENTED BY GOOD FAITH MINISTRIES (An arm of International Interfaith Ministries of which Dr. Heggelund is the founder.)
International Interfaith Ministries; 2020 Pennsylvania Ave.. NW, # 777; Washington, DC 20006-1846 ; goodfaithchapel@aol.com
Scripture verses:
“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10,11.
Thoughts: Heaven’s snows.
Prayer: Father, we thank and praise You for the revelation of Your Word and of Your handiwork in nature. Today as we view the snow that has fallen multiple times in the last month in heavy measure on much of the northeastern part of the United States, we consider the imagery of snow, which along with rain, nourishes the earth in the marvelous cycle You have set in nature, and its description of the power of Your spoken word to accomplish on earth all that You purposed for it. As we come before You in prayer, we also consider the adverse events in our lives that often seem like snow and ice burying and hardening the soil of our souls before they produce the fruit of new spiritual life in due season. By Your Spirit Who is our counselor here on earth, help us in the depths of our spirits to discern those divinely arranged events when they come, even when our human minds and emotions do not understand them, and to hear firsthand Your spoken word in the midst of life’s winter seasons so that we can come through to the spring time of Your good purpose unfolding through our lives. This we pray in the Name of Jesus, Whom the apostle John saw in a supernatural visitation with “head and hair as white as wool, as white as snow”, Who in His human experience on earth knew suffering and sorrow firsthand, yet without sin. Amen.
Dedication: This devotional presented in prayerful dedication to our senior pastor, Brother Joseph, whose ministry has taken him through many wintry and snowy places: from the fjords of Norway, the native land of his father and mother; to Bridgton, Maine, during the humble, early days of his ministry, where he drank goat’s milk and braved Arctic cold temperatures of 36 below zero; to the frozen waters of the Bering Strait during his ministry to the Eskimoes; to the snowy hills of New Hampshire where he often personally drove disabled congregants to and from Sunday school; to the icy cold winds of the coal mining town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, where he and I placed clothing for the needy at our mission chapel while the mercury hovered at a bone chilling 8 degrees Fahrenheit. – Brother Thomas
Instrumental music offering: Sarabande in A Minor from Partita No. 3 for keyboard by J.S. Bach.
Full website version of this devotional, featuring scenic photos of places visited by our senior pastor Brother Joseph in his missionary travels during the 60’s and 70’s- the Bering Sea, the fjords of Norway, and the forests of Bavaria, Germany, can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/faithfortodayjan262014feb12014/