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1. DO YOU FEED YOUR BODY BUT STARVE YOUR SOUL?
YOU CAN CHANGE
FROM CATERPILLAR TO
BUTTERFLY. THAT CHANGE
YOU WANT IN YOUR LIFE IS
POSSIBLE.
FALLING UPWARD
WHY HARDSHIP IS CRUCIAL
TO PROGRESS.
TAKE TIME TO
LAUGH AND LOVE
HOW WILL YOUR CHILDREN
REMEMBER YOU?

2. personallyspeaking
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EDITOR
Keith Phillips
DESIGN
Giselle LeFavre
PRODUCTION
Francisco Lopez
Issue 16
© 2000 Aurora Production, Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Unless indicated otherwise, all
Scripture quotations in Activated are
from the New King James Version of the
Bible © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
There’s probably not a person on this planet who is
completely satisfied with the way they are. Everyone is either
“too fat” or “too skinny,” “too short” or “too tall,” “too aver-
age,” “too different,” or too something. And what about those
bad habits, weaknesses, and personality quirks that seem to
stand in the way of our happiness, success, and successful
relations with others?
In time, most of us realize that one of the keys to happi-
ness is learning to accept certain things about ourselves that
we can’t change or that don’t really matter, and to major on
the things that we can change and that do matter. Someone
wisely summed that up in what has come to be known as the
Serenity Prayer: “Lord, give us serenity to accept what cannot
be changed, courage to change what should be changed,
and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
If we ask Him, God will not only give us serenity, cour-
age, and wisdom, He will also help bring about the positive
changes we desire in ourselves. The Bible is full of promises
about that: “If you abide in Me [Jesus], and My words abide
in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done
for you” (John 15:7). “No good thing will He [God] withhold
from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). “With God
nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
But what then? What’s our part? Just how do we go
about the business of letting God change us? How much help
does He need or expect from us? It’s our hope that this issue
of Activated will help answer those questions and lead to a
happier, “new and improved” you.
Keith Phillips
For the Activated family
ctivated issue 16

3. I
t all started when a man in Romania with whom I’ve been
corresponding, 70-year-old Ilie, visited his son in prison.
Each time I write Ilie, I enclose some Christian literature,
so during the visit Ilie gave his son one of the posters I had
sent him. His son later gave that poster to a fellow inmate,
Ovidiu, who also began corresponding with me regularly. With a
little encouragement, Ovidiu started to tell other inmates about
Jesus’ love, forgiveness, and power to change hearts and lives.
Over the next year, Ovidiu won more inmates to the Lord.
As some of those inmates were transferred to other prisons,
more inmates were won to the Lord in those prisons. Now 12
inmates in five prisons actively share the Good News with their
fellow inmates, and every month their numbers grow and more
prisoners get saved.
Several of them have written to say that whenever they
receive a letter from me, it’s like a holiday for them and the
others in their little prison fellowships. Here are a few translated
excerpts from recent letters I received from some of them.
in Romanian prisons
By Carl,Hungary
ctivated issue 16 3

4. Twenty-six-year-old
Ovidiu is serving a nine-
year sentence. He writes:
“I can’t believe how many
things have changed since I
started writing you. I’m not
talking only about the hap-
piness you brought to my
life by helping me to know
my Savior, Jesus; I’m also
talking about the many
friends I have today, due to
your love and His love.
“In the beginning it was
tough. I was alone and I
felt forgotten on this planet.
But you wrote to me about
love, you showed me your
love in kind deeds, and
you encouraged me to love
others and tell them about
Jesus’ love. Today I’m a
happy and fulfilled man.
Because I listened to you
and did what you told me,
I’ve gained many new
friends in Jesus.
“All of us who write to
you love each other and
help each other to make it
through the darkest times.
Albert is just one of them.
If it hadn’t been for him,
I wouldn’t have made as
much progress in explain-
ing God’s love to the other
inmates. Albert talks to
others about God’s love with
such ease, and they respect
him for it.”
Albert is 35 years old and
is serving a 22-year sen-
tence for homicide. Prisoners
convicted of premeditated
homicide are allowed to write
only one letter a year. If
they want to write more, they
must make deals with other
inmates to send their letters
for them. When Albert first
wanted to write me, he had
already used his one letter for
the year to write his mother,
so he gave another inmate
his lunches for a month in
exchange for being able to
write one letter in the other
man’s name.
In Albert’s fourth letter he
wrote: “I don’t know how I can
thank you. I have no words to
express what’s going on in my
heart. Until I received your
second letter, I didn’t know
what it meant to be loved or
love anyone. For 35 years I
thought love only existed in
people’s imaginations.
“At last I found what I was
looking for. In fact, I didn’t
even know I was looking for it,
but I found it. What I needed
was someone to love and be
loved by, and you brought
that Person—Jesus—into my
life. Before I received your
letter, I didn’t think about
anything except how I could
get out of prison sooner. Now
all I want is to be able to
show love to those who need
it, and Jesus has given me the
opportunity to do that. Every-
one in here is starving for a
kind word and a little bit of
love from a sincere heart. I’m
so glad that I have this chance
to love others, and in return
to be loved with God’s love
through them.
“Now it doesn’t matter to
me so much that I’m locked
up here. I no longer scratch
a line on the wall of my cell
for every day that passes. I’m
happy! Thank you so, so, so
much! I thank Jesus from the
bottom of my heart for His
love for me. I want the whole
world to know that I, a mur-
derer, found happiness and
love and forgiveness through
Jesus. As long as I live, I’ll tell
others about Jesus’ love!”
4 ctivated issue 16

5. Viorel, 29, is Albert’s
brother. Albert was
recently transferred to the
same prison where Viorel is
serving a 14-year sentence.
(Prisoners convicted of homi-
cide are moved often to
discourage escape attempts.)
Albert told Viorel about us. In
his first letter Viorel wrote: “I
don’t know how it was poss-
ible for Albert to change the
way he did, but he is a new
man. If a man like him could
undergo such a change, and
if God can indeed love a
person with a past like his,
that means there’s hope for
me! All of a sudden life can
take a meaningful turn. Please
write to me in detail about the
beautiful things Albert men-
tioned to me. I didn’t want
to admit it in front of my
brother, but I need God’s love.
I’m lost without it. Please,
help me become the happy
and serene man my brother is
today.”
Petrisor, 37 years
old and a con-
victed murderer,
wrote in his first
letter: “Is it true
what Albert told
me about God’s
love? Is it true that
you also love us,
even though we’re
murderers? Is it
true that we can
receive God’s for-
giveness? Please,
write me about
these things. I’m
all alone in this
world and I’ve
done so much
wrong that I don’t
even have hope for
the afterlife. But
Albert talks about
Jesus with so
much feeling, just
like He is his best
friend who sent
him to talk to me.
Please send me to
read what you sent
Albert. I want to
know Jesus the
way he does.”
Vasile, 30 years old, is serving a
14-year sentence for murder. In
his second letter he explained: “I
never thought that I could be for-
given for the terrible thing I did.
My friend Albert let me read the
letters you sent him. I couldn’t help
but cry. I have never been really
happy in my entire life, much less
cried from happiness, but what
else could I have done when Jesus
took over my heart? Albert did
everything he could to help me get
to the point of praying for my sal-
vation. I never thought that I could
experience such joy as I do now.
“Your letters make things so
simple and easy for us to under-
stand. This month I’m going to
write my family. They too need to
find out about the great change
that took place in my life, and they
too need to receive Jesus.
“Now I’m truly happy. Peace
took me over! It was so simple,
and Jesus changed me so fast. Now
I’m disgusted with the life I lived
before, because I lived it without
Him. I’ll never let go of Him again.
Please, write me as often as you
can. I want to know everything
there is to know about Jesus and
His teachings, so that I can tell
others and they can know His love
too.”
There is no one too bad or too insignifi-
cant for God to love and care for.
God will do anything for you if you
simply give Him a chance.
ctivated issue 16 5

6. that it’s a small thing for
Me to transform a single life
into something new, some-
thing even better?
You’ve seen the course
of nature, how a caterpillar
envelops itself in a cocoon
and then comes out as a daz-
zling butterfly—totally differ-
ent, totally beautiful, totally
changed, a completely differ-
ent creature. But then you
think about yourself, and
since you’ve never seen such
a drastic change in your life,
you wonder if such a change
is really possible.
Just imagine the first cat-
erpillar in the Garden of
Eden, and how sad it must
have been at the thought that
it was destined to remain an
ugly earthbound creature all
its life. If you had told that
caterpillar that it would spin
a cocoon and go into a deep
sleep, only to emerge trans-
formed into a beautiful flying
A MESSAGE TO YOU FROM JESUS
creature with colored, pat-
terned wings, do you think it
would have believed you?
I instructed that caterpil-
lar to spin a cocoon, and it
did. As it did its part, I did the
miracle and transformed it.
And from that day until this,
it’s been natural and normal
for caterpillars to turn into
butterflies. So if I could per-
form that miracle, that trans-
formation, for one of the least
of My creatures, doesn’t it
seem logical that I could do
the same for you?
It all begins with a spark
of faith. I can speak to your
heart and put that spark
there—a spark of faith that
tells you that I can and want
to help you change. But for
Me to continue to work in
your life and bring these
changes to fruition, you must
give Me your full coopera-
tion. You must have not only
a believing heart, but also a
A
nybody can change,
because I can change
anybody who wants to
be changed and comes to
Me. In fact, you can be
anything that you want to
be—as happy as you want,
as fulfilled as you want, as
challenged as you want, as
content as you want, as posi-
tive as you want—because all
these things are within My
power to give!
The changes that you
desire in your life are poss-
ible. It doesn’t matter what
you’ve been like or how long
you’ve been that way. It
doesn’t even matter if some-
thing you’re trying to change
is a part of your personality,
your inborn nature, or some-
thing you feel is unchange-
able. Even if you don’t think
you can change, you can
because I can change you. If
I made the world and every-
thing in it, don’t you see
6 ctivated issue 16

7. Seven Keys to
Spiritual Growth
Dependence on the Lord
Psalm 138:8
John 3:27
John 15:5
Ephesians 2:8–9
Philippians 4:13
James 1:17
Desire to grow
Psalm 107:9
Psalm 145:18–19
Proverbs 2:1–5
Matthew 5:6
Luke 11:9
Prayer
Jeremiah 33:3
Matthew 7:7–8
Matthew 21:22
John 15:7
John 16:24
Philippians 4:6
Commitment
Matthew 4:10
1 Corinthians 9:24–27
Philippians 3:13–14
Hebrews 12:1
2 Timothy 2:4–5
God’s Word
Joshua 1:8
Psalm 119:9
Psalm 119:11
Psalm 119:98–100
Jeremiah 15:16
John 8:31–32
1 Peter 2:2
2 Peter 1:2–4
Application
Psalm 119:59–60
Job 17:9
Matthew 7:24–25
Philippians 2:12
1 Timothy 4:15–16
Hebrews 2:1
James 1:22–25
Patience
Proverbs 4:18
Luke 8:15
Romans 2:6–7
Philippians 1:6
Hebrews 10:36
Hebrews 12:1
James 1:3–4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
feeding reading
yielded heart. Like the cater-
pillar, you have to come to
Me and receive My instruc-
tion, and then you have
to be willing to do the
things I ask of you. Only
then will I be able to bring
about all the changes you
desire—and even then they
won’t all happen overnight.
Certain aspects of this mir-
acle can happen in an
instant, the moment you
believe and ask Me and
yield. Others will take time,
but as you continue to look
to Me and do as I say,
you will change. That I can
promise!
So you see, everything
is possible! It doesn’t matter
how long you’ve been the
way you are or how bad
you think you are. It doesn’t
matter what you think about
yourself, because I am able.
All things are possible with
Me if you believe.
ctivated issue 16 7

8. Can I stay with you to-
night?” Carlos asked in a
trembling voice. He had had
a terrible argument with his
wife, he explained over the
phone, and he couldn’t return
home. We also knew that
he had already been going
through a very difficult time
in his life. To begin with, he
had hoped to be promoted to
general manager in his com-
pany, but the job had been
given to someone else. Then
a few days later, he had had a
serious car accident, though
fortunately no one was
injured. Now this! Everything
seemed to be going wrong.
I invited him over, and
before he arrived, my wife
and I prayed together for the
Lord to help us encourage
him, as well as for wisdom in
how to advise him in this per-
sonal situation, if he should
ask for that.
When he arrived, we
could see that he felt truly
hopeless. He had had a
second car accident the night
before, it turned out, and
this time the car had been
totally demolished. Now his
wife was really upset.
When he had gotten it all
out, we asked him why he
thought all these things were
happening to him. At first,
all he could do was complain
about his wife and how she
was always nagging him
about his drinking. “She
keeps after me about it. I
think she just doesn’t want
me to have a good time!”
he said. He clearly couldn’t
accept her attitude about his
drinking.
After a while of that, we
suggested that the best thing
he could do was to stop
blaming her or anybody else
for his problems. We also
explained that a lot of his
troubles seemed to stem
By Samuel Cordon
from the fact that he wasn’t
reading the Bible as much
as he used to or trying to
stay close to the Lord like
he used to, so the Lord had
probably withdrawn His pro-
tection from him and he was
feeling the consequences.
“God doesn’t send us
troubles to see us suffer,”
I told Carlos. “But He does
allow them sometimes
because He knows that often
that’s the only time we will
sincerely pray, when we are
in trouble. Sometimes He
has to send trouble so we’ll
change. Then when bad
things happen, we begin to
pray, we read His Word, and
we start to do what His Word
says. As soon as we get back
on track, doing our best to
love Him and others and
obey His loving laws, He can
bless us and take care of
“The best thing you could probably do is
return home ... and tell her you love her.”
“
8 ctivated issue 16

9. us—just like a parent some-
times allows his child to
suffer the consequences of
his actions in order to teach
him a lesson and to help him
grow in character.
“It’s not that He expects
us to be perfect,” I continued,
“but our motive is what
counts—whether or not we
are sincerely trying to do
what’s best. When we are,
then He’ll do His best to take
care of us and protect us and
make us happy. But some-
times He just has to allow bad
times to make us stop and
listen to Him.”
Carlos’ drinking seemed
to be the main reason his wife
was so upset with him, and
it was about to cost him his
marriage, so I told Carlos how
the Lord had delivered me
from dependence on alcohol,
and that he could also be
delivered.
Carlos’s situation
reminded me of the story of
Esau in the Bible, when Esau
had been so hungry and so
shortsighted that he traded
his entire inheritance for a
bowl of his brother Jacob’s
stew (Genesis 25:29–34). I
related that story to Carlos,
and explained how I thought
it applied. It was like Carlos
was exchanging his happy
married life for a glass of
whisky. “By running away
from the situation,” I said,
“you could be destroying
your marriage. The best thing
you could probably do is
return home, apologize to
your wife, and tell her you
love her.”
At that, Carlos burst into
tears and told us that nobody
had ever talked to him that
way before, but that he
thought I was right. As we
talked more, he became
determined to change and
make a new start, and to try
to make up for the harm he
had caused.
We read some appro-
priate verses from the Bible,
Recreated
C A R L O S
and my wife and I prayed
with him for God to help
him stop drinking and to
bring about a real and lasting
change in his life.
A few days later when we
visited Carlos at his office,
he was beaming! He gave us
each a big hug and said, “God
has changed me! I can’t thank
Him and you enough for
helping me get straightened
out!” He went on to tell
us how everything had im-
proved in his relationship
with his wife, and how happy
they were now.
We’re so thankful for the
change God brought in
Carlos’ life. He never fails
when we pray!
“If anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold,
all things have become new”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
ctivated issue 16 9

10. My three youngest girls were so excited. We
had planned a beach outing for a week, and the
day had finally come. Then at the last minute I
asked a friend to go in my place because I had
so much housework to do. At least this will be
a great chance to do all those things I haven’t
been able to get to, I thought as I gathered
play clothes to wash, my sewing kit, and mend-
ing. A few minutes later, from the window, I
saw the kids’ ride come, then drive away with
those excited, happy kids. They waved at me
and called out, “Bye, Mommy! Have fun today!”
Fun?! If they only knew all my plans for
the day, I thought. Well, I guess a little “me
time” today won’t hurt while they’re out. It’s odd,
though, how I usually end up doing much less
than I had hoped to when I skip out on playtime
and replace it with projects, errands, and clean-
ing. But that’s motherhood too, isn’t it?
I sat there and kept thinking of sandcastles
and laughing children—the youngest one run-
ning along the shoreline, and the older ones
jumping over small waves as they rolled in. How
they all love splashing and falling into the water!
I prayed for their safekeeping and that they’d
really enjoy themselves. They hadn’t been gone
an hour yet, and I already missed them and was
looking forward to the stories they would have
when they got back.
Then I stopped and prayed a little prayer:
“Jesus, You have blessed me with such beautiful,
happy children. Your Word says that children are
a parent’s reward*
, and You couldn’t have given
me a better one! Thank You for these precious
kids!” [*
Psalm 127:3]
•
I greeted the girls at the car when my friend
dropped them off. “Thanks so much for taking
them,” I said. “I just had so much to do at home.
…”
“They said you really enjoy the beach, too,”
my friend began.
“But Mom’s too busy to have fun,” my
youngest interrupted.
•
Take
Time to
Laugh
and Love
By Sara Kelley,Family missionary and
mother of five,now in East Africa
Parenting FROM THE Heart
From the editor: Welcome to“Parenting from the Heart,”a new Activated
exclusive featuring tips,lessons,and heart-warming stories on parenting
and the care of the beautiful children God has blessed us with.
10 ctivated issue 16

11. Then it was bath time. The three girls piled
into the tub together, and I went about my usual
routine—get out their clean clothes, drop the sandy
ones in the laundry basket, pick up the stuff they’d
left on the floor. All the while those words kept ring-
ing in my mind. Mom’s too busy to have fun.
“We made the best sandcastle today—ever!”
Kimberly announced. “You should have seen it,
Mommy. You would have taken a picture!”
What am I doing? I asked myself. Every day my
kids experience life to the full, just as God intends,
with all its lessons and adventures, and best of all
just plain fun. What part do I play in that? How will
they remember me most when they look back at their
childhood? Where am I in the “fun”?
I grabbed a can of shaving cream from the bath-
room counter. “How’s this for a really nice castle?” I
asked as my foam art creation rose to an impressive
height on the bathtub rim. You should have seen
their big eyes widen!
“Mommy’s making a mess!” Darlene whispered
to her surprised sisters.
Next we all took turns spraying tall white wigs
onto our hair, writing our names extra fancy on the
tiled wall, and forming long poofy shaving cream
beards, like Santa. White sudsy foam was every-
where. All the while, we passed around a camera
and took turns taking photos that we’ll enjoy for-
ever. Fun?! We laughed together till our
sides ached.
•
Dinner was a bit late that
night, and as usual, I didn’t get to
all the projects and errands I had
planned that busy day. I dislike
that word “busy” now, because
I’ve been so guilty of it. Sure
those things need to get done,
but my kids need a fun and
loving mother a lot more than
they need their room to be
spotless, their laundry folded
just so, and their play clothes
mended. My children feel my
love in the time I spend with
them more than in what I do
for them. There will always
be work to be done, but
I realize now how much
kids both need and appre-
ciate those unexpected
surprises—a good laugh
or a happy, fun time
together—and so do I!
ctivated issue 16 11

12. Life is one big learning
experience, and for those who
know and love Jesus, He is our
Teacher. More than anything
else, He wants to teach each of
us all we need to know about
Him, His love and salvation,
and how we can be of greatest
service to Him and others.
God knows that none of us
can accomplish any real good
if we depend on our own sup-
posed strength and wisdom.
In fact, Jesus said, “Without
Me you can do nothing” (John
15:5). But the Bible also says
that we “can do all things
through Christ” (Philippians
4:13). That’s the key right
there! We need to learn to yield
to the Lord so He can do those
good things through us!
Of course, learning to be
more dependent on the Lord
is not something that we can
learn overnight. It takes time
and experience, and often that
involves some difficulties and
seeming defeats. The list is
almost endless of people in
the Bible whom God had to
humble and bring down to the
depths before He could use
them. They needed to learn
that it wasn’t in them, and to
give God the credit for any-
thing good they accomplished.
Look at Joseph: Of Jacob’s
12 sons, he was his father’s
favorite. His older brothers
finally became so jealous of
him that they nearly killed
him, threw him into a pit, and
then sold him into slavery. But
that’s what the Lord used to
humble him. Joseph had to be
made a slave and later be con-
demned as a criminal before
God could exalt him to the
second most powerful man in
Compiled from the writings of
David Brandt Berg
Egypt and use him to save His
people from famine (Genesis
chapters 37, 39–41).
And look at Moses: For
40 years he was groomed as
a prince in the very courts
of Pharaoh. The Bible says
he was “educated in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians”
(Acts 7:22, NIV), but God
couldn’t yet use him to lead
His people to freedom, for he
was too full of the ways of
the world. Moses had to be
humbled first, so God allowed
him to become a fugitive from
Pharaoh and spend 40 years in
the wilderness doing nothing
but tending sheep, before he
was finally ready for God to
use him for the task He had
designed him for (Exodus
chapters 2–3).
And consider King David,
the greatest king that Israel
falling
upward
12 ctivated issue 16

13. ever had: When he fell in love
with Bathsheba, purposely
had her husband killed in
battle, and then tried to lie and
cover up the entire crime, God
had to completely expose him,
humble him, and severely
judge him. And later his own
traitorous son, Absalom, drove
David from the throne for
a time (2 Samuel chapters
11–12, 15). Was David’s fall
really a fall downward? Or
was it a fall upward? God’s
way up is sometimes down—
usually, in fact. —Just the
opposite of what we think!
David was humbled, and the
whole kingdom was humbled,
and they were all reminded
that it was only the Lord
who made them great. From
that squeezing and twisting
of David’s life came forth the
sweet honey of the Psalms,
and the fragrance of his
praises to the Lord for His
mercy.
Or consider the great
apostle Paul: He was an up-
and-coming Jewish activist,
then named Saul, who had
taken it upon himself to put
an end to the fast-growing
sect of the followers of Jesus
of Nazareth. As he journeyed
by horseback to Damascus,
where he intended to capture,
imprison, and execute as
many Christians as he could
find, God had to knock him
off of his horse and blind him
with the brilliant light of His
presence. Trembling, helpless,
and blind, Saul had to be led
by the hand into the city, and
was so astonished by what
had happened to him that he
was unable to eat or drink for
three days. A disciple of the
Lord then came and prayed
for Saul, and Saul regained
his sight, was converted, and
became the apostle Paul. God
had to break him and make
him a new man before He was
able to use him to help many
(Acts chapter 9).
So even if you don’t always
understand why you’re going
through tests, trials, hardships,
and breakings, remember that
God has a purpose and He
knows what He’s doing! God
gets some of His greatest
victories out of seeming
defeats—victories of yielded-
ness, brokenness, humility,
and utter dependence on Him.
So take heart from these
examples from the Bible, and
don’t be discouraged when
everything seems to go wrong
and your hopes are disap-
pointed.
Everyone who has ever
been of any real use to the
Lord had to first be broken,
humbled, and brought virtu-
ally to the end of themselves.
Otherwise, they would have
been too proud and self-con-
fident in their own fleshly tal-
ents and natural abilities, and
would have taken the glory to
themselves. This is why God
chooses to use weak and fool-
ish things: so no one can boast
in His presence (1 Corinthians
1:25–29).
God does not always see
things as we see them, for His
thoughts are not our thoughts
and His ways are not ours
(Isaiah 55:8–9). He doesn’t
judge or reward us according
to our success or failure, but
according to our motives and
faithfulness. In Heaven one
day, He’ll say to those who
are true to Him, “Well done,
My good and faithful servant”
(Matthew 25:21). He won’t say
“My successful servant,” but
“My faithful servant.”
So above all, stay faithful
to Jesus! And remember, your
seeming defeats can become
great victories for the Lord if
you will humble yourself and
learn the lessons He is trying
to teach you through them,
like these men in the Bible
did. “Now all these things
happened to them as exam-
ples, and they were written for
our admonition” (1 Corinthi-
ans 10:11).
ctivated issue 16 13

14. ONE MORNING, A MECHANIC who
has worked on our van from
time to time, knocked on our
door in Korat, Thailand. He
was very sad and very mad
at the same time. He said
that his wife had left him for
another man a couple of days
earlier. Now she wanted the
house and this and that. The
man had been drinking heav-
ily for the past few days, and
he didn’t know what to do or
By George Dunbar
we advised him. “Don’t try to
take judgment into your own
hands. Leave that to God. He
knows what’s best for every-
one concerned.”
It took a while, but he
finally calmed down. Before
he left, he prayed with us to
receive Jesus, and we prayed
together for the Lord’s solu-
tion to his problem.
Some time later he came
to us again for advice. His
wife had come back, and had
asked him to forgive her and
give her another chance. All
of his friends told him not to
take her back. What should he
do?
We told him that the deci-
sion was his, of course, but
that the Lord always forgives
us for our mistakes and sins,
and then He gives us another
chance to do things right.
Our mechanic, by now a dear
friend, was very happy to hear
that, as he really loved his
wife and already knew in his
heart that that was the right
thing to do.
“Jesus and you have
changed my life!” he
exclaimed as he left.
Isn’t it wonderful how He
does that?
who to talk with. He had a
gun in his car, and said he
wanted to go and kill his wife
and her boyfriend, then kill
himself.
He didn’t really understand
what had brought him to our
gate; he had just been driving
around aimlessly, then sud-
denly he found himself at our
house. The Lord had brought
him to us, of course.
My wife and I tried to calm
him down and help him to see
that killing anyone wasn’t the
answer. “As impossible as this
must seem right now, it would
be better to just let her go,”
14 ctivated issue 16

15. QI feel like my life has been ruined
because of the deep hurt that someone
caused me.What can I do to get over
the pain,hurt,and resentment I feel?
Someone has said, “Forgiveness is the key that
unlocks the door of resentment and the hand-
cuffs of hate. It is the power that breaks the
chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfish-
ness.”
If you want to get rid of your resentment
and bitterness, the first step is to forgive—and
to truly forgive someone, you have to let go of
whatever it is you are harboring in your heart
against that person. That may be hard to do, but
you can’t say you forgive, but can never forget.
If you continue to blame the other person, you
become responsible for your own unhappiness.
But once you are willing to lay it aside, Jesus can
help you move on.
No matter what problems your bitterness or
resentment may stem from, God’s love can be
like a balm that heals the hurt. Even if you
don’t understand exactly what the problem is
between you and the other person, God’s love is
the answer! Ask Him for His love in your heart
toward that person, and it will give you a new
start.
answers to your questions
Prayer
for the Day
Forgiveness is the key, but love is the hand that turns it.
Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).It will also give you the
grace and power to let things pass,to forgive others as Jesus has forgiven
you (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13).
If you’ll just forget yourself and think more about others,if you’ll
really try to help and pray for and love them,you’ll find that will solve
almost all of your problems.If you get your mind off yourself and on
others,you’ll find that this is what will bring you true happiness.Get your
mind on Jesus,first of all,and then He’ll help you get it on your neighbor
and love him as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40).
—DAVID BRANDT BERG
Thank You, Lord, for Your
mercies! No matter what I’ve
done, You have enough mercy
to forgive me. Your mercy is
greater than my faults. You
never turn Your back on me,
but rather take me in Your
arms and wipe away my tears
and comfort me. You always
understand, Jesus.
And when I feel I’ve failed
You and others, You hold me
all the closer. You tell me that
it’s going to be okay, that I
am forgiven and You’ll help me
do better if I’ll just try again.
Thank You for loving me just
as much when I fail as when I
succeed.
It’s wonderful to know that
I can always come to You for
the love and forgiveness and
the help I need!
ctivated issue 16 15

16. .
Do you think you can pour love out
of yourself? If you try, you will soon
find that your own love falls short. True,
unfailing, self-sacrificial love does not
come from yourself, by your own power
or through your own efforts or habits, or
your own knowing how to love. But as
you fill up on Me and My love, you will
have this kind of love—and more than
enough. This love will then pour out on
everyone you meet.
First, you must let Me fill you
up. A vessel that is moving or
stopped up cannot be filled.
You must be an empty vessel
with an open mouth, and
hold still and wait for Me to
fill you up.
Spend time with Me, and
I will teach you to love. Then
My face will shine on your
face, and those who see you
will know that this love does
not come from you, but from Me.
From Jesus
with Love
BE A
VESSEL
OF MY
LOVE