Consider the "What ifs?"

 

 A few years ago I did a devotional on this site entitled What If? I want us to revisit this question today because life is full of “What if’s” and we have all played mind games where this is the central question:

"What if I hadn’t married my husband?”                                        “What if I hadn’t had children?”

   What if I had taken that other job?”   -  “What if he had gone to the doctor sooner?”

I want us today to apply some “what if’s” to the stories of two individuals in the Bible and consider how different their lives could have been. The first individual that comes to mind is Abraham, whom we know as the father of the Jewish nation as well as all true Christ believers, (Romans 4:11). His story begins in the eleventh chapter of Genesis. We learn that Abraham, (known as Abram until God changed his name), was told by God to leave his birth family and country and go to a place that God would show him. He was also told that he would be the leader of a great nation and that all the families of the earth would be blessed because of him. Genesis 12:4 says this, “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him. . .”  But what if he hadn’t departed. He was childless, with no hope for children through his wife, he had no idea where God was sending him, and he was leaving everyone and everything familiar to him. What if he had decided the risk was too great to trust God for the seemingly impossible. Would a Jewish nation have ever been established? Would Abraham and Sarah have ever had a son? Would God have just abandoned His idea of establishing a Jewish nation?

The next individual is introduced to us in the second chapter of Joshua. Let me summarize her story. Her name is Rahab, often referred to as Rahab the harlot, and she gave lodging to two Israelites who were spying out the land in which she lived and they planned to occupy. Word reached the King about the whereabouts of these two men and he sent word to Rahab to bring the men out. But she defied the King’s order and hid the men instead. Before she helped Joshua’s men escape, she extracted a promise from them that she and her family would not be killed when the Israelites destroyed their city. 

What if she hadn’t defied the King’s order and these men had been killed? Would this have put enough fear in the Israelites to just abandon their attempts to enter the land God promised them? What if the king had Rahab killed for hiding the men? What if the scarlet cord that she hung out to identify her apartment fell to the ground and was no longer visible and she and her family were killed?

            Now, I want us to look at the story of a modern day example of a “What if?” story. In 1988 Dotti Ackerman was newly widowed, living in New Jersey and had been challenged by her pastor to start a ministry to widows when she shared with him her loneliness and feelings of despair at the thought of rearing a teen-age son on her own. So she stepped out in faith and began having meetings in the back room of a local diner. In 2012 when she found herself again a widow, she was the director of a large ministry, meeting in a local country club crossing denominational lines, with half being Roman Catholic. Because her now grown son was living in Florida and wanted Dotti closer to him and her grandchildren, Dotti felt that God wanted her to make the major move to Florida. Her pastor, the same above-mentioned pastor,

questioned her decision to move. Why would she leave success to have to start over in an unknown community, with no local church to back her, and knowing no one? Why indeed. Her wise pastor wanted her to ask these questions and make her decision based on God’s leading. Dotti felt that God was leading her and she made the move to Florida, with her Pastor’s blessing.

            Dotti encountered difficulty finding a pastor who would allow her to use his church building, she had to navigate the road of communication to get the message out about the ministry, she had to do many things on her own for which she had previously received help from her church, and she had no financial backing. But, she persevered and today the Florida chapter of Friends Needing Friends is celebrating its 10^th birthday.

            You are capable of asking the “What if?” questions yourself. But, I’ll start you out:

• What if Dotti decided it was too difficult to move from the only area in which she’d ever lived?
• What if, when arriving in Florida, she just decided her ministry days were over and retired?
• What if discouragement got the best of her and she decided it just wasn’t worth the trouble?

HAPPY 10^th ANNIVERSARY to the Florida chapter of Friends Needing Friends. It is a joy to see your radiant faces each month. You are a vibrant testimony of faithfulness to God’s calling. Thank you, Dotti, for following the call of God on your life.

Ladies, taking that first step is going to be the hardest part of the process in fulfilling God’s mission for your life. I encourage you to take that first step in anticipation of what God can do for and through you. Don’t live your life, only to come to the end asking yourself what if questions:

• “What if I had shared Christ with my neighbor?”
• “What if I had encouraged my grandchildren to attend church?”
• “What if I had chosen to forgive that difficult relative?
• “What if I had . . .?”

            May God shower you with his grace and mercy in the coming year.

                                                                                

Message by Shari Hervold

         

           From the desk of Dotti Ackerman

           Founder & Director of  F.N.F. Widow Ministry, Est. 1988

            

           A special video was put together as a reminder of some of our monthly program over the past 10 years. God has truly bless this  FNF widow ministry.  -   Just click and enjoy! 

Wow! 10 - 7 - or 5 years ago - have we changed! (For the good - Amen!) 

I Can and I Will

     Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” As with all Scripture, this one must be put in its proper context. To do so, we look at what comes before and after it. Paul had been speaking about his ability, through Christ, to have little or to have much, to be full or to be hungry.  He put his trust in Christ’s sufficiency in facing all life’s circumstances. As you look forward to 2022, I encourage you to make this your theme verse. Only God knows what you are going to face, the circumstances that you will have to endure and persevere through. Let this verse be a reminder that it is Christ who will give you the strength and ability to persevere.

            There are two women in the Bible who were persistent when circumstances seemed impossible. The first one is found in the 18^th chapter of Luke. A widow went to a judge asking
him to grant her justice against her adversary. Now, the judge wasn’t a religious man, and had no time for either God or his fellow man. For some time he simply ignored the woman’s plea, but she wouldn’t give up and kept coming back to him. Finally, he gave in to her plea just because her persistence was annoying him.

            We are told in Scripture that the judge did not fear God and had no respect for people in general, and even less for women. This woman was a poor widow which meant she didn’t even rate the lowest rung on the social ladder. So, what caused the woman to do what she did in coming back to the judge and demanding that her rights be upheld? She knew her rights by law and knew that her appeal was legal. Because she persisted in her appeal based on legal grounds, the judge said, “because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice.” She had plotted her strategy and every time the court was in session, she was there demanding the justice to which she was entitled. In other words, she said, “I can and I will go to court.”

            The second widow that exemplified persistence was Anna whose story is told in Luke 2. Anna was widowed and left childless after seven years of marriage. In the account in Luke she is 84 years old. Instead of remarrying, she had joined the holy women who devoted 

themselves in continual service in the temple. She relinquished a normal lifestyle, never leaving the temple but “worshipping night and day, fasting and praying,” according to verse 37. Yet, she wasn’t admitted entrance to the actual temple because she was a woman. The inner court was divided into two sections: the Women’s Court and the Court of Israel. Women could only enter the Women’s Court. Despite this, she prayed to God continually for the coming of the Messiah and waited longingly for His appearance, day in day out, month in month out, year in year out, for over 60 years. She would listen as the rabbis read the prophecies concerning the Lord’s Messiah and she watched unceasingly for his coming.

            And one day the miracle happened! As she entered the Women’s Court, as she did each day, she heard sounds of joy coming from the inner court of the temple. Then she saw the child in the arms of his parents and knew that her long anticipated Messiah had come. She was intimately acquainted with her Lord, devoting her entire life to developing her relationship with Him and she recognized His life in the life of His son, the babe in Mary’s arms. The customs of the time may have restricted the physical location of Anna’s worship, but that in no way could bind her actual worship and devotion. Anna demonstrated great perseverance in spite of the restrictions placed on her. She too in essence said, “I can and I will go each day to offer devotion to God in expectation of His Messiah.”

            As you reflect on the year just passed, think of the circumstances you encountered, as well as the promises of God from His Word and how His faithfulness sustained you and enabled you to go from...

"I can…” and “I will…”  Remember that God is the same loving heavenly Father year in and year out. It matters not what circumstances you will encounter in 2022, God will faithfully be right there with you, empowering you, comforting you, encouraging you, teaching you, and demonstrating His eternal love for you. Start each new day with today’s verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

            If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, I invite you to make Him lord of your life by acknowledging that you are a sinner and accepting His death on the cross as the price paid for your sin. He longs to make you His child and give you new life.

Message by Shari Hervold

           "Friends Needing Friends International Widow Ministry" wishes each of you a most joyous New Year and God’s blessings on your life in 2022!

                                        

         

  FNF group of wonderful ladies is located in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA, under the direction of Dotti Israel Ackerman.

        

Our next group of ladies is from Southern New Jersey, USA, under the direction of Mary Lou & Paul Tweed. Their pastor is Pastor Bruce Sofia for over 33 years.

             Our beautiful ladies are from India under the direction of Kerusomen Gospel Ministries.                                                 

                                                                                                               

 

 After serving the Lord for over 33 years, along with many of our faithful workers, here is one of our favorite songs by Lynda Randle. Click above and enjoy. Sing along with Lynda Randle.  God's blessings in 2022.  

Dotti Israel Ackerman, Founder and Director of FNF, Est. 1988.

 

When God Honored a Group of Outcasts

 We are in the Christmas season and I want to focus our attention for the next few minutes on a group of characters in the biblical account of the Nativity as recorded in the book of Luke. Some scholars have dubbed Luke as the gospel of outcasts. He goes to great length to portray Jesus as the friend of those that society had rejected or who were considered socially inferior: lepers, gentiles, tax collectors, sick, lame, widows and women in general.

  As you may have surmised, I want to focus on the shepherds who were as familiar then  as automobiles and cell phones are today. Yet, ancient shepherding was no fair-weather job. They actually lived in the pasture with the flock. Many never married, feeling their jobs were too demanding. During the day they watched while the sheep grazed. They kept an eye out for predators like wolves. And at night, they actually slept in the sheep pen with the sheep to guard against theft and animal attack. A good shepherd could identify each one of his sheep by sight. He knew his sheep and they knew him.

Yet, for all their devotion to their lambs and sheep, shepherds were despised in first century Palestine. Those who considered themselves as members of proper society in the more urban areas looked upon shepherds as uncouth, since they worked with animals. They were regarded as dirty. Afterall, they had to handle the sheep and walk the same pastures where sheep dung may stick to their shoes and their clothing may carry the stench of vomit as they cradled sick lambs in their arms. And the religious people didn’t consider them devout since their duties kept them from regular attendance at the synagogue. What would one expect with animals that are forever getting lost, falling sick, breaking a leg or having obstetrical difficulties!

            Like all people who are despised for whatever reason, they were useful to the people who despised them. Think about it. It was an unblemished lamb offered up in the temple services. Temple authorities had their own private flocks just outside of Jerusalem, in the Bethlehem hills. Here the shepherd cared for their own flocks as well as attending to those of the temple authorities, always on the lookout for the perfect lamb to be offered in the temple. And it was to this despised group of rural, coarse, smelly men that the birth of the spotless Lamb of God was first announced. They were the first to

hear the words, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,” (Luke 2:11).  God was demonstrating, by His choice of these humble shepherds to be the first to receive the news of Christ’s birth, that Jesus was not going to be the Savior of only the political and social and religious elite.  Jesus is the Savior of all equally; he doesn’t give preference to any group or any class.

            Don’t you love the fact that God loves ordinary people? People like you and me. When we were lost in our sins, dirty and outcast, he revealed himself to us and let us know that he wants to become our Savior. There’s something about ordinary folk, you know those “salt-of-the-earth” type who don’t project false fronts that some sophisticated people are guilty of doing.

Has loneliness, despair, discouragement, and brokenness made an appearance in your life? Let the message to the shepherds sink in: “Unto you is born a Savior.”  The angels’ pronouncement that long-ago night is for YOU.

The birth of the Christ-child is about God coming to us in our everyday lives and saying to us, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news."

• It's about God meeting us in our grief and loneliness.
• It's about God meeting us in our frustration and discouragement.
• It’s about God wanting to mend the brokenness in our lives.
• It's about God wanting to be a part of everything that affects us.

By sending the angels to the lowly shepherds to herald the birth of his son, God let us know that Jesus is for all people. “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16). While at Christmas we focus our attention on the virgin birth of Christ, we must never forget for a moment that Christ was born to die to pay the debt for the sin of all who would come to him.

Christ shed his blood on Calvary that we might have eternal life in a heavenly home that is beautiful beyond our comprehension.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Christmas Message by Shari Hervold

                                                            

                      Three hours of Traditional Christian Music

                                           Relax and Enjoy!

                                        

Mary Sat While Martha Seethed

I want us to look at an incident in the life of two sisters, Mary and Martha. I think it will be beneficial to us as we enter into a long holiday period here in America: Thanksgiving is celebrated here this month and Christmas in December. Their story is recorded in Luke 10: 38-42.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted. “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered. “you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.”

            What had Martha so worried and upset? To put it simply, she was caught up in all the preparations for her special dinner guests and that had become her sole focus. She wanted the table to look perfect, each dish to have just the right amount of herbs and other flavoring. Oh, and the special wine glasses needed to be placed out. Have you ever been involved in a project or even a special meal yourself, and you found yourself getting so caught up in it that it consumed your every moment? You made your list and kept checking to see that every detail was just perfect.

            But Martha’s problem escalated beyond herself and her busyness. This was her home and the guests were there at her
invitation, yet, she expected her sister to pitch right in and assist her with all the preparations. When Mary chooses to sit with the men and listen to Jesus, the rabbi, which really was not culturally acceptable and may have been an embarrassment to her sister, Martha goes on and on with her fuming and fusing and muttering. I think we all identify with the resentment that Martha is feeling. Perhaps Martha even wished that she could just sit and listen to the rabbi, but she felt the pressure of providing hospitality.

            Then Martha does something that I would never have the nerve to do, she complained to Jesus about her sister’s lack of assistance. Furthermore, she dares to command Jesus to “tell her to help me.”  She didn’t tell Mary herself to help her or even scold her for sitting there while she did all the work; she scolded Jesus for not telling Mary to get up and go help her sister.

            I love Jesus’s loving but direct reply, “Martha, Martha, you are troubled and worried about many things, but one thing is needful.” This seemed to have an immediate soothing effect upon her. Makes me wonder if perhaps Jesus didn’t go on to say, “Martha, why don’t you too

just come sit awhile. Dinner can wait. Peter can go out in the garden and pick the figs that Mary was going after. I have something to say that I want you to hear.” While there’s no record of his saying more, it’s implied in his words, “Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” We all want to keep the good part of anything, whether it be life, marriage, motherhood, you name it. God’s Word clearly teaches that this world and everything in it is passing away, but God’s truths, his Word will abide forever and no one can take them away from us. Even the good things of this world will come to an end. Oh, I hope Martha took the hint.

            So, when you find yourselves busy about many things this holiday season, Jesus says the same words to you, not in condemnation or shame, but just as a loving reminder to not confuse the transient with the eternal.  Christian women are guilty of mouthing the phrases, “Keep Christ in Christmas,” or “Remember the reason for the season.” Then we get whipped into a frenzy decorating the house, purchasing

gifts, making batch after batch of special cookies until we’re just like Martha. Yes, even Christian women are heard to say, “I can’t wait ‘til Christmas is over.” Surely you don’t mean that you can’t wait until honoring the birth of Christ is over. Perhaps you have put expectations on yourself and are too concerned with traditions and what others might think to do what might really honor Christ. Christmas will still be Christmas whether you make every cookie you used to or not, whether you decorate every room in the house or purchase just the perfect gift for every family member and prepare a 6-course Christmas dinner.

            I encourage every women listening to find a place of contentment in Christ that enables you to focus your energies on him. Play praise choruses and carols that make your heart soar and joyful that Christ was born. Then, listen for the still small voice that whispers, “My precious daughter, there are many things that could distract and bother you, but you have chosen the better. I will gift you with my peace and contentment.” Have a blessed Thanksgiving as you look forward to Christmas.

Message by Shari Hervold
Bible Teacher for 
"Friends Needing Friends International Widow Ministry"

                                                                           

Give Thanks by Don Moen