Happy New Year to all!
Approximately a half an hour before leaving for the shelter, I sensed the Holy Spirit had a new direction for the evening message. He brought to my attention an item I had repaired before leaving for Christmas vacation. In a December donation, we received a damaged, once beautiful gold plaque. The first letter had been broken away from a word spelling “REAM”. I set it aside, sorted through the remainder of donations when at the bottom of the bag I found the missing letter… “D”. It was a clean break-if aligned and glued properly, there would little evidence to the severed decoration. With so little time during the Holiday Season, I found it an imposition to fix yet one more thing. After re-assembly, I set it on our old organ to cure. There it remained throughout the Holiday week until last night.

Like the plaque, God showed me that many of us indeed have had our share of broken “dreams.” The spiritual correlation between this object and our lives was not evident to me until last night. I sensed a few areas of relevance concerning the little decoration and God’s revelation. First of all, glory to God…He showed me that He is the Repairer of broken dreams. We need faith to believe again! And not forgetting the often painful lessons of perseverance…we must pick the dream back up, allow God to fix where necessary and continue to work hard and believe God for the results. He will not only mend the dream but will use “the break” to bring honor to Him.

Additionally, He showed me that our dreams must be in unity with His Spirit and will for our lives. Some of our broken dreams should not to be mended, but rather shattered. If our dreams are outside of the will of God, although initially heartbreaking, ultimately it is for our good that they remain broken. In this case, we must stop trying to pick up and mend the broken pieces; it is only a senseless act of futility. We must be able to identify Who/who the creator of our dream is. Is it me? Is it Him? We must allow God to rearrange our priorities and our heart desires to be His. He will give us vision, dreams and a future far beyond what we can ever hope for or imagine for ourselves.

Isaiah 43:18-21
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing: Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.”

Jeremiah 29:1-13
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all of your heart.”

May we desire His way for our lives, and have the courage to dream again. Happy 2009!!

Let us celebrate those who publicly acknowledged their need for Jesus, Savior, Lord and King!

Julius (a child?)
Javarius (a child?)
Chris (a child?)
Chris (age 14)
Gladys (age 16)
Bray (age 11)
Charley (age 7)
Bridgette (age 30)
Rebecca (adult)

At the Cross

All quotes appear exactly as written…this includes spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors. I do so not to embarrass but to protect the content of the request. For clarity, I have personal comments italicized in parenthesis. For confidentiality purposes, first names and initials will substitutes any given names.

“My testes at school. I tired of being dicrimenated. Pay others-People do change.”

“To get me and my kids out of this shelter.”

“I had an addiction”

“Cigaretttes. All the hurt and pain I’ve caused other and offences (this gets very difficult to read, I will do my best)? Caused me. My health and strength…(there are so many words that follow that are not legible. Please ask the Holy Spirit to help you intercede).”

“Help me with my anger problems. Pray for overall health for my family” “C”

“That me and my son get out of here and have my own place before the baby come and my kids be taking care of and that we will be okay.”

“I need help with stopping cigarettes! I need help with not letting people get me down.”

“I need help with my behavior!”
“Forgive me for sleeping with my baby daddy while he was marry. Help me get back on my feet in take this men out of my life. Can you help me find a job and help me b the mother that I can B.”

“W” 2 Grandkids 2 daughters. Came here with no job God bless me. Keep me in your prayers. Thank God for you all bringing a word and love. Moving on Monday. No job one income homeless rent 700 good job 3 income 3 bd 2 bath house. I pay 350. (I am not sure what all of this means completely).”

“To be diligent in the Lord. Depression and feeling hopeless.”

“To find what is true about God-no more lies, only knowing truth.”

“Pray that my son can find a good home and a good father.”

“I am stuck, I don’t feel like I can get out of my circumstances. I am trapped, completely trapped. I need God to rescue me. I have no hope.” (This one moves me, please pray especially for this lady/child)

“God help me to forgive the people who is against me. God help me to provide for my children. Help me to love them more and more each day.”

“To find a church home. (HELLO PASTORS, WE NEED YOU!!!)The strength and courage to find stability for my daughter and myself. The ability and strength to forgive my biological mother.”

“I sorry I was talking about “B”

“I need help with listening more!”

“Everything becomes okay with my family”

“Pray for my homlessness. Lord forgive me for the lust and hate that I store in my heart.” “R”

“I would like to lay down all my burdens and mistakes of 2008 and the years before that. All the hatred I hold towards people who have wronged me in the past. And I want to forgive myself for all of my past mistakes and bad decisions.”

“I forgive my boyfriend. I forgive my father for leaving me.”

A final note from Janelle,
Please keep our volunteers in your prayers. Many of our beloved (like so many today) have fallen on difficult economic times. Most of our base has recently lost a job and several are at risk of losing their homes. They are so faithful with their love and help for the poor. Please keep these precious ones in your prayers. As well, our charity desperately needs financial help in order to function to our fullest potential. Specifics will be shared if desired. Would you pray for provision for all things?
We love you, Janelle and Rivers of New Hope