feeling of nostalgia

God wants everybody to be saved and come to truly know Him. (1Timothy 2:4)

Sometimes Americans find themselves having a feeling of nostalgia when they live in a foreign country that has a McDonald’s. There are times when a family just needs a hamburger and French-fries. However, in this incident I had a purely Russian experience under the “Golden Arches” and praise God for it.

Our family attended a Russian Baptist Church on the south side of St. Petersburg this past Sunday. We walked and traveled by metro train for about an hour for Buck to have the opportunity to preach and for our family to worship with one of the four Russian Baptist Union churches in a city populated with 4.7 million. Before the service a gentleman approached me whom I assumed to be a believer and asked me to meet with him and his two daughters to help with English as a second language. One of the daughters attends a university in Saint Petersburg. She was having a written exam on Thursday of this week, and the father was concerned for his daughter’s learning and asked me to dialog with her. We exchanged phone numbers to set up a meeting time and place.

Two days later Buck talked with the father, and I met the family at McDonald’s on Wednesday. Sitting down to eat, I noticed that they did not ask a blessing; therefore, I suggested that we pray before we eat. I began to notice certain things that were indicators that possibly they were not believers. After our prayer, we began introducing ourselves. This family is from Murmanskaya oblast, one of the most northern regions of Russia located to the right of Finland by the White Sea. The father is visiting the oldest daughter attending the university. The youngest daughter will be coming to live in Saint Petersburg next year.

Immediately I remembered Buck casually saying, “Leslie, this may be a witnessing opportunity for you because the girls may not be saved.” I had the privilege for an hour before we started speaking in English to give a gospel presentation in Russian. I finished by asking specific, culturally based questions about beginning a personal relationship with God.

Then three miracles took place. The father, Anatolly, his elder daughter Anna, and his younger daughter, DeAnna, prayed to begin a relationship with the Father on the top floor at a middle table in McDonald’s. Wednesday, July 24, 2002, only twelve days before we leave the country for stateside assignment, God allowed me to have the privilege to share with the people of this area about Him and see three new children born into His family. Praise God people can find the Old Rugged Cross anywhere, even under the Golden Arches that day. (A Winter’s Path, 2003, devotion 16)
In His Love,
Les

Do you have a quiet time with God? When?

seek His face

1. Do you have a quiet time with God? When?

2. Describe a time when you feel like God was using a circumstance to get your attention.

3. How can you help someone who may have trouble hearing God’s voice?

Read Hosea 5
Key Passage: …when they are hurting, they will seek my face early. -Hosea
5:15b

Israel was being judged in the book of Hosea. Sometimes it was very hard to get their attention (Hosea 5:1). We repeatedly read in scripture how God pleaded for them to listen to His voice. We see many times how they failed to heed God’s warnings and His commands. May we hear His voice when He wants our attention! May we not fail to seek His face before it is too late!

Application:
Let’s pray that we will seek His face in all areas of our lives. We do not want to wait until it is too late or until we have so fallen into a state of ultimate misery that a rescue seems impossible.
-A Winter's Path, L. Burch

gentle words

Devotion:
Read Proverbs 15
Key Passage: Answering someone calmly diffuses anger, but antagonistic
words inflame the situation. -Proverbs 15:1

1. Do you find it difficult to get along with some people? With whom do you
argue most?

2. Is it ever hard for you to think before you say harsh words?

3. Pray for this person by name and ask God to prepare you with gentle words for your next encounter.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, may all my words be gentle ones. Help me to choose carefully the right words to say. Even in times and conversations that seem to be controversial, I pray that I can steer discussions to show gentleness, kindness, and love.

Application:
Take a break time today/this week just for yourself to relax and do something that you enjoy so that your level of tolerance and patience will be intact. Also, throughout the week make a list of as many kind words as possible. Remember these words and use them when needed to warrant off feelings of anger in others or within yourself.
-Path 7, A Winter's Path, L. Burch

desire mercy

Path Light: Read Hosea 6 and Matthew 9: 9-13

Key Passage: Try to understand what it means that “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” Because I came to call sinful people, not righteous, to turn to me. -Matthew 9:13 *quotations KJV

We desire God’s mercy. Because of the mercy and compassion he shows us, we know that He loves us and wants us to know Him personally. God had pity on us; therefore, He sent His only Son, Jesus to die for us.

Also in Hosea God spoke to the Israelites concerning their form of worship, and God said, For I desire mercy and not sacrifice; and knowledge of God more than ritual offerings (Hosea 6:6). In Matthew Jesus refers to these same words of God, “have mercy.”

Path Application: God wants our hearts to be given to Him more than He wants what we bring to Him. He wants us to first acknowledge Him as the one and only God. A person may do many things in God’s name and may never know Him. Sometimes we do things in God’s name only to satisfy our desire for recognition. Accept His love and forgiveness. Acknowledge Him as Your Savior. Daily through the reading of His Word and prayer seek to learn what He wants.

Let’s show mercy, love, and kindness to everyone as Jesus showed. One example of Jesus’ concern for all people is in this passage when Jesus was eating dinner at Matthew’s house with many sinners. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about his eating with “sinners,” Jesus mentions that He came to save those that were lost. We can in no way segregate ourselves from certain types of people. We cannot place people in categories. Jesus died for us all. We are all sinners until we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. This week be challenged to identify in some way with ALL people. Do not just find yourself encompassed by believers. Look for the lost in your city. Show them mercy and compassion as Jesus did at Matthew’s table.

Eat with the lost. Jesus wants every person to believe in Him. He died for sinners. Give your whole heart and life to him, and do not build for yourself a comfortable zone around you that excludes certain types of people because of race, culture, lifestyle, or habits.

Walk Farther:
1. Do you know God personally? Do you have a strong desire to know Him better?

2. What do you need to do in order to know the Lord? What do you need to do in order to know Him better and know His desires?

3. How can we share Jesus with the lost if we are not around them? How can we tell others about Jesus if we spend all of our time only with believers?
-A Winter's Path, path 35, L. Burch, 2006

A Winter's Path

Over the past couple of months, friends have asked how to get a copy of my earlier writings. Unfortunately there are no more hard copies of either work left. This month I prayed about how to make at least one of these available again. If your church is interested in having access to or if you would like a personal copy, click here for a free E-Devotional Book:
A Winter's Path

praise the Lord

Read Psalm 113

Key Passage: From dawn to dusk, the Lord’s name should be praised. - Ps. 113:3

In the winter in Russia, we have very little sunshine during the day. Sometimes the sun doesn’t rise until about 10:30-11:00AM. Then it goes down about 4:00-4:30PM. Just the opposite is true in June; we have mostly sunlight. Around the third week of June we have about 24 hours of sunlight. As I look across the sky whether there is total or little sunlight I remember the verse above.

Application:
Praise the Lord all week long! Take a walk outside alone one day early in the morning and praise the Lord as the sun rises and glorify His name.

Walk Farther:

1. What time of day do you find it easiest to have a quiet time with the Lord?
2. How could you incorporate praising the Lord into every activity of your day?
3. How can the sunshine symbolize your relationship with Christ?

Devotion for the Month

the messenger

Read John 13:1-16
Key Passage: Truly, Truly, I tell you, the one who serves is not greater than the one he serves; neither is the missionary greater than the sender - John 13:16

Sometimes we really have to deal with feelings of inadequacy. We must realize that although Jesus commissioned us to be His witnesses, we sometimes struggle with our own calling. I recalled this entry in my spiritual journal: Yesterday as I was out in my neighborhood, I was given the opportunity to witness three times to various people. Each time I walked away upset because I knew that I should have done better. I began asking the normal questions: "Why did I not say...? Oh, why am I not better with the Russian language? My grammar was terrible." Read again what Jesus says in John 13.

Application:
See yourself this week as the messenger Christ has sent. As you are at work, shopping, or just taking a walk in your neighborhood, be that messenger to your people as Christ works through you.

Walk Farther:
1. Who do you really serve?
2. How do you handle feelings of inadequacy?
3. What do you do to make sure you don’t miss opportunities to witness?

-L. Burch, A Winter's Path, path 1