Category: Uncategorized

Trusting God

Written by Ginna Ashby on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Early in my second pregnancy, complications arose. The doctor ordered bed rest and said only time will tell if I was going to miscarry. In anguish I pleaded with God to save this baby. I even began to bargain with God. If You will save this baby, I will… I will pray more, read my Bible more, teach Sunday School. The list of “I will” grew daily during my prayer times.

One week after I was placed on bed rest, I had a miscarriage. I was devastated. Questions flooded my mind. Why had God not answered my prayers to let this baby live? Will I ever be able to have another child? How could a miscarriage be in God’s will for my life? I was angry with God and hurt that He had not saved my baby.

In my grief I sought God constantly in Bible reading and prayer. I was searching for answers from Him. In this period of despair, I began to feel God’s comforting presence wash over me. He led me to Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” I realized that this side of heaven I may never know all the answers to my questions during that time of sorrow. As John Powell in Seasons of the Heart said so succinctly, “The great and infinite God asks a very limited and finite you and me: ‘Can you—will you—trust me?’”

At 29 I did not know that God’s plan for me would involve serving on church staffs as Preschool Ministries Director. In the last 20 years of serving on church staffs, I have walked with many moms through the waters of miscarriage. Like Paul, I can say, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). While God did not answer my prayers the way I wanted Him to, He did prepare me to comfort others, and He led me to a great principle of the Christian life-trusting Him in each and every circumstance.

Praying for Our Children and Grandchildren

Written by Ginna Ashby on . Posted in Uncategorized.

There is an adage that says, “Touch the Future! Teach a Child! I would change it to also say, “Touch the Future! Pray for a Child!” While this devotional is entitled “Praying for Your Children and Grandchildren”, a Christian can be praying for any child he/she knows. Nieces, nephews, neighborhood children, children you teach in school or Sunday School, kids you coach in sports programs all need prayers warriors on their behalf.

Praying for a child’s salvation is of eternal importance. I pray regularly for the salvation of my three preschool grandchildren. For I want to be able to say, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children [grandchildren] are walking in the truth” (3 John 4).

Once a child accepts Jesus as his/her Savior, I feel we as parents and grandparents often fail to continue to pray for their growth as a Christian. We surely do not want your children to stay on a diet of spiritual baby food for the rest of their lives. We need to pray for their growth in discipleship, that they will strengthen their walk with Jesus.

Praying over children with Scripture is a wonderful way to blanket our children in the Truth. I often pray Matthew 22:37 and 39 over my children and grandchildren: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” Click here to download a parent’s prayer calendar of biblical virtues with scriptures to pray for your children. Keep this calendar in your Bible, on the refrigerator, or wherever you have your prayer “war room”. Commit today to pray for the children in your life.

Are You a Praying Parent?

Written by Melissa Goodman on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Lamentations 2:19 says, “Pour out your hearts like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children”
Parenting can be a scary venture and we feel overwhelmed at times. There is advice and instructions coming at us from all directions. Some of us had great parenting role models while others did not. No matter what your experience was or is, there is good news: We do not have to parent alone! As believers we have our Heavenly Father to help us through the journey.
In Stormie Omartian’s book, The Power of A Praying Parent, she reassures us that: “We don’t have to be tossed and turned by the winds of change. Our children’s lives don’t ever have to be left to chance. We don’t have to live in fear of what each new phase of development may bring, what dangers might be lurking behind every corner. Nor do we have to be perfect parents. The key is not trying to do it by ourselves, but rather turning to the expert parent of all time – our Father God – for help.”
I believe that it is important to pray for our children and for our children to know that we pray for them regularly. When our children know that we pray for them, they will gain the assurance that we care about them, they feel that they are important to us as well as important to God.
In my own life I have experienced the many benefits of praying for my own children along with the joy and honor of praying with other parents. At some point I came to realize that if God gave me children to raise, it was my responsibility and privilege to come to Him often on their behalf. By joining with other parents to pray for our children we were able to share all the joys of answered prayers and growth in each of our prayer lives. We were also able to support one another through difficult times when we may not know what to pray or may not be able to pray ourselves. I highly encourage everyone to have an army of prayer warriors.
You can start right now. It is never too early and never too late. Every aspect of our children’s lives should be prayed over. Nothing is too trivial nor too big to be lifted in prayer to our God. He cares about even the smallest of our concerns.

Bless Your Heart

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Uncategorized.

For many of the last few years of her life, my grandmother lived with her children. A couple of times each year, we hosted her in our home for three to four months at a time as her health and mental abilities gradually declined. As a highschooler and later college student, I reflect back on the experience now and realize how much I took those opportunities for granted.
She played the piano. Her hymnal and her Bible traveled with her from house to house as she moved. I remember hearing her struggle with tempo and accuracy, but each song was recognizable. Her hymnal, dog-eared and filled with hand-written annotations, is in my office.
Grandmother rocked… in a rocking chair in the living room beside the “pi’tur winder” where she read her Bible, sang to herself and watched the world go by. The wild- and plant-life outside fascinated her.
And, of course, she prayed. For her children, her grandchildren, her pastor and her friends. For hours. Sometimes, I thought she was asleep, but her lips were moving.
She did not like my mustache. Several times, she would try to buy it from me. “I’ll give you a dollar if you’ll shave that thing,” she said. My response was most always the same: “Grandmother, it wouldn’t look good on you.”
She also thought I was “too busy.” As I would walk out the door, having asked where I was off to, she would smile, shake her head and say, “well, bless your heart.” Teasingly, I would pause and reply, “don’t stop with just my heart.”
I know now, that in some awkward, teenage way, I was asking her to fit me with what Paul described as the “full armor of God” so that I would be covered and prepared for the battle to be faced each day.
We are still at war. Each and every day, we need to prepare for the spiritual battles we face. Begin each day with a song, the Word, a prayer and then dress for battle with truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith and salvation.
Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore,with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (HCSB)

Bless your heart – and soul, mind and strength as you grow closer to Him today.

Praying the Names of God

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Equip The Church, Uncategorized.

Post written by Linda Warne
From Genesis to Revelation, God has chosen to reveal His character and nature through His many names. Whether Elohim, Yahweh, Abba, or Bridegroom, Advocate or Comforter…
God invites us to approach and enter the throne room of the Almighty, where we can experience through prayer the presence of our Father, God.
As a young believer, I learned to pray the names of God as a part of my personal worship time. It wasn’t long before I realized that not only was my prayer time greatly impacted by knowing Him by His many names, but I was being changed. It was impossible to spend time in His Presence and not come away conformed & transformed to be more like Him.   As I prayed using the names of God, I found myself becoming less concerned with my own needs as I became surrounded by His power and majesty and experienced His faithfulness. I came to know an intimacy with God that made me long to be in His Presence, to discover at new depths who He was and who I was in Christ.
To this day, I pray the names of God, realizing that there are days I need Him to be my Prince of Peace, to calm my spirit and keep me focused. Sometimes I ask Him to be my Shepherd, to guide me and protect me. He is always my Advocate and Helper, dwelling within me and keeping me close. He is the Lord who Heals, My Rock, the God who Sees me, the Lord my Righteousness, my Shield, my Refuge, my Hiding Place and so much more.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (TLB)
In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now,
as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror;
but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face.
Now all that I know is hazy and blurred,
but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.

Praying for those in need

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Today’s post is from Rev. Charles Ragland

You are aware we have many individuals and family members who are struggling with some ongoing health issues. Those who are homebound or in assisted living facilities are easy to identify. There are others who have ongoing problems or even short-term sicknesses, that we may not be so quick to identify.

It is important for us to pray for all of these individuals.   They need the healing touch of the Great Physician and the assurance of God’s love in their lives. We are instructed to ‘pray one for the other that you may be healed’ James 5:16. And 1 John 5:14-15 reminds us “this is the confidence we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, hears us and if we know he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.”
It is also important not only to pray for these individuals but we need to also pray for their families, especially their caregivers. The daily care necessary and sometimes the decisions about the next level of care -what and where – are critical issues that need to be lifted up to God in prayer on behalf of these folks. You can also put feet to your prayers and visit or at least send a note to those for whom you are praying.

If God is leading you to do more than pray for these individuals, why not become a visitor in “Treasured Friends” which is our homebound ministry here at Fruit Cove?

The Wonder of Answered Prayer

Written by Guest Fruit Cove on . Posted in Uncategorized. No Comments on The Wonder of Answered Prayer

It was a Wednesday evening and we were driving home from church. Tracey was 4 years old and in the back seat. Our dialog went something like this:

Tracey: Dad, can we get a baby?
Me: Why do you think we need a baby?
Tracey: I would like a little brother or sister to play with.
Me: Well, it would be a while before you have a playmate. You know that when babies are born, they don’t do a lot except eat, sleep and… fill their diapers.

Tracey, giggled a bit in the back seat and after a few moments of quiet reflection, asked, “Dad, can we get a dog?” And with that, the conversation between us on this subject pretty much ended.

Not too many weeks later, Joan and I invited Tracey to join us on the couch in our family room. She sat between us and patiently listened as we explained that Joan was expecting our second child. Suddenly, she leaped off the couch, joyfully laughed, gleefully clapped and and excitedly danced around the room. Just as suddenly, she stopped in place and her face became serious. Then, as if the “connect the dots” picture became clear in her mind, her eyes grew wide and she softly exclaimed, “God answered my prayer.”

Yes, He did, Tracey, yes, He did.

I wonder how Isaac and Rebekah felt when God answered their prayer (Genesis 25:21)? Or Hannah (1 Sam 1:1-20)? Elijah (1 Kings 18:36-40)? Peter (Acts 9:36-42)? Paul (Acts 28:7-10)? Were their eyes wide with wonder and amazement? I wonder if they ever considered an answered prayer a routine event?

How about you? When was the last time you realized that God had heard AND answered your prayer? When was the last time your joy gave way to quiet contemplation over the goodness and wonder of the God of all creation taking a personal interest in you and answering when you called? Has it been too long?

Pause and pray: God, may I never lose the childlike wonder and amazement when you step into our lives and answer our prayers. May I always recognize Your work and worship You with joy and abandon. Amen.

Giving God Our Best!

Written by Brian Woofter on . Posted in Equip The Church, Uncategorized.

The Christmas season has just come to a close and as I reflect back I am reminded of a devotion I read pertaining to a very popular Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy.” The devotion explained how although there isn’t any reference to a drummer boy in the Christmas story in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 2, the point of the carol goes straight to the heart of the meaning of worship. A young boy being summoned to the scene of Christ’s birth realizes he has no gift to present the newborn King. So the young boy gives what he has. He plays his drum, saying, “I played my best for Him.”

Come they told me…
A new-born King to see…
Our finest gifts we bring…
To lay before the King…

So to honor Him…when we come.

Little baby…
I am a poor boy too…
I have no gift to bring…
That’s fit to give a King…
Shall I play for You…on my drum
Mary nodded…
The ox and lamb kept time…
I played my drum for Him…

I played my best for Him…

Then He smiled at me…me and my drum.

Are you giving your best to Jesus as you worship Him? You may feel you have nothing to offer Him. When we worship Christ we should empty ourselves and give Him our very best. Pray and ask God to show you how you can worship Him more.

Financial Peace University

Written by MichelleFord on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Beginning Wednesday, January 6 we will be offering

Dave Ramsey’s

Financial Peace University

Wednesdays through March 9 @ 6:15 pm in ROC 305

Registration is requested

Click here to register for the class: http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/locations/class/1011479

This life-changing class taught by Dave Ramsey and the FPU teaching team on video and coordinated by Tom Braden at Fruit Cove Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL will help you achieve your financial goals by showing you how to eliminate debt, save for the future, and give like never before. You will be challenged and motivated to make a plan for your money and change your family tree forever.

Plan Your Visit Next Steps Serve Know Jesus