Day 82 - Bitterness Leads to Resentment

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here Bitterness Leads to Resentment Day 82 Other families around you are still together—happy and oblivious to your brokenness and pain. Why me and not you? you might be wondering. Your wondering can turn into bitterness and resentment. Dr. Robert Jeffress says, “There can almost be a resentment on the part of Christians against other Christians who may not be going through grief. ‘Why aren’t they experiencing what I’m experiencing? Why is God picking on me?’” Many problems can arise from the improper handling of your emotions during grief. You can’t avoid having the emotions, but how you respond to them will determine whether you proceed in a healthy manner or are doomed to unnecessary detours on your grief journey. Ultimately, unless you deal with the issues behind your emotions, your life may be moved toward bitterness and resentment. “I loathe my own life: I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul,” Job complained at first. But then he changed his focus and persevered in faith and trust: “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted…. Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 10:1, 42:2, 6 NASB). Turn to God, who knows the bitterness in your heart and wants to replace it with His loving comfort. Lord of all, forgive my bitterness and resentment and fill me instead with the love, peace, and trust that only You can provide. Amen. Grieving with Hope This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they're grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing. Look for Grieving with Hope by Samuel Hodges and Kathy Leonard at a local or online bookstore or at griefshare.org/hope. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755

Our Daily Bread -- The Wonder Of Sight

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.

The Wonder Of Sight January 18, 2015

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. —Psalm 139:14 Read: Psalm 139:7-16 Bible in a Year: Genesis 43-45; Matthew 12:24-50 On the livescience.com website, I read something pretty amazing: “If you were standing atop a mountain surveying a larger-than-usual patch of the planet, you could perceive bright lights hundreds of miles distant. On a dark night, you could even see a candle flame flickering up to 30 miles (48 km) away.” No telescopes or night-vision goggles needed—the human eye is so profoundly designed that even long distances can be spanned with clear sight. This fact is a vivid reminder of our amazing Creator, who designed not only the human eye but also all of the details that make up our expansive universe. And, unlike anything else in creation, God has made us in His own image (Gen. 1:26). “In His image” speaks of something far greater than the ability to see. It speaks of a likeness to God that makes it possible for us to be in relationship with Him. We can affirm David’s declaration, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:14). Not only have we been given eyes to see, but we have also been made so that, in Christ, one day we will see Him! —Bill Crowder Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed Wherever I turn my eye, If I survey the ground I tread Or gaze upon the sky! —Watts All of God’s creation bears witness to Him as our great Creator. INSIGHT: In today’s reading, David’s declaration of amazement at how wonderfully he is made comes in the context of listing some of the other aspects of God’s creation: the heavens, the sea, the night, and the day. Verses 7-12 describe both God’s omnipotence and His omnipresence. David celebrates not only the magnitude and power of God, but he also underscores that no matter where he is, God’s hand will lead him and hold him (v.10). Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. DONATE

Today’s Sharable Image	Featured Video

Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe

Day 81 - Blame

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here Blame Day 81 Humans seem to have a natural tendency to want to place blame, as if that would help resolve the feelings of distress and pain. But blame is a black hole that will suck you down further and further. “As a pastor, I’ve seen people respond to grief in every way,” says Dr. Jack Hayford. “I think of the beauty of recent events in my own congregation. There was a young couple who were instantly separated by the intervention of death while they were at a national park. He fell into a rushing river and was trapped beneath a log where he could not get out. There was no way to attempt rescue because of the force of the stream. His wife was standing right there, not ten feet away, watching him drown, seeing it happen. "To watch that family move into an openness to the comfort of the Spirit of God, to not blame God, to recognize an accident for what it is, to believe that God didn’t design it, but He did foresee it and that His comfort and presence would be with them is a tremendously thrilling thing to witness.” Jesus urges you not to be troubled by blame, but to move forward in the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit of God. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:26-27). Holy God, this blame isn’t accomplishing anything but added pain for me. Send me Your comforting Spirit to guide my thoughts into a clear perspective. Amen. Through a Season of Grief The daily email messages you are receiving are also available in a book format. Purchase as a gift for a friend or buy a print copy for yourself. Through a Season of Grief by Bill Dunn and Kathy Leonard is available at online and local bookstores or at griefshare.org/devotional. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755

Our Daily Bread -- Leaving It Behind

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.

Leaving It Behind January 17, 2015

The woman then left her waterpot [and said,] “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”—John 4:28-29 Read: John 4:9-14,27-29 Bible in a Year: Genesis 41-42; Matthew 12:1-23 In the year or so after our teenage son got his driver’s license and started carrying a wallet, we got several calls from people who had found it somewhere. We cautioned him to be more careful and not leave it behind. Leaving things behind, though, is not always a bad thing. In John 4, we read about a woman who had come to draw water at a well. But after she encountered Jesus that day, her intent suddenly changed. Leaving her water jar behind, she hurried back to tell others what Jesus had said to her (vv.28-29). Even her physical need for water paled in comparison to telling others about the Man she had just met. Peter and Andrew did something similar when Jesus called them. They left their fishing nets (which was the way they earned their living) to follow Jesus (Matt. 4:18-20). And James and John left their nets, boat, and even their father when Jesus called them (vv.21-22). Our new life of following Jesus Christ may mean that we have to leave things behind, including those that don’t bring lasting satisfaction. What we once craved cannot compare with the life and “living water” that Jesus offers. —Cindy Hess Casper Now none but Christ can satisfy, None other name for me; There’s love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, found in Thee. —McGranahan Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show ours by living for Him. INSIGHT: First-century Jews avoided traveling through Samaria. When making the journey from Galilee to Judea, they would cross the Jordan River and travel the east side before re-crossing to make their way to Jerusalem once they had passed Samaria. The reason for this was that Samaritans were seen as ceremonially unclean. Jesus, however, had no such qualms, breaking tradition to connect with a Samaritan woman in need. Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. DONATE

Today’s Sharable Image	Featured Video

Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe

Day 80 - Dealing with Anger: Ask God for Help

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here Dealing with Anger: Ask God for Help Day 80 You may feel helpless in the face of your anger. You cannot deal with it on your own. The most important step you can take is to ask God for help. “God will give you the opportunity to be angry,” says Rev. Noel Castellanos. “He’s not going to take that freedom away from you, but when you’re done, behind all of that stuff you don’t understand, there’s a loving God who can redeem any situation. You can allow that deep anger in an authentic, honest way to be converted into a plea for help.” Give your burden of anger to God, and He will give you rest. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Lord Jesus, I give my anger and my struggles to You. I come to You to learn and to rest. Amen. Grieving with Hope This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they're grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing. Look for Grieving with Hope by Samuel Hodges and Kathy Leonard at a local or online bookstore or at griefshare.org/hope. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755

Our Daily Bread -- God's Refreshing Word

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.

God’s Refreshing Word January 16, 2015

My word . . . shall not return to Me void.—Isaiah 55:11 Read: Isaiah 55:8-11 Bible in a Year: Genesis 39-40; Matthew 11 When I was a boy, our family would occasionally travel across Nevada. We loved the desert thunderstorms. Accompanied by lightning bolts and claps of thunder, huge sheets of rain would blanket the hot sand as far as the eye could see. The cooling water refreshed the earth—and us. Water produces marvelous changes in arid regions. For example, the pincushion cactus is completely dormant during the dry season. But after the first summer rains, cactuses burst into bloom, displaying delicate petals of pink, gold, and white. Likewise, in the Holy Land after a rainstorm, dry ground can seemingly sprout vegetation overnight. Isaiah used rain’s renewal to illustrate God’s refreshing Word: “As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11). Scripture carries spiritual vitality. That’s why it doesn’t return void. Wherever it encounters an open heart, it brings refreshment, nourishment, and new life. —Dennis Fisher God’s Word is like refreshing rain That waters crops and seed; It brings new life to open hearts, And meets us in our need. —Sper The Bible is to a thirsty soul what water is to a barren land. INSIGHT: We cannot know God unless He reveals Himself to us. An attribute of God is a characteristic that God has chosen to reveal about Himself through His Word. Incommunicable attributes are those that belong to God alone (e.g., omniscience [all-knowing]; omnipotence [all-powerful]; omnipresence [present everywhere]; immutability [unchangeable]; infinite [having no limits]; transcendence [beyond comprehension]). Communicable attributes are those that human beings can also possess (e.g., compassion, love, mercy, goodness). In Isaiah 55:8-9, God reveals that He is unlike any other being and our finite minds can never fully understand Him (see Job 11:7-9; Ps. 131:1; Rom. 11:33). Throughout Scripture we are told that there is no one like God (see Ex. 15:11; Ps. 35:10; 89:6-8; Isa. 40:25). Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. DONATE

Today’s Sharable Image	Featured Video

Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe