“For ye have the poor with you always”
(Mark 14:7)
We must never forget this reality: everyday there are people among us in the community that have insufficient food or no food. Some have no shelter. They may have inappropriate clothing for the season. They may have no family to help them in their plight. They may be in poor health and not know where to go to get help. No matter what positions we hold, whether in the church or in the business world, we cannot be too important or busy to neglect the needy.
For many years, we have donated food to a ministry in Madison, TN named Christian Cooperative Ministry. Again, we are asking all of you to join us in bringing your best offering of food. The collection date is June 12, 2022 at the Sunday morning gathering. No offering is too large or small. Every can or box of dry food will contribute to the need of a hungry man, woman or child. Because of your concern and generosity over the years, many have recognized the love God has for them. A number of those individuals have received salvation in Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Olive Tree Connections, for your continued generosity over the years. May God bless you richly as you have and continue to minister in this way. “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” (Matt. 10:42).
Blessings and honor,
P/Karen
The following article was written by me many years ago. I recently ran across it in my studies, and believe it is as timely a word today as it was then.
IS THERE A PRICE FOR HOPE ?
“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down,
that it will sprout again”
(Job 14:7).
If a tree is cut down, there is hope that it can grow again, sprout up and begin anew. In Hebrew, hope is the powerful word, tiqvah. Its word-picture is that of a cord of attachment, such as the umbilical cord of a child growing in its mother’s womb. Hidden in the root of the word tiqvah is another powerful Hebrew word, qavah, meaning to be twisted together like a braided rope. An example of qavah can be found in Isaiah 40:31 “They that qavah (WAIT) upon the LORD shall renew their strength.” Those whose lives are twisted together with the LORD (through His Word) are as the cords of a rope, and will recover. Just as a previousely decimated tree will re-sprout.
If a tree can sprout again from a stump, how much more can a man whose life may have been “cut down” due to circumstances beyond his control? If the man wants restoration, and seeks the Lord as to how it can happen, he can arise from his “stump” of despair and be restored.
Remember Abraham and be encouraged. He believed in hope against hope. (Romans 4:18) God promised him that he would be the father of many nations. He was faithful, God’s friend, obedient to God’s every command, yet suffered through years of contradictions to that promise (God’s Word). Yet, he never lost HOPE.
Israel declared: “Our bones are dried, and our HOPE is lost: we are cut off for our parts” (Ezek. 37:11). God commands Ezekiel to prophesy, “I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves” (Ezek. 37:12). Today, right now, God is promising this to all who call on His Name. When we feel buried under confusion, disappointment or shame, God’s heart is to resurrect (re-sprout) us from our sickly condition of heart.
God can’t break His Word. And because His Word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run to God for our very lives have every reason to grab the promised HOPE with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances, right to the very presence of God…” (Heb. 6:18-19) Msg.
“For there is hope of a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease” (Job 14:7). If a tree can be restored, how much more a child of God.
