Have you ever thought about sharing Jesus with others but hesitated because you were worried that you would look foolish or that you didn’t know all the answers if they asked questions about what you believed? Come along with us on this episode of Reflect and Renew and learn how God worked miracles for the lepers and they were able to bless others.Contributor: This week Jonathan shares with us about the time when he decided to make a choice to witness to women at a rest stop and how if he had not prayed for an opportunity to witness he may have missed it.

Have you ever thought about sharing Jesus with others but hesitated because you were worried that you would look foolish or that you didn’t know all the answers if they asked questions about what you believed? Come along with us on this episode of Reflect and Renew and learn how God worked miracles for the lepers and they were able to bless others.Contributor: This week Jonathan shares with us about the time when he decided to make a choice to witness to women at a rest stop and how if he had not prayed for an opportunity to witness he may have missed it.

Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.

Starting with Jesus

Heather Bennett

Katie Chitwood

Reflect and Renew March 2023

Blessings From Heaven

God’s Care for His Servants

Four Lepers Find Food

A Faithful Slave


If I hadn't spent time with God that morning, and if I hadn't paid attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit while I was driving down the road, I would have missed out on this divine appointment. 1 of the most exciting and rewarding things I've experienced in my life is when I know that God is working and using me to be a blessing to others. Welcome to Reflect and Renew. Hey, I'm Katie. I'm so glad that you'll be joining me today.

We will be learning and growing together in our walk with Jesus. You will surely be encouraged and challenged as we study week by week and hear from the experiences of others. I enjoy contrasts. It's really fascinating to me. I end up just stopping a moment and thinking deeper.

Have you seen contrasts around you? Often times we see it in media, like social media or on TV. TV shows make a lot of money using contrasts like a house that's been neglected and it's all run down and then they go through the steps it takes to give that home a makeover that's a complete transformation. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube all use contrasts to get more views. You see contrasts in your everyday life.

Some are big, some are small. It might be that your child is hyper and wound up and you're exhausted and just want to go to sleep. The last week has been extremely busy because we hosted a very large mission group at both of our churches and some even stayed in our home. When you go from early morning until late at night, a clean house suffers. Then you add in it was wet and snowy weather and we have lots and lots of mud here so it was pretty much impossible for me to keep my house clean.

Last night I looked around and it looked like something exploded in my kitchen and my living room. It just was terrible. So we took some time before we put the boys to bed and we said, you know what, let's just clean up. We started putting things away 1 at a time, doing it nice and quickly. But then when we went to bed, it was a clean house.

What a contrast. We went from messy to restful. The difference that just a few minutes took all of us working together, cleaning up the house, it made for a restful evening. When I woke up in the morning, it was like, oh, okay, this is nice. This week in our devotional, Merle focuses on contrasts, both in a thought-provoking illustration from World War I, as well as from our Bible story that we are studying together.

If you want to read the devotional for yourself, just go to our website startingwithjesus.com slash renew or you can write to us renew at startingwithjesus.com and you can let us know to sign you up for the devotional so that it can be sent straight to your inbox every Sunday morning. You can read through it and then join me as we talk about the lesson. Our story comes from 2 Kings chapter 7. There were 4 lepers and they were desperate. They were starving.

Their people were starving. The city was under siege and everyone was suffering. Well, almost everyone. Actually, the enemy that was camped outside that city, they sure weren't suffering. They had food, they had drink, they had supplies delivered whenever they needed it and they were living the good life Just a stone's throw away from the lepers who had nothing What a contrast, right?

So these 4 lepers they decide you know what if we're going to die by starvation, then we might as well risk going to the enemy and seeing if they'll help us. Yes, yes, it's a long shot and not even a 50-50 chance, but a slow starving death or dying at the hand of the enemy. The enemy will probably bring about a quicker death. Let's risk it. Can you just imagine the conversation as they go and start off toward the enemy camp, what do they find?

The enemy soldiers are completely gone. They left everything, I mean everything behind. So these lepers eat their fill, they drink all they can, they hide some valuables, and then they stop. They realize that in the city the people are dying. And here they are enjoying all the blessings for themselves.

Quite a contrast, isn't it? They have a choice to make at that very moment, and they choose to share. They choose to share the blessings. They choose to share the hope. They choose to share life.

You know, that's what we're called to do. Whether you realize it or not, being a Christian gives you, it gives me, untold blessings. When we follow what God has called us to do, We live a happier, more peaceful life. There are blessings that come from following God. Blessings that the world doesn't have.

Do we appreciate those blessings? That's a good question, right? Do we share with others the blessings? Do we share with them the hope? Do we share the life with those around us?

There are people in our sphere of influence suffering, people who are starving for Jesus and the life that only he can give. Just like those lepers had an opportunity they had the choice what were they going to do? We have the opportunity. What are we going to do? You and me.

Are we going to reach out to those around us? Those who are suffering? Are we going to share the blessing of Jesus today with them? Looking for opportunities to share Jesus is a habit that we can cultivate just like you get in the habit of brushing your teeth every day or you get in the habit of always buckling your seatbelt when you get in the car. We have a choice.

We have a habit that we can cultivate and that is sharing Jesus. The more that we practice sharing, the easier it will become. But you know, sometimes we're a little uncomfortable. Sometimes we feel awkward and sometimes we don't know how to bring it up. It can be at the grocery store.

Can be at your place of work. It can be your neighbor. Or a rest stop. Yes, a rest stop. This week we're going to hear from my very own husband, Jonathan Chitwood, who is going to share with us about a time when he spoke with a woman about the radio program she was listening to at the rest stop.

1 morning on a road trip, I had prayed that if God wanted me to do something for Him, to please show me what He wanted me to do. So I was driving down the highway when I saw a sign for a rest area just up ahead. Even though I didn't really have to use the restroom, something told me that I needed to stop there. So I turned off the highway and found a parking spot. As I opened my door to step out, it sounded like someone in a truck nearby was listening to the same Adventist radio station that I had been listening to a moment before.

If that was the case, this could be a great opportunity to talk to them. But how could I find out for certain? I spotted a trash can near the truck and decided to walk up to it as though I needed to throw something away. But I couldn't tell if it was the same radio station. So I walked across the parking lot and sat down on a bench.

But I still couldn't tell if it was the same station. Why is this bothering me so much? I wondered to myself. Most people would just get back in their car and drive off. Which is what I almost did.

But I had 1 more idea. If I could somehow listen to the Adventist radio station and the sounds coming from the truck, I could see if they matched. So I went back to my car, left the door open, and turned on my radio just loudly enough to hear it. And sure enough, the sounds matched. Right then, the speaker on the radio was talking about the characteristics of God's remnant church and specifically the importance of the seventh-day Sabbath.

I didn't want to interrupt the message the person was listening to, but I also didn't want to sit in the parking lot all morning. Just then, the sounds of the radio coming from the truck stopped. Oh no, I thought. Is the person getting ready to leave? I quickly grabbed a Sabbath tract, stepped out of my car and walked over to the driver's side of the truck.

I waved at the driver who rolled her window down. Can I ask you what radio station you were listening to? I asked. She told me the dial number and I told her I had been listening to the same radio station. As we spoke, I discovered that she was the custodian.

Someone had been leaving tracts and radio station business cards at this rest area and she had begun listening to our Adventist radio programs. And rather than throwing the tracks and business cards away, she had been giving them out to people she met. Not only that, but she had had conversations with her friends and family about which day was the Sabbath. They said it was Sunday, but she had tried to tell them it was Saturday. Well, she had to get back to work and I had to get back on the road, but I took down her contact information before I left so we could put her in contact with our local Adventist church.

As I look back at that experience, I realize that if I hadn't spent time with God that morning, and if I hadn't paid attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit while I was driving down the road, I would have missed out on this divine appointment. It would have been just another road trip going from point A to point B. But God had a better plan for me that day. He opened my eyes to see how He had been working all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 1 of the most exciting and rewarding things I've experienced in my life is when I know that God is working to answer my prayers and using me to be a blessing to others.

If that's something you would like to experience more often in your life, I encourage you to ask God every day to show you what He wants you to do and be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. You never know when you'll be able to share with others. God sets up opportunities for us to share the hope He has given us, the blessings He provides, the life that each and every 1 of us can experience when we follow him. This week, Merle challenges us to look at some Bible passages. You could think of it as snapshots in the experience of some Bible characters.

We want to try to find God's providence, his working, even in the bad things that happen. And this is a great exercise to do because it helps us in our hard times. It helps us to trust when we're in it and you know what I mean by in it when you just everything's going wrong and you don't know what to do and it's a hard time maybe it's a job loss maybe a death in the family maybe a sickness and illness whatever it is, when we are in it, in that experience, we can think back and remember God can lead us through. He is leading us. If we're surrendered to him, God is leading us.

He's allowing this to happen and he can bring about good. So I'm going to give you the Bible passages. If you have like pen and paper to write it down, go ahead and jot it down while I go through them. There's 5 different passages, or you can also look in the description box below and you can always find it in our devotional starting with jesus.com slash renew. So here we go.

Here's the Bible passages. Look up Genesis 37 verses 12 through 17. Who is that about? And how do you see God's working even in the bad situation? Now look up Judges chapter 7 verses 13 through 15.

Judges chapter 7 verses 13 through 15. Where is God working in this story? Next 1 is Ruth chapter 2 verses 1 through 9. Ruth chapter 2 verses 1 through 9. Now here's a couple from the same kind of story.

Esther chapter 2 verses 21 through 23 and then Esther chapter 6 verses 1 through 10. How did God work? And here's our last 1 Luke chapter 10 verses 30 and 31. Luke chapter 10 verses 30 and 31. Now I look these up and I'm not gonna give away the clues who they're about or anything like that.

You got to look it up for yourself. So remember check out the description box below to see those or you can also go to our website and see them in the Renew devotional starting with jesus.com slash renew. I want to encourage you to look even in your own life and see how God is working things out for you. Just a couple days ago I was reflecting on 1 of the most difficult experiences I've ever gone through. 1 of the most hopeless situations I found myself in.

And I remember in that moment thinking there is no way that God can bring about good. But I do remember claiming God's verse where he says, call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you did not know. Call to me. And I remember saying, Lord, I'm going to trust, even in this situation, I will trust that you will bring about good. And now it's been a year and a half, almost 2 years since that time, that moment.

And I looked back this week and I realized that I am thankful and I am grateful that we went through that experience. I can see my faith has grown because of it And I can see that my family is stronger because of it. They're more grounded because of that situation. Yes, it was hard at the time, but God still worked. And now I look back and I can say that I'm thankful.

That's pretty amazing, especially considering how I've been feeling. But I want you to look back on your life too. What is 1 of the toughest things that's happened to you? And how has God brought out good from that? Can you see it yet?

And maybe you won't see it until we get to heaven, but I want to encourage you to look for God's providence in your own life. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you so much for how you care for each 1 of us. For how you are so powerful, you are so incredible, that even when Satan is seeking to destroy us, you can take the bad and bring good from it. I thank you so much for that.

I pray that you will help us to be able to share with others our experiences so that we can encourage them. I ask and I pray that you will help us to look for opportunities to share you with others. That you will help us to be brave, even when we might be a little uncomfortable. That you will help us to Tell them about your soon coming and most importantly, how much you love them. Be with us this week in everything we do.

All the chaos, the craziness, help us to find some moments of quiet and peace with you. In Jesus' name, Amen. This podcast is sponsored by Starting With Jesus. To find out more about other programs or to find out the links that were shared in this podcast, Just check out the description box below.

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Series

Reflect and Renew March 2023

Four Lepers Find Food

Description

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Other Teachings in Series

Blessings From Heaven

24m

God’s Care for His Servants

13m

Four Lepers Find Food

18m

A Faithful Slave

17m

Sound Doctrine