Stories - Page 37 of 82 - The Christian Heart

How Everyday People Live Out Their Christian Faith

Illustrating how men and women display their love for Jesus in their day-to-day lives.
Little things that may have an eternal impact. Might these stories motivate you to use your talents?

Other Prayer
FROM HATRED TO PURE LOVE

My husband was a very successful businessman and always wanted to mentor others, showing them the steps to success. He was a true giver. But we all know people who tend to overstep the boundaries, taking someone's kindness and using it for their own gain. My husband had one such particular colleague. He started treating my husband terribly, stealing and poisoning my husband's clients against him. At one point, after a business dispute, he even threatened our family's lives. For a time, we lived in fear. I developed such a hatred toward this man that I found myself wishing him dead. But God led me to Matthew 6:14-15. He said that I had to forgive my enemies. What?! How could I forgive a man that has taken advantage of my husband and threatened my family? He doesn't deserve my forgiveness, and he's never apologized to me. So why should I show him any mercy? Then God reminded me, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." Who was I to judge? Despite my stubbornness, I begged God to make me willing. So, every time I thought of this man, I mumbled, "I hate him, God. But forgive me and bless him." I did this everyday regardless of how I felt about him. Eight months later, I was driving down the road, and felt something overwhelm me to tears. It was God filling me with love and forgiveness for this man. You cannot give what you have not received. Yet, we've all received forgiveness from our Heavenly Father.… Read More

December 21, 2020
Labor Mission Work
GOD CALLED ME BY NAME

My name is Levi and this is my story of how God called me by name to do missions. I was working as a pizza deliverer and struggling with my sense of purpose in life as a twenty-year-old college graduate. My mom’s advice was to look into a missions program called The World Race. It's a mission trip to 11 countries during an 11 month timeframe. When I had first heard about it years ago, I dismissed the idea of going because it cost too much money. Yet now, here I was, seeking newness and purpose in my mundane, day-to-day grind. So I applied to the program. Ironically, the week that I got the exciting news that I was accepted to participate in this life-changing missions experience was the same week that I received the unfortunate news that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to do. Was the right choice to travel abroad and serve others while sharing Jesus with them? Or was the better choice to stay home and be with my family? Trying to find guidance, I opened up my Bible to a random page and began reading. My eyes landed on Mark 2:14. It said, “‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.” Levi got up and followed him. Well, if that wasn’t God directly speaking to me, I don’t know what is. So I decided to get up and follow Jesus around the world. For the next 11 months, I met so many amazing people in various countries, preached the… Read More

December 14, 2020
Labor Overcoming Obstacles Unique Ministries
TRULY UNSTOPPABLE

I lost my left arm in a shark attack while I was surfing at age 13. I felt a sudden tug and pressure on my arm and saw a flash of gray which turned out to be a 14-foot tiger shark. I went into survival mode and began praying, “God, please help me, please get me to the beach.” I prayed this prayer many times. I was rescued and rushed to the hospital where I lost 60% of my blood. I’m thankful I made it through that day and the difficult week that followed. So many doubts, fears, and unknowns flooded my world. But I had the peace of God to carry me through. When I was recovering, I thought, Okay, God, what are you up to? But I knew God was in control and had a plan for my life. I knew something good could come out of this. I just didn’t know what that was at the time. I put my trust in God to get me through this and not let fear control my life. The hope I found as a Christian led me to overcome this, along with the amazing support of my family, the kindness of my community and having a passion for life. I had learned to surf when I was eight and had really gotten into surfing competitively. That passion I had for surfing was greater than my fear of sharks so I was determined to get back on the board. So that became my goal. Within a month, I got back in… Read More

December 7, 2020
Children Hospital Unique Ministries
WRITING A CHILDREN’S BOOK

When my twin sister called me from Los Angeles to tell me that her 10-year-old son, Jackson, had a brain tumor. I was completely numb. It didn't seem real. Within 24 hours, he had gone from a basic MRI to the operating room. I felt far away and helpless at my home in Nashville. All I could do was pray. When I finally got to visit, Jackson wanted to show me his journals. They were filled with his strategies for coping on “MRI Day” which, for him, happened every three months. He had developed ways to calm himself when they put in the IV, stay still in the machine for long periods of time and not get scared by the noise of the machine. After seeing another little boy who was screaming and crying before his MRI scan, Jackson decided that he wanted to find a way to help other kids not be scared of MRIs. I said, "Why not write a children's book?" I didn’t actually know how to write or produce a children’s book, but Jackson was onboard, and I felt a tug in my heart urging me to make it happen. Rather than simply a cute story about Jackson’s experience, we wanted to create a tool that nurses, doctors and child life specialists could actually use with their patients. After I wrote the text, we ran it by lots of different people in the healthcare industry to be sure we got it right. It took more than three years, but I think it reflects the spirit of… Read More

November 30, 2020
Food Loving Your Neighbor Unique Ministries
FAMILY DINNER NIGHTS

During the last meal Jesus had on earth, He instructed us to remember Him by the very thing we indulge in every day without thought. Family dinner night started from a prophetic vision over my husband at our church’s retreat. Through hospitality, we could bring people in and have them leave differently. No pressure, no expectation, just a loving household. We prayed over what this could be and three things stood out: relationships, food and openness. The Lord revealed each person who should come. We also brought our kids into this, teaching them how to take their requests to God and ask for it. In these bold prayers, they specifically asked God to bring families with children and the Lord provided abundantly! Our dinner was now our mission field where conversation flowed easily, God-related or not. The Holy Spirit led. Our family never hid who we were: all broken people loved by the Lord. Community and college students from the University in our town knew they could expect honesty, from our current moods to large life questions to our adorably crazy kids. Our house is a bit messy for Family Dinner Night because that is how we normally have it. We were authentic. And that let others be, too. From these dinners also came our open-door policy where people knew they could stop by anytime. They felt safe to come with their questions, burdens, and celebrations. For us, hospitality goes beyond inviting people into our homes; we invite them into our lives. And through this openness comes true transformation.

November 23, 2020
Adoption/Foster Care Children Prayer
A SECOND CHANCE AT A FAMILY

My heart broke when I read the story of seven siblings that lost both parents in a horrific car crash. Their entire family was traveling with a moving trailer when they veered off the highway and flipped several times, throwing everyone from the car. All seven children, ranging in age from 1 to 13, sustained head injuries and had to be hospitalized. When released, they were put into a foster home since there weren't any family members able to take them. My heart was touched reading their story. It would be devastating for these children to be split up into different homes, especially after the heartbreak they had already endured. I could feel God moving and see how He had prepared both me and my husband for this moment. We had raised five biological children in a large six-bedroom house. It was now empty. We had discussed selling it, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do that. Now I could see why. The Lord had also nudged us to become foster parents five years earlier so our hearts, and our lives, had been prepped. The day I read the story, I cried several times and knew what I wanted to do. I sent the story to my husband at work, fully expecting him to slam the idea that was stirring my heart. Later that night, he looked at me and said, "We need to adopt those kids." I immediately started calling DHS, saying we wanted to adopt all seven of them. We had to be vetted, interviewed, fill out mounds of paperwork and… Read More

November 18, 2020

Browse all categories

Adoption/Foster Care 38

Church Activities 60

Financial Help 18

Loss Of Loved One 38

Loving Your Neighbor 67

Mission Work 52

Overcoming Obstacles 116

Prison Ministry 12

Senior Citizens 22

Special Needs 47

Unique Ministries 166

Verbalizing the Gospel 76

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