If I'm ever on an airplane flight where the flight attendant becomes incapacitated, I think I might be able to do the safety instructions. I mean, I've heard them so many times. Actually, you know, they've now video-ized the presentation. It used to be they just kind of got up and did it. I like the part where that little yellow oxygen mask drops down from above your seat in the demonstration. In the video, everyone is wonderfully calm in this simulated oxygen problem. I'm sure that's very true-to-life. "Oh, look, my oxygen mask just fell down. That's nice." Well, the video shows a mother putting the mask on herself, and then on her little girl. The instructions go like this: "If the cabin pressure drops, get the oxygen to your face first, and then to your child's."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Breathing The Air Your Child Needs."

When it's crunch time on an airplane flight, you have to first get for yourself the oxygen you need as a parent, then you can give your son or daughter what they need. In these increasingly challenging days for parents and dangerous days for our kids, we've got to breathe deeply what our children need so we can pass it on to them.

Over the years of youth and family work, I have often been asked by a parent, "Can you help my son or daughter?" Often, the most helpful answer would be, "Can we get the oxygen to you before we try to get it to them?" How many times has our child's weakness been a mirror of our own, their failure a mirror of our failure, their baggage, their needs? It's kind of like my child, my mirror. I have to get myself fixed before I can fix my son or daughter. And how in the world do we change things about ourselves that we haven't been able to change all these years?

Hope! Yes, in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:18 God says, "You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers with the precious blood of Christ." We have all gotten these destructive hand-me-down ways of living from our parents who probably got those same hurting ways from their parents, and so on and so on. And even though we may have been determined not to reproduce some of those traits (we may have hated some of those things), here they are popping up in our generation, marking another generation. Unless their hold can be stopped in your generation! Unless I can find the spiritual oxygen needed. If I can, then I can pass it on to my children who can be victorious over this.

We've all got ways of doing things we have long wanted to change, and for a long time: my temper, my negative attitude, my lack of discipline, my critical tongue, this addictive personality, this controlling personality, this lack of affection, this dishonesty. But God injects into our lifelong struggle to change, this hope-giving word: "redeemed." We can be redeemed from it! But you can't help your child with that problem until you've breathed God's life-giving oxygen first. The bridge between the person you are and the person you need to be is spelled S-A-V-I-O-R.

We need a Savior. Christ shed His blood on a cross to pay for a lifetime of your sins and mine, and He breaks the power of sin to enslave any person who belongs to Him. And the Savior becomes your personal Savior when you tell Him you're giving yourself to Him.

Isn't it time you opened up to the One who died for you for your sake, for the sake of your precious child, for the sake of future generations? The greatest choice you could make for all of those people is to tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours."

I think we can help you get that relationship started if you'll just check out our website - ANewStory.com.

Jesus has redeeming grace for that son or daughter that you love so much. But first, you've got to breathe it yourself.

When I visited the Alamo I felt the emotion of a place that was made pretty special by sacrifice. It was February 1836 when that little Spanish mission went into the history books. You remember the story. The Mexican forces, thousands strong, were advancing to crush the little Texas independence movement. Sam Houston needed time to organize his troops in order to fight back, and he did get that time because of what happened at the Alamo, and he did win, and they did get their independence.

But in the meantime, the Alamo was the key to victory. One hundred eighty-six freedom fighters took a stand in that little mission called the Alamo - a stand that is still over 150 years later synonymous with heroism. You know, "Remember the Alamo!" Colonel William Travis was in command that day. The enemy demanded surrender, and Travis's answer could not be misunderstood. In fact, it's the same answer I hope you will give to the enemy's demands on you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Un-intimidated."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 4, and I'll begin reading at verse 24. It gives you a little insight into the battles being fought by the early church. Now, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, have called in Peter and John and have told them not to preach any more in the name of Jesus. And it says, "After further threats, they let them go." They could not decide on how to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had happened. So, they basically tried to shut down the witness of these people.

The church gets together in a prayer meeting and prays like this in verse 29, "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak Your Word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand and heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, Jesus." Man, that's a powerful response! The Sanhedrin had organized the crucifixion of Jesus not long before. These men could have possibly arranged for the same fate for the apostles they were trying to shut down. But here this bold prayer comes back as an answer. Now, they're experiencing heavy pressure on their faith, and they seem unintimidated. They're talking about miracles; they're talking about boldness.

Reminds me of that stand at the Alamo. Colonel Travis received the demand to surrender, and he said to his troops, "There has been a demand from the enemy that we surrender, and I have answered with a cannon shot." Huh! I love that! "I've answered with a cannon shot," he says, "and our flag still waves proudly. I will live and die as a soldier."

Now, maybe the Devil's been trying to get you on the defensive lately and demanding your surrender - you're being hammered, and squeezed, maybe overwhelmed. The temptation is to back off, to retreat, to nurse your wounds and maybe to not take any risks. But would you look at your heritage in Christ? When other Christians in the first century were in that situation, they were bold; they came out asking for miracles to do the supernatural.

Where did this bold response to trouble come from? This cannon shot? It comes from a prayer meeting; one that if you read their prayer here in Acts 4, focuses on God's character, God's power, God's history, and God's promises. And when you size up your situation, your opposition in light of God's power, you are ready to go on offense. You don't need to play defense. Hey, maybe the enemy has demanded your surrender. Well, answer with a prayer-ignited cannon shot, "I shall never surrender! I shall never retreat!"

In spite of the bombardment, you can stand firm in Jesus' name, and you can be unintimidated.

Some years ago our family was vacationing on the eastern end of Long Island near a little village called Sag Harbor. It was amazing how much that village changed, though, over a period of just 24 hours. One day it was a sleepy little town of tourists kind of strolling from store to store. The next day it was a chaotic beehive with snarled traffic and anxious people rushing from store to store. Do you know what made the difference? A hurricane warning! Yes, a powerful storm was moving up the East Coast and it was expected to hit that part of Long Island. So people were rushing everywhere to get prepared. Batteries and candles suddenly appeared by every cash register in every store. And they quickly disappeared. People were suddenly living differently when there was a major storm.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Year That Everything Changed."

You might be living in a year like that right now; a year when a lot of things have changed. And times like these (hurricane times) can really change your perspective on what's important and how you should be living.

In our word for today from the Word of God beginning with Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." Now, you're probably not all broken up over Uzziah dying, but he had been king for 52 years. So if you were 52 or under, King Uzziah was the only ruler you had ever known. And he had brought his nation to an unparalleled level of prosperity and power. And suddenly he was gone. It was one of those years when everything changed.

So let's think of these words in this way, "In the year that everything changed." That's when Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord." That's when you usually do - when everything is changing - when the hurricane is blowing you around. Maybe God has shaken your world recently so you'll see Him as you've never seen Him before and so you'll live differently.

Now there are three perspectives God wants you to live by in a season when everything is changing. First, Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted." Isaiah describes powerful angelic beings he sees "calling to one another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.'"

Perspective #1 when everything is changing; "Lord, You are awesome." God wants you to enter His Throne Room as Isaiah did - by prayer. He wants you to see His majesty; to realize that, by praying, you are entering the Throne Room from which billions of galaxies are governed and bringing your life and your needs to the One who rules it all. When everything's changing, you need to dwell on the awesomeness of your God.

Then Isaiah tells us he cried, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." Then he describes how one of the angels touches his lips with a live coal from the altar and says, "Your guilt is taken away."

Perspective #2 - "Lord, I'm a mess." See, God wants all this change to be a wakeup call that shows you the sin that you haven't dealt with and to let Him touch it with His forgiveness and His cleansing. Then God asks, "Whom shall I send?" And Isaiah says, "Here am I. Send me!" God wants you to look at His awesomeness, then at your sinfulness, and then at the lostness of the people around you.

Perspective #3 - "They are dying." You've seen the King; they never have. And God has sent the storm to refocus your attention on the mission of rescuing the dying people around you.

With all that's changing in our world, the things that really matter haven't changed. In fact, the changes make the important things more important than ever. Make frequent visits to God's Throne Room, go off and to Jesus' cross to get clean, and go on frequent missions to take some people to heaven with you.

With the storm intensifying, focus on the things that really matter so this can be the time when you really see the Lord.

Honestly, I had a tough time sleeping when I was in Singapore some years ago. It was my first time overseas. It was hot all the time there; it's sub-equatorial. And I found myself lying awake almost all night long. I was there with another guy. We were ministering together there, teaching in seminars. So, since we couldn't sleep, we ended up talking and talking, and the ceiling fan over our heads made about one revolution per minute, so it wasn't doing much good.

Finally about 3:00 to 3:30, just about the time you get to sleep, a little cooler at that point, and you wouldn't know it, you just doze off and suddenly you'd hear a rooster crowing right there in downtown Singapore. The roosters didn't care; they were still crowing. You could hear right after that, all the sounds of Singapore waking up...thank you Mr. Rooster, I just got to sleep. Now, I didn't grow up on a farm. So this was my first opportunity to listen each morning to the power of a rooster's wakeup call, whether I wanted to wake up or not.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rooster In Your Heart."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 26. It's a familiar account of the denial of Jesus by His main man, Simon Peter. And in verse 73, we come upon the third time Peter is going to deny his Lord. "After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, 'Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.' Then he began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, 'I don't know the man!' Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, 'Before the rooster crows you'll disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly."

It appears here that Peter betrayed Jesus twice before and didn't deal with what he had done. He managed to get through that okay. But the third time, the Bible says, "He went out and wept bitterly." In fact, the Greek means he went out and wept bitterly and loudly. You could hear this man sobbing aloud after what he had done.

And it was the sound of the rooster that triggered repentance. In a sense, that rooster did to Peter what roosters often do; he woke Peter up. Now, Jesus told us the Holy Spirit would specialize in wakeup calls. He said in John 16, "When the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin." When you betray your Lord in some sin or some compromise, there is - in a sense - a rooster calling in your heart saying, "Wake up! Look what you're doing! Do you know how this makes your Savior feel?" It's like an arrow to the heart.

The question is, "What do you do when the Holy Spirit's conviction says, 'What have you done?'" It's possible that the rooster's been crowing in your heart lately; things you've been doing in secret or when you're with that person that maybe you never should have been associated with. Or maybe when you've compromised the truth, or you've neglected your family again, you've hurt the people you love again, you rationalize what you should be repenting of.

Peter graduated from spiritual treason to spiritual greatness after his denial. Why? He let God break his heart over his sin. He responded emotionally to the stabbing pain in his heart. Do you? Spiritual disaster begins when you begin to quench the Spirit of God, you ignore the call that should wake you up.

Today, through this program, the rooster's crowing again. It's the Holy Spirit saying, "You're breaking Jesus' heart. It's time you shed some tears over it as He is. It's the cry of a rooster that means a new day is dawning. The conviction of the Holy Spirit can begin a whole new day in your life if you'll wake up.

A while ago, my sister-in-law introduced me to this tasty new addition to my usual breakfast menu. They're called English crumpets - low fat, great taste. Then I was hooked. In fact, I decided I had to go get myself more of them. I went to where I figured something in the English muffin/bagel category would be: the bread section, right? No, not crumpets. I finally tried something really radical. I asked someone who worked there. Yeah, a guy's last resort. He said, "They're in dairy." Dairy? Well, I guess these things are supposed to be refrigerated. And dairy is where I found them...at the end of a long search!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Shopping."

Now in my search for what would satisfy my appetite, I was shopping in the right store, but not in the right aisle. You know, it's easy to make that same mistake when you're shopping spiritually - for something that will satisfy your appetite for meaning in life.

You only have to watch a few talk shows or look at some of today's best selling books to see that more and more people are shopping in the store that says "Spirituality." We seem to have concluded rightly that earth-stuff doesn't satisfy the human soul. Ecclesiastes says, "God has placed eternity in the hearts of men."

That's right. Earth stuff isn't going to fill that hole. But, see, earth stuff doesn't give the meaning and the fulfillment that we can only get from something bigger - something spiritual. It may be that your own search has taken you down several aisles, looking for truth, for peace, for significance. There are probably more aisles in the spiritual store than ever before. It's easy to get confused, to get deceived, then get lost.

In our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus Christ makes a bold declaration about where we will find what our hearts are hungry for. It's in John 14:6. "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" Now Jesus said our spiritual shopping comes to an end when we go to His aisle and find the way He's provided to belong to God. This 'coming to the Father' He talks about is all about finding a personal relationship with the One who created us, the One we're going to meet the moment we die.

Basically, there are three possibilities in the Spiritual Store. One is religion. You can try to fill the spiritual vacuum in your heart with the rituals and the beliefs of a religion. The second possibility is spiritual experiences from meditating, channeling, occult arts, or a wide variety of New Age spiritualities. And the third possibility in the Spiritual Store is a love relationship with our Creator.

And the world's best selling book, the Bible, makes clear in its timeless wisdom that it is that relationship we're really looking for. In fact, the Bible says we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). In other words, we can't find our ultimate meaning until we belong to the One we were made by and made for. And the Bible goes on to point out that instead of living for Him, we have, day after day, lived for ourselves. And that has cut us off from our Creator, and left us looking to religion or spiritual experiences to fill the hole that only a God-relationship can fill.

Jesus came to pay for, to fix the brokenness that has come from our self-rule. That's why He died on the cross. That's why He said He is the way to get to our Heavenly Father - because He's the only One who paid the price to remove what keeps us from God.

A religion can't love you, neither can a spiritual experience. We need a Creator-relationship. And that begins when you reach out and trust Jesus, the Creator's Son, to bring you and God together.

The day you say to Him, as you could right now, "Jesus, I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what You did on the cross to bring me into a love relationship with my Creator." Listen, if you want that, go to our website and find, there, the Biblical information that will help you get this settled. It's ANewStory.com.

Most of all, let Jesus know you want him. Maybe Jesus was the last aisle you thought you'd find answers in. But He's the only aisle where you'll finally find what you've been shopping for so long.

My daughter was all excited about the sign she saw at the airport. It was actually over the door at a terminal, and it simply said, "Through these doors pass the greatest employees in the world." She said, "You know, Dad, that would make me feel like I was really doing a good job if I came under that every day." It gives you something you want to live up to. I hope you're posting the right kind of sign.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I'll Become What You Call Me."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God is from Acts 4, and I'm going to read beginning at verse 36 where a man gets a name change. "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet." Now, notice Joseph becomes Barnabas, The Encourager.

We read about him on several occasions in the book of Acts, not the least of which is when he came with Saul of Tarsus, who had just come to Christ. Now, remember, Saul had been persecuting the church. He was like public enemy number one for the Christians. But, "When Saul came to Jerusalem, (Acts says) he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles." This is the kind of thing Barnabas does throughout his ministry. He goes on to encourage new Gentile believers in Antioch, and nobody's quite sure about them. He rehabilitates Mark when Paul fires him.

The point is, the apostles called Joseph an encourager, and he just kept living up to what they called him. That's a principle of human behavior. We tend to become the name we're called. That airline seems to know that, "Through these doors pass the greatest employees in the world." If you call them that, maybe they'll live up to it.

That means you have at your disposal a powerful tool for building people, or a destructive weapon for tearing them down. For example, what names do you call your son or daughter? How many times have you said stupid, or lazy, or rebel, or problem? Well, you're programming them with ideas about themselves, and they may then go on to just prove you right.

Think about what you've called your husband or wife lately, or that person who frustrates you - that person who's so irritating, so negative. You can help change a person if you'll look for their strengths and tell them what you see. Call them that good thing. Find a name you can use to bring out their best. Maybe that person, for all of their weaknesses, all of their negativeness, maybe they're obnoxious, but are they generous? Maybe they're sensitive, they fight for their family. Maybe they're a person of conviction; they're organized. Maybe they have a great smile, or a great spirit, or a budding talent.

Would you tell them what you see? Would they make a great Christian if they turned their mind and talents toward Christ? Sometimes I've said that to people. "You know what, you would make a great follower of Jesus." Then they look surprised and I tell them their qualities that would make them a great follower of His. "With a mind like yours, with a gift like yours, oh what a follower of Christ you would be!" Tell the people around you who they could be with the strengths that they have, even if you only see a little bit of it. Because by naming it, you can nurture it.

Look at those people close to you as if they were wearing a big old sign that says, "I'll become what you call me."

Years ago when I went on my first international ministry trip, I went just about as far as you can go - 10,000 miles to Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. I was going to be away for three weeks, which was the longest I had ever left my wife and our three young children. My wife mobilized the kids to put little love notes all over and all through my luggage. We had a nice meal together on the way to the airport and then some special hugs and kisses at the airport. But I did have to go. And I'm not kidding you, it was a sad moment. My wife was trying to look like she was fine. The children were obviously not looking fine. I managed to hold myself together until I rounded the bend in the concourse, then I started wiping tears from my eyes. It was hard, but one thing made it OK. It was only temporary. We would be reunited.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Good News for Our Grief."

Life's partings are tough when someone we love slips into eternity. Death rips us up inside, and the grief is sometimes almost unbearable. But because of Jesus, it's almost unbearable. I know, because I was the one several years ago burying the woman I loved - almost unbearable. Why almost? Well, I belong to Jesus, and my honey did, so that's not the termination of our relationship. No, because of Christ, it's just an interruption. I'm so glad.

God describes this hope in our hurtingest times in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13. "We do not want you to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command and the dead in Christ will rise first." That's my Dad. That's my baby brother whose death brought our family to Christ. That's my grandparents. It's more and more of my friends and the woman I loved for a lifetime.

The Bible goes on to say, "After that, we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so will we be with the Lord forever." Wow! When Jesus walked out of His grave, He conquered death for all those who would ever give their lives to Him. It doesn't mean our heart won't stop some day in this earth-suit called our body, it will die. But it means the real you, your soul, will go on forever uninterrupted in God's great Heaven.

Is it any wonder the Bible says, "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). You may be struggling with the loss of someone you love. I think I get that. The pain is very real. Death was never meant to be part of our lives. Sin brought in death. But Jesus died to pay the death penalty for our sin, and then, on Easter morning, He beat this monster that has beaten every person who ever lived.

So now, because of Jesus, the very worst death can be for a believer is an interruption of the relationship, never a termination. Hallelujah! And if you've never put your total trust in Jesus Christ to be your Savior from your sin and its death penalty, please don't risk another day without Him.

Would you tell Him, "Jesus, your death on the cross was to pay for my sin. It is my only hope of heaven. And the fact that You walked out of your grave proves that You can give eternal life that no one else can give. I'm Yours, Jesus, beginning today." If you're at that point where you want to begin that relationship and have that assurance, this is your day to check out our website and the information there that will help you know you've got this settled. The website is ANewStory.com.

That day of my long trip...the pain, the tears were real. As they are on a much deeper level when someone we love is leaving us for eternity. But you can handle the leaving if you know what I knew that day at the airport...that this separation is only an interruption and hallelujah, the reunion is coming.

There's a stretch of nights in the fall when the moon is absolutely incredible! It's usually in October - harvest time for farmers. And when it's full moon time, you can see this huge, brilliant, yellowish moon rising in the eastern sky. It just makes you stop and almost catch your breath. I think it was in the days before electricity that farmers started calling it a "harvest moon." With so much depending on the harvest and so little time to bring it in, every hour had to count. And the days never seemed quite long enough to get it all in. So a bright full moon was more than just a beautiful view...it meant something much more important. With that extra light, God was giving them a little more time to harvest!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Little More Time To Harvest."

Maybe you and I are living right now in the light of a spiritual harvest moon - to bring to Jesus some of the lives around us that He died to rescue. Maybe that's why He's giving you a little more time.

There's a powerful illustration of this in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 13:6. "Then (Jesus) told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"

I wonder how many of our lives this parable might be describing? Jesus comes looking for some fruit on a believer's life, especially in the form of some people that you've introduced to Him and He finds none. Why should He leave us here any longer, just soaking up the nutrients in our spiritual soil? But the answer comes, "Give him/give her a little more time to make a difference." By virtue of the fact that you and I are still here, Jesus has decided to let us have at least a little more time to take some people to heaven with us.

I'll tell you, you feel it deeply when the time for you to bring someone home runs out - when harvest time is over. I still remember my high school friend Cathy. It's not somebody I dated; we were just good friends.

One morning, during my freshman year of college, I remember waking up to a news story that mentioned her name. I woke up fast! The night before, a gunman had walked into the Student Union at the university Cathy attended, pulled out a gun, and shot her in cold blood. Suddenly, I was out of chances to tell Cathy about how she could go to heaven. We had talked about everything except Jesus! I had slept through the harvest, and time had run out.

That's why the Bible says that when it comes to talking about Jesus, "Make the most of every opportunity" (Colossians 4:4). This spiritual harvest business; this is urgent stuff. Harvest always is. You know the opportunity isn't going to last long. You drop everything to bring it in, and if you wait, you miss it. God wants us to feel that kind of urgency about telling the people we know about the man who loved them enough to die for them. We never know when their time or our time will run out.

So, like the farmer toiling feverishly in the extended light of a harvest moon, God has given you a little more time to bring in someone that His Son died for. Please don't keep putting it off. Don't let your life be so full of un-eternal stuff that you miss the mission that matters the most.

Someone you know desperately needs the Jesus you know, and Jesus has given you a little more time to bring them home.

When my wife and I pulled up late to the Bed and Breakfast we were going to be staying at, I tried to be real quiet. Not a problem. That B & B was buzzing like a beehive. Inside there were ten women huddled around the dining room table, each one with a sewing machine right in front of her. I learned that the other guests - all women - were there that weekend for a Mystery Quilt weekend. And even though I felt like I had sort of crashed a grownup slumber party, I did ask a few questions like, "What pattern are you following?" They didn't know. See, it turns out that one of the women there, Millie, does these quilting weekends with ladies, and she has the pattern. It's a mystery quilt because each woman only has instructions for what to do with the next piece or pieces. The next day, one lady said to me, "I can't wait 'till I can see what all this is going to look like when it's all put together." Good thing she didn't leave early with her pile of pieces, huh? She would have never known what it all made.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Pieces Without The Plan."

Actually, we've just talked about a description of some of our lives: pieces without the plan - because we're away from the only One who has the plan. I guess, in a way, life is a mystery quilt. All we can see is the block we're working on right now. But every once in a while, we find ourselves asking that question that has haunted us for years, "Why am I doing all this? What does all this make?"

It could be that right now the pieces aren't making much sense at all. And you're not sure of the answer to the one question you have to answer while you're on earth, "Why am I here?" You miss that and you've missed the point of your whole life. And so far, none of the things, and none of the people you thought would make it make sense have done it. Life still seems like a pile of disconnected pieces.

I hope you'll be encouraged by our word for today from the Word of God. Jeremiah 29:11 - "'I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" According to the Bible, you are a unique creation of God. Just look at your fingerprints - He's made you one of a kind. And He has plans for you - great plans. Like the lady who organized that quilting weekend, God has the plan in His hand, but if you're away from the One who has the plan, there's no way to put the pieces together right.

So much of the confusion and many of the mistakes, a lot of the emptiness, the pain in your life, may have been because you've been trying to put it together without the only One who knows the plan. God is the only One who knows why you're here. The problem is that, again according to the Bible, every one of us has tried to do life our way instead of God's way. Here are God's words, "All of us have wandered away like sheep; each of us has turned to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6) Without divine intervention, you and I have hopelessly separated ourselves from the One who designed us.

But divine intervention did come on a brutal cross on a hill outside Jerusalem, where God's one and only Son died as a substitute for you and me, carrying our death penalty for our running of our own lives. Which means that where there was once an uncrossable divide, there is a bridge now and His name is Jesus.

And today, Jesus is coming to where you are, offering you the opportunity to tell Him that you want Him to be your Savior from your sin, to connect you to the God that you've been separated from, to be the One who holds the plans and purpose for your life in His hands. When you find Him, you have found the meaning of your life.

Have you ever reached out to Him to begin your relationship with Him? Why not today? Tell Him, "Jesus, beginning today, I'm yours. You died for me." Then check out what the Bible has to say about this relationship at our website - ANewStory.com.

Maybe life has been a pile of confusing, disconnected pieces long enough. You need to come home to Jesus, the One who created you, who has wonderful plans for you. If you'll open up to Him, you'll finally start to get a look at the plan that puts all the pieces together.

Don't you love it when someone gets a little smile on their face and they say, "We were just talking about you." Your mind starts racing, and you think, "What were they saying about me?" When they say that to me, I usually ask, "Oh, do I get a chance to defend myself?" You know that people talk about you when you're not around. That's true for just about everybody, and you've heard how folks talk about other people when you're there. So you have every reason to believe that they talk about you, and it might not be your best stuff. I know someone who's been talking about you, and it's definitely for your benefit.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Jesus Prays for You."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 22. Simon Peter, as we look at this passage, is about to head into the most intense spiritual battle of his life. And Jesus, in an intimate moment, looked him in the eye and said, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

I believe what was going on here is that Jesus is indicating that the difference in Peter is going to be that Jesus is going to be praying for him. The difference for you is that Jesus is talking to His Father about you today. You say, "That's a pretty good description of how I feel...sifted. And maybe Satan wants to sift you as wheat, but it says Jesus is praying for you.

In John 17:11 we find that He prays this way, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave Me. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave Me. My prayer is not that you should take them out of the world but that you should protect them from the evil one."

You know, Hebrews 7:25 says that, "He ever lives to make intercession for us." Jesus is at His Father's right hand talking to Him about you and me. I think He's praying for your protection from all the Devil wants to do. John 17:16 - "Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth." He's talking about "sanctify" as in, "Keep them special, Father." It's like that sign you see in a restaurant that says it's "reserved." What does that mean? Nobody else can have it. It's reserved just for the use of the person who's asked for it. Well, that's what "sanctify" means. It's set apart for God; reserved for God. That's what Jesus does for you. He wants you to be kept separate, special, and unpolluted. He talks about using His Word to keep your body pure, to keep your mind pure, your imagination, and your sense of humor. Those belong to Jesus, and He's praying for that.

Then in chapter 17, verse 18, He says, "Father, as you sent Me, I have sent them into the world." Then He says, "My prayer is not for them alone, but for those who would believe in me through their message." Realize He is praying for your mission. He's praying that others will come to Christ. That means He's praying for us, who, years later, have come to Christ through their message. And He's praying for people that will be led to Christ as you and I declare His message.

Look at what happens as a result of Jesus' praying for Peter. Ultimately, in the short term, yeah he came under attack. Yes, he denied Jesus; yes, he disappointed Jesus. But ultimately, he ended up safe, and secure, and pure, and powerful, because Jesus was praying for him. He's praying for you, and that's the ending you will have.

You are not traveling this road alone. Someone's talking about you. Jesus is talking to His Father about you. Man, that's good to know. That will make all the difference.