Pastor Mike Bitter Speaks

Who do you encourage? In other words who’s your target? I will talk about two ways you will find people to encourage; a chance meeting or divine intervention.

A Chance Meeting is when you encourage a person at the grocery store checkout or your waiter or waitress. What about the manager of the restaurant you just had a meal? They don’t usually get positive feedback and could use some loving too. Many people who need encouragement will cross your path each day. It’s easy to find something you don’t like in someone. Change your point of view and find something to encourage someone about each day. There’s good in all of us, but circumstances have a way of skewing the bias toward the bad.

A Divine Intervention could be anything beyond the chance meeting. Divine intervention is when you’ve been given a soul to testify to and with. It is a soul only you can encourage; for that period of time. Divine intervention gives you the opportunity to change a life. It may have been put in your lap, as a test to see how you’ll handle what you’re given. I’ve found loving the soul is the safest and most effective way to make the world better.

In summary: a Chance Meeting is a way we can encourage the world to be a better place. We reach people during our daily routine. We meet them, then they’re gone. A great way to leave the souls involved in those Chance Meeting is better than you found them. Can you do that? A Divine Intervention is more personal and one on one. It is not the “anyone I might meet” encouragement. Divine Intervention could go so far as saving a life and you may never know. Encourage and love; Love to encourage; and life, and the world becomes a better place within which to live. GB.

This is a great time to celebrate. Today is the day we celebrate the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not only did He return from the dead, but He overcame evil, injustice, hate, contempt, ridicule, slander, pressure, sadness, discomfort, haughtiness, sickness and death. He overcame the last bastion, the final hurdle we have in our life; death. Today is a day to celebrate, for without Jesus resurrection, we’d surely be on the highway headed somewhere we don’t want to go.

Jesus didn’t come to convince us He is right, He came to save us from hell; eternal damnation. He knew what it was like and He knew there was a much better place in store for us if only we believe in Him. He knocks (Rev 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.), but who answers? Anyone there? Come into the light and know where you’ll be when your time on this earth is over.

Join me and my family as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus as proof there is a greater life to come for all of us. We just need to say yes to Him. Yes to believing in Him. Yes to allowing Him into your heart. Yes to repentance (and if you don’t know how to repent, please let me know). Yes to crucifying your past life and starting anew; something you never dreamed possible. If not today, then when? GB

I hope everyone takes time to acknowledge what Jesus did for us on the cross. I know there are those who follow me who don’t “believe”, but that’s OK. We love you too. I don’t like that we’ve become so polarized against one another rather than being understanding, willing to listen and understand so you can be understood. Jesus said he did not come to condemn, but to bring unity and show the way to the Lord. He is the way the truth and the life for us, if we choose to follow Him. He made a huge sacrifice in our stead and for us.

Soon Good Friday will be over and we’ll have our eyes on Easter, but for a few minutes, think about what it was like hanging on the cross, hour after hour. A wooden cross on His back that had been whipped, beaten and parts of his flesh torn away; trying to breath as his back rubbed up and down on a wooden cross. All that for us.

So what can we do for what He did for us? It’s easy to let this day slip by like no other, but there was a great commotion and this was a world changing event. Take a few minutes today to meditate on what Jesus did for us. He did it for you too, if you’d only turn to Him with repentance and hope. GB.

Thursday and Friday – Family arrives. Final arrangements, downtime for the family and small gatherings.

Saturday 10:30 Services for LaVern Bitter at Kingdom Hall 9201 Q St Ralston, NE

Saturday Reception following service at Elks at 96th and Harrison, Ralston, NE

Saturday 6:00p Family gathering at Mike and Ruth’s house, 21747 Martinwood Dr, Council Bluffs, IA. You can Google the address for directions or Google Martinwood International. We have two acres, so when you get to the house, park anywhere on the right (north) side of the house. Feel free to park in the open spaces on the north of the house.

Sunday 10:00a Family gathering and farewell breakfast – Golden Corral, Council Bluffs, IA

NOTES:

1. The service will be available on Zoom:

Meeting ID: 999 342 0986

Passcode: 2911315

2. It has been chilly at night. For some, that means cold. Bring a coat if you like. Saturday night we will have the firepit burning in case you want to sit outside and enjoy the fire.

3. During this time, feel free to share stories, anecdotes, and things you remember about LaVern and family. He loved family and this is a good time to have family time.

One thing I’ve noticed is sometimes encouragement hurts. What I mean is there are times when you know what’s right for a person, but they don’t see it. The person may be co-dependent on you to take care of everyday life situations for them. In this case, encouragement is not necessarily a niceity.

We know what people should be doing in their life, yet they continue to depend on you to take care of those things for them. Encouragement may seem harsh and not necessary, but how else will they move onto their own path and grow? We have to find ways to encourage them to assume responsibility for their own actions.

This could come in the form of not doing those life things for them and keeping your eyes on your own life, and letting them figure it out. There are other times when awarding someone something they didn’t expect will encourage them to take another chance. Public appreciation goes a long way to encouragement. Ask for the manager at a restaurant you are at and tell them all the good things you saw and how good the food was. Even if not everything was as good as you expect, find things you can compliment the staff.

I have encouraged my children in ways that hurt their feelings or upset them, but the outcome was well worth the pain they went through to accomplish tasks they otherwise would not have accomplished. Encourage someone daily and in no time, the world will be a better place.

Mike. GB

Many events and attitudes have over taken the values richly engrained in our society, or at least what I thought were engrained in our society. I’ve been at a loss as to what to do to combat these actions of fighting against something rather than fighting for it. I heard a great quote from a martial arts grand master this week. He said to not let our emotions overcome our values. I see so many allowing their emotions to overcome what they truly believe. Find your values and stand on them. Don’t allow them to bend one way or the other when the wind blows, rather stand tall on the values you hold dear.