International Prayer Day First Monday each month 10 am

Joel Griffith 1/9/25 Joel Griffith 1/9/25

A willing Spirit.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:10-12

The last eight words of the above verses “grant me a willing spirit to sustain me” are words that should be in our daily prayers. A ‘willing spirit’ needs to drive me in and through this sinful world where we are often being told these days to mind your own business; don’t get involved.

How many people did your Heavenly Father place along your journey yesterday? How many hurting lives brushed up against you at work? How many lonely souls sat next to you at the doctor office? How many broken relationships went past your grocery cart? How many visitors sat in your pew at Church on Sunday? How many lives searching for a Savior did you share the Gospel with yesterday?

This little boy from Cap Haitian who is carrying a chair on his head touched my life on the day this picture was taken and today as well; he knows Jesus and lives in a neighborhood where many do not. A willing spirit continues to move me to help him share the message with the people along his journey. May a ‘willing spirit’ move you as well to finish well in the remainder of your days.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/8/25 Joel Griffith 1/8/25

A timely manner.

“[Elisha] said, "This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this s what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink." 2 Kings 3:16-17

There are probably a few times in your life when prayers just aren’t being answered in what we would consider to be a ‘timely’ manner; it has happened to me. Seemingly unanswered prayers can bring a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. The people that are being described in 2 Kings had no water. No clouds in sight and not a drop of water could be found in the wells; hopelessness. Where do you turn when your faucet is dry, when your marriage is breaking up, when you kids are fighting, when medical bills are mounting, when you are turned down for another job or when your doctor tells you that you only have a short time to live?

The young boy in this photo attends the Bois Marchand School in Gonaives and there is no well at their school. Before my visit there ended, he followed me to the door and asked if I could do something to get a well at their school. He had been praying…but the cooks were still having to haul water. We need to be patient and remain faithful. The people in 2 Kings were so certain that God would bring rain to their land that they began to dig ditches…and continued to pray. Children attending the Lutheran School in Thomassique brought kindling to school, knowing that a feeding program would come someday…and they prayed and eventually it did come.

Our Triune God has a way of answering prayers, quite often in ways that we don’t understand at the moment but come to enjoy the blessing later on in life. Our Heavenly Father’s timetable is not one that we are familiar with or can understand. He provides in His time and in His way and we give thanks for taking care of us. Have you started to dig any ditches recently? Have you begun to store up firewood? He is faithful.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/7/25 Joel Griffith 1/7/25

Let the Lord lead.

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” James 4:13-17

What is your life all about? This sinful world that we live in urges us to boast of our worldly achievements that ‘we’ have accomplished without help from anyone else; WE DID IT! Come on, wake up! Strive to do better and finish well for Him. Be the kind of person that when you sit up in bed and your feet hit the floor each morning, the evil foe says "Oh Crap, they’re up!" Life is too short to wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning with regrets; love the people who encourage and strengthen you and forgive the ones who don't; just because you can. Believe that everything happens for a reason and if you are given a second chance, grab it with both hands. When you feel your blood pressure rising and muscles growing tense take a few deep breaths, count to ten and think about how to finish well before you speak when you are becoming angry; forgive quickly. Our Heavenly Father never said life would be easy; He just promised it would be worth it.

There are over fifty-two thousand children like this child living in Haiti who are only receiving one meal a day and that is at their school; that is a blessing. There are thousands more who are not eating regularly at their homes and don’t know Jesus; that is an opportunity for you to finish well while on your life’s journey. Please pray for these children and if the Holy Spirit moves you to feed a few of these children; contact Trinity HOPE.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/6/25 Joel Griffith 1/6/25

Something simple.

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”” Galatians 4:4-6

Have you ever had a task that seemed to be very challenging and when you began to see some light at the end of the tunnel, you felt a sense of relief that your labors had finally found it to the end? Kind of like finding that last cluster of pieces to a 10,000-piece puzzle. Or, kind of like raising your child in a fallen world full of bad temptations. I recall the countless hours when working on the final horizontal and vertical alignments for the I-80/I-480 interchange in downtown Omaha. There were railroad tracks at the bottom, I-80 mainline with 4 ramps on the next level and I-480 mainline with an additional 4 ramps on the top level. And, it had to be constructed without disrupting the existing traffic movement. It was a stressful point along my journey but would have been a simple task for our Heavenly Father. I spent a thousand hours on a CAD and He could have accomplished the same task with only a blink of His eye or even set it into place by only a word.

Consider that a few weeks ago, we celebrated Christmas. Our Heavenly Father pulled some strings to make that simple, Heavenly plan come to fruition. At just the right moment, precisely as our Triune God had arranged it, entered the Messiah. Micah wrote that it would be in Bethlehem. It was. But the earthly parents, Joseph and Mary were of Nazareth, up in Galilee; not in Bethlehem. Back in their day, those places were miles apart and in those times that distance was days apart. Mary was almost full term in her pregnancy. To get them down south in time required good roads; unheard of prior to the Roman takeover. Romans built roads. And Joseph and Mary certainly needed to be forced to travel and that came about with a required census from Caesar Augustus, that forced Joseph to register in person in the city of his family roots, Bethlehem.

But before a Savior could be born, there also needed to be some natural means of common communication; a familiar tongue that would quickly spread the news since there was no Internet or SAT phones. No problem. Thanks to Alexander the Great, the father of Koine Greek, that language was ripe and ready for rapid dissemination of the gospel message through the pen of the evangelists and apostles from then throughout history.

Thanks to good roads, a decision in Rome, and a bothersome census, it happened in just the right place, at just the right time, with an articulate language as the perfect verbal vehicle. It was a simple plan. A little baby that the world hardly noticed arrived. He was little more than a wisp of lint on the prophetic page, a pawn in the hands of the heavenly Commander of a simple plan from Heaven. Today is the Trinity HOPE International day of prayer for the school feeding programs in Haiti. Please join us in thanking our Heavenly Father for using our time, talents and treasures to further His plan to spread the Holy Gospel throughout Haiti. He has plans for you. He is on your team; every day. He has revealed to us how our journey will end; victory with Jesus!

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/5/25 Joel Griffith 1/5/25

Prayer guide for January.

We begin our prayer time in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. + Amen.

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Martin Luther

‘Adoration’

Psalm 145; “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”

A time of ‘Adoration’ to our Heavenly Father.

· Please take time to sit and consider how our Triune God comes to us through His ‘WORD’ every day and how He has impacted your life with it.

· Think about the blessings you have because of His blessing you with material goods and the daily blessings His Hand provides for you.

‘Confession’

Romans 3:10-18; “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We were born, sinful and unclean, through no fault of our own, but because of the sins of our parents, grandparents; Adam and Eve.

God sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus did everything right while he was here on this earth. He loved you with a love that cannot be measured. He gave to the world when no thanks were returned to Him. He healed when there was no hope, and He died without complaint. Jesus did nothing wrong and everything right; all this for you. He lived for you and died for you. Our sins nailed Him to the cross on Calvary and kept Him there until His life on earth had ended.

Romans 8:3-4; “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

A time of personal confession.

John 3:16-17, 36; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Our sins are placed at the base of the cross...His cross, and we give thanks that the times we have fallen short in the eyes of our Heavenly Father have been washed clean and we have been forgiven through the Blood of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.

‘Thanksgiving’

Where should we begin to give thanks? So great are the blessings that our Heavenly Father has poured into our lives and continues to daily shower upon us. There were even a few challenges last year that turned into blessings.

Psalm 107:1-3; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story; those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

As we begin this new year, let us give thanks for what we have and what was and is given to us without even asking. At the top of our list should be giving thanks for God giving us His Son Jesus who came down from Heaven to save us from our sins and bless us with Eternal Life.

Ephesians 5:1-3; “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”

We come to You now with hearts, minds and words filled with ‘Thanksgiving’.

· We give thanks for our Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.

· We give thanks for having a Savior.

· We give thanks our providence; monetary, food, clothing and shelter. As we give of our first fruits may we also give a portion of our best to His children who need the assistance we can provide.

· We give You thanks for the Haitian children who are not only the prime purpose of Trinity HOPE but also Your missionaries for the future generations in Haiti who bring the true message of Christmas to lives who have never known.

· We give You thanks for the work that is being accomplished by the Haitian parents, teachers, school principals and Feeding Program Directors who are shaping the lives of young Haitian children this school year.

‘Supplications’

Philippians 4:8-9; “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy; think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me; put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Years ago, a missionary friend of mine shared a message that listed several thoughts for ways to improve their witness in the coming new year. Reading that list after the words from the Apostle Paul above will surely spur your thoughts to take a sincere inventory of where you were last year and where to go this new year.

“If I have the language ever so perfectly and speak like a pundit, and have not the love that grips the heart, I am nothing. If I have decorations and diplomas and am proficient in up-to-date methods and have not the touch of understanding love, I am nothing. If I am able to worst my opponents in argument so as to make fools of them, and have not the wooing note, I am nothing. If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and wonderful visions, and have not the love that sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I am nothing. If I surrender all prospects, and leaving home and friends and comforts, give myself to the showy sacrifice of a missionary career, and turn sour and selfish amid the daily annoyances and personal slights of a missionary life, and though I give my body to be consumed in the heat and sweat and mildew of India, and have not the love that yields its rights, its coveted leisure, its pet plans, I am nothing, nothing. Virtue has ceased to go out of me. If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease, but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of love that is kind, I am nothing. If I write books and publish articles that set the world agape and fail to transcribe the word of the cross in the language of love, I am nothing. Worse, I may be competent, busy, fussy, punctilious, and well-equipped, but like the church at Laodicea; nauseating to Christ.”

Lord Jesus, in this new year, use me to accomplish Your will in ways that will save lives and bring more souls into Your Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, we bring our supplications before You;

· Heavenly Father, this coming year please continue to lead and bless Trinity HOPE with Your loving hand; may we always strive to accomplish Your will.

· Bless the workers here in the U.S. and in Haiti and give them courage as they face challenges from the evil foe. Provide them with courage, endurance and love.

· Heavenly Father, please bring the gangs to set down their weapons, repent and help to rebuild what they have broken.

· Heavenly Father, may Your Holy Spirit descend on the vodou temples in Haiti and drive out the evil that resides inside. May truth overcome the lies of the vodou priest. May the Hope of your Son, our Savior bring Hope to the hopeless.

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You sent it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:11-14; “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.” Martin Luther

May God go before you to guide you; may His arms be beneath you to support you, around you to protect you and above you to bless you. And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always dear sister and brother in Christ,

In His love, have a very prosperous and blessed new year.

Jay Brinkmeyer

Joel Griffith 1/4/25 Joel Griffith 1/4/25

The friendly dogs.

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4

This first Saturday in 2025 comes with a measure of simple truth found in this passage from James. There are times, when it is very difficult to serve our Triune God while you are following the delights that this world has to offer; you know that and satan delights in those times when your most precious time is spent giving to the world instead of Christ.

If you follow Christ, all the ‘friendly dogs’ of this world will be nipping at your heels. On the other hand, if you are living in ways of this sinful world and have decided that you will be able turn to Christ just before you take your last breath; you are taking quite a chance. If you spend most of your time in His word and walk in His ways the eyes and tongues of this world will not speak well of you; you will be under attack daily.

Do what is right, finish well, and don’t be afraid of what the tongues of this world will say about you or what stone they may hurl at you. Be strong, be courageous; finish well. Remain in His word and pray without ceasing. I close today’s devotion with the words from verse 7 of the hymn ‘If Thou but suffer God to guide Thee’ which was written by Georg Nuemark in 1640.

“Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving, perform thy duties faithfully, and trust His Word, though undeserving, thou yet shalt find it true for thee. God never yet forsook in need the soul that trusted Him indeed.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/3/25 Joel Griffith 1/3/25

Love your enemies.

“Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:26-28

The words of Jesus found in Luke, tell us to ‘love your enemies’ are difficult for all sinners to follow. As sinful Christians, here in North America and also in Haiti, we will ultimately make enemies; trust me, it will happen. There will come a time when somebody is going to hold a grudge against you or blame you for bringing problems upon their physical or financial wellbeing.

Although it will not be our plan of action, simply believing the truth and doing what is right will cause us to lose many of our earthly friends or acquaintances. Suffice to say and never forget that there is a Friend in heaven who will reveal Himself to us one day as He gave His life on the cross of Calvary for you, me and that ‘enemy’ if they too believe in Him.

This young child has an enemy in Haiti; a gang member or the local vodou priest; and they are afraid of him. The vodou priest wants them to believe in the lies of satan and may even want to take their lives so he can use their body parts in his sacrifices to the spirits of the evil world. Just as Christ instructs us to pray for our enemies, He teaches this child to pray for the vodou priest. Christ came to earth to seek and save the lost because this entire world needs a Savior. Thank you for helping to prepare these children attending Christian schools to finish well in their lives; may their witness bring many more into the Kingdom.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/2/25 Joel Griffith 1/2/25

Feed My sheep.

“Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:16-17

A group of Lutherans from the Nashville, TN area formed an organization called Trinity HOPE in 1998 following a mission trip by John and Carol Hall to Haiti with the intent of answering God’s call to “feed my sheep” who were not being fed nutritionally. The team observed children attending a Lutheran school in the Artibonite district who were listless, lifeless and hungry. Forty-six children were the first group to be fed and now by the grace of our Triune God over seventeen thousand children are being fed daily in their Christian schools. The mission of Trinity HOPE is ‘To actively seek and be careful stewards of each dollar God provides so that the maximum number of students in the schools of the Christian Churches in Haiti have a meal each day.” Our vision is “to facilitate the Christian Churches in Haiti’s efforts to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the children in its schools as they are being educated.”

Thank you for answering the call of our Holy Spirit to go into the mission fields of Haiti and join us in ‘feeding His sheep’ and sharing of your time, talents and daily prayers as these children are being prepared to take the love of Jesus to a country that was dedicated to satan on January 1, 1804.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 1/1/25 Joel Griffith 1/1/25

New Year 2025

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20

New Year’s Day for some is football games and a plethora of snack food. For others, it’s a time to start to gather income tax information. For those of us who are Trinity HOPE donors it is a time to reflect on the face in the attached photo and pray about what this New Year will bring to her country. How long will her country remain in a State of Emergency? How long will it be before the gang led chaos comes to an end? Will their economy start to improve so our donations will go farther and feed more children? Sometimes, I think New Year’s Day comes at the wrong time of year. There is stuff on my to-do list that is still waiting from last year. There are things to get started before the new year; I received a notice last month from Trinity HOPE that I need to write an article for March 2025 and I have to find a Photo, Scripture and put together a message about…

Things still remaining from last year and there will be new things this month to accomplish. I read a message from a devotion recently that said; “Trust Me, I have everything under control. Jesus.” He was with us last year, is with us today and will be here tomorrow when my feet touch the floor. Those few words should bring a peace over us. Heavenly Father, each day in this new year, please help me remember that You are in control of everything here and throughout Your creation.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 12/31/24 Joel Griffith 12/31/24

Before the new year.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy; think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me; put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

Back in the day, a missionary friend of mine shared a message that listed several thoughts for ways to improve their witness in the coming new year. Reading that list again recently, following the words of wisdom from the Apostle Paul above, will prayerfully spur your thoughts to take a sincere inventory of where you have been this year and where to consider going this coming new year; tomorrow.

Lord Jesus, in this new year, use me to accomplish Your will in ways that will save lives and bring more souls into Your Kingdom.

May God be with you,

Jay