Beauty for ashes, hope for despair

As I look out my window at a beautiful lawn mowed last night by my husband, enjoying the shade tree in the front yard and the peaceful, quiet street we live on, as I sit and write freely on a computer with a high-speed connection in a country where I don't have to edit my words... my mind is thousands of miles away. I am thinking of you ... and you ... and you ... and the struggles you are facing. I'm thinking of what you see when you look around. I'm thinking of those of you who can't go out of town because of the threat of violence. I'm thinking of you whose computers are broken or who wait for the electricity to come up in order to access the internet at a very slow rate. I'm thinking of everything I take for granted every day, and everything I complain about, and how it pales in comparison to your lives and ministries.

And I love you for it.

I love you because you don't have to be there, not a single one of you. I love you because I know how easy it is to rationalize: I'll go when the kids are grown, when I retire, when I marry, when I'm a widow. I'll go where it's safe, where it's more like home, where the language is normal, where they actually like people from my country. I love you because I know that what I call sacrifice is nothing compared to what you have given up to be there, and because I know that you wouldn't trade places with me for anything (well, not permanently anyway - though you might for a weekend especially when it's 120 degrees in the shade).

I've told you before that I know you have feet of clay, that you struggle and are learning the same lessons I'm learning. I know you don't idealize your country any more than I idealize mine. But as I come face to face with some of the harder truths in the New Testament, the truths about mission and compromise and suffering and persecution, I realize afresh how important it is that you are out there doing the thing. You are still my heroes.

As you look around and wonder if you are making a difference, please know that you are ... you are making a difference in the Body of Christ as I learn from every email and every newsletter you send, as that gets filtered into my life and my church. You are making a difference where you are as well, bringing light to the darkness. I leave you with the words from Isaiah 61 that became Jesus' own description of His ministry when He taught in the temple (Luke 4) - and my own reflection on the passage.

May God bless you today. I love you!

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,and the day of vengeance of our God;to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,the oil of gladness instead of mourning,the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;that they may be called oaks of righteousness,the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins;they shall raise up the former devastations;they shall repair the ruined cities,the devastations of many generations.

Isa. 61:1-4

Beauty for ashes, hope for despair
What do you see, Lord, when you look over there?
The world calls it hopeless, or claims it's okay
That the darkness seems to hold such a sway.

Oil of gladness, garment of praise
When, oh, when, will their voices raise
In praise to You, Lord, to call you by name?
What will it sound like on that great day

When my voice and theirs, heart languages
Lifting up to Your throne in unity singing?
Let me see it Lord, Your eyes not mine
Oaks for Your glory, in Your perfect time.

Persecution or Compromise

One thing plays repeatedly through my mind as I've read the New Testament passages on persecution in preparation for my term paper. It's a painful and profound thought: Persecution is avoidable for those willing to compromise.

From Paul's admonition that it is those "who desire to live Godly lives in Christ Jesus" that are persecuted, to Peter and John's option of going free but just not speaking about Jesus, to the Galatians who were tempted to doctrinal compromise to avoid persecution, to the martyrs in Revelation who are paralled in the text both as those who are martyred and as those who "obey the gospel" ... we see the two paths laid out for us: Persecution or Compromise.

The compromise may be doctrinal ("Let's just throw in a little legalism here and there"), it may be lifestyle-oriented ("I have to joke like this to fit in and have a platform to share the gospel"), it may be intellectual ("Maybe Scripture against that sin doesn't apply today"). It may be more blatant ("Let's not evangelize"). But whatever the form it takes, compromise is the devil's way of tempting us to avoid persecution. And when we compromise, we don't advance the kingdom of God.

How grateful I am that His kingdom is bigger than my weaknesses! I know I've compromised, and God is teaching me through this study on persecution just how bad that is. Like it or not, His narrow path is the path of difficulty, of being misunderstood, and sometimes outright persecuted. Sometimes from other "religious" people, sometimes from the very people I try to reach. Even if I'm not "beating people over the head" with Scripture - something I definitely don't do -- I can still be a faithful, godly witness and find myself tempted to compromise to avoid persecution, to stay "popular".

Today, seek the Lord for the ways that He wants you to recognize your compromise, and recommit to the narrow way ... even if it leads to persecution.

Blessings to you!

God's Special Presence

I've just spent much of today with my head in books about persecution in preparation for a term paper I'm writing. One key theme that has emerged is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a special way with those who are persecuted or suffer for the sake of Christ. As I go about my daily tasks to wrap up the night, I am reflecting that truly, the deepest valleys of my life have brought His most intimate presence. And I haven't ever been persecuted, and have really not truly suffered that much.

But I know that many of you are enduring trials right now. Trials of faith, suffering in a sacrificial sense, maybe even persecution or the fear of it. Surely many of the people you are ministering to face that reality.

Take heart! God's presence is strong when we suffer; His power is made perfect in our weakness.

Prayer for Hostages

Unified believing prayer is an amazing thing. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to spread prayer requests so that when answers came, God would receive more glory. No matter what we are enduring, when we look beyond ourselves to intercede for others we are blessed beyond measure.

With that in mind, I ask your prayer for the Korean hostages in Afghanistan. The latest update from Baptist Press (below) states many of my thoughts and exhorts us to pass this prayer request along and pray fervently for them! Please do that very thing.

Prayer urged for 21 Christian aid workers held hostage
Posted on Aug 3, 2007 by Staff

WASHINGTON (BP)--With two South Korean men having been executed, 21 young Koreans remained hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan at the two-week point Aug. 2 following the Christian aid workers' kidnapping July 19.Two women hostages are critically ill and most of the others are sick, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Aug. 3, but it did not provide details.

In Washington, an official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy sounded a call Aug. 3 for the media and for Christians to speak up for the Korean captives."Why is it that the media finds the brief incarceration of Paris Hilton worthy of 'round-the-clock vigils but spares little ink and little air time to tell the world more about these two men who gave their lives while serving the people of Afghanistan?" Faith McDonnell, IRD director of religious liberty programs, asked."Even more disturbing than lack of media coverage, though, is the tepid response of the churches to the plight of their brothers and sisters from South Korea," McDonnell continued in the statement."

No matter what issues currently occupy Christians in the U.S., they should shift their focus to Afghanistan right now and join the churches in South Korea in vigilant prayer for the remaining hostages." McDonnell said the crisis is a chance "to witness to the world that the body of Christ is one worldwide body.""Christians in the West should always be praying for their persecuted brothers and sisters -- but particularly in this time of crisis, they should look beyond their own interests and pray for the hostages. I challenge Christians to pray daily for the South Koreans, and to include them as a prayer item on church Web sites, e-mail conferences and the blog sites of individuals."

The two men who have been killed by the Taliban thus far are:

-- Bae Hyung Kyu, 42, a minister with the Sammul Presbyterian Church near Seoul who was slain by 10 AK-47 shots July 25, his birthday. Bae worked with unmarried university graduates, helping prepare them for volunteer trips for aid work in developing countries, according to Compass, a persecution watchdog organization based in Santa Ana, Calif. Bae leaves behind a wife and 9-year-old daughter, Compass reported. (Some news reports have spelled the name of the church "Saemmul.")
-- Shim Sung Min, 29, who had left a job in information technology to seek a graduate degree in agriculture out of a concern for poor Korean farmers impacted by globalization, a church member told Compass. Shim had been teaching Sunday School classes for the handicapped, the church member also said.

While the South Korean volunteer team, 16 of whom are women, have been criticized in some quarters for venturing into Afghanistan's volatility, an Afghan convert to Christianity told Compass he admires the commitment they evidenced and hopes that a Christian presence can continue in the country."During the Taliban regime, the main expatriate group in Afghanistan was Christians," the Afghan told Compass. "They were here to help Afghanistan. … No one else had the guts to come and help this war-torn country." The convert said Christians are called to serve -– and sometimes at a very high cost.

"Thank you for coming to Afghanistan to serve my people," Compass quoted the Afghan as saying to the hostages and other Korean Christians who had served in Afghanistan. "Thank you for letting the world know, 'Don't forget Afghanistan.' Your Afghan brothers in faith are praying for you daily."

The corpses of Bae and Shim have been returned to South Korea, Compass reported.

Taliban spokesmen threatened more executions by midnight Aug. 2 if the Afghan government continued to refuse demands to Taliban prisoners, Compass reported, noting that Taliban leaders later stated that no one had been hurt.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, told the Yonhap News Agency July 31, "If the negotiations do not go well, [the militants] will kill the male hostages, and then it will be the female hostages' turn."

Yonhap, in an Aug. 3 report, cited informed sources in reporting that South Korean officials are negotiating with the Taliban "for the venue for face-to-face talks" on the fate of 21 surviving hostages, "amid conflicting reports on imminent military operations to rescue the hostages."

South Korean officials would not officially confirm efforts to establish direct talks with the kidnappers, Yonhap reported, but said they are trying to maintain "direct or indirect contact" with the captors.Negotiations for medical treatment for the sick hostages at a Kabul hospital also have not yet been successful, Yonhap reported."

The hospital proposed to the Taliban specific conditions for the treatment of the Korean patients, but the militants refused them," a reporter with the Afghan Islamic Press told Yonhap on condition of anonymity.Cheon Ho-seon, a spokesman for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, said a medical team from the South Korean military contingent stationed in Afghanistan is on standby near the southern Afghan province of Ghazni, where the Koreans were taken hostage. "The team has been on standby since the kidnapping took place," he said.

The 23-member Korean aid team was traveling on a charter bus from Kandahar to the capital, Kabul, when armed men stopped them July 19 in the Ghazni province's Qarabagh district. The volunteers had arrived in Afghanistan on July 13 and were scheduled to return home July 23.Compass, in a July 30 news report, recounted that the team had spent three days assisting three Korean women who were engaged in long-term aid work in northern Afghanistan. The volunteers were traveling back to Kabul but went on to Kandahar by bus when no flights were available. The group had planned to spend several days volunteering at a hospital and kindergarten in Kandahar where a husband-and-wife doctor team and a single Korean woman teacher are working. The two doctors treat up to 150 patients a day, Compass quoted a member of the Korean church as saying.

analyst for the Washington-based International Christian Concern persecution watchdog likened the incident to the 2001 kidnapping of American missionaries Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, who were held by the Taliban for three months. "It was in the very same area of Afghanistan that these two kidnappings happened," Jeremy Sewell said in a July 20 news release. "While Mercer and Curry's story ended happily, it was only because anti-Taliban forces attacked the prison."

"Under the Taliban, it is absolutely illegal to preach Christianity. This courageous South Korean missions team is going to experience the ultimate test of their faith."

Amazing Grace

If you haven't seen it already, rent the movie "Amazing Grace" when you have a chance. The story of William Wilberforce's fight against the slave trade in England 300 years ago is incredibly relevant to us today. Not only because there are ample injustices to fight against ... but also because we need reminders of what it is like to live life on purpose, with an unswerving passion.

Wilberforce was a rising young star in Parliament, the typical politician of his day, when God interrupted his plans. You know what that's like! In a poignant scene on his plush, extravagant lawn, Wilberforce revels in a newfound relationship with His Lord. Changed from a man who was self-centered and focused on selfish ambition into someone whose delight is in looking at the sky while reading Scripture, Wilberforce tries to come to grips with his calling. His butler queries him: "Did you find God, sir?" Wilberforce answers, in a phrase that caused knowing giggles in the audience when I watched it, "He found me. Do you know how terribly inconvenient that is?"

Inconvenient, yes. But after a struggle with whether to quit politics to join the ministry, Wilberforce determines his place is in Parliament for a purpose: to eradicate the slave trade. After a series of divinely-appointed relationships convinces him of this role, Wilberforce devotes the rest of his life to this task. Along with his friend William Pitt -- who becomes Prime Minister at an incredibly young age -- Wilberforce perseveres through failure after failure, trial after trial, humiliation and rejection. Early in their fight, when Pitt becomes Prime Minister and the two young men are heady with excitement, Pitt exclaims, "We're too young to know all the things that are impossible, so we'll do them anyway." Later, with the stress taking a physical toll on Wilberforce's body, when success finally comes it is so obviously the Lord's doing that you will want to worship Him for His creativity.

Perseverance is hard. We all need to be encouraged. Scripture tells us that we should study the lives of those who have gone before us, and imitate their faith. Wilberforce's story tells us much about a faith that never gives up - a faith that works.

And slavery was history in England before Wilberforce died. Praise to the God of justice.

A poem for times of suffering

As I've been working on my term paper on the persecuted church, I've read some wonderfully encouraging stories, but nothing touched me more than a poem written by D.W. Udd, the son of an American missionary to Malawai who at the time of this writing worked with his father at a ministry in Malawi. Although published in a book about persecution, this poem addresses the issue of suffering in a poignant way to which we can all relate. I pray that it will encourage you and become your prayer today in your own trials.

even so ...

we heed the call to Canaan Lord
where milk and honey flow
enjoying every blessing
your promises bestow

but when you beckon quietly
to dark Gethsemane
we sooth our consciences to sleep
and dream on blissfully
of fattened calves
and peaceful paths
we hope are yet to be

have mercy on our weakened flesh
empower our willing spirits
prepare our hearts to take the strain
of vigils in the night
and still have strength
to drain the cup
of all the world's tomorrows

we are running with the footmen
and find our feet grow weary
Lord keep us then contending
in your great might alone
lest we ourselves be trampled
under the thundering hooves
of the apocalyptic horsement

we weary in our land of peace
with leanness of the soul
and glance with furtive eyes
at the prophetic glimpses
of the swelling Jordan
where our baptism of suffering
still awaits us

why do we think it strange
when you have suffered so
that we should follow in your steps
and no discomfort know

we lean on your perfection Lord
without it we are lost
yet even you obedience learned
at such an awesome cost

teach us the lessons that you learned
refine us in your fires
until we count it joy to be
impelled by your desires

d.w. udd in Destined to Suffer: African Christians face the future. edited by Brother Andrew. Open Doors, 1979.

Like a little child ...

Jesus said that we must come to the Father like a little child. What that tells me is that however deep I go in my understanding of God's Word, I must always increase in simplicity in my relationship with God.

That's hard to wrap my mind around sometime, and so I love quotes like this one from C.J. Mahaney:

"We never move on from the cross ... only to a deeper understanding of the cross."

Like a little child ... my Sunday School teacher told a story this morning. His 3-year-old grandson had to have a medical procedure and drink a lot of liquid in preparation. The parents motivated him by telling him Pawpaw had that same test. As he struggled to drink the preparation, he would say, "Pawpaw will be proud of me, won't he momma?"

Like a little child ... moving to a deeper understanding of the cross, imitating our Lord, and seeking to make Him proud.

It's hard out there. Your struggles are on levels I have a hard time comprehending. But this I know: you will not go wrong to be more childlike in your difficulties today.

It's what pleases your Father.

"Like a weaned child"

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

(Psalm 131:1-2)

Sometimes in ministry there are things that happen that truly humble us. Someone tells us how much our words meant, and we can't remember what we said. Somebody introduces us and we wonder who they are talking about. Fruit comes on a day we feel far from God. We miss the opportunity to reach the one person we're praying hardest for. All of these serve to keep us humble.

The psalmist decided not to spend time trying to figure out things "too great and too marvelous for me". In a place of humility, he rests in God's presence. His soul is at peace.

Are you wondering how God can use you today? Allow the humility that comes from realizing the weaknesses of our flesh to draw you to God's side, resting in His presence like a weaned child. We don't have to have all the answers.

The hidden graces

I wanted the happy pills for my surgical root canal. I was told they would ensure me no pain, no awareness of what was going on, and no memory of the procedure. Since this was a particularly difficult tooth, I was all for that plan!

But as so often is the case, the world failed to adjust itself to my expectations :). No, instead I found myself awake and alert, wanting a nap but unable to sleep for the noise.

I've decided that our old nature makes it easier for us to see things the way we want them to be, the way that we planned them out, and when we give in to that, we miss a lot of the dewdrops of grace filtered throughout our lives.

During my time in the chair, God spoke to me that the bottom line of what I was doing was trying to avoid suffering ... a very human response and one that God sometimes decrees for us in ways that demonstrate His majesty and reveal His power. We never doubt his love when He helps us avoid suffering!

But other times, God requires us to walk through suffering. This can be the suffering of health problems, or conflicts, or time constraints. It can be mental anguish, difficult relationships, a seemingly hopeless ministry situation. It can even be persecution for our faith. It's at those times that we naturally look for a way out of the suffering or a way to minimize what we feel in the suffering. It's at times like these that we doubt God's love, question our salvation, and get generally snarly or self-righteous about our pain. This also becomes what Henry Blackaby calls a crisis of faith: believe God and see Him in a new way, or lose the opportunity to go deep with Him.

In the chair today I realized that was exactly my problem: I had been expected to be delivered from the suffering by the "happy pills" ... but God was walking me through it and was with me all the way. And I sensed the dewdrops of His grace revealed at every turn. He asked me to consider this type of surgery in a third world country - no anesthesia, little numbing, not much special equipment. I would probably have lost the tooth because of the complicating factors of the surgery. Then He brought to my mind what the "happy pills" accomplished for me - a sense of rest and peace, a lack of anxiety. Without that the suffering in the chair would have been much more pronounced. And the shots that I didn't feel at all - what a huge blessing that was. To even have the shots available - what a huge grace to not have to endure it without numbing.

What I learned today is about far more than dental care. What I learned is that God's grace is always sufficient, and His presence is always profound, and we learn that not by numbingly avoiding suffering, but by holding His hand as we press through it, asking Him to point out the dewdrops of grace along the way. I never want to think about what suffering would be like without those dewdrops.

What are you or your people facing that you wish for miraculous delivery from, or at least the ability to close your eyes and wake up when it's over? Seek God's hand in the midst of the suffering. Open your eyes and ask Him to reveal the dewdrops of grace.

How to Really Live

1 Thess. 3:8: "For now we live, if you are standing firm in the Lord."

What a profound truth Paul expresses here. Paul - who teaches us that our life is hid with Christ in God ... who states that to LIVE is Christ ... who says that he has died and his life is Christ through Paul ... this Paul indicates that this life in Christ is associated with the steadfast faith ... of other believers? Did we read that right?? Catch the context ...

3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

This is Paul's heart for ministry shining through here. Paul doesn't share the Gospel and find the door. He doesn't expect them to take their new hearts, filled with the Holy Spirit though they are, and operate in a new realm, a new worldview, without guidance. While in their midst, Paul works hard, treats them gently, embraces them as children (applying both maternal and paternal characteristics to his team's treatment of them). When he is away and suffering for the Gospel, he worries that they might fall away. They'd seen him suffer, and they'd heard him teach of more suffering to come ... yet he worries. A good report from Timothy is welcome news - the Thessalonians are standing firm in the Gospel. What's more, we learn from chapter 1 that their faith is spreading throughout the region. They are "famous" for it and in the process making God famous.

At this report Paul is able to say "now we live". The NASB translates "Now we really live". Paul and his team were "alive" physically before, and certainly were "alive" in the Lord, and yet there was a fullness to that life that Paul did not, could not, experience apart from the successful perseverance of the saints at Thessalonica. While among them, he worked by speaking the truth in love and setting an example to impart this perseverance. Apart from them, he prays (verses 11-13) for God to establish it in their hearts. And the word that comes lets him know God is moving. Now he really lives. Now the team really lives.

I'm convinced that in our western individualistic mindset we don't have a sense of the community of the Spirit that God intends. This community is supposed to be so strong that it takes all of us together to truly have spiritual "life". Our gifts work together for the building up of the body. Hebrews 11 even tells us that apart from the faith of post-resurrection believers, the faith of the Old Testament saints could not be made complete. This is far more than dinners on the ground and the occasional women's conference. This is a daily relationship that encourages, strengthens, challenges, exhorts ... that depends on one another in the Spirit. The persecution Paul's team encountered set a relational context that caused the team to go deep with new believers quickly! And as a result they really lived when those new believers persevered.

That's kind of how I feel about this blog. I long to encourage you - you who are far beyond me in terms of service - to finish the race, to persevere. When you are successful through a struggle of faith, I really live. When you sign on for another season of ministry, I really live. When I see answered prayers in your newsletters, I really live.

As you work and minister today, seek someone whom you can encourage to persevere. I promise - you will really live as a result!

The Encouragement of Scripture

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4

Are you needing some hope today? Are you having trouble enduring, wondering when anything is going to change? This Scripture tells us that the formula for hope is perseverance + encouraging Scripture.

I don't pretend to have all the theological questions answered, but I do know that Scripture (Paul specifically references the Old Testament!) has encouragement that can provide us with hope.

So, today I give you a Scripture filled with hope!

Zephaniah 3:9-10:

For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder. "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings."

The glorious risk of God's sovereignty

There's a lot that happens in this world that defies explanation. Who can truly understand why a tsunami kills thousands, why at times the innocent suffer more during a war than the soldiers, why a large country is simultaneously experiencing droughts and wildfires, and flooding and crop destruction from too much rain.

As kingdom workers, determined to make a difference both for eternity and today, you have your own "why" questions. You also know that you want to take DO something. Thankfully, you don't have to have the answers to step out and take that risk. Daniel - a book filled with the sovereignty of God - shows us an example:

Daniel 2:13-19
So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He declared to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Notice that Daniel made his bold request BEFORE the mystery was revealed to him. Then he hightailed it to his friends to ask for prayer support! Before we brush this aside as merely the impetuous actions of youth, examine Daniel's understanding of his God - revealed in his words to the king later in the chapter:

"No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries...."

Daniel knew his God, and he knew that God was sovereign over the mysteries of the earth. He knew that sovereignty included lordship over dreams. So he spoke to the king's captain without having all the answers, because he stood on the firm ground of God's sovereignty. He then sought the specifics in prayer, and acted on what God showed him.

What risks would you take today if you firmly grasped the extent of God's sovereignty? Let His sovereignty undergird your work today.

Sunsets and Glory

Friday evening's sunset was a glorious sight to behold.

Piercing through the clouds that hovered all last week, the pink light seemed to follow the sunbeams through the sky to the earth. A peachy-pink glow tinged everything around me; even the pavement on the street seemed pink. The closest connection I can make is the Mojave Desert - how it reflects the light in such unique and gorgeous ways. As I admired the beauty (and longed for a shoulder to pull over onto so that I could worship the Maker without the interference of driving), I realized that the glow even tinged my arm. I was captivated by how my hand looked on the steering wheel, cast in the glow of the sun.

That's what the glory of God is like. The fullness of who He is, His glory, pierces through our world's darkness and casts a glow. When we belong to Him, seeking to stay in the sunbeam of His presence, then that glow tinges us. No one could ever confuse the reflection of the sun's light with the sun itself ... and that is how it is with His glory.

Let His glow tinge you today!

Quote of the Day

I thought this quote especially relates to the previous post (below):

"It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good."

- C.S. Lewis

Sweet Pickles

I made sweet pickles this weekend.

Mind you, I didn't intend to. I don't even like sweet pickles! Give me a crunchy dill (preferably very sour) and I'll chomp down!

But somehow, the recipe I was following for my first-ever attempt at pickling about 8 lb of cucumbers from our garden never got around to telling me when to put in the dill. I looked at another recipe and thought I had it figured out, but decided to taste test beforehand just to see if it seemed right.... and I discovered that I'd spent 2 days making sweet pickles!

I was SO disappointed ... yet as usual, there was a lesson in it for me.

The process of making pickles involves hours and hours of soaking - "baptizing" if you will :) . And the pickles were completely without a say in the end result. As the pickle-maker, it was up to me to know the recipe and determine whether to make sweet or dill pickles.

I messed up, but thankfully God does not! As He baptizes us with His Spirit, and "soaks" us in the Word of God, times of prayer and worship, fellowship of the saints, and the crucible of suffering ... He always knows what is going to come out on the other side. He knows His own, Scripture tells us, and He knows how to protect us and cause us to stand blameless in His presence with great joy on the day of judgment (Jude 24). Phil. 1:6 says, "He who began a good work in you will see it through to the day of completion." In other words, He'll finish what He started -- and it will be good.

Even if it doesn't look like what we anticipated.

Baptized in criticism?

Are you frustrated today, wondering why God is allowing so much criticism of your service? There could be many reasons - and I encourage you to spend time with the Father to learn the lessons He desires to teach you in this trial.

But one reason we sometimes miss is that God allows criticism to protect us from thinking too much of the opinions of others. Francis Frangipane put it this way:

To innoculate me from the praise of man

God baptized me in the criticism of man

Until I died to the control of man.

Whatever other reasons God may have for his season, ask Him to take this time and innoculate you from the praise of man!

Spiritual Empathy

The study results are amazing: there actually is a class of individuals who truly feel others' pain in a very literal sense. (See the article at http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1629650020070618).

One of the key paragraphs appears on page 2 of the story: "Other studies have suggested a link between empathy and mirror systems, but Ward said this was the first to suggest empathy involves more than one mechanism: an emotional gut reaction -- which appears exaggerated in the mirror-touch synesthetes -- and a cognitive process that involves thinking about how someone else feels."

What a beautiful reflection of a spiritual truth! We are told by Paul in Gal. 6:2 to "bear one anothers' burdens"; in Rom. 12:15 he teaches us to "weep with those who weep". And the second greatest command is to "love your neighbor as yourself". All of these speak to some level of identification with another individual.

Individuals who intercede for others on a personal level relate a sense of spiritual empathy parallel to the physical type mentioned in the article. They "feel" the weight of another individual's burden. They sense the oppression of the lost. Ronald Dunn, in "Don't Just Stand there, Pray Something", relates that when he was suffering a deep depression over the health of his son and other issues, he awoke one morning early to find that the weight was lifted. Later he received a letter from a friend who said he had felt led to pray for Dunn and ask the Lord to give him whatever portion of Dunn's burden God intended the friend to carry. You won't be surprised to learn that when Dunn questioned the man, he told him that the specific day and time of his prayer corresponded with Dunn's awakening early to find a burden lifted!

As you minister and serve today, as you live amongst a people who have so much pain and so many needs, as you hear of brothers and sisters whose needs are more than you know how to respond to -- remember this principle. God intends for us to be spiritually empathetic - just like these individuals in the article. By God's grace, seek to bear the burdens, and feel what those who weep are feeling.

Sure, in your flesh it's more than you can handle. But in God's divine plan, it's just the way it's supposed to work. He will equip you as you seek His strength to intercede and serve on this new level.

Afraid to draw near?

For those of us captivated by the glory of God, it's hard to understand why everyone doesn't long to draw near as we do. We see and savor His beauty. Why do others - even some believers - not do the same?

At the heart of the answer to this lies the heart of salvation: the creation of a new heart that is enabled to see and savor His goodness. For those who don't know the fullness of His character, who have not seen the grace and truth embodied in Jesus Christ, God can be scary. Even the Israelites faced this struggle, recalled so poignantly by the author of Hebrews:

Heb. 12:18-24
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

God hasn't changed - vv. 25-29 warn us against taking this new covenant lightly, because God is a consuming fire. But the point the author is making underscores the contrast between the Old and New covenants ... between being fearful to approach God and having the freedom to come "boldly" into the throne. (Heb. 10:22).

Are you frustrated today by all those who don't see the glory of God in the face of Christ that you see? Pray for God to do a miracle of transformation in their hearts. Pray that they will not be too easily pleased with the pleasures of the world, and will instead long for deep pleasures that can only be met at the fountain of God Himself! For had He not awakened our hearts, we too would be settling for far, far less of Him!

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Little Girl Lost

It was a story of tragedy averted.

No movie could go beyond the drama of the real-life event I was reading about in the newspaper Sunday. A little girl, 5 years old, was missing and presumed dead after her grandfather's body was found in the water where they were swimming. They had been out for the day and she wanted to swim. What grandfather can deny his precious 5-year-old granddaughter a dip in the cool water on a hot summer day?

But as the family members and rescuers gathered and grieved the loss of grandpa, the worst was presumed about the little girl. She was gone too - it was just a matter of time before her body would be found.

Meanwhile, upstream a rescuer saw a young girl, naked, dirty, wandering in the woods. She approached him and asked for food. At first he didn't recognize her. After all, the little girl they were looking for would be found in the water somewhere -- right?

But it WAS her ... and soon tears of sorrow turned to shouts of joy. Mom and dad had no trouble recognizing their baby ... they felt the joy known only by a few, the joy of new life from death.

And that is a picture of our salvation. We were dead in our sins, Paul tells us. Not sinking, but dead. We were naked and hungry for spiritual clothing and food. We may even have been unrecognizable to those whose job was to "rescue" us. Yet our dear Father had no trouble at all knowing who we were ... and He guided us to a safe place every step of the way. We have the joy of new life from death.

Now serving as "rescuers", we must remember this image. Who are you looking to "rescue" today? Pray that God will help you see those coming out death into life -- that we won't miss them even if they appear to us naked and hungry.

And be encouraged that God has been guiding them all the way.

The bottom line

A common theme of my posts tonight seems to be that God makes things a lot simpler than we do! We complicate things, often because the simple path is so difficult on our flesh! The path to true ministry is no different.

Rom. 12:1 tells us that God desires that we be "living sacrifices". In the reader to the "Perspectives" course, Warren Chastain quotes Bishop Hill that when we look at those to whom we minister "you will find an altar ... and may God help you to be a sacrifice". Chastain elaborates on this idea with some memorable, and very true, comments.

"...God has engineered the fruit-making process so that it always involves sacrifice. But people invariably seek ways to turn the altar into a stage for seeking applause."

"...any line man draws is not the bottom line....let us be willing to let God draw the bottom line."

"...today's sower should not fail to sow seed in the entire field...The sower...has a passion to bring life out of all kinds of ground. He will not write anything off, even in the rockiest ground. He has faith that the good seed can cling to life in th ehardest places and bear a specially precious harvest."

"God's weapons are crosses, empty tombs, and willing witnesses."

May God make you a willing witness, willing even to be a living sacrifice, today.

Glory is at Stake

My dear mother-in-law went to be with the Lord on May 25. She spent 99 of the last 105 days of her life in hospital or rehab. During that time, a high school friend died at age 38. I often wondered about suffering and death - why God in His power and sovereignty did not heal when He sometimes could, why a 38 year old died, why God worked differently in similar situations. Ultimately I came away with a stronger impression of the importance of the sovereignty of God ... knowing that He is in control brings such peace. But I also grasped more than ever that His glory is at stake in everything we face, and He alone knows how He wants to reveal His glory through our healing, our suffering, or yes, even through death.

In the depth of my prayer time, as I struggled to understand the truths I so easily typed out just now, I wrote in my journal: "I'm weary of trying to analyze how God may best be glorified." As I thought of biblical examples, I penned the following words. They don't form a perfect poem, but I pray God will bless them for His glory.

Glory at Stake
Heart of compassion, eyes that saw
The real needs before You -
You healed them all, working
Into the night, refusing
To turn them away
For glory was at stake.

Calming the waves, water to wine
Loaves and fishes multiplied.
You showed your might, doing
Only what Your Father willed
With a heart of love
For glory was at stake.

Enduring the cross, despising the shame
Not opening your mouth to rebuke.
Face resolute, joy set before
You willingly gave your life
Instead of holding back
For glory was at stake.

At God's right hand in heaven you see
A perspective in my life
That I am blind to now.
Power you have, and strength beside
But suffering continues into the night.
Yet...glory is at stake.

"Surrender", you ask, "and enter my rest".
I want to know what to do there,
How the glory will look.
"Peace be still" You whisper
To this storm of life
For glory is at stake.

Do I trust only when I know,
Or do I step onto the choppy waters,
Lift my hand over my own flesh,
Enter the realm of total faith?
I know the answer ...
For glory is at stake.

Quote of the day

"God will send the rain when He is ready. Your job is to prepare the field to receive it." (source unknown)

The Ethiopian Eunuch Loved by God

At the title many of you may be assuming this post is about Acts 8. Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch is certainly an incredible story of the God who loved this one man enough to take Philip away from a successful evangelistic outreach to share the Gospel on a quiet road! But the story of the eunuch I'm talking about is told not in Acts, but in Jeremiah. In the context of the judgment of Jerusalem and God's promises to Jeremiah about the new covenant, God presents an intriguing episode.

In prison, Jeremiah receives a word from God - not a word for the King for the Israelites, but a specific word for a specific man, an Ethiopian at that.

Jeremiah 38:7-13; 39:15-18
When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— 8 Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. ... 15 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16 “Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’”

Because he put his trust in Yahweh, this Ethipian eunuch received a word specifically for his life. God's heart for the nations is revealed here. "Ebed-melech" means "servant of a king" and God certainly makes him the servant the highest King!

Be encouraged that God has been at work among your people far before you ever got there. When Philip talked to the Ethiopian eunuch, he was simply God's vessel for that time. God had been at work in the Ethiopian people for generations!

The Heart of Prayer

We humans love to make things so difficult. God, on the other hand, really keeps things pretty simple. When you stop to think of His majesty and glory, His infinite knowledge and wisdom, we really do see only the "fringes of His ways" (Job 26:14). What He has chosen to reveal in His Word is sufficient; we just like to complicate it so much. And one area where we are most vulnerable to this tendency is the area we need to pursue with the most freedom and simplicity of all: Prayer.

Jesus' model prayer to the disciples was very simple and basic in its wording, but deep in its theology. Coming from someone who prayed through the night, its brevity is especially surprising! And yet the model prayer, combined with a few other teachings such as persistence, focusing on God's will, having unselfish motives, and being childlike toward God, is what He chose to tell us.

Are you struggling with your prayer life? Perhaps an illustration will help. The following is on p. 339-340 of Don Cormack's "Killing Fields, Living Fields" - an incredible story of the church in Cambodia. As you read, as God to let you see the heart of prayer through this little boy's story. May God bless your prayer time tonight!

"One day, as I stood interpreting for one of the only two doctors at a place called Klong Wah where thousands needed their immediate attention, a little lad of about eight came up to me calling, 'Uncle, uncle, please come and help me carry my older brother over here where he can be given medicine.' The boy explained that the brother, about twelve, was lying a good two kilometres away in the bush, unconscious in a malaria coma. But I couldn't just walk away from my responsibilities as interpreter and the enormous task I already had on my hands helping to care for hundreds of dying people right there. Only a few yards into the forest there were more. How could I justify going so far and using up so much valuable time for just one? I told the boy I couldn't go with him, but to get one or two to help carry his brother in. Of course I knew even as I spoke that it was unlikely anyone was going to expend their own limited energy on a dying boy. ...

The boy however would not be put off. He persisted in crying out after me, till I finally steeled myself and ignored him. After about an hour of whimpering and pleading, he fell silent, deep in thought. He knew that I was the only lifeline there was to save his brothers' life. Next thing, I felt a pair of sinewy arms grip me round the legs, and a pair of ankles lock around mine. And there he clung like a leech. Now it was my turn to protest. But his lips were sealed. He clearly wasn't going to let go his vice-like grip on my legs till they followed him to that place where his brother lay dying. I was thus compelled to go with him in order to get rid of him. His dogged importunity had gained him the victory. And I reflected as I pursued him through the trees that this was surely what serious believing Christian pryaer was all about. It entailed a crucial element of 'violence.' It involved patiently holding on to the knees of God, even in the face of apparent silence and lack of movement. The older brother's life was saved."

Love vs. Duty

God has the power to force us to worship Him. John 18 pictures this when the Roman cohort falls to the ground when Jesus states "I am He"; John foresees this in Revelation when he describes a day when every knee will bow, every tongue confess that He is Lord - everything in heaven and earth and under the earth. The God who forms mountains and creates wind, who knows your thoughts (Amos 4:13) - this is the God whom we worship.

And yet, He has chosen not to have a people worship Him out of duty or compulsion, but out of love. The heart of salvation is the creation of a worshiper -- God, in His sovereignty, somehow takes someone who is so far from Him that Scripture calls him "dead", gives a new heart and a new spirit, and enables that individual to desire to walk in His ways. "We love because He first loved us", John writes, and Scripture makes it clear that faith and worship are inseparable. Our mighty, awesome God has us worship Him from a heart of love, a heart that He gives us.

Worship Him today for making you a worshiper. Together we will anticipate the worshipers He is creating around the globe ... in your neighborhood and in mine!

Christian Excellence and Ambition

I'm not a very good housekeeper. While I do manage to keep things tidy and sanitary, I never seem to get around to the "big jobs", forget to dust, and prefer the decorating scheme of "Modern Nostalgia" (i.e., whatever family members and kids have given or made). While I do consider myself a good homemaker (a different role than mere housekeeping, to my mind), I hold no illusions about winning a Better Homes and Gardens house of the year award! The word "excellent" would never cross my mind when describing my housekeeping skills!

Likewise, I have little "ambition" in the earthly sense of the word. I don't have a specific career-ladder goal in mind; I am not sure that I even want to achieve the next "step". I do want to do a good job every day, but earthly success is not my definition of "ambition".

Thankfully, God is very good at redefining terms for His children. Writing to the Thessalonians, Paul spells out very clearly what Christian excellence and ambition should look like.

Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
I Thessalonians 4:9-12

Excellence. Paul encourages the Thessalonians to "excel still more" in the second greatest commandment: Love one another. Love for other believers is so important that John writes if we don't love each other, we don't love God! Likewise he writes that if we love God, we will love one another. And he calls the commandment to love a singular command - though Jesus had stated love for God was number one and love for others number two. The sum of John's teachings leads to the conclusion that the first and second commands are two sides of the same coin -- if you have one, you must have the other. In calling us to excel in love, Paul comes alongside John's emphasis on love and strips away much of what is extraneous in our lives. We're not called to be excellent singers, excellent speakers, excellent newsletter writers. We're called to love excellently. That turns a lot of "musts" into optional activities and solidifies our priorities in the right direction.

Ambition. Paul also defines for the Thessalonians what their "ambition" should be. Their ambition is not to single-handedly save a continent, country, or even city for Christ; their ambition is not to meet an artificial numerical goal; instead, Paul defines ambition for them as leading a quiet life, minding their own business, and working with their hands. Pretty simple for a group of new believers, but good advice for all of us who love to set big plans in motion and fret when every cog in the wheel doesn't turn like we anticipated. Just work hard, don't do anything that would cause unbelievers to focus more on our "noise" than on the Gospel, and see what God does. This doesn't mean trouble won't come our way - but it does mean than when it does, the focus can be on the Gospel, not our antagonistic behavior. Here Paul concurs with Peter's teaching that our lives and testimony should be with such a gentle and quiet spirit that when we are attacked, even our accusers won't find any legitimate cause for complaint against us. The attack will be revealed to be against the message, not the messenger.

Have you been struggling with frustration at the lack of excellence in some area of your work? Are you overwhelmed with priorities and unsure where to begin? Are you ready to scream at the goals laid out before you -- goals that seem not to take into account the realities of your daily grind?

Come back to the basics. Excel in love. Make it your amibition to live a quiet life and work hard. See what God does when you get your plans out of the way and just be a vessel.

Encouraging - or being encouraged?

We’re supposed to comfort the dying – right?

That was my attitude as I ministered to my mother-in-law during her last weeks on this earth. While we never talked about it, she seemed to know that her time would soon come to join the crowd from every tribe, tongue, and nation around the throne. My husband and I were blessed as her caregivers to minister to her when she still lived in her own apartment, and doubly blessed when she moved in with us. We focused on making whatever time she had left – we didn’t know how much it would be – as pleasant and comfortable as possible. When her time to pass from this life to the next came, we were standing at her bedside.

We were intending to comfort her. Instead, we found ourselves experiencing the truth of 2 Cor. 1:6a: If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort….

“Comfort” here is the word often translated “encourage” in the New Testament. “Paraklesis” refers to calling to one’s side, exhorting, consoling, encouraging and strengthening, and, yes, comforting. If the word looks familiar, it should – it’s closely related to “Paraklete”, the Greek term used for the Holy Spirit.

Looking at this verse after Mom’s homegoing, it suddenly made sense to me. Both our affliction and our comfort are for the “paraklesis”, the comfort, the encouragement of others. Whether we are going through a difficult time or an easy time, God’s design is that we pass it on to others “for their comfort” – for their encouragement, in an encouraging way.

Mom never once quoted me this verse, but she lived it out every day. Even as she spent 99 of her last 105 days in the hospital, individuals still left her room feeling better than when they arrived. Within two weeks of her homegoing, she prayed with a family friend, “Lord, cause me to be a blessing to someone today.” Within an hour and a half before crossing into eternity, she was thanking the medical providers coming into her room and just enjoying hearing her family’s voice. In her last minutes, as she fixed her eyes on my husband and me and listened to us sing hymns and praise songs, she had a look of transcendent peace that spoke volumes to us weeks afterward.

I learned much through my encouraging mother-in-law. But among the most unexpected lessons was this paradoxical truth: Our affliction is for others’ encouragement. By God’s grace, when I face affliction I’ll try to be an encouragement to others. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to minister comfort to those in difficult situations, even those who are dying. But I won’t be surprised if I find myself on the receiving end instead.

How about you? What affliction are you facing that leaves you desperately feeling like you need to be encouraged? Is the load on the field weighing more heavily than usual today, causing you to need an encourager yourself?

Consider whether God has put this affliction in your life for the comfort, the encouragement of others. Then look around and see how your affliction becomes their comfort. Leave them wondering how, with all you are going through, you can possibly care about them. Then be ready with an answer for the hope that is within you -- because they'll ask!

Standing with you - to encourage you as you encourage them through the very trials that wear you down tonight.

Trying to Learn What is Pleasing to the Lord

Have you ever been in a place where you find yourself seeking to do things differently than you ever have before?

Many of you know that struggle better than I can ever describe. You've relocated your family, learned a new language, and adapted to new cultural demands and expectations. Again I'm reminded that field workers aren't "super-Christians"; instead, they are learning the same lessons I'm learning, but in a different location.

My life is in transition. My mother-in-law passed from worshipping in this life to worshipping in the next on May 25. She lived with us, and my husband and I were her caregivers - a blessing I highly recommend if God puts the opportunity before you. But after 12 1/2 years of providing some level of care for her, with the past 1 1/2 being fairly intense care, I find myself seeking to discover what to do with that part of me that was a caregiver.

Some days I get a lot done; other days I find myself fumbling around. But I take heart in Eph. 5:10 - "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." Not that I get it right or have a huge revelation ... but each day, I try to learn what is pleasing to Him.

This blog will continue and I will post here regularly, but I'm still working out how that will look. In this as everything else in life right now, I am "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord".

My prayer is that in your transitions today you will do the same!

True Strength

My husband says that his mom is the strongest person he knows, male or female. In her physical heydey, she ran a 300-acre farm byherself in Pennsylvania when her husband (Bob's stepdad) was an alcoholic and gambler. It's taken her years to accept her physical decline because all her life, she's had to do what she was told she couldn't do, but didn't have a choice because there was no one left to do it. When your mom dies at 4 and your dad is in prison, when you are passed around from relative to relative as free house help; when you are working for pay from age 12; when a nurse tells you your baby boy is not being fed and the doctor wants to let him die; when you find yourself divorced with three young boys at 23 in the 1950s; when you are told you won't live to see 40 because of a family heart ailment and you have to prepare your sons to care for themselves ... you become a strong person.

So it should be no surprise to us that my mother-in-law celebrated her 80th birthday recently. Her strength is exemplified in different ways these days -- she is strong spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, if not physically. She teaches us lessons every day -- lessons about contentment, lessons about ministry, lessons about life. Yet her physical problems remain severe.

We were visiting with a dear family friend (a rare gem who is more family than friend) and we all prayed together. When it was mom's turn to pray, she prayed such a simple prayer but it has stayed with me: "Lord, cause me to be a blessing to someone." Friends, that is true quality of life. Don't be fooled by the arguments that say people can't live without quality of life. Our mindset, our attitude, our relationship with God determine our quality of life ... NOTour circumstances. As I shared before, if we have consciousness we are here to praise Him in the land of the living ... and as Paul shared in Phil. 4:13 - the secret to contentment is knowing we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. That is the true secret to True Strength.

2 Cor. 4:7-18 speaks to mom's physical situation .. and to all the rest of our human limitations which are not always so obvious.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested inour bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death forJesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in ourmortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all foryour sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond allcomparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to thethings that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, butthe things that are unseen are eternal.

The life of Jeuss is being manifested in her body, even as her outer self is wasting away. May it be true of all of us. This treasure - the transforming power of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit - is in our human jars of clay, our flesh with all its limitations, so that we have no doubt that the power is His, not ours. That lesson means more to me now than ever.

If you are in a difficult situation, unsure why things are happening ...if your circumstances are not in line with what you expected ... don't lose heart. Look to the eternal weight of glory; focus on what is unseen.Don't miss the blessings and lessons in the journey by failing to see thevalue in your suffering. It shows more than you know.Glory is at stake here.

Stretching and Changing

Wow. Since my last post on March 1, it's been a wild ride. I know it's nothing compared to what many of you face constantly ... but things have completely turned around from that hopeful email.

On March 3, my mother-in-law collapsed in respiratory failure. My husband and I found ourselves on her floor giving her CPR until the EMT's arrived. She remained in the hospital until April 2. Meanwhile, we determined she needed to live with us, and because our place was so small, we moved two households in 2 weeks. She came home April 2, and on April 6 went back to the hospital with near-respiratory failure. On April 14 she came home, then back to the hospital we went on April 15 with an allergic reaction causing respiratory distress. She remains there today - home only 6 days in the past 75.

This time has been filled with a completely haphazard schedule, lots of fatigue, and a significant change in our circumstances as my husband is taking a paid leave of absence to be with her. We never know if our plans for a given evening will come through or not. I am literally having to learn to live in the moments and trust God with my lists (which seem to grow longer rather than shorter). And yet strangely, I wouldn't trade this time for anything. For in it, I've learned the importance of stretching and changing.

Stretching. Each morning I do a series of stretches which keep some joint problems in check and help reduce the risk of muscle pulls, etc., while walking. Physically, research shows that 30 seconds of stretching increases range of motion in each muscle group stretched. It also increases balance and facilitates relaxation.

Spiritually, the past few weeks have taught me the same truths. I have been stretched in my faith, in my schedule, in my quiet times, in my priorities ... and yet I have learned that my spiritual "range of motion" has increased significantly! I am capable of much more than I thought ... and I know that God used this time of "stretching" to get me there a little at a time. My spiritual "balance" has been equally affected, as I have learned that my definition of "balance" might not be God's, and that "balance" can change from day to day. As a pastor friend advised once, "Don't pursue balance ... pursue God, and He'll give you the balance you need." I've relearned that truth. Finally, relaxation has most definitely been facilitated as I have had the benefit of more times of sitting and waiting, praying or reading and allowing God to minister to me as I await the latest doctor to the room or the next test or procedure.

Are you being stretched spiritually? Ask God how He would have this stretching produce in you an increased range of motion, balance, and relaxation!

Change. Scientists and doctors tell us that healthy cells are dynamic, not static. What that means is that anything alive and healthy is in the process of CHANGE. It is truth that if your cells are now growing and changing, they are dying. A static, unchanging cell is on its way to death unless something turns it around.

Likewise, this time of change has been good for me spiritually. Despite the difficulties I feel ALIVE and growing, and reminded that keeping things the same is simply a sign of impending loss - death!

Are you facing change? Remember that all God promises is that HE will not change ... He gives no certainties about our circumstances. Praise Him for the signs of life that change reflects ... and embrace it as a gift.

It is my privilege to begin to minister again as I have adjusted to a "new normal". I make no promises about number of posts, but please know that I will try to be faithful to the Lord in full obedience.

Blessings,
Rosa

Beyond what we ask ...

Eph. 3:20-21 says, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly thanall that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,forever and ever. Amen."

Paul's spontaneous prayer culminating his teaching to the Ephesians about their position in Christ reflects our heart as I share with you an update about my mother-in-law. After spending 3 weeks in the hospital and rehab (the reason for my lack of posting of late), she is going home from the hospital tomorrow (Friday) -- but that is only part of the story.

As we (and others) prayed, God worked a miracle in her heart, changing her mindset and attitude and giving her joy in her circumstances. After this, He went far beyond what we thought to ask. After years of being confined to a wheelchair, she is now walking!

Her osteoporosis has been so severe, and her body so weak, that the doctor confined her to a wheelchair for her own safety, to prevent falls and breaks. However, at rehab she was assigned a determined therapist named Iris. Iris understood this limitation and risk, but also knew that bones need to bear weight to get stronger. So in consultation with thephysiasist (an MD specializing in physical therapy), she developed a plan to get mom walking a little. She can now walk 20 feet at a time unassisted, 4 times in a row. 80 feet might not seem a lot to you, but for someone who hasn't been able to putter around her kitchen, this is huge.

I share this to let you know how God answers prayers, but also to remind you that whatever stage in life you are at, God meets you in intimate ways when your heart is to continue to serve Him. Unlike some of the medical field, God doesn't set us aside to wither away when we get old. Some of the greatest ministries start at 80! Sure, we all have a limited number of days on this earth, but whether they are 37 (like a high school friend of mine who died this week) or 79 like my mother-in-law, let's commit to living them all to the glory of God, and watch to see how He intimately intervenes beyond all we ask or think to allow that to continue to happen when the world might give up on us!

Going the Second Mile

"The second mile." It's a phrase often used in Christian circles, and even by non-Christians, to refer to going above and beyond the call of duty. Our understanding of this phrase is that it is a choice made by someone to do something extra.

And to a large degree, that is an accurate perception. But the context of Jesus' reference begs for a deeper understanding - something that is harder even than putting forth a little extra effort on the job. Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-42:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."

Look at that context in the underlined portion: if anyone FORCES you to go one mile, go two.

Yes, we can choose to go the extra mile in something we enjoy or even in hard times with work or family - and that is good. But it's not supernatural. It doesn't require something beyond ourselves and our own sense of accomplishment to attain.

But choosing to go an extra mile when we are being mistreated, forced to do something we don't want to do in the first place - for example, to voluntarily go two miles instead of the one required by Roman law at the command of a soldier while carrying his burden - that requires something we don't have. Too often we think, "You can make me do it, but I don't have to like it." We never consider giving extra in such situations.

Yet it is in those situations where we do more than we are required to do when it is something we would never have chosen in the first place, that the power of Christ is manifest in our lives. It is at those time that we reflect His image and His heart. It is at those times that our servant's heart is tested. The implication is that this is a situation beyond the individual's control - not a parental or relational situation, where the relationship should be worked out under biblical guidelines, but a circumstantial one. Our jobs, certain laws, paperwork reporting requirements - these things are "a mile" that we feel force us into servitude. Jesus calls us to go the "second mile" - to voluntarily go beyond servanthood to surrender.

Are you watching???

Psalm 5:1-3 Give ear to my words, O Lord;consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry,my King and my God,for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Getting up in the morning for prayer time is a sacrifice! It is also a joy and the highlight of my day ... but especially on these cold mornings, it can be a sacrifice.

David's words are encouraging to us all - God will hear our prayer. This man after God's own heart prayed and WATCHED! (The Hebrew indicates "eagerly watch").

Are you watching for the answers to your prayers today? If we believe God is really going to answer them - why not start watching?

Last Friday I sent out a prayer newsletter to some friends. My mother-in-law was one of the subjects. She had injured a rib and was in severe pain. Her health conditions prohibited her from taking enough painkiller to ease the pain. I asked for prayer almost in passing, and forgot about it. Then on Monday morning she announced that she woke up during the night pain-free. I suddenly remembered the prayers! God answered them ... but I had forgotten to watch.

What a great reminder this Scripture is ... pray - then watch!

Don't forget to watch today!!!

Lessons from Obscurity

For all the honor of the field worker in God's eyes, to the eyes of the world you are relatively obscure. Even within the church, few can name more than a handful of you by name -- and if you limit that to those currently on the field, the number dwindles more. Where God is awakening a church to His kingdom purposes the interest in general prompts prayers for "the workers" and even for the specific regions ... but to much of the church, you are nameless and faceless. Loved, respected, even idealized ... but obscure.

You may struggle with that from time to time. Like the one who returned home from 25 years on the field who happened to be on the same boat with a dignitary who was welcomed home on red carpet while he and his wife had no one to meet them, you may wonder about your relative importance. (You probably know the story: his wife reminded him that he didn't have a homecoming welcome because "you're not home yet".)

I too have struggled with relative obscurity. In my pre-Christian days I had huge ambitions ... selfish ambitions. My dreams and ambitions changed after I became a Christian, and He has purified me consistently to remove the "selfish" part (an ongoing process) ... but the desire to do something "big" for the kingdom has remained. Yet I often feel quite obscure as I can pretty easily count the number of people within my small sphere of influence.

Yet somehow, God in His wisdom has used this for my good and His glory. One day, sitting at my mother-in-law's house and praying over this very subject, I found myself writing down my words to God. He didn't need me to write them down, of course ... but He knew I would need them. I found them again today and I share them as a fellow traveler who is learning the blessings of obscurity. For as I decrease, He increases. True significance is not what I do, but how I let Him live through me. May this cry of my heart encourage your heart today.

Lessons from Obscurity

I asked You to give me something to do for Your glory, something grand and magnificent.
You gave me a wounded child and said "Believe".

I asked You for more, for a grander task.
You gave me a husband with dreams and said "Hope".

I wanted to reach even higher and sought a broader place to serve.
You gave me a sick mother-in-law and said "Love".

The bigger the vision you have given me for the world
The more you remind me that faith, hope, and love begin at home.

I have the faith to do big things for You.
Do I have the faith to be obscure?

Whose Rights?

In free western societies, the heavy emphasis on "rights" is sometimes hard to swallow ... and easy to get caught up in. It is easy, even in Christian circles, to think of "my" rights. Those of you who are on mission with God have learned, probably the hard way, that "my" rights are consumed into the will of God. He has the right to ask me to lay down "my" rights.

But Scripture does talk about "rights" that we are to fight for. No, not our own rights ... He asks us to lay those down out of love. But in one of many passages that address this matter, Proverbs 31:8-9 asks us to fight for the rights of the destitute, the poor and needy, those who cannot speak for themselves:

"Open your mouth for the mute,for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously,defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Earlier in verse 5, kings are warned not to get drunk "lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted."

Wherever you are today, you have a chance to fight for the rights that God calls us to stand up for. I know those of you on the field seek to do this daily. May we on this end of the task find the heart to see the significance of this aspect of your work, as you touch the heart of God by helping those whom no one thinks of when they mention "rights". As Kenneth Cragg writes,
"The meaning of the Church is more often 'caught' than taught. Too many theologians and ecclesiastics have gone astray in the past by seeking to locate the true Church, when they should have sought simply to be it. In the end, the Church will not so much identify itself by description, as be identified by others in recognition." (The Call of the Minaret, p. 301).

Let's seek to be the church today.

What is revival?

In my readings this week I found this awesome quote from John White. He says that revival is "an action of God whereby He pours out His Holy Spirit, initially upon the church, and it comes as an alternative to His judgment which is about to fall on teh church and on the secular world." John Wimber notes that "Revival and refreshing come because the church is at a low ebb ... God doesn't revive people who have it all together. He revives people who are hungry, thirsty, weak, naked, blind, and less than spotless."

In other words, when we're looking pretty rough, and judgment is near, we are prime candidates for REVIVAL!

Let that encourage you today as you wonder what God could possibly do ... and then pray for Him to do what only He can!

When the glory of God comes

I know you pray for God's glory to be revealed to your people group. I know you long for the day when praise to Him will fill the earth. Go with me for a moment to that place in the future when it happens ... when it's real. What will it look like when the wilderness and dry land you are in today see the glory of the living God? Isaiah 35 gives us a picture:

35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;2 it shall blossom abundantlyand rejoice with joy and singing.The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.They shall see the glory of the Lord,the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands,and make firm the feeble knees.4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,“Be strong; fear not!Behold, your Godwill come with vengeance,with the recompense of God.He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,and the ears of the deaf unstopped;6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.For waters break forth in the wilderness,and streams in the desert;7 the burning sand shall become a pool,and the thirsty ground springs of water;in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there,and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;the unclean shall not pass over it.It shall belong to those who walk on the way;even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there,nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;they shall not be found there,but the redeemed shall walk there.10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall returnand come to Zion with singing;everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;they shall obtain gladness and joy,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

In that day your land will see:

* Joy (vv. 1-2)
* Fruitfulness (vv. 1-2)
* Wholeness (vv. 5-6)
* Refreshing (v. 7)
* Holiness (vv. 8-9)
* Restoration (v. 10)

What should you do in the meantime! Verses 3-4 make it clear: Believe God!

I pray for your nations, your people, YOU, to see the glory of God. I pray that in your spiritual deserts you would see His glory. Seeing His glory is transformational!

2 Cor. 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

A prayer from an Indian believer

I have been so blessed to read devotional writings from non-western Christians. One that really stuck with me is N.V. Tilak, a high-caste Hindu who became a Christian in India in the late 19th century. Tilak had a grasp of contextualizing the truths of Scripture for an Indian audience and pushed for a truly "Indian" indigenous worship of Christ. This poem is written in a common Indian style but captures a truth we must all learn: we must decrease and let Christ increase. Enjoy!

The Lowest Room
by N.V. Tilak

Grant me to give to men what they desire,
And for my portion take what they do slight.
Grant me, Lord, a mind that doth aspire
To less than it may claim of proper right.
Rather, the lowest place, at all men's feet
That do Thou graciously reserve for me.
This only bounty I would fain entreat,
That Thy will, my God, my will be.
And yet one other boon must Thou bestow;
I name it not ... for Thou dost know.

Appropriate Wisdom

It's one of the most common themes in Scripture, but it bears repeating: God is full of wisdom ... He IS wisdom. What I love most, though, is that His wisdom is appropriate for every situation.

Isa. 28:23-29: Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface,does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,and put in wheat in rowsand barley in its proper place,and emmer as the border? For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him. Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,but dill is beaten out with a stick,and cumin with a rod. Does one crush grain for bread?No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

Our human limitations want us to make a 'one-size-fits-all' rule for something ... especially we Americans love to standardize! But look at the examples God gives ... the farmer doesn't harvest every crop the same. It is no accident that God chose this analogy for His wisdom.

God gives wisdom to handle each situation appropriately - whether plowing, sowing, or harvesting. Trust Him to grant wisdom in your ministry. If it doesn't look like it did the last time, or like that of others you know - test it against Scripture and if it is not unscriptural, consider that God, who sees and knows all, understands the intricacies of your situation and tailors His wisdom appropriately.

Why Prayer?

You are on the field, so you know that prayer works. You may have even commented, "I don't know why, but things happen when I pray that simply don't happen when I fail to pray." I've noticed the same thing!

Over the past several years God has helped me develop somewhat of a "theology of prayer". What I share here are notes I keep in the front of my prayer journal as a reminder of why I take that time each morning. Although I don't have the Scriptures noted, I jotted each one down after discovering it in Bible study times (and some day will formally write them down). May God help you learn from what He has taught me as you get a glimpse into my prayer journal.

The Purpose of My Prayer Life

1. Dependence on God. Prayer serves as a reminder that it's not up to me to solve the problems around me.

2. Humility. Prayer reminds me how many things only God can do.

3. Glory of God. God is glorified when we ask and He answers. Here is the power of united prayer: The more people who ask, the more glory God gets as the answer is passed along.

4. Theology. Prayer is where theology meets reality. When I turn Scripture into prayer, I come to grasp the doctrine better.

5. Faith. Prayer helps me to grow in faith.

6. Prayer gives me the mind of Christ.

7. Praying God's promises is His means of allowing me to share in the victory that is certain.

8. Power. Prayer gives me power as I walk in obedience.

9. Joy. Isa. 65:7 tells me there is joy in the house of prayer.

Housekeeping Notes

First, I want to thank those of you who regularly read (or check) this blog. I pray for God to use these few words to encourage you. I appreciate your patience in this endeavor.

Second, I want to let you know about my plan for posting this year. I have become convinced through prayer that God definitely wants me to continue this blog and will continue to guide me in what to put on here. My goal is to post 3 times a week. Two of these will be the devotional-type posts a previously, and the third will be a summary of my studies for the preceding week.

Most of you know that I am working on a Master's Degree in Global Civilization through William Carey International University. (You can access the information through the link on the blog.) Each week I spend several hours studying Scripture, Hebrew and Greek, and my textbook articles on missions, church history, and the relationship to the cultures and civilizations of the world. Currently I am studying the era of the early church. I feel that some of this might be helpful to you (or at least interesting) and so plan to start making my weekly "summary lesson" one of my posts. You'll find that most likely on Mondays.

I would appreciate your prayers in these endeavors! Blessings to you ... you are all a blessing to me.