"Comfort Ye My People"

It's getting to be that time of the year ... in not too many weeks we'll be preparing for Christmas. Many of us will follow Advent traditions. One of the newer ones in my family is listening to Handel's Messiah - all of it, not just the "Hallelujah Chorus" -- while baking for the holiday.

One of the moving portions for me comes during the song, "Comfort ye my people." It's lifted directly from Isa. 40 - an encouraging chapter if there ever was one. So tonight, I want to allow God's Word to minister directly to you. Know that you are ever in my prayers.

Isaiah 40
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,and cry to herthat her warfare is ended,that her iniquity is pardoned,that she has received from the Lord's handdouble for all her sins.

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up,and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level,and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,and all flesh shall see it together,for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”And I said, “What shall I cry?”All flesh is grass,and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fadeswhen the breath of the Lord blows on it;surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades,but the word of our God will stand forever.

Get you up to a high mountain,O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength,O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not;say to the cities of Judah,“Behold your God!”Behold, the Lord God comes with might,and his arm rules for him;behold, his reward is with him,and his recompense before him.He will tend his flock like a shepherd;he will gather the lambs in his arms;he will carry them in his bosom,and gently lead those that are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span,enclosed the dust of the earth in a measureand weighed the mountains in scalesand the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,or what man shows him his counsel?Whom did he consult,and who made him understand?Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge,and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,and are accounted as the dust on the scales;behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him,they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

To whom then will you liken God,or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it,and a goldsmith overlays it with goldand casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offeringchooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing,and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,when he blows on them, and they wither,and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me,that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see:who created these?He who brings out their host by number,calling them all by name,by the greatness of his might,and because he is strong in powernot one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,and speak, O Israel,“My way is hidden from the Lord,and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard?The Lord is the everlasting God,the Creator of the ends of the earth.He does not faint or grow weary;his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint,and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings like eagles;they shall run and not be weary;they shall walk and not faint.

New Post

Hi friends ... I have a new post over at http://worldchristianfoundations.blogspot.com. It's the first in a series of periodic posts from my inductive study of James - so it's very different from the historical theology posts I've been putting up there.

And while you're at it - please pray for me in my studies. They are definitely picking up steam! I'm loving it, but could use some prayer support since I do have other commitments like family, work, and ministry!

As always - I'm praying for you!

Blessings,
Rosa

Making Fudge

Sometimes God has us do the strangest things. I was making fudge tonight, and recalled one of the stranger lessons I've had to learn.

When my stepdaughter came to live with us at age 15, I was in full "Mom" mode. I was ready to pour love into her and just knew we were going to stay up late talking and being close friends. Of course, that wasn't how it happened. Her perspective was quite different than mine, as you can imagine.

After many nights of crying myself to sleep, God began to teach me that this time was about unconditional love. He wanted me to love her like He loves us, without any expectation of return. My longing for her love gave me new insight into God's longing to have us return His perfect love.

But in the midst of that, He gave me a strange assignment: whenever I was struggling with love - when it was a choice rather than a feeling - I was to make fudge for her to take to school. I laugh as I recall that for her 3 years of high school I made an awful lot of fudge! But along the way the oddest thing happened ... as I stirred the butter and sugar and waited for it to boil, I prayed for her and felt that love choice become easier to make. By the next morning as I cut it into squares, I was able to truly be joyful - regardless of her reaction.

What I learned was that love is a decision, but it's a decision that is much easier to make when we put actions behind it. Even now, when I face someone at work that is tough to love, I ask God to help me know how to demonstrate love. Those individuals who I disagree with most are the ones I go the most out of my way to serve and show His love to. And somehow, in the process, my heart is softened and the love decision flows.

God didn't just love us from a distance - He demonstrated His love by sending Christ to die for us while we were still enemies. And as His child, seeking to love as He loves, I don't get to love from a distance either. He wants me to demonstrate that love even when there seems no hope of it being reciprocated.

Who are you struggling to love in your ministry context today? Ask God for creative ideas to demonstrate that love.

You never know the power of a simple act ... even one as simple as making fudge.

My prayer for you tonight

During our monthly extended evening worship at church (1 1/4 hour of straight worship - beautiful), we sang a song that was new to me. As we sang I thought of you and prayed for many of your countries. I share the words from my heart to yours. Peace to you this Lord's Day.

May our homes be filled with praises
May our streets be filled with joy
May injustice bow to Jesus
As the people turn and pray

From the mountain to the valley
Hear our praises rise to You
From the heavens to the nations
Hear our singing fill the air

May our light shine in the darkness
As we walk before the cross
May Your glory fill the whole earth
As the water o'er the seas

Hallelujah!

The Now of Jesus

Our relationship with Christ is about more than our eternal destiny. And I'm so glad!

Don't get me wrong. Redemption is definitely at the heart of the Good News. Without the atonement and the repairing of our broken relationship with God, we would be doomed in a way far worse than any earthly trial. But if that was all our faith-walk was about, we would quickly relegate God to a spiritual realm and find some other source to trust for our daily problems, because mankind is simply not wired to do anything else. We either trust and worship the God of the universe, or we trust and worship a god of our own creation, even if that god is another person or a world system.

But thankfully, gloriously, God is intimately concerned about our daily lives. He is about being at work around us, always doing something in and through us. He is with us, bottom line. I've started calling this the "now" of Jesus.

The past 10 days have challenged me like I cannot describe. More than once, I've desperately told Him that I trust Him for the long term, but I need to see Him working today! And in ways I never would have imagined, He has come through. He's peeled back my limited vision, my determination to trust Him that was laced with a preconceived outcome, and said to me, "Child, watch me at work when you don't understand what I'm doing." This is the NOW of Jesus...letting go of any and everything but Him, and looking to see what He is doing.

Mary and Martha learned this lesson when their brother Lazarus died. Amazingly, Jesus didn't quickly run to the side of his dear friend while he was ill. He intentionally delayed until Lazarus was dead. Then He showed up with a plan that would ultimately blow a mere healing out of the water: He raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus' illness was for the glory of God.

Before He raised Lazarus, though, He had a lesson for his sister. John 11:17-27 records the dialogue between the two:

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Martha gave a very spiritual answer to Jesus' question. She knew Jesus could heal, but her view of Him was limited. She had faith in what she knew of Him, and in the future eternal state. But Jesus wanted to teach her something new about the NOW of Jesus: He wanted her to see Him act in a glorious way that would prefigure the ultimate resurrection of the dead.

Glory was at stake. Jesus told His disciples when He didn't go immedately that Lazarus' illness was for the glory of God. Part of that glory was teaching a hurting sister that He was involved NOW, not just at the final trumpet. He didn't respond the way she expected (by healing Lazarus) ... He did something even more glorious. And He profoundly showed up in the NOW.

In Psalm 27:13, David cries, "Yet I am confident that I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living." David knew the "NOW" of God. Sure, He doesn't always act like we expect. But He is always at work around us. He is always in the "NOW". Are you facing a circumstance where you've given up hope and relegated the answer to the eternal spiritual realm? Look for ways God is revealing Himself gloriously in the NOW.

Quilt Pieces

I've been learning a lot about quilting lately.

Not that I'm a quilter - those who know me best realize that sewing of any sort is not my forte. But as part of an assignment, I've been spending time with a neighbor who quilts. One of the things she showed me is her "design wall". A simple piece of flannel tacked onto the wall allows her to position and reposition fabric to determine which design layout she wants to use.

Now, you may know more about this than I did but I assumed that if a quilt was a star pattern, the adept quilter sewed every star together, then pieced the star "squares" together to make a large quilt. Not so! Actually, each piece of a design - a star, an oval, a square, or some other figure - is a different element and can be laid out differently to create different patterns or variations of a design. In a way I never realized, a quilt truly is a reflection of its designer.

While my practical mind would think it easier to simply create the design and sew them together, quilters find joy in the process of deciding what the design will look like and how it will be uniquely put together. Each quilter has a unique signature that is included in all her quilts; no two quilt patterns will produced an identical quilt.

What a beautiful picture of God's work in our lives! We long for him to simply "make the design" in us, but He instead is focused on the process - laying each element out and putting the various pieces together to create a beautiful pattern, which is then lovingly woven together with His signature. The overall work - and each piece within it - is truly a reflection of the designer.

We are being made to look like Jesus. The church is being made into a pure bride. We must remember that He isn't making cookie cutter patterns. He's making unique creations - mini-quilts, if you will - that He will sew together into a beautiful mosaic quilt that will have an overall unity, because His signature in the center will be His Son on the cross.

Be encouraged today that God is at work in the process of your life! May this anonymous poem be a blessing to you, as it has so often with me:

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me
I do not choose the colors
He works so steadily.
Often He chooses sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper
And I, the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God roll back the canvas
And unveil the reasons why
the dark threads are as needful
In the Master's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

Emmanuel

"God with us." That's the meaning of the name of Jesus "Emmanuel". In light of last night's post, this is significant because He is not "up there" in a distant sense, but "down here" in the sense of being with us. Through the Holy Spirit, we experience what I've heard called the "withness" of God.

The stuff of life. That's where His "withness" is expressed and experienced most profoundly. We expect Him to show up at church (at least we should - a whole other story :) ). But have we quit expecting Him to show up in the stuff of life?

This is especially a challenge to those of us in a western setting, where naturalistic explanations and human solutions abound for almost every conceivable problem. But in your settings I know you too face this challenge, because it is a struggle that hits at the heart of faith itself - trusting God to be for us in the stuff of life.

Abraham Kuyper captured this idea with these unforgettable words: "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"

My prayer for you today is simple: David said it long ago in Psalm 20, and it is incredibly practical. May you experience His "withness" today.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!

May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!

May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!

Selah

May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

May we shout for joy over your salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our banners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!
Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

He will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

But we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

The God of Now

We know it's going to turn out all right in the end.

Walking by faith, we trust that God will, in the end, right all wrongs, make the world anew, enact perfect justice, and reveal things as they really are.

Even in our temporal view, we believe with all our hearts Romans 8:28 - that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.

For most of us, it's not the long-term issues of faith that give us the greatest struggles. Instead, we are challenged to trust God not for the long-term, but for today. As John Piper says in Future Grace, we live between the verses of "Amazing Grace":

And grace has brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

We trust that God's grace saved us. We trust His grace for the end. But what about today?

What about the struggles with the insurance company? What about the surgery we are facing? What about the apathy of our church? What about the run-down neighborhood, where even the residents don't care to fix things up? What about the vote in Congress that could alter our life as we know it, because of the repercussions halfway around the world? What about our loved one who has walked away from God? What about today? Must we wait until we stand in eternity to see God work?

These are the hard questions of the Christ-centered life. These are the stumbling blocks that derail many souls. And yet it is here, in the muck and mud of life, that God chose to make His greatest statement:

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth". (John 1:14)

The Incarnation is God's great "now" statement. God could have saved us in some super-spiritual manner, that didn't involve getting down in the middle of it with us. But instead, He chose to take on flesh and walk with us - showing us that He, the Word made flesh, knew what it was like to walk in our shoes. Hebrews 2 tells us:

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

On this earth Jesus met people's physical as well as spiritual needs. He provided food out of compassion for the crowds; He raised a boy from the dead out of compassion for his grieving mother (without any sense of super-spirituality about the better home in heaven). He was completely evangelistic yet incredibly practical.

Does He care about your day today - the needs that you face, where you desperately need to see Him in the Now?? Absolutely. The incarnation proves He is the God of NOW.

New Post on "The Big Picture"

Hello all - I have a new post on my other blog (http://worldchristianfoundations.blogspot.com). If you're new here - this other blog is where I post summaries from my studies in the World Christian Foundations program through William Carey International University. Blessings to you!

On the day of adversity

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Prov. 24:10-12)

Too often, American evangelicals focus only on the evangelistic interpretation of passages like these. We rightly parallel the need to rescue people from spiritual death and hold back those who are heading that way. But Scripture is filled with practical examples, and when you lay passages like these against Matt. 25 and the book of James, we see that Jesus doesn't give us a pass on the natural element.

On the "day of adversity", we are faced with a choice: faint, or help others. We are far more likely to faint when we focus on ourselves, so God really speaks wisdom here: as we help others in need, we can gain strength, and reflect His love and glory to a world in need. Like the Samaritan who stopped to help the wounded traveler, we can demonstrate love for our neighbor in significant practical ways.

My husband is a former police officer and he tells me that in police academy they were taught "In stress, revert to training". Consistently helping others is "training" for that day of adversity. My prayer is that I will become so attuned to the needs of others than helping them will be a habit to me that will carry over when I'm in adversity myself. So many of you live in regions where adversity is a daily reality, or the threat of it hovers constantly. But you're already doing what this Scripture exhorts: you are helping others in need. Know that God will use that, both now and in any "day of adversity" you may face.

A Place to Call Home

It's been said that cross-cultural workers often feel most at home on the plane, flying from one beloved homeland to another.

Because of the changes you've experienced from being in another cultural, you don't view your land of origin quite like a native anymore. And because you have the background of being from another country, you see your land of service differently than the natives there. Sometimes, this cultural disconnect can leave you feeling like people without a home, much like the proverbial "man without a country" featured in the movie by that name. When coupled with feelings that the church back "home" doesn't understand your struggles and the people you serve sometimes seem to take more than they give, it's easy to feel homeless.

Beloved, never let those struggles cause you to lose sight of the truth that in Christ, we always have a place to call home. In John 14:2, Jesus tells us that He goes ahead to prepare a "place" for us. Interestingly, the Greek word is the same as that used later in verse 23: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

The parallel of these words is significant. Jesus is going to make an eternal home for us, but He tells us that when we obey Him in love, His home is with us - NOW. When Jesus walked this earth, Scripture tells us He had no place to lay His head ... yet He prepared a people whose hearts would be His dwelling place, and promises that He is making a home for us.

John 15 continues the theme: Abiding in Christ simply means dwelling in Him. If we are "at home" in Him, and His Word is "at home" in us, we have fullness of joy, answered prayers, and incredible intimacy with God and others.

Bottom line: you are His home, and He is yours. No child of God is ever homeless! Let the longings of your heart remind you of the precious truth of abiding in Christ and having His Spirit dwell in you!

Trusting God with the Little Things

Sometimes we find it easier to trust God with the big stuff than with the little stuff.

When something is completely beyond our reach - when it's obviously God-sized - then we trust Him because He is our only hope. Natural disasters, surprise physical illnesses, overwhelming financial struggles due to an economic downturn, societal change -- all are things that are largely out of our hands. We can control our response, but realize that pretty much everything else is up to God.

But what about the little things? If you're like me, you struggle with those things you can do something about. The refund you're owed for a damaged package that could be hastened by a bit of insistent pressure applied in the right place. The computer that could easily be fixed by plopping down a credit card. The job you can get by calling the right people who know the right people. And so on.

God wants us to trust Him in ALL things. Colossians says He is "all in all" and that our very lives are hid with Christ in Him. When we only trust Him for the big things, and handle the small things ourselves, we've inadvertently created a "gap" and minimized who He truly is. Yes, He's big enough for cancer - but He's also big enough for a parking spot at Wal-Mart on a rainy night.

Trust Him with all your frustrations today. Nothing is outside His realm of authority - and when your focus is His glory, He will delight to show you just how involved He can be in the details of your life!

Through the Fire

1 But now thus says the Lord,he who created you, O Jacob,he who formed you, O Israel:“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by name, you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,and the flame shall not consume you.3 For I am the Lord your God,the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.I give Egypt as your ransom,Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4 Because you are precious in my eyes,and honored, and I love you,I give men in return for you,peoples in exchange for your life.5 Fear not, for I am with you;I will bring your offspring from the east,and from the west I will gather you.6 I will say to the north, Give up,and to the south, Do not withhold;bring my sons from afarand my daughters from the end of the earth,7 everyone who is called by my name,whom I created for my glory,whom I formed and made.” (Isa. 42:1-7)

Southern California is on fire this morning.

Over a million people have been evacuated - the largest mandatory evacuation in the US since the Civil War, according to CNN. 12,000 have taken refuge in QualComm Stadium. The firefighters and government officials openly acknowledge that the fire is 0% contained, won't stop until it hits the ocean, and that there is nothing they can do. No one even knows how many homes have been destroyed.

At a time like this, it's easy to focus on personal safety, even at the expense of others. Yet it is in such settings that Christians have a chance to really shine. When the barbarians invaded the Roman Empire, and all the other religious systems went into an "every man for himself" mindset, the Christians were set apart by their care and concern for others. That's what we can pray for our brothers and sisters in Southern California today.

Isa. 42:1-7 is also valid for you facing your own fires. As believers in a fallen world we face the reality of danger - whether it be natural disasters, violence in the workplace, or terrorist attacks. There are untold reasons to fear. But God's promise is sure: He will be with us in the fire. It's that assurance that can keep us in the fire, serving others, rather than joining the world in an "every man for himself" mindset. Even when we flee, we can do so with an attitude of service rather than selfishness ... because God Himself is with us.

Pray for Southern California today - that God will show Himself through believers. And I pray as you are on the field doing what you do today, that He will show Himself through you!

What are you seeking?

Before I can find something, I have to clearly know what I'm looking for - what I'm seeking. It's a simple principle, and one we apply without thinking in our natural lives. When my glasses are missing, I might mention that I need to find them so that my husband can help. When I've misplaced my favorite plate or can't find the brownie spatula, I clearly define what I'm seeking. I'm willing to bet that you're the same way. You probably never say, "I need help finding something" and then not describe it, or give a list of 20 things you're looking for. If you did, you might find a topsy-turvy mess on your hands as people turned out drawers and cabinets because something has to be in there somewhere!

So why do we miss this principle in our spiritual lives? So many of us are incredibly spiritually busy - we are seeking holiness, purity, righteousness, love, truth, discipline, unity in the body of Christ, a kingdom mindset, the salvation of a certain people group, a growing ministry - it gets tiring just thinking about all we're looking for ... about all we're doing to create a topsy-turvy mess for ourselves.

Jesus taught Mary & Martha that out of all the busy-ness, only one thing was needed - sitting at His feet. Without condemning Martha's busy-ness, He challenged her to FOCUS ... to define what she needed to seek. The answer was HIM.

I'm convinced that one reason that Jesus was so insistent on the needfulness of just being with Him is a principle found in 2 Cor. 3: 18-19: "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." Beholding leads to becoming. As we behold Him ... as we sit at His feet ... we will be transformed into His image. If we desire Christlikeness - purity, holiness, righteousness, a heart for the kingdom of God, love for His people - the absolute most important thing we can do is be with Him and behold Him.

On the field you face many of the same challenges I do here, but you also face the distraction of expectations. So many think you have "arrived" at a goal of "being a field worker" ... when the fact is, you are still seeking like the rest of us. In the busy-ness of your work, with the expectations of the church and your supporters, it's easy to find yourself turning things topsy-turvy to look for the wrong thing.

What are you looking for that is distracting you from seeking Him? Behold Him ... behold Him in the Gospel portraits. Behold Him in His Word. Behold Him in His heart reflected through others. Fix your gaze on Him, and watch how you develop a heart and become the very thing you are looking for!

Goal or process?

At Bible study this week, and again at my monthly women's group, we discussed God's plan for our lives as a goal vs. a process. As a typical American, I am of course goal-oriented. Like Santa Claus, I make my list and check it twice - and love to cross things off.

But God isn't like that. Sure, He does have ultimate goals. Scripture tells us that history has a sure conclusion: The summing up of all things in Christ, things on earth and things in heaven (Eph. 1:8-10). His church - made up of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation - will be presented to God without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27). But goals in the sense that we think of them - a 5 year plan, a 10 year plan, specific numbers of converts - are not consistent with God's character.

Instead, He seems to be process-oriented. By that, I mean He is interested in our pursuit of Him and what He is making of us in the process. He is terribly concerned with what we are becoming (Christlike). One of the most fundamental New Testament terms for believers is "walk" and it indicates an ongoing action, not a one-time event.

One of my favorite examples is my daily quiet time. God doesn't want me to be so focused on the goal - finishing my quiet time, checking off all those boxes for prayer categories and Bible studies - as what He is showing me in that time. We've all had those times of irritation when our quiet time is interrupted (at least, I hope it's not just me). When I see God as process-oriented, I realize that He may actually be more concerned with my reaction to the interruption than whether or not I finish my Bible study.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not against structure, and sometimes we can be too easily distracted. All I'm saying is that when it looks like our plans are going awry, perhaps God has a different plan! Perhaps the process is the priority. A story I heard this week of a missionary who died his first night in the Andes underscores the truth that God works in ways very different than we do. If something Biblical, God-centered, and kingdom-oriented "interrupts" your plans - consider that God might be rearranging your goals to better fit His process!

Bottom line, God's work gets done, in spite of us! As Kenneth Latourette writes of the "decline" of Christianity during the Dark Ages, "If its future depended upon the kind of power embodied in the earthly city and its affiliated cultures, the outlook for Christianity was grim". But God was still at work in the process ... and the revival that later came was tremendous!

What "failed" goal are you grieving over tonight? Consider what God is doing in the process. Trust Him that He is steering you toward His ultimate goal ... and enjoy the scenery on the way!

Keeping it Real

I think one of the best things about women's small group studies - when they're done right - is the opportunity to be real with each other. In the small group study I attend on Thursday nights, I'm blessed to be around a group of women committed to keeping it real.

Last week we discussed Christology - the deep doctrines of the person of Christ, what it means that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, bodily. Such a deep, spiritual group, right? Well, tonight we discussed cleaning under the refrigerator - or rather, our lack of doing so.

The context was Paul's admonition to the Colossians that they are already complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). We talked about the struggles we have as women to be all, do all. We discussed the challenges that working outside the home places on us - and the reality that we don't automatically feel nurturing. And we talked about the dirt under the refrigerator! We were trying to keep it real.

And it makes me think of you ... out there, trying to keep it real. Trying sometimes to hold it together, not sure how to say that you really, really need a break before you break something. Trying to be spiritual, not just look spiritual. Trying to give us a glimpse of your world, but wondering if you even see it anymore.

Theology one week, housecleaning advice the next...both part of the tough work of the Christ-centered life for me. For you, endless administrative meetings and lingering conversations over tea might be the two extremes where you seek to live out your faith. For our theology must always meet our reality somewhere down the line if we are going to keep it real.

I pray that God will guide you to believers where you feel the freedom to lay out those struggles ... to people who will be in the trenches with you, battling for the victory of God's kingdom advance. And I pray that you will find that you truly are complete in Him, even if (like me) you never clean under the refrigerator :)

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled [made complete] in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. (Col. 2:9-10)

The radical, "out-there" life

Tonight I just want to thank you for being so radical!

You are living the kingdom-oriented life "out there" where it makes a difference daily. I'm reminded just how radical you are when I see our commercials and interviews on daily shows - when I hear of people saying that Americans "deserve to be pampered". You, of all people, know that is a lie.

I'm sorry for the people and churches here that believe that lie. I sincerely apologize to you for all the times you've been let down by building programs and fancy luncheons, instead of kingdom giving. I believe - at least I hope sincerely - that you have experienced more appreciation and support than a lack of it ... but I know that the times you're let down have been tough.

But faults and all, we're all in this together, and the body of Christ needs you out there, "doing the thing", to remind us that no, we don't deserve to be pampered. That we are blessed to be a blessing ... that the 1 billion people who live in nations that are developing backward (undeveloping?) or the 4 billion in the semi-developed world have needs ... that a child with a distended belly doesn't consider 3 meals a day being pampered ... that there are people who hide their faith behind a veil ... that a day when no one is killed by a land mine is a very good day indeed.

Keep reminding us. Please, make us very, very uncomfortable. Teach us what a radical lifestyle really means. Help us get "out there" with you.

And know that some of us are in the trenches with you, fighting in prayer for the battles you face daily.

On a Roll

We couldn't get our car window rolled up tonight. The rains were coming, and our power window was being quite stubborn.

We tried all the usual fixes - rolling it down again, trying to give it a jump start with our hands. It inched up a tad, then froze. Finally, we gave up and came inside for supper. Bob tried again right after supper - it inched up a tad more, then froze. He came in for dessert and then went out again to try once more before dark. We committed the matter to prayer but were getting tempted to just cover it up with cardboard.

When he came in a few minutes later, he reported that the window was up - and that he had put duct tape over the control so we don't get in that fix again :). The window had inched up a little more, and he was able to coax it the rest of the way.

So, what's the point?

Sometimes the trials that you are facing may not respond to the usual fixes. You may revisit a problem repeatedly. Perhaps you are even feeling tempted to take a temporary fix that will barely keep the rain out. Let me encourage you to keep bringing it before the Lord! Try once more ... and once more ... even if the progress only seems to be "inching" along. You never know when He might bring the solution on that "one last try".

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1)

Don't buy the lies!

Rev. 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."

Don't buy Satan's lies. Never forget that he is the accuser of the brethren (and, I might add, the sistren :) ).

Sometimes I watch something that drives home a spiritual truth so strongly that I can hardly focus on the show itself. Tonight, that happened with an episode, of all things, of Little House on the Prairie (season 3, "The Music Box", if you are a follower). In the episode, Nellie (the villain) is being her usual evil self. But this time, she has something on Laura - the theft of a music box. She convinces Laura that she will "tell" if Laura doesn't meet her demands - which includes being cruel to a friend who stutters. Nellie holds this threat over Laura's head and even tells her brother. Laura's nightmares and fears were far too familiar to me, as one who has allowed satan to hold things over my head! It soon becomes apparent that Nellie is going to hold this over Laura's head and even turn against her if Laura does everything Nellie demands. Ultimately, Laura confesses to her parents and, freed from the guilt, enjoys peace in her relationship with the friend she had betrayed.

As I watched I couldn't help think of Corrie ten Boom's illustration of this Scripture. She stated that she always wanted to walk in such closeness with God that she would beat the accuser to the throne room. She wanted to confess her sin, then have satan 5 minutes later go to God with his accusations - upon which time Jesus would say, "Oh, that? Corrie has already been here, and it's forgiven." That is my desire too - one I've learned saves me a lot of negotiations with the enemy, and a lot of heartache of being in his traps. In the show, Laura tells her Pa, "I wanted to try to fix it on my own." Boy, do I know that mistake. The problem is - we can't. Only Jesus can.

This doctrine is so relevant to you on the field. If satan can hold something over your heads, you become more focused on the sin you are accused of than the ministry you are called to. Like Laura, you forget the wounded people whom satan wants to turn you against. Live close to the throne room. Whatever you are trying to cover or hide, or fix it on your own, the enemy is winning. When you run to God, and confess to others, his true colors are shown -- and the Gospel shines through in vivid color!

A Prayer for you Tonight

Sometimes, it just takes a simple reminder of truth to encourage us.

When circumstances are overwhelming ... when we know we don't have the answers we're expected to have ... when we know that we are beyond the end of our rope ... then it is so refreshing to know that there are truths that are unchanging, truths that are simple and yet profound. Truths that have to be spiritually discerned.

That was Paul's prayer for the Colossians. He wrote to them:

Col. 1:9-14 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Colossians were in a confusing environment. Gnostic teachers claimed that people needed a "special revelation" to be truly spiritual - and that this was only available to a few. Legalists expected obedience to special days and feasts and seasons. The city, a trade center, was filled with pagan worship. And individuals faced their own personal struggles, as they do in every generation and place. Yet Paul laid out just some basics:

God's will - discerned spiritually and resulting in a pleasing walk. Strength, endurance, patience, thankfulness. And oh, the precious truth that we have been transferred from a kingdom of darkness to one of light.

Those are key thoughts for us all tonight - for you personally, I hope. Set aside the confusion and look at the simplicity of the message again. Are you trying to make a decision in line with God's will? Hear the reminder that it comes through spiritual knowledge and understanding - not natural! Do you struggle with whether your walk is pleasing to Him? Trust the promise that when you discern His will, He will lead you in a walk pleasing to Him. Take up His guarantee of strength, endurance, patience, and thankfulness. And remember tonight the basic gospel: He transferred you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light! Can anything be more difficult than that miraculous transaction?

He is for you. Hear that tonight in Paul's reminders to the Colossians. He doesn't make it hard, He makes it simple. He is for you.

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A Prayer Request Close to your Hearts

I received the most awesome phone call tonight.

I know that older women are supposed to teach the younger, according to Titus 2, but tonight I was definitely the student. I pass the story along because I know this prayer request will hit close to your hearts.

A college student who is very dear called me tonight. She is called to long-term field service like you are doing, and is in a ministry program at a denominational university to prepare. She called tonight to request prayer from me and others about a summer opportunity working with an orphanage in Kenya. Sarah is considering serving there for most of the summer. She has been assured that this is a true "working" opportunity - her role would be to serve wherever needed in the orphanage. She is really praying about this as a possibility. Sarah has a clear call for the kingdom and has a passion for orphans, but isn't sure if this is God's plan for her summer or not. Please join me in praying for Sarah to have very clear guidance about God's plan for how she spends her summer.

I know you will rejoice as I did when I tell you that Sarah told me her summer isn't her time, it's God's time. She also has been convicted that God doesn't want her to spend her Christmas break "vegging" but instead to offer herself in service to her church.

What a powerful lesson! I think of what I hear on one of my praise and worship CDs ... a live version of "I wanna see Jesus lifted high" ... the worship leader says "This is not a youth movement ... this is the church." Folks, if Sarah represents the heart of the future of the church, then we have a lot to look forward to!

Be encouraged. Be renewed in your own passion for service. Know that there are young people out there getting it right from the beginning! And please, pray for Sarah.

Commended as God's Servant

4 ... as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (2 Cor. 6:4b-10)

I never cease to be amazed at the Apostle Paul's example. Here, he lays out for us a way to turn even those negative aspects of ministry into a testimony!

Look at the list he lays out here - afflictions, beatings riots ... appear right alongside sleepless nights and hunger. The fruit of the Spirit is laid out as a lifestyle, alongside spiritual warfare. The contrasts he describes are profound. The bottom line for Paul is that all of these things are part of ministry - all of the struggles and efforts to respond in a godly way, all of the ways of being misunderstood - are all part of their acts as servants of God.

Nothing is too big - or too small - to be a part of your service to God. Whether you're facing blatant warfare, or a struggle to be patient at work ... whether your challenge is to endure a great calamity or a sleepless night ... whether you need endurance or are going hungry ... whatever the situation, whatever the struggle, whatever the need - it is part of your service to God. In everything, put yourself out before Him as His servant!

The Power of Hope

"Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."

closing line of "The Last Leaf" by O Henry

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick", wrote Solomon. But hope alive - can make a heart sing.

O Henry captures the power of hope beautifully in his short story, "The Last Leaf" (http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/). An ill elderly lady, convinced she will die when the last leaf on the ivy falls to the ground, has abandoned hope and her dreams of painting the Bay of Naples. Another man in the home hears of her lack of will, and sacrifices his own health - and ultimately his own life - to paint on her window a leaf during an icy storm one night while she sleeps. She takes heart, recovers, and remembers her dream. The painter, Behrman, dies from the pneumonia he contracted while painting the leaf that gave her hope.

As I thought about this story, I considered each of you. So many of you are in spiritually dark places, with circumstances that contribute to feelings of hopelessness. When you look at the history and the "big picture", you see little reason to believe that things will change. Even in your little corner, you sometimes question whether you're making any difference at all.

I want to encourage you tonight with this thought: Jesus desires to bring worshippers from all people groups into God's throne room (as pictured in Rev. 7:9). He is the One working underneath the surface of history toward a kingdom goal, the summing up of all things in Him. He painted the leaf on the window, giving us hope in our efforts to reach some little corner of this world of ours -- and the ink he used was His own blood. As a result, as Abraham Kuyper noted, "There is not a square inchin the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"

Friends, that is Hope defined ... the hope that even your challenging regions belong to Him.

Be blessed with truth tonight!

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Have a good day!

The Elusively Simple Solution

I spent almost a day and a half on a really simple problem at work this week.

My Excel charts didn't turn out right ... and I couldn't fix the problem. I blamed all the usual suspects: new Office 2007; Microsoft (of course); the lack of response from the campus Excel "expert". I turned elsewhere for solutions and managed to get a helpful soul at Computing Services who offered to devote her afternoon to trying to solve "my" problem.

In the end, the solution was almost elusively simple. Moving column B to column C solved every chart problem I had fought for the better part of 2 days. I praised God for rescuing me, called the friendly lady at Computing Services, and finished my charts.

Isn't that how we are with God sometimes? When we were separated from Him, we looked everywhere we could for the solution to our soul-problem. We blamed everyone and everything; we turned elsewhere for solutions; we failed miserably at finding a solution because it was elusively simple: look to the cross and trust Christ alone.

But even after salvation we can be stubbornly insistent on making things harder than they have to be. The fact is, God's Word contains everything God deemed important for us to know about this thing called the Christian life. We underestimate the power in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Really, God calls us to get out of the way so that He can make it clear that He is at work instead of us! He calls it the crucified life - death to self, living to Him (Gal. 2:20).

The book of Colossians is an eloquent reminder of the simplicity of the Gospel, the simplicity of the Christ-life. Paul elevates Christ as pre-eminent over all things, and reminds us that our role is one of a faith-walk, not a frenzied pursuit of knowledge or fastidious keeping of rules and regulations. Simply put, Paul reminds us that it's all about Jesus.

Your life on the field is filled with challenging problems. Issues of contextualization, administrative details, theological questions I can only imagine, political dilemmas - all can press upon you to make it seem like the problems are overwhelming. Tonight, remember the simplicity of the answer: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Col. 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Peace in the Storm

Our pets are scared of storms.

If left alone in a room during a storm, our 81-pound dog George will whimper, moan, even howl. He's been known to butt open a door with his head in order to get to us. More than once I've awakened during the night with his head under my hand, alerting me to a storm going on outside. Our bird, Petey, will screech and flap his wings frantically during a storm, especially if he's left near a window.

So we have developed the habit of bringing Petey's cage into our bedroom on potentially stormy nights. George already has gained the privilege of his 11 dog years to sleep in our room every night, so on stormy nights Bob and I lay in bed with George on the floor on my side and Petey at the end of the bed in his cage.

What's amazing is that no matter how bad the storm, if they are in our room they are calm, peaceful, and restful. Their sleep isn't affected by thunder and lightning even when, at times, mine is!

Last night as I lay in bed listening to the storm and thinking about the contrast between our peaceful pets and their reactions when they are not with us, I realized that this is the "peace in the storm" that God wants us to have.

Life is full of storms. Even if we enjoy a brief lull, usually the stormclouds rise, the lightning flashes, and something occurs to shake us. But Jesus tells us not to be anxious; the Apostle Paul elaborates with the command to be anxious for nothing.

The fact is, God wants us to be as much at peace with Him in the storms of life as our pets are with us. More so, actually. He wants us to make a willful choice to rest in Him, to allow His peace to pass all understanding.

What storms are keeping you awake at night? What thunder and lightning cause your peace to be rattled? Are you acting like George and Petey when we're not around - or are you surrendering to the peace of your Father's presence like they do when they're with us during a storm?

I pray that God will encourage you to see the reality of His presence in your storm tonight. May the words of this song minister to your spirit.

Sometimes He Calms the Storm
song lyrics written by Tony Wood and Kevin Stokes

All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong

Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control

CHORUS
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered "Peace be still"
He can settle any sea
But it doesn't mean He will

Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child

He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we're shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ

No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place

CHORUS

Underneath the Surface

So often we live life at surface level. We get caught up in the concerns, fears, and frustrations of daily life. Political races, tribal conflicts, the exchange rate, logistics of travel, even the fight for survival, can cause us to focus on what we see. Even as we look at 'the big picture' we often see the historical challenges that are still part of that surface level.

But if we look just a little deeper ... if we dig into the heart and soul of our people, often we see something underneath the surface that cries out "never give up". That speaks of hope and future.

Christopher Dawson, in Religion and the Rise of Western Culture, highlights for us how the Apostle Paul's experience in Europe and Asia effected such a subterranean change that the world hardly saw it coming:

When St. Paul...came to Philippi in Macedonia, he did more to change the course of history that the great battle that had decided the fate of the Roman Empire on the same spot nearly a century earlier, for he brought to Europe the seed of a new life which was ultimately destined to create a new world. All this took place underneath the surface of history, so that it was unrecognized by the leaders of contemporary culture....a new principle had been introduced into the static civilization of the Roman world that contained infinite possibilities of change. (p. 27; emphasis mine)

"Infinite possibilities of change" ... isn't that what you long for? Isn't that what you pray for? I know that is my prayer for you, for your people! Yet look how Dawson says it happened ... "underneath the surface of history" - unrecognized by the "leaders" of the day!

Fight the tendency to see things on the surface. For goodness' sake, ignore the media! How I pray that we will have God's eyes - that we will see where the "new principle" of the Gospel is taking root, bringing with it infinite possibilities of change - of turning the world upside down!

"...These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also..." (Acts 17:6)

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"Save yourself and us!"

The words of the first thief echo through history. His approach to Jesus was accusatory, demanding: "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39).

It's interesting to look at the crucifixion narratives and see how many times people in the scene use the word "save". The onlooker, the rulers, the soldiers, the first criminal. Everybody with his own sense of meaning of the term - and none realizing that they were looking at Salvation Himself.

Only the second thief seems to have a glimpse of this truth prior to Jesus' death. He doesn't even ask for "salvation", only that Jesus "remember me when you come into your kingdom". Jesus exceeds his expectations - as He is so prone to do - by telling him, "today you will be with me in Paradise" (see Luke 23:39-43).

God has convicted me, as I see myself in the words of the first thief. How many times have I insisted that God fix a situation? How often have I crossed the line from faith to presumption? When have I been focused on being saved, rather than on Salvation Himself? When have I claimed a victory for the kingdom - "save yourself" - when my real motive was selfish?

Only God knows the burdens that lie on your shoulders. Only He sees the trials you face under your very roofs. Learn from the thieves on the cross. Don't focus on demanding that He "fix it" - that He "save Himself". Instead, look to Him as Salvation Himself ... trust Him as the second thief did, to remember you. He'll always be more than you're expecting.

Tent-Pegs of Prayer

Ministry can be a crazy experience at times. Some days or seasons, you feel a strong message of love, grace, mercy ... other times, the focus is on truth and righteousness. Worship might become a focus, or doctrinal issues might rise to the surface. If you're like me, some of these focuses come easier to you than others, and you might find it hard to maintain a balance and note find yourself in the shifting sands of circumstances.

Out of a desire to maintain a balanced perspective personally and in ministry, I sound the Lord for guidance. He taught me 4 basic areas that have become the "tentpegs" of my prayer time. I share them here, for His glory and hopefully your benefit.

Almost every morning I pray that I will be:

1) Doctrinally sound. Wrong doctrine causes so many problems - it even causes us to act wrongly because we believe incorrectly. Worst of all, though, wrong doctrine teaches us wrong things about God, and we glorify Him when we understand who He really is.

2) Passionately worshipful. Jesus said true worshippers worship "in spirit and in truth". What that means is that while doctrine is vital, it isn't complete without a spirit of worship behind it - the Holy Spirit. Passionate worship isn't necessarily exuberant - it may be very quiet. It may involve singing or dancing, throwing yourself into a project, sitting before the Lord reluctant to leave. But it involves our WHOLE hearts - passionately seeking to throw the praise back to Him.

3) Genuinely loving. Paul teaches we are to love "without hypocrisy". Whatever it takes - intense prayer, intercession by others, radical actions - we are to make sure we love, and love genuinely. Loving God and others is the greatest and second commandments, and we must prioritize them in our lives.

4) Carefully obedient. Obedience rarely, if ever, is accidental. We have to discern how to walk out the commands of Scripture, and set about to intentionally follow through.

May God bless you as you seek Him today. For the only true balance we'll ever find is in the moments with Him!

Rest for your soul

I can barely stay awake.

I'm not sure why, but as I was studying tonight I just kept falling asleep. After repeated attempts to focus, I finally yielded to what my body is apparently telling me, and decided to call it an early night.

Rest is hard! I think of what is undone ... the studies tonight, or another time housework, phone calls, a meaningful project. Yet I've been around enough to know that if I don't take rest, my body will force it on me!

Rest is such a biblical principle. God "rested" on the Sabbath, and gave the Sabbath principle to man for our sake, not His. Rest is carried through into the New Testament as a reminder that in Christ, we rest in faith from a works-oriented religion (Heb. 4). But one of the most poignant words on rest is from the mouth of Jesus Himself:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matt. 11:28-30

He promises rest - it's part of following Him! Rest of legalism, to be sure ... but also rest from the endless cycle of feeling that success is up to us ... that this ministry is up to me ... that this person or that church will suffer mightily if I take a night, a week, a year off. Not as an excuse for laziness, but as a serious effort at following Christ in obedience when He calls us aside for rest.

Despite my willingness to press on and my sincere efforts to stay awake, my fatigue tonight tells me He is calling me aside for rest. Is He asking the same of you - maybe for a season? Learn from Him in the ministry of rest.

Sometimes it's the most spiritual thing we can do.

What Makes an Effective Ministry?

To someone with a passion for God's kingdom work, it's the worst feeling in the world.

I've lost it. I'm no longer effective. My prayers hit the ceiling ... my sermons are flat ... words of encouragement fail me ... I can't understand the Scripture I study ... how can I possibly be of use to God after ____________________?

That sick feeling in the pit of your stomach tells you something's wrong, but you just can't fix it. There's no blatant sin in your life; you aren't harboring a secret sin; and yet things are "off". Are such times really indicators of an ineffective ministry?

Each of us has to work through these seasons on our own. Only at the feet of Jesus will we discern if the struggle is spiritual attack (Satan would love to put us out of commission), emotional (fatigue and the stresses of the field can weigh us down), physical, or a combination. It's possible that we do need to change something spiritually - perhaps God will reveal an area of unseen disobedience. But it's also likely that we will learn a much-needed truth: While God always cares for the minister as much as those he or she ministers to, God also is not bound by how we feel about our effectiveness. In fact, as we all have learned, God often ministers through us not because of us, but in spite of us.

In spite of us. In spite of the weaknesses of our flesh, which give up far too easily. In spite of choices we make to obey one scripture which seems to cause us to disobey another. In spite of a lack of perfect understanding, where we know that only God knows the right answer and we do the best we can, in heartfelt obedience to His word, and wish we'd made a different choice later. In spite of us.

John Newton, the famous hymn-writer of "Amazing Grace", is known for eventually repudiating the slave trade. Yet he continued to be involved for several years after his conversion. Biblical heroes had feet of clay as well. David was an adulterer and murderer. Peter denied Christ and was, shall we say, impetuous? Elijah suffered depression. Feet of clay, all of them.

What made their ministry effective is the same thing that will make yours and mine effective - and it's not a 12-step formula. In the nitty-gritty of faith lived out daily, "where the rubber meets the road", as we walk with God through the power of the Spirit in the best of our understanding, He brings the effectiveness as only He can - for His glory. We all realize, often at our "best" moments, that what was done was totally God, because we know where we were. This is not an excuse for unpreparedness or lackadaisical Christianity - instead, the confidence that God is taking it upon Himself to bring effectiveness for His glory and kingdom purposes, should encourage us to do our part in that process.

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart....

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

(2 Cor. 4:1, 7)

These verses - the foundational passage for this blog - remind me continually that "my" ministry is really God's - and was given to me by His mercy. It keeps me from losing heart, reminding me that the whole purpose of this "treasure" - the Holy Spirit - in my jar of clay is to show the power is God's, not mine. If He can be glorified in my weakness, so be it. The effectiveness of the ministry will only be increased in the long run.

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I have posted my week 3 lesson on my other blog: http://worldchristianfoundations.blogspot.com . I've changed the blog name to "The Big Picture", so just be aware that it is really the same blog when you get there! Please feel free to post comments, too.

What you can and cannot do

When the needs surrounding you seem so severe, and what you have to give seems so miniscule, it's easy to become discouraged. Human nature, after all, tends toward the dark side of things, which means we see the negative quicker than we see the positive.

If you're in that situation tonight, please receive a reminder from the Lord: He knows precisely what you can and cannot do. He doesn't call you to do what you can't do. If all you can do is show love and give a hug, that's all He is calling you to do. If all you can do is organize an office, that's His call to you. Even if all you can do is survive from day to day and get out of bed and go through your daily routine, because the dark clouds are so oppressive, then that is what He desires for you to do.

Do what you can. Do it with all your heart, with love for God and others, with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. He will do the rest.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

Sometimes the battle can seem overwhelming.

If you're in the midst of serious warfare, you know the feeling. Sometimes you hit a point where you know the battle is raging, but you're not quite sure what the battle is for. You can see if things go one way a victory of one sort; another direction would be a victory of a different sort. All you know is the enemy is pressing in hard, you desire the glory of God and His victory - and maybe that's all you can discern.

Maybe you don't even know how to pray or what, specifically, the fight is about.

Take heart. You are not alone. Such is the challenge of many who enter spiritual battles. But the awesome truth is that we don't have to figure this out! The fact is, the battle belongs to the Lord.

As I prayed tonight I sensed the need to post this song and words to the blog. It's a simple version, but one that focuses on the Victor. Thanks to YouTube for allowing posting on the blog.

May you be richly blessed to remember in the depth of your battle, that you don't have to have the answers or know what form victory will take.

You just have to be under the standard He has raised up. The battle belongs to the Lord.

In heavenly armor we'll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord
No weapon that's fashioned against us will stand
The battle belongs to the Lord

We sing glory honor, power and strength to the Lord (2x)

When the powers of darkness come in like a flood,
The battle belongs to the Lord
He's raised up a standard the power of His blood
the battle belongs to the Lord

When the enemy presses in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord
Take courage my friend your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord

"No Name Offense"

This is probably the only post I'll ever make about football -- but the analogy is too awesome not to pass on.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins had a perfect season - the first in NFL history. They were best known for their famous offense that included 2 future Hall-of-Famers. Their defense was equally powerful, but did not have the name recognition -- and was thus dubbed historically the "no name defense".

Paul Pierson, in his lectures on the historical development of the world Christian movement, observes an apt parallel: Christ's kingdom workers are His "no name offense".

The difference is notable: You are not on the defensive, holding the enemy back. You are on the offensive, taking God's Word into areas that belong to Him but which are held captive by the enemy. Yet you are "no name" ... for the most part, the world doesn't know you. Even within the church, many just know you generically as "the workers". You may feel you're toiling away in anonymity, and to a degree you are right.

God designed His kingdom work so that no one person can do it alone. No one person, or one church or ministry, has all the gifts and resources that God put into His body. We are interdependent, and when the job is done, we should not be able to credit any one person. Such would detract from the glory that is God's alone. Paul told the Corinthians that one plants, one waters, but God gives the increase - and the emphasis should lie on Him, and not us. The person home who faithfully gives and prays is as invaluable as the one martyred for her faith. So the "no name offense" works to guard our human tendency to glorify man and instead secures glory for God alone.

But the "no name offense" stops at the gates of heaven. Because, dear one, God knows you by name. He knows every hair on your head. He knows your struggles and identifies with your pain. He takes attacks against you very personally. Whether your role in the kingdom battle is a prayer warrior while you nurse babies or work on the farm, an encourager to co-workers as you go about your job, a pastor or Sunday school teacher ... or perhaps you are in a "foreign" land (from our perspective only, of course), trying to help a seemingly hopeless nation rebuild, or raise children in a place where you can't easily obtain Christian literature for your homeschool efforts ... or even on the front lines of church planting and street evangelism ... He knows you by name. You are anonymous only in the eyes of the world. You work for His glory, but He doesn't take your sacrifices lightly. He loves you dearly, and understands all you go through for the sake of His name.

As you exalt His name at the sake of your own, rest assured that it doesn't go unnoticed. Your "no name offense" has a powerful name in the kingdom of God ... a name for wanting to make God famous.

Press on, friends. All of heaven is cheering for you!

Week 2 Post on Other Blog

Hi everyone ... the Week 2 World Christian Foundations post is up on the other blog (http://worldchristianfoundations.blogspot.com). Blessings to you all!

For the furtherance of the Gospel...

Phil. 1:12-14 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul was in prison.

Those of us who have fervently prayed for imprisoned kingdom workers over the past weeks can understand how the church at Philippi must have felt: "Get them out of there, God, so they can do your work!"

And yet, Paul remained imprisoned. God had a change of scenery for his ministry. Rather than the familiar synagogues and town squares of the cities of Asia and Europe, Paul's view was the inside of a home in Rome. Instead of evangelism and discipleship in small and large groups, Paul's audience was scattered throughout the Empire. Instead of a preacher, Paul became a writer. One of his manuscripts was to the church at Philippi.

Paul didn't write to solicit their assistance - he wrote to encourage them. "Rejoice" is the theme of the book, and Paul doesn't make his circumstances an exception. Instead, he demonstrates to them specifically how his circumstances have served to advance the Gospel: by giving him opportunities from within (tradition says that the Roman legion had to keep replacing Paul's guards because he would convert them), as well as giving others opportunities outside. The bottom line: Paul's circumstances were submitted to God's sovereign purposes, and God kingdom was advanced.

What circumstance are you facing today that seems to undeniably restrict your ministry, your significance for the kingdom of God? Ask God to give you His eyes to see how He may already be using this circumstance for the advance of the Gospel. Submit the situation to Him and allow His sovereignty over your circumstances to wipe away all fears that you are not furthering the kingdom. When you see it from God's eyes, you'll learn how it really has advanced the kingdom of God - even if your role looks very different than you are used to!

Experiencing Mercy

Have you experienced God's mercy?

If you are a believer in Christ, of course you have. But sometimes we forget that. Other religions proclaim that God is merciful; but only in Christianity is our faith based on experiencing that mercy.

Colin Chapman observes, "It is one thing to proclaim the mercy of God, but another to be sure of experiencing that mercy."

God's mercy means that He doesn't give us what we deserve. It means that we can be sure He isn't waiting for us to mess up. It means when we do sin, we can rest assured of God's willingness to forgive.

Sometimes it's hard to line up our feelings with our message. If God's mercy has become just a theological truth to you, rather than a certainty of experience, draw near to Him and allow Him to reveal Himself to you afresh. I'd love to pray for you about that need as well.

If you are certain of God's mercy, then trust that He can use that. It is a dramatic contrast from what the rest of the world experiences.

Spreading the Gospel in Overwhelming Circumstances

One of Satan's biggest goals is to keep us from advancing the kingdom of God. One tactic he takes is to convince us that we can't pursue kingdom work because the needs around us are so overwhelming.

For individuals, this might mean our family or personal struggles. For churches, internal conflicts and challenges might seem like obstacles. Others see the needs in their neighborhood as so severe that they simply can't look to the ends of the earth.

And yet Scripturally, the Great Commission was unveiled and the Spirit's power released in some pretty tough circumstances. Fulfillment of Acts 1:8, however, was not restricted until Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria had it all together.

Case in point: Antioch. This early church is depicted in Acts 13 as one with a passion for God - and a willingness to release two of their strongest ministers to the ends of the earth. Yet Antioch, like most ancient cities, was literally a mess! Rodney Stark, in The Rise of Christianity, does an excellent job describing Antioch based on both excavations of the area and general research about ancient cities in the region:

"Any accurate portrait of Antioch in New Testament times must depict a city
filled with misery, danger, fear, despair, and hatred. A city where the average
family lived a squalid life in filthy and cramped quarters, where at least
half of the children died at birth or during infancy, and where most of the
children who lived lost at least one parent before reaching maturity. A city
filled with hatred and fear rooted in intense ethnic antagonisms and exacerbated
by a constant stream of strngers. A city so lacking in stable networks of
attachments that petty incidents could prompt mob violence. A city where crime
flourished and the streets were dangerous at night. And, perhaps above all, a
city repeatedly smashed by cataclysmic catastrophes: where a resident could
expect literally to be homeless from time to time, providing that he or she was
among the survivors." (p. 160-161; read chapter 7 for more information)

And yet, they sent the first missionary band. They saw beyond their own needs. The Gospel spread despite the tragedy that was first century life.

And yet in a way, it spread because of that very tragedy. If you have been sent TO an Antioch, take heart; Stark also notes that in Antioch and other cities, "Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear, and brutality of life in the urban Greco-Roman world" (p. 161). Christianity offered hope and eternal salvation, but also very practical ways of meeting the multitude of needs; Christians were less likely to abandon people during times of crises and so served as nurses, took in orphans and widows, and generally provided the social services that were desperately needed.

Whether you serve an Antioch or are trying to reach the world despite your circumstances, take heart! The church was born in overwhelming circumstances. The Roman Empire in which it was birthed is long-dead, but the church of Jesus Christ will stand against all obstacles.

Even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it!

Encouragement for Wives

1 Peter 3:1-6 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

What an interesting - and hard - passage this is. It even uses they horrible four letter O-word! And yet, the heart of the passage is really encouraging.

As a missionary and a wife, you've probably experienced times when God inexplicably refused to let you in on the plan ... times when your husband felt led a direction and you didn't, or maybe even you were outright resistent. That's not a missionary experience, that's a wife experience!

As I've pondered this passage recently I've come to grasp something I never saw before. This passage has been so taken out of context to justify enduring abuse (something God NEVER intends) that we fail to explore what "do not fear anything that is frightening" might truly mean!

As often is the case in Scripture, the answer lies in the context. The example of Sarah and Abraham is an example of CHANGE. When Sarah was 65 God called Abraham to leave home and go to an unnamed land, the land God would show him. Sarah might have wanted a retirement home, to be sure, but she probably had the location already spotted! She didn't want to be adventurous at that point! If there's anything that women across cultures desire, it's security. Change typically doesn't make us feel very secure.

Then there was the whole "let's go to Egypt - and oh, let's just focus on the sister part, just don't mention 'wife'" episode. Who among us wouldn't be afraid to move -- again -- and then be placed in a dangerous situation?

And of course all those promises about the Seed ... so many of them were to Abraham. When Sarah finally got to hear the word it was from behind a curtain.

I've finally decided that the fear mentioned here relates at least in part to the fear of the unknown that Sarah surely experienced because of God's words to Abraham.

So how is that encouraging for you or me? Simply put: We don't have to be afraid of where God's leading our husbands. If we feel they are on the wrong path (what Peter calls "disobedient to the Word" - not necessarily an unbeliever!) then we can pray for them and maintain a respect and proper attitude, that can "win" them ... but regardless, we don't have to fear when we are called to follow to a place that they are led where we just don't get a "word" to go. We don't have to fear when God chooses to speak to them rather than us.

In the Bible study Daniel, Beth Moore relates Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego having to trust that Daniel's vision (Dan. 2) was correct. Literally, their lives were on the line. She recalls an experience when she had to trust an important decision into someone else's hands. "I don't think I can trust them with that decision", she told the Lord. His reply? "Can you trust me with them?" Of course. That's what it really boils down to.

Are you struggling to trust your husband with a decision today? Try shifting your focus ... trust God with your husband instead. Like Sarah, don't fear the unknown.

God is still in control, even when He guides us through someone else.

When you don't have strength

Sometimes, God calls you to minister when you know deep down that you need to be on the receiving end.

It's great when you're able to "check out" for some R&R, but if you're on the field and you're faced with someone in crisis or someone opening up for the first time, and there isn't another believer to refer them to, you know it's "your job". The need becomes the call, and there you are.

It's great to minister from our strength. When we're feeling rested, had a great quiet time, feel close to the Lord, we feel effective in our ministry. Ministry from our overflow feels great!

But at other times - maybe most of the time, where you are - God calls us to minister from our weaknesses. He calls us to have a word for someone else when we desperately need one ourself ... to give that can of Pepsi to another person when we've waited for it a month ... to encourage someone when we're feeling depressed. At those times, we see His power made perfect in our weakness, and we see His glory come through.

Perhaps more than anything, at those times we know that "our" ministry isn't ours at all, but His ... and it's not about us, but Him. He is faithful to His task, and while we can do things to be effective vessels, it's really not about us at all.

Are you being called upon today to minister when you feel weak yourself? Is checking out for some spiritual R&R not an option? Draw upon the strength He provides, and offer what you have. Our God does amazing things with loaves and fishes.

2 Cor. 4:7-18
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 in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal 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 for your 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 all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

New Blog

Hi everyone ... in case you're interested, I have a second blog that just started today. It's called "It's Not About Me" and what it IS about is my study program, World Christian Foundations. I post weekly about the lessons I learn that week. Feel free to drop in at http://worldchristianfoundations.blogspot.com.

I'll still be posting here as my primary blog, but the purposes are totally different and that's why I started the second one. You can continue to come here for what I pray will be words of encouragement.

Have a good evening!

Be anxious for nothing - Really?

This morning I did an inductive study on Matt. 6:25-34. I was amazed at how many times the word "anxious" appears in the passage. The clear theme is that we are not to be anxious - for anything! Put together with Paul's admonition in Phil. 4:6-7, the message is: "Worry about nothing, pray about everything."

Really, Lord? I mean, my budget is tight and the car might break down and the kids are sick and the computer is running slow.

"Be anxious for nothing."

Really, Lord? More hostages were taken this morning and I can't even walk to the market by myself.

"Be anxious for nothing."

Really, Lord? No one signed up for the school we were supposed to teach and we spent months preparing. All those people gave money to support us and now I have to put this in a newsletter. What if we lose supporters?

"Be anxious for nothing."

Really Lord? My mom is sick and I can't even go see her.

"Be anxious for nothing."

Really Lord? My world's falling apart here. I never thought that relationship would end. Am I doomed to be single all my life?

"Be anxious for nothing."

Come on Lord. I just told you my problems and you're talking about grass and birds and flowers. Don't you know that in today's world sermons are supposed to be practical? Tell me what to do?

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."

Oh, Lord. Seek You ... so you're not minimizing my needs after all. You are talking about priorities. Perspective. Okay, I can set this aside and pray right now. I know you know what my needs are. But, if this is the answer be forewarned - I may be praying a lot today! It's the only thing that can keep me from being anxious.

Hey, You asked for this! I have an idea that you're okay with it.

Mt. 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Upside Down World

In my reading last night I was reminded how upside down the world is. Oh, it seems like World Christians are the ones upside - focusing on other people around the world, seeking to sacrifice for the sake of the message. But that's not what Jesus says. Jesus says this is the only way to get it right. He lived an upside-right life in an upside-down world, and calls us to do the same.

Ralph Winter notes that the modern Christian bookstore would lead one to believe the message is "I have come to give you life affluently". How popular would a book be titled, 'How to bleed, suffer, and die for Jesus Christ", he wonders. I don't think we have to ask.

The thing is, when we maintain an emergency, war-time mentality, it's so much easier to prioritize. And it's even easier when we realize Jesus' priorities were not to hobnob with religious elite and make a network of connections. He came to seek and save the lost, to minister to "the least of these".

Winter says the disciples' "own agenda [was] written with such large letters that they cannot understand how His agenda could be different from theirs." I had to ask myself - what about mine? Is my daily list written in permanent marker or pencil? Do I leave room for His agenda? When I affirm His lordship, do I realize He is Lord of the Great Commission as well - and has the right to readjust my life to suit it?

We become spiritually and emotionally healthy by focusing on others. It's upside down to the world, but upside right in the kingdom. Be prepared to be flexible today - it might just be God sitting you on your feet to turn you upside right!

Oblivious to Danger

What would you do if you knew a nuclear warhead was going to fly over your house at a given hour? I, for one, would be hunting the nearest bunker -- even if I was told that it was safely attached to a plane!

But what if you didn't know?

That's not a theoretical scenario. Last week, an aircraft accidentally carrying 6 nuclear missiles flew from North Dakota to Louisiana - and its path went literally over the town I live in. I didn't have a clue.

Thankfully there were no accidents, and our country was delivered from a disaster we didn't know was even a potential. But it got me to thinking of the scriptural parallels.

Scripture tells us that we are all "shut up under sin" until we come to faith in Christ. We have the "sentence of death" and the good that happens to us is a result of God's common grace, the rain that falls on the just and the unjust. Frankly, apart from Christ we are all disasters waiting to happen ... nuclear warheads in an unsuspecting world. Enemies of God, according to Romans 5.

But God in His great mercy delivered us ... and now we know the risks and dangers. We are compelled to warn others of the nuclear warheads waiting to explode in their lives, apart from God's gracious intervention. Sometimes, we see the devastating results of those launched missiles. And we weep.

Stay in the battle, beloved. Only the power of God through the blood of Christ can deactivate the nuclear missile of sin. And without a messenger, they won't even know it's flying overhead.

What does it mean to be blessed?

No one doubts that most of us in the West are blessed. We absolutely adore the concept - whether as a mealtime prayer, a ritual when someone sneezes, or a cheerful greeting ("have a blessed day"), we recognize that blessing is significant.

Yet so few of us realize that we are "blessed to be a blessing". If we truly grasped that the blessing doesn't stop at our doorstop, I'm not sure that The Prayer of Jabez would have been nearly as popular!

Ralph Winter puts it this way: Blessing, he writes, is "not something you can receive or get like a box of chocolates you can run off with an eat by yourself in a cave....It is something you become in a permanent relationship and fellowship with your Father in Heaven." ("The Kingdom Strikes Back", in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 6th ed.)

Not something you get - something you become. He goes on to say that the blessing is contingent upon sharing it with others -- in other words, it's not a blessing until you pass it on. We think we've made progress when we "get" the concept of sharing part of our blessings - giving others a few chocolates from our box. But truly being a blessing goes beyond just sharing ... it is integral to who we are.

We are to become a blessing ... our very lives imparting blessing to others. This isn't surprising ... Jesus, after all, was the very incarnation of God, the ultimate blessing. Why is it surprising for Him to ask us to become something to bless others?

On the other hand, this concept is very liberating. "Blessing" others doesn't depend upon our checkbook, our pantry, or our house ... it is part of who we are. Is my life in every way imparting blessing to others? Am I becoming a blessing? These are the questions I asked myself tonight.

In your worlds, you may feel like you have nothing left to give. You struggle with the language, the culture, the food ... you don't have enough money for yourself much less others ... yet you have the Spirit of God in you, the Spirit they need. He is making you, in your very being, to become a blessing. That smile, that sincere question about a child's health, that cool hand to a feverish forehead, that second cup of tea to invite a guest to linger - all speak that you are becoming a blessing.

Don't let your circumstances define how you bless others. Open your heart and see all the ways God is making you a blessing today!

I know you are to me... never forget that.

Surrender

I found some old notes this morning in a ministry notebook I have kept for a couple of years. Isn't it funny how God brings things up that we sometimes conveniently "forget"? I love how He is faithful even when we are faithless ... how HE is the one who guarantees we will stand before Him "blameless, with great joy on the day of judgment" ... how He keeps us committed to Christ ... how His hold on me will always be tighter than my hold on Him.

All of this gives me confidence when He calls me to surrender. My note - dated 12/14/2005 - reads simply: "Today God has taught me that His call is open, awaiting who will respond. W eare all called to fulfill the Great Commission. I must learn to say "yes" and let Him tell me "no". Surrender says "yes" before knowing the question."

Or as my pastor likes to say, "No, Lord, is an oxymoron."

My husband and I are embarking on some new ventures. We don't know where they all will lead. The ministry doors that are open before me are in some ways beyond me. But God reminds me that "surrender says 'yes' before knowing the question."

It so happens that God has graciously allowed me to know the questions in this case - the specific things He's asked of me are clear. But that's not always the case for me and I know it's not for you. Know that I am praying for you to fulfill all He has for you ... even if it means saying "yes" before knowing the question. May we all surrender fully to Him today!