Don't Conform. Be transformed!

10 days ago, I returned from a mission trip to Haiti. We were in Leogane, very close to the epicenter of the earthquake that hit in 2010. That was followed by a strong hurricane. The country was poor to begin with. Today, the people have a difficult time surviving. Many live in damaged homes with canvas- on-a-stick roofs. The image remains vividly I my mind of 4 small, pitiful, empty fish ( it looked like the meat had already been eaten) being fried over an outdoor fire. It was the day's meal for about 8 people. They lived in a canvas tent. When we asked how we could pray for them, they asked us to pray that they could have a home to live in. Did you hear that? A home. Any home!

We have so much! We say, "I need new shoes. I need new clothes. I need...I need...I need."  Most people reading this blog don't know what true need is!

On my trip, I met a young woman, a college student, who is seeking the Lord's will for her life. She has just written her first blogpost, which is about what she learned from the trip to Haiti. I would like to share that with you.

https://maribednarwordpresscom.wordpress.com

( I don't know if I can create a link but, if not, please copy and paste the address into your browser so you can read her blogpost!)

Preparation and Prayer for Missions

During the last couple of months, I have discovered the book JESUS CALLING. It is an amazing devotion book that has facilitated my time with Jesus each day. My husband and I have seen the movie WAR ROOM three times already! Prayer or, more specifically, doing battle in prayer has moved to the forefront of my life. There are certain battles I have been praying about for a while, even years, but I wasn't fighting. I saw them as "issues", not battles. I now realize every issue truly is a battle in the heavenly realms and I must be more diligent to fight those battles in prayer.

The Lord has been teaching me this principle at this time for a reason. I have been charged with the responsibility of teaching women in Haiti while their children attend Bible club. I have asked the Lord to show me what to say; what they need to hear. This is it! We must realize that Satan is real and that he wants to wreak havok in our lives. He wants to steal our joy! It is our responsibility to fight back in prayer and trust God to fight for us. He is the victor!

So, for the next couple of days I will be praying and preparing. We leave next week! Would you please pray for me and for the women who will attend?
      Pray for - me, as I prepare
                     - the person who will translate
                     - the Haitian women, that  
                       nothing will keep them away.
                     - hearts to be open to the
                       gospel message
                     - Satan to be bound & tossed!
                     - the whole mission team, as
                       we evangelize, teach children
                       and lead in worship.
                     - safety & health.
                     - all luggage to arrive with us
                       and unharmed.
   

I say "Thank you", in advance,
          for your prayers!

Prayer - How Long has it Been ?

How long has it been since you prayed? I don't mean the before-you-eat kind of prayer, but, instead, the lay-it-all-out-there kind of praying. I mean the kind of prayer where you tell God your deepest, most private thoughts; where you pour out your heart to Him. We NEED an intimate relationship with God through prayer.

Need forgiveness? Pray. Need healing? Pray. Need comfort? Pray. Need direction for your life? Pray. Need a job? Pray. Need money to pay the bills? Pray. If you truly have a need, God wants to meet that need in your life!

There are some prerequisites though. First of all, you must put your faith and trust in Christ for forgiveness of your sinfulness and be committed to being a Christ- follower. He hears the prayers of His children. Only those who are in His family of believers are His children. After that, you must pray within His will. If you know you've been called to be an evangelist, but you are praying for a job as an accountant, that probably isn't in His will - and you know it. The same goes for asking the Lord to let you win the lottery. He doesn't want you to waste your money on such things! The last prerequisite is simple but we sometimes forget it. We must ASK, believing that if it is within His will, He will provide what we need. Yes, God knows our needs before we ever come to Him, but He wants to hear it from us. He wants us to communicate with Him!

So, I' m not a Name-it-and-Claim-it kind of gal, because I don't believe we can ask for just anything because we want it, and then expect God to give it to us. However, we ARE told to bring our burdens to the Lord. We are also told that if we call to Him, He will hear us and will show us great and mighty things which we did not know. So I ask again, how long has it been since you prayed? Has it been a while? I want to encourage you to find a quiet spot and spend some time with God today. He's waiting to hear from you!

The Benefits of Spending Time with Jesus

I used to think that spending time with Jesus was just a luxury for single people and those who no longer had children at home. Of course, I was wrong. Yes, I actually said it! I was wrong. Our time spent talking with the Lord should not be merely once, or maybe twice, a day! Instead, we should be having an ongoing conversation with Him all day long! As we are driving to work or school, we should pray for the day ahead, asking for His guidance throughout the day; asking Him to direct our thoughts, actions and even our reactions to others. 

Jude 1:24 says that Jesus is able to keep us from stumbling, slipping or falling. Now that could be taken literally, but I think, more often, it is to be taken figuratively. He can help me keep my mouth shut when I really want to blast someone. He can keep me from reacting badly in an already volatile situation. He can help me listen calmly and openly when someone is criticizing me instead of reacting defensively. He can keep me from putting my foot in my mouth. All of this and more are available to me.......IF, and ONLY IF, I walk with Him daily, hourly, every minute of the day.

As we go through our day, we must remember that God cares about the little things as well as the big problems in our lives. There is no problem too big OR too small for God. I can't even count the number of times I've asked the Lord for a parking space, when I was in a time crunch, or asked Him to show me the keys I had misplaced, and I needed to leave, like, NOW! He always comes through- right on time! He cares about our every need. Of course He also knows whether it is a genuine need or just something we want! Currently, I have misplaced something that is valuable to me and I have been asking the Lord to show me where I "put it for safe keeping." ( I do that a lot, and I have GOT to stop doing that!) So far, He has not chosen to let me find it. I have looked high and low, but...nothing. I am trying not to freak out over it. I have every confidence that if I really need it, the Lord will show me where it is hiding. Until then, I have PEACE!  What a blessing! I can have peace instead of stress because I know Jesus cares about every small detail of my life!

 

Philippians 4:6-7 CEV - "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything.  With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel."

Jude 1:24 AMP - "Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]--"

What is Revival?

Our church is currently in the middle of a 4-day revival. I am told that church revivals are pretty rare these days. So that set me to thinking about this subject. What is the point of revival? What is it, really? Why don't more churches want revival?

As I understand it, revival services are intended to revive our spirits. The daily grind of everyday life tends to weigh us down, speed us up and, often, pull us away from the path God intends for us. Revival is a time to "set right what once went wrong", ( If I may quote a line from Quantum Leap.) sometimes we don't realize just how far we've drifted away from God. This reminds me of the beach. As I get out into the water and enjoy jumping over the waves and splashing around, I look up to the beach, where our car is parked. I want to be sure I can still see it. The more I stay and play in the waves, the less I look up to locate the car. After an hour or so, when I'm ready to get out of the water, I make my way onto the beach. It is then that I realize just how far away the waves have carried me! It's a pretty long walk to get back to where I started.

Life as a Christian can be like that.  The place where you parked on the beach is representative of that time in your life when your were made right with God through faith in Christ. Your sins were forgiven and you committed to living your life fully for Him. Playing on the beach, right by the car, building sand castles and burying yourself in the sand might represent going to church, reading your Bible, hanging out with Christian friends and living in a right relationship with Christ. Going out into the water represents life, full of its ups and downs. Family, jobs, and relationships tend to cause you to drift with the tide. You occasionally look up. That is, you remember your faith, but are too busy " doing life" to really focus your efforts on it. After all, jumping waves CAN be fun! Eventually, the world pulls you so far away from God that you can barely see Him, barely feel His love. You are no longer in a right relationship with Him. It's time to step out of the water and up onto the sand. It's time to walk back up to the place where the car is parked. (And DON't stop to collect seashells along the way!) Revival is a return to God; a time to ask for forgiveness once again. We must renew our commitment to living a life that honors Christ. When we do this, God will refresh our spirits and give us a renewed sense of freedom, hope and purpose. Joy will be restored!

So, why don't more churches have revival services? Perhaps they are busy splashing in the waves of good works. Maybe they are picking up seashells of knowledge. Maybe, just maybe, the currents of "dong church" have caused them to drift away from the Lord. They've been focused on church attendance and finances and the people who criticize. When the waves get high, it can be hard to see and equally hard to hear the still small voice of God. 

WE ALL NEED REVIVAL.  Whether it's as a church or individually, today's Christians NEED to turn back to God, ask for forgiveness, and recommitt to living a life that honors and glorifies Him. When we do, we will feel refreshed, renewed and we'll be ready to share our faith with those around us!

The Ugly Word

SIN. It's such an ugly word. So ugly, in fact that most people deny that they are " sinners." The very mention of the word conjures up images of  murder, theft, someone being physically or verbally attacked; what we consider "real" sin. Then we say to ourselves, " I'm not THAT bad!

We are ALL sinners. We all have sin that we don't even realize is there or that we don't remember because we felt it was so small or insignificant. There are things that we neglected to do. That is sin, too. We also, of course, are aware of the sins we commit which we consider "real" sin. We must ask forgiveness for ALL THREE types of sin. In God's eyes, sin is sin. It doesn't matter if we think it's major or insignificant. It only takes ONE sin to separate us from God, who is PERFECT. 

I am so grateful that Jesus paid the penalty for my sin; so grateful that I only had to pray for forgiveness. I chose to follow Him and I am no longer separated from Him. I'm not perfect but my Father in Heaven sure is and, with His help, I can be the person I was meant to be, both now and for eternity!

"None of us can see our own errors; deliver me, LORD, from hidden faults! Keep me safe, also, from willful sins; don't let them rule over me.Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin. May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O LORD, my refuge and my redeemer!"

                                                           Psalms 19:12 - 14  GNT

A Prayer for Our Time

As I was doing my daily Bible reading the other day, I was in Psalms, reading the words of David as he was hiding from King Saul and his soldiers. They were out to kill David. I had been reading this section of the Bible for several days. Many of David's prayers seemed to be similar. This prayer, however, seemed to jump out at me!  This is what I read.

    

      "Break the power of wicked and evil people;punish them for the wrong they have done until they do it no more."  Psalms 10:15 | GNT.   

Perhaps it stood out to me because of all the terrible news I've been hearing lately: police officers being shot for no reason, refugees fleeing their homeland because the war has taken their jobs and the ability to feed and cloth themselves, people selling body parts of aborted babies. Oh, the HORRORS!

I feel like we are living in a nightmare. Why do these people not see that what they are doing is wrong?

Then I begin to wonder, " What can I do? I have no contact with these people and I have no control over them."  Enter God's Word, prayer of David. "break the power of wicked and evil people..." David was being pursued by wicked and evil people, and his response was to pray. Just PRAY! We are powerless to defeat evil on our own but we know the One who is all-powerful! He can defeat these evil, wicked people. But He's waiting for us to pray. Not just a "Lord I need your help and I need it right now!" kind of prayer but a "Lord, I am your servant and I know You are in control and if it is your will, please defeat these evil people. Punish them so they won't do it any more" kind of prayer.

So instead of allowing all the bad news get me down, making me fearful, I am going to the God-of-angel-armies in prayer. 

     "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."   2 Chronicles 7:14 | NIV

I must first acknowledge my own sin!  I must humble myself before God. That means I give Him control and He is in charge of my life, whether I like it or understand it or not. I must ask to be forgiven and turn from my own wickedness. (Let's  be honest. We all have a little streak of evil deep down inside. We try not to let it out or let it show but, given just the right stressful situation, it just might rear its ugly head!) Aren't you glad that God is faithful to forgive us no matter how evil our sin?

If every believer would follow 2 Chronicles 7:14, then we could be free to pray David's prayer found in Psalms 10:15. This is the ONLY WAY our country, our world, can change! Dear Lord, let it begin with me. 

Will you join me?