Worlds Apart

Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy. ~Psalm 99:9

I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. ~Jeremiah 10:23

John Piper's known for saying, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I like that. And I like this song. To me, it says well what it takes to be most satisfied in Christ.

Worlds Apart
Jars of Clay
(this is the third song on my playlist)

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of One who loves
More deeply than the oceans
More abundant than the tears
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love You- take my world apart
To need You- I am on my knees
To love You- take my world apart
To need You- broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did You really have to die for me?
All I am for all You are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

I look beyond the empty cross forgetting what my life has cost
And wipe away the crimson stains; dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need You now, I owe You more each passing hour
The battle between grace and pride I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak, and all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears; the sin-soaked heart and make it Yours
Take my world all apart, take it now, take it now
And serve the ones that I despise, speak the words I can't deny
Watch the world I used to love fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross forgetting what my life has cost
So wipe away the crimson stains, dull the nails that still remain
So steal my heart and take the pain; take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things I cannot hide; take the beauty, take my tears
Take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray…take my world apart

Abraham Samuel

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow... ~ Isaiah 1:17



It's a boy!!

What?? It can't be! We've only sponsored girls. We're a women's ministry! It makes sense to sponsor a girl!!

That is a rough draft of the converstion that ensued at my work when we received information on the new girl we were sponsoring through Compassion International. For years we had a relationship with, Meri (how much do you love her name!). Late last year God opened the door for us to sponsor a new child as Meri seasoned out of CI's program. When our package came in the mail we were sooo pumped to meet her through her letters, photographs, colorings, and information.

So how surprised were we when Abraham Samuel popped out of our envelope! Well, we didn't hesitate to sponsor Abraham Samuel...and a little girl Johanna! Y'all, she's the sassiest thing ever and we love her!

Yet there is a special fondness in my heart for Abraham. I just love this little fella. One day I'll fully describe how God has uniquely used this boy in a world far away to minister His truths to my heart. Abrahams letters are dear. His background and current situation touches a deep, real place in my heart. I long to play kick ball with him, smell the air he breathes, pour Christ's love out in person, share a meal with his family...share Jesus with his family. And so my heart's cry for the millions of Abrahams and Johannas and Meris, and their families, is best summed up in the ever so eloquent words of...

Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you - that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and tobarbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. ~Romans 1

These blogs are sweet to follow http://compassionbloggers.com/trips

He Surrounds Us

The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders. Deut. 33:12

I love babies! Holding them just delights my heart. If a baby and I are in the same room, you can know it won’t be long before I’ll be holding it! In fact, it’s so well known amongst my friends that they’ve dubbed me with nicknames such as Baby Velcro, Baby Magnet, and Baby Whisperer to name a few. The last one is a play on the Horse Whisperer, the lady who can calm unruly animals.

That’s me with babies y’all! Hand me a crying baby and within a few minutes they typically calm down and fall asleep. Now, please know this is not boasting…no, no. Jeremiah 9:24 tells us “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord…”

So that is why I’m going to reveal my top secret formula to quieting inconsolable children. It has a 100% success rate: God. Yep. It’s that simple! Actually, the presence of God through worship.

I wrap the upset baby in a blanket, pick her/him up in my arms, hold them close and start gently singing. There are three songs in my rotation. Within minutes of quietly worshipping the Lord the tender presence of the Holy Spirit is tangible. It is one of the most endearing moments to share with God as His little one becomes still as our awareness of His presence surrounding us grows.

The three songs are each short, sweet and simple and are ones which the Lord and I actually share as “Our Songs”…they are special between Him and me. You may know one of them:

I love You Lord and I lift my voice to worship You
Oh my soul, rejoice

Take joy my King in what You hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ears

Just as I sing these over babies, God often sings one of “Our Songs” over me, calming my troubled heart. It happened just this week during a prayer meeting! All week my soul had been crying out to the Lord, inconsolable, upset.

During our prayer time someone started singing…
I love You Lord and I lift my voice to worship You
Oh my soul, rejoice...

…and I became still, my awareness of His presence growing. I felt God wrap me in a blanket of His Love, pick me up in His arms, hold me close and quiet me with His song.

Y’all, as a servant of the Master Baby Whisperer, I am honored He would hold me and sing over me…it was especially sweet that He chose one of “Our Songs.” Calming my fears, soothing my heart and teaching me once again to be still and rest in my knowledge that He is good, faithful, provision, enough. He is our Father. He is our God who surrounds us with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

With Everything

Love this song! It’s the second one on my playlist.

With Everything
Hillsong

Open our eyes to see the things that make Your heart cry
To be the church that You would desire; Light to be seen

Break down our pride, and all the walls we've built up inside
Our earthly crowns and all our desires, we lay at Your feet

So let hope rise, and darkness tremble in Your holy light
And every eye will see Jesus, our God, Great and mighty to be praised

God of all days, Glorious in all of Your ways
Your majesty, the wonder and grace, in the light of Your name

With everything,with everything
We will shout forth Your glory

With everything, with everything
We will shout forth Your praise

Our hearts, they cry
Be glorified
Be lifted high
Above all names
For You our King
With everything
We will shout forth Your praise

Believe and See

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ~Hebrews 11:3

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don't be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ~2 Kings 6:15-17

“The Bible assumes as a self-evident fact that men can know God with at least the same degree of immediacy as they know any other person….We apprehend the physical world by exercising the faculties given us for that purpose, and we possess spiritual faculties by means of which we can know God and the spiritual world if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use them. God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us. Spiritual things are there (or rather we should say here) inviting our attention and challenging our trust.” ~A.W. Tozer

Here is one such example…

Excerpted from On Call, a missionary autobiography by Dr. David Thompson. It takes place in Cambodia in the early 1950s during the French-Indochina War.

We had been in Kratie for perhaps a year. French troops were garrisoned in the city because it was a provincial capital. One day the French commander received secret information that a large force of rebels was going to attack the French rubber plantations outside of the town of Snoul, 80 kilometers away. Confident that his information was correct, the commander loaded his troops on trucks and raced to Snoul, hoping to surprise the rebels. The purported attack never materialized. It was a rebel trick.

The actual plan was for a rebel force of about 2000 to attack Kratie where we lived. As dusk fell…Father and Mother prayed. God had not brought them to Kratie to be destroyed before they had done the work they were sent to do.

I remember having to stay under the bed with my sister while Dad and Mom knelt and prayed. As Dad told it, around 2 a.m. a white flare lit up the square. The attack started soon after.

Bullets flew everywhere. Suddenly, a red flare shot up and burned briefly in the night sky. The shooting tapered off. In the morning there was no sign of the rebels and nobody understood why the rebels had abandoned the attack. The French commander returned later that day from Snoul and was surprised to find the city intact.

In 1955 the French granted independence to Cambodia, returning power to the king of Cambodia. The king promised amnesty to all the rebels who would turn in their weapons and pledge allegiance to him-some of the rebels were communists. On the announced day, the provincial rebels came by the thousands to the town square and stacked their weapons in a great pile. There were speeches and ceremonies all day. Towards the middle of the day the retiring French commander asked Dad to translate for him while he spoke to the rebel commander. After introductions, the commander asked the rebel leader, “Why did you not take the city the night we were diverted to Snoul, leaving Kratie defenseless?”

The rebel commander seemed surprised by the question. He remembered the night very well, he said, and suggested that the French commander was mistaken, for when the rebels attacked Kratie they were confronted by thousands of French soldiers. There were troops everywhere-more than he had seen at any other time during the war! Since the rebel force numbered only 2000 men, they had decided to flee!

With Dad interpreting, the French commander and the rebel leader argued about the events of that night. Only Dad understood what had happened: the army of the Lord had saved us. God’s angels had appeared as French soldiers in such great number that the rebels withdrew. (pp 17-19)

Believe in God; believe also in me [Jesus]. ~John 14:1

In Full

“…like streams of water in the desert…” ~Isaiah 32:2

And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name. ~Isaiah 45:3

I’d like to sing a simple song of love to my Jesus, about my Savior. How He held me in His arms, even when I was unaware.

Sometime in 2008 the Lord spoke to me, “Sweetheart, you’re going to be completely debt free by the end of this year.” My eyebrows rose, along with my doubt and fear.

You see, I had gall bladder surgery and between that and a ton of pre-op procedures, my bills were excessive. So much so that I was still paying on them five years later.

I also had incurred three credit card debts. Even if I scrimped on everything, didn’t eat, and walked everywhere (not buying gas), there was not enough money left over each month to pay off my hospital and credit card bills by the end of the year.

The months went by and I chiseled away bit by bit, paying off two cards, but still having my hospital bill and one card looming over me. The end of the year was fast approaching, and thankfully my last car payment was in October. But even with that additional money for the months of November and December, I wouldn’t have enough to totally pay off my debt, unless God intervened…

And intervened He did! My car loan was through a credit union and set up to automatically withdraw from my checking account from another bank twice a month. So come November, I only had a small amount left to pay at the beginning of the month and then I’d be paid in full. Much to my surprise, the regular full payment came out, not the little bit remaining on my balance!

Disappointed, thinking I had mistaken how much I owed, I called the credit union. “Could you please tell me my balance owed on my car payment?” The credit union confirmed I was paid in full. They were baffled as to why they had withdrawn so much money from my checking account. While looking into it, the teller asked if I wanted to know my balance in my savings account. I had opened a savings account with $25 in order to get my car loan, but have never made another deposit, so I assumed with interest I may have $30.

Oh was I wrong! There was more than enough money in my savings account to pay off my massive hospital bill!! How could this be??? I had never ever deposited more than the original $25! The next day I went into the credit union to transfer my savings money to my checking account to pay my hospital bill. The teller asked how much I wanted to take out and I asked my balance once more. Y’all, it was even more than I was told the previous day!!

No one behind the counter or in the entire loan department could figure out where this money had come from. There was no record of me making a deposit…ever. They said it just had always been there as far as they knew. Wow! The Lord tells us He has treasures in darkness. Mysteries that only He can reveal! Truly, this was one of them.

Flabbergasted, I went to work later that day only to be handed a bonus check. Do you know how much it was for? The exact amount I needed to pay off my credit card!!!

As I called the hospital to pay my bill in full, I was surprised once again! The sweet lady whom I’ve paid for the past five years told me my balance and it was much less than I had thought! I asked her if she was certain, and of course she was! She’d been deducting my payments herself all this time! And sure enough, the same was true of my credit card bill as well! I owed less than I thought! Y’all, when the lady at Visa told me I was paid in full, I burst into tears. The simple love of Jesus, His fulfilled promises, the deep streams in the desert I waded in, were all too much for my heart. I was truly overwhelmed by the goodness of God. He fulfilled His promise of me being debt-free by the end of the year. I paid off my debt in December of 2008.

One last sweet thing. Gifts is my number one love language. Wanting to be diligent paying my bills, I anticipated not being able to spend money on Christmas presents last year. However, with the Lord providing for my hospital and credit card bill, I had money to buy presents for my family and friends! What a gift to me from God Almighty!! I pray you hear the promises of the Lord for you this year and remember that He has secret storehouses reserved just for you...treasures hidden in darkness that are yours from your Good Provider.

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise… ~ Daniel 2:20-23

Led

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart." Isaiah 40:11a

"I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42:6-7

I love the different characteristics of our God.

He’s the Prodigal’s Father, waiting patiently for His child to return. He’s the Good Shepherd, going after His sheep.

I’ve needed Him to be both at different times in my life, but over the past few years I’ve noticed Christian's dire need for the Lord to be our Good Shepherd. Because...

We wander into dark recesses...
Stand on the edge of dangerous precipices...
Get in painful thickets.

Friends of mine shared with me their need of the Good Shepherd too. They particularly were aware of it during their first year on the mission field. Along with their belongings, they brought overseas high hopes and daring dreams. Bit by bit, they were asked by the Almighty to give up their expectations and walk in faith. “Cold blooded faith” to quote my friend. Killer faith. Faith determined to slaughter their desires. Faith persistent to slay their rights. Faith dogged to ruthlessly burn their flesh.

Faith on a conquest and do you know what? It won. And in its wake it left two people full of joy and direction. With ears bent for guidance on every decision. With hearts humbled and longing to do the Lord’s will. With desires aligned with God’s heart. Two people solely dependent on their Good Shepherd.

Because they’d wandered into some dark recesses where they were called to shine The Light.

Because they stood on a dangerous precipice, staking ground and claiming territory for the Kingdom of heaven.

Because they got in painful thickets with those who were trapped, releasing the captives and setting the prisoners free.

Isaiah 49:9, "...say to the captives, 'Come out,'and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill."

Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."