Sunday, August 1, 2010
God Has Commissioned Me To My Next Assignment ~ So I Am Reporting For Duty!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
"Where ya been livin'~ under a rock?"
I cannot say that I have regrets in protecting my daughters and guiding them along in life until they were ready to step out on their own. I wouldn't trade the opportunity to homeschool and be a stay-at-home mom for anything in the world. It has been the most rewarding of experiences. And while I didn't make a paycheck with this job ~the dividends are out of this world. The Lord has blessed me with three daughters that love the Lord and are serving Him. Yep, I guess you could say I was living snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug under that rock. But you know I'm finding out that I was a bit too snug under that rug, or rock, or whatever it was I was hiding under. The past nine weeks I have worked in a secular job and I have come face-to-face with a folk that have certainly not been living under any rocks. I have most definitely had a crash course in the life of this world and what I have seen and heard has broken my heart. So my regret is that I never stopped along the way to pay attention ~ to truly pay attention to these folk who are living each day for the moment with drugs and alcohol and sex, for a multitude of folk who don't know Christ as their Savior, for some who don't even believe there is a God.
I have never in my life worked with such a large concentration of people who are not Christians. Truly the fields are white unto the harvest (Luke 10:2). And this is a perfect example of the magnitude of the mission field right here in America ~ right here in Kentucky ~ right here in my hometown. Many nights it was truly overwhelming as I would interact with individuals who had no hope of an eternity with Christ - but rather their language was peppered with every curse word imaginable; and their accounts of their lives depicted alcohol and drug use and repeated sexual activity outside of marriage.
At first I was so taken aback I was actually disgusted. But God began to burden my heart that He had put me in this job for this very reason. I began to really pray for these people around me and asked God to give me an opportunity to share His son. Might I say that this is one of the best summers of my whole life. I had the opportunity to pray with one lady, to witness to others, and I even had the chance to defend my all mighty God and Savior to an agnostic. By the end of the evening she promised that she would accept my challenge ~ "to pray and ask God to reveal himself to her as she was reading the Bible."
How in this world could a job ridden with so much heathen conversation and behavior be such a blessing to my heart and soul? My God cares enough about me that He allowed me this blessed opportunity to see folk who are in the trenches of life ~ and I will be forever grateful. What a heart he has given me for the drug dealer and the drug taker, for those abandoned by their families, for those who have lived on the street at times, and for those who believe in and practice soothsaying (the Bible's phrase for fortune telling).
I can no longer live under a rock. God has opened my eyes to just how bad this world really is ~ for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required (Luke 12:48b). Frankly I don't know what God wants me to do now with all of this valuable information but He wants me to do something. The job concluded this evening and I drove home in sobs as I recounted name after name to our Lord - begging Him to bring an increase to the seeds that were planted. Because I love these men and women and I want them to have the Christ in their heart that I have in mine. And maybe just maybe God's reason was simply that I get out from under the rock and have my eyes open to things going on around me. Because there is a bruised and abused and hurting people that desperately need the Lord. Thank you Lord Jesus for one of the greatest opportunities of my life.
Monday, June 28, 2010
My Friend Ann ~ Once Was Lost But Now She's Found
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Treasures of Darkness
The pastor of Temple Baptist Church took on the grueling job of calling each family to let them know that their child had entered eternity earlier that day. Pastor Sexton was deeply warmed by God's grace through it all. The mothers and fathers of these college students kept thanking the pastor for all that the college and church had done for their children. One parent said, "We sent you everything we had. They were good before they got there, but they were better because they had been there."
At the scene of the accident, investigators worked for six hours trying to understand what had happened. The highway was scorched and burned and the van was reduced to nothing more than a small piece of metal. Reporters and firemen were quoted as saying "they had never seen anything like this in all their years." One emergency worker said, "There is nothing left. The van is just a piece of metal. Everything is gone ~ except for one thing that I cannot explain. There is a music CD that did not burn." Pastor Sexton shared that he didn't know why it didn't burn. It was plastic but it didn't burn. And the title of the CD...... God Makes No Mistakes.
Now I don't know about you but that is a very profound statement by our Lord and God. In a moment, Christ took five wonderful Christians home to be with Him. And on that burned and scorched roadway was found nothing more than a plastic CD bearing God's special message to those who would grieve such a loss ~ that He makes no mistakes.
When troubles and hardships come our way, when we suddenly get bad news, when the raging waters of life threaten to pull us under ~ we feel we can't go on. We can't understand what is happening. Friend, we will never understand all of God's ways, but we can be rest assured that He does not make any mistakes.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Dad's Brownies - It's Not What You Think!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Have You Ever Spoken Against God And Made Him Angry?
As I was reading Psalm 78 this morning, I was reminded of some of those great and mighty things that God had done for the Children of Israel. God showed that mightiness ~ from the many plagues He "bestowed" upon Pharoah and his people ~ to the great miracles He performed again and again to provide and protect His chosen as they wandered aimlessly. Verses 19-22 say Yea, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed, can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth; so a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel. Because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation.
At that moment the Holy Spirit began to work upon my heart. With shame I remembered many wonderful blessings that had occurred over the past few months and still unbelief would say "But can God do this over here? Can God do that over there? I know He has moved in such a mighty way but is He gonna keep doing it? Is He going to take care of me and my girls? Is He going to provide for our needs? Indeed, with shame, I began to ponder how all of this doubting had made my Lord and Savior feel.
When we doubt God ~ for any reason ~ it is wrong and it is sin. I supposed that just made Him sad when I did that. And I do think that it saddens Him but the fact that He becomes angry with our unbelief just makes it all the more profound that we must avoid doubting. We must trust that He has His children's best interests at heart ~ no matter how black the storm clouds are ~ He is watching each step, each move, each moment and that is greater and more wonderful than anything any human can do for us here on earth. He has our back. I don't know about you but I don't want to hurt Him simply because the circumstances of life can ~ at times ~ loom pretty big before my eyes. For greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
Oh Mighty and Gracious Heavenly Father,
Forgive me for my unbelief. Forgive me for complaining and doubting that you do have my best interest at heart. Forgive me for not believing that You've had my back the whole time.