February update

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Why don't we do what we know we should do?

Romans 7: ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

That one got me. I know that I need to spend time with Christ, away from everything else-but I allow all of life’s distractions to get in the way. I know I want to dig into His word, but I find myself doing everything but. We keep saying “When we move to Africa, we will dedicate more time, we will do more for Him, we will….” And I wonder-WHY not start now? What is it that prevents us from doing what we know we need to do? We do desire it, and know what we should do, but still don’t do it.

Paul’s notes are clear-Sin in our lives stops everything. Does this mean we can use that as an excuse? No way-we have to understand it, and make an effort to fight against it. Everyday is promised to be a struggle, but we have the key and the secret. Jesus. Look-we become more and more aware that it is not about a ceremony, about what we can recite, it is about a real relationship with a real God. Some folks call us “religious”.. (kind of makes us chuckle)- I think if we can all lead out with real love- love of other sinners, love of those that don’t know him, a love that surpasses the walls of a church building-and meets folks where they are-regardless of what someone else may think -is the only way. I really think that if Christ came back tomorrow- he might be found in a place that none of us expect. At the end of this exciting journey- everything will be made known. I pray that the passion we have for Him now, only continues to grow and strengthen, that we can truly put Him first in EVERYTHING. We will fail, but we will continue to give it our all-HOW ABOUT YOU? Swaziland calls, it’s all His, and if we don’t go-who will. Most folks 2000 years ago thought that everything that was done in the name of "christianity" was ridiculous-did not make sense.. maybe we all need to make a little less sense-and be radical with our love and decisions! It may be a bit selfish on our part to want to go- to be closer to God, to see and be His love.- perhaps this is our reward-to get to see Him that much closer, to be scarred for Him. For the first time in my life, I can truly say- I believe that it’s all His, the money, the time, the service-it is ALL His.

I know-it is a whole lot of random thoughts, but I can say- I look forward to knowing Him better tomorrow that I do today. If I can enter each day with simply that-how exciting!

Is there anyone that you have ever wanted to meet? A Hollywood actor? A Sports figure?... How about the author of Life itself? He gave us life, it’s all His- so we can give Him our all… right? An exciting journey continues!

There's no going back...continuing the call to the mission field

Abraham had no idea where God was taking him; he just knew he couldn’t stay where he was. Try explaining that to your friends! But instead of questioning God, we read: “By faith Abraham…went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8). Not once did he consider going back home when times got tough. He knew that for him, God wasn’t back there. (now, that is not our case.. God is DEFINATELY with Bethesda Christian Broadcasting and Mission of Mercy.. and we SOOOO love these ministries)

Jephthah is remembered in Scripture for his spectacular victory over the Ammonites, and for a vow he made to God before the battle, a vow he refused to break: ‘I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it” (Jdg 11:35).
Israel got stuck in the wilderness because they kept reflecting on Egypt. Every time God said, “Go to Canaan,” they said, “Oh, but back there in Egypt we enjoyed…” Some of us can’t enjoy the Christian life because we’re thinking about how much fun the world used to be.(oh boy do i feel like this. LOVE what we do now-and is easy to focus on that) Like Israel, we’re thinking about the garlic and leeks in Egypt while we are stuck out here in the wilderness with manna. If you think like that you’ll go in circles! Back there looks more enticing. So read these words carefully: “If they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. (in our case- a different mission) Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb 11:15-16). When you walk with God, there’s no going back!!

I wonder if these words ring true with anyone today? I know in my life, there have been many times (since saying Yes to the call to go to Africa) that I find myself saying, “oh, but back here in the states…” So I am thankful for today’s lesson and that there is no going back. We hurt so deeply that some that we know do not understand, or think that our decision to follow the Lord in this manner is a personal attack, and no words that we come up with seem to suffice in explaining this upcoming change. It has been incredibly challenging on us, day to day a shadow of doubt tries to creep in, but God made it CLEAR to us-this is what He wants us to do. We could please man, or we can please the Father…and OH how we want to please Him. He does not care about “our” accounting, He cares about our obedience. We are in AWE of a God that can create mountains and caterpillars, design grass and trees to take out CO2 and put out oxygen. OH what an incredible Creater we get to serve and get to have a personal relationship with! So onward and upward we’ll go.-and challenge you to tune in to Him and see what He puts on your heart-what direction do you need to go?

A wise friend used to say, “It’s not your horizontal view that matters, it’s your vertical view.” (Thanks Coach)